Steven Stone, the Champion Trainer of the Hoenn Region, was calm and intelligent by nature. Unlike the talkative Lorelei, he spoke little when facing strangers.
Caleb wasn't the talkative type either, and since he hadn't interacted much with Steven before, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
The two of them sat in silence...
Facing Steven's slightly distant gaze, Caleb said, "After twenty-four hours, you'll be able to return to your own world. I'm sorry for summoning you here."
Steven snapped back to reality, his expression returning to normal, once again calm and composed, "No need to apologize. I don't mind."
"Thank you." Caleb thought for a moment, then pointed to the small automatic refrigerator on the table and said, "There's food and water in there. If you're thirsty, feel free to help yourself. You can go outside too, but there aren't many humans around here."
He had things to take care of now. The Level 2 Barracks had been completed, and the construction team in the territory was currently upgrading the farmland.
When he woke up, Caleb also received a notification that traveling merchants had appeared in the market, and that several new Pokémon NPCs had arrived at the tavern.
Steven understood the implication in Caleb's words and nodded, "Then I'll be troubling you."
Although Steven had been summoned as a support character via 'Friend Out of Thin Air', whether he helped the player or not was entirely up to him.
Caleb couldn't force him to work, and since the territory wasn't short on manpower now, he let Steven do as he pleased...
After settling Steven in, he left the Lord's Hall.
Meowth, who had been waiting outside, stepped forward and reported, "My lord, a traveling merchant caravan entered our territory last night, nyaa!"
Caleb nodded, "Let's go take a look."
After a night had passed, several new empty residential houses had appeared in the territory. Even the ground had refreshed with a brand-new dirt road, connecting the territory's entrance to the barracks, tavern, and other facilities.
Although the territory still looked quite primitive, compared to the first day, it had changed dramatically.
The current Lv1 city wall was just a flimsy-looking fence. Caleb was already planning to upgrade it to Lv2 today. As he thought this over, he and Meowth arrived at the market.
The previously empty lot now hosted a resting merchant caravan. Each Rhyhorn was tied with ropes, pulling creaky wooden carts piled high with mountain-like bundles.
Leading the caravan was a group of Honchkrow merchants wearing gauzy scarves.
Upon seeing Caleb approach, the lead Honchkrow merchant immediately stepped forward and said, "You must be the lord of this territory? Are you interested in buying something? We've got lots of fresh goods!"
Caleb: "…"
'This NPC wearing a Honchkrow skin looks surprisingly natural...' While inwardly grumbling, he said aloud, "Sure, I'll buy."
"Please take your pick. We guarantee our goods are the finest!"
With that, a panel floated up in front of the Honchkrow:
[City Protection Token: A magical token. When used, the territory enters an invincible state for 24 hours, nullifying all enemy attacks.
- Price: 100 gold coins...]
[Concealment Charm: A magical talisman. When used, the territory becomes hidden on the map. In this state, enemies cannot detect the territory's location.
- Price: 100 gold coins...]
[Map (World map): Owning it removes the fog from the map.
- Price: 50 gold coins...]
[Bountiful Harvest Token: When used, instantly grants 24 hours' worth of resource units.
- Price: 10 gold coins...]
[Resource Conversion Card: A special item. Converts resource unit A into an equal amount of resource unit B. Only usable between food, wood, and stone.
- Price: 10 gold coins...]
Caleb glanced at the pile of goods stacked on the wooden carts behind the Honchkrow and asked, "Is that all?"
The Honchkrow noticed his expression and said awkwardly, "Yes, Lord. Since your territory is still quite underdeveloped, we can't guarantee profits, so we only brought these items this time…"
"But don't worry! Once your territory prospers, we'll bring more goods next time!" the Honchkrow added with a smile.
'Alright, it seems I'll need to upgrade the territory to unlock more merchandise...' Caleb thought silently, then asked, "One last question... where can I find gold coins?"
"Gold coins?" The Honchkrow perked up at the question, then replied, "Of course, they're mined from gold deposits! But gold mines are extremely rare and guarded by powerful Pokémon. Unless your territory has deep foundations, it's hard to gain the upper hand against them!"
"Gold mines…" Caleb opened the map and took a look.
The initial resource points near his territory had all been marked, but they were just Lv1 farmlands, quarries, and lumberyards. Not even a basic copper mine was present, let alone a gold mine.
To find a gold mine, he'd have to explore the fog-covered areas. But Caleb didn't plan to go there just yet. The items sold in the shop looked nice, but for now, they weren't essential.
Only three days had passed since the event event began. All players were still in the newbie phase. At this stage, fighting other players wasn't some thrilling siege battle... It was more like a scrappy brawl between villagers. The kind where people fought with shovels, pitchforks, and other farm tools...
After leaving the market, Caleb headed straight to another functional facility; the tavern.
Like the market, the tavern had welcomed many background NPCs, such as bartenders, servers, and cleaners.
Caleb pushed open the door, and all the Pokémon NPCs inside immediately turned their attention to him.
At the same time, he saw the information for the first recruitable General-level NPC:
[Tyranitar (General): Has a rugged and unruly personality. Its immense strength often makes it arrogant, but once familiar, it proves fiercely loyal and protective, even willing to defend its master to the death.]
[Recruit? Selecting 'Yes' will trigger related dialogue with the target!]
Caleb glanced at the information, then looked to the left. The tavern wasn't large, and a Tyranitar inside was already quite conspicuous, especially since it was sitting in a chair, clutching a large mug and chugging noisily.
Perhaps sensing someone's gaze, the Tyranitar set down its mug and looked over with a proud, defiant expression...