Early the next morning.
Sunlight streamed through the window and fell on Caleb's slightly worn-out face.
He slowly woke up, his eyes still foggy with sleep, and glanced around the room in a daze.
"Seriously, what kind of weird dream was that…" Caleb muttered to himself, trying to recall the bizarre dream from the night before.
In the dream, Caleb was living in a run-down, empty shack. The roof leaked constantly, and the whole place looked like it might collapse at any moment.
What really freaked him out, though, was that a bunch of Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were crowding around him, mouths wide open, waiting for him to feed them.
A broken-down house, a leaky roof, and a crowd of Pokémon all staring at him with open mouths.
Pachirisu was the worst of them all — its tiny mouth somehow stretched absurdly wide, almost big enough to swallow Caleb whole.
Just thinking about it made Caleb shiver.
He instinctively reached over to touch the curled-up Vulpix sleeping by his pillow. The cool touch of its fur brought him back to reality.
"Whew… good thing it was just a dream. With all those mouths to feed at home, what if I really did go broke?"
Just as he sighed in relief, his phone suddenly rang.
It was Green.
Today she was actually dutifully on the job.
"Yo, what's up?"
"Uh, Caleb, there's a homeless guy passed out in front of the gym," Green said on the other end.
"A hobo, huh? Just give him some food like usual and send him on his way," Caleb replied, unconcerned.
"I did that, but…" Green sounded unsure. "He says he's your dad."
"He says he's my dad? I might as well be his grandpa!" Caleb roared and hung up.
Seriously, what is the world coming to? People are faking being my dad now to mooch off me?
Not long after, Green called again.
"Caleb, maybe you should come down here after all. This hobo keeps insisting this is his house and refuses to leave."
"Wow, beggars are bold these days."
Caleb got up right away and headed out.
At the entrance of Solaceon Gym.
A ragged, scruffy middle-aged man was clinging to Green's leg, wailing, "This is my home! Why won't you let me in?"
The move freaked Green out so much she yanked her leg back and said, "Uh… mister, you're making this really awkward for me!"
Then she spotted Caleb approaching and looked like she'd seen her savior. "Your 'son' is here. You talk to him."
Son?
Hearing that, the homeless man's eyes lit up, and he turned around excitedly.
He immediately launched himself toward Caleb.
Luckily, Caleb dodged at the last second, letting the man dive face-first into the ground, eating dirt.
But the guy quickly scrambled up, slapping the dust off his clothes and shouting, "Son, it's me, your father!"
The pitiful display nearly made Caleb slap him on reflex.
But Caleb was a well-educated man of great composure — even if tempted, he wouldn't stoop to something so rude.
"Chansey, please escort this man out," Caleb said to the pink egg-shaped Pokémon behind him.
Then he paused.
Now that he got a better look at the guy's face...
He actually did resemble his dad a bit.
Wait a second—this is Old Man Mario!
But that made no sense. If nothing else, the old man had good looks — got them from Caleb, obviously. How else did he win over Mom?
So how did he end up looking like this?
"You're really Mario?" Caleb asked.
"Yes, it's me! Your loving father!" Mario beamed, thrilled that Caleb finally recognized him.
Just as Caleb was about to speak again, Mario cut in: "Son, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?"
Good news?
That actually came out of Old Man Mario's mouth?
Caleb remembered when he was a kid, just like other kids, he used to call him Dad. But then Mario once tricked Grandma by handing her a firecracker and telling her it was candy — "the more you chew, the better it tastes." He changed after that.
Caleb realized they were not the same kind of people.
Actually, he wasn't even sure Mario was people.
Green always said Caleb was humanity's natural enemy, but clearly, the old man had her beat.
All the sneaky tricks, he only ever used them on family.
So while Caleb didn't have high hopes for whatever "good news" this was, he was still a little curious.
"I'll take the good news," Caleb said.
Let's see what kind of nonsense this old man calls "good news."
Hearing that, Mario's demeanor shifted — he stood up straighter and grinned.
"The good news is — look what I've got here." Mario reached into his tattered coat and pulled out a red-and-black Poké Ball.
A Luxury Ball!
As fancy as they come. Pricey for the sake of being pricey, with no real advantage over a standard Poké Ball.
The image of the pristine Luxury Ball was a stark contrast to Mario's filthy outfit.
Mario grinned and said, "Eyes open — watch closely. Come on out!"
The Luxury Ball opened with a flash of white light.
A golden Pokémon with a black belt around its waist appeared.
Caleb recognized it instantly — Gholdengo!
Said to be made of 1,000 gold coins. In both ancient and modern times, the rich always had one to show off their status.
Green, unfamiliar with Paldean Pokémon, pulled out her Pokédex.
"Beep~ Gholdengo. Steel/Ghost-type. Coin Entity Pokémon.
Ability: Good as Gold.
Moves: Tackle, Astonish, Shadow Sneak, Confuse Ray, Substitute, Metal Sound, Shadow Ball, Recover, Power Gem, Make It Rain.
No known egg group.
Description: Said to be made of 1,000 gold coins. Loves being around people and gets along with anyone instantly."
Green stared at the glimmering Gholdengo, practically drooling.
Yep, Gholdengo was exactly the kind of Pokémon Mario would have.
The ragged clothes? Probably because he'd been scouring the world for Gimmighoul coins.
Then Mario said, "This isn't just any Gholdengo — it's a shiny Gholdengo! I guarantee it's the only one of its kind in the entire world."
"Shiny? What's even different about it?"
Doesn't it look the same?
If it were a shiny Metagross or shiny Gardevoir, Caleb could understand the hype. But a shiny Gholdengo… yeah, that tracks. Classic Old Man.
"It's totally different! Look at this body, look at that gold — leagues apart from the regular version!" Mario said, pointing proudly at Gholdengo.
"To evolve into shiny Gholdengo, you need 999 shiny Gimmighoul coins. If not, the color's off. See this one? Not a single bit of color mismatch!"
Mario puffed up his chest proudly.
Then he turned to Caleb and said, "This Gholdengo is a gift from your father — to make up for not being around these past few months."
F-Father?
Caleb was instantly overwhelmed with emotion. Who said the old man was useless? He was amazing!
"Right, Father Dearest, what's the bad news?"
Now that he had a shiny Gholdengo, Caleb felt like he could forgive any bad news.
Mario's smile faded. He looked hesitant and said, "Uh… you'd better brace yourself."
"Don't worry. I'm ready," Caleb replied, gripping the Luxury Ball.