Click, Draw!
Whether praying to the gods made a difference or not, it didn't matter anymore. Tachikawa Tachibana had done everything he could. The rest was up to fate.
He held little Aoi in his arms, quietly watching the shimmering, pulsating draw screen. After a few seconds, the glowing orbs converged and burst outward once again.
As the light flared, Tachikawa Tachibana stared intently at the panel, catching a glimpse of a few streaks of purple among the glow.
"Not bad, not bad. No gold like last time, but it looks like I've got more than one purple."
Tachibana couldn't help but wonder whether that last golden Summoning Scroll had been part of some sort of beginner's ten-draw SSR bonus.
That thought tempered his expectations this time around. Even so, getting more than one purple drop already felt like a huge win.
Ten rewards lined up neatly across the screen:
[Trait: Torrent] (Purple Item: Boosts Water-type attack power when injured. The more severe the injury, the greater the boost. Can increase Water-type damage by up to 100%.)
[Skill Learner: Water Style – Flowing Ring] (Purple Item: A Water-style ninjutsu. Forms a healing ring of water upon performing hand signs. Heals any target surrounded by the ring. Reduces chakra cost when used in aquatic environments.)
[Mystic Candy] (Purple Item: An energy-packed candy that boosts strength, endurance, chakra reserves, and other attributes upon consumption.)
[Good Healing Ointment] (Blue Item: Can be used internally or externally. Moderately restores the user's injuries.)
The remaining white items included:
[Magikarp Scale], [Green Pokéblock], [Moomoo Cheese], [Yache Berry], [Gold Nugget], and [Salt].
Looking at the panel, Tachibana felt a flicker of excitement. While there was no gold, this set of rewards felt a lot more practical than the last.
Without overthinking it, he started retrieving the items from the panel.
The first item, [Trait: Torrent], caught him off guard.
Once extracted, the trait manifested as a blue orb of light that flew straight into his body before he could even take a closer look.
He focused inward. It felt like he now understood Water-nature transformation on a deeper level. Though, likely because he wasn't injured, the change wasn't very noticeable yet.
"So… I've actually inherited the Torrent trait?"
He glanced down at the dazed little Aoi in his arms with a strange expression.
Tachibana wasn't a Pokémon expert, but even he knew Torrent was a signature trait of Water-type starters across generations.
Little Aoi, his own Water-type starter, had shown signs over the past few days that hinted at a different hidden ability: Protean.
But still, Torrent? Its effect was boosting Water-type attacks.
...And he hadn't even learned a single Water-style ninjutsu yet.
Besides, this wasn't a game. Injuries had real consequences in a fight.
Was he supposed to be coughing up blood while unleashing ninjutsu at the same time?
His father, a former Chūnin, probably had a few Water-style ninjutsu up his sleeve. His mother, though not a full-fledged shinobi, had worked at Kirigakure's hospital and knew basic healing techniques.
But both had died in the war years ago. All they left behind were a house, a pension, and three scrolls:
[Water Clone], [Hidden Mist Technique], and [Healing Jutsu], classified as C, D, and D-rank ninjutsu respectively.
Tachibana had only just begun teaching himself those. So far, all he'd truly mastered were the standard Academy basics: the Three Basic Techniques.
Among the inherited scrolls, only [Water Clone] might even be remotely offensive.
"Boosting Water Clone damage by getting myself injured? That's just plain stupid…"
Still, since this Trait had integrated directly into his body, he started forming some ideas about what the other prizes might do.
Sure enough, when he pulled out the [Skill Learner: Water Style – Flowing Ring], it didn't appear as a disc like he'd expected, but as a pale blue scroll, about the length of his forearm.
The moment he held it, knowledge flooded into his mind, everything about the technique: the hand seals, mechanics, and underlying principles.
He also learned that what he'd received was only the technique's basic form. Pulling duplicates of the same skill could enhance its effectiveness.
Of course, diligent practice and power growth could also boost a ninjutsu's strength. Both methods could stack.
[Ding! Learned a Water-style ninjutsu. Achievement unlocked: "Puh! Puh! Puh!"]
[Ding! Acquired Water-nature transformation and a Water-style technique. Water-type UP Pool unlocked.]
The sudden system notification yanked Tachibana out of his thoughts.
"…What kind of achievement title is that? I clearly learned Flowing Ring! Does that mean spitting water counts as Water Style too? And with Torrent active, does spitting at people while half-dead hurt even more?!"
Tachibana facepalmed, completely speechless.
Still, unlocking a new draw pool?
So the condition is learning a technique tied to an element?
The original body already knew the neutral Three Techniques, so that must've triggered the Normal-type UP Pool.
Looking at the draw screen, he now had three available pools.
The beginner pool was gone after the discounted 20-pull. What remained were the Normal-type UP Pool, the newly unlocked Water-type UP Pool, and a mystery pool labeled "???".
Pokémon has way more types than ninja elements. So where would I even go to learn stuff like Dragon, Psychic, or Dark-style jutsu?
The Academy teaches basic Taijutsu, and thanks to Kirigakure's traditions, even has dedicated swordsmanship classes. So why hasn't the Fighting-type pool unlocked yet?
Clearly, there was still a lot to figure out about the system.
"Eh, with my current skill level and coin stash, I probably don't need to worry about that just yet."
Tachibana dropped the system research for now and held out the scroll to Aoi.
Little Aoi, however, tilted his head, signaling he hadn't learned the Water-style technique automatically.
One-time use? Or is it that only I can absorb the knowledge directly?
Opening the scroll, Tachibana found actual text recorded inside, detailing every aspect of the technique's casting and mechanics.
"So others can learn it too with enough training? That's actually good news."
He stared down at the scroll spread open on the ground and couldn't help twitching a bit.
"I didn't play much Pokémon growing up, but turning a TM into a scroll? That's some seriously thorough localization."
"Now both traits and techniques are usable…"
Having seen how the first two worked, he didn't hesitate with the next one. Without much thought, Tachibana popped the [Mystic Candy] into his mouth.
"Just as I thought."
As the candy dissolved, he felt his chakra reserves expanding. His body didn't feel drastically different, but the system had mentioned overall enhancements, so it must be true.
"I can't see the numbers, but this probably means I leveled up."
Tachibana clenched his fist.
"(σ｀д′)σ Kero~?"
Little Aoi looked up at him, puzzled, eyes wide. His Trainer had just devoured what was obviously a Pokémon upgrade candy.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. I really need the power boost right now. I promise I'll let you try some next time."
He patted Aoi on the head, soothing the small frog Pokémon, then began retrieving the remaining items.
He handed over the [Yache Berry] and [Green Pokéblock].
"Come on, don't pout. Have some fruit and a treat."
The white-tier items didn't come with system descriptions, so just like last time, he fed them to Aoi to test their effects.
Aoi hesitated at the Green Pokéblock, scrunching up his face before swallowing it in one go.
Tachibana remembered, green ones were known to taste bitter.
Still, Pokéblocks usually enhanced one aspect or another. There shouldn't be any harm in eating them.
Pokémon had strong instincts about food, it wasn't all about taste.
The [Good Healing Ointment] also looked promising. Last time he used the regular version for testing. This one he'd keep, maybe even reverse-engineer the formula.
Since the system had already localized it into actual medicine, there might be a way to reproduce it.
Among the white junk, the [Gold Nugget] was a pleasant surprise. About the size of a marble, he made a mental note to find an opportunity to sell it off.
His parents, both victims of the last war, had left behind a modest pension. Due to Kirigakure's harsh "Bloody Mist" policies, the village actually took good care of war orphans.
Still, with only a Chūnin and a medic's pay behind him, Tachibana's funds barely covered daily living and basic training.
As for the miscellaneous tools and curios, he'd store those away for now. Who knew when they might become useful?
"This ten-pull really paid off. The Torrent trait isn't immediately useful without offensive Water jutsu, but the Water Style – Flowing Ring healing ninjutsu opens up new possibilities… Maybe I need to reconsider my graduation strategy."
He glanced down at Aoi, who was busily helping him pack things away.
"I've got the trait, I've got the skill, and even the Mystic Candy works on me."
"So tell me, who's the real Pokémon here?!"