"Ethan, I want to battle you!"
A childish-looking boy held a red-and-white Poké Ball in his hand and shouted loudly toward Ethan.
"Are you sure?" Ethan looked at the boy with a cold expression, raised his chin, and gazed at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle. "My dad is the Bug-type Gym Leader of Starlight City. My brother is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Emberfall City. I started training Pokémon at the age of three, thoroughly studied the Art of Pokémon Warfare at five, defeated all peers without a single loss at seven, and at eleven I became unrivaled and retired from the Pokémon battling scene. Are you really sure you want to battle me? If you still insist, then take out all your pocket money as the wager!"
"W-waaah… I won't challenge you anymore."
When the childish boy heard that he would have to put up all his pocket money as a bet, tears immediately streamed down his face. He burst into loud sobs and ran away from the plaza.
"Ethan is lying again."
"He doesn't even have a single Pokémon, yet he comes here every day to show off."
"He's disgracing the Summers family, even scamming kids this young."
...
Listening to the gossip and mockery around him, Ethan remained completely unmoved. There was not the slightest trace of embarrassment on his face, as if nothing had happened at all.
As a man whose combined mental age was approaching forty, his skin had long since been tempered to a level where blades and bullets couldn't penetrate it. As long as he could complete the system's tasks, they could curse him however they liked.
Ding!
"Congratulations, Host, for completing the Beginner Mission [Winning Without Fighting]."
[Winning Without Fighting]:
A powerful Trainer can defeat enemies through sheer presence alone. Achieve 10 victories without using Pokémon.
Progress: 10/10. Mission complete.
Congratulations, Host, you have received the Beginner Gift Pack.
Upon hearing the long-awaited system notification, Ethan was moved to tears. He had deceived and coaxed ten children across several nearby plazas, sacrificing his reputation entirely, and after a full month of infamy, he had finally completed the beginner mission.
"Finally done. Hand it over—my reward. A Mewtwo or an Arceus will do, I'm not greedy."
"Open Beginner Gift Pack."
"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: One-time-use Pokémon Detector, One-time-use Rare Treasure Detector."
"…Huh? That's it?"
Ethan stood there in a daze, staring silently at the items inside the system space, unable to believe his eyes. After paying such a huge price—becoming notorious in all nearby plazas and scamming kids for an entire month—this was all he got?
No Mewtwo? Then at least give me a Tyranitar or a Salamence, right?
If not that, at least a shiny Charizard?
And you give me these two things?
...
Ethan Summers was filled with resentment. This so-called Master System had truly screwed him over. Originally, after transmigrating into this life, his starting hand had been excellent. He had crossed into a parallel world similar to Earth and even had a system to assist him. Even if it wasn't a heaven-defying start, it should have at least been a solid one.
His father was the Bug-type Gym Leader of Starlight City. Although he ranked near the bottom among all Gym Leaders in Western Magnolia Province, he was still a Gym Leader, at the very least. Later on, his father even managed to subdue a Volcarona, causing his strength to skyrocket.
With the solid foundation laid by their father, Ethan's older brother had an even better start. In his early twenties, he became the Fire-type Gym Leader of Emberfall City in Western Magnolia Province, and his signature Pokémon was also Volcarona.
Compared to a "trash" Bug-type Gym Leader, the value of a Fire-type Gym Leader was far higher. Fire was a popular attribute, and the number of Fire-type Trainers exceeded Bug-type Trainers by more than tenfold. The fact that his brother could become a Fire-type Gym Leader meant he genuinely had real ability.
By that logic, with the accumulation of both father and brother, if nothing went wrong, Ethan should have been able to obtain a Larvesta as his starter Pokémon, with a bright future ahead of him.
But… this damned system refused to let things go his way. After binding with the system, he obtained a passive ability.
[Master's Demeanor]
A generation-defining Pokémon Master must have their own dignity and presence. The minimum aptitude of any Pokémon captured by the Host must be Elite Four-tier.
Aptitude Levels:
Common, Rare, Epic, Lord, Overlord, Gym Leader, Elite Four, Champion, Master, Divine— ten levels in total.
(TN: Elite Four tier is just so that its easier for Pokémon fans and I to understand the strength of the Pokemon. I don't wanna do it like I did on the Volcarona novel, I just confused myself with it.)
Elite Four-tier.
An Elite Four-tier Pokémon meant that as long as it was trained normally, it was guaranteed to grow into an Elite Four-level powerhouse! Even now, his father didn't possess a single Elite Four-tier Pokémon, while his brother only had a quasi–Elite Four-tier Volcarona.
Where was Ethan supposed to get an Elite Four-tier Pokémon? At best, he had only ever seen a few Gym-Leader-tier Pokémon before.
Because of the Master's Demeanor passive, Ethan still hadn't captured a single Pokémon to this day. At eighteen years old, many students aspiring to become professional Trainers already had two or three Pokémon, while he had none at all, falling far behind.
With a slight sense of regret in his heart, Ethan lowered the brim of his hat, put on a mask, quietly left the plaza, and began examining the two rewards in his hands.
[Elite Four-tier Pokémon Detector (One-time-use)]:
Detects the nearest uncaptured Pokémon with Elite Four-tier aptitude.
[Rare Treasure Detector (One-time-use)]
Detects the rarest undiscovered treasure within a radius of one hundred kilometers.
Upon seeing these two items, a look of delight appeared on Ethan's face, instantly sweeping away the earlier gloom. So, the damned system still had a conscience after all. Although the Elite Four-tier Pokémon Detector was a one-time item, its effect was extremely powerful.
"Perfect timing—my brother is home this week. I'll have him accompany me to capture it."
Ethan couldn't help but think that, given the fact he didn't even have a single Pokémon yet, there was no way he could go into the wild alone to capture one.
Ethan activated the Pokémon Detector. The system immediately generated a map, pinpointing the nearest uncaptured Pokémon with Elite Four-tier aptitude.
"So far?" Ethan glanced at the map. It was at least nearly one hundred kilometers away from his current location. "Looks like I'll have to let my brother take me there on his Charizard."
...
"Bro, got time? Come out with me for a bit."
After returning home, Ethan looked at Jake, who was lying on the couch, and spoke.
Jake Summers was twenty-eight years old, unmarried, handsome, and extremely popular with young women. However, he had a childhood sweetheart girlfriend, and their relationship was excellent—they were already at the stage of discussing marriage.
"No time." Jake lay on the couch, scrolling through Snapverse (like Tiktok) on his alt account, liking videos of beautiful women.
Ethan glanced over. The screen looked really soft… cough, really white.
"Bro, I remember your alt account has liked thousands of pretty girls," Ethan muttered to himself. "Never mind, I'll just tell Sister-in-law about your alt. Didn't expect this, bro—you actually like blondes with blue eyes? No wonder you're always complaining that Sister-in-law's chest is small."
"Where are we going?"
At some point, Jake had already stood up, put on his jacket, and was preparing to put on a mask. "Didn't you want me to accompany you? Hurry up, then."
"Alright, bro," Ethan replied.
"About earlier…" Jake said meaningfully.
"Bro, did anything happen just now?" Ethan asked with an innocent, puzzled expression.
"It's nothing. Ethan, is your allowance enough lately? Here's ten thousand—take it and spend it. A man should be generous when he's out."
(End of Chapter)