"Xia Yu, I challenge you to a battle!" A young boy, clutching a red-and-white Poké Ball, shouted loudly at Xia Yu.
"Are you sure?" Xia Yu looked at the boy with a cold expression, lifting his chin and gazing at the sky at45-degree angle. "My dad is the Bug-type Gym Leader of Starlight City. My brother is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Red Lotus City. I started training Pokémon at three, mastered Pokémon battle tactics by five, defeated all my peers by seven, and by eleven, I was unbeatable and retired from Pokémon battles. You sure you want to battle me? If you insist, put up all your pocket money as a bet!"
"Wah… I'm not challenging you anymore!" The young boy, hearing he'd have to wager all his pocket money, burst into tears and ran crying from the plaza.
"Xia Yu's lying again."
"He doesn't even have a single Pokémon, yet he comes here every day to show off."
"Such a disgrace to the Xia family, even scamming little kids."
…
Xia Yu ignored the surrounding gossip, his face showing no trace of shame. As a man with a mental age nearing forty, his skin was thicker than steel. As long as he could complete the system's tasks, he didn't care what people said.
[*Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the beginner task 'Victory Without Battle'!*]
[*Victory Without Battle: A powerful Trainer can defeat enemies with aura alone. Achieve 10 victories without using Pokémon. Progress: 10/10. Completed. Congratulations, Host, for earning the Beginner Gift Package.*]
Hearing the long-awaited system prompt, Xia Yu's eyes welled up. After tricking ten kids across several plazas, tarnishing his reputation, he had finally completed the beginner task.
"Finally done! Gimme my reward. A Mewtwo or Arceus will do—I'm not greedy."
"Open the Beginner Gift Package."
[*Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the one-time item Pokémon Detector and the one-time item Rare Treasure Detector.*]
"Huh? That's it?"
Xia Yu stared blankly at the items in his system space, dumbfounded. After all his efforts, becoming infamous across multiple plazas and scamming for a month, this was all he got?
No Mewtwo? At least a Tyranitar or Salamence would've been nice!
Or even a Shiny Charizard?
Just these two things?
…
Fuming, Xia Yu felt utterly cheated by this "Master System." In this life, he'd reincarnated into a parallel world similar to Earth with a fantastic start. His dad was the Bug-type Gym Leader of Starlight City—though ranked dead last among Xishu Province's Gym Leaders, still a Gym Leader. Later, his dad even caught a Volcarona, boosting his strength significantly.
His brother, building on their dad's solid foundation, had it even better. In his twenties, he was already the Fire-type Gym Leader of Red Lotus City, with his signature Pokémon also a Volcarona. Compared to a Bug-type Gym Leader, a Fire-type Gym Leader held much more prestige, given Fire's popularity and the tenfold number of Fire-type Trainers. His brother's position proved his skill.
With his father and brother's legacy, Xia Yu should've easily gotten a Larvesta as his starter Pokémon, with a bright future ahead.
But… this stupid system had other plans. Upon binding, it gave him a passive ability:
[*Master's Aura: A true Pokémon Master must have their own flair. The Host can only capture Pokémon with at least Heavenly King-level potential.*]
[*Potential Levels: Common, Rare, Elite, Lord, Overlord, Gym Leader, Heavenly King, Champion, Master, Legendary—ten levels total.*]
Heavenly King-level.
A Pokémon with Heavenly King-level potential was guaranteed to reach that level with proper training! His dad didn't even have a single Heavenly King-level Pokémon, and his brother only had one near-Heavenly King Volcarona!
Where was Xia Yu supposed to find a Heavenly King-level Pokémon? He'd seen a few Gym Leader-level ones, but that was it.
This *Master's Aura* passive meant that, at eighteen, Xia Yu still hadn't caught a single Pokémon. Most aspiring professional Trainers his age already had two or three, leaving him far behind.
Slightly regretful, Xia Yu pulled his cap low, put on a mask, and quietly left the plaza while checking his two rewards.
[*Heavenly King Pokémon Detector (One-Time Use): Locates the nearest uncaught Pokémon with Heavenly King-level potential.*]
*Rare Treasure Detector (One-Time Use): Locates the rarest undiscovered treasure within a 100-kilometer radius.*
Seeing the items, Xia Yu's face lit up, his earlier gloom fading. 'Fine, you stupid system, you've got some conscience.' The Heavenly King Pokémon Detector, though one-time use, was incredibly powerful.
"Perfect. Big Bro's home this week. He can come with me to catch it."
Xia Yu realized he couldn't go alone to catch a Pokémon in the wild, not without a single Pokémon of his own.
He pressed the Pokémon Detector's signal, and the system generated a map pinpointing the nearest uncaught Heavenly King-level Pokémon.
"That far?" Xia Yu checked the map—it was nearly 200 miles away. "Guess I'll need Big Bro's Charizard to fly me there."
…
"Bro, you free? Come with me somewhere," Xia Yu said upon returning home, looking at Xia Luo lounging on the couch.
Xia Luo, twenty-eight, single, and handsome, was a hit with young women but had a childhood sweetheart girlfriend. Their relationship was rock-solid, already at the marriage-talk stage.
"No time," Xia Luo replied, sprawled on the couch, scrolling through Douyin on his alt account, liking videos of pretty girls.
Xia Yu glanced at the screen. *So soft… ugh, so white.*
"Bro, I noticed your alt account has liked thousands of girls' videos," Xia Yu muttered. "Oh well, I'll just tell Sis-in-law about it. Didn't realize you were into blondes with blue eyes, Bro. No wonder you always complain about her chest."
"Where we going?" Xia Luo was suddenly on his feet, jacket on, reaching for a mask. "Didn't you want me to come? Hurry up!"
"Alright, Bro!" Xia Yu grinned.
"Just now…" Xia Luo hinted.
"What happened just now, Bro?" Xia Yu asked, feigning confusion.
"Nothing. Little Yu, you got enough pocket money? Here's ten grand. Take it. A guy's gotta be generous out there."
…