c1: Real Elf World"
Xia Yu, I want to battle you!" a young boy shouted, clutching a red-and-white Poké Ball the standard model issued to novice Trainers by the Pokémon League toward Xia Yu with trembling hands.
"Are you sure?" Xia Yu responded coolly, his gaze fixed upward at a precise forty-five-degree angle, a pose reminiscent of Lance of the Indigo Elite Four. "My dad is the Bug-type Gym Leader of Starlight City recognized by the West Shu Pokémon Association. My brother? He's the Fire-type Gym Leader of Red Lotus City, registered under the regional League's official badge circuit. I began training Pokémon at the age of three, studied type matchups and battle tactics by five, crushed my local Trainers' School circuit by seven, and voluntarily retired from competitive battling at eleven because it bored me. If you still insist on challenging me, then stake all your weekly allowance as a wager."
"Ugh… I don't want to battle anymore." The boy burst into tears at the thought of losing his hard-earned allowance and fled the public plaza in sobs, still clutching his Poké Ball.
"Xia Yu is scamming kids again."
"He doesn't even have a single Pokémon—he just shows up every day to bluff."
"He's disgracing the Xia family name, tricking Trainers barely past the starter registration age."
...
Xia Yu ignored the gossip circulating around him. His face showed neither shame nor guilt emotionless as a well-trained Metagross. At nearly forty years old mentally, his ego had long been shielded like a Bastiodon behind emotional armor. As long as the system missions were being completed, he didn't care how they cursed or ridiculed him.
Ding!System Alert: Novice Mission 'Win Without Fighting' complete!
Mission: Win Without Fighting
Description: A real Pokémon Master can win with presence alone. Secure 10 mock victories without deploying a single Pokémon.
Progress: 10/10 – Complete!
Reward: Novice Gift Pack issued.
Tears welled up in Xia Yu's eyes—not out of shame, but relief. Over the past month, he'd swindled and psyched out a dozen rookie Trainers across five local training plazas. His name was tarnished, but the system recognized success.
"It's finally over. Now give me the goods. Just toss me a Mewtwo or an Arceus, I'm not picky."
Command:Open Novice Gift Pack.
Result:You have received: (1) One-Time Use Pokémon Detector; (2) One-Time Use Rare Item Detector.
"…What?" Xia Yu stared, dumbfounded. He examined the items in the virtual inventory space, trying to remain composed. After a month of deception, a hit to his family's reputation, and constant public humiliation, all he got were two consumable tools?
No Mewtwo. No Tyranitar. Not even a single Dratini or shiny Gible?
Come on! Even Ash got a free Pikachu and that one broke the power-scaling chart more times than anyone could count!
...
His face darkened like a weathered Sableye. He'd truly been robbed by this so-called 'Master System.' It all began with what should've been a dream life: a reincarnation into a world much like the canonical Pokémon Earth regions, Leagues, Gyms, and all. With a system in hand, he should have soared.
His father, though considered the weakest Gym Leader in West Shu Province, still held the title, a Bug-type specialist known for once defeating a challenger using only a Leavanny and Scizor combination. Years later, the man managed to capture a Volcarona during a sandstorm outbreak near Meteor Ridge. With it, his standing had finally risen.
As for his elder brother, he'd taken the family legacy further. Already a Gym Leader in his twenties, he commanded a fully-evolved Fire-type squad built around a blazing Volcarona—reportedly bred from the father's original. He held the Red Lotus Badge, and his name was featured in the latest edition of the West Shu League Monthly.
Bug-types were underappreciated, true, but Fire-types were immensely popular. Competitive circuits saw them often, from Blaine in Kanto to Flint in Sinnoh. The pool of Fire-type Trainers was massive compared to Bug-types, and his brother proved himself among them.
With that legacy, Xia Yu should have easily inherited a Larvesta—if not a fully trained one, then at least an egg. His future seemed destined to blaze even brighter.
However… then the cursed system revealed his unique passive skill.
Passive Skill Unlocked: Master's Demeanor
"A Pokémon Master must exude legendary presence. Any Pokémon you catch must possess at least Heavenly King-level potential."
Aptitude Rankings:
Common, Uncommon, Rare, Superior, Elite, Gym Leader, Heavenly King, Champion, Master, Mythical Beast (10 tiers total).
Heavenly King-level!
Pokémon with Heavenly King aptitude were practically guaranteed to evolve into powerhouses, if properly trained and cared for. Even his father's Volcarona barely scratched quasi-Heavenly King standards, while his brother's highest was just approaching that bar.
But Xia Yu? He had no connections. No rich mentors. No elite sponsor like Professor Sycamore or Kukui. And despite seeing several Gym Leader-level Pokémon like a Sneasel used by a local martial arts trainer—none met his new required baseline.
His only path now was to wait, scheme, and grind until luck, fate, or some divine Poké Ball aligned his way.
This passive ability, Master's Demeanor, had effectively paralyzed Xia Yu's ability to make any captures. Despite being eighteen years old—an age by which most Trainers from regional academies like the Celadon City Trainer Institute or the Rustboro Academy had already captured and trained at least two or three Pokémon Xia Yu had yet to obtain even one. This placed him at a severe disadvantage compared to his peers, many of whom were already participating in League-sanctioned Gym challenges.
Suppressing a sigh of regret, Xia Yu pulled down the brim of his black League-issue cap and tightened the mask over his face. He quietly left the plaza where he had just pulled off his tenth no-fight "victory," all the while carefully examining the two new items now displayed in his system inventory.
"Heavenly King Level Pokémon Detector (One-time use): Detects the closest uncaptured Pokémon with confirmed Heavenly King-level potential."
"Rare Treasure Detector (One-time use): Scans within a 100-kilometer radius for the rarest undiscovered item or artifact not yet registered in the Pokédex or League Archive."
The gloom clouding his expression instantly lifted, replaced by a flicker of hope brighter than a freshly charged Electivire. "System, you're not so heartless after all," Xia Yu muttered. "Even if the Heavenly King Pokémon Detector is a single-use tool, it could give me something equivalent to what Lance or Steven Stone would train."
He clenched his fist in excitement. Trainers like Silver, who was Giovanni's son in the manga continuity, had started strong by obtaining rare Pokémon like Sneasel and Ursaring early on. If Xia Yu wanted to rise above them, he needed his own game-changing ace.
"My older brother's off duty this week," Xia Yu recalled, already planning. "If I ask him now, I might convince him to accompany me. I can't just go out on my own—I don't even have a single battle-capable Pokémon. The wild would eat me alive."
He activated the signal function on the Pokémon Detector. A holographic map materialized before him via the system UI, pinpointing a glowing beacon faint but unmistakable in the wilderness far from his current location.
"That far?" Xia Yu's brow furrowed. "That's over two hundred li from here. Way too far to walk… I'll need my brother's Charizard to fly me there. Hopefully he's not in one of his moods."
...
"Brother, are you free? I need you to go somewhere with me," Xia Yu said as he stepped through the doors of their family villa and found Xia Luo lounging on the living room sofa, half-dressed, half-distracted, eyes glued to his phone.
Xia Luo, twenty-eight, was a regional Gym Leader with charisma to match his skill. Handsome, sharp, and popular, he was considered a rising star within the West Shu League. His signature Pokémon, a Volcarona with flame dance so brilliant it was once mistaken for Ho-Oh by rookies, had already earned him a cult following. Yet despite his fame, he remained grounded in a long-term relationship with his childhood sweetheart—a promising Fairy-type Coordinator rumored to be prepping for the Grand Festival.
"No time," Xia Luo grunted, eyes still fixed on his second account on Douyin (the Chinese TikTok), his thumb casually scrolling through videos featuring models and streamers with dazzling camera filters.
Xia Yu glanced sideways at the screen. The lighting was too soft. The complexions too airbrushed. The chest-to-waist ratios too unrealistic.
"…Brother, I recall your alt account has liked over a thousand beauty influencers," Xia Yu muttered under his breath. "Guess I'll go mention that to Sister-in-law. Who knew you had a thing for blondes with blue eyes? No wonder you always said she needed to consider… enhancement."
"Where are we going?" Xia Luo asked now upright, zipped into his custom Fire-type Gym jacket embroidered with the Red Lotus City emblem. His Charizard-themed mask was already halfway on.
"Weren't you just lying down?" Xia Yu blinked, caught off guard.
"Didn't you say you needed me to come with you? What are we waiting for? Let's move!" Xia Luo urged, heading toward the door.
"Got it, bro," Xia Yu replied.
As they stepped out, Xia Luo suddenly turned back. "By the way…"
"Hmm? Did something happen just now?" Xia Yu asked innocently, feigning ignorance.
"Nothing." Xia Luo paused, pulled out his wallet, and handed over a thick wad of bills. "You got enough pocket money? Here—take ten thousand yuan. Be generous. Real men don't hold back when they're out adventuring."
...