"Whoosh!"
A whooshing sound filled the air as Aerodactyl spread its wings, soaring through the sky.
Its talons firmly gripped Ace's shoulders, carrying him high above Cinnabar Island.
After flying for a while, Aerodactyl slowly descended.
Ace landed on the ground, satisfied, then turned to Aerodactyl and said, "Your flying speed is good, but your flying technique still needs to be refined, like Zubat. Otherwise, you might not even be able to keep up with Zubat."
Hearing this, Aerodactyl looked at Zubat, hanging upside down on a nearby tree, somewhat puzzled. How could it possibly be slower than such a small creature?
"Thump, thump."
Ace tapped Aerodactyl's hard head and said, "Don't get distracted. Zubat has trained longer than you. If you can't match its speed, that would make me seem too incompetent. However, your current move coverage is quite comprehensive; you have all four elemental fang attacks, so I won't demand too much from you regarding moves. But in terms of physical conditioning, you need to improve quickly. I'm hoping you can replace an airplane and carry me across two regions."
Aerodactyl nodded blankly. For a Pokémon that had only recently hatched, it didn't yet understand the concept of flying across two regions.
Only when it truly understood would it realize how difficult that task was.
"Get into your Poké Ball for now."
Ace took out an empty Poké Ball and touched it to Aerodactyl's head.
Aerodactyl was drawn into the Poké Ball and settled without a single shake.
"Detected speed: You now have four Pokémon with a certain foundational strength. Main mission released."
"Main Mission (The Downfall of Team Rocket): The League's childish battles don't align with the true meaning of combat. Only real battle is the catalyst for rapid strength improvement. Follow the plot and destroy Team Rocket. Mission Reward: 10,000 gold coins, one space backpack, one random item, one Pokémon potential upgrade, and mission points based on mission completion rating. If the mission rating is below C-grade, the mission will be considered a failure. Penalty: Random erasure of 2-4 Pokémon, physical conditioning -2."
Ace stared at the sudden main mission, completely stunned.
This was the first time he'd seen a mission from the system that included a penalty!
And the penalty was severe: a minimum of two, and a maximum of four Pokémon erased. His physical conditioning, which he had painstakingly raised with two S-grade evaluations, would be reset to zero.
These penalties were simply something Ace couldn't endure at his current stage. If he failed, it would essentially revert Ace to his original state, forcing him to start everything from scratch.
No, perhaps it would be even harder to start over.
After all, in the beginning, at least Zubat had accompanied Ace throughout his journey.
Now, if he failed and four Pokémon were erased, Ace would have no Pokémon at all!
Wait, there should still be an unhatched Pokémon Egg as a trump card... What the hell!
Ace absolutely could not accept the penalties, so to avoid them, he had to complete this main mission.
"A C-grade or higher mission rating... That means it's impossible to remain uninvolved; I have to join the plot."
Ace frowned. This went against his principles, but to avoid the penalty, he had to do it.
"Wait... there's another possibility."
Ace suddenly thought of a method.
That was to defeat Sakaki!
Only when Sakaki fell could Team Rocket truly be considered destroyed.
Otherwise, as long as Sakaki existed, he could always reorganize Team Rocket whenever he wished.
"If I can truly defeat Sakaki alone, the mission completion rate certainly won't be low, and I can also avoid getting involved in all that mess as much as possible."
Ace thought silently, simultaneously pondering in his mind how to achieve this idea.
To battle Sakaki, he first needed immense strength; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to win.
Even in the plot, when Ash battled Sakaki, Ash used insulated gloves to block Pikachu's electricity, which gave him an edge over Sakaki, allowing him to stun and defeat Sakaki.
If Sakaki hadn't accounted for that, Ash probably wouldn't have been able to defeat him at all.
And thinking about it now, Ash defeating Sakaki with Pikachu was a bit far-fetched.
Sakaki at that time had only Ground-type Pokémon! How could he be defeated by Pikachu's Thunderbolt?
Ace thought long and hard and could only come up with one possibility.
That was, Sakaki intentionally lost to Ash to escape from Team Rocket, focus on training, and search for Silver.
But regardless of whether Sakaki truly lost to Ash or used it to escape, Sakaki's strength was undeniable. To defeat him, Ace had to increase his own strength.
With his current strength alone, it was impossible to defeat Sakaki!
Ace glanced at his current Pokémon:
Zubat: Level 19
Weepinbell: Level 23
Lapras: Level 22
Aerodactyl: Level 26
But this wasn't enough. In a true battle with Sakaki, it wasn't just about the Pokémon's strength; it was also a contest of the trainers' strength.
"System, if I were also assigned a level, what level would I be approximately?"
Ace asked the system, hoping that a level classification would help him understand himself more clearly.
"Trainer level set to one hundred. Host's current trainer level is nine."
The system quickly responded, but this answer left Ace stunned.
Only level nine...
His level was far too low. No wonder Bellsprout was a bit disobedient when he first caught it; it seemed to look down on Ace a little.
However, Ace later cleverly bought a Soothe Bell to increase Bellsprout's friendship, and with higher friendship, Bellsprout ignored Ace's level and became willing to obey his commands.
"Is there a way to quickly increase my trainer level?"
Ace asked the system again.
"First, undergoing life-or-death Pokémon battles can yield a large amount of experience. Second, diligent physical training to enhance physical conditioning can raise trainer level. Third, extensive knowledge and experience are also key to a trainer's growth and can increase trainer level."
Three paths, simple and clear.
Training, reading, and battle.
But while simple, there were no shortcuts.
"It seems that compared to raising Pokémon levels, trainer levels are much harder to increase."
Ace scoffed at himself, glancing at the Rare Candy in the system store and shaking his head.
"It is recommended that the host challenge Gyms. These Gym Leaders are quite strong, and battling them can earn a large amount of experience."
Seeing Ace's somewhat negative mood, the system once again pointed him towards a clear path.
"Gyms, huh..."
Ace fell silent, his expression incredibly complex.
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