"Mom..." Ash and Delia had walked together to the edge of Pallet Town, and the atmosphere of parting made them both unusually silent. Finally, it was Ash who broke the silence. "This is far enough."
"Alright..." Delia stopped, looking at Ash, who had grown so much that he was nearly her height now. Her gaze softened even more.
"So... I'm off then." The mood of parting subdued the excitement Ash had felt about setting off on his journey. He spoke with a slight downtrend in his voice, visibly saddened.
Feeling Ash's mood, Pikachu didn't speak but gently patted him.
"Yes, go ahead. Be careful on your journey. If you encounter danger, try to avoid it. Don't get hurt..." Delia repeated her advice, as mothers often do, but then she caught herself, stopping her chatter and finally simplifying her concerns into a farewell, "Bon voyage."
"Goodbye, Mom!" Ash nodded firmly, bowed to Delia, and then turned to leave, shaking off his melancholy and stepping forward with resolve.
Delia watched Ash's retreating figure, standing there until he was out of sight before turning around with a sense of loss. She knew that a fledgling must one day soar in the world, and her role was not to hinder his flight.
...
"Pika..." After walking in silence for over ten minutes, Pikachu finally spoke, patting Ash's head as if to offer comfort.
"It's okay, Pikachu." After these few minutes to collect himself, Ash had regained his composure. Feeling Pikachu's kindness, he smiled back at it.
"Pika!" Seeing Ash's spirits lift, Pikachu also beamed a bright smile.
"So... what should we do now?" Ash stopped and stood under the shade of a tree beside the road. The immediate priority was to head to Viridian City, not far from Pallet Town, but they needed to plan what to do along the way.
The choice was between heading straight to Viridian City without stops or taking time to train while advancing. The former option would allow Ash to avoid spending nights in the wild and steer clear of danger; the latter would provide ample training opportunities for him and Pikachu, although it would slow their progress.
The area around Pallet Town was also ideal for initial-level Pokémon battles. There were no particularly strong Pokémon here; even a group leader's strength wouldn't exceed that of a regular level, which in game terms, would be under level 20.
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"Right..." Suddenly, Ash remembered something about the system. When he received Pikachu, the system had mentioned something about a lottery.
His eyes brightened with the realization that his system had such a feature. He had initially thought it was just a minor aid for viewing Pokémon attributes, but now it seemed he had underestimated it. It appeared that he hadn't activated the full functionality of the system simply because he hadn't had a Pokémon until now.
Ash immediately called up the system interface in his mind. In addition to the feature that assessed Pokémon attributes, there were now three new tabs: Achievements, Goals, and Lottery.
Curious, Ash decided not to go straight to the lottery but instead explored the new features, starting with Achievements.
Initial Pokémon: Obtain your first Pokémon - Reward: 1 lottery draw
This was one of the only two achievements highlighted among many grayed-out entries. The other lit-up achievement was:
First Victory: Win a battle against another trainer - Reward: 1 lottery draw
Each achievement had awarded him a lottery draw. It seemed that completing achievements could earn lottery draws, though Ash wasn't sure what the lottery could yield. Still, it was certainly better than nothing.
Below these achievements, there were numerous others, such as capturing his first Pokémon himself, earning his first Gym Badge, and collecting all eight badges from a region.
Ash even noticed an achievement for capturing a legendary Pokémon, which made him gulp. Legendary Pokémon weren't as simple as they were in the games; in the real world, they were truly mythical, and even a team of Champions' main Pokémon could struggle against them.
"Achievements... I won't worry about them too much. If I achieve them, that's great; if not, no point in dwelling on them," Ash reasoned, calming himself. Even without this list of achievements, he would one day pursue these challenges anyway.
His gaze shifted from the Achievements tab to the next interface: Goals.
Upon opening the Goals interface, Ash discovered it was much simpler than the Achievements interface; there was no superfluous text, just a single line.
[Obtain Your Second Pokémon] - Reward: 1 lottery draw
"That simple?" Ash looked at the reward for the goal, surprised to find that completing goals also yielded lottery draws. He had assumed that lottery draws were a rare reward, but it seemed they weren't so precious.
"Capturing a second Pokémon is inevitable. I was planning to do it later, but since both achievements and goals offer rewards, I might as well do it now. That way, I can get two lottery draws at once." Ash pondered, "But first, I need to see what's available in the lottery interface."
Ash had previously planned not to capture his second Pokémon too soon because finding one that truly suited his preferences wasn't straightforward.
Pokémon are not all the same. Even Pokémon of the same species can have different temperaments and talents. To become a powerful trainer, naturally, you need to capture Pokémon with superior talents that also match your own personality.
Some Pokémon have meek temperaments and are not inclined towards battle. Such Pokémon are not suitable for competitive Pokémon battles or for trainer development.
This isn't a game where you can just capture a Pokémon with perfect IVs and a stubborn nature, and then adjust its EVs for battle. Real Pokémon involves many more considerations.
The temperament of a real Pokémon is even more crucial. If it doesn't like to fight, then capturing it won't be very useful in battle.
"Regardless, let's first see what the lottery interface offers," Ash said, turning his attention to the lottery interface and opening it.