Chapter Sixteen: Journey to Tranquil Waters City
“Ding, it’s the beginning of the month. Congratulations, host, you have received one monthly lottery chance. Would you like to draw now?”
Today was Cheng Cheng’s very first monthly lottery draw. If not for the system’s reminder, he would have completely forgotten about it. Over this period, Cheng Cheng had been taking care of Pokémon in the breeding house. Although sales weren’t great, he’d managed to sell a few Pokémon. Now, only a single Ralts and two Natu remained, along with five or six eggs. Cheng Cheng decided he’d have to venture out again soon to see if he could buy more somewhere.
But today’s lottery took priority. He decided to draw his prize first.
“System, start the lottery.”
“Ding, the monthly lottery has begun. Congratulations, host, you have received a Mr. Mime.”
Pokémon: Mr. Mime
Type: Psychic, Fairy
Level: 30
Rank: Green
Rarity: Rare
Ability: Soundproof
Hidden Ability: Technician
HP: 24/40
Attack: 18/45
Defense: 23/65
Special Attack: 33/100
Special Defense: 35/120
Speed: 34/90
Total: 207/460
Held item: None
Moves: Confusion, Barrier, Slap, Light Screen.
A Mr. Mime! There shouldn’t be any of these in Hoenn. Cheng Cheng only knew of Ash’s Mr. Mime. Usually, Mr. Mime lived in Kanto and were typically owned by circus troupes—after all, they were born for mime performances.
This Mr. Mime was high-level, ranking second among Cheng Cheng’s Pokémon, and its potential was quite impressive—significantly higher than Chimecho’s. Cheng Cheng was delighted, grateful it wasn’t a non-psychic-type Pokémon.
He checked his own stats:
Name: Cheng Cheng
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Achievement Points: 500
Psychic Power Level: Seed
Bound Pokémon: Chimecho, Ralts, Abra, Gothita, Natu, Spoink, Slowpoke.
Cheng Cheng had completed two small tasks recently, earning another 300 achievement points. He’d noticed there were potions in the shop to raise a Pokémon’s rank, but they were extremely expensive. He really wanted to improve Chimecho’s rank, since it was his first companion.
After breakfast, Cheng Cheng headed down to the breeding house. Today, he’d arranged another match—Gothita versus Spoink. Gothita had lost their previous match and, feeling indignant, demanded a rematch. Cheng Cheng had no choice but to agree.
“Alright, today’s match is Gothita versus Spoink. I’ll only act as referee and won’t give either of you any advice.”
Gothita believed it lost last time because of Cheng Cheng’s coaching, so now it wanted to fight unaided.
“Ready… begin!”
At his signal, Gothita immediately used Pound. Spoink nimbly bounced away, then countered with a Tackle, sending Gothita flying.
“Gothi~!”
Gothita was furious and attacked with Pound again. Spoink dodged and charged back in, striking Gothita once more.
But this time, Gothita’s flurry of slaps landed squarely on Spoink.
“Gothi~ Gothi~ Gothi~ Gothi~ Gothi~!”
“That’s... Double Slap!”
Cheng Cheng hadn’t expected Gothita to learn Double Slap.
Gothita unleashed a relentless barrage of slaps, knocking Spoink out of the fight.
“That’s enough, Gothita. Stop, you’ve already won.”
Cheng Cheng glanced at Spoink’s cheeks, which puffed out even more than their usual roundness.
“I declare Gothita the winner of this match.”
“Gothi~!”
Gothita was overjoyed and began to dance in place.
“Don’t be discouraged, Spoink. Let me put some medicine on you; you’ll feel better soon.”
Cheng Cheng took out a healing potion and gently applied it to Spoink’s cheeks.
“Ding! New tasks issued:
Task 1: Capture 20 psychic-type Pokémon within a month. Reward: 500 achievement points.
Task 2: Capture 10 Pokémon above pale green rank within a month. Reward: 500 achievement points.”
Seeing these two tasks made Cheng Cheng a bit anxious. Completing both would net him 1,000 achievement points—enough to buy a potion to raise a Pokémon’s rank. But both tasks would be tough to complete. Psychic types were rare; catching 20 in a month would be hard enough. The second task, catching 10 Pokémon above the starter Pokémon’s rank, was even more difficult. Though, there was some overlap between them.
No time to waste, Cheng Cheng decided to set out tomorrow, but first he needed to figure out where to go. Most Pokémon around Verdanturf Town were flying-types; catching 20 psychic-types in the local woods was impossible. He’d have to think of somewhere else.
Back upstairs, Cheng Cheng searched his computer for places known to have large numbers of psychic Pokémon. He found nothing but sites where powerful psychic-types appeared, but he needed quantity, not strength.
Since he couldn’t pick a specific type, he’d focus on numbers. He looked up the places in Hoenn where one could catch the most Pokémon. Aside from the various forests, there was the Safari Zone.
The moment he saw “Safari Zone,” Cheng Cheng realized how he’d overlooked it. The Safari Zone had a huge variety of Pokémon. Despite a catch limit, he could still catch quite a few. Checking the location, he found the nearest Safari Zone was in Slateport City.
He immediately looked up the route from Verdanturf to Slateport. It wasn’t far, so Cheng Cheng decided to travel on foot. To avoid getting lost again, he sketched out a map for himself.
He packed simply, taking some clothes, then gathered his Pokémon and headed downstairs. This time, he wouldn’t take all of them—just Chimecho, Mr. Mime, Slowpoke, and Ralts. The rest would stay at the shop.
“Ding! New task issued:
Task 3: Go on a journey. To become a great psychic Pokémon breeder, traveling is essential. The host must embark on a journey of some length. The system will judge the journey’s quality and award achievement points accordingly—the better the journey, the greater the reward.”
Cheng Cheng hadn’t expected another task, and this one had no rigid requirements. It overlapped with the previous two, practically handing him free achievement points. He kept quiet about it—if the system realized, it might cancel the task.
“Xiaoli, I’ll be away for about a month. I might send Pokémon back during that time, so watch for them. You and the others handle the sales while I’m gone. Oh, and let Ali know too.”
“Alright, boss. Safe travels!”
Cheng Cheng left the breeding house and headed for the city center. For a month-long journey, he needed plenty of supplies. He also wanted to get his four Pokémon checked at the Pokémon Center.
He bought some healing potions and plenty of Poké Balls from the store, then made his way to the Pokémon Center.
The Pokémon Center was always bustling with trainers from all over. Many brought Pokémon with them from distant places, so Cheng Cheng could see all sorts of species.
“Miss Joy, could you check my Pokémon for me, please?”
“Certainly. Please wait a moment.”
Pokémon checkups took some time, so Cheng Cheng sat at a nearby table, closed his eyes, and carefully reviewed his three tasks, thinking of possible strategies.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed four trainers who’d just arrived from out of town.
Cheng Cheng’s heart skipped a beat—he hadn’t expected to run into them here.
Since arriving in the Pokémon world, Cheng Cheng had always wondered whether this was the real Pokémon world or the one from the anime. Seeing these four, he realized it must be the anime’s universe.
Of course, the four were none other than Ash Ketchum and Pikachu. This was Hoenn, so Ash’s companions must be Brock, May, and Max.
He hadn’t expected to encounter them today. Judging by the timing, this must be around the anime’s second season—Ash was headed to the Hoenn League, and May was participating in the Pokémon Contests.
The four of them looked slightly different than their animated counterparts, but Cheng Cheng was certain, especially after seeing Pikachu. It wasn’t that Pikachu looked different, but rather its stats were astonishing.
Pokémon: Pikachu
Type: Electric
Level: 34
Rank: Blue
Rarity: Common
Ability: Static
Hidden Ability: Lightning Rod
Special Ability: Protagonist Aura (can sometimes unleash one to a hundred times its power)
HP: 29/35
Attack: 32/55
Defense: 17/30
Special Attack: 32/50
Special Defense: 28/40
Speed: 57/90
Total: 195/300
Held item: None
Moves: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Thunder Shock, Agility, Tackle, Growl, Volt Tackle.
Protagonist Aura? One hundred times power? No wonder Pikachu could go toe-to-toe with legendary Pokémon.
“Hey, system, why don’t I have Protagonist Aura? I’m the protagonist too, you know!”
“Of course you have it, host. It’s just a different power. Besides, you have this system as your golden finger.”
The system sounded quite proud.
Cheng Cheng thought about it. It was true—he’d crossed over into this world and inherited the breeding house. He did have protagonist privileges, and with the system as his cheat, his achievements would surely be impressive.
What an adorable Pikachu! Cheng Cheng had always loved Pikachu, and because of the system, he couldn’t have one himself, which made him sad for a while.
But now that he’d seen Pikachu in person—and not just any Pikachu, but the legendary one—he wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by.