Inside the room, Peter stared intensely at the poop-yellow button on the lottery interface, his heart pounding slightly.
It gave him a strange sense of déjà vu—like back in his previous life, when he'd blown his entire month's living expenses on a gacha banner…
After thinking for a moment, he walked into the bathroom, filled a large basin with clean water, and—almost ceremoniously—squeezed out a generous dollop of facial cleanser, carefully rubbing it between his palms.
Sure, superstition didn't save the unlucky, and money changed fate more than prayer ever could—but before every major pull, Peter always washed his face.
Somehow, it felt like it boosted his luck just a little.
A moment later, carrying a faint, pleasant fragrance, he returned to the bed and opened the system panel.
[Ding! Master Lottery activated. Number of draws: 5. Insufficient balance. Please recharge…]
"Confirm recharge!"
[Ding! Consumed 500,000 Poké Dollars.
You have obtained:
• Unknown Normal-type Pokémon Egg
• Everstone
• Power Belt
• Power Band
• TM: Bounce]
"HOLY—!! A Pokémon EGG?!"
Peter's entire body clenched, and he actually sprang straight up from the bed, startling Buneary beside him.
Buneary tilted her head, looking at him as if she were seeing her Trainer for the first time.
"Mi-kyu? (Since when could Master jump that high with just his butt?)"
Smoliv stared at him with sparkling eyes full of admiration.
"Mi-no… (So Master is actually this amazing…)"
Peter, meanwhile, was still grinning idiotically at the system inventory, completely unaware that his spontaneous vertical leap had shattered his Pokémon's understanding of reality.
[Unknown Normal-type Pokémon Egg:
A healthy, fragile new life rests within. With careful nurturing, it will hatch into a high-quality Normal-type Pokémon.]
[Everstone:
Held item. Prevents a Pokémon from evolving even when evolution conditions are met.]
[Power Belt / Power Band:
Base-stat training items. While held, they reduce Speed due to added weight, but significantly enhance Defense / Special Defense growth.]
[TM – Bounce (Single-use):
A compatible Pokémon can learn Bounce while sleeping.]
[Bounce:
Flying-type physical move. Power 85.
Turn 1: Leaps high into the air.
Turn 2: Crashes down at high speed.
30% chance to paralyze the target.]
"Not bad at all…" Peter murmured in satisfaction.
He carefully took the egg out of the system inventory.
It was pure white, streaked with faint violet patterns. The surface felt smooth to the touch, slightly warm—radiating a calm, soothing presence that made his heart feel oddly at ease.
"Welcome to the family, little one…" Peter smiled.
He planned to find an incubator later and get the egg hatching as soon as possible.
Next, he swapped Buneary's held item from the Power Anklet to the Everstone.
With her friendship already sky-high, evolving too early would ruin his carefully planned, targeted development.
The Power Belt went to Smoliv, boosting her Defense growth.
The Bounce TM was given to Buneary.
With a Flying-type move in her kit, she'd have a solid answer against Fighting-types—and Bounce was also perfect for stalling turns and disrupting tempo.
After finishing the setup, Peter opened both Pokémon's status panels.
[Buneary ♀ | Lv.20 (Intermediate)]
Ability: None
Talent: 337 (Species Cap: 350)
Friendship: 166
———
[Smoliv ♀ | Lv.19 (Novice)]
Ability: Early Bird
Talent: 260 (Species Cap reached)
Pre-allocated Talent:
• Defense +5
• Special Defense +5
• Special Attack +5
Friendship: 133
———
Buneary's Klutz had been completely eliminated, though developing Acceleration would still take time.
Her talent had nearly reached the species cap, and her overall strength had skyrocketed compared to before.
Smoliv's panel now displayed pre-allocated talent values—Peter's intention was to build her into a special tank. She was also rapidly approaching her evolution threshold.
"Still need more battles…" Peter muttered.
To truly perfect both partners, he needed a large number of over-level victories to farm talent points.
"Ding-ling-ling—"
His phone rang.
Seeing the pink avatar on the screen, Peter immediately answered.
"Good morning, Peter!"
Whitney's cheerful face appeared on the video call. Her fair skin, still carrying a hint of baby fat, glowed softly—heart-stoppingly cute.
"Morning~" Peter greeted her, then noticed something odd about the background.
"You're not at the ranch?"
"Ah—yeah! I, uh, came to hang out with DJ Mary yesterday… hahaha…"
Whitney flashed a slightly flustered smile and quickly turned the camera to show the girl sitting beside her.
"Hi Peter. You can call me Guide Dog Mary."
"…Huh?" Peter froze.
Before he could ask further, Whitney popped back into frame, waving her hands.
"Don't mind her, she's been a little emo lately!"
"I see…" Peter didn't suspect a thing, chatting as usual about his recent gains.
Every day, he received a call from Whitney. Seeing her always reminded him of the promise he'd made on the day he set out.
She was like a wind-up key—quietly pushing him forward.
"So, when are you planning to challenge a Gym?" she asked.
"Mmm… I told you before, right? Probably tomorrow. I'm heading to Oreburgh City first to challenge the Oreburgh Gym. Today I still need to finalize my tactics."
"Oh! Okay~ Then I'll cheer for you tomorrow!"
"Yeah!"
Peter assumed she meant cheering through the call—completely unaware that Whitney was already on a flight to Sinnoh.
…
Inside the Dream Space, Peter first assigned Buneary's training task for the day:
[Bounce Proficiency Training:
In the game Chocobo GP, accumulate 10 minutes of airtime while driving the beginner kart.]
He picked a map full of jump platforms for her.
Then, taking Smoliv with him, Peter entered the adjacent Simulation Battle Room.
"System, initiate simulated battle matchmaking!"
[Simulated battle initializing…]
[Ding! Match found. Opponent: Cranidos Lv.33.
Battle classified as two-tier over-level. Talent points will be awarded regardless of outcome.]
"…Huh?"
Peter's eyes narrowed.
Cranidos—a fossil Pokémon. Any living specimen in the modern era existed only thanks to genetic fossil restoration.
And the signature Pokémon of the Oreburgh Gym Leader, Roark, was Cranidos' evolution—Rampardos.
Based on the current timeline, Roark's partner should still be a Cranidos. It only evolved later after a Team Rocket incident.
"Well, perfect," Peter said calmly.
"Let's treat this as advance training."
His gaze sharpened.
"Smoliv—Leech Seed!"
"Cranidos—Flamethrower!"
A roaring pillar of fire surged forward, instantly burning away most of the seeds Smoliv had released—then continued straight toward her without losing momentum!
The battle had begun.