"This main mission..."
Ace sighed, already guessing the system's nature.
The two previous main missions had punishments—either a Pokémon would be taken away or he would be erased, which were extremely severe.
However, even without these punishments, Ace would still have completed these missions.
First, the rewards were too good to refuse.
Second, since Ace had decided to settle in Kanto, he had to resolve some of the region's underlying problems. Otherwise, in a world where the foundations were crumbling, Ace wouldn't be able to escape the consequences.
Team Rocket or the Elite Four gaining power would definitely not be a good thing for Ace. With their personalities, they would surely carry out a major purge.
Some might say that the protagonists would handle these things.
But it was important to remember that with Ace's involvement, the future of this world had already changed.
What if there was a deviation, and Ash and his friends didn't win?
Furthermore, gambling your life on others was an extremely foolish thing to do.
It would leave you with no advantage whatsoever!
Ace's advantage was his familiarity with the plot. If he waited until Ash and his friends fought the Elite Four a year later, the number of Pokémon in their army would be far greater than it was now.
If Lance hadn't been an idiot and sent his Pokémon army to attack three cities, with the number of Pokémon they had, even if it exhausted Ash and his friends to death, they wouldn't have been able to get into Indigo Plateau.
If they had failed, a fully prepared Lance and his team would have swept through Kanto with a massive Pokémon army and a legendary Pokémon, Lugia.
If the Pokémon League didn't react in time, Lance and his team might have actually succeeded.
If that had happened, Lance and his team would have gained momentum, and under such overwhelming power, any resistance from Ace would have been a fool's errand.
In that scenario, Ace would have had no choice but to abandon everything in Kanto and become a wanderer in another region.
So, Ace had to strike first, defeating the Elite Four one by one. By doing it a year ahead of time, Lance's Pokémon army hadn't grown fully, their numbers were small, and the threat was significantly reduced.
Although Ace's choice might have seemed reckless, it was actually a decision made after considering all aspects, a move calculated to minimize the risk.
Now that the potential threats in Kanto had been completely resolved, Ace didn't have to concern himself with matters in other regions.
That's why the system's main mission no longer had a punishment, because there was no special need for it.
"System, open the two gift packages for me."
Ace cut the grilled meat into pieces and said to the system.
"Okay, gift packages are opening."
"You have received: Viridian Force (Modified), Body Strength +1."
"Viridian Force (Modified): In battle, restores 2 HP per second to a Pokémon. When out of battle, can consume your own stamina to instantly restore 50% HP to a single Pokémon. By touching a Pokémon's body, you can observe its memories and understand its thoughts as long as it doesn't resist. (Replaces the original Healing Aura and upgrades its battle state)"
The corner of Ace's mouth twitched. He knew, with absolute certainty, that this ability was something the system had stripped from Lance and given to him.
Ace opened his panel to check his current status.
Name: Ace
Trainer Level: 49
Chef Level: 28
Researcher Level: 29
Fighter Level: 3
Body Strength: +32
Nerve Reaction Speed: +34%
Special Ability: Viridian Force (Modified)
His Researcher and Chef levels were close to reaching level 30, a milestone that came with a title. As for his Fighter level...
He decided not to think about it. It was too embarrassing. Ace hadn't even used the training methods he had extracted from Bruno yet, so a low level was understandable.
However, the Viridian Force (Modified) was quite powerful. Not only did it offer continuous recovery, but it also provided quick recovery. It could also give him information and insights into a Pokémon's thoughts, making it a very versatile ability.
The feast went on late into the night. After it ended, Ace returned Blastoise, Ninetales, and Victreebel to their Poké Balls.
The completion of the main mission came with three opportunities to enhance a Pokémon's aptitude. This was a perfect chance to use them on these three Pokémon, which already had superior aptitude.
With this, besides Gengar and Lapras, who still had average aptitude, all his other Pokémon now had top-tier aptitude!
Once all his Pokémon had top-tier aptitude, Ace would start saving up his mission points to buy various energy sources for them.
After all, the higher the aptitude, the greater the benefits a Pokémon received from an energy source.
For example, the Toxic Wings he had given Crobat had made it a core skill, with its subsequent development and potential being clear for all to see, giving Crobat unlimited possibilities.
After washing up, Ace lay on his bed. He placed the three Poké Balls on his nightstand and, seeing that it would still be six hours before the enhancement was complete, he fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Ace was woken up by a ringing phone.
Ace, still half-asleep, sat up and answered the call, feeling disoriented.
"Who is it?! Don't you know it's only a little past four in the morning?!"
He was not in a good mood after being woken up from a sound sleep.
"Ace, come to Professor Oak's lab. He's... he's not doing so well..."
Green's voice came through the receiver, instantly making Ace sober.
"I'll be there in two hours. I'm on my way."
Ace was startled by Green's words. He immediately got up and got dressed, not even bothering to wash his face. He grabbed the three Poké Balls from the nightstand and found Aerodactyl.
Aerodactyl grabbed Ace and quickly flew him toward Pallet Town.
Two hours later, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, Ace landed at Professor Oak's lab.
Recalling Aerodactyl, Ace pushed open the unlocked lab door and rushed inside.
The moment Ace entered, he saw a furious Green scolding Ash and Gary. Her imposing aura had them too scared to even look up.
"Are you two idiots?! One is Professor Oak's own grandson, and the other lives right here in Pallet Town! Professor Oak has been kidnapped for nearly five days! If I hadn't come back, he would have starved to death! What were you two even doing?!"
Looking at the furious Green, Ace instantly understood why his address had been revealed. It seemed Professor Oak had suffered a lot.
Ace walked further in and soon found Professor Oak, hooked up to an IV drip, lying on a sofa.
When Professor Oak saw Ace enter, he coughed a few times and said, "Ace, did Agatha ever come looking for you again?"
"She did. I beat her back, and I also disbanded her Pokémon army. She shouldn't be bothering me anymore."
Ace said calmly, which drew the attention of Green, who had been scolding Ash and his friends.
"Sigh, I'm really getting old," a much thinner Professor Oak sighed with emotion. "Maybe... maybe it's time for me to retire?"
I'm so sorry, I'm late again today.