"If only the system had a store… I could just buy Pokémon with high potential. Catching them in the wild is fun, sure, but finding one with top-tier potential is way too rare..."
Lying in his tent, Ash sighed, deep in thought as he analyzed the shortcomings of his system.
Compared to the golden-finger cheats other transmigrators got—exchange systems, upgrade panels—his was basically a glorified lottery machine. The draw rates were miserable too. While he had gotten some great items recently, most of them were one-time consumables. The only ones that truly satisfied him were Shave and the Sharingan.
"Wait a second… Can my system be upgraded?"
The idea struck him out of nowhere. In the novels, once transmigrators reached a certain strength or fulfilled key milestones, their systems would level up and unlock new features. Could his be the same?
"System! Get out here!"
Ash shouted the words in his heart.
Ding~!
[What does the host wish to know?]
The system's cold, mechanical voice responded. That same emotionless tone had once made Ash think this was a dumb, fully-automated support system with no intelligence. Maybe that's why he had never even considered asking about upgrades before.
"I want to know—can you be upgraded?"
Ash asked anxiously, nervous that the system would just say "no" and crush his hope.
Ding~!
[The system has five levels. Current system level: 0.]
[A Level 0 system can only use Luck Points to draw for attributes and items.]
[A Level 1 system unlocks the Mission Module. The system will begin issuing tasks, and the rewards will be based on their difficulty.]
[A Level 2 system unlocks the Temporary Store. This allows the host to exchange Attribute Points for items from any world.]
[A Level 3 system unlocks the Memory Store. Items from worlds stored in the host's memory will begin to appear randomly in the shop.]
[A Level 4 system unlocks the Random Store. This store is updated monthly and features items randomly drawn from all worlds across the multiverse.]
[A Level 5 system unlocks the World Store. All items from every world in the multiverse become available for purchase with Attribute Points.]
Ash was stunned.
He didn't know whether to feel happy about the possibilities or furious that he hadn't known this sooner.
"You've got to be kidding me! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"
He finally exploded in frustration. He'd had this system for over a decade and only now found out it had levels?
Ding~!
[This system is an auxiliary-type support system. It only responds to the host's questions. Discovering and utilizing features is the host's responsibility.]
"Ugh! You've been messing with me this whole time!"
Ash grit his teeth, veins twitching on his forehead.
"Fine! No more nonsense. Tell me—how do I upgrade you?"
Ding~!
[To reach Level 1: Spend 30 Attribute Points.]
[To reach Level 2: Host's strength must reach the quasi-Champion level of the current world.]
[To reach Level 3: Spend 1,000,000 Attribute Points and reach the Legendary Pokémon level of strength.]
[Level 4 and 5: Insufficient permissions to view requirements.]
"…Are you serious?"
Ash's face twitched.
"Level 1 and 2 are fine—but one million Attribute Points for Level 3?! And I have to be on par with a Legendary Pokémon?! That's a complete scam!"
He rubbed his temples, furious and helpless.
"And Level 4 and 5 don't even show the requirements? What am I supposed to do, just pray?"
Ash leaned back, staring up at the ceiling of his tent with narrowed eyes.
"If I had transmigrated to the Dragon Ball universe instead of this one, I'd be completely screwed. I probably wouldn't even be able to unlock the temporary store at this rate."
Still, even as he cursed the system under his breath, a spark of determination glinted in Ash's eyes.
Legendary-level strength, huh?
Then I guess I'll just have to get there.
"The system, upgrade immediately! Based on how much I've spent and how strong I've gotten, I should qualify for the next level!"
Ash muttered in frustration. He finally understood the upgrade mechanics and realized how badly he'd been shortchanged.
Ding~!
[System upgrade in progress. Estimated completion time: 5 hours. Please wait patiently, host.]
The reply was as cold and mechanical as ever. There was no emotion, no warmth—just a sterile program executing commands. Ash couldn't help but sigh.
So much for an intelligent system. All he had was a glorified menu screen.
"Whatever. I've already been scammed this far. I'll sleep it off and check out the new features tomorrow."
With the upgrade underway and nothing more he could do, Ash rolled over in his tent and went to sleep, already planning to explore the system's new capabilities at dawn.
5:00 AM – The Next Morning
As usual, Ash was up early. His body had long been trained for this—traveling through the wild, camping night after night—he had become a creature of habit. Five or six in the morning was his natural wake-up call.
Ding~!
[System upgrade complete. System level: 1. Mission Module and Temporary Store unlocked.]
Ash blinked as the prompt rang in his mind. He stretched, pulled on his jacket, and stepped out of the tent into the quiet morning air. Brock and Cynthia were still fast asleep in their own tents—he was clearly up earlier than everyone else again.
After a quick wash and a deep breath of fresh air, Ash crawled back into his tent, lay down, and focused his mind.
"System, open Mission Module and Temporary Store."
Ding~!
Two translucent blue screens appeared in his vision—visible only to him. One displayed the Mission Module, which was currently empty.
"Hm. Looks like missions only appear when I trigger them myself…"
He closed the panel and turned to the Temporary Store instead.
As the new menu loaded, Ash's eyes widened.
"Holy crap... This stuff is amazing—and insanely expensive!"
The store displayed a wide range of items and Pokémon from the world he currently inhabited. From TMs and evolution stones to powerful healing items and even Pokémon themselves—everything was categorized and priced in Attribute Points.
Ash quickly navigated to the Pokémon section and began comparing costs.
A Champion-tier Pokémon cost around 40,000 Attribute Points.
But the store also offered an alternative: high-potential Pokémon eggs. For instance, a fully-grown Champion-tier Tyranitar would cost him 40,000 points, but a Larvitar egg with Champion potential was only 10,000 points.
At first glance, that seemed like a deal. But Ash quickly realized the trade-off.
Sure, the egg was cheaper—but raising a Champion-level Pokémon from scratch would take three to four years of dedicated training.
Even with Ash's accelerated growth methods, using his techniques and training systems, it would still take at least a year and a half to bring a Larvitar up to that level.
"Yeah… definitely not cost-effective," Ash muttered. "Cheap up front, expensive in time."
He closed the store interface and sat up, deep in thought.
The new store was a game-changer, but he'd have to plan carefully—Attribute Points didn't come easily, and wasting them could set him back by months.
Still… this was progress. And the possibilities ahead had never looked more promising.
...
TN:
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