[First time defeating a Pokémon-Rattata. Reward: 1 lottery chance.]
[First time inviting a companion to join the team. Reward: 1 lottery chance.]
Two glowing messages sat in the notification bar, each neatly stamped with a time. One had popped up when Pikachu knocked out Rattata, the other when Misty agreed to travel with him.
Ash scratched his chin. "So every 'first' gives me a lottery spin… I wonder what other firsts count? Guess I'll have to ask the veterans later."
Without further hesitation, he focused his mind and tapped the roulette icon.
This time, the wheel looked different, there was now a "Double Draw" option.
Ash's eyes lit up. "Two in a row? Don't mind if I do!"
The wheel burst into motion, two glowing pointers spinning wildly in opposite arcs.
"Stop!" Ash shouted.
Both pointers slowed, clattering across the colored sections until they clicked into place.
One pointer landed squarely in a razor-thin slot: the A-rank section.
The other pointer slid into a broader area: the C-rank section.
Ash blinked. "One A and one C?"
Somewhere out there, "Fishing Enthusiast Ash",the unlucky variant who had rolled over a hundred times without even pulling a B, was probably howling at the sky. Meanwhile, this newbie had done just three spins and already bagged an S, an A, and a C.
Ash rubbed the back of his head, sheepish but secretly thrilled. "Even I can tell… my luck here is kind of broken."
[Congratulations! You have obtained A-rank ability: Insight Eye (A)]
[Congratulations! You have obtained C-rank ability: Speed Limit Break (C)]
Unlike Wave Power, no glowing tutorials or visions appeared in his mind this time. Just plain text.
"Uh, and how am I supposed to use these things?"
Ash did what he always did when clueless: he opened the group chat.
[Newbie Ash: Guys, I pulled Insight Eye (A) and Speed Limit Break (C). Which of you veterans owns these?]
[Fishing Ash: …WHAT?! How many times have you drawn already?! Another A-rank?! Did you just blow through a hundred spins at once?!]
[Newbie Ash: Huh? No, I only drew twice.]
[Fishing Ash: %$#2#$]
Someone else pulls an A-rank in two spins, while I can't even get a C after ten in a row, how is that fair?! Is this rigged?! Who made this busted chat group?! I'm gonna hunt them down!!
Fishing Enthusiast Ash howled into the void of his own world. If leaving the group were possible, he'd have rage-quit ages ago.
[Breeder Ash: Your luck is downright divine. Is this what they call beginner's blessing?]
[Aura Ash: Honestly, it tracks. The rest of us joined as "finished accounts." The only true newcomer is the freshly arrived me. So all that newbie luck pooled into him, didn't it?]
[Champion Ash: Makes sense. For us, anything below A-rank barely moves the needle. But still, the rookie's luck is insane. And that C-rank he pulled? It's one of the best in the C tier.]
[Newbie Ash: So… what did I actually get?]
[Breeder Ash: The A-rank is mine. As a top Breeder, I've trained my eyes to be unmatched. One look at any Pokémon and I can read its data, sometimes even Detect the moves it knows.]
[Breeder Ash: Since yours is A-rank and not S, it won't be my full ability. I'm not sure exactly where the cap is at A, but at minimum you should be able to see a Pokémon's potential ceiling for each stat.]
[Newbie Ash: Potential… ceiling?]
[Breeder Ash: Pokémon strength has "tiers," but even within a tier there are big differences in stats. Using the group's S-to-E grading, I map each stat's potential the same way.]
[Breeder Ash: Example: say two Pikachu are both Champion-tier. If one Pikachu's Speed potential is A and the other's is S, then the S-rank Pikachu will be much faster in normal conditions, like, noticeably.]
[Breeder Ash: Levels can rise through care, training, and battle. Given time and proper raising, most partners can climb high, some even to Champion tier.]
[Breeder Ash: But stat potential is different. Its upper limit is largely fixed from the start. A Pokémon might reach Champion tier overall, yet its Speed (or Attack, etc.) could still top out at, say, E in same-tier comparison. That "cap" is what people mean by potential.]
Ash's head spun a little, but he got the gist.
In short: in theory, most Pokémon can push their overall strength very high through training and experience. But each individual stat has its own built-in ceiling, its potential. Some Pokémon are born with higher caps in certain areas (like an A in Strength), while others might top out at B or C. And even a one-rank gap at the same tier can create a big difference on the battlefield.
[Breeder Ash: But nothing is absolute. Nature is full of mysteries, and Pokémon themselves are creatures of infinite potential. More than once, my Insight Eye has shown me Pokémon with stats capped at C-rank… only for them to break through and reach B-rank anyway.]
[Breeder Ash: And almost every time, those breakthroughs came from Pokémon raised with extraordinary care, partners whose Trainers treated them like family. That bond can create miracles.]
A Pokémon's potential may have a ceiling, but Pokémon themselves embody limitless possibility. When the power of bonds takes hold, so-called "limits" become nothing more than walls waiting to be broken.
That's why people say: There are no weak Pokémon, only weak Trainers.