Uchiha Itachi followed Jiang Shi to the lottery counter and, following the procedure, pressed the start button. Black silhouettes flashed one after another.
Ding!
The image froze. From the outline, it appeared to be a bird-like Pokémon.
"It's a Murkrow, Mr. Itachi. Let me give you a heads-up," Jiang Shi said softly. "Because of its appearance and color, Murkrow is often considered an omen of misfortune—a Pokémon people love to hate."
"But in truth, Murkrow is loyal. It will gift its favorite shiny trinkets to its Trainer."
"The label of 'omen' is just something humans slap on whenever they need something to blame for bad luck."
"Bring it out for me to see."
Itachi nodded. Being rational, he paid no mind to the bird's bad reputation.
Jiang Shi went out back and soon returned, cradling a jet-black crow about half a meter tall.
Its beak and talons were yellow. The feathers on its head formed a witch's-hat shape, and its tail resembled a broom—just like a Western witch's familiar.
Murkrow's crimson eyes swiveled warily as it sized Uchiha Itachi up.
Itachi extended his right hand. The bird didn't move, its eyes still locked onto him. Just as Itachi sighed and began to withdraw his hand, Murkrow suddenly flapped up and landed on his shoulder.
"Caw! Caw!"
It beat its wings and cried out as if cheering for its new boss.
"Murkrow live in flocks, a bit like wolves. They recognize the strongest among them as their leader and obey every order without question," Jiang Shi explained.
"That's why they're cautious when choosing a partner."
"Seems like a little guy with character," Itachi chuckled, stroking the witch-hat crest. "How much for this one?"
"Same as before—210,000."
Jiang Shi nodded.
Without hesitation, Itachi swiped his card. After witnessing the earlier battle, he knew that 210,000 for such a creature was a bargain.
An absolute steal.
"Thanks for your patronage. Like Sasuke, you're an opening-day customer, so here's a box of energy cubes on the house," Jiang Shi said, producing the cubes and opening his phone.
"You'll also need a Pokédex. As a Trainer, this app is essential for keeping track of your Pokémon."
After receiving the Pokédex and the energy cubes, Itachi lingered, chatting with Jiang Shi about Pokémon history and legends. He was clearly fascinated.
Time flew by, and soon the trio had to head home. They bid Jiang Shi farewell and left the shop with their Pokémon.
On the way, they chatted excitedly about Pokémon battles. Naruto and Sasuke were completely hooked on the new sport, and even Itachi found himself planning to join in next time.
"You two get along surprisingly well."
A familiar voice suddenly cut in.
Naruto and Sasuke turned around to see their teacher, Aizen, smiling as he approached. Every hair on their necks stood on end.
"Professor Aizen," Itachi greeted politely, while Murkrow on his shoulder gave a small nod.
"Mr. Itachi, that pet on your shoulder—you bought it at the same place as Naruto, didn't you?"
Aizen's attention was instantly drawn to the striking bird.
"How did you know?!" Naruto blurted out.
"You hid a fox in your desk this morning," Aizen chuckled. "I'm rather interested. Could you tell me where you bought it?"
Forgetting the teacher-student hierarchy entirely, Naruto and Sasuke excitedly began pitching the Pokémon Shop.
If it hadn't been dinnertime, they would have dragged Aizen back there immediately.
After listening to their explanation, Aizen's curiosity was thoroughly piqued. He said goodbye and headed toward the shop.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shi had just completed the system's second mission and earned a spin on the Mythical Pokémon wheel.
He closed his eyes. The enormous roulette appeared in his mind. Without hesitation, he grabbed it and spun it with all his strength.
The pointer finally stopped on a pitch-black silhouette.
Wild white tendrils like flowing hair covered most of its face, revealing only a pair of bright blue eyes.
A jagged red collar encircled its neck, and long black tatters hung from its shoulders. Its clawed hands bore three fingers each.
The Dark-type Mythical Pokémon—Darkrai.
Known as the embodiment of nightmares, it roams on moonless nights. When not hostile, it drives intruders away by trapping them in nightmares.
When hostile, its power forces beings to truly experience the terror of darkness.
Undeniably, another powerhouse.
Jiang Shi was ecstatic. Darkrai had always been one of his favorite Mythical Pokémon. Its sleek, shadow-walking form was simply too cool.
He tossed a Poké Ball and released Darkrai. After briefly surveying its surroundings, Darkrai slipped straight into Jiang Shi's shadow.
From now on, no matter what danger arose, Darkrai could appear in an instant—an incredibly reliable trump card.
Moments later, the system issued its third mission.
Objective: Distribute Poké Balls to Trainers and explain their functions and usage; educate at least 2,000 people about Pokémon.
Rewards: Five million in cash, one top-tier Pseudo-Legendary egg, and the original TMs 00–25.
The rewards were as tempting as ever.
Pseudo-Legendaries are late bloomers with three-stage evolutions. Upon reaching their final form, their power skyrockets.
Many can rival or even surpass certain Legendary or Mythical Pokémon. With Mega Evolution, some can go even further.
A top-tier aptitude Pseudo-Legendary was the best of the best.
TMs allowed Pokémon to quickly master moves they couldn't learn naturally, effectively patching weaknesses.
In the Pokémon world, TMs sold in department stores are disposable copies. But the system's originals never break and can produce unlimited duplicates.
Owning the originals of TMs 00–25 was practically a fortune in itself.
Jiang Shi forced himself to calm down and began thinking about how to reach 2,000 people.
In this era, if you didn't ride a trend, your content would sink without a trace. Even a Pokémon educational video would likely disappear into the void.
And even if people watched it, few would genuinely learn anything. The system surely wouldn't count half-hearted views.
As he racked his brain for ideas, Professor Aizen stepped into the shop and smiled.
"You must be the proprietor selling Pokémon, I presume?"