"Damn it, damn it..."
Back in the tree, Ace had healed Bellsprout, but his face was filled with gloom.
Ace's original plan was to keep his distance from the two main protagonists. However, seeing Bellsprout being bullied, he couldn't hold back and directly taught Gary Oak a lesson.
Once he had an interaction with this theoretical second male lead, Ace was sure that if he ever showed off again, he would likely be targeted by the protagonists.
If he ever ran into trouble then, he might get dragged into their plot.
"Stay low, absolutely stay low!"
Having decided to avoid any further interaction with these people, Ace glanced at his unfinished side quest and decisively gave up on the "Chosen One" path.
While he might be able to get a starter Pokémon and a Pokedex from Professor Oak if he tried hard enough, the truth was, once he got on Professor Oak's boat, getting off would be virtually impossible.
After that, he would be labeled as Professor Oak's associate and would surely be noticed by the Pokémon League.
After all, Professor Oak, if one calculated the time, was the Indigo League Champion twenty-four years ago.
How could the League not value someone appointed by a Champion?
This could be seen from how Ash and his friends constantly encountered various dangers later on; many of the League's dangerous tasks were handed over to them.
Ace deeply understood that he wasn't a protagonist and didn't have any "protagonist's halo." Rashly interfering in those matters could lead to his demise.
So, to survive, Ace had to try his best to stay away from the protagonist's team, otherwise, he might be dragged into trouble at any moment.
As Ace pondered his next move, the system gift box kept flashing before his eyes, signaling him to open it.
"Sigh, open it."
Ace stroked Bellsprout's head. After what just happened, Bellsprout was no longer averse to Ace touching it.
"Congratulations to the host for gaining Body Strength +1."
His physical strength increased again, and Ace was immediately enveloped by a comfortable sensation. Three seconds later, the comfort disappeared, and many parts of Ace's already tight clothes ripped open.
"...These clothes are unwearable now."
Looking at his torn clothes, Ace felt a bit like crying.
Buying clothes was an expense, and he hadn't worn these for long before they became unwearable.
But when Ace looked at the torn areas of his clothes, he was also somewhat shocked.
Ace's body had grown sturdier, his flesh firm and strong, and he could faintly see the outlines of muscles beneath his skin.
"Tsk, this kind of rapidly developed muscle is probably what those muscle-bound guys who gorge on protein powder dream of."
As Ace mused, the corpse of a Caterpie was offered to him.
"Thank you for your kindness, Bellsprout."
Ace accepted the Caterpie. Although it didn't have much meat, it was Bellsprout's sincere gesture.
He pulled out a surgical knife from his backpack and directly cut open the Caterpie's skin.
Green bodily fluids flowed out, and Ace directly pulled out a white, fleshy part from inside the Caterpie.
This was the edible part of the Caterpie. Without lighting a fire, Ace simply put the picked meat into his mouth, chewed it vigorously, and then swallowed it.
Caterpie meat wasn't delicious, but in the culinary knowledge Ace had acquired, there was a record that Caterpie meat needed to be marinated and then deep-fried to make an extremely delicious crispy fried dish.
Of course, this required a proper kitchen; in the wild, it was out of the question.
In emergency situations, eating raw was the best way to supplement nutrition.
Thankfully, Pokémon didn't have to worry about parasites, otherwise, with Ace's eating habits, he'd be infested with worms and suffer various complications within a week.
"Congratulations to the host for tasting two types of Pokémon ingredients. Growth tasks are now issued."
"Growth Task (Dragon Hunter): Among numerous Pokémon ingredients, Dragon-type Pokémon meat is the most nutritious and the best tonic for the body. Hunt Dragon-type Pokémon, for each type of dragon meat consumed, Body Strength +1. Consume more than ten types of dragon meat, with a certain chance to gain 'Dragon Hunter' status, Dragon-type Pokémon capture rate +20%. Consume more than fifty types of dragon meat, guaranteed to gain 'Dragon Hunter' status, Dragon-type Pokémon capture rate +30%."
"Growth Task (Man at the Top of the Food Chain): Pokémon are also ingredients. Delicious dishes can further nourish the human body or Pokémon. For every ten different Pokémon dishes consumed, random body attribute is enhanced once. Consume more than three hundred types of Pokémon dishes, gain 'Gourmet' status, all Pokémon capture rate +20%."
The sudden tasks made Ace pause. He didn't expect his system to be so insane. Ace had originally thought it was a Pokémon training system, but now the style had shifted so much.
However, these two growth tasks were similar to daily tasks, offering continuous benefits.
But compared to daily tasks, growth tasks didn't provide gold coins or mission points, but rather benefits directly applied to Ace himself.
Pokémon capture rate didn't seem like a particularly strong attribute.
But if thought of in another way, this boost was effective for all Pokémon!
If Ace could complete both tasks, it meant his success rate for capturing Dragon-type Pokémon would directly increase by 50%!
A direct 50% success rate—what would that mean for Pokémon like Rayquaza or the Tao Trio?
That would be terrifying!
Night gradually deepened. Ace leaned against a tree trunk, half-asleep. Zubat hung upside down from a branch, also asleep. Bellsprout took over Zubat's watch duty, standing on a branch and observing the surroundings.
"Gary should be in Viridian Forest right now, likely trying to get stronger to defeat Brock in Pewter City and earn the Boulder Badge."
Ace silently thought to himself, recalling the manga plot he had read. Although he had forgotten many details, the only things Ace remembered clearly were Team Rocket's downfall and Pryce taking over Team Rocket.
"Being involved with the underworld has no future," Ace sighed internally. "Although in the later stages of the plot, several troublesome characters were absorbed by the League, the current League still has major issues."
Ace regretfully sighed in his heart, "Strength is still necessary, otherwise, even finding a peaceful place would be constantly disturbed."
Having made up his mind, Ace decided to stick to his current plan: still heading to Pallet Town.
However, Ace had no intention of going to Professor Oak's place anymore. Instead, he would directly take a boat from Pallet Town to Cinnabar Island!
Ace couldn't use Pewter City's fossil resurrection device. At this stage, the only fossil resurrection device Ace could access was in Blaine's laboratory on Cinnabar Island.
Aerodactyl, could only be revived there!