Pokémon: The Path of Ascension

"Let me see what tasks there are..." Shoji walked eagerly toward a small display screen.

There were quite a few of these display screens in the Task Hall; Toshi counted around 300 at a glance, and that was just in the area labeled for Novice and Basic Trainers.

After they had just inquired with the staff, they had learned that higher-level tasks could only be seen on the second floor or above, so with their current Trainer ranking, they could only browse the first-floor hall.

[Task name: Help Unload in the Warehouse; Requirements: Fighting-type or other strong Pokémon; Time: Tomorrow; Compensation: 300 yen.]

"This won't do. The compensation is too low, and I have to report to the Academy tomorrow, so I don't have time. "

[Task name: Take Care of the Garden; Requirements: Have two Basic strength Pokémon; Time: 3 days; Compensation: 1200 yen.]

"Oh, this does not meet the requirements."

[Task name: Drive Away Wild Pokémon from the Road; Requirements: Have more than 3 Basic strength Pokémon; Time: One week; Compensation: 2000 yen, League Points 30.]

"This is a League task!" Shoji was a bit excited, but it was short-lived. "What happened? Why did it suddenly disappear?"

Toshi smiled and explained, "It was definitely taken by someone."

"Ah... Even though it does not meet the requirements, I still feel bad seeing this task taken."

From Shoji's frustrated expression, it was clear how in-demand League tasks were.

After browsing for a while, Shoji noticed that most of the tasks were basically the same.

"Oh man, there aren't any tasks worth taking..." Shoji began to sound a bit impatient.

Toshi had also realized that there were practically no tasks they could take.

It made sense; they had no competitive edge themselves, and tasks suitable for them would surely be suitable for a vast majority of others. With so many people here wanting to accept tasks, if a fitting task appeared, it wouldn't be their turn at all.

"Sigh, Toshi, have you seen any good tasks?" Shoji asked dejectedly.

Toshi continued browsing as he replied, "Not yet; I'm still looking."

Unlike Shoji, whose family must have provided him with plenty of resources for cultivating his Taillow, Toshi needed to bear the cultivation resources for his Butterfree on his own. So even the slightest opportunity to make money was something he couldn't afford to overlook.

"Hmm? This task?"

At that moment, Toshi came across a task that looked quite simple.

[Task name: Discover the Source of Noise; Requirements: Novice Trainer; Time: Every night until discovered; Compensation: 100 yen/day.]

The task description was vague, and the compensation was quite low. To be honest, not many people would likely be interested in continuing to look at such a task. If it hadn't been the first task he found that he qualified for, Toshi might not have paid it any attention.

"Well, even a mosquito is meat, and after searching for so long to find this task, it seems like there's some kind of fate to it."

…

"Ding! Successfully accepted a task. Please contact the task requester: Satou Kenji; Phone number: 080-1234-XXXX."

"Toshi, you accepted a task?" Shoji's eyes widened.

Toshi retrieved the task card from the slot on the display screen and said calmly, "Yeah, I just happened to see a suitable task, so I thought I'd take it to see."

"Hey, why are you being so reckless? Didn't you want me to analyze it for you?" Shoji said as he hurried to Toshi's side to look at the display screen.

"Let me see, task name… compensation, 100 yen!?" Shoji looked up. "Toshi, isn't that too low?"

Toshi shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing I can do; I need money. Even if it's low, it's still something I can earn, which is pretty good for me."

"Let's not talk about that now. Since you've already accepted the task, you should contact the requester first."

Shoji said, "Toshi, you're being too impulsive. What if the task isn't suitable? Doesn't that affect your task success rate?"

Every Trainer who comes to the Task Hall to accept a task receives a task card from the League for free, which corresponds to their strength. This card is also linked to their Number Card and Bank Card.

Whenever a Trainer's strength increases, they can exchange for a new task card here for free. The difference is that the color of the card given by the League varies with strength; for instance, the one Toshi has is white, while Shoji's is gray.

To accept a task, Trainers must use this card to operate the machine, and they can review every accepted task in the back-end system. If a task is not completed, their task success rate will decrease, and some tasks have success rate requirements, which is intended to screen out Trainers who casually accept tasks without commitment.

Toshi remained silent, even though he really wanted to ask: Which is more important, the success rate or the money?

Taking out his phone, Toshi dialed the number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Satou Kenji? I am Toshi."

"Oh, you're the Trainer who just accepted my task."

"Yes, Mr. Satou Kenji. I wanted to inquire about the details of the task."

"No problem; here's the situation..."

…

"Toshi, how is it? Can you do the task?"

While Toshi was on the phone, Shoji couldn't interrupt, so he had to wait anxiously for Toshi to finish.

"No problem; I got all the details, and the task is doable," Toshi said with a smile.

"That's good; I'm glad nothing unexpected happened."

Shoji took a deep breath, feeling as if the task was his.

"What about you? Are you going to keep looking?" Toshi asked.

Shoji shook his head. "Forget it. I didn't find anything suitable after searching for so long. I think I'll just give up for now and come back once my Taillow's strength increases a bit."

"That works; let's head to the Academy next."

"Yeah, I wonder if my classmates have missed me after such a long time. Haha!"

…

Ranger Academy is located on the outskirts of Petalburg City. Since they need to deal with the wilderness most of the time, the Academy naturally couldn't be established in the city center like Trainer and Breeder Academies.

With the distance being considerable, walking would clearly be inconvenient, but fortunately, there are buses that go directly there, making it quite convenient.

An hour later, as soon as Shoji got off the bus, he shouted, "I, Shoji, am back! Just watch, this time I'll definitely make everyone see me in a new light!"