I muttered to myself, "System, draw lottery."
I had settled on a bench in a quiet corner of the park not far from the Pokémon Center. I didn't have high hopes for the lottery result.
In fact, only the Silver draws have a truly good chance of yielding something useful. The Bronze draws almost never get anything beneficial, and even the Silver ones aren't guaranteed to suit me.
[Drawing… please wait.]
[Congratulations, host has obtained item 'Disguise Mask'.]
A soft, extremely light mask materialized in my hand under the system's mechanical voice.
"A Disguise Mask? Sounds pretty good."
At the sound of the name, I already guessed the mask's general purpose—it was likely used to hide one's identity.
"How does this mask work, system?"
I asked mentally.
[You have a new message. Accept it?]
The system didn't verbally respond. Instead, it transmitted a message directly into my mind.
"Accept."
I chose to accept, and discovered that the transmission was the user manual for the mask.
"Moisten with water. Place on face. Press the sensor at the temples. Choose the target to disguise as."
As I skimmed the manual, I was struck with surprise—this mask was far more powerful than I had first assumed. It could automatically change its appearance to replicate whoever I selected!
In other words, if I wished to disguise myself as someone, I just needed to wear the mask, follow the instructions to scan the target's features, and the mask would transform my face into theirs.
Thinking this through, I pulled a water bottle from my pack. I applied moisture evenly on the inner side of the mask, then pressed it onto my face.
The mask, barely thicker than a cicada's wing, felt cold. I aimed at a passerby in the distance, and pressed a slight protrusion at the temple.
Humm…
A sensation of compression and contraction washed over me, as though the mask was pulling, pressing, tugging at my facial muscles. I grabbed a mirror to check—and my face had completely turned into that of the passerby. If not for my clothing, everything else would have matched perfectly.
"Incredible."
I felt the true power of the mask. This effectively granted me countless possible identities. Especially now, with the Rocket Gang having a serious grudge against me, someone might at any moment remember me and send people after me.
With this mask, I could walk through the streets, assume any random person's appearance—and Rocket Team would never catch me.
"System, you're awesome," I silently applauded. "Then again, maybe I was just lucky."
I happily took off the mask and stowed it in my pack, then headed toward Vermilion Gym.
Vermilion Gym sits in the southern part of Vermilion City by the sea. Its signage is bold and eye-catching, topped with a giant lightning bolt symbol signaling that it is an Electric-type Gym.
"Looks pretty fierce," I muttered.
From the design I could tell that the Gym's style leaned toward boldness and ruggedness. Coupled with what I already knew about Gym Leader Lt. Surge, the image of Vermilion Gym in my mind became more vivid.
Outside the Gym there was no queue—nobody was lining up. It looked deserted. This was starkly different from Pewter Gym or Cerulean Gym when I challenged those.
I pushed open the doors.
A receptionist was already there waiting.
"Hello, I'm a Trainer here to challenge the Gym," I said.
The receptionist froze for a moment, and an unreadable expression flashed in his eyes.
Because I had suspected something was off with Vermilion Gym ahead of time, I was sharp enough to notice the expression. I feigned confusion, asking, "Is there something on my face?"
Startled, the receptionist quickly recovered, forced a polite smile, and said, "Sorry, I was just momentarily lost in thought. Please come this way."
Behind the receptionist, I walked along. My gaze sharpened.
If I wasn't mistaken, that receptionist had just recognized me. Before, I had only suspected that Vermilion Gym might have problems; now I was convinced it did.
In this world, aside from the League Prosecutors within the system, the only people who recognized me among strangers would be the Rocket Team.
"Vermilion Gym must be connected to Rocket Team," I thought.
Soon the receptionist led me to the Gym's battle arena.
Inside, a match was in progress between a Trainer and Lt. Surge.
The Pokémon on both sides were Raichu (Surge's) and Charmeleon (the challenger). The battle was intense.
"Surge has the upper hand. That Charmeleon's in trouble," I quickly judged with a glance.
"Raichu, Thunderbolt!" Lt. Surge—his golden spiky hair and camo battle suit making him look imposing—ordered.
"Charmeleon, dodge and use Flamethrower!"
Lightning and fire collided in the air. The thick flame was torn apart in the midair by Raichu.
Thunderbolt struck Charmeleon, and it let out a painful cry.
"The match is over," I thought.
Charmeleon might have managed to keep pace earlier, but hit by Thunderbolt, there was no way it could stand against Raichu.
Sure enough, struck by the attack it became paralyzed, its movements slowed. Raichu seized the moment and delivered a Mega Kick that sent Charmeleon reeling, rendered unable to battle.
"Charmeleon fainted! Raichu wins! Therefore the victor is Gym Leader Lt. Surge!" the referee announced loudly.
"Damn it!" the Charmeleon's Trainer slammed his fists into the ground in frustration.
Surge laughed heartily: "Baby, your Pokémon still weren't strong enough. You can't get a badge if you're that weak!"
"This was just a fluke. I'll be back next time!"
Called "baby," the challenger flushed in anger. He spat out a final threat, then hurried off, grumbling something about how Vermilion Gym had become unexpectedly hard, nothing like before.
I listened to his muttered complaints thoughtfully.
Just then, Lt. Surge addressed me from the battlefield: "Hey, youngster over there—are you also here to challenge Vermilion Gym?"