Haha, I own a fuzifilm 8 MP camera which might get outperformed by an I phone I guess.Pocketable is a primary question the OP will have to grapple with.
Pocketable means more use for little less image quality. If reduce zoom from 10x to say 4x then you get an improvement in quality.
eg rx100 over the 10x pocketable zooms
To do better still is to go mirrorless but lose pocketabilty yet have the option of interchangeable lenses.
From what i can tell rx100 is acceptable for those that own a dslr, a mirrorless less so. But if one does not own a dslr then a mirrorless is better than say rx100. mirrorless offers a noticeable improvement over say a flagship camera phone or similar compact.
What will OP be comparing with ? what camera or kind of camera does OP currently own ?
Zoom is not something I am giving priority to. Should I?
In my opinion 4x optical zoom would be ok for me.
Picture quality is important for me. I would rather go Mirrorless over a point and shoot if it gives you stunning images. But again what I am not clear is what would be the default lens be ideal for if I go for mirrorless?
Would I need to buy multiple lenses for different scenarios? if yes, that's a strict no since lenses are expensive. My budget is 35k for mirrorless.