[You have been selected for the opportunity of a lifetime. Will you take the plunge?]
[Yes] [No]
A menu, like something out of a video game, appears in front of me. Now, I'm no stranger to Isekai and other such media, but when its tropes present themselves right in front of me, I can't help but hesitate. Sure, it's easy to say you'd jump at the chance to leave your old world behind, but when it's becoming real, you start to think. You think things like 'is any of this real?', 'is this thing just gonna kill me?' 'what if the world I get sent to just sucks?" and other thoughts like that. And to begin with, 'the opportunity of a lifetime' is vague as hell. I'm technically jumping to conclusions by thinking it's gonna take me to another world. For all I know, it could transform me into a monster, or some other shit like that.
You know what? Fuck it. I don't care if it's not what I expect. If I get the universe shoving some notification at me and it's just there to fuck with me then I've truly reached peak levels of pathetic. I have so little going for me that even the universe itself wants to take a swing. I refuse to accept that possibility. I cannot be the guy that gets pranked by god. Not yet.
I plunge my finger into the 'Yes' option before I have an opportunity to change my mind. Immediately, the world around me begins to warp, twisting, stretching, and moving away. Eventually, there's nothing but darkness around me. In this darkness, another window appears.
[Confirmed. Welcome to The World Outside of Worlds, Jumper.]
I can't help but chuckle. Of course it's like that. I even get a special title and everything. As I think this, the window changes to display another message.
[Welcome, Lowe! Next stop: The World of Pokémon. You have unspent Choice Points. Please allocate them in the next menu.]
Pokémon? Seriously? You're gonna drop me into Pokémon? I mean, I won't complain about it. Running around catching Pokémon would probably fulfill the dormant dreams of millions of people my age. It's just a bit funny. To begin with, I'm a bit curious. Is it gonna be like the games, where I'm railroaded through the story, or am I literally going to be dropped into the world of Pokémon?
Upon pressing the button under this message labeled, 'Tap here to start', the window changes again to display what looks like a sort of profile on me. On it, is all the information one might expect to be present in a character bio or something. My name, age, height, blood type, everything. Most intriguing in this menu is the attributes section, which ranks each of my attributes, like strength, endurance, etc. with a letter. Most of them are C or below. Unfortunately, this does not surprise me. After a bit of looking around the information presented about me, I move to the 'Choice Points' section. It looks like I get a certain budget to spend on things that'll help me in the other world.
My first choice is Region. I can choose one of seven starting regions to begin my adventure in for 50 CP, or I can take a random one. According to the supplementary information supplied with this menu, it informs me that, as one would expect, it will change the Pokémon I encounter. It gives me a prompt to roll for my starting region, which I select. After a short time of scrolling through the options, it lands on option number one: Kanto. I take it. It's a little disappointing to not have access to some of the cooler Pokémon, but I'd rather not waste my points for now.
The next section is Identity. It allows me to choose the history of my life in the world, like a background option in D&D, or something. It explains that while my identity brings 10-17 years of experience in the world, those years of new memories also affect me in numerous ways, including my personality. I'd rather avoid dealing with conflicting, new memories, so I choose Drop In.
It looks like the next section is for choosing my starter. There are a lot of options, from regular starters to rarer Pokémon for points. I decide to go for the free option, an actual starter. The option explains that I can choose any starter, not just from the ones from my region, which also makes me think I won't just be limited to the region I selected at the beginning. Armed with this information, my starter of choice is Totodile, for no other reason than thinking Feraligator is cool. I forgo any supplemental options in this section, although Mental Bond, which would allow me to mentally communicate with my starter, is tempting.
Finally comes the part I'm most excited about in any character creation, Skills & Abilities. The options here both surprise and intrigue me. One even alludes to hand-to-hand combat, which I wouldn't usually expect to be necessary in a world like Pokémon. It looks like this world might expect a little more from me than just playing the game. With this in mind, I take Physical Fitness, Survival Training, Freerunning, Combat Training and Savant. With these, I should be able to take on any, 'unique' situations that might come my way. Altogether, taking into account the discounts from my background, these choices cost 650 CP.
Moving on to the items section, a couple options immediately catch my eye. Handgun and Sniper Rifle. Strange options to see. I decide not to go for them, however. Even if things like death and violence are possible in this version of the world, there shouldn't be any threats that would require weapons like that. My perks will already give me nigh-superhuman physical and mental capabilities, and that should be enough. With my remaining 350 CP, I pick up the Laptop, Bicycle, 3x Master Balls, 50K Pokédollars, and HM Collection. These should allow me to buy anything I need, get anywhere, provided I have the Pokémon to teach the abilities to, access the internet, as well as three opportunities to catch a Pokémon without fail.
With all of my points spent, I move to the next screen, which gives me more information. Apparently, I'll be spending ten years in the world of Pokémon, and time will be stopped in my own. Upon my completion of the ten years, I'll be able to go home, stay in the world, or move on. That last option intrigues me the most. Moving on? There are more worlds after this? The idea of spending ten years in the place gives me some pause, but I don't think I'll miss my old life. I didn't really have anything going for me anyway. Plus, time won't even pass. It's hard to justify passing this up. After reading this information, there's only one option remaining. Begin. With nothing left to do, I press it.
My head is pounding, and my vision goes dark.
When I come to, I find my face acquainted with something cold and soft. Grass. I open my eyes, and also feel something on top of my head that was not there before. A quick hand on it confirms that I am now wearing a hat. A hat identical to the one worn by the trainer in the first Pokémon game, in fact. My amusement at this is cut short by a strange sight. It looks like a bunch of birds are pecking at something. After orienting myself a bit, I walk over to the group of birds. Upon closer inspection, it's a flock of Pidgeys, attacking a Totodile. My Totodile. I do what any self-respecting trainer would do, and yell at the top of my lungs while flailing around wildly.
"Get your hands off my Totodile, you little shits!" I scream. Upon hearing my own voice, I notice it's considerably higher than I remember. Damn it.
Upon being confronted with this storm of limbs and insults, the Pidgeys decide they've met their match, and fly away. I kneel down at the side of the Totodile.
"It's alright, buddy. I got rid of the birds." I say, softly, while stroking its head.
"Totodile…" The Pokémon says, weakly.
I take my bag off my back, searching through it for something that might help. Moving some things around, I see a small rectangular spray bottle filled with a purple liquid. It must be a potion! I pick it up, and with a quiet "hope this works," I aim the nozzle at the wounded Totodile before me and spray its injuries until the entire bottle is emptied. To my surprise, the item seems to work. I can literally see the scratches on the Totodile's hide closing up. In a few moments, he appears to be good as new. He jumps up and nuzzles me with his scaly face, seemingly pleased at this development.
"Totodile!" He says, gratefully.
"You're welcome," I say, smiling. I produce a Pokéball from my bag. "What would you say to being friends from now on?"
The Totodile closes his eyes and smiles, letting out an enthusiastic cry of its name. With this, I press the button, opening the ball. A red light appears from inside and envelops the Pokémon, sucking him inside. After that, the ball closes with a satisfying click.
"Looks like I've got my first Pokémon." I say to myself with a smirk.
Now that the excitement is over, I decide to go through my things to make sure everything is accounted for. Mentally taking stock, I find four remaining Pokéballs, two potions, a Pokégear, a Pokédex, a bicycle, a collection of discs, a wallet full of money, three master balls, as well as an ID. Great. It looks like everything I bought is here, with some extras to get me started, I think. I decide to take a look at the Pokédex. As one would expect, it is an index for Pokémon. As I examine the thing, I notice all of the entries are entirely filled. Definitely a plus. I put everything away and look around. According to the menu before I came here, I should be outside the starting town for my region. For Kanto, that means I'm outside Pallet Town. In that case, my next stop should be Viridian City. It is at this point that I remember I have a solar powered laptop with access to the internet of this world. Time to find out if this world has invented Google Maps.
Excitedly pulling the laptop out of my bag, and opening the lid, I'm greeted with more or less a normal desktop. I click on what looks to be the browser and it opens a page labeled Pokésearch.
Yeah, that checks out.
I type into the search bar, "directions viridian city" and press enter. A spinning loading icon appears. Anticipation. Some results of note appear, but nothing equivalent to a maps function from back home. Damn shame. I was hoping for Pokémaps. Still, all is not lost. After looking around a little, I see a road sign, pointing in different directions and labeled with different things. One of the planks on the sign says, "North: Viridian City". So, it looks like that's where I'm going. My first order of business is to head to a Pokémart for a map. After that, I can try to find a place to stay. I have absolutely no information to back this up, but I think I can reach the city before long if I take my bike. With that in mind, I take the collapsible bicycle from my bag, hop on, and begin pedaling in the direction of Viridian City. As I pedal for a while, I notice that I'm not getting tired at all. I feel as though I could continue doing this for a whole day if I needed to. On top of that, I just feel amazing. It looks like that Physical Fitness skill was the real deal. It's like night and day from my old self. I start to pedal faster, going all out, feeling the wind on my face. I take in the beautiful sights of the region, the morning sun shining down brightly on the green grass and lush trees that surround the road. It's exactly as amazing and dreamlike as one would expect the world of Pokémon to be.
It's been about half an hour of pedaling now. I feel a tingle in the back of my mind. It's like nothing I've ever felt before. Is this the heightened perception from Savant? Something is wrong. I look around me, searching for the source of this feeling. That's when I see it, a bird Pokémon. It's a Pidgey, and it's headed right for me. In a feat that surprises myself, I drift the bicycle to a stop, hopping off, kicking out the stand, and slipping my bag off of my back in one swift motion. I reach into one of the pockets and pull out the Pokéball I placed Totodile in earlier.
"Time to go to work, buddy."
I press the button on the Pokéball and throw it toward the ground. The ball stops in the air and opens, the red energy pouring out and materializing into my Totodile.
"Totodile, Totodile!" He says, raring to go.
"You see that Pidgey, Totodile? It's heading straight for us! Take it down!" I command.
Totodile trains his eyes on the Pidgey, entering what appears to be some sort of battle stance. The Pidgey dives toward us, beak outstretched. As the Pidgey gets closer, Totodile jumps up and slashes at it with his claws, sending him to the ground. The Pidgey appears to be significantly damaged.
"That's enough, Totodile!" I say, as I walk closer to the grounded Pidgey. Totodile growls at the small flying Pokémon. I take another Pokéball from my bag. Three left, my mind reminds me. I throw the ball toward the Pidgey, and it envelops the Pokémon without incident. Once it's inside, the Pokéball falls to the ground. A moment passes. A shake. Another moment passes. Another shake. Finally, it stops with a satisfactory click. Another Pokémon to add to the team. I place the ball in my bag and hop back on my bicycle.
The rest of the ride to Viridian City proceeds without incident. According to the time on my Pokédex, I arrive just over an hour after departure. The city is a proper city, full of tall buildings, which is a far cry from its depiction in the games. Another thing that surprises me is the people. Numerous Japanese-looking people fill the streets, dressed in all manner of different ways, many of them sporting unique hair colors. Some of these people even have Pokémon in tow. I ask a random person for directions to the nearest Pokémart (thankfully I can understand them and vice versa), and head in the direction they told me. The Pokémart is similar to a standard convenience store, although they also sell numerous Pokémon related items, like Potions and Pokéballs as well. I decide to pick up seven Pokéballs and eight Potions on top of the city map and region map, spending four-thousand-two-hundred Pokédollars in total. I stand outside the Pokémart, looking at my map for notable locations. There's a Pokémon Center nearby. I'll need to take Pidgey there. It also looks like there's a gym here. As I'm looking over the map, I sense something. My hand, as if on its own, reaches to grab something behind me. It's soft. As my hand closes around the object, I hear a small shriek, and it jolts away from my grasp. I look behind me to see someone staring back at me. A girl with medium-length purple hair. She's wearing a pleated skirt and sweater with a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Oh, sorry! I don't know what happened, I sort of just–" I stammered out. It looks like even in this new body and this new world, I still don't know how to talk to people. The girl, who seems to be in shock herself, catches herself and responds.
"Oh! It's no big deal, I probably shouldn't have reached out to tap you on the shoulder like that." She ends her sentence with an awkward laugh. "I just thought I'd talk to you since you don't look like you're from around here."
Not looking like I'm from around here is an understatement. I'm a black guy with dreadlocks. You probably couldn't find someone more out of place in a world like this. Now that I think of it, I have been getting stares ever since I got here. I sort of just filtered it out cause I'm used to it.
"Haha, you can tell, huh? Yeah, I'm not from around here at all." I start scratching my head. "In fact, you could say I know pretty much nothing about this place."
"Oh, well I'd be happy to help! I'm Liz, a Pokémon trainer!" She holds her hand out expectantly.
"I'm Lowe, I'm… also a Pokémon trainer." I say, taking her hand and shaking it.
"Oh, really? Then you must be here to challenge the gym too! It sucks that the gym leader's missing." Liz says.
Missing? Wait. I remember something like this. That's right, the leader of Viridian City Gym is Giovanni. He's not here right now.
"Oh, no, I don't know if I'm planning on challenging any gyms, I just sorta ended up here." I say.
Liz raises her eyebrow. "What's the point of being a trainer our age if you're not gonna challenge gyms?" She asks, leaning towards me with hands on her hips. "Where are you from, anyway?"
"Where am I from? Uh…" I begin to search for an answer. Where should I say I'm from? I can't just say I'm from another world, she's gonna think I'm a nutcase.
Wait, that. I can go for that.
"Unova! I'm from Unova."
Perfect.
"Oh, Unova! That's pretty far from here. That makes sense."
Thank you, Pokémon Black and White.
"Anyways, where are you from?" I ask, trying to deflect any further questions about my origins.
"Me? I'm from here in Viridian City! I'm leaving home today."
"Leaving home, for what?"
"To get all the badges and become the champion, silly. It's what all kinds of people do."
Of course. It makes sense that I would run into other trainers trying to become champion. I guess I just didn't think about it before.
"Oh, of course!" I said, laughing awkwardly.
Liz suddenly widens her eyes, as if realizing something. "Wait, you're a trainer, right? We should have a Pokémon battle!"
"Wow, that's something that really happens, huh." I blurted out.
"Come on, follow me! Let's battle!" She says, pulling me by the wrist, seemingly having not heard me.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"
After a few minutes of pulling and strange looks from the citizens, we arrive at a park. It's full of open areas. Perfect for a Pokémon battle. Liz positions herself about 10 feet away from me, Pokéball in hand. She assumes a cute pose and winds up to throw.
"Go, Bulbasaur!" She yells as she releases the ball. Sure enough, the plant-like dinosaur comes out, ready for battle.
A Bulbasaur? The opposite type to Totodile. Does that make this girl… my rival? I think to myself. Putting that thought aside, I pull Totodile's ball out of my bag, and it expands to fill my hand. I wind up my own throw in return.
"Get em' Totodile!"
Huh, I didn't even mean to say that. Guess I'm getting caught up in this place.
"Totodile, Totodile!" He says, in his raspy reptilian voice.
For a moment, we all just stand there, staring each other down. It looks like Bulbasaur and Totodile are sizing each other up. Totodile stands, eyes locked on Bulbasaur, watching his every move. Then, Liz makes the first move.
"Whip him with your vines, Bulbasaur!"
As soon as he hears this, Bulbasaur springs into action, readying two vines and jumping towards Totodile. My first time in a serious trainer battle, I froze up for a moment.
"Totodile, watch out for those vines! Get away!" I say, but too late. Totodile tries to jump out of the way, but is caught by the vines, hitting him and sending him rolling back a bit. I know Pokémon battles are normal here, but it still feels weird to have animals fight for fun right in front of me. As I'm feeling this way, suddenly, a wave of calm washes over me, likely a result of my Combat Training skill. My mind shifts. I will win this battle. I focus. With Savant, my perception is heightened, and my mental calculations are beyond most people's capabilities. I should be able to make up for my inexperience in Pokémon battles if I use that to its fullest. I watch the Bulbasaur for any indications of its next attack. Then, I see it. The way his legs are moving, the recoil of his vines. I can see it all.
"Totodile, he's attacking from your right! Dodge and scratch him with your claws!"
A sound of acknowledgement leaves Totodile's mouth. Sure enough, the Bulbasaur attacks from Totodile's right. Just in time, Totodile dodges, leaving Bulbasaur open to an attack, still recoiling from his missed strike. Totodile winds up his claws and strikes the vulnerable Bulbasaur, knocking him away. I watch again, then I see it. From the left this time.
"From your left, Totodile!"
Totodile dodges and counters again, knocking Bulbasaur back a second time. This cycle continues, with me issuing commands and Totodile responding in kind. It feels like we're perfectly in sync. After this continues for a while, Liz eventually forfeits.
"Alright, Bulbasaur, come back!" Liz says, sucking Bulbasaur back into his Pokéball. She turns to look at me. "Holy crap, Lowe, where'd you get so good at battling?"
"This is my first, actually." I say, a little embarrassed by the complement.
"No way! You must be a prodigy or something."
"Haha, no, no, I just got lucky." I say, trying to brush it off. I wish I could just tell her I basically have cheat abilities. It feels a little wrong to accept a win like this. Still, it was a good exercise. I have a feeling I could beat anyone in a battle of tactics. But just being better at that isn't going to necessarily let me win every time. A Pokémon with overwhelming power wouldn't care if I could read its movements. I have to keep that in mind, and make sure Totodile gets stronger.
"Well, since you won, how about I treat you to dinner?"
Man, first I steal her pride, then her money? Forgive me, God. I apologize for my transgressions against this teenage girl. I promise it wasn't my fault.
"Oh, well, if you insist. I won't say no to free food." I say, smiling at her.
"I know a great place not far from here, come on!"
As we walk to the restaurant, we talk about many things. Mostly random small talk. One of the things I find out is that she wants to fill her Pokédex with all the Pokémon in every region. I make a personal note to never show her my Pokédex. Eventually, we arrive at the place. It's a small open shop.
"Here we are, best ramen in Viridian City!"
It's nice to see ramen in such an unfamiliar place. Liz ushers me in and I take a seat. She quickly seats herself after me. It's small, but cozy. It smells wonderful here, and has a great atmosphere. I can see why she likes it.
"Boss, two bowls of the usual!" She chirps at the man, with the confidence of one who's said the same thing many times.
After a quick, "you got it!" from the man behind the counter, he begins making our food.
"So, Liz, why did you bother coming up to me today?" I ask, having wondered about it for some time.
"Huh? I dunno, you just seemed like you needed help, and I wanted to offer it." She says, uncertainty in her voice. She looks down, and fidgets a little bit. "I guess I also just really wanted someone to talk to. I don't really have any friends, and now that I'm out of the house, I don't have my family to talk to either."
"But didn't you say you're from here? Can't you just go home whenever you want?"
Liz looks away. "It's complicated." She says, quietly. I sense I should not broach this topic right now.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you came up to me. I don't have anyone either. I'm completely alone here."
Liz seems about to say something, but is distracted by the sudden appearance of our food. As soon as she caught sight of it, it was like our conversation wasn't even happening. Since she was digging in, I decided to do so as well. After we ate, we stood outside the restaurant, ready to say our goodbyes. It was dark out.
"So, where are you staying, anyway?" Liz asks.
"Oh, about that. I have no idea, actually. When you came up to me, I had just got here. I didn't really have time to arrange a place to stay or anything."
"Wait, seriously? I'm impressed. You're so far from home and completely careless."
"Hey, what are you trying to say?" I say, playfully.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that. I think it's kind of cool, actually." She said, looking away and adjusting her hair. "Well, if you don't have anywhere to stay, I can show you the hotel I'm staying at."
Staying at a hotel in her home city? I knew something was going on with her family but it must be pretty bad if she's staying away from home.
"Oh, no, I couldn't. You've already done so much." I say.
"No, it's totally fine! It's a good place. Probably won't find a better deal."
While I do have a lot of money, it's probably best to be conservative with it. So I decide to take her up on her offer. For frugality reasons.
Liz leads me to the hotel she's staying at. I book the room, and wish Liz a good night. However, before I turn to leave, she says something.
"Wait, Lowe. I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Would you maybe… wanna travel together?" She says, looking down, face flush red. "I mean, we're both going around to the different gyms, and we could both use someone to keep us on track out there."
"I never said I was going to challenge the gyms."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should, okay? And maybe you're like, kind of my only friend now and I don't wanna do this whole thing alone."
Friend? We've only known each other for a day. Although, truth be told, I don't really want to do this alone either. Still, I never expected to run into someone to travel with like this. Plus, I've been looking for something to do. Maybe I should try to shoot for being champion. I mean, we'll probably crash and burn, but I've got ten years here to use and it won't hurt.
"Alright, let's do it." I say.
"Yay! Great! Then it's a deal! I'll meet you out here in the morning!" She says excitedly. It's the most happy I've seen her all day.
"See you tomorrow, Liz." I say, turning away. In my comfy room, I sleep, having finished my first day in this new world.