The Pokémon Journey, a right of passage for seemingly anyone growing up to go out and see the world. Children given a partner pokémon and sent out on their own into a rather hostile world and made to discover who they are and who they want to be.

A rather harsh tradition, but one so ingrained into the fabric of the local society that it was unthinkable to end it. And, for my purposes, it was the perfect avenue for being able to enjoy the high life.

I had traveled around the region. Or regions, I suppose I should say, as the areas were essentially provinces that shared a land border. Either way, I had traveled around the regions observing everyone carefully, staying in the shadows, learning what I could.

I am not fully aware of how reincarnation works despite having gone through it three times already, but for reasons beyond my understanding I was born in this world as a pokémon. I awoke alone in some sort of cave with a black body, no parental figures. No one to help me, so I left the cave to explore the world I found myself in. I still have yet to come across another pokémon that looks like me, but for now that is immaterial.

I could try to live out a simple life, gathering food, hunkering down in some shelter I craft myself, and generally just try to live a simple life as a wild pokémon, I could allow myself be captured and forced to fight for other's amusement and hope my trainer chooses to live a lifestyle I would appreciate, or I can disguise myself as a human and try to get myself a comfortable life.

I've tried living a life of being paid to dish out violence unto others, and that left me old, tired and full of regrets. I had done a simple life of teaching others and found that far more rewarding as I had no regrets when I was on my deathbed last time. This time, I think going for a celebrity lifestyle could be interesting. Teach a few pokémon how to battle, put on a good show for spectators, and aim for the high life of penthouse suites and tropical vacations.

But to get there, I have to start small, so I am in Pallet Town in a disguise I had put together. A wide brimmed hat and a blanket I found and modified into something resembling robes left me looking a bit witchy. A bit of a holdover from my last life, but I could replace those with something else once I had some cash to visit a clothing store. And to complete my disguise, a mask I had carved from some wood. Really it was more a plank of wood that fit my face with some eye slits I could see out of.

I didn't need to hide myself, the disguise just needed to keep people from realizing I wasn't human. If they thought me odd, that was fine.

The local professor, Professor Oak, would be my way into starting my journey. I would need to first pass a test showing I knew how to care for a pokémon and that while I might be in danger during my journey, that I knew enough to not die in my first week by doing something stupid like running off a cliff or sleeping in the snow in shorts.

There were a couple of unknowns to me however. Unknowns caused by conflicting accounts in my travels. Some talked about already having a pokémon partner when they set out on their journey, while others seemed to have found their partners on the journey.

Regardless of how I was supposed to find a partner Pokémon, I came prepared. In my journeys before deciding on this path of becoming a Pokémon Trainer, I had met a friendly water snake that called herself Yini who decided she wanted to join me in seeing the world and was not afraid of putting in the effort to become a strong fighter with me.

"This is likely going to be a bit boring, so why don't you curl up around me and rest," I told Yini as we stood in the tree line outside of the Professor's lab.

"Ok Yanya," she agreed, wrapping herself around me under the robes. Talking to Pokémon was an interesting experience. I could understand what they were saying despite not using words, which made thinking about how Yini couldn't pronounce her T's headache inducing.

Putting that aside, with her long body wrapped around me, we went up to the doors of the lab and I knocked firmly.

With the start of the local childrens' Pokémon Journeys being the next day, Professor Oak was busy preparing for them to arrive the following day for their first pokémon, a starting set of pokéballs, and their pokédex.

There were four children that were supposed to show up, including his grandson and a boy he knew from a rather confusing event in his childhood involving time travel. He did not know how that boy got his Pikachu, but Professor Oak was certain the one he had caught this morning chewing on some wires was the same one and he would need to make sure the right child ended up with it to keep the time loop stable. The other children would be allowed to pick their own starter out of the standard trio.

He was jostled out of his thoughts by a knock on the lab door. He wasn't expecting anyone to stop by and the knock was far too authoritative to be one of his neighbors stopping by for a social call. Getting up he answered the door.

"Hello?" He asked seeing a small, oddly dressed child at his doorstep. A rather fat child too judging by how wide their clothing sat on them.

"Hello," Professor Oak heard, though the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He knew the greeting came from the child, but there was something wrong about how he heard it. "You must be the Professor. I would like to start my Pokémon Journey."

"Yes. I am Professor Oak. Uh, where might your parents be?"

The child shook their head. "Don't have any."

Professor Oak winced. "Oh my. How about you step inside?" he said, opening the door wider and stepping aside.

The child bowed slightly before entering "Thank you."

Professor Oak led the child to a small seating are near a little kitchenette and began busying himself preparing some tea.

"I must say that you came at a bit of an unfortunate time. Tomorrow is the day the local kids are starting their journey, but I only have so many Pokémon to offer new trainers."

The child cocked their head as the tea cup offered to them floated over to them, nearly causing Professor Oak to drop his own cup. A young psychic? And a skilled one at that! "I was not aware you were the one to match trainers and partner pokémon. I actually already have a partner ready to join me."

Professor Oak raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of his tea. "Really? How did you get a pokémon already?"

The child bowed their head to lift their mask to take a drink of the tea, hiding their face from him.

"We met as I made my way here. I had heard you were one of the people that could help someone start their journey and were a highly respected individual."

The child set down their empty tea cup and fixed up their mask before looking back at Professor Oak.

"I can. Have you taken the basic qualification test yet?"

The child shook their head and gave a simple no.

"Ok. It is a rather simple test to make sure you are ready for the responsibility of being a Pokémon Trainer."

"I am aware. I believe it will not be an issue for me."

Professor Oak leaned back in his seat and looked the child over. Judging by their height, they should be about six or seven. Young for a pokémon journey as ten was more the typical age to start, though there are always a few indulgent parents that let their youngsters start early. From his memories, the ones that start very early usually end up giving up quickly before returning home and are often very immature, but the child in front of him was acting very mature for their age so far.

"Alright, I suppose I can give you the test," Professor Oak said, getting up to grab a copy of the test.

The child's hand appeared to be black, but that must have just been some sort of glove, as they grabbed the pencil to start the test.

After an hour, Professor Oak was grading the test and finding that while the child had some difficulties with some aspects of being a pokémon trainer, namely the admittedly complex relation of type advantages, they were very thorough in describing how to care for pokémon and camping out in the wilderness.

Overall, he could find no reason to stop her from going on the journey until she was a bit older. This Tanya as she put as her name seemed to be ready for the trials that were to come. Professor Oak sighed to himself, knowing that the Pokémon Journey was a coming of age trial, but to have one so young attempting to prove they were ready just made him feel so old.

For now though, he simply began preparing a few pokéballs and a pokédex for her to pick up the next day.

Tanya, no family name given.
Gender: Female
Age: 10?

She believed herself to be 10? She had a birth date listed on the form he gave her to fill out that put her as a really small ten year old.

Hometown: Pallet Town.

Professor Oak sighed again. She clearly had no real home and just filled out something for the form.

Pulling out a piece of paper, Professor Oak wrote a note that he stuck among the items he had prepped for her. He wouldn't stop her from pursuing her journey as it was important for any child to experience the world, but he could offer her an opportunity to come work for him if she ever decided to quit. At the very least she would have a roof over her head and warm meals in her belly if she decided to take him up on the offer.

Looking over his work one last time, Professor Oak decided everything was ready for the next day and headed into the back of the lab to his small home to turn in for the night.

The next morning started bright and early for myself and Yini. We had made camp just within the treeline and had a meal of berries we found nearby. Making our way to the lab, I knocked on the door and was soon greeted by the professor.

"Oh, Tanya. You are early," Professor Oak said with a smile.

"I hope it is not a problem, sir," I say, giving him a slight bow.

"I suppose it is not, though you will miss the town send off," he said before stepping into the lab, allowing me to follow him in.

"That is fine. I don't think I would like the attention," I said calmly. I may be looking to be on the path of getting a lot of attention, but if I was to be accepted as a trainer of pokémon while being a pokémon myself, I would need to already be viewed as strong enough to not be worth the effort of stopping. The gym circuit was apparently a good way to prove one's abilities as a trainer.

"Does it have anything to do with why you dress like that?" Professor Oak asked softly.

"Skin condition," I answered.

"Oh dear," Professor Oak said. "I suppose I can understand why you might be uncomfortable about being here for the celebration then."

I was led to an area of the lab and Professor Oak picked up a tray with several pokéballs on it and a little red device.

"Well, Tanya, here is your pokédex and some balls to get you started. You said you already have a partner, do you need a ball for them as well?"

I nodded my head as I pocketed the balls into a little bag I had under my robes, along with my dex. I would need to examine them later, but for now I needed to focus on the situation at hand.

"Alright, let me get you another ball then," Professor Oak said, opening a drawer under where he still had four trays setup. Pulling out a ball he clicked the button to expand it and handed it to me. "Where is your partner currently at, if I may ask?"

"Here," I said and gave a sharp whistle to wake up Yini. With a light thunk, she dropped off of me and slithered out from under my robe.

"Oh my!" Professor Oak said, eyes going wide in surprise as I help out the ball for Yini to get into it.

"Ok Yini, time for me to officially become a trainer."

"Will we ge' 'o bayle o'hers soon yen?" Yini asked with a smile. I simply nodded. She may look adorable and could be rather sweet, but in her heart was a true battle maniac. And I would accept no less than that in my team. It was cruel to force those who did not wish to battle into fights.

Pokéballs were a rather fascinating bit of technology as they seemed to know just what the person holding them wanted them to do, so it was with barely a thought it opened up and turned Yini into a red light that entered the device. Advanced technology, nearly indistinguishable from magic.

"With a pokémon like that as your starter, I will be expecting to hear great things from you," Professor Oak said before getting on one knee and placing a hand on my shoulder. "With that said, do try and keep in touch. I know we just met, but I am worried that you may be jumping into this a bit early."

"Thank you for your concern, Professor, but I will be fine," I responded.

"As that may be," he said, reaching into his pocket and taking out his wallet. "Don't tell the others about this, but since you are going on your journey without any parents to have helped prepare you, it is the least I can do to help you out."

The kindness and generosity on display reminded me of another Professor I had, long ago in my last life. Even if it was only a little bit of cash, it was still far beyond what I expected.

"Thank you sir. I will put this to good use."

"I'm sure you will," Professor Oak said, before looking at a clock hanging on the wall. "You best be going now if you want to avoid the crowds."

With that, I headed out the lab and into the first day of being a Pokémon Trainer. A bright day hopefully being a sign of a bright future for me.

I can hear a crowd gathering near the lab as I leave Pallet Town and get to the edge of Route 1. There is no reason for me to look back as while officially it is my hometown, I did not grow up there. I had no real attachment to the town. I have not really had a home in this life as I traveled.

I awoke inside a shrine in a cave high up in the mountains. I suppose it could be said I was born there, though I wasn't even sure I was born. From what I have gathered, Pokemon are hatched from eggs. All of them. In my previous lives, live births were fairly common for animals as far as I was aware, but this was a very different world. Regardless, I do not recall there being any eggshells near me when I woke up that first time.

Shaking my head as I enter the wooded path, I send out Yini.

"Ok, let us see what this Pokedex has to say about you," I said to my companion, opening up the red device and pointing it towards Yini.

"Dratini, the dragon pokemon," the device spoke out in a cheery male voice. "This mythical Pokemon has only recently been proven to exist."

"Huh, dratini," I mutter as I look over the information on the screen, which provides much more in-depth information on dratini. Resists the basic elemental attacks, weak against ice, dragon, and fairy-powered attacks. There was also a chart showing different measurements corresponding to different attributes such as health and defense, but the meaning behind the chart was lost on me for now as I had no comparison point to determine what was good or bad.

"Looks like you are a dragon," I said, giving Yini a pet on the head.

"Yep," she agreed, closing her eyes and smiling as she leaned into the petting.

"Well, let's see what I am."

Turning the device towards me, I let it scan me. "There is no data. There are still Pokémon yet to be identified," it cheerfully said. Well, that is disappointing, but not entirely unexpected.

"How sad," Yini said, frowning before wrapping around me in a snakey version of a hug.

"It is fine, we'll figure it out eventually," I said with a shrug before moving on. "More important than that is we should try to find someone else to join us and begin to train them into being able to work with us."

"Righ'," Yini agreed with a nod before unwrapping and joining me in exploring the forest.

It had been fortunate for me to find Yini before becoming a trainer myself and her wanting to become strong as well as to see the human world. She was a bit of a troublemaker for her community when I had met her, but as we traveled and trained together, I managed to get her to focus more and calm down significantly.

All the other Pokémon we had come across have been far less willing to travel randomly in some vague hope of one of them being able to pass themself off as human enough to become a trainer.

A fair concern, all things considered. That I had managed it so far could only really be attributed to my experiences in being human for about two centuries all told.

"Dish!" A voice rang out angrily.

Turning, I saw a bulb plant creature near the side of the road, glaring at the pair of us. With the leaves on the top of its… head-body, it was about half my height.

"Hm? Something wrong?" I ask the creature.

"Dish. Oddish odd. Dish!"

A good amount of Pokémon I could understand easily. But that wasn't every Pokémon. Here, facing this plant Pokémon, I was only getting rough conceptual information. The creature wanted to fight.

I snorted. A battle maniac of a Pokémon was exactly who I was looking for. Someone up for a tussle and always seeking greater challenges.

"Alright. Impress me," I say, sweeping a leg back and readying a fighting stance.

"Odd?" It seemed confused that I was the one going to be its opponent.

"Can't be a good trainer if I'm not ready to fight with you," I say before rushing in, gathering energy into my fist.

I could feel the magic that infused this world far easier than either of my past two lives, though it behaved in very different ways. Here it felt more wild with different… 'flavors' of magic available to tap into.

I did not know how many there were yet, but I suspected the energy correlated to the different elements Pokémon could be.

The energy coalesced around my fist, sparks and crackles as the yellow electricity surrounded my fist. I held back as I saw the bulb's eyes widen as I rushed in front of it before backhanding it, sending it flying into the forest, a tree stopping it suddenly.

"Di~ish," it said as it got up, glaring at me as a red energy began collecting in the leaves on the top of its head.

I was already moving, circling around my current opponent when it fired its shot. The red beam was wide and fast, but shadows are faster.

I sunk into my own shadow. To a degree, my shadow was part of my body as my feet seemed to come out of the shadow and I had found in my travels that I could sink into it and move through shadows at will.

"Not bad," I say, striking from the creature's shadow.

It tumbles away. For a moment it seems to be knocked out after only two hits, but slowly I can see it trying to get up.

I smirk at its guts. It is clearly outmatched, but it is still trying. It is getting up to keep going. That is the kind of partners I'm looking for. The ones willing to go the distance no matter how hard or how painful it may be. Hardworkers.

I step over to it and present one of the balls the Professor had given to me. "I like what I see. Your choice. Join me and we can train together. Grow strong. Become an elite team fighting the strongest there are for glory, fame, and wealth. Or I can leave you and you can do whatever it is you wish to do."

"Dish," it says, determined. "Oddish."

With that it slaps the ball with a leaf, causing the ball to open up, the creature to turn into a red energy and enter the ball before it shook twice before it gave a ding.

"Welcome to the team," I say to the ball before giving it a light toss to release the bulb. "Let's tend to those injuries and we can get going."

"Dish," it says, nodding.

"So, we go' a new companion," Yini says, slithering up from where she was watching.

I did not have a great supply of proper medications, but in my travels I had discovered a few berries that could help treat wounds. Reaching into my robe, I pulled one of these berries and crushed it in my hands to make a makeshift salve to apply to my new companion's wounds.

"Yes, it would seem we do. Do you have a name?" I asked the bulb creature to distract it from trying to eat the juices covering my hands.

"Dish, Oddish odd," it introduces itself.

It takes me a moment to puzzle out the meaning. There were multiple concepts in there. Little onion/garlic, growth, underground, potency.

"Hmm, I think Ginger may be the closest I can pronounce," I say to it.

It gives me a look, thinking for a moment before nodding. "Dish."

"Ok, Ginger, good to meet you. Now, let's find out more about you," I say, pulling out my Pokédex.

"Oddish, the weed Pokémon. It will shriek horribly if you attempt to pull it out of the ground."

Looking at the information the Pokédex gave me, I could see Ginger was female, along with the various other stats it was able to give.

"Ya' seems a bi' rude oo do," Yini said, frowning.

"Don't worry Ginger, I won't be pulling you out of the ground," I say, giving the Oddish a pat on the back and finally letting it have the rest of the berry.

One of the benefits of seemingly being part shadow was that I could go semi-intangible to get most of the excess juices off my hands. It wasn't perfectly effective though and I still desired to find a nearby stream to rinse the rest off my hands, but it was enough to make my hands clean enough that I wasn't worried about getting a bunch of gunk on Ginger's pokéball.

"Alright, let's get going," I tell the other two, leading the way along the path that we had only somewhat gotten away from. It wasn't long before we came to a stream I could wash my hands in.

The feeling of the remaining residue releasing from my hands was pleasant as it wasn't just on the surface, but partially inside my hands. My biology was very unusual compared to my previous lives, though in this world I seemed to not be too strange. I had seen creatures made out of lava, rocks, and other inorganic materials. So a living shadow wasn't out of the realm of possibility to me.

While washing my hands, I heard a commotion coming from where I had been traveling from. A group of people and some sort of vehicle from the sound of things.

"Probably best if you two return," I tell Yini and Ginger, pulling out their balls and returning them in a pair of red lights.

Stepping over to the side of the road, I can see a group of cheerleaders and a kid in a red convertible coming from Pallet Town.

I can't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight. If I was right, the kid was one of the ones setting out today for the first time, and he had cheerleaders? Well, if he can afford a cheer squad to follow him around, then the tradition of winning against another trainer should pay out well.

That Pokémon battles were some sort of legalized betting left a strange taste in my mouth. On one hand, it made the whole thing comparable to dog or cock fighting rings in my previous lives, but this was mitigated by the willingness of Pokémon to be involved in these fights for their own enjoyment and profit.

Waving the car down, I called out, "Hey!" As it slowed to a stop, I pulled out Yini's ball. "You are one of the trainers Professor Oak was sending out today, right?"

"Yeah," the kid said, hopping out of the car said. "Gramps gave me the best starter. Who are you?"

The kid seemed a bit smug. At this age, it was usually a false confidence hiding some sort of insecurity. If I was the kid's teacher, I would probably try working on giving the kid a real solid foundation for a more genuine confidence that was less of a braggart.

But I wasn't here as a teacher.

"My name is Tanya. I also just started my journey today. How about we see where we stand?" I suggest.

"This should be a good laugh," he says, pulling out his own Pokéball. "Go! Squirtle!"

"Show time!" I tell Yini as I send her out. It wasn't just that we needed to be strong, we needed to be strong in a way that spectators could enjoy if my plans were to work out.

We were a few meters apart as the two Pokémon came into being. Yini, the draconic snake if her entry was accurate, versus Squirtle, a blue turtle.

My opponents began to cheer, revealing his name was Gary. Pointing to Gary's driver, I called out, "You mind counting us down?"

"Sure," She says, heading to the side of the makeshift arena. "Three! Two! One! Battle!"

I fold my arms as the battle begins, Gary calling out for Squirtle to tail whip. The purpose of such a move was lost on me as the title turned around and wagged its tail at Yini.

Regardless, the calling out of tactics seemed inefficient to me, but it was likely the best move for a new trainer who hasn't had time to train with their team and figure out strategies to use.

Yini slithered to the side, gathering electrical energy in her mouth before releasing a wave of energy in Squirtle's direction. I knew from experience the move wasn't painful and caused no damage, but it would screw with anyone hit with its ability to move as muscle spasms would go through the whole body.

Gary tried to warn Squirtle, but the wave was faster than his words and I could see the sparks on the shell of Squirtle. As that wave left Yini's mouth, she was already gathering some sort of energy into her tail. Out of the various magics I have come across so far, it was one of the ones that most felt like the magic from my previous two lives. A strong, fierce power ready to take on the world.

Just as the electric wave dispersed, Yini spun, letting that power go in barely contained cyclones that Squirtle was unable to dodge out of the way of. Both twisters hit, buffeting Squirtle in a vortex of energy that soon sent out flying, landing hard, and tumbling before coming to a stop.

"Yini, hold!" I ordered, waiting to see if Squirtle would be getting up. I wasn't going to do unnecessary harm if the opponent was already knocked out.

"Squirtle!" Gary cried out, rushing to his Pokémon's side before returning it to its ball.

The cheerleaders were upset at the loss, shouting encouragement to Gary.

I gave Yini a pat on the head. "Good job," I say before noticing the scales on the top of her head were loose. "Looks like we will need to deal with your shedding later."

Yini leaned into the head pats, a murmur from her throat showing she was liking the attention.

Looking at where Gary was being consoled by a group of cheerleaders, I rolled my eyes before clearing my throat. "I believe it is traditional that when one loses a battle, they pay the winner."

Gary frowned but pulled out his Pokédex. "There, the money is sent. How did you win without giving any orders?"

I pull out my Pokédex and find a bank app that shows some funds have entered into my account.

"We are trainers. We need to train our team to battle. That includes tactics and situational awareness. If we have to coach them constantly during a battle, we have failed as trainers," I tell him. Over a century of teaching made answering such questions second nature. While there may come a day I would need to avoid answering such questions, for now, I could help out a new trainer with a bit of advice.

I wanted to be a popular trainer someday. Being helpful and friendly to other trainers should help my PR.

"Anyways, I guess I will see you around," I tell the group, returning Yini to her ball and continuing down the route to the next town.

"Yeah, smell ya' later," Gary called after me, sounding a bit dispirited.