DISLCAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON
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|PROLOGUE|

"Fire Blast!"

Sam's eyes were glued to his laptop's screen as he watched Ash Ketchum battle the Galar Champion Leon in the finals of the World Coronation Series.

"Come on, Pikachu, finish it with Thunderbolt!"

Even though Sam had seen this battle a dozen times over, he leaned forward in anticipation as Pikachu knocked out Leon's Charizard in a spectacular finish.

The camera panned across thousands of screaming fans as the crowd erupted into cheers, and Sam couldn't contain his excitement.

"Yes!"

He pumped his fist, a wide grin breaking out across his face.

Ash Ketchum had just won it all, and Sam had been there from the start, following the journey step by step…but this wasn't a battle in an anime anymore—it was history being made. Part of him still couldn't believe any of this was real. Just months ago, Sam had been living a normal life, wandering the streets of his hometown, his eyes glued to his phone as he chased a rare Pokémon GO spawn. He hadn't seen truck-kun barreling toward him until it was too late.

After he died, the last thing Sam expected was to wake up in Pallet Town, straight out of the games and anime he'd loved.

Beside him, he felt the warm, feminine body that his other arm was curled around shift slightly as a dissatisfied moan escaped her lips. He winced and lowered the volume on his laptop, only for his phone to start buzzing. Sam grabbed it from where it was sitting on his nightstand, quickly shutting off his alarm.

"Sam... it's way too early..." the body grumbled, snuggling deeper into the covers.

"Sorry," Sam whispered back, slipping his arm out from under her. She rolled away from him, pulling the covers along with her until she was cocooned in a bunched-up mass of sheets. Sam swung his legs over the edge of the twin bed and stood up, pulling on a pair of pants and a T-shirt before stepping out of the room.

After closing his bedroom door softly, Sam walked down the hallway. It was eerily quiet in the house, except for the faint rustling coming from the kitchen where the lights were on.

In the kitchen, his mother, Daisy, was standing at the sink, her lab coat swapped for an apron as she washed dishes.

Though she wasn't his mom, because he wasn't Samuel Oak III.

Samuel Oak III was a boy who grew up in the world of Pokémon and was raised in Pallet Town by his parents, Daisy Oak and Ash Ketchum. Or as Sam personally knew them from his own experiences, the main character of the Pokémon Anime and Gary Oak's sister from the Pokémon Adventures Manga.

After all, to Sam, this world was a fictional world he loved.

No, he was not Samuel Oak.

Yet...he had all the memories of the boy. He'd had them since finding himself waking up in this body just a few months ago. When he first realized where he was and who his new parents were, he gave Ash a mental thumbs up. He was proud of his boy for banging Gary's sister. The two had moved past their rivalry in the later seasons of the anime, but Gary was still a jerk at the beginning. Turning over a new leaf didn't magically erase who Gary had been for years prior. And there was no better way to get back at someone than smashing a relative.

Though, Gary did have the retort of Professor Oak, Sam's namesake, retiring to Alola...with Delia.

So, the banging of relatives kind of canceled out.

Sam rapped his knuckles against the door frame.

"Arceus, Sammy!" Daisy yelped, whirling to face him, her hand clutching her chest. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Wasn't sneaking," Sam said. "Just, y'know...walking quietly."

Daisy fixed him with a sharp look. "Uh-huh. And does this walking quietly have anything to do with a certain house guest I found in your bed recently?"

Sam groaned at the reminder of when Daisy had walked in on him and Joy. He felt a little guilty about subjecting Daisy to seeing that. Before he arrived, she would have never had to worry about her son having a girl over.

"Are you ever going to stop bringing that up?" he asked.

Yes, forgetting to lock the door had been a mistake on his part, but who could blame him? In the Pokémon World, Samuel Oak III wasn't just part of the Oak family, he was the son of the World Champion.

Which made Sam practically royalty after waking up in Samuel's body and little things like remembering to lock the door went right out the window when you had someone like Joy throwing herself at you.

Sam was just glad he wasn't living in the anime where compulsory education ended in primary school at the age of ten. Students were free to continue into middle school if they wish, but when children completed primary school at the age of ten, they were legally considered adults.

This was the "All Primary School Graduates are Adults Law". Or PGAL (Primary Graduates Adulthood Law) for short.

Basically, as of the April following their tenth birthday... a person was able to gain a Pokémon License and was permitted to carry pokéballs to capture Pokémon. Of course, there's more to being a legal adult than the right to own Pokémon.

All adult rights are granted. Under-18s didn't qualify as minors, not even 14 or 15-year-olds. For example, if a ten-year-old were to steal something from a convenience store, the consequences would be more than just the shopkeeper getting mad, the police would arrest the thief. And no matter how much their parents try to apologize, the thief was still culpable as an adult.

The most important point of this law is... after leaving primary school people could make their own life choices.

They could strive to achieve higher education or take over the family business. No matter how old you were, after they turned 10 years old a person was considered an adult right down to details like traffic violations...And they pay taxes like an adult too.

In this new world of Pokémon, Sam found himself in, the "All Primary School Graduates are Adults Law" was still a thing, but it had been changed years ago when Professor Oak was still a kid himself.

"If it's embarrassing for you to talk about, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it?" Daisy suggested, pulling Sam back into the conversation.

Sam crossed his arms, meeting her stare flatly. "I'm an adult. I have no problem talking about sex. Just not with you."

"Why not?"

Because, despite thinking she was hot in the Electric Tales of Pikachu manga, he had memories of Daisy being his mother now, and there were just some topics Sam never wanted to talk to her about if he could help it. But after she'd accidentally walked in on him with Joy's toes pointed at the ceiling, Daisy seemed intent on bringing it up whenever she could while making it clear she didn't like the eight-year age gap between them.

Daisy flicked some water at him with her fingers. "Being an adult and being mature isn't always the same thing," she said, and Sam rolled his eyes.

It seemed no matter what world you lived in, there was going to be a double standard when it came to age. In the old world, the moment you legally became an "adult" you could volunteer, or even be drafted to go to war to fight, die, and kill...but you had to wait three extra years to buy a drink or be mature enough to date a someone more than a few years older?

And in the world of Pokémon, it was even more outrageous!

"Adults" were mature enough to be trusted to travel around the world—alone!—when even the weakest species of Pokémon could easily kill a human and the strongest could level entire cities.

But Daisy had a problem with him dating Joy—yeah, that made sense—not!

Sam glanced at the clock on the wall. He still had time, but he wanted to get away from this conversation sooner rather than later. "I'm going to head over to the lab...I'll come back before leaving Pallet," he said.

Arceus it was weird talking to the woman who he remembered as his mother but wasn't actually his mother.

He'd only taken two steps when Daisy's soapy hand closed around his wrist. "Sammy, wait," she said, her tone serious now.

He paused, bracing for whatever embarrassing, entirely too personal remarks were coming next. Some maternal objection or plea to make better dating choices.

"I wanted to ask if you're still set on becoming a Pokémon Trainer."

He blew out a long breath, shoulders sagging. Of course, that's what this was about. Lately, he felt like he couldn't make a move without someone questioning his goals or trying to steer him back towards becoming a Pokémon Researcher.

"Yeah, I am," he said finally, unable to keep a defensive note from entering his voice. "I know everyone expected me to become a Pokémon researcher like you and Uncle Gary but nothing's changed. I'm going to be a Trainer, like dad."

Like most conversations about his future lately, an undercurrent of tension filled the room as soon as the words left Sam's mouth. He watched emotions flicker across Daisy's face, there and gone before he could interpret them. Though she hid it well, Sam knew Daisy still worried over the path he had chosen.

Finally, she nodded, a strained smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. "Of course, Sammy. I just worry, you know? It won't be easy."

Sam crossed the kitchen in two long strides and pulled Daisy into a hug. He really did feel bad for her. She'd lost her son and didn't even know it, so he could understand her concern. To her, this was all a sudden change, as if her son had woke up one day and decided to change his entire career path just a few months before finishing High School.

But for Sam?

Becoming a Pokémon Trainer wasn't even a question for him. He was in the world of Pokémon! He wasn't going to college to get a degree! He was going to be the best Pokémon Trainer in the world!

"Don't worry," Sam said to Daisy. "I know what I'm doing."

He hoped if he sounded confident enough, Daisy would start believing him, because what he said was the truth. There wasn't a person in the world who had a better chance than him of becoming a Pokémon Champion.

Anyway, shameless Pa-atreon plug. I've got one, go by the same username on there, and the story is up to chapter 5 on there. Support me if you want, or if you would like to read the chapters ahead of time, but don't feel pressured, I'll be uploading all my stuff outside it regardless and not keeping it all behind a paywall or anything like that.

Thanks for reading!