...
He was a Transmigrator, a lost soul from another world. He got stuck in this Pokémon world, which he initially thought would be a paradise full of hot chicks, cute Pokémon, and a lavish life as a Champion. Are you kidding me?! He thought he could just waltz in and beat the Elite Four and Champions just because he played some games? What a dumbass!
Harsh reality slapped him in the face harder than a Quick Attack from a Jolteon. In any world, you gotta have foundations and a family backing you up, you bastard! It's not just about grinding levels or catching rare Pokémon; it's about who your dad is, who you know, and how much damn money you've got!
The body he currently inhabited belonged to a young brat named Ace Mite. And what did the previous Ace leave him? Just some bitter childhood memories, nothing useful at all! Unless... oh, wait. At least he knew his current location was the Sinnoh region, and that there was a super strong Gliscor in the forest he'd just been in. And that stinky substance he'd smeared on himself? That was Gliscor's shit! Holy hell, a god-tier gross-out move!
It was precisely because Ace knew this that he was able to trick the Hunter and leave him in the forest alone, to become a wild Pokémon's meal. Serve you right, you bastard! Of course, Ace also held a burning grudge against that burly prick.
That burly guy was a Hunter, whose main job was simple: hunt rare Pokémon and sell them to rich, snobby noblemen who loved to show off. Like a marketplace thug looking for prey.
Ace had a damn miserable childhood. His parents were buried under a mountain of debt, and being the complete idiots they were, they heartlessly sold Ace to that burly man just to pay off their debts! What kind of fucked-up parents do that?! So, on paper, Ace had parents, but to Ace, there wasn't much difference between him and an orphan. His fate was pathetic, like a Magikarp constantly using Splash but doing absolutely nothing.
And that Hunter didn't buy Ace out of kindness, but because he wanted Ace to be bait. Why? Because Ace was fast. Yeah, it was that simple. He just needed bait that could run fast so it wouldn't die quickly, and he wouldn't have to bother finding new bait all the time. The bastard!
Based on the information Ace knew, the timeline was still very early; even the Pokémon League had only recently been established. In this world, humans and Pokémon hadn't reached a state of harmonious coexistence yet. If a human entered a forest or similar place without a Pokémon, their fate would be similar to that burly man's: they'd become free Pokémon food. Disgusting!
The Hunter's method of catching Pokémon was also incredibly primitive. He'd use Ace as bait, wait for the Pokémon to get close, then shoot them to injure them, and finally catch them with a Poké Ball. Barbaric!
Ace was also well aware that he couldn't beat that Hunter, either physically or in terms of combat ability. So, at first, he could only endure silently, living in constant fear. Like a Caterpie surrounded by a swarm of Pidgey.
And everything changed a week ago.
It was during a hunting attempt. Ace, as usual, acted as bait and attracted the attention of several Pokémon. After he lured the Pokémon to the Hunter's target location, the Hunter fired, incapacitating the Pokémon. But unfortunately, the Hunter's aim was a bit off; one shot hit a Budew in the head, killing it instantly. Damn it!
Seeing the dead Budew, the Hunter cursed his bad luck. Meanwhile, Ace silently watched the Budew's corpse. But he knew in his heart that if he didn't make some changes, this Budew would be his future. He'd die a pathetic death as rotten bait!
As Ace was thinking this, an electronic voice suddenly echoed in his mind. Like Jarvis was in his head.
"Host's detected will to survive has reached 100%. System officially activated. Please wait…"
Holy shit! A system activated for Ace! And from this system, he saw the key to getting out of all this mess. This was like getting a free Master Ball when you're on your last leg!
And this system, once activated, as Ace had expected, was a Pokémon cultivation system. But to get the resources to cultivate Pokémon, he needed to complete tasks provided by the system to earn system gold coins and valuable task points.
System gold coins could be used to buy items in the system store, to enhance Pokémon's strength externally. Like steroids for Pokémon, but legal.
The reason task points were valuable was that they could achieve some kind of 'metamorphosis' ability. Whatever that meant, it had to be damn cool! Task points could be obtained by completing tasks, and the amount of points earned depended on Ace's evaluation of the task completion.
The lowest evaluation was rank D, only giving one task point. So damn stingy! While the highest was rank SS, which could give fifty task points at once. Crazy, that's a jackpot! But, obviously, it was almost impossible to achieve. You'd have to win against much stronger opponents, and every step and detail of the task had to be perfect to even sniff an SS rank evaluation. Like having to beat the Champion with just a level 1 Rattata.
And as a system activation reward, the system sent Ace a large gift package, which contained a starter Pokémon. But whatever his starter Pokémon was, Ace could only draw it himself. This was like a lottery, but for your life!
After the gift package was sent, the system released its first task.
"Survive: Your will to survive has reached its peak, so fight back. Break free from the Hunter's shackles and fight for freedom. Task Reward: 100 Gold Coins, task points awarded based on task completion evaluation."
And then, that was it!
Seriously, it was so annoying, just gone! No help given, just a cold task command, and nothing else! Like telling you to beat the Elite Four but not telling you how.
What's worse, the previous activation reward could only be given if Ace had an empty Poké Ball! Otherwise, the gift package would just stay there, hanging around like a fart that couldn't escape.
Ace almost vomited blood from frustration, but after coming to his senses, he understood: instead of complaining like a pansy, it's better to find solutions step by step. The system's arrival wasn't to coddle Ace, but to give him hope when he was desperate! Only when desperate can one understand how precious hope is. Wise words, damn it!
After a week of planning, Ace stole an empty Poké Ball from the Hunter, lured him into the forest to kill him, and completed the first task. That also showed that he had broken free from despair and firmly grasped that glimmer of hope! Go, Ace, go!
Dragging his exhausted, homeless-looking body, Ace returned to the Hunter's camp. The campfire was out, cold as an ex's heart. Ace rummaged for flint in the tent, gathered dry wood, and relit the campfire.
After that, he found the Hunter's backpack, pulled out some food and water, and greedily crammed it all down his throat. Only then did Ace feel his aching body recover a bit. He didn't clean the mud and grime off his body. In the wild, it's damn dangerous without a Pokémon guard! Although Ace now looked like he'd been hit by a Tauros, with this layer of natural protection, his safety was actually much higher than in normal conditions. That stench was like a lucky charm against Pokémon!
"System, send me my first Pokémon."
Sitting by the campfire, Ace rested for a bit before asking the system for his starter Pokémon.
"Detecting empty Poké Ball on host. Randomly generating starter Pokémon…"
"Congratulations, host, you have received your first Pokémon, Zubat!"
Ace: …
With a somewhat stiff movement, he pulled out the now-empty Poké Ball in his hand. Soon, an information panel appeared before Ace's eyes.
Pokémon: Zubat
Gender: Male
Level: 5
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hasty
Talent: Average
Egg Moves: Wing Attack
Moves: Absorb, Supersonic, Bite...
...
[End of Chapter]
So, did you like it, you bastards? Or does it just make you want to punch a Zubat? Don't forget to vote and collect, or I won't be motivated to write more! If you don't, I'll send a swarm of Zubat to annoy you in your sleep tonight!