[Pokémon League Official Notice · Saffron City Fighting Dojo Qualification Audit Letter]
To: Acting Gym Leader Shidou, Saffron City Fighting Dojo.
According to Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the "Pokémon League Gym Management Regulations," the League will dispatch an official Investigator seven days from now.
During this year's [Quarterly Audit], a comprehensive evaluation of your Dojo's operational status and teaching standards will be conducted.
The audit items include but are not limited to: maintenance of Dojo facilities, the apprentice training system, the combat strength of the Leader and their Pokémon, Dojo popularity, and community contribution.
If the audit fails to meet League standards, the official certification of your Dojo will be suspended or permanently revoked.
The League will no longer provide corresponding stipends or resource allocations.
Please ensure all preparations are made.
— Kanto Branch, Pokémon League
...
Shidou looked at the letter in his hand, stamped with the distinct emblem of the Pokémon League. After reading it, the paper felt as heavy as a mountain.
Just a week ago, Shidou wasn't even from this world.
He was originally just an ordinary young man on Earth, struggling for a living and occasionally finding solace in Pokémon games.
Shidou remembered clearly: that night, he had just finished working overtime.
While cursing his boss and thinking about going home to hatch a Hidden Ability Riolu, he passed a construction site.
A red truck came speeding toward him; Shidou instinctively dodged.
He thought he had escaped the fate of being "Isekai-ed" by a truck, but then his feet hit empty air...
"Who the fuck stole the manhole cover again?!"
That was Shidou's last thought before losing consciousness...
As if to compensate for his wretched luck, fate played a massive joke on him.
Shidou didn't end up in the sewer; instead, he was swept away by a massive, irresistible force of "luck."
He traveled through time and space and plunged into the world of his dreams—
The Pokémon World.
Unfortunately, the start of this "beautiful world" wasn't beautiful at all.
Shidou crashed directly into the forest outside Saffron City.
Before he could even figure out north from south, a swarm of disturbed Beedrill swarmed him.
With a scalp-numbing buzz, they treated him as an intruder.
Shidou scrambled for his life, thinking he'd be the fastest traveler to die, when a rescue appeared.
The martial artist Koichi and his Machoke arrived just in time, repelling the Beedrill and saving his pathetic self.
Koichi saw that Shidou had no one to rely on and possessed an extraordinary passion and insight into Fighting-type Pokémon.
So, he took him in as an apprentice.
Shidou thought this was the arrangement of fate—a chance to stand firm and use his game knowledge to dominate.
However, reality gave Shidou a heavy blow.
The Saffron Psychic Gym rose rapidly under the leadership of the genius girl, Sabrina.
A city cannot have two official Gyms; according to the rules, they had to battle to decide who stayed.
The result had no suspense—Type disadvantage is a bitch.
Koichi's Machoke, Hitmonlee, and other core members were ruthlessly crushed by Sabrina's overwhelming psychic power.
Defeated and humiliated, Koichi left a brief note, entrusted the Dojo to Shidou, and went into the deep mountains to train.
What was left behind was a group of unevolved Machop, Tyrogue, and an empty, increasingly desolate Dojo.
Life as a subsidiary Dojo was already hard.
Now, with the League audit looming, how could he pass with these little guys?
Even if he got lucky and passed, how could he ever surpass the mountain of the Psychic Gym hanging over their heads?
"Senior Shidou..."
A soft voice sounded. A young girl named Bumiao, wearing apprentice clothes, walked over with worry on her face.
"Don't worry too much. We'll find a way."
Bumiao was another apprentice Koichi had taken in. She was gentle and hadn't left even when the Dojo was at its worst.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Bumiao. It's late, go get some rest."
Shidou hid his distress and forced a smile.
After sending off the lingering Bumiao, the Dojo returned to silence.
Shidou leaned against the cold wall and sighed deeply. The pressure felt like an anchor.
"Am I really going to end up homeless right after arriving..."
Just as Shidou was drowning in despair, a cold, emotionless voice rang directly in his mind:
[Ding! Detecting host's intense unwillingness and desire for revival. 'Spirit Cultivation Plan' System is now bound!]
[This system aims to assist the host in training spirits and increasing Dojo popularity. Daily check-ins grant random rewards.]
[Dojo popularity will be converted into Growth Points, which can be used in the System Shop for rare items.]
[Newbie Gift Pack has been issued. Please check.]
[Bonus: One Initial Summoning Right granted. You can summon a 'Fighting-type' spirit with immense potential as a partner!]
"Sys... System?!" Shidou froze, then a surge of ecstasy hit him. "Fate hasn't abandoned me! Every traveler gets a cheat! Thank you, System-bro!"
He wondered if this System-bro was actually powerful.
Acting like a typical protagonist, Shidou's mind moved, and a virtual interface visible only to him expanded.
At the same time, a strange-looking bracelet with a dark metallic luster appeared on his right wrist.
There was a slot in the center of the bracelet, glowing slightly with the number [1].
"Right here, right now... Summon a powerful Fighting Pokémon!"
Shidou rubbed his hands in excitement, his mind racing.
Which one would it be?
The aura-wielding hero, Riolu?
Or the insanely cool Mega Blaziken or even a Mega Hawlucha?
Shidou got more excited the more he thought about it.
What if the range was wider? The pseudo-legendary Kommo-o?
Or maybe the Galar region's leek-swinging god of war, Sirfetch'd?
(Brothers, look at my luck!)
Let's be even bolder—maybe the legendary Single Strike or Rapid Strike Urshifu?!
Even if it's just a Heracross or a sexy, black-stocking-wearing Lopunny, I'll take it!!!
The mere thought made Shidou's blood boil.
No matter which one it was, it would be a godsend. Shidou vowed to treat it like his own brother!
Without further hesitation, Shidou focused his mind and clicked the only "Summon" button on the bracelet.
Vroom—!
The slot on the bracelet lit up violently, projecting a light screen.
Images began to flash frantically—countless silhouettes of spirits blurred past too fast to see.
Shidou held his breath, waiting for it to settle on a familiar figure.
However, as he watched, he felt something was off.
The background patterns flashing past didn't look entirely like the Pokémon world.
And the silhouette of the summoning vessel... it didn't look like a Pokéball.
It looked more like... some kind of high-tech capsule?
"What's going on? This art style... why does it feel different?"
A strange premonition rose in Shidou's heart, but the summoning had started and couldn't be stopped.
[Confirm Summon?]
The system prompt sounded. The arrow was on the string; he had to fire.
Shidou steeled his nerves and clicked "Confirm."
Swish—!
A deep, tech-blue light—different from the usual white light of Pokémon evolution—flashed from the bracelet.
The light faded, and a red-and-white cylindrical capsule dropped into Shidou's hand with a clack.
"This... this is... a Spirit Capsule?" Shidou stared at the object in his hand, feeling an intense sense of déjà vu. "Are there Pokéballs in this style?"
With massive confusion and a shred of lingering hope, Shidou pressed the button on the capsule.
The capsule opened, and a beam of light shot out, condensing on the floor.
However, what appeared before Shidou wasn't a mighty pseudo-legendary, nor a cool martial artist.
It wasn't even a Pokémon he recognized.
It was a 16cm tall, vibrant green, mantis-like creature with a pair of razor-sharp green arm blades.
The little mantis was currently using its pitch-black eyes to curiously size up the dumbfounded human in front of it.
Shidou: "???"
Looking at this mantis with a clearly different art style, and then at the Dark Bracelet the system gave him, he finally squeezed a sentence through his teeth:
"What the fuck is this thing?! System-bro, you fucked me over!!! This goddamn system is totally useless!!!"