He was a transmigrator.
He had transmigrated to the world of Pokémon. He originally thought that with his years of gaming experience, beating Elite Four members and Champions, marrying a rich and beautiful woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life would be a piece of cake.
But the cruel reality told him that no matter which world it was, you had to rely on your background and your connections!
The body he currently occupied belonged to a young boy named Ace Mett.
And all Ace had left him, besides some painful childhood memories, was not a single useful memory.
Oh, that's not entirely true. At least he knew his current location was the Sinnoh region, and that in the forest he had just entered, there was an extremely powerful Gliscor. What he smeared on himself was that Gliscor's feces.
It was precisely because he understood these things that Ace was able to trick the other party, leaving them stranded in the forest.
Of course, Ace and the big man also had some animosity.
That big man was a poacher, whose main job was to poach rare Pokémon to sell to rich people and nobles.
Ace had a miserable childhood; his parents had racked up a huge debt. To repay it, they inhumanely sold Ace to that big man in exchange for money.
So, on the surface, Ace had parents, but for Ace, there wasn't much difference between him and an orphan.
And that guy bought Ace not out of kindness or a plan to take him in.
It was because Ace was fast.
Yes, it was for such a simple reason.
According to Ace's currently known information, the current timeline should be very early, even the Pokémon League hadn't been established for very long.
In this world, humans and Pokémon had not yet reached a state of harmonious coexistence.
If a human entered a forest or similar place without a Pokémon to protect them, their fate would be similar to that big man's: directly becoming Pokémon food.
And the poacher's method of capturing Pokémon was also very simple and brutal.
That was to use Ace as bait, then he would provide suppressing fire, injure the Pokémon, and then capture it with a Poké Ball.
This was also why he bought Ace.
Because Ace was fast, his survival rate was higher, which saved him the trouble of constantly finding new bait.
Ace also knew very well that in terms of physique or combat strength, he was no match for that poacher. So at first, Ace could only silently endure, living a life of constant dread every day.
And everything changed about a week ago.
It was a poaching incident. Ace, as usual, acted as bait, attracting the attention of several Pokémon.
After he led the Pokémon to the poacher's target location, the poacher opened fire, suppressing those Pokémon.
However, the poacher's aim was a bit off; he shot a Budew in the head, killing it instantly.
Watching the dead Budew, the poacher cursed his bad luck.
And Ace just silently watched the Budew's corpse, knowing in his heart that if he didn't make a change, this Budew would be his future.
As Ace was thinking this, an electronic voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Detecting that host's will to survive has reached 100%, the system is officially activating, please wait..."
Yes, a system activated on Ace. He also saw the key to escaping his current predicament through this system.
And this system, after completing its activation, was, as Ace expected, a system capable of cultivating Pokémon.
However, to obtain resources for cultivating Pokémon within it, one needed to complete tasks provided by the system, earning system gold coins and valuable task points.
System gold coins could be used to purchase corresponding items in the system store, which enhanced Pokémon strength externally.
Task points were precious because they could achieve abilities similar to a complete metamorphosis.
Of course, task points could be obtained by completing tasks, and the number of points received was based on Ace's evaluation of the completed task.
A minimum D-rank evaluation yielded only one task point, while the highest was an SS-rank evaluation, which could grant fifty task points in one go.
Of course, that was almost impossible to achieve.
One had to achieve victory against a stronger opponent, and at the same time, every step and every detail of the task could not have a single error to barely reach an SS-rank evaluation.
And as an activation reward, the system sent Ace a grand gift pack, which contained an initial Pokémon.
But what the initial Pokémon would be, Ace would have to draw himself.
After the gift pack was sent, the system issued its first task.
"Survive: Your will to survive has reached its peak. Resist, break free from the poacher's shackles, and strive for freedom. Task reward: 100 gold coins, task points given based on task completion evaluation."
And then, that was it!
Yes, it was that unfair, just gone like that!
No help was provided, only a cold task prompt, and nothing else!
What's more important, the previous activation reward could only be issued if Ace had an empty Poké Ball on him; otherwise, the grand gift pack would just sit there.
At that time, Ace almost spat blood from frustration, but after regaining his composure, Ace also understood that instead of blaming fate, it was better to find a solution by himself.
The system's arrival was not to give Ace a helping hand, but to give him hope in his despair!
Only in despair can one truly understand the preciousness of hope.
After a week of planning, Ace stole an empty Poké Ball from the poacher, lured him into the forest to kill him, and completed his first task.
It also signified that he had broken free from despair and firmly grasped that sliver of hope!
...
Dragging his exhausted body, Ace returned to the poacher's encampment.
The bonfire had already extinguished. Ace rummaged through the tent for a flint, gathered some dry wood, and re-ignited the bonfire.
Afterward, he found the poacher's backpack, pulled out food and water from it, and ravenously stuffed the contents into his belly. Only then did Ace feel his tired body recover somewhat.
He did not wash off the mud and feces on his body. In the wilderness, it was extremely dangerous without a Pokémon guardian!
And although Ace currently looked disheveled, with this layer of natural protection, his safety was actually much higher than under normal circumstances.
"System, please send my initial Pokémon."
Sitting by the bonfire, Ace rested for a bit before asking the system for his initial Pokémon.
"Detecting an empty Poké Ball on the host. Initial Pokémon beginning random generation..."
"Congratulations, host, you have obtained your initial Pokémon: Zubat!"
Ace: ...
Somewhat stiffly, he took out the originally empty Poké Ball from his embrace. Soon, an information panel appeared before Ace's eyes.
Pokémon: Zubat
Gender: Male
Level: 3
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
Potential: Moderate
Egg Move: Steel Wing
Moves: Leech Life, Supersonic