The credits of the final Galar episode rolled across his laptop screen. A triumphant theme played as images of Ash Ketchum and his Pokémon filled the display—Pikachu raising its paw in victory, Lucario glowing with aura, Dracovish thrashing joyfully.
Ash—the boy watching, not the boy in the show—leaned back in his chair with a long sigh.
"Man… what a journey," he murmured to himself. His heart was still pounding from that last battle. Even though he'd known Ash would win, the sheer thrill of watching the Champion match unfold had kept him glued to the screen.
He had grown up with Pokémon, watched every region's adventure, and this—this was the perfect way to end a season. He closed the video player, expecting the usual streaming site to recommend another series.
But instead, a clean white window popped up.
It wasn't part of the site. In fact, it didn't even have a browser bar—just bold black letters across the top:
Pokémon Journeys Review
A little surprised, he scrolled down. The first question read:
Q1: Please rate the episode you just watched.
Below were five golden stars. Without hesitation, he clicked the fifth star.
"Easy. Solid five."
The stars lit up, and the second question appeared.
Q2: Which person would you want to reincarnate as?
Options appeared in neat rows: Ash, Paul, Gary, Alain, Tobias.
He frowned.
"Uh… that's weird." He hovered his mouse over the names, half expecting a pop-up to say it was a joke. "Reincarnate? What kind of survey is this?"
Still, curiosity pricked at him. If it was just for fun, why not play along? The names were tempting—he liked all of them in different ways.
Paul? Strong, tactical, but a bit too cold.
Gary? Talented and ambitious, but his arrogance in the early days had been annoying.
Alain? Mega Charizard X was cool, but his whole Kalos arc was messy.
Tobias? Now that was tempting. The man waltzed into the Sinnoh League with Darkrai and Latios and crushed everyone.
And then there was Ash Ketchum. The eternal dreamer. The boy who had traveled across regions, made friends with legends, and built a team filled with powerhouses—Charizard, Pikachu, Greninja, Sceptile, Lucario… the list went on.
"This is actually harder than I thought," he muttered.
After a full minute of thinking, he leaned back in his chair.
"Alright. Gotta go with Ash. He's been my favorite since day one."
He clicked the name. The box shimmered, and the third question faded in.
**Q3: Which starter Pokémon would you like?**
The choices were: **Pikachu, Charmander, Treecko, Chimchar, Froakie, Riolu.**
He blinked.
"If I picked Tobias… would it have been Darkrai and Latios here?" he wondered aloud. He glanced up, searching for a back button, but there was none. No changing previous answers.
"Guess that's that."
He eyed the list again. Froakie caught his attention instantly. The Kalos series had been his favorite—Ash in that timeline had been more focused, more mature. Greninja's battles were legendary.
"Yeah… Froakie it is."
With a decisive click, the blue frog icon lit up.
The big red **Submit** button pulsed at the bottom of the page.
He hesitated only for a second before pressing it.
The moment he did, the screen flickered. His laptop fan whirred loudly, and the edges of his vision began to darken.
"Whoa… what the—"
The room spun. His hands shot to the desk for balance, but he couldn't feel the wood beneath his fingers. It was like his body was fading away.
Everything went black.
---
If you want, in **Chapter 2** we can start with him waking up as Ash Ketchum in Pallet Town, with all the sensory details of suddenly being in a different body and world, plus the excitement and shock of realizing it's *real*.
Do you want me to go ahead and make **Chapter 2** next?