Zane was secretly thrilled he had a path to becoming a legal citizen, but he kept his face a cool mask of indifference. He politely said goodbye to Officer Jenny, then took his Cramorant down the street to a ramen shop.
He'd been assuming the Pokédollar was basically equivalent to the Japanese Yen—plentiful and spent freely. It was only when the bill came that he realized it was pegged closer to the Chinese RMB, meaning each dollar was worth way more. His entire fortune of 480 Pokédollars was now just 470.
Crap, he thought, staring at his nearly empty wallet. I need a job. Like, yesterday.
The whole "becoming a Pokémon trainer" dream would have to wait until he wasn't flat broke.
After eating, he spent 140 Pokédollars at a street stall on a new hoodie and a pair of khaki pants, then took his new clothes to a public bathhouse for a much-needed scrub. Once he felt human again—clean, refreshed, and in clothes that weren't covered in grime and Beedrill venom—he recalled Cramorant to its Master Ball and headed back to the police station alone.
He staked the place out for a few minutes, making sure Officer Jenny from that morning wasn't at the desk. Confident the coast was clear, he strolled inside. "Hi," he said to the Jenny on duty. "I'd like to register my identity. Is this the right place?"
The officer looked up, and her expression immediately turned strange.
Zane's stomach plummeted.
"Didn't you say," she asked, her head tilted, "that it was your friend who needed to register?"
For a second, Zane forgot how to breathe. Oh, you have got to be kidding me. In that moment, he hated, absolutely hated, the fact that every Officer Jenny in the world looked identical.
He couldn't tell them apart!
Fine. Whatever.
No more games. Time to come clean.
"Okay, you got me," he sighed, dropping the act. "The 'friend' I was talking about... It's me."
He then launched into a fabricated backstory about having parents who despised human society and raised him in isolation.
"Then why did you say it was for a friend?" the officer asked, genuinely confused.
Zane took a deep breath and pulled the final lie out of thin air. "Because before they passed away, they told me to never trust anyone in the human world."
"I see..." Having been an officer for years, she'd heard stranger stories. She pulled a form from her desk drawer. "Your name is Zane, correct? I remember."
"That's right," he confirmed. He took the form, quickly filled in his basic info—age, gender—and handed it back.
Officer Jenny entered the data into the official Hoenn region database. A moment later, a machine spat out a plastic card that looked just like a driver's license. "There you go," she said, handing it to him. "You are now a legal citizen, protected by the Pokémon League."
"Thank you," Zane said, a massive weight lifting off his shoulders.
With the identity problem solved, it was time to tackle the money problem.
He left the station and started walking, getting the lay of the land in Petalburg City. In the games, Petalburg was the first town with a gym, and it was the player character's hometown. But unlike the tiny village of a few buildings from the game, the real Petalburg was a sprawling town, at least the size of a small city back in his old world.
"The Petalburg Gym... the leader is Norman, right? Uses Normal-types?"
It had been years since he'd played Ruby and Sapphire, so some of the details were fuzzy. In any case, challenging a gym was a long-term goal. For now, he was just another broke guy looking at a building he couldn't afford to enter. He gave it a passing glance and moved on.
As he walked, he started noticing 'Help Wanted' signs posted on shop windows and telephone poles.
Blue Sky Pokémon Café: Seeking one barista. Requirements: Excellent social skills, professional coffee-making technique. Weekly Salary: 700 Pokédollars.
Meloetta Restaurant: Now hiring 3 cleaners. Duties include mopping floors and washing dishes. Requirements: Must be hardworking. Monthly Salary: 5,000 Pokédollars.
Sail On Advertising Co.: Seeking 10 marketing planners. Requirements: Proficient in Photoshop, Word, etc. Marketing majors preferred. Monthly Salary: 6,800 Pokédollars.
Petalburg Pokémon Elementary: Now hiring 2 teachers. Requirements: A deep understanding of Pokémon ecology, familiarity with specific information on all Pokémon species, and must love Pokémon. Experience as a trainer or breeder is a major plus. Monthly Salary: 6,000 Pokédollars. The school provides faculty housing and three free meals a day. Interested parties may apply to the school for a test.
No degree required?
Zane's eyes locked onto the fourth ad. Free room and board, three meals a day, and 6,000 a month. Of all the jobs he'd seen, this was the only one that seemed tailor-made for him. And thanks to his meta-knowledge, he met every single requirement.
After thinking it over, he followed the address on the ad and found himself standing in front of the elementary school.
When he stated his reason for being there, the female teacher in charge of applicants gave him a deeply skeptical look. "Are you even ten years old yet?"
Zane was so over this. He made a mental note to start telling everyone he was twelve from now on; he was just a late bloomer, which was why he looked so young. "Ma'am, just let me take the test," he said. "You'll see."
The teacher looked like she wanted to argue, but thought better of it. She reported the situation to the principal over the phone, who quickly gave a simple four-word reply: "Let him try it."
"Alright, then. Follow me," the teacher said, standing up.
Zane followed her down a hall to a classroom. A crowd was already gathered outside the door, mostly young men and women who looked to be in their late teens or early twenties.
"They're all here for the same job," the teacher explained. "But we're only hiring two."
Brutal, Zane thought silently.
"You're just in time," she said, turning to the group. "The test is about to begin. Please get ready to enter the examination room!"
It was only then that Zane realized, in his haste, he hadn't brought a pen.
The teacher noticed, too. Her expression soured. "Are you being serious right now?" she asked, clearly suspecting he was just a kid playing a prank.
Zane could only sigh. "..."
Just then, a freckle-faced girl standing nearby smiled and held out a pen. "Here, you can use mine!"
"Thanks," Zane said, relieved. He reached into his pocket. "How much?"
The girl gave a shy smile. "Don't worry about it. Are you here for the job, too?"
"Yeah." Zane nodded gratefully.
"Well, good luck!" she said, and then she patted him on the head.
Zane cringed internally. God, this is awkward. I'm a thirty-year-old man, not a little kid!
He tried to act like a peer, but everyone just treated him like a child. It was incredibly frustrating.
Soon, the test began.
It was divided into three parts. The first was a written exam, testing the applicants' knowledge of Pokémon types and habits. The questions were basic stuff like, "What types are super-effective against Ghost?" and "Name the three Hoenn starters and their final evolutions."
For a transmigrator armed with two decades of game knowledge, it was a total cakewalk. He breezed through it.
The second part was a practical assessment.
The applicants, in front of an examiner, had to correctly identify a Pokémon's injuries and then select the appropriate healing Berry from a large pile. They were split into groups of five, entering the room three at a time.
Zane was assigned a Swellow. He walked up and examined it closely. There was a faint, almost unnoticeable mark on its left wing, and he could smell a slight, sharp scent of ozone.
A burn? No, if it were a burn, it wouldn't be lying on its side like that, completely still.
As he watched, he noticed the Swellow's body was twitching with tiny, almost invisible spasms. You'd miss it if you weren't looking for it.
So, not a burn. It's paralysis.
Just to be sure, he activated his personal cheat code.
Species: Swellow ♂
Type: Normal / Flying
Ability: Guts
Base Stats: 455 (HP: 60, Atk: 85, Def: 60, SpA: 75, SpD: 50, Spe: 125)
Moves: Peck, Quick Attack, Air Slash, Brave Bird, Aerial Ace
Current Mood: Confused
Status: Paralyzed (electrified, unable to move)
Friendship: 0 (stranger)
Just as I thought.
Paralysis called for a Cheri Berry, and confusion needed a Persim Berry.
Zane turned around. Even without the editor's help, he could easily spot the berries he needed in the pile. He picked them out, fed them to the Swellow one after the other, then stepped back.
"Done," he announced.
The other applicants and the proctor stared at him, stunned. They instinctively glanced at the wall clock.
Less than two minutes had passed.
That fast? How did he do it?
Unlike the other applicants, the proctor knew that the test Pokémon had been afflicted with more than one status condition. It was a deliberate trap. A less observant person would have seen the scorched spot and mistaken the paralysis for a simple burn.
Furthermore, with the sheer variety of Berries, most people were only familiar with the processed Pokéblocks made from them. Only a professional breeder could be expected to distinguish between them all by sight, let alone find the exact ones needed after just a quick glance.
From that alone, the proctor could tell this boy was something special.
"Are you a Pokémon Breeder?" he asked, his voice filled with surprised excitement.
If they could hire an actual breeder, they could advertise that their school had a professional on staff. They'd never have to worry about student enrollment again.
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