Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Incalos
[Official Notice from the Pokémon League · Saffron City Fighting Gym Qualification Review Letter]
To: Acting Gym Leader Shi Dou of the Saffron City Fighting Gym
According to Article 7, Clause 3 of the Pokémon League Gym Management Regulations, the League will dispatch an official inspector in seven calendar days, during this year's Seasonal Review, to conduct a full evaluation of your Gym's operational qualifications and teaching standards.
The review will include, but is not limited to: facility maintenance, apprentice training systems, the battling strength of the Gym Leader and affiliated Pokémon, Gym popularity, and community contributions.
If the Gym fails to meet League standards, its official certification may be suspended or permanently revoked. The League will also cease providing the corresponding subsidies and resource allocations.
Please make all necessary preparations.
Kanto Regional Branch, Pokémon League
…
Shi Dou stared at the letter in his hand, the vivid Pokémon League crest stamped across it. After reading it through, the paper felt as heavy as a mountain.
Just one week ago, he hadn't even belonged to this world.
Back on Earth, he had only been an ordinary young man struggling through daily life, occasionally seeking comfort in Pokémon games.
He remembered that night clearly. He had just gotten off work after overtime, cursing his boss while thinking about going home to hatch a Hidden Ability Riolu. Then, as he passed a construction site, a red freight truck came barreling toward him. Shi Dou instinctively dodged.
He thought he had escaped the fate of being trucked into another world.
Then the ground suddenly vanished beneath his feet.
"Which bastard stole the manhole cover this time?!"
That was the last thought Shi Dou had before he lost consciousness.
As if to compensate for his absurdly rotten luck, fate played an even bigger joke on him.
Shi Dou didn't fall into a sewer.
Instead, he was swept up by some vast, irresistible force of "fortune," torn through space and time, and dropped headfirst into the world he had always dreamed of—
The Pokémon world.
Unfortunately, this "wonderful world" did not begin wonderfully.
Shi Dou landed smack in a forest outside Saffron City. Before he could even figure out where he was, a swarm of agitated Beedrill, disturbed by his arrival, buzzed toward him and treated him like an intruder.
He fled in a blind panic, tumbling and scrambling so desperately that he was almost certain he was about to become the fastest transmigrator in history to die pointlessly.
Then help arrived.
Martial artist Nobuhiko and his Machoke showed up just in time, drove off the Beedrill, and saved his miserable life.
Seeing that Shi Dou had nowhere to go—and noticing his unusual passion for and understanding of Fighting-type Pokémon—Nobuhiko took him in as an apprentice.
At first, Shi Dou thought it was fate.
That he could finally put down roots in this world, maybe even use the game knowledge from his past life to make a name for himself.
Reality, however, dealt him a crushing blow.
Under the leadership of the genius girl Sabrina, Saffron City's Psychic Gym rose rapidly to prominence. Since one city could not have two official Gyms, the rules required the two sides to battle to decide who stayed and who went.
The result had been utterly predictable.
Type disadvantage.
An unwinnable matchup.
Gym Leader Nobuhiko's Machoke, Hitmonlee, and the rest of his core team were utterly overwhelmed by Sabrina's terrifying psychic power.
The شکست left Nobuhiko devastated. He left behind only a brief letter, entrusting the dojo to Shi Dou before disappearing into the mountains alone to pursue a breakthrough through training.
What remained behind were a group of still-untrained Machop, Tyrogue, and an increasingly empty, desolate dojo.
Life had already been difficult enough after they were reduced to an affiliated Gym.
And now, with the League review looming, how could these little guys possibly pass?
Even if they somehow scraped by, what would they use to surpass the towering Psychic Gym pressing down on them from above?
"Senior Brother Shi Dou…"
A soft voice called out.
A girl in apprentice clothes approached, concern written across her face.
"Don't worry too much. We'll figure something out."
Her name was Bu Miao, another apprentice Nobuhiko had taken in before. She was gentle by nature, and even during the dojo's hardest days, she had never left.
"Mm. I know. Thank you, Bu Miao. It's getting late. You should head back and rest."
Shi Dou forced a smile and tucked away his troubled expression.
After seeing off Bu Miao—who kept looking back every few steps—the dojo fell silent once more.
Leaning against the cold wall, Shi Dou let out a long sigh. The crushing pressure left him feeling utterly powerless.
"Am I really going to end up homeless right after getting here…?"
Just as despair was about to swallow him whole, an icy, emotionless voice rang directly inside his mind.
[Ding! Detected the host's intense unwillingness to give up and determination to revive the dojo. "Spirit Training Plan" system successfully bound!]
[This system exists to assist the host in training spirit creatures and increasing dojo popularity. Daily check-ins grant random rewards. Increases in dojo popularity will be converted into Growth Points, which may be used in the system shop to exchange for rare items.]
[Starter gift pack has been issued. Please claim it.]
[Bonus: One first-time summon permission. You may summon a high-potential "Fighting-type" spirit creature as your partner!]
"A… a system?!"
Shi Dou froze for a second, then nearly exploded with joy.
"There really is a way out! Of course transmigrators get cheat perks! Thank you, System Bro!"
He had no idea whether this so-called cat-themed System Bro was actually reliable.
Following the example of all the transmigrators he'd read about, Shi Dou focused his thoughts. A virtual interface visible only to him unfolded before his eyes.
At the same time, a strange bracelet quietly appeared around his right wrist. It was made of dark metal with a faint black-gold sheen, and at its center was a groove glowing softly with the number [1].
"Right here, right now—summon… a powerful Fighting-type Pokémon!"
Shi Dou rubbed his hands together excitedly, thoughts racing.
What would it be?
A Riolu, the limitless Aura warrior?
Or maybe a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution—some impossibly cool Mega Blaziken, or even the newest Mega Hawlucha?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
If the range were broader, maybe it could even be Kommo-o, the Alolan pseudo-legendary grouped alongside Dragonite, Garchomp, and Salamence as one of the great late bloomers.
Or perhaps Sirfetch'd, the duck warrior from Galar who swung a giant leek and looked like the cover star of Pokémon Sword and Shield.
To get even bolder—what if it was the legendary martial bear itself, Urshifu, master of the Single Strike and Rapid Strike styles?
And even if it wasn't that amazing, he'd gladly take a kingly Heracross or even a long-legged Lopunny in black stockings!
Just imagining the possibilities made his blood boil with excitement.
No matter which one came, it would be salvation in the snow.
Shi Dou was ready to raise it like his own brother.
Without hesitating further, he focused his mind and pressed the bracelet's only summon button.
Bzzzt—!
The groove on the bracelet flared with light, projecting a luminous screen. The image began to flicker wildly as countless silhouettes of creatures flashed by too quickly to make out.
Holding his breath, Shi Dou waited for the final image to settle on some familiar figure.
But the longer he watched, the more something felt off.
The backgrounds flashing behind those silhouettes didn't all seem to belong to the Pokémon world.
And the shape of the summoning vessel…
The more he looked, the less it resembled a Poké Ball.
Instead, it looked more like… some kind of futuristic capsule.
"What the hell? This art style… why does it feel completely different?"
A bad feeling stirred inside him, but the summoning had already begun. It couldn't be stopped.
[Confirm summon?]
The system prompt sounded.
The arrow was already on the string; there was no backing out now.
Shi Dou gritted his teeth and hit Confirm.
Whoosh—!
A light unlike the usual white glow of Pokémon evolution flashed from the bracelet—deeper, tinged with a distinctly technological blue.
When the light faded, a red-and-white object dropped into Shi Dou's hand with a soft plop.
It was clearly capsule-shaped.
"This… this is… a spirit capsule?" Shi Dou stared at the thing in utter confusion. "Does the Pokémon world even have this kind of Poké Ball?"
Carrying a mix of bewilderment and lingering hope, he pressed the button on the capsule.
It opened, releasing a beam of light that condensed on the floor into a solid form.
But what appeared before Shi Dou was neither a mighty pseudo-legendary nor a cool martial fighter.
In fact, it wasn't any Pokémon he recognized at all.
It was a tiny mantis-like creature only sixteen centimeters tall, its entire body a gleaming emerald green, with a pair of sharp green arm blades. The little mantis tilted its head and observed the dumbfounded human in front of it with curious black eyes.
Shi Dou: "???"
He stared at the tiny mantis, so obviously out of place in this world's art style, then looked down at the dark bracelet the system had given him.
After a long silence, he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.
"What the hell is this thing?! System Bro, you screwed me over! This cat-system is totally useless!!!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 135)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter67)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter85)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 60
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 65
From Junkman to Wasteland 50
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 35
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 40
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 37
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 27
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 26
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 26
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