"Is this... the game world of Pokémon Emerald?"
Hakuya, who had accidentally knocked over his drink and suffered a tragic 220-volt electric shock, opened his eyes. He found a middle-aged man in a white lab coat standing under a spotlight, rambling through a lengthy opening monologue right at him.
Relying on his memories of playing Pokémon games hundreds of times, Hakuya quickly assessed his current situation based on the words hitting his ears and the appearance of this slightly chubby middle-aged man.
—The opening sequence of Pokémon Emerald.
The man before him was none other than Professor Birch, the guy who always made his debut running in circles being chased by a Zigzagoon or a Poochyena.
The reason Hakuya could be so certain he was in the world of Pokémon Emerald was partly due to the overwhelming déjà vu of the scene. The other reason was that no matter what movements Hakuya made, the white-coated professor showed absolutely no reaction, just mindlessly reciting his lines like a pre-programmed AI.
"This is what we call a Pokémon. People and Pokémon play together, help each other, and become great partners... To unravel the mysteries of Pokémon, I have dedicated my entire life to studying them..."
After the painfully long introductory speech, Professor Birch kept his left hand in his pocket, still wearing that faint smile reserved for new trainers, while his right hand tossed a Master Ball into the air like a magic trick.
"Roar—!!!"
Under the incandescent light, the figure coiled in mid-air let out a ferocious roar.
Its appearance resembled a skeletal dragon, its massive draconic head both majestic and terrifying. A metallic, matte luster shimmered across its dark purple skeletal frame, completely devoid of any flesh or blood—like a dragon of death awakening from the dark night.
The moment it appeared, the entire space was filled with waves of dragon roars that pierced the heavens.
"Wait, what? Is your Eternamax Eternatus even legal?!"
Hakuya, recognizing the creature instantly, was utterly dumbfounded.
Eternatus—one of the Legendary Pokémon of the Galar region and the source of Dynamax energy. Once it achieved its Eternamax form, its base stats far surpassed even Arceus, the God of Pokémon.
And now, Eternatus, the ultimate final boss of the Galar region, was reduced to being a generic introductory Pokémon shown off by a professor to a newbie trainer. This felt way too absurd—
In response, beyond his shock, Hakuya couldn't help but feel like he was losing his mind.
Because he had physically transmigrated into the game, the usual sequence of picking a gender and naming his character was entirely skipped.
"You're Hakuya, who just moved to Littleroot Town, right..." This scruffy-looking starter professor, wearing athletic sandals, issued an eviction notice with a face full of smiles. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do. Come see me at my Pokémon Lab."
"Hey, wait a sec..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hakuya, who had wanted to get closer and touch Eternatus, suddenly felt his vision go black. A powerful gravitational pull swept over his entire body, dragging him completely into an unknown space.
By the time he finally regained his senses, Hakuya found himself sitting in the back of a moving truck.
[The boxes are stamped with the Groudon logo. This is the Groudon Moving Service.]
After having a robotic, NPC-like conversation with his Mom who came out to greet him, Hakuya walked into the house, swept his gaze across the room, and suddenly widened his eyes.
Two gigantic beasts, completely covered in crimson armor, were holding cardboard delivery boxes in their hands, harmlessly performing the moving service.
"Roar~"
At that moment, hearing the commotion at the door, the two Groudon even intelligently turned their heads to greet Hakuya.
Huh? So you guys weren't falsely advertising?!
Looking at these two Groudon, who were God knows how many heads taller than him, Hakuya—who had just been roasting the moving company's name in his head moments ago—felt like he'd been completely slapped in the face.
"Hiss... Don't tell me this is a randomized version of the Pokémon world?"
Hakuya's pupils quaked as a sudden realization hit him.
—A randomized Pokémon game, just as the name implies, means that every single Pokémon the player encounters in this world is completely random.
Maybe you cast your rod by a lake and fish up a Fire-type Charmander. Maybe you run into a completely ordinary Bug Catcher on the side of the road, and he casually whips out a Mega Rayquaza...
Besides the encounters being random, their Abilities would also be randomized.
Judging by the current situation, this possibility seemed incredibly high.
To the side, unlike Hakuya who was astounded that Groudon were actually in his house, his Mom, dressed in her loungewear, had eyes full of gentle smiles, her marveling directed at something entirely different—
"The moving company's Pokémon help us carry all our stuff inside, and they even help clean the room. It's so convenient!"
Turning her head, she chuckled softly and warmly.
"Hakuya, your room is upstairs, go check it out! Don't forget to set the clock!"
Whatever, since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it—
Being pushed upstairs into his room by his Mom, Hakuya thought to himself.
After all, physically transmigrating into the world of Pokémon Emerald was magical enough. Even with the added element of randomization, it didn't make him panic too much right now; he quickly accepted this premise.
...
AM 6:00
[Littleroot Town. A town that can't be shaded any color.]
"Oh right, Professor Birch lives right next door. You should go visit him~"
After setting the clock in his second-floor room to exactly 6:00 AM and watching the TV interview about his Gym Leader father, Hakuya hadn't even had the chance to sit on his living room couch before his Mom kicked him out of the house.
Compared to the pixel art style from when he played the game in his past life, now that he had transmigrated here, what appeared before him was naturally a realistic landscape.
—There weren't many houses in town, scattered sparsely along both sides of the road. Likely because the set time was so early, a veil-like mist still lingered reluctantly around the rooftops. Lush green blades of grass were weighed down by silver dewdrops left over from last night, rustling and rolling off whenever the breeze blew past.
Aside from the leisurely and beautiful natural scenery, the people were just as he remembered.
The neighbor lady in her loungewear was voluptuous and curvy, and his rival Sapphire was pure and gorgeous. However, the one fly in the ointment was that no matter what actions Hakuya took, they acted like robots, mindlessly repeating the exact same dialogue.
Sapphire.
"By the way, Sapphire, how are you maintaining that posture without collapsing onto the floor..."
Hakuya looked at the chestnut-haired girl who was still half-sitting on thin air after he had pulled her chair away, his mouth twitching slightly at the sight.
If this were any other web novel, it would have fast-forwarded to—Bad news: Transmigrated to another world and everyone is an NPC. Good news: They are all... incredibly tight and ready to get fucked. But Hakuya wasn't thirsty enough to stoop to that level. After shaking his head and tossing out all those dangerous, horny thoughts, he gave the chair back to Sapphire.
Immediately after, Hakuya, walking out the door again, was stopped by a little girl in a yellow dress and accepted the field research quest.
"It's finally time for the starter selection."