This was the last day of Eric Brown's life. He had just turned 16 last week, and here he was, lying in a deserted alleyway, bleeding to death with a knife stuck in his stomach.
Eric had a lot of mixed feelings as he was slowly fading away, but the strongest thing he felt was relief.
Relief, that it was finally over. Relief that he will have to suffer no longer. That he would be free from this accursed life.
He slowly relaxed, as for the first time in a long while, he was at peace.
Random thoughts flooded his mind, most of them humorous but carried a touch of sadness.
Eventually he landed on this thought of wanting a chance to redo his life, not as Eric Brown but as someone else, someone with a better family, a better living condition, someone with love in his life.
He fully let his mind wander in this fantasy.
'Maybe I'll be reborn in some other world, maybe the Pokémon world even. That would be nice.'
Pokémon was Eric's biggest way to escape from reality. It was the first thing that helped him escape reality and he stuck with it for the rest of his life, watching anime, playing the games. It was the franchise he was most invested in.
Of course, Eric knew that even if he was reborn in the Pokemon world, it won't be like the anime, as it'll be a real world with real humans. It'll be dangerous, but that's fine. Its not like Earth is any less messed up. As long as he is not reborn as Eric Brown, he would be fine with anything.
'Well it's all just a fantasy anyway. This is my reality, living a short, miserable life and dying in a shabby alleyway. With my luck... there's no way...that I...will get the chan...'
Eric's consciousness faded away before he could complete his thought.
March 24, 2028. Eric Brown, age 16, had passed away.
---
Eric's mind was in a dreamy state when a loud bang suddenly woke him up.
"Huh? What th- Ouch"
In an alert state, Eric tried to unconsciously stand up but he felt a sudden pain and sat back down. The pain cleared the mental fog he was in rapidly, making his thinking clearer.
"I-I'm not dead? What is going on? Where am I?"
Eric took the next few minutes to figure out what the hell happened to him. He observed his surroundings, and then himself. He was in a dimly lit, cramped room, and he was injured. As he observed his body, he was shocked to find out that this body looked nothing like his own. His hands were slimmer, and his skin tone was paler. Eric then thought of his final thoughts as he was dying and came to a shocking conclusion.
"Have i reincarnated for real? What the hell. I'm not dreaming am I? Then, is this the Pokémon world also? And why the hell am I so injured?"
Eric didn't have to think long as he was hit by a sudden wave of memories, causing sharp pain in his head. This took a few minutes but Eric understood his situation well, and it didn't make him happy.
Though Eric did confirm he was in the Pokémon world. The body he was using now belonged to a 16 year old orphan who was kidnapped a few days ago by the Arbok gang.
The gang apparently kidnaps teenagers and young people to use as expendable lackeys that do stuff like stealing, menial labour and so on. The talentless lackeys are even used as training targets by the gang members to train their Pokémon. And eventually, when a lackey is of no more use, he is killed and his organs are extracted and sold for profit.
'It seems no matter what world, humans will be humans' Eric thought gloomily as he remembered his own past which was quite similar to this.
His dad was a piece of shit drug addict who abused his mom and him. His mom, too broken, often lashed out on Eric to release some of her frustration. They had a small tv which Eric could use very rarely. He would often watch the Pokémon anime whenever he got the chance. Since he didn't have a childhood of his own, he was in love with the easy going nature of the show and the adventures. Pokémon became his escape from reality.
The thought of 'if only i had a pokémon' kept resonating in his head.
One day, when Eric was 12, 2 thugs dressed in uniform came to their house.
Apparently his dad, to facilitate his drug addiction, borrowed money from a loan shark and failed to pay them. Eric saw his dad get shot and die in front of him. Then the loan sharks said his dad's debts still needed to be paid and took Eric with them.
His mom tried to stop them, even risking her life. This was the first time Eric felt that his mom cared for him. But she was obviously not strong enough to stop them. Eric was taken, and for the next 4 years made to work for the gang as their lackey, eventually getting stabbed in an alley way and dying. He did manage to steal a decent phone in these years. He would often play Pokémon in his free time, but that was it. Other than that his life was totally miserable.
Eric had had enough. A cold fury burned within him. He was only 16, yet his life had been a living hell. But no more. He didn't have a way to free himself in his last life, but thinks were a bit different. Pokémon existed in this world. He could gain personal strength to protect himself. It was easier said than done, as being a Pokémon trainer is not something a normal person can do. It's not like in the anime. It's far too expensive for someone without a background to do.
But there was a chance. And that was enough for Eric. He steeled himself. First, he has to figure out how the hell he would get out of this place. It seemed impossible but based on his memories, this was his one and only chance. This base he was in was currently being raised by the league police. The members of the Arbok gang were fleeing, not concerned about the lackeys at all. It was a dangerous situation as many battles were happening all over. Eric's current body was wounded because of collateral damage from these fights.
Eric slowly got up and prepared to exit the room he was in. He could choose to hide and wait for league police to rescue him, but based on what he knew about this world from his memories, they did not give 2 f*cks about orphans like him. They'll just group him with the Arbok gang and get rid of him as that is less of a hassle for them.
This thought process may or may not be the reality, but Eric is naturally quite cynical and pessimistic as far as humans are concerned.
'Besides, this might be my chance to get a Pokémon' Eric thought as his eyes narrowed down, more focussed and determined than before.