Whitney wore a white cardigan short-sleeved shirt with red stripes on the upper body, paired with solid-colored casual hot pants below, and mid-short cotton socks with black and purple alternating stripes matched with big-toed sports shoes of the same color as her clothes, looking full of vitality.
Because she grew up drinking Moomoo Milk since she was a child, her skin was exceptionally fair, and if you got close, you could even smell a faint milky scent.
Memories of Whitney surfaced in his mind, and Marcus's eyes showed a hint of familiarity.
His name in this world was Marcus, and when he transmigrated, Marcus was 14 years old.
Not long after his predecessor was born, both his parents passed away, and he was sent to an orphanage.
Since childhood, he had envied those powerful Trainers, so he was determined to become one of the top Trainers in this world.
Therefore, his predecessor secretly ran out of the orphanage and began his own development plan.
Unlike normal families, orphans who did not pay taxes could not receive a starter Pokemon from a Pokemon Professor.
So, the path with the highest chance of success for Marcus to become a Trainer was to become a Bug Catcher...
After all, weak Bug-type Pokemon were among the few Pokemon that could be captured bare-handed.
However, after truly understanding the situation of Trainers, he was dejected.
Simply because being a Trainer was really expensive!
The most common Poke Ball cost 500 PD (Pokemon Dollars), a can of the most common Pokemon food cost 1000 PD, and it was only enough for a small Pokemon for a week...
This didn't even include the medical expenses for battles, the cost of training equipment, the cost of tools for preparing nutrition, and so on.
He realized for the first time how unattainable the dream of being a Trainer was.
Every time he recalled his predecessor's difficult experiences, Marcus would sigh.
No wonder Bug Catchers in the previous life's game would rob people on the road...
But even so, his predecessor did not give up, choosing instead to earn money in his own way.
Due to his age, he could not participate in any formal work, so he could only beg in Goldenrod City, the most prosperous city in Johto.
In the Pokemon world, people seemed to suffer from the 'disease' of 'hypertrophy conscience', so even begging allowed him to live comfortably and even save a considerable amount.
When he was fourteen, he squatted on the street in the suburbs as usual, with some loose change scattered in the broken bowl in front of him.
He took out the coins and paper money one by one and counted them on the ground, his face constantly showing excitement.
He had saved 3000 PD, the price of six Poke Balls.
This also meant that he had the most basic possibility of becoming a qualified Trainer!
Perhaps he was too excited, he actually fainted on the spot, and then the soul in his body became someone from Earth...
It was on this day that Marcus met the girl in front of him.
"Please, can you help me find my way home?" Whitney clasped her hands together and bowed slightly, looking at Marcus with a pleading expression, tears welling up in her big eyes.
Due to her exceptional talent, the little girl created a huge sense of pressure on Marcus... and he inexplicably agreed.
It was getting late, and Whitney's home was a large ranch in the suburbs of Goldenrod City. There were no streetlights along the way, so they didn't reach home until midnight.
From then on, Marcus and Whitney could be considered acquainted.
After that, he inherited his predecessor's will, while begging to accumulate capital, and collecting information about this world.
However, he would always subconsciously set up his bowl at the intersection where they first met, and Whitney would get lost eight or ten days a month, needing him to take her home.
After a few years, the two became good friends.
Whitney's goal was to become a powerful Normal-type Trainer and reach the peak with her Miltank, which also made Marcus, who had a similar goal, very envious.
After all, with such a large ranch, Whitney could be said to be the wealthiest little rich girl in Goldenrod City, or even Johto.
However, to protect his pathetic self-esteem, Marcus never asked for her help from beginning to end, and continued to beg for years as he had.
From time to time, he could also ask some familiar people for some odd jobs to earn some extra money and continue to accumulate funds for his dream.
When she was 18, Whitney suddenly came to Marcus crying.
In her daily life, Whitney was already a crybaby, but that was the first time Marcus had seen her cry so sadly.
Heart-wrenching, wailing.
The Miltank beside her also had drooping ears, looking sad.
After comforting her for a long time, Marcus finally understood the whole story.
Her Grandpa, the old Gym Leader of Goldenrod Gym, Howard, had passed away. (T/N: I know there is no mention of him, but someone has to run the gym.)
And from then on, like him, she was alone.
"Marcus, can you come to the ranch and help me? I really can't handle it alone..."
The same scene that had occurred countless times over the years reappeared in his mind. Marcus had lost count of how many times Whitney had invited him.
It was just that before, he had felt it was a friend's charity and had not agreed.
But this time, he slowly nodded.
Her tear-streaked appearance made him unable to refuse.
Whitney stopped sobbing, and a look of relief appeared on her face, "I'll pay you a salary, I won't take advantage of you..."
She had learned this word from Marcus.
From then on, Marcus became a glorious Miltank ranch administrator...
Although Marcus was curious about work like milking, due to his lack of experience, he could only do odd jobs around the ranch.
So his daily work was more focused on adding hay and Oran Berries, preparing Pokemon food, controlling the Miltanks' routines, and so on.
Only Whitney's Miltank would occasionally be tricked into being milked by him for practice.
Whitney would give him a salary of 5000 PD every month, which was busy and fulfilling. It was much more than he had earned before.
With free food and accommodation, Marcus also saved a considerable amount of money, just waiting for the right time to start his journey.
"Hurry up, still spacing out... Really..." Whitney pulled Marcus out of bed, then picked up the clothes nearby and threw them to him: "You have 5 minutes, or I'll deduct your salary!"
"Okay, okay..." Marcus replied, his gaze falling on the little beauty in front of him, and he couldn't help but be stunned.
In the morning light, the little girl seemed to be sparkling. Compared to the one he was tricked by in his previous life, who was modified by cosmetics and medical aesthetics, she was countless times better...
Even though he had seen her for several years, Marcus still couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"Why are you looking at me?" Whitney was startled, then realized something, put her hands on her hips, and blinked playfully: "Are you captivated by my cuteness?"
The simple action was very dazzling...
"..." Marcus lowered his head and dared not answer, quickly getting out of bed.
This made Whitney pout constantly.
Whitney's ranch has nearly 50 Miltank. She has to be busy until mid-afternoon every day before she can stop and practice battling for a while.
Compared to that, Marcus had much less to do. Besides preparing food, he only needed to check the Miltanks' status regularly.
Using a pitchfork to pick up the hay and put it into the feeding trough, then mixing in the juice brewed from various berries...
Marcus performed the steps one by one. This was a recipe he had prepared based on information from books. Not only did the Miltank like it, but Whitney did too.
Sometimes he would wonder if this girl herself was a transformed Miltank... Not only were their appearances and preferences similar, but it seemed to have surpassed the limitations of age...
If Marcus were given a multiple-choice question, options A, B, C, and D wouldn't be enough...
In the professional term of his previous life, it would be called a baby face with a huge... cough cough...