"One cutlass and blunderbuss from the 1800s. 670,000 Yen. And here's the bundle you ordered earlier."
A boy handed over a small satchel of beads, leather, and faded maps to the customer. His long, dark brown hair was streaked with ocean-blue and salt-white strands, tangled with trinkets and shells from places he'd never actually been. His face? Handsome in that cocky, beach-bum kind of way. Like the kind of guy who'd flirt with your mom, your sister, and your Gardevoir in the same breath.
Ok definitely not the last one.
He wore long sea boots and hard-wearing linen trousers tucked into them, the kind that smelled like seawater and bad ideas. A red-striped sash was knotted around his waist, where a sleek, antique pistol rested. Slung over his back was a worn brown coat, which he usually ditched when swimming or when the sun threatened to fry him like Slowpoke tail. A faded blue waistcoat, a torn white undershirt, and a forever-damp red bandanna finished the look. And tied into that bandanna, right over his forehead, was his favorite charm: a small ancient coin — Siamese in origin, wrapped in Moroccan beads — his so-called "piece of eight."
"Thanks, Jack."
The customer waved and skipped off toward the beach, clutching his "authentic pirate gear" with pride.
Poor sod.
Jack Sparrow, teenage tourist hustler, part-time scavenger, and full-time vibe merchant, watched him go with a crooked smile.
He'd been working in this pirate-themed pawn shop for six months now. Ever since he got dumped into this twisted-ass version of the Pokémon world — under a name that wasn't his, in a body that wasn't quite his either. See, Jack had memories — two sets, to be precise. One of that Jack Sparrow: Disney's pirate prince, book and film versions mashed into a rum-soaked mental blender. And one of this Jack: born and raised in the Sparrow family, son of Edward Sparrow — shipping tycoon, outlaw, and absolute bastard.
And, because the universe has a cruel sense of humor, Jack also had the misfortune of retaining his old consciousness. Like some B-tier Isekai manga got too high on Monster and forgot to finish the script.
Apparently, the world was vastly bigger than what the anime ever showed. The town of Wales was located near Viridian City in the years following 2065. Jack was pretty surprised by that number, if it weren't so damn confusing.
The world wasn't so bad. Magic might exist the world follows the OG anime format of Pokemon being animals with powers and being a Pokemon Trainer will most likely get you killed.
Throughout his many educational studies in the computer room, Jack learned that Pokémon trainers began their adventures at the age of fifteen—the age requirement having been raised due to human expansion and the development of advanced technology. In response, Pokémon evolved alongside humans to survive and avoid being pushed out of their habitats by expanding industry.
The cycle of human activity, trainers releasing Pokémon back into the wild after their deaths, genetic tampering, and so on, caused Pokémon—generation after generation—to become bigger, more feral, more fertile, and harder to catch.
As a result of the continual evolution of the Pokémon species, a trainer's life inevitably became more difficult and more dangerous. Over time, the trainer mortality rate reached 60% in the first year of their journey.
As of last year, Jack was on track to become a Pokémon trainer—not by choice, mind you.
He was literally transported from his own world without any warning into this universe, like a shitty B-rated fanfic that took a realistic turn.
Like Trainer Vicky or some shit.
Unlike Vicky or Jord or whoever else he doesn't remember Jack has a system.
[Jack Sparrow]
[Sex: Male]
[Race: Human]
[Yen: ¥45,300,000.00]
[Pokémon: 0]
[Aura Core: Small (Foundation Stage) Light Black]
[Proficiency: (Water / 10%) (Ice / 10%) (Electric / 10%) (Flying / 10%)]
Just what kind of system was this? Jack spent months trying to learn what the system did, but all he got was that "Aura" was apparently like all the generic power systems in manga—well, Chinese cultivation manga. An Aura core was formed by the body at age 15 and was the only reason Pokémon subjugated themselves to humans and the Bond Phenomenon. If you didn't have an Aura core, you couldn't become a Pokémon trainer.
Sure, you could have one as a pet, but it was very expensive, and people typically opted for regular animals—which also existed in this world.
If Jack had it his way, he'd become an author and producer, stealing from his old world and avoiding becoming a Pokémon trainer.
Jack wasn't sure if he had died before, but becoming a trainer would definitely increase that chance by a lot. He doesn't remember dying nor does Pokemon but Disney Jack did die and it sucked all kinds of ass so he will avoid that very much but no immortality.
Not only that—but this world was nuts. Remember how regular animals lived alongside Pokémon? That wasn't completely true. Animals were nothing compared to Pokémon—even the weakest Pokémon alive could fold a megalodon. Turns out Pokémon don't like the taste of animals much and they don't provide enough nutrients to survive long-term, but Pokémon sure do love fucking regular animals.
And much to mankind's confusion, animals could get pregnant from Pokémon, whose descendants turned into monstrous versions of said animals and suddenly became better hunting options for Pokémon.
But monsters weren't just going to be prey for Pokémon. No, that would be too simple. Some monsters were able to grow as strong as Pokémon (very few actually), which in turn made this world even more dangerous.
But beggars can't be choosers, especially when they've been shoved into something like this. So, with great reluctance, Jack kind of had to adapt to his current predicament.
So what better to do than read the book that arrived a month before his Class F (Rookie) Pokémon Trainer License was set to arrive in the mailbox? Despite the high mortality rate, becoming a Trainer was damn easy. All you needed was your Aura core to be in the Foundation Stage.
Jack reached his very gigundous studio apartment, clutching a very large book that he had zero desire to read: Path of the Trainer: An Introduction to Cultivation.
Jack shook his head he barely read cultivation WEBTOON because dear lord Chinese and Koreans have issues man.
Trainer Cultivation—the mystical art that allowed humans to form a bond with Pokémon and grow stronger together through Aura.
Aura was the life energy produced by all living bodies. It was vital for survival and directly linked to one's stamina. The points on the body from which aura flowed out were called aura nodes. These formed a core within the heart, classified into six ranks: Foundation, Novice, Journeyman, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster. They were also classified by color: Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Silver, and White.
The colors were a hard reference to how powerful you were. Mix with your own personal color.
Each stage of the Aura core colors was split into three shades: Light, Solid, and Dark.
In general, the darker the Aura core color, the purer one's Aura core was. Therefore, the more power one could access.
While all living things possessed Aura, and all humans (as well as possibly other species) could master it, some excelled more than others. What exactly factored into a person's potential was, for the most part, a mystery. It appeared to be largely congenital, since statistical estimates about rarity could be made, and evidence pointed against it changing over a person's lifetime.
The rubric of "potential" or "talent" entailed both the maximum degree of mastery that one could achieve and the speed of one's learning, which seemed directly proportional: the faster one learned, the higher their ceiling.
Body type and sex were unrelated to potential. Furthermore, potential alone didn't guarantee someone would grow into a powerful Pokémon trainer. Higher ranks allowed more powerful Pokémon to grow under one's care, and a trainer's regimen was fundamental to that growth. Talent also didn't guarantee progress across all categories of Aura—some could specialize. Look at the comparison between the legendary trainers, Red and Blue.
Growth could also be stunted by training the wrong Aura category. Conversely, training in a way that fit the user's style and personality—and doing it to the extreme—could allow for unbelievable growth beyond initial indicators.
Jack opened the book, hoping it would be easy to follow. It detailed meditation techniques, breathing exercises, and mental visualizations—all designed to help the reader tap into their inner energy and create a mind world.
It reminded him of Bleach.
Moving past the introduction, Jack studied the four major techniques for Aura. The Four Major Principles, in order of study, were: Ki, Soul, Haki, and Ripple.
Clearly, the god who created this world was a huge anime fan.
Basically, the power systems of Dragon Ball Z, Soul Eater/Bleach, One Piece, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Parts 1 and 2 existed in this world.
Already knowing the methods of the four principles, Jack spent the whole month preparing for his journey, even though he could technically start already. And he sorta had.
Sure, the Pokémon he'd 'picked' mostly lived in muddy water or at the bottom of lakes or rivers. Many predators consumed them due to how weak they were—alongside their counterparts, who were even lower on the food chain.
Apparently, they were sisters—or Jack assumed they were sisters, since they never attacked each other. Putting the book down, Jack headed toward the pool outside his studio apartment. If given the choice of house between his old world, Jack's old world, or this one, he would choose the Pokémon one every time.
A 3-bed, 2-bath, 1-gym studio apartment with a personal pool and other features straight out of a Phineas and Ferb episode, costing only 800 yen a month—including utilities and WiFi—was absolutely worth the potential risk of dying from monster floods or wild Pokémon attacks.
"Here's your Pokéblocks, girls," Jack said, feeding the two sisters.
One was a fish. A shabby, old-looking fish with a light silver body covered in dark, irregular spots. She looked at Jack with her huge eyes, her big pink lips mumbling something incoherent.
Next to her was another fish—a golden koi fish with whiskers, looking even dumber than her sister.
"Fee…"
"Karp."
"Well, ladies, looks like we're leaving in a month. So before I go to bed, let's train a bit."
Looking at the two Pokémon, his system appeared again.
[Feebas]* (Name: Mnemosyne)
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: S]
[Level: 7]
[Height: 2'7"]
[Weight: 13.2 lbs]
[Ability: Damp]
[Ability: Oblivious]
[Hidden Ability: Adaptability]
[Known Moves: Splash, Tackle, Rain Dance, Ice Beam, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Dragon Breath (Egg Move), Mist (Egg Move), Hypnosis (Egg Move)]
[Magikarp]* (Name: Calypso)
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: S]
[Level: 7]
[Height: 3'6"]
[Weight: 30.5 lbs]
[Ability: Swift Swim]
[Hidden Ability: Rattled]
[Known Moves: Splash, Tackle, Water Pulse, Hydro Pump]
Both fish Pokémon swam across the obstacle course he designed from the system. Apparently, the system also gave Jack perfect training and diet regimes for any Pokémon—if he was knowledgeable enough about them and had spent enough time with them.
Meeting Feebas and Magikarp had been a mere coincidence—they landed in Jack's pool. The teenager suspected a predator must've dropped them and didn't bother chasing after them.
He hit the jackpot with the potential of the two Pokémon before him. Sure, they were still a Feebas and Magikarp, and he clearly couldn't afford to feed them a standard battle diet. Only blocks made from shellfish monsters, berries, seaweed, five Belue Berries, five Bluk Berries, five Cornn Berries, two Custap Berries, three Magost Berries, five Pamtre Berries, two Wacan Berries, two Rindo Berries, two Razz Berries, two Spelon Berries, 20 Passho Berries, a pound of Water Stones, blemoss, a gallon of Spirit Water, and three shots of rum, followed by chumming the water with Blackwater sea monster meat called a "Blackwater Leviathan"
The system was weird, and frankly, Jack had no idea what this custom recipe was supposed to do. All it did was make Feebas and Magikarp huge as hell. Also very shiny.
Sure, he had S-potential Pokémon, but that meant jack shit if he couldn't properly train them. He was still in the beginning Foundation Stage—Light Black. The max level a Pokémon under Jack's care could reach was 15, and it took three months of feeding them twelve million Pokéblocks and monster chum with daily obstacle courses just to raise their level by two.
"Why can't I be in one of those overpowered Pokémon fanfics? At least there, this shit would be easy." Jack muttered to himself. After feeding them some crocodile monster chum, he headed for bed. Tomorrow, the Kalos rum shipment would arrive at his alcohol store, and he wanted to make sure it was as good as they claimed it was.