Ethan Bright stared blankly at the now-black computer screen in front of him, his mind seemingly frozen as well.
I'm Ethan Bright?
But somehow… not the same Ethan Bright?
In his mind, the memories of the original body flashed rapidly.
They played continuously until the moment he shut off the computer.
Joining Team Rocket…
Displaying his computer talents…
Becoming an intelligence operative…
Being dispatched to the Sinnoh region…
Receiving his Pokémon—Cubone?
Cubone!!!
Ethan instinctively reached behind his waist and pulled out a spherical object about the size of a pigeon egg.
Red on top, white on the bottom, a black dividing line across the middle, with a white circular button at its center.
It was light, yet solid.
A Poké Ball!!!
His pupils shrank as his index finger reflexively pressed down on the white button.
In the next moment, the Poké Ball expanded instantly, becoming just the right size to hold in one hand!
Holy crap!
Ethan tightened his grip on the Poké Ball, not daring to press the button again.
According to the original body's memories, pressing it again would release the Pokémon inside.
And inside this Poké Ball… was the only Pokémon partner the original Ethan possessed—
Cubone!
So… I transmigrated? A body takeover?
Ethan's expression grew complicated. Just moments ago, it seemed he had become the Ethan Bright of the Pokémon world.
Following the memories, he pressed and held the Poké Ball's button for three seconds. It shrank back down to pigeon-egg size, and he clipped it back to his belt.
For now, Ethan didn't dare or perhaps didn't know how, to face Cubone.
Rubbing his throbbing head, he began to take look of his surroundings.
In the small, cluttered storage room, a dim desk lamp illuminated a plain-looking computer.
But now he knew: as long as he entered a special boot password, this ordinary office computer would connect to Team Rocket's independent systems platform.
Team Rocket…
Ethan smacked his lips. His starting situation didn't seem too good.
He wasn't a protégé of the Pokémon League, nor did he get a starter Pokémon like one of the three traditional first partners.
Even though he had joined the infamous Team Rocket, he was just a low-level grunt who had only been given a Cubone—basically equivalent to having no real battle power.
And before his Poké Ball had even warmed up in his hand, he was already dispatched to Sinnoh, following his captain, Yuzo, to open a…
…ramen shop?
Ethan's face twisted oddly. The original body's memories overlapped with reality—he really was in the ramen shop's storage room right now, conducting a login test for Team Rocket's independent system. This was to facilitate passing information back to the organization later.
Knock knock knock!
The sound of knocking came at the door, along with the voice of his captain, Yuzo.
"Got it working yet, Ethan?"
Ethan's heart tightened, but he silently thanked the heavens that he had inherited the original's memories, so he knew exactly who was outside.
The door opened, and Ethan promptly put on a respectful expression.
"Captain, the system has been tested. It's ready to use at any time!"
"Mm, efficient. I knew it was the right choice to bring you along!"
Yuzo, with his plain, unremarkable face, patted Ethan on the shoulder with satisfaction.
Ethan showed a humble smile, but once again, the original's memories flickered in his mind.
The original Ethan had been hiding his true abilities!
In reality, it had only taken him five minutes to complete the system test in the storage room. But he had deliberately dragged it out to fifteen.
Then after Ethan "arrived," he had wasted even more time.
And still, in Yuzo's eyes, this was considered "efficient."
"Come on, the ramen shop is about to open for business. You won't be cooking noodles or making soup, but cleaning, moving supplies, and all kinds of chores—you'll need to do those for now…"
Yuzo raised his eyebrows, and Ethan naturally understood what he meant.
Otherwise, it'd be too easy to blow his cover.
"Understood, I'll follow the boss's orders," Ethan replied smoothly.
"Hahaha, exactly! From now on, that's what you'll call me!"
Yuzo was very satisfied with Ethan's choice of words, secretly noting how clever his subordinate was.
For a newly opened restaurant, there was no shortage of chores.
While working silently, Ethan continued digesting the original body's memories.
He uncovered many important details—but never found anything relating to the original story.
Which meant…
Ash hasn't even left Pallet Town yet?
The legendary plots haven't kicked off?
Altaria hasn't "betrayed" Normal-type for Dragon yet?
And Groudon… still can't fly, right?
Of course, it was also possible that this Pokémon world wasn't the same as the one from the original anime.
Since he had already transmigrated, accepting the existence of parallel worlds wasn't too hard.
By dinnertime, Ethan finally had a moment to rest.
"You worked hard today. Tomorrow I'll hire more staff.
Once the shop opens, you can focus on your own tasks. For now, let me show you what I can do!"
Captain Yuzo said this with full confidence as he walked into the kitchen.
Perhaps because he'd been dispatched with only Ethan at his side,or maybe because he wanted to better adapt to his cover identity, Yuzo didn't act like a commanding officer at all.
But when Ethan looked into his eager eyes, he couldn't shake the feeling that Yuzo just genuinely… wanted to be a ramen chef.
Slurp, slurp, slurp~
Delicious!
The rich, savory tonkotsu broth and the springy, smooth noodles made Ethan finish his bowl to the very last drop. Even the unease he'd felt after first arriving had faded quite a bit.
"Tasty, right? Back in the day…"
Yuzo beamed at Ethan, as if recalling something. But in the end, he only shook his head and said nothing more.
"Golbat, Raticate, you two eat plenty as well."
Hearing Yuzo's words, Ethan instinctively glanced at the two Pokémon by his side.
A Golbat, its gaping maw wide enough to swallow his head whole.
A Raticate, its fangs gleaming, sharp enough to snap his neck in a single bite.
And yet, right now, the two Pokémon sat obediently beside Yuzo, calmly munching on the Pokéblocks prepared just for them.
"They're impressive, aren't they!" Yuzo said proudly.
His promotion to squad captain and his assignment back to his home region owed a great deal to Golbat and Raticate.
"Yes, the boss's Pokémon are really strong!" Ethan replied.
Unlike the anime, the memories of the body he'd inherited contained a very specific rating system for Pokémon strength.
Pokémon that had just been born and couldn't yet battle were considered Infant Stage.
Only after passing that stage would they formally enter the ranking system:
Novice → Excellent → Veteran → Elite → Gym Leader → quasi-Elite Four → Elite Four → Champion.
This was the recognized scale of strength in the Pokémon world.
And both Yuzo's Golbat and Raticate were Elite-level.
To put it into perspective, in the regional League Conferences—where trainers needed eight Gym Badges just to qualify—the average strength of the Top 16 competitors was only about Elite-level as well.
"What about your Cubone? Aren't you going to let it out for dinner?"
Ethan froze for a moment. But under Yuzo's questioning gaze, he silently drew out his Poké Ball.
He could avoid it for a while, but not forever.
After a whole afternoon to adjust, Ethan had gradually accepted reality. In fact, a small part of him—one he hadn't even noticed—was feeling faint excitement.
He pressed the button twice, and the Poké Ball opened.
With a flash of red light, a small Cubone appeared before him.
Quiet, cold, lonely.
Though it was still just a child, Cubone's expression looked as if it had already seen through the world's sorrows, its eyes devoid of emotion.
Naturally, it ignored Ethan's curious gaze as well.
Ethan continued studying Cubone carefully, his sense of unreality slowly grounding itself.
Standing barely 20 centimeters tall, its body was a dusty yellow with a cream-colored belly. Upon its head sat an oversized white skull, almost too big for its body, making it look oddly unbalanced.
The little bone club in its hand was tiny, but without doubt, it was Cubone's most effective weapon.
How to describe it… honestly, kind of cute!