The concept of a system was something every chuunibyou teenager had fantasized about. Now that it had suddenly appeared, Zi Yu couldn't help but freeze in surprise.
"The Strongest Trainer Assistance System? What functions do you have?"
Zi Yu asked in his mind.
But this system seemed awfully aloof, completely ignoring Zi Yu's question.
It just went ahead and displayed something right in front of him on its own.
After Zi Yu took a closer look, he finally understood what the system's functions were.
The system was divided into several sections, but they were all dimmed out.
Only one was lit up at the moment, called the Mission System.
The next moment, the system issued a mission.
[Ding... Newbie Mission Issued: Host, please obtain your first Pokémon within three days. Mission completion reward: Unlock the Lottery Section and Pokédex Section. Failure penalty: System will select a new host.]
Just as Zi Yu was carefully examining the mission in his mind...
A pair of fair, slender hands waved in front of his eyes.
"Zi Yu, what are you looking at? Is there something wrong with me, your big sis?"
"Ah... N-no, nothing."
Zi Yu finally snapped back to reality. He was sitting face-to-face with his cousin, and based on the system's nature, no one else could see the interface.
So his behavior just now must have looked really weird to her.
Seeing his cousin roll her eyes at him in disdain, Zi Yu could only lower his head and slowly wrestle with the fried egg on his plate.
"Zi Yu, I know you're not a little kid anymore. Puberty definitely makes you curious about girls, and since we're fourth cousins, it's legal and all, but right now, sis has zero interest in that stuff."
Zi Yu was stunned. Clearly, his cousin had misunderstood the way he'd been staring at the system.
"N-no... it's not like that. I was just thinking about the Pokémon my parents left me..."
His cousin listened to his explanation and gave him a knowing look. "Zi Yu, tomorrow's your coming-of-age birthday. Once that's over, you can head to the Pokémon League and pick up the Pokémon your parents left for you."
Hearing this, Zi Yu immediately perked up.
Right... tomorrow was his coming-of-age birthday.
This whole transmigration thing had thrown him for a loop.
Now his mission was basically guaranteed to succeed, and he wouldn't have to worry about the penalty of losing the system.
After breakfast, his cousin headed out to work. She was a nurse at a Pokémon Center—a job that, in the world of Pokémon, was basically Nurse Joy.
The huge house was left with just Zi Yu alone.
He didn't idle around, though. He went back to his room, fired up his computer, and started browsing some info on the web.
In this world, being a Trainer was a seriously high-risk job.
Looking at the news articles on his screen...
[Ghost Potted Plant Trainer Enrages His Pokémon for Unknown Reasons, Soul Devoured by Ghost Potted Plant; Still Lying in the Hospital as a Vegetable to This Day.]
There were hot comments below...
"I know this guy—he's in the bed next to mine. Word is, he was watching some adult videos and accidentally got some fluids on his Ghost Potted Plant, so it got pissed and swallowed his soul."
"Damn, bro, that's wild. So what got you in the hospital bed?"
"Nah, nothing much. I just chatted up a girl's Gardevoir, and she hit me with Psychic, breaking all five of my limbs."
"Holy shit, bro, you're a legend! What'd you even say to the Gardevoir to get five limbs broken..."
"Wait, five limbs?"]
Reading these hot comments had Zi Yu laughing so hard he could barely keep his mouth shut.
What a world—tease a regular person, and you'd get punched or kicked at best.
But this guy? He went and teased a Pokémon. Legend.
"Ding-ling-dong~"
Just as Zi Yu was getting absorbed in the reading, his phone rang.
After unlocking it, he saw it was a call from one of his friends on QQ.
"Ling Yin, what's up?"
Once he picked up, Zi Yu voiced his confusion.
Ling Yin was Zi Yu's classmate and desk mate—a super cute girl.
Soon, Ling Yin's soft, sweet voice came through.
"Zi Yu, Zi Yu! The class president invited us to the Pokémon Experience Hall this afternoon at one, meet at the school gate. You coming?"
The Pokémon Experience Hall was an entertainment spot built for minors who didn't have their own Pokémon yet.
Inside, paying customers could experience battles with Trainers, and some girls just went to pet Eevee.
"If there's free fun like that, count me in on time."
"Yay! See you this afternoon, Zi Yu."
After hanging up, Zi Yu glanced back at his computer. In the real world, being a Trainer was a money-burning gig.
Forget the daily expenses for Pokémon—even a basic Poké Ball cost a thousand bucks. In the real world, if you threw one and the Pokémon batted it back, at least you could reuse it.
But if you ran into a hot-tempered one? It'd just blast it with Hyper Beam, and you'd be out of luck with nowhere to cry.
The whole morning flew by as Zi Yu dug into research. He was super curious about this world that felt both familiar and strange.
The real world was maintained by the Pokémon League, with Gyms in every city, Pokémon Police Stations, and... the dream of every aspiring Trainer: the Pokémon Grand Tournament.
Anyone who made it into the top ten of the tournament got unconditional entry into the Pokémon League—a golden ticket to a cushy life.
The morning passed just like that. For lunch, Zi Yu ordered takeout on his phone, but what he didn't expect was...
It arrived super quick.
"Hello, is this Mr. Yu? Your takeout's here."
The voice came from a spot not far from Zi Yu's window.
When he got to the window, he saw a Pidgey with a delivery box hanging from its underside.
The voice was coming from a screen around the Pidgey's neck, where a young man was smiling and talking to him.
"Pidgey Delivery—please leave a five-star review!"
"Will do, will do."
Zi Yu pulled his takeout from the box, mumbled a few polite words, and the Pidgey flew off.
He casually slapped on a five-star rating.
Then Zi Yu started chowing down on the takeout. Gotta say, this roast duck was legit delicious—and it even came with a big green onion...
Suddenly, Zi Yu froze.
A green onion?
Farfetch'd?
Comes with its own side?
Zi Yu was dumbfounded. The roast duck in his mouth... it wasn't Farfetch'd, was it...?
"Can't waste it—wasting food is shameful!"
Sticking to the principle of not wasting, Zi Yu tearfully finished the whole roast duck.
Afterward, he looked it up and realized he'd overthought it.
The roast duck was made from regular farmed ducks.
Wild ducks? Pokémon had eaten them all ages ago.
As for Farfetch'd... whether the chef stewed it or it stewed the chef? Who knew.
...
One o'clock in the afternoon.
In front of the gates of Pewter City High School, Zi Yu arrived fashionably late in a simple casual outfit.
"Zi Yu, you're so slow..."
No sooner had he shown up than a girl in a similar casual getup walked over. Hers was pink, his was blue, but both had Pokémon patterns on them.
"Whoa, you two actually matched in couple's outfits!"
Some classmates immediately started teasing them.
But both were used to it by now. They didn't say anything, just smiled faintly and let it roll off.
Soon, everyone was there, and they piled into a minibus headed for the Pokémon Experience Hall.
It only took half an hour to reach the entrance.
After getting off, the group took in the grand, imposing building.
"No wonder it's under Mababa's company—this decor? Only three words: high-class AF!"
[Ding... Branch Mission Triggered: Find the Legendary Pokémon inside the Pokémon Experience Hall. Reward: Random Pokémon Item x1, Moomoo Milk x10]
Translator's Note: If you find any mistakes or awkward phrasing, feel free to correct me... Also, join my Patreon if you want to support the translation! patreon.com/c/muffinya