In June, Wanghun Village was filled with the fresh scent of earth and grass.
Liu Yu crouched under the old locust tree at the village entrance, idly drawing in the dirt with a stick. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on his worn but clean hemp clothing.
"Xiao Yu, stop playing! Come back, the martial soul awakening ceremony is about to start!" Aunt Li shouted from her doorstep at the eastern end of the village.
Liu Yu looked up, his young face showing a maturity beyond his years. "Got it, Aunt Li! I'm coming!" He tossed the stick aside, brushed the dirt off his hands, and ran toward the village square.
As he ran, Liu Yu's thoughts drifted back six years. He had been an ordinary high school graduate on Earth, staying up all night playing Pokémon after his college entrance exams. Then, everything went black, and he woke up in this world as an abandoned infant at the village entrance.
Wanghun Village, a remote place said to have once produced a Soul King, became his new home. The villagers took turns caring for him—one family gave him food, another offered clothes—raising the "parentless wild child" together. Liu Yu didn't resent the parents he'd never met. In the harsh world of Douluo Continent, they likely had their reasons. But he felt no attachment to them either; those who birthed but didn't raise him were no longer his parents. Still, if they had died at someone else's hands, he would avenge them.
"Xiao Yu, hurry up! We're waiting for you!" Village Chief Wang Jieke waved from the wooden platform in the square's center.
The square was crowded with a dozen children around six years old, some nervous, others excited, all awaiting the life-changing ceremony. Villagers surrounded them, as the annual martial soul awakening was a major event.
Liu Yu squeezed in next to his friend Wang Xiaohu, the blacksmith's son, a stocky boy with a tiger-like face, nervously rubbing his hands. "Yu-ge, what martial soul do you think I'll awaken?" Xiaohu whispered. "My dad says his was an iron hammer. No soul power, so he couldn't become a soul master, but it's good for blacksmithing."
Liu Yu patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. You might outdo your dad."
In truth, Liu Yu wasn't confident either. Though he'd read Douluo Dalu in his past life, this world was harsher than the novel. For instance, Wanghun Village didn't even exist in the original story.
"Quiet!" Wang Jieke struck a copper gong. "Today, we're honored to have Master Ma Xiuyuan, a Battle Soul Master from Notting City, awaken our children's martial souls. Listen to him carefully!"
A middle-aged man in a gray robe stepped onto the platform. With sharp brows and bright eyes, he looked over forty but stood tall and steady. He led the children into the so-called Martial Soul Hall—a modest village-built structure, not a true hall.
"Line up, one at a time," Ma Xiuyuan said, his voice calm but firm. "The martial soul awakening is the most important moment of your life. Relax and accept your fate."
The first to step forward was Wang Xiaofeng, Wang Xiaohu's twin sister and the village chief's granddaughter. As she stood in the six-pointed star array drawn by Ma Xiuyuan's soul power, he called out, "Wind Wolf, possess!"
His muscles bulged, his height stretched past two meters, and wolf claws sprouted from his hands. Three soul rings—white, yellow, purple—appeared at his feet, marking him as a three-ring Soul Elder. Some children gasped or cried in fear.
"Don't be afraid," Ma Xiuyuan said. "If you have innate soul power, you'll be like me one day."
The children calmed, now watching curiously. Ma Xiuyuan placed the awakening stone on the ground, signaling the children to begin.
Golden light rose from the array, gathering in Wang Xiaofeng's outstretched right hand. A small book materialized. "A book, a useless martial soul, but with innate soul power of level 3. You can become a soul master," Ma Xiuyuan announced. "Next."
Liu Yu noticed a fleeting glint in Ma Xiuyuan's eyes when he said "useless martial soul," but it quickly faded.
One by one, the children awakened their martial souls—mostly mundane tools or animals like sickles, hoes, or Blue Silver Grass, with no soul power. When Wang Xiaohu's turn came, he awakened an iron hammer martial soul with level 4 soul power, jumping with joy. But Ma Xiuyuan's face fell when he saw the rusted hammer. "Liu Yu," he called, the last name.
Liu Yu took a deep breath and stepped into the array. As it glowed, a warm current rose from his feet, coursing through his body—a strange yet familiar sensation, as if something deep within him stirred.
"Extend your right hand," Ma Xiuyuan's voice seemed distant.
Liu Yu complied. Golden light converged, forming a red-and-white Poké Ball. His eyes widened—he recognized it instantly as a Pokémon Poké Ball.
The crowd sighed. Another useless martial soul, they thought. Ma Xiuyuan frowned. "Come, test your soul power."
Liu Yu placed his hand on the crystal ball, feeling his soul power drawn into it. The crystal glowed, half-filled with light. "Innate soul power, level 5," Ma Xiuyuan said. "Pity it's a useless martial soul."
As Ma Xiuyuan stepped out of the village's Martial Soul Hall, the afternoon sun cast long shadows behind the three children with soul power. Village Chief Wang Jieke shuffled forward, his cloth shoes crunching on the gravel. "Master Ma!" His voice trembled slightly, his calloused hands twisting the straw rope at his waist. "Did… did any children have soul power?"
Ma Xiuyuan paused, the gem on his gilded staff glinting in the sunlight. He saw the anxiety in the old man's eyes and swallowed. "Three children awakened soul power. Liu Yu has a ball martial soul, level 5, but it's useless. The other two have level 3 and level 4."
Wang Jieke's shoulders slumped, the last spark in his cloudy eyes fading like a snuffed lamp. "A ball? A useless martial soul…" he muttered, though he didn't fully grasp what that meant. He only knew some children could cultivate.
Suddenly, Ma Xiuyuan's grip on his staff tightened. "The boy, Wang Xiaohu—"
Wang Jieke's head snapped up, ears practically perked. "His martial soul is a rusted hammer, level 4. Also useless."
"A hammer?" The old man blinked, a spark rekindling in his eyes. "That's still a tool martial soul! He can cultivate!"
Ma Xiuyuan gazed at the distant mountains, his voice softening. "I'm off to the next village. For work-study slots, borrow two from another village. If only it weren't a useless martial soul… even a chicken would've been better for a recommendation."
Night fell over Wanghun Village, and the villagers' lanterns went out one by one.
Liu Yu lay on a straw pile in Aunt Li's woodshed, his eyes gleaming. A week had passed since the awakening, and the strange Poké Ball martial soul remained a mystery. "If it's a Poké Ball, it must have some special ability…" Liu Yu sat up, quietly pushing open the creaky wooden door.
Moonlight bathed the clearing behind the village. Liu Yu took a deep breath, extended his left hand, and summoned the red-and-white Poké Ball with a surge of soul power. This was his seventh secret attempt; the previous six had failed.
"In Pokémon, you throw the ball…" Liu Yu muttered. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the Poké Ball forward. A third of his soul power drained instantly.
The ball arced through the air, then cracked open with a "click," erupting in blinding red light. Bang! The light hit the ground, forming a familiar shape—orange-red skin, blue eyes, and a bright flame burning on its tail.
"Char… Charmander?" Liu Yu's voice caught, his legs buckling as he dropped to his knees.
The Charmander tilted its head, letting out a cheerful "Gwah!" Its tail flame flared brighter with its excitement. It was unmistakably a Pokémon Charmander, down to its cry.
Liu Yu reached out tremblingly. Charmander nuzzled his palm, its warm touch confirming this was real. "You really came from the Poké Ball?" Liu Yu whispered, his heart pounding. Charmander nodded, seeming to understand him perfectly.
In that moment, memories of his past and present lives intertwined—staying up playing Pokémon, dying suddenly, reborn in Douluo Continent, abandoned, and now the Poké Ball martial soul. Everything seemed connected in a strange way.
"Can you go back?" Liu Yu picked up the Poké Ball and pressed the button. A red beam shot out, recalling Charmander. Pressing it again, Charmander reappeared unharmed.
After several tests, Liu Yu found that summoning and recalling consumed soul power, but the cost decreased with each attempt, as if he and Charmander were forming a bond. Memories of his past life—dying from Pokémon binges, rebirth, abandonment, and the Poké Ball martial soul—wove together, hinting at a mysterious connection.