Heat pressed against Alex Mercer's cheek long before he opened his eyes, a slow, heavy warmth pulsing up from the ground like the breath of a slumbering giant. He lay half-submerged in coarse sand, the grains sticking to his skin as the ocean hissed and receded behind him in rhythmic foamy waves. For several seconds, he couldn't even move; his mind floated between confusion and a distant familiarity, as if he were waking not from sleep, but from a dream thousands of miles away.
When he finally forced his eyelids up, the world came into focus in scattered fragments—bright sunlight cutting across jagged volcanic cliffs, smoke drifting from the cavernous mouth of an enormous mountain, gleaming obsidian sand stretching far in both directions. The breeze tasted of salt and sulfur.
He pushed himself onto his elbows, breathing shakily. His body felt small. Weak. Not the worn, twenty-one-year-old adult he remembered… but something shorter, thinner, softer. A child's body. His body. Again.
His chest tightened.
He knew this feeling. He had felt it once before—seven years ago, when he woke in the body of a sickly three-year-old child living in Vermillion City. The memories of Earth had slammed into him with terrifying clarity back then. And now here, waking on this island, everything rushed back again.
Death. The screech of metal. The bus that never stopped on time. A voice inside the darkness—
"System initialising. Transferring host to Dragon Ball dimension…"
And then static. Violent distortion. A tearing sensation like falling between worlds.
He blinked hard, steadying his breath.
He had lived again in this world, grown up with a new family, and learned to live as a quiet, odd kid in Vermillion. He had spent years pretending he didn't carry two lifetimes in his mind. But he never forgot the malfunction—never forgot the broken promise of a world he was meant to enter.
Today, he was supposed to be on a boat headed for a technical academy on Mandero Island, one of the Orange Islands. He'd been excited; he wasn't strong enough, rich enough, or reckless sufficient to pursue trainer life. Technical work meant stability. Ship mechanics. Engine repair. Good pay. A future.
Then came the storm.
The memory surged violently: the sky shifting from bright blue to bruised black, winds screaming over the deck, waves rising like living walls. He remembered kids crying, instructors shouting orders, panicked scrambling for life jackets, and a final colossal wave that swallowed everything before darkness swallowed him.
He breathed out slowly.
The storm was gone.He was alive.But he was not where he was supposed to be.
The volcano above him rumbled, sending a tremor through the sand. A chill crawled down his spine despite the heat.
Before he could stand, a faint electronic hum vibrated in the back of his skull—broken, distorted, unmistakable.
The system.
A voice reverberated in his mind like a flickering speaker:
[SYSTEM REBOOTING… DESTINATION ERROR][DRAGON BALL DIMENSION NOT DETECTED][SEARCHING FOR ALTERNATE COMPATIBLE ENVIRONMENT…]
Alex's pulse spiked. He sat upright abruptly, ignoring the ache in his muscles.
The voice crackled again, words glitching faintly:
[HOST LOCATION: POKÉMON WORLD – NON-STANDARD][ADAPTATION PROTOCOL ENGAGED]
He swallowed.
The system had been dormant for years—quiet, suppressed, almost forgotten. But now, in this unknown place, it woke up as if sensing the danger around him.
[BASE FUNCTIONS RESTORED]– Daily Senzu Bean Generation– Martial Arts Archive Access (limited by host's physical capacity)– Beginner Ki Reinforcement Module
Then something new:
[WORLD MISMATCH DETECTED – ADDITIONAL MODULES INSTALLED]– Pokémon Move Theory Database– Biological Battle Behaviour Analysis– Training Assistance for Partner Pokémon (LOCKED)
[WARNING: TRAINER SYSTEM UNAVAILABLE – HOST DOES NOT MEET REQUIREMENTS]
The voice faded gradually, leaving Alex staring blankly at the rising trails of smoke curling into the sky.
"So… I wasn't sent to Dragon Ball after all."He laughed softly—bitterly."I got the wrong universe."
Yet he was alive. And the system was here. Even malfunctioned, it was a miracle. But miracles had sharp edges. If he was stranded, if the island was uncharted, if predators lurked…
He needed strength.
He forced himself onto his feet, wobbling slightly. His ten-year-old frame felt sturdy yet unrefined—like a tool with potential but no mastery. But there was something else too: warmth deep inside him, faint but pulsing. Ki. Not powerful like the warriors he'd fantasised about on Earth, but real. Unstable. Limited. Still his.
A shadow crossed the sand.
Alex looked up instinctively.
A Fearow sliced across the sky, wings stretched wide, its talons glinting. The bird's eyes were razor-sharp, scanning the coastline with a predator's precision. Unlike the cartoonish version he remembered from childhood shows, this creature radiated intelligence and danger. Its wingspan was nearly twice his height.
Alex froze, dropping into a low, instinctive stance—legs apart, weight centred, ki flowing weakly into his limbs. The martial arts knowledge in his mind vibrated faintly, though his body lacked the strength to execute even a beginner's technique.
Fearow hovered for several long seconds, judging him.
Then it lost interest and soared inland.
The air tasted different when the predator left, as the island itself had inhaled.
Alex exhaled shakily.
PL 250/Level25 at least… too strong for me.The system whispered numbers in the back of his mind:
His current Power Level: 40
Strong for a boy.
Weak for this world.
He needed shelter. Water. Food. A plan.
He turned to explore the coastline—and saw something unusual.
Small footprints. Circular, flat impressions with webbing. Not human. A water-dwelling Pokémon.
Carefully, he followed the tracks until he heard it: faint, soft, almost drowned by the sound of surf.
"Wag… wag…"
A weak, bubbling cry.
Alex climbed over a cluster of volcanic boulders, peering into a shallow tide pool nestled between them.
A small Poliwag lay half-curled inside, its blue skin scraped raw across its side. Its circular belly marking throbbed faintly—uneven, pained. The translucent tail-fin fluttered limply in the water, torn at the edges as though ripped by coral or sharp stone.
When Poliwag noticed him, it startled.Its tiny limbs trembled as it tried to push backwards.Large eyes, glossy with fear, locked onto him.
Alex slowly lowered himself to a crouch, keeping distance.
"Easy," he whispered, voice low and steady. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Poliwag's tail flicked weakly. A few bubbles slipped from its mouth. This was no partner Pokémon, no friendly cartoon creature bound by plot armour—it was a frightened wild animal, intelligent enough to judge threat, helpless enough to panic.
Alex tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and dipped it into a cleaner tide pool, careful to avoid saltwater. He placed the wet cloth beside Poliwag, not touching the creature. The Poliwag sniffed it, then slowly rested its cheek against the cool moisture, eyelids drooping.
It was exhausted… but not resisting his presence.
For a moment, something warm flickered in Alex's chest—not ki, but empathy. He knew what it felt like to be stranded somewhere unfamiliar, weak, terrified.
"Rest," he murmured. "I won't try to catch you. I don't even have Poké Balls."
Poliwag blinked slowly.It didn't trust him—but it didn't fear him as much now. That alone was enough.
Alex sank down on a flat rock nearby, eyes scanning the coastline. If a Fearow was hunting this area, Poliwag was vulnerable. So was he.
A soft vibration nudged his mind—another system whisper.
[RECOMMENDATION: POWER UP IMMEDIATELY][CURRENT ENVIRONMENT EXCEEDS HOST CAPABILITIES]
He closed his eyes briefly.
He had always expected that one day he might awaken in the Dragon Ball world—training under mountains, learning ki blasts, growing exponentially stronger. Instead, he was here, on a volcanic island full of creatures capable of killing him if he slipped once.
But the system had not abandoned him.Its martial knowledge pulsed faintly in his mind—stances, breathing patterns, methods to circulate ki, even complex forms meant for bodies far beyond his current limits.
He let out a breath.
"All right," he whispered to himself, to the system, to the island. "If this is where I ended up, then this is where I'll grow stronger."
The volcano rumbled again, louder, sending vibrations through the sand and startling Poliwag. Alex steadied himself, fists clenching unconsciously in a stance he barely understood but instinctively held.
He wasn't ready for this world yet.But he would be.
He stood, glancing once more at the injured Poliwag.
"I won't leave you. Not yet. We're both stuck here, so we might as well survive together."
Poliwag chirped weakly—"Waag…"—not exactly friendly, but not afraid.
Alex looked out at the jungle inland.
Dark. Dense. Alive.
Somewhere in there were predators, dangers, secrets—and maybe answers about this island. He couldn't stay on the beach forever.
He straightened, feeling the faint circulation of ki in his limbs.
"This is the start," he whispered. "Not the story I expected, but the one I've got."
And with that, Alex Mercer—the boy meant for another universe—took his first step into the wild unknown.