Chapter 1: Viridian Forest
Kanto region, Viridian Forest.
It was already late autumn. Yellowing leaves were everywhere in the forest, carpeting the ground in a golden blanket.
Rustle, rustle!
A majestic and powerfully built figure darted through the woods, stepping over the fallen leaves.
It was a beast with orange-red fur like blazing fire. Its sturdy body was adorned with iron bands, its cheeks bore red six-pointed star markings, and a golden crest shaped like a three-leaf clover was set into its forehead. As it ran, the great billowing white smoke behind it drifted like flowing clouds.
It was Entei, one of Ho-Oh's sacred guardians and one of the three Legendary Beasts known throughout the world.
Faster. It had to be faster.
Entei's imposing gaze remained fixed ahead.
Not long ago, it had discovered traces of Pokémon hunters capturing Pokémon throughout this forest.
To protect and rescue those Pokémon, Entei had begun pursuing the hunters.
It dared not slow down, because Entei knew all too well that if it arrived even a little too late, those Pokémon would likely be slaughtered by the hunters or sold elsewhere.
A faint trace of blood drifted on the wind. Entei's running steps slowed slightly, and its stern face sharply turned in one direction.
In a daze, it seemed to hear the sound of crying carried by the wind. It was clear and piercing, and it sounded like a young infant.
What was going on?
Entei frowned slightly. It hesitated for a brief moment, then decisively changed direction and rushed toward the source of the sound.
After passing through a dense, shadowy stretch of forest, a country road suddenly appeared ahead, stretching into the distance.
Beside the road was an overturned car. The closer Entei got, the stronger the scent of blood became.
Its brow furrowed tightly as it moved its thick, powerful limbs and slowly approached.
On one side of the road lay a human corpse. It was a human man, his body covered in wounds. It looked as though he had been attacked by Pokémon.
Entei gave him a glance, then walked past the body and headed straight for the overturned car.
The doors and windows had been completely warped by the crash. A human woman was trapped in the driver's seat. She was already dead, with no sign of life left in her.
And on the back seat, a baby cradle had been tightly secured in place with straps. A human infant that looked less than a year old lay inside, crying helplessly.
What... happened here?
Entei frowned again.
Its gaze shifted to a group of Pokémon trembling behind a roadside tree not far away.
They were a group of Oddish, the kind commonly seen by the roadside.
Entei called them over and asked through telepathy, "What happened here?"
The Oddish still looked terrified, but they endured their fear and answered anyway.
Through their account, Entei quickly learned what had happened.
Not long ago, two Pokémon hunters had passed through this place and had been hunting wild Pokémon in the forest on a large scale.
A family of three happened to pass by. The father had tried to protect the Pokémon and was brutally killed by the hunters. In her panic, the woman drove away to escape, only to get into a car accident.
Pokémon hunters. Again.
Hearing that, an indescribable fury surged in Entei's heart.
Its eyes blazed with rage, and it was ready to continue its pursuit of the hunters, to burn them to ashes with the sacred fire bestowed upon it by Lord Ho-Oh.
But the baby's cries from inside the car abruptly pulled it back from its anger.
This place was deep inside Viridian Forest, far from any human town. If it took the child to a human settlement first, the Pokémon hunters would likely use that chance to escape safely.
But if the child was left here alone, it would probably die.
His parents had died protecting Pokémon. As one of Ho-Oh's sacred guardians, Entei could not ignore that.
...
After a moment of silence, Entei gritted its teeth and made a decision.
It swung its thick, powerful claw and smashed a large hole into the car with one strike, then used its claw to pull the human infant out from the back seat.
Then Entei gently carried the child in its mouth and placed him inside the hollow of a huge ancient tree nearby, planning to return for him after dealing with the Pokémon hunters.
In its hurried departure, Entei failed to notice that the human infant it had carried had stopped crying at some point and was now staring with wide, bright black eyes at its retreating figure.
That Pokémon was... Entei?!
Holt was stunned, and for a moment his emotions were a tangled mess.
A few months ago, he had still been an overworked office drone on Earth, struggling through life while working for a game company that specialized in making small games adapted from web novels.
At the time, the company had acquired the game adaptation rights to a web novel called Reincarnated Into Another World, I Grow Stronger by Shocking Others.
As a corporate slave trying to earn a little more money, Holt had stayed late at the office writing code. He never expected his computer to explode on the spot, sending him to another world along with the cheat code he had written, where he was reborn into a family living in Viridian City in the Kanto region.
Holt had originally thought he would live an ordinary life like Ash.
Instead, both of his parents died in this life.
Because of the error in his reincarnated age, Holt could only watch everything happen helplessly. He had avoided the two Pokémon hunters by playing dead.
After they left, a flood of emotions overwhelmed him. Affected by his young age, Holt broke down in despair and cried uncontrollably, grieving his parents' deaths and resenting the unfairness of fate.
And then, Entei had appeared right in front of him.
Holt had been a little delighted. He had thought Entei would take him back to a human city. After all, this world's welfare and orphanage system was very well developed.
As long as he made it there, even if he never became rich, at least he could fill his stomach and grow up safely.
Once he turned ten, maybe he could receive a starter Pokémon from the Kanto League, just like Ash.
Maybe a Charmander, or a Squirtle. Even a Bulbasaur would be fine. Then, with the piece of code called the Shock Value System that had crossed over with him, he could rise to the top of life.
But instead, Entei had just dumped him into this tree hollow and left just like that?
Holt began to question everything.
A bleak autumn wind swept through Viridian Forest. It poured into the tree hollow, letting out a low, mournful wail.
So cold...
Even though humans in the Pokémon world had unusually strong physiques, Holt was still just an infant less than a year old.
As soon as the wind hit him, a chill spread through his whole body.
It's so cold... and it'll be dark soon. Once night falls, the temperature in Viridian Forest will drop sharply. And on top of that, many dangerous wild Pokémon will start becoming active at night.
At this moment, Holt was filled with despair, crying out helplessly in his heart.
Come on, don't do this to me right at the start!