"Damn, I fell asleep."
Groggy, he struggles to open his eyes. The scenario around him confuses him completely. In front of him there is an ancient computer that looks like it was rescued from his grandfather's attic. There is no trace of his modern PC anywhere.
"???..."
He stares fixedly at the unfamiliar and unreal surroundings. He rubs his eyes hoping to wake up from what seems to be a vivid dream, but nothing changes in front of him.
He was definitely at home, starting a new Pokémon game, when he suddenly fell asleep.
"Was I kidnapped?"
He didn't know anyone interested enough in his insignificant self. Who would want to kidnap him? It's not like his family could pay the ransom anyway.
Frankly, the fact that someone would consider depriving him of his freedom was already quite the compliment...
"Surprise party?"
Who would go through the trouble of organizing one? He barely had a few acquaintances, and didn't think anyone appreciated him enough to plan something elaborate just to surprise him.
Come to think of it, he couldn't even remember the last time he celebrated his birthday. And the only parties he got invited to were just to fill an empty spot, he could tell they weren't that enthusiastic about his presence...
"So what's going on?"
Looking around the room, he felt a sense of familiarity...
▪︎NES on top of a TV
▪︎Green carpet with yellow circles
▪︎Small cabinet
▪︎Bookshelf
▪︎Bed with white sheets and green stripes
The place was an exact replica of the protagonist's bedroom in Pokémon Red Fire. Realizing this, he thought it was a dream come true. Excited, he quickly searched for his cell phone to take some pictures of the place, but couldn't find it anywhere.
"Huh? Where is it?"
He didn't seem to have his wallet on him either. Confused, he noticed he was wearing black pajamas he didn't recognize.
"What?! What is this?!"
He accidentally bumps into the bookshelf, knocking several books to the floor. As he covers his head to protect himself, one of the volumes hits his hand, causing a small wound.
Examining the injury, he realizes with astonishment that his hand looks tiny.
"H-how?!"
And not just his hands, his whole body had shrunk! Terrified, he runs in front of the TV.
In the reflection, an unknown child looked back at him.
He pinches his cheek and a grimace of pain confirms he's not dreaming.
"What the h..."
Dazed, he takes a step back and stumbles over a backpack on the floor. Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above him, he takes a deep breath to try to calm himself.
"What is going on? Am I inside a video game? It feels too real..."
He carefully analyzes everything that happened, trying to find a logical explanation, but the more he thinks about it, the more confused he feels.
Perhaps due to the noise he was making, a woman entered the room. She was clearly annoyed and for some reason her expression changed when she saw him.
The woman in front of him appeared around 45 years old, thin and a few centimeters taller than Dairo. She had dark brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, and her scowling eyebrows gave her a strict look. She wore a long sleeved shirt and a knee length skirt.
"Dairo, you're getting late! You should've left for Professor Oak's lab half an hour ago. Hurry up!"
Not understanding why he was being scolded, he simply remained silent. As he listened, he found out that in this world he has the name he chose to play, Dairo. He was used to it, even though it wasn't his real name.
"Y-yes...mom..."
Dairo feels weird calling a stranger mom, but he couldn't afford to raise suspicions right now.
What was he supposed to tell her? Sorry, but your son is no longer among us... No thanks!
"I'll do what any isekai protagonist would do."
Keep quiet about my true identity.
"Come downstairs once you've changed." (She indicated before leaving the room)
Dairo looked again at the unfamiliar ceiling above him.
"Since I somehow ended up in this world, I should just enjoy it."
Although, to be honest, he would miss some conveniences of his old life. Especially unlimited access to anime and manga he enjoyed so much.
"Meh, didn't leave anything too important behind..." (He murmured, dismissing it.)
Suddenly remembering something important. He brought his now small hands together in a praying gesture, as if invoking divine help.
"Please, please don't let anyone at home check my computer and find a certain folder that for some mysterious reason takes up more than 100gb..."
A chill ran down his spine just imagining his mother innocently opening that folder on the PC to snoop around...and finding his "private collection". If that were to happen, he wouldn't know where to hide his face.
"Hopefully they'll assume I went on a trip and no one will touch my stuff."
He prayed internally, hands still clasped together.
After finishing his little prayer, Dairo looked at his reflection in the TV.
"I'll borrow your life."
Dairo stands up and approaches the small cabinet next to the bookshelf.
When he opens the drawer he sees a neatly folded set of black clothes.
He doesn't understand why it isn't the iconic Red outfit, the other garments are also dark.
"Well, doesn't matter now."
After getting changed, he picks up the backpack from the floor and checks the contents:
▪︎First aid kit
▪︎Bug repellent
▪︎Flashlight
▪︎Notepad
▪︎Pen
▪︎Canned food
▪︎Bottled water
▪︎Change of clothes
▪︎Blanket
He puts on the backpack and is about to go downstairs, when a thought suddenly crosses his mind:
"Will the items be in their place?"
He quickly approaches the desktop computer to turn it on; however, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it to work.
"Is it broken?"
"Come to think of it, isn't it technically impossible to take an object out of the computer?"
He starts looking around, and quickly catches sight of a purple glint behind the computer.
Thrilled, he reached out to grab it. He had found it!
▪︎Small purple bottle
"Dairo found POTION!" He jokingly thought, mimicking the game's message.
Satisfied, he safely stored the item in his pocket, trusting that his game knowledge will be very helpful.
Trying to remember the location of important items, he realizes he's getting late for the main event.
End of chapter.
Note: If you find any grammatical errors or misspellings, I would appreciate you letting me know in the comments.