I woke up the next day to the sound of Mareeps in the fields and the singing of Pidgeys flying through the sky.
Getting out of bed, I see that Sentret was already awake.
He was looking out at the fields through the window.
"Good morning, Sentret," I say as I stretch and loosen up.
"Sentret Sent," he responds, turning to me and jumping onto my shoulder.
Looking at him, I remember the questions I had the night before, so I ask:
"Hey, Sentret, did you have a group before you met me?"
"Sentret Sen Sentret Sentret Sen!" he says, waving his little arms, trying to tell me something.
Understanding perfectly what he wanted to say, I ask:
"So, you lived with a large tribe but separated to explore and ended up getting lost until you found me. Were there other Pokémon in that tribe besides Sentrets and Furrets?"
He stops to think for a bit and then answers:
"Sen Sentret Sentr Sentret Sent Sentr."
'The elder of the Sentrets, and the tribe's leader. With gray fur, about the same size as a Sentret, he also has long white hair.'
With Sentret's description, I come to a conclusion:
'It's possibly a Cinccino.'
'Wait! How did I understand so clearly?'
My Viridian power currently has healing abilities and the natural empathy of Pokémon toward me.
'If I'm not mistaken, the Viridian power also has telepathy and strengthening abilities.'
I think, recalling the Pokémon manga, specifically Yellow.
'But Yellow's ability was more about reading emotions.'
'Either way, it's a very welcome ability.'
I finish my thoughts and head to the bathroom to get ready for school.
Yes, school. One of the ups and downs of being a child again is having to study all over again.
And even though I show that I'm smarter than average, I can't overdo it. Sometimes, I'm afraid of being mistaken for a monster.
Which is strange because, if I were a 10-year-old, it wouldn't be considered so unusual. After all, according to the laws of the Pokémon world, a 10-year-old is already considered an adult, at least in the regions of Kanto and Johto.
And Grandpa wanted me to go to school like a normal kid, which led to this situation. But it's not all bad. The classes are interesting, the content is quite broad, and besides that, I have access to a computer there, which has really helped with my research.
It's frustrating that there isn't a computer at Grandpa's house.
But if my parents give me a laptop, it'll help me a lot, and I wouldn't be stuck using the school computer.
At my school, there's a class division: the regular class, which studies basic subjects like science, geography, math, etc., and the Trainer class, which teaches knowledge related to trainers, like wilderness survival, type relationships, battle theory, and so on. They also teach basic knowledge related to breeders, but since this is an elementary school, they only offer general concepts.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I look at my reflection in the mirror.
In this life, just like in my previous one, I have brown skin, along with medium-length curly black hair that I inherited from my father. But unlike my past life, in this one, I also have some red streaks in my hair, which I inherited from my mother, along with my bright red eyes.
After finishing getting ready, I go downstairs and find Grandpa having breakfast.
I say good morning to Grandpa and ask if he could give me a Pokéball to officially catch Sentret.
"You're going to catch him now? Kid, are you planning on getting your Youngster license? I thought you were going to keep him as a pet," Grandpa asks after hearing me.
The Youngster license allows a child between the ages of 8 and 10 to have a Pokémon, but they can't go on journeys yet. The child has to stay in the city where the license was granted, and to take the Pokémon to other places, like a school trip, a new license and legal guardian approval are required.
Hearing Grandpa's question, I respond with my secret weapon:
"Yes, Grandpa. Can you help me with that?"
I nod in confirmation and give him puppy eyes as I ask.
"Alright, kid. I'll help you get it registered on the way to school. There's a Pokéball in the drawer of the cabinet in the living room—you can use that one."
Grandpa agrees after looking into my eyes for a moment.
I quickly run to the living room and rummage through the drawers in the cabinet, finding the Pokéball.
Calling Sentret, I point the Pokéball at him and ask:
"Sentret, are you ready?"
"Sentreet!"
Agreeing with a cry, Sentret jumps high and taps the button of the Pokéball with his paw.
Soon, a red glow emerges from the Pokéball and absorbs Sentret.
I feel the Pokéball vibrate three times in my hand before stopping. With the joy of having captured my first Pokémon, I feel my inner child bloom.
Then, as if that child inside me took over, I strike the same pose Ash would make when capturing a Pokémon and shout:
"I caught a Sentret!"
Coming out of my excitement and calming down, I realize Grandpa is standing at the door, looking at me with a face that says, "What did I just witness?"
Looking calmly at Grandpa, I respond:
"You wouldn't understand, Grandpa."
"Huhuhohoho... I didn't say anything, kid. But it's nice to see you acting like a child your age," he replies with a laugh, clearly amused by my antics.
Shortly after that, Grandpa accompanies me to the Pokémon Center in Turquoise City.
The Pokémon Center here, in this world, doesn't just handle healing, treatment, and accommodation for Pokémon and trainers; it also has a mission center, where it issues tasks to trainers. Additionally, it deals with some legal matters related to trainers, like the Youngster license, for example.
Arriving at the Pokémon Center, we see the lovely and iconic Nurse Joy, accompanied by the cute Chansey.
As we approach the counter, Grandpa speaks to Nurse Joy:
"Good morning, Joy. Could you bring us the documents for the Youngster license?"
"Good morning, Mr. Black. Is this the little one who's going to be one of the new Youngsters in town?"
Nurse Joy returns Grandpa's greeting and asks about me.
But something she said caught my attention, so I greet her and ask:
"Good morning, Nurse Joy. Yes, I'm here to apply for the Youngster license. Nurse Joy, you said 'one of the Youngsters.' Who are the others?"
I nod in confirmation and ask Nurse Joy about the identity of the other Youngsters.
"They are the Wilson twins, the son of the PokéMart owner, the children of the trainer Jake Simons, and three of the orphans from Mrs. Rosa's orphanage."
Nurse Joy responds while pulling out the papers from under the counter.
Her answer made me reflect on who the other Youngsters were. I know who the twins are since they're in my class. The PokéMart owner's son is in the class above and is a year older.
As for the orphans, I have no idea who they are, but considering they are from Mrs. Rosa's orphanage, they must be under the protection of the oldest brother from the orphanage, who is about to turn 10 and is preparing to embark on a journey.
The children of Trainer Simons will likely use descendants of their father's Pokémon.
'School is going to get quite interesting from here on out,' I think, smiling as I imagine the battles I could have with them.
Soon, Nurse Joy finds all the necessary documents for the license and begins to explain everything that Grandpa and I need to do.
After we finish everything, we hear her say:
"Well, with this, you are officially a Youngster trainer from now on. Congratulations!"
"Chansey chan!"
She says, clapping her hands and congratulating me along with Chansey.
We say goodbye to Nurse Joy and Chansey and leave the Pokémon Center. As we walk down the road, Grandpa says:
"Very good. Now that we're done, you can head to school, and I'll go back to the ranch to finish today's work."
"Okay, Grandpa."
I reply, excited that I'll be able to use Sentret in battles against other trainers.
"Goodbye, Grandpa. I'll see you later."
Separating from Grandpa, I head toward the school.
After a few minutes of walking, I arrive at the school.
William Thomas Elementary School
It was named in honor of a great trainer who emerged from this town more than 100 years ago.
William Thomas, also known as "The Bug Tide," was a legend in this small town. He was one of the three Elite-level trainers that came from here.
Passing through the gate and entering the school, I'm greeted by some familiar faces: my classmates who arrived before me.
"Hey, everyone, good morning."
I greet them with a smile.
"Hey, Victor."
"Good morning, Victor."
"What's up, Victor?"
Soon we head toward our classroom for the first lesson of the day.
While chatting with them, I learn that we will have a substitute teacher today.
"Anna, is it true that we're having a new teacher today? Do you know who it is?"
I ask curiously, looking at Anna Valentine, a girl my age with red hair tied in a ponytail, still with baby fat on her face and light green eyes.
"I found out about it just before I got here. On the way, I ran into the kids from the orphanage. They said that the new teacher is a traveling trainer who arrived in town a few days ago, and the principal invited him to teach while he's in town."
"That's cool!"
"I want to hear his stories!"
She replies, followed by information from the other kids.
"A traveling trainer, huh?"
I murmur after hearing what Anna said.
We continue toward the classroom, chatting mostly about the new teacher.
Upon arriving in the classroom, we see a man standing near the teacher's desk. He is possibly the new teacher. He is quite tall, about 6'3", and wears a trainer's outfit similar to that of the protagonist from Pokémon Emerald, but it is entirely blue with white details.
He has dark blue hair and black eyes.
I see that the class is almost full, and we are apparently the last to arrive.
We enter the room, and he gestures for us to take our seats. After we sit down, he claps his hands to get the class's attention and then introduces himself:
"Hello, good morning, everyone. My name is Maxwell Sugori, I'm from the Hoenn region, and I'm currently traveling through the Johto region with the goal of participating in the Indigo Conference."
"The principal hired me to teach you about the dangers of becoming trainers and also to help you develop as trainers."
"So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to turn you from crybabies into seeds of great trainers."
"Understood!?"
"Understood!"
He shouts at the end of the introduction, asking us. And we respond in unison.
'This is going to be fun,' I think while watching the teacher, who is asking for the names of all the students.
'I can't wait for a battle.'