"Gululu..."
Victor's stomach protested once more.
"Fruits really don't fill you up."
Victor patted his protesting little belly and looked down at Umbreon, saying, "Let's fill our stomachs first, and then we can slowly think about what to do next."
"Bu Yi~"
Umbreon responded with a nod.
Although it still hadn't recovered from the pain of being abandoned by its previous owner, in just the short time of spending less than ten minutes with this human boy, Umbreon felt that he harbored no malice or prejudice against it.
That alone was enough for Umbreon to follow him.
...
After Victor and Umbreon left, a figure dressed in a black cloak, looking much like a gambling god, stepped out from the corner of the alley along the street.
His eyes, hidden beneath a round hat, were filled with disbelief as he muttered to himself, "Dark-type... causing evolved Pokémon to revert... Is that kid joking?"
On a normal day, he would think it was just a kid's delusional talk.
But after a brief moment of secret observation just now, he noticed that Victor exuded a maturity that was completely uncharacteristic for his age and a powerful confidence shimmering in his eyes.
He couldn't help but wonder—could he really do it?
Giovanni remained silent for a long while.
At other times, he wouldn't hesitate to send a subordinate to follow that kid, just to see if he could pull off any tricks.
But right now... he didn't have the heart for it.
Recently, Giovanni had been secretly searching for his missing son.
Unable to find him in Kanto, he came to Johto.
He hadn't even used any of Team Rocket's subordinates.
Because Giovanni hadn't revealed his fatherhood to anyone, not even to his subordinates.
Children often become the soft spot for parents.
As the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni had made numerous enemies in the underworld.
Once his rivals learned he had a son, he could easily imagine the consequences.
So he had been keeping it tightly under wraps.
Yet despite all this, his child was still missing!
"Who on earth... is it!?"
Giovanni bit his teeth in anger, having no mood to consider Victor further, and turned back to melt into the shadows once again.
...
Pokémon Center.
"Big sister, the food at the Pokémon Center is free, right?"
Victor looked up with his adorable eyes and sweetly asked Nurse Joy.
Along the way, he had gathered a lot of information through this disguise.
Firstly, this was the Cianwood City in the Johto region.
However, unlike the timeline he remembered from his past life, where he played the game and watched the anime, the current champion of the Kanto League was the ghost-type user, Agatha, and not the flying champion.
This meant that there were still several years before the events Victor was familiar with began.
Moreover, Professor Oak had yet to invent the Pokédex, so people didn't even know about the "Dark" type, which was relatively uncommon.
And things like the Pokémon ball transportation devices, and Pokémon healing devices that players used in the games... none of those existed.
But one thing was available.
Just like Ash from the anime, the Pokémon Center offered free medical services as well as food and accommodation.
"Of course, little brother."
Seeing such a cute little boy, Nurse Joy immediately smiled back from the counter.
Victor felt he was truly experiencing the joy of being a little freeloader.
Ah, speaking of which, not having wiped out the World Government in his past life was the first regret, and not dealing with that nuisance, Momonosuke, was the second.
Hearing that the Pokémon Center indeed offered free food, Victor's face instantly lit up with a grin.
I absolutely love this world!
However, Joy's next words left Victor dumbfounded.
"Little brother, could you show me your Trainer ID card?"
"Huh?"
Trainer... ID card?
What on earth is that?
Oh wait!
There seems to be that thing in the games; I remember it had the trainer's name, trainer number, and how many badges they had earned and such.
But since that seemed just a decoration, I really didn't pay attention to it while playing in my previous life...
Noticing something was off with Victor's expression, Joy's radiant smile faded slightly with confusion.
"Are you not a registered trainer with the League? If not, you'll need to pay; the accommodation and meal fee is 1000 League coins for a day."
Victor patted his pockets, which were cleaner than his face... and began to plan how to leave without losing face.
"…Let's call this meal on the house for you, little one."
Joy suddenly offered.
"This…"
Victor was somewhat surprised.
Joy smiled, "This little amount, big sister can still afford."
...
Half an hour later, in the dining hall of the Cianwood City Pokémon Center, many trainers cast astonished looks at Victor.
Yes, it was indeed ghostly.
A ghost starved to death.
Even Umbreon, squatting on the ground with a bowl of Pokémon food in front of it, found the food in the bowl suddenly unappetizing.
So embarrassing...
"Is it good?"
At this moment, Nurse Joy walked over, carrying a Chansey.
"Thank you, Sister Sophia, I'll repay you in the future."
Victor swallowed a mouthful of curry rice and gave Nurse Joy a thumb up.
From her self-introduction, Victor learned that "Joy" was the family name of the Joy family.
After that name, each Joy had their own first name.
From Joy Sophia, Victor also learned a lot of knowledge about this real Pokémon world.
Among them was the knowledge of what being a "registered trainer with the League" meant.
Only this type of trainer could enjoy free accommodation and healing services at a Pokémon Center.
Just like players in the game and Ash from the anime.
The condition to become a registered trainer with the League was that from birth, one had to pay a yearly tax to the League, and then when turning ten, would be given a Pokémon of decent aptitude.
Mostly, it was one of the starter Pokémon.
However, this service could only continue until the age of twenty.
Um, that makes sense.
If one could eat and drink freely at a Pokémon Center for a lifetime.
How could this world even accommodate "office workers"?
In his previous life, Victor had run into many trainers categorized as "businessmen" on the streets.
But after understanding all this, Victor thought of another question—
Where did Aunt Hanako get the money from?
Curious, Victor asked Nurse Joy Sophia how much tax a registered trainer needed to pay over ten years.
After getting the answer, Victor truly wondered how Aunt Hanako, who seemed to work regularly in the anime, could have so much money.
Could it be sponsored by Professor Oak… cough cough! I shouldn't think about that anymore; if I do, this book is going to go away.
"…Little Victor, you're not an orphan, are you?"
Just as Victor was lost in thought, Nurse Joy Sophia suddenly asked out of the blue.
Victor: ???
Hey, hey, hey, why are you speaking so harshly?
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