Chapter 1: Isekai'd, and I'm a Humanoid Pokémon?
The Galar region, Stow-on-Side.
This was a small mountain town that had prospered thanks to its ancient art.
In a corner of the town stood an old, two-story house. Its ocher color blended seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.
Iron weapons hung on the walls within. The sharp edge of a meticulously maintained cross-guard greatsword glinted with a cold light.
In the bedroom, a young man, still fast asleep, was jolted awake by a sound.
"Kabu—!"
Asher rubbed his eyes with one hand and sat up, dazed. He saw the source of the cry.
A portly duck with sharp eyes, gripping a vibrant green leek and pointing it right at him.
?
Hadn't he been on his way to buy a figure when he was hit and killed by a runaway truck?
Where did this Farfetch'd come from? Did it deliver itself here to be stewed in a soup?
Despite the thought, Asher instinctively reached out with his right hand, grabbing an unsharpened cross-guard sword from his bedside.
"Wait... What is this?"
Memories flooded his mind like a spring, leaving him sitting stunned on the bed, unable to process it for a long moment.
He had... transmigrated?
Only after sorting through the memories did Asher finally confirm his current situation.
He had actually come to the world of Pokémon!
This world was inhabited by creatures possessing incredible powers. From the distant ancient civilizations to the brilliant modern culture, Pokémon had always been at humanity's side.
At first, they were seen as disasters, sometimes even regarded as "magic beasts." But now, they could also be partners who fought side-by-side.
No matter the era.
Humanity's path forward was always walked with Pokémon, living together in this world.
Asher also confirmed his own circumstances. The original owner of this body had lived in the Johto region. His mother passed away from illness, and his father, devastated by her death, eventually chose to live in seclusion in this small mountain town.
Until a few years ago, when his father left home.
He set off alone to challenge a Legendary Pokémon, and was never heard from again.
"Defeating a Pokémon with just physical strength and skill?" Asher muttered.
Although, he actually knew of many examples proving humans could defeat Pokémon—like the 'Super-Hisuians,' or even that superhuman from Pallet Town.
But to challenge a Legendary Pokémon... Wasn't that pushing things way too far??
"Whatever."
"We'll meet again if fate wills it."
Asher calmed his emotions, sat up, and grabbed the cross-guard sword, shaking his head at the Farfetch'd.
"Sorry, I woke up late today. We'll have to start training a little later."
The original owner's father came from Eindoak Town. His ancestors were said to have been sword masters for the prince, passing down a medieval cross-guard sword style.
Descendants of the People of the Vale.
In that era, Pokémon were still called "magic beasts," and the relationship between the two sides was far from today's harmony. It was normal to use swordsmanship for self-defense.
But in this era, swordsmanship dojos were already a dying business.
Let alone one for the cross-guard sword.
Asher had studied swordsmanship since he was a child, receiving rigorous instruction. By a twist of fate, he partnered with this Farfetch'd, gaining his first Pokémon.
"Kabu! Kabu!"
The Farfetch'd lowered its leek, tucked it at its side, and walked over to pat Asher's shoulder.
"Don't worry. So what if my old man ditched his son and ran off? I'm not that fragile."
Asher snapped back to reality and smiled, reaching out to ruffle the Farfetch'd's head. The feeling of its soft feathers calmed him down.
He was in the Pokémon world now. If his old man wanted to run off, let him. It wasn't like he could stop him anyway.
He got up and walked to the washroom. In the mirror, a handsome young man with rare, deep-red eyes beneath black hair stared back.
Black hair and red eyes. A rare combination, indeed.
Asher smiled, washed up, and went into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
As for what to eat, it was, of course, the most common delicacy in the Galar region—Curry!
You just choose your favorite ingredients and Berries, stew them in a pot, and you can create all sorts of flavors. Of course, you can also just stew the Berries without any other ingredients.
There are 151 kinds of Curry in all of Galar!
After a simple breakfast for himself and his Farfetch'd, Asher grabbed his cross-guard sword and went to the small, empty yard behind the house.
He prepared to continue the previous owner's daily sparring routine.
Now that he was here, he was determined to live a different life than his last one!
The first step was making sure his current skills didn't deteriorate.
"Kabu!"
The Farfetch'd gripped its leek-weapon, its eyes filled with fighting spirit.
Asher stood opposite it, grasped his cross-guard sword, and took a shallow breath.
Just as he was about to declare the start.
A line of text suddenly materialized before his eyes.
[Game activated. Combat detected. RPG Module is now online.]
[GAL, Survival Crafting, FPS, and other modules are not yet active.]
[RPG Module enabled. Loading...!]
[Name: Asher]
[Age: 18]
[HP: 55]
[Attack: 70 (Iron Sword +10)]
[Defense: 35]
[Sp. Atk: 43]
[Sp. Def: 65]
[Speed: 65]
[Total: 333]
[Evaluation: An outstanding swordsman among modern humans. You possess the foundation to duel an average Pokémon, but your purity still has significant room for improvement.]
[Note: You will gain EXP from combat or training. Leveling up will allow you to increase your stats.]
This... was his System?
Asher froze, scratching his head.
No, to be precise, it was one of the ability modules of his System?
After all, besides RPG, there were other modules waiting to be activated.
But this RPG module alone already made him want to tsukkomi.
What was this supposed to be? Was it trying to forge him into a humanoid Pokémon?
That said, although humans in the modern era had lost their combat prowess, one could still recapture some of that ancient power through persistent training.
Then again, even if his base stats weren't that different from Farfetch'd, at least it could use all sorts of moves.
He just had this one cross-guard sword. The difference was still massive.
But no matter what, this was a path to becoming stronger—especially now that he could see the experience bars for each stat.
His Speed, Defense, and HP experience bars were all nearly full.
He probably just needed one more battle.
Beyond that.
Asher was also very curious about what effects the other game modules would bring, but he could experiment with that later.
For now, it was time to train.
Asher tightened his grip on the sword's hilt, his expression serious.
"Come on, Farfetch'd!"
His first sparring match since transmigrating!
And it was against a duck!
"Kabu!!"
The Farfetch'd charged forward fearlessly. Man and duck, leek and cross-guard sword, clashed with a clang!
...
Fifteen minutes later.
Whoosh—!
The swinging cross-guard sword was blocked by the leek. A shockwave rippled out, but neither side gave an inch.
Until one of them finally stopped.
"Hah... Let's call it a day!"
Asher, ignoring his image, flopped onto the ground. He rubbed his sore wrist, smiling through his sweat.
Even unsharpened, the cross-guard sword's weight was no joke. The stamina drain was astonishing. Lasting fifteen minutes was already impressive.
This was all thanks to the original owner's diligent practice.
A normal person probably couldn't have even lasted a few minutes.
"Kabu—"
The Farfetch'd nodded in agreement. Cradling its leek, it sat down next to Asher, leaning against him.
It deeply admired its partner. To be able to fight with it for so long—this was a Trainer it could acknowledge!
Only a Trainer like this was worthy of commanding it!
Asher stretched and lay back on the ground, gazing up at the sky.
The clouds drifted lazily across the horizon.
At that moment, new text floated up before his eyes.
[This battle has concluded. Calculating RPG experience. Three stats have leveled up.]
[HP: 55 → 56]
[Defense: 35 → 36]
[Speed: 65 → 66]