1. If I Don't Have Money To Buy Pokémon, I Can Only Play Games
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The rain poured steadily outside the window.
In the cramped 30-square-meter apartment, Chris lay on the sofa, feeling a bit weary. Silently, he flipped over.
He had just turned down a buddy's invitation to go fishing in three days.
Right now, all he wanted to do was laze around. Even though he had woken up to find himself transformed from a nearly forty-year-old man into a handsome eighteen-year-old boy, now living in a world where his favorite game and anime, "Pokémon," had merged with reality, it didn't change the fact that... people without money didn't deserve to be Trainers!
Chris wasn't an orphan, but his parents were farmers in the countryside. Sending him to the provincial capital for school was already a huge sacrifice. Affording to raise a Pokémon? That was too much to ask.
Pokémon at the breeding center started at five or six thousand yuan, and starter Pokémon could cost upwards of 100,000 yuan. And don't even think about getting a pseudo-legendary.
His buddy had invited him fishing to help him catch a Pokémon to use as a starter.
He'd already made up his mind and planned to catch a Poliwag for Chris.
Though Poliwag was common, it had good potential and could evolve twice.
Its final evolution, Poliwrath, was a powerful Pokémon, even capable of reaching an Elite level.
He could build it as his main fighter.
But Chris still refused. He had barely enough money to buy a Pokémon after months of saving, and raising one would be even more expensive.
"Forget it, I'll go to a regular university and think about becoming a Pokémon Breeder after I graduate and start working," he thought. That was how it went in his previous life, and he hadn't been able to save enough to try training until he was thirty-five.
Chris had considered using his past-life memories to make money, but with the existence of Pokémon in this world, events had diverged so much that his previous knowledge wasn't reliable anymore.
"You've got to aim higher! Who says a middle-aged Trainer can't become a Champion?" Chris encouraged himself, trying to shake off his gloomy mood.
He glanced down at the handheld console in front of him.
Since he couldn't be a Trainer in real life, he figured he might as well enjoy himself in the game world.
He powered on the Gameboy Advance. Only one list appeared on the screen.
"Pokémon Collection."
"Huh? When did I get this game?" Chris blinked in surprise. He loved Pokémon games and had downloaded many, but he didn't recall ever seeing a collection like this.
Had he downloaded it and forgotten to play?
No, there were no games from his previous life in this world. This must be a Pokémon game unique to this reality.
Intrigued, Chris sat up on the sofa and clicked on the game.
The screen turned black, and a dialog box popped up.
[Please select the starter version]
[Available versions: Red/Blue/Green/Gold/Silver/Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald....]
"This... isn't this just like the versions from my past life?" Chris muttered.
He casually selected Emerald. The earlier versions were too old—he remembered playing them in black and white—while Emerald had been one of his favorites.
A familiar scene appeared on the screen, showing the protagonist arriving in Littleroot Town with a truckload of furniture.
"Where's the character creation and naming screen?" Chris frowned, recalling that the game usually started with a setup interface.
The screen froze for a moment, and the truck stopped. The protagonist stepped out, greeted by his mother.
After welcoming the protagonist, she brought him inside the house, where Vigoroth were busy moving furniture. Then, she asked the protagonist to visit Professor Birch's house next door.
"You can't set the clock? There are quite a few differences between the Emerald in this world and the one I remember," Chris mused as he guided the protagonist to Professor Birch's house.
Professor Birch wasn't home, and his wife suggested that the protagonist could rest upstairs while waiting. Instead, Chris had the protagonist leave, only to run into a girl outside.
It was May, Professor Birch's daughter, and she was destined to be his "rival" throughout the journey.
After greeting May, the protagonist left Professor Birch's house. As he passed the edge of town, a little girl at the gate stopped him. She mentioned hearing growling sounds nearby and said it seemed like someone was in trouble, urging the protagonist to investigate.
Controlling the protagonist, Chris guided him out of Littleroot Town and onto Route 101. As soon as he stepped out, he spotted a Zigzagoon chasing a chubby man in a white research coat, zigzagging frantically through the tall grass.
[Professor Birch: Hey, you over there! Help me out, please!]
The protagonist spread his hands, signaling that he didn't have a Pokémon.
[Professor Birch: There are some spare Pokémon in my bag! Use one of them to fight!]
The protagonist stepped forward and opened the professor's bag, revealing the three classic starter choices of the Hoenn region: Mudkip, Torchic, and Treecko.
Considering the early Gyms in Hoenn, Chris knew that Mudkip was the easiest choice, followed by Treecko, and Torchic being the most challenging.
"Let's go with Torchic this time," Chris decided. Having already cleared the game with Mudkip and Treecko in the past, he was feeling bold—why not take on the challenge head-on?
He chose Torchic!
The familiar battle music began, the screen transitioned, and the battle against the Zigzagoon commenced.
LV5 Torchic vs LV3 Zigzagoon.
Before rushing into the fight, Chris had the protagonist check Torchic's stats.
[Torchic (Fire Type)]
[Level: 5]
[Ability: Blaze (Boosts the power of Fire-type moves when HP is below 1/3)]
[IVs: HP (25), Attack (20), Special Attack (7), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (17)]
[Moves: Ember, Growl, Tackle]
[Held Item: None]
"IVs?" Chris raised an eyebrow.
This Torchic's individual values (IVs) were disappointing. Pokémon IVs determined their potential growth, with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 31. A stat with a full 31 was referred to as a "perfect IV" or "V".
This Torchic only had two perfect IVs—Defense and Special Defense—both of which were not useful for an offensively inclined Pokémon like Torchic.
Choosing Torchic was already a challenge, but with these IVs, it would make early gameplay even harder. Even if he didn't end up using this Torchic later, it would waste valuable time trying to raise it now.
Frustrated, Chris shut off the handheld and restarted it.
He went through the same sequence again—visiting Professor Birch's house, then heading out to Route 101 to rescue him.
But this time, it was even worse. Torchic had no perfect IVs, and its Attack IV was a pitiful 1 point.
Reopen! Try again!
The third time resulted in only one perfect IV—this time in physical Defense.
Reopen! Try again!
Fourth time, fifth time, sixth time…
By the time dinner rolled around, Chris had lost track of how many times he had restarted the game.
In truth, his standards for the first Torchic weren't too high. He was simply hoping for a 3V Pokémon with good stats in Attack, Special Attack, and Speed. He wasn't even demanding the full 31 points—he would settle for 29 or 30—but it just wasn't happening.
Still, Chris wasn't discouraged.
This was just the beginning!
Chris's excitement surged as he finally obtained the Torchic he'd been aiming for after hours of resets.
[Torchic (Fire Type)]
[Level: 5]
[Ability: Speed Boost (Increases speed by one stage at the end of each turn)]
[IVs: HP (28), Attack (31), Special Attack (31), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (31)]
[Moves: Ember, Growl, Tackle]
[Held Item: None]
5V! And with HP almost maxed at 28, this Torchic was practically a 6V Pokémon. Not to mention, it had the rare Dream Ability *Speed Boost*, which made it even more incredible.
"Perfect! Except for not being Shiny, this Torchic is already top-tier!" Chris exclaimed.
"Wuhu! Let's go!"
No need to reset this time. Feeling triumphant, Chris commanded Torchic to take on Zigzagoon. Two quick Ember attacks later, the battle was over.
[Defeated Zigzagoon LV3, gained 20 experience points.]
"Huh?" Chris noticed that the experience bar had barely moved. Normally, in the standard *Emerald* version, this fight should have pushed Torchic closer to leveling up, but it only filled a small portion of the bar—about one-twentieth.
"Is the experience requirement higher in this version?" Chris wondered aloud, but he shrugged it off. "Leveling up is just grinding, nothing I can't handle."
After defeating Zigzagoon and saving Professor Birch, the scene continued as he followed Birch back to the lab. There, Birch officially gave the Torchic to the protagonist and asked him to head to Route 103 to find his daughter.
Chris glanced at the time. It was after 11:00 PM. Time to call it a night. He stretched, feeling satisfied with his progress.
[Do you want to save and exit?]
Chris paused. The previous version didn't have this specific exit prompt, but it didn't matter.
"
Save."
[Saving...]
[Save complete. Exiting game.]
The screen went dark, signaling the game had closed. But then, out of nowhere, a faint "dong" sound echoed through the room.
Startled, Chris looked down, only to see a Poké Ball lying on the floor right in front of him.
Join my Patreon for 40 more chapters and earlier updates for all members( For free members too):
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100 power stones=1bonus chapter
3 reviews=1bonus chapter