New world, new rules

Charmander crouched slightly, eyes focused.

"Use Ember! But keep it light!"

With a quick inhale, Charmander snapped his mouth open—fwoosh! A small burst of flame shot toward the Pidgey—but the bird leapt into the air, wings fluttering sharply. It dodged. Ayan blinked. This wasn't turn-based.

The Pidgey swept low, diving toward Charmander with its claws out. Charmander twisted aside, barely avoiding the scratch, and skidded back, dirt flying beneath his feet.

"Nice dodge!" Ayan called out. "Try to slow it down! Ember again, aim for where it's going!"

Charmander adjusted his footing and fired another Ember, this time leading the shot just slightly. It clipped the Pidgey's wing as it came down for another pass, sending it tumbling into the grass with a surprised squawk. The little bird struggled upright, but now it looked a bit shaky. Charmander's tail flame burned brighter, confidence rising.

"Use Dragon Rush! Now!"

Charmander let out a low, guttural growl as a faint blue aura surrounded him—something ancient, instinctive, waking in his bloodline. He charged, sprinting low across the grass. The Pidgey flapped frantically to rise—but not fast enough.

Wham!

The impact wasn't violent, but it was definitive. The bird flopped onto its side, stunned and wheezing softly. Not unconscious—but winded and clearly unable to fight anymore.

Ayan didn't waste a second. He pulled out a Heal Ball—white and pink, shimmering slightly under the sun—and threw it with a practiced flick.

Tink!

The ball struck the Pidgey, opened mid-air with a whoosh of light, and pulled the small bird in. It shook once—

Twice—

Ding!

The capture was confirmed. Ayan let out the breath he'd been holding. Charmander stood tall, chest puffed, watching the now-still Poké Ball settle into the grass. They did it. Their first catch.

Ayan walked forward and picked up the Heal Ball. It felt warm, like the energy inside hadn't quite settled yet.

He turned to Charmander.

"That was incredible. You were fast, accurate… and you didn't even take a hit."

Charmander grinned—if such a thing was possible—and let out a proud "Charrr!"

Ayan checked the PokéDex.

Pidgey — Level 4

Gender - Female 

Type: Normal/Flying

Ability: Keen Eye

Moves: Tackle, Sand Attack

Status: Healthy (Heal Ball effect active)

Bond Level: 90/255

Meanwhile, while he did catch the Pidgey, he got another notification. Charmander gained 80 Exp. 80 out of 500. Thus it would take quite a bit of time to reach level 6. But that was fine. Right now he was tired and would love to just hit the bed and sleep. The adrenaline had slowly been washed away and now the extra workout he just did needed a pause button. 

The next moment he was back at his room, while holding the two Poke balls. But unlike the previous time, this time it was a bit different. This time there was an extra information that he had received in his brain, just like the first time he had landed there in the game world. 

Only this time there was only a single message. The Pokémon brought from the game world would never be able to speak/point/draw or give any kind of indication to others that they had arrived from the game/other world. Even forceful hypnosis wouldn't work on them if anyone wanted to know of their place of origin. 

This made sure that his cheat/secret remains a secret forever.

"Sweet.. Now I can sleep in more peace than ever." Ayan thought and after freshening up a bit, he hit the bed. And because he was very tired, it only took a second for him to sleep. His sleep was filled with happy dreams 

------

"Wake up.. Why are you late today? Don't you want to go for a run on the treadmill?" Ayan heard his mother shake him a bit. Ayan opened his eyes after much effort and time. He had forgotten that this world wasn't the same world at all for a second. 

After his brain started finally working and seeing the two Poke Balls on the side, he knew that whatever happened yesterday wasn't a dream and neither was the wake up call from his mother. Because of the differences in the new world, the young men and women of the world had a mandatory fitness classes and in general everyone is asked to have a good body.

This world wasn't the same that it once was. The world had expanded from it's original size. One might ask if this had happened what happened to the gravity. After the advent of Pokémon it was said that it was due to some legendary Pokémon that even when the world had expanded, the gravity remained the same and thus the other factors were also maintained. 

Thus going into the wilderness was normal for anyone and being in wilderness was no joke. Camping, hiking and running from Pokémon's wrath was also normal and one needed an able body to do so. Thus in any schools all over the world physical fitness was mandatory. 

Ayan, thanks to his parents and the apartment gym on the 2nd floor, would always run early morning for at least 5 kms every day except for weekends and thus before going to school he would wake up early and go to the gym. The previous night he slept late and thus his natural clock didn't wake him up like any other day. 

Still groggy, Ayan sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His mother had already walked out, but her voice still echoed down the hallway.

"You've got twenty minutes before school prep starts! Don't forget to eat after your run!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ayan muttered, then swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked again at the two Poké Balls resting on his desk like trophies. His heart gave a little jump. They were real. They were still here.

Charmander and Pidgey—his Pokémon. 

A grin crept across his face as he stood up, stretched, and grabbed his training clothes. He pulled on his usual joggers and a breathable shirt, laced up his sneakers, and headed out to the second-floor gym of their apartment building.