Chapter 1: A Beautiful Office
The first thing I notice upon opening my eyes is that I'm in an office.
"Nice office..." I reflect aloud.
"Thank you, I did my best to make it pleasant for both myself and my clients," a voice responds.
Focusing my attention on the source of the voice, I see a white silhouette in a business suit.
"No need to thank me, but it's impossible not to notice," I reply before continuing with another question. "Excuse me, but could you tell me where I am? I'm almost certain I'm dead."
"And you're correct, you are dead," the person confirms with a nod. "To answer your question, this is a place between life and death, where some souls from all universes come for what I like to call soul exchange. This happens sometimes when two or more conglomerates of universes meet and exchange 'data', so to speak. They use souls as messengers to deliver this data to each other."
I sit down in the chair in front of the desk. "Cool, how do we do that?" I ask, a little excited.
He seems to raise an eyebrow. "Are you too excited? After all, you've died and must have left behind family and friends."
I shrug. "My mother died a few years ago, my father is an idiot, and although I have some friends, I wasn't so close to them as to cause them much grief over my death." I adjust my posture in the chair. "Besides, I doubt my opinion matters much regarding the actions of the universes themselves."
"Good to know. It's always good to meet someone reasonable. First, I need to calculate your karma," he points to the computer on the desk. "Actually, I've already done that while we were talking."
"How do you calculate a person's karma?" I ask, curious.
"Karma is calculated based on a person's achievements and actions. In your case: you graduated from college and got a PhD in zoology, you saved and helped many lives in the flood in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024..." He continues listing a few more things that added and subtracted karma. "In total, you earned 2,000 karma points."
"Hmm, is that a lot or a little?"
"To go to another universe with your memory intact, you need 500 points."
"Then, I'll go with that."
"Great. Now you can choose which conglomerate you'll go to, and then you'll be sent to a random universe within it." He takes a tablet from a drawer in the desk and hands it to me.
Looking at the options, I see some good ones and some bad ones.
---
[Worm]
[Digimon]
[Danmachi]
[Warhammer 40K]
[Tensura]
[Pokemon]
[MHA]
[Fullmetal Alchemist B.]
[Tensei Shitara dai Nana]
---
"...I just want to know... Why these? What do each of these have in common with each other?" I ask, incredulous.
"I have no idea, I'm just doing my job," he says, shrugging.
"...I want to go to Pokémon."
"You're going to choose how your new life will be?"
"No."
"Are you sure? This will decide your gender, your family, your region, your financial situation, among other things."
"Will I be able to choose powers, abilities, skills, and perks later?"
"Yes."
"Then, randomize my life situation."
"Okay." He types on the computer for a moment. "Well, it wasn't so bad." He turns the monitor to show me.
---
[Name]: Charlie
[Gender]: Female
[Affinity]: Extremely talented
[Appearance]: Beautiful
[Age]: 13 years old
[Affinities]: None
[Financial]: Neither rich nor poor
[Family]: Orphan
[Region]: Hoenn
[City]: Rustboro City
---
"Hmm..." I murmur as I hold my chin. "What does 'None' affinity mean? Like Normal?"
"No, it means you really don't have affinity with any type, but it also means you shouldn't have problems with other types."
"What do you mean?"
"An example of this is that someone with Fire affinity has more trouble bonding with a Pokémon of Ice type." He pauses for a moment. "That's one of the reasons why type specialists exist, since they attract more Pokémon of their affinities."
"Interesting..."
"Aren't you bothered by being a woman now? Usually, when this happens, people are at least a little discouraged."
"Frankly, I never cared about it, nor about dating, actually."
"Okay, now that we've finished this part, let's move on to what you asked before."
"Powers, skills, and perks?"
"Yes."
"Nice."
The manager then takes the tablet from my hand, types on it for a moment, and hands it back to me. "Here's a list for you to choose from."
"Thank you," I say, starting to look at the list.
Okay, I have 1500 points to spend...
*30 minutes later*
"I'm done," I say, handing the tablet back to him.
---
(ABILITY)
[Pokétch]: You gain access to the entire technological tree of the Pokémon world. (300 p)
[Animal Bond]: You are good at dealing with and training animals. They love you or don't attack first. (10 p)
(PERK)
[Mental Barrier]: You are immune to any and all powers that can directly affect your mind, emotions, or senses. Indirect effects such as invisibility, pheromones, and drugs will still work on you. With your permission, you can allow powers to influence you. (60 p)
[Physical Peak]: You have a high level of durability, strength, speed, reflexes, reaction time, senses, and regeneration. (100 p)
[Immunization]: You are now immune to the side effects of sources of power external to your body, including combat drugs, artifacts, enchantments, magical pacts, items, and other things you wield, giving you only the beneficial parts and leaving the rest behind. This comes with complete immunity to addiction (400 p)
[Communication]: You can communicate with any being with ease, regardless of cultural or linguistic barriers. Your words and ideas are transmitted with crystal clarity, leaving no room for misunderstandings or misinterpretations (this includes Pokémon). (200 p)
(SKILL)
[Survival]: You know how to survive in any environment. (50 p)
[Cooking]: You possess an extraordinary talent for culinary creations. (40 p)
[Healer]: You have a natural talent for healing other people physically, mentally, and spiritually. (80 p)
---
"You're not going to use your other points? You still have 260 p."
"Can I put those points into my luck?"
"Hmm... yes, you can," he says, after checking on the computer.
"Then, please do."
"Okay, we're done," he said as he connected the tablet to the computer, before reaching out his hand to me. "Charlie, it was a pleasure configuring your next life with you."
"Likewise," I say, shaking his hand.
"Maybe we'll see each other again, if there's another time," he says with a smile.
Oh, I forgot to ask his.