Chapter 2: The Dawn of Choices

The steam fogged the mirror as I wiped it with the back of my hand, fingers still slick with toothpaste. I stared hard at my reflection. It was still jarring—seeing this young face, those deep, black eyes staring back, but feeling the weight of years behind them. "I'm ten," I muttered, disbelief coating every word. My mind raced, memories of my old life colliding with the foreign sensation of this body.

I pulled the toothbrush from my mouth, teeth scraping the bristles. The absurdity of it all—the sudden transmigration, the merging of memories from two lives—threatened to overwhelm me. But there was no time for confusion or doubt. Today, I would choose my Pokémon. The first real step toward the future I was destined to dominate.

Charmander? Squirtle? Bulbasaur? The thought stirred a flicker of excitement. But beneath that, a calculated calm took over. Each one had its advantages, but with my cheats? It almost didn't matter. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘬é𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦'𝘴. That was a fact.

I stepped into the shower, the hot water cascading over my small frame, running through my thick, black hair. The heat didn't ease the strange tension in my chest, though. The confusion of displacement gnawed at me, but I forced it down. 𝘍𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴.

Closing my eyes, I let the water trickle over my face, trying to drown out the noise of two lives warring in my head. But the thoughts wouldn't leave me alone. Gary. His smug face flashed in my mind, that cocky grin he always wore, thinking he was better than me—better than anyone. I smirked, feeling the stir of competition light a fire in my chest. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸.

Drying off, I moved with purpose. The towel felt rough against my skin as I wrapped it around my waist, but my mind was elsewhere, calculating, strategizing. 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴.

I pulled on my clothes—a snug black shirt, red jacket, black jeans and red boots. Every movement was sharp, deliberate. Slinging the black bag over my shoulder, I felt the weight of it, unnecessary but necessary. Appearances mattered. People couldn't know about my cheats, not yet. 

The dawn was just breaking when I pushed open the window. The early light painted the sky in soft colors, but I barely noticed. My thoughts were focused, hard like steel. 𝘈𝘴𝘩… I whispered, thinking of my supposed rival. He was getting Pikachu today, I knew that. But that wasn't what bothered me.

His brother. 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘪𝘰. They weren't supposed to exist. Not in the version of the world I knew. This wasn't exactly how things were supposed to go. I leaned against the windowsill, narrowing my eyes as I tried to piece together the shift. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦?

But it didn't matter. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. Not Blaze, not Rio, not Ash. No one.

A rumble from my stomach reminded me that I hadn't eaten. I padded downstairs, hoping for a bite before heading to Professor Oak's lab. But the fridge? Empty. The pantry? Barren. I clenched my jaw, the hunger a dull ache that settled in the pit of my stomach.

"Guess I'm going hungry today," I muttered. But the hunger wasn't just physical. It was something else—something deeper, clawing at my insides. 𝘌𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺'𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳. I realized with a sharp exhale. That feeling of loss, of emptiness. I shook it off, dismissing it as irrelevant. 

Locking the door behind me, I paused, the key cold in my hand. A wave of melancholy washed over me, uninvited and unwelcome. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦... 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. The thought whispered through my mind. I wasn't the real Punit Setia. I was someone else, someone older, wiser, and now—more powerful. 

But as I slipped the key into my pocket and walked away, I couldn't shake the strange sense of finality. Like I was leaving something behind that I could never get back.

The streets were quiet, the kind of quiet that comes just before the world fully wakes up. My footsteps echoed, each one deliberate, the only sound breaking the stillness. 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳... 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘳... 𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦... My mind looped through the options again, calculating. Charmander was powerful, sure, but Bulbasaur offered more versatility. And Squirtle—well, no one could underestimate a well-trained Squirtle.

Every choice felt heavy, as if the whole path ahead hinged on this single moment. I stopped in front of an abandoned shop, staring at my reflection in the broken windows. 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. The words pulsed in my mind like a mantra. I could be unstoppable. I already had everything I needed to dominate this world.

But a small, nagging thought tugged at me. Is 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺? I brushed it aside as quickly as it came. 𝘕𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺.

Turning away from the shop, I pushed forward, my thoughts shifting back to my new identity. 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘢. The name didn't feel right. It wasn't mine. It didn't fit the person I was underneath this young body. But that didn't matter. This world didn't care who I used to be. It only cared about what I would become.

And they would know me for what I would become.

My stomach growled again, more insistent this time, but I pressed on. Hunger was nothing. I could endure it. I had endured worse. What I craved wasn't food. It was power. The thrill of standing on top of this world, looking down at everyone else. I grinned at the thought, a sharp, almost predatory smile tugging at my lips.

The world was waking up around me, but I was already awake—wide awake, miles ahead of anyone else.

Before heading to Professor Oak's lab, I paused one last time, turning to glance at the house I had left behind. It was just a house. It wasn't really my home. But still, there was a pang of something—a faint, almost sad smile that crossed my lips. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, I thought, feeling the weight of two lives pressing down on me. 

But it didn't stop me from turning away, leaving it behind. Today was the start of something new. Something powerful.

Each step I took pushed me closer to that future. And nothing was going to stop me from seizing it. Not this world. Not the memories of a life that wasn't mine. Not Gary. Not Ash. Not anyone.

The Pokémon world didn't know what was coming. But they would. Soon enough.