Chapter 1: Jiang Cheng and Sato Kaede

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In the Kanto region, in Pewter City, on the outskirts, a young man around 16 years old was sitting on a public bench diagonally opposite a small, run-down store that sold Pokémon supplies.

The young man was wearing a set of ill-fitting clothes that had been washed to the point of fading, and although his face was rather handsome, it was gaunt and pale, with a few bruises. Based on his appearance, it was clear that he came from a poor family.

The young man's name was Sato Kaede, a villager from the rural outskirts of Pewter City. He was currently working in the city to earn money. Unfortunately, the hard-earned cash he had made working at a convenience store had just been stolen by a gang of thugs.

Sato initially resisted, but when he saw that each of the thugs was holding a PokéBall, he quickly gave up. He knew that if he continued to resist, he would lose both his money and possibly his life.

Despite having his money stolen, Sato wasn't too upset. Since leaving the countryside and moving to Pewter City, he had already encountered this situation several times.

"It seems that no matter which world it is, living like this means your future is always controlled by others. If you want to take control of your own fate, you must first gain great power. Being weak is the original sin," Sato Kaede leaned back on the bench, took out a crumpled cigarette, lit it with a lighter, and stared blankly at the sunset. His mind started to wander back to his past experiences.

In reality, besides being a villager from the rural outskirts of Pewter City, Sato had another identity: he was originally from Earth, and his previous name was Jiang Cheng, a high-achieving graduate from a prestigious university who worked as a programmer.

Jiang Cheng's background, much like Sato Kaede's current life in the Pokémon world, was simple. He was a child from a rural family, but thanks to his hard work, he managed to get into one of the top universities in the country.

Jiang Cheng's parents were honest, hardworking farmers, and their simple lifestyle influenced him to be similarly hardworking and humble. He always dutifully did what was expected of him.

After successfully graduating from university, Jiang Cheng quickly landed a job at a major global company thanks to his degree and solid programming skills, becoming a programmer.

However, society is like a big melting pot. Even if you live quietly and do your job well, there will always be people who approach, exploit, or harm you for their own purposes.

Jiang Cheng's diligence and intelligence soon caught the attention of his supervisors, and he was promoted to a position above many of his seniors.

Naturally, some of these older colleagues were not pleased with having a junior surpass them.

Unfortunately, Jiang Cheng remained the same honest person, and this made him vulnerable to manipulation.

Eventually, in a collaborative project with his disgruntled seniors, Jiang Cheng was framed. A major error occurred in his work, causing significant losses for the company. Not only was Jiang Cheng fired, but he was also saddled with a debt he could never repay.

Jiang Cheng's family was already poor, and although their situation had improved somewhat when he found work, this disaster struck like a hammer blow. His parents, unable to bear the emotional toll, soon passed away in grief.

The death of his parents pushed Jiang Cheng, already on the edge, into deeper despair. After arranging their funerals, he contemplated ending his own life. However, during a visit to a bar, he overheard some former colleagues drunkenly revealing the truth about how he had been framed.

Furious, Jiang Cheng wanted to take revenge but, as a university graduate, he resisted the urge to resort to violence. Instead, he chose to seek justice through legal means and reported the incident to the police.

He also approached his former company to explain the truth, but too much time had passed, and most of the crucial evidence had been deliberately destroyed. There was no way to prove his innocence.

An honest man rarely gets angry, but when he does, it can be terrifying. When Jiang Cheng found that the law could not save him, and he faced the taunting faces of those who had wronged him, he was consumed with rage.

In the end, Jiang Cheng chose a path of no return. If the law couldn't give him justice, he would take matters into his own hands.

Jiang Cheng was a highly intelligent person, having risen from poverty to attend one of the top universities in the country. Though not a genius, his IQ was well above average.

Angering a high-IQ individual and driving them to thoughts of murder is a disaster for anyone involved.

During his university years, Jiang Cheng had majored in computer science, but he had also been very interested in chemistry.

He had even taken additional chemistry courses and earned a certification, so it was no challenge for him to create explosive devices like detonators.

Using his hacking skills, Jiang Cheng tracked the daily routines of his former colleagues. Soon, packages containing explosives were delivered to their homes, and Jiang Cheng's revenge was complete. However, he had become a notorious fugitive.

In the face of the country's law enforcement machinery, Jiang Cheng could not escape for long. He was quickly identified as a suspect and placed on the national wanted list.

After nearly two years on the run, Jiang Cheng grew tired of living as a fugitive. He returned to his hometown and ended his life.

When the police found him, he had already passed away in front of his parents' graves, leaving behind a note requesting to be buried with them.

Jiang Cheng's life was, without a doubt, a tragedy. His wish had been simple: to live well and give his parents a happy life.

But in the end, he realized that even a simple wish like that, without enough power to protect it, could be easily shattered like a bubble. Sometimes, being too honest is a mistake.

Unfortunately, by the time Jiang Cheng understood this, it was too late.

Perhaps feeling pity for Jiang Cheng's tragic life, the heavens gave him a second chance, and Jiang Cheng was reincarnated into the Pokémon world.

In this life, Jiang Cheng had a poor yet warm family. Having lost his parents in his past life, he cherished this gift dearly and treated the two elderly guardians with the utmost respect. In the village, he was known as a filial son.

In reality, Sato Kaede was an abandoned infant adopted by the elderly couple who had found him by the roadside. They also had a biological son.

Sadly, in contrast to Jiang Cheng's filial nature, their biological son was an ungrateful child who indulged in laziness, drinking, and gambling.

Before Jiang Cheng arrived, their biological son had fled the village to escape a debt, and his whereabouts were unknown. The elderly couple, struggling with poverty, frequently faced debt collectors at their door.

At the age of 15, the elderly couple passed away peacefully under Jiang Cheng's care. Soon after, the ungrateful son returned, not to pay respects but to claim his inheritance.

Although the elderly couple had left a will granting their house and land to Jiang Cheng, he did not want to cause further distress to the couple who had treated him so kindly. He relinquished all rights to the estate but made the son swear not to disturb the couple's graves. After securing the promise with witnesses from the village, Jiang Cheng left with nothing.

Jiang Cheng was neither completely unfamiliar with the Pokémon world nor entirely knowledgeable about it.

In fact, Jiang Cheng was also a Pokémon enthusiast when he was young. However, due to his family's financial situation, he could only borrow the game from other kids.

After entering university, he took advantage of the free time and resources to fulfill his childhood dream of playing both the game and watching the animation. With his exceptional memory, he became familiar with most of the Pokémon information, so the Pokémon world was not entirely unfamiliar to him.

However, the game is just a game, and the animation is just an animation. When compared to the real Pokémon world, many differences immediately become apparent.

For example, in the animation, Ash would get hit by Pikachu's Thunderbolt and only end up charred. But in this world, while humans are physically much stronger than those on Earth, without some special means of protection, getting hit by a Thunderbolt could be life-threatening. Only Pokémon, with their incredible endurance, could survive such an attack. Yes, in this Pokémon world, the status of humans is quite awkward. Even a tiny Rattata has the strength to easily chew through solid rock, and it could effortlessly kill a regular human.

"Only Pokémon can deal with Pokémon." This was the phrase Jiang Cheng had heard the most since arriving in this world, and he fully believed it.

Due to the invention of PokeBalls and similar items, humans finally gained the power to contend with Pokémon. A profession known as Pokémon Trainer emerged, which became the key force in humanity's gradual dominance of this world.

A Pokémon Trainer is someone who tames and trains Pokémon—essentially, a kind of beast tamer. For an ordinary person to stand a chance against wild Pokémon, the best way is to become a Trainer.

When Jiang Cheng first realized he had crossed into the Pokémon world, he was thrilled. He eagerly anticipated becoming a Trainer and embarking on a journey like Ash's, as seen in the anime.

Unfortunately, being a Trainer, a profession that involves frequent interactions with Pokémon, is inherently dangerous. Every year, tens of thousands aspire to become Trainers, but only a handful truly succeed.

It makes sense when you think about it. Even with Pokémon, a Trainer is still human. If they don't know how to properly use their captured Pokémon to protect themselves, they could easily end up buried in the ground. Power is alluring, but the danger is equally high, and not everyone can handle it.

To become a real Trainer, the first step is to be mentally prepared for death at any moment. Anyone who becomes a Trainer just for fun is bound to run into trouble.

Moreover, not everyone can become a Trainer. It's a high-risk profession and requires a significant investment.

After making the mental preparations, the second step to becoming a Trainer is figuring out how to get your first Pokémon.

Everyone knows that Pokémon are not to be messed with. If you provoke them, they can easily pin you to the ground or even kill you. Many who tried catching Pokémon barehanded are now six feet under.

No matter the world, money is always important to human society. And yes, the fastest and safest way to get a Pokémon is to buy one.

Since many people want to be Trainers, a profession called "Pokémon Hunter" also emerged. As long as you have enough money, these profit-driven hunters will even help you capture Legendary Pokémon if needed.

Of course, the quality of purchased Pokémon varies depending on how much you're willing to spend. Even a simple Rattata costs 10,000 Alliance Coins, which is a hefty price for those from poor families.

In reality, a Trainer's first Pokémon is extremely important. After all, if one person's first Pokémon is a wild Rattata, while another's is a carefully bred Charmander, which one do you think will have greater potential in the future? The answer is obvious.

Once you've made the necessary preparations, you can finally start your Trainer journey. Then, you'll quickly realize that this world is far from fair.

After acquiring their first Pokémon, Trainers must raise and train it. How to do that depends on each Trainer's skills. Most ordinary Trainers have to figure it out on their own, but doing so can easily lead to raising a useless Pokémon.

One hundred Trainers might have one hundred different training methods for the same Pokémon. Only the method that fits the Pokémon's nature will help it reach its full potential.

Additionally, training Pokémon requires resources. Even just healing a Pokémon after a battle can be costly. And when you factor in food, equipment, and other essential items for Pokémon training, the expenses quickly add up.

Thus, besides having effective training methods, an up-and-coming Trainer needs financial support. Without sufficient funds, you'll only be able to improve your Pokémon's strength at a very slow pace. And when you see other, newer Trainers surpass you in no time, it's hard not to feel frustrated.

In short, being a Trainer is not only a high-risk job, but it's also a high-investment career. Most ordinary families simply cannot afford it. For those from humble backgrounds, becoming a top-tier Trainer through normal means is as difficult as walking through a mountain pass on foot.

As someone who's lived two lifetimes, Jiang Cheng quickly understood the nature of the Trainer profession. Coming from a poor family, becoming a Trainer seemed far out of reach.

He couldn't afford to play that game. Plus, he had to take care of the two elderly people who had raised him. So, even when he turned ten years old, he hadn't entertained any thoughts of becoming a Trainer.

It wasn't until after the two elderly passed away, and he moved to live alone in Pewter City, that the idea of becoming a Trainer resurfaced.

The reason was simple. After moving to Pewter City, due to his somewhat isolated upbringing, Jiang Cheng realized he was effectively a ghost on paper. As a result, many companies wouldn't hire him. The ones that did were exploitative.

To make matters worse, the local thugs loved to pick on him, often robbing him of his hard-earned money because of his undocumented status.

For most of the past year, Jiang Cheng's life had been incredibly hard.

He had just been fired from his job, and the little money he earned had been stolen. Now, he was on the brink of starvation.

Jiang Cheng, or Sato Kaede as he was now known, had finally had enough of this miserable life. In this life, he had fulfilled his filial duties to the elderly couple who had raised him and had no regrets. It was now time to live for himself.

He wanted to take control of his own destiny in this world and not live another mediocre and tragic life like his previous one.

Sato took a final drag on his cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, then stood up from the bench and headed toward the shabby little shop.

"In this life, I will take control of my destiny and live a truly extraordinary life," he thought, his expression calm but his eyes filled with unprecedented determination.

At the same time, a barely noticeable blue light flashed briefly in his eyes.