**Prologue "Death"**

"Ugh... Ow!"

Arth clutched his head as a sudden pain jolted him awake.

"Where am I?" he muttered, looking around to find himself in a completely white room.

"Am I kidnapped?" This was his first thought. Arth slowly got up and began searching for an exit. After seemingly walking for fifteen minutes, he couldn't determine the dimensions of the room, let alone find a way out. The room was white as far as the eye could see.

"Disgusting!" he groaned in pain as his head throbbed, and some memories started coming back.

"My name is Arth Surumi, a 25-year-old medical student. This year, I graduated with my master's degree and went out with my friends to celebrate late into the night. After celebrating until midnight, I returned to my dorm to sleep."

The dorm room was far from ideal. In fact, it was quite old and dilapidated. But who was he to complain when most students lived in similar conditions? After entering the room, he turned on that creepy LED bulb that kept flickering due to a poor power supply.

"Damn it! That LED bulb always gave me the creeps whenever I turned it on late at night. I had complained many times to the dorm caretaker to fix the wiring, but it always fell on deaf ears. I often wondered if someday that bulb would short circuit and burn me alive in my sleep."

Shaking his head, Arth recalled the events again. After turning on the bulb, he went to the bathroom, washed off his exhaustion, and then went to bed.

"I remember turning on the fan while lying in bed. Wait a minute! It was that damned fan that fell on my head and crushed my skull, not that creepy bulb. I knew someday that dorm room would be the death of me. But I never expected it to be the fan."

Arth took a deep breath and cursed the dorm authorities.

"Screw them all! Damn it! In all my university years, they managed to kill me on my last day."

"Argh! I'm so angry."

Arth created a commotion as he cursed the dorm authorities to vent his frustration.

"Whatever! It's not like I can come back to life."

He shook his head in dismay.

Meanwhile,

A transparent figure observed Arth's antics and was shocked by his anger. She chuckled softly and walked towards him.

The sudden laughter startled Arth, and he turned around to locate the source. He was shocked to see an apparition approaching him.

"Is that another ghost?" Arth was scared to see the apparition.

"Who are you?"

The apparition smiled at him and released a calming aura to ease his guard.

"Don't worry, boy! I'm neither a ghost nor a spirit. I am what humans call a GOD."

God proclaimed her identity.

"Really?!" Arth doubted the claim but decided to trust her.

"Am I dead?"

God was surprised to hear this question from Arth.

"Yes, boy! You are dead."

"So, I really died?" Arth's expression turned solemn as he whimpered in a corner.

God looked at Arth's solemn expression and sighed to herself. 'The Reaper collected the wrong soul. He's been making a lot of mistakes lately. Looks like I need to replace him.'

"Boy! Don't lose hope."

God consoled Arth's poor soul.

"You still have a chance."

"What? Really? Can I come back to life?" Arth looked at God in ecstasy.

"No! That's not possible. After your death, your family held a funeral for you and cremated your body. So, you don't have a body to return to."

God shook her head.

"Is that so?" The light in Arth's eyes dimmed.

"Boy! Don't lose hope yet. Although you can't return to your previous life, there's still the next one."

"So, I can reincarnate?" Joy appeared in Arth's eyes. "Then, what kind of world will I reincarnate into?" He looked at GOD curiously.

"Hmm..."

God pondered for a moment and then turned to Arth. "Initially, you were going to reincarnate on Earth and live a successful next life with the amount of karma you've accumulated in this life. But I'll give you the option to choose a world."

"Hmm..."

Arth reflected for a while, recalling various animes, novels, comics, and stories. "Then I'll choose the Pokémon world." He conveyed his thoughts without hesitation.

"The Pokémon world?!" God raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, are you sure?"

"Yes, I am." Arth nodded.

"Hmm... since you chose such a dangerous world, as the Pokémon world isn't like the anime, I'll grant you some benefits."

"Benefits?!" Arth's eyes sparkled. "Can I choose my blessings?" he asked excitedly.

"NO!!" God shook her head. "I'll give you two blessings. Your first blessing will be having superior intelligence. You'll have it from birth in that world. Although you'll have intelligence, you still have to train and master your skills on your own."

"That's quite good." Arth nodded. 'I won't shy away from hard work and training. I didn't spend countless hours in the dissection room performing surgeries on cadavers for nothing. It takes great will and patience to do that.'

Noticing Arth's determined expression, GOD nodded. "Your second blessing is the ability to cook and enhanced regeneration. This will increase your chances of survival."

Upon hearing the word survival, Arth felt a chill as he realized he had to survive in a dangerous world. Fortunately, GOD gave him a chance.

Arth was told, "I lived this life full of regrets, but I won't make the same mistake again. Even if I die early, at least I'll die happy." Arth had a determined expression.

"That's the spirit." God nodded in satisfaction. "Very well! Since you wish to reincarnate into the Pokémon world, I'll let you go. Also, the world might be a bit different from what you know."

Arth, grateful, bowed his head to GOD. "Farewell then! And remember to live your new life to the fullest and without regrets. I'll be watching over you. Goodbye!"

A white light enveloped Arth's body, and he lost consciousness.

God watched Arth's retreating figure and recalled the Reaper's mistake. It was Arth's roommate's turn to die, but the Reaper accidentally collected Arth instead.

While Arth mourned his death, God reviewed his profile. 'This child had a tragic past. His parents died when he was young. His uncle adopted and raised him, not out of kindness but greed. Greed to inherit Arth's fortune left by his father.

As he grew up, his uncle's attitude turned cold, and he was forced to hand over most of his fortune as compensation for raising him. To escape this mess, he enrolled in medical school to pursue a career in medicine. His parents wanted him to be a doctor, and Arth dedicated all his efforts to this dream. He was a compassionate person who secretly helped many poor people through illegal surgeries. Though practicing without a license was a severe crime, the boy had enough faith in himself.

After all, those poor people had no options. They had no money to pay for medical expenses and would end up dying one way or another. So, they chose to trust Arth. This act of kindness helped him accumulate karma.

"Your fate is yours, even if destiny has other plans for you." God shook her head and summoned the Reaper.