Chapter 2: Bug Catcher

On the screen, a small pixelated figure wearing a straw hat stood in the grass, glancing around.

[You were born in Viridian City, with an average family background.]

Suddenly, a Caterpie popped out of the grass. The straw-hatted figure threw a red Poké Ball, which absorbed the Caterpie inside.

[At the age of ten, you encountered your first partner, Caterpie, in Viridian Forest. Together, you embarked on your journey.]

After this line appeared, a small pixel animation of Caterpie appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Lying on his back, Kashiwagi shifted his position and thought to himself: So my first simulation is starting as a Bug Catcher, huh?

The scene shifted.

The Bug Catcher appeared in front of a large house and entered, only to be greeted by a slicked-back older man.

What followed was an "intense" battle.

The specifics? Caterpie was sent out, only to be instantly smashed into the wall by the Gym Leader's Rhyhorn.

There was no background music, but the explosion effect as Caterpie hit the wall was enough to convey the severity of the hit.

[You lost to the Viridian Gym Leader and failed to obtain your first badge.]

Kashiwagi: "?"

Wait a minute!

Challenging a Gym Leader without leveling up? Using a Caterpie?

The screen went dark, then lit up again. The Bug Catcher re-entered the Viridian Gym under Kashiwagi's bewildered gaze.

The same events repeated. The exact same text reappeared.

The third, fourth, and fifth attempts…

Wait, wait, wait—!!

A Caterpie challenging a Gym without leveling up, with no lessons learned?

This wasn't a "hot-blooded rookie"; this was a "brainless fool"!

Kashiwagi stared at the repetitive, absurd screen in silence.

After the tenth failed attempt, something finally changed.

[You lost to the Viridian Gym Leader, but your resilience earned his respect, and you received the Green Badge.]

A green badge with a wheat pattern appeared below the Caterpie animation.

Kashiwagi was speechless. The Gym Leader must've given the badge out of sheer annoyance.

At the same time the Bug Catcher received the badge, Caterpie evolved into Metapod.

[Your Caterpie evolved into Metapod.]

Finally, it evolved…

Even though the simulation had just started, Kashiwagi inexplicably felt exhausted.

The screen showed the Bug Catcher leaving Viridian City and entering a dense forest. Facing a golden Caterpie that emerged from the grass, he sent out Metapod.

As Kashiwagi wondered how this would lead to a capture, the wild Caterpie suddenly rammed Metapod and knocked itself unconscious.

[You captured your second Pokémon, Weedle, in Viridian Forest. Your team is growing.]

An idiot trainer and an idiot Pokémon—a match made in heaven. Not bad.

Kashiwagi suddenly wished for a fast-forward button.

The scene shifted.

The Bug Catcher arrived at the base of a massive rocky mountain, in a city made of stone.

[You arrived in Pewter City. The towering rocky mountain filled you with excitement, and you decided to challenge the Gym.]

As expected.

Leveling up?

What's that?

So far, Kashiwagi hadn't seen this guy train his Pokémon against wild ones even once. He was like a Gym-challenging machine, oblivious to the idea of strengthening his team through grinding.

Sure, Ash earned several badges through charity, but at least he caught multiple Pokémon!

Metapod and Weedle? They couldn't win—clearly!

As with the Viridian Gym, the Bug Catcher lost ten times in Pewter City before earning the Gym Leader's admiration and the Grey Badge.

[You received the Grey Badge.]

An octagonal grey gem appeared below Weedle. At the same time, Metapod and Weedle were enveloped in white light.

A Butterfree and a golden cocoon emerged.

[Your Metapod evolved into Butterfree. Your Weedle evolved into Kakuna. Filled with excitement, you set out for the next city.]

At least one Pokémon reached its final evolution.

Kashiwagi let out a sigh of relief. What made him even happier was that the Bug Catcher seemed to be improving.

[At the foot of Mt. Moon, you captured your third Pokémon: Venonat. Your team is growing.]

[Inside Mt. Moon, you captured your fourth Pokémon: Paras. Your team is growing.]

[You lost to a random trainer.]

[You defeated a random trainer.]

[Your Kakuna evolved into Beedrill.]

A series of promising developments unfolded as the Bug Catcher entered Mt. Moon. He seemed to be transforming into a proper trainer.

Until—

[You arrived in Cerulean City, surrounded by water and rich in aquatic resources.]

As usual, the Bug Catcher went to the Cerulean Gym, only to be told the Gym Leader was out performing a mermaid show.

A performance?

This is from the anime?!

Kashiwagi was shocked. He had assumed the simulation was based on the games, since only game cities had appeared so far. The anime had many original locations.

A sense of foreboding crept in—and it quickly proved correct.

When the Bug Catcher went to the Gym Leader's performance, an encounter occurred.

[You accidentally bumped into a girl. Apologizing to each other brightened your moods, and you exchanged contact information.]

[You contacted the girl, hit it off, and decided to travel together.]

[You challenged the Cerulean Gym. Although you lost, the girl's presence made you braver for the next attempt.]

[You started dating.]

Wait, what?!

What's with this sudden wave of romance? Did this Trainer Simulator turn into a Dating Simulator?!

The promise of "possible romance" was clearly misleading—it was guaranteed!

Kashiwagi sat up abruptly.

The once hot-blooded, foolish Bug Catcher became a lovestruck teenager. Battles grew rougher; instead of improving through repeated attempts, his Pokémon were consistently one-shotted.

By the tenth loss, even the Gym Leader's admiration couldn't hide the fact that he was now a total noob.

His Pokémon stopped evolving altogether.

Kashiwagi watched as the two pixelated figures held hands, skipped wild battles, and entered Saffron City with only four Pokémon, repeating the same embarrassing cycle.

At Saffron Gym, Sabrina—the stern Psychic-type leader—didn't budge, even after ten losses. She refused to give the Gold Badge.

Just as Kashiwagi wondered how the Bug Catcher would handle the situation, the simulation abruptly ended.

The screen dimmed.

[The Indigo League has officially begun. With only three badges, you missed the tournament.]

[Simulation complete.]

The screen froze on the Bug Catcher's fifteenth failed attempt.

"…This simulation tells the story of a single league run."

Kashiwagi's expression resembled someone who had just finished a terrible movie. Who would've thought a passionate Bug Catcher would devolve into a lovestruck fool?

Wasting so much time on Gym challenges was bad enough, but adding a girlfriend only made it worse. If she had strengthened his resolve, fine—but weakening him?

What kind of simulator is this?!

As he fumed, a few lines of text appeared before him.

[Choose Reward 1: Raise any Pokémon's level by 1 (Lv. 30 or below).]

[Choose Reward 2: Receive a clue to obtain a Pokémon.]

[Choose Reward 3: Move—String Shot (Choose a Pokémon to learn it).]

[Choose Reward 4: Retain the "Romantic Charmer" trait for the next simulation.]

As expected, there were rewards.

Kashiwagi discovered he could select two options.

Four choices, pick two—not bad.

However, not choosing would prevent him from starting the second simulation. Whether the level-up and move rewards could carry over was unclear.

Might as well try.

Kashiwagi selected Options 2 and 3, ignoring the fourth entirely.

Luckily, the move reward could carry over.

The simulator's countdown also continued, meaning unused simulations could stack.

Still, his attention was drawn to the clue:

[Carry an iron ingot weighing at least 1kg.]

What kind of clue is that? More like a vague hint.

Kashiwagi glanced at the time and the darkened sky outside. Pyrite Town was already under the cover of night, but the sounds of mining and smelting continued unabated.

Still early.

After washing his face, Kashiwagi left to figure out how to get his hands on an iron ingot.

Once that was sorted, he would start his second simulation.

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