If I can't spend money on Pokemon, I’ll just stick to playing games

Rain poured heavily outside the window. In the cramped 30-square-meter apartment, John lay on the sofa, feeling a bit tired, like a salted fish turned on its side. He had just turned down his buddy's invitation to go fishing in three days. Right now, all he wanted to do was relax. Recently, he had transformed from a nearly forty-year-old man into a handsome eighteen-year-old boy, finding himself in a world where his beloved game and anime, "Pokemon," had merged with reality. But… the poor simply couldn't afford to be Trainers!

John Pokemon wasn't an orphan, but with his parents farming in the countryside, sending him to the provincial capital, Aethermere City, for school was already a stretch. Raising a Pokemon was out of the question. The Pokemon at the breeding center cost around 5,000 to 6,000 Pokédollars at a minimum, while royal Pokemon started at 100,000 Pokedollars. There was no chance of buying Pseudo-legendaries.

His friend had suggested going fishing to help catch a Pokemon, planning to capture a Poliwag for John. Although Poliwag was common, it had good potential and could evolve twice. Ultimately, the fast-swimming frog evolution was a powerful Pokemon, capable of becoming a main force, even at the Elite level. But John had still refused. He had managed to save a little money after months of gritting his teeth, but the costs of raising Pokemon were substantial.

"Forget it. I'll go to an ordinary university and consider becoming a Pokemon Breeder after I graduate and start earning money." That was the path he had taken in his previous life, and he figured he wouldn't even begin to think about becoming a Trainer until he was thirty-five and had built up some savings.

It wasn't that John hadn't considered using the knowledge from his past life to make money, but with Pokemon existing in this world, the processes and outcomes were significantly different, making his memories unreliable.

"You're not as ambitious as you should be! Who says a middle-aged Trainer can't become a champion!" John encouraged himself, attempting to shake off the gloomy mood. He lowered his gaze to the Gameboy console in front of him. Forget it; since I can't become a Trainer in reality, I might as well enjoy the game for now.

He opened the Gameboy, and there was only one game installed: "Pokemon Collection."

"Huh? What kind of game is this?" John was momentarily taken aback. He loved playing Pokemon games and had downloaded many, but when did he ever download a collection game? Had he forgotten about it after downloading? No, there were no games from his previous life in this world; this must be a Pokemon game unique to this reality.

Curiosity piqued, John sat up straight on the sofa and clicked to enter the game. The screen went dark, and a dialog box appeared.

[Please select the version to enter] [Optional Versions: Red/Blue/Green/Gold/Silver/Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald….]

"This… isn't this from my previous life?" John casually selected Emerald. The earlier versions were too outdated; he remembered playing them in black and white, while Emerald was the version he had enjoyed the most.

A familiar scene unfolded before him: the protagonist was being transported to Littleroot Town in a van filled with furniture.

"Why isn't there a selection or naming interface?" John recalled having to customize his character before the game started. The screen abruptly froze, the van came to a stop, and the protagonist stepped out, greeted by his mother waiting below.

After welcoming the protagonist, she led him into the house, where several Vigoroths were busy moving furniture. She then asked him to visit his father's friend, Professor Birch.

"Can't you set an alarm? There are quite a few differences between the Emerald game in this world and the one from my previous life." John guided his character to Professor Birch's house next door. Professor Birch was absent, and Mrs. Birch indicated that the protagonist could go upstairs to rest while waiting. John took control of the protagonist to leave directly, only to bump into a girl.

The girl was May, Professor Birch's daughter, who would also become his "rival" along the journey. After exchanging greetings, the protagonist exited the Birch household. As he passed the town's gate, a little girl told him that Growl was coming from outside, indicating someone was in trouble and asking him to investigate.

He controlled the protagonist to leave Littleroot Town and venture onto Route 101. As soon as he stepped out, he saw a Zigzagoon chasing a chubby man in a white researcher's outfit, running through the grass.

[Professor: Hey, you handsome guy over there, help me!] The protagonist spread his hands, signaling that he didn't have a Pokemon.

[Professor: I have spare Pokemon in my bag, use them to fight!]

The protagonist stepped forward and selected a Pokemon. The classic trio appeared. The three Pokeballs corresponded to Hoenn's three starter Pokemon: Mudkip, Torchic, and Treecko. Considering the Gym types he would face early on in the Hoenn Region, the easiest choice was Mudkip, followed by Treecko, then Torchic.

"Let's choose Torchic this time." When John played before, he had cleared the game with Mudkip and Treecko, so why not go straight for it this time? He chose Torchic!

The familiar and urgent battle music played, the screen transitioned, and the battle commenced.

[LV5 Torchic vs LV3 Zigzagoon.]

"Wait, don't rush into battle; first, let's check Torchic's attributes."

[Torchic (Fire-Type)]

[Level: 5]

[Ability: Blaze (When HP is less than 1/3, the power of Fire Type moves increases by 1.5 times)]

[Individual values: HP (25), Attack (20), Special Attack (7), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (17)]

[Moves: Ember, Growl, Tackle]

[Held items: none]

"There's an individual value setting?" John raised an eyebrow. But this Torchic was lackluster. The individual value of a Pokemon represented its growth potential, with a range of 0 to 31. A full value of 31 was referred to as "IV." Currently, this Torchic had a 2IV rating, with decent defense and special defense. But why pick a defensive Pokemon? No, choosing Torchic itself was already a challenge, and with such individual values, even if he couldn't use it later, it would waste valuable time raising Pokemon early on.

With this in mind, John decisively turned off the handheld and turned it back on! He repeated the process! He returned to Professor Birch's house, met his rival, and then ventured onto Route 101 to rescue Professor Birch.

This time, the result was even worse: not a single IV, and the individual attack value was still at 1. Reopen! Let's try again! The third time yielded an IV in physical attributes. Reopen! Try again! Fourth time, fifth time, sixth time… By the time he finished his meal, John had lost count of how many times he had reset.

In truth, his expectations for the first Torchic were not high; he just wanted a 3IV—attack, special attack, and speed at 10 or above for the rest. If it didn't hit 31 points, then 29 or 30 would suffice, but… the problem persisted.

However, John remained undeterred. Where was this going? When he played a modified version of Pokemon on his phone, he once caught a low-health Entei with a regular Pokeball after throwing it for an entire day. Compared to hunting for Shiny Pokemon, it was a minor inconvenience. Often, people searched for a month without finding a single Shiny (excluding special versions and modifications; he had never encountered a Shiny until now, making him somewhat unlucky).

He had heard that when leading a Pokemon, there was also a chance to dodge, even higher than encountering a dodge in the grass. He was aiming to find a high IV Pokemon alongside a Shiny!

With that thought, John felt even more motivated. He ordered takeout, opened a streaming service, and watched anime while searching for IV and Shiny Pokemon. Until 11:03 PM.

Finally, John got the Torchic he desired.

[Torchic (Fire-Type)]

[Level: 5]

[Ability: Speed Boost (Pokemon with this Ability increases their speed by one level at the end of each turn)]

[Individual values: HP (28), Attack (31), Special Attack (31), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (31)]

[Moves: Ember, Growl, Tackle]

[Held Item: none]

5IV! With a HP of 28 points, it could almost be regarded as a 6IV Pokemon. Its Ability was the rare and coveted "Speed Boost!" Perfect! Aside from not being a Shiny Pokemon, this Torchic was top-tier.

"Wohoo! Let's go!" No need to reset this time. John immediately commanded Torchic to battle, taking out Zigzagoon with two Ember attacks.

[Defeated Zigzagoon LV3, gained 20 experience points.]

"Huh?" John noticed the change in Torchic's experience points. In the normal Emerald version, defeating this Zigzagoon would soon level up Torchic from LV5, but now it had only filled a tiny portion of the experience bar—one-twentieth of the entire gauge…

"Is the experience needed also increased?" John pondered. It didn't matter; leveling up was just a matter of defeating a few more Pokemon in the grass—it was simple.

After defeating Zigzagoon and saving Professor Birch, John followed the professor back to the lab, where Birch presented the Torchic to him and asked him to head to Route 103 to find his daughter. Glancing at the time, John saw it was past 11 PM—almost time for bed. He decided to save his progress and continue playing tomorrow. He stretched, feeling satisfied with his progress.

[Do you want to save and exit?] He remembered that in the previous version, it hadn't worked like this.

"Save."

[Saving…]

[Save complete, exiting game.]

The Gameboy's screen went black. Feeling accomplished, John leaned back against the sofa, a smile creeping across his face as he reflected on the day's events. His mind buzzed with thoughts of strategies, battles, and the vast world that awaited him within the game.

"Tomorrow will be a new day," he muttered to himself. "I'll make the most of it." As the rain continued to pour outside, John felt a sense of purpose ignite within him. He was no longer just a spectator in a game; he was about to step into a world filled with endless possibilities and challenges.