The Crown Tundra

Shin woke up, somewhat surprisingly, in a warm bed. Looking around, he seemed to be in what resembled a cabin, with not too much furnishing. However, the overall atmosphere was quite cozy and felt like home.

Soon, he heard the door to his room open. A middle-aged motherly woman walked in. She was rather plump, and had rather unassuming features besides her smile lines, giving her a cheerful aura.

"Ah! You're awake! How are you feeling?" the woman asked.

Shin sat up, responding, "I'm feeling fine. But... where are we?"

"You're in the Crown Tundra, an island part of Galar. Speaking of which, how did you get here? And where are your parents?"

Prompted by her comment about his parents, Shin looked down, shocked to find that his body seemed to be that of a boy around ten years old. His shock quickly wore off, however, since he knew that he was given a new body by whoever he met during the afterlife. However, his thoughts shifted to more major issues.

'The Crown Tundra? Definitely not the best place to be. This place has a pretty shitty climate, multiple legendaries, and strong wild Pokemon. I should get out of here as fast as possible. Then I can come back later,' he thought to himself.

After a while, he realized that he was silent for an unnatural amount of time. Quickly formulating a backstory for himself, he responded to the woman.

"I... don't remember. I remember that my name is Shin, and I know what Galar is. But, the only specific memory I have is meeting a hostile psychic Pokemon. After that, I woke up here."

The woman's features immediately contorted in sadness and pity. "Oh, you poor boy. Don't worry, I'll help you find your parents. But, there's a small problem. The railroad to mainland Galar is currently closed due to Pokemon obstructions. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a year if we want to contact the authorities. After all, the Crown Tundra is very isolated. For now, you can stay with me."

Upon hearing her words, Shin's face fell in depression and resignation. He was partly acting, and partly genuine. 'Fuck! I can't get out of this godforsaken place for a whole year? Whatever. It'll give me time to prepare for my journey anyways. And I still need to find a way to solve the problem of having no identification or records. If worst comes to worst, I can just pull the good ol raised by pokemon story,' he thought.

Outwardly, however, he forced an expression of fake happiness and said, "Ah... I see. Don't worry about it, ma'am! Thank you for letting me stay with you!" His expression greatly resembled that of a clearly disappointed child trying to put a cheerful front. Of course, that was what he was going for, as it would easily evoke the woman's emotions.

The woman's face practically melted in adoration, causing her to ruffle Shin's hair and smile. "Don't worry child, I'll take good care of you. If you ever have anything you need, ask me. Also, instead of ma'am, you can call me Miss Jones."

Shin smiled brightly, replying, "Alright! Thank you Miss Jones!"

As Miss Jones left, Shin was began to mull over his thoughts once more. "Miss Jones, huh. She seems like quite the nice woman. But her name brings up another issue. Shin is such an obviously foreign name. I'll likely stick out heavily due to it. It's fine, though, since it'll at most be a minor inconvenice.'

'The biggest problem right now, is what I should do. I obviously need to prepare for my future journey, but how? I can't really just walk out of the town and find a Pokemon. Not only would I probably not be allowed out alone, but most Pokemon are incredibly strong out there, and even if I did find one that's somewhat weak, there's no guarantee they would join me. Right now, all I can really do is train my aura and body, and use my simulation ability to analyze Pokemon and then simulate battles against them in my head.'

Sighing, Shin got up, deciding to familiarize himself with his new body. First order of business: find out what he looks like. His only wish was that he wasn't ugly. After all, most normal people would rather be ugly than handsome. He quickly found that the room he was staying in had a connected bathroom.

Looking in the mirror, Shin felt a wave of relief to see that he was rather handsome. Well, a ten year old boy can't really be called 'handsome', but Shin could see potential for the future. He had rather sharp features for a child, something that, when grown, would be seen as conventionally handsome.

His piercing blue eyes added a somewhat regal, yet exotic look to his overall features. However, the most stand-out part of Shin was definitely his hair. He had long, smooth, light blue hair that cascaded down his back. Added to his overall look, it allowed Shin to look rather noble, contrasting with his natural resting grin, which gave a faint wild feeling.

It was a look Shin had never seen in his old world, yet it had seemed somewhat familiar. After a while of thinking, Shin finally realized. 'Hold on, this appearance. Doesn't this kind of seem like the appearance of Khun Eduan? If he were to be turned realistic, this would definitely be the look of a young Khun Eduan. I'm not complaining, but what a random choice of appearance. I wonder what prompted that man to give me this appearance?'

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While he pondered this, trying to find a deeper meaning for his appearance, he had no idea that it was basically chosen on a whim, with no super deep meaning. The thought process of the man went something along the lines of, 'Hm... so his body landed in the Crown Tundra, huh? Maybe I should change the appearance of his body into something that fits better with the theme. It'd be much more fun that way. But silver or white would be too cliche for a hair color associated with snow.

How about I go with light blue? But I've never really seen someone with light-blue hair, so I should probably use a template. Oh, I know! Why not Khun Eduan? He was a pretty entertaining guy back in Tower of God. Maybe if I make that kid's appearance that of Khun Eduan, he'll be able to provide me as much entertainment as that guy.'

Reshaping Shin's body, the man smiled in satisfaction. 'Ah... perfect! I'm gonna have a lot of fun watching you. After all, escorting souls is such a tiring job. I deserve to have a break too, you know? If I had a boss, I'd definitely be on strike right now. Alas, it is only my sense of responsibility that keeps me doing this. Anyways, time to take a break. I'm just taking a break for a small time. What could go wrong?'

(Not) unexpectedly, a lot could go wrong. After all, when the afterlife is left completely unmanaged for even a short while, chaos is bound to occur. But, oh well. That's a story for... never, actually.