Dragon Kingdom.
Jianghai City.
Pokémon League.
"Sorry, these are the only three Pokémon that haven't been claimed. Which one would you like to choose?"
Lin Rui stared at the three remaining Pokémon in front of him, feeling utterly miserable.
Today was supposed to be the most important day of his life, the day he received his initial Pokémon. And yet, he had actually overslept.
He had been waiting for this moment for three whole years, ever since he had transmigrated into this world.
According to the laws of Dragon Kingdom, any citizen who reached the age of eighteen could go to their local Pokémon League on their birthday to receive a starter Pokémon for free.
The distribution followed a simple rule: first come, first served.
Because Lin Rui arrived late, the only Pokémon left were Caterpie, Rattata, and Magikarp.
Forget about quasi-legendary Pokémon, even the royal starters were already gone.
Of course, quasi-legendaries would never appear in a free starter distribution like this, but the so-called "Big Three" were usually still available.
Unfortunately, even those had long since been chosen.
Looking at the Caterpie, Rattata, and Magikarp before him, Lin Rui wouldn't have spared them a glance under normal circumstances.
He wouldn't want such weak Pokémon even if they were given to him for free.
But if he missed this opportunity, he would have to buy a starter Pokémon from a breeding house.
And in the breeding houses, even the most common Caterpie cost hundreds of thousands. Better Pokémon easily reached prices in the millions.
That was far beyond what an ordinary family could afford.
Just like in his previous life, his parents in this world were ordinary people.
Nothing had changed just because he had transmigrated.
Thinking of his parents in his previous world, who had sold their house to support his education, Lin Rui clenched his fists.
He had told himself more than once that in this life, he must be filial to his parents.
He would never even consider spending money to buy a starter Pokémon.
He would rather remain an ordinary person for his entire life than make his parents spend even a single coin on him.
Still, he couldn't accept it so easily.
He had finally come to a world where humans and Pokémon coexisted. He possessed knowledge others didn't have, yet he might still end up as nothing more than an ordinary person.
"It looks like I really have to pick the best of the worst…"
First, Rattata was eliminated.
Whether in terms of strength or growth potential, Rattata was the weakest of the three. It also consumed a lot of food.
After weighing all factors, choosing Rattata was clearly the least cost-effective option.
That left Caterpie and Magikarp.
Caterpie's advantages and disadvantages were both obvious.
Its advantage lay in its three-stage evolution, low maintenance cost, and extremely fast growth.
Caterpie evolved into Metapod at level 7, then into Butterfree at level 10, quickly forming respectable combat power.
The downside, however, was its low upper limit. Butterfree simply couldn't compete at higher levels.
Of course, if it could Gigantamax, Butterfree's strength would be impressive, but that was another matter entirely.
Magikarp also had clear pros and cons.
Its greatest advantage was that once it evolved into Gyarados, its combat power skyrocketed. It could even Mega Evolve.
The disadvantage was its painfully long growth period. It didn't evolve into Gyarados until level 20.
Before that, Magikarp had almost no combat ability. It only learned its first offensive move, Tackle, at level 15.
Worse still, it couldn't learn any other moves through Technical Machines.
To be honest, between the two, Lin Rui actually preferred Magikarp.
After all, once it evolved into Gyarados, its strength far surpassed Butterfree's.
But choosing Magikarp meant accepting humiliation and bullying during the early stages.
After hesitating for less than three seconds, Lin Rui made his decision.
"I choose Magikarp."
The main reason was simple: this world had no Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax, or Terastallization.
If they were comparing pure combat power alone, Gyarados completely outclassed Butterfree.
"Alright. Please show me your ID. We need to register you."
Less than a minute later, the lady at the counter handed Lin Rui a Poké Ball containing Magikarp, along with a certificate.
"This is your junior trainer qualification certificate. With it, you are now an official Pokémon Trainer."
"In the future, you can upgrade your certificate level by taking assessments. I wish you a bright future."
"Thank you."
Lin Rui accepted the Poké Ball and certificate with gratitude.
At that moment, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining their first Pokémon. The Negative Emotion Collection System has been activated!]
Lin Rui was startled for a moment, but his shock quickly turned into excitement.
Three years.
Three whole years!
System, I've been waiting for you for so long!
Overwhelmed with joy, Lin Rui couldn't help but lift Magikarp's Poké Ball and kiss it repeatedly.
"Magikarp, I love you so much!"
The scene completely stunned the woman behind the glass counter.
"What a nice-looking guy… why did he suddenly go crazy? He only chose Magikarp because he had no other option. Is this really necessary?"
[Ding! Negative emotions from Jiang Yaoyao: +99…]
Huh?
What kind of negative emotion was that?
And who was Jiang Yaoyao?
Lin Rui had been celebrating just a moment ago, but his attention was immediately drawn to the translucent electronic panel that popped up before his eyes.
He glanced around. There was no one nearby.
Only the counter attendant stood behind the glass.
Could her name be Jiang Yaoyao?
To confirm his guess, Lin Rui kissed Magikarp's Poké Ball again.
At the same time, he carefully watched her reaction out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, her brows furrowed slightly.
The next second, another message appeared.
[Ding! Negative emotions from Jiang Yaoyao: +101…]
It was the same message as before, except the value had increased by two points.
Although he had identified who Jiang Yaoyao was, Lin Rui still had no idea what the negative emotion value was used for.
Forget it. If I can't figure it out now, I'll study it after I get home.
With that, Lin Rui left the Pokémon League, no longer paying attention to the people behind him.
At the same time, behind the glass window, Jiang Yaoyao watched Lin Rui's retreating figure and muttered, "He really is an idiot."
Just as Lin Rui stepped outside the Pokémon League, another electronic panel appeared before his eyes.
[Ding! Negative emotions from Jiang Yaoyao: +100…]