"I'm too much of a shut-in."
Because he spent all day obsessed with Dungeon Fighter Online, Kaito never went outside. He barely had any friends. Pushing thirty, and he didn't even have a girlfriend.
This couldn't go on.
He couldn't keep playing like this—he'd waste away entirely.
He needed to make a change.
And so... he decided to buy a Switch online.
He'd heard the Switch had great social features, that players made lots of friends. Who knew if that was true?
The console arrived a few days later. Having already watched countless beginner guides online, Kaito immediately linked his account and credit card, then hopped on the eShop to buy games.
The free games caught his eye first.
Like... Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
"Those swimsuits are really something..."
Unfortunately, the free version had limited features. He got bored after a while.
Kaito decided to spend money on a proper game.
What to buy?
He searched online and saw people say everyone bought a Switch for The Legend of Zelda, that the thing was basically a "Zelda launcher."
But Kaito wasn't interested. Word online said Zelda's controls were complicated. He didn't play games to challenge himself.
Better to find something simpler...
Pokémon!
That was perfect!
Childhood memories came flooding back.
In his day, it was Pocket Monsters, the anime he watched every week on TV Tokyo.
Social media star Blastoise, disobedient Charizard, absolute protagonist Pikachu, kick-master Victreebel... The memories kept coming, more vivid with each thought. Kaito decided to buy it immediately.
Not counting those fighting spin-offs, the only Switch options were Let's Go and Sword/Shield. He checked Japanese gaming forums for a general overview and ultimately bought Shield.
The reason was simple: he'd seen a comparison image.
Sword had a knight with a leek[1] and a dark-skinned girl[2]. Shield had a colorful Ponyta[3] and a cute masked loli (actually a boy).[4]
Kaito wasn't a hardcore player. He just wanted to play with the Pokémon he'd loved from the anime. Beyond that, he'd naturally pick whichever looked better.
He bought Pokémon Shield and was about to start playing when—
Suddenly,
The two Joy-Cons in his hands began to vibrate.
Before he could react, everything went black.
...
"What the hell? Did I reincarnate?"
Staring at the young face in the mirror, Kaito felt disoriented.
He seemed to have inexplicably returned to around age fifteen.
His back didn't hurt anymore. His shoulders weren't stiff. The dark circles from years of late nights had vanished.
Most importantly of all... his belly pooch was gone!
He was no longer a fat shut-in—well, at least the "fat" part was gone.
"What do you mean, I was pretty handsome when I was young~."
But this didn't seem to be a simple reincarnation, because the room he now stood in had never appeared in his memories.
Opening the door, the hallway was unfamiliar too.
No one else was home. He walked to the living room and saw a large family portrait.
The people in the photo hadn't changed—still Dad and Mom, plus himself at around eight years old.
But...
"Is this some kind of cosplay photo?"
Kaito saw that besides their family of three, a bluebird was standing on his father's head in the photo, and his mother was holding something the size of a human head in her arms. Uh... a purple fruit?
Hmm?
Kaito leaned back, sensing something was wrong.
That bird was one thing—though it looked strange, the world was big, and there were countless bird species he didn't know.
But what was with that fruit? Why would his mom hold a giant fruit for a family portrait? Did she love that snack that much?
Also, wasn't this thing way too big?
Where did you buy this? How much per kilogram? Was it from Hokkaido?
The sense of wrongness grew stronger. Kaito felt this definitely wasn't a simple reincarnation—there were probably other changes too.
Just as he thought this, he suddenly heard knocking at the door.
"Kaito! Open up! I know you're in there! Come out!"
The sudden loud voice startled him, but then distant memories surfaced.
That loud voice—who else could it be but Kenji from next door?
Kenji was his childhood friend. They went to kindergarten together, elementary school together, middle school together... but they separated in high school.
Kaito went to a prestigious high school in Tokyo. Kenji went to a technical school.
After that, their interactions gradually decreased. They only met during holidays when they went back to their hometown.
Later, when Kaito was in university, he heard Kenji had started working. Their chances to meet became even rarer.
After Kaito graduated, the Kenji family had moved away. He heard Kenji had become a successful entrepreneur, and the whole family moved into a luxury apartment in Osaka.
Though he still had Kenji's number and LINE in his phone, besides mass New Year greetings, they hardly used them.
Reincarnated, places changed... but people remained.
This guy was still as rowdy as ever.
Thinking this, Kaito smiled and went to open the door.
A dark-skinned boy with a buzz cut appeared before him—exactly the same as in his memories.
"What's up?" Faced with fifteen-year-old Kenji, Kaito suddenly didn't know how to greet him. The two words slipped out automatically.
Kenji didn't notice his change, saying excitedly: "Isn't that obvious?! Did you forget what day it is?"
"Huh?"
"Stop pretending, hurry up! Granny Yuki said it'll hatch at ten, and it's already nine-thirty. If you don't leave now, you'll miss it."
As he spoke, Kenji dragged Kaito outside.
His strength was incredible. Kaito was pulled out without resistance, like hunted game.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't pull! Wait, let me close the door."
"Close what? There's no time, get on the bike." Kenji pushed Kaito onto the back seat of the mamachari by the door, hopped on himself, and started pedaling hard.
Watching the scenery fly backward, Kaito couldn't help but marvel: this fool was really strong.
Kaito had learned kendo with Kenji when they were kids. Their teacher was Kenji's father.
But Kaito stopped later because he needed to study for the entrance exams.
Well, actually, studying was an excuse—he just found kendo training too tiring.
Kenji stuck with it, his muscles growing firmer by the day, his skin getting darker too.
In comparison, Kaito, who stayed home all day playing games, was unhealthily pale.
Adults always called them the Black and White Duo.
After riding for a while, turning who knew how many corners, they arrived before a strangely shaped house.
Same as before—he recognized the people, but this place, this house, was completely unfamiliar.
The Sakura Village where they grew up didn't look like this. At least no one built their roof to look like a giant mushroom.
What was going on?
While Kaito stood there dazed, Kenji ran to knock on the door, shouting in his trumpet-like voice: "Granny Yuki! Open up! It's Kenji! Kaito and I are here!"
The door opened quickly. An old woman with white hair appeared in Kaito's view.
This was Granny Yuki from the same village. In Kaito's memory, she was the village clinic's nurse.
Why did Kenji bring him to see her? He wasn't injured.
"You boys are here," Granny Yuki glanced at Kaito and smiled. "Come in, perfect timing. A few minutes later, and you'd have missed it."
Missed what?
Kaito was puzzled, but his body honestly followed them inside.
The interior decorations confused him even more. This didn't look like a nurse's house at all. You could tell him it was a florist's greenhouse and he'd believe it.
"Woof!" Suddenly, a bark sounded.
Kaito thought it was some puppy, but when he turned around, he found a massive dog head right in front of him, less than ten centimeters away.
Slurp.
Kaito felt his face get licked.
"Mother of—!" He instantly jumped back, retreating more than a meter, crashing right into Kenji.
But Kenji didn't fall. Instead, Kaito's back hurt like he'd hit a rock.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" Kenji was startled,d too, by Kaito's reaction.
They'd all played on this Arcanine's back when they were kids. Why was he so scared?
Kaito ignored him because the shock in his heart was beyond words.
Pale cream-colored fur, black stripes, majestic mane... why did this big dog look so much like Arcanine from the anime?
He still remembered Gary's Arcanine using Fire Blast—that move was seared into his memory—so he recognized the big guy immediately.
But why would there be an Arcanine in reality?!
A pet groomer's work? These days, people cut dogs to look like pandas, so that wasn't strange. But this nearly two-meter height was ridiculous! Not even Akita Inus got this big!
Could it be... Kaito had a faint guess.
Since reincarnation was possible, what other bizarre things couldn't he accept?
He didn't care what others thought and asked Kenji directly: "This... Arcanine?"
"Obviously?" Kenji looked at him strangely. "What's so surprising about an Arcanine?"
As he spoke, he walked over and patted Arcanine's head. The latter affectionately stuck out its tongue and licked his face.
Kaito was shocked beyond belief. My god, Pokémon had actually appeared in reality!
A dog this big—how many people would it take to finish if made into sukiyaki?
Uh, no, how could he think such things? He quickly wiped his mouth. It seemed he'd reincarnated into a world with Pokémon.
Was it a similar world setting? Or had he actually transmigrated into the anime world?
If the former, would there be Satoshi, Kasumi, and Takeshi?
If the latter, why hadn't Kenji, Granny Yuki, Dad, and Mom changed?
Kaito was full of questions. Unfortunately, he couldn't get answers now and could only temporarily suppress them.
"Then... what did we come here for?" Kaito asked Kenji again.
This made Kenji even more confused: "Did you lose your memory? Aren't we here for your business today?"
"M-my?" Kaito didn't know what to say for a moment, so he went with: "Oh, I just woke up. A bit groggy."
Kenji was easy to fool anyway. Any excuse would work.
Sure enough, Kenji accepted this explanation: "I see. Then let's hurry. Granny Yuki said your Pokémon Egg will hatch in a few minutes. Let's go see—this kind of scene is rare."
My Pokémon Egg?!
[1] Sirfetch'd
[2] Bea a Gym Leader at Stow-on-Side's Stadium in the Galar region, specializing in Fighting-type Pokémon
[3] Galarian Ponyta
[4] Allister a Ghost-Type Gym Leader at Stow-on-Side's Stadium in the Galar region