Half an hour later, Hikaru Mori was uncuffed and sat in the police station, holding a cup of hot tea.
Although Hikaru was an unregistered resident, there were countless such people in this world. In a world like the Pokémon world, where extraordinary powers exist, resources are destined to be controlled by the upper echelons, leaving the lower classes without even the strength to resist.
This is an unavoidable situation; even the Pokémon League can only try to control it, not eliminate it.
However, due to various Grass- and Water-type Pokémon using moves like Grassy Terrain and Rain Dance, the yield of food crops is quite high, making food very cheap.
Although there are many unregistered residents, they won't starve. Even working odd jobs is enough to feed a family of three.
However, the most profitable businesses in this world are Pokémon resources and training. Ordinary food cannot provide the resources needed for Pokémon to grow; only nutritious Berries produced by specialized fruit trees will suffice.
To obtain formal household registration, one must purchase property, have a job that can be recorded in the archives, and capture at least one Pokémon, then pass a review to gain official League identity.
As for starter Pokémon, one must pay 100,000 Pokédollars in taxes annually for ten consecutive years for their children to be eligible to receive a starter at the appropriate age.
Hikaru didn't think there was anything wrong with this. Of course, the League couldn't issue starter Pokémon to everyone. That would be absurd. Did they really think training starter Pokémon didn't cost money?
Moreover, the starter Pokémon bred by the League are excellent—docile, well-suited for new Trainers, and generally possess good stats.
In the black market, even a subpar starter Pokémon requires more than two million Pokédollars to purchase. One million is already the League-subsidized price.
If it were up to the powerful families, they'd rather never distribute Pokémon resources and would even control Poké Balls. That would solidify the class system, ensuring they remain at the top while commoners never threaten their position.
Furthermore, training Pokémon also costs money. Instead of giving starter Pokémon to people with nothing, it's better to give them to middle-class families who can provide them a good home.
Since Hikaru was dressed relatively well, was young, and had no calluses or other signs of hard labor on his hands, he casually fabricated a story about being caught in rough seas and losing all his belongings—something Officer Jenny largely believed.
You can often judge a person's background by the marks on their body. Being so young, clean-faced, and with soft hands, Hikaru clearly looked like a pampered young master.
Such individuals, unless in very unusual circumstances, typically wouldn't be involved in shady organizations.
After confirming via the computer that Hikaru had no criminal record, Officer Jenny quickly released him.
As for whether he was unregistered, Jenny didn't care. Perhaps Hikaru hadn't received his initial Pokémon yet, or he was just a traveler from another region.
In any case, to register a household, he would need to visit the Pokémon Center and talk to Nurse Joy.
"I'm very sorry. Because of Team Aqua and other criminal elements causing trouble at sea lately, and due to disturbances at the Dewford Town port, we're currently scrutinizing unfamiliar people quite strictly," Officer Jenny said apologetically, handing Hikaru a cup of hot tea.
After all, she had detained him without cause.
"It's alright. Cooperating with Officer Jenny's duties is the responsibility of any good citizen. May I leave now?" Hikaru asked, feeling awkward. As a law-abiding citizen, this was his first time inside a police station.
Fortunately, Officer Jenny was polite, and after taking a simple statement, she allowed Hikaru to leave.
Back on the street, Hikaru focused his attention on the system interface in his mind—the only thing that appeared despite him calling to the system repeatedly.
No voice, no mission. Just the panel.
Yep. It was that kind of system—comatose.
Its sole function: every day, it would generate one random item from the Pokémon world. It could be anything—even broken mechanics like a Master Ball or Rare Candy.
Disappointingly, Hikaru found no legendary-related items in the system list—no Plates, no Rainbow Wing, no Silver Wing. That was a bit of a letdown.
"But then again, if the system really gave out Plates every day, that'd be terrifying."
He chuckled to himself.
Still, Hikaru didn't immediately choose to redeem a Master Ball.
After all, this was reality, not a turn-based RPG where every throw connects.
Even a Master Ball needed to make contact. Some Pokémon were incredibly fast—or Psychic-types that could sense danger. With his current physique, even throwing properly was a problem.
Take the example of that giant Whiscash in Hoenn that once swallowed a Master Ball whole.
And as for legendary Pokémon... even if he could catch them with a Master Ball, Hikaru wouldn't dare. This wasn't a game. Who said they would obey?
If a legendary Pokémon broke out, their wrath alone could easily reduce a weak Trainer who bypassed the natural bond to ashes.
In fact, every year, a number of Trainers die at the hands of their own Pokémon—especially rookie bug-catchers or those reckless kids in shorts who wander into the wild. The fatality rate during first-time Pokémon captures is as high as 30%.
For an unregistered person like him, the safest way to capture a Pokémon was by using food as bait and forming a bond.
That's also why official starter Pokémon were so valuable—they almost never attacked their Trainers, even when mistreated.
Of course, there were no mythical powers like Aura or Everstone Power in his case.
To Hikaru's surprise, though, the system shop did include Mega Evolution Stones, Key Stones, and even later-stage items like Z-Crystals, Dynamax Bands, and Tera Orbs.
This meant that as long as he captured Pokémon, he'd have no shortage of powerful upgrade tools.
After exploring the system's item options for a while, Hikaru returned to reality.
He needed food, shelter, and information.
He exchanged a Big Nugget in a legitimate League shop, earning 200,000 Pokédollars as his starting funds. He used that to buy daily necessities, a few Pokémon Trainer guides, books on world history, and recent magazines to figure out the current timeline.
The advantage of League-authorized shops was guaranteed quality and fair pricing. Items could be returned or exchanged if there were issues.
He avoided the black market for now.
Though the black market occasionally had hidden treasures, most of it was hit-or-miss, often involved scams, and had a strict no-refund policy.
Until he gained some self-defense ability, Hikaru wouldn't risk it.
Most things he bought were common and not valuable. What truly felt expensive were Pokémon-related items.
A basic Poké Ball cost 2,000 Pokédollars. Even low-quality Poké Puffs or Energy Cubes were sold individually.
Since he didn't have proper ID, Hikaru couldn't stay at the Pokémon Center, so he rented a small room nearby, planning to study the timeline and get his bearings.
End of the Chapter.