The portal shimmered behind me, pulsing with raw, ancient energy.
The woman—still luminous in her white and silver gown—turned to face me once more, a solemn light in her eyes.
"It's time to assign your system," she said softly. "But..."
She paused.
"...That choice isn't mine to make."
I blinked. "Then whose is it?"
She smiled gently, and for a heartbeat, the space trembled.
"Your mother's."
My breath caught.
Before I could speak, a presence swept through the void like a silent tide.
It was impossible to describe—immense, elegant, ancient. I couldn't see her, not truly, but I felt her. A warm chill. A weightless gravity. The void itself seemed to breathe in her presence, like a slumbering beast acknowledging one of its own.
The Void Dragon.
My hand burned—not in pain, but in resonance—as the mark on my palm flared to life. Ghidorah's symbol ignited in black flame, and something invisible surged into me.
I didn't scream.
I didn't flinch.
But I felt it.
A system—no, a bond—was being woven into my very soul. It slid into my mind like silk through fingers. Cold. Precise. Alive.
A voice echoed in my consciousness, ancient and vast:
[Void Dragon System: Integration Complete.]
I blinked.
That was it?
I raised a brow and looked at the woman. "Huh. I was expecting it to hurt."
She chuckled lightly. "You were chosen. There's no resistance when the void calls its own."
I looked inward for a moment. The system had already anchored itself within me. I could feel it—coiled like a serpent in the back of my mind, waiting to be explored. Tools, stats, evolution paths... it was all there. Dormant, but mine.
"...Alright," I murmured. "Then... one more thing."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"If I'm going to be reborn, can I choose what kind of parents I have?"
Her expression softened again. "You may."
I took a breath.
"I don't need riches. I don't need a powerful bloodline. I just want..." I paused, thinking carefully. "I want to be born into a good family. Or even just to a good person. Someone kind, someone who cares about others—but isn't afraid to be strict when needed. Someone who wanted a child, but for whatever reason, couldn't have one."
The woman nodded slowly, her smile returning.
"I believe that can be arranged."
She stepped forward now, reaching out her hand. I took it without hesitation.
"You'll keep all of your memories," she said quietly. "Your past, your growth, your power—it's all yours to carry forward."
The portal behind us flared brighter, the path to a new life opening wide.
"And this life..." she continued, her voice almost playful now, "it belongs to you. So don't waste it. Enjoy yourself."
I smiled.
"I plan to."
The light swallowed me whole.
Third person point of view
The moment the boy vanished through the glowing portal, the white chamber dimmed and folded in on itself like mist dissolving under moonlight.
The woman who had watched over him—the once-gentle guide—turned away and walked toward a tall, seamless door that now shimmered into existence at the edge of nothingness. With silent reverence, she passed through.
The room beyond was vast.
Endless shadows curled through the air, thick with swirling galaxies and silken strands of starlight. Planets spun slowly above a black ocean, and fragments of shattered realities floated like jewels in the distance.
She stood now at the base of a staircase—one that led to a throne woven of obsidian, scales, and void-forged stone.
Before ascending, the woman bowed her head, and as she did, her form shifted.
Her white and silver robes darkened into black and violet, laced with elegant patterns of celestial flame. Her hair shimmered with hues of night and dusk, her eyes now glowing with dim violet fire.
She raised her head and called out, voice steady but reverent:
"...My Queen."
At the far end of the hall, towering above all, she stirred.
Eyes opened first—twin infernos of brilliant amethyst, cutting through the cosmos like judgment.
The Void Dragon.
Her form shimmered in layered reality, wings stretched across eternity, her scales a canvas of ever-moving void, constellations spiraling across her massive body. She sat in humanoid form upon the throne—horns coiled like crescents, her long hair flowing like shadow-streaked silk across the floor of the chamber.
A smirk curled on her lips.
"I have made a fine choice for a child," she said, her voice the sound of creation and collapse. "Don't you agree, dear?"
The woman remained bowed as she answered.
"Yes, my Queen. After eons of searching... after watching countless candidates fail your test, he emerged." Her voice softened with a rare awe. "A mortal who did not break. A child who survived the void... and became part of it."
She raised her eyes to meet the Void Dragon's.
"Your domain did not reject him. It welcomed him."
The Queen's eyes glittered with pride.
"I tried to enter his mind when he first looked at me," the woman admitted. "Just to see if he was stable. But I was immediately thrown out—his will was so solid, so unmoving, that even I couldn't slip through."
The Void Dragon laughed—deep, melodic, and powerful. It rippled through the air like a storm across still water.
"Ahaha... My son is strong, indeed," she said. "Mentally resilient. Spiritually sound. That training of his—the fights, the solitude, the forging of purpose—it tempered him."
She raised one clawed hand and flicked her fingers.
Black and purple mist coiled around her, forming a mirage of the boy—John—his hand outstretched, the mark she gave him pulsing.
"He consumed so much of my energy... and didn't even know it."
She sounded amused—no, pleased.
"Such raw void essence would have annihilated most living souls. But his? It adapted. Absorbed it. Rebuilt itself. And now... he produces it on his own."
She sat back against the throne with a smile, crossing one leg over the other.
"I favor him greatly," she said at last. "And I have high hopes for his growth."
Her voice turned softer. Possessive.
"Every queen needs a child. And he... will be mine."
The chamber pulsed with quiet power, stars swirling faster in a slow spiral of fate.
And in the heart of a harsh Pokémon world yet to know his name, a new soul was being reborn.