The moment Rattata appeared, Charmander silently stepped forward to shield Kiyomi Tsugumi, instinctively preparing for battle.
At that moment, Kiyomi's heart swelled with excitement. This was a real battle—not a numbers game inside a console. But even in his excitement, his thoughts remained clear. He didn't immediately command Charmander to attack. Instead, he waited. This wasn't a game, after all. In this world, a Pokémon's moves caused real pain and injury, not just the loss of HP on a screen.
Rattata cautiously eyed the silent Charmander. Its crouched limbs tensed, ready to launch into a charge at any moment.
While the two Pokémon squared off, Kiyomi took the chance to glance at the small blue dot still floating in the upper left corner of his vision. The dot seemed to respond to his focus and expanded into a glowing screen.
Name: Kiyomi TsugumiMoney: 5,000 (thanks to mooching off my parents)Pokémon: Charmander (click to view)Title: NoneBadge: NoneItem: Compressed Space Backpack
Kiyomi ignored most of the information and clicked directly on Charmander's status.
Charmander (Fire-type)Condition: GoodAbility: Blaze (click to view)Moves: Scratch Lv1, Growl Lv1
Lv1? So moves can level up too? Kiyomi scratched his head, puzzled. But before he could analyze further, Rattata made its move.
With a fierce push from its hind legs, Rattata lunged at Charmander, a faint white glow forming on its forehead—Tackle.
"Charmander, roll left to dodge, then use Growl!" Kiyomi commanded quickly.
Charmander responded instantly, rolling away from the charge. Once clear, it opened its mouth and released a piercing cry that echoed across the clearing.
Rattata skidded to a halt where Charmander had just been, disoriented and visibly annoyed by the screech. Driven by irritation, it charged again.
Watching the enraged Rattata coming in hot, Kiyomi's grin widened.
"Hold your ground. Then grab it and slam it into the ground."
Charmander didn't dodge this time. It braced itself and intercepted Rattata mid-charge, grabbing it midair. The momentum pushed Charmander back several steps, pain flashing across its face, but it held on. With a swift motion, Charmander twisted and slammed the wild Rattata to the ground with a dull thud.
The impact was loud.
The stunned Rattata lay motionless on the grass, twitching slightly from the pain.
"Pin it down! Don't worry about stamina—keep using Scratch until it's knocked out!"
Kiyomi's voice was calm and firm. His excitement didn't cloud his judgment. The path to victory had already opened.
Charmander ran over on its short legs and straddled Rattata's midsection. Its little claws shimmered with white light as it began to slash—again and again.
By the fourth strike, Rattata's eyes had glazed over into spirals. It had fainted.
Realizing the battle was over, Charmander stood up with a shout, triumphant. (It was a thrilling moment… so why did it feel unintentionally awkward? Was it just me? -_-||)
Charmander then turned and sprinted toward Kiyomi.
Grinning, Kiyomi spread his arms halfway and caught Charmander mid-leap, lifting him into the air and spinning around joyfully.
"Ha! That was your first win, and you nailed it! Great job!"
Once the adrenaline wore off, Kiyomi calmed down. He gently set Charmander back on the ground and turned to look at the fainted Rattata in the distance. His smile faded slightly, replaced by a quiet apology.
Thankfully, Pokémon have remarkable healing abilities. Even without treatment, minor injuries like these usually healed quickly on their own.
Kiyomi cautiously approached the unconscious Rattata and stopped about seven or eight meters away. He opened his backpack, where beside some spare clothes sat a large chunk of sweet, fragrant honey bread—something his parents had packed for the road, just in case he got hungry.
He tore off a palm-sized piece and gently placed it on the ground.
"Sorry, Rattata. I didn't mean to hurt you so badly. Take this as a small apology. Maybe we'll meet again someday."
With a soft smile, Kiyomi turned without waiting for a response and began walking toward the distant outline of Viridian City.
Now that the fight was over, Kiyomi finally had time to analyze the system screen more carefully.
What caught his attention was the move level.
He eagerly reopened Charmander's status screen and reviewed the moves again:
Growl Lv1 (5/100)Scratch Lv1 (30/100)
So… Growl had been used once and earned 5 experience points. Scratch had been used five times, which should be 25 points. But the screen showed 30.
"Could it be… if a move is used to knock out an opponent, it gains double experience?" Kiyomi speculated.
That would make sense.
If moves could level up, they might also become more powerful or efficient. For now, it was just a theory—but one he looked forward to testing when he reached Viridian City.
Charmander's condition had also updated post-battle. From "Good," it had changed to "Minor Internal Injuries" and "Slight Fatigue."
After walking for a while, the fatigue status disappeared, and even the injury indicator began to fade. Kiyomi found this very reassuring—he'd be able to monitor his Pokémon's health in real time.
As a child, Kiyomi had always been a bit mischievous. But without a Pokémon, he couldn't act on most of his ideas.
Now, though? Everything was just beginning. He'd take things step by step when he arrived in Viridian City.
Just then, Kiyomi noticed dark clouds gathering in the sky ahead.
"Looks like rain," he muttered, frowning. He took out Charmander's Poké Ball and enlarged it.
"Let's take cover, Yan." (His nickname for Charmander.)
Once Charmander was safely inside the ball, Kiyomi pulled a foldable umbrella with a Poké Ball pattern from his backpack.
As soon as he raised it, the rain began to fall.
The soft drizzle, the emerald plains stretching into the distance, and the forest standing tall beside it—it all looked like a living painting.
Kiyomi stood for a moment, soaking in the scenery. In his past life, he had spent his days surrounded by honking traffic, polluted air, and the monotony of city life. His world had been limited to the space between a storefront and a computer screen.
But in this life, he was here—on a vast green plain, stepping into the unknown.
A smile played on his lips as Kiyomi Tsugumi walked forward, firmly and fearlessly, toward the city of Viridian.