The dream of becoming a Pokémon master

The more you think about it, the more doubts arise, yet the truth remains unknown. It's even possible that Ho-Oh has wiped out all the witnesses.

And the baby inside this egg, even before it's born, is already carrying so much. Kyosuke stroked the egg in his arms, sighing inwardly.

Kyosuke decided to bury its past deep in his heart and tell no one, only wanting it to grow up happily.

Gently cradling the egg, Kyosuke slowly walked towards the forest, careful not to disturb the little creature. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he froze in shock.

"Ash and I both saw Ho-Oh. Are we cursed? Will we never win a championship and never have a girlfriend or anything? No way!!!"

……

By the time Kyosuke reached the forest controlled by the overlord Nidoking at a snail's pace, it was already evening.

There was no time to return to the outer circle, and since the Overlord wouldn't allow other Pokémon to disturb them anyway, Kyosuke simply set up a tent and cooked in this dense forest, and then summoned his Pokémon as well.

Kyosuke, who had been thinking about the egg in his arms and still rehearsing his prepared excuse, was surprised to find his head completely bald. Charmander was alright, having already seen it before and being mentally prepared, but Nidoran stared intently at the bald head and finally burst into maniacal laughter. Caterpie was a little shy, but although he didn't say anything, his twitching body betrayed him.

Kyosuke was a little speechless. But since no one seemed too concerned about the egg, he went along with it, set up the tent, and went to cook. Of course, the egg stayed close by. And of course, he had a surprise for everyone regarding his hair.

Tomorrow morning.

……

At four o'clock the next day, Kyosuke woke up Charmander and Nidoran again.

Charmander and Nidoran were about to continue mocking Kyosuke when they saw that his hair and eyebrows had all grown back.

What the heck? Am I dreaming? Charmander and Nidoran thought this was impossible and turned to walk back to their tent, wanting to go back to sleep.

Kyosuke lifted them up, one in each hand. Trying to run? Not a chance.

It wasn't until breakfast time that Kyosuke woke up the caterpillar.

The egg was currently strapped to Kyosuke's chest, and he never put it down except when doing push-ups. Now he sat up straight and ate breakfast with everyone. After Caterpillar slowly finished eating, Kyosuke clapped his hands and gathered everyone together.

"Let me give you an update on the current progress. We've completed the two main quests for capturing legendary Pokémon in Viridian Forest, though not without some difficulties. We've given up on the side quest 'The Legacy of the Child of Viridian' because we're stuck on it. Tomorrow we'll be leaving Viridian Forest to challenge the Viridian Gym. Is there anything else you need? Otherwise, I'll be leaving soon." Kyosuke summarized his month-long trip through the forest.

"Ni! Ni!" "Nido!" "Momo!" It seems they have a lot of opinions.

"Hmm... alright, I won't lead the way. Whoever remembers the way can go first!" Kyosuke admitted that he had no sense of direction, so what could he do? He was helpless too!

The three Pokémon nodded in satisfaction, then dispersed to rest before setting off.

Finally, led by Nidoran (from the inner layer to the border area), Caterpie (from the border area to the outer area), and Charmander (from the outer area to the forest), they arrived at Viridian City just before nightfall.

"Ah! We're finally back! After a whole month, we're finally back in a city inhabited by humans." Kyosuke recalled the Charmander that had led the way and exclaimed with relief.

I took my phone out of my backpack, turned it on after a long time, and a flood of information suddenly appeared.

First, there was a text message from April 15th: One million yuan had been deposited into the bank. This was for my living expenses this month.

Then came the package delivery notification. Looks like the Everstone has arrived. I'll pick it up from Rocket Delivery later and then go to the Pokémon Center to rest.

There was also a string of missed calls from Professor Oak.

Finally, there was a series of anime update notifications. Initially, there was still a signal on the outskirts, but as they approached the interior, they dared not build signal towers deeper, resulting in Kyosuke not seeing any updates for almost three weeks.

After picking up the Everstone from Rocket Express, Kyosuke headed to the Pokémon Center. He noticed that many of the shops around him seemed to have changed, with each one now bearing the prefix "rocket."

"Is the Rocket Group launching a major invasion of Viridian City?" Kyosuke wondered. Although he already knew that the Viridian Gym Leader was also the well-known businessman Giovanni, drawing a circle on the map like this seemed a bit excessive.

Slowly, Kyosuke finally arrived at the old site of the Pokémon Center.

Yes, it's just ruins now, but it's surrounded by various barriers, so it's clear that reconstruction is underway.

"I'm so stupid, really. I knew Ash blew up the Pokémon Center, yet I still came back. I must have lost my mind." Kyosuke covered his face, utterly embarrassed. Luckily, no one recognized him.

Quietly disappearing from the crowd, Kyosuke decided, "Hmm, let's find a hotel. The Rocket Hotel will do!" The WiFi at a well-known brand hotel should be fast, right?

Then Kyosuke went to the supermarket to buy supplies, to the hatchery to buy an incubator, to the Pokémon Food Shop to buy the best food of each type, and after having dinner at the restaurant, he finally found the hotel.

The room was booked smoothly, and of course, it had to be a super large room. Kyosuke could finally get a good night's rest.

Back in the room, Kyosuke summoned his three nearly starving Pokémon and handed them the Pokémon food he'd just bought, which had been touted as a miracle cure. However, after smelling it and eating it... Hmm...

"Ni, Ni (I don't think it's good)." "Nido (I think it's just average)." "Mao Mao (I think so too)."

"I know you're praising my cooking, but this time I bought a huge amount, and you all have to finish it. I won't cook for you anymore unless you're out in the wild and run out of food and can't replenish it," Kyosuke solemnly declared. Anyway, the food is there; if you don't eat, you'll go hungry.

"Nidoran! Nidoran! (This is torture!)" "Nidoran! (I'm defecting!)" Charmander and Nidoran expressed their dissatisfaction wildly. Caterpie chuckled to herself, since she didn't eat much anyway.

"Oh, right, Mai, this is the Everstone. Take it with you; we'll start training together tomorrow."

The laughter came too soon. The caterpillar's smile froze.

"Catch up on the anime from the last few weeks tonight! Use tomorrow morning to gather information, and then go challenge the gym in the afternoon. Tomorrow is a gym battle, so the three of you have to do your best!" Kyosuke turned on his computer, suddenly remembering tomorrow's important task, and gave his three little cuties some instructions.

"Nido..." "Ni..." "Momo..."

Weak and listless.

However, Kyosuke had already put on his headphones.