Brian and Brook arrived at school.Arca 1 High School stood before them, its gates huge—no less grand than a university in Brian's previous world.
Not long after Brian sat in class, the teacher came in."Today is graduation day, which is also the day you will get your starter Pokémon. So, let's go straight to the nursery."
Hearing that, the students cheered and followed the teacher.Brian and Brook were among them.
When they arrived, many students from other classes were already there, along with teachers and the principal.Behind them were 23 Poké Balls and Pokémon eggs prepared for the distribution.
"Today is a happy day," the principal said. "You graduate from high school, and you also begin your path as a trainer. As you know, ranks 1–3 will get the Alliance starter Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Ranks 4–20 can choose from Vulpix, Machop, Nidoran, or Eevee. Those below rank 20 will only choose an egg at random.
"I know you can't wait, so let's start right away."He looked at the female teacher beside him.
"As the principal said—Ryujin Sakamoto, Bella Adan, and Yoso L, please come forward," the female teacher called.
Brian saw two boys and a girl step toward the three Poké Balls.One boy caught his attention—handsome, expressionless, and somehow different.
"I heard he's related to Professor Sakamoto," Brook whispered. "You know, the three big families in Arca City: Lee, Sakamoto, and Aggard. He's from a branch family."
Brian knew more than that.In the Alliance, there were seven great families: Edward, Elizabeth, Kim, Sakamoto, Mikhail, Qing, and Ammar.
The Elizabeth family was like the Joy family in the anime, running the Poké Centers.The Mikhail family dominated the police force.The Sakamoto family was known for breeding and research.The Qing family was called the Dragon family.The Kim family was very rich and owned many Pokémon supply stores and malls.The Ammar family monopolized evolution stone mining.And the Edward family had eight King-level trainers—three more than any other family.
Compared to them, the three "big" families of Arca City were small.Arca City itself was only medium-sized, without a gym, and its strongest trainers were only Senior level.
"Yes, I know," Brian said. "And that girl is the mayor's daughter. But who's Yoso?"
"Yoso? I heard he grew up in an orphanage. No friends. Always quiet. He even turned down an offer from the Samyun Group—the company owned by the Kim family."
While they talked, Ryujin, ranked first, asked the teacher, "Can you release all the Pokémon so I can see their data?"
"No problem." The teacher released the three Pokémon, and their data appeared before everyone's eyes:
CharmanderType: FireGender: MaleAbility: BlazeLevel: 5Moves: Growl, Scratch, Ember, Dragon Tail
SquirtleType: WaterGender: FemaleAbility: TorrentLevel: 5Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Aqua Ring
BulbasaurType: Grass/PoisonGender: MaleAbility: OvergrowLevel: 5Moves: Growl, Tackle, Vine Whip, Ingrain
Brian's eyes widened.This… this is my golden finger.
But his joy didn't last long.
"Wow, all three of them have inherited moves!" a boy nearby shouted.
"Brian, did you see? They're strong," Brook said.
Huh? Everyone has golden fingers too? Brian thought."Yeah, yeah… they're all green. Very strong," he answered without excitement.
Now he knew why this world could learn about Pokémon so fast, even though they only created the Pokédex ten years ago.
"Huh? Green? What green? Only Bulbasaur is green," Brook said.
Wait… they can't see the quality rating?
"Brian, are you color-blind? I didn't know before," Brook asked strangely.
Brian didn't answer—he just laughed in a weird way.
Brook shuddered. Brian's laugh was a little too loud, and now everyone was looking at him.
"Student over there, why are you laughing?" the female teacher asked.
Brian snapped out of it. "It's nothing, teacher."
But inside, he was excited.The data they saw and the data he saw were different.The Pokémon's quality was green—meaning it could grow to Gym or even Master level (46–65).
"Since it's nothing, don't make noise. Ryujin, please choose," the teacher said.
"Teacher, I choose Squirtle," Ryujin replied.
"Next, Bella?"
"I choose Bulbasaur."
"That leaves Charmander for Yoso."
"Yes, teacher," Yoso said happily.From the beginning, Charmander was his goal.
No one knew his secret—when he was ten, he found a bottle of notes about Mega Evolution in the forest near the orphanage. The notes were only for Charmander.
That's why he worked so hard to reach the top three—to choose Charmander. He believed that with Mega Evolution, he could compete with Gym or Master-level trainers.
If Brian knew what Yoso was thinking, he would say:Don't joke, bro. With a green-quality Pokémon and Mega Evolution, you can even challenge King-level trainers—and you just want to match Gym level?