This was a parallel world with a level of technological and cultural development similar to Earth.
About twenty years ago, the Pokémon world was shattered due to an unstoppable force. The fragments of that world descended upon this planet—Blue Star—in the form of secret realms.
From within those realms emerged countless extraordinary lifeforms that defied scientific explanation. These creatures, originally dubbed "monstrous beasts," brought catastrophe to Blue Star.
It wasn't until ten years ago, when survivors from the Pokémon world arrived bringing advanced Pokémon technology, that humanity began to systematically understand these so-called "beasts."
By now, the term "monstrous beasts" had long been replaced with "Pokémon," and these beings had integrated into every facet of society.
Li Yuan was one of those who came to this world more than a decade ago—not from the Pokémon world, but from Earth. He had crossed over and begun a brand-new life here.
For the sake of convenience while attending school, he ended up boarding at the home of his mother's best friend—his "Aunt Hanako."
Yes, that Hanako. The very same Hanako known in the Pokémon anime as Ash Ketchum's mother was now his cohabitant.
Unfortunately, he never got to meet Ash himself. Word had it that Ash and his father had been traveling during the collapse of the Pokémon world and had since gone missing.
Poor Hanako had lost both her husband and child in one fell swoop and was once consumed by grief.
Thankfully, thanks to the strength of his soul accumulated over two lifetimes, Li Yuan awakened the power of Aura. Using his aura, he was able to soothe her wounded heart.
Over time, through persistent emotional support and healing, Li Yuan—who had no blood ties to her—earned Hanako's affection. What was supposed to be a brief homestay gradually evolved into something far more… colorful.
At this point, their relationship had even become… inseparable.
Although it might sound odd to use such a phrase for a mother's best friend, the literal meaning was surprisingly fitting.
Take now, for example: Hanako, having nothing to do after lunch, sat down beside Li Yuan on the couch, hugged his arm, and gently leaned her head on his shoulder.
For a married woman to cling so affectionately to a young man—was that not the very picture of "inseparable"?
Naturally, Li Yuan had no objections. He even gently wrapped an arm around his still-charming aunt, helping her rest more comfortably.
After all, she had taken such good care of him these past years—was it really a big deal to lend her a shoulder?
Forget just the shoulder, he'd gladly lend her his whole embrace~.
Unfortunately, the warm moment was short-lived. A somewhat familiar voice suddenly interrupted their thoughts.
"Excuse me, is the manager here?"
The voice belonged to a beautiful young girl in the bloom of youth. She pushed open the shop's glass door and peeked her head inside curiously.
Upon hearing the voice, Hanako immediately knew a customer had arrived. Though still reluctant to part, she let go of Li Yuan with a trace of regret and sat back upright.
"Looks like there's a customer. Go take a look," Hanako said tenderly.
"Of all the times to show up…" Li Yuan sighed. Don't young people take naps anymore?
Why not stay home and play games during break? What's with running around outside?
But what could he do? He was a business owner, after all.
When customers came, he had to greet them.
Unlike other transmigrators, Li Yuan had no interest in challenging gyms or becoming a Champion. Instead, he opened a "Pokémon Dojo" and lived a relaxed, healthy life.
His dojo's services ranged from move instruction and ability development to training commissions. If he was in a good mood, he'd even help look for lost Pokémon.
The reason? He possessed a unique form of aura.
His aura differed from the kind in the Pokémon anime. In the show, aura could be used for offense, defense, and detection—like a radar—but it only revealed basic info like outlines and states, and always in grayscale.
Li Yuan's aura, however, was like a divine perspective. He could perceive intricate details of his surroundings, even the core makeup of matter itself, in full vivid color—as if his vision had GPU-powered rendering.
Why was his aura so special? Probably because… he had a system.
See, Li Yuan had already awakened one aura from his previous life.
When he bound with the system, it rewarded him with another.
At first, he complained it was a redundant gift—but once the two auras merged, his vision of the world drastically changed.
As expected, nothing from the system was ever ordinary. He'd just been too quick to judge.
The system's full name was Trainer Pokédex. Every time he "captured" a notable female trainer, a new entry would light up, granting him a special ability.
What counted as a "notable" trainer?
After years of research, Li Yuan concluded it referred to women with significant roles in the anime or games.
He had tried pursuing many girls over the years, but only three entries had lit up—so yeah, exploiting the system wasn't easy.
"I'm the manager. What can I help you with, miss?" Li Yuan stood up from beside Hanako and turned toward the door.
What he saw left him momentarily stunned. No wonder the voice sounded familiar—it really was someone familiar.
"May?"
"Li Yuan?!"
The two stared at each other in surprise, neither expecting to run into the other here—it felt like seeing a ghost.
May (or so he called her) had a vivid impression of this guy—they'd been high school classmates, though not particularly close.
Why? Because Li Yuan, for whatever reason, insisted on calling her "May."
How many times had she told him her name was Sophia, not May?!
It was super rude to go around giving people random nicknames!
"This is your store?" Sophia asked in disbelief.
"What, do I not look like the manager?" Li Yuan gave her a look.
"But... I remember you were a top student in high school. Why open a store instead of going to college?" she asked, baffled. Wasn't this guy the valedictorian?
Who drops out of school to run a shop?
What kind of valedictorian acts like this?
sigh "Well, I figured... if I couldn't go to the same college as you, what was the point? Lost all motivation," Li Yuan said with a melancholic sigh.
"W-what are you even talking about?!" Sophia's face flushed red at the sudden near-confession.
See? She knew he was nuts. What kind of random line was that? Was this a joke?
She didn't believe a word of it. She knew this guy's personality too well—it hadn't changed one bit since high school. Always teasing, always impossible to reason with!
"Oh come on, who said I dropped out? I go to Chuan University," Li Yuan added with an eye-roll.
"Chuan U? Wait, that's my school," Sophia blinked. With his grades, he could've easily gotten into a better Pokémon university.
There were five major Pokémon universities in Xia Country. Chuan University, located in Sichuan Province, ranked third overall.
The top two were Capital Pokémon University and Metro Pokémon University, respectively—one in the political center, the other in the economic hub. No surprise they topped the list.
That Li Yuan chose not to attend either was unexpected.
But thinking about it, it made sense—they both lived in Sichuan, and Chuan U was close. Who wouldn't want to attend a nearby school?
"Duh. I even checked your enrollment preference before applying," Li Yuan said casually, clearly making it up.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Sophia yelled, more flustered than angry. She had an urge to pinch that soft flesh on his waist.
She used to pinch him a lot back in high school—so much, his waist probably had calluses from it.
Back then, she only thought of him as annoying and couldn't wait to graduate and get away from him.
But now, looking back… she suddenly felt nostalgic.
Graduation, which had once seemed so far away, had come and gone in the blink of an eye.
Sophia found herself reluctantly realizing that those years of bickering and teasing had been… surprisingly carefree.
Well, maybe not entirely carefree—the days before the college entrance exam were still enough to make anyone's hair fall out…