"Bui?"
Aiden's consciousness was stirred awake by a strangely familiar cry.
Dazed, he opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face with a fluffy little creature perched on his bedside in the dimly lit room.
Did I wake up too suddenly?
Why is there an Eevee curled up on my bed?
By the usual script, he should've recoiled to the corner of the bed, pinched his thigh to confirm whether this was all just a Pokémon dream.
But—
Almost instinctively, Aiden reached out and began rubbing the round little head of the Eevee with practiced ease.
Hmm, nice texture.
This kind of realistic sensation—surely, dreams wouldn't feel this vivid?
"Wait… why does my head feel so itchy…"
Just as Aiden started to notice something off, a flood of memories rushed into his mind.
Surprisingly, there was no pain, but the sheer volume of information left him stunned, frozen in place.
"I've been reincarnated?"
After piecing together the scattered fragments of memory, Aiden quickly came to grips with his current situation.
He hurriedly got up and walked to the washroom.
In the mirror, a young man with deep eyes, handsome features, and jet-black hair stared back at him.
Overnight, he had returned to the age of eighteen, and his life trajectory was entirely different from his previous one. Could there be any explanation other than reincarnation?
It couldn't possibly be that the surgery was successful…
No, absolutely not!
"And… I've even reincarnated into the world of Pokémon…"
The number one brand of his past life now unfolded before him like a dream.
"Bui~"
As he stood there lost in thought, the Eevee from the bedroom trotted over and let out another soft, endearing call.
"Are you hungry? Let me get you something to eat."
No wonder it felt so familiar, and why his hands moved so naturally—it turned out this Eevee was his starter Pokémon.
Aiden smiled fondly and returned to the bedroom to fetch a bag of cheese-filled pastry.
A specialty of the Paldea region, this snack could be enjoyed by both Pokémon and humans, and it was far more nutritious than energy cubes.
After feeding Eevee lunch, Aiden sat back on the bed and muttered quietly to himself:
"I'm still Aiden Swift, 18 years old, from Celestic Town in the Sinnoh region."
"My parents were elite Trainers who moved our family to Cabo Poco in the Paldea region five years ago to run the 'Sunshine Gym'."
At first glance, it sounded like a happy and fulfilling story.
However, about six months ago, disaster struck.
An accident occurred during the Zero Zone Time Machine project that his parents were involved in, and all personnel went missing.
The sudden blow left the once-confident and optimistic Aiden utterly defeated, shutting himself away until last night when he passed away from sheer exhaustion.
"Sigh…"
Aiden didn't know what to say. The words on the tip of his tongue dissolved into a heavy sigh.
As someone who had been reincarnated, he knew much more than he let on.
For instance, after the time machine malfunctioned, no one on the team survived except for a single Mabosstiff, which managed to escape.
"That's enough. Thinking about it anymore will only make me emo."
Aiden shook his head.
Rather than dwelling on these thoughts, he needed to deal with the mess left behind.
Aside from taking care of himself and Eevee, reviving the gym was the first challenge he faced.
First, his parents had taken almost all the gym's Pokémon with them when they left.
Second, Aiden wasn't a Trainer, nor did he have the energy to raise other Pokémon.
All things considered, the conclusion was clear:
The Sunshine Gym might truly be doomed…
Even in the most laid-back regions like Kalos, a gym being closed for half a year would be shocking news.
Aiden couldn't bear to imagine what the Paldea League's reaction would be two months from now, during the end-of-year gym qualification review.
What made matters worse was that the only Pokémon he had now was a powerless Eevee. Even if he wanted to grind, he lacked the strength.
It felt like a dead end!
Just as despair washed over him, a line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[At thirty, you returned to your hometown in Celestic Town, living a quiet but unaccomplished life.]
[Though you married your childhood friend who achieved great success, and your days were relatively peaceful, you still occasionally recalled that desolate autumn.]
[At times like these, you would fantasize—]
[If only you could've kept the gym your parents left behind, perhaps your life would've been completely different?]
[Looking back now with future hindsight, you know deep down that there's only one practical way to save the gym!]
[With this second chance, you're determined to forge a future without regrets!]
[So, start streaming, young man!]
[Life Reversal System successfully bound. Awaiting activation.]
[Activation Task: Follow the success model of the Levincia Gym and attract the gym's first batch of fans.]
[Reward: System functions unlocked, Growth Points ×50.]
This is… a system?
Having spent years reading novels online, Aiden was no stranger to the standard-issue systems given to reincarnators.
Before his reincarnation, life reversal systems were quite popular. And now, here he was, getting one for himself?
Though he didn't yet fully understand what the system could do, the information it provided gave him a clue.
Streaming.
In his past life, Aiden had been a small-time streamer, gaining tens of thousands of followers through quirky antics in Pokémon battles, barely scraping by.
Now, it seemed his expertise was perfectly aligned.
Realizing this, he immediately grabbed his phone and opened the PokéTV app, represented by a red-and-white Poké Ball icon.
PokéTV, the official video streaming platform launched by the Pokémon League, was essentially a combination of YouTube, Facebook, and SoundCloud from his past life.
After typing "Iono" into the search bar, several channels containing the keyword popped up.
[Iono Zone, 30k subscribers, 10 uploads]
The latest video on the channel, posted 12 hours ago, already had over 400,000 views.
For a newcomer, this was an astonishing figure.
So she'd already started her channel at this point?
Curious, Aiden clicked on the video.
"Hey everyone! It's time for Iono Zone!"
A sweet and energetic female voice filled the air.
A lively girl with pink hair and a blue streak in her bangs appeared on screen, enthusiastically waving at the audience.
"Hey~ How's it going?"
"Capturing your attention with Electro Web! Who's hosting? It's me, Iono! Good morning, afternoon, evening, hello, ciao~"
Iono, the Levincia Gym Leader, destined to become a super-popular streamer.
Though she still seemed a bit raw, her rise to fame would soon skyrocket, making her an internet sensation.
In the eyes of players from his past life, she was the undisputed cutest personality in the Paldea region.
As Aiden watched the energetic girl on the screen, he couldn't help but smile.
Iono's so cute~
The system's hint was clear.
Imitate the Levincia Gym's success model—use streaming popularity to draw traffic to the gym.
It seemed like a viable plan.
While watching, Aiden silently mulled it over.
The internet age in this world had started a bit later, so the streaming industry was still largely untapped.
But there was one issue.
How hard would it be for him to imitate her? Wasn't the difficulty level… astronomical?
Would anyone really abandon the adorable streams and follow a rough guy like him?
"It's another day to climb the ranks, so let's play Pokémon Champions with Iono!"
"If we can reach the Ultra Ball rank, maybe we'll get to match with other Gym Leaders in the future~"
As Aiden continued analyzing Iono's path to success, she tapped a large screen on the stream, launching a game that looked… suspiciously off.
Pokémon Champions
Wait, playing Pokémon games in the Pokémon world?
Aiden raised an eyebrow, sensing a lead. He immediately paused the video and switched to his browser to search for the game's name.
As he learned more about the game, his pupils began to dilate.
He finally understood.
Why the system claimed that the Levincia Gym's success could be replicated.
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