A parallel world, the Magic City of the Xia Nation.
The first rays of dawn pierced the cloudbank, turning into countless threads of gold that fell with precision across a vast and majestic manor.
Its architecture blended classical swooping eaves with modern minimalist lines; every inch spoke of power and wealth long accumulated. Overhead, the air warped beneath an invisible pressure as a colossal figure more than twenty meters long tore through the morning mist—that was Garchomp. Its razor fins carved the sky and left a fleeting sonic trail. Close behind, a gentler yet no less mighty Dragonite unfurled its body. The long, high dragon's cry it released was less a roar than a proclamation—announcing to the entire Magic City the supreme status of the master of this domain.
This was the dragon-taming Kudo Clan.
The oldest in heritage and most terrifying in strength among the Xia Nation's dragon-tamer lineages—a behemoth in the truest sense.
In the manor's main residence, in a bedroom high enough to overlook the entire grounds, Kudo Shiba opened his eyes.
They were ink-black, without the least haze or confusion of a just-wakened youth—calm as a bottomless, icy pool. Reflected there was a depth and an assessing clarity utterly at odds with his eighteen years.
Eighteen years.
It had been exactly six thousand five hundred and seventy days and nights since he descended into this world where Pokémon and reality were tightly interwoven.
This was an age that belonged to Trainers. Powerful Trainers held authority, sat on fortunes, and were revered by the masses. And he, Kudo Shiba, had stood from the moment of birth at the finish line countless others could never reach even in a lifetime—the firstborn grandson of the dragon-taming Kudo Clan.
His grandfather stood at the summit of the Xia Nation as its Dragon-type Champion—a living legend. The Kudo Family's foundation was such that any international-level consortium, before making decisions, had to factor in the Kudo Clan's stance.
"Young master, you're awake."
An elderly, respectful voice sounded from beyond the door—no intrusion, merely the perfectly measured reminder.
"The master has had a Bagon hatchling prepared for you. Its lineage is nothing short of perfect. You can form a contract with it today."
Bagon—the juvenile form of the pseudo-legendary Salamence, sovereign among Dragon- and Flying-types. A Bagon with perfect lineage meant its future was almost fated to reach the Elite tier, perhaps even challenge the Champion's throne. It was a starting point that would drive any Trainer mad with envy.
Yet Kudo Shiba's face didn't ripple in the slightest.
Barefoot on the cool obsidian floor, he walked step by step to the vast floor-to-ceiling window. His gaze skimmed over the rare Dragon-type Pokémon below doing morning drills under servants' guidance, over the Garchomp and Dragonite wheeling overhead—then finally out beyond the manor to the far broader world.
Family background was merely a great tree planted by those before.
He could enjoy its shade, but he could not rip it up by the roots and make it truly his own.
In a world this grand and turbulent, where crisis and opportunity walked side by side, anyone who wished to stand at the summit and look down upon all beings could not rely merely on a clan's protection. That was self-dug ruin.
As a transmigrator—a soul from another world—he understood better than anyone what a transmigrator's true reliance was.
"A golden finger… my cheat should be arriving."
His lips moved; the voice was so slight only he could hear it.
Today was the day when all advanced Pokémon academies in the Magic City would issue starter Pokémon to graduating students.
The reason he ignored the perfect pseudo-legendary prepared by his family was not arrogance or ingratitude.
It was because a conviction burned in his heart—utterly strong.
That feeling had coiled in the depths of his soul for eighteen years, and as today arrived, it boiled over. It howled, it pointed the way with clarity: the thing he had waited eighteen years for would, today, at school, awaken at last!
That was the foundation of his standing in this world—the sole ladder by which he would surpass his forebears and rise above everything.
"Uncle Fu, tell my father I'm going to school today to receive my starter."
Kudo Shiba turned and gave the order toward the door.
The old butler, Uncle Fu, clearly froze for a moment; his tone carried a trace of difficulty and puzzlement.
"But young master, the family's…"
"It's decided."
His voice was even—no louder than before—yet it bore a resolve that allowed no dispute, cutting off all of the butler's further persuasion in an instant.
He said no more. He walked straight to the dressing room and changed into a crisp, brand-new uniform of Magic City First Pokémon High School.
In the mirror stood a straight-backed youth, handsome and cool-featured; beneath the tousled black hair, those bottomless eyes now flickered with a sharp light called expectation.
The clan's glory belonged to the past.
He was going to open, with his own hands, a future that belonged to him alone—Kudo Shiba.
Today would be the beginning of everything.
(End of Chapter)
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