"I'm sorry, Professor. I've failed to live up to your expectations."
"After graduation, I won't become a Trainer."
"I plan to return to the orphanage and help there."
Inside a university lecture hall, a recently graduated young man—tall, refined, and strikingly handsome—spoke in a calm, steady voice to the elderly professor seated before him.
The professor froze.
"Su Yu," he said after a long pause, "do you realize what you're saying?"
"Why would you give up becoming a Trainer?"
He truly couldn't understand.
Su Yu was the most outstanding student he had ever taught. His talent was unparalleled. If he chose the Trainer's path, reaching the Champion level within a few years would be almost guaranteed.
Yet now, at the very moment of graduation, this same student was calmly declaring that he would walk away.
Su Yu nodded.
"Yes. I won't become a Trainer."
This was not a decision made on impulse.
It was the conclusion of more than twenty years of life in this world.
Like many others, Su Yu had transmigrated.
And like any proper transmigrator, he had received a so-called golden finger.
Unfortunately, it was… questionable.
He possessed Psychic abilities—genuine ones.And supposedly, he also had extraordinary luck.
The Psychic powers were undeniable.
The luck, however, was a complete joke.
In all these years, Su Yu had never won so much as a minor lottery prize. Not once. He remained poor from beginning to end.
So much for "super luck."
After repeatedly failing to even win back five yuan from lottery tickets, Su Yu abandoned all fantasies of getting rich overnight.
If it weren't for his Psychic abilities, he would have seriously suspected that his cheat was a defective product.
Perhaps he had been cursed by a Ghost-type Pokémon.Or toyed with by a Psychic-type.
Who could say?
This was a world where humans and Pokémon coexisted in harmony.
Pokémon had first appeared roughly twelve million years ago. After a long era of chaos, humans and Pokémon gradually adapted to one another, eventually forming the stable society that existed today.
In essence, it closely resembled the Pokémon anime world.
At first, Su Yu believed he had transmigrated directly into the anime itself.
However, after further investigation, he discovered that there were no regions like Kanto or Hoenn—only nations resembling those from his previous life.
Still, some familiar names remained.
For example, the Champion of a neighboring country was said to be a woman named Cynthia.
That revelation excited Su Yu for about five minutes.
Reality followed soon after.
Someone like her lived in an entirely different world from a poor orphan like him.
And just like that, his brief excitement withered.
Life had won.
When Su Yu first arrived in this world, he was only three years old.
Homeless.And alone.
With nowhere else to go, he ended up in the one place every transmigrator eventually visits—the orphanage.
Thanks to it, he survived.
Now, years later, Su Yu had finally graduated from university.
According to the laws of this world, he was fully qualified to become a Trainer.
Yet he had already given up on that path.
The reason was painfully simple.
He had no money.
No matter how hard he worked or how carefully he saved, his money always vanished—lost to accidents, strange events, or unavoidable expenses.
Money was cruel like that.The harder you tried to hold onto it, the faster it slipped away.
Recently, every last bit of his savings had been poured into repairing the orphanage.
Not long ago, a rampaging Tauros had charged into the grounds, destroying most of the facilities.
The old headmaster was even struck by a Hyper Beam. After that incident, he "went west," leaving behind nothing but the land, a group of children, and the orphanage itself—for Su Yu to inherit.
As the only adult left, Su Yu naturally became the new director.
Whether he wanted the role or not.
He couldn't abandon the children.
So he spent all his savings on reconstruction.
Even with subsidies from the Pokémon Alliance, it wasn't enough.
In the end, everything depended on him.
When he finally calculated the expenses, Su Yu felt numb.
His savings were gone.
All that remained—tens of thousands.
And with that, how was he supposed to become a Trainer?
A standard Poké Ball cost five hundred and could only restrain weak Pokémon.
Stronger Pokémon required better equipment.
Great Balls cost ten times more.Ultra Balls—ten thousand each.
Then there was food.
A single energy cube meal cost several hundred.Three meals a day meant thousands.
And that was for just one Pokémon.
Powerful Pokémon required several thousand per day.
Travel expenses.Training equipment.A spatial backpack costing three hundred thousand.
Everything required money.
So tell him—how was a poor man supposed to walk the Trainer's path?
After long consideration, Su Yu accepted reality.
He would inherit the orphanage.Develop its orchard.Make money—real money.
When he had enough, he could reconsider becoming a Trainer.
But for now?
Pokémon were simply too expensive.
The old professor looked at Su Yu's resolute expression and let out a deep sigh.
He knew his student would never change his mind.
After a long silence, he finally asked,
"…You don't even have money to buy an egg?"