Kanto Region, Viridian Forest.
Late autumn had already arrived. Yellowed leaves carpeted the forest floor, layering it in a soft, golden blanket.
"Rustle! Rustle!"
A towering, imposing figure moved swiftly through the trees, heavy steps crunching over fallen leaves.
It was a massive beast cloaked in flame-colored fur, orange-red like living fire. Powerful legs ringed with iron bands struck the ground, crimson six-pointed markings flared on its cheeks, and a golden crest shaped like a clover rested on its brow. As it ran, thick white vapor streamed from its back, flowing like drifting clouds.
It was Entei, a member of Ho-Oh's Guard and one of the Legendary Beasts.
Faster. It had to be faster.
That commanding gaze stayed locked straight ahead.
Not long ago, it had discovered signs of Pokemon Hunters rampaging through this forest, capturing wild Pokemon without restraint.
To protect and rescue them, Entei began tracking the hunters immediately.
It couldn't afford to slow down. It knew all too well that even a brief delay could mean those Pokemon would be slaughtered or sold off somewhere far away.
A faint metallic scent of blood drifted through the air.
Mid-stride, Entei slowed, its sharp eyes snapping toward one direction.
For an instant, it seemed to hear crying carried on the wind, high-pitched and desperate, unmistakably the sound of an infant.
What was that?
Entei frowned. After a brief hesitation, it made a decisive turn and charged toward the sound.
Pushing through dense undergrowth, it emerged onto a narrow country road stretching into the distance.
Beside the road lay an overturned car. The closer Entei got, the stronger the stench of blood became.
Its expression hardened as it stepped forward.
A human corpse lay by the roadside, an adult male, his body covered in wounds that clearly came from Pokemon attacks.
Entei spared him only a glance before moving past him and approaching the car.
The doors and windows were twisted beyond recognition. A human woman was pinned in the driver's seat, lifeless, her presence completely gone.
In the back seat, a baby crib had been tightly secured with straps. Inside lay a human infant, not even a year old, crying helplessly.
What happened here?
Entei frowned deeply.
Its gaze shifted to a group of trembling Pokemon hiding behind a roadside tree.
A cluster of Oddish, the kind commonly seen along forest paths.
Calling them over, Entei asked through telepathy, "What happened here?"
The Oddish were terrified, but they forced themselves to respond. "Odd… odd…"
From their fragmented description, the scene quickly became clear.
Earlier, two Pokemon Hunters had passed through and begun hunting the forest's wild Pokemon.
The father of this family of three tried to protect them and was brutally killed by the hunters. In her panic, the woman fled by car, only to crash.
Pokemon Hunters. Again.
Rage surged through Entei, hot and uncontrollable.
Fire blazed in its eyes. It was ready to resume the chase and reduce those hunters to ash with the Sacred Fire bestowed by Ho-Oh.
Then the baby's crying cut through its fury.
This was deep within Viridian Forest, far from any human settlement. If it took the child to a human city first, the hunters would almost certainly escape.
But leaving the child here meant death.
The parents had died protecting Pokemon. As a member of Ho-Oh's Guard, Entei could not ignore that.
"..."
After a long moment, Entei clenched its jaw and made a decision.
With one powerful swipe, it tore a hole in the car, then carefully pulled the infant from the back seat.
Holding the child gently in its mouth, it carried him to the hollow of an ancient tree nearby and set him inside, planning to return after dealing with the Pokemon Hunters.
As Entei hurried away, it didn't notice that the infant in its jaws had stopped crying at some point, wide black eyes silently watching its retreating figure.
That Pokemon was… Entei?!
Fuyuki stared, stunned, his emotions tangled beyond words.
Just months ago, he had been an overworked office drone on Earth, scraping by at a small game company that specialized in mobile games adapted from web novels.
Back then, the company had purchased the rights to a novel called Reincarnated in Another World, Grow Stronger by Shocking Others.
To earn extra money, Fuyuki stayed late coding. He never expected his computer to explode and send him straight into another world, carrying his own cheat ability code with him as he was reborn into a family living in Viridian City, Kanto.
He had thought he'd live a normal life, just like Ash.
Instead, his parents died together in front of him.
Trapped in a body that couldn't move or speak properly, he could only watch it happen. By pretending to be dead, he barely escaped the two Pokemon Hunters.
Once they left, everything came crashing down. Overwhelmed by grief and helplessness, and constrained by the emotions of infancy, he broke down sobbing, mourning his parents and cursing the unfairness of fate.
And then Entei appeared.
At first, Fuyuki felt hopeful. He assumed the Legendary Pokemon would take him to a human city. After all, this world's welfare systems were well developed.
As long as he got there, survival wouldn't be a problem.
When he turned ten, maybe he could even receive a starter Pokemon from the Kanto League, just like Ash.
Charmander, Squirtle, or even Bulbasaur would be fine.
With the [Shock Value System] that came with his rebirth, he could climb straight to the top.
But instead, Entei dropped him into a tree hollow and left.
Just like that.
Fuyuki questioned everything.
A bleak autumn wind swept through Viridian Forest, whistling through the hollow and filling it with a hollow moan.
Cold…
No matter how special humans were in the Pokemon world, he was still just an infant, not even a year old.
The chill seeped into his body.
So cold… Night was coming. Once darkness fell, the temperature would drop even further, and dangerous wild Pokemon would begin to roam.
Despair filled him completely.