"Ow!"
"It hurts! So bad!"
Caleb woke up in bed, his head pounding like someone had just taken a baseball bat to it from behind.
Wait—did someone actually whack me?
He tried to sit up, but his whole body felt limp, like jelly. He had zero strength.
His last memory was of standing on the podium at the WCS World Championship, about to give his victory speech as the new champion, when one of the other competitors suddenly rushed up and knocked him out cold with a club...
...and then, nothing.
Man, players these days have no sportsmanship. Lose a match and immediately start throwing punches.
If everyone acted like that, how is anyone supposed to enjoy a battle?
Caleb scoffed at the thought.
Still, complaints aside, he had more pressing matters to deal with—like figuring out what the heck was going on.
Looking around the unfamiliar room and catching sight of his reflection in the mirror, Caleb quickly realized something.
I've transmigrated!
But surprisingly, he wasn't panicking. In fact, his first instinct was to reach into his pants pocket.
Sure enough, he felt a phone.
"This thing looks super weird."
His head was still fuzzy from the blow, but muscle memory kicked in as he opened the browser to check the latest news.
Wait a second—Porygon Engine?
Something clicked in his brain. He quickly flipped the phone over.
Big mistake.
The Rotom that had been quietly napping on the back of the phone jolted awake, blinking in confusion.
A Rotom Phone! No wonder something felt... off.
Then a headline popped up under the search bar.
"Professor Oak's research team discovers new Eevee evolution! Check out these never-before-seen Eevees…"
Caleb: Old man. Subway. Phone.jpg
Professor Oak? A new Eevee form? And those pictures...
If Caleb still didn't know which world he'd landed in, then all those years playing Pokémon had been for nothing.
Like a switch flipping, memories started pouring in. He quickly pieced together who he was in this world.
The original owner of this handsome body was also named Caleb—18 years old, male... and a gym leader!
Why would someone so young be a gym leader?
Well, that was all thanks to his dear ol' dad.
His lovely father was the original gym leader. But after the gym's reputation tanked and he started losing his appetite, losing sleep, and basically spiraling...
He just up and quit.
Called it "going on a journey."
Before disappearing, he dumped the whole gym on Caleb and vanished—except for sending a million bucks in living expenses every month. Beyond that? Radio silence.
As for how bad the gym's reputation really was—anyone in Kanto knows the Cerulean Gym, right?
Yeah, the one where they do water ballets and hand out badges to random janitors. Famously known as the shame of all gyms.
Well, Caleb's gym wasn't far off. In fact, folks in Sinnoh had a name for it:
"Sinnoh's very own Cerulean Gym~" 😏😊
His dad may have built the gym with sheer money power, but if a gym doesn't meet standards, it can be shut down. Worse, it might even be demolished.
But that wasn't the real problem.
The real problem was—if the gym got shut down, the league would stop paying the 5 million monthly subsidy to the gym leader!
Now who knows where that old man ran off to.
If the gym got closed, Caleb would be stuck with only the one million monthly living allowance and basically be a rich hobo.
Just the thought of that lifestyle made him shake his head hard.
No way. That's way too pathetic.
This was technically still his family's business. He was already here—might as well try to save it.
I mean, with the weight of a WCS world championship title in his past life, surely he could save a failing gym, right?
With that thought, Caleb headed to the backyard—the resting area for the gym's Pokémon.
Looking out at the sprawling space, Caleb couldn't help but admire the power of money.
Calling it a "backyard" was an understatement—it was more like a back mountain.
Just the courtyard at the base of the hill was as big as a golf course, teeming with Pokémon—mostly Poison-types.
After all, the Solaceon Gym specialized in Poison-type Pokémon.
His dad's ace was a Scolipede with the Speed Boost ability.
He had mastered the art of Speed Boost so well that even against Fire-types, the Scolipede wouldn't go down in flames like most Pokémon. It would literally sprint around while being on fire.
Yep, Caleb's old man was one of those reverse-type advantage maniacs—like Ash.
Who knows if something went wrong during his birth, because the man had been doing irrational things for years.
Whatever. No point thinking about him now.
Caleb shook it off and rang the large bell in the backyard.
The bell was used to summon the Pokémon here.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
After three deep chimes, a crowd of Pokémon gathered.
Oddish, Weedle, Bellsprout, Pachirisu… these were seriously what they were using in gym battles?
Caleb's face darkened.
He could already picture it in his head:
In a serious gym battle, Caleb sends out a Weedle, and the challenger responds with a Rattata…
What kind of cursed comedy is this?!
No wonder his gym ranked dead last. Absolutely deserved.
What kind of gym uses Weedles in battle?
At least evolve one into a Beedrill or something!
Just as Caleb was sinking into despair, a figure ran toward him like a light in the darkness.
A girl in a white uniform, long pink hair, and a curvy figure.
Fiona, a trainee doctor from the Joy family stationed in Solaceon Town, and also Caleb's childhood friend.
Sure, all the Joys looked more or less the same. But Caleb recognized her instantly—not because he had some Brock-like radar for women, but because Fiona's figure was very distinct.
In the Joy family, known for their flat chests, Fiona was… an anomaly.
Outside her work at the Pokémon Center, she often helped Caleb take care of the backyard Pokémon.
But right now, Caleb wasn't looking at her.
He was staring at the two big pink eggs beside her.
Chanseys.
A species almost monopolized by the Joy family. They're gentle, kind, and the Joys' best companions.
And one of them was his.
Don't ask why Caleb had a Chansey.
When you've got money, anything's possible.
Well, to be fair, the original Caleb had wanted to be a Pokémon doctor because of Fiona's influence when he was younger. So he had begged his dad to get him a Chansey to "train."
But after his dad opened the gym and dumped it on him, he had no choice but to give up his medical dreams and handed the Chansey over to Fiona for training.
After all, everyone knows—Chanseys, as Joy's gentle helpers, aren't exactly battle material.