Chapter One: I Have Traveled to the World of Pokémon!

“Wait, does your mobile game company now offer a card-drawing event where you win a free trip to another world? But this isn’t right, is it? Drawing a Pokémon and ending up in One Piece—seriously?”

There was no response from his surroundings.

Chen Ou sat beneath a tree, staring at the Flame-Flame Fruit in his hand and at the freckled young man sleeping beside him, utterly bewildered. He was still dressed in his dinosaur pajamas, in the same cross-legged position on the sofa as before; only now, his phone had become the Flame-Flame Fruit. The problem was, he had just been playing a Pokémon card-drawing game, and he’d drawn Reshiram. The young man before him, with freckles on his face, tears streaming from his mouth, and snoring like thunder, was clearly not human—no, that was Ace...

“Uh, could you send me back? I admit I love the world of One Piece, but living without WiFi is really hard to accept. As someone with a car, a house, and two busy parents, I really don’t fit your criteria for selecting candidates for transmigration, do I...?”

Still, there was only silence.

Chen Ou’s voice was weak; right now, he felt small, pitiful, and helpless. Had he not still been reeling from the shock of crossing over, he surely... would have burst into tears.

Why on earth did he have to abandon his privileged life for this dangerous pirate world? Peril lurked everywhere, safety was never guaranteed, and he had neither money nor influence. Granted, they’d thoughtfully set him down beside Ace and handed him the Flame-Flame Fruit, but he simply couldn’t accept it!

“No! Even business requires consent—you can't just foist this on me! Someone show yourself! Let’s talk!”

Chen Ou roared in frustration. Remarkably, Ace continued to sleep soundly.

Perhaps Chen Ou’s sincere (or desperate) pleas touched the heavens, for a pleasant female voice sounded in his ear.

The woman’s voice was full of apology: “Sorry, sir, there was an error in our process that accidentally sent you to the world of One Piece. This was our mistake, and we apologize.”

Chen Ou truly felt like crying. He shouted, as if reunited with a long-lost relative, “It’s fine, it’s fine, as long as you can send me back, I won’t blame you. You can erase my memory, just don’t mess me up. I’ll uninstall your game as soon as I return, so I won’t add to your workload.”

“Of course, sir, we’ll transfer you immediately to your target world, ‘Pokémon’. Have a pleasant journey!”

“Okay... Wait, what? Hey, I don’t want to transmigrate! You idiots, send me back! Hey! Hey!”

“Oh, and as compensation, the Flame-Flame Fruit in your hand is yours to keep. By the way, you’d better eat it soon—since we chose random placement in the Pokémon world, there’s some danger involved. Hope you’ll give us a good review~”

“I—!”

And with a burst of white light, Chen Ou vanished again, clad in his dinosaur pajamas.

Meanwhile, Ace slept on, and the fiery red fruit hanging from the tree above him swayed gently in the wind, then fell and struck him on the head.

“Ow! That hurt! Huh, did I fall asleep again?”

His story continued.

On the other side, Chen Ou’s story continued as well...

He felt a flash of white light, and then found himself in the same position, sitting cross-legged on a wide grassy field. He looked up and saw twinkling stars and a bright full moon overhead. In his hand, the Flame-Flame Fruit still glowed with a soft red light, like the eye of a demon.

Chen Ou instinctively felt he shouldn’t eat this thing. If he did, perhaps he truly would never return.

“Let me go back!”

Under the moonlight, Chen Ou kept shouting—he raged, pleaded, threatened. Maybe because his words were too empty and powerless, his surroundings remained just as empty and silent. That gentle but devilish female voice never appeared again.

The chilly night wind made him shiver. His cries abruptly ceased, and he wrapped his pajamas tighter around himself, like a drowning man clutching at his last straw. But he wasn’t drowning, and his pajamas weren’t straw.

During ten minutes of shouting, his heart gradually accepted one truth… the matter was settled.

He buried his head between his knees in silent despair.

He was only a high school freshman, inexperienced in the ways of the world. His home was near the school, his parents were accomplished alumni, and everyone from the principal to the dorm aunt treated him with respect—thanks to his parents’ success, and his own talent.

But now, none of that mattered. His talent in research might be useful, but he was, indisputably, alone.

How could anyone blame his weakness? He was only human.

Yet he soon realized he couldn’t afford to remain depressed. No matter where or when, one desire always prevails in people.

The will to survive.

What reminded him of this was a purple cobra; Chen Ou recognized it as an Arbok, hissing with its crimson tongue, staring intently at him as if he were tonight’s midnight snack.

Chen Ou was deeply grateful for his adaptability. He quickly set aside his loneliness and frantically began to devise an escape plan.

In fact, he immediately found the answer.

Eat the fruit, gain elemental powers for self-defense; flames could ward off enemies. There was no problem—he should be able to survive this crisis, and if he couldn’t fight, he could run. Arson may be illegal, but it works.

But would he still be able to return if he ate it? He hesitated.

The Arbok seemed to be considering where to bite first, so it circled him slowly, its tongue flickering, its belly scales rasping against the grass with a soft, sinister sound—like the footsteps of death, like the bells of fate.

Seeing this, Chen Ou knew he could not hesitate any longer. He told himself: the world of Pokémon is still better than One Piece. Here, he could find legendary Pokémon connected to time and space—he still had a chance to return.

So he steeled himself, clenched his teeth, shoved the Flame-Flame Fruit into his mouth, and, enduring the strange taste and nausea, swallowed it.

The Arbok was startled by Chen Ou’s sudden movement. Its animal instincts told it that Chen Ou had changed, so it opened its mouth wide, exposing its fangs, and lunged.

But as its jaws closed, it felt an astonishing burning sensation—it realized it had bitten into a ball of fire.

That was the truth.

“Fire Fist!”

The boy, flames bursting from his eyes and mouth, swung a fist forged of fire and struck the Arbok hard. The explosion of flames was worse than being hit by a Charizard’s Flamethrower—far worse. The Arbok felt its life slipping away.

Its head was flung from Chen Ou’s neck, crashing into the ground. Terrified of the pajama-clad boy wreathed in fire, it dragged its severely burned body away in panic, leaving the area without looking back.

Chen Ou watched it until it vanished into the dense night, gone without a trace.

He let out a breath, then fainted.

He did not notice that a camera, glowing with a red light, silently recorded everything.