The feeling of dizziness that had assaulted his mind was slowly disappearing. Shaka opened his eyes and found himself in a nicely decorated bedroom.

Rays of sunlight passed by the windows, brightening the room. It was quite a contrast compared to the environment in the real world inside the tower.

Shaka's gaze wandered around the room. He quickly noticed the lifelike pictures on the walls that depicted strange creatures. On one of them was a winged orange lizard whose body seemed adorned with fire. On another was a tiger-like creature with something like a ruby embedded in its forehead. There was also a turtle with what looked like mechanical limbs.

For some reason, these creatures seemed somewhat familiar.

" According to the message from earlier, I am now inside a game world... And these monsters, they look like pocket monsters!" Shaka exclaimed as the gear inside his mind seemed to click.

The pocket monster game was one of the most popular games back in his original world, with every adult having played it at least once during their childhood.

There were also many versions of the pocket monster, many produced by licensed game studios and even more produced by gaming enthusiasts with more or less programming talent. Shaka's himself could not count the number of versions of the game that he had played during his spare time.

" These are pockets monsters, but they seem to belong to completely different versions of the game" Shaka noted.

As if on the clue, a game panel in the form of a translucent bluish screen appeared in front of him.

Name: Shaka

P.M: 0/6

Badges: 0/8

Bag: empty

Option:

-music on/off

- save

- enter/exit

" It is it!"

There was a bookshelf in the room. Shaka tried to take a book from it but failed. There was also a tv with a static screen, that he could not plug out.

" It seems like they are merely props. While everything looks quite realistic in the end, it is still a game"

Shaka could not help but sigh, his disappointment evident.

Having explored the room for a long enough time, Shaka decided to make his exit.

He explored the neighboring room without finding anything useful and finally descended the stairs.

There, he saw a middle-aged woman, standing in the living room.

She looked quite human-like and was dressed like your average stereotypical housewife.

As soon as they made eye contact, the woman started talking.

" Hello, sweetie! You are finally awake. Remember that you have an appointment today with Professor Bamboo; you should not make him wait," the woman said with a clear voice.

" Roger that. Now, who is this Professor Bamboo?" Shaka asked tentatively.

He wanted to know whether the people in this game were real, at least capable of real interaction.

" Professor Bamboo seems to have high expectations for you."...

He tried once again to initiate a dialogue but just got the same repetitive answer.

Seing this, Shaka's disappointment grew further. This world represent his last hope of survival in the tower and the less potencial it had, the lesser his chance seemed to benefit from it.

Shaka's exited the house, with a despondent mood. His surrounding looked like a canvas of a village vibrant with energy that had come to life.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

After taking a deep breath of air his gaze focused as he decided to ignore the frolicking npc inside the towns.

He remembered, what he had learned from his past experience playing the pocket monster game.

" Now, I need to meet professor Bamboo. There are similar Npc like that and if there is one thing that they all have in common, it is that they works in a laboratory. It is also generally the biggest building in the beginner village" Shaka muttered to himself his gaze slowly moved westward in the direction opposite to the sun where a grey building stood out.

" I also don't know for how long I will remain in this game world or if I will ever be able to enter it again" Shaka mind spun.

Having decided to act with urgency, Shaka looked around and found the path leading to the exit of the village and started to walk toward it.

Some would have been surprised, but it was a common knowledge for every players of the pocket monster game that Professor Bamboo, professor Tree, Professor X or whatever his name, was never inside his laboratory.

In fact you would be unable to find it anywhere whitin the village, and the more you persisted the more time you were wasting.

In this case, the only way to find him, was to let him find you. And how to achieve that? It was quite simple you have to enter the "dangerous" wilderness outside the village. And as a responsible adult, he will quickly come to your help.

Shaka could not help but gloat as memories of his different surfaced in his mind.

Shaka's arrived at the village entrance and quickly noticed that the path that led outside was overgrown with grasses as tall as his knees.

" Beware of the monsters that hide in the bu" there was a clear warning on a white stele that stood next to the path.

There was another stele where the name of the village was written: " Green Village"

" I don't seem to remember a version with a village that carry that name..." Shaka thought feeling somewhat puzzled.

He had just taken two steps inside the bushes when he found his body immobilized.

" You should be more careful Shaka! It is quite dangerous to enter the wilderness without a pocket monster of your own, to protect yourself"

The owner of the voice was a middle aged man that was wearing a lab coat over his clothes. He also had distinctive green hairs and eyes.

Who could it be other than Mr Bamboo?

What followed was a quick walk over the village. The experience was quite uncomfortable for shake who found that his body or rather the body of his avatar now inhabited by its consciousness moved on its own.

Mr Bamboo led him inside his laboratory where what looked like a monologue soon unfolded.

The gist of things was quite simple.

Mr Bamboo, being a scientist, was naturally busy, and that made him unable to meet his friends, a scientist named professor Rosewood in the neighboring town.

" In order to protect yourself, during your journey you will need a pocket monster.

Here, are some pocket monster that I used in my youth, you can choose one of them as your starting pocket monster"

As Professor Oak finished talking, Shaka breathed a sigh of relief as he found himself able to control his body once again.

He could not help but let his gaze wonder around.

" If only I could bring, any of these instruments in the outside world"

Arcanist where similar to scientist, researchers of the arcane paths. It seemed like having inherited transmigrated in this body, Shaka had somehow merged with the leftover soul of his predecessor.

His gaze finally settled on a table that stood between him and the scientist. There where three spherical objects resting on it.

They were pocket ball, one of the most proéminent features of the pocket monster game.

As Shaka touched the pocket ball the size of a tennis ball on the right corner of the table, he received a notification.

" This pocket ball contain a pocket monster. Do you want to pick it?

Yes/no"

" What the... This kind of information is worse than nothing at all!" Shaka's mouth twitched in his exasperation.

It seemed like there was no way to know which pocket monster, he was picking.

Shaka gaze focused as he tried to summarize his experience from playing pocket monster game.

" In a setting where one is unable to determine which pocket monster he is choosing, it is possible to choose and exit the game without saving the progression. In this ways, you can choose all the more time you want until you are satisfied with your choice.

But I doubt that I have this kind of luxury. What should I do?"

Shaka was still immersed in his thoughts when his eyes suddenly lit up as a realization suddenly dawned upon him.

" It is quite possible that I don't know any of the pocket monster in these balls, so why should I waste my time on this issue. I should rather choose the elements of the pocket monster that I want. It is easier to do this with this problem"

Having played many versions of the games, Shaka quickly summarized his experiences. From your left to your right, the element of the three pocket monsters always seemed to follow the same order: fire, water, and then Wood.

As for which one was his favorite element, well he did not know himself.

But fire was generally the element that brought the best bénéfice in the short term with most of its skill oriented toward attacks. The water elements remained consistent throughout the game...

Having made his choice, Shaka picked the ball in the middle of the table.