I woke up, but I didn't recognize the place.

I was alone in that place. It was barely lit, with light coming from the windows on the side, signaling the rise of a new dawn. I got up from the bed, touching almost everything on the walls until I found and slammed my hand against the light switch.

And the lights came on! It was a bedroom with expensive modern furniture, but a bit generic for my taste to recognize. My taste would be... Wait... What would be my taste? I know this is not my bedroom, but... I don't know my own bedroom! What?! That's impossible. I was... When I was... What, I can't remember what I was doing yesterday... Or the day before or... Anything before!

My breath quickened, and my chest felt heavy in that instance as my hands started sweating. Everything felt a bit dizzier and out of this world, but at the same time, something in me was getting used to this. I paused for a moment to calm my nerves down and looked forward to clean my hands. But... Something was wrong even with that! I didn't recognize these hands. They were normal-looking male hands, yes... But I somehow knew these weren't mine. I saw a mirror near the wardrobe in that bedroom and walked over to it.

I looked at the mirror and was paralyzed by the information. This face... This body... I... I am not me... I..."What the f-" But I was cut off by an unknown sound. The phone in my pocket. A video call was coming from it. I tried to open it, fearing that there was some sort of lock or password, but luckily... Nothing blocked me off. I would put my birthdate as a password later to protect... it... I can't even remember when I was born, but yet, I have a clinging feeling that I somehow know! The panic stopped when I opened the video call.

A female voice popped up from the other side of the call with a city background. I couldn't recognize well in that moment if it was by a green screen or it was real. " 'Scuse me? Can you hear me through that thing?"

The voice was filled with energy as she asked, and I reacted cautiously. "Y-Y-YEAH! S-sorry, I just... I woke up and..." But I was cut off. My voice seemed normal, generic even by most standards. Yet this wasn't my voice. At least, I could choose the words that came out of my mouth. It's something!

"Ah... That's better!" The woman on the other side continued. Or I guess it was a woman by her chest. The video call got fully connected, and we could see each other's faces. She had short black hair with some scarlet locks on some parts of her hair that didn't make her look funny but way more stylish than some. She seemed like a young, energetic woman, looking through her chocolate skin and the only scarlet eye I could see through her hair. I could only see the top of her body with her white shirt in contrast with what could be seen as a black jacket and some sort of bag. I wish I could describe more or catch more, but I couldn't.

[https://i.imgur.com/IyPstpw.png]

The woman kept going in her cheerful manner. "Hello, it's nice to meet you! My name is Amanda. I am what you could call a scout."

I only raised my hand in salute, fearing the worst. What if this was some sort of Hunger Games or... Wait, I remember what the Hunger Games is?! It's the first thing I remember, but not my own name or anything about me?! C'mon! Yet I remained mostly silent, listening to her, gathering all the information I could. "F-for what exactly?"

For what? The Aevium League, of course! It's my job to guide newcomers like you into the world of Pokémon." It answered my question! A Pokémon world?! This is not my world! This is a different world! Oh no... Did I get isekai'd plus amnesia?! That's not cool, man...

Wait! I remember what Pokémon are! (or Pocket monsters) I remember... everything from that part... Why can I remember that but not my own past life... Why... Why... Stop it. Think. You are in a call. Let's get information! Focus!

I nodded silently, as I let Amanda speak more, my full attention on her.

"Fantastic!" She cheerfully opened her smile, reassuring my instance in that situation. I felt a bit calmer seeing such a friendly face as my first after my own. Amanda continued, "Now we should talk about the expectations and requirements of the League."

Oh, okay, I guess this is an introduction. Seems like I am a new trainer. Okay, at least this is easy. 8 badges, 4 elite members, some legendary, blah blah. That should be easy, right?

"There are eighteen Gym Leaders for you to defeat—alongside the Elite Eight."

"What?! S-Since when—" I responded, but she cut me off trying to calm my behavior. "You heard that right, eight!" She giggled a bit, letting me a moment to let that info sink in.

EXCUSE ME?! SINCE WHEN? Neither this happened in Sinnoh, Johto, Kanto, or... Wait a second. Aevium League, she said before. I do not recognize that place from any of the nine generations or any spin-off! That's weird. Amanda continued, "Pokémon here act a little differently from other regions. They won't obey you if they don't deem you worthy. You can check your status as a trainer by taking a look at your Trainer card. Everything's listed there for you."

Worthy? As worthy as being a trainer or worthy of a hero or... Whatever, I was searching for my card in my pockets while she continued. But I couldn't find it...

"Right, speaking of which, we should probably set that up now. What do you identify as?"

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I am not going to be political, at least not right now until I... I don't know, get things straight? Whatever. I answered carefully as this voice was settling in my brain. "Boy."

"Okay, got it!" Amanda replied, seemingly filling out some paperwork but mostly reassuring me with her energy. "Is this your profile?"

"Yeah! That's my face indeed..." I answered with confidence, but part of me was shocked. This was the face I saw, but it was not my face... In fact, I'd never seen these eyes so big or open... Neither as hers too, yet I felt they were the norm at the same time. Wow... Okay. Keep the focus, man... Keep appearances. We may not want to set off any alarms yet.

[https://i.imgur.com/E3wXXPN.png]

Amanda nodded a few times, smugly she continued while judging my appearance. "Great! Looking sharp! Can you tell me your name?"

"I am Ephiron." It came out from my mouth with such a calm and determined voice. But I... what ...where did that come from? I know I don't know my name, but I knew that wasn't my name... That's weird... Wait, is the original soul of this body still in here?! OH SHIT OH SHIT NONONO, SHIT I'M SORRY I... Wait... I didn't feel anything fighting back or... UGH. Keep it together, Ephiron!

"So your name is Ephiron?" Amanda asked, noticing a hint of doubt in my face compared to my mouth, but I quickly nodded, urgency guiding my actions. "Alright, everything seems settled! Do you have anything else you need to get done?"

Two options popped up on my screen:

* No

* Password

I didn't know what that meant. What kind of password? Like a secret code? Or anything I should know? I clicked it out of curiosity, perhaps I would find some sort of hint inside.

"Enter password." But it was nothing more than just a normal hub for these things... Okay... password... passwords. Like a phone password? Phone pin? Secret services? Bank accounts? The porn folder on some weird PC? No, no... Must be a...

But my hands moved on their own for once, entering codes that I didn't know or recognize most of the words.

* mintyfresh

* shinycharm

* easyhms

* antidote

* pinata

* powerpack

* fullivs

After those, my hands were a bit stiff, pressing buttons so fast that I barely reacted to it, like my hands weren't my own for a moment.

"What's going on?" I commented in a low voice and looked around, but no clue what was happening yet. After those passwords, Amanda continued.

"I'll see you once you get to East Gaeran City then! I'll be waiting for you at the East Gaeran Laboratory. Don't forget! Safe travels, Ephiron." She clapped her hands as the video call ended and saluted me in a way to send me off.

"I-I won't! I think..." I replied a bit shy to that information, mostly by my ignorance of that place or what she meant yet. Was there the laboratory i would get my first Pokemon? Okay sure...Mean i must be on the city...Right?

----------------------------------------

Date: July XX 20XX

My mind felt a bit off as I walked around the place. I noticed from the outside windows that this was not a city; now a village or any ground. In fact, there was only sea water. I was in a ship. A giant ship. A cruiser of all things! I had never been here before, or... well, I didn't know if I had been in another place in the first case. But it felt way out of my league, knowing I was in such a luxurious place. I stumbled upon a giant room where people had gathered, and I received a notification to walk there to finish my registration process. The place was filled with sofas and libraries so people could wait around, as well as computers stuck to the ground, where a couple of people were using them to make video calls and chat with their loved ones.

Ephiron... Ephiron... The name doesn't ring a bell of any sense, but yet I knew it was my name, and I should embrace it... But everything about me doesn't feel like me. Whatever. No raising alarms. I am not crazy. This is just a weird dream. This is just a dream. A super-duper wakey dream. Any moment, I will wake up, and I will be back to my old life. Right?...

I went to the clerk on the other side of the desk and finished my registration papers and process. Once I finished, the clerk's attention was gazed on my form, and she approached me.

"Ah, have you finished your registration process? In that case, let me print out your Trainer Card for you." I nodded in affirmation, another friendly smile comforting me with her aura as I pushed the papers a bit forward to her. I watched with curiosity what she was doing, but it seemed like a mere formality while the machine did it alone.

I looked around, but... I didn't recognize anyone, yet I knew everything about that place. It was such a strange feeling, being so familiar yet so distant with everything. But I remained quiet, on alert if anything happened. Only my thoughts were interrupted by the clerk's voice once more. "There! All done and ready for you. Please take this."

[Ephiron received a Trainer Card!]

The Trainer Card! Nice. How did that information pop into my mind?... Magic? Powers? A system chip implanted in my head?... I do not really know. Perhaps there's something here, any sort of clue of what is going on... At least a birthdate, something I don't know! But before I could check it out, the Clerk continued. "With this, you are officially registered. Good luck to you, Ephiron!"

"Thanks, you too!" I replied on instinct... Wait, why did I wish good luck for the registration, she must have it already. GOD DAMMIT EPHIRON! Why did you reply in such an idiotic manner outside! I facepalmed and blushed, recognizing my error, but the clerk only giggled as I walked a bit away and sat down on the nearby couch.

I pulled out my Trainer Card, excited to see some useful information...

Nothing...

Nothing much of value other than a birthdate and some number indicating the money I had in my pocket.

A mere 3k Poke Dollars... That, in real life, would be around... 3 dollars or euros. Not even enough for a menu. Not even enough for a decent meal with a drink... Sigh... Anyway, comparing this to the phone I had in my pocket, I saw that I'm over 18 years old. A full adult. Well, at least that didn't change much. And I looked stylish. I checked out my bag, and all the compartments were empty except for the clothes... Which were the same set over and over... That's weird, but I don't mind if I can clean them off. I tried to look for the end of the bag, perhaps I was missing something, but no matter how much I put my arm in...

... it seemed endless... Wow. I put half my body in there, and it didn't end, that's impossible! There's so little bag outside, but... The miss said this was a Pokémon world... Perhaps this was such a magic bag or... Well... It seemed like the bags in the games, but... This wasn't a game... It was the real world. Right?... My head started to get a headache the more I thought about this, wanting to just continue. So I did.

Once outside while i was checking a bit more my trainer card, a voice shouting from the other side of the hall called my attention of a different woman.

"Oh, Ephiron! I was just on my way to see how things were going."