Ren was a collector.

At least that is what he assumed.

His knowledge contained detailed descriptions of hundreds… no perhaps thousands of Pokémon.

‘Ekans… was one of them.’ Ren thought.

He slowly sorted through the seemingly endless knowledge in his head before he got to Ekans.

Ekans was a snake Pokémon. It was one of the first Pokémon that the protagonist Ash meets on his long journey.

Its skin was a shade of light purple with a yellow stripe and light yellow underbelly. Its eyes were supposed to be large and yellow while its tail resembled Rattlesnakes that Ren had seen in documentaries.

‘Overall… a typical Pokémon. So why the hell does it say that my species is Ekans?!?’

His situation puzzled him to no end.

‘It states ‘Ekans’ under species so my species is Ekans?’ Ren questioned himself.

‘No. No. What the hell am I thinking! I am a human… not some stupid snake!’

The knowledge that he had could only be acquired by an intelligent human living on the planet Earth… not some stupid fictional snake living in some fake world!

‘Could this be reincarnation?’

It was a common religious belief on Earth; that living beings reincarnated after they die.

‘I do not believe it! Reincarnation in Pokémon… in a fake world created by humans as a snake? I am a man of science… at least that is what I think I am! How could reincarnation be real? And why the hell do I have to even believe this neural interface!’ Ren thought out in anger

‘No. Calm yourself Ren! Think it through. Do not disregard anything!’

He could not discard something merely because it went against his beliefs. This was clearly an abnormal situation. Any and all possibilities had to be considered.

Ren slowly considered this new possibility.

‘Could it be true? Is it possible? No, wait… I cannot move my ‘limbs’ right. Could it be…’ Ren’s thoughts trailed off.

This possibility certainly explained his lack of ability to control his limbs: he did not have any!

‘I have to test it out!’

Ren had to see if he was right… that he was no longer a human.

He slowly tried move his tail. This time he did not think of his body as if it was human. Rather, he imagined his body to be in a long, slim cylindrical shape. He tried to connect his mind to the very end of his body, to the very tip of his tail.

Seconds ticked by.

He could feel it! A slight movement!

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He could feel his tail moving and pushing against a resistant wet sticky substance.

With newfound excitement, he tried to move more of his tail.

Once again his tail moved, this time moving creating a bigger stir.

It confirmed his suspicions.

‘That means… that I really am a snake…!’

Ren was convinced. His new reality sunk in.

‘If I am a snake… it’s quite possible that I am also an Ekans like the neural interface says’

Ren once again analyzed his status.

‘It also says unborn…‘Ekans is a snake Pokémon. Snakes often lay eggs to produce offspring unlike mammals. I am probably in an egg.’ Ren concluded

That would explain his weak state.

He had no choice but to accept the situation.

He was an Ekans… in an egg in the world of Pokémon.

‘Just thinking about it sounds ridiculous.’

It was ridiculous, but it was also the truth.

Ren began to think about what life would be like as a snake.

‘I wonder what I’ll experience as a snake… How do snakes live? Why did they never teach us this in school?’

Another thought snapped Ren out of his fantasies.

‘If I have to live like a snake… as an Ekans… what will I eat?’

As far as he knew, snakes were carnivorous creatures.

‘That means… I have to eat Pokémon?’

There was no mention of anything like that in the anime… but this was not fiction. This was real life.

As far as Ren knew… Pokémon were dangerous and unpredictable monsters that had an array of strange and mystical abilities.

‘If I am not careful… I could die…?’

The thought scared Ren.

The idea that he could die without knowing who he was, without knowing why he was in this situation.

‘I have to prepare myself.’ Ren decided.

The best way that he could think of was using the Neural Interface.

‘What did the system say…? ‘Status’ right…?’

A digital display once again popped up in front of him.

Status

Host Name: Ren

Species: Ekans (Unborn)

Level: 0 [Limit: 5]

Bio-Energy: 0/10

Length: 4cm

Power: .2

Wisdom: .3

Agility: .1

Defense: .3

Skills: Breathless Breathing Technique [00.12%]

Ren scanned through the numbers.

The skills Column caught his eye

‘Breathing Technique? As in that Breathless Breathing thing I was doing a few minutes ago?’ Ren questioned himself.

Ren thought back to when the system activated.

When the system activated, it had said that he had gained .1 wisdom.

Ren inferred that completing a few rotations of his breathing technique lead to the increase in his wisdom.

‘System… what is wisdom?’

[…Processing… wisdom is the measure of how easily host will be able to learn new skills. Greater wisdom gives host greater chance of evolving existing skills and learning rarer skills]

Ren scanned through his memories of the world of Pokémon.

Pokémon did not fight through pure physical battles but through the use of skills. Skills came in all shapes and sizes. Some were purely elemental while others had strange hypnotic and cursing effect.

Ren sighed.

‘It looks like wisdom is the only thing I can increase in this state’

Ren got to work.

He breathed in once. Oxygen entered his new snake lungs. He breathed in once again, further expanding his lungs. He repeated this process a few more times.

On his fifth breath, his lungs felt like exploding.

‘Hold it in… Come on!’ Ren encouraged himself.

He swiftly took in his sixth breath. He waited for a few seconds before releasing all of the carbon dioxide in his lungs.

Immediately the same relaxing feeling swept over him. He could feel that his mind was a bit sharper.

‘Again…’ Ren thought as he repeated the monotonous action.

After a few more repeats, Ren something was wrong.

‘It’s not working anymore…?’

If he remembered correctly, the previous time he had to breathe in 5 or 6 times before he gained .1 wisdom.

He had completed the cycle more than 15 times, yet he had not been notified of his wisdom increasing.

‘Why does it not work anymore…?’ Ren questioned himself.

Panic began to rush in

‘No, No. Ren calm yourself! It makes sense that the requirements increase as I gain more and more wisdom!’

With greater momentum, Ren continued to follow the instructions of the breathing technique.

Slowly his lungs fell up and down.

After more than 20 repetitions, the sweet, sweet notification finally rang out inside of his mind.

[Host has gained .1 wisdom]

‘I can do this.’

It would only get longer and more boring from here. He would dedicate everything he had into this technique.

It was his path to survival. He had to put in his all.