Reiji had already arrived outside the Pokémon Center, completely unaware that the musclehead had come looking for him right after he left.

If they had run into each other, there probably would've been a fight. Honestly, it was kind of a shame. He missed out on a good guy who might've funded his trainer career.

He entered the Pokémon Center, waited in line for a bit, and when it was his turn, he immediately handed over ten Poké Balls and his Trainer ID to Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy, please give these ten little ones a full body checkup..."

Nurse Joy took the Poké Balls and began placing them carefully into the treatment cart. She then asked Reiji, "Would you like the standard 1,000 Pokédollars checkup, or the more detailed full body examination? That costs 3,000."

"The full examination," Reiji replied—he always wanted the best.

"Very well. Please have a seat on the bench while you wait," Nurse Joy said as she finished documenting the medical services required. Chansey pushed the treatment cart away.

"Please don't release Farfetch'd for the exam. I haven't fully captured him yet," Reiji quickly explained as Chansey was about to walk off.

"Don't worry, Trainer. I've noted that," Nurse Joy replied with a smile.

"Thanks," Reiji said, retrieving his ID and heading over to a bench to wait. But he didn't just sit around doing nothing—he started browsing the Pokémon Center's bounty board.

To his surprise, his own bounty was still listed—and even higher than before. He hadn't committed any new crimes, so why had it gone up? Was it because they still hadn't caught him?

Maybe the reward was raised out of frustration?

"You hear the news? More and more rookie trainers are getting mugged lately…"

"Yeah, when are they finally going to catch that Spider Bandit? My folks won't even let me go out at night anymore…"

"Wonder when Officer Jenny will make a move…"

"Didn't they say someone got caught last night?"

"Just one of them. A bunch more popped up right after…"

Reiji listened to the surrounding chatter with a sigh. So that's why his bounty went up.

At this rate, even if he came forward and claimed to be the real Spider Bandit, nobody would believe him.

He was the original, after all—those others were fakes. Total knock-offs.

Still, this worked in his favor. It drew Officer Jenny's attention away from him. At this point, who the real one was didn't even matter anymore.

The priority was cracking down on all these unstable elements and bringing down the surging crime rate. It hadn't been this bad in a long time.

After another half-hour of waiting, someone finally called out his name.

"Trainer Reiji, Trainer Reiji…"

"Over here!" Reiji stood up and approached the nurse calling him. "That's me. Nurse Joy, is something wrong?"

"All ten of your Pokémon have been examined and are in great health. However, Farfetch'd has numerous minor injuries. We've treated him already, but he needs rest for at least three to five days. He can't battle for now."

"Got it. Thank you, Nurse Joy." Reiji nodded, then asked, "How much is the bill for the treatment?"

"You opted for the full body exam—3,000 per Pokémon, so that's 30,000. Farfetch'd's treatment was 5,000."

"When can I take them home?" he asked.

"You can head to the payment window to the right to complete discharge paperwork," she pointed him toward the billing counter.

Reiji paid 35,000 Pokédollars and went to retrieve his ten Pokémon.

The other nine seemed full of energy. Only Farfetch'd was wrapped up in bandages—clearly, Nurse Joy had released him during treatment after all.

Luckily, he was still unconscious. Hopefully he hadn't caused any trouble—Reiji really didn't want to pay for any damages.

With everyone in good shape, he left the Pokémon Center, swung by the supermarket, and bought meals, ready-to-eat food, and groceries—enough to last him a week. That cost another 10,000.

Then he flew back to his seaside house on Pelipper.

Pelipper landed in the courtyard, and Reiji released his other eight Pokémon—including Farfetch'd.

He let Farfetch'd lie in the yard. The gate was locked, so unless the duck decided to fly away, Reiji wasn't going to stop him.

Still, he gave a heads-up to Poliwhirl: "Poliwhirl, if Farfetch'd wants to pick a fight again, just ignore him. He needs to rest."

"Woop woop," Poliwhirl nodded, glancing at the bandaged-up Farfetch'd. He knew those injuries well—after all, he had inflicted most of them.

Reiji let the Pokémon splash around in the freshly filled pool, while he headed to the kitchen to unpack. He loaded the fridge with vegetables, fruits, meat, and rice.

Then he flopped onto the couch and turned on the TV…

"Congratulations to top trainer Drake for defeating another challenger who had earned four Cross Star badges…"

"Drake?" Reiji blinked. Onscreen, a man with slicked-back black hair and a red sleeveless jacket stood victoriously in a Roman-style battle arena, his Dragonite having just trounced another badge-earning trainer.

Reiji immediately recognized the guy—

Drake, the top trainer of the Orange League. The guy who threw the match against Ash thanks to the anime staff pulling strings.

But Drake wasn't technically the Champion of the Orange League. Interesting.

Seeing him now reminded Reiji which Pokémon world he was in.

The Orange Islands were introduced in the anime after the original Indigo League arc. A custom region created to give Ash a redemption arc after only making the top 16 in the Indigo League.

Sure, the Orange League's prestige wasn't that high—but hey, it was still Ash's first championship.

And Drake was the final boss Ash defeated, so the whole "Drake threw the match" theory made sense.

Now that he was seeing Drake on TV again, Reiji realized something: if this really was the anime version of the Pokémon world, then he might actually run into Ash, Misty, Brock, and all those familiar faces.

That thought made him a little excited—but not too much. After all, he was the one who got isekai'd. Ash would have to take a backseat. He was the protagonist now.

As he mulled this over, Drake's match ended and the channel switched to another Pokémon battle—this time just starting.

"Next up is the semifinals of the Indigo League! Who will stand victorious and make it to the grand final? Let's find out together!"

"Whoa, it's the Indigo League? Feels nostalgic. Ash carried the torch here—it was his first real regional tournament," Reiji muttered, putting down the remote and watching the match.

It was a 6v6 full battle, and the intensity gradually pulled even his Pokémon out of the yard and toward the TV. They were completely absorbed.

The climax featured a Charizard defeating an Exeggutor to clinch the win.

Watching the entire match, Reiji had to admit—it was actually a high-quality battle. But despite that, back in his previous life's forums, people used to mock it as a "Baby Cup." Some even looked down on competing in it.

Sure, if you said Ash was "carried," that might be fair.

But Gary had also gone through proper training and still lost in the top 32. That alone showed that this tournament had real weight behind it.

With both Ash and Gary knocked out before the finals, the anime didn't even bother showing the rest. They just handed the title to some faceless silhouette that looked like Brock. Lazy storytelling.

From what he just watched, both trainers were at least early Advanced-tier. At best, they'd be cannon fodder—same as him right now.

Still, the battles had substance. And if he were to enter now, he'd probably only make it to the top 8. That'd be his limit.

The trainers on screen had mostly second- or third-stage evolutions.

Especially that Charizard—probably level 45–50. It had raw power, and even with a type disadvantage, it could probably wipe the floor with him.

Once the match ended, the TV cut to commercials. Reiji snapped out of his thoughts and noticed his Pokémon had all gathered around him—especially Poliwhirl and Krabby, their eyes glued to the screen.

"Poliwhirl, do you want to compete in a tournament like that?" Reiji asked, seeing how into it Poliwhirl was.

"Woop woop!" Poliwhirl pointed at the screen, then at himself, asking if he could do that too.

"Of course. I want to compete too. Why do you think we train so hard? It's so we can shine in a tournament like that."

Reiji nodded, then shook his head. He did want to enter a competition like that—but only if he could win the whole thing.

If he couldn't become champion, there was no point. For an orphan like him, losing meant nothing but wasted effort. He'd just be a background character.

If he was going to do it, he had to be the star of the show. That was the goal he had set—for himself and for his Pokémon. Otherwise, this whole isekai adventure would be meaningless.

And his goal wasn't just the championship. He wanted to reach the Elite Four. If the opportunity came, maybe even take the Champion title.

But if he decided to chill later on… being Elite Four-level strong was good enough.

(End of Chapter)

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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