Survival on a Deserted Island in Alola

The Alola Region had a warm climate and abundant resources. All kinds of berry trees could be found everywhere, whether along town roadsides or out in the wilderness.

But because the growing conditions were so good, these berry trees, like Alolan Exeggutor, were much taller than those in other regions...

"Cyclizar, Cyclizar~"

"Almost... Hang in there!"

Xingye stood atop Cyclizar's head, straining to reach up and shake a branch. He simply had no strength left to climb the tree, so this was their only option.

Crack—

The branch Xingye had grabbed finally snapped. His expression instantly turned excited, but the next moment, he lost his balance and fell onto the grass below.

"Cyclizar!"

Cyclizar panicked for a moment, but Xingye rubbed his back and forced himself to his feet through the pain.

Fortunately, the grass was cushioned by sand that had blown over from the beach. He had not been hurt and would recover soon enough.

He waved a hand to show he was fine, then picked up the branch he had just broken off.

More than a dozen fruits grew on it, their colors fading from magenta to peach pink. They looked wonderfully cute, with white speckles and droplets of dew decorating their skins. These were ripe Pecha Berries.

Their flesh was soft, sweet, and refreshing. Eating them could cure poisoning and severe poisoning, and they could also serve as a small snack to fill one's stomach. However, Pecha Berries were hollow inside, so there was very little edible flesh. They could not be treated as a meal.

Xingye also picked up the Pecha Berries that had been shaken onto the sand. Because their flesh was soft, the fall had damaged them, and they were covered in a little sand.

"Doesn't matter. As long as there's something to eat, it's fine. When you're starving, everything tastes good."

He kept the bruised Pecha Berries for himself, then handed all the ones still on the branch to Cyclizar. A larger Pokémon like this definitely ate more than a human.

"These are Pecha Berries. Go ahead and eat."

"Cyclizar~"

Although it had lost its memories, its body still remembered certain instincts. It grabbed the branch and was about to bite into one of the Pecha Berries.

But at that moment, a dark shadow suddenly dropped from above the berry tree, landing fiercely between them. It then swung a huge blue claw like a boxing glove and punched straight at Xingye!

Seeing its half-open right eye, as if someone had punched it, he immediately recognized it. It was a Crabrawler, a Pokémon that loved eating Berries!

Crabrawler usually shook or struck berry trees to knock down their Berries, then hid inside the pile to eat. They would attack anyone who tried to steal their food.

Perhaps because Pecha Berries bruised easily and would spoil over time, this Crabrawler had chosen to climb the tree to eat.

His and Cyclizar's act of breaking off branches to pick Berries had probably made it think they were thieves, which was why it had jumped down and attacked!

The Crabrawler's attack was already upon him. Its fierce punch wind rushed straight at his face, as fast as the Pyukumuku from before—perhaps even faster. Xingye could no longer dodge!

But at that very moment, Cyclizar behind him suddenly reached out and grabbed the Crabrawler's rear claw.

Crabrawler's body froze completely in midair. It was stunned for an instant, then before it could react, it was spun around in a 180-degree arc and hurled into the trunk of the berry tree.

"Cyclizar!"

Cyclizar spun around sharply, bit off a Pecha Berry in passing, then shielded the still-shaken Xingye behind it. Its black eyes locked onto the Crabrawler climbing up from the ground, filled with intense hostility.

"It can still fight even with amnesia..."

Xingye recovered from his panic and realized that this must be a wild Pokémon's innate battle instinct. Crabrawler had shown hostility and attacked, so Cyclizar naturally retaliated.

So the next step should be a battle, right? Not some turn-based rock-paper-scissors game that drained your lifespan while you gambled on accuracy, but a real fight!

At the thought, his excited hands trembled slightly. Then he happily waved and shouted, "In that case, let's have a Pokémon battle! Cyclizar, use... um... um..."

Xingye's outstretched hand froze in midair, and his expression went completely blank. He seemed to have no idea what moves Cyclizar had. It had forgotten them all.

Its battle instincts remained, and its moves were still there, but it was like being hit by California King Bed's Substitute attack—if it could not use them, they were meaningless.

"Forget it, just ram it!"

Xingye remembered one of Cyclizar's traits: its head was extremely hard, making it a powerful weapon in battle. Anyway, ramming it was the right call!

He had no idea whether Cyclizar understood the command, but when Crabrawler angrily charged in with its fist swinging, Cyclizar really did kick off with its hind legs and smash into it at full force!

Bang—

How could Crabrawler's fragile little body withstand such a violent impact? Its swinging fist was knocked aside the instant they collided, and then its body turned into starlight and vanished silently into the night sky...

"That was kind of strong..."

Watching the opponent get one-shotted, Xingye scratched his head, still unable to process it. It seemed he might have underestimated how strong Cyclizar had been before losing its memories.

But there was no need to think about that for now. His gaze instinctively fell on several colorful Berries that had dropped from Crabrawler after the impact.

"Beating monsters even drops items. Oran Berries and Cheri Berries... Nice, we can have an extra meal!"

"Cyclizar~"

Cyclizar happily hopped twice as well, not looking like it had just been in a battle at all. It was as though it had never considered the opponent worth its attention.

Crabrawler had dropped some other kinds of Berries too, but not all Berries were suitable for humans to eat directly. Still, they could be processed into seasonings and Berry dishes.

If he had the chance, Xingye wanted to show off his cooking skills using all the different food ingredients in this world. He was fairly confident in that area...

Under the night sky, a few Berries barely replenished some of their strength, though they still felt hungry. But with Crabrawler driven away, they could keep picking from that tree.

After all that fuss, one human and one lizard finally ate their fill. Pecha Berries had plenty of moisture in their flesh, solving their thirst problem as well.

Xingye sat beneath a coconut tree and gazed out over the sea. In the distance, lights seemed to flash. If he remembered correctly, that should be where the artificial island Aether Paradise was located—the Aether Foundation's base.

Curiously, he moved the map cursor before him over there, only to discover that the map labeled it "Aether Research Center Headquarters," an important facility for researching Pokémon in the Alola Region.

The detailed description did not mention protecting Pokémon, but the artificial island was still under expansion, and more projects would be added later.

"The predecessor of Aether Paradise? Once the expansion is finished, that should be when the Aether Foundation is established. This world's timeline feels a little different, but that's normal. The Pokémon world's timeline has always been a mess. If it can't be explained, it's a parallel world."

Xingye moved the cursor back to where he was, then zoomed the map all the way out. The entire map of Alola now appeared before him.

Looking at it all, he could not help sighing. "It's still hard to believe... I really traveled to the Alola Region..."

"Cyclizar?"

"Don't worry. I'm at 1000% right now."

A smile appeared on Xingye's face as he reached out and patted Cyclizar's head. Pokémon really existed. This was not Pokémon cosplay—this was reality!

Now that he had calmed down, he looked at those glowing points again and found that some had disappeared, while some new ones had appeared. It was probably related to his change in location.

He then opened the friendship app shortcut in the bottom-right corner. There was not much content, but he could see the friendship he had recently gained from Cyclizar.

The friendship Rotom Phone had given him counted as a beginner tutorial and did not appear there, leaving only this one entry on the entire talent list. Everything else was empty. It was simply pitiful.

"So I really have to be a nice guy and help people everywhere. Sounds like a hassle. But it seems I can even help Pokémon that already have Trainers, and earn their friendship... Does that count as stealing someone's girl?"

For some reason, Xingye suddenly thought of that. Sure enough, as soon as people had nothing to do, they started letting their imaginations run wild. But none of that mattered now...

He stood up, dusted the sand from his body, then spread his arms, stretched, and took a deep breath of Alola's fresh air.

Although this start was like surviving on a deserted island, at least he was no longer alone.

"Let's go! First, a small goal: get you a Poké Ball!"

"Cyclizar~"