A New Beginning

"What are you planning to do? You didn't come here just to see this junior one last time before he goes to prison, did you?"

Heiduo's expression remained calm. What had happened had already happened; panicking would be utterly useless. He might as well stay composed and look for a way out.

"You're quite calm, kid." Lorelei smiled. "And you're right. I didn't come to see you one last time. How could a kind woman like me do something so hateable?"

Heiduo sighed. "Then please get to the point. To be honest, I really need to use the bathroom."

People in charge always beat around the bush. It wasn't like saying things clearly would cost them a pound of flesh.

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "You seem pretty confident. Are you certain I won't do anything to you?"

"Uh, no, no, you misunderstood. I'm just dead inside." Heiduo hurriedly put on a flattering smile. Whether he got out safely depended entirely on whether Lorelei was willing to speak up for him.

A real man had to know when to bend and when to stand tall. Besides, she was such a big shot.

"Then I'll be direct."

Lorelei smiled.

"Let's make a bet." Still smiling, Lorelei removed three Poké Balls from her waist and placed them one by one on the table behind her. "These are your three Pokémon, including the one you bought."

She took out two keys. "One of these unlocks the restraints on you. The other opens the locker containing all your belongings."

Heiduo froze, not quite understanding what Lorelei meant.

"You have two options. One, you obediently go to prison, and I can help reduce your sentence to three years. Of course, your Pokémon will no longer belong to you. Two, we use the injury to the back of your head as an excuse. I'll pull some strings and try to get you medical parole. You can take everything on the table, and there's even a gift from me in that locker."

Lorelei leaned closer and stared intently into Heiduo's eyes. Their breathing was clearly audible.

Heiduo felt a little embarrassed. In his previous life, he had been a guy in his twenties, and women with Lorelei's mature big-sister vibe were exactly his type.

"But." Lorelei was very satisfied with Heiduo's reaction. What woman didn't want to be attractive to men?

Especially cute little boys like Heiduo.

Lorelei said softly, "Within the three years you've been spared, you must win the championship of either the Kanto or Johto League Conference, earn the right to participate in the Champion League, and stand before me! Win or lose!

"Otherwise, twenty years in prison await you. Don't worry, I mean what I say. I still have some influence in the Pokémon League. If you fail, even if I personally can't stop you, you'll spend the rest of your life on the run."

Heiduo looked at Lorelei's beautiful face and felt that she was more venomous than a snake.

A green bamboo snake's mouth, a hornet's stinger—neither was truly poisonous. A woman's heart was the most poisonous of all!

"Did my parents have some kind of grudge against you?" Heiduo asked Lorelei in disbelief. Win a League Conference within three years, enter the Champion League, and battle Lorelei?

First of all, the Pokémon League Conference was the kind of League tournament unique to the anime, held regularly in every region. To qualify, one usually had to obtain at least eight local Gym Badges before the League began.

Second, while collecting those Badges, he would have to defeat countless elite Pokémon League Trainers and rise above tens of thousands of competitors from the same class to become League Conference Champion.

Holy crap, did she have any idea what kind of monsters those champions were? What kind of freaks did the writers create just to keep Ash from winning?

Mysterious people without even a name!

Monsters who flattened everything with Rhyhorn!

"Rivals" who bulldozed their way through with Meowth!

Legendary Pokémon men with entire teams of Legendaries!

Rescue team members who toppled a whole bunch of cheaters with an Eevee team!

And the last one! The most suffocating of them all!

Alain, owner of that old Charizard with Water Absorb, with pseudo-Legendaries under his command like they cost nothing—the biggest scandal in history!

My poor Greninja! Wuuuuuu!

See? Even with a cheat, Heiduo still lost a few degrees of courage before such irresistible forces.

Not to mention Bruno and Agatha, whom he would face when he entered the Champion League and challenged the Elite Four.

What if those two were ranked ahead of Lorelei? Would he even survive?

"Precisely because I'm close with your parents, I'm going to teach you a proper lesson!" Lorelei said bluntly. Of course, she understood that making Heiduo reach such heights within three years was wildly unrealistic.

Not everyone was a protagonist.

A Pokémon's growth was an extremely lengthy process. Forcing growth through external means was like pulling up seedlings to help them grow—counterproductive and harmful.

And the Trainer's own growth was equally important, along with the rapport built between Pokémon and Trainer over time.

All of that had to be considered.

Reality wasn't a game where one could grind levels like crazy and sweep through everything with a single Pokémon, and where some rom hacks even restored a Pokémon's stamina after defeating an Elite Four member.

"You little brat, you really don't know what's good for you! If someone hadn't reported this to me, you'd already be in prison! How could you be sitting here perfectly fine, haggling with me and running your mouth?" Lorelei jabbed Heiduo's forehead hard. Her bright red nails hurt.

Lorelei said sternly, "Pokémon are creatures with human-like intelligence. If you were locked up and sold for money, would you be willing?"

Heiduo had no answer. Fair was fair—putting himself in their shoes, he felt Lorelei was right. Treating a life capable of communication as a slave to be bought and sold was not a pleasant thing.

Maybe he hadn't felt that way before, but after meeting Ekans, he understood. Pokémon were different from the muddleheaded animals of his previous life. Calling them human-like in intelligence was practically an insult to them.

Some Pokémon were no less intelligent than humans.

The jungle law of humanity first, of "those not of our kind must have different hearts," could not be applied to the Pokémon world. Pokémon were especially "stupid" creatures. They trusted humans easily, perhaps just because of a meal or a friendly conversation.

Arbok was a perfect example.

"Pokémon are humanity's friends, not humanity's slaves. If you keep oppressing one, even if you hold its Poké Ball, one day you'll die by its hand!" Lorelei said from above him. "The Pokémon League's laws are humanity's bottom line. They cannot be touched, not even skirted around!

"If you insist on breaking the law and refuse to turn back, then I'll lock you in prison for the rest of your life. Don't worry, the conditions are quite good, and you won't lack food or drink, but forget about personal freedom! I'm sure your parents would agree with my decision!"

Heiduo did not quite understand why Lorelei had been so calm just moments ago, yet became so much more emotional at words like oppressing Pokémon and slavery, as if she hated evil with a vengeance.

...No. She simply did not want to see Pokémon sold like merchandise.

Looking into Lorelei's eyes, Heiduo remembered Ekans fighting desperately to defeat Geodude and Spinarak for him, curling up beside him to sleep, eating and bathing with him. For a moment, his heart stirred.

Pokémon were not objects. They could cry and laugh, suffer when injured, and be moved by someone's words.

They were the purest lives in this world, and also the most loyal, most trustworthy companions!

As long as you treated them well, they would repay you with everything they had.

No reason was needed.

That was what they truly were: impossibly foolish, yet genuinely existing fantasy lives.

Heiduo sighed. No matter how he thought about it, he could not find anything to refute Lorelei's words.

Ekans had nearly risked its life fighting for him not long ago.

A person could not be that ungrateful, forgetting everything the moment they lowered their head.

The other Pokémon did not matter, but at the very least, Ekans—Ekans absolutely could not be sold like a slave or treated as merchandise. It deserved a better life. A good snake deserved a good reward.

After thinking for a long time, Heiduo said, "I'm sorry. When it came to buying Gible, I really did do something wrong."

He was not actually a noble person. He was extremely selfish. Otherwise, in that situation earlier, he would not have only thought about spending all the money in his hands instead of looking for Serea and the others.

But among his few virtues was this: when he discovered that he truly had been wrong and was in the wrong, he could correct himself.

Rather than clinging to meaningless pride and stubbornly holding on, as though preserving face would preserve everything.

In truth, it would preserve nothing.

However, he would not admit guilt for being part of Team Rocket, a villainous organization. It was not like he had wanted to join Team Rocket. He woke up already inside Team Rocket. What else could he do?

But Lorelei seemed to care only about the matter of buying Gible. She ignored everything else, and all her arguments revolved around the issue of buying and selling Pokémon.

That could not help but make one wonder: why did Lorelei not care that he was in Team Rocket?

Across from him.

Seeing the genuine apology on Heiduo's face, Lorelei smiled with relief. "I'm glad you've found your way back. But an apology alone is far from enough, and I'm not the one you wronged."

"Originally, I planned to send the Pokémon you bought back to its hometown." Lorelei picked up one of the three Poké Balls on the table and spoke slowly. "But later, I learned that it had originally been an experimental subject, an observation specimen, in a virtual ecosystem operated by an ecological company.

"So I abandoned that idea. After all, making a Pokémon that had lived freely spend its entire life in a place no bigger than a schoolyard would be far too cruel.

"Rather than sending it back to that unhappy place, I'd rather have you spend your life making it up to it."

Lorelei placed the Poké Ball in Heiduo's shackled hands. "Do you have the resolve to care for it for the rest of its life? Can you let it feel the beauty of freedom? Can you—take responsibility for it?"

The answer was actually quite obvious.

If he did not like it, why would he have bought it from the trading page, even knowing that he might be breaking the law?

It had once accompanied Heiduo through countless wonderful dreams, carrying him to the champion's throne again and again.

It was a Pokémon he would obtain even with cheats in countless rom hacks.

"If I rashly said that I could, I'm sure you wouldn't believe me. So let time prove it. Time will prove everything." Heiduo gripped the Poké Ball tightly. Honestly, his mind was still spinning. Suddenly, the police came to his door and he had to run. Suddenly, someone set him up. Suddenly, he was thrown into a cell. Suddenly, an Elite Four member appeared and said she would get him out, but with conditions.

Yet when he held this Poké Ball tightly, everything became real.

It told Heiduo that he had truly escaped Team Rocket, the place he had longed to leave, while also signing an unequal "treaty" with an Elite Four member. Honestly, he had no idea why Lorelei had gone to so much trouble.

If she really disliked him, she could have simply thrown him in prison. Yet she had come to negotiate terms with him. Heiduo did not think he had any bargaining chip worth discussing with an Elite Four member.

An elder who wanted to punish a relative but still give a junior another chance?

And why had she reacted so strongly? Did she really hate buying and selling Pokémon that much?

But there had been talk before of regulations protecting rare and precious Pokémon. Didn't that mean many Pokémon could still be bought and sold?

...Animal protection?

A notorious organization from his previous life flashed through Heiduo's mind, though that organization had been two-faced. Lorelei... probably was not. She was genuinely angry about the buying and selling of Pokémon, so why not include all Pokémon?

She probably could not do it. Just like animal protection groups could only protest forever, Lorelei alone could not accomplish the feat of changing the world.

Seen from that angle, she was unexpectedly a little pitiful.

Lorelei did not reply. She had no idea what kind of mental storm Heiduo was going through. She merely looked into his eyes, conveying her meaning through them—her gaze was approving.

"That's all I have to say." Lorelei placed the keys from the table before Heiduo. "I hope you keep your promise, learn from this lesson, and don't let the current environment influence you. Have your own thoughts... go figure it out yourself. Go discover what Pokémon truly are. When that time comes, you'll start hating Pokémon trading just like I do."

As she said that, unwillingness appeared on Lorelei's face, as if she wanted to do something but could not, the expression of someone whose lifelong dream had been shattered.

It lasted only a moment.

Heiduo nodded, becoming even more certain of his judgment, but then he grew curious. "Um, may I ask where my parents are?"

His curiosity had been stirred. Naturally, he also felt somewhat guilty about taking over their son's body, especially since he had not inherited the original owner's memories.

Didn't that mean the original Heiduo had disappeared from this world?

"They?" At the mention of Heiduo's parents, Lorelei's expression suddenly changed. She seemed to be holding back some emotion. "They're doing something very important. At the very least, you won't be able to see them for five years."

Five years!

Were they participating in some atomic bomb development experiment?

Heiduo was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Why so long?"

"Because of the secrecy involved, of course! But don't worry, I'll tell your parents about you. I promise you, your parents are truly great people," Lorelei said slowly.

Great?

Were they really making an atomic bomb? No! Were they researching controllable nuclear fusion to provide humanity with a constant supply of energy?

Just as Heiduo wanted to ask more, Lorelei turned and left somewhat impatiently.

She seemed to have far too many things to handle and no time to bicker with him.

"Oh, right! I suggest you eat breakfast at the police station before you leave. You haven't eaten for two meals, so you must be starving, right?" Lorelei said, half-closing the door. "And don't worry about your three Pokémon. They've all been fed until they're full.

"Once you're done eating, leave early. Honestly, three years... I'm very worried about you!"

With that, she closed the door and left.

Only Heiduo remained in the interrogation room.

"Emmmmm... I'm free? I spent a day in a cell, then got medical parole because there's a dent in the back of my head, got lectured by an acquaintance of my former parents, and now I'm free?" Heiduo could not make heads or tails of it. It seemed his former parents had quite a lot of influence.

Medical parole was a legal method of allowing criminals to leave prison. It was not a loophole in the law.

Though plenty of bad people used it as one to gain freedom.

Lorelei... honestly, he did not know if it was just his imagination, but this Ice Elite Four member had truly wanted to send him to prison. And the reason was not that he had joined Team Rocket, but that he had bought and sold Pokémon.

But then she gave up.

A crazy but rational Pokémon protector...

Well, no matter what, freedom was a good thing, even if he had to challenge an Elite Four member in three years.

Heiduo looked at the countless pieces of data in his right eye and felt that, like all the League Conference Champions Ash had encountered, he too was favored by the heavens.

Cheats really were the best.