“Mom…”
“Did you get hurt?”
Early the next morning—
After finishing another training session with Noah in the courtyard of their new home—
Serena looked toward her mother, who had finally gotten out of bed.
Noticing Grace’s strange limp—
She asked with genuine concern.
“N-No…”
“I’m fine.”
“I just…”
“I’m not used to sleeping in a new bed.”
“So I didn’t sleep very well.”
Grace first shot Noah an extremely resentful glare before awkwardly making up an excuse.
Pretending not to notice the accusing look from the mature beauty—
Noah continued explaining various characteristics of Digimon to Serena.
After exchanging for more and more Digimon—
He discovered that every Digimon summoned from the Digital World had been ‘localized’.
For example—
Agumon had become a Dragon/Fire-type.
Palmon had become a Grass/Poison-type.
Furthermore—
They were capable of learning ordinary Pokémon moves.
Such as Flamethrower.
Or Vine Whip.
Naturally—
Their signature attacks like Baby Flame and Poison Ivy remained as well.
Noah actually preferred this arrangement.
After all—
The power scaling in the original Digimon series had always been completely absurd.
As far as he remembered—
Those kids almost never trained alongside their Digimon partners.
Instead—
Whenever emotions reached the appropriate level—
They simply evolved and instantly defeated the enemy.
To this day—
Noah still couldn’t understand how Angemon, after evolving from Champion to Ultimate, managed to defeat Piedmon, a Mega-level Digimon.
As for Marcus Damon—
That monster hardly even needed to be mentioned.
When it came to Digivolution—
Noah had personally experimented alongside Agumon.
To evolve—
A Digimon had to accumulate sufficient battle experience through training and combat.
It also had to genuinely desire evolution itself.
Only then could evolution succeed.
Not like in the original anime—
Where the Chosen Children would suddenly evolve every time the villains were just about to wipe everyone out.
…
Ding-dong.
The doorbell suddenly rang.
Grace, who was preparing breakfast inside the house, called out,
“Serena!”
“Go answer the door!”
Hearing that—
Noah and Serena walked from the backyard to the front gate.
The moment Noah saw the elderly man standing outside the iron fence—
He instinctively thought to himself,
‘Holy crap…
it’s Professor Oak’s darker-skinned cousin.’
Of course—
He wisely kept that thought to himself.
Quickly opening the gate, Noah extended his hand.
“Principal Samson.”
“It’s been a while.”
Samson Oak.
Well…
Professor Oak’s Alolan form—
Just kidding.
He was actually Professor Oak’s cousin.
Unlike Samuel Oak, Samson wasn’t a Pokémon Professor.
He served as the principal of the Pokémon School in Alola.
“So…”
“What brings you here today?”
Scratching the back of his head somewhat awkwardly, Samson replied,
“Honestly…”
“I came to ask you for a small favor.”
As he spoke—
He stepped aside.
Standing behind him was a brown-haired boy with spiky hair, about Serena’s age.
However—
His current appearance was so filthy that even Serena instinctively took two steps backward.
He looked as though he had rolled around in mud several times.
Noah recognized him immediately.
Ash’s first rival—
And later one of his closest friends.
Gary.
Samson explained,
“My grandnephew watched your battle against Champion Diantha.”
“He secretly ran away to Alola without telling Samuel, saying he wanted to catch a Digimon.”
“This boy was incredibly reckless.”
“He didn’t even have a starter Pokémon.”
“He came here carrying nothing but a few empty Poké Balls.”
“If I hadn’t found him in Verdant Cavern this morning…”
“He probably would’ve been eaten by a Muk.”
Listening to Samson’s explanation—
Noah nearly burst out laughing.
Everyone always said Ash was reckless.
Apparently Gary wasn’t much better.
The kid had flown halfway across the world to Alola—
Without even owning a single Pokémon.
The fact that he hadn’t died in the wilderness was already a miracle.
“So…”
“Noah…”
“Would you…”
Samson scratched his head again.
His meaning couldn’t have been more obvious.
Could you give this brat a Digimon?
Samson immediately smacked his grandnephew on the back.
Gary, who hadn’t yet matured through his eventual defeat in the Indigo League and was still the arrogant kid he used to be, reluctantly bowed toward Noah.
“Please!”
At this point—
He had long since abandoned the pride of being the younger heir of the Oak family.
During the past two days—
He had searched all over Melemele Island looking for wild Digimon.
And he had nearly gotten himself killed.
…
Noah rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
‘Well…’
‘Looks like pulling strings through personal connections exists in every world.’
“Principal Samson.”
“I’m sure you know the three requirements for obtaining a Digimon.”
Before Samson could answer—
Gary immediately blurted out,
“I’ll transfer my residency to Alola!”
‘Wow…’
‘That was surprisingly realistic.’
Gary reminded Noah of all those people from his previous life who desperately tried to obtain permanent residency abroad.
“Hmm…”
“All right.”
“Just remember to pay your taxes afterward.”
“Then go register with Professor Kukui as an official Alola Trainer.”
Ordinarily—
To become a rookie Trainer within a regional League and receive one of the region’s starter Pokémon—
Parents had to pay League taxes from the day their child was born.
Once the child reached the proper age—
They would receive a starter Pokémon and enjoy free Pokémon Center services until adulthood.
Of course—
If you didn’t pay taxes—
You could always buy a Poké Ball yourself and catch something like a Rattata or Pidgey in the wild.
The quality obviously wouldn’t compare to a starter Pokémon.
And Pokémon Center treatment wouldn’t be free.
Although Noah claimed Gary simply needed to ‘pay his taxes’—
The money would actually end up going straight into Noah’s own account.
He has devoted himself heart and soul to building Alola.
What’s wrong with taking a tiny commission?
“Wait here.”
“I’ll go get a few.”
Noah gestured for Gary and Samson to wait before walking back into the house.
Seeing Grace still preparing breakfast—
He couldn’t resist giving the beautiful married woman’s shapely backside a playful squeeze.
Ignoring the eye roll she gave him—
He exchanged several beginner-friendly Digimon through the System.
…
When Noah returned to the front yard—
Under the curious gazes of Serena, Grace, Samson, and Gary—
He tossed out three Poké Balls.
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Three bursts of white light flashed.
Three adorable Rookie Digimon hopped happily onto the ground.