Crouching among the dense trees, Itsuki looked around for a solution.
Then, his gaze accidentally fell upon the backpack beside him.
His eyes immediately lit up.
'Heh. I've got an idea!'
He opened his backpack and rummaged around until he found a flashlight.
Then, he tore off several small strips of tape and stuck them over the front of the flashlight, leaving only a tiny circular opening.
Next, he took out a can of food, opened the lid, and placed it behind a large boulder that was big enough to hide behind.
Once everything was ready, he waved his hand and signaled for his Pokémon to hide in the surrounding area.
"We're short on time, so forget about having a proper one-on-one battle this time."
"Once I lure Charmander over here, everyone attacks together!"
"We need to finish the battle before those Charizard notice anything. Got it?"
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
Seeing all four Pokémon nod in agreement, Itsuki returned alone to the tree where he'd been hiding earlier and began observing the colony carefully.
Charmander resembled a small carnivorous dinosaur.
Its body was predominantly orange, while its belly and the underside of its tail were cream-colored.
Its most distinctive feature was naturally the flame burning at the tip of its tail.
That flame could reflect both its physical condition and its emotional state.
When Charmander was full of energy, the flame burned vigorously.
When it lacked motivation, the flame weakened.
When it was happy, the flame danced and swayed gently.
And when it became angry, the flame blazed fiercely.
According to legend, if the flame on Charmander's tail ever went out, its life would come to an end.
However, as long as Charmander remained healthy, its tail flame would continue burning strongly even if its entire body became soaking wet.
At that moment, the Charmander were still playing leisurely, completely unaware of Itsuki's presence.
After observing them for quite some time, Itsuki finally fixed his gaze on one particularly unusual Charmander.
This Charmander was playing and roughhousing with its companions just like the others.
However, perhaps because it was somewhat careless, it frequently used too much strength without realizing it.
Unable to properly control its power, it kept angering its companions, who would roar at it and scold it.
Watching the little fellow's rather dim-witted behavior, Itsuki made his decision.
'Perfect!'
'You're the one I've chosen!'
Taking out his modified flashlight, Itsuki switched it on and aimed it at the Charmander.
A thin beam of light shot forward.
Because the light was concentrated into a narrow beam rather than spreading outward, none of the other Charmander noticed anything unusual.
At first, the targeted Charmander paid little attention to the dazzling light.
It merely blinked and turned its head to avoid it.
However, the light slowly followed the movement of its head and shone directly into its face again.
This finally caught its attention.
'?'
A huge question mark practically appeared above Charmander's head.
It looked left and right.
Then, driven by curiosity, it began walking toward Itsuki's hiding place.
Seeing that his target had taken the bait, Itsuki slowly retreated and hid behind the enormous boulder.
Following the flashlight's beam, Charmander eventually arrived at the designated spot.
However, the mysterious light suddenly disappeared.
In its place was some strange food sitting in the middle of an open patch of ground, giving off an enticing aroma.
Charmander sniffed vigorously.
Just as it took two steps forward—
"Now!"
Several figures burst out from every direction!
Before Charmander could even react, four attacks struck it almost simultaneously!
Water Gun!
Confusion!
Vine Whip!
And a powerful Headbutt!
In the blink of an eye, Charmander was sent crashing to the ground.
Its vision went black.
And just like that, it completely lost consciousness.
"Excellent!"
Seeing Charmander collapse, Itsuki immediately jumped out from his hiding place.
He hurriedly pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it toward the unconscious Pokémon.
A flash of red light appeared.
Charmander was sucked into the Poké Ball.
The ball didn't even shake once before the capture was completed successfully.
Meanwhile, Squirtle stared blankly at the Poké Ball.
'Huh...?'
'Why does this whole capture scene feel so... familiar?'
"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"
Itsuki lightly tapped Squirtle on the head.
Even in the dim darkness of the night, the smile on his face seemed dazzlingly bright to Squirtle.
"We've already caught it! Hurry up and get moving before the big guys notice anything!"
"Let's get out of here!"
...
Late that night, at the Pokémon Center in Pewter City.
Inside the completely deserted dining area, Itsuki leaned back comfortably in his chair.
With one leg crossed over the other, he leisurely sipped a glass of vegetable juice, looking thoroughly relaxed.
As of today, he had finally accomplished one of his goals.
He had collected all three starter Pokémon from the Kanto region!
Bulbasaur!
Squirtle!
Charmander!
'Mission accomplished!'
Beside him, four of his five Pokémon were happily eating their meals.
Only Charmander, who had just been captured, sat there with a completely bewildered expression, looking around at its unfamiliar surroundings.
Its memories were rather fragmented.
It felt as though it had simply gone to sleep.
Yet when it woke up, the entire world had somehow changed.
It had absolutely no idea why it was here.
'Wait...'
'Where am I?'
'What happened?'
'And why has this human suddenly become my Trainer?'
'More importantly, since when did these Pokémon become my companions?!'
Seeing Charmander sitting there in a daze, Itsuki pushed a plate of food toward it.
"Come on, eat up!"
"What? Your head's still a little fuzzy?"
"Don't worry about it!"
Itsuki smiled cheerfully.
"After today, I'm sure you'll get used to everything in no time!"