NOVEL WEB Chapter 14: World Masters
Dante forgot the time and played until his mother called him for dinner.
'Tsk tsk, I didn't expect to play for so long. I'll just watch Pokemon Battles before going to bed.'
Making a resolve to himself, Dante turned off the computer and headed towards the dining room. His father was already home from work and sitting at the dining table together with his mother.
Sitting at the other end of the table, Dante and his family prayed before starting to eat their lunch.
Eating their food, the family of three began to chat. As the atmosphere was getting warmer, Mr. Zulueta suddenly asked Dante.
"Son, have you already thought about what Pokemon you want as a starter? Just say who you want, me and your mother still have some savings for many years."
"Yes Dan, having a strong starter Pokemon would ensure you can be admitted into those great universities. Don't hold back because of us and just say who you want."
Mrs. Zulueta on the side also encouraged Dante. Hearing the supportive words of his parents, Dante felt warm inside.
You know, their family is just middle-class. His father's salary of 30,000 Alliance credits every month is just enough for their family to comfortably live in this country.
Common Pokemons like Pidgey, Eevee, Lillipup, Caterpie, Pikachu, Pidove, Zigzagoon, Wurmple, and etc. that can easily be reproduced have a cost ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 alliance credits.
Note that these are Pokemons that are specifically bred to be sold as pets. They do not inherit any egg moves, and their natures are mostly timid and docile due to being pampered when being raised.
This is not to say Trainers can't choose them as their starter Pokemon. Most Pokemon Trainers from a civilian background even chose them. Their progress will just be delayed at the beginning when compared to others.
Pokemons that are bred for battle start at about 30,000, with uncommon Pokemon even being priced at above 100,000 credits. These Pokemons are motivated to train and battle from an early age.
New Trainers that obtain battle-ready Pokemon don't have to worry about motivating them, and they are also trained to listen to a Trainer's command during battle. This is unlike the other that is bred as a pet, where the Trainer must first condition them for battle.
Another method is buying unhatched Pokemons. In this case however, the Trainer isn't able to determine when the Pokemon will hatch. In addition, some Pokemons have an infancy stage for as short as a week (mostly bug types) to as long as a year where they can't be trained.
"It's alright, thanks, ma, pa. I just need a Pokeball."
"What? No! Our family has enough money Dan, you don't have to risk and capture one yourself!"
Lastly, another method for new Pokemon Trainers to acquire their starter is to capture one from the wild.
Pokemons that have just left their infancy are only a little stronger in strength from normal adult humans. Therefore, there are times when a Pokemon Trainer will go into the wild and fight Pokemon themselves to capture them as their starter.
In this world, capturing wild Pokemons with Pokeballs doesn't automatically make them obey you. This is especially true the stronger a Pokemon is.
Therefore, capturing Pokemons in the wild as a starter, not to mention being dangerous, the Pokemons may also not obey. Especially if they are captured using traps or trickery, the Pokemon will directly attack the trainer right after being released.
Trainers can only hope to meet a gullible Pokemon that is tempted by food and willingly follow them. But bringing a bag of food in a Pokemon infested forest is just another method of suicide.
"No, listen to me. I have befriended a Pikachu that grew up in the wild. I made a promise with it that I would choose them as my starter Pokemon when I passed the tr–"
"YOU WENT INTO THE FOREST!??"
Clearly, Dante's mother didn't listen to him. After assuring her again and again that he didn't go into the forest and that he met Pikachu while he was out in the park, she finally calmed down.
"But a Pikachu…alright. If that's who you really want as a starter, your mother and I will support you. I'll give you the money, you can go to the mall tomorrow to buy a Pokeball and the Thunderstone for Pikachu."
Mr. Zulueta gave Dante an assuring look while still holding his recently calmed wife.
"Thanks pa! Thanks ma! And don't worry about buying the Thunderstone just yet. I would have to train Pikachu for a long time before he is ready for evolution."
While Dante himself had no plans for Pikachu to evolve, he had to reassure his parents first so as to avoid another argument.
After that, the conversation during dinner took a more pleasant turn, with them discussing which university Dante should go to, his possible future Pokemons, and his mother warning him again and again to prioritize his life during a PokePortal exploration.
After dinner, Dante headed into his room and watched various Pokemon battles. Dante was especially amazed watching the latest Pokemon Masters Tournament that was held last year.
The Pokemon Masters Tournament is a global event that is held every 4 years. The Pokemon Champion and the Elite Four of each country will form a team in order to represent their country to battle.
In the past 54 years since the establishment of the Masters Tournament, only 9 countries have won, with some of them winning repeatedly:
The United States with a record of 2 championships. The current champion of the country being 'The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons' Iris
China with a record of 2 championships. The current champion of the country being 'The Divine Damsel of Devastation' Shenhe
Japan with a record of 2 championships. The current champion being 'The Dragon Master' Lance
Russia with a record of 2 championships. The current champion being 'The Researcher of Myths' Cynthia
United Kingdoms with a record of 1 championship. The current champion being 'The Monarch of Pokemon' Leon
Germany with a record of 1 championship. The current champion being 'The Dandelion Knight' Jean
France with a record of 1 championship. The current champion being 'The Sovereign of the Waters' Neuvillette
Persia with a record of 1 championship. The current champion being 'The Judicator of Secrets' Cyno
And finally, Italy, the last winner of the Masters tournament. The current champion being 'The Self-Proclaimed Strongest Trainer' Giovanni
When Dante first saw the champions, he was very surprised to see some of them being from the official Pokemon world.
Especially when he learned Giovanni was the winner of the last Masters Tournament, he began searching whether there were any traces of Team Rocket in this world. Luckily, his search result turned out that 'Team Rocket' was just a group of enthusiastic astrologists that wanted to learn more about outer space.
Overtime, Dante hypothesized that maybe this world is a fusion of the real world and the Pokemon world. (He doesn't know about Genshin.)