Chapter 10: Poverty

Hu Yang was utterly perplexed.

After releasing the Magikarp into the river, he returned to the dormitory with the Ancient Moon Bird. Before preparing for his lessons, he admonished, "From now on, don't bring anything home."

These were different times. Now that he'd secured a job—though his salary hadn't yet been paid—he no longer needed to worry about going hungry as he once had.

The Ancient Moon Bird tilted its head, letting out a questioning squawk, clearly baffled by his words.

Seeing this, Hu Yang sighed helplessly. As expected, it was still no use.

It wasn't that this world lacked foolish Pokémon—Slowpoke and Psyduck came to mind—but despite their vacant expressions, they generally understood human speech. The Ancient Moon Bird, on the other hand, was different. Although it had once been just data in a game, it now possessed its own life, with warm blood running through its veins.

So why couldn't it understand human language? Hu Yang couldn't make sense of it.

He recalled the special abilities he'd lost during his journey through worlds. Could it be that the Ancient Moon Bird, like him, had encountered some mishap during the transition, losing something crucial in the process?

He reached into his pocket, feeling the last 330 coins he had left. He wondered if it would be enough for a checkup at the Pokémon Center.

It wasn't that he distrusted the information his golden finger provided—he simply didn't want to overlook any possibility of discovering the problem.

As a companion who had crossed into this world with him, Hu Yang couldn't bear to watch the Ancient Moon Bird remain this way.

So, after lunch, he took the Ancient Moon Bird to the city center's Pokémon Center.

"Excuse me, how much does a full checkup for a Pokémon cost?" Hu Yang inquired.

Nurse Joy's voice was gentle. "Two hundred League Coins."

Hu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. Had it been any more, he would have had to sell the only two valuable Poké Balls he owned.

"Please give it a full examination," he said, handing the Ancient Moon Bird to Nurse Joy.

"Of course. Please wait a moment." Chansey rolled up with a cart, and Nurse Joy placed the Ancient Moon Bird atop it before turning and entering the examination room.

As the door closed, Hu Yang prepared to wait outside, but before he could sit down, he heard Nurse Joy's startled cry from within.

The door flew open, and the Ancient Moon Bird flapped out in alarm. Its face was still as blank as ever, but Hu Yang could sense genuine panic in its actions.

Startled, he instinctively reached out and caught it.

"I'm terribly sorry," Nurse Joy said, cheeks flushed as she hurried over. Clearly, she was familiar with such situations. "You may need to accompany it during the exam."

Hu Yang had no objections. He held the Ancient Moon Bird and accompanied it through the full checkup.

The results soon came back. Nurse Joy examined the data on the screen and announced, "This Pokémon is perfectly healthy. There's no sign of illness."

Perfectly healthy... Hu Yang was now more confused than ever, though he maintained his composure, thanked Nurse Joy, and returned to the school with the Ancient Moon Bird.

No issues appeared on its profile, and the medical checkup revealed nothing amiss. Hu Yang truly had no idea what else might be wrong.

All he could do was take the Ancient Moon Bird with him as he prepared his lessons.

A day later, the school term officially began.

Hu Yang embarked on his teaching career. Since he was new, the school assigned him to only two classes.

He didn't let them down. After flawlessly finishing his first lesson, he packed up his things and headed to the next class.

Stepping onto the podium, he immediately noticed a girl below, wearing a red bandana, navy shorts, and a red T-shirt.

Wasn't that May?

May—the heroine from the Pokémon Advanced Generation anime and the game.

On reflection, it made sense to find her here, since she was also the daughter of Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader.

Hu Yang wasn't particularly surprised. He introduced himself and began chatting with the children about their future aspirations.

He had planned for the first lesson to be a time for everyone to get acquainted.

Barring the unexpected, it seemed he would be staying here for quite a while.

By the end of the day, every student knew that their school had a new teacher not much older than themselves.

"You’re quite the popular one!" Some days later, Rika and Takeshi Nishida teased him when they saw him.

They had sat in on Hu Yang's class and found his lectures on Pokémon ecology lively and fascinating—even they wanted to keep listening.

"Got any tips?" Takeshi Nishida asked curiously.

"Maybe it’s just talent!" Hu Yang replied with a cocky, teasing tone.

Over time, he'd met many people and grown close to Takeshi, whose personality was strikingly similar to Hu Yang’s college roommate from his previous life. So he treated him as a friend, not an outsider.

Takeshi felt the same, playfully shaking his fist. "I think you just need a good beating!"

"How old are you? Still acting like a child," Hu Yang said, giving him a strange look.

"You brat!" Takeshi pounced, and the two wrestled together in a mock fight.

Rika laughed happily from the side. Who could dislike a good-looking, capable, and considerate young man like him?

In truth, she wasn't the only one who thought so.

Even the principal, the cafeteria ladies, and the cleaning staff had the same impression.

After all, they’d never seen a child who spent all his time in the classroom, dormitory, cafeteria, or library, never venturing elsewhere.

They appreciated Hu Yang’s diligence, and, knowing his background, the cafeteria ladies in particular wanted nothing more than to heap his bowl with all the best food.

Hu Yang was aware of their kindness, but he found it exasperating.

The real reason he kept to such a routine was simply poverty! Poverty! Poverty!

He ate in the cafeteria because he had no other choice. He borrowed books from the library to read in his dormitory because there was no phone to play with during breaks, and boredom set in quickly.

If he had money, he would immediately set off as a Pokémon trainer and travel the world with the Ancient Moon Bird.

Alas, that dream was still far out of reach.

At present, he was so poor that he didn’t even dare try to catch any new Pokémon.

In his quest to find ways to earn money, he had even sought out May to ask whether, like in the games, trainers battling in the wild were required to pay the winner.

Cheerful and enthusiastic as ever, May replied, "Of course not, teacher! What a strange thing to imagine!"

Hu Yang was sorely disappointed. He had been hoping to earn some milk money for the Ancient Moon Bird by besting Bug Catchers.

Speaking of the Ancient Moon Bird, it still hadn’t given up on bringing back things for its trainer from outside.

Sometimes it brought fish, sometimes berries, and sometimes a few hapless Magikarp or Feebas.

When Hu Yang saw a Feebas, he even considered keeping it in a tank, since its evolved form, Milotic, was exceedingly rare.

But the money he had needed to be saved for emergencies, so he gave up on the idea—perhaps he could try again after his first month’s salary arrived.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about catching new companions; it was just that, given his circumstances, he could only choose between a Grass-type, Magikarp, or Feebas.

Grass-types could photosynthesize and didn't need many resources early on, while Magikarp and Feebas were hardy, easy to raise, and had great potential for the future.