Pokémon: Starting with a Dragon Dance Gible [3]

This Gible...

Could it actually be the baby form of that heavily modded Garchomp he edited right before crossing over?

Kaiba’s thoughts turned pensive.

Not only had the Pokémon he'd customized crossed over with him, even the editor tool he’d used—normally accessed through a cracked third-party interface—had come along for the ride.

Now it had become his very own golden finger, embedded within him like a cheat code only transmigrators get.

Ah. It’s that kind of setup, huh.

I surf the web too much to not recognize this pattern—classic transmigrator trope. Seen it a hundred times.

Kaiba closed his eyes slightly, and immediately saw a string of data appear in his mind’s eye:

[Pokémon Editor (Trial Version V9.0.2)]
— Pokémon Identification
— Move Learning
— EV Allocation (Feature Missing)
— Ability Modification (Feature Missing)
— Base Stat Correction (Feature Missing)
— IV Enhancement (Feature Missing)

...The hell kind of bootleg system is this?

Almost every function’s disabled!

What a shady knockoff.

Game Freak, are you slacking off again—wait, no, never mind.

This tool wasn’t made by Game Freak—it was some scummy Taobao vendor’s pirated hack software. Of course it’s incomplete.

Okay then. My bad. I take it back, Game Freak.

If you could one day wake up in the world of Pokémon, what would you do?

Kaiba had never seriously considered that question before.

Planning for “transmigration” always felt like pure delusion. The kind of thing that would get you called a chuuni.

Still, he’d occasionally daydreamed about capturing elegant, cute Pokémon like Gardevoir, Lopunny, Primarina, Serperior, Tsareena, or Sylveon.

If he could get his hands on a Reshiram, that’d be the dream.

Then he’d just live a quiet, peaceful life in this new world.

Of course, if you actually managed to catch the legendary white dragon Reshiram… a peaceful, uneventful life probably wouldn't be in the cards anymore.

But honestly, Kaiba had always considered himself a bit of a hedonist.

Life’s too short—barely 30,000 days if you’re lucky. Why waste it being miserable?

Wouldn’t it be better to live each day happily and comfortably?

And in the world of Pokémon, lying flat—i.e., a stress-free lifestyle—should be a lot more doable than in his old one.

Still...

He hadn’t expected that along with him would come not only a [Dragon Dance]–using Gible, but also a cheat-tier [Pokémon Editor].

With all this in hand, wouldn’t it be kind of pathetic if he still chose to slack off?

That old excuse—“If only I had X, I’d definitely do better than so-and-so”—well, now he had X.

What lay before him was an honest-to-Arceus opportunity.

He had everything he needed to become a top-tier Pokémon Trainer.

In fact, he had better than that—he had a pseudo-legendary with hacked moves from the very start.

A [Dragon Dance]–ready Gible, straight from a hacked save file.

And his decision?

Simple.

Time to order lunc—

No, wait.

“Let’s at least try to become a real Pokémon Trainer. If I fail, then I can quit without regrets.”

If I give it my all and still fall short, that’s fine. But if I don’t even try—how could I look myself in the mirror?

If you want something, you have to go out and fight for it.

You don’t get to just sit around waiting for fate to hand you blessings from above.

Those lines like “I didn’t ask to be reborn,” or “Who cares about love when I’ve got a second life,” were way too try-hard and self-indulgent.

“Gible, we’ve got to give it everything we’ve got from here on out. I’ll be counting on you.”

Kaiba’s smile lifted at the corners, soft and sincere—a warm, sunlight-drenched grin that could add ten points of healing to anyone who saw it. He crouched down and extended a hand toward the little land shark.

“Kapu…”

Gible’s blankly adorable eyes blinked once, then it tilted its head and reached out its tiny fin—placing it in Kaiba’s hand.

Then…

CHOMP.

It bit him.

With the move: [Bite]!

This Gible wasn’t playing around.

Kaiba’s expression darkened just a fraction. He quickly yanked his hand back and—smack!—chopped Gible lightly on the head.

You little rascal—!

Hungry or not, that’s no reason to gnaw on your Trainer like a chew toy!

“???... Kapu~”

Gible slowly lowered its little arms, looking pitiful.

It wasn’t trying to misbehave—it was just really, really hungry.

Its stomach was already growling.

As a “late bloomer Pokémon,” Gible’s nutritional demands were exceptionally high.

These robust Pokémon needed far more food and energy than your average partner Pokémon.

Just look at Tyranitar. In its earliest stage as Larvitar, it needed to consume an entire mountain worth of minerals just to evolve into Pupitar—never mind the next step after that.

In comparison, Gible was actually on the low maintenance end for a pseudo-legendary.

“…Let’s see if I’ve got any Pokémon feed or Pokéblocks in my luggage.”

Kaiba gently soothed Gible and began rummaging through his dorm room.

No dice.

He didn’t find any Pokémon food at all.

Let alone something like high-end Pokéblocks or custom supplements tailored for Gible’s physiology.

Which meant the pre–transmigration version of him truly hadn’t prepared to become a Trainer. No starter Pokémon, no gear, no provisions.

Nothing.

“…Crap. I really didn’t stock up on any food for Pokémon. Should I go ask Dyson if I can borrow some of Yamper’s kibble?”

Kaiba frowned, clearly torn.

Technically, regular Pokémon feed was universal.

Like dog food or cat food—it came in chunks, suitable for most species.

Only more advanced stuff—like specialized Pokéblocks, curry, or Pokémon sandwiches—had flavor or type-specific customization.

But even if it was “technically fine,” Kaiba couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He was a Pokémon Trainer now.

Borrowing pet food to feed his own starter? That was… kind of pathetic.

There’s a saying:

No matter how broke you are, don’t skimp on raising your Pokémon.
No matter how hard things get, never make your partner suffer for it.

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This is a fan translation of 宝可梦，开局龙舞圆陆鲨 by 眼含泪光 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!