Once more, Alden's gaze explored the sights around him.
In the sky above, he saw a flock of Wingulls flying by. Off by the forest's edge, he spotted a few Zigzagoon digging in the dirt as though searching for buried treasure. A pair of Poochyena zipped through the town behind him, happily barking while taking turns chasing each other without minding the townsfolk watching them.
Truly the world of Pokemon, after all. The sounds, smells, and sights truly settled that fantastic conclusion for him.
He raised a brow upon spotting some normal animals like squirrels and chipmunks, though. They obviously lacked the at least semi-intelligent glint present in the eyes of all the Pokemon species he could see. Interesting, but not completely unexpected for him.
Still, curious about his overall situation, Alden passed through the front yard of the home that supposedly belonged to his current self. Despite not knowing the exact reason for becoming a younger version of himself in the Pokemon world, he honestly didn't mind the details too much. Heat-induced hallucination? Transmigration? Isekai?
Does it matter?
Just enjoy the moment!
Such was the philosophy of an optimistic unemployed man with nothing to lose.
Casually strutting in through the front door, he walked around the house and investigated his surroundings. He found some framed photos near the front door showing himself as a child holding the hands of two adults who looked similar to his parents in the real world, but also different at the same time. The similarity was uncanny, like that of a cousin or half-sibling.
Alden observed the photos in silence for a moment. Although he didn't experience a life with these people, his body responded naturally to seeing them.
He sighed and removed his shoes. No point dwelling on it. Body is as body does.
Thinking such, he recalled the cutscene again, which in turn reminded him of the screens from earlier. The moment pondered the idea of discovering other screens, he felt a shiver in his brain, almost like goosebumps.
A menu screen similar to the older third generation games popped up in front of him. He raised a brow and looked around. Through a window, he spotted a tree's leaves fluttering in the breeze and a Taillow tormenting a small normal bird on the branches.
"A pause menu with no world pause, eh?" He commented to himself.
Turning his eyes to the options, he spotted the Bag, Save, Options selections, but two other options attracted his attention.
"Logout and Advanced Options?"
Curious, he clicked the Logout option.
[Do you wish to exit the game? If you haven't saved, make sure to do so beforehand!]
[Yes] [No]
Alden contemplated and scratched his chin. Unsure if this game experience was temporary, he decided to explore a little more before trying to logout. As such, he turned his attention to the Advanced Options. What he found there left him flabbergasted.
"Save and load states? Turbo mode? Slow mode? Pokemon and Item Transfer?"
Alden stared blankly at the options for several seconds, then chuckled and checked each one in order.
First, he checked the save and load states, each with ten slots. He pressed on the first slot with his finger. The blank slot then filled in with his name, in-game time, the real world date, and even his current in-game location which showed 'Alden's House'.
From there, he walked into the center of the living room. He took a deep breath, then unhesitatingly pressed to load the state he just saved.
In a blink, he found himself standing by the door again. The shift made him dizzy, but he didn't feel any pain otherwise.
"Hahahaha! Awesome! This is broken!"
Inwardly, he realized that since the world did not pause around him, it might be tricky to use in an urgent situation, but either way, he couldn't stop smirking at the convenience of the tool.
From there, he tried both Turbo Mode and Slow Mode. The former sped up everything around him, but without increasing his perception of time. The moment he tried to step forward, he crashed into a wall and broke his nose. He immediately loaded his previous state and turned off Turbo Mode.
"Whew. That was exhilarating," Alden grumbled, his heart still pounding with adrenaline after feeling his body move at ten times his normal speed.
Instinctively, he reached up and touched his nose. It was no longer crooked or bleeding.
"Heh. Nice."
From there, he tried out slow mode. Like he expected, his body and surroundings moved in slow motion while his perception remained the same. Although he figured it could come in handy at some point, he immediately shut it off. Definitely not something to keep on all the time.
The last thing to check now entered his view. He clicked on the Pokemon and Item Transfer option. Four screens all opened at the same time.
The top left screen looked like Lanette's PC storage from the games, and it connected to the top right screen that contained six slots reminiscent of transferring Pokemon from the Generation 3 games to the Generation 4 games.
The bottom two screens were similar, but for the Item PC storage, and thirty slots for transfer.
Quietly observing the right two screens, Alden rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner.
"Transfer home? There's no way, right?"
...
"Definitely need to test this later."
Content with figuring out the cool abilities of his game menu, he closed it with a single thought. He then happily sauntered into the house.
Searching further, he found that the master bedroom remained basically untouched and perfectly clean, whereas the room full of more youthful objects like Pokedolls and Pokemon League posters filled the room obviously belonged to him. The unmade bed and pile of dirty clothes in the corner served as more than enough proof.
Moving on to the living room, he found simple furniture and a small television. A few plants, including a small orange-leafed bush, grew in pots sitting on a shelf below a large window. Tangerine-sized blue fruits that looked somewhat similar to blueberries with numerous dot-like indents all over them hung from the bush's thin branches.
"Oran berries?"
Eyes alighting with curiosity, Alden beelined toward the plant. When he reached out to pluck one of the berries, he felt a weird tingling sensation surge from his brain, through his arm, and into his palm. As though in response, the berry leaned closer to his palm.
Startled, Alden pulled his hand back. The berry fell back into place but swung back and forth a little.
Wide-eyed and mouth agape, he stared at his palm. A subtle purple glow steadily dissipated from around his palm, and the tingling sensation faded along with it.
"No way."
His eyes shifted back to the oran berry again. Eyes glittering with anticipation, he reached toward it again.
Nothing happened.
"Hm. I definitely didn't imagine it."
Thinking such, he closed his eyes and focused. After a few seconds, he felt the tingling sensation in his head again. Like before, it coursed down his neck, through his arm, and into his hand.
Then, he opened his eyes again.
Like before, a subtle purple glow surrounded his hand.
"Not as smooth as when I did it by accident just now, but I think I get it."
Reaching toward the Oran Berry, he experimented on trying to move it around at will. At first, it only quivered. He tried pulling it toward his hand, but it moved left. Frowning and creasing his eyebrows, he continuously willed it to move different directions until he figured out the feeling for every direction. By the end of it, sweat dripped from his brow, and his mind felt tired as though he just finished a college exam day.
Finally, he willed the berry to pop off from the branch and into his palm.
With the berry in hand, he wiped his brow and grinned in a cheeky manner. His grin continuously widened until he burst into laughter.
"Haha! I'm a freaking psychic! Nathan'd probably have an aneurism if he knew."
Excited beyond any reasonable measure, he gleefully tore into the Oran Berry. A mixture of fruit flesh and juice mixed together in his mouth with a myriad of flavors, causing him to pause. His tongue moved around to taste all the different flavors. It tasted like he had tossed five different fruits into his mouth all at the same time. It was weird, yet all the flavors combined in an oddly complimentary way.
After swallowing, he felt invigorated. Although still mentally tired from practicing his newfound telekinesis, his body felt refreshed and full of energy. He felt like he could run a 5k race right now.
Chuckling to himself upon finding out the berry's effect worked for him, Alden finished the berry off in two bites while wandering over to the kitchen. There wasn't much to find there aside from enough food to maybe last a week, mainly rice, flour, and various berries he instantly recognized like Pecha Berries, Cheri Berries, Chesto Berries, and more Oran Berries. There wasn't a single ounce of meat to be found.
"Tch. No meat? Don't tell me I'm poor here, too? Ah, well, I guess that'd make sense, though, considering that cutscene."
Sighing, he closed the refrigerator and decided to go for a walk to burn the excess energy burning through his body like a shot of adrenaline at the moment. On his way toward the front door, though, he heard the doorbell ring.
One eyebrow raised, Alden stepped over to the door. Fully expecting to see either Brendan or Professor Birch due to what the cutscene showed him before. The moment he opened the door, however, his eyebrows rose.
Before him stood a girl about the same age as his current in-game self, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, yet still familiar and nostalgic. Brown hair fluttered down from under the front of a red bandana with a white pokeball print on it that tied up the rest of her hair in the back. Energetic and excited sea blue eyes blinked and looked back at Alden with curiosity and outgoing friendliness. A red and blue shirt and short white skirt with black leggings added to her outgoing atmosphere.
Lips widening into a friendly smile, the girl waved and happily greeted, "Hi, I'm May!"