Chapter One: There’s Something Off About This World of Spirits

Qingjiang City.

A certain residential district.

Tang Yi was sprawled across his desk, gazing at the dappled sunlight streaming through the window, lost in thought for a long time.

It took him quite some time to confirm one thing.

He had transmigrated.

Upon waking, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room, and even his reflection in the mirror was somewhat strange.

He had no idea what kind of world this was.

Was it a world where spiritual energy had revived? Where gods and demons soared across the sky? Where people with supernatural powers roamed everywhere?

As he let his imagination wander, a middle-aged woman’s voice came from outside the door: "Son, the finals of the World Championship for Pokémon Princesses have already begun. Aren’t you coming out to watch?"

Tang Yi trembled from head to toe, elated.

No gods or demons, no martial artists. It turned out to be a world of Pokémon. Before transmigrating, he was already an enthusiast of Pokémon—there could be no better world for him to arrive in.

The person calling him outside was his mother.

Although he had transmigrated, many things in this world hadn’t changed. His parents were still the same, and his name was still Tang Yi.

But why did she say Pokémon Princesses?

Tang Lin shook his head, not thinking too much about it. He stepped out of his study; the living room wasn’t large but was warmly furnished. A 45-inch television stood in the center, and the commentator’s voice was full of excitement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the 28th Pokémon Princess World Cup Final is about to begin! Both contestants have sent out their ultimate champions: Dragon Princess and Metagross Princess!"

As the commentator introduced them, the camera shifted to focus on the two stars of the match.

On the screen, a gallant young woman extended a pair of pale yellow wings reminiscent of Dragonite from her back, with a thick tail trailing behind her.

The other, a girl with a cold expression, was shrouded in a blue cloak, a silver metallic "X" mark emblazoned on her forehead—the classic emblem of Metagross.

Tang Yi’s jaw dropped as he rubbed his eyes hard, making sure he hadn’t seen wrong.

Was this Pokémon?

These were clearly two girls around seventeen or eighteen!

Pokémon Princesses?

Princesses?

Heavens!

Tang Yi gradually realized that something was off about this Pokémon world.

On television, the finals had already begun. The two girls were locked in fierce combat, unleashing familiar Pokémon moves against each other.

After more than twenty minutes of intense battle, the Dragon Princess closed in with Extreme Speed, then struck with a single-handed Hyper Beam. The Metagross girl, exhausted, collapsed, and the Dragon Princess and her trainer stood atop the champion’s podium, accepting the cheers of the crowd.

So this was the battle of Pokémon Princesses?

A showdown between two young women!

Tang Lin remained shocked.

His mother approached and patted him on the shoulder. "Such an exciting match, son. Your father and I have already discussed this—on your birthday, we’ll buy you a starter Pokémon Princess."

“Buy a girl?” Tang Yi blinked, finding it hard to believe.

His mother gave him a strange look and scolded, "What nonsense! Even though they look like girls, Pokémon Princesses are still Pokémon, fundamentally different from humans."

"Haha, I must have slept too long at noon—my mind’s still fuzzy. I’ll go back to my room and read," Tang Yi laughed, realizing he hadn’t yet digested the basic information of this world, and quickly retreated to his room.

This world had computers, mobile phones, and the internet, all used in ways no different from his memories.

That made things easy.

Tang Yi turned on his computer and began searching online.

Information about the history and nature of this world wasn’t classified; articles abounded everywhere.

After a long while, Tang Yi finally sorted things out.

A long time ago, this was a normal Pokémon world, no different from what Tang Lin knew. But two hundred years ago, a strange meteor shower brought a massive energy storm, changing everything forever.

The energy storm had no effect on humans, but Pokémon subjected to it began to undergo anthropomorphic transformations.

This worldwide change was gradual and irreversible, lasting over fifty years. All Pokémon, and their offspring, became fully anthropomorphic.

And, curiously, after the transformation, the Pokémon all resembled young women around seventeen or eighteen, hence they were named Pokémon Princesses.

Although they possessed most human traits and could learn and speak human languages through training, in this world, the essence of Pokémon Princesses remained that of Pokémon.

According to the official consensus, Pokémon Princesses are higher life forms evolved from Pokémon’s ecological traits, a species somewhere between humans and animals, but definitely not human.

Reading this, Tang Yi nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder his mother had scolded him earlier—for people in this world, this belief had been ingrained for more than a century.

Tang Yi marveled at what he read, but even more astonishing history followed.

This world, more than a hundred years ago, was anything but peaceful.

There were over seventy nations, with politics and, naturally, the continuation of warfare.

Pokémon Princesses possessed greater power, sharper intelligence, and stronger learning abilities. Once fully anthropomorphic, some countries sought to harness their power in hopes of conquering the world.

Thus came the First and Second World Pokémon Princess Wars, a century ago.

The wars spread to every corner of the globe, their brutality evident in countless images Tang Yi found online.

Until, at the end of the Second World War, the so-called strongest nation, America, discovered a Pokémon Princess with legendary powers—a Mewtwo Princess—who, with terrifying might, destroyed an enemy city in an instant.

The world was shaken.

The enemy surrendered unconditionally that same day, ending the Second World Pokémon Princess War.

Afterward, nations began a frantic search for legendary Pokémon Princesses.

Within the next decade, eight countries publicly declared they had found legendary Pokémon Princesses; the last was Tang Lin’s homeland.

The following year, all eight nations possessing legendary Pokémon Princesses jointly signed the historic "Legendary Princess Non-Proliferation Treaty".

The treaty forbade other countries from seeking legendary Princesses, and those with them could not acquire new ones, nor could any nation use Pokémon Princesses for military research.

Though many nations opposed it at the time, since all eight major powers agreed, dissent was meaningless.

For the past ninety years, the treaty’s deterrent has brought lasting peace to the world.

With military use prohibited, Pokémon Princesses gradually entered daily life, playing increasingly vital roles in engineering, ocean exploration, medicine, and more.

Pokémon Princess trainers naturally became the profession everyone aspired to.

And the quadrennial Pokémon Princess World Cup became the focus of global attention, with countless trainers striving for the title of world’s best.