I Hate Generation 8
Honestly, I never really liked Generation 8.
More accurately, I wasn’t even sure I liked it at all.
I first met Pokémon at ten with HeartGold and SoulSilver.
After that, I drifted away from the series through Generation 6 and 7.
It was almost inevitable.
After all, there had been so many far more important things in life than games—exams, major, and a proper job.
But once I’d finally cleared all those obstacles and reached a stable point, boredom set in.
“Whoa, already the tenth generation? I only made it to the seventh…”
The memories and hobbies from the past came rushing back without warning.
I found out there was still a decent amount of time left before the tenth-generation release after buying a Switch 2.
Since I now owned a Switch, I went on a full clearing spree of every Pokémon game I’d missed.
Sword and Shield, Scarlet and Violet—everything.
I even hunted down the untranslated titles like PokéPark and Mystery Dungeon, bought them, cleared every single one, and saw the endings.
Eventually I dipped my toes into the competitive scene, the Pokémon Championships, where even the people who’d licked the Pokémon world clean or stepped foot in it ended up.
I wasn’t exactly a battle genius, and my skill level hovered somewhere just above Master Ball tier.
Still, I got to enjoy the thrill of battling in all those games.
Out of every single one, however, Sword and Shield left the most mixed feelings.
The reason was one character in particular.
It was the absolute champion that had appeared while I wasn’t playing.
Leon had somehow surpassed the original Kanto Champion Red in the eyes of Generation 8 fans and claimed the top spot in battles.
Above all else, the sight of young kids completely obsessed with this Leon felt strangely off-putting.
That was why, the moment I reincarnated into a completely different world and realized Pokémon existed here, I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
And I had no clue what region I was in.
After all, I’d only ever played Generation 8 once.
By the time half a year had passed since my first playthrough, I was starting to forget the story too.
With only the village scenery in front of me, how was I supposed to figure out where I was?
The moment I realized this place was the Galar region from Sword and Shield was exactly five years old.
It was the time I was being left with my grandmother because of my parents’ circumstances.
Grandma was a Pokémon Professor.
She was called Professor Magnolia, a name that carried some weight in the industry.
To be honest, I’d never heard of her before.
After living with her for a few weeks, a strange sense of déjà vu kept creeping in.
Grandma was the Professor.
The region’s name was Galar.
And my name was Sonia.
“Thinking about it, this is definitely weird.”
The memory was right there but somehow wouldn’t click.
“Sonia. When you’re bored, why don’t you go play in the neighboring town?”
“Oh, Grandma, I’m fine.”
The granddaughter living in the research lab spent the entire day glued to her phone, playing with Pokémon like some shut-in.
Of course Grandma had to say something.
No matter how old I was, I had zero interest in going outside and hanging out with kids my age, so I shot her down flat.
But after that happened several times, I had no choice but to agree to visit the neighboring town Grandma kept mentioning.
The village was called Postwick, a quiet little town tucked away in the countryside that I’d never heard of before.
And the moment I saw the boy with his slightly tousled but incredibly energetic dark-blue hair, I realized where I was.
That this world I’d been reincarnated into was Generation 8’s Galar region from Sword and Shield.
“Hmm… why didn’t I notice?”
After reflecting on my memories and getting a rough idea of who the Sonia character was, I styled my hair exactly like hers.
Bright orange hair tied up in a side tail, with bangs swept back to show my forehead.
With my abundant hair volume, it looked especially lively.
“It’s exactly the same.”
The granddaughter of the regional Pokémon Professor, the girl who practically replaced the rarely appearing Professor and became the central figure in the story.
At the same time, childhood friend and former rival of the strongest trainer, Leon.
That was the girl I had reincarnated into: Sonia.
“So she’s the one who’s going to be the ultimate champion…”
The boy destined to become the strongest in the future world and the Champion of Galar.
And right next to me, I was witnessing his overwhelming talent and the brilliant light that came with it, which made me give up the path of a trainer.
Sonia was probably a gifted kid even if she got every bit of help she could.
Leon was a genius among geniuses.
Sometimes overwhelming talent just radiates so brightly it feels like it’s about to swallow up every star around it.
“But is this world from the anime or the game?”
The Pokémon anime I’d watched only went up to Generation 7.
After seeing the tragic trolling of the Unvenerated Prophet in the previous series and watching Ash win the League, I might have been able to attain enlightenment right there.
But the story continued, and eventually I heard that even Leon beat him and took the top spot in all of Pokémon history.
If a Han Ji-woo from Pallet Town existed in this world, even Leon might not be the strongest.
“Actually, that doesn’t matter right now.”
I was only five years old.
I hadn’t even received my first Pokémon yet.
In this world, the Gym Challenge started at fifteen, unlike the original.
Honestly, setting off on adventures at ten sounded romantic, but the reality check was basically zero.
Honestly, I wondered if fifteen was a bit young, but considering the prime years for a Pokémon trainer are late teens to early twenties, it was probably inevitable.
“Should I meet up with him again?”
I gently woke up the Yamper who had been sleeping beside me and climbed onto its back.
The Yamper at the lab, already used to this, carried me all the way down to the main hall where Grandma and the assistants were.
The feeling I had right now was exactly like that.
It was the same feeling I’d had when I learned my childhood friend was going to be Ronaldo.
Leon’s design even had a striking resemblance to Ronaldo.
Of course, his status in the industry was far higher than Ronaldo’s.
It was strangely exciting and carried this weird thrill.
Since I’d been reborn as Sonia, it didn’t seem bad to spend a little time with Leon during childhood either.
I actually thought the Leon character had been beautifully crafted.
His superstar-level reactions and showmanship, plus the GOAT-level skill to match.
How was I supposed to dislike that?
But what I hated about Leon was the Generation 8 kids who kept licking him and knocking down Red.
Still, if there was something about Leon’s setting that rubbed me the wrong way, it was definitely the beard.
I’d thought it a couple of times that it would be nice if he shaved it off and kept it neat.
“I need to teach him properly from a young age.”
From that day on, I visited Postwick almost every single day.
I lied and said I was going to see the Wooloo, but in reality I was going to meet Leon.
The young Leon had a hobby of collecting Pokémon from all over the region, just like I’d predicted.
He got lost easily even in his own hometown.
He loved wearing hats and collecting them, so his room was filled with every kind of design imaginable.
I was a user who had played Pokémon for a long time in my previous life.
And in this life, I was the granddaughter of the regional Pokémon Professor.
So my knowledge of Pokémon was on the level of the best among my peers.
I used that knowledge to tell Leon all kinds of stories.
For example, about other region Champions and Elite Four members.
Or the legends of Pokémon.
That was how we became close in no time.
In the morning we’d chat about Pokémon at the nearby playground.
At night we’d watch Pokémon battles on TV.
“Ideal type? A clean guy who doesn’t grow a beard.”
At the same time I stopped Leon from growing the beard he didn’t need and made sure he never wore those ugly hats again.
“If you wear another stupid hat when I see you, I’m going straight home.”
I even corrected his terrible hat taste.
After about a year, Leon and I had become the best of friends.
And on the day Leon came to visit Grandma’s lab for the first time.
“Seeing all these Pokémon makes me want to battle!”
When I heard him say that, an idea popped into my head.
“Then how about we do it?”
“But isn’t it against the rules for kids our age?”
“That’s why we have to do it secretly.”
I gave him a mischievous smile.
That smile of mine probably looked a little evil to Leon later on.