Hoenn is a blessed land with pleasant weather.
It has been quite some time since Team Magma fell apart and its dream crumbled. Even the aftershocks of the disaster seem to have faded away. Aside from its leader, Maxie, being sent to prison, the other members have only been held in criminal detention or sent to various parts of the Hoenn Region for labor reform.
There’s no helping it. Life goes on. As a former mid-level Team Magma cadre, Himura has no choice but to return to his old line of work and become a slacking office drone and coder.
Devon Corporation, a leading company in the Hoenn Region and Himura’s former employer before he joined Team Magma, generously says it will overlook his suspected antisocial tendencies, which came from quitting his job and devoting himself wholeheartedly to the grand ambition of destroying the world. If he turns over a new leaf, the company is still willing to keep his position and desk for him.
Fine, fine, this really is great. Devon Corporation, which provided him with an apartment, is great. The thriving Rustboro City is great. And so is the boy next door, He An, who accidentally played the “beauty saves the hero” role.
He An is an outstanding student at the Trainer School, about to graduate and tentatively set to stay on as an instructor. He is handsome, comes from a wealthy family, and has always had the world at his feet.
...Until he becomes inexplicably entangled with a handsome, agile former convict who has landed a new job.
A strange puppet in a gloomy mansion, the leader of an antisocial organization who has already been brought to justice, and a researcher who holds key technology yet walks on eggshells... He An realizes that he and Himura seem to be getting caught up in one conspiracy after another.
[Bonus scene]
Himura: Be with me... He An!
He An: But you have a criminal record... Won’t being with you affect my chances of getting a civil service job?
Himura (on the phone): Hello, Huo Yan? Yeah, it’s me. Can you hack into the League System right now? I need you to do something for me.
He An: Stop! I agree. Please, both of you, stop trying to get yourselves locked up so you can keep your boss company.
P.S.
1. A tough, straight-laced office drone who returns full of spirit after half a lifetime away, but is hopeless at reading romantic cues, gong X a brilliant, handsome prodigy student who is new to the world but knows how to handle himself, shou. The shou is an original character, unrelated to the game’s protagonist, who will not be mentioned. In this setting, the League wipes out Team Magma.
2. Himura’s characterization is not entirely based on canon. It mainly draws on Red and Blue Orbs and the Advanced Generation anime. The Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire version is not included, though it did provide some inspiration.
3. The novel has both a career plot and romance, but almost no wish-fulfillment moments. It is also quite long, expected to reach several hundred thousand words at least, and will be updated whenever the author gets around to it. It is Pokemon fanfiction that has little to do with Pokemon, focusing on side stories outside the games’ main plot.
Theme: Study hard, obey the law, and strive to improve every day
