In Naruto, the System Asks Me to Entrust Pokémon

In the Naruto world.

On the outskirts of Konoha Village, there stood a small untouched hill, surrounded by dense forest. Winding paths snaked through the woods, while a small stream meandered at the base of the hill like a silver ribbon from the clouds, adding a picturesque charm to the landscape.

Despite the beauty of the scenery, it lacked the liveliness of human activity, making the entire place feel a little desolate.

"Ryo-nii, I'm here!"

At that moment, a thin blond-haired boy with whisker-like marks on his cheeks ran towards a modest wooden cabin at the foot of the hill, grinning widely.

Standing at the door of the cabin was a handsome young man with a kind face and a gentle expression, his eyes reflecting a hint of bitterness hidden beneath his smile.

"Naruto, you're here? Slow down. No need to rush."

The young man's name was Ryo. Originally just an ordinary young man in modern society, three months ago, while watching Pokémon, his phone screen suddenly turned into a black hole and sucked him into another world—this world.

When Ryo had first crossed over, his heart was filled with excitement. As someone who often read novels, he was well aware of the usual tropes of transmigration stories.

However, before he could revel in his good fortune, reality hit him hard. The body he had crossed into was also named Ryo and looked exactly like him, but... it had no talent for chakra cultivation.

In other words, he couldn't become a ninja!

This was the Naruto world, after all!

Without chakra talent, he couldn't become a ninja, which meant he could only be a regular civilian.

If this body had been younger, he could have gritted his teeth and trained in taijutsu to at least gain the ability to protect himself.

But the body he now inhabited was almost twenty years old. At this age, even if he wanted to train in taijutsu, it would be nearly impossible to achieve anything substantial.

Upon learning this, Ryo was completely dumbfounded.

Anyone who has watched Naruto knows how dangerous this world can be, especially in Konoha Village, which has been destroyed multiple times in the original plot.

There was no way not to feel afraid. Even knowing the story didn't help ease his fears. Who knew if this world had changed? He had no confidence that he could survive here.

Just when Ryo was on the brink of despair, the standard cheat for transmigrators—the system—appeared.

『Pokémon Entrustment System activated. Binding host...』

『Binding complete.』

It called itself the Pokémon Entrustment System and bonded with him.

After binding the system, Ryo finally began to calm down.

However, the system wasn't fully activated yet. 『To activate the system, the host must own a store.』

When he heard that, Ryo almost gave up.

This body was that of an orphan—his parents had died during the Nine-Tails' attack on the village. If it weren't for government subsidies, he wouldn't have survived until now.

And now the system was asking him to own a store? What a joke!

He could barely feed himself. Where would he get the money to open a store?

"Sigh… Thinking about it makes me tired. To get this run-down cabin, I've been working like a dog for the past three months," Ryo muttered, a flash of exhaustion in his eyes.

『The system will activate once the host has a store. Keep working hard.』

After revealing the requirements to activate the system, it had disappeared entirely. No matter how many times he called for it, it never responded.

If he hadn't pinched himself to confirm it wasn't a dream, he might have thought the system was just a figment of his imagination.

During those three months, Ryo had thrown himself into relentless work, taking on three jobs back-to-back, working nearly fifteen hours a day to scrape together enough money to build a small cabin.

Time was pressing. The current year was Konoha's 60th year—the year Naruto graduated and Orochimaru attacked the village.

If Ryo didn't work hard, he could die at any moment.

Fortunately, his efforts paid off, and the cabin before him stood as a testament to his hard work.

Though shabby, it was enough to activate the system.

『Congratulations! System activation complete.』

『Host now qualifies to entrust Pokémon to suitable partners.』

『Initial starter Pokémon available: Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle.』

"Ryo-nii, what's wrong? Also, where's the strong partner you promised me?" Naruto asked, his face curious as he approached.

Hearing Naruto's words, Ryo snapped back to reality and smiled. "Come inside. Your partner is waiting for you."

Naruto was someone Ryo had befriended three months ago, before the system had even activated.

At the time, Ryo thought the system might never activate. Desperate to protect himself, he had braved the risk of attracting attention from the Third Hokage and Danzo to get close to Naruto, the protagonist of this world.

With the little money he had left, Ryo treated Naruto to a bowl of ramen, and their friendship grew from there.

Thankfully, even now, the Third Hokage hadn't summoned him for a private "tea session."

Ryo led Naruto into the wooden cabin.

The interior was completely bare.

But it couldn't be helped. After spending all his earnings on the cabin, there was no money left for furniture—not even enough for a bed.

"Ryo-nii, where's my partner?" Naruto looked around the empty room, confusion written all over his face.

"This place is so bare, even a thief wouldn't bother breaking in," Naruto thought, scratching his head.

"Don't worry. Just wait here. I'll go get them."

Ryo headed toward the back of the cabin.

A short while later, Ryo returned to the room.

"Ryo-nii, where's my partner?" Naruto asked again, his curiosity growing.

Ryo smiled and stepped aside. "Look. One of these three might just become your future partner."

Behind him stood three strange creatures.

A red lizard with a flaming tail, a frog-like creature with a plant bulb on its back, and a turtle walking upright with a shell on its back.