"It's a whole new world we live in, it's a whole new way to see. It's a whole new place with a brand new attitude, but you still gotta catch 'em all and be the best that you can be!"
— Pokémon: Johto Journeys

— — —

⠀⠀Jacob felt weightless in the dark silence, almost as if he was floating. He looked down at himself and could only see a vaguely flickering form where his body should've been, and a rush of fear quickly seized him as he thrashed around, scrambling for purchase on something—anything. Suddenly, a bright light flared in front of him, catching his attention as he watched the glimmering light grow to a painful size. Jacob found himself squinting in a desperate attempt to soothe the burning pain in his eyes, but also to find the source of the light. What was happening? Where was he?

⠀⠀"Welcome to the world of Pokémon!" a disembodied voice boomed from the light, the sound utterly filling the void and surrounding him. Jacob barely withheld the extremely unmanly scream that almost leapt from his chest, and his arms flailed backwards as he struggled to put distance between himself and whatever that was.

⠀⠀"Who are you?" Jacob asked, trying to keep the trembling fear out of his voice but to no avail.

⠀⠀"We humans live alongside Pokémon as friends. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. Some people use their Pokémon to battle and develop closer bonds with them, and some use their Pokémon to simply enrich their lives and our society."

⠀⠀Lord, Jacob felt like he was about to pass out. What was even going on? His hands shook so badly that he thought he was doing involuntary jazz hands. The bright light combined with the bellowing voice was almost too much for his brain to comprehend, not to mention the utter confusion he was feeling.

⠀⠀"Jacob, I think it's about time you take your first step into this amazing world. You've lived all of your waking hours without truly living, loved without truly loving. To begin a journey would be a difficult one, and you would encounter countless trials and tribulations, but for you, it is as necessary as the air."

⠀⠀"Who are you?! How do you know me?!" Jacob screamed into the light with grit teeth, eyes finally wide open in defiance despite the searing pain. His head pounded in confusion and anger; how dare this being make such a ridiculous claim about who he was as a person? He was still terrified out of his mind but his indignation managed to override some of his fear and quell some of his shaking.

⠀⠀The voice chuckled, almost as if it were lovingly admonishing a small child. "Alright, Jacob, the time has come. Your very own tale of grand adventure is about to unfold. On your journey, you will meet countless Pokémon and people. I'm sure that along the way you will discover many things, perhaps even something about yourself. Now, go on, leap into the world of Pokémon!"

⠀⠀The light began to fade away into nothing, and Jacob began to feel something heavy weighing on his chest. Jacob tried to yell something in his frustration at the light, maybe to demand answers and explanations, but the tightening feeling in his chest only got worse. Soon, it felt like he could not breathe anymore. As he grew dizzy, the light faded away completely and he was left in the dark once more.

— — —

⠀⠀"Bui, bui!"

⠀⠀Jacob's eyes shot open, a scream of surprise ripping from his throat. As adrenaline rushed through his body, his hands scrambled for the bedsheets to grip onto. After a few moments of labored breathing, Jacob relaxed with an overwhelming sense of relief and a thought of, I'm in bed. It was just a dream.

⠀⠀He struggled to rise up from his bed, but found a heavy weight on his chest that uneasily resembled the weight from that strange dream. Before panic could seize him again, he sat up as best as he could and laid his eyes upon a familiar orange weasel Pokémon splayed across his chest. Jacob sighed, then gently nudged the Pokémon off of his body with a slight groan of exertion. "Buizel, get off of me. You're too big to lay on me anymore!"

⠀⠀The Buizel in question lazily eyed him, then quickly shot him an annoyed glare before scampering off and zooming out of his bedroom door, grumbling in his own language the whole way out. Jacob smiled tiredly at the Pokémon's attitude before promptly flopping back down into his bed with a huge sigh of relief. Man, what was that dream all about? He frowned as he tried to remember what that mysterious voice had said to him, but the dream was already foggy and blurred. Ah, he was overthinking some dumb dream, what's the point?

⠀⠀Eventually, he got up and pulled away the thick yellow curtains from the window, squinting his eyes at the sunlight that rushed in. It was 8:39AM in Sandgem Town, Sinnoh, and the small town seemed to be wide awake as people began exiting their houses for the day. Rolling green hills made up the foundation of this village, dotted with houses and necessities like shops, schools, a Pokémon Center, and even the famed Professor Rowan's laboratory, where the famous (yet somewhat old and jaded) professor studied Pokémon evolution. If he squinted hard enough towards the south of the town, Jacob would be able to see a little sandy white beach, accompanied by the brilliantly twinkling blue ocean lapping at its feet. This is home, Jacob thought with a small, satisfied smile. This town is practically all Jacob has ever known.

⠀⠀Jacob went about his morning routine, tidying up his room, brushing his teeth and whatnot, before tiredly trudging downstairs to a delicious-smelling kitchen, where he could smell pancakes, bacon, and even less traditional breakfast foods like rice and pork. He smiled and waved to his mother, then to the Floatzel that was currently washing something in the sink as he sat down at the table. In a flash, the Buizel from before zoomed in from seemingly nowhere and soon found a place along Jacob's shoulders to rest, much to Jacob's exasperation. He only sighed and petted the weasel Pokémon's head, unwilling to move it even if he did end up with shoulder pain. Buizel had always been a bit of a stubborn one, after all.

⠀⠀"Jake, set the table for us, would you? And get Floatzel and Buizel's food for them. Breakfast is almost ready!" his mom asked. Jacob nodded and quickly set about doing the task, scratching Buizel on the head as he went along. At one point, Floatzel walked over to them and yanked Buizel off of Jacob's shoulder (much to his surprise), and the two began arguing in their own Pokémon language at a rapid pace. Jacob, as he had many times before, found himself mediating the discourse between the two—after a little of inquiry, it ended up as something along the lines of Floatzel thinking Buizel was too lazy and being too heavy to lay on Jacob anymore, and Jacob could only agree—before separating the two Pokémon again and placing Buizel on the floor. Jacob had to restrain the laugh that almost came from him at the sight of Buizel's big pleading eyes and his arms up in the air, clearly begging to be picked up again, only to be denied by a deft shake of Jacob's head. Buizel scowled and crossed his arms with a huff.

⠀⠀The small family were soon situated for breakfast, and they quickly chowed down on the delicious food Jacob's mom had prepared as the TV blared in the background. Buizel, who had tried to steal from Floatzel's bowl, was slapped to the floor by one of Floatzel's thick tails, and the two were soon on the tile quarreling once more. Jacob's brows furrowed a bit in concern at the scene and cast a curious look at his mom, who only shook her head. "They'll get over it," she said simply. Jacob nodded in dubious agreement—after all, it wasn't like he had to play peacemaker all of the time. He hid a smile behind his coffee mug as he watched Buizel lunge for Floatzel's throat with surprising ferocity. Maybe he didn't even want to break the two of them up. It was a bit entertaining, after all.

⠀⠀"I think they're better than TV, to be honest," Jacob said with a grin.

⠀⠀"You know Buizel's just trying to get on Floatzel's nerves," his mother laughed, pointing at Floatzel literally picking Buizel up by the yellow inflatable collar and hurling her younger brother halfway across the room with a mighty roar, the smaller Pokémon loudly squealing in surprise as he flew through the air. "All younger siblings do it. It doesn't help that Floatzel's so much bigger than Buizel and has a lot more experience in battle after going around the world with Jeff for so long. She certainly doesn't go easy on him with all of that extra strength," she added with a smile.

⠀⠀Jacob raised a brow at his mother's comment. "I didn't act like that with Jeff, though," he pointed out with an innocent grin, to which his mother only rolled her eyes and waved him away.

⠀⠀"Yeah, yeah, you're a perfect little child, I know," she sighed in exasperation, but the loving smile she wore said otherwise. "But I'm just saying that I get where Buizel's coming from, and I think I'd like it if Floatzel weren't so rough on him. I just wish he wouldn't go for Floatzel's hands like that—I still need her to help me around the house!"

⠀⠀She aimed the last sentence right at the smaller weasel Pokémon and shot a small warning glare at Buizel, who was currently in a choke hold and biting Floatzel's front paws in an attempt to get out. Buizel and Floatzel subsequently froze in his spot at the sudden attention. Jacob watched in mild amusement as his mother walked over the two and plucked Buizel from Floatzel's grip, setting him up on the kitchen counter with a smile. "No more playing like that, alrighty?" she asked the two of them with a sweet smile, but with an underlying steely tone that allowed for no arguing or further discussion. Buizel, wide-eyed, quickly nodded his head, and after a sharp glare at a snickering Floatzel, she did the same.

⠀⠀"So, Jacob, you're starting your internship at Professor Rowan's lab today, right?" his mother inquired. Jacob has just taken another bite of food, and at the sudden mention of such an event happening, he began to choke. His mother worriedly rushed over and began pounding on his back in an effort to alleviate the pain, but Jacob thought it did the opposite.

⠀⠀"Yeah—ahem!—it's starting later today," Jacob replied with a sheepish grin after taking a big swig of water to clear his throat and rubbing his now-sore back.

⠀⠀Honestly, a part of him had been hunting for a way to possibly get out of this internship at the Rowan lab. Maybe he could've pretended he was struck with a fever and bedridden, maybe he could've asked the Pokémon to beat him up a little bit so he could make up some lie about how he had played around too roughly and was in too much pain to do anything. He mentally sighed. It was stupid, Jacob realized, especially since he put so much work into his application and resumé to even be considered for the job, but he felt no anticipation for the day ahead of him. Rather, he felt a looming sense of dread and exhaustion that was soon to hit him one way or another.

⠀⠀God, his mom would've slapped him silly if she heard his thoughts, maybe from disappointment, maybe from anger. Jacob spared a discreet glance at her, saw that beaming and radiantly proud smile she bore for him. What could he do without letting her down? Jacob just put on a sweet smile and took another sip of coffee. "I'm excited for today, Mom," he said, and the loving grin his mother sent him almost made the whole thing worth it.

⠀⠀"Ah, I can't believe my baby son is on his way to being a legendary Pokémon professor," she crooned, clasping her hands together in excitement. "I made you your favorite breakfast foods especially for today! Was everything good, my son?"

⠀⠀A nod. "Everything was great, Mom. You're an awesome chef as always."

⠀⠀He continued to smile and chew, but the food didn't taste like anything anymore. In fact, he felt almost sick to his stomach.

— — —

POKÉDEX ENTRIES:

⇪

BUIZEL, the Sea Weasel Pokémon. It swims by rotating its two tails like a screw. When it dives, it's flotation sac collapses.

⇪

FLOATZEL, the Sea Weasel Pokémon. It floats using its well-developed flotation sac. It assists in the rescues of drowning people.

— — —

welcome to angie's newest moonbae story! we're in for the long haul, here, bc i have lots of development and maybe even a few side stories and characters as well, and pokémon journeys are never short—and if ur anything like me, you're gonna worry about it angie will be able to finish it. but, i have a couple different works to keep busy if i don't feel like writing this, so i'll always be releasing something!

i've been playing pokémon since i was a little kid, and i've been a fan of the franchise for almost 15 years, so i'm very excited to be writing with this kind of story! i understand, though, that not all of y'all are fucking nerds like me, so i will be doing my best to explain everything about the pokémon world and creatures in the world. if you have any questions at all, also pls just ask me bc i read every comment!! i'd love to clarify anything and everything!

pls vote and comment, i love hearing from you guys as always :) next chapter should be out relatively soon as well! kevin will make an appearance soon, don't u guys worry! remember to stan the boyz and keep an eye out for their next comeback!

peace,
- angie

p.s. if u want extra angie brownie points, stream jacob's a to boyz video aka his cover of bazzi's "i.f.l.y" :)