Chapter 1 – Who in Their Right Mind Keeps a Diary?
Alliance Calendar Year 2016, June 24th.
My name's Jason King, and by the time you read this, I'll already be dea crossed out I mean, I've been in this world for almost three months now.
Wait, scratch that. I can't say "came to this world." I was originally from this world just… something "small" happened.
Over three hundred years ago right around the late 17th century the sky split apart, the earth trembled, and the entire world changed beyond recognition. That was when Pokémon came into reality.
As someone who'd watched countless Pokémon anime episodes since childhood and played Ruby, Sapphire, and all the rest, the chuuni side of me practically exploded with excitement.
Right then, the first line of the original anime opening started playing in my head:
"I've got a Pokémon!"
I was so hyped I could barely sit still. I wanted to grab a Poké Ball and run into the wild to catch my first Pokémon immediately.
Reality, however, slapped me in the face hard Poké Balls cost 200 bucks apiece.
Yeah… that enthusiasm didn't survive long.
Still, no matter how cruel reality was, I would never give up on becoming a Pokémon Trainer.
One last thing: damn it, when am I gonna get my first Pokémon already?!
---
Jason sat at his desk, put down his pen, and picked up his notebook a black-covered one. It had originally been thick, but now only a thin stack of pages remained.
Rrrip!
He tore a page filled with his handwriting, then ripped it into pieces and tossed them into the trash can without hesitation.
Sigh!
"Seriously who the heck keeps a diary?" he muttered to himself.
"Who in their right mind writes down their deepest thoughts in one?"
Grumbling to no one in particular, Jason closed the notebook and set it neatly on top of a stack of books, adjusting it until it sat perfectly straight.
He had been in this timeline for three months now. The world felt both familiar and strange many things had changed. He wanted someone to talk to about it, but there was no one. So, he wrote his thoughts down only to rip out each page right after in case anyone found it.
He glanced over at his roommate lying in bed, curtains drawn, tapping away on his phone… then at the four empty desks nearby.
It was a standard six-person dorm: bunk beds on top, desks underneath, complete with its own bathroom.
If someone saw it for the first time, they'd probably think it was a college dorm. Unfortunately, this was actually the dorm of a public high school.
Jason was currently attending Rowens City No. 8 High School a mid-to-lower-ranked school in the city. As long as your middle school entrance exam scores weren't too terrible, you could get in.
Checking his phone, the time read 11:45. He had planned to scroll through TokTok for a bit, but wasn't in the mood. He slipped his phone under his pillow, pulled the curtains shut, wrapped himself in his blanket, and went to sleep.
---
The next day
Beep-beep-beep!
Jason woke to the sound of his alarm. After shutting it off, the phone display read exactly 6:00 AM.
Climbing down from bed, he headed straight for the balcony sink. The first thing he saw was the black basin mounted on the wall with a slab of tile above it, topped by a giant mirror.
Beside the sink sat a washing machine from some unknown brand its logo looked suspiciously like a stylized Psyduck.
He grabbed his electric toothbrush and started brushing. Three minutes later, face washed, he felt fresh and awake.
In the mirror, he saw himself: 5'9" and still only sixteen he could still grow. In his past life, he'd only reached 5'9", but somehow, after arriving here, he'd gotten taller.
His build was lean yet athletic, with faint abs visible a "slim in clothes, toned without" kind of physique.
Jet-black short hair, sharp facial features, and bright eyes… like some bizarre mash-up of Chris Hemsworth, Henry Cavill, and Tom Holland. In short drop-dead handsome.
Alright, fine in his old life, he'd been maybe 70% as handsome. Now, he'd grown taller and better-looking. When he'd first arrived here, he looked exactly like before, but over the past three months he'd steadily gotten taller and more attractive.
He had no idea why, but guessed it was related to the strange bead-shaped mark on his chest.
In his past life, he'd ordered a cheap Arceus figurine online, which came with a colorful bead as a freebie.
When he'd asked the seller what it was, they'd said they had no idea it had never appeared in any anime or movies. In the end, he'd figured the seller had just tossed some random bead from their house into the package.
The day after receiving it, he'd gone to sleep… and woken up here. The bead's pattern was now imprinted on his chest.
He didn't know what it was yet, but he felt like it was what brought him to this world. And as an avid web novel reader, Jason's gut told him this was his "golden cheat." He didn't know what it could do yet, but it gave him the confidence that he'd rise to the top eventually.
That's why he wasn't worried the bead was his trump card.
By now, his other dormmates were waking up too.
A 5'9" guy with a medium build and slightly handsome looks eyes still half-closed walked to the bathroom, yawning, "Jay, why are you always up this early?"
Jason rinsed his cup as he replied, "What time do you think it is? If we don't get to the cafeteria early, all the good food will be gone. You really wanna eat whatever's left?"
That was his best friend, Ben Lewis. They'd been neighbors in the same apartment complex since they were kids over ten years now.
Next out of bed was a chubby, bespectacled classmate with a bowl-cut hairstyle George Young. Top three in the class academically, with the simple dream of becoming a civil servant.
Still sleeping was the tall, stick-thin Peter Lane.
Then there was the short, round-faced Warren Lee, with a big mole on his chin.
And finally, square-jawed Charles Chang, whose face sported several pimples.
This was the six-man crew of Dorm 404. In his past life, they'd been roommates for all three years of high school.
But with the world changed now… who knew if the future would play out the same?
That's when a blue-and-white, squirrel-like Pokémon with a big fluffy tail jumped down from a nearby bed Pachirisu.
It hopped onto a desk, looking for food clearly hungry.
Jason put down his cup, got dressed, and scooped the Pachirisu into his arms, giving it a good pet.
Warm, smooth, and incredibly pleasant to touch, Pachirisu let out a happy squeak.
It belonged to Charles Chang, who didn't want to be a Trainer his dream was to start a business and become rich.
Even in Jason's previous life, Charles had gone to college and then worked hard on entrepreneurial projects.
As for Pachirisu it was his pet. Even if he wasn't training Pokémon professionally, he still wanted one or two as companions.
Pachirisu was the first Pokémon Jason had met after arriving in this world. For the past three months, he'd made it a daily habit to pet it or he'd feel uneasy.
At this point, he was more like its owner than Charles was.
Once everyone had washed up, the six of them slung on their backpacks and headed out the door.
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