“Hello there! Glad to meet you! Welcome to the world of Pokemon! My name is OAK. People affectionately refer to me as the Pokemon Professor.”

“Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip,” a blonde, limber man quietly chanted as he repeatedly mashed the A-button on the screen, trying his best to skip through the intro on his emulator. When you played FireRed countless times, it quickly reached a point that it all blurred together. Mashing the button several more times, he quickly selected being male, and as the name menu came up, he entered-

“Derek? Derek, focus on the sky, damnit!”

Derek started in his seat at the exclamation, and looked up to find a pale, lanky, ginger man glaring at him, his freckles giving his eyes a fiery aura. “Derek, I’m the one who had to drive out here with you, man!” the man said, and cracked a can of Monster open before he added, “Besides, my grade’s still good for the class. You’re the one who needs to pay attention.”

“Yeah, yeah, Jim,” Derek muttered, and took a sip of his Mountain Dew before he muttered, “Stupid flu forcing me to stay off campus.”

As he looked up at the starry night, a few rays of sunlight still streaking over the horizon, Derek noticed that a few more cars parked around the field. The other students set up chairs and began to chat, but seeing as how there wasn’t anyone really approaching them, Derek got back to rushing through FireRed.

After a prolonged period of rushing through Route 1 and Viridian Forest with his starter, Gusher the Squirtle, Derek looked up from battling Brock to see a long-haired woman approaching the two of them. “Ah, Derek Wattson and James Bridges,” the woman said as she came to a stop, “I’m glad to see that you both showed up for the Draconids shower tonight.”

“Well, it’s hard to miss out on this when I need the extra credit,” Derek muttered, before he gave her a faint grin and said, “Thanks for having this opportunity available, Miss Titania.”

“That’s Professor Titania,” she responded, and checked their names off on the clipboard before she gave them both a nod, “Anyways, you should probably put your phone away. The Lyrids should be starting any minute now.”

Before she even finished her sentence, cries of delight rang through the clearing. Titania looked up at the noise and grinned. “In fact, it seems to be starting right now.”

The professor walked away at the comment, and Derek and Jim looked up just in time to see a trio of comets dash across the night sky. Neither said anything for a long while, simply enjoying the occasional streak of light, before Derek eventually piped up.

“Hey, Jim,” he began, earning a look from the mentioned man as a small meteor quickly disappeared, “Do you think there’s any chance there’s actually any life out there? Out in the cosmos?”

Jim hummed in thought. “Well, if there was, I could only see three ways they’d exist,” he began to say, “Firstly, that they progressed so long ago that their society’s all gone now. Secondly, that either of us is too underdeveloped to notice each other.”

“And the third?” Derek asked.

Jim grinned, before he told Derek, “That they’re smart enough to avoid contacting us.”

Both men broke into snickers at the comment, but returned to silence as the two continued to watch the comet shower.

After another hour of star-gazing, Derek sat up with a groan. “Well, I think it’s time for me to head back to hit the sack.” Crumpling his can into a disc, Derek lobbed it into the trash can nearby before he asked Jim, “See you back on campus for math tomorrow?”

“Most likely,” Jim affirmed, before he perked up and added, “Don’t forget to bring your Switch for the Pokemon tournament afterwards, though!” Derek nodded in response, and packed up his chair before he walked up to Professor Titania.

“Well, Professor, I’m going to head home now,” he told the professor, causing her to look up from the camera she was fiddling with. Titania gave him a short nod, then pulled her clipboard out again.

“Alright, have a good night then,” she told him, jotting something down with a glowing pen before she gave him a faint smile, “Thanks for at least letting me know when you left. It helps ensure that I know who was here for this.” Derek gave her a thumbs-up, but didn’t verbally respond as he walked down the hill and to his worn-down car.

Pulling his bundle of keys out of his pocket, Derek pressed the unlock button before he finally slid behind the steering wheel. With a sputter and a groan, he soon pulled out of the park’s parking lot and began to drive back into town.

Derek held back a yawn as he crossed the river bridge, the blinking 1:15 AM on the dashboard telling him he had stayed up far too late. The moonlight provided plenty of illumination on the countryside roads, save for the mountains casting long shadows in the distance. As he turned westward to the entrance to County Road H though, he noticed a glimmer of vibrant light shining through the trees in the distance.

Coming to a stop at the intersection, Derek squinted as he tried to make out what was illuminating the forest like that. He didn’t know of any houses in that direction, and it didn’t seem focused enough to be a spotlight…

His curiosity getting the better of him, Derek took a right and drove down the sideroad. Coming to a stop on the side, Derek shut the engine off before he began to slide down the hillside into the woods.

The blonde stifled a curse as he walked down the hill, branches and brambles smacking him every few feet. Coming to a cautious stop when he reached the bottom, Derek pulled his phone out. He gave the device a short shake, and grinned when it produced a short cone of light. With the short beam of light illuminating the bushes in his path, Derek slowly drew closer to the unusual illumination.

Derek snuck around an oak large enough to hide him, slowing his pace when he saw the source of the light. In a small clearing, an ethereal blue web of light hung in the air spanning several feet wide, pointing down at the ground at an obtuse angle. Despite not seeming to have any wires or generators, the display caused Derek to look away as it seemed to break the air around it, like a bullet hole in space.

Or a wormhole even, A small part of Derek’s mind commented. The blonde shook his head at how ridiculous that sounded, and turned off his phone’s light. He took several careful steps closer, his mind screaming that something seemed off as he drew closer to the display.

As he set foot in the clearing, the glowing ethereal net suddenly lit up into a rainbow of colors, causing the college student to jump back behind the tree in fright. However, the web grew even brighter as he stepped away. Derek’s hand flew up to catch his glasses when a breeze began to blow in his face, making his clothes flap about. As the wind grew stronger, Derek’s breath seemed to vanish as the web began to invert, becoming a hole in the sky as the back extended up to the horizon.

The web grew brighter as it stretched out, to the point the clearing shone like it was midday. Before Derek could blink, the floating structure flashed, temporarily blinding him. Spots and stars filled his vision. As he blinked the spots away, he noticed a small figure appear from the center of the web. Derek squinted while he tried to make out the figure. The intensity of the light slowly died away as the darkened object fell to the ground. When the object touched the ground, the figure finally sat up. Large pointed ears popped up as the figure looked around, an aura of uncertainty coming off it when it got up on four legs.

Derek’s breath hitched when the figure turned to look at him. With wide eyes, the figure slowly trotted forward, its brown fur shaking slightly as it sniffed the air before it finally let out a two-syllable cry of curiosity.

“Eevee?”

“....Hoooooly crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap,” Derek muttered in shock and glee as he looked down at the small fox-like being standing in the clearing. Despite all the cartoons, manga, and games out there, there should be no way that Pokemon exist at all in real life without extreme genetic modification. But what he saw in front of him, the vibrancy in its eyes, the imprints it left with each step-!

Seeing the Eevee flinch back slightly at his words, Derek started slightly before he immediately dropped low into a crouch. “Hey, little fella. Sorry for startling you,” he said, trying his best to keep from scaring the Pokemon away, and thus, ruining the fantasy. The Eevee calmed down as it saw him crouch, and cautiously crept closer to him. Trying hard not to hyperventilate, Derek kept still as it sniffed his hand. When the Pokemon’s head got within reach, he scratched its chin, earning a cry of surprised delight before the Eevee began to faintly purr.

“You’re a long way away from home, you know,” he told the Pokemon as he scratched it before rustling their hair. As his hand sank into the fur though, he froze in shock when his mind told him that, yes, what he was feeling was real.

“Ee?” the Eevee chirped with a wondering tone, only to start when he began to rub the Normal-type’s face with both hands, a goofy grin growing on his face.

“Oh my goodness, you’re just so fluffy~” Derek cooed, earning a mix of purrs and growls from the Evolution Pokemon as he reveled in petting the Pokemon’s soft fur. As he drew in close for a hug though, Eevee’s growl grew louder before it jumped back, giving Derek a light glare as he stumbled slightly. “Right, sorry about that,” he said, and coughed into his hand in embarrassment. Right, he shouldn’t upset the super-animal.

As he sat back up, a loud growl erupted from the Eevee. Derek flinched at the noise, and stumbled back. He hoped he didn’t piss it off that much! When he looked the Normal-type in the eyes though, he was shocked to find it looking sheepish before another low grumble rose from its stomach. Derek blinked in surprise at that, before he began to chuckle when he realized what was going on.

“Wait, are you that hungry?” he asked, earning a pitiful look from the Eevee. Standing back up, Derek stretched high before he pointed a thumb back up the hill. “If you want, you can ride with me home, and I can give you some meat and fruit,” he offered. Eevee’s ears snapped straight up at that, and the Pokemon happily let out a cry of agreement before it ran up to him. Derek chuckled, and shook his phone before walking back up the hill.

The Normal-type eagerly darted in and out of the phone’s flashlight range as it walked back up the hill, only stopping momentarily to let Derek catch up before continuing to run ahead. When the two finally got back to the side road, Derek fished out his car keys before he pulled the passenger door open for the Eevee. “Here, just hop into the passenger seat,” he said.

The Eevee stepped back momentarily, a moment of fear and indecision on its face. When another wave of growls rumbled from the Normal-type’s belly though, it gulped before hopping inside.

Derek shut the door, and quickly circled around the front before he got in the car himself. “Alright, let’s head on back to the apartment,” he chimed, and turned around before driving back onto the main road. Soon, he was speeding down the county road, with Eevee sitting uneasily in the passenger seat.

The stars in the night sky slowly faded away from the glow of street lights and business signs, the most prominent being a large town sign by the road, proudly proclaiming:

Welcome to

IRON SPRINGS, MONTANA

Population: 2,739

As Derek took a sharp right, a certain fuzzy lump slammed into him. He swerved momentarily at the blow, before he looked down at the shaken, long-eared Pokemon. “First time riding in a car?” he asked, gently pushing the Normal-type back into the other seat. When he came to a brief stop, Derek reached behind him and pulled his backpack up front. “Here, use this to keep yourself sturdy,” he told Eevee, and set it in front of the bushy Pokemon before he began to continue down the road. While Eevee still had trouble sitting in the moving car, the Eevee’s head popped up to look at the signs as they drove down the streets.

Derek chuckled at how the Evolution Pokemon looked when the Eevee let out a cry at the Target sign, pawing at the window before it vanished from sight. Coming to a stop at a four-way, Derek took a sharp left that slowly led downhill, before he finally slowed down as he turned off the road and onto a small street. he glanced around as he circled around a line of trash cans, and finally came to a stop in front of a duplex, the left building painted a dull blue, while the other house was colored beige.

“Here we are: home, sweet home,” he said to the Eevee as he drove into the left driveway. With a press of the button, the garage door slowly lifted up before he pulled the car inside. Once the car pulled in far enough, Derek turned the engine off before he opened the door back up. The Eevee eagerly hopped past him, and landed on the concrete before Derek finally stepped out of the car. With a push of the button, the garage door began to lower again, and Derek walked over to the wooden door in front of the car.

After fumbling with the keys for a moment, Derek heard the door unlock with a ‘click’, and pulled the door open before he gestured to the stairs leading up. “After you,” he offered, and the Eevee jumped through the door before it ran up the stairs, Derek following close behind. As the two arrived at the top of the steps, Derek flipped a lightswitch.

A low hum seeped through the ceiling before the room lit up, revealing the pans and pots still on the countertops next to the stove, a sink with a rag hanging from the faucet, and a fridge lodged in the corner of the kitchen. Eevee let out a yelp of shock at the sudden light, but Derek paid the Pokemon no mind as he walked over to the fridge. “Alright, let’s see what’s available,” he muttered as he looked at the contents inside, before he began to set stuff on the counter.

“Alright, so I have some leftover ribs, some chicken I could fry up, some leftover fried rice, a few apples, some grapes, and a couple oranges,” Derek listed off, before he looked down at Eevee and asked, “What would you like to eat?” Eevee tilted its head up to look at the selection, before it crouched down and jumped up onto the counter. The Normal-type warily sniffed at the fried rice, seeming suspicious of it, before it turned to the ribs. It only took a single sniff, and the fox-like Pokemon stumbled back, shaking its head, before it finally pointed at the chicken and gave rapid nods.

“Chicken it is, then,” Derek said with a chuckle, and repackaged the ribs and rice. Once he put them back in the fridge, he pointed at the fruits and asked, “Anything you’d like to have while they cook?” Eevee only took a brief glance before it firmly pointed at the apples. Derek snorted at how insistent the Pokemon was acting, and put the other fruit away before he got to work.

Derek poured a thin layer of cooking oil into a clean pan, and placed three chicken breasts in the pan that soon began to sizzle. Eevee’s nose twitched as the smell of cooking meat filled the kitchen, and wandered closer to the stove while Derek sprinkled some spices on the meat. Once he set the shakers back down, Derek grabbed an apple before he began to cut it into slices. “Well, the chicken’s going to take a bit longer to cook, but here’s something to tide you over,” he said as he placed the apples on a plate, before he finally set it on the floor.

Derek barely managed to snag a slice for himself before the Eevee dove onto the plate, eagerly chowing down on the fruit. As the Normal-type Pokemon made several noises of delight as it stuffed its face, Derek began to wonder how the hell this happened as he put the unused ingredients away. As far as he knew, there weren’t many methods for a Pokemon to fall between dimensions. Best he could think of would be Palkia messing with reality, or more likely, an Ultra Wormhole-

Derek paused at the last idea, before he smacked himself in the face. “Stupid, I should’ve realized that!” he exclaimed, earning a look from Eevee. Of course it was an Ultra Wormhole the Normal-type fell through - There was a floating web of light in the sky, for crying out loud! As he rubbed the spot where he hit himself, he looked down at the Eevee and asked, “Hey, I don’t suppose you saw a giant metal cat or a giant spectral bat before you came through, did you?” When Eevee shook its head, he let out a grumble before looking away. Now, this was going to bother him all night…

As he looked down at the Eevee again, he paused when he finally noticed that the light fur of her tail tip formed five curved hearts. “Huh, didn’t realize you were female,” he muttered aloud. When Eevee gave him a look, he involuntarily bristled at her expression, “What? It’s hard to make things out when it is dark out!”

Eevee seemed to roll her entire head at the comment, but didn’t make any more noise as she waited for her meat. After a few more minutes of cooking the breasts to a nice even white, Derek picked the plate back up before setting two pieces on it. As soon as he set it back down, Eevee let out a cry of delight before she began to tear into the meat.

Derek let out a snort, but began to eat his own piece. After a few minutes, he soon finished his piece, and placed the plate and pan in the sink. As he looked down at the Eevee still gnawing at the bone, he let out a sigh before he dropped his remains in the trash.

“Anyways, now that we have the food cooking, we need to talk,” he told them, which earned a look of concern from the Eevee as she let her bone drop. As water began to pour over the pan, Derek leaned against the sink, knelt down and said, “You see, you’re a lot further away from your home region than you might think.” Eevee narrowed her eyes at the question, and Derek explained, “You see, what you fell through was an Ultra Wormhole, which acts like a Teleport over extreme distances. Namely, the world you’re currently in isn’t the world of Pokemon.” Eevee’s eyes widened in shock at this, and began to shake before she started running back and forth.

“Okay, maybe it’s not that drastic,” Derek amended, not wanting them to panic that heavily. “What I mean is that, as far as Earth knows? The Pokemon world is just fiction, like fairy tales and myths.”

“It doesn’t mean you aren’t real!” he added, causing the Normal-type to pause her panicking, “It’s just that, if you went out by yourself, it would cause for a large amount of people to swarm you to pet you at best, or grab you for experiments at worst, until another Ultra Wormhole is found.”

Eevee stopped her panicking, and thought his words over before she growled at the idea. Derek let out a breath at her aggression, before he said, “I’m glad you at least understand where I’m coming from.” he frowned in concern as he thought things over, before he looked down at Eevee. “Still, it may be a while before we find one, especially without the resources to track them. So, until we find another Wormhole that goes to the Pokemon world, would you be willing to be my first Pokemon?”

Eevee seemed to calm down now, but looked reluctant at the idea. Seeing the fox Pokemon’s indecision, Derek told her, “I may not be aiming to become a Pokemon Master or a Champion, since there’s no League around, but I promise to at least keep you fed and warm. Would that work for you?” Eevee eventually gave a nod, and sauntered up before she began to nuzzle his leg.

Derek smiled at the Eevee’s cuddling, and scratched between her ears before he hummed in thought. “You know, since you’re my first Pokemon, I should probably give you a nickname. What would you say to being given one?” Eevee hummed at the question, seeming uncertain of what to choose before she nodded.

Derek began to echo her as he thought it over, before he asked her, “For a starting idea, how about Fluffy? Your tail and mane certainly match it.” She gave him a glare at the idea, and he let out a huff before he thought it over some more.

“Well, if you don’t want that name, then how about Spots? That’s a common name,” he suggested, only for Eevee to audibly growl at the suggestion. Derek jumped to the side when she swatted at him, before he glanced out the window at the full moon peeking over the rooftops.

“In that case, what would you say to Eve?” Derek asked her. When she went to knock a bottle off the counter, he told her, “Not just for being a shorter version of Eevee, but I found you in the evening. And since Eve is the name of the first human female, it’s fitting you get it, as the first Pokemon I found.” Eevee hummed in thought, before she finally let out a yip in agreement.

Derek let out a breath when she agreed. At least he wouldn’t have to clean up a bigger mess than this… As he went to pet the now-named Eve on the head though, his mouth split into two as he gave a massive yawn. “Okay, I think it’s time we get some shut-eye for tomorrow, then we’ll get you a check-up and some proper things for grooming you,” he said, and stretched up before he told her, “Let me get something for you to sleep on.”

As he entered the bedroom, Derek looked around for a moment before he eventually pulled out a sleeping bag from an alcove on top of the dresser. He took a moment to unclip the straps, then folded the bags up into neat squares before he finally stepped away. “Alright, here you go,” he said as Eevee walked past him, “Is this bag good enough for you?”

The Pokemon cautiously hopped onto the bag, and Eve curled up into the cushions before she closed her eyes. Derek chuckled at how cute the Pokemon was acting, and threw his shirt off into a corner. Once he grabbed some pajama pants and a white t-shirt, he ducked into the bathroom nearby and began to change. After changing into his nightwear, he reached out and turned the other lights off before he walked back in.

Falling on the mattress with a thud, Derek buried himself under the sheets. As he got comfy, he felt the rush of everything finally hit him. As his body quickly fell asleep, Derek idly wondered how far the Pokemon were appearing. Was Eevee the only Pokemon that showed up? If not, what other Pokemon showed up? After all, it was nice to have a calm normal-type Pokemon in his house, but if a Pokemon like Tyranitar or Hydreigon showed up…

Shuddering at the idea of a kaiju battle taking place close to home, Derek closed his eyes and forced himself to fall asleep. As he felt his mind fall asleep though, he made sure to note one thing: Tomorrow, he’d have to start figuring out what the hell was going on.