It took a ray of sunlight refracted into Blake's eyes to wake him up the next morning. He hadn't noticed how tired he was when he went to sleep. Further attempts at rolling over and covering his face were futile, and eventually he sat up and decided to start his day.
"At least it's the weekend." he thought to himself as he got dressed. Going to his desk to grab his phone, he saw the lone Pokéball sitting next to it.
"I had probably ought to do something about this." Blake grabbed the ball and looked at it for a moment, before turning it in his hands and pressing the button to release whatever was inside. One flash of red light later, and a shape took its form in front of him. As his eyes quickly adjusted to the flash, Blake saw a Pokémon standing, or rather floating, in front of him. He sized it up. It wasn't really a Pokémon he was familiar with, not that meant much. There weren't many Pokémon in town, other than a few the professor kept in his lab.
The Pokémon made eye contact with Blake, not making a noise as it gently floated up to the ceiling. Its spherical purple body bobbed a little as it made contact, sounding almost hollow. Two 'arms' dangled from the sphere, ending in what looked like a yellow heart. Plastered on its face was an 'X' shape, the same color of yellow. A puffy, cloud-like thing stuck to the Pokémon's head. The two stared at each other for a second.
"~floon." Blake had no idea where the sound came from, because it appeared that the Pokémon had no mouth. Still, he knew it was the source.
"Um. Hi. We met last night, I guess. Remember me? I'm Blake." No expression came across the Pokémon's face. To be truthful, Blake wasn't sure it could show emotion.
"I'm heading out. Are you coming with me?" he asked it. No response. As he shrugged and headed out the door, the Pokémon floated down from its perch on the ceiling and followed behind him. Blake nodded and headed downstairs.
In the kitchen, Blake found a note from his sister, telling him that she and their mother would be gone for most of the day, and wouldn't be there to see him off. He finished reading the note, then crumpled it up and threw it away. He had no idea what she was talking about, but knowing her, it was probably just some sort of prank.
"First things first. Food. What do you eat?" More staring. Blake was not particularly easily creeped out, but the Pokémon still made him somewhat uneasy.
"Right. Well, I'm going to eat." Blake stepped over to a cabinet and grabbed a bowl, then poured some cereal into it from a box that was left on. He turned towards the refrigerator to get milk. Upon turning back, he poured the milk into the bowl only to notice that there was nothing else inside.
"Wait. Did you eat that?" Again, no response aside from a few blinks. "Whatever." He grabbed another bowl, and filled it again, putting it on the table. "You can have this."
After breakfast was over, Blake headed outside, his Pokémon still following. He walked down the street towards the lab. Knocking upon arrival, he heard the sound of locks sliding, at least five or six. He hadn't really noticed those before.
"Yes?" The professor gave him a quizzical look.
"Why do you have so many locks on your door?" Blake asked the foremost question in his mind.
"Security reasons of course. One can never be too safe. Now, I know that's not the reason you're here. Or at least if it is, you must be very strange in the head. I might regret picking you."
"Hey, I'm strange? Wait, pick me for what?" It was Blake's turn to look uninformed. The professor frowned.
"Didn't your mother give you my note? I'm sending you out on your own." Blake's eyes widened.
"You can't do that! I don't know anything about Pokémon! I don't even know what this one is called. It just follows me around and stares at me. I have no idea what I'm even supposed to feed it! Other than cereal, I suppose." The look shifted back to the professor.
"You fed your Drifloon cereal? I guess that works." The professor cocked his head to the side, apparently pondering some important detail.
"It was an accident. Back to the point. Why me?"
"Why not? Listen, Blake. I knew your father. He was one of the best trainers that I ever had met. It wasn't that he trained harder than anyone else. He was just a special person. He could connect with nearly any Pokémon. I sensed that you have the same potential. Untapped, maybe. But it's there. You're what, seventeen? It's time we acted on this." The professor suddenly took on a somber tone. Blake did the same. He had no memories of his father, who had been gone since Blake's sister was born.
"Potential? What am I supposed to do with this potential? I'm no trainer." he argued.
"I've already set this up. You're going to Olivine City to meet some of my friends."
"Olivine? I've never heard of it."
"It's a beautiful port city in Johto. You'll be heading out in a few hours. I've already checked with your mother, she said she left a bag for you with some basic supplies at home. Surely you noticed? Is this the first you've heard of this?" the professor inquired.
"This is the first I've heard of anything! I've never even left the island, how am I supposed to get to Johto?" Blake asked, aghast.
"Here's your ticket." the professor said, handing him a stub of paper. "It's nothing fancy, just another friend doing me a favor. You'd better get going. The port is nearby, but you might have to pack some extra stuff." And with that, the professor shooed Blake out the door. The locks could be heard again.
Blake stood at the doorstep for a moment, blinking a few times and taking everything in. In a matter of days, his life had been turned upside down. He turned to look at Drifloon, who seemed to almost have shrugged at him with his stringy arms.
This was crazy.
