Monday, September 4th, 2017

It's rare for me to look before I cross the street. I live directly across the river from downtown so even though there are some fairly major intersections, drivers aren't going particularly fast. Plus with it only being September, it's not like there's any snow or ice on the ground so sliding isn't a factor.

What this all means is that when I see the walk sign on the crosswalk, I go. It hasn't been a problem before, but I guess today was the day that my luck ran out. As soon as I stepped onto the street I realized that I had made a mistake from the incredibly loud honk and sound of rushing air from my right. Caught off-balance, I wasn't able to force myself backward out of the street in time and could only turn my head to see... a massive tree where the intersection should have been.

Where had that come from?

I quickly realized that there wasn't only a single tree in the middle of the road, but rather that the entire road had been replaced by a forest. While I had been walking on cement a moment ago, I was now standing on firm dirt. Completely lost, I turned around to look behind me at the way that I had just come. I expected to see restaurants and the grocery store, but no matter which direction I looked, I couldn't see anything except for ferns and more trees.

"What the hell," I muttered to myself while continuing to turn around, desperately looking for anything familiar. Well, anything familiar other than plants. The trees looked like normal pine and oak trees, though I wasn't sure what kind. I was even less sure about what type the ferns were, but overall nothing looked out of the ordinary.

After a few seconds of looking around, I suddenly realized that there was something else missing. The bag of groceries that I had been holding was gone and a quick pat of my pockets revealed that my phone and keys were gone as well. I could still feel my wallet in my right pocket, but I was distracted from that when I realized that I was wearing a backpack, which definitely hadn't been the case a minute ago.

I swung the pack off my back and set it on the ground to take a look. I hadn't had much of a need for my backpack since I'd graduated college a couple of years ago, but I immediately recognized it as my own. However, the light bedroll that was strapped to the top was definitely new. I unzipped the main pocket and found that there was also a small pillow and some granola bars that I didn't remember ever packing in it. The bars weren't a brand that I recognized, but they weren't something I bought with much frequency, so that didn't mean much.

The unusual thing was that each of the granola bar flavors pictured a different Pokemon. The chocolate-peanut butter ones had a Machop, the oatmeal-raisin one showed a Tropius, and the apple ones pictured a Teddiursa. Were these some promos that my parents had picked up for me on their last trip to Japan? I'd been a fan of the Pokemon games for as long as I could remember so I had collected a good amount of memorabilia at this point, but couldn't recall ever seeing these before. Granted, my collection was large enough that it was definitely possible that I had just forgotten about it. Though even if that was the case, how in the world did they get in my backpack along with the bedroll and pillow? More to the point, how had I gotten here?

While I had been examining my belongings, the forest had been quiet apart from the occasional chirps of birds. When I stopped searching through my backpack, I realized that there was one other thing that I could distantly hear. It wasn't loud, but I could definitely make out the sound of water off to the left of where I had been facing when I had originally crossed the road. I hadn't been a particularly good boy scout, but I was pretty sure that when you were lost you were supposed to follow water. Well, follow water or stay in the same area so that people could find you. However, the latter didn't seem very likely at the moment since I had no clue how I'd gotten here, which meant that the former was my best bet.

I hastily returned everything into the backpack and slung it back on my shoulders, then started walking towards the sound of water. The trees thinned slightly as I made my way downhill and within a few minutes I was standing at the edge of a river that was about 200 feet across. The water was fairly calm where I was, but I could see that it was meeting up with another, faster-flowing river downstream. To my right, it turned farther away from me and hid behind the landmass that was across the river fr-

Was that Nicollet Island?

The shape was about right, but from what I could see there weren't any buildings on it. Also, if it was Nicollet then there should have been a bridge where I was standing, but there was only a normal shoreline. Even so, the amount of time that I had walked had been about right and the landmass seemed eerily familiar despite the obvious differences. I turned to look further to my left where the Minneapolis skyline should have been if I was correct, but couldn't spot any of the skyscrapers that would have been there.

I still couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity as the river did look like the Mississippi. Completely bewildered, I continued walking downriver so I could fully see around maybe-Nicollet. As I moved, I watched across the river and spotted that there was a clearing on the southern end of the island. The clearing looked a lot like the area where weddings were hosted basically every weekend the weather allowed, but just like how all of the other buildings had been missing, the pavilion wasn't where it should have been.

As soon as I was able to see around the island, I stopped in my tracks again as my confusion only deepened. I could see what was almost certainly the river's upper locks shortly downriver from me, but they didn't quite look how I remembered. Despite the different appearance, they were definitely in the right spot and the river was undoubtedly the Mississippi. Above the locks was the Stone Arch Bridge and unlike the locks, it looked how I would have expected it to. My eyes slowly followed the bridge to the river's far bank and saw that there was a city where Minneapolis should have been, but it wasn't the city that I was used to. Instead of the familiar skyline, I saw that there were instead a number of smaller buildings, few of which exceeded five or six stories.

Dumbstruck, I stood on the shore of the river and tried to figure out what had happened to me. I'd gone for an early grocery run on my day off work to get some lunch meat and somehow ended up in an alt-Minneapolis. One where many buildings, including my apartment, were missing. If the option had been available, I would have gladly returned home and forgotten that this had even occurred as exploration had never been a big draw for me. Instead, I was alone in the woods and trying to keep a level head. The one consolation was that even though I was quite a ways away, I could spot movement on the Stone Arch Bridge. The knowledge that I wasn't completely alone made me feel marginally better about my inexplicable situation.

A loud splash to my right made me turn away from my examination of the city and return my attention to the river I was standing next to. I frowned slightly when I saw the fairly large ripples that were emanating from the center of the smaller split of the river. There were obviously fish in this part of the river, but I had never known them to jump out of the river like you see salmon do in nature documentaries. Almost glad for the distraction, I curiously watched the river to see if whatever had made the splash repeated its actions. After a few seconds, something vaguely fish-shaped leaped out of the water and as it reached the peak of its jump I was able to recognize what it was.

A Goldeen. A Pokemon.

The water Pokemon dropped back into the river with a large slash and I couldn't bring myself to do anything except stare at the spot, completely stunned. There's no way that had been real... It was impossible. But then, so was being transported into the middle of a forest when I had been walking down the street. I suddenly remembered the loud honk right before I found myself in the forest and slowly sank down to the ground as I had an absurd realization.

Had I been hit by a truck? Like those isakei… isakai… however it was pronounced... stories? I swallowed nervously at the implication. If that was the case, did that mean that I had died? That seemed like a common start to those stories from what I remembered, but I hadn't read or watched too many to know. Frustratingly, none of the ones that I was familiar with had actually ended, so I didn't know how the characters in those stories were able to get back to their homes. Assuming that was even possible.

As if a fog had lifted in my mind, I suddenly realized that the bird cries that I had heard earlier in the woods hadn't been the bird songs I was used to. From the river's bank, I could still hear the expected normal-sounding chirps, but also some sounds that were distinctly Pokemon names. From among the cacophony of cries, I could pick out what sounded like Pidgey, Pikipek, and Fletchling cries, and I was sure that there were more that I couldn't quite make out.

I sat in silence for several minutes as I tried and failed to come to terms with my new situation. No matter what I did, I wasn't able to wrap my head around the idea that I had somehow ended up in a world with Pokemon, but still had many of the same features as I was used to. Deciding that I needed to take this in small steps, I figured that it would probably be a good idea to go somewhere familiar. Maybe from there I could start getting my bearings and hopefully figure out what was going on. The most obvious place to start was the Stone Arch Bridge, so I slowly rose to my feet, dusted myself off, and started walking towards the bridge. I suddenly recalled that a common message at the beginning of Pokemon games was that you didn't want to be in the wild without a Pokemon of your own, so I picked up my pace to a light jog.

About ten minutes later I finished my nervous trek through the woods. I hadn't actually seen a single Pokemon during my jog over, but I had heard their cries around me the entire time which had more than a little unnerving. Now that I had safely reached the northern end of the pedestrian bridge, I paused for a few seconds to take in the sight. While everything else that I had seen so far had been altered in some way, Stone Arch looked identical to what I remembered. It was still fairly early in the day, so it wasn't too much of a surprise that the bridge was empty apart from a few joggers. Despite knowing that I should have expected it, it still surprised me to see that several of them had Pokemon loping next to them as they ran. One young man was being followed by a Growlithe while a couple had a Luxio and a Herdier with them.

I slowly walked onto the bridge, making sure to stay to the far-right on the off-chance that there were any cyclists out, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the Pokemon as I walked. It was so surreal to see something that was simultaneously incredibly familiar and completely unknown at the same time. After a few seconds, I forced myself to stop staring at the Pokemon as I didn't want to attract any attention to myself. Pokemon were clearly commonplace wherever I was, so it would make me look odd if I started gawking at them. Instead, I turned my attention towards the city that I was approaching and tried to reconcile the sight with the version of Minneapolis that I was familiar with.

Despite the fact that the buildings were much smaller than I was used to, I could certainly see some similarities in this city. The roads appeared to be pretty much the same as what I was used to and the most obvious similarity was the iconic facade of the ruined mill turned museum facing the river. I stopped walking once I had almost reached the city's side of the river and leaned against the railing that divided pedestrians from cyclists. As weird as it had been to see real Pokemon in front of me, it somehow felt even stranger to look at a city and feel both familiarity and wrongness at the same time. In contrast to my thoughts on watching the Pokemon earlier, I didn't think I would draw any untoward attention by taking the time to closely examine the city, so I decided to stay there for a while to fully take in the sight.

It turned out that my assumption was incorrect, since after less than a minute I heard a woman's voice from behind me, "Excuse me, can I help you?" I slowly turned around and saw a woman wearing a blue uniform standing a couple of feet away. She looked oddly familiar, but I was certain that I didn't know anyone with long green hair. When she saw my face, she smiled and continued, "You looked like you might be a little lost. Are you looking for the lab?"

Lost was certainly one word to describe my situation. I wasn't entirely sure how to answer her question though, so I hesitantly nodded and lamely replied, "Uh, yeah."

"I thought so," she said warmly. "Today is always one of the lab's busiest days, so I try to keep an eye out for young trainers. It's on Nicollet and Fourth, right across the street from the library. Just head up that street until you hit Fourth, take a right, and then go for a few more blocks until you hit Nicollet. You can't miss it." As she spoke she pointed towards the road near where the bridge ended.

I glanced over my shoulder to where she was pointing and nodded again at the information. It sounded like at least some of the streets had the same names, which would certainly make it easier to get around. "Thanks for the directions."

"You bet, always happy to help. Now, you better head on over there right away. It wouldn't be good if your first choice was already taken when you got there."

"Right…" I replied slowly, once again not completely sure what she meant. Regardless, I figured that I should at least follow her directions. If this lab didn't pan out then at least the library might be a good place to start figuring out what was going on. "Thanks again, and have a good one," I added as I turned back towards the city and resumed walking down the last section of the bridge.

"Good luck on your journey!" The woman called from behind me, so I turned back for a second to give a half-wave and almost stumbled when I took in her full appearance. Thankfully, I quickly recovered and continued making my way towards my new destination while thinking about how it had just been further cemented that I was in a different world. I had just talked to an Officer Jenny. Did that mean that all of the police officers that I might meet here would look exactly the same as her? Even if I were to accept that I was in a world with Pokemon, that just seemed too bizarre.

It took me about another ten minutes of walking to reach the lab that Jenny had mentioned, though it seemed like it had taken no time at all. The entire time that I had been walking I continued to encounter new Pokemon on the street as they walked around with their trainers or even by themselves. Wartortle, Audino, Electrike, and Buneary were just a few of the many Pokemon that I marveled at on my route, and I was slightly reluctant to go inside and lose the chance to see more Pokemon.

The building shared its appearance with the library across the street and I spotted a placard by the front entrance that prominently named it as the Minneapolis Central Laboratory. I hesitantly ascended the stairs up to the front entrance and opened the doors to let myself in. I figured that if a police officer told me to come here then it was fair game to freely enter and I wouldn't get in trouble for entering uninvited. Once I'd gone through the second set of doors I was greeted by the sight of a large lobby that was empty apart from a single receptionist sitting behind the desk.

"Good morning!" The woman greeted me brightly, "Are you here for a Pokemon, or do you already have one?"

I suddenly felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner why I had been given directions to a Pokemon Laboratory. I had been too distracted by the sights of the city to give any real thought as to why I had been told to come here, but quickly decided to go along with it. My only alternative was to stammer that I was in the wrong building and leave, but I was too curious to go that route. "Uh, morning. Yeah, I need a Pokemon." As I spoke I walked up to the reception desk so that the two of us didn't have to talk across the room.

"Well, as you can see, you're the first person to arrive today. I'll just need to see your ID and then you can meet with the professor right away."

I immediately realized that this probably wasn't one of my better ideas. Of course they would need some verification before giving someone a Pokemon. I hesitantly reached into my right pocket to pull out my wallet, retrieved my Minnesota state ID, and held it out for her to take. As the receptionist took the plastic card from me, I fully expected her to immediately declare it a fake. Instead, she just softly hummed to herself as she quickly typed some information into her computer. After a few seconds, she smiled at me and handed me the ID back, "Everything appears to be in order Thomas. The professor will be with you in just a few minutes."

I hesitantly took the card back from her with a quick thanks and stepped away from the desk to sink into one of the nearby waiting chairs. A glance confirmed that the receptionist was no longer paying any attention to me, so I discreetly began to scrutinize my ID.

The picture on the card looked like me, but apart from that almost all of the information was wrong. My name was listed as Thomas Anthony Fitzgerald, which was somehow even more of a mouthful than my real name. My birthdate was so far off that I was supposedly eighteen instead of twenty-three. Lastly, my address was listed as somewhere in Blaine and I didn't even recognize the name of the street that it claimed that I lived on. After a minute I shoved the ID back into my wallet and returned it to my pocket. I would have time enough to ponder those changes when I wasn't in direct view of someone else.

Shortly after I finished putting away my wallet, a door to the left of the receptionist's desk opened to reveal a tall middle-aged woman with long blonde hair. "Thomas?" She asked and smiled when I scrambled to my feet. "You can come with me and you'll be on your journey before you know it."

I did my best to return her smile, though I felt that mine was somewhat forced. I tried to hide my nervousness as I walked over to follow her through the door, but couldn't stop myself from stammering slightly as I spoke, "Th-thanks Professor…" I winced slightly when I realized that I hadn't actually seen her name anywhere. I hoped she wouldn't find it suspicious that I didn't know the name of the person I had to come to get a Pokemon from.

Thankfully she maintained her smile and kindly replied, "Tamarack, but you can call me Tammy. That's what everyone does."

My worry was momentarily replaced with confusion, "Is that really your name?"

She chuckled, "Arceus no. My parents weren't that mean. It's Molly, but like I said, most everyone has been calling me Tammy for about as long as I can remember." I nodded and we continued walking down the hallways of the lab. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke back up, "I have to say, I'm impressed with your promptness. Normally prospective trainers don't arrive for a couple hours still. Guessing you couldn't wait after watching the finals yesterday?"

I had absolutely no idea what she was referring to and hesitantly replied, "Umm, yeah. It was really something."

The professor hummed in agreement and then stopped in front of a door labeled 'Pokemon Distribution Room.' "Here we are," she announced. "Are you ready to meet your new partner?"

"You bet," I replied with a smile, though some of my enthusiasm came from the fact that I wouldn't have to bluff my way through yet another conversation. She somewhat dramatically opened the door to reveal a large room that was divided in two by a long fence that looked like a baby gate. The back half of the room was the larger section and was empty apart from some small toys that were strewn across the floor.

"Oops, I guess they're still in their Pokeballs," Tammy said apologetically and quickly made her way over to a table that had three red and white balls sitting on it. She pressed a button on each of the balls and with a flash of red light, three forms materialized on the floor in front of her. All three of the Pokemon were quadrupedal and close to the same size, but that's where their shared characteristics ended.

The first was a dog that had an entirely black body apart from its snout and stomach which were orange. It had some off-white ornaments on its back, legs, and head that looked vaguely like bone. As soon as it was released from the Pokeball, it yipped happily and pranced around for a moment before sitting back on its haunches.

The second Pokemon also looked like a dog, but this one was a bit smaller and mostly brown-colored. The main exceptions were its large fluffy white tail and what looked like a collar made out of white fur and small rocks. When it was released, it sat down immediately and gave the first Pokemon a dirty look at its antics.

The final Pokemon was a small deer about the size of a fawn, though it was colored quite differently from a normal deer. The lower half of its body was beige while the upper half was dark green, and it had a small flower sitting atop its head between its long ears. Unlike the other two Pokemon, it immediately scampered backward to hide behind the Professors' legs and watched me appraisingly.

I stared at the three Pokemon in front of me in surprise. I hadn't taken the time to consider what starters I expected to be offered, but Houndour, Rockruff, and Deerling certainly wouldn't have been on the list. Even though fire, rock, and grass were technically still a type triangle, it struck me as odd to take out water. I was about to ask the Professor about the choices but decided better of it. There was no reason to bring more attention to my lack of knowledge.

"There's no need to be shy," Tammy admonished kindly, though I was unsure if she was speaking to me or the Pokemon. "Go and say hi."

Before she had even finished speaking, the Houndour ran up to my side and immediately demanded my attention. I obligingly knelt down to pet the unusual dog and watched while the other two Pokemon slowly approached. Once it saw that the fire type was clearly pleased with the attention it was getting, the Rockruff abandoned its caution and came over to my other side so that I could pet it with my left hand. When I saw that the Deerling was still tentative in its approach, I paused petting the Houndour, causing it to whine softly, and held out my right hand to the grass type. Once the Deerling had carefully smelt my hand, it walked the rest of the way up and stared at me curiously.

"So, what do you think?" The professor asked as I did my best to balance my attention somewhat evenly amongst the three Pokemon. "Which one do you want to be your new partner?"

I considered for a few seconds then smiled. "I choose…"

A/N: I hope no one had to already break Google maps out to understand what was going on, though I will say it might be useful to take a look at it occasionally to get an idea of the area. I've lived here my entire life and I'll admit that I've already made liberal use of it to make sure things line up correctly going forward. On that note, thank you to my good friend (and fellow Minnesotan) krazykz for betaing, and I'll see you for the next update with Chapter 2: I Choose You!