7AM

  Joshua wouldn't call himself a particurly studious man.

  His memories of school are half-baked at best, about as interesting as the rest of his, admittedly normal, life.

  He and his friends (if you could even call them that) would joke, py games, typical high-school boy shenanigans.

  …except for that one time someone shit in the vents, and the entire school had to be evacuated.

  They never caught the kid, nor did they figure out how the mad bastard got up there

  Anyways, the reason these memories are coming back is because for the first time in years…

  “Looks kinda… old?”

  …Joshua is going back to school.

  It's been a while since Joshua has even seen a school, but he notes that this one looks very… vintage.

  The one he went to was made in the early 2000's, and on the inside it just looked like a typical boring office building in terms of how the walls and ceiling looked. One of those typical “cheap” buildings.

  But this one looks to be made out of bricks, or some kind of sturdier stuff, which makes him think that it was “built” in the te 80's early 90's.

  It's a rge square-shaped building with several branching hallways going out into other, comparably smaller buildings.

  The condition of this pce looks… not bad, just old, the dark blue (possibly “navy”) rafters and the decal of a cartoonish bull on the wall which he can ASSUME to be the gymnasium are both aged and lightly faded. A heavy yer of snow cakes the roof and gutters.

  Exploring an abandoned school is something he's thought about before, it fills him with an odd sense of excitement.

  “Is it bad I've always wanted to do this?”

  [IonoZone: Break into a school??? ( ?◇?)? ]

  “Yall never wanted to break into your old school at night?”

  [IonoZone: ( ;′?ω?`) um… not really…]

  [No???]

  [Is that normal?]

  [Kinda]

  [Ignore above, no we don't do that]

  “Guess I'm just special then” Joshua says with mock disdain, but he's genuinely surprised that he's alone in this.

  He hears a snort of the unicorn beside him. Her horn is ignited, but he isn't sure what she's actually doing to train idly like this.

  “Ooo! Ooo! That sounds fun! Can we do it?! Please? Please!” Gabriel (where did she even come from?) excims in excitement.

  Why is she so excited…?

  She's bouncing again, are Porse’s made out of helium?

  Joshua remembers that, nope, she's instead made out of super-anthrax.

  Hooray.

  “Gd to see SOMEONE is on my side, thanks Gabe”

  Patting the top of her dome, she giggles innocently.

  Though he can't see it, he can practically feel the eyeroll that Jophiel just did.

  …

  Inventory set, cross not reacting, shield in his left hand, armor on.

  Okay, he's set.

  Joshua tries the front door, up a small flight of stairs at the entrance.

  Locked.

  [DISMANTLE]

  Suddenly not locked anymore.

  Opening the door, he's met with a stale, cold gust of air that hits him in the face. Opening to a rge front entrance, three splintering hallways go off from each wall.

  Rays of light just barely filter in from the frosted over windows and skylights, creating a rather beautiful image of beams of light in the dusty air.

  “Like it wasn't cold enough… Love?”

  There's a distinct fizzling sound, and a ball of light appears beside him, at the behest of Jophiel.

  The room instantly lights up, with dark carpets and cream/tan colored walls.

  “Now to just… look around, I suppose” Joshua mindlessly says as he walks to the center of the room, looking down each hallway.

  “I never saw a school this big before! Really smart people work here!” Gabriel seems to have no issue walking off and navigating in the dark.

  “They probably did”

  Unless it's just another mindless “structure” that was generated.

  Joshua has a hard time picking which way to go first, so he just mentally goes through an ‘eenie meenie miney moe’ and nds on the door on the left.

  Grown ass man, by the way.

  “Alright, this way”

  “Pony”

  “Okey dokey!”

  [This is kinda scary…]

  [Never knew an abandoned school would be so frightening…]

  [This is supposed to be fun?]

  Joshua checks his cross.

  Silent.

  “Yeah. Probably a better time when there's no demons”

  The doors in this pce seem to be simple push-doors, which creaks slightly as he enters the one on the left and walks into another hallway.

  Since when did high-schools have carpet? The janitors definitely hated it here.

  The walls are lined with lockers, with several doors on each side that seem to lead to… somewhere, he wishes he had more details, but it's like whoever ran this pce had an allergy to signs.

  He walks quietly, the carpet (he still can't believe there is one) makes it easy to tread lightly for any breasts that be-

  BEASTS!

  BEASTS that be.

  B-E-A-S-T-S.

  Fuck, how did he fumble that in his MIND?

  Luckily he didn't say that out loud, that would have be-

  Joshua freezes, and slowly looks down.

  The absolutely disgusting grin pstered on Jophiel's snout speaks volumes.

  Even without the link, Jophiel is able to gleam his thoughts passively even without touching him with her psychic energy, though with much less detail than before. But it wasn't enough to save him.

  “Not a word”

  She chuffs, narrowing her eyes in feigned suspicion.

  “What? Don't judge me, woman. I just slipped for a second”

  “Po~ny~ta~” She says, amusement cing her voice. He knows she's just messing with him, as the affection in her tone hasn't wavered.

  “I am not deflecting”

  She prods at his leg with her hoof.

  “Pony~”

  “You're talking mad shit for someone who likes having a face in your chest”

  Ever since he messed with her that one time, she seemed to take a liking to having his face buried into her fur- specifically the thicker tuft on her “chest”.

  He isn't sure if she likes it because HE likes it, if she likes it just because of the attention, or some secret third thing.

  Or both, it's probably both.

  “Pony” She shrugs, the tips of her ears turning slightly red. Whenever they sleep, she's been the one who's rather picky.

  God forbid if he moves during the night, she will groggily get up and recim her “rightful spot” as promised to an honored Horse Of The White Variety before immediately passing out again.

  That “rightful spot” is either in his arms, or buried into his neck, she just has to be mindful of the horn.

  Apparently chat likes to collect screenshots of that. He did not ask, and he still wishes he never knew.

  Doesn't mean he's gonna stop it though.

  “Yeah this is a whole lot of nothing”

  Joshua has opened a few doors now, all leading to cssrooms that are damn near identical aside from small variations.

  Wooden desks and chairs lined up in rows that are surprisingly not attached to each other, is this a private school or something?

  The entire pce is covered in thick dust, but strangely… it looks new? In design it looks old, in actual weathered age it looks old, but in use? It's practically brand new.

  Walls, aside from the dust and frost, have no decorations. Whiteboards have no lingering residue of markers, the teachers desks are all neatly arranged like a new hire just came in.

  Its like they build a brand new school, one from the early 2000's, and then just… didn't use it?

  Hell, even the trash cans, AND the janitorial closet are untouched. Completely empty bck garbage bags, and full bottles of chemicals lining the small closet.

  He did take those, by the way, he's not sure if they'll be useful.

  [StevenStoneOffical: Good morning Joshua.]

  [IonoZone: Gm!!!!]

  [SabrinaOfficial: Good Morning]

  [TulipOfficial: Morning]

  [Dr. Ambers: I hope you slept well, Mr. Abrams]

  Joshua almost trips.

  [Gm <333]

  [gm]

  [Good morning!!!!]

  [Morning Joshy-boy]

  [Tell Joey I said good morning!]

  [Any other dark-types still in chat?]

  [Umbreon M here, unfortunately]

  [I wanna sleep…]

  [Riolu F here. Imagine crying because the sun came up, couldn't be me!]

  [Good morning]

  A massive influx of messages, all saying good morning.

  “Uh… morning, what the hell are you all doing?”

  [Saying… good morning?]

  [???]

  [This a culture difference thing?]

  [No he's said it to Joey before]

  [Dr. Ambers: Please expin]

  “No no, it's fine. It's just weird seeing everyone so… positive?”

  At home, you'll MAYBE here a single good morning each day, and that's from either your coworker or family. Most people just don't care.

  He already had an idea that people of the Pokemon world are leagues kinder than the people on Earth, but it's odd experiencing it, it almost makes him paranoid that it's all some joke he's not in.

  [That's depressing…]

  [How are the people in your world? (sorry if that sounds weird…)]

  “Neutral, I guess. Everyone has their own lives, and getting involved in someone else's is seen as rude or suspicious. A lot of people struggle to make friends past a certain age because everyone just assumes that anyone who approaches you has an ulterior motive”

  Unless you count the really southern small towns, he guesses.

  [That sucks…]

  [At least you still have your Pokemon!]

  [Did above not check the vod?]

  [...no? (゜?。) ]

  [So everyone doesn't want to make friends… and there's no Pokemon? Who do you even bond with in your world???]

  “Aside from family? You don't, I guess”

  If you get lucky, you'll get a handful of diehard friends in middle school and then stay with them until you die.

  [Wow…]

  [Joshua, please dont take offense to this… but your world sounds horrible]

  [I seriously can't imagine not having my PVL]

  [...pvl?]

  [Parter For Life. My Growlithe]

  [That's PFL]

  [Fatfingered, woops]

  [New vocabury added]

  Joshua can imagine what it would be like for them. Basically everyone in their world has at least one sacred bond, a lifelong partner, to go through life with.

  One of the reasons why everyone is so nice and happy, he's honestly kind of jealous.

  “Unconditional love is a luxury most can't afford, unfortunately. I would've LOVED having a Pokemon, or really just a partner, during my time in school. Would've made it suck less”

  [Dr. Ambers: I can imagine that such a culture shaped your person?]

  Joshua checks the next room.

  Cssroom. Desk? Empty. Dismantle miscelneous objects like staplers and chairs.

  Move on.

  “Where's the computer b…?” He mumbles to himself.

  “And yeah, I guess so. I'm biased, so I can't really tell you how. I'm…”

  He sighs, embarrassment turning his cheeks crimson. His thoughts going to his breakdown.

  “Listen. I know you're doing your job, but can we do this ter, please? I know my mental state isn't… well. But I'd like to do this back at base”

  [Dr. Ambers: Of course. I'm sorry if I come off as pushy, Mr. Abrams. From what I can gather from you, appropriate moments to actually talk about your feelings are very inconsistent. I am just trying to adapt, I don't mean anything by it]

  “Yeah. Later, thank you”

  He feels a bit rude dismissing her like that, but… yeah, not now.

  Aaaaaand another cssr- oh wait hold on.

  Walking into a room, he freezes as a feeling of deja vu runs through him.

  Tile floors, sterilized white walls with red lines going along the middle, various machines he doesn't recognize.

  And a ball-shaped decoration on the floor.

  This is a medical center.

  His neck almost snaps as he looks at a small logo posted on the wall, one he thought was a bull.

  But now, he recognizes it as a Tauros.

  “This is a Pokemon school…”