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Jimin’s small form slumped against the back of the bus seat.
The young toddler really was growing, having turned nine a few days ago, but his classmates were still beating him in the height game. How much longer will I have to wait until my feet can reach the floor? Jimin thought, looking down at the bus floor and swinging his feet back and forth.
Maybe not until the end of next year, he guessed with a sigh.
At the moment, the bus had temporarily stopped at a bus stop he’s never seen before, probably letting other students on. Jimin paid no mind to it though, seeing how he was taking the opportunity while the bus wasn’t moving to slouch and slide down until his toes could actually touch the floor.
A few seconds later, the sound of closing doors caught his attention, signaling that it was time to move again. He scooted up the seat to sit correctly and laid his hands in his lap, lazily looking out the window at his surroundings. The next stop was the school, so Jimin made sure that his backpack was snug between his outer thigh and the bus window before getting settled.
Having a whole seat to himself was always a privilege.
Ever since Jimin rode the bus for the first time, he’s been sitting in the exact same row, right against the window. He had the advantage of tucking his feet up, sitting in different positions, and admiring the beautiful landscape of the Johto region. But most of all, he was able to share the space with his Pokemon buddy: an Aipom named Boots.
As a Pokemon that vaguely resembled a monkey, Boots had gotten his name from one of Jimin’s favorite cartoons. Jimin had caught him near the start of school, and over time, the two had become inseparable. Everyday after school, he would hang out with Boots in his backyard, playing catch or hopscotch together until Jimin's mom said it was dinnertime. And thanks to his elementary school, him and other students were allowed to bring one Pokemon for mental support.
The downside was...bringing Boots to school also meant hearing multiple jeering remarks from Jimin's schoolmates. About his appearance, his actions...and not just towards Boots.
Speak of the devil.
Jimin jumped in his seat as he felt a sharp kick against the back of his seat, which could only mean—
“Jinyoung,” Jimin whined, twisting around in his seat and looking up at the other boy, who was going against the bus rules by standing up and jeopardizing his safety. Jimin shook his head at him.
“Hey Jiminie,” Jinyoung spoke, peering over the seat and staring at Jimin and Boots. Boots chittered, and out of the corner of his eye Jimin saw the Aipom frown. Then, he felt Jinyoung kick the seat again.
“What do you want?” Jimin piped up, his eyes shooting daggers at the boy. Jinyoung smirked.
“Sheesh, Jiminie. Just wanted to tell you to give me back my lunchbox.”
“Your—what?”
Jimin glanced at Boots, and the Aipom cocked his head. Jimin leaned to the left a little, and he finally noticed.
One of Aipoms’ traits were their long, flexible tails that had the ability to grab whatever they wanted to—or, in this case, hold onto something that was given to them on purpose. So Boots was holding onto a lunchbox with a picture of a Rayquaza on it.
“You set us up. Boots didn’t take that, he wouldn’t do something that stupid.” Jimin raised his eyebrows and took the lunchbox from Boots.
“Or maybe your normal Pokemon’s even less smart than normal,” Jinyoung fired back with a teasing grin.
Jimin rolled his eyes, almost laughing at the fact that Jinyoung couldn’t even come up with a sentence that made sense.
“Oh, really? Well I think your Pikachu’s energy is just so strong that it shocked and messed up your brain cells.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jimin grabbed the top of his seat and pushed himself up enough so he could throw the lunchbox at Jinyoung. He heard a satisfying thump and a small gasp as he sat back down on the cushion.
“Think twice before trying to tease me again,” Jimin called back to Jinyoung without even turning around to look at him. For a moment, Jimin closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the seat, pleased with himself that he took advantage of a bully and stood up for himself instead of simply ignoring him.
Usually, when Jimin was in the bus, Jinyoung would do anything and everything he could possibly do before they arrived at the school. Sometimes he would throw his candy wrappers onto Jimin’s lap, stick straws into Jimin’s hair just to mess it up, and one time, he even stuck a rude note into the crevice of Jimin’s seat and blamed him for writing something so mean about someone else.
So naturally, Jimin felt so much relief that he had suddenly got the courage to say something back.
I’m not gonna get pushed over today, Jimin thought to himself with a proud smile. The feeling of relaxation washed over him as he continued to keep his eyes closed, but then he felt something weird.
A puff of air had touched his ear.
Jimin frowned. Maybe someone had just opened their window? He relaxed again.
Then, a voice.
“Hey!”
Jimin’s eyes flew open, and the next thing he felt wasn’t as gentle as a puff of air. He felt something shove his shoulder, hard. It was hard enough to make his opposite shoulder be pushed against the window. Jimin flinched on impact, and before he could cover Boots with a protective arm, he looked into the aisle and saw what had hit him.
A large, menacing Mightyena was right in front of him, breathing hard and occasionally letting out a low growl.
“Did you just throw this at my Pokemon?”
Jimin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. All he could see in front of him was the big, wolf-like Pokemon. He couldn’t see anything else, and from what he knew, Pokemon can’t talk unless they’re legendary or mythical...and Mightyenas aren’t.
He peeked around the Pokemon and gasped.
A boy was standing behind him, holding up Jinyoung’s Rayquaza lunchbox with two fingers, as if it was as disgusting as a dirty diaper. Jimin racked his brain and checked if he had ever seen a classmate with a Mightyena, but nothing came up.
He’s probably a new student…?
“I meant to throw it at him,” Jimin explained, pointing at Jinyoung through the back of his seat. The boy was still staring at him, unfazed.
“Couldn’t you have looked before throwing, though? Is your aim that bad?”
His Mightyena was also staying still, its front paws on the edge of Jimin’s seat near the aisle. Jimin nearly giggled because of the similarities between the Pokemon and its owner. Both were intimidating...and hard to read.
“Sorry, I just—”
“Jiminie was probably trying to start a fight here.” Jinyoung lied. Jimin could see his face over the seat along with his mischievous smile. Jimin groaned.
“At least I won’t be getting in trouble for standing up in the bus instead of keeping my butt on the seat,” Jimin said, looking between Jinyoung and the unnamed boy.
“Yeah, but you’ll be getting in trouble for throwing things around in a moving vehicle. You could have distracted the driver.”
Before him, Jimin saw the boy glare in Jinyoung’s direction.
“You should shut up. This probably wouldn’t have started if you hadn’t riled this guy up. Jimin, right?” the boy said. “And here’s your stupid lunchbox.”
Jimin raised his eyebrows as the boy tossed the lunchbox into Jinyoung's seat and then turned his attention back to where his Mightyena was snarling at Jimin.
Hold on a second. With a demeanor like that and a Pokemon like that...how did he not get asked to sit with someone yet? Jimin scanned him over. The boy was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black sweats, covered in a black denim jacket, too. And in addition, him and his Mightyena matched each other.
“Back off now, Tiger.” he instructed, and at once, Jimin saw the Mightyena move to sit down next to its trainer's feet.
No one’s sitting next to me. Maybe...
“Could I sit here?” the boy asked softly. Jimin gulped. He changed the tone of his voice just like that? Jimin could almost feel the mysterious vibes radiating off his body.
But still...those mysterious vibes made Jimin want to know more.
So maybe he’ll start by letting this guy sit next to him. Even though he’s never sat with anyone before.
“Yeah, sure.”
The boy stepped around his Mightyena and sat down next to him after Jimin scooted closer to the window. Boots sat down in his lap and he instinctively wrapped his arms around the Pokemon.
A few minutes passed like that, with Jimin and the boy just sitting in silence.
Jimin wanted to start a conversation, he really did. But what would it be about? Since he was most likely a new student, he probably didn’t want to hear about his new school. He probably didn’t want to hear about the new paint set Jimin got last night at the store. He probably didn’t want to hear about Johto because it’s hard to adapt to a new city.
Jimin knew that himself.
As Jimin parted his lips, getting ready to ask the boy what he ate for breakfast, the boy actually beat him to it. Well, with a different question.
“That’s an Aipom, right?”
Jimin blinked.
“Um, yeah,” he replied nervously. Boots turned around in his arms to look at the boy, tilting his head again like a curious puppy. Jimin smiled a little.
But then the boy snorted, and Jimin's smile disappeared. His shoulders slumped.
He’s gonna say something mean, I just know it. He’s just like the others. Jimin eyed him, contemplating the thought of telling him to find another seat. I made the wrong choice letting him sit here—
“My older brother has an Ambipom.”
“W-what?” Jimin choked out.
The boy nodded, and Jimin saw him smile for the first time.
...Wow.
“And the Ambipom is so cool,” the boy continued. Jimin’s smile returned to his face.
“Did your brother catch an Aipom and then it evolved? Or was he just lucky to catch the evolution?”
“He caught the evolution.”
“No way!” Jimin gasped, and when he looked down at Boots, his smile grew wider. Boots looked as happy as him to be hearing this.
Both the Pokemon and the trainer had never heard something like this before.
Jimin’s never met or talked to anyone who lived with an Aipom or Ambipom before. Everywhere he went in school, it was like everyone either had a Grass pokemon or a Dark pokemon or another type, never normal. Despite the fact that Boots was a normal-type, though…
...neither Jimin nor Boots had ever felt normal.
But hearing something closely related to Aipoms definitely brightened their day.
Throughout the rest of the bus ride, Jimin learned more about the boy: he had moved from Hoenn to Johto because his dad had gotten a better paying job; the boy’s teacher is Mr. Choi, who also happens to be Jimin’s; and the boy had Tiger, his Mightyena, ever since its first stage of evolution.
For a long time, Jimin had been the victim of teasing and other rude comments just because some people thought Boots looked strange compared to other pokemon. Even though the comments were more directed towards Boots, Jimin felt worse because Boots was his closest friend. The two kept each other company through anything and everything.
But today Jimin learned that there really are better people in the world...because he was talking to one of them.
When the bus finally stopped in front of the school and opened its doors, Jimin gathered up the courage to try and pet Tiger. To his surprise, the Mightyena allowed him to smooth its fur with his fingers, and Jimin could feel the boy’s eyes on him as he did so.
“Can I tell you something real quick?” the boy asked as he got up and prepared to fall in line to exit the bus. Jimin nodded after sliding his backpack onto his shoulders.
“Yeah...what’s up?”
“I...I honestly don’t know what kind of voodoo you’re using, but you’re the only person, besides me, who didn’t nearly lose their hand when trying to pet Tiger,” he laughed. Jimin giggled.
I hope that won’t be the last time I hear that laugh.
“Can I ask you something now?” the boy spoke again. Jimin nodded.
“Can I know your name?”
“Park Jimin.” Jimin answered with another nod and another contented smile.
“And what’s your name?” he asked once they hopped off the bus’ stairs and landed onto the pavement of the sidewalk. The boy turned around to face Jimin and playfully tipped the bill of his hat.
“Jeon Jungkook. Nice to meet you.”