A Weird Pokemon Fanfic

Part 5: Meetup

The sun, colored a resounding brilliant orange, was setting on the horizon as Jackson and Bulbs sat in the vehicle, seeming impatient. Jackson, visually bored, took out his phone and checked the time. "Geez, it's 7 already. Are you sure they're here? They might've left already." Jackson asked his friend. "Yeah, they should've been here. We were just together a while ago. I even dropped them off here! Hold on, lemme text them again." Bulbs responds, unsure of what to do. Jackson sighs and looks out the window, before noticing two Pokemon walking up to the van. One was blue, wore a pair of glasses whilst wearing a sweater and blue jeans and was talking to the other Pokemon, who was red and wearing a jacket, black pants, and a tattoo on his arm, with his tail being lit by a medium sized flame. Jackson pokes Bulbs' arm to get his attention. "Yo, is that them?" he says while pointing at the two. Bulbs looks over, a look of surprise appearing on his before its immediately replaced by a smile. "Oh, it IS them! Yo guys, we're over here!" he says while rolling his window down. The two stop talking and look over at Bulbs before quickly making their way towards the van. As they got closer, they noticed Jackson, and for a moment, they were shocked. However, as they walked up to the van and entered in the back seats, they immediately started asking Bulbs questions. "Hey, Bulbs, who is that? Is that Jackson?" the blue Pokemon asked, with an unsure tone in his voice. "No way, man. That ain't Jackson. Look at him! Jackson was so much cooler than this dude. Look at what he's wearing!" the red Pokemon says while ribbing the blue Pokemon, unaware to the blue Pokemon's dismay. Jackson looks straight ahead whilst thinking to himself. 'Wow, do they really not recognize me? That kinda hurts.' A moment of silence passes through the van before Bulbs breaks the silence. "Alright guys, bits over. It didn't work, Jackson is way too smart for that to work on him." As he says this, the two Pokemon in the back sigh with frustration. "Wow, we didn't even get to the funny part yet." "Yeah, at least let us do that before cutting it off." they respond, clearly upset by the sudden dismissal of their failed prank. Just as quickly as they had got upset, the two immediately changed their tones and started talking to Jackson. "Yo, Jackson! It's so great to see you again, dude! How've you been, man?!" the red Pokemon says while reaching his claw out to pat Jackson on the back. "Yeah, its been how long? 7? 8 years since we last talked?" the blue Pokemon says, pushing his glasses further on his face. "I think so? It's definitely been a while since we talked, haha." Jackson says, clearly still shy from being new. Bulbs notices this and immediately jumps in. "Oh, by the way. He's probably forgotten your names, and I haven't told him yet, so why don't you guys reintroduce yourselves?" he says while turning to look at them. The two nod in understanding before turning to Jackson." "Alright, that's fair. We don't really go by our old names anymore anyway. I'm Barnie." the red Pokemon reaches his hand out for Jackson to shake, before realizing the lack of space in the van prevented him from doing so. "And I'm Clyde. Its so nice to see you again, dude." the blue Pokemon states, pulling his acquaintances hand back while Barnie looks sad from his failed handshake. As the three begin talking,  Bulbs starts the van up. "Alright, now that we're all caught up with each other, why don't we go hang out, and see what we've been up to since everyone's been gone." he says whilst leaving his parking spot. Both Clyde and Barnie immediately speak up and say "Let's go to your place!" Bulbs laughs out loud, saying "Cmon, we always go to my place! Let's try to hang somewhere else for today." he says, while holding a hand up. "Yeah, but Jackson is here! Surely, that calls for a special hangout! Plus you got those old promotional ice cream sandwiches, and I think Jackson wants one, right Jackson?" Barnie asks, nudging Jackson. Jackson, more comfortable after the groups small talk, responds jokingly "I think you're the only one here who wants to eat those." The group shares a small laugh before Clyde speaks. "He's right though. Jackson hasn't been to your place yet, right? Why not hang out?" he says while looking at Bulbs. Bulbs sits in silence for a moment, before responding "Y'know what? You guys twisted my arm. Let's go to my place!" he says while smiling. Clyde and Barnie both cheer, while Jackson sits with a bewildered expression on his face. 'Why are they so excited to go to Bulb's place?' he thinks to himself before sitting back. The group makes small talk while Bulbs drives towards his home, everyone excited for their hangout session.