Joseph hated waking up early. If he could choose, he'd sleep until the sun gave up and just went home.But tonight—tonight he wasn't planning to wake up at all. Well, not yet, anyway. He'd spent the entire weekend holed up in his bedroom, the dull hum of his Nintendo Switch the only sound filling the tiny apartment. He'd finally done it. After months of painstaking breeding, hatching eggs, checking IVs, discarding the "meh" ones, he had finally gotten the perfect Tyrunt.
Adamant Nature.Perfect Attack and Speed IVs.A hidden ability, just because he could.His Tyrunt was going to tear through the Battle Tower. Someday. If he ever felt like playing competitively.But at that moment, Joseph's eyes drooped. The Switch fell onto his chest, the screen still showing his precious baby dinosaur. Tyrunt's pixelated jaws moved in the tiny animation loop. It almost looked like the little guy was yawning too.
"Sleep tight, little buddy," Joseph mumbled, eyes fluttering shut. "Tomorrow, we crush the meta..."
He didn't remember his phone slipping from his hand. Or the faint buzz of a notification pinging him one last time. He just drifted off into the warm embrace of sleep, visions of dragons and shiny trophies dancing in his head.
When Joseph woke up, it wasn't to the same familiar ceiling plastered with posters of Gym Leaders and League Champions. It wasn't even to the smell of cold pizza crusts and stale energy drinks.
He was lying on silk sheets.Real silk sheets.
His bed—if you could call this monstrous piece of furniture a "bed"—was bigger than his entire old apartment. Heavy curtains, the color of a fresh dusk, framed enormous windows that let in golden beams of sunlight. An entire chandelier glowed above him, reflecting off the polished marble floor.
Joseph sat bolt upright. "Huh?"
He blinked once. Twice. Tried pinching his cheek. When that didn't work, he slapped himself.The world didn't flicker. It didn't fade back to his dingy bedroom. The silk sheets were still there. The bed was still there. And so was the tiny, very real Tyrunt curled up on his chest.
"Runt?"
Its eyes blinked open, bright orange and sparkling with life. Joseph's jaw dropped. The little dino yawned, baring a mouthful of baby fangs, then nuzzled his collarbone. Its scales were warm. Heavy, too.
Joseph felt his heart skip."Wait... you're real? You're... you're not pixelated!"He carefully lifted Tyrunt up, holding him like a baby with tiny arms dangling. Tyrunt licked his cheek, then let out a low rumbling noise of approval.
Joseph's brain had only one thought:I'm in the Pokémon world.Then a second:And my perfect Tyrunt came with me.
A polite cough startled him. He turned to see a woman standing in the doorway. She looked like she'd just walked out of a fancy historical drama: black pencil skirt, crisp white blouse, her hair tied in a tight bun under a small cap. A maid. An actual maid.
"Master Joseph, you're awake!" she said, bowing slightly. "You gave us quite the scare. You've been asleep for nearly two days."
Joseph's mind raced. He glanced around, half-expecting to see cameras, a film crew, or at least an audience laughing at the world's lamest prank.
"Uh... where am I?"
The maid didn't even blink. "You are in your family estate, sir. In Lumiose City."
Lumiose City.Joseph knew that name. Kalos. This was the Kalos region. Tyrunt's home region, too. He stared at his partner—Tyrunt looked back at him and gave a soft, determined "Run-run!" as if confirming it.
The maid hesitated, then lowered her gaze. "Master, I... I am deeply sorry for your loss."
Joseph felt the words before he understood them. "Loss?"
"Your parents... they perished in an accident during their research expedition. You were their only heir, sir."
The words hit him like a runaway Rapidash.Parents? Research expedition? He'd transmigrated into some rich kid's body? Or was he... just reborn as Joseph here too?
Either way, his brain didn't know how to process it all at once. He gently set Tyrunt down on the bed, who immediately stomped in a circle and curled up again.
"So... I'm rich?" he asked blankly.The maid blinked at him, looking scandalized. "Y-yes, sir. Extremely so."
Joseph's mind did a mental fist pump.This was definitely an upgrade.
Over the next few days, Joseph wandered the estate in a daze. The mansion was huge. Each room looked like it could house ten of his old studio apartments. There were greenhouses bigger than his local mall. The garden was so perfectly manicured that he half-expected a squad of Gardevoirs in maid outfits to pop out and offer him tea.
Tyrunt trailed after him wherever he went, stomping his little claws on the polished marble floors, occasionally bashing his head into a chair leg out of excitement. Joseph loved him more each passing day.
Despite the giant house and the money, though, it was... lonely.
His parents were gone. He didn't remember them, obviously, but the staff did. He'd overhear the gardeners and maids whispering about the kind, brilliant researchers who'd been so dedicated to studying fossils. Apparently, they'd traveled all over Kalos, working with Professor Sycamore himself.
Joseph felt a pang of guilt sometimes. He wasn't their Joseph, not really. But when he looked at the Tyrunt they'd probably revived just for him, he figured he could at least try to honor them. Or something. He wasn't sure yet. He was still figuring out how to shower without getting lost in his own bathroom.
A week after waking up, he sat on the balcony, feet kicked up on the railing. Tyrunt napped on his lap, snoring loudly and occasionally gnashing his tiny jaws in his sleep. Joseph sipped an Oran Berry smoothie—someone brought him one every hour, like clockwork.
He scrolled through the PokéGear he'd found in his room. It was sleek, futuristic, and made his old phone look like a brick. He'd browsed all the apps: Pokémon Center check-ins, PokeMart delivery services, Berry stock tickers (why did berries have stocks?!).
But what caught his attention was the entertainment section. There were some forums, some Pokémon battle broadcasts, the occasional Gym match stream. But there was no Twitch. No YouTube. No streaming culture. Not in the way he knew it.
His mind began to spin.In his old life, he'd spent hours watching random guys scream at horror games. Or people doing Nuzlockes and failing spectacularly. He'd even tried streaming once, but his five viewers were mostly bots.
Here? Nothing.A rich kid with disposable income, an adorable Tyrunt, and an entire mansion to himself? He could build something.
He could make people watch.He could make them want to watch.Joseph leaned back, a grin spreading across his face.
"Tyrunt, buddy," he said, scratching under his partner's chin. Tyrunt snorted happily. "How do you feel about being a star?"
"Run-run!"
"Good. Because we're gonna break the internet. Or whatever they call it here."
Over the next few days, Joseph called in the estate's lawyers. He asked about business licenses. Marketing rights. Copyright. They looked at him like he'd grown a second head.
"A live video platform?" one of them asked, adjusting his glasses. "Where anyone can just... broadcast themselves?"
"Exactly," Joseph said, slamming his fist into his palm. "Battles. Cooking. Just hanging out with your Pokémon. People love that stuff."
Another lawyer coughed delicately. "Sir, with all due respect... who would watch such mundane things?"
Joseph laughed. He was starting to enjoy this. He leaned back in his enormous leather chair, Tyrunt perched on the armrest trying to chew the brass rivets.
"Oh, you'd be surprised," Joseph said. "And they won't just watch. They'll throw money at it."
He could already see it. Trainers all over the region sharing their journeys. Gym Leaders streaming their daily routines. Elite Four members doing AMA sessions while brushing their Pokémon.
He needed a name. Something catchy. Something Pokémon-themed but modern.His eyes drifted to the corner of his room. One of his mother's old research notes lay there. It had doodles of Eevee and all its evolutions.
"EeTvee," Joseph muttered. "Like TV... but... Eevee... get it?"
No one in the room looked impressed. Tyrunt belched a tiny flame in agreement.Joseph beamed. "Perfect."
Two months later, the beta version of EeTvee went live. Joseph set up the first test stream on his own. No fancy studio. Just him, sitting cross-legged on his massive bed, Tyrunt plopped down next to him gnawing on a bone-shaped treat.
"Yo, what's up, world!" he said, waving at the PokéGear camera. His voice echoed slightly in the cavernous bedroom. "This is Joseph, and this little guy is Tyrunt. Say hi, buddy!"
Tyrunt looked up, bone sticking out of his mouth, and let out a muffled "Ruh-run!"
Joseph chuckled. "We're gonna be doing all sorts of cool stuff here. Battles. Fossil digs. Maybe I'll even show you how many times Tyrunt can headbutt the same wall before he figures out it hurts."
He glanced at the viewer counter. Zero.Okay, not the explosive start he'd imagined. But he wasn't worried. He knew how this worked. It was all about consistency. And Tyrunt's undeniable star power.
"Stick around," he said, leaning closer to the camera. "We're gonna make this world a whole lot more fun. Welcome to EeTvee."
He ended the stream with a wink. Tyrunt promptly fell off the bed in a sleepy heap.
Joseph lay back, staring at the PokéGear screen. He felt it. That spark in his chest. The same excitement he'd felt watching people back home break world records or fail spectacularly at speedruns.
But this time, it wasn't just about him. He had Tyrunt. He had money. He had a giant, empty mansion and the entire Pokémon world outside his door.
Someday, everyone would know his name.Someday, every Trainer would want to be on EeTvee.And someday, he'd look back at this first little stream and laugh at how clueless he'd been.
Tyrunt clambered back onto the bed, headbutting him in the ribs as he curled up to sleep.
"Love you too, you overgrown lizard," Joseph mumbled.
Outside, the sun dipped behind the horizon. A new day waited. And Joseph knew one thing for sure:He wasn't going to waste it.
ADVANCED CHAPTERS:
patreon.com/LazyKy