For ten years, I have been waiting to get my first Pokemon. The age of ten is the rite of passage for the average child. Of course, I was excited, but I just couldn't wait around for Journey Day to arrive. A ten-year-old's gotta make money somehow…or at least even anyone younger than ten. No one hires ten-year-olds for clerk jobs.
That's why ten-year-olds have to seek elsewhere for winnings. We partake in PokeTinker Toy Battles. Many kids collect these toys for birthdays, holidays, and whenever we get our allowances. Tinker Toys are beginners fighting Pokemon. These don't come to life and have to be fed like the real things. They do obey on command, and some kids love to mess around with the Toys to win Battles. It's not cheating unless you make them supernaturally strong.
There is one kid in Pallet Town who is unbeatable, and he knows every game at whenever it is being held. He is a school and journey dropout, seventeen years old, named Cato. Other kids have faced him before, but the results come back badly. At every very disturbing loss in each game, that is when the tournament is over. But still, there is one kid who has the guts to face the baddest PokeTinker Toy Trainer in town.
"I'll take a turn." That stupid kid is me, a dumb, ten-year-old girl with jet black hair that reminds you of a bush and fiery, orange eyes that share their color with the skin of a Charmander. "I brought my own Toys. Did a little programming myself."
Cato is the only kid in town who reaches the height of six feet tall before adulthood. His face is brooding with a growing beard on his chin. His laugh is harsh after I stand up to the plate. "A little squirt like you?"
The referee approaches me with his arms crossed. "Beat it, sister. This is a pay-to-play type of tournament," he hisses.
I search my jacket pocket and pull out twenty PokeDollars. "Is this enough?"
If there's one thing Cato can't resist, that's any source of money. He curls his finger to the lottery tray, and I drop the twenty PokeDollars into it.
The referee snickers. "Two Toys enter. One Toy leaves." He lowers a used umbrella to let us pick our challenging Tinker Toys. This is all random, of course, to prevent cheating. My best bet is to put down my Mankey Tinker. We sit pretzel-crossed across from each other, and I have never had my heart beat so fast.
"What's your name, princess?" he asks.
"Magnola. Magnola Ketchum."
The audience keeps whispering my name and with a reason. My last name is famous in Pallet Town, and that's because of my dad, Ash Ketchum, one of the greatest Pokemon Trainers to walk on earth. He is also one of the only Trainers to refuse a position in the Pokemon League all over the world…or at least that's what I think. The last time I saw him was when I was three years old.
"Well, prepare yourself, Zerochum."
"On your marks…fight!" The umbrella goes up, and I come to see that Cato has a Pidgeot Tinker. Coincidence? I think not. If there is another thing Cato is famous for, it's cheating. I don't know how he does it, but I don't have a choice than to fight this battle. Fighting moves aren't going to work on a Pidgeot because of the Normal-Flying type status it has, so rather to be safe than sorry, I have to go with his normal and defense up moves.
"Double Kick!" I announce, pushing the buttons down. My Mankey goes into battle mode to complete the attack.
Cato smirks and shouts, "Air Cutter," and I know right there that my Tinker won't make it out alive. With one cut, my Tinker falls, sliced in half like a piece of paper in the slicer. "I warned you, princess," he finally says with a harsh laugh.
I panically grab onto my Tinker pieces, stammering, "Buh buh buh that was my first battle." I clasp my hands together and beg, "Let me try again!"
"Sorry, sellout. You had your chance, and you blew it." He is about to snatch the money for his winnings until…
I rip out a huge wad of PokéDollars from my jacket pocket and respond, "But I have more money."
That brings a giant smile to Cato's face, and he lets the referee drop the money into the pot.
"On your marks…fight!"
We end up using the same Pokémon the next round, but I'm ready this time. The Tinker is an easy repair as the umbrella goes up.
"Mankey!" With a click, I extend my controller to more commands. "Mega Evolution now!" I scream as I press on the rainbow button in the center. Everyone is taken aback. It's not custom to have a Mega Evolution option. You can't get the upgrade at any store, but if you're smart like me, you can upgrade the controller yourself. In a few quick seconds, my Mankey Tinker transformed into a Mega Primeape. Even Cato can't believe his eyes. "Primeape, Poison Jab!" The Tinker dashes towards the Pidgeot. Cato tries to steer his Tinker out of the way, but my Primeape had become too fast for the opponents own good. My Tinker jabs that Pidgeot five times until it finally can't function anymore, leaving everyone speechless. To complete the match, Primeape transforms back into a Mankey and bows.
As the referee dishes the money to me, my only statement is, "Pidgeot is unable to battle. Mankey wins."
"Whuh what?" Cato continues to stare at his shut off Tinker Toy in disbelief. The pieces start to fall off in his fingers. "This is impossible!"
I'm queen of the world now. No one has been able to defeat Cato in a Tinker Toy battle except me. I haven't been so satisfied in myself for a long time until now. I'm about to eat those words about to say though as some of the viewers start to back away from the ring. "Well, as much as I hate to break it to you, sonny, not even that one-sided umbrella can predict the powers of my Tinker. But because you're such a sorry loser, I can give you a two out of three." As soon as the shadow starts hovering over me, the last thing I finish with is, "Oh crud."
Cato pushes me up against the wall of the nearest building and shouts, "Nobody. Messes. With. Cato!" as he takes away my Mankey.
"Hey, give that back! I bought that!" I snap.
"Teach this brat a lesson," he growls to his cronies, and the other older dropouts start approaching me with cracking knuckles and tight fists.
"Hey, guys! I thought your mom taught you not to hit girls!" The more I try to reason with them, the more I'm about to get the crud beaten out of me for messing with their leader.
However, before they can even touch me, a motorcycle roars down the street and intercepts between the dropouts and I. The rider has his head covered in a full head helmet, and with one click of the switch on the side of it, his face is revealed to be my older brother. "Magnola!"
"Mitsukuni!" I cheerfully call as I hop on the bike. With the cycle my brother has, nobody wants to fight him with that thing in motion. As much as he doesn't want to kill anyone with it, he would have to if one of those goons comes after me. What about my Tinker? Well, I'm not gonna lose a Toy that knows who its master is. As soon as I'm away from it, it'll just fly back into my Tinker Collection Ball where it belongs.
"Maggie, are you okay? Nothing broken?" my brother questions.
"Nope. Everything's fine with me," I reply.
Mitsukuni sighs heavily. "Thank goodness." Oh, and I almost forgot to mention something. My brother may look collective most of the time, but he's bipolar about a lot of my situations. One second he could be caring; the next, he could be slapping sense into me. This is one of those times. "Then, what the heck were you thinking, you stupid fluffball? You graduated from elementary school at the top of your class, and this is what you're doing?"
"Mitsy, watch out!" I scream, pointing to some thugs at the end of the alley.
The motorbike tilts towards a wall, and the tires screech over their heads. If this is what a roller coaster is like, I love the thrill of it. "Tinker Toy Battling is illegal, Magnola!" snaps Mitsukuni again, "You're going to get arrested!"
"Tinker Battling isn't illegal, big bro," I correct. "Now, gambling on Tinker Battling, that's illegal, but sooooooo useful." I snatch some cash from my bag and wave it in front of the driver's face. "Do you see this, Mitsukuni? I'm rich! With this, I can buy all the Tinkers out in stores right now."
Again, I speak too soon. My brother slams on the brakes as the police block our way back to where our house is supposed to be. Pallet Town is not the biggest town in the Kanto region…or anywhere for that matter, but I never thought that the police can be onto the battles at night, especially when we're only trying to get home.
Well, as my brother predicted, we are put in cuffs, the police take away my bag of cash but leave the Tinkers alone, and toss us in the back of the car to jail. Yeah, even ten-year-olds can go to jail in this world.
I'm sort of happy, sort of terrified that Officer Jenny tells us that our mom has arrived and paid bail for us. Still, I would rather suffer being grounded than being surrounded by real criminals any day of the week. My mom is a cool human being, but you do not want to be around her when she gets mad, and that's exactly what I'm fearing once Officer Jenny releases Mitsukuni and I out into the open.
"Hi, Mom," we say to get her attention.
Our mom is also a beautiful woman in looks. She has the best hair anyone has ever seen, but she's constantly changing it. This time, it's curly, short, and orange. Also, a lot of people say that the only thing I got from my mom is her eyes. The rest is all my dad. Mitsukuni looks more like my mom with his natural light brown hair and blue eyes.
She gives us both the tightest hugs she's ever delivered once she sees us. "Are you guys alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Mitsukuni replies.
"Yes," I respond.
"Good." Now, if you're wondering where Mitsukuni gets his frustration from, here's your answer. "Then, what were you idiots thinking?" she snaps as she drags us to the car. Mom loves to rant while we get into huge trouble, and she can go on until we get back to the house. "For ten years, I tried my best to raise the both of you by myself! Have I been the best mother? No. Did I ever think my kids would end up in jail? No. Should I have bought a book on parenting first? Probably! I had a point; where is it?"
To at least cool her down, we would always say, "Sorry. We love you, Mom," as a response to her ranting.
Her answer would always be, "Well, I love you, too."
Once we get home, the first thing Mom does is go into the kitchen and steal some doughnut rolls she makes for her friends in town. "We had to cancel our ladies' meet today because of you hooligans, and now, I have to suffer with eating all these by myself. Come on, Skitty."
Our pet Pokémon, Skitty, mews and follows Mom down the hall to the living room. We've had a ton of Pokémon in our lives. My favorite is our dad's Pikachu, but since Dad left, I haven't seen him often. That's seven years ago.
"You better make this up to Mom before she eats the entire kitchen," my brother tells me.
"Yeah, I know," I say in response as I'm going towards my computer.
"And I hope you completely learned your lesson, young lady."
"Of course," I nervously reply as I turn to him with my big eyes.
It only takes two seconds for Mitsukuni to respond. "You're going Battling again, aren't you?"
"Yup. There's one on the other side of town if I make it in time." Before I can even get my Collection Ball, Mitsukuni snatches the collar of my shirt and yanks me towards him. I lose breathing for a second.
"When are you going to start using that big head of yours for once?"
"Oh, and what? Going to Elite School like you and sit in a boring classroom for the rest of my life?"
"Unbelievable." Before Mitsukuni can lose it, he removes his glasses and groans. "What on Earth would Dad say?"
I shrug harshly, continuing to glare into my brother's eyes. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since I was three years old, remember?" I hiss, falling into my rolling chair. I know, I've said it a ton of times, but it's true. Dad is obsessed with his journey to become the Pokémon Master, and even after he married and had two kids, he can't stay home, not even for his daughter, who looks exactly like her father. I'm supposed to go on the journey soon, and Dad hasn't even taught me anything. Mitsukuni was supposed to go five years ago, but he has decided to "get a better education" than to "run around, possibly getting hurt somewhere." That didn't stop my brother from getting a start Pokémon though. His Ivysaur lays in a bed next Mitsukuni's, and the only thing he's useful for is to do chores around the house. I don't wanna end up like my brother, but at the same time, I'm not confident that I'll be as good of a trainer as my father. Tinker Battling seems like my best option right now. If Dad were to have stayed home more often, I could've changed my mind. Mitsukuni would probably be on the journey by now instead of babysitting me most of the time.
I still remember the last time I saw my dad, and that's when he left again. My feet dash for the door as I grip my Jigglypuff doll in my hands. I'm shouting for him as he's at the gate with Pikachu on his shoulder. Mom picks me up and closes the door as Dad is waving goodbye, and I can't stop crying for hours. Yeah, I get phone calls, but it's not often. The less he contacts us, the more my hope for him returning begins to fade. Mitsukuni knows this, but I'm not sure whether he cares as much.
I hear him give out a long, heavy sigh as he heads to his desk. He grabs his motorcycle keys and clears his throat. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"To the Battling, remember?"
"Are you serious?"
"As much as I hate to see you do it, Mag, I don't want you to go alone this time."
"Yes!" I shout as I jump out of the chair and dash for the door. Has my brother finally understood my calling? Or is it more than he's tricking me into doing something else in life? Perhaps…being a doctor or a teacher.