My name is Andrew, and I am an 18 year old trainer setting out on my own pokemon adventure. I was never meant to live this life. I had plans to go off into the world, study hard, and get a good job in one of the many professions available outside of the pokemon trainer world. It is always every kid's dream to grow up into a professional pokemon trainer, even though the odds of success are slim at best. My parents raised me with a realistic view of the world, and I was quickly turned away from the notion of my own pokemon journey. On my tenth birthday, as all of my friends took their pokemon and went off into the world, I stayed at home, studying. Years went by, and one by one each of them came back with crushed dreams and a heavy heart. Those who fail in their pokemon journeys return home to continue their education, and soon my friends were back in the same boat as I was, studying hard, preparing for the life they were always destined for. In the years I had stayed home, I had accrued a massive head start on my classmates, and by the age of 18 I had been accepted into one of the largest universities in Kanto. Once there, I would study hard, and one day get a job at a major corporation like the Devon Corporation. My life was set out, and I was eager to get to the finish line.
However, if life has taught me anything it is that you can't always get what you want. Soon after I had graduated high school, my parents decided to take a drive on a rainy night. I was home by myself, and was oblivious of the time ticking by. I had just finished making myself dinner when I heard a knock at the door. I found this odd, as my parents had a key, and I got up from my seat to answer it. As I pulled open the door, I saw a police officer soaked through from the rain. He had a solemn look on his face, and when he saw me the expression intensified.
"Are you Andrew?" he asked me, and I nodded slowly, confused as to what the situation was about. He told me that my parents had been in a car accident, and that he was going to take me to see my father in the hospital. I asked him what happened to my mother, but he didn't seem to be able to give me an answer. I was silent for the entire ride. I was too shocked to cry, and I was having trouble processing the information. When we arrived, I was walked slowly to a dimly lit room on the top floor of the hospital. Inside was my father, laid out in a hospital bed and breathing heavily. An oxygen tube hung under his nose, and his entire torso seemed to be wrapped in bandages.
"Leave me with my son." my father said quietly. The nurse tried to object but my father shot her a glance that shut her up. The police and the nurse left the room, leaving me alone with my father. "I'm sorry to be blunt with you," he said, his voice barely audible as I leaned in to hear him, "but I am not going to make it. I have several broken ribs and the doctors tell me I am bleeding internally." I stood silent still as my father told me these horrible things. My eyes began to water, the realization of my situation finally settling in. "Listen to me son, things are going to change for you," he spoke again, "There is no way you will be able to afford university with what we can leave for you." Tears began to run down my face. My life was unraveling before my eyes, everything I held dear was being taken away. My father had started to cry as well, but he kept his composure as he continued to speak to me. "You have to make your own way now son, I'm sorry. I wish there was more I could give you." I finally started crying, and my father reached out for my hand. I took his hand in mine, squeezing tightly, as if I could keep him there so long as I held on. "Andrew, listen to me, there is one option left. Your pokemon journey, the one you didn't take. Your mother and I always steered you away from that path, we told ourselves we wanted better for you. But the truth is that we were bitter. Neither of us made it far into our own pokemon journeys, and we wanted to save you the disappointment. But it was wrong of us to deprive you of that experience. At home, you will find your pokemon trainer card. We kept it from when you were young. You can still use it to register for your journey. I know it's a long shot, but even a long shot is worth trying. You can do what your mother and I couldn't; it's your only chance of a good life. Do this for me son. Please?" I looked into my father's eyes, my mind flooded with emotions of every sort. I finally managed to nod, and my father nodded to me in return. "Thank you," he said "Now please, let me rest a while." My father closed his eyes, and I sat down in the chair by the bed. The nurse came back in and I told her I wanted to stay. She nodded, her eyes tearing up as I watched my father sleep.
My father died early in the morning, and the police escorted me back to my house soon after his departure. I wandered through my house for what seemed like days, my eyes empty and my heart cold. I eventually found my trainer card, a small piece of plastic that felt archaic in my hands. I gripped it tightly as I started to cry, the sound echoing through the now empty house. My eyes eventually dried up, and I looked down at the trainer card in my hand. I gripped it tightly again, and started collecting things I would need for my journey.
The funeral was short, I had planned it that way, and I took a moment to stand over the graves of my parents. The cold stone into which their names were etched seemed to suck up all the joy in the world, and eventually I could not stand to look at it any longer. I turned and began to walk, and once I reached the street I turned and followed the road home. It would be a long time before I visited those graves again. As I reached home I gathered my things, taking everything I could fit into my backpack. I knew the road ahead would be a long one, and I had no desire to return home anytime soon. I caught a cab to the docks where I bought a ticket to Hoenn with the little money my parents had left me. I had decided to take my adventure to Hoenn in an attempt to leave my own region behind, and I boarded the boat with tearful eyes as I left my home. The boat ride was long, but eventually we landed in Slateport. From there I hitched a ride with a man and his Wailmer across the river on Route 103, leaving me in Oldale Town. I was able to use my trainer card to get a room at the pokemon center, and I kept quiet when the nurse asked if I wanted to heal my pokemon. Tomorrow I would head south to Littleroot Town, where I would meet Professor Birch and register for my pokemon journey. As I laid in my bed I tried to forget where I had come from. The only way to get through this was to leave my past behind, and I let the memory of my former home drift away as I myself drifted to sleep.