This was just a typical day in quiet Pallet Town. Pallet Town was a rather quiet town that many people tend to forget about. Being a coastal town, Pallet Town was often ignored by the bigger ships which would use either Cinnabar or Vermilion City port, so the town hardly got any visitors. The town also didn't offer much in terms of points of interests.
They didn't have a Pokemon Gym, and the town hadn't had many famous trainers that would make people flock to the town to meet. All they had was Professor Oak, the renowned expert on all things Pokemon, and even rumors were now circulating that he wouldn't be around much longer, saying that he taken a job at some school...
That didn't stop the local kids from enjoying whatever fun they could have in this boring town. Of course, the most fun was having fun little local Pokemon battles with each other. None of the kids could catch Pokemon of their yet of course,
none of them had a proper Pokemon catching licence yet, and most wouldn't get one until they were 16. However many did have junior training licences, and thus would have their parents catch Pokemon for them that they could battle with for fun. They would even have mini-tournaments to see which kid in town was the best.
Roy was one of those young kids today. He was a young man in his teenage years, who at best could be called average. His hair was a mess of black hair that he rarely combed and his eyes were a plain shade of blue. He wasn't really the smartest kid in class nor the dumbest and he wasn't really a stand-out in athletics either. The only thing that had made him stand-out was his love for Pokemon his talent as a trainer.
That talent was what was allowing him to win his current fight. His Butterfree was beginning to follow the command it had been given and began to flap its wings, pouring powder at the small rat enemy. Sure enough, the enemy began to get dozy and despite it's best efforts, the Rattata began to fall asleep.
"Wake up Whiskers!" His opponent, a kid only about a year younger then his shouted. Despite his best efforts however,
the Pokemon refused to wake up.
"Now use Confusion!" Roy declared. His Butterfree responded by hitting the sleeping Pokemon with a small psychic blast,
causing the Rattata to jolt a bit from its nap, until to knock out shortly after.
The crowd of kids that had gathered here today began to clap and cheer for the winning Butterfree and her trainer. Roy began to pick something from his pockets as his Pokemon fluttered back to him. He gave the Butterfree a small little treat for it to nibble on and gave the Pokemon a pat on the head for its victory. Charmy smiled while it nibbled on its little treat and got rewarded for her victory.
Roy remembered when his Charmy was once a little Caterpie that his mom had caught for him when he was 10 and had just received his junior trainer licence. The cute little bug had grown so much since then, from a Caterpie to a Metapod,
and finally to a Butterfree. They had seen so many battles, so much training behind them, and gone so far in the years they had known each other.
She wasn't his only Pokemon either. His mother had caught him 3 Pokemon to raise on his own so that he could play with the other kids. In addition to Charmy, he also had Pidgey that had grown into a Pidgeotto, and a small Poliwag, who was close to evolving. The three had become great friends over time and he had become one of the strongest trainers in town. He wasn't the strongest however, but one day he would be. At least that's what he kept telling himself...
"That was great fight!" His opponent declared, extended his hand, which Roy responded by extending his own and the two began to shake hands.
"Thanks!" Roy smiled, enjoying the praise "Your Pokemon was really strong!"
"Not as strong as yours are..." His opponent shook his head. "You from one of those special schools right? The ones that train all the professional trainers right?"
"Actually..." Roy sighed "I did apply to those schools. But I haven't heard anything back from them."
There were two schools he really wanted to go to. The first was Kobukan Academy, a school known for its prestige but also known for being difficult for getting into. He knew that a few of the kids his age, including the professor's grandson had been accepted into the school. He had wanted to go to that school so he could rival those students, but his acceptance letter yet, so it was likely he wasn't going to get it. The other school was Satamori Academy, Kobukan's rival school. However, if he couldn't get into Kobukan, how could he expect Satamori to be any different...?
That was when he began a to see a familiar figure in the distance. A young woman began to run down the path towards the kid's little tournament, holding some kind of paper in her hands. As she began to get closer, her loud voice calling out for Roy made the boy blush in embarrassment. His face was nearly flushed once she actually reached him.
"Wow..." His former opponent as well as several other guys began to look at the woman in awe "Roy, is that your older sister?" The woman looked quite similar to her son, with deep black hair and clear blue eyes. However, well his was a messy bunch of hair, she seemed quite stylish, letting it grow into a long ponytail that went down to her waist and her eyes looked even brighter then his own. He could see why they could figure out they were related but...this was his mom not his sister.
"Honey!" Roy's mom held up a piece of paper to the young man's face, to close for him to actual read it though. "You got in!" She gleefully yelled, tears in her eyes "You got in! You got in!"
Roy quickly took the piece paper out of his mother's hands and began to read it so that he could understand what she was talking about. As soon as he read it however the paper fell to the ground. The young man was in quite the shocked state after reading it.
"I got in..." Roy began to repeat the same phrase his mother did "Satamori Academy...I made it in..."
Ecstatic and finally returning to his senses. He threw two Pokeballs into the air, releasing both his remaining Pokemon and began to dance around them "We made it into Satamori Academy!" He declared "I'm going to learn to become a real trainer and we'll be able to go on real adventures and become real champions."
He and his began to let out a joyful cheer. Roy's mother picked up the letter once more and began to read it once more to make sure she had gotten all the details. As she began to read one certain passage however, her heart sank a little. She looked at her son and his happy Pokemon and she knew she had to break the news...
"Um Honey..." His mother said in a soft voice "I'm sorry to deal you this, but Satamori doesn't allow any Pokemon on campus outside of those they provide at school. The school is rather strict on their policy, since they want students there to develop their natural ability and talents. They don't want students to rely to heavily on their parent's Pokemon.
Despite you raising them, Charmy, Pidgo, and Poliwaggy are technically my Pokemon. You cannot bring them to school with you!"
"But..." Roy tried to interject but couldn't a correct answer. Should he simply wait to see if the other school had accepted him? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. But without his Pokemon, his friends since childhood, was it really worth it?
"Don't worry..." His mother exclaimed "They'll be fine at the house with me." She looked at her son with understanding eyes "I know it's hard to leave your friends, but they aren't gone. But they'll still be here, waiting for you to visit."
She smiled "Just think all about all the human and Pokemon friends you will make at school. I'm sure everyone here will be glad the Pokemon you caught and raised with your own talent!"
"My own Pokemon..." Roy smiled at the thought. Liked many kids his age, he awaited the day when he could finally make his first capture, obtain the first Pokemon through his own skills as a trainer. Many older kids talked fondly about their first capture, how they had encounter the Pokemon that would truly start their journey and set them on the course to adventure. He wanted that experience badly.
He looked over at his three Pokemon, who had looks of confusion and sadness. They in some part knew what was going on and knew what was coming next. "I'm sorry..." He said to them "I'll have to leave soon. I'm going to going to a far away place to become a true Pokemon trainer." His face began to tear up "I can't take you with me, but this something I have to do this. I want to become a Pokemon trainer. I want to become the best Pokemon trainer. To do this, I have learn all I can and get through Satomori's rigorous school."
He then smiled ""Hey don't make those faces..." Roy tried to cheer his team up. Don't worry mom will take care of you until I get back, and any chance I can take I'll come visit you guys okay?"
His team of Pokemon finally began to cheer up and again the excitement of their trainer's acceptance was meant with fanfare and joy. The three vowed to enjoy the few days that had left before he had to leave to just hanging out and having fun, with the occasionally battle or two to keep in shape. Soon enough however...it was time to get going...
Roy found himself at Vermilion port quite early in the morning. He was feeling really tired from the night before. He hadn't been able to sleep all last night, he was just so nervous about today. Aside from the occasional trip to Viridian,
he had never been out of Pallet town before. He didn't know that much about the outside world, and yet he was going to a far off region where he knew absolutely nothing. A part of him wanted to turn back now before he made a fool of himself.
The other half however, was excited to see what was to come.
As he waited for his ship to arrive, he took the opportunity to play with his Pokemon one last time. They had chosen to see off their trainer before he headed our for the academy. He was glad to see them and the four were happily dancing and generally goofing off as he gave them one last treat gave each a quick little pet.
While Roy was busy playing with his Pokemon. Another kid around Roy's age, a boy with spiky white hair and rather sharp dull colored eyes. He snickered at the sight he was watching, catching Roy's attention, stopping the merriment he was having.
"What are you laughing at?" Roy defensively asked
"What do you think?" He sarcastically snarled back "You're like a little kid, dancing around with such weakling Pokemon!
It's pathetic! Aren't you going to the same school as me?" He scoffed "I guess they do need a few dropouts after all..."
"Hey!" Roy shouted back "These guys are my friends! How are you going to Satomori? The way you talk, you act like Pokemon are just tools to be abandoned!"
"Whatever!" The white haired boy turned away from Roy and began to stormed off "Just don't get in my way dropout boy!
I'm going to be strongest trainer in the world someday! I don't need stupid sentimental friendship morons like you talking to me like you're anything but a weakling!"
Roy wanted to retort, but before he could the other boy was already gone. Roy was flabbergasted at the young man's comments. He began to look around at some of the other kids around his age waiting for the ship. Was his mindset the same as everyone else's? He shook his head. He couldn't believe that an academy of the best trainers would really treat Pokemon as tools. Still he wondered how a kid like that got accepted...
"Roy!" Roy's mother's voice began to shout Roy see her waving at him with a large bag. "I can't believe they won't let me send you any money and that you have to leave your friends at home. At least they let me pack you plenty of essentials, including clean...
"Mom!..." Roy was blushing red, hoping no one heard her. "Don't worry it will be fine. All young boys have to leave someday right? Besides, I'll be home for the holidays and summer break."
His mother smiled and nodded "You're right. Just don't forget to make some human friends on top of your Pokemon friends as well alright?"!"
He nodded in agreement. It was then the loud sound of the cruise that would be taking him to the academy began to echo as the large ship began to dock. Roy could see several other kids his age waving from the ship, likely other students from all three grades getting picked up. He wondered how many of them were first years just like him. How many he would get to know and make friends? How many of them would instead by rivals he would have to pass time and time again. Would one of the many girls on the ship be his first girlfriend, or was she waiting to be picked up at another port.
As he began to walk to the docking point, he noticed the white haired boy from before once again. He didn't seem to have anyone to send him off, no Pokemon, no parents, no siblings, no friends. He was a rather coarse and cold one. Even in that moment, Roy knew that they would meet again. If they were really going to the same school, he would clash with him eventually. Because he too wanted to be the strongest trainer, and he wanted to do it with Pokemon he could proudly call his friends.
Before he could walk on the boat himself, his Pokemon huddled around him and as he turned to see what was going on. He heard saw his mother with a camera taking a picture.
"Surprised?" She said "I wanted to take your picture right before you headed off."
"Wouldn't be better to have me pose or something?" Roy asked his mom.
Instead she shook her head. "No...because I want to get a more natural shot. I want to save this picture for 3 years. When you graduate I want you to look back at this moment and see how much you've grown. I know you're going to great!
Now go out there and show them what my son is made of!"
That speech left a smile on Roy's face as he began to board the boat to his new adventure...