Claimer: I own pokemon. Really, I do. And instead of writing official, published stories about them, I write fanfics to post on the Internet for kicks. Buy some of my games make me richer, kay?
Ryan was restless, as usual, and kept checking his duffel bag to make sure it was all packed. He'd read all the adventure stories of his heroes Ash Ketchum and Manny Dolmen, and he was excited to do it himself. Among the things he'd packed were a heavy-duty blanket, two weeks worth of changes of clothes, and dozens of potions.
He was going to go get his starter from Professor Oak today, his 14th birthday, and the rumour was they'd just got in a fresh shipment so Ryan could have his pick. When his brother, Jason, had gotten his partner, all Oak had were a couple of Spearow.
"No Spearow for me!" Ryan said to himself as he watched the clock slowly tick away. "I'm getting a Pikachu, just like Ash, even if Caitlin did say it was horribly 'Mary-Sue'.
He hugged his mom goodbye, and shook hands with his father an hour before his appointment with the professor. He wanted to be early, and besides, it was a long walk.
"Remember to come visit us when you're in town!" His mother said as his father handed him a parting gift. It was a wallet, and inside was nearly 7000P, enough to support him for quite a while.
"Goodbye son. Remember, you're a man now."
Ryan thanked his parents one last time as he made his way down the walk to the street, and waved them goodbye.
The trip was largely uneventful, he passed by the same street pokemon he did everyday when he walked through Pallet Town. Rattata, Grimer, and a load of Spearows on rooftops.
Caitlin, his best friend, had turned 14 a couple of weeks ago and had gone to receive her starter, a Sandshrew. But she'd waited for him to get his, and had restricted herself to training around town. She'd caught a few pocket monsters in the woods, but other than that she was as much a rookie as he was.
As he stepped into the lab, Ryan saw the large portraits of hometown heroes Professor Oak Senior and Ash Ketchum. The senior Oak had passed away some years ago, and left the lab to an heir. Everybody had expected him to leave it with Gary, who had always aspired to become a pokemon professor, ever after behind defeated by Ketchum. But Gary had turned it down to lead a gym in Saffron Town, and the laboratory was given to his wife, Oak Sr.'s daughter-in-law, Judy Oak.
"Why, hello. Ryan Smyth, right?" She asked in her sweet voice as she stepped out into the entrance chamber of the building.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm here for my starter."
"Of course! Well, I'm sure you've heard that we just got in a new shipment, so you have lots of choice. Let's go look, shall we?"
"Great!" Ryan already new what he wanted, but he didn't want to pass up the chance to see some pokemon in the lab.
As she led him down the long hallway, they turned off at the second to last door. "We've got four pokemon here, and they're all tame and ready to go!"
Inwardly, Ryan sighed. He'd secretly been hoping for a rebel pokemon, like Ash had.
He scanned the room, and looked at each one. A Pidgey perched on a bookshelf. A Growlithe sitting in a small basket. A Marill bobbing up and down in an aquarium. And finally, a Jigglypuff sleeping on a puffy pink pillow.
"No Pikachu?" Ryan exclaimed as tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Of course not, silly! We haven't given those out since Ketchum!"
I can't cry, Ryan, thought, I'm a man now, just like Dad said.
"Well, er, I guess I'll have the, ah, Growli—no, Pidge—no, Growlithe. Yes Growlithe. Please."
"Good choice!" She said in her cheerful voice that was beginning to get on Ryan's nerves. Nothing like an overly happy person to get on the nerves of a sad one.
She picked up a Greatball and clicked the small button on the centre of it, calling in the Growlithe. "I'll just register him to your pokedex. You do have a pokedex, right?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. Can you give it to me then?"
Ryan handed her his red pokemon encyclopaedia, and she used it to scan the Greatball.
"He's all yours. Good luck!" She said Ryan, and she gave him a small bag of pokeballs.
"Thanks." He muttered as he walked out of the lab. Couldn't get a stupid Pikachu…
Caitlin Connor was waiting for him on the steps, her three pokemon bouncing around excitedly. She'd captured an Ekans and a Bellsprout to accompany her Sandshrew, and she'd managed to train them into a real team over the last two weeks.
"What'd you get? You didn't really get a Pikachu, did you? They're so cliché, it's insane."
"Eh, no, I didn't get a Pikachu." Ryan said, frowning. "I got a Growlithe."
"Oh, like Terry?" She asked, referring to a boy a year older who had already gone off on his journey.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Okay. So, you want to head off then? I've already said my goodbyes."
"Yeah, me too. Let's go, I guess. No point just standing around."
Thanks for reading, any who got past the beginning that looked hopelessly cliché; I hope the whole thing wasn't. Believe me, I'd never start someone out with a Pikachu, ever.