At sunrise, Ash was playing video games on a muted TV. The orange sunlight coming through the window beleaguered him, and when he heard his mother's bed creak down the hall and the mailman's bell chime from out on the street, he felt a sleepy nausea that radiated to his very skin. This was literally the most important morning of his life and this TV screen was taunting his eyes like a sleazy salesman.

But Ash had some discipline in him. He turned off the SNES, turned off the TV, opened the blinds even wider, stretched, and rubbed his eyes as if he were massaging a gunshot wound. His bedroom was clean, sparse, and bright. A PC slept in the corner and he groaned quietly when he looked at it. What a bad idea.

There was a knock at the door: Ash slipped into bed. His mother came in, looking inexplicably rested.

"Hey hun, you ready for the big day?"

"Yeah."

She stepped into the room, glancing at the opened window blinds. "Breakfast will be ready by the time you've showered… Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you sleep at all?"

"What? Of course I did."

"Did you think you had to get up too early and just pulled an all-nighter?"

"…no."

"Ash."

"I mean, I slept! I just woke up early…"

"You don't talk about a special day all your life and then do this on the morning, Ash."

"I'm up, Mom."

"I know, hon. Go take a shower, it'll wake you up."

Ash pulled the sheets back off of him. "Can I have some coffee, Mom?"

"Of course, if by 'coffee' you mean 'tea.'"

"You've already put a pot on downstairs, I can smell it!"

"Coffee is addicting and you're too young to be drinking it."

"I—" He climbed back onto his feet woozily. "I'm going to be moving out today! I'm going to be travelling around by myself! I think it's a good initiation."

"So you need coffee to become a man?"

"YES."

"I'll have a cup ready when you get back from Professor Oak's."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Now go take a shower."

"Right."

Hot steaming water did little to wake Ash up. It was very soothing and he wanted to sleep in the tub. When he exited the bathroom with a towel, his breakfast was emanating from downstairs. He walked into his room and looked at his SNES harshly for convincing him an all-nighter had been the way to go. He got dressed, in blue jeans and a gray t-shirt, pulled on a pair of socks, and hobbled sleepily downstairs, silently praising himself with every step that he wasn't falling over.

"Hey Mom, what time is it?"

"Don't forget your watch!"

Ash labored back upstairs to his room, grabbed his watch out of his bedroom drawer, and clapped it on his wrist as he returned to the kitchen. His backpack sat in one of the seats at the table.

"It says it's 6:47."

"Yep, that's right!" His mother was at the stove, shuttling eggs from a pan to a plate. "Have a seat, hon, I'll pour you some orange juice."

"I'll do that." He opened the refrigerator door. "Professor Oak's expecting me, right?"

"He was the one who asked you to visit him, so I would hope so."

Ash poured himself a glass of juice and lingered wearily on his feet in front of the table. His mother set a plate in front of him.

"Eat."

"'M not hungry."

"Don't be absurd, eat your breakfast."

Ash fell into his seat and ate slowly. His mother watched him from the kitchen impatiently.

"You realize you have a time window here, right, Ash?"

"I… I know… I should have slept last night, Mom, I'm sorry."

"I know you are. I'm sure you can find a nice motel in Viridian."

"Can't I get my starter and then go back to bed?"

"Sure, if you want to be left behind."

Ash chewed his food grimly, then rushed the rest of his breakfast, standing up with the plate in one hand, lifting his backpack out of the chair. He stared at the two items, one in each hand, with empty eyes until his mother took the plate from him.

"All right Ash, you head on out."

Ash grunted, a bit livelier this time however, dropped his pack back into the chair, strapping on his trainers and easing out the door. Pallet Town was quietly alive, like a sunbathing lizard. Dew glazed his lawn, and at the edge of his house a husky dog slipped out of his doghouse and swirled around his feet.

"Come on, Red." Ash clicked his tongue at the dog as he headed down the street. The neighborhood was hued by a slight early mist, and as Red stuck by Ash's heels, they headed to Oak's laboratory in the corner of town: a short building by metropolitan standards, but twice as tall as anything else in Pallet. It was a sleek structure with a perfectly round dome roof like a bald head, and this hump was visible from almost any point in town. It peeked from above the other houses as Ash yawned his way mightily down the sidewalk. There were a few people out jogging or getting the mail, or strapping their briefcases onto their bicycles for their commute. One of them raised his hand at Ash in greeting.

He was a squat, heavyset man with a beaming face, and he headed over to Ash excitedly. Red scouted him out and cheerfully sniffed his kneecaps.

"Ash! Today's your big day, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, Ichiro, thanks for remembering."

"Well, say, if you're on your way to becoming a Pokémon trainer—I mean, I've been wanting to talk to you since yesterday afternoon, because I heard you were going to Oak to get your starter today and—"

"Mm-hm, that's where I'm heading."

"—there's this new thing that they've been installing everywhere!" Ichiro was very excited. Ash watched his passionate speech contentedly, and Red leaned against Ichiro's leg affectionately.

"Technology is incredible!" Ichiro continued, scratching the dog's ears gently. "You can now upload and download Pokémon directly via PC!"

"Wha… what does that even mean?"

"Oak's bound to have one in his lab by now! You ask him about it, you can store every Pokémon you catch, digitally, on your account!"

There was a moment where Ash stared at Ichiro, dumbfounded, and Ichiro just grinned back at him.

"So yeah, I'm really glad I caught you, I figured you should be the first person to know!"

"Thanks, Ichiro, I'll be sure to, you know, ask around about…" Ash took a few steps forward. "…that."

"They do cost a bit, though…" Ichiro called after him, as he waved and beckoned Red back to his wake.

Ash turned a bit and nodded, trying desperately to be polite as he approached the gravel path heading up to the lab. Ichiro disappeared behind the corner and Ash sent out one last farewell before Oak's facility took up what seemed to be his entire field of vision. Tall windows encircled the building on the first floor and smaller windows matched them up higher, but Ash's focus was diverted by someone loitering by the glass door. Red ran off before him, as he usually did, to this stranger (unheard of in such a compact, humble hamlet): a girl about his age, with long brown hair, wearing red shorts and a rough-looking sky blue work shirt. A brown satchel was slung over her shoulder. She began to approach him before he could hope to guess where she was from.

"Do you know how to get in?" she asked casually, hardly caring to lift her feet whenever she took a step. "The door's locked and if I knock any harder the glass will crack."

"There should be a panel next to the door," Ash said, peering over the girl's shoulder to the building. "Yes, right there, just hit the green button and if the Professor is expecting you, he'll let you in."

"What if he's not?" The girl reached down to pet Red, who was at her feet expectantly.

"Then I don't think he's very likely to let you in. He's busy."

She looked at him critically. "And are you one of the luckily appointed?"

"The luckily…? Well, yes, in fact. Today I am." Ash spread his hands in a matter-of-fact dismissal.

"Can you get me in?"

"I just told you."

"He'll let you in, you can come in after me."

"That'd be against the whole point. What do you need there?"

"Well, a starter."

"Listen, I'm actually on the clock this morning, and I'm not going to help you break in, so—"

"Such integrity!" the girl said wickedly, with a grin that matched fashionably. "What's your name?"

"Ash."

"And what's your name, big guy?!" She kneeled down to devote more attention to the dog.

"He's Red. What about you?"

"I'm Leaf," she said, glancing up at him. "And I want a starter. I'm going to be a Pokémon trainer, so yeah. I need a starter."

Ash frowned. "Well, like you said, I have integrity." He strode by her nimbly, punching the green button on the panel next to the door. He turned back to Leaf as the door opened. "It's not like you're stuck out here forever, just make an appointment. Or something."

Leaf's expression did not change, and Ash hesitated for a moment before he sent off Red back to his house and closed the door behind him.