Richard's eyes slowly fluttered open as he lifted his head. He saw his Mum standing over his head "Richard! Are you awake?"
"Yes Mom!"
"It's your birthday! You know what that means right?"
Richard's eyes widened. He remember exactly what that meant. He sat up in excitement.
"I do! I do! It's time to take the trainer test!"
"That's right! You know where the academy is right?"
Richard nodded "Sure do!"
His Mother gave out a deep sigh, before looking at Richard.
"Well then I guess this is it. You'd better go quickly. You don't want to miss it."
"Thanks Mum."
Richard hugged his mother before leaping out of bed.
"Richard. Put on clothes first."
Richard looked down at his pajamas and sighed. He couldn't wait to go on his journey. He rolled his eyes before heading over to his wardrobe and getting changed. He grabbed a red shirt, threw on some jeans, got his favourite hat and put on a little satchel that hung around his waist.
"Richard, before you go, I think you'll need something."
Richard turned around to see his mother, holding several 10,000 Pokedollar notes.
"Even before you were born, I started saving this up! Don't spend it all in one place, okay? Make sure you're careful."
"Thanks Mom!" Said Richard as he took the money, placing it in his pocket. As he put on his shoes, he took a final breath in his home, before shouting goodbye to his Mother and stepping out the door.
Viridian City was one of the smallest cities in the Kanto region, but it was homely. He walked over to the Pokemon Academy building and entered. There were chairs and tables lined up in a perfectly ordained fashion. At the end of the room stood a man next to a whiteboard with formulas written all over it. The man noticed Richard and put on a warm smile.
"Ah, you are Richard, right?!"
"Yup! That's me!"
"Come over here, take a seat if you want to."
Richard shuffled past all the desks and approached the man.
"Is this going to be hard?"
"For a basic trainer license? No, it's not terribly difficult. The things on the blackboard are for more advanced students who study here. All you have to do is answer a few questions."
"Okay, no problem! I know everything about Pokemon! I've always wanted to be a trainer!"
"Oh, I don't have a doubt about that. Let's begin, shall we?"
"Okay!"
The man picked up a clipboard from his desk. and adjusted his glasses.
"Okay. The first question is... What steps do you take in order to have the most succesful chance to capture a Pokemon?"
"Oh. Easy peasy. First you have to hurt it, but not too much. Then you can either put it to sleep, paralyze it, or freeze it."
"Very impressive. The next question is are you allowed to catch another trainers Pokemon?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Well, I'm glad you know that. For the final question, you need to fill out this sheet."
The man handed handed Richard a sheet with a grid on it, with all the various types written across the top and down the sides.
"You can take as much time as you like."
Richard sat down at a table and picked up a pencil. He looked at the instructions section on the sheet. It read:
Fill out the type matchup grid with the correct effectiveness. For regular effectiveness, leave the square blank. For low effectiveness, mark the box with an X. For high effectiveness, mark the box with a circle.
Richard spent a few minutes filling out the chart. He mostly knew the matchups, but there were a few that he was unsure of. Mostly with the poison, dark, ghost and bug types. How does water and poison go? How different were rock and ground? Dark and ghost? Eventually Richard was satisfied with his decisions and handed the paper back to the man. He studied it, and eventually settled it down on his desk.
"Congratulations! You passed! How does that feel?"
"It feels great! Does this mean I can go on an adventure now?!"
"You can do whatever you want, once your card is printed! Most trainers try to get all the gym badges, but it's your choice."
"That's what I wanna do! I wanna become the best trainer in the world!"
The man started walking over to a printer and pulled out a small card.
"Well, if you work hard enough, maybe you can one day. Say Richard, what is your favourite type?"
The man handed Richard his license "Fire!"
"Well, that's good. We have one here for you."
"Really! Cool!"
The man walked into a room for about half a minute and came back with a Pokeball. He handed it to Richard.
"Do you know how to use one of these?"
"Um... I've never done it, but I've seen other people do it."
"Oh, don't worry. It's easy. You just hold this button and throw the ball, releasing the button when the ball leaves your hand."
"Okay..."
Richard held down the button in the center of the ball. He drew his arm back, and thre it into the air. It opened up, and a bright light shone as a small creature appeared. It landed on the ground and looked at Richard. It was small, orange and had black patterns on it's back and legs it's body. It had puffy man around it's chest and on it's head. At the rear, it sported a bushy tail.
"This is a growlithe. It's yours now. Do you wanna give it a name?"
"Yeah... My uncle has a Lillipup that looks like him. His name is Spud. I wanna name my growlithe Spud too!"
"Spud, huh? That's a great name."
"Me and Spud are going to get all the badges!"
"Well, if you want to start, you can right away! Unfortunately, the gym here is currently closed. But there's a gym in Pewter city. I'll show you the way if you want."
"Thanks!"
The man and Richard walked outside. He walked around past Richards house until they reached a clearing with a path leading out.
"Pewter City is just that way, through the forest. Are you alright to go alone?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Alright then. Good luck, and stay safe!"
"Thanks!"
Richard walked along the path until he came across a patch of tall grass. He knew that that's where wild Pokemon liked to hide, so he walked around it. Once he came around, he saw a small building with an open entrance and exit extending out into the forest. Richard didn't feel like waiting for his adventure, so he irreluctantly walked through.