Introduction: An Important Decision
On the day of his 16th birthday, Jake Strongman woke up early in the morning, just as the sun was rising. He rolled out of bed and stood up slowly. Mornings weren't exactly his thing. He pulled on a pair of ripped blue jeans and laced up his black tennis shoes. He grabbed a shirt from his drawers, it was red with a standard poke ball design in the center of it. He put a red and black hat on over his shaggy brown hair, giving him an excuse to not comb it. He checked himself in the mirror, his golden eyes scanning over his outfit.
"Seems good" he said as he opened his bedroom door and started downstairs.
Downstairs, his mom was finishing up a large breakfast. His favorite, french toast with a bowl of cereal and scrambled eggs. His mom had long red hair that she wore in a ponytail when she worked in the kitchen. She was tall and slender with green eyes that always gave caring look, even when tired. Jake sat down and began to eat in silence as soon as his mom prepared a plate and put it in front of him. His dad sat in a chair across the table as he sipped a cup of coffee and tried to finish that morning's crossword puzzle.
"Five letters across, Blank-O-Blank-O-Blank. The hint is an Electric-type Pokemon that can posses electric appliances" his dad said. His dad was a tall man with the brown hair cut neatly and golden eyes. He was wearing his everyday work attire: a white button up shirt with a dark blue tie and his black reading glasses.
"I think its supposed to be Rotom, Dad" Jake said as he took a large bite of the french toast.
"Hmmm... yeah, seems right" he said as he filled in the answer
"Good morning family!" Jake's older brother, Kenneth, exclaimed as he came through the door. He had shoulder length flaming red hair and golden eyes. He had a long brown coat over a white shirt with a flame design stretching upward from the bottom left corner and black denim jeans paired with black tennis shoes and red laces. Kenneth was rarely at home now, so him visiting was always a treat for the rest of the family. Kenneth, in fact, was the new Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, having helped rebuild the island settlement after the Volcano eruption. Not only this, but Kenneth was, in fact, the strongest Gym Leader in the Indigo League. He always had challengers, but they rarely won against him. His skills as a Gym Leader were unsurpassed. In fact, some go as far to say that he is the most powerful Gym Leader Kanto has ever had.
"Kenneth, you actually came!" Jake exclaimed when he saw his older brother.
"You bet, I wouldn't miss today of all days. Its my little bro's 16th birthday! I know you can leave when you're 10 with permission from your parents, but Mom and Dad are stingy. This is the same age I was when they let me start my journey" Kenneth said to his brother
"I know! I can't believe the day has finally come! I'm going to be a Pokemon trainer!" Jake couldn't hold back his excitement. He was absolutely ecstatic about it. He had been dreaming of leaving Chrono Island for a long time. All Jake had known for his life was the small town of Five Island and the land that surrounded it. However, he never really could explore the rest of Chrono Island because wild Pokemon roamed around and they weren't exactly the friendliest. Since he didn't have his own Pokemon, Jake had never explored most parts of Chrono Island. Today, though, he was leaving.
"Jake, honey..." his mom said "Kenneth is going to take you to Pallet Town to visit Professor Redwood to receive your first Pokemon"
"That's right, son" his dad said. "When he's done there, he will help you catch one Pokemon, and only one. From there, he will take you to the first Gym in Vermillion City, and then you're on your own. Got it?"
"I got it" Jake replied
"Alrighty, anything else you need to get bro?" Kenneth said
"Uhhh..." was all Jake could respond with
"Oh for Arceus's sake, Jake, your father and I gave you your present early so that you wouldn't forget it today! Where is that brand new backpack we got you with all the supplies you need for your journey?" his mom said irritably
"Oh... oh, right!" Jake said as he ran back upstairs and came back down with a medium sized black backpack. It bulged with supplies such as extra clothes, a sleeping bag, and some food
"Good, now you be careful dear, and remember, call us at least once a week on your Pokenav, got it?" his mother said in a commanding tone
"Yes ma'am, I understand" Jake said
"Good, now son, you be careful, and when you come back home, we hope to see that you have raised such good Pokemon" his father said "and remember, you can only carry six Pokemon with you, but you can always send some of your Pokemon back here for us to take care as long as you promise to use them as well"
"I promise Dad. If I capture more than six Pokemon, I'll keep a rotation going" Jake said
"Good, now you two get to Redwood's lab already, I'm sure he's waiting for you"
"Alright, see you guys soon!" Jake said as he left the house with his older brother.
Jake and Kenneth left their parents' home and headed for the dock. Kenneth showed the man two tickets and they got on a small motor boat. As soon as they boarded, the boat took off with incredible speed. Within 3 hours, they had arrived at the Pallet Town port, which used to seem so far away.
The Pallet Town Port was relatively new to the Kanto Region. It was built about three years back due to the increased number of new trainers coming from the Sevii Islands. Since Professor Redwood, who just recently replaced the long time Professor Oak within the past 5 years, was the only Pokemon Professor in Kanto and the Sevii Islands, it was only natural that many new trainers would need to get to the regional Pokemon Lab. Also, since the rearrangement of the Gyms, the ferry would be able to take new trainers to Vermillion City to face the first Gym Leader whenever they needed to.
"Well, come on, this way!" Kenneth said, leading Jake toward the largest building in the rather small town. Jake looked at it. It was rectangular with a gray roof and red brick. Kenneth and Jake stepped forward as the buildings automatic doors opened and then went inside.
Professor Redwood was a tall, lanky man with large round glasses and messy ginger hair. His brown eyes were glued to a computer screen. He wore the standard white labcoat over a red polo and kahki pants. He really seemed to be hard at work.
"Ah, I see, so the stones emit a certain type of wave that causes some pokemon to evolve." Professor Redwood muttered to himself. "Each stone has a different wave frequency, which is why the Sun Stone makes Gloom evolve into Bellossom while the Leaf Stone makes them evolve into Vileplume. If that's the case then..."
"Ahm, Professor Redwood..." Kenneth interjected. Professor Redwood seemed to snap out of some sort of trance and then turned around to face the two brothers.
"AH! Kenneth! You've arrived!" Redwood said after realizing he had company. "And this must be your brother, ahhhh... wait... don't tell me... Jake!"
"Yup, that's right. Jake's here to get his very first Pokemon. What'cha got for him today?" Kenneth asked
"Well, let's see..." Professor Redwood said as he clicked the button on a machine. The machine reacted by spinning upward and extending the top part, revealing 3 poke balls. Professor Redwood took all three of them and sent out the Pokemon within them.
"So, you can choose from Bulbasaur" Professor Redwood said as he motioned to a small, green-blue reptile with red eyes and a large green bulb on its back
"...Squirtle..." he said, motioning to a small, blue turtle with a brown shell
"...or Chamander." he said, motioning to a small, orange lizard with a flame on its tail.
Jake looked at all three Pokemon he could choose from. This choice would decide what team he could build to cover the strengths and weaknesses. It would help him decide any sort of battle strategies in the future. He thought long and hard about it. Eventually, he came to a decision.
"I choose Charmander."
With that, Jake's very own Pokemon adventure began. He would soon face tough trails and learn more about himself.
A/N: So, this is a prequel to The Nova League Chronicles about a very important character. So, I need some help in this from you guys! I want Gym Leaders matching the original Kanto Gym Leader types, but in a different order. I already have three so far, and I'll post about the order in the informational chaper (soon to come). So, as I am wrapping up Nova League, we'll also be learning about the origins of a character very important to the plot of that story, so I hope you guys like this one!