Rise of a Ranger

Chapter 1 – A firey start!

This is my first story, any reviews would of course be appreciated!

One morning, a blond 10 year old boy was awoken by what was obviously quite a large crowd outside his bedroom window. Rubbing his blue eyes, he silently cursed them all and sat up in his bed. He looked around his small, simply laid out room. Nothing had changed: the same boring beige curtains, the same boring dark green duvet and the same gray walls with the only added decoration being a simple desk which, as usual, was filled with a chaos of papers, pencils, scissors and empty wrappers of his addiction: chocolate. Above his desk was a framed picture of his parents and himself as a baby. The young boy had no memory of his parents, who had come to Pallet Town a long time ago from their mountainous homeland, Osutaria, and died in a car crash barely a week before his first birthday. As if on cue, his adoptive mother, Mary, called from downstairs.

"Mo! Time for breakfast! Today is an exciting day!"

Not for me, thought Mo sarcastically. He already knew what the ruckus outside was about: all the other 10 year olds in town would be leaving on their journey. "In a minute!" He shouted, so that he could watch from his window as the gathered crowd cheered outside Professor Oak's lab.

The reason for their cheering was quickly evident: Garry Oak had just come outside. I'll be cheering your departure too, he mused, and as he was about to go downstairs, he saw a boy in pajamas running up the street. That'll be Ash. Typical Ash, always late and in a rush. At least he hadn't been nasty to him at school, unlike Garry, who had constantly mocked his poverty and had been insufferable in his boasting at leaving on his traditional adventure. If only I had the money! He sulked down the stairs, but put on his best smile for Mary. She really had tried her hardest to protect Mo from life. So much so that he'd led quite an isolated life from the others, only ever meeting them at school. The only friends he could really count were Professor Oak, who had always been astonishingly kind to him, and the Pokemon he looked after for the professor to make a bit of pocket money. Looked after was exaggerated: he just played with them, was the test subject for Oak to make sure they would be ready for their journey with an unknown child. Mo had quite a few burns where Charmanders had attacked him, although he'd never had any trouble with a Squirtle or Bulbasaur. Which of course meant that Mo's dream was to have a fire Pokemon

"Good morning Mo! How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, great, Mum, really. Absolutely fantastic. I mean, I get to stay here instead of going on a great adventure! What is there NOT to like about today?"

"I'm sorry, but you'll see: everything will work out just fine eventually." She smiled, and Mo noticed, but he couldn't be bothered to follow it up. No doubt she had, like always, found a silver lining to the cloud. He was about to eat his apple when the videophone rang. "I'll get it!" he said, and jogged to the desk.

"Hey there Mo! It's me!" said Professor Oak's mouth, which was obviously far too close to the camera. He moved back. "Ahem, I was hoping it would be you! I need you to come here as soon as you can. It is a matter of great importance. Tell Mary the time has come, she'll understand."

"But..." It was too late, Oak had hung up. Of course, he understood now: some of the other kids in town must have had the same job as him. Finally, he could earn more money! Not enough to go on his own adventure though... Doubtlessly Mum's silver lining. Actually, this was great news: he could finally afford to at least own a Pokemon Mary had promised him that he could keep one at home if he looked after it, which included paying for its food and upkeep.

He did as he was told. Told his mother it was time, got dressed and leisurely skipped up the street to the lab. Mo marveled at its sheer hugeness. He always loved coming here: lots of interesting people and, most of all, lots of interesting Pokemon to play with! The gate opened before he could ring the bell – obviously, Oak was keen to see him. Unwilling to let the professor wait much longer and risk the possibility of losing his new-found job, Mo ran up the path and through the door into the professor's living room. In the room were Oak, his adoptive father Dave and an important-looking man Mo had never met before. The important-looking man said to Dave:

"Now if you'll just sign here.... and here... and here... that's me done! It was a pleasure finally meeting Mark and Janet's friends. Really, it was. These papers have been laying here for nearly 10 years!" And with that, he stood up, winked at Mo and walked out. Mark and Janet? What have my parents got to do with this?

"Come here Mo, have a seat. This is important." Once again, Mo did as he was told.

"Who was that man?" Mo asked, and his father and Oak looked at each other with a knowing smile.

"This was Joe, an old friend of me and your parents'" explained Dave. "He has officially recognized your inheritance as transferable."

"My inheritance?" asked Mo, flabbergasted. He didn't know of anything that his parents had left him other than the picture. Everything else had been sold to enable Dave and Mary to look after him. "But what for?" Mo finally asked.

"You see, all parents have to make a testament as soon as they have their child." started Dave "and yours were no different. They started a fund for you when you were born, which has slowly grown over the last ten years. They wanted you to get the money when you were old enough to go on your own adventure, just as they had in their old country. But they wanted you to have yours here".

Mo let these facts sink in. My own adventure?

Oak continued for Dave: "Your parents were good friends of mine, and valued assistants to my work. I was very sad when they were taken from us, and they made me promise to look after you if anything happened to them." Oak paused, before quickly adding "not that their work was particularly dangerous, but they just wanted to be sure. I hope I have helped you in these last couple of years. You have, in fact, helped me by showing such promise in your interactions with Pokemon It seems you have their gift."

"But why didn't you tell me any of this" Mo managed to get out, straining not to explode with rage.

"Simple: we thought it would make a great surprise for today!" Oak beamed. A great surprise?! Are they out of their mind? "Now Mo, it is my understanding that your dream is to, eventually at least, become a Pokemon ranger?"

"The greatest of all time!" He said, his spirits lifted. Slowly, he understood that he too would be leaving to become a trainer and, one day, a ranger. Tears of joy started forming around his eyes, but he managed to stop them from flowing.

"Now, I have something special for you. Not the usual starter Pokemon a young trainer gets. You have vastly more experience than the others in handling Pokemon, and I know you have a special liking for Pokemon who are able to breathe fire." Oak looked at Mo's small scars. Mo started to feel self-conscious, he realized he didn't exactly look the part: old clothes, taken from family friends who didn't need them anymore. Any strain and they'd probably fall apart.

"Mo, you must understand that we have done everything in our power to give you a complete upbringing and turn you into a decent young man. Please, allow us to give you a final bit of help. Come home when the professor has finished with you. There'll be a surprise waiting!" With that, Dave walked out.

Mo looked at Oak, Oak looked at Mo. A short moment passed, until finally Mo could take it no more: "What Pokemon will I be getting then?" he asked. Oak chuckled, stood up and told him to follow. They walked through the room where three empty pokeballs were set out on a table, and there were signs of some sort of fire on the floor. "Trouble with Ash's Pokemon", laughed Oak as he took out a key and opened a locked safe. In it was an unremarkable-looking pokeball. "Now this Pokemon is special. You have to promise to me to take good care of it, no matter what happens. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir". Mo barely managed to whisper.

"This Pokemon does not exist in the Kanto region. It has been imported from Johto, and was one of your father's favorite I feel it is only appropriate for me to give you this new arrival, who hatched barely a day ago. It seems fate has decided to pair you together. Are you ready?" Oak looked at Mo, who just nodded in disbelief. He couldn't believe this was happening! Before he could gather his thoughts, Oak pressed the pokeball into his hand. "Then press the release button". Oak smiled as Mo squeezed. Come out come out whatever you are...

Mo stared. He hadn't ever seen anything like it, or quite so cute! He knew they would get on fanta-

"AAAARGH!" Mo and Oak shouted at the same time as sparks engulfed them both for a split second. Mo looked at the now black Oak, who looked a the singed Mo. "Not again! I'll have to get changed for the third time today!" he complained. The Pokemon seemed to ignore the fact that it had just burned them and ran happily around Mo, yapping in what was clearly joy.

"This is Houndour" explained Oak "a combination dark and fire Pokemon You may not see it, but this is a fiercely loyal Pokemon once it respects its master. Of course, it doesn't know either of us yet and barely knows humans as a whole, but he is going to be an invaluable companion on your trip". Yeah, sure. Look at him. Why does professor Oak hate me? Wondered Mo. "Don't worry, everything will be alri-" Little bits of flame engulfed the two once more, and Mo put Houndour back into its Pokeball. "Probably a wise idea for now Mo, wait until you are out of town before letting him out again. He could cause considerable damage to my lab. Let's go to my office."

Mo followed, thinking more and more that his journey was going certainly not going to have a dull moment if Houndour was anything to go by. Oak gave him a Pokedex and five pokeballs, and wished him all the best. Mo thanked him, gave him a hug (which surprised Oak somewhat) and ran home. Which wasn't exactly far. He opened the door, and Dave and Mary were sitting in the kitchen, crying and laughing. Mo asked them what was wrong, but they said they were just proud. "We just hope you won't forget us. Here, come with us, you were told there would be a surprise."

They all walked to Mo's room. On his bed were some brand new clothes: real jeans without holes in them, plenty of underpants and socks, a load of shirts and jumpers, as well as a raincoat. What caught Mo's eyes, however, weren't immediately any of these things. It was the black fingerless gloves that were lying on top of the pile. They seemed old and worn, yet in excellent condition. He tried them on. They felt great! "These were your father's" said Dave. "He always said he wanted you to have them when you go on your adventure." Mo welled up a little, but was overjoyed. Soon he was packed and ready to leave.

"What Pokemon did you get?" asked Mary.

"A baby Houndour." answered Mo, and took the pokeball out of his pocket. Mary and Dave jumped back, covered their faces in anticipation and screamed "NOOOO!"

"That Professor Oak! Very clever guy, but somewhat silly at times. He was right in telling you it was one of your father's favorites. At least you won't need to spend any money on matches! Not that that's a problem now. Remember: be careful what you spend and you can keep doing this for years! We love you as our own son, you know? And don't forget to come visit from time to time! Change your underwear every day! Eat healthily! Call us as often as you can! Learn everything you can and don't be evil! Most of all though: please, have fun."

"I will, you are my parents now. I will always love you!" And with his head held up high and his hopes equally as elevated, Mo made his final goodbyes and left Pallet Town.

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