Pokémon is by Satoshi Tajiri.


In a blue-gray house with a teal roof and a flower garden next to it situated by a body of water early in the morning, an alarm sounded off inside, barely audible from out the window. In said house, in a blue bedroom lay a sleeping couple, each with brown hair. The hands of the male fumbled out of the white bedsheets and turned the alarm off. 'Six-thirty A.M.,' he noted while sitting up. 'Need to get ready for work.'

Quietly leaving the room to let his wife sleep after getting his clothes, he went downstairs into a kitchen to find a face familiar to him sitting at the mahogany table: a boy in early teens with brown hair his wife's shade, but having the same brown eyes like his own. He wore a red visor with a Poké Ball design on it, a blue shirt with a zipper halfway down the collar under a lighter blue shirt, gray shorts under blue and black pants, and red and black sneakers. By his side was a Mareep, also looking rather determined, which happened to be near a gray and blue bag.

"William?" the man asked, getting his attention. "What are you doing up this early?"

"Couldn't sleep, Dad," the boy, William, answered.

"I had a feeling about that," he replied. "Today's the day you start your Pokémon journey, after all."

"I know, and I'm excited! You were both amazing trainers back in your day!" he said.

They turned to the pictures hanging on the wall. It depicted the two adults when they were younger and about William's age. More specifically, they were Mia and Taylor back on their first journey. "Now, I get the chance to follow in your footsteps," he added.

"Reep!" his Mareep bleated in response.


Later that morning, William was racing through Aspertia City along with another boy his age, Mareep in its Poké Ball and the bag slung over his shoulder. The town was a sight to see early in the morning: though a quaint town, the buildings were showing progress of advancing this place to suburbia. Flocks of Swanna flew overhead, some crying out while they soared by. A school bell rang in the distance, younger kids racing to avoid being late for classes taught by Cheren.

The boy he was racing with had spiky black hair and intimidating red eyes wearing a red and white zip up sweater under a black short-sleeved shirt, black fingerless gloves, a white and red pouch on his waist, blue black pants under similarly colored shorts, and red and black sneakers. "All right!" he cheered. "Let's get our Starter Pokémon!"

"Yeah!" Will cheered, equally psyched.

"Hugh! Will! Hold on!" a woman's voice called out.

Running up to them was a short, dark brown haired woman with blue eyes wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and off-white flats. She took a moment to catch her breath before straightening up. This was an adult Mia, who has since become a stay-at-home Mom. "Boys, your fathers...wanted you to have these," she said in between pants, holding out two blue Xtransceivers.

"Cool! Xtransceivers!" the other boy, Hugh, cheered while the boys accepted them and put them on. "Mrs. Morpheon, you're awesome. Don't let anyone else say otherwise, but if they do, unleash your rage!"

"Of course, and I'll be sure to keep an eye on your sister for you," Mia told him.

"Thank you," he said.

"Thanks, Mom," Will thanked.

"My pleasure, boys!" she replied. "Now, go and kick some Pokémon tails!"


The two boys eventually made it to the lookout point of the city, where one could see a beautiful view of the ocean. At the top of the lookout point was a woman with blonde hair wearing a yellow-green hat, an orange coat over a white shirt, yellow-green shorts, a yellow-green and white satchel, and orange shoes on her feet. "Mom!" Hugh exclaimed.

"Bianca!" Will exclaimed. For him, it was okay to call her by her first name since she allowed it sometime back.

The woman, Bianca, turned around, revealing green eyes under red rimmed glasses and a capsule in her hands. "So nice to see you boys!" she greeted happily while they slowed down to come up to her.

She held out the capsule. "Ta-da!" she cheered. "The Pokémon that'll be your partner is right in here!"

With a push of a button, the capsule opened. The steam coming from it cleared to reveal three Poké Balls that shined in the sunlight. It took some consideration, but the two boys eventually decided on two Pokémon without getting into a fight.

"Will, I have a favor to ask of you before you go," Bianca requested.

"Sure," he agreed in confusion. "What is it?"

Bianca took out some photographs from out of her pocket and showed them to William.

"This is Gina," she began. "She happens to be the daughter of a father who makes sure the shield protecting Unova is working perfectly. My husband and I have been trying to get her out and about, but talking to her father won't work. Her mother's for it, and she's all for it, but not her father."

"Gina, huh?" he asked, studying the photos.

"We were wondering if you could help her out," she requested. "Gina was born deaf. She sees this as an opportunity to do things she couldn't earlier, but she gets the big 'X' from her father and it's frustrating for her. So...will you?"

"I'll do what I can to help her," he agreed after a moment's pondering.

"You do that," Hugh offered. "I'll meet ya at Route 19."

"Okay," he said while watching him go off.