I should make myself perfectly clear. I am not an asshole. Sure, there are those who think I'm a jerk because I steal their lunchboxes or whatever, but the fact of the matter is that I'm hungry - I need the food, probably more than those pathetic brats do.
Of course, my parents don't feel the same way. They think that I'm "too aggressive" and that I don't deserve to have a pokemon.
I'll show them. I'll show them all.
So I leave good ol' Jubilife and head onto Route 202, and decided to catch myself something. Once I catch a cool Pokemon that's bound to be there, I'll rocket through all of the Gyms and become the Pokemon Champion. I'll extend the classroom to the world, and make myself ruler over all.
Let's just say that the little excursion I had planned didn't go as I had planned.
Did you know that Pokemon are dangerous? I did too - of course, I didn't really think about it too hard. I mean, the Togepi Dad brought from a breeder can't do anything to me when I squeeze it too hard, so how dangerous could other Pokemon really be?
Going into Route 202, I probably should have brought a couple of Pokeballs. I mean, there are other methods of capturing a Pokemon, but I think that Pokeballs are the most reliable method. Unfortunately, I don't have any Pokeballs because I wasn't certified to be a trainer (and Pokeballs need certification to work), so I have to capture it the old-fashioned way. That meaning with a net and cage, of course.
I go to the Pokemart and buy a couple of fishing nets using some money I stole from Mom and Dad. I'll probably catch a really good Pokemon with this net, and everyone at school will respect and like me.
I dump all of my school stuff out of my backpack, stuff the net inside, and go to Route 202, ready to catch me a big one.
Now, had I been told that Route 202 isn't a route where there is a lot of ponds, rivers, and bays to catch water Pokemon, I would have gone to one of the nearby routes that did have those things. Unfortunately, I did this alone.
You know what Pokemon you can find on Route 202? You can find Starly, Bidoof, Kricketot, and Shinx. When I heard that you could catch Shinx, I instantly promised myself that I would capture one, since they grow up to be strong and powerful. So do Starly when they turn into Staraptor, but Starly are lame and I don't particularly care for them.
I run around Route 202, chasing any speck of blue I can find. Unfortunately, most are false alarms.
Overhead, the sky begins to turn a dark grey and flashes of blinding white light begin to move in my direction. Now, to most people, this would seem like a good time to quit and try again later, preferably with a Pokeball in hand.
I'm not most people.
I remember reading in one of my books (when I was bored) that some electric pokemon can act as lightning rods using their tails or something. One of those pokemon could be Shinx.
So while it rains around me I feverishly look around for a Shinx to call my own. I never occurred to me that any self-respecting non-Water typed Pokemon will probably seek shelter to weather (get it? I'm a riot) the incoming storm.
I finally see a flash of blue. Eager to finally get that thrice-damned Shinx, I jump to tackle it to ground, net coiled in my hand.
Nobody ever told me that Route 202 had ponds in it.
I wrapped my arms around one of those ugly Feebas everyone shows as the ugliest Pokemon. They only evolve into sissy Milotics once in a blue moon, and they're plug ugly otherwise, so I absolutely hate them.
Of course, in the scum-filled pond I jumped into during the storm, I thought that the Feebas was a Shinx. Eager to catch my Pokemon, I threw my net around it under the water.
Things don't travel very far under water.
The net I bought my parent's money sinks to the ground in a pathetic heap, unusable. I'm left with no choice now. I have to wrestle the Shinx out of the water if I want to catch the stupid thing. Struggling, I manage to take it out of the water. Cold and wet, I regale the thing.
A Feebas stares back at me blankly, not appeased by this alien lifeform.
Everything turns into a blur afterward. I fly into an indescribable rage, kicking and hitting the worthless Feebas with all of my power. I kick the thing back into the water and declare the day a complete waste.
Nobody told me hypothermia existed.
I slowly make my way back to Jubilife City, my every step lethargic. Multiple times I take the wrong way by accident and I trip too many times to count.
I finally make my way back home. My mother, righteous anger slapped all over her face, starts screaming at my thievery, and begins to hit me.
I fall faint.
After that, I wake up in a hospital. Bland white walls surround the filthy bed I was on. I felt like throwing up.
I was in the hospital for another couple of months, recovering from my hypothermia. I fell behind in my studies and my body grew weak and frail. By the time I was released, I was a shell of my former self.
Once I was cleared to go back to school, I enter my classroom. Revulsion and hate are fired at me from every direction I turn. I give them all half-hearted glares, but my power behind it was gone - being an invalid will do that to you.
Within hours, it was ascertained by everyone in the class that I was weak, frail, and dumb. Everyone that I had picked on previously got their revenge by simply looking at me. Pity - no, they weren't pitying me.
They were satisfied I was like this. That I was a shell of the intimidating person I was before.
The years slogged by. Within a couple of months, I regained my physical strength and health. I could barely talk to anyone, though. All I would see were malevolent glares and the blank, soul-piercing gaze of the Feebas. Everyone's hate for me eroded to dust, and now it was just pity.
By the time I was twelve, my parents were satisfied with my "character growth" and decided that now was the best time to get me a Pokemon and shove me out of their lives. I was apathetic.
They brought me to a starter building, where they paid trainers to catch Pokemon for starting trainers. I entered and saw dozens of pokemon.
They all looked vaguely interesting, but I had lost any love of Pokemon a long time ago.
Then I saw it.
The Feebas.
I walked over to it. Looking at me, it seemed to vaguely recognize me, as if it had recognized the beating I gave it a long time ago.
I simply stared at it, entranced. This was the beginning of my transformation. Before I faced this thing, I was simply wet, and would probably have a simple cold when I returned to Jubilife. I would have returned, gotten a cold for a couple of days, plotted a winning plan, and take over the world with my victorious Shinx.
Instead, it had transformed me into itself.
Dull.
Lifeless.
Pathetic.
Ugly.
The clerk that was selling the Feebas gave me a bored look as if he was expecting me to move on to a cooler pokemon, like the Shinx in the stall next to his.
I didn't.
The Feebas was the pokemon I chose. It was the new beginning, the rebirth.
I had thrown it into the pond, dissatisfied with it. As if by destiny, I came to embody all of Feebas's traits.
But Feebas could evolve.
And so could I.