Sandslashed: Trying something a bit different this time, doing a story about the Johto Elite Four. Only, it starts waaaaaaay back. And I mean, waaaaaaaaaaaay back.
...
Some might say that the most interesting lives were the messed up ones. And, from what Alex could tell, that was absolutely correct.
He was only three years old, but he knew how to read. And he did read, a lot. He was reading full novels written for young adults. At the age of three.
It wasn't like his mom didn't expect this. There were remnants of psychic power in her family, going back Arceus knows how far. The last person to be able to control anything was her great grandfather, so Alex's great grandfather.
Even though he would most likely grow up to become a powerful psychic, and he was able to read years ahead of when he should be able to, it was hard to say he was very smart.
He had trouble with speech and focus. Whenever he was given a task, he would either ignore it completely or start it and just forget. And he could hardly talk at all. He didn't know that he lived in the Sinnoh region, and he didn't know of Pokémon. Yet, he could still read perfectly fine.
We're getting off track.
Alex did know, however, how boring his life was. In all of the books he read, the main character came from a messed up place or had a messed up family or at least something, but he was plain. He had both a mother and a father, lived in Veilstone City, a perfectly normal place, and there was a low crime rate throughout the region.
Despite all this, he had a wild imagination. He aspired to be unique, and great. He knew one way to become different.
He would run away.
...
This was his plan. But he couldn't pull it off. His three year old legs could only take him so far at a time, and he did love his family.
But one day, he noticed his mother acting strange. The house got slightly darker every day, until it was hard to read if he was inside.
He heard her say things like "honey, why didn't you pay the bills?" and "where's all our money? It was in our bank account, and now it's gone!"
Finally, he heard his father say something back. He said "I'm leaving."
Alex didn't know exactly what it meant, but he saw how distressed it made his mother.
And while he couldn't ask what was going on, he figured it out eventually. His father took thr small car they owned, along with their money, and just left them there. Alex thought that he might come back, but that was six weeks ago, and he didn't.
The house was still dark, and Alex noticed a pile of papers building up by the front door. He read one, with only the word "Bill" on the front. He didn't know what it meant. He saw how his mother was getting sick, and her eyes were clearly sleep deprived.
After one more week of this, mother announced they were going on vacation. Alex didn't know what this meant, but he didn't care, as long as it base his mother happy.
They were going somewhere called "Johto," which apparently was pretty far away.
Without telling her son, she knew that they would not be going back to Sinnoh. It was her chance to start over new, make a new impression on the world.
Alex seemed to recognize people by their outside features. For example, he could easily tell who his parents were since his mom had purple hair, and his dad had greenish blue hair. He took after his mom, with his hair already a beautiful lilac color.
They were staying in a cheap apartment during their, "vacation," on the bottom floor. They spent a lot of time outside together. His mother tried to help him with his speech problem, as she couldn't afford a therapist, but it was no use. It wasn't getting any better.
After they had been in Johto for about three weeks, he came back. Alex's father found them when they were outside, both reading different books under a tree. His mother was the first to see him, with his duo of Houndoom behind him. In addition to the frightening pokémon, there were four men, all wearing uniforms.
"Run," she whispered to Alex, putting him on his feet. It was a simple command, yet one he didn't understand. "Alex, I need you to go...you need to go far away from here. Run south...it'll lead you to a new beginning. A new start for you. Go, now. Hurry!"
By the end of her sentence, she was up to, and the Houndoom were close. Alex began to run in the direction she pointed, although, he was only three, and wouldn't be able to make it very far.
Mother saw this, and she hoped that she would be able to stall them. In addition to one of the scariest, Houndoom was one of the first Pokémon Alex had ever seen. As he continued his run through the tall grass, dipping in between trees and jumping over ledges, his legs gave out. He saw the Houndoom close in on him, one slightly ahead of the other.
These two pokémon were merciless. Without warning, one attacked. It cut him across the eye, opening up the skin and causing a heavy blood flow. The cut went from slightly below his left eye, up and across his nose, all the way to his right eyebrow. He vision was blurring, and he could tell that he was crying. He shut his eyes, laying down on the ground in front of the dark pokémon. He heard the footsteps of father, and his four allies.
Even with his damaged eyes snapper shut, he sensed a bright light. A Pokémon appeared, one that he could not see. Suddenly, as though he had been teleported away, he felt that he was somewhere else. And it was quiet, and dark. He opened his eyes. It caused him pain to do so, but he would get over it quick. He looked at the nearest building.
"Goldenrod Home for Boys."
He knew exactly what it meant. And he knew it, because it happened so many times in all of the books he read. He would go in, to live an extraordinary life. He would be different from everyone around him. He would be great.
He walked through the doors.