Going Pro
Main Characters: Jesse Anderson (Johan Andersen)
Pairing: None.
Genre: Adventure/Friendship
Rated: T for occasional harsh language and awkward teenaged puberty themes.
Summary: Jesse Anderson felt there was something missing in his seemingly ordinary, grey life. Then his rare ability and passion for dueling catches the attention of Maximillion Pegasus, who wants to sponsor him. A legendary deck brings color to his life and a scholarship to North Academy opens the door to a new beginning. However, spirit trappers want to close it. (Jesse's pre-GX life).
Chapter 1: To Dream of Duel Academy
"It's just over the water and beyond the horizon," Jesse said to himself as he stood at the docks in Domino City. "Duel Academy, I wonder what it's like?" he mused to himself. When he closed his eyes and thought carefully, he could hear the spirits in the city. There were so many here, not like back home, where there were few and far between. This city seemed to attract duelists and those with spirits.
Only very several years Jesse Anderson and his mother would visit some extended family that lived near Domino City. These trips were quite the ordeal for Jesse and his mother since they lived all the way in Scandinavia. Throughout Jesse's young life, he looked forward to these visits, because they involved going to Kaiba Land and visiting some amazing Duel Monsters card shops. He loved dueling and everything that had to do with Duel Monsters. It was no secret either. Everyone knew that if they knew him at all.
During Jesse's school break after his first year of high school, he and his mother took a plane all the way to Domino City so Jesse could see some of his father's family. His father disappeared when he was very young, so all Jesse had left of him was some old photos and these occasional visits. His father's family and his mother thought it was important for Jesse to know both sides of the family and keep up the language fluency.
Since Jesse's fifteenth birthday already recently passed, his great aunt baked him a cake for a small family party when he arrived. When he blew out the candles on his cake, he had one wish. Duel Academy. It was his dream school and very prestigious, not to mention the boarding was on the expensive side, at least to him. His mother didn't exactly make a lot of money and wasn't able to afford an international boarding school. However, it wasn't just the cost. Jesse couldn't bring himself to leave his mother alone yet. He was a smart kid, so even though he disliked school, he often got high grades anyway and could probably pass the entrance exam. But no matter how much he loved dueling, he couldn't bring himself to fill out the admission application.
"Jesse, since you just turned fifteen, I thought you might like to take a look at this brochure," his great aunt told him and handed him a Kaiba Corporation Duel Academy Island brochure. "Since you love dueling so much, you might think about doing it for a living it you think you are good enough."
"Thank you, Auntie," Jesse smiled. "I will think about it." His eyes gazed at the cover longingly. He frequently fantasized about attending Duel Academy Island off the coast of Domino City. It was the most prestigious dueling school in the world, so who wouldn't? Everyone knew about it, even though it had not even existed for very long. Even if he never got to attend, he would give just about anything to visit and see it. That volcano, the beaches, to see the ocean sunset free of light pollution, and most of all, the forests. Forests were home to something else Jesse was very interested in. There must be at least a dozen exotic breeds of insects there. He would catch them all if given the chance.
Back home, before his grandfather passed away a few years ago, Jesse would catch bugs all around the house. His grandfather taught him all about them and told stories. Even though his grandfather was no longer with him, Jesse would still try to find and capture new insects to learn about. They were one of his favorite things, so he even based his other favorite thing on them, resulting in an insect themed dueling deck.
"Oh Jesse, is that a brochure for…" his mother trailed off as she looked at him.
He looked down at the item in his hands and smiled back at her. "Oh yeah, Auntie thought I should look at it," he said.
"How about you eat your cake in the other room? There's a big duel starting on the Dueling Network channel," his mother suggested.
"Sure, Mom," he said and left. He felt kind of bad though. His mother was going to speak her dislike of the brochure to his great aunt. It wasn't that his mother didn't want him to go, she wanted the best for him, she just didn't want to get his hopes up for something he can't have, and he was aware of this.
Jesse's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. So he took another mouthful of his chocolate cake and opened his flip phone. It was a text message from his friend, Julia.
"Hey, how's Domino?" - From Julia.
Jesse didn't actually have many friends. From an early age, he was labeled as being weird. It wasn't until he was a little older when realized that not everyone could see duel spirits, so others would see him talking to nothing and think there was something seriously wrong with him. He also had a little bit of an obsessive personality for the two things he liked, being insects and Duel Monsters of course. Jesse wasn't sure if Julia could see spirits since he never talked to her about them. They had only known each other for a year since they started at the same high school back home. They had a lot of classes together and she thought he was funny since she always laughed at his jokes, no matter how lame. Friendship sprung quickly between them and they kept in contact during school breaks.
"I'm having cake! Then I get to go to Kaiba Land tomorrow :D" - Message Sent.
"Lol ^_^" - From Julia.
Jesse finished his cake as he watched the duel on the television when his phone buzzed again.
"You'll be back in a week, right?" - From Julia.
"Yep" - Message Sent.
Soon, Jesse received some gifts from his family. Just gift cards and cash, even though he'd have to either spend it while he was in Domino City or have the currency transferred to be able to use it back home. To keep things simple, he planned to spend it all at Kaiba Land and whatever card shop he could find in town.
Just as promised, his mother dropped him off at Kaiba Land the next morning and he spent a lot of time in the arcade. If he was going to stay until nighttime, there was going to be a duel in the Kaiba Dome, but his mother or great aunt planned to pick him up before dinner. He could still watch the duel on live TV back at his great aunt's house.
Right when he left Kaiba Land to stand outside and wait for his ride, he felt his phone vibrate. When he looked at it, he found a text message from his mom saying that she was going to be an hour late. Jesse sighed and text her back.
"Guess I shouldn't have left yet," he said to himself and looked back at the gate. "Oh well," he shrugged and pulled up the hood of his jacket as started down the street. It wasn't long until he found a card shop. Jesse smiled when he looked up at the sign and went inside. It was still open. There were a few other teens inside so he took his time browsing through the cards. Maybe, just maybe, he would find that one gem for his deck. He always felt like there was something missing from his deck, and every time he thought he found it, that feeling came back. The hunt was never ending. His deck just wasn't complete and he knew that deep inside.
Luckily, the shop wasn't crowded with only two other customers. One person was a girl wearing a black uniform looking to build up her wind themed deck, and she looked like she was just about done in the shop. The other customer was a boy about his age wearing a black uniform and a red hat with brown hair sticking out from under it.
Over the next several minutes, Jesse barely noticed the girl leave as he studied two spell cards and debated whether or not to buy either of them. He was about to put them both back and just get a booster pack when the other boy walked by and said something.
"Hey cool spells!" he had said brightly without stopping.
Jesse looked up in time to see the boy already going up to the counter. He shrugged and put both the spells back and moved to the booster packs. Now he just had to decide which one.
"Yeah, yeah! I have to make sure my deck is at its best if I want to pass the Duel Academy exam," the boy from before exclaimed loudly, catching Jesse's attention.
"Boy was the written exam difficult, I sure hope I passed, but I also hope the practical exam is just as tough!" the boy had said cheerfully.
"Not many kids hope it'll be hard," the shopkeeper laughed.
"As long as it's a fun duel, am I right?"
Jesse felt a little twinge of jealousy towards the stranger. Duel Academy was the place to be if one loved to duel. Maybe he should have tried to apply, just to see if he could have got in. He still wouldn't be able to go, but it might still put his mind at ease if he knew if had what it took to get accepted. The boy in the red hat seemed to have what it took, and more than enough enthusiasm.
"Do you live around here? Haven't seen you in here before," the shopkeeper said.
The boy laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Not really, but I've made it my mission to visit every card shop I can before my test, it's hard to find the right cards for my deck," he explained.
Jesse understood exactly what he was talking about. One would never find the right cards without looking everywhere they could. Granted Jesse didn't make a day of visiting tons of shops in his own search.
Before he knew it, the boy ran out of the shop, obviously on his way to the next card shop for his self-imposed mission. It was a good idea to strengthen one's deck before a major test like that. Jesse wondered what kind of deck the boy had in his possession. Could it also be an insect deck?
Jesse decided on two booster packs, one spells and one insect monster pack. Hopefully there would be something good in them. He could always use some repeats of a few cards he already had to increase the likelihood of drawing them, though he tended to get the cards he needed when he needed them anyway. Once he started school again, he hoped to make a couple new friends that liked to duel as much as him. Finding people like that would make high school a little more fun.
As he left the shop, Jesse saw a small duel spirit fly passed him. He didn't think anything of it. Domino City was rich with spiritual activity. There was a reason duelists from all over the world tended to gravitate to this city, as if being drawn in by some otherworldly force. Someday, Jesse wouldn't mind living in this city as well. However, he also wanted to travel the world. He wasn't sure what he'd do during his travels, but he knew he wanted to do something. Perhaps he would find that something along the way.
After getting a snack from a convenience store nearby, he waited until him mom arrived and took him back to his great aunt's house. Turned out she borrowed the car instead of renting, which might have been the cause of her delay.
As soon as he got into the car, he could tell his mother wasn't happy. "What's up?" he asked.
"We are going home early," she said.
Jesse's eyes widened. "Why?"
"There's a couple reasons," she started. "One, I got a call from the young man that was taking care of your grandpa's horse while we were away, and he's moving already and won't be able to continue helping us out. Don't know why he couldn't tell us this before we left. I can't suddenly send her to a stable, it just wasn't in the budget."
Jesse nodded in understanding. He loved that horse and didn't want her to starve, so they had to go home to take care of her. Not to mention the dog and the cat too. Though the dog was at a kennel and the cat was an outdoor cat that could take care of himself. "What's the other reason?" he asked.
His mother pursed her lips together before answering. "Work called, they want me back tomorrow, but I had to tell them I was all the way in Japan, so they're only giving me a few days to get back."
Jesse glared out the window. He wished his mother would quit that job and find something else. The hours were long and she usually worked at night. She also got called in on her days off too often for his liking. "Alright," Jesse said instead. He also got the feeling there was another reason for going home early, something more personal, but she wasn't going to tell him.
And so his stay in Domino City was cut short. When the plane took off a couple days later, he looked at the horizon from his window seat and searched for Duel Academy Island. The plane was moving away from that direction, so he couldn't see it. Maybe he never would.
- - - - - - - - Line - - - - - - - -
Author's Note:
I suppose this was kind of like a prologue, so this chapter is a little on the short side and a little lacking in dialogue to start us out in following Jesse's story.
Note that he does not have the Crystal Beasts (Gem Beasts) yet. Until then, he has a deck similar to his manga deck.
For such an awesome (and popular) character, we know very little about Jesse, so here's my attempt to write some possibilities into a back-story that I will share on this lovely site. It could be completely off from whatever the canon intended.
I apologize in advance if 'Johan' ever slips in instead of 'Jesse'. I sometimes use the names interchangeably in conversation for reasons. For anyone that hates dub names, simply copy&paste the chapters into your favorite text editor, such as word or works, hit CTRL+F, and replace all "Jesse" with "Johan" in one easy step, and read from there. I debated long and hard about which name to use, because for me, it's not a big deal, but I know it is for others who only like Jesse or Johan. Aspects from the anime, sub & dub I guess, and the manga are going in this story.
Notes about grammar and typos should be sent through PM, so reviews don't become irrelevant. (This note is on all my newer stories.)
Sorry for the long author's note. This should be the only one like this unless something comes up.
