Theo Guneden was the son of Oliver Guneder, a former member of Unova's elite four, who had retired after a fatal incident with his Pokemon. He was almost a younger clone of his father, with messy dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. His nose was a big pointier than most, but not to the point where it caused ridicule. Even though he spent so much time indoors, he wasn't pale at all, the secret to his silky skin lost to the abyss. He was fairly skinny, despite his obsession with eating four meals a day, rather than three.

Did he look like his mother? He never knew, she died of illness when he was around two years old. And, aside from his uncle in Nimbasa City, his father was the only family he had in Unova.

Loafing around classes while drawing Pokemon, reading Pokemon books, taking naps during the afternoon, and cooking the meals everyday…those four things were enough to summarize Theo's life. It wasn't perfect, but he enjoyed it very much.

Unfortunately, emphasis should be placed on the word "enjoyed".

"Dad! Dad, let me in!" Theo's fist gave fierce thus against his house's iron door. Today had been a day like any other, but upon arriving home he was faced with his father's unwillingness to let him in. It had been fifteen minutes, but his father was still in the living room, reading the paper. Had his father gone deaf? That was the only explanation.

Except his pleads and expressions through the window didn't seem to reach him either.

"Dad! Why are you doing this!? I did my chores! I went to school! I cooked dinner! Why? Why won't you let me in!?" His throat was starting to go sore from the constant begging. He wished he had neighbors to see him put on a show, but the reality was that their house was quote isolated from the rest of Aspertia City.

Unexpectedly, the door opened.

"And that, son, is where you're lying!" Theo's face went pale, he hadn't lied, he didn't KNOW how to lie.

"I received your accounting grades today…A D+? What the hell is this, son!?" His father's figure towered above him, and he struggled to reply.

"But that's my only D…I have Bs, As, in Pokemon Rese-"

"We've BEEN THROUGH THIS ALREADY!" His father threw the bag he was holding to the ground, and its collision with the ground made an imposing sound. Theo recognized it as his traveling bag.

"You're NOT being a Pokemon Trainer! You're not GOING NEAR POKEMON!" Why?

"Dad? Why? I like Pokemon, why can't I? Why can't I have fun with Pokemon?"

"Fun? You think it's FUN? Look at me! Do I look like Pokemon brung me fun!?" His father's face had reddened at his statement, and Theo felt like he was just making it worse.

"You'll abandon me…because I like Pokemon…?"

"No, son." Oliver bent over to pick the bag, and threw it at his son. Theo didn't react on time, so he received a direct impact to the chest, falling down. He let out a little gasp as he hit the floor.

"Those are your things. You can only come back to this house if one of these two things happen!" Theo's pain faded, it was nothing compared to the lump that had just formed in his throat.

"You become the Pokemon League Champion, and prove I'm wrong! Or…" Was he hearing correctly? All he needed to make his dad happy was follow his dream? The lump left.

"All of your Pokemon die. If that happens, you come back and become a damn accountant, you hear me!"

The lump came back.

"All my Pokemon…die?"

"Yes. I've arranged for a friend of mine to give you a Pokemon at the city's sightseeing spot at seven. You'll go on your damn journey. And you'll fail! Like you failed me as a son! Now scram!" His dad didn't wait for his response, nor saw the looks of pure sorrow that enveloped Theo as he slammed the door in his face.

Theo didn't move for a while, he just hugged his traveling bag. Even though it probably didn't have all of his cooking books, or Pokemon fact books, or his secret snack box; he didn't care. His father had thrown him out, and that bag was all he had left. He feared that, if he let it go, there was a chance it'd disappear.

Disappear like so many other things. His mother, his father's smile when he showed him a drawing he'd made of a Quilfish, or the Eevee figure he had won at a raffle. Like his own smile went away every time he had to study accounting with his father or spend the night without eating, even if he had cooked it himself.

If his bag disappeared, he pondered that maybe he'd disappear too.

It was three o' clock when his father had thrown him out. And, according to his watch, two hours had passed. The mountains had hidden the setting sun, and the breeze was starting to make him shiver. He rummaged through his bag for his favorite jacket, the one with a Wooper on the back, but it wasn't there. His father had stuffed the plain, boring green jacket he didn't like to wear.

Why did he have to be like this?

"Dad…"

"…Now who'll cook dinner for you…"

Five thirty, Six, Six thirty: Like the leaves being blown around by the evening air currents, time passed in front of him. It went by extremely quickly, as if he had fallen asleep without noticing.

"Maybe I'm dreaming…" But he knew it wasn't that way. He had felt the blow from the bag on his chest, although it didn't compare to the pain in his heart.

"Better get going…" Grabbing the back as he hopped to his feet, Theo walked to the agreed-on location. If you could use the word "agreed".

"YO! Theo!" Turning around slowly, he saw a familiar face walking towards him. Purple, fluffy hair, and a long red shirt: It was definitely Hugh. One of…No, his best friend at college, if they got started on talking about Pokemon, they literally wouldn't stop until people split them apart.

"Hi, Hugh…how are you…" It was an automated response, although he always wanted to know how Hugh was doing.

"Woah man…how are YOU? Look at you! Red eyes, weird jacket? What's going on?" Theo swallowed. He wasn't sure if talking about the recent events would help him stop the flood gates.

"I…" But regardless, he slowly told Hugh about the afternoon's events. He also made sure to explain why he had a weird jacket on.

"Dude, forget about the fucking jacket! That shit's so wrong!" Hugh looked angry, but it certainly didn't match his father's anger.

"I know…He'll go hungry…without me to cook…" Hugh's face contorted into disgust, the reason escaping Theo.

"You're still worrying for that asshole? 'Be a champ or have all your friends die'? What the fuck is that?" Theo swung his head from left to right.

"People shouldn't starve…No matter what." Hugh sighed.

"Look, whatever. It's almost seven, right? Are you going?" Theo nodded. Despite everything, he had always wanted to journey and meet Pokemon all around the world.

"Alright then, I'll stick with you for a while! I wanted to show ya what hatched from that egg I found…" Hugh's face brightened, and so did Theo's. The school had brought a series of eggs from a daycare for the biology division to observe how a Pokemon hatched first hand. One had gone astray, it seems, as Hugh found it while taking a walk around campus.

"It sure took it…long." Twelve days, in fact. How could the biology division spend twelve days staring at an egg?

Talking a bit more about college as they walked, Theo's eyes began to get watery again. Hugh would also disappear when he left the town. He wouldn't have anyone to talk about, at least not in the same language. But, not wanting to trouble Hugh, he wiped off his face with his jacket's sleeve.

Arriving at the look-out, Theo gazed at the sky . It wasn't as full of stars as when he was a kid, but he could still make out the Unown constellation he and Hugh always pointed out.

"You! Blondie! You're Theo right?" From sky to the ground, as they'd say. Theo's eyes were fixed on a giant green hat. It was wearing a blonde woman with red glasses…Theo corrected himself. The woman was wearing the hat.

"Yes…Cool hat…Nice to meet you." Theo stretched out his hand. The woman giggled, and shook it too.

"And I'm Hugh!" So he shouted, and shook her hand too.

"Hehe, nice to meet you! I'm Bianca, Prof. Juniper's Aide! And like, your dad told me you really wanted a Pokemon! Your birthday in a week, right? The plan was to come over then, but I'll be busy so we kinda scheduled it for now sooo…." She began rummaging around her purse for a little case, but Theo was thinking about something else.

His dad planned to throw him out on his birthday. And realizing that hurt, it somehow made this whole situation hurt more. He wasn't perfect, he was a bit narrow minded, but he always did all he could…

Hugh noticed too, judging by the looks they exchanged. Bianca didn't have any fault in the issue, so maybe that's why they didn't bring it up with her.

"Ta-Dah!" She opened the little case. In it were three Pokebalss, with a photograph of Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott above them.

"Can I…?"

"Of course! It's okay! Just pick your favorite!" She smiled angelically. He wondered if she noticed how he felt.

"…I like Oshawott, it's cute…" Theo reached over without a second thought and grabbed it's Pokeball. Bianca closed the case, looking satisfied. Hugh smiled mischievously.

"Happy Early Birthday! The start of an adventure is always super happy, right!?"

Hugh and Theo exchanged a small glance, and laughed nervously at her comment.

"Come on guys! Where's the sazz!? The ENERGY!?" She stomped the ground.

"Do you have a Pokemon, Hugh?" Bianca glared at him.

"Ah, yes, I have one to be h-"

"GOOD! Now BATTLE!"

"…Battle…Hugh?" Theo's eyes met with hers. She was serious.

"Duh! An adventure has a thousand battles, and the first one should be fun and risk-free! Come on!"

"Alright, Alright! Leave the poor guy alone!" Hugh butted in.

"Yikes, stingy!" Bianca brought her hands to her hat. She was definitely something.

"You ready Theo?" Hugh was received with an affirmative nod. Battling was nothing new to them. It was one of their favorite subjects, after all.

"Alright then! Go, Snivy!" Hugh reached for the Pokeball in his pocket, and launched it towards the air. The red beam emanating from it propelled towards the ground, revealing a small figure identical to the photo Theo had seen on the box a while ago.

"Cool…" Was all Theo said as he threw Oshawott's ball in the air. The otter came out and looked around towards Theo.

"Hi, Oshawott…I'm Theo…can you fight?" Oshawott's eyes fired up and he pumped his fist.

"Let's do our best…" Oshawott nodded, and turned around Snivy.

"Good thing you didn't pick Snivy, eh? It'd be boring that way! But enough pep talk, you're going down! Snivy!" Without issuing an attack order, Snivy lunged forward to pound Oshawott's face with his tail. How close were Hugh and Snivy? It hadn't been born that long ago…

"Catch the tail…Oshawott!" Oshawott raised his hands, obeying Theo's orders with commendable accuracy. Catching Snivy's tail between his hands, the force of the blow dug Oshawott's feet into the ground a fair bit.

"Shit, Snivy!" Hugh began sweating, but had trouble doing more than that. Snivy lay helpless, and he wasn't that good under pressure.

"Slam it to the ground…Oshawott!" Oshawott let out a battle cry, and swung Snivy like a flail, making it collide with the floor. Snivy yelped in pain, unable to break free from Oshawott's grasp.

"Snivy! Use Leer!" Hugh's voice was the beacon of hope that drove Snivy forward. With intense resolution, it glared at Oshawott with all the killing intent a baby could muster. Oshawott faltered, and accidentally let the tail escape from his hands.

"Pound, now!" Before Oshawott could react, Snivy's tail had given a rude slapping to Theo's companion, sending it to the air.

"Now Pound him again!" Theo had begun sweating too. His father was sure he was a failure, and he couldn't prove him right, not in the first battle! Snivy jumped to the air to push Oshawott downwards with the blunt of the impact, and that's where Theo saw his chance.

"Oshawott…Cling to it! It'll hurt…but cling to it!" Oshawott mustered his strength, and clung to it as requested. He fell to the ground, piledrived between the ground and Snivy. However, he had Snivy's tail in his grasp.

"Don't let go…swing his tail…get him under you!" Oshawott swung the tail over his shoulder with all of its strength, getting Snivy in the same situation as when the battle started.

"That won't work twice, Theo! Snivy!" Snivy prepared his glare again, but Theo was prepared this time.

"Close your eyes…Oshawott…and SWING!" Oshawott followed the instructions, and Snivy felt the sting of being bluntly ignored. What really stung, however, was its body being slammed into the ground.

"AAAAAAAND STOP!" Bianca shouted.

"The winner is Oshawott! This match has no need to continue!" Hugh broke into a run towards Snivy, and Theo instructed Oshawott to let go and began running towards him himself.

"Damn Theo, you can't solve a math problem but you always come up with all sorts of shit in battle! I'm glad you're not my enemy…" Hugh picked up Snivy, smiling weakly at it.

"You did good buddy, we'll just get stronger every battle, right?" Snivy's smile in response was obscured by the red light enveloping it as it went back to Hugh's Pokeball.

"I'm only good…because I spar with the best…" Hugh blushed a bit, as he told Theo to drop the act and save him the embarrassment.

"Such friendship! EEEE It's just like the old days!" Bianca seemed to be partying, all by herself.

"You did good…Oshawott!" Theo picked his new buddy up, and smiled brightly at it. Oshawott was bruised, but a trip to the Pokemon center would get him looking as new.

"You must be hungry, I'll cook you di…nner…" Theo's face paled. How could he even cook now? He knew edible berries, which pokemon were safe to eat and the nearby water sources and flora…but it was late, and risky to go scavenging.

"Uhm, I can't now…but I'll cook it soon, I promise…" Theo placed the confused Oshawott back into it's Pokeball and pondered for his plans for the night.

"No worries man! Sleep at my place tonight!" Hugh must have read his mind, just like best friends always do. Theo looked at his toothy grin, and broke into small sobs. Hugh didn't understand, and Bianca surely didn't understand either.

"Thank…you…" Theo lunged his arms over Hugh, and hugged him tightly. His friend, who wouldn't judge him for what he wanted to study, or for the faults he had, was one of the most valuable things he had in this world.

"Woah man, chill! Come on, mom's boss gave her this Kingler for a thing she made at work and she's making some fine dining shit…" Theo let him go, and nodded.

"Hey! I exist guys! Come on!" Bianca was pouting at the boy's rudeness. The two managed to laugh sincerely this time, and Hugh assured her that she was free to eat with them, too.