"You need to go to bed now!" his mother yelled. "It's past eleven! You have a big day, don't you?"
The fourteen year old Felix Sanza looked up at his mother with apprehension, almost shaking with fright. It had been dark outside for hours and they boy didn't feel the least bit tired, as he'd stayed up to this time watching a Pokemon battle going on. He sat cross legged in his pajamas with a look of visible guilt directed towards his parent. He looked down at himself with shame.
"I'm…I'm sorry mom," Felix apologized. "I just…you see I was just so excited for the event tomorrow I couldn't sleep."
As Felix looked on at his mother, hoping she would be more forgiving, she just got angrier unto the point apathy crossed her face.
"You know…you are just the most selfish thing I've ever seen," she said. "I do so much for you. You begged me for months to pay the professor to give you a chance to pick out your own Pokemon and what do you do? You waste it. Waste staying up watching trash like some ten year old."
The boy was about to cry. He felt so guilty, like he'd been caught stealing. Her expression would probably be the same if he was stealing, she was so livid. It did in fact cost money to have Professor Oak give one of his rare Pokemon away to trainers for the sake of starting them on a journey. As nice as the man was, he had to get his funding somehow.
The truth was that a hundred dollars was actually half the price it usually cost to get a Pokemon from Oak. His mother said she would pay no more than one hundred dollars for a Pokemon for him to take on his journey. He told the professor this and the professor said that, because he felt that Felix was trustworthy, he'd work for Oak for a few months to haul shipments and other laborious work and he'd lower the price. The professor was so nice that way and the boy was forever grateful for it.
However, this last night he'd been so consumed with worry and energy from the fact he was going to go on a real Pokemon journey that he couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about what the gym leaders would have to counter him with, which got him thinking about which Pokemon he should start out with. The professor said he would give them Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur and Felix had spent all night analyzing which would be better based on what the gym leaders of the region would have. This got him to watching reruns of battles out of a sense of wanting to analyze his opponents. He'd turned the volume down low so his mother couldn't hear but she had the hearing of a Rattatta. She knew basically everything going on and walked up the stairs as quiet as a Rattatta, before opening the door.
"It's not trash mom!" Felix argued. "It was this really important because it was a Pokemon battle that would determine if Gym Leader Agatha of Lavender Town was strong enough to become one of the Elite Four-!"
"I don't care," she spited. "You know they give away Pokemon at eight o'clock don't you? After that, the old man's gone for the entire day because he has to attend a conference in Viridian City and you miss your chance. Of course you know. But this is selfish. You know what I could have spent that hundred dollars? I could have spent it on food for the both of us, I could have given it to a plumber to take care of that leak under the sink, or I could have bought that blouse because my best one has been eaten by that infestation of Caterpie we had! But no…I spent it on a Pokemon for you to travel across the country with just so you could leave me just like your good for nothing father did."
Oh, yes, that last one hurt. It hurt like hell. She'd pressed a button he never wanted someone to press. The dad button.
Now Felix was in fact crying, small puddles forming in the wood beneath him. He felt awful for what he'd done now and he had no one to blame but himself. He closed up his fists, the childish instinct to fight something taking over. He didn't want to be seen but his mother just stood over him. He hated how that, even in the face of crying like a baby, her stoic expression didn't budge.
"You were always the first to cry," she said. "Even when you were just a kid. I bet if I had this same conversation with any of your classmates they wouldn't cry. They would just get in bed as they were told. But no, not my son. He has to whiiiiine about it first."
Her expression hardened as she turned around.
"You know what?" she said. "I don't even care. You can be late all you want. If you are, you'll have to stay with me, unlike your good for nothing father. So be late if you want, I'd be happy with that. And I won't bother to wake you up so if you miss the damned thing it's on your head."
She left the room, shutting the door as she did. Felix sighed, wiping the tears from his eyes before turning the TV off and lying down in bed. He then slid under the covers as he looked out the window, watching the stars.
Felix thought about what she'd said about his dad. That had always been a major issue to him. When he'd asked where his father was when he was only three she told him he was some drunk who'd left her with the brat that he was. The two of them got married after Felix's mom was impregnated by him and their marriage was pretty well forced by both their families. But that wasn't the part that made his father a sore spot for Felix.
It was the supposed reason his father left. He claimed to have wanted to become a Pokemon trainer and got a Pokemon and travel the land in search of glory as champion but his mother informed he did it just as an excuse to leave her. His father got a Pokemon from Professor Oak, just like Felix would do tomorrow, and left Pallet Town to never be heard from again. It was pretty much an insult to his family. Becoming a Pokemon trainer wasn't just something you did because you wanted to. Pokemon training was seen as an honor by most everyone in Kanto. Gym leaders, Elite Four members and even particularly powerful trainers that served honored roles in the military to defend Kanto when in times of threat.
The fact his dad left with a rare Pokemon that could have suited a potentially gifted trainer always rubbed everyone the wrong. They didn't openly discuss it with Felix or his mother but whenever James Sanza was brought up everyone acted like they wanted to talk as little about him as possible. And this only made Felix feel worse when he was put down by his classmates.
He was effectively the worst in every way. When his mother told Felix that he was the first to cry at signs of trouble it was true. He wasn't smart like his classmates, he made mediocre grades at best and definitely wasn't strong like any of the bigger boys in his class. His teachers always singled him out because he acted like a buffoon in class for fun and made him go outside to prevent him from disrupting any more class. He didn't make friends well to say the least.
But if there was one of his classmates he hated in particular, it was Don. Everyone loved Don. He made excellent grades, was athletic without being a jock and was very polite to his teachers. Don was a bit smug around people and was arrogant but people, for the most part, didn't mind this about him. He was funny and cool, which meant he was sociable. It didn't hurt he was the grandson of the internationally renowned Professor Oak, the man who practically helped the town in any way he could, was the nicest person on the planet and put Pallet Town on the map. Every time he talked to Don, the kid would always act like Felix was bothering him. This wasn't uncommon at all because Felix bothered everybody but it was as though the stupidity he exuded clashed with Don's natural penchant for sophistication and wished to shoo him away at any and every turn. Felix was always getting into arguments with Don and was always beaten by the boy's superior wit and intelligence.
So when it came time that the Professor was giving out rare Pokemon for potential trainers, like he did every so often, he allowed Felix, Don, Sarah and Jamie to get their own Pokemon to start their journey and do Pallet proud. It was a no brainer Don would try out, in fact he was expected to get every gym badge and possibly beat the Elite Four. Maybe become champ of Kanto, just like the professor was at one point. However, people were both surprised and apathetic to Felix wanting to become a trainer. Jokes went around about how he'd turn out like his old man and never return with a single badge.
But that was the exact reason Felix wanted to go. He had always hated his mother tell him what a pathetic man his father was and that he'd turn out to be the same kind of pathetic bastard so Felix took to studying. He read up about type advantages, status conditions, and about the Pokemon gym leaders used by watching battles on TV. He'd done this for three years and had maintained it up until this summer. This summer was the season that jeering would change and he'd turn out better than they expected.
Felix was once asked if he expected to be Champion of Kanto, meaning he had gotten at least eight gym badges and defeated the Elite Four, to which he cried that he would in fact defeat every one of the Elite Four.
It doesn't matter which Pokemon I'll get tomorrow. He thought. I'll win for sure, no matter what.
Felix laid his head against the pillow, the excitement still present within him. It took him a while for his eyes to grow dim but they eventually did.
{}
His eyes gradually rose awake as he instinctively rose his body up with his arms. In his dreary state he looked around to eventually turn to his alarm clock.
It read 9:00 A.M.
Felix's eyelids rose up like window shutters as he gazed at the blocky red number. He jumped out of bed, ripping his pajamas off before he scrambled through his drawers to put on new underwear, shirts and pants.
I'm late! He screamed to himself. I'm late! I'm late! I'M LATE!
Felix grabbed up his backpack and hurried downstairs in a rush before hitting the kitchen to see breakfast had been laid out with toast and eggs. His mother did this every day as her job started at four thirty. Felix grabbed a piece of buttered toast and stuffed it in his mouth as he opened the door and shut it behind him, dashing across the dew wetted grass as his sneakers were made slippery by the condensation. The toast he'd grabbed up was hanging out the side of his mouth with the butter dripping to his lower lip from it.
No! He thought. No! No! NO! I was so excited I stayed up all night and…and I didn't get enough sleep! I slept in! I—I'm the worst! Surely all the Pokemon have been taken up by Don, Jamie, Sara…they've got Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur!
Felix looked up to see that Professor Oak's lab wasn't far away at all. He shut his eyes tighter, gritting his teeth in determination.
No. He thought to himself. Maybe not all of them have shown up in time. If they haven't then there's still a chance I could get a Pokemon. Oh please, please, dear Arceus…all I ask is I have just one Pokemon. It can be the weakest of the bunch and I'll be happy.
He bit his lower lip as he finished the rest of his toast in his mouth.
Wait. Felix thought to himself. It usually takes the Professor a little while to get up and about. I know he's stayed for a half an hour in his lab getting ready just before going to the store. He may still be there before going to the conference in Viridian City. It's a long shot but I just might make it.
Felix made it to the door of the lab after what felt like an eternity of running. He grabbed the door handle with as much force as possible, trying to open it with all his strength. It was locked.
Damn! He screamed inwardly. Cautious old bastard locks his lab whenever he can! I need to get in now!
Felix knocked but heard nothing before he kicked the doormat in anger.
Damn! Felix seethed. Now I can't get in-!
And then the boy remembered where Oak always kept the key. He ran around the side of the lab to the back, stopping his brisk pace in front of the two Oran Berry saplings growing at the side of the building. Felix remembered from his time working with the professor that Oak had always kept his house keys in a shoebox buried between these two fruit trees. Oak hardly ever let anyone know of this and Felix was one of the few in town that knew the professor kept his keys there. Felix looked to where the earth had been freshly disturbed, digging into it with his bare hands before taking the shoebox from the hole he made. He opened the shoebox and took the keys out before dumping the box back into the hole and burying it quickly.
If the professor knew I had touched his keys. Felix thought. He'd kill me.
Felix then washed his hands in the dew of the grass, getting all the dirt from his digging off. He then rushed to the door of the lab and inserted the key. He fiddled with it in a hurry before opening the door in a burst of speed and rushed in. Felix closed the door behind him as he called out.
"Professor!" Felix cried. "Professor!"
No answer. He rushed into the lab room where Oak usually worked, crying tears as he did, seeing no one.
No! Felix yelled at himself. No! Please, don't let them all be gone!
He looked to the table where the three Pokeballs laid. Felix rushed over to look down at their transparent red tops to see that—
Please just let one be left.
—each Pokeball contained a Pokemon. He saw a miniature Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle in their tiny Pokeballs.
The emotion followed couldn't really be called relief. Somewhere in the back of Felix's mind he felt relieved but he was mostly confused.
Huh?! Felix thought. So…nobody came after all?
The boy looked over to see four PokeDexes on a table near the one where the three Pokeballs were stationed. Neither a Pokemon nor a Dex was gone. Four bags of five Pokeballs sat near them.
No. He thought. That can't be it. Those three want a Pokemon just as much as anyone but…
Felix drifted off in thought as he made his way to professor's sleeping quarters. He opened the door to the man's bedroom to see a shirtless Oak curled up in bed. Felix looked to the alarm clock that read 6:00 on it.
Six o'clock?! Felix screamed to himself. But that can't be right, I mean-
And then he remembered that today was the first day of Kanto Daylight Savings Time. Clocks were set three hours earlier to conserve daylight. Johto Daylight Savings Time had clocks set back by an hour, Hoenn clocks by four, ect. He had barely registered about everyone talking about the time change that week because he'd been so concerned with his journey starting that week. The clocks in his house didn't reset because they weren't as technologically up to date as everyone else's. They were old ones that manually had to be changed that his mother had for ten years.
Felix walked away from the professor's bedroom door, a blush forming across his face. He was so embarrassed, what would his mother say? Breaking and entering into the old man's lab, what if someone saw him? They'd think he were trying to steal something. Just like that bastard Felix, they would think, to steal something out from under Oak's nose. He felt ashamed of himself for being so stupid.
"I do everything wrong," he whispered to himself.
He walked back down the hallway, his head hung low.
"Good thing the professor sleeps like a log," he told himself. "Or else I'd be in big trouble."
He hated himself, wishing to punch himself in the gut for his lack of observation. It had been to dim for it to be as late as nine. Felix should have known better but he was is such a rush he didn't care about anything else.
Go back home. He thought. And let everyone get their pick of a Pokemon at once. I mean, it's only fair that Sara, Don and—
And that's when Felix stopped walking, snapping to attention as he looked upward. He then backtracked in his steps, going back to the room that held the Pokemon. He smiled at the Pokeballs.
And let Don have even one of these Pokemon? He thought. No, no I don't think I will.
Felix ran over, looking at each Pokemon like they were candy.
I need to become Champion. He thought to himself. To prove to everyone that I'm not like my dad. That I'll turn out to be something. But first, I'll need some good Pokemon. And why would I waste good ones right in front of me? I'd had have to be stupid to let this opportunity just pass me by, wouldn't I?
Felix took each Pokeball separately, knowing that the adhesive button of the Pokeballs would hook easily to the fabric of his pants. He took the Bulbasaur first, admiring its bright green bulb through the transparent top of the Pokeball, before putting the adhesive middle to the side of his pants. He then did the same with the Charmander and finally the Squirtle.
Felix then walked over to the group of PokeDexes to pick up one. He opened it and pressed the button to reveal it belonged to Sara. He turned it off, closed it, and put it back down before opening up and turning on another to reveal it showed the Trainer Identification of a one Felix Sanza. He smiled.
Yes. Felix thought. With these three Pokemon I'll trounce every gym leader I come across. Starting off with the type combination of Grass, Fire and Water covers so many types I don't even know where to count. And with this Trainer ID in this Pokedex, certified by none other than Professor Oak himself, no one will know I stole them all. And by the time everyone does realize I stole them I'll be long gone. I just have to be gone as soon as possible. How's that for the bastard of a no good bastard?
He stuffed every bag of Pokeballs into his mostly empty backpack before Felix slipped the PokeDex into his pocket, strutting forward with a confident smile on his face when he bumped into a machine near the table where the PokeDexes were. It made a noise in response to which Felix jumped in fright.
Oh no! He thought. The professor will hear me and it will be all ruined!
Felix shook in fright to see a glass casing rising from the table.
Maybe it's some kind of alarm system! He thought in fear.
He cautiously approached the glass casing as it opened, to see two more Pokeballs. He looked through the transparent red tops to see an Eevee and a Pikachu sat in them. He sighed in relief.
Oh yeah. Felix thought. I remember now. These are special Pokemon to Oak as he's been using them to run tests for a month or so now. They're both fairly rare and evolve into strong Pokemon when given certain evolutionary stones-
Felix smiled.
"Gotta catch 'em all."
Felix now patted the Pokeballs containing the Eevee and the Pikachu now adhered to his waist as he smiled.
Starting out with these five Pokemon that have so much potential and of such varying types. He mused. There's no way I can lose against anyone.
Felix quietly tiptoed out the lab, closing the door ever so quietly. He ran around to dig the key out of the loose earth, locking the door just as the professor had left it. He then buried the key in the shoebox and washed his hands in the dew. Felix wore the biggest smile on his face he'd ever had.
I wish I could stick around just to see the look on Don's face when he has no Pokemon to choose from. He thought. And now, with these powerful Pokemon, I'll crush anyone who gets in my way and prove I'm nothing like my father.
He walked up to the sign that read Route 1 before looking back at Pallet Town. He walked on ahead, the dew licking at his heels as chirping sound caught his attention. He saw a Pidgey land in the grass, a Rattatta munching grass beside it. Felix picked a Pokemon from his waist at random and took a Pokeball from his backpack as he smiled.
I feel like this is the start of a beautiful journey. Felix thought.