The First Spark
Most children who desire to be Pokémon trainers begin their journeys on their tenth birthday. Not me, though. No. Because I had planned it out carefully. See when I was six I was witness to what must have been the most explosive battle between two Pokémon that Kanto has ever seen. It had been between two fire Pokémon and ever since then my heart had burned with one desire, to be the master of fire Pokémon.
This was made difficult by the fact that the area in Kanto where I'm from does not have any fire types. You see, where I live in doesn't even show up on the town map; Obsidian Port. To get there you have to take a boat from Cerulean Cape north east until the lighthouse is completely out of sight. The Pokémon of this area are all rock and ground types.
When a child turns ten they have two choices of how to begin. They can either have another trainer weaken a wild Pokémon for them and then use a Pokéball to catch it, thus gaining their starter Pokémon. Or they can travel to where their region's Pokémon professor lives and get one of the three designated starter Pokémon. Most ten year olds are too impatient and so choose the easier, quicker route. This is why every trainer you come across doesn't have one of the three. I had to have a fire type though. I just had to. And I had my heart set on one in particular. You see one of the two Pokémon I had seen battling when I was six was a Charizard. It was magnificent! And I would have one of my own. Which meant traveling all the way from Obsidian Port to Pallet town.
Pallet town was as far from Obsidian Port as you could get and still say you're in Kanto. But I couldn't travel alone. Not without a Pokémon of my own. So I had to wait until I was old enough to travel by myself without a Pokémon. So here I am, 14, and standing at Professor Oak's door…
*Knock knock*
"Hello? Can I help you?" said an older boy in a green shirt and orange head band.
"Hi. My name is Edwin Baker. I was wondering if Professor Oak could give me a starter Pokémon." I answered politely.
"Nice to meet you Edwin! My name is Tracey and I'm an assistant to Professor Oak. Please come in."
I entered the home of the great Professor Oak and eagerly looked around. Everyone knew Professor Oak, and no I don't mean everyone in Kanto. I mean EVERYONE! He's world famous after all for his research and creation of the Pokédex.
I followed Tracey down a hall and to a small sitting room. Two walls were almost completely devoted to bookshelves while the other two had a wonderful view out onto the property behind the lab. Outside there were hundreds of Pokémon; and from the flames I could see more than a few of them were powerful fire types.
"Edwin please wait here while I go get Professor Oak. Would you like anything to eat or drink while you wait?"
"Thank you, Tracey, but no. I'm too excited to eat anything right now!
"Haha that's the spirit! I'll be right back then."
While I waited I gazed out the window and looked at all of the amazing Pokémon that Professor Oak was looking after for various trainers. Specifically I was looking for fire types. And boy were there some powerful looking ones! I saw a Quilava practicing his Eruption attack, an Infernape that looked to be taking a snooze under a tree, a Torkoal chasing what looked to be a Corphish, and more besides. I had to get closer! Listening carefully for approaching footsteps and hearing none, I unlocked a window, opened it and climbed through. Not wanting to frighten the Pokémon I inched closer to the nearest fire type I could see; the Quilava. I wasn't more than 20 yards away when its ears perked up and it turned to face me. It growled a warning at me as the flames on its head and back burned higher and hotter.
"It's OK Quilava," I said softly. "I just want to look. I think Fire-type Pokémon are amazing! Can I just watch you practice your attacks?"
Quilava seemed to think about my request for a minute. Then, deciding I wasn't a threat, went back to practicing it's fire attacks. It spun into a tight ball as flames encircled it. Soon it was whizzing around in a circle at high speeds.
"Awesome! That's a Flame Wheel attack! I've only read about them before! Hey Quilava?" Quilava halted its rapid spinning and turned to look at me. "I was wondering, can you do other attacks while doing a Flame Wheel? For example, could you use a Flamethrower aimed at the ground to launch yourself into the air at a flying Pokémon while spinning?"
Quilava seemed to think about this for a few moments then looked around. "QUIL!" it barked out. Immediately an oddly colored Noctowl came flying over. The two exchanged a few words in their languages and then the Noctowl flew a short distance away. Quilava crouched down into a fighting stance and then leapt forward. The flames on its body spun and sparked as Quilava got up a head of steam. Around and around it spun, building up speed until it was going so fast that it was almost a blur. In the blink of an eye it straightened out and headed in a straight line that would pass under Noctowl. As it approached another great burst of flames erupted underneath Quilava and it shot high into the air straight towards Noctowl.
"LOOK OUT NOCTOWL!" I yelled, but I needn't have worried. Noctowl let out a soft hoot and the feathers on its head glowed a bright blue. Quilava was immediately covered in a shroud of the same blue aura and stopped in mid air. "That's a Psychic attack! You used that to stop his attack from actually hitting you!" Noctowl hooted in affirmation and slowly lower a joyful Quilava to the ground. Quilava then ran over to Edwin and tackled him to the ground! It wasn't an actual Tackle attack of course but rather more of a tackle hug of celebration. "That was amazing Quilava! You're so strong!"
"I'll say he is. And you have remarkable instincts for someone who hasn't even gotten his first Pokémon yet," said a voice from behind Edwin.
Edwin spun around and realized he'd been caught! "Professor Oak! I'm sorry for sneaking out here. I just love fire Pokémon you see and I just had to…" I realized that I didn't have a very good reason for having climbed out his window. It was incredibly rude and I could have injured some of the Pokémon that he had been entrusted to protect. I might even have thrown away my best chance of ever getting a Charmander! I immediately felt my cheeks grow hot with shame. "Professor please forgive me! I was just curious. I'm so sorry!"
"Edwin was your name wasn't it? Calm down I'm not upset with you. You've taught this Quilava a new tactic and shown to have tremendous battling instincts. What you did was perfectly natural and understandable. But let's leave the Pokémon to themselves and go have a nice talk inside shall we. I need to know a little bit about you before I entrust one of my Pokémon to you."
Edwin followed him inside and back into the room where he was supposed to have been waiting.
"Thank you very much for agreeing to see me Professor. I've waited a long time and come a long way to get my first Pokémon."
"And just where are you from. I didn't think there were any children in Pallet Town that were eligible to get their first Pokémon, or any from any of the surrounding cities. I usually get calls ahead of time so that I can prepare. And you're much older than the usual beginning trainer."
My mouth dropped open as I realized the mistake I had made. "I should have called you first! I should have known that. Of course you don't just have Pokémon lying around in case some random kid drops by. But you said you needed to know more about me before you gave me one… do you have a Pokémon I could have?"
"Haha! My dear boy you certainly are a polite one aren't you! It's true that I usually have some time to prepare. And there is the small problem that I do not currently have all of the usual starter Pokémon here at the moment. To be precise the only one that I have is a Squirtle" he explained. At the thought of not getting a Charmander after all of my waiting and hoping my heart crashed into my stomach. "Where are you from Edwin? Why do you want to be a Pokémon trainer so badly and why do you love Fire types?"
"I'm from Obsidian Port professor. I travelled here because I want my first Pokémon to be a Charmander. You see when I was six years old I witnessed a battle between a Charizard and a Magmar when my family was on vacation on Cinnabar Island. Ever since then I've been studying fire Pokémon and learning all I can about them. I want to become a fire Pokémon master. I traveled here to get a Charmander so that I can start my journey with my favorite Pokémon," I explained.
"All the way from Obsidian Port you say? That's quite a journey already. You could easily have had an older trainer help you catch a Pokémon native to your area and start your journey from there. But I can see that you have a passion for fire Pokémon, as evidenced by your practice with Quilava before. I may not have a… traditional starter for you, but I might have an idea. Please excuse me for a moment."
Professor Oak then walked over to a space between the bookcases where a computer sat and made the necessary button presses to make a phone call. "Hello, Delia. I'm very well today thank you. And you? Good! Listen the reason I'm calling is that I was wondering if Ash could swing by my lab really quick? You say he's already on his way here to train? Excellent! Thank you Delia!"
"Well you're in luck Edwin. I think we may have just the Pokémon for you!"
Pokemon
Edwin's-
None