I had always though of Goldenrod city as pretty rotten place. Growing up wasn't too bad, I guess. Sure, there were a lot of bullies, but that meant there were also a lot of pretty nice kids around willing to make some friends. Unfortunately, the world of pokemon is nowhere near as friendly and happy as it's always depicted in those sickening excuses for games, and those horribly animated shows that, yes, even I'll admit, I spent a ton of my childhood watching. It seems so strange to me that, in a world where the Pokemon were real and the dangers so obvious to everyone that people still tried to make money off of selling cheap toys and games and making shows that tricked kids into wanting to start an incredibly dangerous adventure. But, hey, who am I to control the media, right? Either way, I ended up in a group of friends that I affectionately refer to as the "hopefuls." Essentially, we all wanted to be the best Pokemon masters around, and no bullies, teachers or parents were ever going to tell us otherwise. Lucky for me, I wised up and realized how impractical, despite the legality of it, it was to start of on your journey when you were 10 years old and still too stupid to realize when a guy is trying to kidnap you or just pretending to be your dad. I managed to convince another friend of mine as well to stay behind too, and he and I stayed friends all through high school. Granted, I did still want to train and battle Pokemon after high school, I just wanted to be stronger and smarter before I started my journey, unlike a lot of now kidnapped or, even more unfortunately, dead 10-year-olds. Oh yeah, I forgot. The name's Booker Tracey, and this is the tale of my Pokemon adventure.