It was a cool February morning when my father decided we needed to have a heart to heart. Now don't get me wrong. I love and respect my father beyond words, but sometimes… he can be a pain in my ass. This conversation was shaping up to be no different.
My father had high expectations of me. But who could blame him? He was one of the strongest trainers in the world. Palmer was his name and he was the Tower Tycoon Palmer Suzuki. He was intimidating as he was amazing. I strived to make him proud and longed to be a trainer like him.
"Son, you're eighteen now. It's time to end these childish camping trips of yours and begin your career as a gym leader so eventually, you will be ready to succeed me as the Tower Tycoon."
I swear we have this conversation at least once a week. I don't get why he can't understand that I'm not ready yet. Wait a minute… did he just dis my travels?! I'm gonna fine him so bad!
"My journeys aren't childish dad! Even Cynthia-dono traveled well into her twenties before she finally became champion."
Ha! You can't dis my journeys now, I'm still eight years younger then when Cynthia-dono stopped traveling, and she's the strongest trainer in Sinnoh!
"Yes but she was actually accomplishing things during her travels. Tell me son, what have you accomplished?"
Damn! He's right, I haven't won a single league. Hell the closest I came was last year when I came in third in the Kalos league.
"Well…" I tried to think of a good response only to realize I hadn't done anything noteworthy during my eight years as a trainer. But seeing the smirk on my dad's face made me mad. It's like he was trying to make me feel like a failure.
"Exactly. If you were winning leagues or working as a Geo Catcher while traveling, I could respect that. But as it stands, you're simply running around the regions spending my money and embarrassing yourself by being beaten by armatures."
Ouch! I can't believe he's embarrassed by me. That… that actually makes me not want to run a gym even more. Well you know what... if I'm so damn embarrassing then why would he think I'd be a good gym leader? I need more training. I need more time!
"I'm not ready to stop traveling yet."
Dad didn't seem too happy about that because his smirk quickly turned to a scowl.
"You need to start acting like a man Jun. You're not a child anymore."
No shit dad. Didn't he understand it would be a childish endeavor for me to start a gym at the level I was at?! If he thought I embarrassed him during my travels, what the hell did he think would happen if I ran a gym? I'd be setting myself up for failure! Time to turn on the charm I guess.
"I understand. How about this… you let me go on one last journey and no matter what happens, at the end I'll come home and open a gym."
I watched him as he thought for a minute. He smirked and chuckled to himself before he finally gave me his answer.
"I will allow you to travel for an additional two years under the condition that you obtain some sort of temporary employment and participate in all leagues and tournaments possible."
What the hell?! We're ritch for Aucres sake!
"Why do I need a job?!"
He looked at me like I was crazy before he started to scold me again.
"I'll allow you to continue your travels but I won't finance them. I will send you a quarter of your usual monthly allowance, anything else you need you will need to pay for yourself."
A quarter?! That's only 500 pokéyen a month! That's hardly enough to pay for food! I swear this man is trying to kill me! But I'm not gonna let him win. If he thinks cutting my money is gonna stop me he's got another thing coming!
"Ok. You mentioned Geo Catching, what… exactly is that?"
He seemed surprised that I agreed to his terms. Ha! Take that dad! I'm gonna keep training no matter what.
"Geo Catching is a very respectable job that many nomadic trainers take. They will capture requested Pokemon and return them to the professors who request them. After the researchers are finished with the pokemon, the Geo Catchers will usually return the pokemon to the wild."
Wait so I'd get paid to travel?! That sounds amazing!
"Why do the professors request pokemon? And what kind do they usually ask for?"
"The type of pokemon varies from something common to rare. It simply depends on what the professors are researching at that time. For example, professor Rowan's may request someone bring him Eevee or Oddish to study since they have multiple final evolutions unlike other pokemon."
I wonder if I'd get to see anything rare if I did Geo Catching.
"Oh. I guess that makes sense. So say I wanted to be a Geo Catcher, I would get in contact with a professor and they'd send me to a random region to catch pokemon?"
"Basically. Is that something you'd be interested in?"
Hell yes!
" It sounds really cool! And it'll keep me traveling so that's even better!"
"In that case, you should contact Professor Rowan. I'm certain he has some work he needs taken care of."
Man he sounded annoyed, oh well. He shouldn't have given me an ultimatum. I mean, I guess he didn't expect me to be ok with working but oh well.
"Ok. I'm gonna go to his lab and talk to him now."
"Why don't you just call him?"
Man he sounded so pissed. I felt guilty for thinking how funny it was. But not enough to change my mind. He wants me to be a man? Fine, I'll be the best damn man he's ever seen!
"You said I need to be a man right? Well, what kind of man calls to ask for a job instead of asking face to face?"
He looked at a loss for words which surprised me. But then he smirked again, making my blood boil.
"I'm glad you feel that way. That was a test… you passed."
What. The. Fuck?! Test my ass, I knew it, he was trying to piss me off! Sick twisted old man!
"Haha very funny dad. Anyway I'll be back later."
I ran out the door quickly before I said something I shouldn't. I love my father but he was pissing me off so much j wanted to punch him.
"You better get that job or I'm going to fine you!"
Not helping.
"No worries dad, I got this!"
I ran off towards Professor Rowan's lab praying to every Aucres he had work for me. I didn't hear the last few words my dad said. I didn't really care either. I was focused on one thing and one thing only... becoming a better trainer. My goal was to be more like Shinji-san. A strong unbeatable trainer. As far as i knew he was still traveling too.
If I could be as strong as him my father would have to respect me. Shinji-san beat him twice! Sure he was a bit... cruel sometimes, but he was an amazing trainer. He was so strong, he was probably going to be the next champion! I'll show my dad. Ill become strong like Shinji-san. I'll make my father proud and I'll be the stringest frontier brain. Even stronger than Brandon. I'll show them a! And it starts with getting a job from Professor Rowan.