Chapter One
"Andreeeeeew!" my mom shouted the next morning. "You're going to be late!"
"Coming, mom!" I shouted back.
I scrubbed the gunk out of my eyes, then slowly rose out of my bed. I took a quick glance at my alarm clock. 8:30, it said. I was going to be late then. And then it hit me like a train. I was going to be late on the day I get my first Pokémon! I threw open my closet doors with a slam. I quickly took out a shirt and a pair of jeans and just changed right there. There was no time for formalities at this point. I dashed over to my bathroom. I quickly and anxiously brushed my teeth. I reached for a bottle of hair gel and ran it through my hair. Same black spikes as normal. After drying my hair, I put on some socks and shoes and logged on my computer. I checked my box.
"...empty! Mom, where's my Potion!"
"I got it, Andrew!" she replied.
I belted down the hallway and the stairs, the creaky wood echoing my footsteps. My mom halted me with a glare.
"Andrew Lawrence Taylor, don't you know how many people have fallen from stairs?" she yelled.
"S-sorry, Mom..." I mumbled.
"Anyway, I went shopping for you last night and got you this."
She handed me a flat, red backpack.
"I know it's hideously plain," she said. "But trust me, you'll be thanking me for this later. Oh, and this is for Professor Maple."
She handed me a box of chocolates. The box was plain, but read "Linnen's Gourmet". My mom then walked me into the dining room. There was a giant amount of food on the table in the middle of the room. Pancakes with syrup, toast with Oran Berry jam, scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, waffles decorated with berries and whipped cream...my eyes grew wide at the sight of it. The aroma of the food alone was enough to make a man burst into tears of joy. My sister, Caitlin, was already eating.
"About time you woke up, sleepyhead!" she teased.
"Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation?" my mom asked. "Go eat already!"
As if I needed to be told. I sprinted into a chair like no tomorrow and piled an indiscriminate amount of foodstuffs on my plate, shoving everything I possibly could into my mouth.
"Mooom, he's eating all the food again!" my sister whined.
"It's fine, Caitlin. Sylvia's making more."
As my mom said that, Sylvia, my mom's Chansey, came in the room with trays of food. She quickly placed the trays on the table wherever there was an empty space.
"Wow, Mom. You're even catering to me?" I said.
"Of course!" she said. "It is your sixteenth birthday, after all."
"Which reminds me - happy birthday, Andrew," Sylvia said stoically, before walking out the door and back into the kitchen.
"Oh, don't mind her," my mom said. "She's been a bit crabby lately. Who knows why?"
After the best breakfast I had ever had, my mom started cleaning everything up. I could see she was a little depressed.
"Mom...are you alright?"
"I'm fine...it's just..." she muttered, sniffling. "You're growing up, and...I guess it's time to let you go out and have your own adventures..."
"Mom..." Caitlin murmured.
"I'll miss you, dear..." she said to me. She walked over to me and gave me a hug. "Take care, and make me proud."
I hesitantly walked out of the dining room and into the living room. I was about to walk out the door when I remembered I had a couple of questions to ask.
"Mom?" I called out.
"Yes, dear?" my mom said. She walked into the living room. "What is it? Did you forget something?"
"Well, sorta...I just have a couple of questions to ask before I leave."
"Go ahead!"
"How come I'm only getting my first Pokémon now, while there are other preschoolers who have access to some of the more powerful ones?
"I'd blame it on bad parenting, I guess."
"Aaaand...where does one get eggs and bacon from? I'm not insulting your cooking; not doing that by a looong shot. I'm just curious, you know? I've been eating that for breakfast for a long time, but I still don't know what's in it."
"Eggs and bacon? Why, that's an easy one! They come from farm animals, silly!"
An awkward tension hung about the room.
"...Mom?" I said. "...what are 'farm animals'? Are they Pokémon?"
My mother immediately cupped her mouth. Sylvia shot my mom a glare.
"Erm...nothing!" she said excitedly. "Hey, aren't you about ready to go on that adventure?"
"Mom, weren't you just crying about that like a minute ago?" Caitlin said.
"That reminds me, Andrew. Do you mind taking your sister with you? Show her the ropes, you know. Get her ready."
"What!" the both of us shrieked.
•••••
"That was weird," Caitlin said. "I thought she wanted me to stay in school..."
"I dunno, Kate. She's been acting...odd, lately. No clue as to why."
We just stood there on the front step of our house and looked back at the city we called home.
Genesis Beach wasn't a big place; it was the complete opposite of 'big'. Given that, it had many visitors and tourists. It was a small city next to the shoreline of the Southern Bay. Nearer to the skirt of the ocean there was a commercial district. You had your hotels, some small businesses, a couple of sky scrapers, a jackton of restaurants, and the world's biggest bathroom. The bathroom on its own was enough to be a tourist attraction, but most people came to Genesis Beach for the amazing view.
Going north, there was a residential area. There were several homes and apartment buildings, all somewhat humble. It was enough for basic needs, and that was all its inhabitants cared for. This area was much quieter than the shore, and less populated as well. Not that it mattered...
"Well...ready, Kate?" I asked.
"I...I guess. It's a bit of a shock, being booted out of your house with no warning," she said.
"Well, uh...I'll try to make you comfortable with the process, then," I tried to reassure.
"...you don't even know what you're doing, do you, Andrew?"
"...not a clue."
I strapped my empty sack to my back and started walking north towards a small laboratory on the outskirts of town. The only thing to see was Genesis Park and a farm, which grew lots of berries. We looked towards the park, remembering old memories of swinging and playing tag with some kids we had grown up with.
Which was funny, because those same kids were training with their Pokémon. Gracie, the girl next door, was training her Hoppip and Pineco, having them repeatedly bash each other. Locke, the fighting-obsessed kid, was training his Sawk and Throh by having them crush rocks. Billiam, my neighbor across the street and self-proclaimed "rival", was running a marathon with his six Eevees. Jon and Ron, the "Twins of Terror", were having a Pokémon battle with each other. Maxine, my actual rival, was having a picnic with her team of Snivy, Roggenrola, and Bagon.
Caitlin and I quickly scurried north, trying desperately to avoid our neighbors. And shockingly, we actually succeeded this time around.
•••••
"This is the famous Pokémon Lab?" Caitlin asked.
"I...guess..." I replied.
The Pokémon Lab wasn't that great. It was a monolith of white slab, with a window here or there. It was completely cubic, too. The wooden sign above the automatic sliding glass door spelled "Pokémon Lab" in Unown. The building wasn't that much of a big deal.
We stepped up to the door. It slowly skidded into the wall. Caitlin and I stepped inside to the biggest mess either of us had seen in our entire lives. Bookcases were on the ground; sheets of paper were scattered about. Test tubes were on the tiled floor in pieces. All the tables were in hopeless disarray. Wires were thrown all over the lab, with hardly a sign of repair. To say the entire place was a wreck would be a massive understatement. And in the middle of it all, a middle-aged man sat in a wheelchair.
"Oh?" he said aloud. "Who is it?"
"I-it's me, Professor," I said nervously.
"...Andrew?" Professor Maple replied. "Oh, good."
He turned around.
"I apologize for my lab's appearance. After what happened last night, I broke my legs and haven't been able to keep this place tidy."
"Uh, Professor...what were you doing at my house that late anyways—"
"And as such, I haven't been able to get any Pokémon for you. Oh? Is that your sister, Andrew? Hi, Caitlin."
"H-hi, Professor," Caitlin said shyly. "Are you okay—"
"—wait, you haven't been able to what now!" I exclaimed.
AN: Unfortunately, common courtesy forces me to give you people a fair warning.
There is no canon shipping. In fact, there are no canon characters. Hell, I'll take it a step further: Everything you read right now (aside from the actual Pokémon themselves) is completely original. As far as this story goes, there is no Ash, no Ethan, no Brendan, no Lucas, and no Hilbert. None of those people exist, nor do their rivals. No currently established places exist either. Kanto? Where's that? Johto? Is that some sort of hideout?
There are no already known criminal organizations in this piece of work either. I hate to break it to you, but I'm ripping you guys an entirely new one. There aren't even references to anything that's canon.
That being said, enjoy.
