James lay there, cold and lonely. In one hand he held Ralts' Pokeball to his chest, in the other a stick he'd been using to fend off Hoot-hoots. He'd been lying in a clearing for a few hours and it was getting dark. The bright town lights of Cherrygrove were only a few feet away, however a couple of trees blocked them from his sight. James had given up all hope in the few hours it had taken him to get to this point.

James' Cyndaquil sat loyally by his side, despite eyeing him in quiet distain. Ralts had left a few moments ago to inspect the path ahead. She returned and attempted to communicate her findings; the closeness of the city; to him – however this was easier said than done. She lightly tapped him on his shoulder only to be shrugged away. 'Stop hitting me!' James barked angrily, swinging his stick at her. 'That really hurts!'

Ralts sighed in disappointment then suddenly took off towards Cherrygrove, she would much prefer to sleep in the Pokémon centre than in the forest.

"No wait, Ralts. I'm sorry!" James leaped up and sprinted after her, stumbling through the thickets to find Cherrygrove spread out before him, he smiled. "Ha, I knew you weren't running away, just showing me where the town was. Looks like the future number one Pokémon trainer is back in action!" He wasted no time in reaching the town's outskirts. Returning both Pokémon to their balls, he strode into the Pokemart. The lights of the mart made him squint and a few people inside turned to look at him. You might as well just lay the red carpet out for me. James thought, with a smile. He approached the attendant and placed his two Pokeballs onto the desk and, after awkwardly staring at him for a while; he commanded loudly, 'Heal my Pokémon!'

The attendant cocked his head, looking him up and down. 'Do you mean you need some potions, sir?' James pulled an unimpressed face.

'Do I look like I want to buy anything? I said heal my Pokémon!'

'Sir, this isn't a Pokémon centre', the attendant offered, helpfully.

'Yes it is!' James protested, 'it said Poke on the outside!'

'That would be Pokemart, sir. We don't heal Pokémon here, but the Pokémon centre is just next door.' At this, James looked confused.

'No, this is definitely the Pokémon centre, I know because I've seen quite a few centre's in my time.' He replied in an authoritative tone.

Losing his patience, the assistant snapped. 'You look like you're about five years old, kid - now stop wasting my time and get out.'

'Where's the PC?'

'…what?'

'There's supposed to be a computer in Pokémon centre's, I want to check if mum put any items online for me.'

'Jesus Christ, what don't you understand? This isn't a Pokémon Centre! It's next door!' James turned to a random person in the mart and presented his Pokeballs.

'Do I give my balls to you?' The person looked over his shoulder at him but didn't reply. The owner of the store decided to take a different approach.

"Look kid, you're right. This is the Pokémon centre. Unfortunately, we had a fire in here a few days ago and have relocated next door. If you head over there you'll get your Pokémon sorted." James puffed out his chest, ha, that must have been a test. What a bunch of fools thinking I'd fail at something that simple. Before leaving James reached out and grabbed a few potions.

"Hey I'm gonna grab a few of these water bottles, so glad water is free for trainers, I lost all of my money in the forest." With that he laughed and left, the owner debated chasing him and demanding payment for the potions, but decided against it. James stuck the potions in his bag and walked into the Pokémon centre, managing to hand over his Pokeballs without bringing any more attention to himself. He checked the computer but there was nothing new from his mother, so he called her with the intent of demanding new items but she didn't pick up. Where would she be at a time like this? Confused, but overall content with his day of work, James grabbed a bed at the Pokémon centre and slept peacefully through the night; enjoying vivid dreams of Cyndaquil and the power he would soon achieve.

James jumped awake. He had been dreaming; no – he had been given a vision of greatness, a gift from God himself. He had seen what his starter Pokémon would become, he had watched in awe as Typhlosion absorbed the suns rays and dealt out a finishing solar beam that took out a Dragonite. He knew what he was going to do today. He was going to teach Cyndaquil…

James left the centre with his Pokémon fully healed feeling awesome. 'Hey, you there!' A voice called. James turned to look in the direction from whence it came and saw an old man approaching him. James sneered at the man; he should have called me 'sir'.

'What do you want?' James snapped, bluntly.

'I noticed you were new in town,' he began. 'I thought you might like some help.'

'Wow, this isn't even a town, it's a city, idiot!' He laughed. 'How stupid can you get? Do you know who you're talking to?' The old man responded with a dirty look. James, feeling slightly ashamed of himself, decided to attempt amends. "Okay, I'm sorry. Could you tell me where the gym is in this town then?" The old man burst out laughing, shook his head, and walked away. What a bastard.

James strode over to the lake nearby and released Cyndaquil; he knelt down next to him and began speaking. "Hey there buddy, I'm gonna teach you an awesome new move today, which is why I brought you out here to this lake. It's a flower type move, strong against liquid Pokémon of course." Cyndaquil gave a quizzical look to his master, who simply grinned. "See that Goldeen over there? Go ahead and use razor leaf on it!" Cyndaquil stared blankly back at his master, before demonstrating he was a fire type by burning some nearby grass with ember. "No, you fool. Razor leaf, it's a flower move. You know, where you shoot leaves at the opponent? Use that, not stupid burning moves." Cyndaquil continued staring, and then he chose to use ember closer to his master, demonstrating both his type and his irritation. James kicked out at Cyndaquil. "NO, YOU IDIOT! RAZO-" before James could finish shouting Cyndaquil had tackled him into the water and snorted, turning his back to his master.

"Ahahahahahahaha!" The old man had returned. "There ain't no gym down there!"

"Shut up old man, I will be the greatest trainer in the world. When I become the ultimate master I'll rain fire down upon this town and burn it to the ground!" At this, the old man roared with laughter.

"Well if you're gonna be the greatest I guess you might need this." He produced a map card from his pocket and proceeded to toss it into the ocean. "Ooops. By the way, just in case I hadn't said it before, this town has no gym, so go ahead and fuck off already."

'I will!' James exclaimed, swimming back to the shore and hoisting himself from the water. 'And when I return, you'll be sorry you ever crossed me!'

The old man disregarded James with a wave of his hand before turning and calmly walking away. As James settled down and began drying himself his phone rang. He reached into his backpack and retrieved his phone.

'Oh, it's Professor Elm!' James remarked happily, he picked up, 'Hello Elm!'

'Oh, you're still alive.' Elm mumbled something else inarticulately and hung up. James grinned, I'm so popular. He turned to his companion. 'Come on, Cyndaquil, you need to learn this attack. Otherwise, how on earth will we beat stone and floor Pokémon?' The small fire Pokémon gave up trying to get its point across and started to waddle away in the direction of route 30. James followed his Cyndaquil with his eyes and caught sight of the route; he didn't like the look of it. The grass looked a foot or two high and he swore he could see a Hoot-Hoot or two hiding. Those Pokémon were the devils of all birdie Pokémon. He sneezed, realising that his hay fever was starting to play up. He had better follow his Pokémon into the unknown depths of route 30 and away from the flowers in Cherrygrove city.

James made it only a few steps before being assaulted by a Ladyba, Cyndaquil charged up for an ember attack but James stopped him. "No Cyndaquil, you're a flower type, flower types aren't strong against creepy crawly types. Go Ralts." Cyndaquil sighed, wishing he were back at Elm's. It took quite a few attacks before Ralts was K.O.' d by Ladyba, the battle was long but this was due to Ralts continuously using growl as it knew nothing else, despite James' insistence for it to use stone throw. James returned Ralts to its ball and sprinted down route 30, screaming profanities back at the Ladyba and threatening to catch it one day. Cyndaquil raced after him, shooting a parting ember at the Ladyba and defeating it in one hit.

James had reached a split in the road by the time Cyndaquil caught up, who'd been burning each Pokémon he saw on his way and had grown a fair few levels. James looked down at Cyndaquil, "Any idea which way we should go?" Cyndaquil shook his head, James sighed.

"Hey there, you want a berry?" A man had just stepped out of a nearby house and was picking berries from his tree. James gasped and knelt down next to Cyndaquil. He whispered, "I think he wants to rape you, Cyndaquil." Then he returned Cyndaquil to his ball, screamed rape, and sprinted away, choosing to take the right path.

He sprinted down the route as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him, clutching his two Pokeballs tightly to his chest. Please, don't let me get attacked by anymore creepy crawly types, he pleaded silently. He carried on running and eventually crossed paths with another little house that had its lights on. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, eyeing the house suspiciously. He cautiously made his way to the window and pressed his face against the glass, getting a good look at what was inside. He gasped with joy as he saw a machine that could heal Pokémon within and, now excited, he bounced over to the door and knocked loudly.

After a few moments the door opened and James looked up at the man before him. It was none other than Professor Elm. James grinned at the sight of him. 'Prof!' He presented his two Pokeball, 'my Pokémon need healing. I saw a machine in there that will do it. Can I come in?' For a moment Elm was silent. His face had darkened somewhat at the sight of James. He contemplated shutting the door, but his kinder side forced him to let the boy in.

'Sure, come in and get them healed up quickly.'

Without a word James ran past Elm and straight to the machine. Expecting a miracle, he chucked his Pokeballs at it and waited for the healing to begin. As he watched the balls fall to the floor, another man spoke. 'Not like that son, that's not how you do it. Here, watch.' The man took the Pokeballs and carefully placed them within the machine.

Elm slammed the front door shut. 'You'll have to excuse him…'

'Who might you be, son?' Mr. Pokémon questioned.

James turned to him, flashing his winning smile. 'I'm the world's next Pokémon master. I'm going to be the very best, like no one ever was.'