"Champion Ethan Goldberg was found dead this morning at six-forty-two AM Cerulean time."
This was the line that would change my life forever. I was born the only child of a Mrs. John and Cathy Graham in the slums of Cherrygrove city. My mum was a heroin addict who beat me regularly and sold herself off to pay for her next fix. My father was a belligerent drunk who worked construction when he could get off his lazy ass and would never ever stick up for me, too tired of my mothers shit and too scared of being beaten himself.
By the time I was six years old, I had run away twice, both times I returned home after an hour as I was hungry and being a six-year-old I realistically couldn't feed myself, my parents didn't even realize I was gone. By the time I was eight, I was as obsessed with pokemon battles as any kid my age, however, while other kids studied how cool a Charizard was or how pretty a Butterfree was. I was taking notes how much both were damaged by a move names stealth rock and how completely unviable it made them in the higher up tournaments.
When I was nine years old I was already working odd jobs around town, I didn't go to school because my parents didn't care and I'd rather spend the time on things I wanted to do. So instead, I'd help older lady's get there purloins out of trees. I'd mow peoples lawns, sure it'd only earn me about five to ten dollars a job, but I was saving up to two hundred so I could obtain a pokeball. I had a plethora of ideas on what to use it on, as I often went to the library to study up on what lived around here. However, before I turned ten and was able to obtain a trainers license, something happened.
Champion Goldberg was able to pass a bill that he'd been trying to get passed for the better part of twenty years. A bill that raised the age limit to obtain a trainers license for eleven.
"Not as high as I wanted it but it's progress." The champion was quoted and thus my dreams of leaving my shitty home were extended to two years instead of one and over the next three years he was able to raise it up to fourteen after statistics showed the declining rate in fatalities in young trainers.
Meanwhile, I continued to study and rule out species nearby that would not be up to par. I thought about a Magikarp but they take to long to raise especially as your starter pokemon, the surrounding Caterpie, Weedle and Ledyba families were way too weak. Kingler was too slow outside of water, Octillery was intelligent and strong but hesitant and preferred to use there ink to run not fight. Pidgeots were fast durable decently strong, good starters but, way too easy to account and strategize for as pretty much everyone had one and they were dumb as a brick. I just wanted something powerful, fast, intelligent, durable and rare, was that so hard to ask for?
So I turned my view elsewhere, to the nocturnal. after all, most trainers train and catch during the day and aren't prepared for the nocturnal. There I did my research and found out the local area's nocturnal pokemon include, Hoot-hoot, Spinarak, Teddiursa, and Murkrow. Noctowl are useful as they have limited psionic energy but they were relatively weak ambush predators and required the cover of darkness to really be useful so they were out. Spinarak work well in teams, have limited psionic and spiritual energy, are fast and are good ambush predators, but they work in hivemind, separated from that they don't have much thought and are weak to many many common types in the higher tiers, including fire, flying, rock and the ever-present psychic. Teddiursa and Ursaring were strong pokemon, a little on the slow side but powerhouses who with the right moves and team set could swing through other teams like a wrecking ball. It was near perfect… Except for the fact that Teddiursa was always near there mother until they evolved, and to steal a cub from an Ursaring was among the most dangerous things a person could do let alone a thirteen-year-old girl. Lastly, there was Murkrow, Honchkrow was great team workers, usually flying in murders between thirty and fifty They had decent speed, were extremely powerful, could take at least one hit and hit back hard, excellent typing giving it two immunities to two of the most powerful types, Ground and Psychic, and were too intelligent to be caught often. So a Murkrow it was.
I had already earned enough money for two pokeballs at this point but to do the plan I had, I would only have enough money for one. However, my plan was the only shot I'd have at catching these elusive dark type birds. So every night I'd sneak out of my house and walk over to the local Kalosian Fried Torchick. There I'd order three huge bowls of fries and a little bit of chicken for myself. Then I'd head to a nearby park where plenty of Murkrow and Bellsprout smokers would hang out. There I'd wait at the edge of a flock throwing fries to the Murkrow in front of me. At first they spooked and ran but eventually, they grew to recognize me and my tasty treats. After about three weeks, they began flying over to me and I could feed them by hand and pet them. The local park-goers began referring to me as the Murkrow girl or MG for short, Funny enough it worked out perfectly as those were my initials. I even was able to make a little money by offering to help people pet the Murkrow but that was just a nice side effect of my real plan; To tame one of these beasts for the day that I could finally leave on my journey.
Every time I saw my new feathered friends I tested and observed them. I observed which ones were the most aggressive, I didn't want one that was too much of an alpha and would fight me, I tested which ones were the fastest. which was something I would need as speed was one of there species more lacking aspects. I manipulated them to fight so I could see which ones would strike the hardest and which ones could take the most damage and I set up traps, and puzzles to test their wits in which often times I could make more money by betting on the outcomes with my newfound fans.
After another six weeks of observing and testing, I settled on a small female Murkrow. She was young and timid, taking the longest to trust me out of any of them to trust me and even then never let me pet her or came close. However she was very fast, often being the first to thrown food, when I manipulated a fight between her and a larger male, she flew away and didn't come back for a week and even then staying even further away then before from me, almost as if she suspected it was me who organized it. When it came to the puzzles, she was usually second to the food, mainly because I couldn't organize anything super complex being a thirteen year old with limited access to tools, and the bird that would reach first usually would just smash his way to the food. However, when I asked them to a task or idea instead of a physical puzzle she would always solve it and get her food. So while she was not a skilled battler, she was the smartest and the fastest of her murder and for that I wanted her.
The problem was the age limit I still had at least another thirty-four weeks before I could legally train a pokemon, so for the next week I continued my exercises, now having made a choice, I made more and more bets, hoping to raise money for my journey. At the end of that week though is when the message that would change my life was announced. That the champion was dead. It sucked too as despite wanting to leave on a journey so young I liked the champion. He was young, well at least compared to most champions. He loved his nation, his beliefs were well founded and he brought the mortality rate of trainers down way more, due to the introduction of free health care for trainers and trainer pokemon, deprivatization of Pokemarts and of course the increase in age for pokemon trainers. Unfortunately though none of that mattered as he was dead and thanks to no one ever beating Ethan, the previous champion Lance was reinstated as the leader of the Kanjo region. His first act of business? Passing a bill that lowered the age of training back down to ten years old.
I was ecstatic at this news. It meant I could apply for my trainers permit and even though, I was poor, had little supplies and didn't actually own a pokemon yet, I apply as soon as I possibly could, or at least I tried… For in order for anyone below the age of sixteen to apply and obtain there trainers license they needed parental permission, so I took a form home and began to think of ways to trick my parents into signing the thing, as I knew they sure as hell wouldn't sign it if they actually knew what it was. My mum needed her punching bag after all and my dad needed someone else for my mum to bitch at. So I settled on the simplest solution. I waited until dinner that night and ate at home. After being yelled at for a while for not finding my own food and for draining our families resources and for being pathetic, we sat down and ate dinner in silence. Every few minutes I'd offer to fill my parent's glasses of wine which made the two lousy drunks actually happy with me for once. By the time we finished dinner, they had finished a bottle each and we're halfway done there third. It was then that I actually sprang the question.
"Mum, Dad?" I asked as innocently as I possibly could while they both looked aghast that I dared to speak in a sentence other than offering them more wine. "Um… There's a field trip at school coming up and um… I need you guys to sign the permission form." I lied trying to sound as normal as innocent as possible despite my heart racing as fast as a rapidash.
"Will it cost anything?" My dad slurred, the worry and tiredness evident in his voice.
"N-no." I stammered out praying they wouldn't catch me lying or I'd be in for it.
"What kinda field trip doesn't cost any money?" My mom asked outraged.
"We're just going to the ruins of Alph.:" I muttered the lie I had been practicing for the last twelve hours. "The school is gonna pay for it."
"On our tax dollars? Arceus this country is going to ruins." My mum said, her temper flaring hotly and I had to suppress a laugh, my parents never paid taxes,
"S-so can you sign it," I asked in a near whisper.
"Yeah sure, bring it here." My father said yawning voice clear of any and all emotion. I nearly jumped for joy. I took the piece of paper out of my pocket alongside a pen I had snagged and placed it on the table. This was the most delicate part of it all, I hoped he was drunk enough to not actually read the form. Unfortunately for me, he began muttering it aloud to himself. "By signing this paper you hereby agree to the league's terms and give permission for your child to-" He said stopping reading when he saw what it actually said, his eyes going wide. He glanced up at my mum, down at the paper, at me, back down at the paper and then up at my mum again who was filling up yet another glass of wine.
"What're ya laking at me for." My mom heavily slurred, the alcohol finally hitting her. "Whassit say?"
"Oh, just that there going by teleportation is all." My dad said looking up at me and flashing me a quick wink before signing it. I couldn't believe it, he was actually letting me go off of his own consciousness. I hugged him and ran upstairs to my room before my mum could start going off about the expensiveness of teleportation, I prepared myself to get up early as I wanted to go in and test for my license as soon as I could, so I could leave as soon as possible. I began packing my backpack full of clothes, the cash I had accumulated so far and whatever snacks I had been able to sneak upstairs over the past couple of weeks. It was while doing this that I heard a knock on my door and jumped quickly throwing my bag underneath my bed. My father entered through the door and I began to be very nervous, this was it. He was gonna tell me off and I wouldn't be able to leave an-
"Here, take this." He said leaning down and handing me a large wad of cash rubber banded together. "But don't tell your mother." He said smiling softly.
"You-you're not mad," I whispered, eyes wide at the giant sum of money he was handing me.
"Mad, of course, I'm not mad." He said smiling widely. "I knew you'd wanna do this one day, after all, who wants to stick around with that witch of women." He shot nastily at my mum.
"But this-this is a lot of money."
"A lot of money you're gonna need on your journey." He said shoving it into my hands. "I've been saving it up for a long time ya know? I mean, I remember when I started my journey I wished I had this much."
"You were a trainer?" I asked astonished to hear the news.
"Of course I was a lousy one at that too. Could never make it past four badges though." He said his eyes full of nostalgia reminiscing on the past.
"Well, what happened?" I asked curious to learn more about this side of my father.
"I met your mother." He said smiling. "She was quite different back then ya know? Just as feisty but in a different way. It was love at first sight for me. She was a hell of a trainer but one day her starter, a Pillowswine was killed in a battle against leader Chuck. She snapped after that, started having mood swings, getting aggressive. I stayed by her, I was in love after all. She got pregnant and had you, started having worse mood swings, got into the hard stuff she was into now… I had to sell our remaining pokemon to pay for her addictions, and well as you're aware my own too. Now I stick with her out of fear that she'll try and kill you, or she'll say that I beat her in a drunken rage and if I'm being honest in hope that the old her will shine through." He said sadly, at this point lost in his own memories.
"Thank you, daddy," I said hugging him, sniffing and for the first time in a very long time actually crying.
"Anything for you MG." He said pulling away and winking at me.
"You know about that?" I asked embarrassedly.
"Of course I do." He said laughing. "You think I don't ever watch the news, or where you're going at nights? You're your mother's daughter, and you've sure got her talent with pokemon." He said proudly and my eyes were watering. For the first time in my life, I was gonna miss something at home. "Now you better get some sleep, you got a long day ahead of yourself tomorrow, and I know you'll wanna leave straight away. You are your mother's daughter, after all, he said a twinkle in his eye.
"I love you, daddy," I said hugging him again then crawling into bed, for the first time since I was young he tucked me in.
As I fell asleep I felt him kiss my forehead and whisper "I love you too little one." Those were the last words I ever heard him speak. He and my mother were found dead three days after I left for my journey, my mother smothered with a pillow in her sleep and my father beside her an empty bottle of pills and a picture of him and my mum smiling widely with me as a baby in a carriage on his bedside table.
In the end, he had found what we all sought, he had found happiness.