Before The Dawn
It is the blare of his alarm clock, not the giggles of his daughters, that wakes Jonathan Parkington from a peaceful slumber. He leans over, slams a hand on the snooze button, and rises, getting ready for another day of study. Days like this always get his adrenaline pumping, even if it is supposed to be nothing but work.
He dresses, gathers his equipment, and leaves the hotel. It's a beautiful morning in Shamouti Isle, his homeland, but it feels foreign after being away for so long. The ocean is lapping on the shore, enticing him to discover the secrets beneath the waves. It is a warm summer day, the perfect time to begin work. Jonathan captures photo after photo, knowing that the Beast of the Sea lurks deep within the blue waters.
Some might say that Pokemon explorers do this for their own benefit, but in truth, they are the lowest of the Pokemon scientific community. It's people like Jonathan who collect constant data on the many Pokemon species, indirectly helping the professors of the many regions. He likes his job, no matter if he's rich or not.
He spreads out a map of the three regions, different ink colors representing where Lugia has been spotted. Red is for the Hoenn region, yellow for Kanto, and blue for Johto. The Orange Islands, Shamouti included, are marked in…well, orange ink. By his previous calculations, Jonathan knows that the Beast of the Sea should arrive sometime that night; Lugia's location is unpredictable at any given moment.
Jonathan doesn't really remember when his fascination with legends began; perhaps it was due to the culture he grew up with. During the balmy summer nights, the young boys would hold a bonfire while the older men of the village told them stories. Jonathan loved those nights, and his research as an adult is fulfilling the dreams he had as a child.
He pauses in his work to watch a young couple pass by, swinging their young daughter between them. Oh, if only he was home, to see the kids and Sabrina again… He turns back to his maps, preparing to mark his current location on the map. By nightfall, Lugia will be here…and Jonathan plans to capture the moment on camera.
It is later in the day when we next encounter Jonathan. He is sitting at the hotel bar, sipping water out of a fancy glass and keeping to himself. He will only drink wine on occasion, and on a night like this he just isn't in the mood. The only people in the room are Jonathan and the bartender, who is busy polishing a glass.
"So, do you have any family back home?" Jonathan asks, taking a light sip of the clear liquid. The bartender pauses in his polishing, astounded that a customer would ask him something like that.
"Oh, I'm a native of this island, sir," the seventeen-year-old responds with an uncaring shrug. "I never really did care about…Pokemon training," he finished, as if he was spitting in the older man's face. Jonathan's expression does not change. He is still calm, cool, collected, holding his glass in his hand.
"You say that as if you were insulting me," Jonathan answers evenly. "I happen to work with Pokemon on a daily basis. Now what do you not like about training?"
"I just…think my place is here," the young man stammers, caught under the heated gaze from his customer. Jonathan arches an eyebrow.
"You think your place is here?" he asks. "You would rather be in a bar than make a name for yourself in the world?"
"Not really, this job is expected of me," the boy replies, taken aback.
"When I was your age, I had higher ambitions than polishing glasses in a bar…which is what you should be doing right now." The boy returns to work as Jonathan pays for his drink and heads up to his room. He falls into bed, too weary to change his clothes. For some, work might be boring. For Jonathan, it's just another day on the job.
