Ash felt a hand touch his face and tug at his cheek.
"Mom... Let me sleep just a little longer," he complained, turning over under his blanket.
He felt it again, this time pulling hard on his ear.
"AI!", he yelled, getting completely out of bed.
He looked around the room. There was no one.
He felt something walk over the bed.
That's when he saw it. Clefairy was crawling across his bed.
"You! How did you get out of the Pokeball?," Ash took his hands and looked into his eyes. "Why did you hurt me?"
Clefairy looked him up and down with an analytical look.
"What a weird Pokémon...", he heard the voice speak in his head.
"I KNEW IT," Ash yelled accusingly. "I knew you had talked to me. And I'm not a Pokémon. I'm a Pokémon trainer!"
"I see... So it was with you who the psychic link was formed."
"Psychic Link?"
Ash was confused by that conversation when he woke up. He'd barely had time to wash his face and brush his teeth and now he was hearing about a term he didn't even knew about.
"Come on, you need to meet my mother."
He grabbed the Pokemon and dragged it down the stairs of the house. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
His mother was in the kitchen, preparing the breakfast, when she heard his voice.
"Cheerful at this time of the morning?, " she asked when he gave her a hug. "You don't know how good it is to see you like this, yesterday you were so sad..."
Ash let go of her hug. Then he held the Pokemon in front of her face. "I want you to meet him, my starting Pokémon!", presented Ash.
She looked at the Pokemon, curious.
"I'm a female you idiot! And my name is Luna."
Ash turned red with anger.
"I'm not an idiot!," he called out.
His mom stopped washing dishes at the sink and looked at him.
"You said something?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to clarify that I got confused. She's my starting Pokémon," corrected Ash, rolling his eyes. "And her name is Luna."
She went back to cleaning the dishes. "I'm glad that you got a new Pokémon for you... But aren't Clefairys rare?"
Ash made up some story on his mind.
"Oh, it's just that... Professor Oak ended up informing me that he had an unowned Clefairy in his laboratory. I think he took pity on me and decided to give it to me...", Ash lied.
"And I'm not an idiot, I just haven't caught up with these things yet," he whispered to Clefairy.
He sat at the table.
Clefairy frowned.
His mother placed the thermos of coffee on the table. Then, she grabbed a plate of toast and placed it on the table.
Ash took some latte from the bottle and poured it into his cup. She took a piece of toast, spread some strawberry jam and ate it, accompanied by a sip of coffee.
"I'm hungry," Clefairy complained through the psychic link.
Ash looked at his mother and, still with his mouth full, said, "Mom, put something for Clefairy to eat." He remembered. "Oops, for Luna to eat."
His mother was drinking tea.
"Okay, I think there should still be some leftovers from the candied berries I gave to Mr. Mime."
She got up, opened a closet, and from there, took out a packet of PokéRango candied berries. She put them in a bowl and gave them to Clefairy. "Here Luna."
Clefairy started eating berries sprinkled with sugar at an incredibly fast speed.
Ash chuckled as he saw the scene.
"You'll end up with indigestion that way," he sneered.
Luna glared at him. She went back to eating the berries.
"Oh Ash, I'm not even telling you." His mother seemed to want to tell him something. "I heard from neighbors that a meteorite fell nearby. Have you thought about the danger! I can't even think about the tragedy if it ended up falling here at home."
Ash nearly choked on his toast.
When he finished, he stared at his fingers. He had a question stuck in his throat and he was trying to find the courage to finally ask it.
"Mom... About Dad..."
Delia changed her affectionate countenance to a serious one.
"Ash, whenever I think you've outgrown this subject you insist on bringing it back up," she scolded.
Ash was staring at his nails.
"It's just... I'm leaving on my journey... And one of my goals is to find him again!"
Delia banged her fists on the wood. "Your father abandoned us when you were very young and he didn't even have the decency to send any kind of letters or help with your child support," she blurted out.
Ash lowered his head, grimly.
"That's why I want to see him again... I want to hear some explanations from his mouth."
He had to have some explanation! Ash refused to accept that he had left them for no reason. Or at least that was the hope he clung to. And if he doesn't... he'd rather not even think about that possibility.
Luna watched it all, extremely interested.
Delia shook her head in disapproval.
"Ash, you are still too young to experience the harsh reality of adulthood. The world is not the fairy tale you children believe it to be," she said. "I believe that one day you will learn all this in the most painful way possible."
Delia left the table off to her room. When she returned, she carried a photo with her.
She handed it over to him.
In the photo there was a man. Above his head was a child Ash pretending to be riding a Tauros.
"Is it me and my dad?, " he asked even though he knew the answer.
Delia didn't respond, just nodded in confirmation.
"It is the last memory that remains of this man. I think, as you are already leaving on your journey, you have a right to keep it for yourself," she said breaking the moment of silence that followed.
Ash put the photograph into his pocket. He had one last question.
"Mom... What was my father's name?"
Delia took a sip of her tea. She took a deep breath. "Giovanni."
Inside his room Ash started to pack his things inside his backpack. He placed his map of Kanto open on the bed. He had a good look at the path he would have to take from Route 1. If he followed the road, he would end up in Viridian and then Viridian Forest, an insect-infested place. And, to his bad luck, he didn't have any kind of repellent with him.
"I need to get through here... If I want to get to Viridian," he told himself.
Luna jumped into the air and floated, landing right in the middle of the map. She looked at him seriously.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"
She continued in the same position.
"I have a mission... I need to get to Mount Moon, do you know where it is?"
Ash sat on the bed, thoughtfully.
"Here on the map it says that if we head towards Pewter and change to the east," he explained as he used his finger to illustrate the path on the map, "we'll be on our way to arrive there."
Luna started floating around the room with the help of her little fairy wings.
"I need you to guide me."
Ash took a moment to think.
"And why do you need to go there? It doesn't seem like one of the most inviting places..."
"It's my business... I still can't talk."
Ash was surprised. It was like she was hiding something from him.
Finally, Ash concluded: "Of course I can take you, I'll have to stop there if I want to get to Cerulean."
Ash finished packing all the belongings he would take into his backpack. Inside was a portable tent, a jar with some butter cookies (his favorites), Kanto's map, his Pokédex, a small water bottle, some Poké Balls and two potions he had saved on his PC.
When he finished, he went into the bathroom to change his pajamas into his trainer outfit which consisted of jeans, a blue jacket over a black t-shirt, athletic shoes, a pair of black gloves and his signature cap.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
I'm ready.
He took Luna's Pokeball and called her inside. As soon as the Pokémon was sucked by the PokéBall, it was released again. Ash called her once more. Again she left the Pokeball at her own will.
"Aren't you going to get into the Pokeball?"
Clefairy laughed.
"Not me," she replied mentally. "I don't really enjoy being caged somewhere."
Ash shrugged.
"And how do you intend to follow me?"
The Clefairy floated through the air and landed on Ash's shoulder.
Ash sighed in, giving up. There's was nothing he could do. If the Pokemon didn't want to stay inside the Pokeball, he couldn't keep it inside against her will.
The two descended the stairs and approached the door.
"MOM, I'M GOING ALREADY," Ash yelled to his mother.
Delia wiped her hands and went to find Ash outside. Mr. Mime followed her.
Ash grabbed his parked bike, climbed on it, and looked out onto the front porch. His mother was crying and Mr. Mime waved his hands in farewell.
"Take care, my son. And don't forget to keep in touch when you get to Viridian," his mother said, wiping the water that spilled from her eyes.
"Bye to you too," replied Ash, melancholy. He was holding back tears. After all, Pokemon trainers couldn't show any weakness.
Ash picked up Luna and placed her in the bike basket.
"If you stay here you will not fall."
He began pedaling down the road on his way to Route 1, looking up at the bright sun on the horizon and wondering what awaited him in Viridian. The wind blew his strands of unruly black hair.