INT. HILBERT'S BEDROOM - MORNING
CUE - "TITLE SCREEN" FROM BLACK & WHITE OST.
This place is a mess.
ITEMS thrown around the room uselessly, a COMPUTER on a desk filled with scattered figures and papers, a TELEVISION on its set with numerous GAMING SYSTEMS hooked to it, WIRES hanging loosely all over the floor... DEFINITELY a guy's room.
HILBERT (V.O.)
Yep. This is my boring room.
PAN over to show a bed - sheets tossed around –
HILBERT (V.O.)
Oh look, and there's my boring bed. It's where I rest after a boring day.
PAN over to see a boy lying on the bed. He's tangled in the covers, in an uncomfortable position. Dressed in a bright blue hoodie, baggy black pants, red shoes and a matching cap, he obviously fell asleep unexpectedly - he looks fashionable, but definitely not comfortable for sleeping.
HILBERT (V.O.)
And there's boring 'ol me. My name is Hilbert Black. I don't know, feels like someone somewhere should've given me a better name. But they didn't. So I'm stuck with Hilbert. Black is a pretty decent last name though, so I shouldn't be too whiny about it…
(sarcastic, referring to how he's sleeping)
Good first impression innit?
The Poké Ball alarm clock next to him RINGS OUT SHRILLY, and his whole body writhes, JUMPING at the sound. He bashes the back of his head on the headboard. He gives a groan. His brown eyes snap open and we get a better look at the kid-
HILBERT, 15/16, a boyish face with shaggy long brown hair. He's got an air of adventure and mischief about him; he's got a lot of heart, though he's definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.
HILBERT (V.O.)
If you're lookin' for a genius, you've come to the wrong guy. That'd be my friend Cheren. Me? Well, I'm kinda a dork.
INT. KITCHEN - MORNING
HILBERT'S MOM is pretty and in her 40's. She looks overworked and stressed, maybe all her hard work has made her become a little airy.
HILBERT (V.O.)
If you're lookin' for an excitable, happy, morning person, that'd be my friend Bianca. I'm more of a lazy-ass slob. But... I haven't seen her or Cheren in months.
HILBERT enters and she smiles.
MOM
Good morning, honey. It's so nice to see you already dressed and it isn't even two p.m. yet!
FREEZE-FRAME on her excited smile as "TITLE SCREEN" comes to an ABRUPT end.
HILBERT (V.O.)
And it's all this woman's fault. Believe it or not, I wasn't always this angsty. Or moody. Whichever term you prefer. So, let's rewind back to like, let's say... five months ago.
CUT TO BLACK.
CHEREN (O.S.)
Who wants to open it? You do the honors, Hilbert.
HILBERT (O.S.)
No, you, man. I insist.
FADE IN:
INT. HILBERT'S BEDROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK)
Hilbert stands around in his bedroom, alongside his friends CHEREN and BIANCA. Both 15/16, Cheren is a guy with large spectacles hanging on his hooked nose. Bianca's a blonde, very airheaded but fun.
FREEZE-FRAME on Hilbert - The camera swivels up and down, letting us see his clothes - he's wearing the EXACT SAME CLOTHES he wore five months ago. WTF?
HILBERT (V.O.)
Yes, five months ago, I was wearing the same clothes. You might call it weird, but in our world, it's normal. We just carry around lots of cologne to keep ourselves fresh.
(beat)
Also odd is how our two-story house consists of one bedroom in total, which leaves my Mom to sleep on the extremely uncomfortable pair of cushions we have downstairs... Eh, she was nice enough to let me have the room upstairs, so maybe I should stop complaining. Errr, moving on...
The scene STARTS to play again.
BIANCA
It is your birthday, Bertie.
HILBERT
I'll open it only if you promise to stop calling me Bertie.
BIANCA
(pouty)
Fine... You got yourself a deal.
Hilbert reaches for the box on the table. He picks at the lavish green bow on it, having trouble at first, but tearing it off and then lifting the cover off with ease.
HILBERT (V.O.)
Professor Juniper was the local Pokémon Professor, and was gifting us with our first Pokémon. You see, in Unova, when you turn fourteen you get to go on your own journey... Catching more Pokémon and collecting badges from the eight powerful gym leaders throughout the region. If ya beat 'em all, ya get to challenge the Elite Four at the Pokémon League...
SHOT from INSIDE THE BOX - all three of their heads peek around the sides, looking DOWN at the box, at US...
BACK to normal view as Hilbert picks up a card from inside the box.
HILBERT
Blah blah blah. Words. They mean nothing.
Excitedly, Hilbert tosses the card into the trash can next to his desk, and scans the Poké Balls inside. They've got labeled cards propped up against them.
From left-to-right; 'TEPIG', 'SNIVY', and 'OSHAWOTT'.
Hilbert instantly picked up the Ball to the farthest right - OSHAWOTT.
HILBERT (V.O.)
I chose Oshawott, the Water-type.
FADE to a CLOSE-UP of SNIVY's Poké Ball as a hand reaches in and takes it -
HILBERT (V.O.)
Cheren chose Snivy, the Grass-type.
FADE to a CLOSE-UP of TEPIG's Poké Ball as a hand reaches in and snatches it up -
HILBERT (V.O.)
And Bianca took Tepig, the Fire-type... Before promptly tripping over a bump in my rug.
CRASH! The camera CUTS to a shot of Hilbert and Cheren looking down at Bianca, who's flat on her face. She scrambles up quickly, hopping to her feet and dizzily trying to stand.
HILBERT (V.O.)
I love her to death, but to be honest, Bianca has the IQ of a garbage can and the hand-eye coordination of a Spinda... ever see those things stumble around? Yikes.
Cheren looks in the box, reaching in for something else - picking up three electronic devices, a very peculiar look on his face.
Cheren presents the devices to Hilbert and Bianca. They each take one.
CHEREN
They're called Pokédexes. Invented by Professor Oak of the Kanto region. What else did the card say?
Hilbert shrugs.
CLOSE-UP of Hilbert's hand as he puts the Pokédex into the back pocket of his pants...
HILBERT
I dunno. You know I can't read...
HILBERT (V.O.)
We don't have school here in case you were wondering... You may say we're lucky, but teaching yourself how to read isn't fun... That's how bored I've been the past few months. I used to just do picture books, now I'm onto nursery rhymes. Yippee?
Cheren bends down and looks through Hilbert's garbage can, rifling through candy wrappers and crumpled-up paper, finally managing to produce the card that was in the box from the trash. Pushing his glasses up, he reads the card...
CHEREN
She wants us to travel around Unova, and use these to collect data of all the species. This is amazing...
BIANCA
Hey guys call out your Pokémon so we can battle! All this talk is boring us. My Tepig's sooo cute!
Both boys turn around and see a tiny orange and black pig with a springy tail stood on the floor in front of Bianca. Hilbert furrows his brow, concerned.
HILBERT
Oh god, a pig? Don't let it poop all over my floor!
CHEREN
(re: the mess)
You've already done a good job of that, Hilbert, I don't see why you're so worried.
Hilbert makes a mocking face at him, Cheren just laughs. They both send out their Pokémon. Hilbert's Oshawott is a blue and white two-legged otter. It gives a bow in his trainer's presence. Hilbert grins, amused.
HILBERT
I like this little guy already.
Hilbert turns around to see Cheren taking notes on a notepad of the green reptilian Pokémon Snivy, its arms on its hips, its tail curled in the opposite direction with a very stuck-up look on its face. It looks like a TOTAL DIVA.
HILBERT (V.O.)
I don't really remember much after that. Just that we had a huge battle.
Quick clips of Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy flying in all directions, sending numerous attacks at each other, flash by.
HILBERT (V.O.)
That ended in disaster, my room looked like another earthquake went through it... But the worst part was that Bianca's Tepig was just as much of a klutz as she was.
BIANCA
Tep-Tep, use Ember!
HILBERT
C'mon, Sheldon, blast that flamer pig away with Water Gun!
As Tepig's nose lights up, the pig charges at Oshawott. Oshawott blasts a spray of water at him. Tepig goes flying backwards, landing on the wall behind Hilbert. Hilbert gives a cheer, as Tepig tries to stop its nose from flaring. But he can't.
And the flames come out in one BURSTING SNEEZE, the jet of flames shooting out from Tepig's NOSE right onto the seat of Hilbert's pants.
Hilbert gives a HOWL, running right into the wall on the other side of the room, bonking his head on one of the shelves on the wall.
HILBERT (V.O.)
I don't remember much of what happened next.
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK CONT.)
HILBERT, with a wet washcloth acting as padding under his rump and a bandage on his forehead, sits on the downstairs cushions as his MOM stands in front, giving him a long lecture. TIGHT on his face as he just stares into the camera, right at us - His mom paces around in the background and foreground, sometimes walking in front of Hilbert, but he just keeps staring ahead
HILBERT (V.O.)
All I really remember is what happened when I woke up. I found myself on mom's cushions in the living room, with Mom yelling at me about how she deemed me "irresponsible" and that since I broke my Pokédex, I couldn't go on my journey because I was still "too immature". She actually thought everything was my fault, and that keeping me locked up here in this hellhole is gonna help me learn how to "grow up". She thought up so many different excuses. I mean, the fact that she thought I burnt myself and destroyed by bedroom by trying to light one of my farts on fire with Tepig was understandable... I mean, lighting your fart on fire is SO elementary... I did that kinda crazy stuff last year when I was like, fourteen.
(beat)
But I've grown up A LOT since then, I'm not a stupid little kid anymore... My own mom's the only person who hasn't seemed to notice.
Hilbert gives a yawn as his mom continues blabbering on.
HILBERT (V.O.)
The fact she suggested all these things even AFTER Cheren and Bianca testified that it was an accident just astounded me.
(scoffs)
She truly was grasping for straws at that point. Goes to show how much a paranoid freak show my mom is. Not to mention how unable she is to acknowledge that I AM growing up...
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY (END FLASHBACK, PRESENT DAY)
HILBERT lounges on the living room cushions, flipping through the channels on the massive TV in their living room. His OSHAWOTT, SHELDON, lounges in his lap. It wears armor that makes it resemble its final evolved form, SAMUROTT, including the massive headdress.
HILBERT (V.O.)
Mom told me that I needed to prove to her I was mature enough to leave home. That opportunity finally presented itself five months later...
The TV suddenly starts to flicker. Hilbert frowns.
HILBERT
...Not cool.
He hops onto his feet and tries smacking the TV.
HILBERT (CONT'D)
Mom, the TV's not working!
From the kitchen, his mom shouts;
MOM (O.S.)
You're grown up, remember? You fix it.
Hilbert rolls his eyes and smirks, as he gets on his knees to look behind the TV.
He can see the PLUG is not in the wall - he follows the CHORD and sees it leads into the VENT. Hilbert looks confused. He opens up the vent and pulls on the chord.
It won't budge. He sticks his head into the massive vent, seeing a little SPARK of yellow light flash by rather quickly. He frowns and decides to CRAWL in.
INT. VENT - CONTINUOUS
HILBERT climbs inside the shaft... Grabbing at air. It's dark in there now, the light's faded. But he GRABS something.
His eyes adjust to it and he sees - a YELLOW AND BROWN TAIL. The crackling grows LOUDER and Hilbert sees SPARKS. He knows he just PISSED SOMETHING OFF.
HILBERT
...Uh oh.
INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Hilbert's legs are all we see, as the rest of his body is in the vent. Not even a moment later, BRIGHT, YELLOW ELECTRICITY starts to SHOCK Hilbert, his body surrounded by it.
His legs WRITHE and KICK, and he YELPS as he attempts to pull himself out of the vent.
Once the electric shock ends, Hilbert's body is THROWN backwards right out of the vent, landing on his back with his limbs outstretched, as a YELLOW RAT WITH BRIGHT RED CHEEK POUCHES climbs out - you KNOW WHO THIS IS.
FREEZE-FRAMED close-up of the Pokémon, and a text bar appears at the bottom of the screen that reads-
A wild PIKACHU appeared!