Pokemon: Kanto Elite

Newbie

It had been his dream since he knew what a pokeball was. He might even venture to say that it was his destiny, but he knew his Mother. She'd say no if he had said something so ridiculous.

Yet she had been called into school and talked with him while her child was in class. The teacher was droning on about Gemini and how it was a Goldilocks planet (whatever Goldilocks was), while Red couldn't concentrate. He was one "yes" away from the school of his dreams, to the thing he had always dreamed of becoming.

He could see it now.

He was in the center of the stadium. Celadon Arena, in its full glory, with thousands of people in the stands glittering with camera flashes, making them seem like the night sky.

He was exhausted, weary and proud. He had just won a battle. It had been the shortest 2 hours of his life. His pokemon were just as tired, but he felt a euphoria that could only come with a crowd chanting your name in a victorious roar. He screamed with relish, pumping his fists and standing in the center of the giant pokeball that separated the two sides of the arena.

Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red!

"... Because Gemini's measurements are similar to Earth's, that's why it's called a Goldilocks planet. The only thing that separates us from Earth is our radioactive core instead of a molten core. Any questions?"

Rats. I was hoping the intercom would call my name already.

 He was told that his mother had left the office and that he were to stay in school- typical of his Mom- and would talk with his father about it before making a final decision.

So they were making a big deal about it....

The day flew faster than a pidgeot's quick attack, slow on the beginning and end but a blur in the middle. It was at the end, when Red was dropped off from the students march (where all of the students of a certain district would walk together to their houses. The school was near the edge of Celadon City, so it wasn't that long of a walk), he felt a little hesitant to walk through the door.

His hand levitated over the "open" button, as nervous as he was when he got back a mark on a hard test. This was going to either be the biggest change in his life or just another time his parents wouldn't understand him.

He was completely surprised with what came next.

The door slid open, revealing his small, comfortable home. It was a two story house, the lower level being a huge room, centered with a dinner table and surrounded by a small kitchen, a TV, two-piece couch and a map of Kanto posted next to the backyard door. At that table sat his Mother, cleaner than she was this morning, and his father, covered in coal dust from head to toe. And they were smiling from ear to ear. It was almost frightening.

"Hello, Red!"

"Hello, Mom...Father... What's going on?"

"Well, you'll be happy to know how important your education is to us..."

Red's face started turning white. Is this a joke?

"But who says education only has to happen at your school?"

The boy was too emotionally confused. "What do you mean-?"

"Well," Mom stood up and knelt down to her precious only son. She didn't want him to go, but...

"We decided that... You're going to become a pokemon trainer!!"

She never saw him jump so high and pump his fists at Hitmonchan speed. She forgot for a second that she was losing him and just felt excited for what was to come for him.

The rest of the information for the Academy was sent to them the next day via pidgey, including clothes and books. Red was allowed to stay home, as he was to leave the next day.

"There aren't many books on the list," Mom said when she looked at it at the table during breakfast. Red was distracted, scratching the underside of the little bird's chin, to its delight.

"Red, do you know why you only need Pokemon Types for Beginners?"

Red turned back to her as he sent the Pidgey away. "Mom, there is only 1 class a day. The rest is training the pokemon and battling them with other's."

She looked further into the envelope and fished out a white ribbon.

"What's this?"

He took it from her and gave a closer look. It looked like a military ribbon, attached to a pin and engraved with the Pokemon League official insignia: a sideways V with the top bent down.

  He couldn't believe that this was happening. He was on his way to becoming a trailer- and so much earlier than he expected! The uniform was as simple as his school one, just in greater quantities; they warned that early trainers go through clothes very quickly when it comes to training themselves with a pokemon.

Even though he knew everything there was to know about stats and battling, he didn't know what to expect when he was picked up by car and brought to the Academy, in the forest on the way to Vermillion City.