"Gabriel! Gabriel, downstairs at once! Your mother and I have something to discuss with you!"
The teenager inhaled sharply, and descended the stairs. For what reason they wanted his attention, he did not know... Since finishing school at age ten, Gabriel had been desperate to go out on his very own journey, like all of the other kids, but his parents had not allowed him that privilege. He'd spent the last six years being home-schooled, so that he would one day, take over his father's ranch, but all he wanted was to be a trainer...
Gabriel was surprised to find that when he got downstairs, his parents, for once, didn't seem angry with him. Instead, his mother was stood by the door, with a pokeball in her hand. A pokeball, and not the luxury ball that she used for her Delcatty, or one of the many ultra balls that his father used on his many miltank.
"You're going to become a trainer," Mother announced, "And we've got a starter pokemon for you."
A starter? So it was finally happening. He was finally getting to go on a journey. He was finally getting a shot at his dream...
He took the pokeball from her hand, unsure of what to say.
"Open it. Your starter is inside."
Gabriel tentatively pressed the button on the front. This was the day that he had always dreamed of. The day that he was finally getting to go out on his journey, and yet, as he waited for the pokemon to materialise in front of him, he found that instead of being overjoyed, he was terrified. What if the pokemon that they picked for him was intentionally bad, so that they could laugh in his face when his dreams were inevitably crushed, at the hands of a trainer with better pokemon? He had to wonder...
The flash of red light from the sphere formed into a fat, candle-like shape. It was a litwick.
"Do you know why we've chosen this pokemon for you?"
Gabriel was dragged out of his brief admiration period for the little pokemon almost instantly. "No, father."
"We are allowing you to become a trainer on one condition," the man replied, "You either come home a champion, or you don't come home at all."
Gabriel stilled at those words. Don't come home at all. So he was being thrown out...
"Litwick can drain your soul, and use it to power the flame on its head," Gabriel's mother added, "But it can become a powerful pokemon, if used effectively. You will either become Unova's next champion, or you will die. These are our terms, for letting you become a trainer. Do you accept them?"
Gabriel swallowed at her words, beaming the tiny pokemon back into its ball. Be the best, or die trying... Or stay here, and be pushed into being his father's replacement... It was a no-brainer. If Gabriel died out there, he would at least die a free man.
"Yes, mother," Gabriel said quietly, "I'll be off now."
Gabriel went upstairs to pack his rucksack, stashing the pokeball safely away in his bag. He took a last look at his room, knowing that he might never see it again, before he zipped downstairs and out the door. Striaton City was to be his first destination, so, he decided to start walking there...
The teenager inhaled sharply, and descended the stairs. For what reason they wanted his attention, he did not know... Since finishing school at age ten, Gabriel had been desperate to go out on his very own journey, like all of the other kids, but his parents had not allowed him that privilege. He'd spent the last six years being home-schooled, so that he would one day, take over his father's ranch, but all he wanted was to be a trainer...
Gabriel was surprised to find that when he got downstairs, his parents, for once, didn't seem angry with him. Instead, his mother was stood by the door, with a pokeball in her hand. A pokeball, and not the luxury ball that she used for her Delcatty, or one of the many ultra balls that his father used on his many miltank.
"You're going to become a trainer," Mother announced, "And we've got a starter pokemon for you."
A starter? So it was finally happening. He was finally getting to go on a journey. He was finally getting a shot at his dream...
He took the pokeball from her hand, unsure of what to say.
"Open it. Your starter is inside."
Gabriel tentatively pressed the button on the front. This was the day that he had always dreamed of. The day that he was finally getting to go out on his journey, and yet, as he waited for the pokemon to materialise in front of him, he found that instead of being overjoyed, he was terrified. What if the pokemon that they picked for him was intentionally bad, so that they could laugh in his face when his dreams were inevitably crushed, at the hands of a trainer with better pokemon? He had to wonder...
The flash of red light from the sphere formed into a fat, candle-like shape. It was a litwick.
"Do you know why we've chosen this pokemon for you?"
Gabriel was dragged out of his brief admiration period for the little pokemon almost instantly. "No, father."
"We are allowing you to become a trainer on one condition," the man replied, "You either come home a champion, or you don't come home at all."
Gabriel stilled at those words. Don't come home at all. So he was being thrown out...
"Litwick can drain your soul, and use it to power the flame on its head," Gabriel's mother added, "But it can become a powerful pokemon, if used effectively. You will either become Unova's next champion, or you will die. These are our terms, for letting you become a trainer. Do you accept them?"
Gabriel swallowed at her words, beaming the tiny pokemon back into its ball. Be the best, or die trying... Or stay here, and be pushed into being his father's replacement... It was a no-brainer. If Gabriel died out there, he would at least die a free man.
"Yes, mother," Gabriel said quietly, "I'll be off now."
Gabriel went upstairs to pack his rucksack, stashing the pokeball safely away in his bag. He took a last look at his room, knowing that he might never see it again, before he zipped downstairs and out the door. Striaton City was to be his first destination, so, he decided to start walking there...
