4 Waking up and Slowing down

[ Quest complete ]

[ Trainer Stats]

Name: Drake Gold

Age: 7

Strength: 5

Agility: 8*

Endurance: 7*

Intellect: 17*

Stat points: 2*

Affinity: Old God's Chosen ( Main Affinity: Dragon*)

                                              ( Minor Affinity: all types)*

Trainer Rank: None

Money: $868

Equipment: None

Items: None

[ System Update Complete ]

[ Scan function unlocked, user can now scan Pokémon to see their Moves, Level and Relative stats]

Drake had woken up when he heard his mother crying but decided to deal with his stats first, the increase in stats shocked him especially his Agility. But speculated that real combat situations increase stats faster than exercise.

[ That is correct ]

' How about my intellect '

[ Your strategy for defeating the poacher, though ill conceived, was successful in the end. ] 

[ Pokémon Stats are relative only to those of the same species.] 

[ Your Dragon Affinity doesn't just work on Dragon rtpe Pokémon but Pokémon who look Dragonlike as well e.g. Charizard, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, etc.]

[ You should go deal with your mother, the others are uncomfortable. ]

So Drake opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his mother's teary face.  The second thing he saw was the Dratini still wrapped around his arm sleeping, Adelle noticed Drake waking up and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Drake sighed pinched her cheeks and said " Aren't I supposed to be the one crying, I'm fine why are you crying" Adelle sniffled and said " But you're hurt " " It's fine, men are supposed to have scars" he said with a smile. Adelle gathered herself and said " Why does it often feel like you're the parent and I'm the child" " Consequences of having a handsome, smart and fillial son like me." "There you go again filling your head with narcissistic thoughts."

That small exchange was all it took to calm Adelle down, which shocked the onlookers. "Cough" Professor Oak coughed to get the mother son duo's attention, " Like I was saying before you passed out, thank you for saving Dratini, all hell would have broken loose if that poacher escaped with it, so once again thank you for your help." " It's no problem, I couldn't just stand back and do nothing" Adelle sat at the side both proud and worried about her son's actions, both current and future. " I must say madam you have an incredibly smart son, your son resolves issues and my grandson causes them. Sigh!" Apparently Dratini ran away because his grandson Gary was trying to build a relationship with Dratini but only annoyed it which caused it to run away to get some peace.

"So moving on, I have a proposition for you young Drake, would you like an internship here?" Drake froze and frowned, which professor Oak noticed and asked about." What's wrong ?" " Interns don't get paid" Professor Oak was stumped 'that's his problem' whereas Adelle giggles. Professor Oak sighed and said " If I pay you that will be child labour,  which is incredibly illegal. How about this, when you turn 16 and you're ready to leave on your journey I'll let you pick one of the three Kanto starters to accompany you. Heck I'll even let you pick first." " Deal" " Great you'll start when you're fully healed swing by the lab then, I've already treated your injuries the most you'll get will be a slight scar that will definitely fade, just promise me you'll act more responsibly in the future." Drake tilted his head and said " Im always responsible and mature"

An hour passed before Dratini woke up and seperated from Drake's arm, Drake played with him for a while which shocked professor Oak before he left to go home with his mother. On their way home Adelle also asked Drake to be more careful in the future so that when he leaves for his journey she can rest easy knowing he'll be safe since she'll mostly be alone. Because Tom Gold (Drake's dad) is an actor a really popular one too, so he's rarely home. But he does call everyday to fawn over his wife and hear stories about his son.

And so 9 years passed relatively peacefully, Drake worked with professor Oak as an assistant, he started of feeding the baby Pokémon then eventually working his way up to Professor Oak's main Pokémon. Even including his Charizard and Dragonite who are both known for being incredibly irritable and violent, but with all the books he read about Pokémon care and all the knowledge he acquired he went from feeding them to eventually doing their maintenance. Such as scale waxing, nail care and even dental checkups, everyone in the lab was thoroughly shocked, they all thought he'd hit a wall when he had to deal with professor Oak's Pokémon who were so loyal that only Oak's family and extremely close friends were able to feed them. But in one day Drake won them over. Except Charizard, he took a week to warm up to Drake, Dragonite would've taken longer but Drake's affinity and Dratini's vouch FastTracked the process.

Speaking of Dratini over the past nine years he and Drake grew extremely close, as long as Drake was doing work in the ranch Dratini was there following him and playing with him when Drake had free time, but that was the case with a few of the young Pokémon on the ranch. A few months ago Professor Oak asked Drake which Pokémon he was going to choose as his starter, though it was strange he replied honestly and said Charmander much to the relief of professor Oak. Drake thought he was worried he'd pick Squirtle because that was the Pokémon Gary was planning to pick but that wasn't the case. After Oak's Charizard took a trip to the Charicific he came back with an egg and it let Oak know his intention to pass it on to Drake. Professor Oak was worried he'd have to renege on his promise but that wasn't the case.

Over the past 13 years Drake grew to be friends with Ash Ketchum and after Gary Oak saw Dratini follow Drake everywhere, he asserted himself as Drake's rival. They grew to become a trio of rivals and friends, and that was becoming more and more true with each passing day bringing the day their journey would start closer and closer until it was finally the day before choosing day. Drake calmed himself down by following his daily routine of caring for professor Oak's Pokémon, he spoke to them about his worries and got his own answers from their silence or from them saying the one word they knew.

After a long yet fulfilling day he went home and triple checked and his supplies for tomorrow, from his trainer vest to his black leather jacket( made from Tauros learher) to his jeans and leather boots. Drake came to realize he had a mild leather obsession, it couldn't be helped. After realizing everything was in place he showered and set two alarms, both battery powered and went to bed early.

The next morning....

Drake woke up at the sound of his two alarms going off, he stretched, showered and brushed his teeth got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast where he greeted his mother and little sister. You heard right his little sister, after the whole poacher debacle his came home for a visit and to commend his son for his valiant deed he started Drake's leather obsession by giving him his first leather jacket and gave his mom a daughter. Little Nina was an angel she was kind and took most of Adelle's clingy affection away from Drake. What is it with mother's and their daughters, moving on after an emotional breakfast ( Mostly Adelle ) he bid them farewell before heading to professor Oak's laboratory.

He considered waking up Ash but decided against it, Ash and Pikachu were destined partners there was no need to change that. There were lots of trainers who would be receiving a starter Pokémon today but only five stood out, Drake, Gary, Ash and two others a boy and a girl. Professor Oak only ordered three of the Kanto starters and the five of them were supposed to decide who amongst them would get one. In the end the three rivals won the right to choose first, but by the time Ash arrives his chance would be long gone.

Drake arrived at the lab 5 minutes early and met Gary waiting,  it seems he slept in the lab the night before seems he was incredibly worried. Shortly after the other two arrived followed by Professor Oak who told them they could start choosing, except for Drake which shocked him, ' Is he reneging on the deal?' but Professor Oak said that his starter wasn't there and to wait until Gary and the other's finished choosing. And just like in the anime Gary chose Squirtle , the girl chose the Bulbasaur and the boy chose rhe Charmander.

All the others left after collecting their starters their Pokédex and five Pokéballs except for Gary he wanted to see which Pokémon would be my starter, I had no reason to say no so I just went with it. We both followed  behind Professor Oak as he climbed the tallest hill in the estate while reciting his horrible poems. And upon reaching the peak I saw all of Professor Oak's main Pokémon there as per usual, but I saw a Pokémon I didn't see on this hill before a small yellow Charmander, a shiny Charmander standing besides Oak's Charizard. He then pointed to it and said " Charizard wants you to take care of this little one for him that's why I asked you which Pokémon you'd pick a few months ago, I didn't think it'd be a shiny one though."  He then took out a Pokéball and used it to capture said Charmander, it was captured instantly no shaking at all.

He then handed me the Pokéball , a Pokédex and 5 Pokéballs, I then excitedly released the Charmander from the Pokéball and squatted down to pet it. It said "Charrr" in a pleased tone and rubbed it's head on my palm, I  then proceeded to use the Pokédex on him and read all the available information on it. But while I was doing so I was distracted by Oak's Dragonite who pushed it's Dratini towards me and roared lightly shocking me slightly, not because I didn't plan on taking Dratini but by the fact that Dragonite was asking me to(well forcing to be honest, who would say no to this monster of a Pokémon). The plan was to ask Professor Oak but that was no longer necessary, without wasting a moment I used a Pokéball on Dratini, this ball also didn't shake and the capture was completed immediately.