The Beginning

Theo's alarm began to go off like a Pikipek drilling on some wood. Theodore turned his body over and gave a brief groan of tiredness. Due to having it not being set at a loud volume, Theo's alarm had not woken up the rest of his family. Rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes, Theodore briefly yawned as he glared at his own Alarm.

Theo rolled his neck and flinched at how stiff it was from his sleeping position. Giving an almost incomprehensible mutter, Theodore got up from his bed and shuffled over to his backpack which he was going to be using for the rest of his journey. "Dear Arceus. I am going to be awake at this time each day? Better than being late, I suppose' ."

From a brief look, it almost felt militaristic compared to the advertised backpacks. Each pouch held an expanded pocket dimension which could hold as much as a regular backpack. This backpack is what he had saved up enough money from taking back his earned cash from his own father.

A twinge of hatred flared up inside of his entire being at the man he called father. Theo gave a long, suffering sigh as he washed away those grim thoughts. Theo shook his head, "Expensive as all hell this backpack is. It is state of the art technology from a year ago. Definitely was worth the buy. Served me well." He muttered as he began to empty out his entire drawer of clothes into the secondary compartment of his backpack.

This compartment was the second biggest compartment, but the main compartment held all of his camping supplies for his upcoming journey. Reaching the front pocket he briefly looked at the few thousand Poke Dollars he had left from his savings. He briefly recoiled at how little he had left, but he had to make do with how little he had left.

Taking the unexpectedly light backpack and slung it onto his bed, Theo began to change into his 'trainer' clothing. Which mostly consisted of khaki shorts, a loose poke league t-shirt which hid his growing muscles, and a newsboy cap. When he finally finishes, Theo placed the cap on his head giving him a more 'mature' vibe.

Theodore gave a mental snort at how sillily dapper he was. He picked up his expensive pack and slung the straps over his shoulders. He silently exited his room and stared at the living room which held his knocked-out father lounging in the reclining chair. He briefly looked at the turned off television before shaking his head and exited the apartment all together.

A relieved smile spread across Theodore's face as he felt he had finally left behind a burden he didn't know he had. He decided he would take the stairs instead of waiting on the dingy elevator today. Going down the stairwell, Theodore felt that pit of unease unwind then slightly tightened when he realized he forgot to say his goodbyes to mother.

Even with that unease, Theodore felt like couldn't care enough to say his goodbyes to his mother. A twinge of sadness and disgust flashed through his mind at his actions, but Theo decided he needed to get away from his abusive father and his 'unreliable' mother. He really wanted to hurl at the thought, but he just couldn't. He had to be mentally strong enough to make this last push.

With his thoughts complete, he had reached the end of the stairwell and made it into the lobby. Where his mother was patiently waiting for him with open arms. He gave a silent gulp as he could see the black bruise around her right eye, but he could see the dried tears of grieving that had once streamed down her face.

"Theodore, I'll miss you. I'll miss you dearly. Give mommy a hug before you go? Please?" She gave an exhausted, wobbly smile which held a knife to his heart. Theodore paused as his mother gave him her best pleading eyes. In this very moment Theodore had chosen to step forward and gave her a hug. Whispering into his mother's ear, Theodore began to silently cry tears of Joy, "I'll miss you, too. I hope-" Theodore's voice cracked into a sob, "I hope you can get out of this situation."

His mother gave him a more strained, yet happy smile, "I know, son. I know."

With that confirmation, he stepped back and out of the hug, "You know what you PMS is. If- If you need to talk to me." Theodore's ears were burning in embarrassment as his eyes held emotional exhaustion. His mother's eyes flashed in recognition, "Ah. Of course, why didn't I think of that?"

Shaking his head in amusement, he passed his bemused mother and into the crisp air of Castelia. Theodore breathed in the sweet air of the awakening city and skipped out to the Castelia Gym.

Upon entering the gym a couple of hours earlier than he was supposed to be there, Theodore noticed the gym lights were currently on. He shook his head in amusement and entered the Gym itself. The receptionist of the gym briefly looked towards the thirteen year old and gave a nod of recognition.

"Good morning, Miss Wellspring." Theodore greeted with a smile, "How is Gym Leader Burgh? And the trainers under him, too?"

The receptionist gave an amused smile, "You're here early." She stated before shaking her head and replying, "You know how Burgh is. Cleaning up the battlefield after his evening battles. Usually takes about thirty minutes." She cleared her throat, "Trainer Newman had decided to cut ties and move on, or rather in his own words quote on quote- 'Burgh is a Gym Leader and all. But I feel like I'm not learning anything under him. Great break from my Journey, though.'"

Theo gave a small chuckle as he allowed the receptionist to gossip, "I can imagine that. Newman didn't seem like the patient type. He taught me some cool training tips though when I finally start my journey. I assume Trainer Jacob and Trainer Devan are still happy with their positions?"

Wellspring gave a brief, melodic chuckle, "No- they aren't surprisingly enough. 'Burgh should allow us to test trainer's more! The lot getting to him are total newbies!' The duo are always looking for battles. Battle thirsty lot." She shook her head and pointed towards the comfy sofas in the lobby, "Sit down and relax. You look like you need it. Honestly, Theo, you need it. No kid like you should be that stressed."

Theo gave a brief, unimpressed stare at Miss Wellspring before looking away and spoke out loud, "Why do you always know what I need? It's like you are a social genius! I tell you!" He huffed as he felt Miss Wellspring reach over her desk and ruffle his hair. A appreciative smile had made its way to his face unbeknownst to him,

"It's a adult thing, you will understand it- Maybe. Eventually." Giving an annoyed, pointed look at Miss Wellspring, Theo made his way over to the sofas. He took off his backpack and placed it to his side as he sunk into the pillows of the sofa.

Taking out his smartphone, Theo began to unwind as he began to browse through some online media. He searched the popular social media app 'PokeGram' for something new. It looked like some of his castelian friends hadn't gone anywhere interesting for the last few days. He looked at Nimbasa's current gym leader idol Elesa's page. It was mostly her flexing off some clothing he didn't really care about.

Rolling his eyes at the idol, he shifted over into a more comfortable position on the soft. His shoulders began to become less tense as he briefly considered taking a nap. Giving a brief yawn, he switched over to PIM.

{ PIM }

Bugboylover341(UNREAD): Hey. You awake?

Bugboylover341(UNREAD): Come on. I know you're awake! Please? I'd like to talk.

Bugboylover341(UNREAD): Aaah! I know you're awake, you big baby! lol.

The0 Yeah, yeah. I'm awake. At the Castelia gym atm. Waking up at 5 A.M. is something I'm never going to be getting used too. What do you need, dude?

Bugboylover341: Well. Um. I know you want to go to another region. Ikindofwantedtoknowifyoucouldcometojohto.

The0: Did you just-

Bugboylover341: Yeah, I know. I'm using voice to text.

The0: Haha. Surprisingly, yeah. I was either thinking about heading toward Kanto or Johto. I know the Indigo League season is coming up in two weeks. I wouldn't mind stopping by your place for a while.

Bugboylover341: Ah- Well that's a surprising offer. But I mostly wanted to know if you wanted one of the Joltiks so you could pick it up when you get here eventually. The rangers wanted to know if any trainer wanted them before they took them to the ranches throughout the region.

The0: Huh. Perks of having friends, I guess. Joltik . . *Strokes beard*.

Bugboylover341: Ah- Heck off, bearded man! What have you done with the real The0!

The0: What do you mean, good friend? I am the one and only The0! I shall accept your gracious offer with a Unovian movie beret in hand.

Bugboylover341: You fiend! How did you know I wanted a beret. . Unless you really are The0. Impossible! And utterly like The0!

{ PIM }

Theo gave an amused smile as he looked up around the lobby and noticed Burgh coming out of the battlefield entrance. Shaking his head and letting Burgh do his morning duties, he continued browsing his PIM notifications.

{ PIM }

PerkyElectricGirl1(UNREAD): Heeey! It's been months since we've talked.

PerkyElectricGirl1(UNREAD): It's rude to leave a girl unread, y'know!!

PerkyElectricGirl1(UNREAD): If you don't answer me I'll release your embarrassing moments online.

The0: Impossible. You? Approaching me? To fight in a battle of wits? For I am The0! I have no embarrassing moments. The Electricstar family will fall to me, silly mortal.

PerkyElectricGirl1: I am astonished . . Nay. Speechless. How could I have forgotten the simple fact that you are The0.

The0: Haaa. Bow down to me, silly girl.

The0: Anyways. I'm finally getting my starter today. Definitely not telling what I think I'm going to get, though.

PerkyElectricGirl1: Ooh! It's a Joltik isn't it?

The0: Nay. You wasted your one chance. I'll tell you it is a flying type. Good luck! Haha.

{ PIM }

Theodore finally got up from his comfortable position on the sofa inside of the lobby. Around himself he could see the other teens that slowly trickled in, waiting for their starters from Burgh. He picked up his backpack and put on the straps over his shoulders. He began to slowly stretch once more as he stared at the other teenagers before scoffing at their laziness.

He could easily see a lot of them were rich kids being put through the journey by their parents. A coming of age thing that their parents had once done. He simply knew the lot of them would never reach it past the third or fourth gym in their lifetime as a trainer.

It was honestly an old, tasteless tradition that was unnecessary by Unovian standards. The league had plenty of trainers compared to the dangerous regions of Sinnoh, Johto, and Kanto. Two of which had recently come out of a war only a decade ago.

He could only push his own feelings aside as he heard the announcement, "Starter selection will begin in five minutes! Starter selection will begin in five minutes!" Trainer Devan's voice came over the P.A. Theodore heard some of the groans of the other trainer's grumblings. While snickering, he made it towards the battlefield which held Burgh and the plethora of pokeballs which were put out.

A large screen at the back of the battlefield was currently displaying the information of the different starters which Burgh had procured from the local area, "Welcome! Welcome Trainers! Today you all begin your glorious journey in the region of Unova. Or Johto. Or Hoenn. You know where you are going."

Burgh's voice rang out of the dome as Theo's heart rate began to spike in excitement. He knew what starter he wanted as Burgh had procured it personally for him. He still had to wait in line to get his starter though compared to the other trainers who had theirs chosen by who got it the fastest.

When Theo finally got his turn Burgh handed him a pokeball. Theodore's heart pumped in excitement as he heard a rather flat voice come out from Burgh's personal pokedex.

Pokemon: Combee. The Tiny Bee Pokemon. It tirelessly collects nectar for the swarm and its Vespiquen.

Ability: Honey Gatherer and the Hidden Ability: Hustle

Gender: Female

Moves: Gust, Sweet Scent, Bug Bite, Ominous Wind, and Mud-Slap.

Theo could only memorize what his own pokemon's abilities and moves were before pulling out the trainer card app which gave his information. Alongside an actual trainer card that was passed to him soon afterwards with only the ID and Name attached.

Trainer ID: 92515617

Name: Theodore Maximillian

Pokemon Registered: Combee.

Bank: 1000P

Theodore hummed softly as he looked towards Burgh, "I have enjoyed my time learning from you Burgh. My journey is calling me."

Burgh stood there quietly before speaking up, "I have enjoyed your company. But I know the same calling, Trainer Maximillian. I await your return to Unova in open arms."

Theo gave Burgh a blinding smile and went towards one of the open battlefields to meet his starter for the first time.