Chapter 3: Beginning Of A New Journey
I closed the door behind me with a soft click. Turning back one last time, I stared at the house.
The crooked mailbox. The flowers my mother used to fret over. The cracked glass on the window she always meant to fix.
She'd nag, she'd hum, she'd smile.
Now… just silence. Emptiness.
I turned away before nostalgia could get too dramatic and made my way to Professor Oak's laboratory.
A full day had passed. By now, Charmander should be up and kicking again, hopefully not literally.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason I was going. Today, I was supposed to be officially registered as a Pokémon trainer. Big day. Cue the confetti.
Yesterday, when I mentioned I had turned ten, Professor Oak scratched his head, mumbled something about "regulations" and told me to show up the day after tomorrow to collect my Pokédex and Pokéballs.
Naturally, I decided to show up a day early. Because patience? Overrated.
Not that I was in a hurry to start the whole "trainer journey" thing. Honestly, the original plan had been pretty simple: catch Pokémon, sell them, and make a quick buck.
That plan died with her.
Now?
Now, I wasn't even sure why I was doing this anymore.
"Let's explore," I muttered to myself with a sigh, forcing a half-smile as I jogged toward the lab.
Because if you don't know what you're doing with your life, you might as well wander into it with style.
Eight minutes this time.
It took me a whole eight minutes to reach the front gate again. Sure enough, I pressed the call button.
This time, Professor answered.
His image popped up on the monitor beside the bell, and I could hear his voice—
—but he didn't look too great.
"Ah—oh, Ark? You're here? Just a second..."
He sounded surprised. I was a day early, after all. But come on, anyone even remotely clever, especially someone like Professor Oak, would understand my deep concern for Charmander.
The gate opened on its own, and I stepped through, rushing toward the lab's main building, half-expecting something to be wrong.
...Well, I shouldn't have been that worried.
The moment the lab door flew open, I was greeted by a chaotic scene and a cloud of dust.
Standing at the center of it all was a rather large Pokémon that had knocked Professor Oak flat.
"That's... Kingler!?"
I recognized the big crab immediately. Sir Ash had used one in many of his battles. i
It was hard to forget a Pokémon that smacked things with massive pincers.
But I wasn't sure if this particular one belonged to Ash.
"Professor, are you alright?"
I stepped forward, offering a hand.
Then I paused.
Professor Oak didn't look like he needed help. In fact… he looked like he was enjoying himself.
'Is he a masochist?'
Honestly, any sane person watching this would come to that conclusion.
I shook my head and stepped into the building. "Professor, how's Charmander?"
Even with Kingler still stomping around behind him, the Professor turned slightly and said, "Ah, he's recovered. But I don't know why… he's still lying on the sofa."
"What?"
That caught me completely off guard.
Professor just gave a half-hearted point toward a hallway, and I walked into it…
Honestly? I wish I hadn't.
Because what I found in there… was a menace.
Popcorn?
Yeah, we all love popcorn. I mean—who doesn't? Only an illiterate, illegitimate, mentally unhinged, dumb dogfish would hate it... right?
Well, I almost joined that category.
Because there it was—Charmander. Lying sideways on the couch like a retired champion, tail lazily flicked to the side (thank the stars it wasn't setting the sofa on fire), casually munching on popcorn like it was gourmet Pokéchow.
Popcorn.
And not just any popcorn. Professor Oak's specially formulated Pokémon-safe popcorn, of course. Because why not? Let's just throw all the rules of dignity out the window while we're at it.
And the cherry on top?
It was watching Pokémon battles on TV.
Not training.
Not recovering.
Watching TV.
"What the heck?!"
I blurted it out without thinking. The sound must've startled him, because his head whipped around, eyes locking onto me like I'd just walked in on a crime scene.
Charmander froze mid-crunch.
Then, as if nothing was wrong, it leapt off the sofa and struck a dramatic victory pose.
The popcorn?
All over the floor.
"What in the hell are you doing? Creating a mess in Professor Oak's lab!?"
I swear it understood me. Like, actually understood me.
Charmander turned to inspect the popcorn mess behind him... then turned back to me, opened his big lizard mouth...
...and pointed at me.
Then at the popcorn.
Then at his mouth.
Oh, great.
He wanted me to feed him.
Now, don't get me wrong. I wasn't his servant. No way in the distortion world was I about to baby this little freeloader...
…but the popcorn was already on the floor. Couldn't let good food go to waste, right?
Sighing, I crouched down and began the humiliating exercise of tossing popcorn into his mouth like I was a circus act training a very spoiled fire-lizard.
I really shouldn't have.
Because just then, Professor Oak walked in, finally done wrestling Kingler, and what did he see?
Me, mid-pitch, aiming popcorn into Charmander's mouth like some half-asleep cowboy in a shootout.
"…I came to talk about the Pokédex," Oak said slowly, blinking at the scene in front of him.
I froze.
Charmander caught the popcorn.
Perfectly.
"Ha..."
"Hahahahaha!"
Professor Oak burst into laughter while I stood there, awkwardly scratching my head.
Like, seriously, imagine creating your own fantasy world, role-playing your heart out, and just when you're deep into character...
Someone walks in.
Yeah. First-hand embarrassment. Second-hand embarrassment. All the hands of embarrassment slapped me at once.
Still chuckling, the professor finally handed me the Pokédex.
"Haha, I guess you two suit each other."
"Yeah…" I muttered, not entirely convinced.
I side-eyed the Charmander.
He was now looking the other way, avoiding eye contact. I swear, he was pretending to whistle.
At that moment, I made a silent vow.
I would take revenge for this humiliation.
Professor Oak then handed me a few Pokéballs and said, "Congratulations. From today onward, you're officially a Pokémon Trainer."
A big... no, a huge smile spread across my face.
Maybe it was a good thing I came today. I became a trainer one day earlier! Take that, bureaucracy.
But before I could celebrate, Oak turned into my late mother for a solid ten minutes, explaining every little detail.
Gyms. Badges. New qualifications for championship entries. The map. Mini instructions on how the Pokédex works.
And finally: "Good luck."
I waved goodbye, stepped out of the lab, and stood at the edge of Pallet Town, right at the beginning of everything.
Charmander walked beside me, refusing to enter his Pokéball like he owned the road.
And then, right there, I declared:
"My journey has finally started."
Charmander poked me with his little fingers and then pointed at itself.
I immediately realized and rectified the mistake.
"OUR journey has finally begun!"