It was a crisp, sunny morning in Viridian City; the perfect setting for the beginning of Katt's journey to become the Kanto region's next Pokemon Professor. From her four-post bed of white linen rose the young girl with a mass of bedhead, a rumpled t-shirt and sleep shorts. Katt stretched for a moment and yawned,
Well, time to make breakfast and see if all my studying has been worth the time! With a smirk, the teenage girl padded out of her room and down the stairs to the kitchen to begin her morning with a nice meal of eggs, toast and coffee.
It was with great disbelief that Katt stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, staring doe-eyed as she watched her mother and father...
cooking! Katt's mother, Katelyn, noticed the presence of her daughter and smiled, "Well, good morning, sleepy head!"
Katt's father, Gerald, turned from the stove where he appeared to be cooking a skillet of scrambled eggs and smiled, "Good morning, sweetheart! Did you have a restful sleep?"
"Um," Katt blinked, "Yeah...What exactly are you two doing?" She made her way over to the dining room table to sit down. It struck the girl as alien since the family never, ever used the dining room table to eat because all three members of the house were never home at the same time.
"Well, we're making you breakfast, of course!" Katelyn said with a chirp. "Now, do you take your coffee with milk and sugar?" She was holding a pitcher of milk above a steaming mug of freshly made coffee. The smell lingered over to Katt and she relished the scent.
"Yeah, about 8 ounces of milk and three teaspoons of sugar, please?" Katt smiled; if her parents wanted to make her breakfast before she went on her big journey, why not?
"So, honey," Gerald called from the stove, "Have you decided what Pokemon you'd like Professor Oak to give you?"
Katt rolled her eyes as her mother served her the now fully prepared coffee. Katelyn just chuckled as Katt answered, "Dad, I'm not getting a Pokemon from Professor Oak, remember? I'm receiving one from Professor Pine, here in Viridian?"
"Ah, right, right, sorry, honey," Gerald said as he transferred the eggs from the skillet to a plate. "Salt and pepper on these, dear?"
"Yes, please," Katt answered. She took a big sip of her coffee and smiled, the warmth and buzz it provided fully obliterated her morning fog. Katt's father walked over with the plate of eggs and Katt proceeded to dig in to her meal as both of her parents sat down across from the ravenous teen.
"Honey," Katelyn began, "We're a bit concerned about this whole going off on an adventure thing..." She was holding her husband's hand which was placed on the table, an obvious sign that meant Gerald felt the same way.
Katt looked up from her half-devoured eggs and gave her parents a look of utter terror, "Oh, gods, please don't tell me you two are reconsidering this?"
"Dear, we just think it'd be better if you were to stay in Viridian for say, two more years? You're only 15," her father reasoned. Katt looked at her dad, a man of about forty years with brown hair streaked with grey and glasses, and put down her fork.
"Look," the young girl began, fixing her mother and father with an unyielding glare, "I've been cooped up in Viridian for my entire life. You two are never home so I've had to basically take care of myself since I was old enough to operate the microwave. While you two are at work, I'm out in Vridian Forest or on Route 1 observing the wild Pokemon. I've been doing this for
years, guys! And, now, when I finally have a chance to do more, to be an actual Trainer, you want to take that from me?"
Katelyn pursed her lips and Gerald pushed his glasses up to his face. After a moment, Katt's mother said, "Katrina, we know this means a lot to you, but we'd just feel better if you put it off a bit longer..."
"Yes," her father added, "we promise that after another year or so, you can go on a journey. We'll even buy you a new Pokemon!"
Katt rose from the table with a controlled temper and simply said, "You two haven't been around enough to tell me you actually
care if I'm gone or not. I'm leaving today, and nothing either of you two say will stop me." The livid teen then turned and strode from the room, ascending the stairs with exaggerated steps to express her anger and slammed the door to the bathroom to get her appearance in order.
Katelyn sighed, "Oh, Gerald, what will we do? She won't listen to us..."
"I know, dear," Gerald said, "But, she's right...We've been a couple of poor parents. If she feels this is what's best for her, who are we to say it isn't? We haven't been around our daughter enough these last few years to really know her..."
Katt's mother buried her face in Gerald's shoulder, "Oh, are we really so terrible?"
Katelyn's husband put a reassuring hand on his wife's shoulder and cooed, "No, sweetheart, but we could have been better, I know that much.
It was another hour before Katt descended the stairs once again, fully dressed and prepared to depart her home of fifteen years in order to travel Kanto. Katt's parents were waiting at the front door for the young girl.
Katt, until this moment, was absorbed in adjusting the strap to her knapsack when she looked up and grimaced. "If you're going to try to bar my exit, I'll just shimmy down the drain pipe outside my window."
Her parents shook their heads. "No," her father said, "We're just here to see you off. We love you, Katt, and we just want our little girl to be safe."
Katelyn nodded, "We're just worried, like all parents are before their children go out into the world...We love you, Katrina."
Katt swallowed a rise of emotion and stepped forward to hug her parents, "I love you guys, too," she said. "I'll be okay. I've been out in the forest enough to know what to do and what not to do...I'm gonna be fine."
Her parents smiled at her then before embracing her once more and allowing her to leave to begin her big adventure.
--
About ten minutes later--
Professor Pine, Viridian City's resident Pokemon Professor, had a notorious reputation for being airy and generally out of touch with her surroundings. Katt saw exactly why as she saw the woman absently flipping through a textbook in the Viridian Pokemon Center. Katt, although nervous and entirely considering what her parents had offered, stepped towards the professor and said, "Um, excuse me? Professor Pine?"
The raven-haired woman lifted her head from her textbook and turned to see Katt. "And who might you be, young lady?" Her voice was calm and soothing and her features betrayed not one hint to her age. Katt felt a bit calmer, seeing this bespectacled, dreamy-eyed woman in place of some stern professional.
With a smile, Katt answered, "I'm Katrina Aldine, ma'am. But, you can call me Katt," she extended a hand to the professor, who shook it kindly.
"A pleasure, Ms. Katt," Pine said with an easy smile, "I'm glad you could make it and participate in my study."
"Oh, but of course, professor!" Katt was getting excited now, "To explore Kanto and catalog its Pokemon has always been my dream!"
The professor gave a light giggle and responded, "Well, I'm glad your excited." The young woman then reached into the pocket of her lab coat and produced a PokeBall, still in its pocket-size, a Trainer Card, and a red, rectangular piece of technology which Katt knew to be a PokeDex. "These are for you, if you will?" Professor Pine handed the precious items to Katt, who accepted them with fervent thanks.
"Oh, Professor Pine, you have no idea how much this means to me!" Katt exclaimed. Her dreams were finally coming true!
The professor simply nodded, "Yes, it is an exciting undertaking. Now, if you'll press the release button on your PokeBall? I believe you should meet your new partner."
Katt was a bit nervous, but did as she was instructed. The mechanism expanded to the size of a baseball before opened with a
pop and a fountain of red light spilled out! The strange light then materialized into a Pokemon about the stature of a young boy around age nine. It was covered in yellow and orange feathers and, instead of wings, the Pokemon had arms that ended in taloned appendages. It had a beak and fiery eyes and an orange crest atop it's head as well!
Combusken
Gender: Female
Nature: Docile
[
Scratch] [
Growl] [
Focus Energy] [
Ember] [
Night Slash]
Katt gasped, "Oh, wow!" She stared at the Pokemon for a moment before it made a cry.
"Combusken!"
Katt recoiled for a moment, "So...so, this is my Pokemon?"
Professor Pine nodded, "Mhmm, this is a Combusken. It's a-"
"It's a Fire and Fighting dual-type Pokemon. It's also the first evolutionary stage of Torchic, a pure Fire-type and native Pokemon of Hoenn," Katt interjected. She then realized she'd been rude and sputtered, "I'm sorry, Professor! It's just that I do a lot of studying in my spare time and sometimes it just comes out..."
Pine laughed aloud, "Oh, no, Katt, that was brilliant! I've never met a Trainer so young who knew so much about Pokemon without having one of their own!" The professor placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, "Katt, this is a great step forward for the Pokemon World. I am so glad you decided to be a part of it."
Katt nodded, beaming, "I won't let you down, Professor! I'll battle and capture and raise as many Pokemon as I can handle!"
Pine smiled, "I'm sure you will, Katt. Now, your journey begins on Route 2. Good luck, and take care!"
"I will!" Katt assured her as she ran out of the Pokemon Center with her new Pokemon following close behind.
--A few minutes later, on the northern outskirts of Viridian City--
Katt couldn't believe she was actually doing this; actually going on a journey with a Pokemon of her very own!
Almost as an afterthought, the young Trainer turned back and looked at the city that was, and probably always will be, her home. She felt a wave of emotion rising inside; remembering her days at the Pokemon Trainer's School, going to the park on the weekends just to sketch the Pokemon of the wealthy women who liked to parade their pets about, eating dinner with her parents on the holidays when they both had the day off.
"I'm really going to miss this place..." She murmured.
Combusken looked at her and clucked, "Comb?"
Katt smiled at the Pokemon, "Nothing to worry about, Combusken. Just reminiscing, is all."
"Comb!" The Combusken seems happy with that answer and, suddenly, Katt had an idea.
"So, Combusken," Katt said, "How would you like to have a nickname, hm?"
Combusken clucked happily, "Comb!"
Katt smiled, "Alright then, let's see...What about, Orange?"
Combusken made a face and shook it's head. Katt giggled, she was sort of hoping it would say no.
"Birdie?"
Again, the Pokemon disagreed. Katt "hmmed" for a moment.
"Hm...Maybe, Phoenix?"
At that, the Pokemon jumped in excitement, "Combusken! Busken!"
Katt couldn't help but laugh, "Ahahah! Alright then, from now on, you'll be known as Phoenix."
Phoenix, however, wasn't paying attention due to an Oran Berry that had caught its eye.
"Oh? Are you hungry, Phoenix?" Katt asked.
Phoenix nodded and patted its stomach, which then growled audibly. The Pokemon looked embarrassed, but Katt simply smiled and reached up to the low-hanging Berry and plucked it.
"Here you are," She said, breaking the Berry into two clean halves. Katt offered one to Phoenix, which the Pokemon took eagerly, and the girl proceeded to munch on her half. "Mmm, ripe Oran berries are delicious!"
"Comb! Combusken!" Phoenix answered between mouthfuls.
Katt smiled, but in the back of her head a nagging thought continued to repeat itself: "Am I really ready for the responsibility that's been given to me?" She watched her new ally eat and hoped, in her heart of hearts, that she'd be able to go through with all this. A tempting urge to look back at Viridian once more came to her, but Katt ignored it. If I look back, I'll never leave...