Sam stepped onto dry land, and fell to his knees. His legs wouldn't support him yet; he was clearly not very well-adapted to life at sea. The boat ride itself had really taken it out of him; two and a half hours of constant shuddering and rocking. As he slowly got to his feet, he reflected on the rest of the day. It seemed so far away, now, his life in the city...
He awoke with a start, as his mother called out from the living room. "Sam, get up, we need to get to the airport right now!"
"Yeah, yeah..." he mumbled in response. He clambered out of bed, and walked into the kitchen.
"There's some cereal in the pantry, Sam, and don't be long. The plane leaves in less than two hours." He pulled a box of Coco Pops out of the cupboard, and covered them in milk, then spent the next few minutes gulping down the unhealthy start to his day. He then went back to his bedroom, got dressed, and double-checked his backpack.
Clothes. Socks. Notebook. Pens. Hat. Water bottle. Jacket. He checked each item off in his mind. On second thoughts, he decided, after looking out the window at the cold sky, maybe I'll wear my jacket now.
They only just managed to make it to the airport in time. The electronic sign had their flight at the top of the list, reading:
Flight 613: Sydney, Australia to Rhode Island, USA - Departure: 3 minutes.
"Come on, mum, hurry up!" Sam called, hurrying towards the gate. His mother wasn't bringing any luggage other than one carry-on bag, since she was only going to see him off at the port. After what seemed like ages of endless running, checking the signs at the top of the gates, they found their flight: 613: Boarding now. Sam pulled out the tickets, handed them to the woman at the desk ("you cut that a little close!"), then ran down the hall and onto the plane. Sam shuffled down the walkway, found their seats, and stuffed the bags into the top compartment. Then they took their seats, and waited paitiently.
The port at Rhode Island was heavily crowded with new trainers saying their goodbyes to family and friends. Finally, Sam found the end of the supposed "queue", almost indistiguishable from the rest of the crowd, then lined up. Not wanting his mum to make a fuss, he kissed her on the cheek and told her not to worry about him. She looked at him once, then pulled him into a hug, sobbing something about "my little boy... going off on his own big adventure... you'll have to write... call me if you can..."
"Muuuum," Sam moaned, attempting to pull out of his mother's grip. "I'll be fine, okay? It's not like I'm going away for years or anything." Nevertheless, she refused to leave until Sam was safely past the ticket barrier. "Bye, mum!" he called out one last time, and then he rounded a bend, and she was gone. Now he had a full view of the boat he was to be boarding, though; a small ferry, probably only just big enough for the fifty people who were getting on. He felt sick already, just looking at the small, fragile-looking craft...
Sam snapped back to the present as somebody called loudly "EXCUSE ME!" He looked over for the source of the sound, and a short-looking man climbed up onto a large rock in front of everyone. He gave a small speech, informing everyone that his name was Dr. Cheung Fung, and that they were about to recieve the bread-and-butter of Pokemon Training; a Pokemon to work with, a Pokedex, and five Pokeballs. Sam waited patiently as the other 49 excited trainers lined up, each taking a moment to speak to Dr. Fung as he handed them their equipment. Finally, it was his turn... He stepped up to the doctor and shook his hand happily. "Hello, I'm Sam."
"Well, hi there, Sam! How was the trip here?"
"I wish I could say I enjoyed it..." he replied.
"Ah, well. We can't have everything our way, I suppose. Here are your tools and first Pokemon..." Dr. Cheung Fung handed Sam five small red-and-white balls, a little red thing, and one more, slightly larger ball. He recognised each item instantly, while an explanation quickly confirmed his thoughts. "The five smaller balls, I'm sure you know, are empty Pokeballs. Press the button in the center when you want to use one, and it will enlarge, allowing for one Pokemon only. The larger Pokeball already contains your first Pokemon; yours is a male Nidoran. It's quite poisonous, be careful with its spikes... And the red object you have there, is a Pokedex. As soon as it detects a Pokemon, it scans its body, most of the time being able to check behaviour and all other information simply from the body shape. Any time you want to check information, pull this out, and voila! Anyway, I don't want to keep the others waiting, so please, head onwards, and enjoy your time here!"
Sam walked away, unable to believe it was true. A Pokemon... A Nidoran! This is amazing... He almost jumped for joy, instead allowing a huge grin to spread across his face. His journey was really beginning. He knew a long and tough road faced him, but it was his wildest dreams come true.
He couldn't wait.
Howzat for a first post? :3