Antonio threw his pillow across the room, nearly knocking over a lamp. His life was one piece of bad news after another, and today he would get his biggest headline. Antonio wouldn’t be able to start his pokémon journey.
He knew why, of course. How can you forget such a thing when you’re only reminded about it every day of your life? Sitting alone most of the days, he would often wonder why God put him on earth with this horrible predicament, why God put him on earth with this curse on his head, why God made laughter from the young boy’s misery.
But more than he hated God, he hated his father. It was his father’s fault that Antonio’s life was stricken so horrible. Antonio had a father who best showed the evils of greed and want without even realizing what he was doing. Antonio had a father who was the leader of the now extinct group Team Rocket. Antonio’s father was the infamous Giovanni.
After years of trying to steal unknowing trainers pokémon, Giovanni was finally apprehended by police. His father committed suicide soon after Antonio was born. No one quite knew why. Those who thought of him as a complete insane villain thought he did it to keep a secret. Of course, these were just rumors. But, they still had their influence on people. Soon, Antonio’s family was labeled evil.
Though no one would believe him, Antonio was different than his father. He had learned from his father’s mistakes, and was ready to start his pokémon adventure, doing it without crime or cheating. But, the legend of his father still lived on. And so, the decision made by headquarters stood clear; Antonio was not aloud any pokémon journey’s for the fear that he was like his father, and that he would start up Team Rocket again to carry on the family name.
There was only one person who knew Antonio’s real character. His mother. While Antonio grew up, she knew he was different than Giovanni; kind and fair. She was also the one that understood what he was going through, being a victim of gossip herself.
So, it was only right that she would let him start on the path to achieving his goal, knowing full well that he didn’t know what his goal was yet. She already knew, but she wouldn’t tell him it. It would be better if he found out himself.
Antonio’s mother walked in his room. She saw him on his side, looking out the window. Kneeling down next to him, she put her hand on his head. His only response was turning in the other direction, and looking at the wall.
"Honey, I know you’re upset." Really, she didn’t plan for what she would say next. Deciding she only had one choice, she put the pokéball on the end table resting next to his bed. She stood up, and kissed him on the forehead. As she started to walk away, he shuffled around in his bed, and looked at her. His confused face gave away his question.
His mom turned her head and spoke very slowly. "It was your father’s. His first ever. He gave it to me to give to you." She stared at the ground. For a while, the two just stared at nothing. After a long sigh, his mother left, saying nothing more, hoping she got her point across. After silently closing the door, Antonio stared at the pokéball, thinking about what his father would say to him at this point.
Pushing the button, he opened an empty pokéball. He really didn’t expect anything to be in it. But, he did know there used to be, and that there will be again. Soon, he stopped thinking about why his mom let him break the law. He just cared about how he would do it. He imagined what his first pokémon would be.
Of course, family heredity can’t be completely changed. He still had the craven for ground, rock, and poison type pokémon. He wondered where he could find any of those type, and remembered what he heard at school, about how you can find out where pokémon are by looking in a pokédex.
Then it came to him. He didn’t have a pokédex. He wouldn’t be able to get one.
Who would sacrifice their career to help out the son of Giovanni? The more he thought about it, all; no pokédex, one pokéball, son of Giovanni, the more he realized that his journey would be more difficult than others.
And for some reason, he was thrilled by that.