Birth of a Pokemon Champion

Chapter 1 : Kai

"Cooh."

A sound came from outside the window.

Kai, who was deep asleep, slowly opened his eyes, instantly noticing the figure of a half-meter-tall gray bird perched on the balcony railing, its wings spread wide.

It was a Pidgey with a leaf-green mailbox hanging around its neck.

"A mail?" Kai wasn't too surprised. This wasn't the first time he had received mail through a bird-type Pokémon.

"Cooh!"

Taking it as a yes, Kai sat up and reached inside the mailbox, pulling out a palm-sized envelope with his address written on it.

Amused, he carefully opened it, finding a delicate postcard inside, featuring a famous foreign landmark. On the back, it read:

[Happy Birthday, dear! Congratulations on becoming an Apprentice Pokémon trainer!]

"Seems like they didn't forget my 16th birthday after all," Kai murmured softly. The postcard was naturally sent by his mom. Only she had such bad handwriting.

His parents were busy folks, mostly out of town throughout the year for work. Without this postcard, Kai would have concluded that his parents had forgotten about him.

Just as he was skimming through the letter, the Pidgey outside the window cooed again, this time with a pristine white paper in its beak.

"An evaluation form?" Kai raised an eyebrow but, meeting the Pidgey's expectant gaze, he reached out to retrieve a pen from the nearby desk and marked "5 stars" on the form.

Seeing the rating, the Pidgey chirped with joy.

Then, bowing politely, it flapped its wings and flew off to the next delivery.

"Pokémon have it tough, working so early in the morning." Kai shook his head as he watched the bird-type Pokémon vanish into the horizon.

"Time to get up."

Getting out of bed, Kai headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Looking in the mirror, he saw his reflection: black hair, light brown eyes, and a height of about 1.78 meters.

He had received more than a few compliments on his looks since childhood. So he knew he didn't look half bad. At least average, which he thought was great for a trait he had no control over.

While it was a pity he couldn't reap the benefits of being good-looking, he at least didn't have to face the hardships of being ugly.

Just as Kai finished freshening up and got into some decent clothes, he heard the sound of a door opening downstairs, followed by a cheerful voice: "Good morning, Kai! You're up already?"

Walking down the staircase into a small living area, Kai met eyes with a petite girl carrying a bag of groceries as she came inside, closing the door behind her.

She had long black hair with bangs, large sky-blue eyes, and fair skin with a hint of pink. She wore a T-shirt and denim shorts, her long, slender legs adding to her energetic appearance.

"Oh? You're already up." Noticing that Kai was already dressed, the corners of the girl's mouth curled up into a cute grin. "Did you stay up all night because today's the day you get your first Pokémon?"

Today was Kai's 16th birthday, which meant that he could go to a Pokémon Center to receive his first Pokémon and register as an Apprentice Pokémon trainer, which was a training phase for soon-to-be Pokémon trainers.

It was the first and very big step for anyone aspiring to be a Pokémon trainer. At such an important juncture in their life, even adults would feel nervous, let alone kids his age.