Kanto, Old and New

Kanto has changed a lot for the past six years, from being a middle-income economy to economic power in the mainland. Many of her cities drastically changed, former routes are now gone as they were replaced with Pokemon sanctuaries where its main goal is to ensure the protection of all of the Pokemon from any abusive, illegal, and sinister acts of humanity. People are still allowed to capture Pokemon in these sanctuaries albeit under the supervision of the staff. Instead of walking, most trainers use trains to go from one city to another to obtain badges.

However, as Kanto modernizes, Pokemon training is slowly dying, nobody is sure why this was happening, others theorize that the new generation isn't as interested as before, others speculate that major development in many cities causes a lot of political and cultural change between Man and Monsters, other than that, nobody is sure why.

Pallet City, a former small humble town, has grown to become a major economic powerhouse of Kanto. Home of many of the international industries, and home of many progressive inventions. Skyscrapers are everywhere in the city, many districts are filled with commerce and condos as this city attracts many people all over the world.

Pallet city, alongside Viridian, Cerulean, Celadon, and Saffron are the five powerful cities that powers up the mighty Kantonese machine. It's a major pride among Kantonese people.

-

The elevator door opened, Yoake stepped out from it and walked to the exit of the condo. He took a deep breath as he focused on his objective to do his groceries.

"Good afternoon Mister Katsuragi." Greeted by the guard of the condo, who was sitting on his post. Yoake stopped for a moment and decided to greet him as well.

"Oh, Good afternoon as well, and drop the Mister Katsuragi thing, and just call me Yoake instead." He insisted on the guard. The guard giggles as he treats this kid with big respect and calls him in a more formal approach.

"Your family owns this building, right? It's my job to serve and call you in a formal way." The guard excused. Yoake sighed and nodded.

"Right, by the way, where's my bike?" Yoake asked the guard as he looks around to find his bike.

"It's in the locker room. I've placed it there to sure that no one would steal it." The guard stated with a smile.

"Oh okay. Thanks." Yoake thanked the guard as he turns around and walked to the door that is near the elevators. He opened it up and saw lockers upon lockers in the room. There were benches in the center so that their tenants have something to sit on while looking at their lockers. He saw his bike standing at the corner, he grabbed it went outside to do his chore.

He left the building and was greeted by the busy street of their district. In front of him is a restaurant, he often goes there when he wants to go outside for a moment. He hopped onto his bike and headed straight to the plaza, the center of Pallet City.

-

"Why don't you have a Pokemon?" A passerby asked. This was a common question as everyone is aware that Yoake doesn't have a Pokemon despite being 12 years old. Everyone knows that at the age of 10, they should have a Pokemon but for Yoake, it was very odd. People gossiped about him being a shut-in after having his birthday and maybe the reason why he didn't have a Pokemon or some theorized that he just doesn't like to have one.

Despite many people asking, he always has one answer, "Well, I guess I'm not ready to have one, I guess."

Even though Yoake stated that multiple times, people doubt that answer as they can see the potential of the kid on being the world's best, and he always declines that idea. While he doesn't have a Pokemon, the rest of his family have, His sister has an Alakazam, his parents have a Goodra and Metagross.

As he enters the plaza, he saw a grand statue of the Kantonese starters: Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard. It was a symbol to represent where Pokemon training took off from a small hobby to an official sport in the Pokemon world, Kanto started it all. The first nation, the first generation to bring in battle mechanics and fundamental rules in Pokemon tournaments and battles.

Yoake decided to stop for a moment and admire the statue. He always wanted to become a Pokemon trainer but he fears that he might not even be ready for it so he decided to play the virtual competitive instead.

After staring at the statue for a minute, he went to the grocery store and do his chore.

"Mom, why does that kid doesn't have Pokemon with him?" A little girl asked as she pulled a piece of her mother's skirt as she pointed her finger to Yoake, who was looking at a box of cereal.

"Shush." Her mother stopped her quickly and gave an apology to Yoake, "I'm very sorry about that."

"It's okay," Yoake stated as he continues reading at the box. He didn't mind about the girl pointing at him since he is aware that she is still a kid, and it's common for a kid to do that stuff to strangers.

After finishing the groceries, he paid for it and left. He quickly went home with the groceries and placed it in the living room so his mother could put the groceries in their proper place.

"You seemed to be in a hurry." His mother said as she walked in and noticed Yoake sitting on the couch, and scrolling through this phone. He immediately noticed her, he closed his phone and placed it beside him.

"Mom didn't see you there," Yoake responded to her quick appearance.

"You forgot about your chore again, didn't you?" She sighed with a small remark as she knows how Yoake sometimes forgets about his only chore, doing the groceries.

"Well. Being a shut-in is going to bite you someday, and I'm not surprised with it." She exclaimed as she was disappointed about her older son's actions and laziness but she knows that Yoake is an active and productive person, he just couldn't find a hobby.

"Speaking of shut-ins, I want you to bring your sister's lunch for her tonight's concert." His mother said as she hands him the container that contains his sister's lunch.

"Why can't she just eat the food that was prepared for her there?" Yoake sighed as he was irritated by his sister's demands.

"You know how she prefers home dishes rather than the grandness there, but since you rarely visit her concerts, you don't know how she hates the food that was being served to her." His mother argued.

"And also, tell her that we will go there later at seven. There's food on the table, so don't worry." His mother continued. Yoake sighed and decided to take the container and left the house once more just so he can give his sister's lunch for tonight.

The venue is near to the ports, which isn't far from their building. Even though it was a kilometer away, Yoake takes the bus in a faster way to get there. He got there for 30 minutes and quickly handed his sister's food.

"There. Mom and Dad will arrive here later." Yoake stated to his sister, who was taking out a pair of chopsticks so she can start to eat her mother's prepared dish. Yoake rolled his eyes, took a few steps to turn back but he was stopped by his sister.

"Wait, tell them that they should wear their backstage passes 'cause the guards here are new." His sister remarked. Yoake nodded and left. But before he leaves the port, he decides to take short sightseeing to see the beautiful ocean.

It's been a long time since he hasn't seen the ocean ever since he closed his doors. He always looks at pictures and videos about the ocean but hasn't seen it on a personal view. He leaned on to the barrier that separated him from the ocean, the ocean breeze drifted to him, the clean and clear ocean continued to make small waves as it naturally does.

He continues to mesmerize about the beauty of the ocean, and at the horizon, the sun was setting and people began to crowd for a later concert. The boy was having the most peaceful moments in his life, nothing to have worries about, nothing to ambition on, just a peaceful look at the sunset.

"Mister Katsuragi, right?" A maiden in a green kimono asked him. Yoake turned and noticed the maiden. She has black short hair that reaches to the tip of her shoulders, a dark green kimono, a velvet headband to ensure her hair is in order, and her shoes were hidden because of the sai kimono.

"You must be Erika right? The Grass-type gym leader." Yoake quickly realized that he was approached by a gym leader. He doesn't know how to greet her but all he can do is formally ask her. She quickly giggled and gave him a nod.

"Yes but please call me Erika instead, and drop the gym leader thing cause that was a thing six years ago." Erika corrected him. He scratched his head and nodded.

"Right, Grass-type specialist, I forgot, sorry." Yoake apologized. She smiled and decided to walk near the barrier and made a conversation with him.

"It's okay, it's still an issue for us specialists to correct people since this term was newly introduced compared to the old Gym leader calling 20 plus years ago," Erika stated.

"So, an international champion, right?" Erika asked him as she looked at the horizon as well.

"Yeah." Yoake answered.

"Then I'm guessing you're good at handling Pokemon, right?" Erika continued to ask him. Even though she was aware that he doesn't have a Pokemon, she knows that he can be a good Pokemon trainer.

"Well, kinda but I just don't think I'm ready to take care of the real deal compared to the digital ones," Yoake answered her question.

"But does that stop you from wanting to be a trainer?" Erika asked him once more.

"In truth, I really wanted to be a trainer, I always have a dream to be a successful one but as time goes on, I realized that I'm not ready for it." Yoake explained. He had big hopes for being a trainer but as he woke himself to the truth, he just gave up on it.

"You're still twelve, but I guess you wake up too early to realize you barely scratch the surface of the real world. You have good dreams but you just gave yourself the illusion to doubt your dream." Erika explained to the twelve-year-old. He was given a chance to argue with her but she was right, he just puts himself in a position wherein he shouldn't belong.

"Say, have you heard about the recently discovered tablets from Mount Silver?" Erika asked him. He wasn't aware of this and decided to ask her about it.

"No, but can you tell me about it?" He asked her as he was interested in it.

"Sure. I can tell you like history, huh?" Erika looked at Yoake after her question, the kid nodded, and she decided to tell him about the newly discovered tablets.

"Well, let's say, history is about to change," Erika remarked.