A six-year-old boy and his mother sit on the couch as the television illuminates the dark living room.

"I can't believe it! In one swift counter attack, it's all over! Red is the new champion of Kanto!" The commentator says as his voice fills the room.

"Yes!"

The boy screams, jumping off the couch.

"Red did it! He's so amazing!"

His mom laughs as he runs around the living room.

"I want to be just like him Mom! I want to be a champion like Red!"

He jump into her arms and she smiles.

"I know you will Alex. I know you will."

***A Few Years Later***

"Mom! Guess what!" Alex yell as he barges into the house.

"What is it sweetie?"

"I got an application!"

She drops the dishes she was washing in the sink and meets Alex at the kitchen table where he has all the papers spread out.

"Let's fill this out so we can send it to Professor Oak!" Alex yells, as he runs around the house looking for a pen. His mom grabs him and pulls him in a hug.

"Relax Alex. I know you're excited to become a trainer, but we're gonna take our time with this, ok?"

Alex takes a deep breath, then smiles.

"Ok Mom. Sorry, I just can't wait to get my starter Pokemon and a Pokedex just like Red did!"

"Alright! So let's get started," Alex's mom says as they sit and begin their task.

A few weeks pass, and Alex has been patiently waiting for a response in the mail. And one day he arrives home from playing outside with his friends and finds his mom sitting at the table. An opened envelope lays in front of her.

"They answered!" Alex yells, as he rushes for the envelope.

"Alex, wait-"

His mom isn't able to finish her sentence as he pulls the contents out the envelope.

"Alex, please listen-"

"Dear Alex, thank you for applying to be a Pokedex Holder, but unfortunately you have not been chosen," Alex says, his voice wavering away.

"Alex, I'm so sorry," his mom says, reaching for him. She wrap her arms in a hug while Alex stands sits there, rereading the letter over and over, hoping he misread it, tears streaming down his face.

...

The next morning, Alex wakes up with a smile on his face.

"Good morning," he says as he sits at the table.

"Good morning," his mom says as she brings him a plate of pancakes, his favorite breakfast.

"Is everything ok sweetie?" She asks, watching Alex eat away the pancakes.

"Yep! I'm excited!"

"Excited? Why?"

A smile grows on Alex's face.

"I'm gonna catch a Pokemon."

His mom nearly falls off her chair.

"How?"

"The letter also came with a coupon for a free Pokeball, so I'm gonna use it to catch a Pokemon in the forest!"

"Oh, ok, but please be careful."

"I will! I'll be back later today mom! Love you!"

And with that, Alex runs out the house, excited to soon get his partner.

...

Alex walks out of the Pokemart, with his newly acquired Pokeball.

"Hmm, where should I go?" Alex asks himself as he walks down the road towards the forest.

"I need a Pokemon, but which one should I get?"

At that moment, a Caterpie crawls out of a bush and makes its way onto the road. Alex doesn't seem him, and steps on the edge of his tail. Caterpie shrieks in pain, startling Alex. Alex falls onto the ground, causing him to let go of the Pokeball in his hand. It bounces forward and taps Caterpie. It releases a red light, absorbing Caterpie and closes itself. After wobbling three times, it goes off a cling sound.

"I can't believe it! I caught my first Pokemon!" Alex yells as he picks up the Pokeball and runs home.

"Mom! Mom! Guess what!" Alex yells, barging in.

"Alex? What happened honey?"

"I caught my Pokemon!"

"Really?" His mom says, as she sticks her head out from the kitchen.

"That was quick," she mutters under her breath.

"Come on out!" Alex yells, tossing the Pokeball. It unleashes Caterpie, who is hugging his tail, with tears trailing down his face.

"Oh no! Are you ok?" Alex's mom asks Caterpie as he stays curled up in a ball. She then rushes out to get the first aid kit and proceeds to heal his tail.

"What did you do to him?" Alex's mom asks.

"Nothing! I kinda just stepped on him on accident," Alex admits.

"Well, you should apologize!"

"Right! I'm sorry uh, what's your name?" Alex asks Caterpie. His mom shakes her head.

"It's a Caterpie dear. You can tell by the green color of his skin, and the red horn on it's face."

"Oh! I knew that!"

His mom chuckles as Caterpie whimpers and rubs his head against her hand.

"You're very welcome Caterpie."

"Alright Caterpie, my name is Alex, and we're going to take on the Pokemon League just like Red did!" Alex yells, as he offers his hand to Caterpie. Caterpie crawls forward, sniffs his hand, then crawls on his arm.

"Great! So today we'll rest up and get to know each other, but tomorrow training begins!"

Caterpie squeals excitedly, as both him and Alex jump in the air in joy.

...

"Alright, so, what moves can you use?" Alex asks Caterpie. They're in the middle of the forest, ready to begin their training. Caterpie cries out as it launches his String Shot attack. Unfortunately, it all landed on Alex.

"Cool! What else?"

Caterpie tilts his head, confused on what Alex means. Alex manages to get all the web off and looks back at Caterpie.

"That's it? It's ok! I'm sure if we try our best, we'll win!"

Caterpie squeals in agreement.

"Yeah, see, we want to win so you get experience, and with experience you evolve, and you get more powerful if you evolve!"

Caterpie nods in agreement, as a determined look appears on his face.

"Although, I'm not sure what you evolve into, but that doesn't matter right now. Let's go ahead and start by battling some wild Pokemon!"

And that's actually what they did. However, they were unable to win a single battle that day. So they went ahead and tried the next day. And the day after, and so on. But they were unable to win a single battle in four days. So after numerous Pokemon Center visits, Alex suddenly decides to test his luck in a Pokemon battle against a trainer named Jimmy.

"Let's go Caterpie!" Alex yells, as Caterpie out of his Pokeball.

"Ha. A Caterpie. Let's show them how it's done Nidoran!" Jimmy, calls out as his purple-furred Pokemon appears before him.

"Caterpie, use String Shot!"

Caterpie shot the sticky substance straight at his opponent.

"Dodge it Nidoran," Jimmy orders, and Nidoran calmly sidesteps to the right.

"Darn!" Alex grumbles.

"Nidoran, use Horn Attack!"

Nidoran's horn glows white as he charges straight at Caterpie.

Alex balls up his fist. He's unsure whether to attack or dodge. He's interrupted from his thoughts as Caterpie shrieks as he's hit with the attack.

"Darn it! Caterpie, are you ok?"

Caterpie turns to Alex and sees the look of despair in his eyes. He then forces himself to get up for Alex's sake.

"There you go Caterpie!"

"Oh, will you look at that. He still has some fight in him," Jimmy comments as he looks at Nidoran.

"Use Double Kick."

Nidoran jumps in the air, his feet aimed right at Caterpie.

"Dodge it Caterpie!"

Caterpie obeys and throws himself to the side, narrowly missing the attack.

"Horn Attack."

"Use String Shot!"

Nidoran charges once again. Caterpie attempts to use String Shot but Nidoran easily dodges and strikes Caterpie right in the head. Alex begins to shake as he watches Caterpie collapse to the ground, and not get up.

"Caterpie, no!"

Alex falls to his knees and begins to slam his fists on the ground.

"Darn it, darn it, darn it! Why can't we win a battle?" Alex cries out.

Jimmy watches with Nidoran as the ten-year-old throws his tantrum. He then walks over to Caterpie and picks him up.

"That's why."

Alex looks up at Jimmy, who is now standing in front of him.

"You may be of age, but you're not mentally prepared. You don't have your priorities straight. It shouldn't be all about winning; it's all about getting to know your Pokemon. It's obvious you don't know him."

Jimmy knees before Alex and places Caterpie on the ground.

"Here. Take him to the Pokemon Center and rethink your whole 'dream'."

Jimmy begins to walk away, returning Nidoran into his Pokeball.

"Wait!"

Jimmy stops.

"My name is Alex, and I want to be the next champion of Kanto! I will do my best and-"

"Sometimes doing your best just isn't enough."

Alex shuts his mouth, unsure on what to say next.

"You saw the final battle, right? Both Blue and Red were doing their very best, but Red was better or lucky or both."

Jimmy turns around and looks Alex in the eyes.

"You might try your hardest for year and never be champion. Are you ok with that?"

Alex looks at the ground.

"Now stop stalling and take your poor Caterpie to Nurse Joy," Jimmy says and with walks down the road.

Alex knees before Caterpie and gently pets him.

"I'm sorry," he says as he returns Caterpie into his Pokeball and walks to the Pokemon Center.

...

After the incident, Alex takes to take a week off from battling. In that week, he took Jimmy's advice and spent time with Caterpie. He discovered small things about him, like how he loves to smell flowers and enjoys a nice ripe Oran Berry. At night, he would think and reflect about the all the battles he had within the last month. He realized that among all the different types of Pokemon he battled, one just seemed to call out to him more. After careful thinking and debating all night, he finally came to a decision the next morning.

"Alex! Breakfast is ready!" His mom calls, waking him up. He jumps out of bed and picks up Caterpie from his bed. They run down to the table where a plate of oatmeal is placed in Alex's spot.

They all begin eating in silence.

"So, uh, Mom."

"Yes?"

"You know how I said I wanted to become the next champion of Kanto?"

"Yes."

"I don't want to anymore."

His mom stops chewing and looks up.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been thinking and I decided it just didn't sound like something I would like to do," Alex says, shrugging.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

A smile crawls on Alex's face.

"I want to be a bug catcher."