The sun rose, and the first noises of the day can be heard all over the countryside. Clear skies and quiet winds seemed to herald the morning, perfect for another day of work.
Dave heard the alarm clock go off and couldn't believe it was already morning. He looked at the Pidgey stepping out of the wooden clock on the wall and felt an overwhelming urge to toss it out of the window so it would stop ringing.
Dave got up, still rubbing his eyes, to start another day of work on the farm. His father must have been awake for hours and probably finished breakfast already. He'd better get out of bed soon or his mother is going to be angry at him.
After taking a quick shower, he changed into his regular clothes—a simple white shirt and a pair of well-worn pants that he used to wear to work on the farm. When he got outside, his mother was already washing the dishes. There was only his plate on the table, with his meal ready.
"Good morning, sweetheart! Did you sleep well today?"
"Morning, Mom. Where's Dad? It's already half past seven in the morning. Why didn't you wake me up?" Not that Dave was complaining, but normally he should have been outside with his father at this time.
"Your father had to go to the city to take care of some errands today, dear. He said he would try to buy your birthday present too. It's tomorrow, isn't it?" His mother told him.
"I forgot that my birthday's tomorrow." He had completely forgotten that he was about to turn 12 tomorrow.
His birthday wasn't as fun as it used to be, though. Dave had always wanted to go on an adventure since he was a little child. Growing up, he couldn't wait to turn 10, the minimum age at which one can legally acquire a Pokemon, and finally be able to go out to travel.
But when he was seven years old, his family was forced to move to the farm, where they now resided, in a small town. Because of this, he could no longer choose a starter Pokemon, as there were no Pokemon specialists, like Nurse Joy around.
As if that wasn't enough, with financial difficulties, Dave had to start helping his father due to their family's financial difficulties, which prevented him from leaving to travel. He never complained about anything because he knew he needed to stay to help his family.
The day passed like every other day. Dave didn't do much because his father wasn't there, and by the time he finished setting out the final blocks of hay and straw in the barn, it was getting dark.
He was beginning to worry a little bit because his father hadn't yet returned. At the same time, he was very curious. After all, he wanted to know what his father was going to bring for his birthday tomorrow.
Sitting on the steps of the stairs, he watched the road and some Pidgeys flying across the field towards the woods that were on the other side.
The woods, with a river cutting through it, was not so big to be considered a forest, but he always found it very similar to one.
As he looked out into the woods thinking about what he was going to get the next day, something sped past him and into one of the empty pens. Dave got up with a start and ran after whatever was going into the warehouse, where the food for the farm animals was stored. There, he saw a Rattata, ripping one of the big bags of feed.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? This food is not for you!"
The Rattata didn't seem to mind what he said and continued to gnaw on the bag until it burst, dumping the entire kibble onto the hay-covered floor.
"Oh no! Look what you did you bastard! I'll have to clean this all up before my dad gets back."
Meanwhile, the Mouse Pokemon seemed to give a little snigger and headed for the next bag. Seeing what was going to happen next, Dave decided he would not sit idly by.
"Take this!" Dave threw his sneaker right at the Rattata's head, knocking it out cold.
At first glance, everything seemed to have worked out. Until the Rattata stood up and shook its head. Then it snarled at Dave, flashing its big front teeth.
Before he could take off his other sneaker, the small rodent jumped on top of him, who got scared and fell to the ground. Catching the throne sneaker in its mouth, the small Pokemon immediately ran out of the stable.
"Hey! Wait! My shoes! Give me back my shoes!" Screamed Dave as he got up and tried to run after the little shoe thief.
When he left the barn, he saw the form of the purple Pokemon cross the dirt road and enter the woods.
"Damn you, Rattata! I'm not giving up until I get my shoe back." He went to give chase to the Rattata.
Dave hurried as quickly as he could, ducking under the lower branches and jumping over roots and stones along the way. Even though he was tired, his anger pushed him on. He wanted to give a lesson to that cheeky Rattata for making a mess in the barn.
When he was about to lose sight of his target, he noticed that Rattata had unexpectedly reached a dead end. It quickly entered a hollow log that had fallen through halfway in an effort to hide, but was unaware that there was a boulder at the other side blocking the exit.
Before the Rattata could make it back, Dave had caught up with it and quickly went to grab his sneaker.
He was preparing for a real tug of war when, to his surprise, the Rattata dropped his sneakers and looked deep into his eyes, in a challenging tone. Then, just when the boy was starting to think that the little rodent was just playing around, he remembered everything he had studied about Pokemon.
Since he was unable to go on his journey, he spent hours on end reading about these tiny critters. Still, in the heat of the moment, he failed to remember that Rattata rarely move alone and that the sight of one of them meant that there were more of them hiding out in the woods.
Dave hurriedly pulled on his sneaker and began to run as quickly as he could, but realised it was already too late. In less than a minute he was surrounded by dozens of enraged Rattatas, and they all decided to pounce at the same time.
The boy tried to protect himself as much as he could, but he could feel the nails and teeth of the Pokemon, scratching and cutting his skin. He tried to shake himself off and managed to get rid of some. But soon after, one of them hit the back of his knee and then he felt a powerful blow to the chest. He fell hard to the ground, banging his head on a rock.
After that, his head started to ring. He could still feel the Rattatas biting and scratching him, but he didn't feel as much pain anymore. Everything was spinning, blurry and going around in circles.
Suddenly, he heard something from behind. It was the cry of a Pokemon, which he had never heard before. Dave no longer had any notion of what was happening when he saw an unrecognisable blur passing by him. The Rattatas seemed to have given up on him and went for the new unexpected guest instead. However, Dave could not hold on any longer. Everything stopped spinning and he saw no more.