It was over breakfast that I announced my decision.
“I’m going to become the world’s foremost expert on pokémon!”
My father paused with a spoonful of cereal halfway to his lips. “You’re what now?”
“I’m going to become a pokémon expert.”
“Y’mean like Professor Oak?”
“Who?”
“Professor Oak. The famous pokémon expert. You know, white hair, lab coat, squints a lot?”
Oh. Him. “I’d forgotten about him.”
“Clearly,” my father said, and went back to eating his cereal.
I thought for a minute. “How about pokémon trainer?”
“Can’t.”
“Can’t? Whaddya mean ‘can’t’?”
“Ketchum caught ‘em.”
“Which ones?”
“All of ‘em.”
“Nuh-uh. There’s, like, a hundred different ones. No one’s that good.”
My father tossed a newspaper in front of me. Ketchum, that bastard, flashed a V-for-victory sign at the camera. There were banners behind him. There were girls.
“Six hundred forty-nine,” my father said.
“Girls?”
“Different kinds of pokémon. Apparently they’re overrun with them in Isshu, now. Seems like you can’t swing a dead Meowth without hitting a new pokémon these days.”
“I’m going to become the world’s foremost expert on pokémon!”
My father paused with a spoonful of cereal halfway to his lips. “You’re what now?”
“I’m going to become a pokémon expert.”
“Y’mean like Professor Oak?”
“Who?”
“Professor Oak. The famous pokémon expert. You know, white hair, lab coat, squints a lot?”
Oh. Him. “I’d forgotten about him.”
“Clearly,” my father said, and went back to eating his cereal.
I thought for a minute. “How about pokémon trainer?”
“Can’t.”
“Can’t? Whaddya mean ‘can’t’?”
“Ketchum caught ‘em.”
“Which ones?”
“All of ‘em.”
“Nuh-uh. There’s, like, a hundred different ones. No one’s that good.”
My father tossed a newspaper in front of me. Ketchum, that bastard, flashed a V-for-victory sign at the camera. There were banners behind him. There were girls.
“Six hundred forty-nine,” my father said.
“Girls?”
“Different kinds of pokémon. Apparently they’re overrun with them in Isshu, now. Seems like you can’t swing a dead Meowth without hitting a new pokémon these days.”
“How about pokémon breeding?”
My father shot me a look over his crinkled nose. “That’s just gross.”
“No, I mean breeding pokémon together and getting little baby pokémon.”
“Oh. Well, you could go talk to Haley down at her ranch. She’s got quite the operation down there. Filled up her Pokédex just by taking on strays. I heard she was giving away pokémon. Mews, even.”
“A ranch?” I said. “That sounds like farm work. I was looking for something a little more glamorous.”
Father finished his cereal and brought the bowl into the kitchen, leaving me to my thoughts. Well, thought, really, and it was a long shot.
“Hey dad,” I called after him. “Can I borrow your camera?”
