A Blond Ray of Sunshine



First in a series. A young, aspiring Pokémon Trainer is already deep into his journey to the Indigo Plateau. It's a common and simple life for him, until he begins to learn there's something very uncommon about him.

Author Note: This is not a self-insertion fanfiction series.


It was the middle of the day in the busy, bustling Saffron City. A young boy with bright, blond hair cut into bangs gets no further from leaving his home than his front door before being smothered with hugs and kisses from his worrying mother. The boy just smiled and soaked it all up.

"Are you sure you want to go?" she asked despairingly.

"I'm definitely sure!" he cheerfully replied. She smiled proudly, before hugging and kissing him some more.

"If you keep this up, he'll never get out the door," the boy's father joked. His mother sighed, letting go of him, watching him leave in his blue t-shirt and shorts, carrying a backpack carefully stuffed with supplies from his mother. He was on the starting steps of his own Pokémon journey, a journey which countless young people his age embarked on throughout the generations. He took a deep breath, and sighed happily. He turned back and waved to his tearful family as he began to walk away, eager to begin collecting badges and become a great Pokémon Trainer. Under the bright, noon sun he took off, one foot stamping in front of the other into the pavement on the suburban outskirts of Saffron City. He kept his map of the Kanto region in his pocket to guide him and make sure he knew which path to follow next. But mostly, he was moving as freely as the wind.


That was one year ago. Since then, the young boy named Antoshi traversed countless miles of paths, fields, cities and caves all in his penultimate quest to reach the Indigo Plateau and challenge the Pokémon Champion. With six badges to his name and trips to Cerulean, a confusing stop in Pewter that led him back to Cerulean, Vermilion, Fuschia, Celadon, and back to Saffron for a badge and to revisit his family, he made his way to the hard-to-reach Cinnabar Island for a seventh badge. By that point, eagerness and confidence were guiding his spirit closer to the end of his journey.

"Good luck, lad!" a friendly fisherman named Fred exclaimed, having given Antoshi a lift in his tugboat from Fuschia to Cinnabar.

"Thanks!" he cheerfully replied as he stepped down the small ramp leading off the boat. "I hope you catch that Dewgong!" Fred smiled proudly at the bubbly young man, just before a tall, hulking creature stomped his way off the small ramp, nearly bending it in half. Fred slowly navigated away from the island, leaving Antoshi and his friend on the island.

"What's wrong, Fire?" Antoshi concernedly asked his best friend, a large Typhlosion named Fireball as he groaned and held his stomach.

"I don't like water," he weakly replied, "at all."

"It wasn't that bad!" the boy proclaimed with a laugh, patting his friend on the back, who stumbled forward with a loud groan.

"The ground won't stop moving," Fireball remarked. "I'm gonna be sick." He then dashed off, in dire search of a restroom, frightening people in his way as they saw a towering Pokémon, somewhat larger than a normal Typhlosion, charging toward them. Antoshi chuckled nervously amidst the terrified screams and shouts of the islanders. "Out of my way!" Fireball exclaimed in the distance. Antoshi sighed, deciding to wait on his friend as he took a deep breath of the salty air, brought to him by the cool breeze of the nearby seashore and sighed happily. He had a big grin on his face as his big, brown eyes took in the scenery of Cinnabar, which had been rebuilt to its former glory after the volcano had destroyed much of it nearly seventy years ago. Antoshi felt himself eager to explore the island, urged forward by the cool breeze and the warm sun shining down on his blond head.

A short time later, Fireball exited one of the public restrooms with a groan, making sure to close it behind him as he didn't want anyone to use it for a good while. He made his way back to his friend, who greeted him with a smile.

"Ready to go?" Antoshi asked. Fireball cleared his throat and stretched out a bit, going through a brief spurt of flexing, push-ups and jumping jacks in front of Antoshi before loosening his shoulders up.

"Okay, I'm good," he confidently said. Antoshi grinned from ear to ear as his eyes focused solely on the Cinnabar Island Gym in the distance.

"Then let's do it!" he exclaimed as the two of them charged toward the gym's doors.


Inside the gym was more than they had expected. There wasn't a gym leader or even any trainers to be found, only a series of locked doors that could only be opened by solving a riddle displayed on a small screen on the nearby wall. Their knowledge of all things Pokémon were extensively tested and it took them far longer than they could have hoped to make it through.

"What is Pokémon number 157?" Antoshi read the question aloud before quickly pulling out one of his Pokémon Weekly magazines he'd been subscribed to for many years. Fireball looked at him with an annoyed expression. He walked up to the screen and spoke his answer.

"Typhlosion!" he said with vigor.

"Incorrect," the computerized voice replied.

"Maybe I should handle this one," Antoshi playfully said, as he seemed to be the only one capable of speaking to his Pokémon friend. To everyone else, Fireball simply seemed to utter growls and grunts.

"Fine," he agreed. "But I get the point for that one, too," he added, referring to their earlier agreement to have a little contest between them.

"Oh, all right," Antoshi complied with a smile. "You've gotten all the questions so far anyway."

"Cause that's how I roll!" Fireball proclaimed, thrusting out his fists in celebration.


After a grueling hour of answering a dozen questions and unlocking a dozen doors, the duo finally seemed to reach their destination. They stepped forward into a large spotlight, darkness completely surrounding them. They had their serious expressions on, anticipating a possible strike at any moment.

"Ha ha ha!" came the haughty laughter of a high-pitched voice in the distance. They looked toward the source, just as another spotlight came on, revealing an opponent in the distance. It was a tall man with a bald head, pointy white mustache, dark glasses concealing his eyes and a long, white lab coat. Antoshi couldn't believe his eyes.

"That looks like Blaine!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, of course!" Fireball added, nodding thoughtfully in agreement before quickly turning to his friend. "Who's Blaine?"

"He was the leader of this gym lots and lots of years ago," Antoshi explained. "He's... a zombie?"

"I am no zombie!" the man, with a suspiciously feminine voice proclaimed. 'Blaine' cleared his throat, attempting to deepen his voice to be more convincing. "I am the greatest Fire-type trainer in all of Kanto! The 'Hotheaded Quiz Master'! I am Blai--ack!" 'Blaine' suddenly fell onto his face, a pair of tall stilts falling out of his long, white lab coat. "Ouch." Antoshi and Fireball stood in stunned silence, unable to figure out what was going on. 'Blaine' quickly hopped to his feet, laughing haughtily. Through the broken sunglasses, a pair of bright, blue eyes could be seen. Antoshi spotted them and became curious.

"You're not Blaine!" Antoshi exclaimed, surprising 'Blaine.' He growled and clenched his small fists.

"Oh, all right!" 'Blaine' exclaimed before pulling the white lab coat and broken sunglasses off, revealing 'himself' to be a young girl no older than Antoshi. "I'm not Blaine, okay?! I'm Blaire, the great-granddaughter of Blaine, and it's my job as Cinnabar Island Gym Leader to honor my great-grandfather by crushing all opponents of the Cinnabar Island Gym!" Antoshi and Fireball continued to stand there, stunned.

"I wonder if that was ad-libbed," Antoshi quietly said to his friend.

"The bald look and mustache don't quite suit her though," Fireball quietly replied, his friend nodding in response.

"Hey!" Blaire shouted, the two of them immediately ceased chatting. "What do you think you're doing? Talking to your Pokémon? I guess blond's really are dumb!" she exclaimed with another haughty laugh.

"That wasn't nice..." Antoshi muttered, despondently. Blaire stood triumphantly.

"I look up to my great-grandfather, and dressing as him gives me the same confidence and ability as he had! I've never been defeated! ... Even though this is my first match as Gym Leader! But still, you're going down!" Antoshi stood confidently, clenching a fist.

"We'll see about that!" he rebutted, as Fireball nodded with a serious expression on his face.