Gentle nudges stirred the wild-haired boy from his slumber. With eyes that didn't quite want to open yet and a body that was groggy and unwilling to move, he let out a groan. The one who nudged him didn't seem to like this and chose to wake him up by a less tactful method. Its long tongue smacked on his cheek and slid across the entirety of its face and yelled "MUUUUNCH!" A disgusted spatter came from the kid as he wiped the saliva off his face with his blanket and grumbled his way to his feet. Keeping his gaze lazily upon the floor, he felt around his nightstand for his glasses. When he found them, he put them on his face and rose to his feet. "Munchlax... You're like the perfect alarm clock. At least you don't make too much noise." He was a little grumpy about it, but this was a daily routine for the boy and his family's Pokémon. The Munchlax didn't take offense to it, nor did he mean it too harshly. He was hardly a morning person. The sun was not yet in the sky and his alarm clock read 4 am.
He went downstairs as normal to find himself some breakfast only to find his mother in the kitchen a bit earlier than expected. "You're cooking early... That smells good." The boy craned his neck a bit to peek through the kitchen at the sight of his mother cooking. Usually his father was the one who handled the cooking in the mornings and his mother handling the Pokémon Daycare.
"Hm? Oh, yes, well... Your dad agreed to take the morning shift. I wanted to make you breakfast before your big day."
"Is that so? Thank you, mom." His tone was rather flat, not too different from normal, as he pulled out a chair at the table to sit at. His Munchlax did the same and sat across from him. For a short while the only sound was the sizzling of a frying pan and occasional Pokémon cries in the distance.
"You know, Alan..." His mom spoke up, causing his ears to perk up and his head to turn in attention. "Your father and I... We know that you miss Hoenn and your friend there. You've been really quiet since we came here. And we're happy that you handled the move so maturely. But uh... Well, I've never been too good with words." She began transitioning food from the pans to plates, then loading up a bowl with Pokéchow, homemade of course. Breeders took special care to make sure that their food was top-quality. "Well, we love you. We were both trainers back in our day and seeing you take an interest in it makes us happy. From experience, we know that you'll meet many interesting Pokémon and people. And you have great friends going with you, too. Ones who look up to you. And we can tell you really care about them, too. I'm rambling, though, aren't I?"
"Your mom is just trying to say that we love you and respect your choices. What you do from here on out is your choice, champ. It's a big, beautiful world out there and Johto's just one small part of it. See as much of it as you can and enjoy your time. Be happy with those you're around. No matter what you do, we'll support you."
His mother brought the food to her child and the Pokémon. "Yes, just what your father said. Now, eat up. You have your routines and everything to get through before you go, right? We'll be here for you to say goodbye to when you're done."
Alan was not expecting such an emotional farewell, but they were his parents. They were Breeders, nurturers by nature. It wasn't too surprising. Still, the idea of saying goodbye to his parents finally struck him. He had to do it. It tugged on his heartstrings, almost made him waver in his decision to go. But looking at them, their smiling faces, there was no way he could take those smiles away by not going. And he still had his friends to look after. With a nod, though his expression remained stoic, he responded, "Of course... Thank you, mom. Dad." They nodded in return as his mother tended to dishes and his father headed outside.
As quickly and carefully as he could, Alan finished eating a delicious home-cooked breakfast and tended to his morning stretches and exercises. He decided to skip his jog that morning though, since he would have to walk to New Bark Town and then back out through Route 29 again before continuing their journey. He skipped straight to the shower and fresh change of clothes. Out of character for him, he even made his bed. He forewent some laziness to keep his room in order for his parents, who liked to nag him about it. Grabbing his bag full of materials that his parents loaded up days ago, he strapped it onto his back and went back downstairs where the Munchlax was hugging Alan's mother's legs. "I'll miss you too, little guy. You be good to Alan, you hear? Always do what he says. Be a good boy."
"Munch-Munch! Lax!" Munchlax nodded twice, flexing its arm muscle as if to show that he'd protect Alan. For a Pokémon that'd never had a battle once in its life, it sure was confident. Alan caught wind of that and smirked at his new ally.
"Well, then. That's some pressure being put on Munchlax... But he'll be fine. After all, he'll be with me and my friends." Alan smiled as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Munchlax rushed to his side and followed him until Alan stood before his mother. She was really pretty with straight red hair and eyes of shining blue. Her smile was welcoming to him as she opened her arms for a hug. He gave it to her, realizing that this would be the last time he saw his parents for a while. They exchanged a brief goodbye and "I love you's" before he went to the back. There his father was tending to some Rhyhorns that were stirring from sleep. He noticed his son coming and patted the horns of the Pokémon before coming to his son.
"Hey, champ? Ready to go?"
"Yeah, sure am." He nodded to affirm this to his father, fixing his glasses in place as he did so.
"Good. Remember what I said earlier. Also... If you or your friends decide to take the gym challenge, come see me after you get say, hm... Five. Five badges. I'll give you all a present, okay?"
"Dad, you don't have to-"
"No, no, I insist. I love you and your friends. It only feels right to reward hard work. The offer's open. Now here. For you alone, take this. It's a catalogue of all the Pokémon your mother and I have discovered one way or another. It has some basic information on them all and what they're called, so it should help you. I'll admit it's not as convenient as a Pokédex, but I want you to have it anyway." With a sigh and a nod, Alan exchanged goodbyes with his father and went on his way.
His family's home was behind the front area of the Pokémon Daycare that they ran just on the corner between Route 29 and Route 46. It wasn't too long of a walk to meet up with his friends, which made it easy to head over and be with them whenever he pleased. No more than a twenty or thirty minute walk. The Munchlax walked beside him, looking around in awe of everything he saw. Rare was it that he left the house and now he was going to travel all across Johto with Alan. "You know at some point we need to get you a Pokéball, Munchlax. Especially if you want to evolve. Having a Snorlax following me everywhere would be pretty inconvenient, you know."
"Muunch..." It sounded upset by this, but also understanding. He was already pretty heavy. Being huge and heavy would certainly inconvenience the group.
"Thank you, Munchlax. It'll be easier on both of us, especially if you get hurt. Besides, you're lazier than I am." The Pokémon laughed as if in agreement before they came to the entrance of New Bark Town.
They finally arrived to find Jodi, Rick and Lila all waiting already. But at least he wasn't the last one there... With a lazy half-wave as he greeted his friends, he offered a "'Sup?" and stopped a couple feet away from everyone. Munchlax waved up at Alta, as the two certainly would have met in the years that Lila and Alan knew each other, and looked curiously at the Cyndaquil after. It was his first time meeting any Cyndaquil, nevermind just this one in particular. Approaching it, he gave a rather excited wave with its eyes closed in happiness of meeting another. "Munch! Munch-munch Lax! Munchlax!" It introduced itself to the Pokémon in its own dialect and got to making conversation as Alan looked to his friends.
"Hm. I was here before Rakaya, huh? That's new... I hope she doesn't keep us waiting too long."