Emerald eyes swiftly opened as a thumping noise thundered through the small cupboard that was his bedroom. Groaning in annoyance, Harry pushed himself up off his thin mattress, turned his cupboard light on and looked dazedly at his surroundings. Another thumping noise, which Harry knew to be people walking up and down the staircase, sounded from above his head, and he rose to his feet to watch through the grate on his cupboard door. He saw his uncle round the corner at the base of the stairs and stroll toward the kitchen.

Stifling another groan, Harry pulled an oversized t-shirt over his head and exited his makeshift bedroom. "Where is the breakfast boy?" Vernon yelled.

"Coming uncle Vernon" Harry replied through the door, careful to keep his voice neutral. He knew Vernon was quick to anger over what he perceived as 'ungrateful behaviour'.

It wasn't that Harry wasn't well behaved, in truth he very much was, but his Aunt and Uncle seemed to begrudge every breath he took, and it had been that way for as long as he could remember. Their son Dudley on the other hand, they seemed to think could do no wrong, though in Harry's eyes he was spoilt brat and relished in making Harry's life as miserable as possible.

Harry had to be as careful as possible today that he didn't upset anybody in the house. Today was special because it was Dudley's eleventh birthday, and the Dursleys would view any undesirable behaviour as a personal affront. If he upset anyone in the house he would be likely to go without food for a day or two. In Solus City, as in other cities and regions around the world, the 11th birthday was a milestone that meant a child could receive their Pokemon license, allowing them to own and train their own Pokemon.

Though Harry had never spent any time with Pokemon, he understood that they were the creatures that came in all shapes and sizes that lived alongside humans, and were their partners in life. Harry had always felt a pull towards Pokemon that he could never explain, despite his uncle Vernon forbidding him from going near them. Thus Harry had been sent to school in Little Whinging, a walled suburb in Republic that did not allow Pokemon in its boundaries.

Luckily for Vernon and his passionate desire to keep Harry from the world of Pokemon, their house in Solus City lay directly next to the entrance gate to Little Whinging, so Harry could not even associate with Pokemon whilst trying to get to school. Much as they might try, even the anti-Pokemon population of Little Whinging could not keep out Pokemon altogether, such as flying Pokemon coming in from the sky, or poison Pokemon coming up from the sewer systems. Any Pokemon that did get through the formidable defences was nevertheless swiftly removed.

"THE BACON IS BURNING!" Petunia shrieked in her incessantly shrill voice. Shoving Harry out of the way, she took over the kitchen much to the delight of Dudley who always enjoyed the overfeeding he consistently got from his mother.

Like his father, Dudley was shaped rather like a beach ball, and had his father's head of thick blonde hair. Petunia, in contrast with her husband and son was a thin rake of a woman, and looked as though she might blow away in a slight breeze.

"Why don't you just go collect the mail and make yourself useful" Vernon sneered at Harry over his newspaper.

Hoping that his aunt and uncle wouldn't find anything else to blame him for, Harry swiftly went to the front door to do as he was told. Returning to the kitchen and putting the mail (of course none was for him) onto the benchtop, he sat at the kitchen table while Petunia finished serving up breakfast.

"When are we going to get my Pokemon?!" Dudley demanded, slamming a hand on the table. Harry shook his head imperceptibly at his cousin.

"We will go to see Mr. Ollivander just as soon as I'm finished with breakfast" Vernon told him, turning to the next page of the newspaper. Dudley grumbled and took an oversized bite of his breakfast, a noticeable crease appearing between his eyes.

Dudley began tapping his foot on the ground under the table as Vernon kept eating, and Harry could feel the tension building, as he always did before Dudley was about to have a colossal tantrum. Harry started to slowly back away as Dudley's face grew redder and redder. Luckily, Petunia noticed Dudley's growing anger as well, and intercepted before things blew up.

"Dear, it is Dudley's 11th birthday perhaps we shouldn't make him wait on a day like this."

Vernon looked up from his newspaper at his wife, who was subtly nodding sideways towards Dudley's red and scowling face. He seemed to get the hint because he quickly folded up his newspaper and set it down.

"To Diagon Alley then shall we Dudley?" Vernon asked getting out of his seat.

Harry barely saw Dudley get out of his seat. "Ugh finally" Dudley said to his father. Harry rolled his eyes, if he ever spoke that way to Vernon, or Petunia for that matter, he would probably be locked in his cupboard for a week.

Harry looked up from his breakfast to see Vernon staring at him with beady eyes. This couldn't be good, did he see Harry roll his eyes? Vernon would never give him a look like that without something bad to follow. Harry couldn't help himself, he gulped and tried to look away, but Vernon's glower kept him locked in place.

"Dudley, go wait in the satomobile, I'll be there in a minute" he said, still not removing his gaze from Harry. Dudley looked between them and sniggered at Harry before he left the room.

"Now boy, when Dudley and I get home later today, he will have his new Pokemon with him, so where will you be?" Vernon asked Harry slowly, elongated his question emphatically; for emphasis, Harry guessed.

"I'll be in my room" Harry answered him honestly, knowing exactly what his uncle wanted him to say. He didn't like referring to his cupboard as his room, but he had made the mistake of calling it cupboard in the past, causing Vernon to accuse him of being ungrateful.

"Damn right you will, and when will you come out?" Vernon asked him, still keeping eye contact.

"Only when I am told" Harry answered him obediently. This must have been enough for Vernon, who collected his belt, which had six red and white balls hanging off, and walked out towards his sato-mobile strapping it around his waist.

Harry watched out the window as Vernon backed out the drive. He would have given anything to be Dudley in that moment, off to get his first Pokemon and go off to, according to Dudley, the most prestigious pokemon school in the world, Hogwarts.

"Stop wasting time gawking out the window and come clear up the kitchen!" Petunia called out. Looking away from the window, he realised that wish as he might, his dream would never become reality.

Harry thought he had it bad before, but his life seemed to become infinitely worse once Dudley returned, Pokemon in tow. He never actually saw the Pokemon, but as long as Dudley wanted to have it out in the open, Harry had to remain locked in his cupboard. He knew this was going to continue until Dudley went to Hogwarts, but he was hoping Dudley would get tired of his new Pokemon like he had gotten tired of every other thing his parents had ever gotten him. His cupboard under the stairs was filled with old and broken toys that Dudley had gotten sick of, Harry's favourite being a small figure with an arrow tattoo that curled over his bald head that continued down his arms and legs.

Unfortunately for Harry though, Dudley had not gotten sick of his newest gift, and he had quickly come up with his newest way of tormenting his cousin. Every time Harry thought he was free to come out of his cupboard, Dudley would bring out a pokeball, and Harry would swiftly return to his cupboard.

Harry remembered the exact moment that Dudley had come up with the newest torture method. "See this?" Dudley had held up a small red and white ball in his hand, expanding to fit nicely in the palm of his hand. "This is a pokeball, and my Pokemon is inside, so whenever this is in my hand, you have to go back under the stairs, or my father will punish you."

Ever since, Harry had been stuck in his cupboard for most of the time he spent at the Dursley home. Harry's most dreaded time, going to school in Little Whinging, had very quickly become his solace from Dudley, although it was still awful. In little whinging, he was one of the only children at the school, and none were any kind of friendly towards him since he didn't live in Little Whinging with the rest of them.

The people of Little Whinging believed that Pokemon were not to be trusted, and that any human who interacted with them in any way was filth. Consequently Harry, who walked the short distance every day from just outside the wall, where Pokemon were freely allowed, to inside of it were they were not, was utterly shunned within their community despite the fact that he had never even seen a Pokemon up close. But at least in Little Whinging he could see the sky, being able to see anything beyond the four walls of the cupboard under the stairs could be considered a blessing.

Watching the sky was one of Harry's favourite pastimes, especially when he was in Little Whinging, since he could watch out the window all day from class. Although Pokemon weren't allowed in Little Whinging, people could not control those which would fly above the city, or roam below for that matter, and Harry would watch the skies until he might see one fly over, envying the freedom with which they could go anywhere they wanted.

Harry sat now in his classroom in Little Whinging tuning out his droning teacher Mrs Figg, a sour looking elderly woman who was talking again about the dangers of the world outside Little Whinging. The other students seemed captivated by her words, watching her with rapt attention as they always did; Harry thought because their families shared the same beliefs it was easy for them to trust that Pokemon were evil. Regardless of the teacher's warnings and lectures though, he could not believe that Pokemon were bad, and unexplainably he felt that Pokemon and humans were supposed to live in unison.

Harry turned away from the teacher and stared into the sky, cloudless and blue. In his youth, Harry had wished he could grow wings and fly up into the sky with the Pokemon, but in his youth had made the mistake of telling his uncle, who had quickly and efficiently crushed his dream, telling him not to be ridiculous and that 'people don't fly'. Nevertheless, the sky had not lost its appeal to the young boy.

A movement in Harry's peripheral vision caught his attention, and Harry turned to see a huge bird Pokemon flying gracefully across the horizon. The Pokemon was at the very least double the length of any human, probably bigger, and had red feathers across its body which became a bright gold in the feathers on its tail. The great bird's feathers appeared to glow radiantly in the sunlight, and Harry watched, enthralled by its mysterious beauty. Where the Pokemon flew, a rainbow trailed mysteriously behind. The Pokemon soared behind a building and out of Harry's view. He had seen Pokemon fly in the distance before, but never that size, and never quite so exquisite and unique as that had been.

"Boy!" Mrs Figg called out to Harry, who turned sheepishly to look at her. Even away from the Dursleys, nobody referred to him as Harry, just as 'boy'. "Pay attention" she said through her pursed lips.

"M'sorry" he mumbled in reply, returning his gaze to his teacher, all thought of the Pokemon disappearing from his mind.

Harry stepped through exit gate to Little Whinging, at least he didn't need to be checked on the way out, unlike entering Little Whinging, where he had to be searched every day in case he was bringing in a Pokemon. He walked down the empty street, his house lay just around the corner.

Harry stopped as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, like he was being watched. He looked around suspiciously, but seeing nobody, continued on his way. When he walked around the corner, he felt something pull at the hem of his pant leg, and he pulled away in fright and jumped back. Looking down, he saw a knee high pink creature standing on four legs looking at him with a vacant expression.

"Ssssllooow" the Pokemon said to him in an orotund voice, elongating the word. The creature tilted his head at Harry as if examining him. Harry watched it warily. If he wasn't in view of the house where the Dursleys might see, he might've taken advantage of the situation and petted the Pokemon, but his punishment would be too severe if he was spotted.

Slowly, the Pokemon stepped forward and softly nuzzled Harry's leg with its head. Harry froze, wanting to reach out and pat the Pokemon's head, but deciding instead to turn and run towards the house. Before he stepped inside, he looked back towards the Pokemon, which was still staring at him with bright eyes, a dim-witted smile etched onto its face.

Harry stepped inside and slumped against the front door, his heart almost threatening to leap out of his chest. Always he had felt drawn towards Pokemon, but he had never been so close to one before, and he had come so close to touching it. Harry slowly rose up off the floor and walked into the main room, noticing that nobody seemed to be home. He knew it wouldn't be that way for long, ever since Vernon had caught Harry watching the Pokemon channel on the television once when he was alone, he always made sure Harry was never alone for long.

A scratching noise from the entryway caught his attention, and Harry looked out the window to see what was at the front door. The pink Pokemon was standing at the door, and Harry watched as it lifted its paw to again scratch at the door. Harry sat completely still and in utter silence as he watched the Pokemon scratch at the front door repeatedly.

A thought jumped into Harry's head unexpectedly, what if Vernon was to arrive home to see the Pokemon at the door? Would he believe Harry if he said he didn't go near it? Not a chance, he decided, and then he'd be in real trouble. Harry quickly made a decision and opened the front door, where the Pokemon didn't look up at him for several seconds, then slowly gazed up and looked up into his eyes, goofy grin still stamped on its pink and white face.

Harry shook his head and frowned. Were all Pokemon this thick? Harry leaned down in front of the pink creature, hoping he might be able to reason with it. "Quickly, you have to go, if uncle Vernon comes back I'll be in big trouble" he pleaded. The Pokemon looked at him with an empty expression, tilting its head at him several seconds later.

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow, Vernon would be home any minute. At that exact moment, Vernon's sato-mobile pulled into the driveway. For a brief moment, Harry considered running, but the damage was done, Vernon had seen him, and Harry had nowhere to go.

"BOY!" Vernon roared, his face scarlet and bulging as he slammed the door shut. He thundered towards Harry, who grimaced at his uncle's raging expression. Dudley and Petunia slowly got out of the car, even they looked hesitant at their husband and father's reaction to seeing Harry with a Pokemon.

"It was scratching at the door-" Harry began desperately, holding his hands up in surrender. He was cut off by Vernon brutishly grabbing a fistful of Harry's hair and dragging him inside behind him. Dudley and Petunia hurried inside after them.

Vernon let go of his hair and pushed him against the wall. "What have I told you about Pokemon" Vernon asked in a disconcertingly controlled tone. The veins in Vernon's forehead bulged worryingly.

"Not to go near them. But-" Harry began again, but was cut off by Vernon when he put a hand up against his mouth.

"Then why were you with that slowpoke at our front door?" Vernon asked, his calm voice not agreeing the look of rage on his face.

"It followed me from school, then it was scratching at the door, I was trying to get it to leave" Harry answered, speaking quickly and talking with his hands.

"Then ignore the stupid creature! YOU ARE NOT TO GO NEAR POKEMON!" Vernon yelled. He raised his hand out as if to strike Harry, something he had never done before, but his hand stopped halfway up. Harry had his hands out in front of him and his eyes closed, and it took him a moment to realise why Vernon had stopped. There was somebody at the front door.

All four inside the house looked towards the door, nobody making a move to answer it. Eventually Petunia made her way towards the door and gently opened it, leaving it slightly ajar. Muffled voices could be heard from behind the front door, Petunia obviously trying to get the new visitor to leave. The door pushed fully open abruptly, the startled Petunia jumping back as the visitor stalked into the house.

Standing in the entrance to the house was an elderly man, tall and thin, who had long silver hair and a silver beard that reached at least his belly button. He had a kind face, although Harry thought that might have been the kind smile he was wearing on his face that gave that impression. His bright blue eyes twinkled bizarrely, especially considering there was not much light in the room.

"I hope this isn't a bad time, I heard raised voices?" The strange old man asked "You don't look quite yourself Master Dursley, is everything alright?" he continued, the odd twinkle never leaving his soulful blue eyes.

"Master Dumbledore" Vernon announced through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

"Well I'm here on Hogwarts business of course!" Master Dumbledore said brightly with a dazzling smile. The elderly man stopped looking at Vernon, instead shifting his focus to look directly at Harry. Harry's eyes widened, nobody had ever even noticed his presence much, and this new visitor was looking at Harry with the most genuinely kind smile he had ever seen.

"Well you must be Harry! I'd recognise you anywhere my dear boy, you look just like your father!" Dumbledore said to Harry, holding out his hand eagerly. Harry hesitated. In his whole life, he could only ever remember two times that anybody had been willing to talk about his parents. The first time, Harry asked where his parents were, and his Aunt Petunia had told him simply that they were dead. The second time, Harry had asked how they died, and Vernon had told him they died in a Sato-mobile accident, and told him not to ask any more questions. Here though, was a man giving him a kind smile and telling him he looked just like his father.

Harry reached out and gingerly shook Master Dumbledore's outstretched hand. "You knew my father?" Harry asked quietly, still unsure of their new visitor.

"Well of course my boy, of course! Quite well actually. Your mother too as a matter of fact. Kinder and more loyal people I never knew" Dumbledore said fondly as he released Harry's hand. "Your mother in particular was unfailingly kind, I think she would be pleased to know that you are staying with her sister Petunia, who I am sure is very kind also, especially to a child of her dear sister." Dumbledore turned his gaze to look seriously at Petunia. She gave a little squeak and stepped closer to her husband.

Harry's eyebrows turned down as he looked between both Dumbledore and his aunt and uncle as silence filled the room. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was clear that he had missed something in that last remark.

Vernon coughed loudly, breaking the silence. "So Master Dumbledore, you still haven't told us why you are here" he said carefully, face still bright red.

"Well I rather thought it was obvious. I'm here to deliver Harry's Hogwarts letter before his 11th birthday tomorrow!" Dumbledore said, smiling down at Harry.

Harry was dumbfounded. Dumbledore couldn't possibly mean that he was going to be invited to Hogwarts did he? His heart soared at the idea for a brief moment, but he quickly squashed his hope back down. Even if Dumbledore was here to invite Harry to go to Hogwarts, his uncle would never allow him to go – he wouldn't even let him near a Pokemon.

Dudley let out a sound like he was choking then. "Dad, he can't go to Hogwarts!" Dudley cried out. "He wouldn't be able to train a Pokemon, and as if he would even have the right blood!"

Harry had no idea what Dudley meant by having the right blood, but Harry's face dropped as Dudley spoke. What Dudley wanted, Dudley tended to get, and now he wanted Harry to not go to Hogwarts.

"Hush Dudley" Vernon said to his son. "But he is right Master Dumbledore, neither me nor my wife have signed Harry up to attend Hogwarts."

Dumbledore gave him a blank look. "Well of course you didn't, his parents did, not long after he was born" he told Vernon. "I admit I expected you would know this, the Potter family have been attending Hogwarts since its inception during the time of Avatar Korra."

Vernon's face went even more scarlet than it had been since he arrived home. "Then as the boy's legal guardian, I utterly refuse to allow him to attend" Vernon spat.

The smile fell immediately from Dumbledore's face. "Well I am sorry to hear that. Of course I will be forced to fight your decision in the ministry courts, since the wish for Harry to go to Hogwarts came from his parents before they died, I feel it is ultimately their wishes I should adhere to" Dumbledore told them simply. "Also, you can also expect that the ministry will want to examine the reasons why you would not want him to attend, and also his … home environment" Dumbledore said the last part slowly and gave a quick glance towards the cupboard that was his bedroom.

Vernon spluttered and coughed as he went redder and redder. If Harry didn't know better, he would think that his uncles head was about to explode.

"You interfering old codger! How dare you threaten me!" Vernon hissed. He reached down to his belt to lay a bulky hand on one of the pokeballs that hung on his belt. Harry backed up against the wall, he had never seen his uncle so angry before, and he guessed Dudley hadn't either, his cousin joining him against the wall of the room.

Dumbledore had already lost his smile, but almost immediately he dropped what remained of the kind old man persona altogether, and a pressure seemed to emanate from him as he reached for his own pokeball. "I do not make threats Master Dursley. Even so, are you quite sure you want to do this?" Dumbledore asked him.

Vernon leered at him, anger rolling off him in waves as they stared each other down. A few moments later though, Vernon removed his hand from his belt and dropped his head. "You win" he said quietly "the boy can go to Hogwarts."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Him, at Hogwarts? The idea was inconceivable, and yet unbelievably exciting. In that moment, all of Harry's dreams seemed possible. Being able to be around Pokemon all year round, the idea sounded fantastic to the hopeful young boy.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore said, his dazzling smile returning to his face as quickly as it had disappeared just moments ago. He reached into his long blue robes and pulled out an envelope. He took a few steps over and pushed the envelope into Harry's hands. Harry turned it over to see the Hogwarts emblem stamped on the front. Despite where he was and who he was with, Harry could not wipe the smile from his face, even with his cousin next to him glaring at the letter in his hands.

Dumbledore put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Glad to see you are so excited about it my boy. I shall send somebody in the morning to help you gather your school things then, I would not want to trouble your family any further after all" he said to Harry with a wink.

"You mean a Pokemon? I'll be getting a Pokemon tomorrow?" Harry asked wide eyed.

Dumbledore chuckled under his breath. "Yes Harry, a Pokemon" he told him still chuckling. Harry should have been embarrassed to be acting like a child he knew, but he was far too excited to care.

"Dad this is not fair, why does Harry get to go to Hogwarts?" Dudley whined to his father.

"Be quiet Dudley" Vernon told him.

"Well I won't take up any more of your time. I will see the both of you when term begins. Harry somebody will be by tomorrow morning to pick you up" Dumbledore said nodding at the two boys.

"I suppose Harry will be needing more… space as of tomorrow when he gets his first Pokemon" Dumbledore said looking between Vernon and Petunia. "Good evening" he said finally as he stepped outside.