I woke up early, setting my alarm a few minutes earlier than I needed to, just because I didn't want to be late to get my first pokemon. That was the worst thing that could happen. Being late. I shuddered at the thought. What would my Mother say if I were late? Probably something like, 'Well, looks like you're going to be a failure of a trainer. I can only hope you catch pokemon who don't see it right away.' As a Gym Leader, she had high expectations from me. And I only had until Petalburg City to catch a few pokemon that would impress her! If I were lucky, the weather would have stirred up the pokemon from their hiding places.

There had been a wild storm last night. The weather in Littleroot town was supposed to be consistent, but there had been a series of rain showers and mild storms lately. I thought it was exiting, and that the streets looked nice when they were a little messy with mud and leaves from the forest.

I noticed all the people cleaning and smirked. I couldn't wait to leave. Even if it would rain, today was the day I would leave. I didn't have any super-great ambitions like most rookies did. I guessed that I would figure it out along the way, if there was anything to figure out at all.

Though, at that moment, there was one thing I was very curious about. Why was there a huge crowd in front of Professor Birch's lab?

I shoved my way to the front, and saw two teenagers with small pokemon at their sides. The girl had a small, blue fish-like pokemon with orange cheeks and a pale tailfin. The water-type didn't seem to like all the attention, by the way he kept trying to get behind his trainer's legs. The guy held up a bright orange chick pokemon with plumy feathers on the top of its head like a flame. Mudkip and torchic, two out of three of Birch's starter pokemon. The third one wasn't in sight, but I was still horrified. I wasn't late!

"Excuse me…!" I finally got out of the crowd and in front of the new trainers. "Hey, what's going on? Why do you have your pokemon already?" They exchanged looks of obvious amusement before they addressed me. And when the guy did, his hands were on his hips. A cruel smile was on his face as he said,

"You woke up late."

"No!" I instantly denied. "No way- I set my clock-"

"Half an hour late." The boy chuckled. "Better get yourself a hoothoot next time." He wrapped an arm around the girl, and they made their way around me. "Let's get out of here." I wished I was holding something to throw at them as they sauntered away, but my hands only clenched open air.

"Fine." I spat. "I'm late. But I only saw two starter pokemon…" I turned away from the cheering crowd and went inside Birch's lab. It was still air-conditioned, despite the cold weather, and unnaturally quiet. "Hello…?" I called. The spacious first-floor looked empty. I followed the hallway until I reached the back wall. There was a metal desk a few feet from the wall, and in the middle sat a red and white sphere. It seemed misplaced, the way it sat by itself. Oh yeah, the other two pokemon that it was usually with were gone now. I bet it was lonely. I tentatively stretched my hand out, glancing around for the Professor. Not even an assistant was in sight. My hand closed over the cool metal. I lifted it to my face-level and peered at the device. It suddenly twitched to a side, and I nearly dropped it out of surprise. I could feel it moving inside. Awesome…

I waited about five minutes and Professor Birch still didn't come back. And that was as long as I could sit still for.

I was anxious to leave, and the gray clouds seemed to be getting closer…heavier. I stomped my foot and settled with writing a note.

'Dear Professor Birch,

I apparently woke up late today, but no need to worry. I came and got my starter pokemon on my own, and am off to explore Hoenn. Look for me on television!'

That sounded nice enough. I stuck it to the automatic doors and left the lab, and Littleroot town behind me.

I hurried away from town out of eagerness to start my journey, but I soon found myself hurrying deeper into the forest out of fear. I was starting to rethink my plan. What if Birch thought that I had stolen the pokemon? I remembered to write my name, right? I kept thinking about that, but I didn't stop. What good would it do now? Not much, I was convinced.

I finally stopped on the outside of a mossy clearing.

I parted the thorny branches of a holly bush with my hands and peered through the leaves into the clearing. A pair of zigzagoon dashed across the grass and fallen branches in winding lines. They cleared the debris from the previous night's storm easily, but I kept getting tangled up in it. I pushed my way through the bush, scratching my exposed legs as I trudged into the clearing. Water was dripping down from the leaves, but I was mostly protected from the slow rainfall. "Now…" I pulled the poke'ball from my backpack and held it in front of myself. "I'm so excited to meet you." I let the ball drop from my hands. Upon contact with the grass, the sphere broke open down the middle, and a harsh light lit up the dark clearing. I wasn't expecting that, and it took a few more seconds for my eyes to recover from their momentary blindness. What stood in front of me was everything I had expected, and nothing like my previous images.

A two-foot tall gecko pokemon stood a yard away from me. Its skin was made up of many, tiny green scales that gave it a leathery texture, and a fine red underbelly. I recognized the grass-type instantly, though it looked much cooler in person. The Wood-Gecko Pokemon- Treecko. It said nothing, and looked up at me expectantly. "Uh…Hello. I'm Torri." It silently looked around the trees. "Oh, we're in the woods outside of Littleroot town. I left only a few minutes ago." Then, it crossed its arms. "I didn't steal you, really, I'm one of the new trainers. Sorry I didn't really ask your permission earlier, but…" This conversation was feeling very one-sided. I knelt down to its level. "Okay, if you don't want to come with me because I look like an idiot, that's okay. But why don't you come with me to get out of that tiny place? Where we're headed is way bigger." That convinced it. It shrugged, and bunched its muscles. A moment later, it had leaped onto my arm, and was scrabbling up my shoulder. "Want to ride shotgun, okay…I get it." I knew that if the treecko tried to talk to me, I would only hear bits of its name. But that would still be communication. I rambled on as I walked, hoping for some kind of response out of…it. I wished I knew its gender.

"So, my Mom will be happy to see you as my first pokemon." Treecko eyed me with large, amber irises. "She's a grass-type Gym leader. She took over the Gym in Petalburg after the old Leader moved away. Changed the Gym's type and everything. Upset quite a few normal-type trainers."

'Cko.' It spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Oh! You finally talked to me-!" It's thick tail slapped over my mouth. It tasted like leaves.

Treecko wanted me to be quiet? I heard a branch snap a few yards ahead. Not a small twig, but a fallen branch. It still must have been strong, but I could hear it snap right in half as a heavy paw fell onto of it. A snarling mass of brown and black fur suddenly flew past me. I screamed through Treecko's tail, and dashed against a tree for cover. The two fighting pokemon rolled into an open space, and separated. They were large, heavyset wolf-pokemon, with streaks of mottled fur going down their back, and patterned faces. Mightyena, the evolved form of poochyena. I didn't need a pokedex to tell me that. We must have stumbled on a territorial dispute or something. I noticed that the larger of the two pokemon was oddly colored. Instead of the normal black and gray, her fur was patterned with shades of brown. And she wasn't alone. About ten poochyena suddenly appeared on the outside of the clearing, yipping loudly, their fur raised.

'Tree…cko.'

"Yeah. Let's get out of here." I slowly wound my way back around the tree, trying to keep my rapid breathing quiet. When I was a few yards away, I bolted. I dashed back onto the main path, and ran the rest of the way to Oldale Town.

Nurse Joy took one look at me and gave me a room. She was smart enough not to ask any questions.

I wiped the mud off of my face, and brushed the leaves out of my hair. Then, with Treecko on my shoulder, I sat in front of the screenphone and dialed a familiar number. I waited. The black screen lit up, and a hand pulled away from the screen. It revealed a woman with dark brown hair and brilliant, pensive green eyes.

"Hi Mom." I greeted. Her response was,

"You look terrible." I sighed, unsurprised. "Have you caught any pokemon on the way to Oldale town?" I shook my head.

"I almost got eaten by a pack of mightyena."

"I see, so, ah…You chose treecko." The pokemon on my shoulder put its hand on the screen, staring at my Mom curiously. "Oh, what a lovely girl she is too."

"How could you tell!" I gasped. Her reply was an accusing glare.

"How could you not, Torri?" Treecko looked over her shoulder too.

"Sorry…I'm new at this." I saw a flash of movement behind her. "Hey, is that Clover and her kits?" My mother's lips curved into a rare smile.

"Take a look." She moved the screen to the side. A pretty grass pokemon, which looked like a beige fox with leaf ears and a leaf for a tail, sat on her haunches while a pair of small Eevee rolled around in front of her. It was the Leafeon's last litter, and the grass-fox looked eager enough to be done with it. My mother gasped. "Oh, not again. Clover, where's your third one?" The Leafeon let out an annoyed growl, and moved to the side. Another Eevee kit was growing fiercely at his mother's leaf tail. Whenever it moved, he would backpedal, then slowly crouch back up to it, his furry collar on end. When he got close enough to get a bite in, his mother let out a threatening hiss, and the kit would scramble away. He would return a few moments later to try again. If that didn't make me happy, my mother then said, "That one, Torri, is supposed to be yours." I beamed.

"Oh! He is so cute! Wait, what do you mean, supposed to be?" She grimaced.

"He's going to have a lot of energy. Can you handle him?" My mother's faith in me was astounding.

"Of course! All he needs to do is run around a little. And look how determined he is!"

"I'd say stupid. He's been nipped twice already. And Clover bites hard." The Leafeon hissed at the remark. She sounded rather testy. "No, I don't need you to prove it dear." My mother dismissed her annoyed pokemon. My mother could understand pokemon, as did most trainers. It took a while, but rookies were supposed to learn Poke'speech sooner than later too.

I hung up and picked the treecko up in front of me.

"Okay, girl. I was thinking, you need a nickname." She went limp in my arms and shrugged. "There was a ship I went on when I was little. It had a cool name; The S.S. Junon. What do you think?" Instead of shrugging, she nodded. "Okay. Nice to meet you, Junon."