Hello, and welcome to Fu's Johto Journal. I'm Fu! Today marked the beginning of my journey through Johto as a pokémon trainer. I'm a native of New Bark Town, and I live nearby Prof. Elm's lab.
Everything started as soon as I stepped foot outside my house. My face felt the warmth of the sun, filling me with energy to move ahead. As I looked up to the blue sky, my hand reached for the pokéball on my hip. The power of my very own pokémon, given to me by my late father, was inside. I knew I could take on anything with my partner by my side.
With that thought burning a passionate force in my head, I stepped forward to begin my journey. One foot in front of the other, I walked through town to get one last look at everything before heading out. I thought about stopping in to see Prof. Elm, but I decided against it. He tends to talk a lot, and I didn't want to start my day listening to him drone on about the Pokédex and research and all that.
I passed by the lab and started down Route 29. The familiar trees I played in when I was younger quickly turned into the unknown. I turned back to see New Bark disappear behind a bend when I realized - this was my first time leaving New Bark Town.
I mean, my family had taken a cruise on the S.S. Anne when I was young. But it docked just south of my hometown, so we had barely left. I had effectively spent my entire life in within the borders of New Bark. Thisbwas a big step for me - for my life. This was a huge adventure that I was taking on my own, with nobody to rely on but myself. And then the doubts came cascading down on me.
Did I forget anything?
Where will I go from here?
Will I make it in the real world?
Can a bumpkin like me become a great pokémon trainer?
As the thoughts rushed through my head, I found myself gripping the pokéball hanging from my belt, my knuckles white. I pictured the power contained inside and managed to slow my racing heart. I can't get overwhelmed, I told myself. I have to take each step one at a time. If I can't do that, I'll never leave New Bark Town. So, the first step is find out what I forgot.
I removed my pack, set it on the ground and began going through each pocket. If I forgot anything at home, now was the time to find out. I started in the small item pocket. It was mostly empty, except for the Potion my mom had given me. I'll need that if I ever get in a pinch.
Next, the ball pocket on the front. There were 5 pokéballs inside. Mom must have snuck those in as a present, because I sure didn't have the money for them. Nevertheless, a trainer can't succeed with just a single pokémon! Thanks, Mom!
The small TM pocket was empty, of course, and the main compartment, which I dubbed the key item pocket, was empty as well. Only the most important things would go in there.
Okay. Five pokéballs and one potion - not a lot, but not bad for the start of my journey. After the inventory check, I checked my PokéGear. I knew I hadn't forgotten anything, but I still didn't know where I was going. A journey like this doesn't have much of a destination at this point, but having an idea where I was headed would give me some sense of security. I pulled up the map and saw a little figure representing my current location right next to where New Bark sat on the map.
The cursor surrounded my location by default and filled out ROUTE 29 above the map. I followed the route that led out of New Bark to a fork. Just west of town, Route 29 diverted north into the mountains and turned into Route 46. If I chose to follow that, it would take me along to Route 45, then being me to Blackthorn City. However, staying on Route 29 to the west led to Cherrygrove City.
Having to choose a path started to get my anxiety going again. I stared at the screen of my PokéGear until my vision blurred. The lines and colors of the map faded to a white blur. Then, almost like foresight the white turned into the faint image of a mountain. The mountain was tall and magnificent. It's beauty bathed in the sunlight. It almost seemed real - because it was real. I was staring at the reflection on my PokéGear's screen. I turned and looked above the treetops to see the peak of Dragon's Den Mountain filling the sky. My heart warmed with excitement and a bright smile of determination flashed across my face.
Route 46 it is.