I couldn't believe it. I was actually walking towards the town's gym, and not because I wanted to earn some money in the museum, but because I was going to get a starter.

First of October. The date when trainers received their first partner and set out on their journey.

Of course, there where a few restrictions. First of all, you had to be fifteen years old. Not a year younger or older. Otherwise, you would have to pay for your starter. Next, you had to get an acceptance letter from the local gym, with the leader's and parents's signature. There`s some other stuff, but these were the most important points.

So anyway, I was heading for the gym with my friend Jack, a tall black guy with a slump posture. He was my friend ever since we moved to Nacrene. We vowed to become trainers once we hit the age fifteen and travel together. I was so excited, I could barely contain it.

The gym was a led by a strong headed women called Lenora. She was a normal-type master, so I guess we were going to get a Lillipup or Patrat. Not really a cool starter Pokemon, but that`s what you get when your parents aren`t willing to pay for a proper one. You know, Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott. Those were real starters.

But it didn`t matter to me, I was going to ditch him as soon as I caught a proper Pokemon. Why? Well, I wanted to have ferocious Pokemon. Some kind of vicious animal that would rip apart my enemy at the lift of my finger. Starters weren't like that. The were usually loyal, true, but calm and collected. Too easy to train. They were bred for beginners and I certainly didn`t feel like one.

We reached the entrance. Jack hesitantly hovered a fist over the front door. "You think we'll be welcome?" I checked my watch. Both of the hands were pointing at 6 o'clock. "Sure we will, it is the first of October, right?" I blasted forward, with a swish of my long curly hair. The handle bent easily under my hands weight and the door flew open, almost on its own. "Hello?" I exclaimed while darting my eyes around the dark museum. Jack flung his fingers onto the switch, he was kind of afraid of the darkness. The whole place lit up. I worked here, several times, cleaning the bones and carrying them around. But every time I entered, I was blown back by the mightiness of the skull Pokemon. "Why aren`t you two a couple of early birds! I`m sorry, but the starters aren`t ready yet." a rough female voice sounded from Lenore herself. She was standing, resting her body on one of the larger exhibitions.

"No one here yet, huh?" I didn`t feel like waiting outside. I already entered the building so why waste my time. I was partially hoping she would reveal some secret room with the new Pokemon and give us a first pick. Jack pinched my arm as a sign that he was leaving. I quickly grabbed his hand to stop him from the action and wrapped myself around him to pin him down. No way you`re leaving me here alone.

"But I guess I can get them for you, come with me." she gave us a warm smile and walked into one of the dark halls. I exchanged looks with Jack. "I think we should foll-" he didn`t manage to finish, as I was already dragging him across the hallway.

I pressed my face against the thick glass. "Wow." a breathless sigh escaped Jack`s mouth. We were looking at some sort of machine and people cleaning fossils, I had no idea what Jack was so excited about. "You`re going to get to see your starter's revival process." Lenora carefully opened one of the glass doors that led us to a pile of rocks. "Wait, we`re getting fossil Pokemon!?" I widened my eyes. Sure, it made sense. This gym was part museum, of course we were getting some of its exhibits! My heart pounded at my chest. Maybe I wasn`t going to get an useless Pokemon after all. "Yep, you can pick one now." I saw Jack turn his head around, probably searching for the Pokemon he was supposed to pick. "Hey silly!" I knocked on his shoulder. "I think she means one of these." My hand reached for one rocks. It was cold and hard, just like I wanted my Pokemon to be. Cool and hard to beat!

After Jack shuffled through the pile for a few moments, he decided to pick one at random. He wasn`t very good with telling apart fossils anyway. "You sure?" The gym leader eyed us curiously. We both nodded in unison. "Great!"

Once again, we tagged behind her while she traveled across the hallway maze. Another room and more scientists. "Oh, hi honey! We just fini-" the man in a long white coat scanned us and blinked a few times before returning to his speech. "There're already here? I thought they were coming in the afternoon."

"I guess they couldn't wait to start their journey, huh?" Lenora turned to us, half expecting an answer. When she didn't receive one, she faced the white cloaked man again. Her hand pointed at one of the larger machines. "That`s the unit that will revive your starters. My husband will aid you there. Once you`re finished, you will receive a Trainer Card from me." she made sure to say everything slowly enough for us to not mess it up.

About half an hour later, we were standing outside the gym, examining our new pokeballs. "I bet mine's an Aerodactyl!" Jack suddenly shouted. "Pfft, yeah right. Like you would be able to train an Aerodactyl." I mocked him, knocking on my forehead.

After exchanging and checking each other's Trainer Cards, we returned to staring at the pokeballs. "Shouldn't we release them, or something...?" I trailed off, hoping Jack would come up with an answer. "I think we should go into less crowded place first. The Pokemon are probably too ancient to even know what a human looks like." I nodded in agreement. The little things would probably freak out.

We ended up in Pinwheel forest. A lot of trainers came here to train for the gym, but it wasn`t as dense as in the city. "So we just throw the pokeball, right?" I hesitantly balanced the red and white ball in my hands. I couldn't wait to get a Pokemon, but now that I had it, I was a bit afraid of what would happen when I released it. I saw Jack was also weighting out his options.

Come on, I was no trainer if I couldn't send out a simple Pokemon! My arm swung, causing the ball to hit the mossy ground. Nothing.

"Um, you have to enlarge it first." Jack pointed out to me from behind. "I know!" I lied back to him. "I was just testing out it`s... durability." Before Jack could reply, I swooped up the pokeball, quickly clicking the small button in the middle. Sure, I managed to get it to grow, but at the same time a flash of light burst out. The energy materialized, leaving behind a fairly large, grey dinosaur. "...Hi?" I said questionably. Could he understand me? Jack widened his eyes as he tapped my shoulder. "Use your Pokedex." he advised. "Oh, right." I threw him a not exactly sincere smile. My hand dug into my pocket. Finally, I managed to fish out a small device. Holding up the pink piece of metal (My parents apparently thought I wasn`t girly enough), I awaited an answer on my starter`s species. "CRANIDOS." the robotic voice sounded. "THE HEAD BUTT POKEMON." A Cranidos huh? I didn`t know much about the Pokemon, just that it evolved into Rampardos. "Randoms lived in the deep woods abo-" I slammed the pokedex closed. "Hey! I was listening to that!" my friend protested. "Then use it on your own Pokemon, smartass!" I think he wanted to say something, but dismissed it. An idea popped up in my head. "We`re both trainers now, eh?" I eyed him. "Yeah so?" he replied, rather annoyed. "We should battle!"

"What!? I`m not beating up a girl like you!"

"You`re just scared I`d kick your ass."

I had a point there. Out of the two of us, I was the stronger one, even thought I was a girl.

"Fine." he whimpered and added the rules. "One on one, we`re done when one team is out of usable Pokemon."

"Sure, whatever. Let's just get started already."