Dear Dad,
You said to start writing when I began my Pokémon journey, so that's what I'm doing. You must be excited, I'm sure. But I'm starting to think this might be tougher than I expected. Well, let me tell you what happened today and you might understand.
This morning I woke up from a strange dream I can't really remember. Dr. Oak was in it. When I came down for breakfast, Mom told me that Dr. Elm had a favor to ask me. She had a very strange look on her face, and when she handed me my bag, this pad of paper I'm writing on, and my Trainer Card, I figured something was up.
Before I could head to the Lab, though, I ran into Lyra. She's a nice girl, but she seriously needs to keep track of that Marill of hers.
Professor Elm gave me a Cyndaquil to look after. He told me it has some rare genetic condition where it can't produce fire very well. He wanted to see how well it would do with a trainer, so I agreed to help him. I named the Cyndaquil Tyson. He also asked me to check up on Mr. Pokémon, since he was writing emails again.
Before I left for Cherrygrove, Mom gave me my PokéGear that had just came back from repairs. It's funny how things turn out like that. So I went and got Dr. Elm's number so we could keep in touch.
Route 29 was rather uneventful. Just a couple of fights with some Pidgeys and Sentrets. So I guess now's a good time to tell you how Tyson fights. In battle, he seems very hardy. He's very confident with himself, even though his condition gives him some setbacks. He also has a tendency to miss a lot for some reason.
At Cherrygrove I ran into a man who showed me around town and told me some basics. I didn't really need his help, but I humored him anyway. It doesn't seem like he has much else to do these days.
On Route 30 there's a guy who gave me a basket for Apricorns. He was nice, but it seems like he just built his house so that people would come to it, thinking it was Mr. Pokémon's.
Mr. Pokémon's email was about an egg. He asked me to take it back to Dr. Elm. I agreed. But what was more interesting was that Dr. Oak was there. He looked at me and he said, "You have nice eyes. Eyes like he had..." and then he gave me a Pokédex. It was really weird. Maybe it has something to do with that dream.
As I left Mr. Pokémon's house, Dr. Elm called. He sounded frantic and he told me to come back to the lab ASAP. So I ran all the way to Cherrygrove. As I was about to get onto Route 29, I bumped into a boy I had seen earlier looking into the lab's window. I hadn't given him much thought. He went on about how he was better than anyone else, and he challenged me to a battle. When he sent out a Totodile, I figured out what Dr. Elm was so frantic about. The guy was casing the joint! Anyway, I beat him pretty well, since Tyson was a bit stronger from battling the Pokémon on Routes 29 and 30.
Back at the lab, I was accosted by a police officer who seemed very anxious. This was probably the first case he's had in a while. Lyra stepped in to set things straight, and I told the policeman what I knew about the real culprit. By a stroke of luck, he had dropped his trainer card and I caught his name: Silas.
At this point, I gave the egg to Dr. Elm. He thanked me and also suggested that I take the gym challenge now, which I was planning to do. I decided to give Mom one more goodbye. She asked me if she could save some of my prize money. I said it was okay, as long as she didn't use it. Let's see how long that lasts.
Lyra took it upon herself to show me how to catch Pokémon. And then she showed me again after she realized I was only pretending to watch the first time. She then gave me a couple of PokéBalls. She also told me she's going to take on the gyms as well. I guess I'll be seeing her around.
I stopped by Route 46 to catch a Rattata. I named her Brisby, after that book I read once. I don't really plan on using her, but she'll come in handy.
As you know, The closest gym is in Violet City. So I headed there. Along the way I battled some trainers and traded phone numbers. I also saw the entrance to Dark Cave, but I didn't go in. I plan on doing that later.
Around this time Tyson was near the point where he would learn Ember. But when I tried it out, he couldn't use it. He looked very dejected. I'm beginning to realize the full implications of Tyson's disorder.
Lyra caught up to me at the gatehouse to Violet City. She gave me a Vs. Recorder as a reward for beating her there. Seriously, does she think I have no idea how to be a trainer?
Well, I'm spending the night at the Pokémon Center. Tomorrow I plan to take on the gym here. I hope we'll be ok. Dad, did you have problems with your first gym?
Love, Austin