It all began on what was apparently another boring summer day, not long after my 17th birthday. I was just playing some videogames when my neighbor Crystal (or Crys, for short) called me. "You! Elm! Now!". Great, just when I hoped to stay in bed all day.
I dragged myself across the room, got dressed and went downstairs. My mother stopped on my way to give me my PokéGear: it was essentially a smartphone that you wore on your wrist, nothing really fancy, specially about this model. I had bought it with saved money from helping the Professor two years before, when I actually thought I would be leaving soon. Needless to say, things didn't go as expected.
Anyway, I left my house on the way to Professor Elm's lab. It was really just another summmer day, if only a little windy, as clearly visible by the wind power plants that supported our miserably small town. Professor Elm lived close to the town's western exit, essentially so he could study wild Pokémon easily. I assumed he had another ridiculously boring errand for us, so I walked as painfully slowly as humanly possible.
After about ten minutes, I arrived at Lab. It was a two story house, one for the lab itself and one for his actual home( I guess that's what happens when a scientist has a family). The professor's aide (really surprising he had one, considering I usually did all the boring crap) opened the door and just told me to walk in. The lab was as simple as it gets, with a few computers, some piles of paper thrown around, some bizarre machines and a table with somethin clearly covered by a blanket.
Professor Elm was already speaking with Crystal as I got in: he was actually quite young for the title, barely breaking his thirties, although he was visibly going bald. As one of the youngest Pokémon Professors, Elm was the reason New Bark Town existed for the outside world, even though he hadn't quite fully outgrown being a student to the legendary Professor Oak. He still looked too young for the labcoat.
Crystal was essentially my only friend on this town: she was about the same age as me, slightly shorter and had black, slightly greenish long hair and a small yellow hat. She wore a red shirt and yellow shorts, and was visibly annoyed to be coincidentally wearing almost the same clothing as me.
"You're finally here, Gold! I was starting to wonder if I should send my Pidgey to wake you up again!", the professor mocked me.
Gold isn't exactly my name, nobody had that kind of name...besides Crystal, but that's not the point: it had been my nickname since as far back as I could remember and I liked it more than my name, so I just went with it.
"I received two very special deliveries this morning, but I cannot really understand just what they are!" He pressed some buttons on one of his machines, and it revealed an egg and a stone.
"This egg is apparently a Togepi egg, that much I know, but I'm getting some strange radiation readings from it... It also seems much older than it should be, considering it's an egg, but the little one inside is still pretty much alive!" I wasn't that much interested, but that was indeed strange.
"As for this..." He showed us a red-orange, somewhat transparent stone: "I don't know what this stone is, but I'm also getting the same strange readings from it... It doesn't seem to be an ordinary evolutionary stone, but the radiation it emits is somewhat similar."
"Couldn't it be one of those 'Mega-Stones', professor?", Crystal interjected immediately.
"That's actually what I thought, but the radiation profile also doesn't match those. Of course, it's not like I have one of those here to study."
Mega-Stones were probably the rarest and most expensive freaking stones you could find. They were initially found in the Kalos region, a few years before, and were still pretty much a mistery. What was known about them was that, when ressonating with a different kind of stone, they could make certain Pokémon evolve beyond what was previously thought possible, although only for a short time. Notably, the previous Kanto-Johto champion had one of those. They were too rare and valuable to give away to reseaarchers, though, so the only real advances on that front were made by a Kalosian professor, but even then, not much.
"Anyway, here's what I brought you two here for: I need to take this egg and this stone to bigger brains that could help me study them. I called that " émon" guy and he told me he would take a look at the egg, but only if I brought it to him. He also brought my attention to the gloriously impressive coincidence that stone expert and former Hoenn champion Steven Stone is at Johto, studying the Ruins of Alph. And you two should've guessed, I need you to deliver those things".
"Wait a second, professor", I interrupted,"you DO remember we don't have any pokémon, right?". We had both been trying to get starter pokémon for a few years now, but the sheer rarity of those, coupled with the Pokémon League's burocracy, always pushed us back in the list. Of course, we both refused to just grab a sentret or something like that and go on our way.
"Of course I do, Gold", tha said in a forced annoyed tone, even though he was smiling", that's why I decided to give you two my final payment for the help you have given me for all those years!". He dramatically removed the blanket that was covering the table.
"Are you freaking kidding me...", I said, unable to articulate my thoughts
"Professor, that's awesome!", Crystal jumped in the air.
At the table stood three pokéballs on a stand, with names below it: "Cindaquil", "Totodile", "Chicorita".
I immediately felt bad for my initial unwillingness. The professor had somehow jumped through all the burocratic hurdles and gotten three of the best starter pokémon to give away to us. For free.
After all these years, it was finally happening: I was going to be a Pokémon trainer.