Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon (a.k.a. Pocket Monsters) or any of its various characters and themes. Both rights, and/or ownership, to the Pokémon franchise belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

A/N: This story is literally an "as I go along" project, so I apologize if it doesn't turn out too great. As said in the disclaimer, I do not own Pokémon. However, I will be using their characters and themes in this story. With that said, let's get started.

If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns about this story, please message me and let me know so that I may help resolve them.


[Chapter One - "The Day It All Began"]

"Tobi. Tobi, dear, wake up.", my mother called repeatedly as she shook my shoulders repeatedly.

I opened my eyes and, after giving them a moment to focus, I turned my head and looked toward my mother. My eyes still looked a bit tired at this point.

"Oh, finally! I was wondering how long you had planned on sleeping.", she said.

As I sat up in my bed, I rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's 2:13pm, Tobi. I'd thought you'd be gone by now." she replied.

"Holy crap!" I shouted surprised. "Talk about overslept."

I jumped out of bed as quickly as I could and changed clothes. (Don't worry. My mother was already out of the room at this point.) Anyway, after making sure I had everything I needed...watch, backpack, etc. I ran downstairs and made my way out of the house. I said goodbye to my mother upon leaving. After all, I won't see her again for who-knows-how-long.

What am I in such a hurry for, you ask? Well that's simple. Today is the day where I am to get my first Pokémon. That's right! My very own Pokémon that I get to train and battle alongside of. Together with my Pokémon, I will become the world's greatest trainer. Oh, and if you're wondering, my name is Sarutobi Masamune and I am 15 years old.

In order to get my first Pokémon, I had to make it to the Professor's Lab, located uphill from my home, unfortunately. I got on my bike and hurried along the path to the Lab. It didn't take long to gt there but it was a bit of a pain, all the same. Once I made it to the lab, I hopped off my bike and leaned it against the building, then walked in. The outside was very misleading as you wouldn't expect this place to look as big as I had realized it was once I was inside. There were computers and machines everywhere. And I mean, everywhere. There were hallways beyond hallways, leading to dining rooms, living rooms, and more. In short, this place was a pretty interesting place. No wonder the Professor lives here. As I continued to see the machines and whatnot, the Professor began to speak from behind me.

"Good afternoon, young man. How may I help you?" he asked with a cheerful smile on his face.

I turned to face him and responded quickly, "My name is Sarutobi Masamune, sir, and I am here to get my first Pokémon and begin my journey to become the world's greatest trainer."

"I see. Well, I will gladly give you your first Pokémon, however, at the moment, I'm afraid I only have one Pokémon left for you to receive.", he replied in an apologetic tone.

"That's okay." I replied.

"Okay then. In that case, follow me." He then began to lead me to one of the many rooms in the lab. In the middle of the room, there was a table. On that table was a single Pokeball, a sphere-shaped device used to capture and hold one's Pokémon. I wondered what Pokémon I would receive. "Inside this Pokeball is the Pokémon called Growlithe. Why don't you go ahead and say hello." The Professor then picked up and handed me the Pokeball from the table and I stared at it with anticipation.

I tossed the Pokeball towards the floor. "C'mon out, Growlithe!", I said.

The Pokeball tapped the floor, bounced up and floated in mid-air. It opened up and a bright white flash of light began to fly out of it. The light started to take form after a few seconds and then it disappeared. In its place, stood a dog-like creature with orange fur. It had three black stripes along its back, along with two black stripes on both its hind legs and one stripe on both its front legs. It also had a tuft of fur on the top of its head and a fluffy tail, both of which were a cream color. Its nose was small and black, its muzzle rounded and the insides of its ears were light brown.

"Grow-lithe", the creature spoke. (They cant speak like we can. They can only say their name.)

My eyes widened with excitement. This had to be one of the greatest moments of my life. I was finally about to start my journey to become a Pokémon master and this Growlithe was going to help me reach that goal. I just couldn't believe this was all really happening. I was tempted to pinch myself just to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

I squatted down and took a look at Growlithe. "Hi there, Growlithe."

"Grow-L-ithe," it replied as its small but fluffy tail shuffled around.

"This Growlithe is a girl, in case you were hoping to give it a nickname." the Professor chimed in.

'A girl, huh? I wonder, what name should I give you then?' I went into real deep thought on this. This was my first pokemon, after all, so I wanted it...I mean, her, to have the best name I could think of. After a couple of minutes (Did I really have to think that long?), I got an idea.

"I got it! From now on, Growlithe, your name shall be Lilith." I said proudly.

Growlithe seemed excited by its new name as it started jumping around me on its hind legs.

The Professor walked up to me holding out 6 empty poke balls and a small tablet-like device. "Here are your poke balls and Pokedex. The Pokedex will record all the Pokémon you meet on your journey. It also has many other functions, including communication. From this day forward, you are now officially a Pokémon trainer.", he said.

I looked back at Growlithe and smiled proudly. "You hear that, Lilith? Our journey begins today. Let's give it our best."

Growlithe once again shouted its name in agreement. Afterwards, I pulled out her poke ball and pointed it towards her. "Okay, Lilith. Return!", I called out and a red flash of light beamed out of the poke ball just as the white flash had before. Only this time, the light touched Lilith and losing her materialized form, she returned to the poke ball. It was at that moment, I wondered what the Pokémon actually did in their balls. But then I shook the thought away.

I made my way outside of the lab and waved goodbye to the Professor as I hopped on my bike and rode north of my hometown. Every trainer had but one goal during their journey. That was to defeat the gym leaders of each town and collect the eight Gym badges. Once all were collected, the trainer could enter the Pokémon League championships. If they rose victorious, they would be crowned the greatest Pokémon Master. That was my dream. My goal. And Lilith was going to help me make that dream a reality. "Look out, Gym leaders. A new challenger is about to arrive!", I shouted to the sky as I picked up speed. There was a trainer who had left a few years before me who had a similar dream and is now the regional champion. One day, I hope to meet that trainer and I will show him who's really the best.


A/N: Growlithe's nickname, Lilith, was an idea given to me by a friend. So I owe her credit for that. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review even if you did not. Depending on my reviews, I shall continue with this story. It is a short chapter but that is simply because I want to know how well this story will actually do before I write any more.