I find myself in a pitch black room. I'm not even sure if it is a room. It's dark, and I can't see anything.

A spotlight appears in the center of the room, and in a matter of seconds, a man fades into view under the spotlight. He's a rather short man, wearing khaki shorts and a blue shirt under an open white lab coat. He wore his brown hair short, along with a short beard to match.

"Hi!" The man says in an upbeat tone. "Sorry to keep you waiting! My name is Birch! But everyone calls me the Pokémon Professor!"

I want to try and say something, but I have no voice. I try to ask what's going on, but to no avail.

A small, red and white ball, with some kind of button in the middle, appeared in the palm of his hand. "This is what we call a 'Pokémon.'" He pressed the button in the middle, and a small, blue mouse-like creature with a zigzagging tail, with a squishy ball of sorts at the end. On that ball balances its raindrop-shaped, armless body, its stubby feet sitting uselessly as it bobs up and down. "Azurill!" it chimed.

"This world is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon." Birch continued. "We humans live alongside Pokémon, at times as friendly playmates, and at times as cooperative workmates. And sometimes, we battle others like us. But despite our closeness, we don't know everything about Pokémon. In fact, there are many, many secrets surrounding Pokémon. To unravel Pokémon mysteries, I've been undertaking research. That's what I do." He looks over to me. "And you are? Are you a boy, or are you a girl?"

Something compels me (or outright forces me) to say "Boy." An image of myself appears in place of Birch. I'm wearing a black headband with a red Poké ball logo on it. My hair is white above the headband, and falls a bit over it in the back. Below the headband, my hair is short and black. I wear a black and red long-sleeved t-shirt with black jeans and black and red shoes. My yellow bag is strapped over my shoulder, probably filled with soda. That was how I left it, anyways.

"All right. What is your name?"

"Brendan." I reply.

"So it's Brendan?"

"Yes."

Birch reappeared. "Ah, okay!" He replies excitedly. "You're Brendan, who's moving to my hometown of Littleroot. I get it now! All right, are you ready? Your very own Pokémon adventure is about to unfold! Take courage, and leap into the world of Pokémon, where—"

My eyes shoot open and I wake in a cold sweat. "What the—what was that?" I panted for a second before muttering "Must've been another dream…" I'm still in a dark area, but I remember where I am. I'm in the back of a moving truck, on its way to Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region. I moved from Johto, because my father had come here as a Gym Leader.

I feel around in the dark for my bag. Judging by my level of drowsiness, I assume it's morning. As soon as I find my bag, I pull a can of soda from it and take a sip. Several minutes later, the back of the truck is opened by burly, purple Pokémon; Machoke, if I remember correctly (Or were they Vigoroth?). I step out of the truck to be greeted by my mother. Littleroot was a small town, more like a neighborhood, really. Only a few houses, a small general store, and some kind of laboratory near our new house.

"Brendan." My mother says cheerfully. "We're finally here!" She takes in her surroundings before continuing. "It's kind of quiet, but I'm sure we'll get used to it in no time!"

I nod in agreement. "Hey, mom, I'm going to go poke around town for a bit, if that's okay?"

"That's fine. I hear Professor Birch has a daughter your age next door!"

I walk across the street and knock on Birch's door. A woman responds "Come in!" I enter the house which looks shockingly similar to mine, only flipped. The woman continues, "If you're looking for my husband, he's out in the field today. My daughter, Sapphire is upstairs."

I knit my eyebrows. "Sapphire?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You sure her name isn't something like 'May?'"

"Absolutely positive…"

"N-never mind, I'm sorry."

She nods, probably trying to guess what mental illness I suffer from as I walk upstairs and knock on one of the doors.

"I'm changing!" a girl shouts from behind the door. "Why don't you come back later!"

"Oh, okay…" I reply. "I'll just, uh… go outside or something…. Wait, your dad is the professor, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Does he have Pokémon?"

"Uh, yeah. He gave me one."

"… Where is he?"

"Calm down! He's out in the field, probably studying wild Pokémon. He couldn't have gone far."

"Okay, thank you!"

The first thing I see when I approach Route 101 is a young boy staring at something near the tall grass at the entrance to Route 101, which is tall enough to reach the base of my neck. "Hey!" The boy shouts. "Something's going on over there!"

Not too far off, I see the man from my dream, Professor Birch, being chased by a small black, doglike Pokémon; a Poochyena.

I nod in agreement with the boy for a few seconds. "… I guess we should go help that guy."

"Be my guest. I'm too young to go into the tall grass."

(Too young to walk ten feet from your house?) I think to myself as I rush out to the Professor. "Are you okay?" I shout, trying to get his attention.

"Not really!" He shouts back. "Quick! In my bag, there are some Pokémon! Get one of them out of the bag and help me!"

"Um… okay!" I reply, honestly kind if frightened. Frankly, I had never seen a wild Pokémon act this aggressive before. Not that I had seen that many wild Pokémon in my life, but that's a different story. I quickly open the bag and grab a Poké Ball from it, and did what the Trainers on TV did.

By that, I mean I threw it straight onto the ground and waited for a Pokémon to come out.

"No!" Birch shouted. "You have to press the button in the middle!"

"Oh, you could have told me that earlier…" I picked the ball up again, and looked into the transparent red half. I could see a creature with fins on its head and tail, as well as the sides of its head. It winks at me with its beady black eyes and I know this Pokémon is going to be my new partner in crime. This time, I throw the ball correctly, and the Pokémon appears from the ball. I point at the Poochyena, expecting my Pokémon to do something.

"… Oh, um… use… Water Gun! Do it! Go!"

The Pokémon stares at me, tilting its head slightly. "Mud…?"

"You don't know Water Gun? Um… Tackle?"

At that instant, my Pokémon rushes towards the Poochyena and crashes into it, causing it to yelp and run away.

The Professor climbs to his feet and brushes himself off. "Thank you, young man!" He glances around for a few seconds. "Alright," he laughs, "it's a little dangerous out here. Maybe we should head back to my lab."

"So, you're Norman's kid, right?" Birch asks as he tinkers with some sort of red handheld device.

"Yeah, I am."

"I could tell. The way you carried that last fight, it was just like your father's style."

"Like the way I didn't know what attacks my Pokémon knew? Or how to throw a Poke Ball?"

"Well… I'm trying to help you out here…"

"Oh," I laugh, "I understand."

"In fact, with a little practice, I'm thinking you could become the Champion of the Hoenn Pokémon League."

"Really? Champion, huh?"

The Professor nods. "Yeah, and since I'm giving you that Mudkip, you're already well on your way!"

"Oh, huh?"

"That's right! You can have that little Mudkip there. He seems to have taken a liking to you."

"U-um, thank you, Professor!"

"Anytime."

"So… what do I do now?"

"Well, I'd tell you to go check on my daughter, but… she told me not to let the new neighbor talk to her. I recommend heading to Rustboro City. The first Pokémon Gym Leader, Roxanne, is there, and you can earn your first badge there."

"Thanks, I'll go right away."

"Um… you might want to tell your mother that you're leaving to travel the world and face an innumerable about of perils on your quest to ultimately become a Pokémon master…"

"… You know what? I'd better. Knowing her, that's a good idea."

I stop at my house one last time to tell my mom what happened, and that I was leaving.

"Oh, you're leaving? Well… I understand. Your father told me you might want to follow in his footsteps. Just take this before you go." My mom handed me some kind of yellow thing. "That's a Pokenav. Basically, I can call you with this whenever I want, to make sure you aren't getting into trouble. It also has a map of the Hoenn region so you don't get lost."

"Thanks, mom. Just try not to call too much."

"Don't worry, and good luck! Try to visit me as much as you can!"

"I will!" I reply as I walk out the door.

"Goodbye, and good luck, Brendan!"

"Bye, mom, and thanks!"

And with that, I'm off, already determined to become the Champion of the Pokémon League.