She crouches in the long grass outside the lab, feeling the cool breeze caress her face. A window is open a few feet away, and through it she can hear the sound of Dr Ang's cheerful voice speaking to itself as he bustles around in the incubation room. That voice is very familiar to her: how many times has the good doctor welcomed her into his lab and shared his knowledge of the beautiful creatures called Pokemon, while she listened, rapt, and drank in every word…
"Let's see now… humidity at 24 percent… Life signs normal… I'd better shut that window in a few minutes, else you won't hatch, my little babies!" He croons and murmurs to the matured eggs, like a mother hen fussing over her brood.
A faint crash is heard in the distance, and Dr Ang's footsteps swiftly retreat from the room. This is the chance she's been waiting for. Without hesitation, she launches herself from her crouch and races to the window. She climbs through and there she sees what she's after: a clutch of pokemon eggs nestled in an incubator, glowing in all the colours of the rainbow. Without pause, without stopping to think of what she's doing, she snatches up one of the eggs and cradles it in her arms.
She leaps back out of the window and begins to run as fast as she can, her feet pounding too loudly against the pavement (someone's going to stop her, any moment now a police officer will yell, "Stop, thief!"), she runs and runs and runs until she leaves the town behind and travels far into the soft green gloom of the forest. Only then does she stop and collapse, gasping for breath, leaning against the sturdy trunk of a tree, the egg clasped to her chest.
She feels the warmth of the egg against her skin, flowing through its shell, the faint movements from within that tell her the egg is alive and will hatch soon. She holds the egg before her face and sees that it is a rich yellow colour, striped with a dark chocolate brown.
She finally owns her first pokemon. She should feel joy, she should feel excitement, she should feel something. But all she can feel is a dull hollowness, a sick empty sensation in her stomach. She's a thief now, outside the law. Her brother is gone. This wasn't how she wanted her pokemon journey to begin.
Russell's mom was in the living room, watching The Bold and the Beautifly.
"Mom, is there anything for lunch?" Russell asked. On the TV screen, a blonde woman was gazing with soulful intensity into the eyes of her lover.
"Oh, Desmond, of course I love you. My love for you is as deep and everlasting as the ocean. But if I marry you, who will evolve my wurmple into a silcoon?"
Mrs Toyoda's eyes were glued to the TV. "I didn't cook anything today. Last night's noodles are in the fridge."
"Okay, thanks."
"Belinda, I know how much this pokemon means to you. Please, accept this rare candy as a token of my love and devotion."
"Oh, Desmond!"
Russell went back to the kitchen and got out last night's noodles. He was heating them up when his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number.
"Hello?"
"Hello, may I speak to Russell Toyoda, please?" It was a young man's voice, formal and educated.
"I'm Russell."
"Hello, Russell. My name is Jibreel Coconut. I'm a researcher at Nova Lab. I believe you contacted us to express your interest in volunteering."
"Oh, right." Russell shifted the phone to a more comfortable position and sat himself on a chair. "Yeah, I saw your ad looking for volunteers with pokemon and, well, I used to love pokemon when I was younger. So I thought I would give it a try."
"We're always pleased to have new volunteers, especially those who genuinely care about pokemon research. You live in Nova Town, don't you? Would it be possible for you to come in this afternoon? We have… something of a situation on our hands."
"A situation? I hope it's not serious."
"It seems that someone has stolen a pokemon egg from our lab! The egg was rare and valuable."
"You're kidding! Well, I guess I can come in this afternoon. I don't have any plans. Is half an hour okay?"
"That would be great. Thanks a lot. Oh, and make sure to bring some ID with you."
"Okay, Professor. See you in a little while."
Once his noodles were ready, Russell took them into the living room to sit with his Mom. "What's happening this week?" he asked.
"Oh, it's so exciting," Mrs Toyoda said. "Desmond has finally proposed to Belinda, but she can't accept it because she wants to become a pokemon trainer. She needs to enter a Beautifly into the local bug show in order to win enough money to become a great trainer and search for her family, who mysteriously disappeared when a legendary pokemon attacked Citrus City."
"Hmm. I see. Listen, mom, I'm going out for a bit. I'm going to be doing some volunteering down at the lab."
"That's nice, dear. Have a good time."
"You'll have to look after the house while I'm away. Don't leave the stove on or leave the front door open or anything."
"Yes, dear, you don't have to worry about a thing. I promise I won't do anything silly this time."
Russell left his Mom with her beloved soap opera and went up to his room to get dressed. He wanted to make a good impression, but he wasn't sure exactly what to wear. In the end he settled for comfortable blue jeans and the red t-shirt with a stylized fearow on it that made him look somewhat presentable.
He went downstairs and found Surya, his charmander, curled up in a patch of sunshine, the flame on his tail burning peacefully as he slept.
"Come on, boy. I need you to get in your pokeball for a bit. We're going for a trip. You'll like it, there'll be lots of new pokemon for you to make friends with."
He said goodbye to his mother, locked the front door and cycled off.