Author's Note : I do not own pokemon. That would be Nintendo.


"So, you want to be a trainer?" asked the short redheaded woman in the lab coat.

"Yes, professor!" came the resounding answer from the thirty or so potentials that year. They were all crowded around four adults in white coats who in turn stood before the entrance to a dim cave. The potential pokemon trainers gathered were all fairly young, the oldest no more than fourteen, and with a few exceptions looked a mixture of nervous and excited.

"Okay then," called the red-haired professor, "Please line up in front of Professor Oak to get your poke balls." She pointed towards the professor with graying brown hair before continuing, "Once you've done that, then please follow Professor Aspen inside the Cave of Genesis," finishing her statement with a gesture towards the rail-thin professor with the slicked back hair.

Professor Oak heaved the large backpack he was wearing to the ground and began to unzip it. As soon as the bag touched the dirt, though, he was bull rushed by the children and knocked to the ground. Amid the chaos, Oak's calls of, "Three! No more than three per person!" were barely audible and completely ignored.

Oak managed to scrabble to his feet, and hurried back to the other three professors, who were all attempting to stifle their snickering with varying degrees of success.

"Little monsters, I tell you," muttered the second eldest professor, brushing dirt and small footprints from his coat, "I've seen rattata who were better behaved."

The eldest professor shook his head, the crinkle of laughter still visible on his face. "It's alright, Oak, I'll handle it," the large, dark-skinned man said as he took a step forward. At once his face shifted from that of a jolly old man to one more akin to a drill sergeant as he shouted in a thunderous voice, "Alright, that's enough!" Instantly the children froze, one in mid punch.

Professor Oak stepped forward, muttering a word of thanks to the larger man before addressing the gathered potentials, "Who doesn't have three poke balls? Anyone?" When no one spoke up, Oak continued, "Alright then, please follow Professor Aspen inside, he will explain what you will need to do."

Professor Aspen blinked at the children who were now staring at him, then called out in a surprisingly deep voice for his figure, "After me, kiddos!" before turning and entering the dimly lit cave. He was quickly followed by the children and the other professors minus Oak who had stopped to retrieve the bag that had moments ago been filled with poke balls.

Inside the cave, Professor Aspen's base voice lectured the potentials. "In this cave you will find your first partner in your journey as a trainer. Each of you will be chosen by a pokemon, and you must catch it with one of your poke balls. Any questions?"

Several hands immediately shot into the air. The professor's beady eyes locked onto one hand and nodded at the boy it belonged to.

"Sir, is this dangerous at all?" the boy asked, hesitation clear in his tone.

Professor Aspen tugged on his goatee a moment before responding, "No, not terribly. The worst that might happen is you getting bitten by something, but the other professors and I are here, so just run or call for help if something is too much for you. Girl in the marill shirt, you had a question?"

The young girl, no more than eleven, stared pointedly at the ground as she asked, "How will we know if a pokemon chooses us?" The remaining hands in the air immediately dropped to their owners' sides as the question they had been meaning to ask was voiced.

Aspen smiled, and with a mischievous tone replied, "Oh, you'll know. Now then, off you go!" Aspen waved his hands in the air, shooing the children into the den.

"Be careful!" the red-haired professor called after them as the potentials ran happily off into the deeper portions of the cavern.

Deeper in the cave, two young brothers shoved each other around playfully, neither scared in the slightest of the dark hole they were in.

"Nuh-uh, Max, I'm gonna catch one first!" one laughed at the other, knocking him into a wall as he dashed past his sibling.

The second brother chased after the first, calling out after him, "No, it's so gonna be me! I'm gonna catch a cyndaquill just like dad did!" Max turned a corner after his brother and immediately collided into him.

"Ow, Matt, why'd you..." Max trailed off as he saw the little reddish lizard with a flaming tail standing on the ground in front of them. "Oh wow, a charmander! Let's catch it!" he said with a whoop.

"I think it's supposed to pick us first, isn't that what-" Matt's question was cut off as the charmander reared back onto its hind legs and leapt at him, hissing wildly. The twelve year old was knocked from his feet as the lizard pegged him square in the chest and began to claw at his face. "Max, help!" the boy cried as the charmander's small claws bit into his skin and drew blood.

Max yelled incoherently as he wrapped his hands around the charmander's scaly hide and pulled it away from his brother, flinging it further into the cave. He looked down at his brother's bleeding face and shook him, saying, "Matt! Matt, please be okay!"

Matt knocked his brother's hands away with a sweep of his arm and stood up, facing the charmander that was now circling him, waiting for another chance to attack. Blood dripped from the gashes in the twelve year old boy's face, but his eyes tracked the lizard, determined to catch the pokemon that had chosen him even as his brother backed away.

The charmander leapt forward again, swinging its miniature claws in a wide downward arc towards the boy's injured face. Matt stepped back as it did, and its claws instead bit through his t-shirt and into the flesh of his chest underneath. He winced slightly but stood his ground, and as the pokemon touched the ground he swung his back foot forward with all his might in a wild kick. The orange lizard went flying back and into one of the cave's walls as the kick connected with its side, stunning it.

"Matt! Use the poke ball!" called the boy's brother from the sidelines of the fight. Matt nodded in response and pulled one of the small balls from his pocket and threw it towards the recovering pokemon.


Eight Years Later

It was a calm day in Slateport City, the wind barely bringing any waves to the shore. At the end of a stone dock sat a young black haired man, gazing out to the see with his feet dangling above the water. Next to him, napping in the sun, lay a large charmander, its scales glinting a light reddish hue in the light of the sun.

"Hey, Matt!" called a female voice from down the dock. A moment later the light taps of the owner's footsteps became audible over the calls of the wingulls as they dove for magicarp in the sea. Matt greeted his friend with a grin and a nod.

"Hey, Jess. What's up?" he asked as the girl took a seat next to him on the edge of the dock.

"Oh, just wandering. Slow day, ya know?" she grinned, throwing an arm around Matt's shoulders, "So what're you up to? Thinking about leaving us all behind and going on an epic journey again?" At Matt smirking nod, Jess threw herself to her full height, framed against the sun and declared, "Now that will not do! You are going to take me to the Beachfront Cabana and buy me dinner and we will have a right good time. C'mon!"

Matt relented, allowing the girl to tug him to his feet, returning his charmander to its poke ball as she pulled him further down the dock.