"Despite the exploration team's best efforts, however, the rare, oddly colored Pokémon eluded detection. The rumored red Gyarados failed to appear, even fleetingly, to the crestfallen team…"

Thick with static, the TV show, Search for the Red Gyarados! The Mysterious Appearance of the Furious Pokémon in a Lake!, cut to a quick credits and then commercial. It was over. I turned the television off.

My name is Roland. For all the ten years of my life, I have lived in Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region. Twinleaf is the smallest town north of Pallet, the emptiest east of Goldenrod, and the most secluded south of Snowpoint. My best friend, yellow haired, impatient Markus, has been jumping to get out of this town since he was like, three. He is the jumpiest person next to Flannery, the most hyper closest to Misty, and the most ambitious compared to Gary. The furthest he gets from Twinleaf is fishing with me in Lake Verity.

His dream is to be a Pokémon Trainer. I humor him, but I don't think he really can make it. I love Pokémon, don't get me wrong, but battling them… I don't know; it's just never really felt like my forte. I wish the best for him, though.

I walked downstairs and Mum looked up from her program, some Contest thing from Hearthome. "Oh, Roland. Markus came calling for you a little while ago. I don't know what it was about, but he said it was an emergency."

Markus. "Well, you know him, Mum! Can't sit still for five minutes." I nodded and headed for the door. Before I could leave, Mum stopped me.

"Oh, yes! Roland! Don't go into the tall grass. Wild Pokémon might attack you. It would be OK if you had your own Pokémon, but you don't, so…"

I assured her I'd be careful. Before leaving, I grabbed my red hat off a hook by the door. My dad gave it to me before he left us. To be a Pokémon Trainer.

Twinleaf Town's sign, dubbing us a town 'fresh and free', was on the way to Markus's town. I grinned, remembering how Markus always went into a rant whenever we went by it- saying that Twinleaf was anything but free, and how he was a caged bird with no chance to fly. It's annoying after seven years.

I knew something was wrong the moment I hit Markus's front door. He would always see me coming through the window and the door would hit me in the head as he flung it open. Not once in seven years had he failed to thunk me in the head with that door. Not once, until today.

I grabbed the doorknob, and in a puff of soot it fell out of the door. I pushed my way inside to a horrible scene from a disaster movie. The lights were dead, pieces of glass falling from the ceiling fixtures. A potted tree was smashed in the corner, smoldering slightly, soil all over Markus's Mum's precious carpet. The TV was tossed aside carelessly, with a cracked screen.

"Markus?" I yelled. No reply. "Markus!"

"…Roland?" came a groan from the overturned couch. Jumping over the kitchen counter, I raced to where Markus's Mum was sprawled, the couch half on top of her. I shoved it away.

"Mrs. M! Are you okay? What happened?" I cried, grabbing her wrist and feeling her pulse; I placed two fingers on it and desperately searching for the telltale throb.

She coughed. Her hair was still in curlers. Other than some burns on her arms and a swelling bruise on her forehead, I couldn't see any damage, but her leg might be fractured or something from the couch.

"Strange people… in spacesuits… barged in… destroyed the house…"

"Where's Markus?"

"Don't know… Markus said he… Verity Lake…" She coughed again. "Find him, Roland; make sure- make sure he's okay-"

"But Mrs. M, your house-"

"I'll be fine! Find Markus!"

Heart pounding wildly, I jumped up and fled the house. I flew past one of the old people living in town and shouted to him, "There's been an accident in Markus's house!" I didn't stop to see his reaction, I just ran- onto Route 201 and taking a sharp left turn, away from the tall grass. Markus's Mum said he'd gone to Lake Verity; thank Arceus he just wasn't in the house during the attack-

I burst into the Lake Verity area, heart catching in my throat when I saw Markus standing in the tall grass leaning over something. He noticed me and straightened, jumping and waving.

"Hey, Roland!" he called, face excited as always. "Come check this out, look!"

I practically tackled him, tearing into the tall grass despite Mum's warning echoing in my mind. He yelped in surprise, but I had grabbed his shoulders, looked him over.

"Dude- what-"

I shook him, fear for his wellbeing replaced by anger. "Ugh! Man, why did you come out here without me? I can't believe you! I thought you were, like, dead!"

His face was shocked at my reaction. "Dude, what's happened?"

I let go of him, starting to calm down. "I'm sorry, Markus. It's just, your mum. Somebody attacked your house while you were gone!"

Terror locked in his eyes. "What?"

We didn't have any more time for further elaboration. With piercing cries, two Starly burst from the trees. Normally they weren't any problem, just being pigeons. But they charged straight towards us, nothing like the benign birds we were used to, and twice as big.

"The briefcase, Roland," Markus was telling me, but I was paralyzed, unable to move, just staring at the birds coming straight at us. Briefcase? What briefcase? I looked down and saw what Markus was talking about, a brown briefcase hanging open with two Pokéballs rattling in them. The third was already in Markus's hand, and he was chucking it.

I grabbed another at random and threw it as hard as I could. Time seemed to slow down. I watched in perfect clarity as the Pokéball burst open slowly, slowly, slowly, showering red sparks everywhere as a tiny blob of light morphed and took form. A small, blue and white penguin, cute to a degree that I didn't know existed, came forth.

The Pokémon lifted a wing and slammed it down on the bird's head. The Starly let loose a call and wheeled away to collapse in the trees. I stared. The Pokémon's Pokéball flashed and returned it automatically. I was only slightly aware of Markus's doing the same beside me.

Numbly, I stumbled over to the Pokéball and picked it up.

"Wow!" exclaimed Markus, clutching his Pokéball to his chest. "That was- wow!"

"Wow!" I echoed, the numbness leeching away. I looked down at the Pokéball. I had battled. With a real Pokémon. This was… so incredibly unexpected. A Pokémon!

"Your Piplup totally ROCKED!" he was saying. "But my Turtwig was way tougher than yours!" He paused, a look of trouble flickering over his face. "…They were other people's Pokémon, though… but we had to use them… they won't mind, will they?"

"What?" I asked, having not caught all of his mumbling, and still dazed, honestly.

He flinched, straightening up. "Nothing, Roland, nothing!"

Suddenly, a girl appeared beside us, a look of relief washing over her face. She had bluish hair and a knit cap. "Oh! There's the briefcase! The professor would have been furious if I'd lost it…" She froze, gaze locked on the single remaining Pokéball. Her face lost all color, going white as a ghost. "Huh?" She looked around frantically, and spotted the two Pokéballs our hands were curled around. "Oh, no! Did you… did you use the Pokémon in here? You DID? Oh my gosh! What's the professor going to say?" Tears were welling at the corners of her eyes in hysteria. "I'm dead! I am so, so dead!"

"Um… who are you?" I asked, stepping forward. Markus seemed dead to the world, gaze lost in the shiny reflective Pokéball surface. "Are these your Pokémon? We're sorry for using them…"

She sucked in her breath, chewing on a thumbnail and obviously trying to calm herself. "This is so not good...!" She grabbed the briefcase, slammed it closed, and fled the scene.

We were both kind of frozen.

"What was that about?" I wondered out loud, a slight cry in my voice.

"I don't know what's going on," Markus said, and with the way his voice rushed, I suspected he was lying. I didn't have time to consider, 'cause he grabbed my wrist. "Roland, let's get out of here. My Pokémon got hurt from that battle. If we get attacked by another Pokémon, we might be in trouble. And my Mum…"

I didn't need to be persuaded. Before we left, I looked down at my Pokéball. There was something imprinted on the white half of it. Rowan Labs. I shoved it into my pocket.

We scurried away from the lake, heading toward town as fast as we could. But, our paths were blocked. An old man with white hair and beard wearing a blue vest over his dress shirt was muttering irately with the girl from the lake. Suddenly, he noticed us, and his head snapped towards us. I heard Markus's sharp intake of breath beside me.

"Hey, it's those people!" he gasped. "Is that old guy staring at me? Uh-oh, uh-oh!"

The geezer approached us, looking us up and down one by one. "Hmm…" he said, eyes unreadable. His wrinkled, leathery face was stern and disapproving, but you get the sense that it was always like that. "I heard from Dawn that you used our Pokémon? Let me see them, please." Markus hesitated. "Markus," he said dangerously. How did he know Markus's name?

"I'm sorry, Professor," Markus said demurely, bowing his head a little. He was thoroughly cowed. What was up with the new, respectful Markus, and what had he done to the Markus I knew? He quickly handed his Pokéball over, and elbowed me sharply in the ribs until I did the same.

"Hmm…" said the geezer again. "Piplup and Turtwig… hmm…"

"Is 'hmm' all you can say?" I blurted before I could catch myself, the words going straight from brain to mouth.

He looked me over, looming. I thought for a second he was going to explode, but he simply looked me over again, much more thoroughly, taking in every detail. He lingered over my eyes for a long time before a shadow of a smile played at his lips. "I see. That's how it is…" He turned to the girl. "Dawn! I'm going back to my lab!"

Surprise- shock, even- flared up on her face. "W-what? But Professor- the prototypes-"

"Hush, Dawn. Not another word." He turned to me. "You, boy. Visit my lab later. It's in Sandgem." On an afterthought, he said, "Markus, too."

"Um… yes!" Dawn said. "Professor, please wait for me!"

And, without another word, they left, the man striding with Dawn scampering behind.

We watched them until they had gone out of sight. After they were gone, I turned to Markus, marveling. "What was all that craziness about? I mean, if he was angry, he could've just yelled at us, or whatever. And didn't he want their Pokémon back?" I paused. "Markus, how did he know you?"

He ignored me. "Roland… we should go home, too…"

He was right. This wasn't the right time, with his Mum back in that destroyed living room. I nodded, and we went.

-0-

When we got to his house, everybody in Twinleaf- meaning a whopping eleven people, now that we arrived- was around Markus's house. Paramedics and police from Jubilife had already Flown here, but the paramedics were already leaving. They said that Markus's Mum wasn't hurt internally at all and that she'd only have a few bruises, scrapes, and burns. A tear squeezed out of Markus's eye at that, and my Mum plain out started sobbing. After all, they'd been BFFs since they were our age.

Neighbors had been cleaning out Markus's house, and with that many people working it was already spic and span. Mrs. M insisted that nobody had to stay with her, so we all went home, and I finally got to talk to my Mum about all that'd went on at Lake Verity.

"Wow," she said when I was done. "I can't believe that happened to you. Am I ever glad that both you and Markus are unharmed. The professor you mentioned is most likely Professor Rowan of Sandgem Town. I've heard that he is well known for his studies on Pokémon. I hear he's also quite intimidating… he's been abroad for almost four years now, though. I didn't know he'd come back to Sinnoh! Roland, I think you need to visit him in Sandgem Town. You need to properly explain why you had no choice but to use his Pokémon. It's only polite. Don't worry! I'm sure he will understand."

I gave her a very surprised look. My Mum? Telling me to go out with a Pokémon on my own? She was terrified that one day I'd take off like Dad did! But she also didn't want me to spend my life here in Twinleaf. I mean, she already knew that I'd love to work with Kanto Science Lab. She smiled sadly and I gave her a hug.

"I love you, Mum," I said. "I'll be back, don't worry."

I think that's the best thing I could have told her.

Eventually I was out on Route 201, standing in front of the tall grass. I unclipped my- Professor Rowan's- Pokéball and studied it for a long time.

I was nervous! I'd only battled with this Pokémon once, and even then I did pretty much nothing. And I didn't even want to be a Trainer. Of course, even people who weren't Trainers had Pokémon pets to protect them from freak attacks… like those Starly. Taking a breath, I stepped into the grass, and nothing flew out to destroy me. I half expected something would.

I noticed a small, black button on the bottom of the Pokéball, near the Rowan Labs inscription. That's right! I heard that some of those high-tech Pokéballs had a Stats option. I felt a little relieved that I could get to know this Pokémon before charging into the tall grass with it. I stepped back from the tall grass anxiously and pressed the Stats button. A 3D hologram of Piplup was spit out.

"Piplup, zzt. Female. Type, Water. Original Trainer, zzt, Professor Rowan. ID Number 1425 zzt 3. This Piplup has a calm nature. She is zzt thoroughly zzt cunning, and prefers bitter zzt food." The Pokéball fell silent.

Alright, then! I felt better, more secure somehow.

I was attacked by one thing: a Starly. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It wasn't really an attack, even; it just crossed my path. I slammed my Pokéball's button with everything I could, and Piplup sprang out.

"G-Growl?" I offered weakly. She gave me a look and Pounded the Starly into the ground.

"Who are you?" she asked me afterwards.

"My name is Roland… I'm just returning you to Rowan," I said.

She looked surprised, as surprised as a bird could look. Then she sort of crumpled. "Oh." Her gaze turned to daggers. "Fine. Why don't you just return me then? If this is strictly a business transaction."

"Uh, right," I said, doing as she'd suggested.

I couldn't get her final, crestfallen look out of my head.

In Sandgem, Dawn was pacing outside a large white building. She noticed me and ran up. "Oh, there you are! Please, come with me! The professor is waiting!" She took my hand and led me to the building. It had a turquoise roof and, strangely enough, no windows. "This is it! Our Pokémon research lab! Let's go…"

Thud! Before I could react at all, the door flung open and Markus crashed right into me. I groaned, falling back on my behind.

"What the… oh, it's you, Roland!" he exclaimed. "That old guy… he's not so scary as much as he is totally out there! Aw, it doesn't matter, Roland. I'm outta here!" He sped off. I stared at his back as Dawn helped me up.

"Wow, what was that?" she marveled. "Your friend sure seems to be really impatient. Well, anyway… let's go inside."

Everything in there was stark and bare, nothing at all like I'd expected for an important research lab. My vision: tons of flashing doohickeys everywhere, huge PCs, and gigantic Plexiglas tubes. But it was completely empty, with only a white tiled floor, two bookshelves at the back, and a clear refrigerator full of sugary snacks. Sure, everything was very sterilized and clean smelling, but I was sorta disappointed…

We passed two lab aides and went straight to Professor Rowan.

He stared at me wordlessly. Then, "Finally, you've come."

"Um… yeah."

"My name is Rowan," he introduced himself. "However, everyone just calls me the Pokémon Professor. Before I go any further, I must ask you. What is your aim in life?"

I was slightly thrown off. Like, what? "Well, I'm only ten, Professor, sir…"

"But?"

"I have interest in Kanto Science Labs, though. As of now."

He smiled. In his stern face, it looked almost like a smirk. "This world is widely inhabited by creatures named Pokémon. We humans live alongside Pokémon. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. Some people pit their Pokémon against each other in battle."

"What do you do, sir?"

"What do I do?" He smiled again, head lifting somewhat. Shadows fell over his face, and only his eyes glistened out. "I conduct… research, so that we may learn more about Pokémon." The moment passed. "Now, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Tell me, what is your name?"

"Roland," I answered.

"OK… so you're Roland. A fine name that is! I have a suggestion for you, boy," said the professor. "Forget Kanto Science Labs for your future. Work here."

I was shocked and couldn't answer.

"Roland. Let me see your Pokémon again."

Mouth slightly agape, I scrambled to do his bidding, aware of his impatience. I handed him the Pokéball and he released the Piplup. She shrank back from him, but he ignored it, grabbing her under the wings and looking her over, even turning her upside down. Then, hands arranged so that I couldn't quite see what he was looking at, he stared intently at a spot on her lower back.

"I hope I haven't, um, hurt her or anything…" I said.

"Hmm…" he said. I stifled a snort. "I see…" Then he looked up, startled, as if having forgotten my presence. "Oh, um, this Pokémon seems to be rather happy. All righty then! I'll give that Piplup to you as a gift." And he shoved it back into my hands. Ignoring my stammers, mixed thanks and protest, he nodded briskly. "Now that it's yours, how about a name?"

I glanced up at him for permission, and he nodded. I crouched and set the- my- Piplup down on the ground.

"Hi there," I said in the soft voice reserved for babies and wild animals. "I need to name you now."

"Really?"She puffed her chest out comically, making me grin. "Well, make it something good!"

"So… how does Abby sound?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe not. How about... Roxanne? Marianna? Gia? Christine?" None of them stuck. Then, inspiration stuck me. Time seemed to slow again, and I saw the wonderment spread across her face as I asked, "How about… Max?"

After a long moment, she said, "Nah."

"You're right, that's a tacky name." I gave a long sigh. "You're too picky!"

"No, I'm not. This is my name, after all."

"You're right, sorry. Um…" I sucked in my breath, twiddled my thumbs. Rowan reminded me that he'd like it to be sometime soon, please.

"Juliet," I said. And Piplup looked pleased.

"Roland and Juliet," she said. I smiled.

"You may return the Pokémon, please," Rowan instructed. I clicked the button and she was sucked back in. "Your friend Markus told me what happened at the lake. I heard you battled very well, despite it being your first time. That's why I would like to… entrust you with that Piplup. Er-hem! Let's move on to the main topic, anyway."

"That's wasn't it already?" I deadpanned nervously.

"There is something I want you to do for me, if you want to keep that Piplup," he said. I nodded.

"Sure, a condition. Tell me what it is," I urged.

"Monitor her actions, and if she does anything strange, tell me," he said. I would have laughed at how easy it was, except for how stern, how grim his face was.

I nodded. "Yeah, of course, Professor."

"There is another 'condition', as you aptly put it, Roland," Professor Rowan said. "First of all, I want to know exactly what kinds of Pokémon live in the Sinnoh region. To do so, it is necessary to collect… data using the Pokédex. This is what I wish to ask of you. I want to entrust you with this Pokédex. Will you use it to record data on all the Pokémon in Sinnoh for me? You must be very careful to point it at every Pokémon you see so it can record this data for me."

"Of course I will, Professor!"

"Hm! Good answer! That Pokédex is a very high-tech device. It will automatically record data on every kind of Pokémon you encounter. Roland, I ask that you go everywhere and meet every kind of Pokémon in this region!"

"I've got one, too!" Dawn chirped.

"When you walked up to Route 201 with you Pokémon, what did you feel?" inquired the professor, head tilting. "Now, you should know that there are countless Pokémon in this world. That means that it may be a year or more before you finish this task for me. But when you are done, or have scoured the land for every Pokémon you can find, come back. There will be a place in this research lab for you. You will have to battle on occasion, battle hot-headed Trainers who ignore your protests. That is good. Your Pokémon will grow so you may go to even more places. You will catch more Pokémon to aid you in your journey. And by battling, you will get to see other Trainers' Pokémon, sometimes Pokémon that are very rare or extinct in Sinnoh. Now go! Roland, your grand adventure begins right now!"

Dramatic, much? Dawn turned to me. "Anyways, I'm Dawn. I also help the professor add pages to the Pokédex. So, in a sense, I'm just like you. I just got a little head start on you, that's all. I'll be happy to teach you things. Glad to meet you, Roland!"

"Yeah, and you too," I said, a shy smile tugging at my lips. She was really pretty.

She gave me a little tour around Sandgem Town, pointing out the Pokémon Center and the Pokémart. Then she insisted that she had to get back to the lab and left, giving me a slip of paper with instructions on how to catch Pokémon before she did so.

I pulled my Pokéball out of my pocket and looked down at it. From inside the clear frame, Juliet looked up at me. For a water Pokémon, her eyes sure were fiery with determination.

"A Pokémon research lab," I said out loud, imagining myself in a white coat.

I could get used to this battling thing.