Celestic Town had always been a sleepy, slow-paced village. It was a town of peaceful tranquility and rustic serenity, the majority of its population elderly. Being one of the only kids in the village, I felt as though I was quickly outgrowing the tiny town; especially because I'd never been out of Celestic Town in my life.

My hometown was one of those towns that had a lethargic, drifting lifestyle. Many of Celestic Town's residents found that satisfying , though the kid population certainly did not. Typically, nothing exciting happened and days passed slowly, meandering. It is because of this that I'm already fourteen years old and I don't yet have my Pokémon Trainer's License. Most kids receive their first Pokémon and Pokédex at the age of ten, but I have been strictly forbidden to receive mine. Ever, I think.

I spend my days with my nose buried in a book about Pokémon training or my eyes glued to the TV screen watching a live Pokémon battle. I have learned quite a lot from my years of studying, and I know that if I ever do become a Trainer, this knowledge will certainly come in handy.

As a matter of fact, it did come in handy sooner than I'd thought.

The moon was high in the sky and the night sparkled with the glow of thousands of stars. It would've been the perfect summer night to grab a sleeping bag and sleep outside; that is, if we weren't on an expedition in the middle of the night. My best friend, Lara, and I silently counted heads to make sure everyone was present.

"Crap. Evelyn and her brothers ain't here yet. D'you think they were held up?" Lara asked, her Solaceon accent and bright blue eyes tinged with worry.

Just then, right on schedule, a trio of arguing voices cut through the silent night.

"Shut up! Someone's gonna hear you!"

"Me? You're making enough noise to wake up a Snorlax! You shut up!"

"Damn it! Both of you shut up and move your asses. Don't say another word!"

I could hear my other best friend, Evelyn, squabbling with her two little brothers in the distance and I shot a smile at Lara. She breathed a sigh of relief and gave me a weak smile. I shook my head slightly and chuckled under my breath. She was such a worrywart.

Everyone was here at last. I waited for Evelyn and her brothers to scuttle up to the little group huddled at the upper east entrance to Mt. Coronet, then I began to outline our game plan.

"Okay, guys, this is how it's going to be. We need two guards stationed outside the entrance at all times, just to warn us if someone's coming. If they spot someone, they need to yell "abort!" into the cave and we'll scatter. Guards will be switched periodically so that everyone can have a chance to explore. Oh, and also, no one go too deep or you'll end up on Route 216 which leads to Snowpoint City."

I stopped anxiously, wondering if I'd gone overboard on the rules and ruined the fun of the expedition, but everyone just nodded and whispered "Roger."

The first two guards were decided quickly - Lara and this other guy our age called Chase. The rest of us flew through the Mt. Coronet entrance to explore, Evelyn and I at the head of the pack.

"You little brats better stay together or else," Evelyn snarled at her brothers as they ran off into the cave.

"You should be nicer to them, Ev," I chided her. "They're actually not bad kids."

Evelyn made a face. "Who are you, my mother? And, anyway, you don't know them like I do. They're about as useless as a team of Magikarps and twice as stupid."

I thought she was being more than a little unreasonable, but I brushed it off and dropped the topic.

"Let's just forget about them, then, and go explore," I suggested.

Evelyn smirked. "I thought you'd never ask. Let's go!"

She raced deeper into the cave with me hot on her tail.

"Whoa! What the hell?"

Evelyn stopped so abruptly that I slammed into her from behind and she fell to her knees on the cave floor.

"Zephi! Slow down! Damn, that hurt. Ow."

I hurriedly reached down to help her up. "Ooh, I'm so sorry, Evelyn! I'll be more careful next time, I promise."

But Evelyn wasn't listening. She was staring down at the cave floor at a large round object. I recognized it immediately.

"Evelyn! You found a Pokémon Egg!" I cried.

"What? I did? Really?" she bumbled.

Just then, an insistent cry ruined the moment.

"Abort! Abort! We've been found!"

I grabbed Evelyn's arm and began to pull her towards the cave entrance, but she resisted.

"Zephi, help me get the Egg."

"No way, are you crazy? Your mom will never let you keep it! What will become of it?"

"Fine, don't help me then."

"Evelyn! You can't take the Egg!"

"Watch me."

Evelyn looked at me then with an unreadable expression in her eyes.

"Zeph, you gotta loosen up. You're way too uptight and you abide by the rules all the time. Do something rebellious for a change, break a rule or two. I'm taking the Egg. You helping me or not?"

Evelyn's words were like a slap in the face. But they were also a wake-up call. Angry as I was at her blunt insult, I nodded decisively.

"Yeah, I'll help."

Evelyn smiled widely, her hazel eyes gleaming. "Atta girl, Zephi. Good choice."

Working together, Evelyn and I rolled the Egg out of the cave entrance and shoved it into a bush. Everyone else had hidden by now, so we jumped behind the bush with the Egg while the sound of footsteps came closer.

"You kids are in big trouble. Get out from wherever you were cowardly enough to hide and get back to the village. Maybe then you can begin to describe why you would even think about doing something so foolish!"

Oh, man. It was Evelyn's mom. I knew it was a trap. Evelyn knew it was a trap. Unfortunately for us, though, Evelyn's little brothers did not. They trotted out from their hiding place behind a big rock like good little boys and stood beside their mother with hangdog expressions on their faces.

"Oh shit," Evelyn swore.

Yup. We were definitely in for it.

Every single one of us had been caught and grounded for a month.

I figured Evelyn would be crushed, especially since her Egg was still where we'd left it in the bush. Which is why it surprised even me, who knew Evelyn so well, that she would come knocking on my window on the very first day of the grounding.

"Evelyn! You're supposed to be grounded!" I protested, yanking up the window to get a clear view of my best friend's smug expression.

"Oh, Zephi, Zephi, Zephi, whatever happened to your decision to be more of a rebel? C'mon, my Egg awaits. Open your window a bit more and get out here."

Evelyn's cool carelessness was really getting to me. Without meaning to, I sort of blew up on her.

"You know what, Evelyn? I don't wanna get in any more trouble than I'm already in. Damn it, I'll never become a Pokémon Trainer if I can't stay out of hot water!"

Evelyn narrowed her eyes at me. "You'll never become a Pokémon Trainer if you don't grow a frickin' backbone. Whatever, though. Your loss. See ya!"

I blinked and she was gone. I growled under my breath.

"What the hell?" I cried.

Then I slipped out the window after Evelyn.

"Oh, look who it is! Zephi the rebel. Nice to see you on this side of the window, baby."

I'd caught up to Evelyn and now matched her stride for stride as we headed to the bush to retrieve her Pokémon Egg.

"Don't get used to it. Hell, why didn't you just ask Lara, spare me the guilt I feel for deliberately disobeying my parents?" I sighed.

"Because she's Lara. She'd never go for it and you know it," Evelyn chuckled.

I was about to say neither would I, but then I realized what I would be saying and that shut me up for sure. I didn't want to give Evelyn another reason to scorn me.

"I wonder what kind of Pokémon will hatch from your Egg?" I ventured, trying to force the conversation in a different direction.

"I hope it's a strong one," Evelyn cooed, smiling widely. "But really, I can't believe it! My very own Pokémon! Ooh, I can't wait for it to hatch!"

We gushed about Evelyn's Egg all the way to the bush where it was sitting, unharmed, exactly where we'd left it.

"Okay. Time to roll it on outta here. Zephi, help me push it," Evelyn instructed.

The two of us pushed the Egg out from behind the bush and started rolling it back towards Celestic Town, when Evelyn stopped short.

"Zephi, I hear footsteps!" she wailed.

I'd just about had it with getting in trouble. Seriously. I was definitely not the rebellious type.

"Damn it, we've been found again! I knew I shouldn't have listened to you!" I hissed at Evelyn.

"Girls, girls, pipe down or someone will hear you! I've come to help you, not to hurt you!" a mysterious old woman's voice called out in a loud whisper.

"Zephi! Evelyn! I'm here too! Everything's gonna be honky-dory, just you wait!"

That last voice was undoubtedly Lara. Evelyn and I knew that if Lara trusted this mystery woman enough to sneak out of her grounding, then she was trustworthy for sure. We waited for Lara and the old woman to come closer, and in doing so, we realized that the elderly woman was old Professor Carolina. The woman was so ancient that she had been nicknamed the "kooky old lady" because half the stuff she said was totally bogus. Evelyn and I were stunned. This was the woman Lara trusted enough to sneak out?

"Now I'm gonna be brief here, girls, because we don't got much time. Lara. Evelyn. Zephira. I wanna play Pokémon Professor one last time before I kick the bucket and Celestic Town is forever rid of the 'kooky old lady'. Now I've been savin' these for a moment just like this one, so I want you to take them and don't ask any questions."

Quickly, Professor Carolina handed each of us a red square box with many buttons and flashing lights. I could not believe my eyes. Pokédexes!

"But, Professor!"

We all tried to protest, but we were quickly silenced by a stare from the old woman.

"Listen to me. You three girls have simply grown right out of tiny Celestic Town and it's not fair to keep you cooped up any longer. Don't worry, I will inform your parents of my decision tomorrow. Take these Pokédexes as Trainer licenses and fulfill your dreams at last. I only ask one small favour in return - if you're passing through Veilstone City, please give this book to my granddaughter. It's very old so please be careful with it. Good bye then, girls, and good luck on your journey!"

With surprising strength, the old lady pushed us into Mt. Coronet, Evelyn straining to keep her Egg close. Before we could ask any questions, true to her word, Professor Carolina was gone.

Great. Here we were with nowhere to go, no clue what to do, Pokédexes without instructions, and... no Pokémon. I had dreamed of myself becoming a Trainer in many different ways, but there was no way in hell that I would've ever imagined this.