Professor Oak stood staring out his window with a freshly made cup of coffee in his hand. Today was a big day in pallet town, it was the day four young inhabitants would choose their first pokemon and step out into the world as pokemon trainers. Everyone was always exited about this event and came along to cheer for the trainers and wish them luck on their journey, but no one was ever more exited than the rookie trainers themselves of course.

In fact, this was the reason professor oak was up so early, the new trainers were scheduled to arrive in two hours time but one of them had shown up at the crack of dawn before Oak had even changed out of his pajamas! The boy had asked him questions about the starter pokemon and whether any of the other children had decided on which one they had chosen, professor Oak informed him that his grandson had and there were only two others to choose from, instead of the boy being upset as Oak had expected, he seemed delighted at this, chosen his pokemon and left without another word.

A knock on the door for a second time this morning brought the professor out of his daydreaming.

"Another early riser? My, this years bunch really are keen!"

He smiled with nostalgia as he put down his coffee and went to answer the door… and was greeted by a floating pink ball.

"Whoa!"

"Hi professor!" The ball moved away to reveal a ten year old girl with blue eyes and a white fishing hat covering her long brown hair.

"I'm here for my first pokemon!"

"Oh its you Leaf." Oak sighed as Leaf ran past him, placed the pink ball (which was in fact, a Jigglypuff) on the ground next to her and turned to him excitedly.

"So? Where are they?"

"Err, right about the pokemon…"

But Leaf wasn't listening as she had already seen the pokeballs placed on the table and ran towards them before Professor Oak could finish what he was saying.

"Wow! Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander. All three starters!"

Leaf picked up the pokeball with a flame sticker on it.

"I've been thinking long and hard about this and I finally made my mind up on who I want as my first team member. Charmander, I choose you!" Leaf held the pokeball up and posed dramatically with Jigglypuff watching with anticipation behind her. They stayed frozen like that until Leaf realized that nothing was happening.

"Uh…Charmander? Hey, what's wrong with this thing!" She cried, as she began shaking the pokeball in the hopes that it would invoke some kind of reaction.

"Try pressing the button in the middle." Oak suggested.

Leaf blushed, conscious of how foolish she had just made herself look, Jigglypuff sighed irritably. Leaf pushed on the button as Oak said and the pokeball opened up to reveal… the inside of an empty pokeball. "HUH?!" Leaf gasped. "W-Where's my Charmander?!"

Professor Oak coughed to get her attention."As I was trying to tell you as you came in, two of the starters have already been chosen and there's only one left."

"But I got here extra early so I could have first pick!" Leaf cried frantically.

"Yes, well I already had one of the pokemon reserved for my grandson you see, and as for the second it seems your friend Green…"

"He's not my friend!" Leaf practically growled. How she hated that jerk!

"…had the same idea you and arrived about ten minutes ago. He's most likely already on his way to Viridian by now."

"But I wanted a Charizard..." Leaf sobbed.

"It could be worse." Professor Oak exclaimed. "At least you get a pokemon, the final trainer won't be as lucky. Come to think of it I probably should have ordered more than just one each of the starter pokemon." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, wondering why he didn't think of getting more than three pokemon to share between four trainers before the day he handed them out.

Meanwhile, Leaf was getting impatient. "Professor! What about my pokemon?!"

Professor Oak jumped . Suddenly remembering where he was. "Oh, right!" He picked up one of the pokeballs and handed it to Leaf. She looked at the pokeball and noted that fittingly, it had a sticker of a green leaf on it.

"A grass type… Bulbasaur!" She pressed the button and the pokeball opened, flashing a red energy from which a Bulbasaur emerged.

"Bulbasaur!" It said.

"I was hoping to get a Charmander but a Bulbasaur's just as good." Leaf kneeled down and petted Bulbasaur who looked a little nervous to see a stranger.

"Hi Bulbasaur. My name is Leaf and I'm going to be your trainer from now on okay?"

Bulbasaur still looked a little unsure when he noticed Jigglypuff walking up to greet him.

"Oh, and this is Puff. She's my best friend." Leaf told him. Puff began speaking to Bulbasaur in Pokemon language, attempting to sooth his nerves and let him know that Leaf is someone he can trust, it seemed to work as Bulbasaur smiled at them both and looked happier. Leaf grinned as well, glad her new team member and old friend were getting on so well.

"It looks like your all getting off to a good start." Professor Oak had been watching them get acquainted with each other.

"Yep! I know we're all going to get along great and be the best team ever!"

"Well then here you go. Your pokedex and five pokeballs to get you started. Your pokedex, also known as Dexter, has information on every pokemon you will meet on your journey and also acts as your trainer ID. Pokeballs, as you should know, are used to capture pokemon and carry them with you on your journeys."

"Thank you professor." Leaf took the pokedex and pokeballs from him and made for the door, Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff trailing behind her. "I gotta get going now, I have to catch up with Green. See you, professor!"

"Goodbye." Oak waved to her as she ran out the door. "And good luck!"

"Alright, lets see how this works." Leaf was sat down on the grass, fiddling with the pokedex as Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff looked on. They were currently sat right by the path way out of town, close to route 1 but still within the borders of Pallet town.

"I think I got it…there we go." Leaf pressed a button and the pokedex suddenly switched on.

Bulbasaur. The seed pokemon. It carries a seed on its back from birth. By soaking up the sun rays, this seed grows progressively larger.

"Cool! What about you Puff?" Leaf pointed the pokedex at Jigglypuff and Dexter activated once again.

Jigglypuff. The balloon pokemon. When its huge eyes light up, it sings a soothing melody that lulls its enemies to sleep.

"You're still struggling along all the way back here? What, are you lost already?"

Leaf tensed at the familiar voice and turned to see a serious looking boy with dirty blond hair wearing a jacket that matched both his eyes and his name. "Green!"

"Route 1 is that way. You'll never get anywhere sitting around in the middle of the road."

"For you information I'm not in the middle of the road I'm next tothe road. And I was stopping to check out my pokedex." It was at that point Leaf noticed the Charmander standing next to Green, quietly listening to the conversation between the two rivals. "Hold on… you chose Charmander on purpose didn't you!"

"On purpose? As apposed to me choosing Charmander by accident?"

"You know what I mean! You only had two choices and you chose the one that would give you a type advantage over me. Besides, you knew I wanted a Charizard…"

Green shrugged, feigning innocence, although the huge smirk plastered across his face ruined the image somewhat. "I have no idea what you mean. Pesky girl, always so suspicious"

"Alright that is it! I don't care about the type disadvantage; I challenge you to a battle!"

Leaf raised her hand ready to give Bulbasaur a command when she was tackled unexpectedly from behind.

"OhLeafThankgoodnessIdidn'tmissyouIwouldhavebeenso sadifIcouldn,tsaygoodbyebeforeyouleft!"

"Hi Daisy…" Leaf struggled to escape the excitable womans grip so she could breathe again. Fortunately Daisy let go of her before she suffocated to death and Leaf noticed her dad standing next to them patiently waiting for their next door neighbour to finish her display of affection.

"When I was packing your bag for you I forgot to pack my special made pokefood for your pokemon. There's a recipe book too, for when you want to make your own on your journey."

"Thanks dad."

"So, a Bulbasaur?" He knelt down and petted the seed pokemon, who warmed up to him instantly.

"I take it your taking Jigglypuff along with you?"

"Yep. You know what Puffs like, always by my side. Right Puff?"

"Jiggly!"

"We'll then I've nothing to worry about have I?"

"I bought this for you Leaf!" Daisy enthusiastically shoved a cuboid shaped object in front of Leafs face, effectively interrupting the conversation.

"Um, what is it?"

"It's a town map. It will come in very handy on your travels; we wouldn't want you to get lost."

"Thanks, but what about you brother? Shouldn't you give one to him too?" Leaf turned back to look at Green but he was already walking away. "Hey, hold on!"

Green held up an identical map without turning around or stopping. "Already got one. I can look after myself, unlike you."

Leaf looked like she was about to challenge him again when Daisy put her hand on her shoulder. "Just ignore him, you know how he gets. He's only trying to invoke a reaction out of you."

"I know. He just really gets on my nerves is all. I wish I knew what I did to make him start treating me like this." Leaf looked sad for a moment until she realised what she was doing and shook herself out of it. "But anyway who cares about him. I have way more important things to think about right now."

"That's my little Shaymin." Leafs father smiled warmly at his only daughter. "You know where your going right? North to Viridian and through the forest to reach Pewter city?"

"Don't worry dad, I know what I'm doing." Leaf looked behind her and saw that Green was already out of sight. "Aah! I forgot about Green! No way am I going to let him beat me again!" She began to jog towards route 1, stuffing the food and map in her bag as she went. "Sorry, but I need to get going. Bye Daisy! Love you Dad!"

"Don't forget to call occasionally!" Her dad called as Daisy waved enthusiastically after her. "Good luck, little Shaymin." He said under his breath, a melancholy look on his face.

Daisy noticed the change in her neighbours mood, stopping her waving to look at him with worry.

"Are you alright, Russell?"

"I was just thinking about Teala. She always hoped Leaf would become a trainer one day."

"I bet she would be really proud." Daisy smiled in memory of the woman who would always invite her in for tea and converse with her like an equal, even though Daisy was barely an adult at the time. "And she'd be proud of you too, for raising her daughter so well."

Russell smiled sadly as he watched Leaf running further away and finally fading from out of his sight. "It looks like my Shaymin is ready to fly already."