She spotted a man in a white lab coat, being chased in a small clearing by a rabid angry coon creature.

"H-help me!" The man stammered. "Hello, you over there! Please, God, help me! In my bag right there, there are poke balls!" he pointed, "throw one out and battle this zigzagoon!"

So that's what this pokemon is called, a zigzagoon? She quickly rushed over to unclip his bag. There were journals, papers, a few pens… Ah! Four poke balls slid out. She examined each one. Three of them were normal poke balls; one had a sticker with a blue droplet, one with a flame, and one with a leaf.

The other poke ball was all white. This must be a premier ball, she remembered from the guide. Rue picked up the white ball and threw it. There was nothing at first, but a small pokemon materialized from the aqua glow.

"Eev?" The small brown pokemon looked curiously around himself, scratching his ear with a front paw.

"An eevee!'' Rue shouted, "A pokemon I actually know about!"

"That's great!" The man shouted nervously. "Uhhh, could you help me out here?" He pressed himself against the large trunk of a tree as the monster growled at him, edging closer.

"Hey, Eevee!" the pokemon cocked his head to the side, "could you use Tackle on that zigzagoon?"

Eevee stared determinedly at the zigzagoon, and leaped. He knocked his foe to the side with surprising ease. As the zigzagoon was distracted by the blow, the man suddenly ran toward Rue and stood to the side. The angry coon shot toward Eevee, bearing its teeth. "Eevee, dodge!" He jumped high into the air, leaving the place where zigzagoon's teeth met moments after.

"Alright, now use tail whip in the air and then tackle it again!"

The two moves were timed perfect, and Eevee smashed the weak pokemon by its shoulders into the dust. He jumped back toward Rue and stared at the pokemon, waiting for another order. Silence pressed them as they waited. Zigzagoon did not move; it was clearly knocked out. She was startled back to reality when the man beside her let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Whew… I was in the grass studying some wild pokemon when I accidentally stepped on this zigzagoon's tail. The little guy was justifiably angry… You saved me from some nasty wounds. Thank you!" He placed a hand on the back of his head, embarrassed.

Rue shrugged, "Really, sir, it was no problem at all. It's actually a nice sight to see an eevee around here. I'm completely new to the pokemon in this region."

The man suddenly paused thoughtfully. "Hey wait, you're Rue! Well… this certainly is not the place to chat. Why don't you come with me to my lab?"

They walked back to town, and she entered the front door of the building after him. Books piled everywhere, boxes strewn on the gray tiled floor, and shelves were stuffed with even more books. Two assistants were delved in research on their computers. It looked as if there couldn't be any less room if they tried.

"So, Rue," The man said, "I've heard so much about you from your father. I am Prof. Birch. He and I have been friends for a long time. It's nice to finally meet you!"

Rue was surprised. "Oh yeah, Dad told me we were moving by your lab. I didn't know it was you that I saved though."

"Rue," he paused, "…I heard that you don't have your own pokemon yet."

She dragged her foot awkwardly. "Well… I—I guess I was kind of working on that, I haven't actually got a chance to catch one yet," she lied; her planned meeting with Brendan in the back of her mind.

"Well Rue, I saw the way you battled earlier. You are a talented natural. That technique of using height to your advantage is what won Eevee the battle so quickly. You pulled it off gracefully! I guess it must run in your blood."

She blushed, "Really, it was nothing at all. I was glad to help."

The professor continued, "As thanks for rescuing me, I would like you to have that eevee as your own."

Rue jumped in the air, twirling around with Eevee in her arms. "Ahhhhh, really? Thank you so much, Professor!"

He smiled, "I'm very glad you're happy. Would you like to nickname him?"

She stopped, "Wha.. oh," and stared at her eevee. "Lumos!" she stated, "That's his new name". Lumos nodded approvingly.

"Eev!" he snuggled against her chest.

"Lumos it is, then!" The professor proclaimed. "If you work at pokemon and gain experience, I know you'll make an extremely good trainer. My son, Brendan, is also a trainer while helping me with research. He's gotten too cocky for his own good, and I think he needs a challenge. Why don't you put him up to it, Rue?"

Rue glanced at Lumos, "Well when you put it that way, Professor… I'll see what I can do!" she grinned.

"Excellent! He should be out on route 103, straight past Oldale Town. You can't miss it."

"Goodbye, and thank you!" Rue waved as she stepped outside his lab.