AN: Thank you everyone for reviewing! Oh and for the question of why I put more than one laboratory into the story, I invented more labs because I thought it really doesn't make any sense if only three children of all of Sinnoh get to start their journey, and have to travel all across the region to do so, so I just made multiple labs…
Chapter 1 – Start-up Euphoria
Veena found her way to the lab with no difficulty. Her mother was right; she had spent all of dinnertime studying the map. When she arrived and pushed her mother's bike towards the wall of the lab, she noticed that none of the other trainers arrived yet. Grinning to herself, she walked towards the door and pushed down the handle.
The door wouldn't budge. Panicking, she tried the handle again and again. Then she noticed a poster on the door with a large image of the three starter Pokémon struggling to free themselves of Professor Maples' grip. Below it, in big, bold letters, it said 'On the tenth of May, this Laboratory is open from 8 – 11 a.m. for new trainers so that they can choose their first Pokémon!'
Veena frowned. 8 am? She never heard of the lab opening so late! Usually, public buildings opened around 7… She looked at her watch. It was only ten to seven! She'd have to wait for more than an hour!
Sighing, she got the map out of her bag. There was a store a few houses down the street. Since she had nothing better to do, she put the map back into her bag and walked towards it.
Luckily, the store was open. She browsed through the shelves looking for anything she could use on her journey. There was a whole section of items for Pokémon trainers, but since she had a potion in her bag and didn't know what most of the other items were for, she didn't buy any of them. Then, she spotted an auctioned book. Below the title, 'Ash Ketchum – My Journey to become a Pokémon Master', there was a picture of a black-haired boy with a Pikachu on his left shoulder. He looked about sixteen years old, at the most. Since it only cost 399 Pokedollars and was bound to contain lots of information about Pokémon, she decided to buy it. When she returned to the lab, she sat down on a bench and started reading.
Almost an hour later, she checked her watch again. It was five to eight! The laboratory was about to open!
Quickly, she stuffed the book into her bag, swung the bag onto her back and started pacing nervously. In her mind, she kept chanting the three Pokémon in her head.
"Chimchar. Monkey-like fire type. Very fast and aggressive, but weak in defense. Turtwig. Turtle-like grass type. Very defensive, but slow. Piplup. Penguin-like water type. Good in attacking, but rather slow. Chimchar. Monkey-like fire-"
She was interrupted by the sound of a key turning inside the lock of the laboratory's door. Immediately, she stopped pacing. After taking several deep breaths, she pushed down the door handle and went inside.
Professor Maple was sitting behind her desk, sorting out pieces of paper. She looked up when the door closed behind Veena. "Ah!" She exclaimed, "You must be one of the three kids starting their Pokémon journey today! Did you register?"
Veena nodded. In order to get your starter Pokémon, you had to register at the laboratory closest to your house. That way, all of the labs could ensure they had enough starters for everyone. "Don't be shy, come over here!" Professor Maple encouraged her. "You're the first one today, you know."
Walking over towards the desk, Veena opened her mouth to introduce herself. "No, no, don't say your name! Let me find out myself…" the Professor stopped her. Brushing back her flat, blonde hair, she clicked a few buttons on her computer. A window popped up, showing pictures of three aspiring trainers along with their name, age, hometown and other information. One of them was Veena, the other Steve, a boy she knew that lived close to her, and the third was another boy living in Sandgem whom Veena didn't know. The professor scanned the pictures and smiled. "You must be Veena then, right? Well, obviously, since you're the only girl starting from here this year." Veena grinned and nodded.
"Okay, let's look at the Pokémon then, shall we? They're outside, in the garden. Have you decided which one you'll take, then?" Professor Maple asked Veena, who shrugged. "Well, um…"
"Ah, don't worry; hardly any new trainers know which one to take when they come here, but they all leave perfectly happy. You'll manage!"
Veena shrugged again and followed Professor Maple to the back of the lab towards a glass door leading outside. They could see the three Pokémon as they nibbled at pieces of Pokémon food which lay in bowls before them. Obviously, they only just started their meal, because their bowls were still almost full. Professor Maple opened the door. "All right. Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, our first trainer is here! Come over here and say hello to Veena!"
The three of them looked up, spotted Veena, and dashed towards her. Chimchar won the mini-race and stopped a few feet away from her, eyeing her cautiously. Piplup and Turtwig caught up quickly, almost bumping into their fiery friend. Veena crouched down. "All of you are just adorable, you know…" she said to them, quietly. Piplup posed, Chimchar did a little backwards roll, and Turtwig cocked its head and looked at her. Veena stood up and turned towards the professor. "I've decided, where are their Pokéballs?" she asked. Professor Maple pointed towards the side of the door, where three Pokéballs lay on a small table.
Veena walked over and took a closer look. Each Pokéball was labeled with a small photograph of the Pokémon that belonged to it. She grabbed the one she wanted and turned back towards the Pokémon. Throwing it into the air, she said "Okay, return to your ball…" Piplup, Chimchar, Turtwig, and the Professor all looked at her expectantly. As the red beam coming from the Pokéball reached the Pokémon, she finished her sentence.
"…Turtwig!" The beam reached the turtle-like Pokémon. It vanished, leaving a speck of red light behind, which curled up and was locked inside the Pokéball. Veena caught it with both hands and held it close to her chest, filled with happiness. She had her very own Pokémon!
Professor Maple smiled at her. "A good choice. Now, let's go inside so that we can get everything settled."
Veena followed her inside, where Professor Maple sat down in front of her computer. The window with all the trainers on it was still open. She clicked on Veena, and a small card came out of a slit at the bottom of the screen. "This," she said, pressing it into Veena's hand, "is your trainer card. It shows you, the Pokémon you're carrying, and the badges and ribbons you earned. It looks quite empty now, but it'll fill up over time."
Veena looked down at it. It had a picture of her on the top left, and the words 'Veena, 12, Twinleaf Town' inscribed below it. On the right of the picture, there were two rows of three square boxes. At the bottom of the card, there was a row of five and a row of eight smaller squares.
Professor Maple looked at the Pokéball still clutched in Veenas other hand. Smiling, she said, "you can let Turtwig out, you know."
Veena looked down at her Pokéball and threw it into the air. It opened, the red ball of air uncurling and turning into Turtwig, who landed steadily on all four of his feet. "Turt-wig! Wig!" it said, looking at Veena. She smiled at it, then looked at the professor, who was looking for something in a drawer, asking "Is a red Pokédex okay with you? I seem to have misplaced my only pink one…"
"Of course!" Veena answered. "I don't like pink very much anyways."
The professor took a red Pokédex out of the drawer, along with five miniature Pokéballs. "You know what a Pokédex is for, right?" she asked Veena, who nodded in reply, taking the Pokédex which was just like the ones she had seen other trainers use. "It's the newest edition." The professor explained. "You can insert your trainer card at the bottom to register yourself in it. Whenever you have your card in it and point it at one of your Pokémon, badges or ribbons, it gets registered on your Dex and card. It's also quite useful for keeping the card in so you don't lose it. Oh, and whenever you make friends with another trainer, you can insert your cards in each others Dexes to register, so that you'll always be able to see each other's data, and talk to each other using the built-in video phone."
"Wow, great!" Veena answered, smiling. She inserted her card into the Pokédex after opening it. The screen flickered for a few moments, before a picture of her showed up. Sound came from the Pokédex. "Trainer registered – Veena, twelve year old girl starting her journey at Sandgem Town. Hometown: Twinleaf Town. Birthday: 11th of May. Description: Silver-white hair, light gray eyes. Is wearing the standard traveling clothes, grayscale edition. Badges: None. Ribbons: None. Pokémon currently in team: None. Total number of Pokémon: None."
Veena smiled, then frowned. "Why did it say I had no Pokémon? I have Turtwig, after all…"
The professor grinned. "You'll have to register it first. Go ahead, try it!"
Veena turned towards Turtwig, who was still standing on the floor, looking around, and pointed her Pokédex at it. Again, the screen flickered, this time showing an image of a Turtwig.
"Pokémon registered. Turtwig, the plant Pokémon. Made from soil, the shell on its back hardens when it drinks water. It undertakes photosynthesis with its body, making oxygen. The leaf on its head wilts if it is thirsty. It lives along lakes. Gender: Female. Received as starter Pokémon. This Turtwig has a sturdy body and likes sour food. Attacks known: Tackle, Withdraw."
Veena smiled. So her Turtwig was a female! Then, a question came from her Pokédex.
"Nickname?"
Veena looked at her Turtwig, who was starting to nibble on a pot plant standing next to a shelf. Quickly, she walked over and picked it up. "So, my dear," she said to it, "how would you like getting a nickname?"
"Turtwig!" it answered, nodding. "Well…" Veena started, thinking. "That twig on your head is just adorable, and you do seem to enjoy nibbling on things, so…how about Twibbles?" Her Turtwig nodded and rubbed her head against her arm, making her giggle. "All right then! Your nickname is now…Twibbles!"
"Nickname registered. Printing Pokémon on card…registration complete."
"Turtwiig!" Twibbles called. Veena cuddled her before taking her trainer card from her Pokédex. It now had a small image of Twibbles in the first square box. She put the card back and stored the Pokédex in her bag.
"Alright, then, you're almost ready to go! But first, you get your Pokéballs." Professor Maple said, showing her the five small Pokéballs she had gotten from the drawer before. "Try making Twibbles' larger and smaller, okay?" She encouraged Veena, who instantly did so. "Great, you must have seen people do this a lot!" The professor said as she saw her. Veena grinned, thinking of her mom resizing Fiffles' Pokéball. She accepted the balls the professor gave to her and put four of them into her bag. Then, she clipped Twibbles' ball onto the left side of her belt, which she had bought for precisely that reason. It had six clips for the Pokéballs of her team Pokémon, as well as a spare one so that she always had an empty one handy when catching Pokémon. She clipped the last empty one onto the spare clip and swung her bag onto her back. "Do you want to travel outside of your Pokéball with me, Twibbles?" She asked the Pokémon still on her arms. She nodded, and Professor Maple smiled happily.
"All right then, you're all set!" She said, showing Veena to the door. "Goodbye! And good luck! Show those boys whose boss!"
Grinning, Veena shook hands with her and walked through the door with Twibbles in her arms. This was it! She had her first partner and was going to get many more, she knew it. Putting Twibbles onto the floor beside her, she made the first few steps of her journey.
She knew it would be hard. She knew some parts of it would be tough.
But she also knew that she really, really wanted it.
To be continued in Chapter 2: First trouble comes fast
AN: Wow, this took way longer to type than I thought! I was planning to finish this yesterday… Oh well, I better start writing Chapter 2 know! Tata!
P.S: Yeah, the usual…read and review, purrrdy please!
