Chapter 2

Shortly after the battle, Rogan came down the stairs where after him and his friends apologized to his mom, Bianca and Cheren decided to head over to the local Pokémon professor, Professor Juniper. Rogan decided that he would catch up later under the excuse that he needed to rest his feet.

"Aren't you going to see your friends, sweetie?" Rogan's mom asked.

"I will in a quick minute, I just need to sit down for a second." Rogan sat on the couch and reached out for the remote to turn the T.V. on. When he turned it on he saw that it was on a cartoon that he never really watched much. Apparently it was about this cartoon showing a Pokémon Trainer also called Rogan, who started his journey a year ago. Rogan could never watch it himself because he was often too weirdid out by the coincidence. And now that Rogan has gotten his first Pokémon that only convinced him further. He decided to turn off the TV and meet up with the duo.

When he left his house, he noticed that Bianca in front of him running to the south side of town. This wasn't where the Pokémon Lab and Rogan felt something was amiss. He followed her to her house, making sure not to be noticed. When he went to the house he looked through the window and saw Bianca arguing with a middle-aged man, whom Rogan recognized and her father. Bianca's father, Rogan felt, was a bit overprotective of her and this wasn't the first time where he objected to her wanting to go out on her own. Bianca told Rogan earlier that her father was feeling anxious over the news that she would be getting her first Pokémon but seemed to assure himself that she would only keep it as a pet. He must have finally found out that she plans to become a trainer.

Soon later Bianca rushed out of the door and nearly stumbled over Rogan on her way out. "Are you okay?" Rogan asked.

"I'm fine…" Bianca said, halfheartedly. Rogan could see that tears were welling up in her eyes. "Did you overhear us?"

"Umm…" Rogan had trouble figuring out how to explain this off. "So I'm guessing your dad still doesn't want you to become a trainer?" Rogan ask, attempting to change the subject.

"Yeah…" Bianca said and paused. You could cut the awkwardness with a knife. "Anyway let's heard on over to the Lab, Rogan."

"Oh! Yes, okay. Meet you there."

Rogan headed to the north of town where a large building was right next to a wind turbine. This was the Pokémon Lab where Professor Juniper and her father worked. He opened the building and he saw Bianca and Cheren next to a woman with short brown hair in a swirl and wearing an unbuttoned doctor's jacket. In the corner he could an older man smiling and working on documents.

"Hey, Rogan!" The woman said excitedly "What took you so long?"

"Sorry about that, Professor Juniper. I got caught up on the way here." Rogan said and blushed. "So you wanted to see us before we headed off?"

"Correct. I wanted to give you three a few things before you left, such as these." She pulled out of her pocket three slim red devices that almost looked like calculators in cases. She spread them out on the table in front of her.

"Hey, are those what I think they are?" Cheren curiously asked.

"Pokedexes? Yes, they are. With these devices you can document information on Pokémon that you find and catch in the wild."

Rogan took the Pokedex in the middle and opened it. The Pokedex immediately turned on but all he could see on it were numbered bars with no text by them. "Umm… Juniper. There is nothing on these Dexes."

"Well that's because I formatted them before you came, after all, what motivation would there be to find Pokémon if most of them were already on the Dex? Here, let me show you how to register Pokémon on it." Rogan handed his Pokedex to Juniper. "If you wouldn't mind please call out the starter Pokémon you chose earlier today."

Rogan called out his Snivy who took a second to gather his surroundings. It was only now that Rogan noticed that there was a camera on the back of the Pokedex. Juniper pointed the camera at Snivy and Rogan noticed a light blink right next to the camera lens. "And done! Your Snivy is now registered." Juniper handed the Pokedex back to Rogan and Rogan saw on the screen a picture of Snivy, along with its name, height, weight, and a small bio describing it, among other information. Rogan was amazed that a single picture of his Pokémon could produce so much information. "Hey." Juniper called his attention "Have you nicknamed your Snivy yet?"

"Oh no, I haven't." What would be an appropriate nickname for this grass snake, Rogan wondered as Bianca and Cheren called out their Pokémon to register them. There was a name of a fictional medieval hero he saw on TV once. "How do you like the name Rennie, Snivy? It means Brave Ruler." The Snivy looked like it was lost in thought for a second then, looked up at Rogan and cried in delight. It liked the name.

"So anyway" Juniper started explaining "I just want you three to know that you have a long and exciting journey ahead of you. Your journey will be full of friends, battles, and competition. It will also have sadness death apart of it as well. I am sorry to tell you three this but I just want you to know that Pokémon don't live forever and that the road ahead has dangers that could put your Pokémon at risk." Juniper paused for a second "But, as your parents before you, you will grow with your Pokémon, both as friends and companions. And you yourself as a person will grow. Do you three understand me?" The three nodded. "Good. Now then…" "I wish you the best of luck on your adventures and feel free to come back anytime if you need to check on your progress on the Pokedex. Also I will call you three on the Xtranciever to check on your progress as well."

The three head on to the outskirt of town leading to Route 1, a popular first start for Pokémon journeys. On the way they ran into Rogan's mother who gave all of them a town map. They eventually see the Route in front of them.

"Y'know" Bianca said "I think it would be appropriate if we took our first steps on Route 1 together, it is the beginning of our journey after all." The other two agreed and on the count of three they all stepped forward at the same time.

After walking a little into the route they noticed that Professor Juniper was in front of them. "How did she get a head of us?" Rogan wondered to himself.

Juniper called out to them "Hey, you three! I nearly forgot to give you your Pokeballs." She gave the trio three small cases that each held five unused Pokeballs inside. "There is also something important I want to tell you as well. You have heard of the recent catching law that has taken into effect right?"

"I heard about it." Cheren answered "Apparently trainers can only capture one Pokémon per Route, right?"

"Yes. The Pokémon League is worried that the recent increase of trainers this year might negatively affect the Pokémon populations, so a trainer can only capture one Pokémon per Route and if they accidentally kill a Pokémon then they are forbidden from catching one that Route as well, only a few exceptions such as if the Pokémon has an abnormality."

"An abnormality?" Bianca asked.

"Such as if it's colors on its body are different. Some groups in the League have nicknamed these kind of Pokémon, Shiny Pokémon. If you encounter any of these Pokémon, feel free to capture them. I would like to see them as well." "Well, that's all I wanted to say to you, so I'll head back to town. I'll call you three when I need to tell you more information." With that, Juniper left the three to their own devices.

"One Pokémon per Route…" Cheren said. "That is going to make it a lot more difficult for us to gather a team"

"Yeah but look at the bright side Cheren." Bianca said, trying to cheer him up "At least this means we can be more attached to the Pokémon we find."

"True." He turned to Rogan. "So anyway, me and Bianca are planning to head to the next town. You can come with us if you want."

"Thanks Cheren" Rogan assured him "But I'm going to see if I can find a Pokémon in this Route. I really can't wait to see what kind of Pokémon there are."

"Suit yourself" Cheren shrugged. "Just don't take too long."

Rogan walked along the Route combing the area for signs of wild Pokémon. Rogan admitted that to himself that it was really relaxing to just walk around in nature. Especially since summer was near and he could see the foliage around him starting to bloom. He wasn't the only one impressed by these sights. Rennie was also amazed by the signs around him. Being a grass type Pokémon, Rogan wasn't surprised that Rennie would feel at home in nature. They were walking around in some tall grass when they saw a rustle in front of them. Rogan immediately told Rennie to tackle object in the grass. Rennie did as commanded and quickly disappeared in the grass in front of him. Rogan could hear a struggle and after several seconds the Snivy popped his head above the grass and cried in accomplishment. Rogan walked near him to see what Rennie has found and he saw a dazed puppy on the ground. Rogan's heart immediately melted and he almost was about to hug the puppy himself when he remembered that he had to capture it first. He grabbed one of the Pokeballs the Professor game him, pressed the button in front of it, causing it increase in size and threw it at the puppy. Immediately a red light appeared form the ball which surround the puppy, and a second later it disappeared.. The Pokeball shook a few times then emitted a sound signifying that the Pokémon was caught. Rogan immediately called the Pokémon out and checked his Pokedex to see what it was and saw that the species name was Lillipup. He was about to hug the Pokémon when it started growling at him. He backed off a little and the Lillipup seemed content with that. Rogan was a little disappointed of the Lillipup's quick tempered attitude but was happy that otherwise it seemed okay to be in his party. He decided to name the Lillipup, Rover.