"That's Pokemon's too good for a wimp like you," the boy said. "I'm gonna prove it."

"Look, I haven't got time for this," I snarled. "I gotta go, and anyway, I'm not gonna fight a stalker."

I tried to move past him, but he just stood in my way. "Fine then," I finally said. "I'll battle you, if it makes you happy!"

"Totdile!" the boy instantly yelled, throwing his Pokeball into the air and sending out his Totodile. With a pang, I realised it was the same Totodile that nearly snapped my fingers off; I could tell by the way it glared at me.

"C'mon, Will!" I yelled, and Will rushed forward, eager to fight. "Use Smokescreen!" I yelled, and smoke billowed from Will's mouth, flying at Totodile and obscuring his vision.

"Scratch!" the boy bawled, but Totodile came crashing out of the smoke on the right-hand side, rather than straight at Will.

"Now, use Tackle!" I ordered, and Will tackled Totodile, who fell to the ground, but still managed to get up. "Use Lear!" the boy cried, and Totodile's eyes glowed through the smoke, clearing most of it.

"Tackle one more time!" I yelled, and Will crashed into Totodile, defeating it.

The boy just grimaced before reaching down to the Totodile, who was struggling to get up, and slapping him, making him fall to the ground again.

"Hey, what was that for?" I cried, looking at the defenceless Big Jaw Pokemon on the ground.

"For losing," he said simply. "Just know that you got lucky, ok?" He then pushed me aside roughly, and when he did, a card slipped from his sleeve and onto the ground. I quickly picked it up and read the name on it: Flint.

"Hey, give that back!" he snapped, snatching the card from my grasp before moving on.

Will and I rushed down the route and skidded into New Bark Town, surprised at what we saw there. Policemen now surrounded the lab, which was just next to Route 29, and a yellow tape was over the fence and poles. Will and I quickly ducked under the tape and skidded through the door to see Elm talking to a policeman. The policeman whirled around and stared at me.

"Ah HA!" he yelled. "The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime! You're officially under arrest!" He came over to me. Will growled at him and attempted to bite his leg, but the man just shook him off, and he skidded across the floor to bump into Elm's legs. The man was about to handcuff me when someone said, "It wasn't her! It wasn't her!"

I groaned. I didn't need to look around to know who it was; it was clearly Ethan. Indeed, he soon came into my line of vision, and faced the officer.

"It wasn't her, I swear!" he said. "I saw a redhead looking into the lab in the window before the crime, it was him!"

"Could someone please just tell me what's going on?" I said before the policeman could speak.

"Someone stole one of the Pokemon," Elm sighed, picking up Will and stroking him self-consciously. "Someone broke in here and stole the Totodile-the one that tried to bite off your hand." It was at this point that I noticed a cut on his head, which was slowly bleeding.

"It was Flint," I immediately told the policeman.

"And why should I trust you? You have a rare Pokemon, which was also in this lab this morning, according to the Professor's research, and it came out of this lab!"

"I got that Pokemon from Elm this morning!" I yelled. "Anyway, don't you know anything? Elm said Totodile was stolen, and I clearly have a Cyndaquil! I'm telling you, Ethan's right, it was the redheaded boy that was pearing through the window this morning, and his name's Flint, I bumped into him on my way back here with the egg Mr. Pokemon is giving to the Professor, and I battled him, he had a Totodile and it glared at me in the same way it did earlier this morning, when I was choosing my starter Pokemon, then I beat him and he dropped his trainer card, and I saw the name on it, it was Flint!"

The officer hesitated before unlinking the handcuffs and stepping away. "All right, all right," he said. "We'll immediately start an investigation for this 'Flint', who is redheaded and travels with a Totodile." He then exited the lab. Ethan turned to me, beaming.

"Boy, am I glad they didn't arrest you!" he said. At that point, I could have slapped him the same way Silver slapped Totodile. However, he then exited, so I missed my chance.

"So, Mr. Pokemon had an egg, you say?" Elm said. I turned to him and brought the egg out of my bag, handing it to him. He inspected it carefully. "Hmm. All right, then," he said, setting the egg on his desk. "Anything else?"

"Yes, Professor Oak was there and he gave me a Pokedex," I said.

"Wow," Elm said. "Can I see it?" I handed him the Pokedex and he turned away from me, as though to stop me from seeing what he was doing. He seemed to fiddle with it for a moment, then stopped and turned around, handing it to me.

"Hmm, I see," he said. "Now, I have a new assignment for you; I need you to go through the region and collect the gym badges. This will not only help me with my research, but it will also fill the Pokedex for me-er, I mean, Professor Oak."

I looked at him suspiciously before saying, "Since when was I your lapdog, and did your bidding?"

"Since your mum agreed to have you go on a Pokemon journey, eleven years agao," he said brusquely. "Now, off you go!" And I was practically booted out the door for the second time that day.

I went back to my house for a second, opened the door and yelled through, "MUM! I'm going on a Pokemon Journey!"

"Very nice dear," sang Mum, and I was about to shut the door when she said, "Come inside, you should get some lunch before you go!"

I groaned before entering and sitting down at the table. Mum came quickly with a bowl of kebabs on steamed rice; my favourite meal. Suddenly I wondered if Elm was telling the truth, and he and my mum had planned my going on a journey; if so, my mum obviously didn't know that she had just sold me to Elm as a slave.

"So, what Pokemon did you get?" she asked. I picked Will up and put him in the centre of the table. "This is Will," I said.

"Oh, I see," Mum said. "Now, before you go, I was wondering; would you like me to save some of your money? You've got a whole region to explore, and you can't carry all your savings around with you."

I looked at her suspiciously; I knew very well that Mum had a fetish for buying things with ALL money on hand, including MINE. Finally, I sighed and said, "All right, then Mum, save some of my money, but DON'T use it." I looked her threateningly in the eye to prove my point.

Mum laughed and waved the threat away. "Oh, silly, when have I ever spent your money?" I could have slapped her then, just like I felt like doing to Ethan, but I pushed the feeling down and ate my kebabs.

When I was finished, Mum walked me to the door. "Now, baby, listen…" she said. "I want you to train and try your hardest. Always know your mama's rooting for you, honey." Yeah, so she can spend my money, I thought.

"Well, bye!" I called as I stepped out the door and into the midday air. I smelt the ocean and the scent of spring before heading back to Route 29.