Chapter Two
A New Friend
Bruno's watch read 9:10.
He was already ten minutes late, and he wasn't even halfway to the professors yet! Twinleaf Town was pretty far away from Sandgem Town, but not far enough that he couldn't run the whole way. Bruno pushed himself on, as he kept telling himself that if he didn't get there within the next five minutes, that there wouldn't be a Pokemon left for him to choose from.
It worked.
Less than six minutes later, Bruno was doubled over, barfing into the Professor's bushes, that grew next to his porch. It wasn't long before the Professor opened the door, peaking out to see who it was that was throwing up outside his door. "Ah! Bruno, you made it. Hold on, I'll go get you something to clean yourself off with." Bruno nodded his head, unable to speak because of the vomit flying out of his mouth.
The Professor returned with a cool wash cloth and a cold glass of water. He offered them to Bruno, who took them. He wiped off his mouth and then took a long drink of water before giving his thanks.
"No problem. Well, if your feeling well enough, come on in." Prof. Rowan replied, leading Bruno through a large sitting area that was littered with hundreds of books. Some sat open, laying on the tables, while others looked to have been crammed into the bookshelves that lined the walls. The rest of the books, were the ones that either wouldn't fit on the shelf because of their size, or because the Prof. didn't have any room for them anywere else, were stacked in between any open spaces of the bookshelves, as high as the ceiling.
Bruno qawked at them, until the Prof. noticed that he had stopped, and then walked over to him smiling. "Sorry about the mess, I was doing some research until early this morning. I knew that I was going to have company, but I haven't had time to pick things up."
"It's no problem Professor Rowan, I was just looking at all the books you own." Bruno replied, still staring.
"Yes, well that's only a portion of my collection. And please do call me Rowan, everyone else does... including your brother." Rowan replied, nudging Bruno forward and into the next room, which held as many different machines as there were books in the sitting room.
"Wow, these are awesome, what are they all for?" Bruno asked, running his fingers over a rather tall peice of machinery that had a domed top.
"Most of them help me analize and take care of either sick Pokemon or hatchlings who require the attention that I cannot give to them." Rowan explained, as he stopped in front of a different domed machine, only the top of it looked like a Pokeball. "Come here if you would."
Bruno made his way over to Rowan and the machine just as the Prof. finished punching in a few codes. With a loud beep, the dome split open revealing three Pokeballs encased in each of there own indevidual domes. "Seeing as your the first trainer to walk into my doors this morning, you'll have to excuse me while I get ready."
Rowan reached into the machine and pushed three different buttons, which rolled each dome back revealing the Pokeballs that sat within them. He took each one, and with a soft voice said, "Come on out." As each Pokeball opened, a different Pokemon came out. Bruno was in awe of them. Each one looked cute, and strong at the same time. After a few minutes of staring, Bruno pulled himself out of it, and looked up at the Rowan.
"Wait, you mean that I get to choose first? I would of thought all the other trainers would of been here by now and have chosen there a Pokemon. I expected to get here late and not have a choice in which one a chose." Bruno explained, as his eyes got bigger at the relization of him getting to choose before anyone else.
Rowan chuckled. "Actually Bruno, in my forty years of being a Professor and handing out Pokemon to beggining trainers, I've never seen anyone come in as early as you did. Normally all the trainers don't make it here until well after 10:00." A few moments passed, as Bruno stood before the three Pokemon sitting on the table in front of him.
"Would you like me to introduce you to them? I don't think there is any better way for you to choose." Rowan said, walking over to the Pokemon that sat on the far left.
"Sure." Bruno replied, walking over and stadning right in front of the Pokemon.
"This is Turtwig, the leaf Pokemon." Rowan replied, patting it on the head. The Turtwig reminded Bruno of a turtle, only with a leaf sticking out of the top of its head.
The Professor walked to the next pokemon, and scratched it under the chin. "This is Chimchar, the fire Pokemon."
Bruno smiled at the monkey looking Pokemon. It looked almost like one, except it had flames coming from it's tail.
"And last but not least is Pinplup, the water Pokemon." Rowan smiled, patting the Pinplup on the head. He walked over and closed the dome machine, while Bruno stood and looked each Pokemon over. After a few minutes of silence, Bruno looked over to Rowan and said, "I think I know which Pokemon I'll pick."
"Alright then, which one is it?" Rowan asked.
"That one," he pointed at Chimchar, who began jumping up and down.
"Chimchar?" Rowan asked, pulling a Pokeball from out of his lab coat pocket.
"Yeah, Chimchar." Bruno replied, relieved that he was able to pick his own Pokemon.
"Are you sure?" Rowan asked, looking down at Bruno, a serious tone on his face. Bruno thought he looked goofy with a serious look on his face, especially with the handlebar mustache. He kept from giggling, as he nodded his head in confirmation.
"Alright then, here is Chimchar's Pokeball." Rowan replied, handing him the small sphere. "I also have a few more things for you. First, I'm gunna give you five Pokeballs so that you can get started on building a team." The old man pulled out five Pokeballs from his lab coat and handed them to Bruno.
Bruno pocketed them, in the right pocket, as to not confuse them with Chimchar's Pokeball.
"Second, I'm going to give you this Pokedex. It will help you with identifying various Pokemon that you may come across while on your travels. If at anytime you are unsure of the type or the moves that that Pokemon has, then consult the Pokedex, it will be of considerable value to you while on your journey." Rowan reached into his other coat pocket and produced a thin red and black thing. He handed it to Bruno with another serious look upon his face, and said, "Take care of these gifts, especially the Pokedex. They aren't cheap, and that's the only one I'm going to give you."
Bruno nodded that he understood. "Thank you Professor. I'll take care of the Pokedex and Chimchar."
"Very well. Let me see Chimchar's Pokeball, and I will show you how to put him back into it." Rowan held out his hand, as Bruno placed the Pokeball gently into it.
"Have fun with Bruno, Chimchar. Return." A thin, long red light enveloped Chimchar, as he dissapeared into the ball.
"Here's your Pokemon, Bruno. Take care of him, and be careful on your journey. I hope to see you get as far as your brother has, and maybe even further!" The Professor said, shaking the young kids hand, as he led him out onto the front steps of the lab.
Bruno made sure that he had everything, and then began walking down the dirt road towards Jubilife City.