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In Chapter 2, Ritsu gets her official starter from Professor Oak, and her 'rival' is introduced.

Ritsu burst into the laboratory, startling the few lab assistants inside.

"Prof! I'm here!"

She came face to face with a spiky-haired boy, and frowned.

Professor Oak was a kind old man and a nice person in general. However, his grandson, Aki Oak, was completely different. Sometimes, Ritsu wondered if Aki was really the grandson of the famous professor.

The two had been childhood playmates since their families had been close, with Satoshi Tainaka frequently helping the Professor with his research on Pokemon. But as he grew up, Aki began to grow more cold and distant - to a point where Ritsu didn't even know him anymore.

Aki smirked, but offered no words. However, his expression was clearly mocking her for being the slower of the two.

Ritsu glared at him. Something like this was already common between them - exchanging looks of hatred and silently cursing the other, yet, they never spoke. She mentally sighed, wondering how her relationship with her former best friend had deteriorated to such a point.

Turning to one of the lab assistants, she asked her question. "Where's the Prof?"

Aki cut in abruptly. "In the fields. He's tending to the Pokemon."

For a split second, she was shocked that Aki had actually spoken, but regained her composure quickly. It was just Aki. She didn't care if he spoke or not. "Looks like we're going to be waiting for awhile, Pika."

The Pikachu on her shoulder nodded in disappointment.

Soon after, Professor Oak came bustling in. "Hello, Ritsu, Aki! It's been a busy morning. I'm glad to see you two are here. Oh, and Pika too."

"Morning, Prof!" Ritsu replied cheerfully, happy to see her grandfather figure.

"Pikaaa pi!"

Oak grinned. "Firstly, I want to congratulate the both of you on finally earning your Pokemon Licenses and starting your journeys with Pokemon. I know your goals are the same, to challenge the eight Gyms in Kanto and to compete in the Indigo League. I wish you luck in your quests."

"Get on with it, Gramps. I want to leave as soon as possible," Aki said impatiently, tapping his foot.

"Ever the impatient boy, Aki," replied the Professor calmly.

Ritsu snorted. Sometimes, she wondered how the gentlemanly Professor Oak put up with such a terrible, problematic grandchild.

Aki frowned. "Get on with it," he repeated.

Completely ignoring the rudeness that had been shown to him, Oak gestured to three Pokeballs behind him, on his desk. "As you all know, you can't start your Pokemon journeys without Pokemon. So I'm going to gift each of you one of these... although I see that you both already have Pokemon."

"Oh yeah," Ritsu smiled, looking towards Pika. "I'll be bringing Pika along. He's been staying with us here in Pallet Town for years, so Mom thinks it's time to bring him around outside again."

"I see. That's just as well. He's the last Pokemon your father caught before his... untimely demise," Oak cleared his throat awkwardly. "So I see it as a very appropriate Pokemon to start with for your journey, too. And you, Aki?"

Aki flashed a Pokeball, and Ritsu took close interest. "Right here. Daisy said I could bring it along."

"Hm..." Oak scratched his chin. "It seems that you both have Pokemon already. Well, no matter. I'll still give each of you one of these three." He stepped aside, presenting the three Pokeballs in a dramatic fashion.

Ritsu stared at them. "Oooh, what's inside?"

"This," the old Professor raised one of the balls. "It contains the Grass-type Pokemon, Bulbasaur." He placed it down carefully, before holding up the second Pokeball. "And here is the Fire-type Charmander. Residing in the last Pokeball is the Water-type Pokemon, Squirtle. Take your pick!"

"Okay," Ritsu shrugged. She didn't have a particular preference. Her hand moved over, and picked up one of the Pokeballs randomly. At the same time, Aki took his pick too. "Come on out!"

They released their new Pokemon together.

"Char!"

Ritsu gasped. "So cute!"

Her new Charmander jumped into her arms with a squeal of delight, quickly taking a shine to what would be his new Trainer.

Aki spared Ritsu and her new Charmander a glance, before turning to his own Pokemon. "The Water-type Squirtle, huh..." He nodded at the Tiny Turtle Pokemon, before quickly recalling it back to the Pokeball. "We're done here then. Can we go?"

His question was not answered, as he heard the girl beside her exclaim.

"I think I'll name you Toto!"

Professor Oak laughed, as Aki looked away with distaste.

Nicknames are stupid.

The newly-dubbed Toto returned to his Pokeball, and Professor Oak nodded quickly. "I think you are both quite ready to set out now. The last thing I want to ask of the both of you, is a simple request."

He produced two red devices. Aki took one, and instinctively, Ritsu grabbed the other.

"What's this, Prof?"

She flipped it open, and the device, indirectly pointed at Pika on her shoulder, lit up.

"Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon," a robotic voice beeped out. "An Electric-type who stores electric charges in the small sacs on it's cheeks. When several of these Pokemon gather, their generated power can produce lightning storms."

"Woah! It speaks!"

Pika regarded the device with awe. "Pika pi!"

"It read Pika like a book, too!"

Professor Oak cleared his throat awkwardly, in an attempt to find an opportunity to speak.

"As I was saying... this device is a PokeDex. Every time you point the PokeDex at a certain Pokemon, the PokeDex will explain to you everything about that Pokemon, it's abilities, skills, levels and everything else you need to know. It's a Pokemon encyclopedia!"

Ritsu shut the PokeDex, and flipped it open again. She then shut it close again, only to open it once more and repeating the process. "Wow, it's pretty cool," she remarked. "Thanks for the gift!"

"It's not a gift," Oak replied, as he thought for awhile. "Well, maybe it is. But what I really need now is for someone to complete this encyclopedia. You see, the PokeDex only records Pokemon that it has seen. I'm cooped up in this lab, so I can't really go out there looking for Pokemon to add in. But the both of you can."

Switching the PokeDex on again, Ritsu scanned through it, and only found a single Pikachu in the device's records. "Ah, you're right." She pocketed it, giving the Professor a thumbs-up. "You can count on me!"

Aki stared at his own PokeDex. "I guess this could be useful," he said nonchalantly. "Fine. I will help as well."

"Great! Now it's time to go," he walked to the door and opened it. A breath of fresh air blew into the laboratory, and Ritsu grinned. Oh, how she would miss the clean air of Pallet Town.

She walked forward and wrapped the Professor in a quick hug. "I'll miss you, Prof! I'll return to visit soon, hopefully."

"As will I, Ritsu. As will I," he replied with a small smile. "And of course, you too, Aki."

"Hmph," the aloof boy grunted in response, not really giving his grandfather an acknowledgement, and he was rewarded with a hateful look that Ritsu threw towards him.

"Hopefully the next time we meet again, you will both have become very strong Trainers. I believe in you two." He patted them on the shoulders.

"Yeah! I'll totally amaze you with the strong Pokemon I'm gonna catch," Ritsu proclaimed confidently. "And I'm going to make my father proud."

It was going to be a long day and he would be working relentlessly, but Professor Oak could not help but brighten up at the optimism of Satoshi's daughter, and how striking the resemblance was in so many ways.

"Maybe he already is, Ritsu."

Pika echoed the Professor's words, in his own little language. "Pikaaachuuu!"

"Hehe. Ya think?" She giggled, turning to the side while trying to act modest. And thus, she discovered that Aki was long gone, already far off in the distance and sprinting towards Route 1. "That was quick."

Oak sighed. "He's an impatient child..."

"I pity you sometimes, Prof," Ritsu shook her head, as she glanced at Aki's direction as he slowly fleeted out of sight. "For having such an annoying, childish, rude, stupid-"

The old man interrupted with a small chuckle. "I know how you feel about Aki, but shouldn't you be departing now too? At this rate, he's going to get a head start in challenging those Gyms, you know!"

She jumped up in shock, with Pika almost falling off from her shoulder. "That's right! Sorry Prof! Gotta run!"

And Ritsu sped off, leaving behind a highly amused Professor, and her hometown of Pallet.

"Aw, he's gone already."

"Pika, pika pi!"

"What? Of course being ahead matters, Pika!" Ritsu said firmly. "Well, I'll show him! He can race forward for all I care! But when the time comes, I'm going to kick his ass!"

"Pikaaaa..."

"Tch!" She looked away. "I'm not being fueled by that or anything. My sole purpose for coming out here is to emulate Dad and become a strong Trainer. I'm just saying it would be nice to kick that guy's ass along the way, or something like that."

"Pikaa," Pika shrugged.

"Oh yeah! We have a new family member, don't we?" With a broad grin, the Trainer released her newest Pokemon. Toto the Charmander jumped into Ritsu's arms as soon as he emerged from his Pokeball. "Ehehe, he's really affectionate!"

"Charmaaan!"

"Pikaaaa."

"What, Pika? Jealous?"

Pika rolled his eyes. "Pikachuu!"

She released Toto to allow him to move freely, although the Charmander seemed more comfortable in his Trainer's arms.

"Oh, and we'd better do this..."

Ritsu fished out her PokeDex, and pointed it at Toto, eagerly anticipating what was about to come on the screen.

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. This Fire-type Pokemon has a flame that burns on the tip of it's tail. When it rains, steam is said to spout from it. It is said that the larger the flame on it's tail gets, the stronger it grows."

"Coool!"

Toto looked at the PokeDex curiously. "Chaar!"

"Anyway..." Ritsu looked up, at a sign announcing their exit from Pallet and entrance into Route 1. She looked back at the lush greenery of Pallet Town, before taking a deep breath and venturing into the route. "For now, our target is to reach Viridian City."

Whew, and another chapter done.

The flame on Charmander's tail does not actually increase in proportion to it's strength. I borrowed that concept from the Pokemon anime, when the flame on Ash's Charmander's tail grew larger as it used Rage to gain enough power for battling against a Primeape.

If it hasn't been noticed yet, this story won't really stick to a particular 'world'. It's of course based on Pokemon FireRed, but there are many ideas that will be 'borrowed' from the anime and manga, such as a talking PokeDex.

Thanks for reading!