On top of the hill, Astra looked at the small town in front of her. There were far less houses and buildings than there was in Viridian City. Pallet Town didn't even have a gym. Though there was a building where people were coming in and out of. The girl figured that was Professor Oak's Lab. She turned toward the pokemon whose head rested on her shoulder.

"We are almost there."

"Dra!" It's head perked up. To it, it was one step closer to going home. The snake like pokemon grew happier with the thought. Maybe the girl could actually help it. It felt like it was right to trust her. The nice girl giggled as it wiggled with excitement, tickling her sides a little with it's tail.

Astra began to walk to the lab. A few people stopped in the streets and looked straight at her. The expressions on their faces were a mix of surprise and envy, and a few had a very happy expression on their faces. Most of the faces were full of questions, as if they had never seen that kind of pokemon before. It just proved to her just how rare and out of place this little one was. She raised a hand to reassure the pokemon, that shrunk it's head behind her back. It was trying to hide from all of these people. It shivered under her touch, despite all her attempts to comfort it.

As she moved through the town, the throng of people seemed to be lessening. It relaxed her, mainly because the pokemon was relaxing as well. Trainers were leaving and saying goodbye to their families. The streets were nearly empty now. It was almost like the road to Pallet. If it weren't for all the pokemon running and playing in town, she would have found it very eerie for a town to be so quiet.

The black haired girled walked up to Oak's Lab. The first part of her journey was nearly over. It excited her to know that she was one step closer to helping this young pokemon. The excitement made her pick up the pace. She really wanted to know what this pokemon was. She didn't care that she missed her chance to get her first Pokemon. She had met a wonderful and unique pokemon on the road. It was turning out to be a great birthday.

By the time Astra got up to Oak's Lab, a graying man in a white lab coat and brown slacks was heading into the lab. She could only guess that man was the Professor. She picked up the pace once more to catch up to him. She hoped that she wouldn't be bothering the man. She knew that if she let him get inside, he would go straight to work and she would end up bothering him. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Professor, hold on a sec." She said as she got behind him. The man turned around with a surprised look on his face. Up close she could see his face. It looke weathered with age. His eyes sparkled, giving him a more youthful look. Beneath his lab coat was a red shirt.

"Oh, Astra what are you doing here?" Oak asked before noticing the pokemon that was trying to hide behind her. "What do we have here? I didn't know you were a trainer."

"I am not. I just turned ten today. I was supposed to get my first pokemon from you." Astra replied as she tried to get the pokemon to relax. "I found this little one on my way here. I have never seen this kind of pokemon around here before."

Oak nodded in agreement. This pokemon was rare. Not many people in Kanto got the chance to see this kind of pokemon before. Even fewer have been able to catch one. And yet here was young Astra with this pokemon. It was very interesting to the Pokemon researcher. He wondered how she was able to get it to trust her like this.

"What you have there is a Dratini."

"A Dratini?"

Oak nodded again and openned the door to his lab. "Yes. Why don't we move this discussion inside? I have water going for tea."

Astra nodded. "Sounds good to me."

The two walked inside and just in time too, the teapot was just going off. A loud whistle sounded throughout the building, causing many pokemon to freak out. Oak told the girl to have a seat while he served the tea. Dratini held on tight to Astra, very nervous around the Professor. It didn't exactly trust his older man. Astra gently patted it's head, wanting it to ease up on her torso. She could barely breathe from how tight it was hugging her.

"It is alright, Dratini, Oak is a good friend to pokemon. He is a pokemon researcher. He would rather understand pokemon than harm them."

Oak nodded as he came back with the tea and even some pokemon food. Even though he had been surprised by the visit, he seemed prepared. He was full of surprises himself. He sat down and handed the girl her cup. He also put the bowl of food close to the pokemon. It sniffed at the food, thinking that the pellets were different than what it normally ate. It wasn't too sure if it should eat them or not. It looked at Astra with confused eyes.

"Its okay. This is what trainers feed their pokemon." Astra picked up a pellet and popped it into her mouth. It didn't taste too bad. Seeing her eat the strange food, Dratini unwound itself form the ten year old and began to eat.

"Now that we are settled, why don't you tell me how you ran into this Dratini?"

Astra tol Oak what happened. To her it wasn't all great of a tale. It was very short but the professor seemed interested none the less. As she told the tale, the professor nodded and sipped his tea. When she was done speaking he put the cup down. It wasn't even half empty. She took a drink of her tea while she waited for him to speak.

"Well it seems that Dratini is pretty attached to you. He will look for you to guidance. He isn't a pokemon that is normally around here. No I should say that he is very rarely seen. He is probably very far away from home and his parents."

Astra nodded as Dratini sighed sadly. She petted him softly. "I want to take him home but I have no clue where that is."

Oak stood up and went to a desk. He pulled something out of a drawer. He came back with a small red device. "This should help you out with your mission."

Astra took it. "What is it?"

"It is a pokedex. It is a pokemon encyclopedia. It knows a lot about the pokemon in this region. Why don't you try it?"

Astra nodded. She opened the machine. She pointed it toward the Dratini. It spoke in a robotic voice. "Dratini the dragon pokemon. It is called the "Mirage Pokemon" because so few have seen it. Its shed skin has been found."

Astra smiled as the pokedex gave her information on the Dragon type in front of her. She ran her hand over his head. She giggled at her folly. "So you are not a water type huh?" She had assumed that Dratini had been a water type because she had seen it in the river.

"Ti ni." He seemed to giggle with her.

"It seems like you found your first pokemon all on your own. So take these with you." Oak handed her six pokeballs. "You are going to need them for this mission of yours."

Astra beamed at Oak. She was grateful for all he has done for her today. She knew that all trainers got extra pokeballs from the professor as well as the pokedex but he helped her find more out about Dratini. For that she was eternally grateful. "Thank you, Professor."

"One other thing. I suggest you capture Dratini. There has been a rise in organized crime. Team Rocket is still out there, stealing Pokemon from trainers and they are looking for really rare ones."

Astra bit her lip. She didn't know if she would ruin Dratini's trust if she tried to capture him. She didn't want him to hate her or try to run off. She wanted to help him find his family. This was really troublesome for the girl, even though she knew that this would keep the pokemon safe while on the road.

"Dratini, I know that this might be strange of me to ask but I need you to go into this pokeball. It is for your safety."

"Dra?" The Dratini tilted its head. He was confused by the request. He watched as Astra put the ball down in front of him. He leaned forward and investigated the strange object. As he did that, his nose pressed the button in the middle of the ball. A bright red light engulfed the dragon pokemon, startling him. The light pulled him in and closed.

Astra waited with baited breath for it to stop shaking. It seemed to take forever but it eventually stopped moving, a small click was heard that signaled that the pokemon was caught. She picked up the ball and looked at it. She then turned it away from her. "Dratini come on out."

A red light shot out of the ball and the dragon pokemon appeared in front of her. He stretched out and turned toward Astra. He wagged his tail and slithered toward her, rubbing his head against her leg happily. She giggled and patted his head. She was glad that he wasn't upset about going into the pokeball.

"You two will be the best of friends, I can feel it." Oak said as Astra smiled.

"Thank you, Professor. You have been a load of help."

He chuckled. "No problem. Now you better call him back and be on your way. You will want to get to Viridian Cisty before dark."

Astra nodded. She called Dratini back. They had no clue that they were being watched through the window. Hiding in the bushes next to the lab were two people. They had seen everything.