Chapter 4

"Squirtle!"

The instant the Squirtle — my Squirtle came out of its Pokéball, I jumped and picked it up.

"Hi Squirtle!" I said excitedly. "My name is Evanna, and I'm your new friend!" I waited for Squirtle's reaction. I tried to read its expression. Was it happy? Angry? Excited?

All of the sudden, I was on the floor, drenched in cold water. I tried to keep a grip on my Squirtle, but it wriggled free from my arms. I knew it would be difficult to befriend my first Pokémon, but I didn't expect this. As I got back up, Professor Oak handed me Squirtle's Pokéball.

"Here, call her back into the Pokéball," he said. I took the Pokéball and pressed the button. A red light reached Squirtle and it was back in its Pokéball. I sighed.

"Professor, are all Pokémon like this in the beginning?" I asked.

"Well, some Pokémon are a little difficult, yes, but once you start training with it, it should become friendlier," Professor Elm said.

I looked at the Pokéball. I hoped he was right, because I was afraid Squirtle would be difficult to deal with.

"Are you going to give Squirtle a nickname? Sometimes, giving it a nickname helps your bond become stronger," Professor Oak said. I thought about it, but couldn't think of anything.

"I think I'll wait to give it a name. I want the name to be special,'' I said.

"Well then Evanna Star, you are ready to start your journey into the Pokémon world!"

I walked out through the back door of Professor Elm's lab (he said he didn't want the children to show off their Pokémon in the waiting room). I walked to the edge of the town, near route 29 where there were a few benches. Before I started "my Pokémon journey," I decided to sit down and start to make some plans.

I turned on my Pokégear and checked the map app. According to the map, my next destination was Cherrygrove city. There wasn't much there, except for a Pokémon center and a PokéMart. I decided Route 29 would be a good place to start training with Squirtle.

I got up and strolled towards Route 29, thinking, this is it; I'm finally going to become a Pokémon trainer! I saw a few of the other children and their parents that were in the waiting room earlier, with their brand new Pokémon. I tried to keep in the shadows of the trees, so that they don't notice me trying to train Squirtle. I kept walking until I found a nice clearing where I didn't think any of the other kids would see me.

"Squirtle, come on out!" I threw the Pokéball in the air and let Squirtle out. Now would be a good time to register it in my Pokédex, I thought.

"Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon," My Pokédex said as it scanned my Squirtle that was rolling around in the grass, not paying attention to me. "It draws its long neck into its shell to launch incredible water attacks with amazing range and accuracy." It showed on the screen Squirtle's moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Withdraw, and Bubble. It was a level 6.

"Alright, Squirtle. Ready to train?" I asked, stepping closer to it. It stopped rolling around and looked up at me. We stood there for a few seconds, just staring at each other, when it suddenly shot water at me from its mouth again. I ducked and luckily, I avoided most of the attack.

When I got up, however, Squirtle was already running off towards where the other trainers were. "Wait!" I called. I sprinted after it, hoping the other trainers wouldn't see me. Thankfully, I didn't see any trainers around me. I tried running as fast as I could, but Squirtle was a lot faster than me. Soon, it was getting nearly out of sight. I wondered if Pokéballs could call back Pokémon from afar. However, it turned out I didn't have to.

Just as I thought I couldn't see Squirtle anymore, the silhouette of a boy came into my line of vision. As I ran toward it, I recognized the boy as Austin. He was also holding Squirtle in his hands. God, how embarrassing.

I stopped running when I reached Austin. Breathing heavily, I took Squirtle from Austin's hands and held on tight. "Looks like you have a bit of a problem there, Evanna," he said as he chuckled softly.

I shot him a dirty look. "Well, how's your first day going?"

"Oh, it's going fine," he said smugly. "My Charmander is already on level 8."

"Charmander?" I asked in curiosity. Charmander was also one of the rare Pokémon, like Squirtle. I remembered what Professor Oak said. Now, I don't do this very often. In fact, I've only done this once today, and back then I thought I wouldn't do it again for another year! I realized that he was talking about Austin.

"Yes, Charmander," he said, looking at me funny. "So how about that battle?"

"I don't know…" I thought. "Squirtle still doesn't trust me."

"I think a battle should bring you two closer. Come on, it'll be fun!"

He was right. If we had a battle and we won, Squirtle should trust me more than it does now. What other chance would I get, anyway?

"Alright, let's do it!"