Chapter 4
The sun was already setting on Delilah's first day as a trainer when she returned to Pallet Town. She had hidden all day in the long grass of Route 1 and Aaron had fought off countless wild Pokemon, getting stronger the whole time. Finally Delilah had decided it was time to visit the lab.
Her house was silent as she crept into town, jogging up the long path to the lab. She knocked on the door of the enormous building and it was quickly answered by a weary-looking assistant in a white lab coat.
"Yes?" he asked.
"I want to register to become a trainer," Delilah explained.
He took in her appearance for a moment, his eyes lingering on her bruised cheek and the Riolu sleeping in her arms. Eventually realization dawned in his eyes and he said, "You're Delilah Miles, aren't you? The professor asked us to look out for you today. Sure, come in."
She followed him inside. The lab was a maze of hallways, each room filled with complicated equipment and people in white coats working. Having no idea where she was being taken, Delilah followed the assistant to a room with something that looked like it was for taking license photographs. A camera was set up facing a blank screen with a chair in front of it, with a switched-off lamp on either side of the camera.
"Sit down," the assistant said, motioning to the chair and turning on the lights. Delilah made her way to the chair and sat down, lowering Aaron onto her lap. The assistant angled the camera at her and she moved her hair forward to conceal her bruised cheek, then forced a smile. The flashbulb lit up and the assistant motioned for Delilah to follow.
She was ushered into another room, where an old grey-haired man was sitting at a desk surrounded by papers. He looked up as Delilah entered, then stood up and moved around the desk to greet her.
"Good evening, Delilah," he said, taking in her bruise and Aaron. "Have you had your photo taken?"
"Yes, sir."
He offered his hand and she shook it. "My name is Oak," he said. "And you're Delilah Miles, right?"
"Yes, professor."
"I have something for you."
He moved back around his desk to a large machine. Inside the glass, bright lights shone down on two large green and white eggs. Oak pressed a button, causing the machine to open, and gathered the two eggs into his arms.
"These two eggs were left here by a visitor last week, with instructions to give them to you and only you," he explained. "The woman who delivered them left before giving her name or her relation to you, but she named you specifically. Are you willing to take them and look after whatever they hatch into?"
"Of course!"
The professor wrapped each egg in a soft towel and placed them both into a bag, which he gave to Delilah. "Your license will be here in a few minutes."
At that moment the assistant hurried back into the room and handed her a license. She looked at it; her photo was in place beneath her name on one side, and the other side held information like her gender, birth date and the species and name of her starter Pokemon.
"Thank you, sir," Delilah said.
"You can stay here for the night if you'd like," Oak said.
"You won't tell my father?"
"You're a trainer now. You're independent."
Delilah nodded gratefully. "Thank you."