Author's note: This is where the plot starts. I'd love to read your reviews, they make my day, and it would help me improve the chapter. Enjoy!

When Sam reached Prof. Oak's lab, his first impression was that he was late. A whole squad of girls were standing by the gate, blocking his path. But there was no need to worry. Staring at them with distaste from a distance was a girl. Not just any girl. This was Green. The very personification of the colour she was named after. She had leaf green hair that fell on her shoulders and equally green eyes. . She was wearing a pair of comfy brown pants and a forest green jacket, ready to start her own journey, unlike the mob of girls who all looked like cheerleaders.

Come to think of it, maybe they were cheerleaders

Sam quickly moved over to stand beside Green. She glanced at him, flashed a quick smile and then continued glaring the mob of girls.

"Why does Gary have to bring his cheerleading squad?", Green growled.

"Jealous Green? That you can't join?", a voice suddenly floated across them as his fangirls parted to make way for him "I only allow cute girls in my group."

"As if. They are blocking my way. Ask them to move.", Green huffed

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to you", Gary sneered. The girls cheered.

Green opened her mouth to retort but somebody interrupted them.

"That's enough Green, Gary!"

It was Prof. Oak. He looked exactly the same as he did in the magazines. Old and wise.

And a bit ticked off.

"Isn't Ash here yet?", he asked, looking around, his eyes stopping at the mob of girls for a fraction more. A crease appeared on his forehead.

"Nope, gramps. You know him. Can't be in time to save his life. He is a loser."

Green glanced at Gary before providing her opinion,"He is always late, but you can't be sure if he's a loser or not. None of us have a pokemon yet. For all we know, he might easily beat you"

"Him? Beat me in a battle? He doesn't even know what to do. Besides-"

"That's enough!", Prof. Oak interrupted, again.

He glared at them for a whole minute, before beckoning Sam closer. He gripped his shoulders firmly, and said "I suppose we'll just have to start without Ash"

"Early spearow gets the caterpie", Gary muttered under his breath.

Prof. Oak ignored him. "Anyway, this is Sam. From Viridian City. His dad is the Gym Guide and certified Pokemon League refree. I suppose you know Sam, Green? You meet him frequently when you go to visit your Grandma?"

Green nodded in affirmation and grinned at Sam.

"He's your age, too, and will be getting his own pokemon today. "

"Um, I think there's a mistake. There are only three starter pokemon, right? Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur? There are four of us", Gary asked, frowning slightly.

"Don't worry about that. I've got it sorted. My initial idea was to hand one to each of you randomly. If you wanted the other pokemon, you'd have to battle for it. But now that there's an obvious late comer...", he trailed off. "Ah, well. Come on in."

The four trooped into the lab. The whole place was, predictably, boringly proffesional looking. With white walls covered by rows and rows of books in tall shelves which reached the ceiling. Not much, since the ceiling was kinda low. There were plenty of boxes littered here and there, containing various mechanical parts. And there was also a big cylandrical something which was probably even taller than Evan. It contained a strange blue liquid which bubbled ominously as they passed it. They took the door to the right, which was nearly hidden by a potted plant, and reached a smaller but neater room.

A small desk stood in a corner, covered by papers and books and a PC. Some personal posters adorned a single maroon wall opposite to the door. Sam realised with a pang that the little boy staring back at him from a photo frame was Gary. There were some boxes lined next to the wall, too. But the most interesting part of the room was the small circular table in the centre on which three pokeballs lay innocently. Prof. Oak took his place beside it.

"When I was young I used to be a serious pokemon trainer. But now I am old and it is time to hand over these, " he gestured towards the pokeballs with a sweep of his hand, "to potential pokemon trainers. Each one of you may have one", he paused and appeared to be calculating something, "Green, you go first."

"Not fair, gramps! I was here first!", Gary protested immediately.

"Ladies first, Gary."

Green walked to the table and summoned each pokemon from its pokeball. She regarded each one carefully. Sam could almost hear her brains whirr. She passed Charmander without comment, then looked at Squirtle and muttered something that sounded like "too arrogant".

She stooped down to pick up Bulbasaur. Something seemed to have clicked between them. "I choose Bulbasaur", Green said, looking straight at Prof. Oak.

"Congratulations Green! A nice choice, I must say. This guy is very friendly, and strong too! Here are your pokeballs. There are six. One belongs to Bulbasaur. Take care of him.", he said, handing her the pokeballs,"Do you want to give Bulbasaur a nickname?"

"Thank you professor. He's Blade.", she replied, smiling down at her Bulbasaur. She then stood aside to let them get a good look of the pokemon.

"Okay, then. Sam, you're up next."Prof. Oak glared at Gary when he opened his mouth to argue.

Sam stepped forward. Two pokemon were left. Squirtle and Charmander. He had thought about it thoroughly for the past few weeks. The nearest gym to Viridian City was Pewter City gym, rock type. He would have an advantage if he chose Squirtle. And if he caught another pokemon on his way to Cerulean city, he would be set. Strong pokemon and a nice head start over others. Not that types mattered much. He was fine with whatever pokemon he got, as long as he got one. But if he was given a choice...

"I choose squirtle", he whispered, stretching his hand to stroke Squirtle, who butted it away.

Playful, he thought. Squirtle looked excited and had a challenging air around him. Perfect.

Squirtle butted at his hand again, throwing a look at Sam. "I choose Squirtle.", he said more firmly, with more confidence

"Smart choice, Sam! Squirtle will be a good companion throughout your journey. Here, take the pokeballs.", he held out a tray where six pokeballs rested in a cushion. He took them and tucked them on his belt. "Do you want to give your Squirtle a nickname?"

He glanced at Squirtle, and then at Green. She was waiting for him to answer, and Squirtle was glaring at him.

"Uh, Aqua", he said, distracted by the look Squirtle was giving him.

That was all he managed to say before he tackled down by squirtle.

Prof. Oak laughed. "I think Squirtle likes his name", he said, as he helped Sam up. Sam doubted it, but didn't say anything.

At the very least, now he knew how strong Aqua was.

"Go on Gary, choose your pokemon", Prof Oak said, once Sam was up and all right.

"Like I have hoardes of pokemon to choose from." he muttered darkly, "At least the others were stupid enough to choose the weak ones.", he strutted over to Charmander and accepted his pokeballs from Prof. Oak. "You are Flame, Charmander. And I hope you will burn people with envy.", he grinned at Charmander, who grinned right back."Come on in." and Gary withdrew Flame.

"Now that all the three of you have a pokemon and all, I want to ask for a favour.", Prof Oak said "I want one of you to go to Viridian City and bring back the package which Professor Elm has sent. You can collect it from from the lady in the Poke Mart.", he paused to observe them,"So, which one of you will do that?"

Gary simply swung his bag on the shoulder and stared at Sam, as if expecting him to volunteer and get done with it.

Sam couldn't, actually. Evan had already told him he had some urgent stuff to do and that they'd be able to return only at noon. And there was still quite some time left.

"What is in the package, Professor?", Green asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Pokedex. You will need it. But I have some matters to take care of here right now to go to Viridian City and fetch it myself. So...", he trailed away

"I will get it", Green said quickly, "That way, we'll get a head start too. Whad'ya say, Blade?". Bulbasaur growled excitedly as an answer.

"Good. Gary, Sam, why don't the two of you meet others before leaving for your journey. By that time Green will bring back the package."

"I am going to train Flame.", Gary said, and strode out and away.

"We'll head out too, then.", Sam said, glancing at Green, "See you later, Professor". They followed Gary out of the lab.

Surprisingly, Gary was still there when they came outside, leaning against the gates, waiting for them instead of training Flame. Sam had thought that Gary was the type who would train hard to prove his worth. It must be hard to live up to the expectations of people when one had a genius Grandfather. Why was he lazing around, then?

"Chickened of going out alone, Gary?", Green growled. It amused Sam, how volatile her nature was. Sweet one moment, excited the other, and angry at yet another moment.

"As if, Green.", he drawled. He stood up straight and moved closer to them. He pulled out his pokeball as he came and stretched it out in front of him. "I challange you for a pokemon battle."

"How sweet.", Green said. But before she could ask Blade,who was hovering around her ankles all along, to battle, Gary interrupted.

"Not you, Green. I can take you down any day.", he said, lazily. She looked momentarily surprised at that before going beet red.

"I am asking you", he said, facing Sam, "to have a battle with me.", radiating a challanging aura all around.

oOo

"I am not sure. He was being rather rude today. Not like himself. Maybe he's sick?", June's voice came through the phone. She really didn't seem sure.

"I don't think so. I have a feeling that...", he hesitated, but carried on,"-that he's up to something. Something wrong. Bad."

There was a moment of silence where all he could hear were her uneven breaths. "June?"

"What do you think is wrong with him? I have a feeling it has something to do with that party. You know, the pre-league one you boys had?"

"Kevin has been behaving strangely since before that! I was there with him, wasn't I? He just celebrated and- and we all talked around. Nothing odd happened. It has to do with that post Grand Festival party. He has been acting weirdly since then", Evan explained. Why wasn't she understanding?

"I was there with him Evan. Are you saying that I didn't notice my friend acting strange? He was perfectly fine then! By the way, you said something about "talking around" in your party. What was that about?"

He could feel the heat creep up his face. "Normal stuff. Stock Market, who would win the league, business, stuff. Seriously, though? You don't believe me?"

"I don't know who to believe anymore.", her voice replied, dead pan.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Evan, I don't want to have a row with you. You don't know what I-"

SLAM.

He slammed the phone on the booth, nearly ripping the cord. He didn't want to hear her flimsy excuses of her going through a lot of stuff. She didn't know what he was going through. Hadn't even bothered to ask why he had withdrawn from Sinnoh League. And she couldn't care less why he had come to Kanto in such a hurry.

He turned away from the infuriating phone and stepped outside the Pokemon Centre. Fresh air always helped.

"Think rationally Evan. Think about the problem at hand. Think", he muttered to himself,and took a deep breath. Maybe if he just relaxed for a while and came back later, yes, that would be better. He'd stroll around and then tackle the problem. Nobody deserved to be burdened by worry at such a beautiful day so early in the morning.

Speaking of which, what errand did Sam want to do?

Maybe he just wanted to see Green? Evan smirked at that. But still, so early? Just to meet a friend?

Evan started walking, intending to go to Green's house and say hi, but only to find himself walking towards Prof. Oak's lab.

And now that he had started walking, his stupid brain assumed it was time to worry about the task. He hated it. Not his brain, but the sudden change in Kevin. He was behaving rather strangely. Sure, Kevin was strange from the very beginning. But he was being stranger. In a negative way.

Just last month, for example, during their pre-Sinnoh-League party, he was talking about how valuable Marowak skull was. Of course, everybody knew that and it was a really widely known topic that was frequently discussed but something about his tone unsettled Evan. He could remember clear as crystal that Kevin was just fine till the Grand Festival. He had won the contest and then he had attended some sort of a party...

Did that "only-contestants allowed" party have to do anything with Kevin's sudden behavioural change? He had then went for a small "one-man trip", and hadn't contacted for weeks on end.

Did this have anything to do with the rumours?

Which led him, again, to the same questions. Was it time to ask for help from known, strong gym leaders, if his theory was correct, or should he just walk around like a naive pokemon trainer with the hopes of becoming a Champion one day when everything was obviously getting more political than he was comfortable with?

Which, once again, made him want to talk with Prof. Oak. He loved talking to Professor about pokemon. But serious matters such as these? He became an entirely different being . His opinions were always so confusing to Evan that he couldn't help but think that the Professor was trying to hide something.

While he was busy thinking, he didn't notice what was in front of him, and walked on a wall.

"S-Sorry! Really sorry! I was-", he stammered before realising that he was apologising to a wall, Great. I am finally losing it. He was conteplating why his day was being so ridiculous that it made him talk to walls when he heard it.

People were shouting.

No. Children were shouting. Not that it was odd. They are always screaming for one thing or the other. No, it seemed like somebody was having a battle.

Finally something good.

The noise was coming from Prof. Oak's lab. Funny, usually the place was really quiet, unless, of course, Gary was here. He was one loud boy.

Evan climbed silently up the steps to Professor Oak's lab. The battle seemed to be happening in the small garden behind the lab.

This was going to be fun.