My patience was being tested. Cheren and I silently stared at the box on his desk.
It seemed out of place in his minimalistic bedroom. The wrapping paper was shiny and covered in Pokeball designs. Inside would be my first pokemon.
The thought sent a shiver up my spine. My chance had finally come. My chance to battle Drayden.
Professor Juniper had personally delivered the box to Cheren's mother. Cheren and I were at trainer school when she did.
I sat down on Cheren's bed, running a hand through my green hair. Cheren gave me a knowing look. Unfortunately, we had to wait for Bianca. Cheren called her as soon as we'd found out about the gift.
Cheren perked up when he heard the front door slam, followed by loud footsteps coming up the steps. His bedroom door flew open.
"I'm here!" Bianca shouted. Cheren and I turned to greet her. She crossed the room, panting. "Is that the box? With the pokemon?"
"You're late!" Cheren immediately began lecturing Bianca.
"Don't worry about it," I urged Cheren. "You guys ready?"
"Absolutely." Cheren flashed a smile. "After this, we have to go see Professor Juniper."
"Yeah, I know." Bianca rushed past us to get a look at the box. Cheren cut off Bianca and started opening the box.
As we knew, there were three poke balls. Each poke ball had a sticky note on it, naming the pokemon: Tepig, Snivy, Oshawott.
"Okay," Bianca and I peeked over Cheren's shoulders. "Since this is Cheren's house, he should get first pick." Bianca nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
"Alright then, Oshawott it is." Cheren gently plucked the middle poke ball. He seemed to caress it for a moment, satisfied. "I'm not going to lose. Never."
A moment later, Bianca reached past Cheren and snatched up a poke ball.
"I have Snivy!" Bianca held the poke ball in the air and squealed with excitement. I inspected the last poke ball, Tepig.
I had no idea what to do with it. Maybe I could convince Bianca to trade. I considered my options for a moment as Bianca and Cheren started battling behind me. "No!" Bianca cried out. I glanced over my shoulder. Bianca's new Snivy was knocked out on the floor. Cheren's Oshawott stood victorious.
"You want to go?" Cheren turned to me, Oshawott smiled confidently.
"I don't know." I hesitantly released Tepig. It looked around the room before focusing on Oshawott. "I guess we're doing this."
"I'll go first. Water gun!" Oshawott sprayed a stream of water at Tepig; I tried to get him to dodge but to no avail. He took the hit and shook it off. Several thoughts filled my head. Most of which involving frustration at a pokemon unwilling to follow orders.
"Tepig, attack!" I ordered; a moment later, I realized I didn't know what any of its moves were. Tepig charged at Oshawott. Oshawott brandished its shell.
"Pound!" Oshawott lunged, smacking Tepig with its shell. "You have to give Tepig proper orders." Cheren frowned, crossing his arms. I racked my brain; fire-type moves. Any fire-type moves!
"Ember!" Tepig fired several small flares at Oshawott. Oshawott evaded the flares, smacking Tepig with the shell again.
"Finish it, water gun!" Oshawott grabbed onto Tepig and sprayed Tepig in the face. Tepig collapsed. Oshawott raised its shell, satisfied.
I returned Tepig and stared at its poke ball. Cheren smiled at me. I avoided his eyes. He picked up Oshawott and looked over his messy room.
"Now, we better get going. We gotta be up at Professor Juniper's place."
"Aren't you going to return, Oshawott?" Bianca asked. Cheren smiled.
"I think I'll carry her."
"Wow, how do you know it's a girl?" I started thinking about how to adjust my team strategy as Cheren explained the gender differences between Oshawotts.
We headed downstairs; Cheren's mother complained about the racket we caused as we left the house.
Nuvema town was small, only made up of a dozen houses. We walked to Juniper's lab, the northernmost building in town. It took us a few minutes to get there.
I was stumped; what pokemon would go with Tepig? I was deep in thought when we reached the lab.
"You go ahead and knock," Cheren said. Bianca obliged, knocking on the front door. A few seconds later, Professor Juniper appeared in the doorway.
"Good morning, children." Juniper smiled. She led us inside, offering us seats on a couch and some tea. "I'm hiring you as my associates," she explained. "To travel the Unova region and collect information on any Pokemon you find." Juniper gestured to Oshawott, and she ran to her.
"Do we get paid?" Bianca asked.
"Well, of course."
"I can give you weekly checks of three hundred."
"That's a lot of money!" Bianca grabbed my shoulder and shook me. "I wouldn't know what to do with that much!" Cheren nodded, Oshawott returned to him.
"I take it the three of you accept?" Juniper folded her arms.
"Of course!" Bianca grinned. Cheren agreed. I nodded.
"Perfect." Juniper marched off, "I have some things for you." She equipped the three of us with a Pokedex and several pokeballs. She spent about an hour teaching us how to use the Pokedex. She then printed us assistant IDs. It was evening when we finally left the lab.
"This is happening." Bianca trembled with excitement. "I can't believe this is happening!"
"You guys know about the pokemon league, right?" Cheren spoke up.
"Yeah," I replied. "Of course, I do."
"I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna win the pokemon league." He seemed to stare off at nothing for a moment. "I'm gonna win."
Bianca looked at Cheren. He seemed to return to reality and smiled.
"I'd be satisfied with just exploring Unova," Bianca said. "I just want to be anywhere but here. This is the perfect opportunity for that." \
The two of them looked at me.
"What about you?" Cheren asked. I turned Tepig's poke ball in my hand.
Like Bianca, I didn't have much of a grand plan. I had a goal, though. Opelucid city.
"You know what I want," I said. "Drayden." Cheren nodded.
"I better get home," Bianca said. She started walking off. "I'll see you guys later. Cheren and I returned to his house.
His mother had dinner ready. Cheren told his mother about the situation. I left the table early, heading off to bed. I set Tepig's poke ball on the nightstand and slipped under the covers.
Drayden would never accept a challenge unless I'd beaten all seven other gym leaders. I turned off the lamp and went to sleep.
Morning came instantly. The dull light filled my room. I got up with a yawn. It took an hour to pack my things. I headed downstairs. Cheren's mother was in the living room.
"He already left," she said. I said my goodbyes. She offered me some breakfast. I ended up eating some toast before I left. I saw Bianca's dad checking the mail on my way out of town. He scowled at me and walked back inside. I followed the dirt path all the way to Route 1. I hesitated at the start of the route.
"There you are." I turned to see Juniper walking up to me. "Glad to see you haven't left yet. The others are long gone."
"Professor, do you need something?" I slipped my hands into my pockets.
"I wanted to give you this." She handed me a small gold figurine. I inspected it. It looked like some small pokemon with a long tail.
"What is this?"
"It was your mothers." I frowned, turning the figure in my hand.
"Oh."
She put her hands on her hips.
"You're going to challenge him, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
Juniper's eyes glistened. The smile had vanished.
"Just stay safe." With that, she left.
I remained there. The figurine felt heavy in my hand. I found a safe spot in my bag and put it in.
Then I set out on Route 1.