DISCLAIMER: Hey, nothing's changed since the last chapter, so I don't really need to tell you again!
The next morning, Harry and Ron woke up late. They hurried down to the Great Hall where everyone had gathered to hear Dumbledore's instructions on how to catch a Pokemon and how they were going to organize people to go out to the forest. Everyone had just been given three Poke Balls so they could catch their first Pokemon.
Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall and found Hermione. "What did we miss?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore just went over the rules for catching our first Pokemon," Hermione explained, "We are not allowed to catch any evolved Pokemon that we find in the forest at first, only basic Pokemon."
"How will we know if it's evolved?" Ron asked.
"I've caught almost every kind in Crystal and Ruby version at home," Hermione said, "I can tell you if it's evolved or not. We've also been given a Pokedex to use so we can identify Pokemon and six Poke Balls to catch them with. We are only allowed to catch up to six Pokemon right now, but we can catch more later. I got you each a Pokedex and six Poke Balls since I knew you would be coming." She opened her bag, which contained three Pokedexes and eighteen Poke Balls, removed two Pokedexes and twelve Poke Balls, and gave one Pokedex and six Poke Balls each to Harry and Ron, leaving one Pokedex and six Poke Balls for herself. "Right now, they're releasing people by year to go catch Pokemon. They've already released the seventh years so we're next," she explained. And so they waited in the Great Hall for Dumbledore to release the sixth years. Ron was busy asking Hermione about which kind of Pokemon would be the best to start with when Dumbledore announced that the sixth years could go out and catch their Pokemon. They left the Great Hall and headed towards the forest.
When they entered the forest, they were amazed to see real Pokemon in there. They could hear their fellow sixth years chatting excitedly and pointing at some of the Pokemon. A few people had already started catching their own Pokemon and some were explaining the method to others. Hermione turned to Harry and Ron and explained how to use a Poke Ball. Then she said she was going elsewhere and would meet with them by the entrance to the forest. "Where are you going?" Ron shouted as Hermione started walking away.
"I already know which Pokemon I want to capture and I'm going over to where it would be logical to search for the particular type," Hermione explained. She continued walking away. She appeared to be heading towards the lake.
"Well I have no clue what that's about," Ron said, "Let's go!" And so he and Harry headed deeper into the forest. It wasn't long at all before they saw a Charmander.
"Hang on, I think Hermione said that this one is a fire type," Harry said. Hermione had gone over the nine most common starter Pokemon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Chickorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip, before they had left the Great Hall. "So, what would it be doing in a forest?" he added.
"I dunno, mate," Ron replied, "But I think this Pokemon looks really cool! I'm gonna try catching this one!" Ron approached the Charmander slowly. It looked up at him. Ron got out a Poke Ball, pushed the button like Hermione had instructed him to do, and threw it at the Charmander. Charmander went into the Poke Ball. The ball fell to the ground and started shaking. Eventually, the shaking stopped and the Poke Ball was still. Ron had successfully caught his very first Pokemon! He jumped up and down, shouting happily. He ran over and picked up the Poke Ball. "Look Harry!" he said, "I caught it on my first try! Wait till Hermione sees this!"
"That's really cool, Ron!" Harry said, "Congratulations!"
"This is so cool!" Ron exclaimed, "Now let's go find you one!" They continued walking through the forest, but couldn't find any good Pokemon. They were looking for at least one of the nine starters Hermione had mentioned. Suddenly, they saw a yellow Pokemon come out of the bushes. Its tail was shaped like a lightning bolt. Neville came running up to them and saw the Pokemon. He gasped.
"Wow!" Neville exclaimed, "That's a Pikachu! They're pretty rare!"
"Aren't you going to catch it?" Harry asked.
"No," Neville said, "I've already caught a Bulbasaur and a Poliwag. You should catch it, Harry."
"Ok," Harry said, "I don't have a Pokemon yet anyway." He approached the Pikachu and threw a Poke Ball at it just like Ron had. It worked. He picked up the Poke Ball when suddenly the Pikachu burst out of the Poke Ball.
"Pika! Pikachu!" it shouted angrily. It then jumped on Harry and sat on his shoulder. Harry looked confused.
"I guess it doesn't like staying in a Poke Ball," Neville said, "There are some Pokemon that don't like Poke Balls. You should just let it walk along with you or let it ride on your shoulder."
"Ok," Harry said, "Pikachu looks very happy being outside the Poke Ball, and I think I heard that this was an electric type. It wouldn't be a good idea to make it mad I guess."
"Why not?" Ron asked.
"Because it could shock me and that's not a good thing," Harry replied.
"Oh," Ron said, "I think we should go find Hermione and see how she's doing. She said she'd meet us at the entrance. The fifth years are already coming in."
