Nathaniel stood in his backyard in front of his entire family. His father stood behind him, and the rest relatives sat in chairs ahead of him, watching their brother, son, cousin, nephew or grandson receive his first pokemon at the age of ten, just as every other firstborn in their family had done.

"And now, as my son and protégé comes of age, I present him with his very own pokemon, with which to carry on the family name. Go out, young Nathaniel, and make the Gray Clan proud." His father said in a very pompous voice. He handed Nathaniel a Greatball containing his first pokemon. As per tradition, Nathaniel turned to his relatives and released the pokemon. A flash of crimson energy burst from the ball, revealing a small, blue pokemon with red spots on its back and a cream coloured underbelly. A Cyndaquil.

The Gray clan stood up and clapped, just as they had done for every other child from their family to go on a pokemon journey. Nathaniel left the yard, head held high, and out onto the streets of his hometown, Firebrick Town. His younger cousins pressed against the white fence surrounding his yard to get a better look at their favourite relative. Nathaniel was very popular with his younger relatives, because he, unlike the other firstborns, always seemed to have time to listen to them, or tell them a story.

Inside Nathaniel's pack were the tools of a trainer of the old school. He didn't have a pokedex, or pokegear, or anything else like that. Instead he had a tome with the Gray clan symbol inscribed on the cover, which contained all the information of the Dante region, including Pokemon. He also had small pouches full of herbs that could heal pokemon. Around his neck he wore a necklace that was attached to a small phial. The phial contained a powerful potion that could heal pokemon status problems that his grandparents had given him. He could always refill it with the ingredients in his pack.

Nathaniel had tangled blond hair and pale skin. His eyes were grey, and he wore simple white clothing. He kept his pokeballs on a sash that ran across his chest, and his backpack was old and made of black leather. Nathaniel's belt was black as well, and he had a knife in it that had been given to him by his father the night before. Beside it was a grapple hook attached to a rope, and a small slingshot with a bag of pebbles.

-POKEMON-

Nathaniel's Cyndaquil sat in an open flap of backpack as he jogged down the pathway from Firebrick Town to Azure City. His tome said that it was about a week's journey from where he was now.

After travelling for several hours, Nathaniel asked his Cyndaquil a question. "Cyndaquil, I think I should give you a name. It doesn't seem right to just call you 'Cyndaquil'." Nathaniel paused, trying to think of a name. "How about Blaze?"

Cyndaquil nodded in agreement. "Blaze it is then." Nathaniel said, happy that his pokemon agreed with him.

Nathaniel and Blaze travelled for a few more hours, not running into any trainers due to the remoteness of Firebrick Town. Just as they were making up camp, Nathaniel heard a growl from the brush, and a Rattata leapt from underneath a leaf, followed by a Meowth that was chasing it. Nathaniel had no interest in the Rattata, but the Meowth looked like it could be useful to him. He whipped out his slingshot and fired a pebble right in front of the Meowth, stopping it dead in its tracks.

"Blaze! Attack with Tackle!" he told his new partner, and the Cyndaquil burst towards the wild pokemon, slamming it full force. Meowth tried to scramble out of the battle zone, but was stopped by another pebble. It whirled around, but Blaze slammed into it again, and this time, it didn't get up. Nathaniel tossed a pokeball at the wild pokemon, and a flash of red swallowed it up, followed by a loud ping.

"Yes! We caught it!" Nathaniel exclaimed, and Blaze jumped into his arms. They were really gonna make it at this training thing.