Chapter 3

I walk into my house, where my mother is waiting nervously. I hadn't realized she noticed the entire thing, or at least what she could see from outside the Weald. Toasty pops out of his Pokeball and gives her a hug. With the hug, her mood lightens a bit, but she still seems disappointed in me. Her tone seems stern, "You could have at least told me that you were going after the Wooloo."

I try to tell her that I'm sorry, but she doesn't seem too concerned. She pats my head and wishes me luck, saying how proud she is that I'm following my father's footsteps. I look up at her, a smile on my face. Mom turns to Toasty and asks, "Will you look after my little Gloria while you travel?"

Toasty lets out a cry as if to agree to her request. We head out the front door and down the road to Wedgehurst. As we hit route one, I notice a line of Wooloo blocking the way. Rather than try to take them all on, I turn left into some tall grass, and accidentally bump into a Caterpie. "Ah, what the heck," I think to myself, "Let's catch the little guy."

I send Toasty out with an order to use tackle. as he flies from the Pokeball, he immediately tackles the Caterpie, who responds with a tackle of his own. I smile and nod at Toasty, who tackles the Caterpie again, but not before getting spun up with a bit of silk from a String Shot. "That's okay, Toasty," I begin to reassure, "Pokeball, go!"

I throw a pokeball, that hits the Caterpie directly on the head. The ball shakes once, twice, three times, then clicks. As I approach the ball, I once again see a strange engraving on the top of the ball. I read it aloud, "Silkie. Is that your name buddy?"

I continue down the path until I spot something laying on the ground, a small bag with two paralyze heals inside. I pick them up and put them in a pouch on my bag. before returning to my journey. As I'm about to enter Wedgehurst, I see a strange man enter the train station. He is tall, and is wearing an old, tattered cloak.

Leon grabs my attention by directing me toward the Pokémon Lab, telling me that there is someone there he wants me to meet. I oblige, heading down the short cobblestone path to the front door. As I enter, the first thing I take notice of is the grass-type habitat in the back corner of the room, followed by the red haired young woman standing just in front of it. She turns as she hears the door open, "Lee, you better not be here to ask abou- you're not Leon, How may I help you, Miss?"

I inform her that I need a pokedex, to which she asks for my Rotom Phone. The Rotom flies out of my pocket and into her hands. She punches in a program into the apps, and it returns to me. I hold it for a moment, looking at the app before opening it. A list of blank pages appears on the screen, and as I scroll through, I see my Toasty, and Silkie on the list of pages that are filled in.

The girl introduces herself as Sonia, the Professor's granddaughter. She seems rather excited to be helping someone with their journey. I ask her where Professor Magnolia is, and Sofia pulls up her map of the Galar region. She shows me the next route up, and points at the end of the route, informing me, "Grandma lives out there, just past route two, by the lake."

I thank her for all of her help and head out the door. As I exit, a man approaches me, offering me a potion as a promotional gift. With that, he wishes me luck on my journey. I head back to the main part of town, and up the hill. Hop stops me and drags me into the Pokémon center. Once inside, he begins to explain what each function of the building does. After his explanation, He heads out the door, proclaiming that he's heading for route two, and that he wants me to meet him there.

I head out the door and to Route Two, where Hop is standing for me waiting. "Alright, I'm going to teach you how to catch a Pokémon," He begins, "Just watch!"

I try to explain that I know how to catch Pokemon, but I'm cut off by Leon arriving late, as usual. He immediately takes over the teaching by jumping head first into the tall grass, as well as into a battle. instead of attacking the pokemon, he just chucks a Pokeball at the creature. the ball shakes in the air, lands on the ground, and clicks.

Hop and I are both shocked, as Leon turns to face us, handing each of us twenty or so Pokeball. I look ahead at the large house at the end of the route, seeing the Professor's house. I wave and run down the road, seeing a patch of tall grass, spotting a Blipbug. I quickly toss Toasty out, giving the order to use Tackle. Toasty lets out a cry before slamming into the bug. green lights hit Toasty, and it lets out a cry of pain.

He shakes it off, before using Tackle again, hitting the Blipbug again, before it uses the same move again. I think for a second. "That must be Struggle Bug!" I think out loud.

I throw a Pokeball. It shakes once, twice, three times, and then clicks as it lands on the ground. I walk over and pick up the ball, looking at it. It has a name on it, just like the others. I read it out loud, "U.F.O."

I can't quite understand why this pokemon is named U.F.O., but a different thought crosses my mind as I shiver. I just caught yet another bug pokemon. My fear kicks in, as I look at the pokeball I just picked up. I start telling myself that this is a good way to face my fears. I put the ball in a slot on my belt, and continue down the road. I see a blonde haired child standing off to the side of the road. he flags me down, offering a challenge to a pokemon battle.

I send out Toasty, and the boy sends out a Skwovet. I tell my little buddy to use Tackle, but he seems to be a bit faster than usual. he makes contact, and gets back quickly, but not before the Skwovet returns the slam with one of its own. I see that Toasty is hurt rather badly, so I give the order to end the battle with an Ember. As he Embers the Skwovet, it falls over unconsious. I return Toasty to his pokeball and thank my opponent for the battle.

I continue down the road with no other encounters, though I do feel like I'm being watched. Finally I arrive at the house at the end of the route. I can see Hop standing at the front door, acting as he's uncertain of whether to knock or not. I approach him, putting my hand on his shoulder. With a smile, I encourage him, "Come on bud, let's go meet the professor.

As we begin to approach the door, it opens, revealing and older woman in its door frame. "Ah! There you both are, Leon was just telling me about you," She begins, "Come in, come in. We have much to discuss."

Hop and I look at each other before deciding to enter the house. We walk to the living room, where Leon is already sitting, and find our way to the couch. As we sit, the Professor brings in a tray holding a tea kettle and four cups. This next conversation could be the difference between an endorsement or not.