"Jess...Jess, wake up!" My 8-year old sister whispered excitedly, shaking me out of my dream. I groaned and groggily opened my emerald green eyes, locking gazes with her crystal blue ones. "What is it, Jessee...?"

"The new foals arrived this morning!" Jessee went on excitedly. "I heard Dad tell Mom; Eight new ponyta! They're out in the barn right now!"

At the words 'new foals' I bolted up in bed, my red hair still in a tangled mess from the night's sleep. "They came?!" I exclaimed excitedly.

My little sister giggled giddily. "Yes! C'mon, let's go see them!" She jumped off my bed and ran toward the door. I pulled myself out and pulled a brush through my hair really fast, grabbed my glasses, and followed. As I pushed the lenses up on my nose, I saw Jessee was pulling our younger brother James out of bed. He was 7, two years younger than I. All three of us opened the door to our little ranch house and stepped out into the frosty December air, none of us dressed in anything more than pajamas. Excitedly, we all rushed to the barn where we kept our herd of Rapidash.

We pushed open the already ajar barn door and quietly snuck through the straw to where a few small lanterns hung. Our parents were already there, our father leaning up against the old weathered fence, our mother kneeling in the straw next to one of the new-born ponyta. Their fiery manes and tails hadn't appeared yet, so they were just little balls of beige fur on long scraggly legs. Our father was the first to hear us muddling through the straw. "Well good morning, our own little brood. I suspect you heard about our newest arrivals?"

"Awww! They're so CUTE!" My sister squealed kneeling next to our mother. The ponyta nearby lifted it's head and let out a little squeak. Then it stretched it's neck out and sniffed her face. Jessee stroked it's neck as it started to nibble some of her hair.

"You girls go ahead and each pick one out." Our father said. "I think you two are old enough to handle a Pokemon of your own."

I gasped. "You mean it, Daddy!?"

My father smiled. "Yes, go ahead."

Jessee wrapped her arms around the ponyta she was petting's neck. "I want this one!"

"And what about you Jess?" My mother asked, looking up at me. I stared over the little herd of baby Pokemon. It was really hard to decide. I wanted a first Pokemon that was strong...courageous...confident. That's when I saw a little ponyta on the far side of the group rising shakily to it's front legs. In a few seconds, it was up on all hooves. It looked over at me with strong black eyes and let out a little nicker. I smiled. "That one. I choose that one."

Our father gave my sister and me a red and white ball with a button on the front; a pokeball. We pointed it to the ponyta of our choice and the Pokemon each disappeared in a beam of red light.

That's when I noticed James looked a little pouty. "Don't I get a ponyta too...?" He asked quietly.

"Sorry, Son, I don't think you're old enough for a big Pokemon like a ponyta. But we have something special for you." He handed James a pokeball. James pressed the button on the front and from the beam of light materialized a shaggy orange dog-like pokemon with black and white stripes. A growlith. The puppy yipped and jumped up, licking James' face.

James giggled and hugged the little orange puff-ball. "Thanks,Daddy. I love him!"

"We figured we might as well give you your Christmas presents a little early...the holiday IS only a few days away after all." Our mother continued.

"And every child should have their own pokemon." Our father finished. "We hope you enjoy them.

I beamed down at the red and white pokeball in my hands. Finally...I had my own Pokemon. Some day I could start on my journey and become a pokemon master like the kids I saw on TV! I'd been studying really hard; I knew I could beat half of the trainers I saw in the tournaments that were televised on all the news channels! I would spend this next year training Ponyta, maybe even get her to evolve into a Rapidash, then we would go out and I would become the best Trainer the world had ever known!

Little did I know how quickly that dream could go wrong.