A/N - Here's Chapter 4. Please review. It really means a lot to a writer to gain feedback. Also, a huge thank you to my wonderful fiancé for beta reading.

Chapter 4 - Proceedings

Red picked up one of the Balls lying on the table and turned to face the others. It was the Cherish Ball, the completely red Poké Ball that signified a special event. As he looked at the three preteens in front of him, the relief on their faces was palpable. Ricky even ran the back of his hand across his forehead, wiping the perspiration that had gathered there. Heh, I really had them worried for a second.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Tina exclaimed as she ran up to Red and threw her arms around him. Ricky joined her while Rolando maintained some distance, while still thanking Red.

Oak was watching the proceedings, standing with his hands clasped behind his back and a stony face. Even so, his eyes were twinkling, as if he were privy to a joke that nobody else could understand. As one, Rolando, Ricky and Tina turned towards him.

"So now that Red has graciously decided to let all of you receive a Pokémon, let's get to it. Who will go first? Let's see. As the only lady here, Tina, you may be the first to choose."

Tina let out a whoop and jumped in the air. She ran to the table with the Poké Balls while her hat flew off her head. She didn't even bother to pick it up as she was busy examining the Balls. In front of each of the Poké Balls was a label stating which Pokémon was inside. From left there was Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Each was of a different Type and had different strengths and weaknesses.

"So which will you choose - The Grass Type Bulbasaur, the Fire Type Charmander or the Water Type Squirtle?"

"I pick this one! I love camping and a Grass Type will be the most helpful to me" said Tina as she grabbed the first Ball from the left. She threw the Ball into the air and it opened up as if on a hinge and let out a red plasma. As the plasma fell towards the ground, it coalesced into the shape of a quadruped reptile. The Grass Pokémon was green in colour with large darker green patches on its body. It had a large bulb, like an onion, on its back. The bulb was also green, albeit a different shade from the others. Bulbasaur stretched and padded over to Tina, who knelt to greet it. "Hi Bulbasaur, I'm Tina, your new Trainer." Bulbasaur sent out two vines from its bulb, which resulted in a gasp from Tina and Ricky. Clearly these kids have never seen a Bulbasaur before. They use their vines for everything. Bulbasaur used its vines to lift Tina's hat and place it on her head. Tina looked surprised for a second, before grinning and hugging the Pokémon.

"So Tina chooses Bulbasaur. Who's next?" asked Oak. At this, the boys both jumped and raised their hands.

"Me! Me!"

"No, me!"

"Calm down boys. Ricky, since you're younger than Rolando by a couple of months, I'll let you go next." Rolando let out a groan at hearing this. Ricky grinned and ran to the table with the Poké Balls.

"I'll take Squirtle! Water is always required when camping!" said Ricky as he snatched the Poké Ball on the right. Rolando let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you think so, because I wanted Charmander from the very start!" and grabbed the last Poké Ball on the table. Both of them let out their Pokémon, which were soon standing by their Trainers.

Squirtle looked like a tortoise. The back of its shell was a reddish brown while the front was yellow. It stood on two legs and had a tail curling out from behind them. Its skin was completely blue, with no hair, fur or wrinkles, to ensure the least drag for smooth swimming.

Charmander, on the other hand, was orange in colour with a lighter underbelly. It also had a tail, though its tail was straighter, like a lizards. The tail also had a fire burning at the tip, which was supposedly an indication of the Pokémon's health. The heat I feel from the tail flame is not much. I've seen much stronger flames, which makes sense, since this is a starter Pokémon, and untrained.

"What did you get, Red?" asked Tina, which was echoed by Ricky, "Yeah show us what you got!"

In the hurry of the other Trainers picking their Pokémon, Red's own Pokémon had slipped his mind. What's inside this Cherish Ball? Time to find out.

Red tossed the Ball up, but it remained closed. He caught it and turned to Professor Oak with a puzzled look on his face. So did the other kids. Oak chuckled and walked to the far table. He sat at the computer and typed in a few keys. He clicked a few times, and a whirring sound was heard from a machine near the computer. Oak grabbed something from the machine and walked back to where the children were standing. The whole process took less than a minute.

"Here you go Ricky, and this is for you Rolando, and this is yours Tina," he said while handing out cards to each of them. "This is your Trainer Card. It is your identification as well as your license to own Pokémon. Take care of it and do not lose it. On your way out, show it to any of my assistants and they'll give you some Poké Balls. Good luck!"

"Bye Red. See you on the road!" shouted Ricky as he zipped past.

"Hah, loser! Didn't even get a Pokémon" said Rolando racing to catch up to Ricky.

Tina stood there for a second before running after them. "Good luck Red," before she exited the room.

Red stood impassively as the three left the room. Once they had gone, he looked at Oak expectantly. Oak sighed and said, "Red, I know you're confused about why that Poké Ball is empty. The reason is that it wasn't meant to have anything inside. I used it as a placeholder for the special Pokémon. At first, I was going to give out a Pikachu as the special Pokémon. As you may know, Pikachu are quite rare, so receiving one as a starter is quite a boon!"

Red's eyes lit up at hearing the name of the Pokémon he would receive. Pikachu is only found in Viridian Forest. Even there somebody can go days without seeing one.

"But when those three came in late, I had to punish them. So I set forth the new rules. But I also decided that I would not give you Pikachu, if you were to choose the special Pokémon. You see, as I was saying before those three entered, your mother had come over for a chat. We spoke about you, Red. I must say that I am very impressed with the maturity you have shown these past five years. And seeing it firsthand has made me that much more sure about my decision." At this Red looked confused. What maturity did I display now?

"You had no idea what this special Pokémon would be. It could have been an extremely common Pokémon. You could have negated any risk and chosen one of the regular starters and nobody would have thought the lesser of you. Instead you gave all three of them a chance to receive a Pokémon. That shows a very high level of maturity. Also, when they were leaving, Rolando taunted you but you did not react. Yes, I'm sure about my choice."

What choice is he talking about? Hah, I'm glad he mistook my risk taking behaviour for maturity. But now what? What Pokémon do I get? It's apparently not Pikachu.

"Red, what I am about to do is not completely against the rules but is highly frowned upon. As the official Registrar for Pokémon Trainers, I am required to give out a Pokémon to all those who do not have Pokémon of their own. Normally the League provides me with the Pokémon to give out. They have breeding centres where they raise Pokémon for the explicit purpose of being given to new Trainers. These Pokémon aren't as powerful as ones you will find in the wild, but over time they will gain strength and surpass the wild Pokémon. Think about it in terms of development. Two things determine a Pokémon's strength — its genes and its experiences, or training. Potential derived from genes is fixed at birth. Experience training, on the other hand, has no limit."

Oak stopped there to take a breath. He walked towards the exit of the room, but stopped just next to the door, where there was a water dispenser. After helping himself to some, he continued, "Starter Pokémon are raised to have relatively weaker genes. Wild Pokémon have a wider range of genes and are generally stronger. However, they do not have a Trainer to build up their strength and make them mightier, which is why Trained Pokémon are almost always more powerful." Oak paused again. There was complete silence in the room; even the machines had stopped whirring and beeping. Red had always been one for silences. Where others felt awkward, silences were comfortable to him, like a favourite blanket. This silence signified something, an event of great import.

Oak walked over to a blank section of the wall between the computer and Pokémon healing machine. As he walked he spoke, "However, a lesser known fact is that these breeding centres also produce Pokémon that have superior genes. The number of these Pokémon is much fewer than the standard starter due to the uncertainty involved in breeding. I believe the ratio is about one to a thousand."

A/N - What do you think is going to happen? I'd like to hear it in the reviews!