Chapter 2 – The Start of a Journey
"All of them? What do you mean 'all of them'?"
The man was sitting at his large desk, desperately thinking of what to do next. He had just been informed of the deaths of his researchers out in the desert. A small sweat was forming on his forehead.
With a sigh, he spoke into the telephone receiver, "Thank you", and hung up. He sat back in his chair, thinking heavily. A quick spin of the chair and he was facing the glass back wall of his office. His office overlooked a large lake surrounded by mountains. It was a very secluded area.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. Something had just twigged in his mind. He swung back around to his desk excitedly, almost forgetting the loss of several expert researchers, and grabbed the phone. Within seconds he was speaking to a research team leader.
"Brenson, there has been a change of plans. Get your team out to Iron Island, I have reason to believe there is another one out there".
There was a short pause, then through the receiver he heard "Shouldn't be a problem", and then silence.
The man in the office sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, and went back to thinking.
-- -- -- --
Zane followed Professor Rowan through the large steel doors and into a large laboratory. The walls were filled with shelves and shelves of Poké Balls. Attached to one shelf was a small label that read "Starters". The two walked over to that particular shelf, and Professor Rowan took down three Poké Balls.
"Now Zane, inside these three Poké Balls are Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup. Each of these Pokémon possess their own unique qualities, and all have the potential to become great."
Zane stared intently at the three Poké Balls in the Professor's hands.
"This will be your first Pokémon, correct?"
"Umm… No sir… I already have a Snover. He is in my backpack."
"May I see him?" asked Professor Rowan.
A little surprised, Zane took off his backpack and began to rummage inside of it. He had a little trouble finding it due to nerves, but eventually presented a highly polished Poké Ball with a small snowflake sticker just above the button.
"Judging by the shine on that Poké Ball, I assume you really love your Snover".
Zane answered, "Yes sir, Snover is everything to me. My best friend".
Zane pressed the small button on the ball and with a flash of red light, Snover materialised in front of the Professor. Without a word, Professor Rowan began to examine the Snover, concentrating hard. Snover looked slightly puzzled.
"Sno…Snover?"
After a fairly lengthy examination, the Professor turned to Zane and said, "Your Snover is top notch. It is very healthy and well looked after. From what I can see, it is very strong. It is quite obvious that you have put quite a lot of care and attention into raising this Pokémon".
A surge of happiness hit Zane. He wasn't sure he had done a good enough job. The Professor thought for a minute, while Zane returned the Snover to its Poké Ball.
"I have worked with Pokémon my entire life. I have given countless trainers their first Pokémon, seen them progress through their journey. But you are something special. I can't put my finger on it, but something about you just tells me you will be a great trainer. I think it is your Snover, it is already been raised as if an expert Pokémon trainer has been raising it since it was young".
Now Zane really was happy. Too happy to speak.
The Professor continued, "At any rate, I don't think any of my starter Pokémon would be best suited to you. Although young, they are too old for you. Perhaps I should start you out with something a bit younger, something you can raise from scratch and bond with. Yes, follow me, I have just the thing".
Zane followed Professor Rowan out through another set of large steel doors, and found himself in a long, white room with several identical large machines side by side.
"This is the incubator room. In each of these machines is a Pokémon egg. Now, I know what is in most of these, having bred them from Pokémon myself, but there is one that I found just last night. It was on the pathway to Sandgem Town. I saw it on my way back home from the lab. I haven't had time to examine it yet".
"Are you giving me that egg?" Zane asked slowly.
A wide smile broke on Professor Rowan's face. "Yes. I think that a Pokémon you hatch yourself will be better suited to you than a Pokémon that has been bred in large numbers. It will give you the best possible start to your future as a trainer. Just make sure the Pokémon that hatches from the egg sees you first."
Zane was lost for words, he just stood there with his mouth hanging slightly open. Professor Rowan led Zane up to one of the machines in the room.
"This is the egg you will be hatching".
Professor Rowan signalled to the egg inside the incubator. It was slightly larger than most of the eggs in the room, barely smaller than a Soccer ball. The egg had no spots on it at all. It was entirely a light brown colour, except for a dark grey stripe in the middle.
The Professor powered down the machine and with much fiddling, managed to remove the egg from the glass chamber. He smiled, and handed it to Zane.
"It is so smooth… It feels almost like metal."
"I have a suspicion about what is inside the egg, but then again, I will let it be a surprise for you. Who knows, I may be wrong."
"Thankyou so much Professor. I can't wait to see what hatches out of it".
"Don't let me down Zane, raise that Pokémon with the utmost care and attention. It will care for you just as long as you care for it."
Professor Rowan walked Zane out of the laboratory. They went outside to the front door to say goodbye. It was still very cold outside, despite the sun shining brightly down on the town.
"Good luck on your journey Zane, I know you will do splendidly".
"Thanks again Professor", Zane replied.
Zane began to walk back along the path. He had gone about twenty metres when he heard the Professor calling to him. He turned around.
"By the way", the Professor shouted out, "Happy Birthday".
Zane smiled and continued his walk back home. The morning felt so much like a dream; he thought he would wake up at any moment. He hadn't even bothered to look at the time.
"Quarter past nine, I'd better get a move on". Zane broke into a run. Before long Zane arrived home to see his mother sitting on the veranda waiting for him.
"How did it go?" she asked him excitedly.
"He said my Snover was excellent, and he gave me a Pokémon egg!".
His mother looked slightly puzzled, but quickly became excited again.
"That's very kind of him. Anyway, it is very cold out here, lets go inside and have breakfast, I still have to give you your present.
Zane went inside after his mother, and sat down to a plate of his favourite breakfast meal; a plate of bacon and eggs, with waffles and ice cream. Needless to say, Zane hardly tasted his breakfast due to the excitement of the morning. He couldn't wait to get outside and head out on his adventure.
After breakfast, his mother presented him with a nicely sized box, wrapped in a beautiful blue wrapping paper. With a hurry, Zane unwrapped the present, pulled the lid off the cardboard box, and saw the things he forgot he would need being a trainer.
Inside the box was a Poké Ball belt, designed to attach six Poké Balls to, six Poké Balls to go with the belt, a map, and last but certainly not least, a Pokétch. A Pokétch is a watch that essentially doubles as a small computer and a telephone.
"I love it! I forgot I would need all this stuff to be a trainer".
His mother just smiled happily.
"Well, I guess you will be off soon. Don't forget to call. Also, put a sweater on, because it is quite cold out."
Zane hurried up to his bedroom, pulled on a sweater, then bolted for the front door, grabbing his newly packed backpack on the way. He headed out along the road at a run with the intention of going straight to Jubilife City.