With a tight hug and a kiss from his mother, he left the house underneath the morning sun.

'Where are you going to go?' asked his mother, a hint of worry in her voice.

'Errr…' replied Nick, not entirely sure of the answer, 'Lake Verity, I guess. Bye, Mom.'

He looked at her standing in the doorway for a few moments, before turning on his heel and heading west.

'He'll be fine.' said Mr. Azalea, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. She sighed as she watched her son disappear out of sight, his packed rucksack bouncing off his back as he strode.

Senses of both wonderment and ambition now burned somewhere inside him. He had left the home full of sadness and uncertainty, but wasn't alone; a new chapter had began, and his interest and excitement about Pokémon was growing stronger by the second. No clouds blocked the sun from shining down on the happy boy as he reached the lake. He spent an amount of time – perhaps a minute, perhaps an hour… his head was too full to notice – gazing across the sparkling waters of the world he felt he had a newfound control over. With a smile and a relaxed gesture of his hand, he released Elekid from its Pokéball. His partner joined him in enjoying the scenery.

'It starts here, Elekid,' the boy began, 'Our journey to fill the Pokédex for Professor Rowan!'

'Elek!' it crackled.

He had a small sleeping bag and other essentials in his rucksack. He would sleep in secluded areas or Pokémon Centres, which his mother had described as common buildings where Pokémon could be healed and travellers would find hospitality. His thoughts were interrupted by the fluttering of wings behind him. They turned to see a small bird creature hopping near some bushes and pecking the ground for food.

'That's… a Starly?' exclaimed Nick, happy to see another Pokémon. He stared at it without saying anything until Elekid nudged him.

'Oh, the Pokédex!' he gasped, and with fumbling fingers took out the device and pointed it at the creature. Its image appeared on the screen, and an electronic voice spoke:

'Staravia, the Starling Pokémon. It usually travels in a group, as it is not particularly strong on its own.'

'Alright! One down…' cheered Nick, but stopped his sentence abruptly as he had no idea how many kinds of Pokémon existed. Was he really expected to catch them all? 'Maybe we can catch this one, Elekid!'

'Elek, Elekid!' buzzed the electric-type. However, before it received a command, Nick had already thrown a Pokéball. It spun through the air towards the little bird, which casually bounced it away with its wing.

'Aw, man!' sighed Nick. Wasn't this thing supposed to be weak? Why couldn't he catch it?

'Elek!' cried Elekid, static rippling through its body. It seemed to be asking Nick to command it.

'Oh, okay!' smiled Nick, remembering Rowan's advice that one should weaken the target first, 'Elekid, use Thundershock!' He had learned the names of Elekid's attacks in the Pokédex. Elekid let out an even louder cry and shot a bolt of lightning at Staravia, which leapt and struggled in frenzy as it was shocked. Moments later, Elekid stopped attacking, and the bird lay on the ground, almost unconscious. Nick felt slightly bad, but knew it was the sort of thing that trainers must do.

'Alright! Nice work, Elekid!' he cheered. He still felt a little awkward talking like this, 'Now I'll catch it.'

He reached for another Pokéball, but looked up when he heard Staravia's voice again. The little bird was pushing itself to its feet, breathing heavily, and glaring at the trainer. It was unsettling.

'Uh, Elekid? What's it doing?'

Before Elekid could answer – not that it could really answer – Staravia's entire body began to shine.

'Whoa! What's happening?' he gasped. The bright white form of the bird had began to change shape into something else… something bigger…

'It's… evolving?'

The glow eventually subsided, and there stood another bird Pokémon – but this one didn't look as weak as the Pokédex had described its pre-evolution. He held the device up again:

'Staraptor, the Predator Pokémon. The fully-evolved form of Starly and Staravia. It is extremely vicious and does not give up a fight until the opponent is beaten.'

Nick's heart leaped as he heard these words. He glanced at Elekid, and found it had the same look of fear in its eyes. A piercing birdcall heralded the creature swooping down from above and charging at them – it could move quickly. They dived out of the way as it darted past them, and Nick felt the gust it created cut him like a knife. They had annoyed this Pokémon, and he was now regretting it. He watched, too scared to move, as it circled in the air and prepared to attack them again. Elekid shot lightning bolts at it, but continually missed due to Staraptor's velocity. His legs were rooted to the ground as thoughts rushed through his head; what had he gotten himself into? Was his journey over before it had started? The answer arrived in the form of a beam of ice, which came from somewhere to the left and hit Staraptor in mid-flight. The bird fell from the sky and into the treetops, disappearing from sight. Nick looked to where the attack had come from and saw a girl with long dark hair looking back at him. There was a hint of anger in her blue eyes, and beside her stood a Pokémon that resembled a penguin, only with blue fur and sharp steel plates covering its wings.

'What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?' she shouted, approaching him.

'W-what?' spluttered Nick.

'You don't try and take on a strong, fully-evolved Pokémon like Staraptor when you've just started your training!'

'But… how…?' how did this girl know about him?

'Professor Rowan told me about the new trainer with an Elekid' she answered, as if possessing psychic powers, 'I'm also one of the trainers helping him with the Pokédex project.'

'There are others?' he asked, finding his voice again.

'Of course. You didn't think he'd only trust you, did you?' she snapped. Nick didn't like her tone, but held his tongue.

'I didn't challenge Staraptor, it evolved from a Staravia just a second before!' he blurted.

'Maybe so, Nick, but you need to learn more about Pokémon. Starly and Staravia like to travel in flocks, right? And did the Staravia you encountered seem lost or injured?'

'No…' he mumbled. At least not until he had attacked it.

'Well then, it obviously wasn't acting normally if it had chosen to be alone, was it? So you should have been more careful, because it was obviously different from others!'

She kept describing things as 'obvious', but Nick had just begun his training. How was he to know?

'What's your name?' he found himself asking.

'Pearl,' she said with a hmph. And this is my partner Pokémon, Prinplup. Nick excitedly held his Pokédex up to it, but before he could see the data, Pearl recalled the creature to a Pokéball.

'Rowan has enough data on this species already.'

'If the Pokédex is programmed with so much data already, doesn't it know everything about Pokémon?' he asked. He had been wondering about this.

'No!' she yelled, startling Nick, 'No one knows everything about Pokémon! No one even knows how many types of Pokémon there are, never mind facts about them all! New species are being discovered all the time. The Pokédex observes the ones you meet and accumulates data based on the surroundings and body language of the Pokémon, then adds that to what is already known. That's how new discoveries are made!'

She sighed after such a mouthful. Nick was still not entirely sure of how the Pokédex worked, but he thought it would be best to continue collecting data.

'Uh…' was all he could muster.

'And you need to train that Pokémon too,' she stated, with a nod to Elekid, 'Its Thundershock was nowhere near hitting that Staraptor.' Elekid snarled, but Pearl paid no attention and began walking away towards Sandgem Town. 'Oh, and saying thanks wouldn't hurt.' she said, looking over her shoulder.

'T-thanks…'

And with that she disappeared into the woods.

They waited at the lake a while longer, as meeting Pearl again so soon would have been awkward. Nick decided they would head to Jubilife City, as it was connected to many areas where he would find more Pokémon.

'She was… informative, wasn't she?' he asked Elekid.

'Ek!' it replied, with a growl.

'Don't be like that Elekid. We want this to be a fun journey, don't we?'

The little Pokémon fell silent, but its expression did not change.

'Perhaps we should go now…' said Nick, standing up from the rock on which he had been sitting. It was almost noon and he did not want to waste any more time. Just as they turned to leave, something caught Nick's eye. On top of the water, there danced a glowing shape. It didn't look like a corporeal thing, nor did it look like a shadow or an evolving Pokémon. It had a small body and a long tail, and flew with a gentle grace. Confirming it was real by blinking hard and seeing that Elekid was similarly engrossed, he watched it for a few more seconds, before it began to fade and spiralled into the water.

'I wonder what that was…'

'El!' called Elekid as it departed, beckoning Nick to follow.

Soon after, they found themselves following a forest path towards Jubilife City. He had visited it many times in the past, but now he was seeing it in a different light – as a location that could help him on his adventure. Some clouds had crept overhead, but the air was still warm and the canopy of tree leaves obscured the sun anyway. Nick was still thinking about the Pokédex and how complex and sophisticated it must have been. And was this Pearl girl really working for Rowan too? He could not help but feel slightly crestfallen, and thought that Pearl may have been feeling the same way, hence the anger. How many other trainers had Rowan enlisted? Ultimately, it didn't matter. He was lucky enough to have been chosen, and was more than happy to partake in the project. Elekid looked a lot calmer too; the sides of its mouth were curved in its usual grin once again, and it walked proudly alongside its trained, occasionally shivering with energy. They marched on until something appeared in their way; a tall, purple serpentine frame, with sinister tribal-like markings on its torso. A split tongue hissed from behind shining fangs, and its piercing glare instantly caught their eyes. Slowly, Nick lifted the Pokédex:

'Arbok, the Cobra Pokémon. The markings on its chest intimidate prey, which it then constricts in its coiled body. It is a poison-type, and is capable of spitting venom to attack.'

He slowly put the Pokédex back into his pocket and looked back at Arbok. It certainly was intimidating, but it looked powerful, and as though it would be a great first addition to his team.

'Are you ready, Elekid?'

'El!'

Elekid jumped in front of its trainer and the two Pokémon stared at each other, tensed, and prepared to battle.