BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
That is the noise that woke me up that day. I looked at my alarm clock…9:45!! Prof. Jen is giving away the pokémon at 10:00! I need to hurry!
I hurried over to my computer, and digitally withdrew the potion Dad gave me as a present for the start of my journey. I was about to run down my stairs when my Dad ran up!
"Good morning Ray! Yesterday, we celebrated your 11th birthday, and today you start your pokémon quest…" A tear ran down Dad's face. "…But you need to run! You only have about ten minutes until you're late! And you know how Prof. Jen gets when she's angry…" Dad made a mock angry face, and I laughed. A grabbed the piece of toast he handed me, gave him a hug, and ran down the stairs and out the door.
It was a beautiful day, the sea was gentle, and the wind was soft. I was about to run south to get to Prof. Jen's lab in Gravel Town, when I heard a voice.
"Wait, Ray! You should take this before you go!" All of a sudden, Kathy, the teacher of the local school I had attended, ran up to me. She had a large smile on her face. "As my top student in your year, you should take this." She handed me a small object that look like it fell of a cat's paw…her Quick Claw!
"But Miss K, don't you use that to make sure your Meowth always gets the jump on the lazy students?"
"Don't worry Ray, you're going off to see the world, and the kids are so lazy my Meowth can still get them without this. You deserve it."
"Thanks Miss K!" I took the little claw and put it in my bag. I said my goodbye's, then ran as fast as my legs could carry me southward.
Soon I was in Gravel Canyon. I ran past the abandoned house, and the tall grass, which as far as me and Ethan had found, was untouchable thanks to the tall trees surrounding it. You could still always here the grass move, and the noises that made us know there had to be wild pokémon in there…
"Ray, you Slowpoke!!!" Ethan's yell out-of-the-blue yell scared me half to death. "We're already late my five minutes! I saw you talking with Miss K, why did you waste time on that!" Ethan ran up to me from the southern end of the canyon. "I've been wasting my own time waiting for you, you, you…" Ethan was clearly angry; he hated being yelled at by his aunt.
"Dude, if we hurry, Prof. Jen couldn't be that ma-"
"WHERE ARE THOSE TWO? THEY'RE SO LATE!!"
"I think we better hurry." Ethan and I ran though the canyon, not wasting time to look at anything but the town in our distant sight. The second we entered Gravel Town, we heard a familiar shriek.
"You two are SO late! Ethan, you're lucky you're my nephew; Ray, you're lucky your Dad's the ex-Champion!" Prof. Jen was wearing her white lab coat over her usual red shirt and pants, and her blue hair was tied in a ponytail. "You're-late-you're-late-you're-late-you're-late-you're-late-you're…"
"Okay, we get it, we're late. But at least we still made it here. I mean, you're acting pretty juvenile for a pokémon researcher-" My sentence was cut off with a swift punch to the head. With that, we walked a bit south, to her Pokémon Lab.
We were bathed in glowing light, all reflecting from the walls of the lab. It reminded me of Tim's lab, except much more messy and full of clutter.
"So Ray, it seems we're late." Ethan said with a cocky smile spread over his face, which was immediately wiped off by Jen's fist.
"Now that you're both FINALLY here, let's get down to business. On the table, you can see that there three pokémon." She pointed to a small white table, where three shiny pokéballs sat patiently. "These pokémon were given to me by Prof. Tim before he retired, and they're the same species your fathers chose all those years ago! Now, both of you grab a ball, and hurry! Ethan, you can pick first."
"Aunt Jen let's let Ray pick first." I was shocked by this display of selflessness…there had to be something behind it…
"Whatever, Ray, grab one now!" I walked over to the table. Here it was, the moment that may decide my entire Trainer career: Do I want Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle? I had played out this scenario hundreds of times throughout the years…and so I made my choice.
"I choose you, the water pokémon, Squirtle!" I reached out and grabbed the ball in the center.
"Hmmm…that's an interesting choice…" Jen mumbled under her breath. "So, are you going to give him a nickname?"
"Of course, his name is…Shellshock!" I decided, as a put his ball on my belt.
"Alright, then I'll take this one!" Ethan ran up and took the one to the left of mine, Bulbasaur!
"I knew it! You only let me pick first so you'll always have a type advantage!" I said as I jabbed my finger in his direction.
"So? There are no rules against it. I'll call you…Wildvine!" He said loudly, shoving his fist with his new Bulbasaur up in the air.
"Really, you're going to name your new pokémon partner off a character from Ben 10?" I said mockingly.
"So? At least I watched it until the end!" Ethan countered.
"SHUT UP! Listen you two, before you both can start your journey's, I need you to pick me up a package at the post office, it won't take to long. I'll have a gifts for both of you when you return." Jen said.
"Alright, Aunt Jen, we'll go." Ethan said. "But before we do," Ethan said as he tossed his new pokéball in the air with a mischievous grin, "let's battle Ray!"