The gardens were incredible. It looked like a whole eco-system, placed in an area smaller than the town. It had a small lake which continued way out of the cordoned area to the West of the gardens. To the back of the gardens was a small artificial forest, birds could already be seen perched on some of the branches from the doorway. to the East, all the way to the cordoned off areas near the houses of the town, was filled with long grass, where Rattata's could often be found. Along the middle of the area, led a long, mud pathway leading off to the different areas. Every now and then you could see a trainer running by, chasing different Pokemon or changing their locations, there seemed little need for running unless you were actually chasing a Pokemon, there is no time limit here. A boy ran past Ryan chasing a Rattata down, clearly ambitions were low this year.

Ryan took his first steps in to the gardens, for the first few yards, it was just like any normal garden, a little pathway curving through short grass on both sides. It soon changed, the lake came and went, the long grassed was finally passed, and the forest, Ryan's target, was coming up. Finally he reached it, he had little interest in water type Pokemon, so the lake wasn't even considered, the tall grass was mainly inhabited by Rattata, so this didn't get much of a look in, the forest mainly attracts bugs and birds, though there has often been many different types attracted to the forest due to the bait left out by the Professor.

Early one a Pidgey flew by Ryan, nearly crashing in to him, if it hadn't been for him ducking, he probably would have had a face full of Pidgey by now. Other than this, not many encounters were worth noting, a Spearow got brave, before getting scared again and flying off. A Weedle crawled along a tree branch to see the new recruit, though Ryan was not interested. After around an hour in the gardens, Ryan finally reached a tree with a rock next to it. The rock was only about a foot and a half tall, though it hid something. Behind the rock, a tail was poking out, a long white tail with a blue stripe, and three horns at the ends. It was bobbing from side to side, only slightly, maybe it was eating something. Ryan sneaked around to the side of the rock so as not to startle it, before throwing a Poke ball at it. The ball hit its still bobbing tail before opening and converting the Pokemon to a red energy. The ball landed on the ground and shook, once, twice... It didn't shake again, the ball opened up with a burst of white energy, the Pokemon escaped. It was standing up straight now however and in full view.
"It's only a Pachirisu, and i've just wasted a Poke ball on it." He started to laugh at the thought of almost capturing such a weak Pokemon and having to start his journey with it. It seemed to know what he was thinking and grew agitated.

Ryan turned away from the Pokemon to begin walking away when a shooting pain invaded his back, he fell to the floor, holding the area it originated from. He looked back, it was the Pachirisu, it must have hit him with a tackle. Ryan looked upon the Pachirisu which seemed very proud of its work, and laboured out his next sentence.
"You're tougher than I thought. Maybe you wouldn't be such a bad companion after all." The Pachirisu cocked its head at the comments, it didn't seem annoyed any more. "Do you want to come with me?" Again, the Pachirisu just looked on not really seeming to make a decision either way. "I can get you lots of food? Is that going to work?" Surprisingly the Pachirisu seemed to react to this, it came closer, keeping ever vigilant in the process. "I am going to need to keep you in here." He said, showing the Poke ball. "I'm not going to hurt you, you will be safe in here if you want to come with me. Can I count on you?" The Pachirisu moved slowly towards his outstretched leg, once it became comfortable, it crawled on top of his leg and sat up, seemingly smiling.

Ryan pressed the Poke ball against the Pachirisu, converting it to a red energy before it was pulled in to the ball. The ball shook once... twice... three times, and stopped, success. Ryan had caught his first ever Pokemon. The scenario started playing through his head. Professor Pender would ask 'What did you catch Ryan?' The group would hush and all look in his direction. 'I caught a Pachirisu' he would say. Its hardly... Intimidating really. But still, it was his, it no longer symbolised a Pachirisu, it symbolised freedom, to finally take his journey, trainers in this region were held back much longer from their journeys than in most regions. They would stay in their home towns learning about the art of training a Pokemon until the age of 16 when they could finally receive their trainer badges. 11 was still a big anniversary, at this age prospective trainers would pick their preferred training method, and would then go through the next 5 years, learning the art of this method to prepare them for using it on any type of Pokemon.

You would be taken in to a college in Northollow City, where you would be split up in to three categories, trainers who wanted to befriend their Pokemon to get the best, trainers who chose to command and take their Pokemon to the extreme, and trainers who wanted to tailor make their own methods. Surprisingly not many trainers elected to try their own method, there didn't seem to be much choice past befriending and commanding, Ryan and Jordyn were split up in college, though it didn't matter, they would always walk to and from together. Jordyn elected to go for the befriending of her Pokemon, she was always a kind person so it really made sense. Ryan on the other hand decided on his own method, he certainly wanted his Pokemon to respect and trust him without having to be too aggressive, he wanted more of a bond rather than a friendship however.

"RYAN!" A girl shouted as he was still laying on the floor, he looked around to find Jordyn looking down on him. "What are you doing down there?" He struggled back to his feet.
"My new Pokemon attacked me before he decided he likes me... or atleast, likes the food I will provide." She smiled at his last comment.
"I caught mine as well, what did you get?"
"Well." He hesitated for a moment. "I caught a... Pachirisu." It wasn't the Charmander he would have liked for power, or even a Pikachu for agility. But still, he agreed, it was his. She smiled once more, knowing it wasn't what he was looking for, though she also seemed to understand he wasn't disappointed.
"Well I guess it's up to me, hopefully one of us caught the Pokemon we wanted." She said in a teasing manner. "Would you like to see mine?" He nodded, and with that, she took a Pokeball from her belt and threw it in front of them. The ball opened ejecting a white energy which formed in to the shape of a small brown Pokemon with a big bushy tail.
"Wow, you caught your Eevee? Well done!" He stepped closer to the Eevee and knelt down to stroke it's head. "I have to admit Jordyn, I didn't actually think you would find one in here."
"I'm too awesome to not have gotten one, you know that Ryan." She said with a smile. He stood up looking at her with a puzzled expression.
"Riiight. Anyways, we should start making the trip back, I want to find out about my moms Machamp." They left the forest area and continued down the path, meeting the same doors they had exited a few hours back. They pushed through them quickly and were greeted with only half of the original group.

"Got your Pokemon, or do you need more Poke balls?" The Professor asked.
"I've got mine, but used both Poke balls to get it." Ryan replied. Jordyn took a ball from her belt.
"I only used one, so here is my other."
"I am allowing any unused Poke balls to be kept by their respective trainers, give the trainers that kept them an advantage on Route 101." Jordyn smiled, very proud of her work, Ryan looked down at his solitary Poke ball, 'just you and me then' he thought.
"Professor, I have to get back to mine now, thanks for your help, and the Pokedex." Ryan said as he shook the professors hand. He then turned to Jordyn, "You coming with me?". She nodded and they left, it was early afternoon by now, on the way back they talked about just staying in town for the night then taking their journey in the morning, it would give them a chance to get to know their Pokemon if nothing else. They reached Ryan's house after the short journey where Ryan's mom was waiting at the door for them.
"Hurry up guys, I have dinner on for you."