Greetings and salutations, readers! I know that the 20-something people who actually checked this fanfic out are practically dying with the anticipation of an update (haha, sarcasm doesn't translate well into text)! Chapter 2 should be more exciting than the first (which was admittedly weak).

I open the door to Birch's lab. Hmm, such a simple way to explain the start of my big journey... okay, okay. How 'bout this? "Reaching out, hand trembling, my head buzzing with anticipation, I slowly reach out to the doorknob, and... finally! My hand's on the knob! I begin to turn it, and..." Not so much? I'm not one for overexplaining things, either. Simple kinda guy, y'know? Well, I'm pretty excited. Practically jumping out of my socks, actually. But it's a door, not some abstract symbol of the start of my new life. Just a door. Big wooden rectangle with a knob. I open it and walk on in. Yep, same old lab it's always been. No streamers, banners, anything. In fact, Birch isn't even here. Just his assistant, Augustus, who is poring over some of the many diagrams I quite frankly cannot make heads nor tails of. "Uh... hey, Gus." He practically jumps out of his chair, then scrambles to pick up the documents he scattered on the floor.

"Uh... oh... hi , Ruby. I didn't... I mean, I didn't hear you come in. Gave me a fright, you did. So what brings you here?" He finishes picking up and stands. Not much to behold... he's an awkward man, always jumping at shadows.

"I'm looking for Professor Birch. He promised to give me a Pokemon..."

"Oh, Birch... he.. oh!" He drops the papers again, and goes about trying to collect them... again. "Well, uh... he... I think I heard him say he was going to do some fieldwork on Route 101... I think." He puts the newly picked-up papers back on the table, and sits down. His arm knocks over the coffee cup on his desk, and it spills onto his crotch. Steaming hot, too. I can tell by the screaming. Needless to say, being the nice guy that I am, I leave the man to his own devices.

I stop back at my house to say goodbye to my mother and pick up my bag, then head over to the outskirts of town. At the gate leading to Route 101, I see a kid looking worriedly out into the wild. i approach and say, " What's wrong, kid?"

"I... I think I hear screaming coming from out there. Someone's in trouble... I want to do something but I'm too afraid to leave town..."

"Are you kidding me? It's like, thirty feet out."

"But I"m so scared!"

"Ugh... are you kidding me? I'll go."

Immediately after coming into view of the route, I see Professor Birch being chased by a Poochyena. Apparently, he did something to provoke it. Amid all his screaming, he must notice me. "Ruby! Oh thank Arceus, you're here!" The doglike Pokemon lunges at him and he jumps out of the way, squealing like a little girl. "Quick! The briefcase! The Pokemon are in there! Pick one and deter this creature!"

Of course, upon hearing that there are Pokemon in the briefcase, I sprint towards it at full tilt. Opening it, I find 3 Pokeballs. "Uhh... Birch?"

"Aww, for Cresselia's sake, what do you need!"

"Which one's which?"

"JUST PICK ONE BEFORE THIS THING KILLS ME!"

"Alright, geez..." I toss one... and out pops a Torchic! My heart instantly melts from the mind-blowing cuteness. "D'awww... you're so cute! Yesh you are! Yesh you are! Just lookit you, you're adorable!"

"MAKE IT FIGHT THE DANGED POKEMON ALREADY!"

"Wait! I think I can get it to calm down!" I attempt to walk closer to the angered Poochyena, but it snaps at me with enormous incisors.

"Just make the Torchic attack it!"

"Fine then, Mr. Whiny-Pants! Go, Torchic!" Torchic hops out and lunges at the Poochyena with its claws. After a short tussle, the wild Pokemon retreats. I walk up to Professor Birch and say, "What exactly did you do? To get that thing so mad?"

"Well... it was being boring, so I poked it with a stick."

"You... poked it? Your research is all about studying Pokemon in their natural habitat, and you interfere with the organism you're studying? Are you stupid? And really, why would you mess with something that has teeth as big as that thing's? It's like you're just asking to get mauled!"

He looks at me with a vacant stare. "What?"

"Do you have any common sense, or any kind of sense of self-preservation whatsoever? Is there any part of you that said, 'Poking a feral dog-Pokemon with a stick to get it to do something MIGHT be a bad idea'?"

"It didn't occur to me, no."

"Okay, alright then. Don't you think you should get back to your lab now? Before you make another Pokemon mad?"

"Well... okay. Oh, yes! Ruby, May's up at Route 103 studying the Pokemon that appear there..."

"Poochyena, Zigzagoon, Wurmple and Wingull?"

"Ye... wait, what? How's you know that?"

"Television."

"Anyway, May's on Route 103. You should go up there and show her what it means to be a trainer! See ya!"

"Wait-"

"Gotta go bye!" He dashes off, back to Littleroot town.

I look down at the little Torchic. "Hey there, buddy!" I crouch down and stretch out my hand. He runs up and lightly pecks it, then hops on me and runs up to my shoulder. "Oh! you like it there?" He nods firmly. "You don't talk much do ya, little fellow?" A little head shake. "That's alright. Now that you're my partner, I guess I oughta give you a name... how do you like 'Kaz'?" This time the nodding's so furious that he falls off of my shoulder. After a little chuckle at Kaz's expense, I pick him up and put him back on his favorite perching spot. "Alright, let's go, Kaz! Today's the day we start our grand adventure!"