Chapter 1: En route for the first badge!

~May 19th: Started from Twinleaf Town. Rested comfortably at home.

After eating breakfast and bidding everyone farewell, I headed back onto route 201, where I encountered a lot of pokemon through the patches of grass and trained with Chimchar. Amongst them, were Bidoof (the ugly beaver) and Starly (I even caught one of those).Upon arriving at Sandgem town, I went by the pokemon center and headed straight onto route 202 where Lucas was waiting for me.

"And that's how it's done." he said after successfully catching a Bidoof

"Yeah? You struggled a little bit there" I replied

"Actually, I should've lowered the target's HP some more...oh well. Here, I'll give you 5 pokeballs to get you started"he said, handing me the pokeballs

"Really? Thanks!" I cheerfully replied, taking the pokeballs.

"If you have lots of pokemon, you'll be able to travel further. That way, you'll have a better shot at meeting more Pokemon." Lucas explained

"Okay, I'll give it a shot! Thanks again!"

He then left in a hurry. Shortly after, I came face to face with another trainer who challenged me with his Starly. After beating a few of them (one even running away yelling "Too strong! Too strong!" and passing through countless patches of grass, I arrived at Jubilife city. The place was very different from my hometown. It had paved roads, buildings everywhere and even a sign show its map! The city was at least four times bigger than Twinleaf Town. Upon arriving, Lucas, who got there earlier, greeted me and told me that Barry went to the trainer's school, so after healing up, that is where I headed.

The trainer's school looked like an ordinary school, except there for the pokeball sign engraved on top the door. In front of, there was a sign with words engraved on it.

Trainer's School

The First Step for Trainers!

"...that's got to be the place where Barry is. It sounds just like what he'd like alright"

Inside the building was a busy classroom with lots of students, some writing essays, reading, and chatting. In front of the class stood a big blackboard with topics about pokemon and in front of that board was Barry, staring at it intently.

"Hey Barry" I called out

"Oh hey Haru! Did you come to study too? I went ahead and memorized everything that was up on the blackboard" He said confidently. "After all, it's a trainer's job to avoid having their precious Pokemon hurt in a battle, right?"

"Haha I guess you're right."

"So, Haru, what brings you?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Here" I said, handing him the parcel that his mom gave me.

"So… What is this? Score! It's a Town Map!" He exclaimed happily.

"Isn't that great? You can now travel without fearing getting lost!" I said.

"Huh? Why are there two in here?" he asked, puzzled.

"Well, I guess your mom wanted to make sure you didn't get lost…" I replied, as puzzled as he is.

"Here, you take one" he said, handing me one of the copies.

"Are you sure? Thanks a lot Barry" I said, gratefully accepting his gift.

"Well, according to the Town Map, I guess Oreburgh City is where I should be going next."

"Why would you want to go there?" I asked

"There's a gym, so it'd be perfect for raising the pokemon I just caught." he explained. "Well, I'm on the road to becoming the best pokemon trainer out there. See you then!"

That being said, he put the Town Map back in his bag and dashed right out of the place. Typical Barry. After exiting the Trainer's school, a man in a purple suit approached me and said something about Poketch, a Pokemon watch.

"You see, I'm conducting a promotional campaign and am handing out free Poketch! There are three clowns in this city and if you can find them...I will gift you a Poketch!" he exclaimed.

After running around for a good hour and answering questions about Pokemon, I gathered all three coupons and got myself a free Poketch. The watch was pretty impressive, to say the least. Aside from showing the time, it could calculate, count my steps and even show my Pokemon team.

After meeting up with Barry, I decided that I was also going to challenge the Pokemon gyms and eventually (even though it sounds quite impossible) fight the SInnoh champion, Cynthia. I've always admired her, as she was able to easily and gracefully take down her opponents in every single battle. With my mind made up, I head onto route 204, and towards the first stop where I'll battle a gym Leader: Oreburgh city.