Manny ran to Sandgem Town wearing the new running shoes his Mom had given him, carrying a parcel for Mint from the boy's mother. He battled his first ever Bidoof and his first ever Starly, and thought it was pretty neat that he was raising a killing machine. By the time he battled his fifth and sixth Bidoof and Starly, however, the novelty had worn off, though his Turtwig became much stronger. At Sandgem's entrance he was accosted by a short bespectacled girl with grey-green eyes and sandy blonde hair.

"Hey, are you Manny?"

"Yeah?"

"My name's Hannah, or Hanny for short. Professor Rowan wants to see you."

"I came here looking for him," Manny admitted while Hanny escorted him into Rowan's lab just down the street. Inside he met the Professor along with his assistant, Dawn. Manny wasted no time in criticising the man's methods.

"Professor, why do you waste perfectly good Pokémon on kids? Kids get distracted easily! How are you so sure they'll be faithful Trainers?"

"I'm not, but according to chaos theory, at least one of you cretins will turn out to be a Pokémon Master. Therefore, you will help me add new entries to this Pokédex," Rowan insisted, pushing the device into Manny's face.

"How?" the boy sputtered, "The only incomplete entries belong to legendary Pokémon. The hundreds other Pokémon of Sinnoh - and other regions - have been so exhaustively studied by Trainers and scientists alike that I couldn't possibly contribute. Don't you read Bulbapedia?"

"Then get out there and capture the legendary Pokémon," Rowan ordered, as though he were asking Manny to pass the salt.

"You're insane."

"I'm a Professor! My insanity has brought me considerable praise. Now git! Take Hannah with you."

"Wait, what?" Hanny demanded, "Why me? I don't have a Pokémon! Send Dawn instead!"

"Dawn is staying here as my assistant. Also, your parents want to get rid of you for a few days at least; they said something about the Resort Area. Take Piplup. Manny has Turtwig and the spastic blonde kid has Chimchar."

"I HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW! And every other day! And so does Manny!"

"School?" Professor Rowan blinked, "There are no schools in the Sinnoh Region; only Pokémon Trainer schools."

"That's right; my Mom home-schools me," Manny said.

"Hanny, you know very well that academic education is near-useless in a world filled with magical creatures. Either you go with Manny on your very first Pokémon adventure, or I call your parents and tell them you want to ruin their vacation."

"You're blackmailing me?" Hanny threw up her arms in shock.

"I do what I must. And that means using child labour to further my research."

"Ugh," Hannah relented, lifting her glasses to rub her face with both hands. Then she glared at the Professor. "Have you actually used an Empoleon in combat? The videos I saw on YouTube aren't encouraging. Nobody starts with Piplup! I want a Turtwig!"

"But Manny has…"

"I'm telling my parents that you were too stubborn to send me away," she threatened, whipping out her cell phone.

"Okay! Okay! I'll call Cheryl; put that thing away!"

"Why do your parents want to get rid of you?" Manny whispered.

"Second honeymoon," Hanny rolled her eyes. "They've been talking about it for months. It's driving me crazy."

Rowan went to the Pokéball teleportation device at the back of the lab. He called Cheryl on the videophone.

"Cheryl, I need a Turtwig before this angry prepubescent girl kills me."

"Hi, Hanny!"

"Hi, Cheryl. Rowan wanted to give me a Piplup for my starter."

"Rowan, have you actually used an Empoleon in combat? The YouTube videos…"

"Leave me alone! I don't use the Interwebs!" Rowan threw up his hands. A minute later there was a flash of light as the Pokéball appeared.

"I shall love him and hug him and call him Orric," she proclaimed, nabbing the red and white sphere.

"Why do you name your Pokémon?" Manny frowned.

"I am safe in the knowledge that, if I am ever stuck in a room full of Turtwig, Orric will be the only one to answer when I call his name."

"O…kay. Professor, how come we don't use teleportation for humans?" Manny asked.

"Find a way to stuff a human inside a Pokéball, and we'll talk. Now GIT!"

Outside Rowan's lab, Manny phoned his Mom.

"Yeah, he gave me a Pokédex. No, I haven't seen him–"

THUD!

"MINT used TACKLE! Hey Manny!"

"Are you incapable of waving hello? Yeah, Mint just knocked me over, Mom. I'm sorry, Mom, I'll come visit. I love you too. Bye!"

Manny gave Mint the parcel, which he instantly shredded.

"Hey, two Town Maps! But why are there two? You can have one, Manny."

"Your generosity knows no bounds."

"Who's your girlfriend?"

Hanny punched Mint in the top of his head.

"Call me that again and Orric will massacre you."

"Gah! Manny, she's scaring me! And who's Orric? He sounds scary, too!"

"This is Hanny. Her parents disowned her…"

"Wow, tough break."

"… so Professor Rowan gave her a Turtwig. She gives nicknames to her Pokémon; can you believe that?"

"Nope! Giving nicknames is dumb!"

"Grrr!" Hanny menaced him with her Pokéball.

"Ahh! I'm going to Jubilife City, see ya later Manny!"

He tore off, away from the she-devil.

"Yes, he was always like that," Manny responded to the look Hanny gave him. "I think there's some Porygon-Z in his family."

"Excuse me!"

The Trainers turned to watch Dawn run out of Rowan's lab.

"Hi! I wanted to give you this."

She pressed a CD into Manny's hand.

"That Technical Machine, or TM, teaches your Pokémon the move 'Return'!"

"How?"

Dawn blinked at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"How does this CD teach a Pokémon a skill?"

"I'm… not entirely sure. Maybe you insert the CD into the Pokémon?"

"That sounds like a recipe for success. Thanks, Dawn."

"You're welcome!" she beamed, and flounced back indoors. Manny turned the CD over in his hands.

"This is the best Normal-type move there is. As soon as I figure out how to use it, I'm gonna teach it to a Starly, who'll become an awesome Staraptor!"

"More importantly, do you even know how to catch Pokémon?" Hanny asked.

"Knock them out, then toss a Pokéball at them; it's easy."

"No! They have to be aware that they're being caught, or else they'll rebel when they wake up! You have to, like, paralyse, poison, burn, freeze, or put them to sleep first," she counted off her fingers. "Capture them when they're weak."

"That's a dreadful way of making new friends! Can't I just ask them to come with me?"

"No. Almost kill first, make friends later. It's the rules. Let's get some Pokéballs at the PokéMart."

They entered the building with the blue roof only to find the shelves containing nothing but regular Pokéballs and Potions that could barely heal a skinned knee.

"Where is the rest of your stock?" Hanny asked the two clerks, who glowered at her.

"Where's your badge?" Clerk One asked.

"You don't have any, do you?" Clerk Two accused her.

"Can't you bend the rules just this once?" Hanny pleaded.

"BURN THE WITCH!" the Clerks yelled, producing a flaming torch, stake, and rope from under the counter. Hanny grabbed Manny and high-tailed it out of there.

"It's okay, I still have a couple in my backpack," Hanny said. They ran across a Starly upon entering the tall grass. Her baby Turtwig tackled the poor creature several times until it could barely flap its wings.

"Pokéball, GO!"

With the power of science (SCIENCE!) the tiny bird was stuffed into the even tinier Pokéball with a flash of light. The ball rocked back and forth for a few moments while the Starly struggled to get free, but then the button glowed with a pleasing musical tone, signaling a capture.

"She's yours. Her name is Keira."

"Buh?" Manny spluttered.

"I don't want a Starly. Its evolutions are so stupid-looking. However, she was difficult to catch, so you'd better use her, or I'll string you up by your toenails."

"You're really scary, Hanny."

"Thank you. Now let's get to Jubilife. I hope I don't have to punch that spaz again."

Thus began Manny's reluctant Pokémon adventure. Of course, no adventure is complete without random encounters. A Bidoof blocked their way.

"I might as well train my new Starly. Starly, go!"

The little bird Pokémon appeared, tweeting with curiosity at the one who summoned her.

"Use Tackle!"

The Starly glowered at him. Manny blinked, waving his hand towards the Bidoof who inclined its head in confusion.

"Use Tackle, Starly!"

"Her name is KEIRA!" Hanny reminded him, also frowning.

"But she's MY Starly!"

"I nicknamed her! She won't answer to anything else!"

"…What."

Hanny gave an evil chuckle with steepled fingers, pleased with her ruse. The Bidoof yawned.

"F-fine. Keira, use Tackle!"

Keira fell asleep.

"Hey!" Manny yelled, "Use Tackle!"

"Zzz."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. A Pokémon you received in a trade won't listen to you until you get a certain Gym Badge. Bye!" Hanny cackled and ran off. Grumbling at her humiliating shenanigans, Manny followed her along the winding path.

"You there!"

"Me?"

A boy in short pants ran up to him.

"Our eyes have met, so battle we must!"

"What?" Manny said in bewilderment.

"Jack, go!"

The boy's Starly materialised out of his Pokéball, chirping and full of pep.

"At least your Starly obeys you. Turtwig, go!"

"You didn't nickname your Pokémon?" the boy asked, aghast.

"Uh, no?"

"You're some kind of weirdo! Jack, use Quick Attack!"

Despite Jack's speed advantage, the battle was one-sided. The boy in short pants returned the unconscious Jack and stuffed a wad of cash into Manny's hand. Manny looked down at the bills.

"Why did you give me money?"

"Are you some kinda noob? That's the prize money for defeating me in battle!"

"That's gambling! And extortion!" Manny protested.

"Tch, whatever, noob, I'm gonna train Jack until he can take down your puny Turtwig in one Quick Attack!"

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Manny cried, running away from him, only to be accosted once more, this time by a girl in short pants.

"A battle, please!"

"WHY DO YOU ALL HATE ME?" Manny sobbed.