Chapter 3: The Journey of a Thousand Miles

It was nearly sunset when they arrived in Sandgem Town. After flying for so many miles, Diana didn't realize how cold the Sinnoh region was until she felt herself shiver during most of the flight. It made her long for her warm, green hoodie back home. It was hard, starting out at the beginning with nothing. At least the protagonist in the games had a house and a family to go back to, not to mention 3000 poke. Oh well, no matter. As soon as she got her starter pokemon from the professor, she could start battling to earn money and save up for a nice leather jacket.

Diana grinned widely as Aaron hoisted her off of Yanmega, feeling the sandy grass crush beneath her tennis shoes in front of the pokemon center. The loud buzzing still rung a bit in her ears, like a loud motorcycle engine, but it didn't deter her mood in the slightest.

"Can we do that again?" she asked, eager for another ride on the dragonfly pokemon.

"Maybe later, after you finish your errand," Aaron smiled at her enthusiasm before looking at Yanmega. He buzzed lowly to the ground before landing on a nearby rock, trying not to show that he was fairly tired. "And after Yanmega gets a little rest. He's not used to carrying two people, especially this far."

"Okay," she shrugged as Aaron recalled his pokemon back into its pokeball. "So where is Professor Rowan's lab anyways?"

"Should be a little while past the pokemon center." Since Aaron seemed to know where he was going, Diana trailed absentmindedly behind him. She was finally becoming a pokemon trainer and be awarded her first starter pokemon. Which one would she pick? She thought Chimchar looked pretty cute, but she knew that appearances weren't everything; she learned that the hard way when picking Treecko when playing Pokemon Emerald, just because she thought it looked cool, despite its type disadvantage.

Normally, she picked a water type because it had fewer weaknesses than the other starters and had really balanced stats, but she didn't want to completely rule out the other two. Fire pokemon tended to have strong physical attacks and were usually more rare to come by in the wild than water or grass types, but grass pokemon usually had incredible defense and status inflicting moves. Maybe it really came down to what kind of battling style she wanted to have...

As she contemplated her choice, she began to feel her legs drag a bit. How far away was this lab? For her sake, she hoped they weren't lost. She didn't know where anything was and she wasn't the most physically fit person. Playing video-games for hours tends to atrophy the muscles a bit. She had to remind herself that the world wasn't as small or neatly confined as the pokemon games. Everything was more spread out, more real world. It made Diana think a bit. How long would it take to complete the Sinnoh League? Would it be as easy as she made it out to be? Ash Ketchum made it look a lot harder on television, but that could be because the filler episodes both had to pad the series itself off to how long it could go on before the next generation of games and dedicate itself to showing off new pokemon of that generation in each episode. Also, he never evolved most of his pokemon- EVER -and if he did, they are either released, given to someone else, or boxed off to Professor Oak.

"Diana?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at Aaron, not realizing she had drifted off so deeply in thought.

"We're here."

"Oh... Cool!" She smiled, already feeling excitement and anticipation build as they stopped in front of the pokemon lab. It had a lot of rolling fields and had a similar look of Professor Oak's laboratory, windmill included. Must be some unspoken rule that all pokemon professors must have windmills. Maybe they got cheaper energy that way?

"...This is the part where you go in," Aaron leaned over in mock whisper.

"Oh... r-right! Yes! Of course! Ha ha, I was just about to do that," Diana trailed off nervously while Aaron chuckled at her air-headedness. Why was she having any doubts? She would cross that bridge when she came to it. A lot could change in a couple of months, or however long this journey would last.

"'The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step...'" she quoted to herself, her fists clenched with confidence. Taking a deep breathe, she marched into the lab. The entrance had a bunch filing cabinets and computer equipment, desks littered with various papers, beakers, and microscopes scattered on top. A man with scruffy white hair and a brown overcoat typed frantically at his computer. Professor Rowan...

"Umm...excuse me, Professor Rowan?" Diana chirped, her voice coming out high and squeaky as he turned around to face her.

"Hmm? What is it? Do I know you?" His short, gruff voice and snake-like eyes made him appear mean and irritated. He had large sideburns and a huge white mustache completely covering his mouth to the point that if you plugged your ears, you wouldn't know he was saying anything unless his 'stache subtly moved.

"Ummm... well no," Diana stammered, clearing her voice. "But I've heard about you. You're the professor in Sinnoh who gives out starter pokemon to new pokemon trainers, right?"

"Yes, that is correct," Professor Rowan replied indifferently. "I take it you're a new trainer?"

"Yeah. You see, my name is Diane Brown, and I... I want to start my journey as soon as possible!" she blurted out. He looked over her briefly before getting up casually from his roller chair.

"Well, that's always good to hear," the professor spoke. "But unfortunately, I don't have any starter pokemon for you."

"What?!" Diana exclaimed.

"If you had registered your name and birth a week before your tenth birthday, I would have sent you a postcard saying that you were eligible to come over and receive your starter pokemon and pokedex, but since you have no postcard, I have no pokedex or starter pokemon for you."

"But you see," Diana explained nervously. "I'm not really from around here, so I wouldn't have gotten the postcard. Plus, I'm fifteen, not ten."

"Fifteen? Goodness, that postcard should have been sent to you years ago. What delayed you?"

"I... I just got a really late start," Diana looked down despondently before shaking her head. "But still, I really want to be a pokemon trainer."

"Please, Professor. Is there any way you can help her? She's come all this way," Aaron interjected, causing the pokemon professor to look up and notice the bug type master.

"Oh! Aaron, I didn't see you there. How have you been? How's the League?" Prof. Rowan asked, Aaron almost stiffening at his latter question.

"Fine. Everyone's fine," Aaron replied quickly, trying to act nonchalantly and dance around the question. "Been training for the League this year."

"Hmph, well I suppose so. Have to work hard to be an elite trainer," the professor nodded. "I still remember the day you started out on your pokemon journey. You were so adamant in having a bug pokemon be your starter, you wouldn't let me take no for an answer."

"He did?" asked Diana.

"Yep. Caught himself a Wurmple as soon as he could get a training license from me," Rowan smiled... I think. It was hard to tell under that mustache.

"Ohhh so you were obsessed with bug types even as a little kid, huh?" Diana smirked.

"Ha, well you know..." Aaron shrugged with a grin, trying to change the subject and take the attention off of him. "Anyways, so Professor, do you think you could maybe do the same favor for Diana?"

"Hmmm..." Rowan said thoughtfully. "Well, if you want to catch a pokemon, I've no reason to stop you."

"R-Really?!" Diana exclaimed.

"I hate that you've come all this way only to be disappointed, plus if Aaron is vouching for you, I don't see why not."

"Th-Thank you so much!" Diana cheered as the professor cleared off some of his paperwork, grabbing five empty pokeballs along with another one he had stationed on a rack alongside many other pokeballs.

"I'll let you borrow one of my pokemon," he said, handing her the pokeballs. "Some of the pokemon in the field behind my laboratory should be easy enough. Return to me once you've caught the pokemon you want, and I'll set up your trainer identification."

"Sure thing."

"Remember to weaken the pokemon before capturing it," Professor Rowan added.

"I will!" She called back before rushing outside, pokeball in hand. She anxiously did a happy dance as she held the pokeball close to her chest.

"Excited, Diana?" Aaron smirked rhetorically.

"Ecstatic," she turned towards him with a cheeky grin before she marched towards the back field.

"You know, I could give you a few pointers, since this is your first time catching a pokemon," Aaron advised, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks but I think I'll skip the tutorial on this one. I'm sure I'll get it first time out," Diana waved off, rejecting Aaron's offer. She had heard that suggestion before. Every single pokemon game she played had some dumb tutorial on how to catch a pokemon. It was for beginners who had no idea how to capture a pokemon because it was their first game, so it was very useful... for a novice. And she was no novice. Far from it, in fact. She had beaten every game she had ever played, and this one would be no different. She had her pokemon and pokeballs. Now all she had to do was catch a pokemon, and she'd be set.

"Okay, all I have to do is catch a pokemon," she repeated to herself. "Just catch a pokemon. Easy-peasy. Go pokeball!" She called out and released the lab pokemon, revealing a tannish, pink pokemon that resembled a child with brown, puffy shorts and a Mohawk.

"Tyrogue!" it called out, pumping up its muscles.

"Wow, a Tyrogue! I didn't think they lived around here," Diana exclaimed, looking up and down at the rare pokemon. Usually you could only get these pokemon if you bred them.

"Well, the professor studies evolution, so some of the pokemon he studies have unusual evolutionary patterns," Aaron explained. "Sometimes the other professors send him pokemon from their regions."

"Makes sense. Tyrogue does evolve a bit strangely," Diana said thoughtfully before she heard a slight rustle in the grass, revealing a small brown and white bird. "What's that?"

"It's a Starly. It's a flying type," Aaron said, handing her his pokedex. "This might help a bit. It will show you all the moves your pokemon knows, and its health bar."

"Hmm... I guess a flying type's pretty good to have starting out," Diana shrugged, putting the pokedex in her pocket before ordering her pokemon. "Okay Tyrogue, use tackle on that Starly!"

"Tyrogue!" Tyrogue called out as it elbowed Starly hard, blowing it back several feet before it cried out and flew towards it with a fast tackle. The fighting type smirked before dodging.

"Nice dodge! Now tackle it again!" Diana ordered, but the fighting type was already way ahead of her. In an instant, he brought the bird down to the ground with his right arm.

"Star..." Starly cried weakly, its wings twitching slightly in pain.

"Alright, it's weakened! Go pokeball!" Diana cheered before throwing a red pokeball at it. It flew over the target, missing the pokemon by a mile as it fell onto the ground yards behind it, breaking the button that opened the pokeball and rendering it useless. "Huh?" Seeing its opportunity to escape, the Starly quickly flew up into the air.

"Don't worry, you'll catch it next time," Aaron cheered, patting Diana on the back while her face held a dumbfounded expression. Feeling like her pride had been hurt, her face scrunched up in anger as she abruptly shook Aaron's hand off. Why didn't it work? She thought she did everything right. Maybe she didn't weaken it enough.

"Maybe this time you could-" Aaron began before Diana cut him off with an order to Tyrogue.

"Tyrogue, use tackle on that beaver thing over there!"

"Bidoof," Aaron replied.

"Whatever!" Diana growled as the fighting pokemon charged towards the frightened beaver pokemon. Seriously, all I have to do was catch...

The same incident was repeated, this time the pokeball zoomed towards the left as the Bidoof scurried away.

Just one...

A pokeball was launched at a pair of Shinx, who ran under the fence and scurried into the forest.

Lousy...

Tyrogue, becoming too impatient with a Budew and irritated that Diana wouldn't let him finish off opponents, knocked it out instead.

POKEMON!

A Psyduck turned to look at Diana before it was quickly smacked in the forehead with a pokeball right between the eyes, the ball bouncing off and rolling at its feet. It looked dumbly at her pokeball before it went on its merry way.

"NO! GODDAMN IT!" Diana cursed as she gripped her hair, causing a nearby Eevee to wake up from its nap. Diana was absolutely furious that she was down to her last pokeball, all because she wasted her other one on a stupid Psyduck. "Why can't I catch a single stupid pokemon?!"

"Whoa- hey! Calm down! It's okay!" Aaron eased before Diana quickly cut him off with a glare.

"No, it's not okay! I've done everything right!" Diana growled in frustration. "I've weakened the pokemon, kept it from fainting, and threw a pokeball! I should be done already! So what the hell am I doing wrong?!"

"It's your aim," Aaron replied simply.

"My what?" she deadpanned, turning her head towards him.

"Your aim. It's off," he repeated as her eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean 'my aim is off'? Sure, I kind of suck at throwing, but I totally hit that pokemon last time."

"You didn't hit its pressure point," he stated a-matter-of-factly, throwing Diana for a loop.

"...Come again?"

"The pressure point. The pokeball is supposed to automatically line up and connect to the pressure point of each pokemon to make catching easier. That's how you won't be able to miss if you throw. It lines up like a heat-seeking missile," Aaron pointed to the pokeball in her hand. "You're supposed to activate it when you tap the button and get ready to throw the pokeball."

"...Why didn't you tell me this before I wasted four perfectly good pokeballs?" she grumbled irritably, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I tried, but you seemed too into it to listen to anything I said," Aaron shrugged. She had thought the pokeballs she were throwing were kind of small. Diana hunched over in defeat. I should be smacked for my own stupidity.

"I'm sorry I got mad. It's just... this is supposed to be the easiest part of the journey," she sighed apologetically, rubbing the back of her neck before she looked up towards the sky. "If I can't do this right, then... what's the point in me becoming a trainer at all?"

It was something Diana never thought she would ever say, something she never wanted to come to terms with: her mother actually being right about her games. What kind of career was a pokemon master anyways? You fought against eight gym leaders, then beat the Elite Four and the champion, and then what? There was no point... It was all too easy. And now, when a simply task was harder than ever, what was the point in even trying?

"Hey, don't let something like this defeat you so early. Where's all that spirit I saw when I first met you?" Aaron advised, putting a hand on her shoulder as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Look, I'm sure if you keep trying, you'll get there. Nobody's great the first time they start out. I know I wasn't."

Somehow, that didn't make Diana feel any better. Unlike Aaron, she had trained tons of pokemon beforehand, but she felt guilty for ignoring his advice from before, so she decided to listen this time.

"I was a complete crybaby when I first began my journey," he recalled with a certain air of bitter nostalgia. "I would get so mad after I lost a battle, I would put all the blame on my pokemon when it really was me who was at fault. I almost lost my best friend because of that... But now, because I learned from my mistakes, I became a better trainer and an excellent bug type expert. I even fought against the Elite Four."

"You fought the Elite Four?" she gaped. Usually when someone was all about a singular type and had no variation, it was really easy to pick them off as weak.

"Yep. And I lost. Badly. But it taught me to never stop trying. They gave me a good goal to become the best that I can be, and I'm sure that your difficulty in throwing a pokeball is only the starting line of your pokemon journey. 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step,' right?"

"I... I guess," she glanced down at her feet. I can't believe he quoted me on that.

"Besides, if you let this beat you, then the other trainers from the League are going to have a cakewalk when they fight against you," Aaron joked causing Diana to smile a bit. Maybe he was right. Ever since she had ended up here, she had acted like she knew everything there was about the pokemon world, when in actuality, she knew virtually nothing about this world.

In this world, pokemon weren't just icons or programs in a machine. They were actual, living creatures here, with independent thoughts and feelings, and that meant that the world they lived in had different rules that couldn't be read or figured out in any guidebook or unlocked with a bunch of cheat codes. Maybe she needed to stop acting like she knew everything and actually start learning from her mistakes by listening. It was going to be hard. Boy, was it going to be hard, but that's what life was really about. To struggle and get better, to become stronger, to survive. Maybe it's why she liked the games so much. To live and grow and become stronger through your experiences and your pokemon.

"I think... I think I'm ready to try again," she finally breathed out.

"Atta' girl. Get right back on the Ponyta!" Aaron declared enthusiastically with a thumb up pose, causing Diana to look at him with a weird expression.

"...You've never said that before in your life, have you?" she smirked.

"Nope," he grinned before he proudly put his hands on his hips. "So are you ready to learn how to catch a pokemon?"

"Yes, Aaron-sensei. I am ready to study at the hands of a master," she bowed dramatically, using a mock Japanese accent.

"Good. Now all we need to start is-" Aaron began.

"Tyrogue," Diana interrupted. "It's gone!"

"What?" exclaimed Aaron. "It must have wandered off when you were throwing that little temper tantrum back there."

"Was not a temper tantrum..." she mumbled.

"Anyways, it couldn't have gotten far," Aaron looked around, ignoring her comment. "Tyrogue tend to challenge just about anybody to a fight. It shouldn't be long before we find it."

Nearby, a young Eevee was sunbathing in the grass, curled up in a nest she had made for herself. She had been told that wild Eevee tend to make their own nests wherever they wandered. Because of their high adaptability and their unstable cells, they could be found anywhere, except... there weren't many wild Eevee left. Any left were captured, evolved, or were forced from their homes. She wasn't really sure how to act like a wild Eevee except from the stories older pokemon had told her. She appeared to be fairly lonely, but she didn't seem to care. Her mind was filled with other odd things like how to get an Abra to open its eyes or what a Diglett's feet looked like. Many thought her to be strange like that, and would refuse to approach her. However, one particular pokemon seemed to not understand this.

"Ty-ty rogue!" the Tyrogue said, which translated into 'Battle me, Eevee!'

"Wee-vee...," Eevee began before she turned her head away. "Eevee-eve-weeve?" I have no interest in battling you, Tyrogue... Why don't you enjoy the nice weather we're having?

"Naps are for weaklings," Tyrogue scoffed, mildly annoyed that the fox pokemon had gone back to napping in the grass. "Fine, if you won't fight and make the first move, then I will!" he declared before charging in to tackle the Eevee. She yelped, knocked out of her nest that was quickly trampled by Tyrogue. "Maybe now, you'll take me seriously now that your stupid bed is ruined."

She got up and looked up at the Tyrogue with a strangely dead and far off look in her eyes. "If your going to be this unpleasant, I suggest you leave before things get really ugly," she replied in a spacey, monotone voice.

"Ugly? Tch, that's rich, coming from you," he sneered before he heard a loud female voice.

"Aaron, I found Tyrogue!" Diana called out, her green haired friend joining quickly behind her.

"What did I tell you? Picking a fight with another pokemon," Aaron sighed before he squinted. "Is that an Eevee? I thought they were almost extinct in the Sinnoh region."

"What?" Diana exclaimed.

"Hmm... extinct huh? Guess that means you better give up now and come quietly," Tyrogue smirked.

"Hardly an excuse to just give up. In fact, that gives me more of a reason to fight than anything," Eevee replied, getting into a defensive stance.

"Alright, I'm game for catching an Eevee. Tyrogue, use tackle!" Diana called out, Tyrogue already way ahead of her as he tackled the Eevee. The fox pokemon sniffed at his attack and threw sand at his eyes, blinding him. "Don't get discouraged, Tyrogue! Use Foresight to track it down!"

Tyrogue finally got the sand out of his eyes and locked onto his target as the Eevee geared up for an oncoming tackle. "Now use Fake Out!" He clapped his hands in front of the Eevee's face right before it could tackle, causing her to freeze up and flinch. He used that opportunity to tackle her to the ground. The weakened Eevee struggled to get up.

"Awesome job, Tyrogue!" Diana cheered as she reached for her spare pokeball, but Tyrogue wasn't finished with her yet. He charged in with another tackle, only for her to roll out of the way.

"Tyrogue, stop it! As much as I want to catch an Eevee, it's not nice to pick fights with pokemon," Diana called out to Tyrogue as she tried to return him into his pokeball.

"Then clearly, you're in the wrong line of work," Tyrogue chided, knowing she couldn't understand him, as he was about to launch another punch before he dodged a red glow.

"Tyrogue, return!" Diana ordered, but it kept dodging the return flash.

"It doesn't respect you. It won't listen," Aaron frowned, worried the situation was getting a bit out of hand. "Diana, recall him! He's going to hurt that Eevee!"

"I'm trying, but he won't get into the ball!"

"Why do you keep coming after me?" Eevee asked her opponent.

"Because I'm here to beat you and bring you back!" Tyrogue called out as he launched a Fake Out attack. Suddenly, his punch was blocked by a strong silver tail. It curved, almost like a moon shaped saber before it blew him back.

"That was Iron Tail... Since when can Eevee learn Iron Tail?" Diana gaped.

"It can't. That means that this Eevee is specially trained. Probably bred for it," Aaron exclaimed as the Eevee began to parry every blow Tyrogue sent at her. "It might have been abandoned by its trainer."

"Aaron... the pokedex you gave me... Can it lock onto other pokemon and show me their information?" Diana asked, unconsciously pulling at the pokedex in her pocket before Aaron shook his head.

"Not unless you catch the pokemon. But it does show you their level and health." She glanced down at the status information. Tyrogue was low on health, but the Eevee's was dwindling fast. If she didn't act fast, there would be a chance that both pokemon could be badly hurt as a result. Wait! Status! That was it!

"Aaron, do you have any pokemon that can use any status moves?"

"Yes, why?" His brow furrowed in confusion, curious what Diana was up to.

"If you can use a status move on Tyrogue, then maybe that could slow it down enough for me to return it," Diana said as she clutched a pokeball in hand. "I don't want to hurt either of them too badly if I can avoid it."

"Sounds like a plan," he grinned before he reached for a pokeball on his belt. "Go Beautifly! Use Stun Spore on Tyrogue!" Aaron ordered as a large colorful butterfly pokemon flashed out of the pokeball. Not even having to see the opponent, it raised its wings high and blew large blasts of orange powder at the fighting type pokemon, knocking him out in an instant. Diana finally recalled him into its pokeball and looked up at the bewildered Eevee, who had not expected this turn of events. Diana lifted a pokeball from her pocket, pushed the center button and tapped the pokeball to Eevee's head, causing the pokemon to zoom inside in a red flash. The pokeball rocked briefly back and forth before it clicked off, signaling the capture.

"Finally!" Diana sighed in exhaustion, picking up the pokeball. "That was way more trouble than it was worth..."

"At least you caught a pokemon," Aaron shrugged before looking off in the distance. "Right in time too. It's getting pretty late. We should probably head back to Professor Rowan and tell him the news."

"Yeah. And probably should get these two healed up too."

After using the professor's personal healing machine, they told him everything about their adventure. By the time they finished, the professor's eyebrows shot way up.

"You say it was an Eevee that you caught?" Professor Rowan asked.

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too," Diana said thoughtfully. "I didn't think there were any wild Eevee in Sinnoh... or anywhere for that matter."

"There aren't. That Eevee was actually one of the pokemon I was studying," he grumbled reproachfully. "I had no idea that it was gone up until now. Bill, one of the pokemon researchers, gave me an Eevee to study during my visit in Kanto. He hatched it there in his laboratory, but he always said it was a bit... odd. Despite it growing up there, it hated being in the lab. This is the third time this week its tried to escape. The fact that you caught it proves that it managed to destroy its pokeball and release itself."

"I didn't know a pokemon could do that," Diana exclaimed in shock.

"Hmph well, that Eevee was always pretty smart," the professor added bitterly. "I'm sorry to do this, but if you haven't caught anything else, I'll have to take the Eevee back."

"What?" Diana's look was both shocked and hurt from betrayal.

"I do feel bad about you having to spend all that effort for nothing, but those were the only spare pokeballs I had on-hand," he said apologetically. "You can always wait until I order another set of starter pokemon from my breeder, but it might take a couple of weeks. I wish I could help you out, but all the pokemon I have here I'm using for research."

Diana frowned as she looked down at Eevee's pokeball in her hand, sad that her journey ended as soon as it began. But... she didn't want it to end. She grew a little from this experience. She didn't want to be all for naught. Gripping Eevee's pokeball with newfound courage, she asked, "...What if I just take one of those?"

The professor looked up at her in surprise before he quickly deducted her thinking and shook his head.

"I highly wouldn't recommend it."

"Why not? I mean, I did catch it," Diana ushered. "You said that whatever pokemon I caught, I could keep."

"She does have a point, professor," Aaron added, Rowan thinking hard about the situation before shaking his head.

"Usually it's very difficult having an inexperienced pokemon with an inexperienced trainer. Most of the pokemon we study here haven't ever left the laboratory."

"Isn't that kind of bad for research?" Diana cocked an eyebrow. "It clearly doesn't like be cooped up in a lab. Maybe a little exploring outdoors is what Eevee really needs. Plus I'll take really good care of it. I may be new trainer here, but I'm far from inexperienced with pokemon."

"Hmm... Well since you're so anxious, I'll make you a deal. My previous lab assistant, Lucas, just left for Hoenn to do field research with Professor Birch's son Brendan, so I'm a little short staffed at the moment. Since some of my pokemon haven't really gotten out of the lab, it might be a good experiment to see how the environment furthers their development," Rowan explained. "If you report back to me regularly about Eevee's development, along with any other pokemon you find on the way, I'll let you take her."

"...Her?" Diana blinked.

"You didn't notice it was a girl?"

"It... it's a she!?" Diana exclaimed, still a bit in shock. Breeding a female Eevee was tough enough, having a twelve percent chance of hatching, but finding a female Eevee was almost impossible!

"Is that a problem?" Diana quickly shook her head.

"N-No, no! Not at all!" She said cheerfully, not wanting to make the professor reconsider their deal. "I'll take you up on your offer, Professor. So what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Checking in every week with an email will be fine enough. Don't worry about there being nothing to say. Just put in the email 'no further developments.' Also, here's a list of pokemon with unusual evolutions." He handed her a list of pokemon names, some of which she had never even heard of up until now. "If you happen to find any of them and capture one, would you please send it to my lab so that I could study if further?"

"Sure thing, as long as I get those pokemon back," she replied as she took the list from him and tucked it into her pocket.

"While I have you, Professor, there is something I want to discuss with you," Aaron interjected.

"Hmmm? Yes? What is it?" Rowan asked.

"On our way here, Diana says she was attacked by a strange pokemon at Send Off Springs."

"Is this true?" the Professor exclaimed in alarm, causing Diana to back up awkwardly.

"Well, attacked is a strong word..." Diana trailed off, not really wanting to delve too deep into the matter. Aaron noticed this, but didn't mention anything beyond that.

"Anyways," Aaron continued. "She said the pokemon looked like a dragon with wings but no arms or legs. Do you know any pokemon that look like that?"

"Can't say that I do. Hmm... This matter may need more discussion," the Professor pondered deep in thought. "If I have anymore information, I'll let you know. Do you have a pokégear?"

"What's a pokégear?" Diana was clueless on the matter.

"I have a pokégear, Professor. You can contact me until we get one fitted for Diana," Aaron stepped in, handing Rowan a number on a small slip of paper.

"Hmm, very well," Rowan nodded before he turned towards Diana. "Diane, before I forget, let's get your training license all settled. One of my aids will take you in the back and take your picture so we can print it on one of our blank trainer IDs."

"Oh. Okay," she said before one of his lab assistants guided her towards a camera shoot similar to the DMV she knew back home. She quickly fixed her hair and smiled at the camera and before long, she had a Trainer ID in her hands.

"Looks like everything's taken care of. I'm afraid you'll have to go without a pokedex at the moment, but I should be able to deliver one to you in a couple of days."

"Don't worry, Professor Rowan, she can borrow mine," Aaron offered as Diana pulled the pokedex out of her pocket, remembering absent-mindedly that she had put it in there earlier.

"Looks like she already has," Rowan added with a chuckle, causing Diana to flush with embarrassment. "I'll be sure to let you know when the new starter pokemon are in, Diane. I feel like I owe you that much. Until then, good luck to you, Miss Brown."

"Thank you, Professor," she said as she shook the professor's hand. Guess he wasn't such a scary guy after all. It wasn't until they had left the lab that Diana lost composure.

"I can't believe it... I got a pokemon. My first real pokémon!" Diana squealed, her eyes gleaming with joy while Aaron just stared at her outburst with a smile. This was what he was missing. The beginning and excitement of a new journey, the thrill of getting their first pokemon. This was what it means to start out on a pokemon journey.

"So now that you've got your pokemon, we should probably spend the night at the Sandgem Pokemon Center, since it's getting so late," Aaron began before he heard a loud gurgle come from his stomach. "...After we get a bite to eat first. I think I saw a café nearby." We? Diana's eyes furrowed at his offer, Aaron becoming more unnerved by her stare.

"W-What?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she questioned, suspicious of his motives. "You not only let me, a complete stranger, ride your Yanmega, but you also went out of your way to take me to see a professor miles away, gave me advice, lent me your pokedex and pokégear- whatever that is -and now you're buying me dinner? What's the catch?"

"There's no catch, I swear," Aaron waved off nervously, but Diana wasn't buying what he was selling. She knew how most guys worked. No one did anything for somebody out of the goodness of their heart without having a few motives. At least, not for her anyways.

"You do all of this great stuff for me, and you expect me to believe that there's no catch?"

"I... I just... It's just that I know how hard it is to start a pokemon journey," he admitted, causing Diana's guard to drop a bit from the innocent expression on his face. "And by the way I found you at the springs, you don't look like you have much on you. I only want to help, honest."

Diana crossed her arms and studied him. He seemed like a genuinely honest, okay guy, but Diana wasn't much for charity. Her circumstances were special to say the least, but she could take care of herself. Maybe she could meet him in the middle some way, since the thought of dinner made her stomach ache.

"Okay, how about instead we settle this with a one-on-one pokemon battle? Loser has to pay the other for dinner."

Meanwhile...

Professor Rowan was pulling together some documents before he heard the whoosh of the Lab's front doors. He turned towards the sound, but no one was there. With a gruff huff, he turned back towards his work, thinking it was one of his assistants leaving for his break. He was examining a blue see-through pokemon egg that was made up of a gelatinous substance and contained a circlet of eight glowing yellow orbs around a single red embryo. He had received it from a pokemon ranger from Fiore during his travels to the Kanto region and was currently studying its unique properties.

"Hmmm... interesting. The subject shows little-to-no movement, even when exposed to pokemon with Flame Body abilities or Magma Armor, but occasionally glows every hour or so, especially under ultraviolet light or direct moonlight, and prefers to be immersed in tepid salt water. Maybe Professor Elm was right when he said a pokemon trainer would be the only thing to make an egg hatch?" Rowan thought aloud, rolling his pencil between his fingers in deep thought before he sighed and stood up from his office chair. "Maybe I'll think better after I have a snack..." He turned off the screen viewing device on the egg container and left the room, the door slightly cracked open.

Moments after Rowan had made his way towards the kitchen and was out of earshot, the sound of a pokeball opening was heard. The vent above Rowan's desk was carefully popped out of its frame, not wanting to make any loud noise as a sixteen year old girl with bright hazel eyes peaked her head from the open vent. Two slivers of her maroon, auburn hair peaked out on her forehead underneath her black beret cap, the rest falling down towards her shoulders until it wound into a braid that ended at her butt.

Perfect. Now's my chance! the girl thought before she was lifted down by her Aipom, its tail hand gripping the top of the vent while its real hands held onto the girl's waist as he lowered her down. Her braid hung loosely from her head like a rope in gym class and almost equally as long as she reached down from the ceiling and exchanged the container with a replica containing a Tentacool egg, an egg that had very similar-looking properties to the egg she was stealing. Normally, she wasn't very interested in stealing pokemon, even if they were considered mythical or pseudo-legendary. It was jewels she was after, and if the legends were true, she was about to be rich beyond her wildest dreams.

Right as she was caught up in this fantasy, however, she had forgotten about the vent and accidentally dropped one of her pokeballs onto the professor's desk. After carefully balancing the container with one arm, she managed to snag the pokeball and was quickly lifted up back into the vent just before Rowan came through the door with a couple of candy bars in his arms and one in his mouth. He sat back down at his desk before he noticed a pokeball was missing. He had thought he had placed it back with his other research subjects on the shelf, but Tyrogue's pokeball was nowhere to be found. All that was left behind was an empty pokeball.