I take my black-and-yellow baseball cap and wedge it
firmly onto my head. With my jacket and backpack already on, I'm now finally
almost ready for the journey ahead. There are just two more things I need
before I can truly begin. One of them awaited me downstairs, though as I made
my way down the narrow staircase, I was entirely unaware of this.
As I enter the living room, my mother greets me.
"Good morning, Ryan," she says sweetly. "Professor Elm is
waiting for you in his laboratory." Of course he is. I knew he would be
when I woke up today. He had called by last night, to tell me of an errand he
had needed me to run for him. It was too late then for me to leave, but now
it's a new day, and I'm free to assist him with whatever needs doing.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" my mother says suddenly.
"Your Pokégear is back from the repair shop. Here you go!" She hands
me my repaired Pokégear. It's a blue wristwatch with several advanced
functions, including a phone and a radio. The radio and GPS functions had
stopped working, but as I strap it on and flick through the menu, it seems
everything's now working again. That's a relief. I'm sure the GPS mapping
system will come in handy.
With that all set up, I head out into New Bark Town. It's
a small town surrounded by forests, with only one route out, though of course
it's not safe to leave without a Pokémon. To the east, the land falls steeply
away, forming a sheer cliff that leads down to the sea. It doesn't sound like
the nicest place to live, but it's been my home since I can remember, and I've
grown quite accustomed to it.
Professor Elm has lived here for as long as I can
remember also. He's a Pokémon researcher, who has dedicated his life to
uncovering the many mysteries surrounding Pokémon. His laboratory is only a
short walk away, so I head off to the west of town, and after only a few
minutes of walking, I'm there. As I
approach, I notice a young man with red hair peering in through one of the
windows. He mutters something, but I don't quite catch it.
"Is there something I can help you with?" I
ask, as I approach him.
The man turns round and glares at me. His gaze is fierce,
and I immediately get the impression that whatever his intentions are at this
place, they're not good. "Beat it, kid," he snarls, and I duly walk
past him and head on into the laboratory.
Elm is waiting for me near the back of the lab, sitting
neatly at his computer desk. "Ah, Ryan!" he says as I enter, pushing
his glasses up the bridge of his nose and waving with the other hand.
"There you are! Now, about that favour I asked of you yesterday… I was
hoping you could help me with some research I'm conducting."
As I approach the desk, I notice three Poké Balls sat on
it, next to the keyboard. The second and final thing I will need before my journey
begins: a Pokémon to keep me safe. A Pokémon to be my companion. But for now, I
get straight down to business. "What kind of research?" I ask.
"Well, you see," says Professor Elm, "I'm
writing a paper on Pokémon growth habits that I want to present at a
conference. But there are some things I don't quite understand yet. So, I'd
like you to raise a Pokémon that I recently caught, in order to give me some
more data. Is that okay?"
I nod. "Of course." In truth, as much as I like
this town, I've always wanted to get out and explore the rest of the world. I
suppose maybe that's part of the reason I agreed to run this errand for
Professor Elm in the first place.
The professor give me a relieved smile. "Thanks,
Ryan," he says. "You're a great help. I'm sure, with the help of
these findings, we'll be able to-" The professor is cut off by a loud beep
from his computer. "Huh? Excuse me for a moment, Ryan…" He turns his
attention back to the monitor. It appears as though he has received an e-mail.
"Let's see… hmm…" He reads it with some interest, then turns back to
me.
"Looks like there's been a slight change of
plans," he says. "You see, I have this… acquaintance who calls
himself "Mr. Pokémon". He makes a lot of weird discoveries, and often
calls me to rave about them. Well, I just got an e-mail from him telling me
that he's made his biggest discovery yet, and he wants me to come see check it
out. Obviously, I'm interested, but I'm busy with my research, and my
conference paper. So, could you go in my place? You can gather the data I need
and check out Mr. Pokémon's discovery for me, all at once! Sound good?"
I nod. "Yeah, sure," I say. "No
problem."
"Alright, good," says Professor Elm.
"Here." He gestures at the three Poké Balls lying on the desk.
"I want you to choose one of these three Pokémon to raise. You'll be that
Pokémon's first partner, and in turn, they'll be your first partner. So, which
one will you pick?"
I pore over each of them in turn. Chikorita, the
Grass-type Pokémon. Cyndaquil, the Fire-type Pokémon. Totodile, the Water-type
Pokémon. They all look like good choices. I think it over for a little while,
and then make my decision. "I'll take Cyndaquil," I say.
"Cyndaquil it is, then," says Professor Elm,
nodding. He hands over the Poké Ball containing Cyndaquil and I place it on my
belt. "Mr. Pokémon lives a little way beyond Cherrygrove City," he
says. "It's almost a direct route there, so you can't miss it. But just in
case, here's my phone number. Call me if anything comes up." He writes his
number down on a piece of scrap paper, and I enter it into my Pokégear's
address book. The professor then gestures at a large machine at the back of his
lab. "If your Pokémon ever get hurt," he says, "you should heal
them with this machine. Feel free to use it anytime."
"Okay," I say, nodding. "Thank you."
Professor Elm places a hand on my shoulder, giving me a
confident look. "Ryan," he says, "I'm counting on you."
"I'll do my best," I tell him. With that, I
turn and start to leave; however, one of Elm's researchers calls me over.
"Hey, Ryan!" he says. "Before you go, I wanna give you
this." He hands me a Potion, an item for healing Pokémon. "You might
need it for your errand."
"Thank you," I say, smiling kindly at him. I
put the Potion away in my backpack, for sake-keeping.
"Good luck out there," says the researcher.
"Thanks," I say. Adjusting the straps on my
backpack, I head out of the laboratory to begin my journey. As I exit through
the front door, the red-haired young man I saw on my way in is no longer there.
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