My anticipation had heightened to a nearly unbearable level when at last the time had come for my adventure! When our good neighbor and local evolutionary expert Professor Elm summoned me to his lab I was incredibly excited. I grabbed my bag and stepped out into the crisp air of the oncoming twilight. Something about our little New Bark Town seemed different just then, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.* I paused for a moment to stare past the windmills at the sky before deciding it was probably just my mood.

     Face to face with the professor I could hardly believe it when he asked me to take care of a rare Pokémon! He gave me three choices, a cute little Totodile, an even cuter Cyndaquil, and an absolutely adorable Chikorita. I wanted to choose the grass type, but was surprised to find it was a male. Elm explained to me that all of these Pokémon have a high male-to-female birth ratio. He must have taken note of my slight disappointment, for he came up with a female Chikorita for me in the end. I guess he must have had multiples of each of the Pokémon.**

     Out of the Pokéball she popped, and stared up at me with her cute but somehow mischievous eyes. Elm warned me that this particular Chikorita had a rather naughty nature, but I wasn't hindered. I kneeled down to pet my new companion while Professor Elm answered a call. He seemed pretty surprised by it and asked me to head out and meet an acquaintance of his, a fellow that people call Mr. Pokémon. The man lived all the way out past Cherrygrove, but I couldn't possibly say no to the professor. I ran home quickly to let my mother know where I was going and with that I was off!

     When I was younger I would often sit at the edge of town and gaze out over the wilderness of the route to the west. There were always Pokémon to see, the playful Sentret in particular were a common sight. It was a whole different feeling to have one pop up right in front of me in the grass. Chikorita leaped forth from my heels and was ready to take it on in our first battle together. With a repeated Tackle strategy we managed to faint it and were soon moving again, heading west.

     Wild Pokémon were surprisingly abundant, but Chikorita was tough enough to take them all on! It wasn't long before she had learned how to use more interesting attacks like Razor Leaf and Posion Powder. After a pretty exhaustive and action-packed walk things thinned out and the rooftops of Cherrygrove City came into view.

     Just inside the city limits a friendly old gent took notice of Chikorita and correctly identified me as a rookie trainer. He felt compelled to show me around the town so I followed him out of politeness. He didn't really have anything to tell me that I wasn't already aware of, but he surprised me at the end by making a gift of his running shoes. He laughed at the shocked look on my face and assured me they were brand new. Remarkably enough they fit really well.

     I plopped down in a seat at the Pokémon Center after leaving Chikorita with the nurse to be healed. It was a nice, brief bit of rest after our long walk. Once refreshed, the two of us were back on the move, this time headed north. There were some new Pokémon to see in the area which helped liven up the experience. In the deepening darkness I was fortunate to spot a sign directing me right to my destination.

     Mr. Pokémon presented me with a mysterious egg and instructed me to take it back to Professor Elm. While there I also met the famous Professor Oak, a highly regarded expert in the world of Pokémon! What's more, he saw how well Chikorita and I were getting along and decided to entrust me with a Pokédex, a device for collecting data on Pokémon I see and catch. What an unexpected surprise!

     So began the long walk home, but no sooner was I out the door than I received a call from Professor Elm on my Pokégear. He didn't give me any real idea what was going on, but it sounded like something terrible had happened. I quickly called him back after he hung up, but he still didn't seem capable of speaking in a way that made sense. I looked at Chikorita and her expression seemed to echo my own concern. We hurried back through the woods as fast as we could, keeping an eye out for wild Pokémon and anything else hazardous that may have been hidden by the dark.

     Fortunately we made it all the way back to Cherrygrove and beyond with minimal trouble, but at that point we suddenly came across a rather menacing Pokémon trainer, the very same one I had noticed outside of Elm's lab when I left town. He called me weak and insisted on a battle. So much for that, the guy was a pushover. Chikorita had no problem at all knocking out his Cyndaquil. He hurried off in such a huff that he dropped his trainer ID card. I picked it up and caught a glimpse of his odd but fitting name, WIGGY, before he realized it and snatched it back.

     When I reached New Bark I hurried straight to the lab, where I found a police investigation underway. The guy didn't seem very capable though, ready to accuse me of all people. In any case, it seems the same trainer I fought had broken in and made off with one of the professor's Pokémon. What a shame.

     After things had settled down a bit I got a chance to hand the mysterious egg over to Professor Elm. He was blown away at the sight of it, and seemed equally impressed when he happened to notice my Pokédex at the same time. He told me that Oak may have seen great potential in me as a trainer, and encouraged me to act on it by taking the Pokémon League Challenge. It sounded interesting, but it was already well into the morning hours and the only thing Chikorita and I were really interested in by that point was getting some rest.

     What a fun-filled and memorable first day together with my Pokémon!