A snowflake tumbled on the wind, gently floating over lightly forested hills dusted with snow like icing on a cake, and lakes which had completely frozen over. Behind it were the mountains, a constant looming presence as the snowflake continued its journey. As the wind began to wane the snowflake fell into a spiral, tumbling toward the city below. Flowing past the lookout, the school, and the gym before disappearing into the trees that ringed the city.

I could barely contain myself. Today was the day I would get my pokedex. As I sat on my bed I could barely contain my excitement, my leg bounced at such velocity that it almost drilled a hole through the fuzzy, grass green carpet that encompassed most of the room. My stomach was just as tumultuous, it was as if a horde of wild butterfree had gathered in my belly and begun battling furiously.

The creak of the front door reached my ears and I put all of my willpower into stilling myself, listening intently.

“Heva” my mother called, with a slight sing-song inflection “guess who i just got off the phone with!”

It was Juniper, it had to be. I leapt from my bed, racing toward the door, stretching out my arm, and using the sturdy frame to prevent me from crashing headfirst into the wall. Spinning round the corner at rushed towards her, stopping myself just before crashing into her, barely containing my excitement and already knowing the answer I asked

“the professor?”

She smiled and nodded. I couldn’t contain myself as my face split into a wide grin, I wrapped my arms tightly around her.

“So now what?” i asked

Mum explained that Professor juniper had sent a representative who had generously brought not only my pokedex, but also a beginner pokemon for me to help me on my journey. After that I would take what little I could pack and begin my very own pokemon adventure.

I was ready to burst out the door and begin the best adventure of my life when I paused. A second thought. Was it selfish to leave her alone?

“Mum” I said, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt wash over me “will you be ok without me?”

I could feel her grow still as i asked the question, slowly she pried me from her arms and looked me straight in the eyes

“You’ve been excited for this for so long, don’t let me get in the way of that, And if a mother can’t help her daughter reach her dreams, what kind of mother would she be? Don’t worry I have Yamask to keep me company.”

She tapped the pokeball on her belt for effect.

“And don’t convince yourself you aren’t ready, you know more about pokemon than your father did, and he was around your age.”

As much as I felt unprepared, I knew that she was right. If I wasn't prepared for this, then no one was. Closing my eyes I dug deep for any courage I could muster up, I focused on my breathing, feeling my chest rise and fall.

I opened my eyes and felt confidence surge through me.

I gave my mother a last kiss on the cheek before moving to the door. I looked back, waving to her

“I'll be back after i beat Cheren” i assured her as i opened the door, and let my adventure begin.

The winter wind blew gently around me, it was cold, I definitely needed to reconsider my choice of clothing. I leaned back inside the door and grabbed my hoodie which had been lying on the table next to the door. It used to be pure white, but a few years ago I had used an orange marker to highlight the seams. Mum had been horrified, but I thought it looked great, and had continued to redraw the lines whenever they faded.

The first step of my journey was blind as I thrashed around trying to find the hole my head goes through. It took me a while, but eventually i managed it, looking up i almost jumped out of my skin, barely catching myself and barely preventing a fall on the hard stone street

“Heva! Is it time?”

Standing above me was a boy, slightly older than me, around 19, with a red jacket and unruly dark hair. He had a pokeball on his belt, right where his right hand could grab it.

Ben.

“You nearly killed me” i replied, trying to desperately frown and failing miserably

“You’ll live!” He replied cheerfully, as he stepped back I could see his sister behind him, she had small black ribbons in her hair and wore an expression that made it obvious you felt out of place.

“Today is the day you get your pokemon right?”

I nodded “And a pokedex”

“All that’s left is a rival, you’ll be my rival right? All the best trainers have rivals!”

I considered the proposal. He was right. I had read all about the stories of legendary trainers and they all had rivals. Even old stories that had been twisted by age like red, a story of a trainer so ludicrously talented that they conquered an entire region in a week.

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“Yea” I mumbled to myself before saying louder “I agree, we all need someone to push us to work harder”

Ben pumped his fist with a grin on his face, but his eyes were elsewhere as if there was a dialogue box that only he could see that read >>rival obtained<< I would be lying if I said his energy wasn’t contagious and I felt a little smile creep across my face once more.

I heard a small voice cut into the moment

“Remember to take care of your pokemon, or you might lose them”

Ben’s sister had spoken up, I looked to him only to see that his expression had fallen, replaced by a stony expression that seemed deeply out of place on him, radiating a grim determination that seemed so out of place I wondered if I was seeing right.

“Yea” i reassured her “don't worry, i will”

I began making my way through the city, starting up some idle chatter with Ben. We were 5 minutes into searching when Ben pointed out that anyone from out of town would want to see the lookout, so that is where we headed next.

The steps to the lookout were old stone, made up of interlocking slabs, not too steep, but there were a lot of them. By the time I got to the top I could feel my heart beating in my chest.

I would definitely need to work on my cardio if I wanted to be a pokemon trainer.

The lookout provided a gorgeous view of the lightly forested Unova countryside, opalescent frozen lakes and foreboding mountain range, which loomed above all of it. Among the trees played a variety of pokemon, living in the precarious harmony that nature provides.

There was only one person at the lookout. A woman wearing a large green beret and orange jacket, with a bag slung over one shoulder. I approached her, slowly as to not startle her, not that it mattered, because as soon as she sensed me approaching she jolted as if caught in the act of something deeply scandalous.

She stumbled over her words for a few seconds, turning toward me, keeping her head down as she rummaged through her bag.

“Have you seen this girl?” she asked me, holding a photo up for me to see.

The girl had shoulder length brown hair and was holding out a pokeball. I liked the clothes she was wearing, mostly because I was still wearing them. I looked past the photo to look at the girl. We stared at each other for a few seconds before she looked at the picture again, her eyes filled with recognition as she looked back at me.

“I'm so sorry! Hello Heva, I'm Bianca, Professor Juniper’s representative. And here-”

She paused for effect as she plunged her arm back into her bag, pulling out a plastic case

“Is one of the pokemon that will be your partner”

She hummed a little tune as the case popped open. It had 3 pokeballs in it, each with a corresponding picture next to them. The first was of a green serpentine pokemon with regal posture and a leaf at the end of its tail, the grass type Snivy. The second was a small rotund pokemon with an orange body, a curly tail and a stubby snout, the fire type Tepig. And finally a small blue pokemon with stubby ears and a flat tail for swimming, it held a shell close to its chest, the water type Oshawott.

These were what I'd expected. While they were rare in the wild, professor’s would breed trios like this to give to favoured trainers. I had made my choice years ago. I reached forward, the pokeball felt cold in my hand, smooth as glass and carried a surprising amount of heft. I couldn't contain myself, I pressed the button on the front of the pokeball and released its inhabitant.

Snivy appeared in a flash of red light, the pokeball opening and closing again with a satisfying whoosh and click.

“An excellent choice” remarked Bianca, clapping her hands together “what will you name him?”

I took a knee, bending down to look at him closer, he stared back, his eyes slowly scanning me as if assessing my worth, I reached out a hand slowly, carefully so as to not startle him. He didn’t move away as I slowly put my hand down on the top of his head. It didn’t feel how I thought it would, I thought the skin would feel slightly fuzzy like moss, but it was flawlessly smooth and satisfyingly warm.

“Suzerain?” I suggested, I watched him intently for a reaction. Snivy puffed up his chest and gave a quiet smile. It was a good name, from Kalos, denoting his greatness. it fit him.

With a smile I returned Suzerain to his ball.

“I almost forgot! Here, take the pokedex before I forget” Bianca handed me the small handheld device. The pokedex. With this I could see information on my pokemon that other trainers could only dream of. I was saying my goodbyes to bianca when Ben’s voice interjected from behind me

“Can I have a pokedex too?”

Bianca was taken aback

“If i get one i’ll be stronger, and i need to get stronger” Ben continued, his voice growing firm as he spoke.

Bianca was silent for a moment. Thinking.

She pulled another pokedex out of her bag and pressed something before handing it to him.

“Take good care of it” she told him sternly “you’re lucky i carry a spare”

Ben took it, running his fingers across it gently before pocketing it and turning to me.

“Rival time! prepare for battle!” he announced

Bianca stepped back, leaning against the railing as I released Suzerain who emerged in a flash of light, Ben responded in kind, sending out a Tepig just like the one offered to me.

“Fire beats grass, i have the upper hand” he gloated

We checked our Pokedexes simultaneously

Snivy knew

>Tackle

>Tail whip

No grass type moves, I looked up to see Ben’s bewildered face, it would appear he didn’t have any fire moves, and at the same time we began to speak.

Tepig charged forward, slamming his head into Suzerain, who countered with their own strike, pounding his head into tepig’s side with a meaty whack, both pokemon beat at each other for several exchanges and i was struck by how different this was to the battles on tv, with visceral and heavy blow, i could feel the impact echo through my bones. Tepig prepared for one last charge, hooves striking the hard stone as he lowered his head.

Tepig was just about to slam into him when i yelled my final order to Suzerain, he didn’t try dodge, instead facing the strike head on, just as Tepig was about to strike Suzerain slammed his tail down on tepig’s head and drove him into the ground. The strike along with the momentum of the charge being used against him was too much for the Tepig, and it collapsed to the ground, defeated.

Ben recalled Tepig before approaching us, he leaned down to talk to Suzerain

“You did great buddy, can't wait for round 2”

I couldn’t help but think he seemed a little indignant about being called “buddy”

Without another word he left, strolling down the stairs without a care in the world.

“You did good too Heva, but I must get going” and without another word Bianca walked down the stairs, waving as she went.

It was time for me to leave as well, time to begin my adventure in earnest.