It stood on two legs like a human, but with a tapered tail, beaked snout, and odd puffy head that set it decidedly apart. It was covered in smooth red scales everywhere except for its yellow snout and a bare patch on its stomach. And it was short, standing not much taller than her knee, but it met her gaze proudly with its slitted yellow eyes, head upturned to stare straight at her. It looked kind of funny, she thought; somewhere between a duck and a lizard. The two of them stared at each other, frozen in time, until it finally folded its arms, cocked its head, and shot a puff of shimmering embers towards the floor. The embers disappeared into the shaggy green carpet and immediately, wisps of smoke began rising up.

Hayley snapped out of her trance and bounded over, stamping out the embers before they could start a fire. When she pulled her foot away, she winced to see small black scorch marks on the carpet—her mother was going to have her head for that. But she'd deal with that later.

With that crisis averted, Hayley crouched down, getting close to eye level with her new Pokémon. Its eyes followed her every move, narrowing more as she got closer. She reached a hand out to it, and it shuffled backwards, drawing its arms tighter with a soft grunt. She saw embers already building up again in the corners of its mouth. "Um, hey," Hayley said, trying to break the ice. "So, my name's Hayley, and I'm going to be your new trainer. Okay?"

It made no move to get closer. Its eyes flicked up and down, scrutinizing her the same way she'd studied it. It was getting its measure of her. For a moment she bizarrely wished she was wearing something more impressive than an old t-shirt and cutoff jean shorts.

"I know you—um, your species," she continued. "You're… a baby Magmar, right?" Blaine from Kanto had a Magmortar, she knew, and so did Flint from Sinnoh. She'd seen them on television during league matches before, shooting enormous fireballs and energy blasts that obliterated their opponents. They were strong, for sure; she hadn't really thought about raising one herself, but…

She spotted a thick black band around the Pokémon's neck—some sort of collar. From it hung a bronze-colored tag. Cautiously, she edged closer, seeing the Magby's flat snout draw tighter as she did, and lifted the tag between her thumb and forefinger to get a better look. There was something inscribed on it:

BARRETT

"Ow!" She dropped the tag as it suddenly glowed red-hot, and drew her hand back to a safe distance. The Magby's body had a slight glow to it now, and the air around it shimmered with heat, making sweat bead on Hayley's forehead. She placed her seared fingertips in her mouth and tried not to think badly of the Pokémon. It was a baby, right? It probably hadn't meant to hurt her. "Is that your name? Barrett? Well, you're my first Pokémon, and I, uh… We're going to be traveling together, fighting the gyms—I mean, I'm going to travel, and I'd like it if you came with me…?" Mentally, she kicked herself. She'd been rehearsing her introduction to her starter Pokémon for weeks, and here she was rambling like an idiot. But the Magby's intense gaze was throwing her off; it hadn't broken eye contact with her since she'd released it. Why was it staring? Was it trying to intimidate her? Was it judging her? Did it think she was being too bossy by demanding it come with her? Or did it think she was spineless because she wasn't speaking forcefully enough? Could it even understand her? Maybe it was just nervous about being in a new place. Hayley had never been great at reading people, let alone Pokémon, and right now she was way out of her depth.

She held its gaze, trying to look commanding without being threatening, friendly without getting too close. It shifted its weight a bit, puffed out its chest, and opened its beak—

—and spit a clump of glowing embers right at her nose.

Hayley yelped and jumped back, swiping at her face. The cinders stuck to her skin, burning like little needles. Her eyes were screwed shut as she wiped the embers away, but she had to open them again when she smelled something suspicious—smoke. The Magby had lit the living room curtains on fire.

"Crap!" Hayley darted to the kitchen, grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink, and dashed back into the living room. She brandished it like a bazooka and fired, dousing the curtains and windows in a thick white foam. She held it for several seconds before the stream sputtered and gave out, and only then did she release the lever and look around. The flames were out—but the curtains, windows, walls, and rug were all covered in a thick white paste. A disapproving huff caught her attention, and she glanced down to see the left side of the Magby's head and body also coated in white.

"Oops. Uh, sorry?" Wait, why was she apologizing? It was the one who had just tried to set the house on fire!

As she stared at the mess and chewed her lip over what to do about it, she caught the sound of the front door's knob turning, and she winced again. Her mother had the worst timing.

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Loading information on: Magby, the Live Coal Pokémon

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Magby is a fire-type Pokémon native to the Kanto and Johto regions. It is the juvenile form of the Magmar family. This Pokémon has magma-like blood that heats its body, causing its core temperature to reach over 600 degrees Celsius. As part of its natural respiratory process, Magby produces embers from its mouth with each breath. The healthier a Magby is, the hotter and brighter the flames from its mouth will burn.

CAUTION: This Pokémon is designated as a CLASS I PROPERTY HAZARD. Trainers should exercise caution when releasing this Pokémon indoors or in an area where flammable materials may be present.

Well, she knew that now.

It had taken several hours to clean up the living room in the aftermath of the fire extinguisher incident, and by the time Hayley had made it back to her room, the sun was already setting. The first thing she'd done was taken out the Pokédex she'd gotten along with her POKE exam results and scanned Barrett's Pokéball. Now that he was registered to her account, she could use the device to read all the information she'd missed in rushing to accept the trade, as well as general details about the species. Admittedly, these were all things she should have looked up before setting an unknown Pokémon loose in the house. Fortunately, her mother had decided that withholding her allowance and leaving her to clean up the mess in the living room was punishment enough, and she hadn't done something drastic like grounding her or taking her Pokémon away—though she was "under no circumstances" allowed to release Barrett inside the house again.

The Pokédex went on to describe a Magby's natural habitat (volcanoes), type affinities (mainly fire and poison techniques), and diet (mostly dried plant matter, but they could digest pretty much anything that was flammable). She stuffed the information in her head, cramming like she had for the exams she'd taken. To raise a Pokémon successfully, you had to know everything about them, and this was where it all started.

Finally, she switched over to the screen that displayed Barrett's personal information.

"BARRETT"

Magby | Male | Level 9

Age: 1 year 3 months

Registered techniques:

Ember

Smog

Cross Chop

Registered to Hayley Summers on June 14, 2054 (Current)

Registered to Clancey Lewis on April 5, 2054

Registered to Francis Gardener on January 17, 2054

Registered to Dana Wilson on September 8, 2053

Registered to Hanson Fletcher on March 12, 2053 (OT)

It was the level that caught her eye first, followed by the list of moves, but it was the long list of previous trainers at the bottom that made her stop. He'd gone through four trainers already? Her eyes flicked back up to his level and age, and then to the battered Pokéball sitting on the bed beside her. Most Pokémon traded on the GTS were babies or newly-caught wilds, but despite his appearance and attitude, Barrett wasn't either. Four people, she thought, over the course of a year, had raised him, trained him, cared for him, only to trade him away.

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Why?

What was wrong with him?

Her mind started racing with theories. He'd attacked her when she let him out—was he violent? Dangerous? Maybe it was the other way around; maybe he wasn't any good in an actual fight, and his trainers had given up on him. He could have been stunted—most Pokémon didn't stay in their baby forms past a year old. Or maybe his old trainers had just traded him away for bad reasons, or no reason, or reasons that had nothing to do with him. But what were the odds of that happening four times?

She held the Pokéball in her hand and stared into its patterns of scratches and smudges. It felt warm against her palm, like there was a heat radiating from the inside. Barrett had a story behind him. What was it? What sort of life had he lived before coming to her? What were his old trainers like? Short of getting psychic help, there was no way to know for sure—Barrett couldn't exactly tell her his life story, and she didn't know any way to contact his previous trainers. She'd have to figure things out with him step by step.

But… What if she couldn't? What if it went wrong? How could she be expected to raise a Pokémon that four other people had already given up on?

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The next day was Monday. Graduation was on Wednesday, and after that it would finally be time to leave. The eighth grade classes spent most of the day on the freshly cut soccer field, rehearsing where they would walk, sit and stand during the graduation ceremony. At least, that's what they were supposed to be doing. In the warm summer air, the excitement was as thick as the Hoenn humidity, and the teachers had given up any hope of trying to control their students. Kids yelled to each other from across the field, ran between lines and fidgeted in chairs while the adults looked on in exhaustion. Despite her pent-up energy, Hayley kept to herself, imagining that the small singe marks on her face broadcast last night's failure for all the world to see.

At the end of the day, everyone returned to their classrooms. The excitement died as they settled into their desks; smiling faces turned grim, and eager chatter turned to sullen muttering. It was time, finally, for the final dreaded announcement—the announcement of who each of them would be spending their next three months with.

Hayley's teacher was Mr. Burke, a short, squat man with thinning black hair and a patched tweed jacket. He always looked out of place in the brightly decorated classroom, like he should be heading lectures at a university instead of corralling unruly preteens at Pecha Lane Middle School, and rumors abounded regarding how he'd ended up here. He stood up and cleared his throat, patting a stack of papers on his desk with one hand. "I have here the list of who will be partnered with whom in their upcoming training endeavors," he droned, drawing out the last word with a cocked eyebrow and wry tone. For once, everyone in the room was on the edge of their seat, hanging on to his every word. "As you all know, partners have been selected based on your individual strengths and weaknesses in different sections of the POKE exam. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that these pair-ups are non-negotiable and absolutely mandatory for the first three months of your travels." There were a few scattered groans from around the classroom. Mr. Burke shook his head. "Now, now, I know this program isn't popular with everyone here, but it's important that each of you has someone to travel with. Can anyone remind us why?" For a few moments, nobody answered. "Come on, now, I'm sure one of you wants to get in a few more points towards teacher's pet before the year is over." A small smile crossed his lips as a couple students grumbled.

Finally, a hand went up. "Hoenn is a lot wilder than Kanto or Johto," said a boy in the front row. "We've got a lot more undeveloped land, so the routes are longer and more dangerous. It's safer to travel in groups." The speaker was Howie, a scrawny boy with neat white-blond hair, blotchy skin, and thick glasses. He'd been in the Taillow Scouts at the same time as Hayley, and he'd been kind of a nerd about it, the sort of person who studied the handbook cover to cover and recited obscure rules at everyone. He was still in the Scouts, even after most of their age group had decided to move on; it had earned him some teasing from the other students, but it had also earned him the highest marks in the class's wilderness survival modules.

Mr. Burke nodded. "Very good, Howard. Remember, the most dangerous opponent for trainers in Hoenn isn't gym leaders or rival coordinators, but the wilderness and the Pokémon that live inside it. There are far more trainer deaths and injuries each year due to natural hazards like mudslides, maulings and dehydration than due to crime or training accidents. Using a pairing system ensures that you'll always have somebody close by to help if danger arises—two heads are, as we all know, better than one."

Hayley glanced around the room. Most of her classmates had stony expressions on their faces, their mouths set in tight lines. Practical or not, the program was unpopular for a reason—nobody wanted to get stuck with someone they hated for what should be the most exciting months of their lives. A few people looked hopeful, though. Connie, sitting in the back right of the room, caught Hayley's eye and winked.

"Now, remember that the locations of each of your Pokédexes will be tracked by GPS, and if either of you travels too far out of the range of the other, someone will be sent to investigate. If your partner decides to quit traveling, you will be assigned to a new partner or group. There's no easy way out of this—so you'll just have to grin and bear it until your three months are up." With that, he pulled a sheet of paper from the top of the stack with a flourish and ran his finger down the list of names. "And without further ado, the first lucky pair is… Howard Durant and Gavin Clark." Hayley saw the two boys lock eyes from across the room. Gavin was a quiet, unassuming boy with curly brown hair. He had done well in the parts of the course that focused on battle theory, but terribly in wilderness survival modules. It made sense that he'd be paired with Howie.

"Caleb Nichols and Chad Bennett." The taller boy whooped and pumped his fists in the air before leaning across the aisle to give his friend a high-five. Hayley breathed a sigh of relief that they were out of the running—not that they would pair boys with girls anyway, but still.

"Addison Beringer and Skye Harlow." They were putting coordinators together—not a good sign. The two girls grinned at each other gleefully, and then cast a shared regretful look at Clarissa as they realized she wouldn't be coming with them.

"Campbell Osborne and Osmund Carter. Melinda Hathaway and Kei Bellamy…" Melinda was the girl who was getting a Bagon. She was known around the schoolyard for bragging she was related to someone from the Johto Dragon Clan, but as far as Hayley knew, she'd never given any proof.

"Corbin Fisher and Forrest Keyes. Caelin Marlow and Wesley Lawson." Hayley had been keeping count: there were eighteen students in her class, meaning nine pairs, and they were up to seven. The next set of names would tell her whether she'd ended up with Connie. Who else was left…?

"Concordia Harper and…" Hayley held her breath. "Clarissa Banks." There was an audible "what!" and a bang from the back of the room as Connie slammed her hands onto her desk. Clarissa folded her arms, her normally-serene face wrinkling in disgust. Hayley shot Connie a pitying glance.

That left…

"Hayley Summers and Miriam Taylor." Hearing the name, Hayley twisted around in her desk and locked eyes with the glowering girl behind her. Miriam was slumped down in her chair, her arms folded across the desk and her chin resting on top of them. Her face was mostly hidden behind thick-lensed glasses and unkempt black hair, but Hayley caught a glimpse of her narrowed eyes glowering through, and she shuddered. Miriam, with her slouched figure and permanent grimace, hated everyone. She'd moved here from Kanto a couple years ago and played a lot of video games. That was pretty much all anyone knew about her, because any time someone tried to talk to her she would answer with scowls and insults until they finally gave up and left her alone. As far as Hayley knew, there wasn't a single person in the school who could stand her, and as far as she knew, Miriam preferred it that way.

Miriam raised her head a bit and squinted through her glasses. "What do you want?" she grunted. Hayley flushed, clamped her jaw shut and turned back around in bitter, confused silence. How? How could she have gotten her for a partner?

"And there you have it," Mr. Burke concluded, clapping his hands together as the last school bell rang. "I'll see you all tomorrow at seven-thirty for one last rehearsal. Don't be late!"

The students began to get up from their desks, but Connie beat them all, shooting like a bullet towards Hayley. Nimbly dodging the chairs and students in her way, she was in front of her in three seconds flat, where she clutched at her hair and gave an anguished groan. "Oh my gosh, can you believe it? I got stuck with her." She didn't even try to mask her glare as she scowled across the aisle towards Clarissa.

"They were pairing the coordinators together," Hayley said, resisting an urge to add "I told you so." They headed for the hallway, where the mixture of excited and indignant chattering from other students welled up and surrounded them. "I guess we won't be traveling together, then."

"Only for a few months!" Connie said, and groaned. "I totally bombed the practical skills section on purpose just so they'd put me with you, too."

"Connie!" She'd wanted to travel together just as badly as Connie did, but jeopardizing her chance to get a trainer's license just to make it happen was on a whole other level.

"It's not a big deal. I passed anyway, didn't I?" That was a given—unlike Hayley, Connie was a natural at performing under pressure. Whether it was a dance recital or the biggest exam of her life, she never broke a sweat. If she'd been the one taking the Birch test, Hayley thought ruefully, she probably would've gotten in. "So what about your partner?" Connie continued. "Miri? Have you ever heard her say more than three words that weren't, like, her yelling at someone?"

"I don't know," Hayley said, and her stomach sank again at the thought of having to travel with someone like that for three whole months. She and Connie had managed to pull the worst two partners in the class. "Maybe she won't be so bad once we get to know each other."

"I don't think so. You know she went off on a rant on Wesley second period last Friday just because she thought he was looking at her funny? She's crazy paranoid. You'd better hope she drops out or something soon so you can get a new partner."

Hayley groaned. "Can we talk about something else? You're still planning to leave on Thursday, right? Did you decide on what Pokémon you want yet?"

"Ugh, no, I haven't!" Connie wailed, clutching at her hair again. "Mom's bringing me to the breeder's tomorrow. They have, like, all the Pokémon, and I just don't know… I have to hope I'll find something I like. Maybe I should do like you did and just leave it up to fate."

"That might not be a good idea," Hayley replied automatically, thinking back to the ruined curtains in the living room. "I'm not sure Barrett and me are going to get along."

"Oh, I'm sure he's not as bad as you're making him sound." Connie had been relayed a summary of the incident through text messages last night. "I can't wait to see him… We're on for tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. Mom says I can't let Barrett out in the house anymore, so we'll have to camp outside… But you can show me what Pokémon you get."

"If I can decide!" Connie sprang down the front steps of the school as they reached the door. "Okay! I'm going to do some last-minute research! Whoever I pick, you'll see them tomorrow night!" And she ran off, leaving Hayley standing alone in the doorway and fighting off twin specters of jealousy and dread.