It was a lovely April morning, sunlight sparkling in the dew, flocks of pidgey singing in the trees, and not a cloud in the sky. Outside of the famous Professor Oak's laboratory in Pallet Town, a long line of eager children snaked its ways across the grounds. From the main entrance, the path into town was thick with kids chatting, making friends and discussing strategies. Farther back in the line, a few were praying there would still be some pokémon left by the time they made it to the doors, and here and there a few young trainers were even fighting for their place in line. Small clutches of latecomers - those who had brought their own pokémon - had given up on queuing in general, and gathered along the fences to wait out the rush in relative comfort. Some were even getting a head start on their journeys by battling each other. Then, at long last, the doors opened and professor Oak appeared in the doorway. As he cleared his throat, the crowd suddenly went silent.

"Five at a time, please," he called out, as he let in the first group of young trainers. Looking over their heads as they passed, Oak shook his head in disbelief at the crowd before he closed the door again. The trainers closest to the door could hear him mutter something about kids today as he dodged back in, leaving the crowd to resume their chatter.

"Man, I can't wait to get in there," said a spiky-haired youth, a flash of fire in his eyes as he stared at the entrance. Jack had snagged himself a good place in line, close enough to be let in with the third or fourth group, and he thanked his lucky star for that. It seemed like everyone around him already had pokémon on their own - he almost lost his place in line jumping around to pet them - but there was no way of knowing how long Oak's supplies would last. Plus, he didn't want to spend the rest of the day waiting. As a matter of fact, he didn't really want to spend another moment waiting. Desperate for a distraction, he stooped down to pet one of the closest trainers' pokémon for the umpteenth time, and tried to start up a conversation.

"Ahh, you're so lucky to have your own pokémon," he sighed, "how did you figure out how to train it? Got any tips?"

"I bet he could wait." Stephen thought idly.

The black haired boy was loud. And touchy. He'd come close to touching Jim, though Jim had made it clear that he didn't want to be touched. Though, it might've been okay, because the black haired boy wasn't exactly bad. He probably had good intentions, at least. He couldn't imagine someone so casually petting pokemon to be that bad, though his mother had said he would be surprised.

Stephen covered his mouth to stifle a creeping yawn, a gesture which Jim mimicked on his head. He'd woken up early, though he hadn't meant to. Who wouldn't be excited for an adventure of a lifetime? He glanced towards a certain blond haired girl relatively close by as he shook off the aftermath of his sleep, with Jim parroting his movements. He knew that Wynne would be excited, though knowing her, she probably tried her best not to show it.

Stephen glanced around himself some more and Jim settled down on his head. He was certainly nervous but he was mostly bored waiting. All sorts of trainers of different shapes and sizes dotted the front of Professor Oak's pokelab. It was surprising to see so many people in such a humble town, though it was somewhat more surprising that the weird old Professor Oak was so significant. It was quite difficult to wrap his head around that one because he'd always that Professor Oak was just a goofy old man.

Stephen stood up on his toes to get a look at the pokemon professor's lab. Unfortunately, while there were certainly people in the crowd ahead shorter than he was, the majority were taller than him.
"Hm..." Stephen hummed frustratedly.
He lowered himself back to the ground and sat down on his stuffed pack, settling on the rugged surface, and continued watching the loud black haired boy.

He found the boy a little odd, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was how at ease the boy was in the whole thing. Stephen was less nervous than others because he knew professor Oak but the boy didn't seem nervous at all. And Stephen thought that he could see scars here and there on the boy's arms which added mystery to the boy. Stephen was concerned as to why the boy had scars, though the boy seemed perfectly content with them.

Stephen felt Jim tilt his head to the side quizzically and he knew that Jim was wondering why Stephen was staring at the boy.
"It's nothing much, Jim." He said out loud. "Just... Bored, I guess."
The spearow shifted his body in what amounted to a shrug and settled down once again. Stephen let his head rest on his hand as his eyes wandered the slowly shifting crowd. There were certainly others about as unique as the loud black haired boy, many strange new people with bright eyes and aspirations, many people that were in front of him.

Stephen's eyes slowly began to close with weariness. He'd woken up really early and was a little tired from the excitement. His body relaxed and he began lightly dozing.

Wynne had slept in her Aunt's little home in Pallet Town countless times during her life. It was as easy and natural as sleeping in her own bed at home, sometimes more so. Last night, though, she'd lain awake for hours beside her peacefully sleeping cousins, imaging the day that lay before her. In her mind, she woke up the next morning, walked straight into the Professor's lab, and was granted the very first pokédex. From there, she took the first steps on the great adventure of her life.

Her imagined scenario had not included waiting. She hated waiting.

It was her own fault. Staying up late worrying made her sleep in past her normal absurdly early wake up time, and rushing to make up for it would make her look entirely too eager. So now, here she was. If she was lucky, she'd make it in with the third group of people. She was close enough to the front of the line that places were being held a little more rigidly, but there were just enough people ahead that she couldn't tell exactly how many from a cursory glance.

Stephen had turned up not long after her, and now wasn't standing too far away in the crowd. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, though she scaled it back quickly and acknowledged him with only a nod. I'm not excited that he's going to be going on a journey, too, she reasoned mentally with herself, It's just kinda cool. For him. She'd averted her eyes after that. Eventually she turned her face to the sun, closing her eyes to let the warmth hit her face. Was it a good omen that the her journey was starting on such a pleasant day? Omen? How stupid. But a tiny part of her still thought so, anyway.

Plenty of people were talking amongst themselves to pass the time. A few battles had even broken out. They were keeping it tame, probably because of their proximity to the crowd. All of that noise combined to form an eager hum that drowned out most individual voices, excepting only those closest to you, unless you made the effort to pick them out. Wynne didn't bother; these people didn't matter. Her disinterested demeanor was genuine in that regard, at least. These strangers weren't even a blip on her radar when the start of the rest of her life was just beyond those doors and why was the Professor taking so long?

Wynne casually shifted her weight from one leg to the other, barely able to keep her growing impatience from showing on her face. One of the few people she did notice was the boy, about her own age, going around and interacting with other people and their pokémon. He nearly pet Jim; she could have told him that that would be a bad idea. The boy paid no mind to her, because Charmander was in her ball. Once his attention turned from Stephen, she lost interest, and turned her attention to the first group being allowed in.

Wynne really hated waiting.

Lily had left Viridian City very early in the morning. The sun was barely up and before it had fully risen from its hiding place she had already reached Pallet town. They were neighboring towns Viridian and Pallet town so it was entirely unnecessary to leave as early as she had. Her parents wanted to make sure she would be on time, even if that meant she had to wait around doing nothing. Lily didn't protest, she was grateful to even be allowed to go on this journey, by herself for crying out loud. No she did not want to give her parents or her brothers any reason to change their minds. She had packed everything the night before. A map of the Kanto region, her medicine pouch, a fresh set of clothes, a sleep bag, camping equipment. All the basics were covered and she was sure to take enough money to buy anything she might need. For someone who'd never done anything by herself she was surprisingly capable of mapping out her pokemon journey. She was astonished to find it all came so easily to her. The preparations eased her nerves instead of feeding them which was the usual case. Lily didn't know why nor did she understand how she could be so.....relaxed, so calm about all this.

Completely absorbed in her own thoughts the young girl didn't notice the line started to move again. The trainer behind her cleared his throat rather loudly to indicate she and her pokemon needed to move. She quickly rushed forward and offered the boy her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, I was just.....uhm dreaming I guess"
Lily felt a bit embarrassed but before she had time to beat herself up about another trainer in front of her kneeled down to pat her Tangela. The pokemon responded by patting the young boy on his head playfully, using her vines as her arm. Tangela looked at the trainer with wide eyes but was otherwise not bothered by him.

She listened to him as she spoke. It was true what he said, she was really glad to have Tangela. Lily knew she would find it difficult to start her journey with a new pokemon, one she didn't know. It was just like meeting a new friend, you would have to get to know each other first. Find out if you actually like one another. With Tangela she could just skip all that. They had a tight bond and she adored her pokemon.

"How did you figure out how to train it? Got any tips?"

Lily thought about her answer for a bit and kept thinking as she replied.
"Well I....you see Tangela and me haven't really battled all that much." The blue vined pokemon wasn't particularly strong and at times somewhat clumsy but she always gave it one hundred percent.
"You just need to be nice to your pokemon and they'll return the favor." Lily smiled when Tangela reached up with her vine to take her right hand.

"And obviously grass pokemon need fresh water and sunshine to keep them healthy" Lily answered with a soft laugh. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked at the other trainers still in front of her and the young boy. It looked like things were moving along quickly now.

"Heh, well, who doesn't?" Jack replied, getting back up and shuffling along with the movement of the line. The door shut a second time, leaving Jack only a few feet away, sure to be let in with the next group. "Be nice, hmm? I'll keep that in mind." He didn't feel terribly convinced niceness had many combat applications, but then again, you wouldn't want your pokémon to turn out aggressive and unruly. Jack traded a glare with another boy's spearow. "I guess you need to teach pokémon to be well behaved, too, and not just to fight," he said, half to himself, as he nodded sagely.

And then the doors opened again, cutting off the conversation as professor Oak motioned for the next group to enter the lab. "Go on," he said, stifling a yawn, "we've got a lot of trainers to get to." Jack and the others filed in past the professor and entered the building, and Oak let the door fall shut.

The lab was set up in the same fashion as always, with three piles of pokéballs out on a table in the middle of the room, and a stack of pokédexes next to a large computer. Jack had seen the place on TV plenty of times; professor Oak's show had been on for years before the success of Red, and the last year's events had made the old man more famous than ever. Oak himself looked like he had been up since the crack of dawn, and given the commotion outside, he probably had.

"Well," the professor said, clearing his throat, "as you probably know, I'm professor Samuel Oak. I used to make longer introductions, but you've seen what it looks like outside." Walking over toward the table covered in pokéballs, he tapped his finger on a sign spelling out the pokémon's names. "I'm glad to see many of already have your own pokémon - we only have so many to give out, after all. If any of you don't already have one, take one of these. Otherwise, please help yourselves to a pokédex and fill out your trainer registration for the Indigo League." He yawned again, then forced a smile. "If you have any questions, I'll gladly answer them, though your pokédex knows almost as much as I do. It's quite the invention, if I do say so myself."

The way to his future thus cleared, Jack pounced on the table and snatched a ball up from the bulbasaur pile. "I've thought long and hard," he said with a flourish, letting the pokéball roll from his outstretched fingers, over his shoulders and out onto his other arm, "and though none of these are really my style..." with a twist of his elbow, he tossed the ball into the air, "I'll proudly face the fact..." he caught the pokéball in mid-air and, letting it shrink, held between his middle and index fingers in a victory sign, "that I'm a complete and utter novice, with bulbasaur!" With a grin, he reached back for a throw.

"Ahem, please take a pokédex and fill in your registration," Oak interjected, holding down the pokéball's button with a finger, "There are still many trainers waiting their turn."

"Ah hah hah, right," Jack replied sheepishly, dropping his arm. "Sure, sorry, no problem." He scratched his neck with an awkward grin, turned around stiffly on one heel, and shuffled over to the other table.

"When you're done, you can take the back door out through the paddock."

Stephen was snapped awake as the throng of trainers moved forward and he rose quickly to retake his position. He looked blearily around and spotted Wynne and the strange scarred trainer before settling down close by.
"Looks like this is it, Jim." Stephen told the spearow.
"Caw!"
The line moved forward as butterflies danced in his stomach and he entered the pokemon lab.

Immediately on entering he calmed down a little. The pokemon lab was familiar, he'd snuck into it plenty of times before. Granted, today it was a lot busier than usual but it helped that the location was familiar. Stephen quickly walked over to pick up a pokedex but stopped at the indigo league form. Jim looked quizzically down at the paper and wondered why Stephen had stopped.

If Stephen were to be completely honest with himself, he was conflicted. If he took Jim out of his head, if he took Wynne out of his head, if he took his parents out of his head, he realised that he had no real motivation to go on a pokemon journey. Sure, he wanted to see the rest of the world, but he could easily do that without being a trainer specifically. He could be a pokemon professor like Oak, he could be an archaeologist, news reporter, even a pokemon ranger, perhaps. Failing those he could even be a chef or an office worker or something. If he really stopped to think about it he could be pretty much anything and have a more comfortable existence. But... where was the fun in that?

Stephen closed his eyes as he remembered the words of his father. Despite his rather loud and brash statements, his father had a penchant for knowing when Stephen was troubled by something. One summer, some time ago, Stephen had asked Wynne why she'd wanted to become a trainer and she'd told him, though he couldn't see the appeal. He listened to other children talking about why they wanted to become trainers, be it becoming pokemon champion, capturing rare pokemon or winning contests, and he still couldn't understand why they wanted to do it. When he went home that day his father had asked him what was wrong, so Stephen asked him why he became a trainer. Stephen's father had laughed and told him something that resonated with him from then on.
"I didn't really have a specific reason, and it didn't really matter what I wanted to do as a trainer in the end," His father had said. "because I could do anything. To me, a trainer is the freest job there is."

Stephen was snapped out of his musings by a sharp impact on his forhead. His eyes snapped open to see Jim leering impatiently at him.
"Come on, we don't have all day!" Jim's eyes seemed to say.
Stephen smiled and picked up the pen.
"I know, Jim, I know." Stephen said to the bird. "No going back."
As Stephen signed the forms he was strangely at peace. If he thought about it he couldn't really discount Wynne, Jim or his parents. They meant far too much to him to discard so easily. He was a trainer now, like his father, and he could go wherever he wanted. He could research pokemon if he wanted, dig up pokemon fossils, win pokemon contests in other countries. He could go anywhere and be anything, and perhaps he could be the pokemon champion if he wanted to, though he'd let Wynne go first.

Thinking of the pokemon champions as he finished signing the forms he looked around the pokemon lab as Jim puffed up his chest triumphantly now that they were officially trainers. Stephen finished the form and went to hand it up to professor Oak.
"Professor, where's Blue?" Stephen asked.

The wait between Wynne's realization that she would be in the next group and her actual admittance felt longer than all of the hours of waiting put together. When the doors finally opened at last for them, it took a great deal of self control to keep herself from rushing into the building. She strolled in nonchalantly, as if entering this time were no more special than any of the times that came before. And, true, tagging along with Stephen to sneak into the lab before was a special memory, in its own way. But now, it was different.

Wynne was always aware that the Professor was actually a well known and respected man. She knew about his show, and even watched it. But growing up she'd always thought of him as just the kindly old man who lived not too far from her aunt and, more recently, Blue's grandfather. His lab may have been interesting before, but it certainly never bestowed the sense of wonder on Wynne that it did now. The clearly exhausted professor made his introduction to them as a group and gave their instructions.

Wynne took her pokédex, mentally promising herself the chance to familiarize herself with (really, more to fawn over it than anything) when she was alone later. For now, it went into an easy-to-access pocket on the side of her bag. As she did so, the boy from before who was so curious chose his very first pokémon and, though Wynne could understand his excitement, she had to roll her eyes at the show he made of it.

She turned her attention to her forms, filling them out in silence beside her oldest friend. She was prone to poor handwriting, and wrote slowly to be sure that a something as embarrassing as an illegible word somehow impeded her progress towards Champion. So, she was still writing when Stephen turned his in and inquired after Blue. She didn't look their way, but her attention was clearly piqued. He'd been Champion for a very short time, so she certainly didn't idolize him in the same way that she did certain other Champions. But he'd still achieved the title, and was special in that he was one of two Champions she'd actually known. His being brought up motivated her to fill out that last couple of a lines a little quicker. She was handing her form in just as the professor started his explanation.

"Who knows?" professor Oak answered with a shrug. "He stayed around for a while after his last duel with Red, but then he up and left. That was several months ago..." He scratched his chin. "I suspect he's gone off to train for a rematch. He had a bit of a revelation there, at the Indigo Plateau, and I wouldn't count him out of the game just yet. He's my grandson, after all." Oak folded his arms and nodded sagely to himself, then looked up. "But that's it for personal questions. I've got a lot of trainers to get to."

It wasn't long before everyone's registrations were finished, and the young trainers were ushered out of the lab. With a last reminder to read their pokédex manuals, the professor shut the door. Professor Oak's paddock lay empty, green fields still glistening with morning dew, distant sounds of people chatting and pokémon stirring making their way from around the building. Jack turned toward the other trainers and scratched his chin with the edge of his pokédex, then smiled.

"Okay then, without professor buzzkill around..." he said to himself, and with a flick of his wrist, his pokéball came rolling out of his sleeve and into his hand, "we can finally get to the good part." He threw the pokéball into the ground, where it bounced up, cracked open and released a small, green dinosaur onto the grass. Jack stooped down to pet it, while reviewing its page in the pokédex. "Green colour... you don't say? Footprints, blah blah, dietary needs, blah blah... ah-ha! Moveset! Oh, and, uh, hi there, little guy. You and I are gonna go far."

"Bulbasaur!" the pokémon cried happily in response, and Jack stood back up. "So, who wants to take us on? We're already falling behind those guys over there," he nodded toward the fighting on the other side of the lab, and Bulbasaur cried out again. With a quick gesture, he flipped his pokédex closed and stuck it in his pocket. "Off the record, of course. I can't afford to lose and go broke on my first day!" Jack grinned sheepishly, and Bulbasaur gave him a sour look at the vote of confidence.

Stephen couldn't blame Professor Oak for pushing them out, because he knew that the professor was very busy. He was sort of worried for the professor because he looked so tired, though Stephen reasoned that the professor was old and had enough experience to deal with it. So instead of worrying about the professor he switched his attention to the pokedex, or rather, the pokedex manual.

The pokedex was certainly a complex machine but the manual made it somewhat harder than it needed to be. Stephen quickly thumbed through the manual which was full of technical terms he neither understood nor cared for before coming to the pages he wanted.
"Let's see..." He muttered under his breath.
He pressed the on switch on the side and the pokedex screen suddenly began to glow, startling Tim and bringing a small cry of surprise from Stephen. He quickly lost himself checking out all of the features of the pokedex, surprised at the utility it gave him.

There was only one filled entry, Tim, his Spearow. Stephen found this odd so he checked the manual.
"Only pokemon you've caught fill the pokedex, huh?" Stephen read.
He also noted that if he saw a pokemon then he could look at it in the pokedex, as proven by the Tangella entry being available, though it was empty as he hadn't caught one yet.
"I don't have Wynne's Charmander though." Stephen thought.

He surmised that he had to see it when he had the pokedex, which made sense since the various pokemon he'd seen in the morning and his family's pokemon weren't in the pokedex either.
"Hm..." Stephen hummed thoughtfully.
Suddenly the Bulbasaur entry became changed its status. Stephen lifted his eyes away from his pokedex to find that the odd scarred boy had brought out his chosen pokemon. The boy declared his intention to fight and the gears began turning in Stephen's head. Tim moved excitedly on Stephen's head but Stephen didn't want to fight the boy. Instead, Stephen quietly made his way to Wynne's side and began whispering to her.
"Hey Wynne," Stephen said. "Why don't you fight him? I'm pretty sure you'd win."