Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 2 - Deciding a Partner

Kyra walked to the centre of the small town. There weren't too many houses around, but there were enough to feel the pleasant community that Twinleaf Town offered.

Nate and Willow were already waiting, they too were eager to at last get on their journey.

"I thought you were going to be early," Nate joked, for once he had actually been the first one of the trio to arrive.

Kyra smiled, "Relax, I still got here before 10:30. Honestly, I'm surprised you're here already, I wasn't expecting to see your face before 10:45 at the earliest," she replied.

"That would have been the case if I hadn't gone to drag him out of bed. Benefits of being neighbours is that I can nag Nate much easier," Willow explained.

Kyra laughed at her two best friends, despite their fairly snarky comments to one another, Nate and Willow were much closer than people would think. They were complete opposites, Willow being rather outgoing and extroverted, whereas Nate was much quieter and avoided attention, but somehow they were still close.

The three headed off to Sandgem Town together via Route 201, it was a beautiful day and the scenery was outstanding. All three were beyond excited, Nate and Willow had stayed back and gone to the Trainer's School with Kyra so she wasn't lonely rather than starting their journey when they were ten. It felt great to finally be travelling together after all this time of dreaming and fantasising about the vast Sinnoh Region.

Professor Rowan's Lab was fairly easy to find, more to the fact the three had visited it on many an occasion in the past few years to try and help Kyra gain confidence around pokémon. The tall building that used to seem intimidating now seemed welcoming, the thought of finally getting a pokémon partner filling the three more than ever.

"Good morning you three, I take it you're ready to collect your starter pokémon?" Professor Rowan asked as the three walked into the Lab.

"You bet, we've been waiting for this day for a long time, I can't believe it's finally here," Nate replied, enjoying talking to Professor Rowan again.

Professor Rowan led the way to the starter pokémon and gave the three their pokédex's. He explained that there were only two starter pokémon left since there was another trainer who had started his journey not too long ago, meaning that one of the three would have to catch a pokémon on one of the nearby routes.

The starter pokémon were kept in a large enclosed pen at the back of the Lab, giving them space to run around and play with one another. Kyra used her pokédex to find out a bit more about about two pokémon as they came over.

"Turtwig, the Tiny Leaf pokémon, a Grass Type. Its shell is made of earth, it absorbs water to become stronger and more protective. The leaf on Turtwig's head wilts if it becomes thirsty,"

"Chimchar, the Chimp pokémon, a Fire Type. It is nimble and can scale sheer cliffs with ease. The fire on its rear end goes out when it sleeps,"

The Turtwig was curious about Nate and went over to him. After deciding that Nate was a good enough trainer, Turtwig sat down in front of him and nudged Nate's leg with his head.

As for the Chimchar, she went over to Willow and walked around her for a bit. Chimchar carefully climbed up to Willow's shoulder before jumping down again, like Turtwig sitting down in front of her.

Kyra was glad that Turtwig and Chimchar were happy with their trainers, but she still felt a little bit left out since she didn't have a pokémon of her own.

"Don't worry Kyra, I'm sure there'll be a good pokémon for your partner somewhere," Professor Rowan said, hoping Kyra wasn't too low in spirits.

"I know, don't worry about me. I'm glad Nate and Willow have found their pokémon partners," Kyra replied, not showing that she was feeling left out.