On Route 201...
"I'm so bored, Xiaoyun. Doesn't TV always say traveling is wonderful, that you get to encounter all sorts of unexpected surprises? Why haven't we come across anything?"
Dawn walked along the road with her head drooping, looking as though she had nothing left to live for.
Watching Dawn kick her twenty-fifth stone down the road, Xiaoyun couldn't help saying, "Dawn, we've only been out for two and a half hours. We're still twenty-five kilometers from Sandgem Town. How could we run into anything interesting already?"
"Ah, it's still that far? I thought we were almost there."
Dawn gaped at Xiaoyun in shock.
What?
Then she lowered her head again. "Then why wouldn't you let me ride my bike? We could get there really quickly that way."
"No can do. Look, if you ride your bike, we'll only be able to take the main roads from now on. But the truly wonderful parts of traveling are out among the mountains and rivers. We'd miss a lot of unexpected surprises."
Xiaoyun propped his chin on his hand and answered the girl's question seriously. What he actually thought was this:
Well, that idiot's little Pikachu will probably fry your bike into a dried-up husk in a few days anyway.
In a roundabout way, he's saving your beloved bike's life, young lady.
"Hmm... Oh, right, Xiaoyun. Which Pokémon are you going to choose when we get to the Rowan Research Institute?"
"I..."
"It's so hard to decide. I think the Water-type Piplup is pretty good, but Chimchar is so lively, too. Then again, Turtwig is so well-behaved that it's a good choice, too..."
Before Xiaoyun could answer, the girl launched into a lengthy speech of her own, already completely immersed in her own world. The smile on her face made her look as though she had already won the Grand Festival.
With a character like her around, there's no way things could get boring. I actually wanted to comfort her when I saw how tired she looked just now. With that social butterfly personality, she doesn't look like she needs comforting at all, Xiaoyun grumbled inwardly.
Not minding the interruption, he quietly listened beside Dawn as she occasionally beamed at some happy fantasy, then grew dejected, perhaps imagining herself falling just one move short.
And so, the boy and girl walked down the road through the countryside toward Sandgem Town. The girl was lively and cheerful, the boy gentle and refined; one couldn't help marveling at what a match made in heaven they were.
Time slowly slipped through the gaps in their conversation, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Rowan Research Institute in Sandgem Town.
Much like Professor Oak's Laboratory in the anime, the Sandgem Research Institute was where people received their Starter Pokémon in the Sinnoh Region. The institute building was white, with an enormous brown windmill beside it. Since it housed a large number of Pokémon, it could only be built against a mountain, far from the urban area.
At the entrance to the Sandgem Research Institute.
"Dawn, what are you doing? Why won't you let me in?"
"Xiaoyun..."
"Hmm?"
"I... I'm a little nervous."
"Huh? What's there to be nervous about? It's not your first time."
"But today's different."
"Because you're wearing makeup today?"
"Oh, come on! What are you talking about?"
"What if the Pokémon don't want to come with me?"
"Relax, relax. How about this? If no Pokémon chooses you, I'll just have Sceptile knock out whichever one you like and take it away. Sound good?"
"No need to worry! Everything will be fine! Pokémon, here I come!"
Perhaps their spirited exchange had made Dawn less nervous. She encouraged herself with her classic catchphrase and pushed open the institute's front door.
They had imagined the institute would look like this: the stern Professor Rowan, two courteous researchers standing beside him, and three well-behaved Pokémon standing in a neat row.
Then Professor Rowan, standing in the center, would tell them with a serious expression, "New Trainers, please choose your Starter Pokémon. They will be your lifelong companions."
Yes, what a classic scene!
However,
In reality...
"Ah! We're screwed!!"
"What do we do? What do we do!? If this keeps up and the professor sees this when he gets back, we're really screwed!"
"Enough! Stop complaining! Hurry up and get these documents sorted first! Then we'll go look for Chimchar and Piplup, who ran away. Hopefully, there's still time!"
"Um... is this where we receive our Starter Pokémon?"
The researchers sorting things out froze in place at the sound of that voice, then slowly raised their heads in a daze.
"You... aren't new Trainers here to receive Pokémon, are you...?"
The researchers wanted to make one last desperate attempt.
What if they had definitely heard wrong? What if these two were only passing by?
"Yes, we're new Trainers from Twinleaf Town. I'm Xiaoyun, and she's Dawn. We arranged with Professor Rowan to receive our Pokémon today!"
Oh, no!
"Sumimasen, could we trouble you to wait a moment?"
"Due to some oversights in our work, we may temporarily be unable to give you your Pokémon. Could you both please wait patiently for a little while?"
The researchers all bowed and apologized.
Their manner, their tone-they were sincere enough to apply for jobs as servers at Haidilao. It left Xiaoyun and Dawn too embarrassed to blame them.
"Then what should we do? We can't just keep waiting here!"
Although Xiaoyun deeply sympathized with their plight, he still had to ask for a solution, so he addressed one of the researchers.
"Well, um... Oh, right! This little one is still here. If you don't mind, you could choose this little one as your Starter Pokémon first."
The researcher was sweating profusely as he smiled awkwardly. Suddenly remembering something, he pointed at Turtwig, who was quietly chowing down in a corner.
"Huh? I mean, that's not out of the question, but there are two of us! One Turtwig isn't enough."
Dawn, too, was speechless, helplessly spreading her hands as she answered the researcher.
"Huh? Then... then..."
The researcher's voice grew quieter and quieter. The main problem was that they really were in the wrong. After all, who would want to encounter such an awkward situation on their first day receiving a Pokémon? Of the original three, all but one had run away. Who could handle that?
(A certain idiot who missed his chance to choose because he was late didn't count. Never mind giving that guy a Pikachu; he would probably laugh with delight even if he were given a Caterpie.)
"Then how about we try helping you find the two Pokémon that ran away?"
Xiaoyun wasn't someone who liked waiting, so he made the suggestion to the researcher.
"R-really? Not only do you not blame me, you're actually willing to help me look?"
Hearing Xiaoyun's words was like an angel's hand reaching down from heaven to rescue the researchers from hell.
"Tell me about the missing Pokémon, and roughly which direction they went!" Xiaoyun asked.
"Northwest. It's only Chimchar and Piplup. Staravia and Starly will be back in a little while," the researcher immediately replied.
"That's all, right? There aren't any others?" Xiaoyun confirmed with the researcher one last time.
"Yes, that's right."
The researchers heard the uncertainty in Xiaoyun's tone, as though he were questioning them, but they weren't angry.
After all, someone was cleaning up their mess now. Who would get angry about that?
Forget getting angry. If someone helped them find the Pokémon now,
They would even call that person their adoptive father on the spot ( ｰ̀εｰ́ ).