The Totodile waddled out of the room, blushing slightly.

The group let out a collective sigh. "So, Francisco," the Professor said. "Who are you picking?"

"Well, I was already going to pick Totodile," Francisco began. Then he chuckled. "And seeing as Totodile's as clumsy as I am, I have another reason to pick him."

The Professor handed Francisco Totodile's Pokeball, then walked over to Sierra. "I guess your choice is simple," he told her and handed her Chikorita's Pokeball.

Then he returned to the center of the room and pulled two objects out of the pockets of his lab coat. "Now, not only do you need Pokemon, but you need these devices to know what you're up against in a battle."

He gave Francisco and Stephanie two red, rectangular pieces of metal.

"A Pokedex!" Stephanie gasped. Francisco tried to be cool about it, but he still grinned.

"I'm guessing you two already have Pokedexes?" Professor Elm asked the PokeChasers.

"Yeah, but ours look pretty different," Sierra said, pulling out her Pokedex. "With mine, you press a button and the top extends outward. Those flip open."

"Different regions, different ideas," the Professor said. "Now, unless you two want to stay here the rest of day, I suggest you go. I have another trainer coming in very soon." He checked his watch nervously.

The group walked outside the lab, and made it to the center of town before Francisco challenged Stephanie to a battle with their new Pokemon.

"Sounds good," Stephanie accepted. "Go Cyndie!"

She through her Pokeball and in a flash her new Cyndaquil was standing defiantly on the battlefield.

"Go Tod!" Francisco's Totodile stood on the field, ready for action.

"Looks like they had no trouble thinking of nicknames," Sierra noted.

"Yeah, unlike someone I could mention." Chase nudged Sierra.

"Hey! Cut the chatter, we're in the middle of a battle!" Stephanie shouted at the PokeChasers.

"Calm down Steph," Francisco said, chuckling. "Alright, let's do this. Tod, use Tackle!"

"Cyndie, you too!"

The two Pokemon ran at each other as fast as they could. Their heads crashed in the middle of the field, and Chase winced when he heard the CRACK of skulls hitting.

Both Cyndie and Tod stood there for a moment, dazed.

"Cyndie, snap out of it! Use Ember!"

Cyndie shook her head and spit a small burst of flame at Tod. The attack landed, but only snapped Tod out of his daze.

Sierra chuckled, remebering all the facts about type match-ups Chase had told her about as they walked towards Striaton City. "These two really are beginners," she whispered to Chase.

"That's good. They have a whole world of fun ahead of them."

"Tod, use Water Gun!"

A stream of water blasted from Tod's mouth, hitting Cyndie. The fire type fell to her knees.

"It was super effective!" Chase informed the new trainers. "Water beats fire!"

"Cyndie, you can beat him! Use Tackle again!"

"Tod, Water Gun once more!"

Steph gritted her teeth. She knew she would have to think fast if she wanted to win. An idea popped into her head.

"Cyndie, jump over Tod!"

Cyndie charged towards Tod as fast she could. Waiting until the last possible second, she jumped over him. Tod tried to hit her, firing his Water Gun up into the air. Cyndie was too fast, and landed unharmed behind him. The water came raining back down around him, mixing with the soil to make mud.

"All you did was stall," Francisco said. "Tod, Tackle!"

Tod turned around and started running towards Cyndie. He didn't make it far before he slipped in the mud and fell on his face.

Steph smiled. Her plan had gone perfectly. "Cyndie, finish this with Scratch!"

Cyndie ran up to the fallen Tododile and raked her claws across him.

"Okay, you win!" Francisco told Stephanie. He ran over to his nearly fainted Pokemon.

"Francisco!" Chase called. "Use this!" He tossed Francisco a Potion from his bag.

"Thanks." Francisco sprayed it on his Pokemon. Tod sat up, feeling restored. "Rest for now," Francisco told Tod, and returned him to his Pokeball.

"You rest too Cyndie." Steph did the same.

"The first Pokemon Center is in Cherrygrove." Sierra told the new trainers. "We can go their to help your Pokemon recover."

"Sounds good to me," Francisco said. "Let's go!"