"... And that concludes today's Gym Leader updates. Tune in tomorrow when Elesa reveals her brand-new team of—"

   I switched the T.V. off and flopped down on the couch. I grabbed a pillow and held it over my face, burying my nose in the soft fabric and letting out a muffled sigh of frustration in the process.

   "Bored again?"

   Someone padded across the carpeted floor of the living room to stand beside me. A second later, the pillow was snatched from my grasp and I was faced with my sister Rosa. She was leaning over me. Her eyebrows were raised and she was giving me a lopsided smile.

   "Uh-huh." I nodded. "When do ya think Mom's gonna get home?"

   Rosa shrugged and stood up straight. "She said that she wasn't going to be gone for too long. I wonder what's keeping her? We made those plans with Hugh earlier, and I really don't want to go without telling Mom."

   As she finished talking, we heard the sound of a key turning in the front door's lock. I bolted up into a sitting position, my hair frizzed out in every direction from the couch's static. I then looked over the back of the couch at the front door. The door opened and our mom quickly darted into the house, slamming the door behind her in order to keep the cold out. She looked at Rosa and me, a joyous smile on her face.

   "Hey, you two!" she greeted us in a tone just as cheery as her expression. "Sorry I took so long! I got caught up in a conversation with one of my old friends."

   "Who was it?" I asked.

   "My friend Aurea. But you two probably know her better as Professor Juniper."

   "You're friends with Professor Juniper?!" Rosa squealed, her eyes lighting up with excitement. I rolled my eyes when I saw her do this. She'd kill for a chance to talk with her hero.

   "Yes I am, and she told me something exciting. She said..." our mom paused for dramatic effect, "That she's giving you two Pokémon!"

   "What?!" Rosa and I exclaimed at the same time, completely shocked.

   Our mom nodded. "Yep! Her assistant is going to be in the city in a little bit, and she told me to look for a girl wearing a big green hat. Isn't this amazing? You're getting your first Pokémon today!"

   Rosa rushed over to our mom and hugged her. Our mom tousled her hair and smiled wider. "You two should get going, I'm sure the assistant won't want to wait for long," she said.

   I jumped off the couch and went over to Rosa. I grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her towards the front door, excitement coursing through me. "C'mon, sis! Like Mom said, we shouldn't keep the assistant waiting." Rosa didn't object and let me pull her outside. The autumn air didn't even feel cold, I guess I was too excited to care that it was fifty five degrees, I just wanted my Pokémon.

   "Have fun, you two!" our mom called after us. We looked back and waved to her. We then turned and took off into the city.

   Aspertia City wasn't what you would call a popular place. Built near the mountains in the lower south-west part of Unova, Aspertia was a cluster of eleven or so six-story buildings with a few two-story homes a street or so away. No more than three hundred people lived here, most of them residing in the four apartment buildings Aspertia hosted. It was barely considered a city, but it was still a nice place to live.

   As we passed one of the apartment buildings, a pair of people exited it. I knew them as mine and Rosa's friend Hugh, and his ten year-old sister Lily.

   "Nate! Rosa!" Hugh called. "Where are you guys headed?"

   Rosa and I slowed our pace. I beckoned him and Lily to walk with us. "Come with us and we'll explain!" I said. After allowing the pair to catch up with us, I began telling Hugh about how Professor Juniper was giving Rosa and I our first Pokemon. Hugh seemed just as excited as we were, even though he wasn't getting one.

   "Can we tag along with you guys the rest of the way?" Hugh asked.

   I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

   Our little group continued our way through the city. We decided that since the city's lookout point was such a popular place, the assistant was probably admiring the view. After a five-minute walk that felt like forever, we finally arrived at the staircase leading up to the lookout. We quickly scaled the stairs, eager to see if the assistant was actually there.

   There was only a single person at the lookout, a young woman stood a yard away, her back facing us. From what I could see, she was wearing green pants, an orange coat, and a large green hat. Green hat..? That was what Mom had told us to look out for!

   "Excuse me! Miss?" Rosa yelled to the woman. The woman whirled around, and it turned out that she was really a girl in her mid to late teens. She stared at us and adjusted the pair of glasses she wore, as if getting a better look at us.

   "Oh, hello!" she said. "Do any of you know anyone named Nathan or Rosalyn? I'm here to see them."

   "Nathan and Rosalyn? That's us!" I said.
   The girl's eyes widened for a moment in surprise, but then she laughed. "This is perfect! You two know why I'm here then?"

   "Of course we do!" I responded. "So where are the Pokémon?!"

   "Nate!" Rosa elbowed my arm. "Don't be so rude. She hasn't even introduced herself yet!"

   I hastily muttered an apology, rubbing my arm where Rosa hit me.

   "My name's Bianca! I'm Professor Juniper's assistant." Bianca's gaze turned from us to Hugh and Lily, who were standing behind us. "Who are you?"

   "Oh uh, I'm Hugh," he put his hand on Lily's shoulder, "and this is my sister Lily." Lily shyly waved to Bianca before slipping behind Hugh, hiding herself from view. "Don't worry about her, she's just nervous around strangers," Hugh told Bianca. In response, Bianca crouched down until she was eye-level with the little girl.

   "Do you like Pokémon, Lily?" Bianca asked sweetly. "I work with them and research what they can do and where they come from. Are you excited to get your starter when you get older?"

   "I-I... I had my own Pokémon... once." Lily stammered.

   "Really? Which Pokémon was it?"

   "It... it..." Lily turned away. "I don't wanna talk about it!" She ran back down the stairs.

   "Lily, wait!" Hugh looked to Bianca. "You—" he shook his head. "I'll meet you guys by the Pokémon Center, okay?" he said to me and Rosa before he chased after Lily.

   Bianca covered her mouth with her hands. "No, I didn't mean to—"

   "It's fine," I interrupted her. "It's not your fault. Hugh will catch her and calm her down, I'm sure of it. Lily lost a Pokémon she was given, and she's still sad about it."

   Bianca nodded silently and her hands returned to her sides. "I see... Well, as long as she can manage to hold up after losing something like that..." She trailed off. Silence fell over the three of us, neither me or Rosa wanting to break the silence. Bianca's face brightened up suddenly, her solemn expression being replaced with one of nervous happiness. "On a brighter note, you two need your Pokémon. Wait a second."

   I couldn't help but get excited all over again. Sure, what happened to Lily was horrible, but like Bianca said, she's managed to hold up pretty well since it happened. Maybe she could even find it one day. Rosa took a little longer to regain her excitement, but she did within a minute.

   Bianca had set her bag down and was rummaging through it. She then removed a metal cylinder from it, about a foot long. She stood up again and presented it to us, her bubbly smile returning.

   "Here are the starters!" Bianca pressed a button on the side of the cylinder. The top half of the cylinder slid away into the bottom half, exposing three Poké Balls resting on a felt cushion. On each Poké Ball was a small stamp. One stamp was a flame, the second a teardrop, and the last was a leaf. Bianca pointed to each ball and told us what the Pokémon were. They were Tepig, the Fire-type Pokémon, Oshawott, the Water-type, and Snivy, the Grass-type.

   "You can pick first." Rosa said to me.

   "Really? Thanks!" Already knowing which one I wanted, I reached for the Poké Ball containing Oshawott. Pressing the Poké Ball's button made it open and a bright flash of blue light burst from inside it. The light went down to the ground and formed the Oshawott's silhouette. When the light faded, an adorable blue otter Pokémon was standing before me, looking up at me with a cute fanged smile. I reached down and picked up my new Pokémon.

   "Aww! It's so cute!" Rosa exclaimed.

   "Your Oshawott is male with a Jolly nature," Bianca said. "Do you want to give Oshawott a nickname?"

   Do I? I gazed down at the Pokémon in my arms, considering whether I should name him or not. After contemplating for a good two minutes, during which Rosa picked out her own Pokémon, I decided on a name. "Saber. I'll call you Saber," I said. It was short, simple, and had a nice ring to it. Saber let out a happy cry and that sealed the deal, Saber it was. I then returned Saber to his Poké Ball.

   "Your Snivy is female with a Gentle nature," I overheard Bianca tell Rosa.

   "Ok. And for a nickname..." Rosa thought aloud as she tossed her Snivy's Poké Ball from hand to hand. "It sounds pretty unoriginal, but I really like the name Ivy," she said.

   "Great! Now that you two have your Pokémon, I have these for you." Bianca took out two devices from her bag. They were black in color in the shape of a rectangle with a screen near the top of the device and a red Poké Ball emblem taking up most of the bottom half. "This is the latest edition of the Pokédex," Bianca started to explain. "You can register a Pokémon's information by encountering unrecorded Pokémon and scanning them. It'll give you a brief description of the Pokémon along with its type and species. But in order to get a Pokémon's full bio, you'll need to capture it. Do you two understand?"

   Rosa and I said yes as we took our Pokédexes. We thanked Bianca profusely, and she said that we didn't need to, it was apart of her job. Rosa left the lookout and I turned to follow her, but before I left though, Bianca stopped me and handed Tepig's Poké Ball to me along with another Pokédex.

   "The other boy who was here with you, Hugh was his name? Anyway, does he have his own Pokémon?"

   "No he doesn't," I responded.

   "Give him this Tepig along with the extra Pokédex I brought. I always bring an extra in case one gets lost or something. He looked kinda left out, or maybe I was imagining it." She shrugged. "Just take him with you and give him to your friend, I'm sure Tepig would feel left out if he didn't get a Trainer."

   "Okay, I'll make sure Hugh gets Tepig," I said. "Thank you again Bianca, it was nice meeting you." I waved goodbye to her and rushed down the stairs, Tepig's Poké Ball clutched tightly in hand.