Episode 001: The Reluctant Trainer
By Dex Antares

 My name is Dex Antares. I was never really interested in Pokémon. I just signed up with Prof. Oak’s Pokémon center because I needed cash. I never expected what was to transcend that morning.

    I had been working as a stockboy with the professor for a year now. I had an informal education on a few Pokémon. Nothing special. My real specialty was video games and electronics. They’re my life. My favorite game is Final Fantasy VII.I didn’t really want anything to do with the dangers of Pokémon training. Too much work. Besides, I had been rejected for application as a trainer. Prof. Oak called me down to the lab early one morning. Really early. I decided to work on my FFVII game a little. I was doing fine for a bit, but then my party got gunned down by a Shinra grunt. Rats. I finally got on my bike and rode down .

When I got there, the first words out of the professor’s mouth were "You’re late." What a tightass.

"I had to miss Dragonball Z for this. It better be worth it," I replied.

"I doubt some poorly edited anime is more important than this. We’ve discovered a new Pokémon."

"So why call me?," I said. "You’re the one who knows almost every Pokémon."

The look on his face turned to one of smugness, a slight smirk forming on his lips. "I called you because this isn’t most Pokémon. It’s a new species."

"Huh?" He stepped aside to reveal a great, yellow Chocobo quietly pecking around in a holding cell. " WHA?!" I exclaimed, a stuporous expression claiming my face. I couldn’t believe it! I had spent a good chunk of my life studying games like Final Fantasy, but this was not possible! "Where did you find it?!" I asked.

"It was poking around a grasslands area near Saffron City," he said. Saffron. How appropriate.   I still couldn’t believe it. A Chocobo! This was incredible! Were there more? Where did they come from? Did they follow the same rules as most Pokémon? Was a Pokéball enough to capture it? I was so preoccupied with these kinds of thoughts that I almost didn’t hear Prof. Oak trying to get my attention.

"Dexter! Are you listening?!" he shouted at me. I hated when he called me by my full first name. "We need someone with your kind of experience with... other kinds of creatures..." ( I know he didn’t wanna admit that this thing was from a video game.) "... to go out and find more of these specimens. Who knows how many more there are like this!" The professor seemed to get all girly-eyed at the mere thought of new Pokémon.

"I don’t think I’m the kind of person you want for this big a job." Hey, I might have seemed modest, but I didn’t want to do this! "Besides, you don’t even know if this thing is a real Pokémon. We don’t even know if they can be caught using Pokéballs. By the way, how did you get it here?" I asked.

"Simple," he said. "We hit it really hard with a sack of batteries." The joke almost escaped me, but I got it anyway. I assumed he used a sleep move of some kind. I looked at the magnificent beast locked in the menagerie.

"You think you can let it go? I can’t stand seeing it in captivity."

" No," he said. I shot him a look as if to say 'why?', "I’m giving it to you."

"Me? Why?" I asked.

"Because we need you. As of right now, you’re drafted." he said.

DRAFTED?! "What do you mean, Drafted?"

He handed me a Pokédex. "From now on, you work in the field. You are no longer a stockboy. You will take this creature to Pewter city where you will meet up with one of our to scientists, a young girl about your age. Her name is Cleo." Cleo. I like the sound of that. "She is an expert on extinct and rare Pokémon. She will be your partner. Together, you and her will track down any more of these creatures if any exist. You will record your findings in this modified Pokédex." This whole thing sounded pretty dangerous. But this partner he spoke of, now that seemed worth pursuing.

"So what does this Cleo look like?" I asked while rubbing my goatee.

"That, uh, that is quite inconsequential. All you need to know is that she has a very tight tie to Pokémon. Tighter than most would expect." The last line he said under his breath. I wasn’t supposed to hear what he said. That worried me.

The next morning, I said goodbye to my family and headed back to the lab (not without my trusty Gameboy[tm] of course). The Professor told me that if I needed any transportation that it could be arranged simply by giving him a call. Hm. Convenient. Then he told me that it was a privilege. Well, there goes my fun. Still, I was eager to meet Cleo. I never had good luck with girls before. I won’t go into it here, but let’s just say, simply, I NEEDED A GIRLFRIEND. But then again, I was a little apprehensive about meeting someone I knew nothing about. And what was up with the Professor mumbling under his breath? His words echoed through my head as I headed down to the Lab. When I got there, everyone was there to send me off; My mom, Prof. Oak, that girl from the lab with the unnecessarily big eyes. I realized that I really needed to get the hell outta there. This little mission might just be what I need. Yeah, right.