It was a beautiful morning in Pallet Town, and Tootie was still sleeping in her bed. When her alarm clock reached seven o'clock, however, she opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. She rubbed her eyes, then reached over to her favorite purple and blue glasses before putting them over her indigo eyes. She sat on the edge of her bed, stepped off and went over to her dresser.

She opened a couple of the drawers and pulled out her favorite shirt - followed by a gray pair of pants. It looked just like the skirt she'd worn so often in the past, right down to the white (or at least lighter gray) lines. Briefly taking off her glasses, Tootie changed out of her pajamas, then put on her shirt, followed by her pants. And only then did she decide to put her glasses back on. She also took a freshly cleaned white pair of socks and put them on as well, before finally slipping her black shoes onto her feet.

After a brief look in the mirror, however, Tootie realized something was missing: she hadn't brushed her hair. She picked up her favorite hairbrush and proceeded to brush the tangles out of her pigtails. She always kept them in pigtails, but whenever she slept, they tended to get tangled up, regardless of how still she slept at night. Not that she saw this as a problem, of course.

At last, Tootie put down her brush and nodded in satisfaction. She looked much better; she was ready for a new day, a brand new adventure. She went over to her window and pulled the curtains apart, filling all of her bedroom with light. It was a beautiful day, with not a single cloud in the sky. A smile of excitement and happiness appeared on Tootie's face.

"Today is the day," said Tootie to herself.

Tootie went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where her mother was sitting at the table and reading a magazine. Mom looked up at Tootie and smiled in adoration. Tootie couldn't help but smile in return.

"Oh, Tootie! I can't believe you're already ten years old!" said Mom.

Indeed, today was Tootie's tenth birthday, which she'd been looking forward to since almost the beginning of her life. However, it was also the day that she was permitted to be a Pokemon trainer. So instead of celebrating with her mother like she had for years, Tootie was going to begin her Pokemon adventure.

"I know, right?" Tootie asked as she went over to the table. "I didn't think this day would come so fast!" She helped herself to a freshly baked chocolate chip muffin, just big enough to hold with one hand, and a glass of milk from her favorite cup, the one that had an Eevee on it.

"Neither did I," Mom replied today. "I'm so proud of you, darling."

"Thanks, Mommy." Tootie finished the last of her milk, then sighed with relief. "And thanks for the food, it was delicious!" She stood up from the table, picked up her pink and blue backpack and walked over to the door.

"Oh, and Tootie?" Mom asked, stopping Tootie from even putting her hand on the doorknob. "Watch out for your rival - that girl is a brat if I ever saw one."

"I understand." Tootie placed her hand on the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door open. "Bye, Mom!"

Finally, she exited her house, closing the door behind her. Tootie then walked a few inches away from her house, but then stopped as her mother's words sunk in.

"R-Rival...?" Tootie asked herself. "When did I have a rival?"

Before she could ponder that any longer, the sight of a familiar laboratory building caught her eye. Tootie smiled and ran over to it, stopping once she had reached the door. She knocked on it about three times, then turned the doorknob and pushed the door opened.

"Professor Oak!" Tootie called. She stepped in, closing the door behind her. "I'm here!"

There was no reply, however. Tootie headed into the main part of the lab, but she didn't see who she was looking for. She saw an odd machine, followed by a table with three white and red balls. And next to the table stood a red-headed female, much taller than Tootie, who was wearing a green shirt, black pants and spiked shoes.

Tootie recognized her and her eyes widened. The memories came flowing back to her. "Vicky?"

"What do you want, twerp?!" Vicky asked bitterly.

Tootie was taken aback for a moment. Vicky was still her evil, irritable and intolerably mean self after all these years... "I, I was looking for Professor Oak," Tootie explained.

"You mean Gramps? Well, he's not here right now!" Vicky snapped.

"Well, where is he?"

"None of your business, I'll tell ya that!" said Vicky.

Knowing that her responses would elicit more unkind reactions from who she now knew was her rival, Tootie simply nodded in acceptance, then turned and walked out of the lab. Vicky, meanwhile, crossed her arms and tapped her foot as she waited for her grandfather to arrive.

"Why isn't Professor Oak in his lab today?" Tootie asked as she went back outside. "And where could he be if he's not there?"

As she walked away from the lab, Tootie turned her head slightly to look at the patches of grass just outside the entrance/exit to Pallet Town. An idea came to her mind, and although it probably wasn't true, she couldn't help but believe it.

"Maybe he left town for a few minutes..." said Tootie.

She went over to the patches of grass, which swayed ever so slightly in the breeze. It couldn't hurt to go just a little far past home, right? Tootie stepped onto one of the patches of grass, when all of a sudden...

"No, Tootie, wait!" a voice said.

Tootie immediately turned around. In front of her, she saw an elderly man in a white coat. She knew who he was.

"Professor Oak!" said Tootie.

"What do you think you're doing? It's unsafe out there!" Prof. Oak said.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Tootie apologized, blushing a little. "I might have gotten a little worried about where you were..."

"As understandable as that is, I'm more worried about your safety," said Oak. "You'll need your own Pokemon if you'd like to venture out into the world."

"You... you mean...?" Tootie started to ask, but Oak knew what she was going to say.

"Why don't you come with me to the lab?" Oak asked.

Tootie smiled in understanding - and secret excitement - as she nodded. She walked out of the grass and followed Prof. Oak back into Pallet Town. He led her into the lab, where Vicky had been waiting for him.

"What took you so long, Gramps?!" Vicky demanded to know. "I've been waiting here forever!"

"Calm down, Vicky, I'll be right with you." Oak then turned to Tootie. "You may have one of the three Pokemon in this lab. They're in the Poke Balls on the table, by the way."

"Okay." Tootie went over to the table, but not without hearing more of Vicky's irritated voice.

"Hey! What about me?! Don't I get one, too?!"

"Be patient, Vicky, let this innocent young trainer pick hers first," Oak replied.

Tootie looked over at the Poke Balls that were available. At random, she pressed the button on one of them, causing it to open as a flash of light emerged from it. When it subsided, it revealed a little blue-green creature with a large green object on its back. The creature opened its eyes, revealing them to be red, and looked up at Tootie. It smiled and spoke.

"Bulba!"

Tootie couldn't help but smile as well. She turned to look a Prof. Oak.

"Professor Oak?" Tootie asked. "What's this one?"

"That's a Bulbasaur, a Grass-type Pokemon," Oak explained. "Would you like that one?"

"Gee, I like it, but..." Tootie thought for a moment. "I think I'd like to see what the others look like first."

"Of course!" Prof. Oak went over to the table where Tootie was, and then pressed the buttons on the two remaining Poke Balls. They, too, opened with a couple flashes of light. When they subsided, one revealed an orange dinosaur-like creature with flames at the end of its tail, and the other revealed a light blue turtle creature with an orange shell. The orange creature had blue eyes, the blue creature had purple eyes.

"Char!" said the orange creature.

"Squirt!" said the blue creature.

"This one is Charmander, the Fire-type Pokemon," Prof. Oak said, pointing to the orange creature.

"It looks kinda cute," Tootie said, "but I think it could be dangerous..."

"And this one is Squirtle, the Water-type Pokemon." Prof. Oak pointed to the blue creature.

"Oh, that one's cute, too..." Tootie commented with a smile.

"Which one would you like?" Oak wanted to know. "I'd let you have all of them, but then what would we have for Vicky?"

"Yeah, what?!" Vicky snapped, causing Tootie to wince.

Once Tootie had regained herself, she felt something touch her hand. She looked down to her side to see Bulbasaur probing the back of her hand with his snout. Tootie blushed and smiled at him, then pulled her hand away and petted the top of his head gently.

"I would like Bulbasaur," Tootie decided.

"Excellent choice." Prof. Oak pushed the button to Bulbasaur's Poke Ball, causing him to return to the ball. He then closed it and handed it to Tootie. "Here it is, Tootie. Be sure to take good care of it, and it will become your friend."

"Thank you!" Tootie accepted the Poke Ball from Oak, and then smiled as she held it in her hands. Tears of joy filled her eyes. "I... I can't believe it... My first Pokemon ever! This is wonderful!"

Vicky scoffed to herself and went over to the table as well. She pressed the button on Charmander's Poke Ball, causing it to return to its own ball. She then closed it and held it in her hand, eyeing Tootie in determination.

"You'll be sorry when I burn your Bulbasaur with my new Charmander!" said Vicky.

"Vicky!" Prof. Oak said in disapproval.

Tootie had heard what Vicky had just said, but she didn't complain. Besides, the fact that Prof. Oak was more on her side than his granddaughter's left Tootie more reassured. Tootie turned and started to walk out of the lab, but before she could even reach the door, Vicky called for her.

"Hey, twerp!"

Tootie turned to look at Vicky, still holding her Poke Ball in her hand.

"Let's see how my cool Charmander does compared to that lame green thing you picked," Vicky said.

She pressed the button on her Poke Ball and threw it at the floor.

"Go! Charmander!" Vicky called.

The Poke Ball opened with a flash of light. When it subsided, it revealed her Charmander that she'd just selected.

"Charmander!"

Tootie pressed the button on her own Poke Ball, then threw it at the floor as well.

"Let's do this, Bulbasaur!" Tootie called.

The Poke Ball opened with a flash of light, revealing Tootie's Bulbasaur once it had subsided.

"Bulbasaur!"

"Charmander, use Scratch!" Vicky commanded.

The Charmander did as it was told, reaching one forearm up and raking its claws against Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur cringed from the pain, then shook his head to regain himself.

"Bulbasaur! Use your Tackle attack! That oughta teach Vicky to be mean to us!" said Tootie.

Bulbasaur gathered up all of his strength, then charged toward Vicky's Charmander as fast as he could. Finally he leaped and tackled Charmander, causing a great deal of damage to the Fire-type Pokemon. As Bulbasaur got up, Charmander lay there, unable to move. Bulbasaur had won.

Vicky stood there, shocked and baffled. "W... WHAT?! That's impossible!"

"Yeah!" Tootie cheered as she jumped. "We did it! Way to go, Bulbasaur!"

Vicky sighed in irritation, then pulled out her Poke Ball and recalled her weakened Charmander.

"You got lucky, twerp," said Vicky. "The only Pokemon I wanted, and you HAD to beat it!"

Bulbasaur went back over to Tootie, who smiled proudly at him and reached down to pet the top of his head.

"Once I get my Charmander stronger and cooler, there's no way you'll beat me like that again!" Vicky said. "Not even if your dumb Bulbasaur gets stronger, too!"

"Oh, really?" Tootie asked. "We'll see about that."

"Tootie? Vicky?" Prof. Oak asked. "Would you come here for a moment?"

Tootie recalled her Bulbasaur before she and Vicky did as they were told.

"There's something I need you two to do for me," said Prof. Oak.

"What is it?" Tootie wanted to know.

Oak reached into his pocket and pulled out a red gadget that Tootie couldn't recall seeing before.

"This is a Pokedex," Prof. Oak started. "It records the many different Pokemon that you come across, and reveals more information on them once you manage to catch them. It's a hi-tech encyclopedia."

"Since I was younger, it was my dream to catch all of the Pokemon they are and complete the Pokedex. But I'm afraid the years have passed, and so I can't quite complete this task in my old age... So what I'd like you two to do is complete the Pokedex yourselves. It certainly won't be easy, but once you have received your Pokedexes, the roads to your exciting adventures will be opened!"

"I'll do the best I can," Tootie promised.

"You'll be sorry when I complete my Pokedex first!" Vicky snapped. "By the time I do that, your Bulbasaur won't stand a chance against my cool Pokemon!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Oak said to Vicky. He handed the Pokedex that had been in his hand to Vicky, then picked up another Pokedex and handed it to Tootie. "I'm counting on you girls to fulfill my dream. And take your time; it will take determination, courage, patience and confidence."

"I understand, Professor Oak," said Tootie.

Vicky, however, put the Pokedex in her pocket and headed out of the lab. "Smell ya later, twerps!"

Without saying a word, Prof. Oak and Tootie simply watched her leave, the former in mild annoyance at worst, and the latter in confusion.

"And Tootie, can you keep a secret?" Oak asked in private. "I can already tell you're far more capable and responsible than my own granddaughter."

Tootie blushed and giggled slightly. "Thanks, Professor. And thanks for letting me have Bulbasaur. I'll take the best care of him I can."

"If something happens to him, bring him to a Pokemon Center. Or, if you can't reach one, give him this." Prof. Oak picked up what looked like a spray bottle, although it had the word "Potion" written onto it. "This will help him regain some of his energy, but not much." He handed it to Tootie, who placed it in her pocket.

"And when you see a Pokemon you want to catch," Oak went on, "weaken it with your Bulbasaur and then throw one of these at the Pokemon." He pulled out a total of six Poke Balls, which were small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. "If it doesn't work, keep trying until you successfully capture it."

Tootie took the Poke Balls as well and placed them in her pocket as well. "Okay, thank you."

"Good luck, Tootie!" Prof. Oak said as Tootie started to walk out of the lab. "I'm counting on you!"

Tootie stopped when she reached the door, looked back at Prof. Oak and smiled confidently at him. It was only then that she turned back, opened the door and headed out of the lab.

With a brand new Pokemon by her side, Tootie was sure that she was in for a fantastic adventure.