The red chair in my cabin was quite comfy. I think. I didn't actually get the chance to find out, seeing as Crescendo spent the entire boat ride curled up on it. Despite myself, I sighed loudly, staring out the window in utter boredom. Sure, land was clearly visible, and the P.A system had announced that we'd be arriving in Sandgem in about ten minutes, but with the little Eevee asleep and the rest of my Pokemon at home (at my request), I really had nothing at all to do other than sit in the boat and wait.

Unfortunately (or, from a certain point of view, fortunately), my sigh had woken Crescendo up from his nap, and after stretching his legs and cricking his back, he bounded over to me, jumped into my lap and pressed his front paws against the pane of glass. I poked the window just above his left ear, and he batted at my finger playfully. I smiled.

"See that, Crescendo? That's Sandgem Town." He stared at the sight for a little while, then turned to me, big brown eyes wide with emotion, and he let out a "Vee?" I stroked the silky fur of his ear, and he pressed into my hand, smiling.

"We'll be meeting a new friend th- huh?" I was cut off as my Pokegear started to ring, and I quickly flipped it open. "Mom?"

My mother appeared on the screen, along with the worried faces of an Espeon and Umbreon, the lavender, black, and glowing blue blending together at the bottom of the screen. "Sorry to call you so suddenly, sweetie. Crescent and Vivian just wanted to see how their baby's doing. You're taking good care of him, right?" Vivian let out a bark, and Crescendo went wild, trying to get at the screen. I restrained him as best I could as I lowered the Pokegear to his level, and he immediately pressed his paw against the screen, covering up half of the call from being shown.

"Yeah, yeah, he's just fine, Mom. Don't worry about it." I said tiredly, and my mom gave me a disappointed look.

"You ought to care a little more about how Crescent and Vivian feel, Bill! They agreed to let you bring their child along, so they have a right to know how he's doing!" I sighed and looked away so I could roll my eyes without her seeing, then turned back to the screen, which Crescendo had finally unblocked.

"Yeah, but they've called at least once every day since I left. Can't they have a little more faith in me? I've traveled around two other regions, you know." I said matter-of-factly, and my mom let out a grunt.

"It's just what parents do, Bill. It's just like how I called you lots of times when you started your first journey."

"Yeah, but I missed all the calls because my Pokegear was packed so deep in my bag that I didn't notice. Remember?"

"Y-yes, but that's not an excuse to not pick up the phone now. Ugh..." My mother sighed in frustration before whipping her head to the side. "I'm sorry, Crescent, Vivian, sweetie, I've got to hang up now. Rose's parents are here, we're having dinner together tonight. See you!" The Umbreon and Espeon gave a final bark to their son before the Pokegear switched off. Just as I did so, a loud, monotone voice blared out of the ceiling speaker, spooking Crescendo.

"The S.S Aqua has arrived at Sandgem Town. If this is your destination, we wish you a safe and pleasant stay." I picked up the little Eevee to calm him down, and returned him to his Pokeball before I exited the room.

The beach outside was warm and damp, and the sun was just beginning to set, giving the town a golden glow to it. As I wandered away from the boat, I took a complimentary town map from the dock's information kiosk and stared at it. Other than a few houses, and the few shops and Pokemart in the town center, there didn't seem to be much - except for the one thing that interested me: Professor Rowan's Pokemon Lab, at the northernmost part of the town. Adjusting my bag's strap, I confidently strolled into the town, leaving the Johto-bound boat behind me.

The town was bustling with activity, something I hadn't expected given the fact that it was early evening. The red-brick and white-stone buildings were caked with dust from people and Pokemon walking, running, talking, playing, and I had to stand on my tiptoes to be able to see some of the signs that hung from the roofs. Deciding not to sightsee for the moment, I furled up the map and shoved it into my bag, and reached out to tap on the shoulder of a younger boy carrying a briefcase. He turned, his red beret flopping off of his head, slightly.

"Yes? What is it?" I straightened my green jacket to make myself look presentable.

"Ah... do you know the way to Professor Rowan's lab? I know it's the northernmost part of town, but, ah, I just arrived." The boy's eyes lit up, and he shook my hand warmly.

"Oh, you must be here for a Sinnoh starter Pokemon! Does that mean you're a new Trainer?"

"Not exactly. I've traveled a few other places before, but this is the first I've been to Sinnoh."

"Then let me be the first to welcome you. I'm Lucas, Professor Rowan's assistant." My eyebrow shot up.

"Assistant?" Admittedly, I had been pretty young myself when I first started Pokemon training, but this kid had to be at least eleven... which was one year younger than when I started my first journey anyway, so I was getting confused over nothing. Mentally slapping myself, I shook my head and smiled.

"So you must know the way to the lab." He nodded and began to walk away, beckoning me to follow him, which I did.

"Uh, so... what are the three Sinnoh starters?" I asked casually, and he stopped to open the briefcase. He pulled out a tiny scrap of paper with three doodles on it, and handed it to me. I looked. One doodle showed a turtle with a leaf growing out of its head. The next showed a monkey with a small fire burning on its backside. The last was a rather crude drawing of a penguin. I handed the paper back to Lucas, who immediately put it back inside the briefcase, and he snapped it closed before we began to walk again.

"The first one is Turtwig, the Grass-typed starter. The second one is Chimchar, the Fire-typed starter, and the last one is Piplup, the Water-typed starter." The last few words were said with slight disdain, and I turned to him. "Most people pick Chimchar or Turtwig, since they find Piplup to be a handful to train."

"Why is that?"

"You'll find out. Trust me." He stopped in front of a set of big, wooden double-doors, and knocked three times. And waited. And waited. And waited some more.

I looked at him from the corner of my eye. "Are you sure this is the place?"

"Of course I'm sure."

As if on cue, the doors opened, revealing a very, very old man in a brown coat and blue dress-shirt. He stared at Lucas and I, sharp eyes looking us over, and his beard rustled as he spoke.

"Lucas, who is this young man?" His voice was gravelly, and Lucas stuttered a bit when he replied.

"This... um... this is a Trainer looking for a starter Pokemon, s-sir." Rowan's eyes flicked to me, and I looked back at him, unafraid. I reached my hand out for him to shake. He didn't take it.

"My name's Bill, Professor. I was sent here on a recommendation from Professor Elm?" Rowan's posture changed from stiff to... well, slightly-less stiff, and he finally took my hand, shaking it once.

"Ah yes, I got Elm's e-mail. You're going to go around and collect Badges like all the other trainers, I assume?"

"Of course, sir."

"I see. Lucas! Come along. And you too, Bill." Lucas's blue winter coat swished past me, and I saw the kid zoom past Rowan and into the lab. Rowan and I shared a laugh, before I looked up at him again. I noticed he was almost a head taller than I was. It was a strange feeling, to be honest. I still didn't know whether I was done growing or not.

"Have you given any thought as to what starter you were going to choose?"

"I gave them a quick look on the way here, but I'm not quite sure who I'm going to choose yet, no."

"Well now. Most trainers have their choice set in stone when they get here. Why not you?"

"Well, I spent most of the boat ride thinking of name ideas, sir."

He stared at me, then sighed. "Really." We entered the main room of the lab, the warm brown walls of the entrance giving way to a white, washed-out look. In the corner was a computer, hooked up to a scanner, and a healing machine beeped in the middle of the room. Lucas set In the corner was a computer, hooked up to a scanner, and a healing machine beeped in the middle of the room. Lucas set the briefcase down on a table near the healing machine, and Professor Rowan slipped off his coat and hung it on a rack near the door, and sat down behind the table. I sat down on the other side, and Rowan opened up the briefcase. He started to reach inside, but stopped suddenly.

"Bill, before I let you choose your starter, I would like to ask you a few questions." My mind raced. Pop quiz? Dammit! "Don't worry, I ask these to every Trainer who comes to get a starter Pokemon. Now, are you ready to begin?"

I wasn't sure if I nodded, but he spoke again regardless of whether I did so or not. "Where do you come from?"

"I come from Johto, sir."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen, sir, and my birthday's this fall."

"Autumn."

"Same thing."

He was silent for a moment, as if trying to figure out what I had just said. I was confused by his reaction before realizing I had forgotten something.

"...sir."

I thought I saw his beard twitch into the semblance of a smile. "Alright. How many places have you traveled to?"

"I've explored both Kanto and Hoenn and collected all eight Badges of each, sir."

"Did you ever participate in the Elite Four challenge?"

"I have not, sir. My goal was just to get all eight Badges - I never thought about trying to become the Champion."

"Hm. Well, let's continue."

This I-ask-a-personal-question-and-you-answer-it session went on for about an hour or so, and while I'd never say it in front of Rowan, I got incredibly bored by the end of it. To my relief, he finally stood up, revealing a darkened window behind him.

"Wow, it's already nighttime." I remarked, and Rowan turned around to glance at the window.

"Astute observation." He snarked, and it took me a while before his comment sunk in, but by the time I realized it, he had left the room with Lucas. I couldn't hear them, but whatever they were talking about, I obviously wasn't supposed to listen, and so I sat, waiting again. I toyed with the idea of letting out Crescendo, but decided against it and instead walked over to another table in the room and grabbed a newspaper.

"Old Research Building in Eterna Bought by Galactic?" I began to thumb through the article. Apparently a group calling themselves Team Galactic had obtained some building in Eterna City, and were using it to conduct experiments of some sort. I grunted as I put the paper down. Team Galactic... sounded like another Rocket ripoff. Rocket was famous all over the world for their criminal activities (and their disbanding years ago by a trainer only known as Red), and even now knock-offs seemed to pop up everywhere - the year I started my first journey, Hoenn had a huge disaster with two teams called Aqua and Magma. I hadn't paid much attention to it since it wasn't my business - besides, most of the info on the incident had been classified anyway. I heard the door click behind me, and I saw Rowan and Lucas walk back inside. In Rowan's hands was a Pokeball.

"Lucas and I have talked, and we agreed that you'd be best suited to this Pokemon for your starter." I took the ball gingerly from him and stared at it. This was my starter Pokemon for my Sinnoh journey. I looked at Rowan, who stared back nonchalantly, and then Lucas, who nodded encouragingly. Smiling, I gave the ball a weak toss, and it let out a flash of light that formed into a little penguin.

"A Piplup!" I exclaimed, and I immediately knelt down to get a good look at it. It was small, with a blue body, white head, yellow feet, and tiny beak. I gave it a pat.

"Hey there... Glacier. I guess you're my new partner." He looked back at me and pointed to himself with his flipper, giving me a quiet "Pip?" as he did so.

"Yep, you." The bird then decided to peck at my palm, the yellow beak jabbing into my hand, and I drew back, hissing slightly. Lucas immediately stepped over and grabbed my wrist, looking at it before he pulled a roll of bandages out of the briefcase, and he wrapped up my hand snugly in the fabric. Rowan seemed to smile.

"See? He's taken to you already." He pointed to the chair I had been sitting it, and I saw Piplup clambering into it, letting out another "Pip!", louder this time, as he settled into the bag, fidgeting a bit before getting comfortable. I sighed a bit.

"Glacier, get out of there. There's important stuff in there." I said, as I attempted to pull the penguin out of my bag. Unfortunately, he fought me, batting away my hands and hanging onto the bag as I pulled at him, and eventually I gave up, letting him sit in the bag, and I sat down, breathing hard from the effort.

"Hoo boy." I thought I heard a chuckle and turned, but neither Rowan nor Lucas were laughing. I stood up and slung my bag around my shoulder, and I waved to the two of them.

"Thank you, Lucas, Professor. See you... ah, later, I guess." Rowan grabbed my shoulder as I made to leave, and I looked at him. He handed me a Pokedex.

"You mustn't forget this." He said, and for a moment, he seemed to be glaring at me for being so absentminded.

"You're right. Thank you, Professor Rowan." And with that, I left the room and the lab entirely, leaving Lucas and Rowan by themselves. As I began to walk towards the Pokemon Center, I felt Glacier climb up my messenger bag's strap and hang onto my shoulder, where he began to chatter nonsense into my ear. I patted him on the head, and he said a short "Piplup!" in response. I smiled.

"Good to meet you, Glacier. I think we'll be friends."