Narrator: Our story begins this fateful day when a young lass of fifteen gets a late start to her Pokemon journey. What challenges lay ahead for this young girl? Find out here!

"Em, can you come downstairs for a minute?" called a voice.

Emily looked up from her book, blonde hair swishing in her face. "Coming!" she called back down to her mother. Setting the book aside, she swung her legs off the bed and descended the stairs to find her mother and step father sitting at the table, looking far more serious than she ever liked to see. "What's wrong?" she asked, immediately on edge.

"Nothing's wrong, we just want to talk to you about something," her mother reassured, her green eyes alight and pleasant. Her step father, Michael, nodded in agreement, encouraging her to sit at the table with them.

Emily scooted toward the table and sat, perched precariously on the edge of her seat. "Is this an intervention? I swear I'm not doing drugs."

Her mother laughed. "No, it's not about that, but I'm glad to know. We…" her mother paused and looked at Micheal. "We've been thinking. Most people go on a Pokemon journey when they're ten. You didn't so you could stay with me, but now…"

Hope began to ride in her chest, but she quickly squashed it back down. This wasn't really happening, was it? "Do… do you mean-"

"We want you to go now," Micheal said. "It was very admirable of you to stay with your mother while she was sick, but she's better now. And if it happens again I'll be here. There's no reason you shouldn't go, unless you just don't want to."

"We've talked to Professor Birch and he's made some preparations already…" her mother continued. "You can get a Pokemon from him and leave tomorrow if you want to. Or take a few days and prepare. It's whatever you want to do."

Silence descended as Emily processed everything that her parents had just told her. She stared blankly at the table, her back still unnaturally straight. "Can… Can I go get my Pokemon tonight then decide the rest later?"

Her mother nodded eagerly, jumping up. "I'll go call Professor Birch right now and let him know you're on your way! Oh, this is so exciting!"

I haven't seen her this energized in a long time, Emily thought idly, smiling. Her mother turned around less than a minute after picking up the phone. "He's expecting you! Go there and hurry back!"

Emily sprang out of her seat, wrapping her mother in a giant bear hug. "Thank you," she whispered in her mother's ear, noting how much her mother had filled back out recently. She really was going to be okay.

Releasing her mother, she spun around and gave Micheal a quick hug and thank you too before dashing out the front door. The professor's lab wasn't particularly far from her house, but it was a decent walk. About five minutes after setting out she was on his front door step, panting hard. Before she could raise her hand to knock the door was flying open, revealing the slightly portly professor. "Hello Emily! Come in, come in!" he ushered excitedly.

"Hi Professor! Thank you for letting me come do this so late!" It was almost 8 PM when she left her house. He should have been in his own home by now.

"Nonsense! This is my favorite part of the job, come back this way!" he said, waving her to a back corner of the large room. There sat a strange type of podium with three Pokeballs nestled into it. "Now, I'm sure you're well acquainted with the three Pokemon we keep here for starters, yes?"

Emily nodded vigorously. She had studied them well before her mother got sick.

"Awesome! Do you already have someone in mind?" he asked.

"I… think so. But, could I meet all of them first? I'd like to see if I'm pulled one way or another by them…" Emily asked, uncertain about her strange request.

Professor Birch chuckled. "Of course. One moment!" He picked up the first ball and set Treecko free, who barely even glanced at her. Next came Mudkip, greeting her with a happy cry before trying to make Treecko play with it. Lastly was Torchic. The small bird stared at Emily for a moment before twittering happily and bouncing in circles around her.

Emily grinned at the little creature and crouched down, gaining the attention of all three. "Hi you guys. Who wants to be my friend?"

Treecko turned away again, clearly not interested in her. Mudkip let out a happy squeak and sat down in front of her, wagging its tail happily. Torchic let out another loud chirp and began hopping back and forth over Mudkip. The poor water Pokemon had to duck as Torchic's claws were scraping the top of its head.

Emily giggled and picked the small bird up. "You little scamp! I think you're the one coming home with me." Torchic twittered, loud and happy. Emily and the professor laughed in response.

"Here," the professor said, digging through a drawer and producing some Pokeballs. "These should get you started on your journey. Oh! Can't forget the Pokedex either!" he exclaimed to himself, looking around to locate the device. He swiftly looked through a few more drawers before producing it. "Here we are! This should get you set for a while. When are you going to set out?"

"Probably in a few days," she replied, trying to calm Torchic down. "I don't want to rush into it and be unprepared. Plus, it'll give Torchic and I a few days to get to know each other!" she said, smiling as Torchic chirped happily again.

"Good plan!"

Three days later, Emily finally felt ready for her journey. Truthfully, she had been completely prepped the day before; she just wanted one more day to enjoy with her mother. Now, though, everything was in place and she had no more excuses. It was time for her journey!

After a rather drawn out goodbye from her parents- her mother might have been pushing out of the door but pulled her right back in when she left- she was finally able to start out on her own. She had been down routes 101 and 102 many times with her parents, but hadn't ever been much further than that on foot.

Route 101 wasn't particularly long, but it normally took them about an hour to traverse on foot due to the lack of clear paths. About a quarter way through the route, she started finding Pokemon left and right; several Poochyena (one now resided in her arsenal) more than a few Wurmple (also caught one of those) and many Zigzagoon. By the time she made it to Oldale Town, both herself and her Pokemon were exhausted. It had taken her more than twice as long and she had seen more Pokemon than ever on her walk.

Walking into the Pokemon Center, she was greeted cheerily by Nurse Joy. "Hello there! Rough time on your own?" she asked, a knowing twinkle in her eye.

"Extremely rough," Emily replied, handing over her three Pokeballs. "I've never seen so many wild Pokemon before. Why is that?"

"Pokemon around here can tend to avoid larger groups of humans. They're usually pretty weak so they're not able to put up the necessary fight. A single person, however…" Nurse Joy trailed off, not having to continue.

Emily nodded. "That makes sense, I guess. So I guess I should expect more of that, huh?"

Nurse Joy nodded firmly. "Yes, you should. I'll take your Pokemon now, they need a while to rest. Why don't you go to the Pokemart and stock up on more travel supplies?" she suggested as she swept the Pokemon away, not bothering to wait for an answer.

"Yeah, sure I'll do that," Emily muttered crossly, stalking out of the Pokemon Center. She could see the Pokemart from the center, so she headed there and bought the few potions and Pokeballs that she could afford. The whole excursion barely took ten minutes and then she was back at the Pokemon Center, waiting. And waiting. Aaaaand waiting.

She must have dozed off at some point, because the next thing she knew Nurse Joy was shaving her shoulder. "Your Pokemon are ready to go," she said kindly, giving her a sympathetic look. "Try to take it easy for the rest of the day, okay?"

Emily smiled wearily at the nurse. "No promises?"

Nurse Joy only shook her head in response, knowing how pointless it was to argue with a new trainer.

Picking her Pokeballs up off the tray, Emily sat out once again, eager to get to Petalburg by nightfall. If her experience on route 101 was any sort of predictive of the future, route 102 was going to be hell.

And hell it was. It seemed like every time she chased off one Zigzagoon a Wurmple would replace it and vice versa. She also ran into four- four!- other trainers, all of whom wanted to battle. Then, finally, she ran into a different Pokemon, a Ralts!

Emily tried to contain her glee. Ralts was one of the Pokemon she had always dreamed of having by her side. She sent out Wurmple and carefully wore down the Ralts, successfully managing to catch it. When she picked up the Pokeball, she couldn't help the triumphant yelp that she let out, scooping up Wurmple in her arms and spinning around, entirely exuberant about her new friend.

After managing to calm down and get Wurmple situated, it wasn't long before she ran into another wild Pokemon, this time a Lotad! She managed to catch that one too- might as get as many as she could, right? She'd worry about specifics later.

After a long and weary afternoon, she finally arrived in Petalburg well after the sun had set. Locating the Pokemon Center, she shuffled in, exhausting filling every inch of her. She had never been so busy in one day. And this was only her first day! How long would this last?

The Nurse Joy here was very kind, offering her a room to stay in for the night while her Pokemon were healed. While normally she might be skeptical of a free room, this night she didn't care. She fell into bed and was out immediately.

Author's Notes: Okay, I know this story says triple threat but we've only seen one character so far. Not to fret, the other two will come along in the next two chapters.

In case anyone cares: yes, this is a self insert story. I'm writing this for myself and my friends and thought y'all might enjoy too. It's not everyone's cup of tea, so I'm not expecting much in the way of feedback. buuut if you do read it and like it, let me know please!