[center][h2][b]Pokémon: One[/b][/h2][/center]

As you opened your eyes, everything became clear. The sun gave a yellow tinge to your surroundings, and the summer heat caused a drop of sweat to run down the side of your body. Hadn’t it just been pale blue? You must’ve fallen asleep in the middle of the night. The temperature almost lulled you into a second, mid-morning nap. Your eyes fluttered a slideshow of light and dark and began to roll into the back of your head. Almost. Your skin tightened and your chest heaved. You shot up in bed and your eyes widened, adjusting to the light. The adrenaline in your veins returned as your shaking hands gripped whatever might be lying about. You threw whatever coverings that bundled you in the night and your feet hit the ground running, literally soaring out of bed. Was that the smell of pancakes downstairs or in a house across the road? Where’d you fall asleep again? Who cares, today was the day! Your eyes darted about the place and you grabbed whatever you thought might help you in the blink of an eye. Personal belongings, a pack, some snacks, you even found a Potion hidden around the place and stuffed everything into some sort of container. The zipper groaned as you heaved backward with all of your might to get it closed. You nearly sprinted away before turning back. You collected all of the cash you’d been saving and stuffed it into your pockets.

[center][b][Acquire: Potion x1]
[Acquire: 500 P (Pokédollars)][/b][/center]

Did you say goodbye to your parents? Were they here? Were you in a home? Out the door you went. Your shoes slammed against the dirt and kicked up grass. With your gear in tow, you took your first steps to becoming a Pokémon master.

[center][h2][color=ed1c24]Redorchard[/color][/h2][/center]

It was an annual tradition for Professor Ficus to hand out Pokémon to those who wanted to begin their adventure out into the Huji region. He gave each and every trainer a Pokédex to record all of the species, and it was each trainer’s job to record the Pokémon they found in their journey. What excited you? The Pokémon? The Pokédex? Getting to explore the lands? Making friendships along the way? Whatever it was, that energy propelled you forward onto the horizon. 

The town was simple but efficient, plotted out as if it were a large orchard itself. Each section, whether it was a house, a park, a school, or something else was allotted the same amount of space. Between each area was a dirt road, made of a mauve-colored clay stamped down over the ages. You could run a footrace across the whole town, like right now. Most of the roofs around town had a red hue, except for the small Pokémart at the SE corner, which was blue with a similar-shaded Poké Ball front and center. Sometimes, there were promotions going on if you were lucky. A lot of trainers didn’t come through town after they’d left, though, and there weren’t too many top-shelf items. Most of them were potions and Poké Balls, with a few cures when they were recently re-stocked. 

The town had a sort of hidden valley feeling to it, as titanic trees surrounded the buildings and could be seen along the dirt footpaths, no matter where you stood. They were viridian right now, but right when autumn approached the leaves would become more crimson and brighter in color than the top of a Poké Ball. You probably knew the surrounding woods by heart at this point, having played in every tree and jumped in every pile of leaves. That is, if you were from the area. You didn’t notice them today, though. No, your eyes were dead set on reaching the center of town: the Professor’s research laboratory.

You hadn’t quite reached the building when you faced the back of a shorter individual, and the back of someone taller in front of him, and someone in front of him… all the way down the road and cutting a corner to the front entrance. You weren’t even late, and this year was already packed with beginner trainers. There was another person that arrived nearly at the same time as you. The two of you were a unique bunch: one with a large, blue ponytail and large black headphones. The sound of raging guitars and pounding drums roared from the speakers. The other one of you had two long, golden braids that cascaded down the front of your body with orange ribbons at the top.  She was the shorter one by far, standing at about the shoulder of the first girl. For a moment, you felt as if there was going to be another individual join you, but nobody heeded the instinct. The two of you had never seen each other in your entire lives. The two of you had arrived at the same time: how did you decide who joined in line first? There was a large, rotund boy with glasses sitting against the wall of the research lab, but he didn’t seem to be bothering anybody. Though, you wondered why he was there if he wasn’t in line.

[center][h2][color=0072bc]Dewmeadow[/color][/h2][/center]

It was an annual tradition for Professor Dogwood to hand out Pokémon to those who wanted to begin their adventure out into the Huji region. He gave each and every trainer a Pokédex to record all of the species, and it was each trainer’s job to record the Pokémon they found in their journey. What excited you? The Pokémon? The Pokédex? Getting to explore the lands? Making friendships along the way? Whatever it was, that energy propelled you forward onto the horizon. 

Everything was open in Dewmeadow, with at least a quarter mile between each building. Water droplets kicked up onto your pants leg as you sprinted up a viridian hillside and overlooked a flat plain of white flowers, rustic homes, and the occasional, strong oak spouting up from the ground. The town didn’t have many people since it was so far out into the country, but it made up for it with the amount of land it had to offer and the bonds of rural community. The crisp, summer air breezed through your air and you took a deep breath. It revitalized your energy. You took shallow, quick breaths. Time to run again.

There wasn’t really a natural border to the town. It sort of just kept going and going until trees became more dense and finally the short grass gave way to some dirt. Whichever way you went, you’d end up hitting the route out of town. You knew the place by heart, having climbed every tree and rolled down every tiny hill. That is, if you were from here. There were always some indentations in the path where wagons came through for trading. There wasn’t an official Pokémart in town, but you could usually find a travelling merchant around the place offering basic wares. If you were lucky, he had something special for beginning trainers, like a Great Ball. You’d never seen them have one in stock, though. 

Where you were headed was north, a straight shot through the fields and prairies separating you and the Research Lab of Professor Dogwood. You sprinted past all of the waving hands and familiar faces cast through windowpanes. The summer heat attacked the bare skin of your neck but you kept running. A drop of sweat fell into your lower eyelid but you wiped it away and kept going. And going. And going. Twenty minutes of running and your two, heavy feet slammed into the dirt beneath grass. You doubled over, panting, sweat raining from hair. You looked up. Two others were there, right outside the door. The three of you were an interesting crowd. The first of you had short, black hair, a skull hairpin, and large purple eyes like galaxies. She wore proper, black and white attire, fitting into the meadow setting nicely. The second of you had wild, untamed white hair and pale skin to match the hair. He seemed foreign, not of this place, had he moved here from somewhere else? The third and final of you had the eyes of a super nova, nearly half the size of his tiny face, and long, styled blonde hair to boot. His white tunic ended in purple sleeves and continued into brown trousers. Mara and Rowan very likely knew each other in this tight-knit community, but the third individual was likely a stranger. There were no others about the door: how did you decide who would go in first?