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For three days the boat sailed across the ocean towards Kanto. The sea air and slight breeze felt invigorating. Only this time, he was crossing the ocean by himself. His parents usually accompanied him on the yearly trips to Kanto to visit his grandmother, but this time his trip was the begining of his pokemon journey. But even though he didn't have his parents, one couldn't say he was entirely alone. In his arms he carried a pink and green egg, a gift from his mother and father. Back at home, his parents had a Gallade and a Gardevoir to help around the house. This egg was the result of the two pairing. Robert looked up at the sky. "I wish you could see this my friend. The sun cutting through the clouds is..."

Robert's voice cut off as he saw something float between the clouds, heading in the same direction he was. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, other than it was a pokemon. He could make out the colors of white and red along its body, and just barely he could see a cheery smile. And as soon as it had appeared, it vanished once more into the clouds. "What...what was that?" he asked to himself. With no pokedex, there was nothing to try and reference.

After four more hours of sailing, the port town of Vermillion City was in sight. Robert gently stroked the egg in his arm as he waited for the boat to finally dock. Once the boat came to a complete stop, Robert went into his room to gather his large backpack. In it he had everything he needed to start his adventure: a small pop-up tent, a bed roll and small pillow, some pokechow mix, some trail rations, a mess kit, a canteen and a few changes of clothing, plus a basic hygene kit. Once he slipped the backpack onto his back, he headed out and down to the pokemon center.

Waiting for him in front of the pokemon center was a yellow-haired elderly lady, holding a walking cane and accompanied by a Gengar. She walked towards Robert and gave a smile. "Ah, so good to see you. And as a trainer now! You're no longer a child anymore..." as she spoke, Gengar took out a red rubber ball and bounced it a few times, as if it wanted to play. Agatha sighed a bit. "Even if Gengar might think otherwise. But you always did have a knack for befriending pokemon." Robert smiled to his grandmother before picking up the red ball and passing it to Gengar. "Yeah. Well I was taught by the best." he spoke with a coy grin. Agatha chuckled a bit. "Don't think I'll go easy on you if you end up making your way to the plateau young man. You may be family, but that's all the more reason to go harder on you than I do most that make it that far." Robert gave a simple nod to Agatha. "Grandma, I'll be insulted if you try to hold back agianst me. I'll never be an elite if things are just handed to me." Agatha gave a nod before comming closer to Robert and looking at the egg. "I see you've chosen to raise your pokemon from the moment of birth instead of taking a pokemon from Sam. Though you'll still have to see him to get your Kanto Pokedex and register for the Indigo League. Though I have to say I never thought I'd ever see that old goat agian. But since your friend hasn't come out of its shell, the only way to get to Pallet safely is to take a small boat over. Fortunately there are rentals here and I've been wanting to get back into the speed of things." She replied with a chuckle before motioning for him to follow.

It took about ten minutes to get the boat rental. Robert sat in the back while Agatha and Gengar took the front. Robert held the egg a little tighter. He knew how wild his grandmother could get behind the wheel of a speedboat. Even for an old lady, his grandmother seemed to like the wilder side of life. Thankfully there weren't very many other people out at sea, otherwise people would be steering clear of the crazy lady. The boat was going full throttle all of the way towards Pallet.

As Robert, Agatha and Gengar approached the lab, they saw a kid exit with a Charmander. Robert approached the lab door and went to knock, but Agatha placed her hand on Robert's shoulder and shook her head. "No, no. I need to give Sammy a proper welcome." She spoke with a coy grin. "Gengar, go and fetch Sammy, will you?" With that, Gengar slipped through the wall. Seconds later, one could hear Professor Oak screaming in surprise. In a hurry, the professor opened the door, only to see Agatha standing directly in front of him. Oak's face registered complete shock. "Agatha? What in the world are you doing here?" Agatha gave a hearty laugh. "Is that the way you treat an old rival?" she jested at Oak before giving a more serious face. "I came because my grandson wants to enter the Indigo League and needs a pokedex."

Robert blinked a bit at his grandmother's antics and shook his head. He knew that she and Oak were once childhood friends and rivals, but all of this seemed rather silly to him. Robert looked over to Professor oak and offered a hand. "I'm Robert." he spoke. Professor Oak took Robert's hand, briefly shook it, and then knelt down to take a look at Robert's egg. "A pleasure to met you. And I take it this is the pokemon you'll be starting your journey with?" Before Robert could answer, Agatha came in with a snappy comeback "No, it's his breakfast, smart alek." Robert gave a sigh and rolled his eyes a bit. "Yes professor. Once it hatches, it'll be a fine Ralts, though I don't know what gender it'll be." Professor oak gave a nod and motioned for Robert to follow. "Well from the looks of it, it shouldn't be too much longer before your friend comes out of its shell. Come inside and I'll get you your starting gear." Robert followed the professor inside. However, Agatha waited outside with Gengar.

"I'm sorry about my grandmother. I think she's still a bit angry that you gave up being a trainer." Robert spoke. Oak gave a nod as he looked through a few drawers. "Yes. But in all honesty I have no regrets about it. I feel this is my calling, and I love my work." Robert sat himself down , one hand stroking over the egg. "Professor , when I was on my way over to Kanto from Hoenn, I saw a pokemon that I've never seen before. It had a smooth sleek look, primarily white but with red markings and a full red rear. Do you have any idea what it could be?" Professor Oak hmmed a bit as he thought. "I've never seen anything like that. But a friend of mine might have. But he travels so much, it's hard to pin down his location, except when league tournaments come around. His name is Ash Ketchum. I've heard he was back in Kanto, but he hasn't been seen around Pallet. However, you'll run into his friend Brock when you get to the first Gym. He might know where Ash is. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew the pokemon you're talking about. he and Ash have traveled to all four regions in the world together. His gym is in Pewter City."

Robert gave a nod and smiled. "Sounds good. Well then..." as Robert began to get up, the egg started to glow. "It's hatching. Finally." Robert spoke to himself. As the egg glowed brighter, it began to take shape until finally the light died, and upon his lap sat a smiling Ralts. Taking the pokedex, he pointed the lens at it. Ralts, the Feeling pokemon. It uses the horns on its head to sense human emotions. It is said to appear in front of cheerful people. Upon looking at the further information, he was able to see that the ralts was female. He could also see the moves available: Growl, Confusion and Mean Look. Robert gently pat Ralts on the head and smiled. "I'll name you Lilly. From now on, you and I are a team." Ralts giggled cutely and gave a nod to Robert. Placing Ralts upon his shouler and taking thepokedex, badge case, and belt with six pokeballs, one of which would be used for Lilly, he headed for the door to begin his adventure.

Robert wandered through Route 1, searching the tall grasses for wild pokemon. In particular, he needed a flying type. He already had a psychic type. Now he needed to get different types. Normal types like Rattata had decent moves, but most normal typed attacks had nothing that would be weak to it, and fighting types could easily put a normal out of commission. But flying types had several advantages agianst a wide variety of types, specifically fighting, grass and bug. Finally, after several minutes of searching, Robert came across a Pidgey. "Ready for your first battle Lilly?" Robert asked. Ralts slipped down from his shoulder and landed on his feet. "Now, let's start things off by ensuring that Pidgey doesn't go anywhere. Mean Look!" Robert commanded. Ralts' eyes glowed intensely at Pidgey, causing a great swell of anger to flow through the bird. Now there were only two fates for this Pidgey: Capture or fainting. Pidgey flapped its wings furiously, sending clouds of sand at the two of them. Robert covered his mouth. "Don't let a little sand get you down. Hit it with Confusion!" Lilly closed her eyes and used her psychic power to locate the Pidgey. With a sharp mental blast, the Pidgey fell to the ground before then getting back up. Its hgead was bobbing back and forth, feeling a bit confused. It launched a quick attack, barely clipping Ralts in the side, but the Pidgey kept flying straight and right into a tree. With pokeball in hand, Robert tossed the ball with enough force to get the ball to its target, but not enough to do additional damage. The ball struck Pidgey in the back, swallowing it up into a red light before enclosing around it.

The ball struck the ground, rocking back and forth. Robert knelt down beside Ralts, gently petting the injury to try and relax the muscles around it, but he kept his eyes on the ball. After several seconds, the red light faded from the pokeball. Pidgey was now his. "Outstanding Lilly! Not only your first victory, but now we have a new friend." Robert spoke to his Ralts before walking over and picking up the pokeball. Reaching into his backpack, Robert pulled out an oran berry and broke it in half. He gave one half to Lilly, which she quickly accepted and ate. "Ok, come on out!" Robert called, releasing Pidgey from the pokeball. Robert held out the remaining half of the oran berry and offered it to Pidgey. Pidgey looked a bit nervous, but then accepted the half berry. It's strength began to come back, and Pidgey felt more refreshed. Robert looked at his pokedex. Pidgey, the gentle bird pokemon. It is docile and perfers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back Looking futher into detail of his new friend, he saw it was a female with Keen Eye ability. It had Quick Attack, Sand Attack and Pursuit. RObert breathed a sigh of relief. If the Pidgey had used Pursuit, things might have ended differently. "Alright, I'm going to call you Krystal. Krystal, this is Lilly, and I'm Robert. Welcome to the team my friend." Robert spoke before petting the Pidgey on the back of the head. Standing up, Robert called Pidgey back to her pokeball and attached it to his belt. Picking up Lilly and setting him back on his shoulder, Robert continued down along Route 1 towards Varidian City, the first stop on his way to Pewter, and possibly some answers about that pokemon he saw.

Robert saw the battle and looked with a bit of concern. Spearow were not peaceful Pidgeys. Usually when wild ones are attacked and allowed to flee, they get reenforcements. To prevent this from happening, Robert pulled out his pokeball and called out his Pidgey. "Krystal, Quick Attack that Spearow now!" As the Spearow was heading back towards the woods, Robert's Pidgey nailed the Spearow from below. With the Spearow's attention caught. it swooped after Krystal, striking back with a peck attack. Pidgey was a bit shook up from the attack, her health already half drained. "Now, Pursuit before it can get away!" Robert commanded. Krystal sncircled Sprearow in the air beforeslamming her claws into its wings, sending the spearow crashing to the ground, fainted. Krystalfell as well, her injuries taking thier toll on the small bird. Robert ran out and caught Krystal in his arms. She seemed to be in bad condition, but still strong enough to battle if needed. However, Robert wasn't going to push his new friend any further than this. "You did good Krystal. Return." He spoke before summoning Krystal back into her pokeball. Looking ahead, he could see the other kid running for the town. Robert took off himself as well for town to get his Ralts and Pidgey taken care of at the Pokemon Center.

Robert came into the pokemon center about ten minutes after Jake. "Welcome to the pokemon center. How may I help you?" Nurse Joy asked. Robert took out his pokeball with Krystal inside it. "My Pidgey needs some medical attention." He said. The nurse gave a nod before placing the pokeball on a status device. "I see. Seems it took quite a bit of damage. but it's nothing too serious. A little rest and she'll be fine." Joy spoke. As Robert walked towards the door to go and take care of some shopping, he looked over at Jake. "You should be more careful around spearows. If I didn't finish what you started, that spearow would have come after you with its friends and you'd be in the same shape as your Charmander." he spoke, his voice calm, more informative than negative or criticising.

Robert shook his head to the boy's question. "Just study your pokedex. The more you know about your targets, the greater your advantage." Robert spoke. "So what brings you out here? Are you looking to enter the Indigo league?" he asked in a calm manner before reaching up with one hand to pet the head of his Ralts. Her injury from her battle with Pidgey seemed alomost gone, thanks to the oran berry half it ate and a good break from battling.

Robert gave a nod. "I'm Robert. I came here to compete in the Indigo league myself. It's the only shot I have to facing my grandmother on the pleatau. Of course, I have to win the tournament before I get that chance. I figured I'd start my journey as a trainer here in Kanto to see what I'm made of. Putting ones self far away from home tests one's spirit." he replied to Jake.