Some Things Just Can't Be Understood

Timidly the Charmander came closer, still looking unsure.

Still smiling, Pheobie reached forward and gently pet the charmander's head. "See? That's not so bad"

The little fire lizard looked up and smiled "Char!"

The Pichu peeked out of Pheobie's hair like a tiny yellow accessory.

Pheobie giggled."So cute!" She chirped

The Charmander, feeling braver now, came over closer. The Umbreon squirmed in Gemini's arms like it wanted to join back in.

"Behave yourself," Gemini warned, setting the sleek creature down. It rushed back over to Pheobie.

Pheobie giggled. "Maple. Have you ever thought that the pokemon chooses the trainer?" she asked

"Oh yes. Happens quite a lot," replied Maple. "I know that's what happened with Groovy and me. I had three Pokemon to choose from: Treeko, Torchic, and Mudkip. The Mudkip took one look at me and retreated back into its Pokeball, so that wasn't going to work. The Torchic, though a cute little thing, tried to set my pants on fire. Then the Treeko just stared at for a while, and then finally came over and climbed up on my shoulder. And that's when I knew I had my Pokemon."

"Vyle! Vyle!" Groovy cheered.

"But you'll likely be catching Pokemon as well, and those you usually have to fight first," Maple added.

"Well, I think I've been chosen" Pheobie smiled

"I must agree dear," Maple answered. "You have been chosen by quite a few it seems."

"Pichu. Umbreon. And... Um, what is that one?" Pheobie asked, petting the charmander still

"Charmander," Maple answered for her. The little fire lizard looked rather content now. "So those are the ones you want to go with?"

"Yeah" Pheobie smiled. "I think they want to come with me"

"Alright then," said Maple. "We'll take those three Gem."

"Okay then," Gemini replied, scrawling it in her notebook. "I'll go get their Pokeballs. 45,000 total."

"Yow. Prices have gone up since I've been here."

"Which hasn't been for a while. Inflation moves on without you, professor."

Pheobie continued to pet and coddle the pokemon.

Maple handed her the money (thank heavens for the infinite money code), and Gemini went back inside. A few minutes later she came with the Pokeballs.

"Here you go. They're all yours," said Gemini, handing her the Pokeballs. "The Pichu and Charmander are both Level 5. The Umbreon's Level 15."

Pheobie smiled. "Thank you Gemini. Thank you Maple"

"You're welcome," answered Gemini, before turning to Maple. "So where have you been lately?"

"Oh here, there, everywhere," Maple answered vaguely. "I still Cinnabar Island's still standing."

"Somehow," Gemini answered. "Glitches have been getting more severe along the coast though."

Maple frowned. Cinnabar had always been a hotspot for dimension anomalies.

"You need something to make you stand out from the others." Pheobie stated, more to herself and her pokemon than anyone else.

"Does she know how to fight glitches?" asked Gemini, glancing over to Pheobie.

Maple sighed. "Not really. We had a bad encounter at a beach world, but we didn't really fight. Everything was so bad there already."

"Why bring her here then?" asked Gemini.

"Because I thought she's like this world," said Maple. "She likes animals."

"That's unusually careless of you," said Gemini.

Maple sighed again.

"Hmmm" Pheobie tilted her head. "How do I tell if you're girls or boys?"

"Oh, you just use your-" Maple began, before pausing and hitting himself in the head. "That's right, we still need to get you a Pokedex! We'll go visit Oak then. Anyway, I'll just use mine."

He brought out a little handheld red machine and pointed it toward the three Pokemon. In a new moments he had scanned them all and had gotten their stats.

"Male," he said, pointing to the Umbreon. "Impish nature." He turned to the Pichu still on Pheobie's head. "Male, Jolly nature." Then he turned to the Charmander. "Female. Timid nature."

"Thanks!" Pheobie grinned. "Now I can think of names for them like you did for yours"

"Sounds good dear," Maple replied. "Now we'll go visit the lab real quick. For one, we need to borrow Ka. He's an Alakazam. They're psychic types that can teleport, which is useful if you want to get anywhere fast."

"Okay. C'mon guys, let's go" Pheobie smiled, holding out the pokeballs.

The Pokeballs shot out a red light that hit the Pokemon. They dissolved into red light and were sucked into the balls.

"Then outward we go!" announced Maple, heading west. The lab wasn't too far from the trading center.