On Route 201...
"It's so boring, Xiao Yun. I thought the TV said travel was a great thing, full of unexpected surprises, but why haven't we encountered anything?"
Xiao Guang walked with her head down, looking utterly lifeless.
Watching Xiao Guang kick the 25th stone on the road, Xiao Yun couldn't help but say, "Guang, we've only been out for two and a half hours, and we're still 25 kilometers from Sandgem Town. How could we possibly encounter anything interesting right now?"
"Ah, it's still that far? I thought we'd be there soon."
Xiao Guang's eyes widened in shock as she looked at Xiao Yun.
What?
Then she lowered her head again and said, "Then why didn't you let me ride my bicycle? That way, we would have gotten there much faster."
"No, you see, if you ride a bicycle, we'll only be able to stick to the main roads. But the real excitement of travel is among the mountains and rivers, and you'd miss out on many unexpected surprises."
Xiao Yun propped her chin on her hand and seriously answered the girl's question. But in her heart, she was thinking:
Well, your bicycle will probably be turned into a 'dried bicycle' by that idiot Xiao Pi's electric shock in a few days anyway.
He's indirectly saving your beloved bike's life, girl.
"Hmm... Oh, right, Xiao Yun. Which Pokemon are you going to choose when we get to the Yamanashi Research Institute?"
"Me..."
"It's so hard to decide! I think the Water-type Piplup is good, but Chimchar is also very lively, and Turtwig is well-behaved too, so..."
Before Xiao Yun could answer, the girl launched into her long monologue, completely immersed in her own world. The smile on her face was as if she had already won the Champion title at a grand celebration.
"With such a lively character around, it'll never be boring, right? I just saw her looking tired and even thought about comforting her, but someone with such a sociable personality probably doesn't need comforting at all."
Xiao Yun thought to herself.
Not bothering that her words were interrupted, she quietly listened as Xiao Guang sometimes imagined joyful things and beamed with smiles, or perhaps thought of a misstep and became dejected.
Thus, a young boy and girl walked along the road in the countryside, heading towards Sandgem Town. The girl was lively and cheerful, and the boy was gentle and elegant, making one sigh at their perfect match.
.......
Time slowly slipped away amidst their conversation. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Yamanashi Research Institute located in Sandgem Town.
Similar to Oak's Research Institute in the anime, Sandgem Research Institute serves as the starting point for receiving Pokemon in the Sinnoh region. The institute building is white, with a large brown windmill beside it. Because a large number of Pokemon are kept inside the institute, it had to be built away from the city, nestled against a mountain.
At the entrance of Sandgem Research Institute.
"Xiao Guang, what are you doing? Why aren't you letting me in?"
"Xiao Yun~"
"Hmm?"
"I... I'm a little nervous."
"Huh? What's there to be nervous about? It's not the first time."
"But today is different."
"Because you're wearing makeup today?"
"Oh, come on~ What are you talking about?"
"What if the Pokemon don't want to come with me!"
"Relax, relax. How about this: if no Pokemon chooses you, whichever one you like, I'll just use Sceptile to knock it out and take it with us, okay?"
"No problem, definitely no problem! Here I come, Pokémon!"
A hearty conversation probably made Xiao Guang less nervous. She used her classic line to cheer herself up and pushed open the door of the Research Institute.
She had expected the Research Institute to be like this: a stern Professor Oak, with two polite researchers standing beside him, and three well-behaved Pokemon standing neatly in a row.
Then, Professor Oak, standing in the center, would say to them with a serious expression: "New Trainers, please choose your first Pokemon. They will be your lifelong companions."
Hmm, what a classic scene!
However,
In reality....
"Ah! We're screwed!"
"What do we do, what do we do?! If this continues, we'll be completely screwed when the Professor comes back and sees this!"
"Alright! Stop complaining! Quickly organize these files first! Then we'll go look for the escaped Chimchar and Piplup. I hope it's not too late!"
"Um... excuse me, is this where we pick up our first Pokemon?"
The researchers, currently organizing things, froze in place upon hearing this voice, then slowly raised their heads in a daze.
"You... you're not new Trainers here to pick up Pokemon, are you...?"
The researchers tried to make one last struggle.
What if they had definitely misheard? What if they were just passing by!
"Yes, we are new Trainers from Twinleaf Town. I'm Xiao Yun, and she's Xiao Guang. We have an appointment with Professor Oak to pick up our Pokemon today!"
Oh, NO!
"Sumimasen, could you please wait a moment?"
"Due to some oversight in our work, it may not be possible to receive Pokemon temporarily. Could the two of you please wait patiently?"
At this, the researchers all bowed deeply, apologizing and making amends.
Their attitude and tone were so sincere that they could have applied for a server job at Haidilao. It made Xiao Yun and the other person feel too embarrassed to blame them.
"Then what should we do? We can't just wait here forever!"
Although Xiao Yun deeply sympathized with their predicament, she still needed to inquire about a solution, so she asked one of the researchers.
"This, this... Oh, right! This child is still here. If you don't mind, you can choose this child as your first Pokemon."
The researcher was sweating profusely, smiling awkwardly, when he suddenly remembered something and pointed to the Turtwig quietly eating in the corner.
"Huh? Well, it's not impossible, but there are two of us! One Turtwig isn't enough."
Xiao Guang also had a face full of black lines and helplessly spread her hands as she replied to the researcher.
"Ah? Then... then...."
The researcher's voice grew softer and softer. The main reason was that they were clearly in the wrong. After all, who would want to encounter such an awkward situation on their first day of picking up a Pokemon? With three Pokemon running off and only one left, no one could handle that.
(Except for a certain idiot who missed his selection time because he was late. That guy, never mind a Pikachu, would probably be satisfied and laugh even if he got a Caterpie.)
"Then how about we try to help you find the two Pokemon that ran off?"
Xiao Yun was not a fan of waiting, so she said to the researcher.
"Re... really? You're not blaming me and are even willing to help me find them?"
Upon hearing Xiao Yun's words, the researchers felt as if an angel's hand had reached out from heaven to rescue them from hell.
"Tell me the information about the missing Pokemon, and roughly which direction they went!" Xiao Yun asked.
"Northwest direction. It's just Chimchar and Piplup. Starly and Staravia will be back soon," the researcher immediately replied.
"That's all, right? Nothing else?" Xiao Yun confirmed with the researcher one last time.
"Yes, that's right."
The researcher heard the questioning tone in Xiao Yun's voice, as if she were doubting them, but they didn't get angry.
After all, someone was cleaning up their mess now. Who would get angry?
Forget angry, if someone found their Pokemon for them now, they'd call them 'godfather' on the spot ( ｰ ̀ ε ｰ ́ ).