Run to Professor Elm's Lab!

Morning had come quickly, and I was super excited for my meeting with Elm today. We knew each other a small amount, my mother being incredibly protective of me as I grew up. I know she was terrified of seeing me leave, but she knew this was a dream of mine since I was a little girl. I had promised my father, and I was not about to let him down yet.

Finishing my wash-up, I stood in the mirror and took a good look at myself. Long brown hair framed a pretty face, a white hat completing the fashionable look. The red jumpsuit I was wearing was perfect for warm days like today, even if it was somewhat tight for me. I was finally ready to make a name for myself, and absolutely nothing was going to stop me today.

I was going to be a Pokémon trainer.

Racing down the stairs and out the door, I shouted out a quick good-bye to my mother and made my way down the road. New Bark Town had been hit just like every settlement in Johto, with many young men cut down during the war. The population of the island was still recovering from such catastrophic damage, and the amount of young men that came back from the war was quite low.

The small relative size of New Bark Town meant very little in terms of opportunity, and that usually led to younger people moving the moment they could. Cherrygrove and Violet City were higher in density, and jobs there were plentiful for most. Trainers also used these cities as points on a map to greater things, and there was bountiful Pokémon between here and there.

Elm was the professor here, studying the breeding of Pokémon themselves. He had made a name for himself due to his eccentricities, but he seemed a decent fellow. Arriving to the lab with a smile, I burst through the door and was immediately met with a crowd of people. Most were parents and their children, no doubt there to access the governmental grant.

Standing at the far end of the lab was Elm himself. He was flanked by government agents and multiple assistants, all handing out Pokémon to whoever could provide the correct credentials. Being a trainer required a government license to do so, and getting that license was not easy. If you didn’t have one, no Pokémon for you.

I waited for the crowd to thin, watching as each older student got their own Pokémon, their parents hooping and hollering with them as they left the building. My mother would never accompany me here unfortunately, her own nervousness defeating any ability to stand next to me as I took the next steps as a trainer.

Once it was just me, I took a few steps and presented my license. Elm looked at me with a smile, ushering me over.

“Lyra my dear! I saved the best for you!” Clicking open a small box, I looked as Elm presented me with three different Pokeballs, all gleaming from the lights overhead. “There are three Pokémon left to choose from, and they are all incredibly unique.”

Names had been etched into the case holding them, names I read off one by one.

“Cyndaquil, Totadile, and Chikorita?” I looked at Elm, not recognizing the names at all. These were not common Pokémon, and the idea that Elm had saved them for me was incredible.

“These three are perfect for a determined, aspiring trainer like yourself. I know you will do well with whatever Pokémon you choose.” Elm was beaming with pride, an odd sight to be sure. The other assistants were quiet as I looked over my three choices, unsure what to say out loud to make the moment any less awkward.

Well?

What should I pick?