Confidence. What is it, really? Is it an emotion? Some kind of superpower? Well, I'm not sure honestly. The only thing about confidence I can say for certain is that I don't have any.

I'm Wally and I'm going to be a Pokémon trainer. At least that's my hope, after all, I can't be entirely sure until I actually have a Pokémon. And to do that I'll need help.

Or maybe, just maybe, I could do it alone. I stumbled through Route 102. The wind brushed through the leaves and I shivered. It was so cold, why?

I looked up at the sky and saw that little white lights were dancing on a black background. It was nighttime. Why would I ever think I could go out in the middle of the night! Well, there was no going back now.

I continued forward, my feet crunching under the grass, my hands shaking not only from the cold but also fear.

Then from behind me, I heard a twig snap. I wheeled around to find a Mightyena staring me down. It huffed out a breath of air from its muzzle.

Mightyena was a quadruped Pokemon. It had large pointy teeth and vicious red eyes. The fur on its body was mostly gray. Though at the legs and along its back was a thick dark fur.

The beast's short tail was raised in the air, its fangs were bared, and Mightyena's legs were bent. It could only mean one thing. I was a goner. Mightyena leaped at me but right as its teeth would've chomped down on me I shot awake, entangled in my blue bed sheets.

I laid back down, trying to control my rapid breathing. I put my hand to my forehead and found that I'd been sweating. My breathing slowed and I got out of bed.

"It was just a dream. Everyone knows Mightyena don't live near here. You know that Wally. There are only Poochyena. And even you can handle one of those, anyone could." I told myself, just to assure myself that I was most definitely getting a Pokémon today.

I walked out of my room into the bathroom. My green hair was wildly out of control like I was used to. I managed to get it somewhat combed but there were multiple large clumps of hair that stood up. My silver eyes lacked their usual sparkle due to how groggy I was.

I went back into my room, deciding it'd be nice to go back to sleep for a bit. I snuck a glance at the clock and realized it was already ten minutes past nine.

I got dressed in a white shirt and long teal pants. No these clothes would be way too warm for most of Hoenn. If I was really going to be traveling I would need to be prepared.

I grabbed my brown satchel and stuffed two green short-sleeved shirts and two black pairs of shorts. Sure the clothes I normally wore looked nice but in practical use, they would only hinder my journey through the tropical region.

I also packed some pocket money, about 5000 Pokedollars. It would be enough to get me from Petalburg City to Verdanturf Town even if I never battled a trainer. I grabbed the one Pokeball I had gotten for my birthday last year and shoved it in my pocket.

Most importantly, I grabbed my notebook with all the information I had collected on raising Pokémon and battling in it. I stuffed the book in my front pocket and closed it.

Throwing on my grey overcoat I scrambled down the stairs. After basically falling down the stairs I found my parents sitting down at the table having breakfast.

"Good morning Wally!" My mom said, smiling at me. She was dressed like someone should be on a Saturday. In sweatpants and a tee shirt.

My father was also dressed in casual attire. Although he was really going all the way with large white slippers on his feet. "Come and sit down Wally. You don't have to leave right away you know." He waved me over.

I set down the satchel and sat down at the table with my parents.

"So you're sure you want to get a Pokémon before you leave?" My father confirmed.

I nodded. "I think I'm ready. I really want to be a trainer!"

"Well if that's what you want then be sure to ask the gym leader if you can borrow a Pokémon. I don't want you going into the grass without one." My mom instructed me.

"So how long do you think I'll have to stay up in Verdanturf?" I asked, I didn't want to bring it up but I really needed to know.

My mom pondered the thought for a moment. "I can't imagine more than a month. The doctor said it would take a while to get the prescription all the way in Unova but once they did you'd be fine."

I stood up. "I'm going to go get my Pokémon, but I promise I'll come back to show you my new Pokémon as soon as I catch him."

"Alright, Wally. Be careful." My dad reminded me.

"I will dad, don't worry." I walked to the door, picked up my satchel, and put on my white sneakers. Then I opened the door and stepped out into Petalburg.

Petalburg City really wasn't a city in any way other than having 'City' at the end of its name. The entire city was surrounded by a large forest other than the two paths leading to Routes 104 and 102 respectively.

There were large bodies of water taking up large parts of the city. Leaves had landed on the water and a few fish Pokémon swam under the surface

Right next door to my house was the gym. The building has an orange roof instead of the red roofs the regular houses had. There were only two other houses in the entire city.

There was one other red-roofed building this one was smaller and had a poke ball over the door. The Pokémon Center. Finally next to the Pokémon Center was the Poke Mart. A blue-roofed building that sold various items a trainer might need.

There was a cool breeze in the city and I could hear various bird Pokémon singing in the trees around us. I walked down the path to the gym, and I pushed open the door.

The gym leader Norman was talking to some girl. Norman was wearing a white tee-shirt and a grey and red jacket over it. He also had on long pants.

His brown hair was cut short. A small part of hair in the center of his head jutted outwards. His black eyes, normally pretty scary, were kind and compassionate.

The girl was different. She had long blonde hair. Most of it fell on either side of her face. She had a large red bow on her head and when she turned to look at me I saw bright excited blue eyes.

She also had a red tank top and white shorts on. The girl also had long black pants under the white shorts. Around her waist was a yellow belt that was attached to a green bag.

"Oh hello, Wally. I was just talking to my daughter, May. May this is Wally, he lives in the house next door." Norman said casually.

May grinned at me. "Hi there. It's nice to meet you, Wally."

Now in my head, I said 'Hello! Nice to meet you too. Are you a new trainer?' But I actually say aloud. "H-h-Hello uhm uhh nice to... me-meet you t-t-too. Umm, are uhh are you an uhh a new t-t-trainer?"

I would love to know why I couldn't say a sentence like a normal person. My only real idea is that I don't have confidence. I'm always doubting everything I say.

May didn't seem put off by the fact it took me twice as long to say a sentence which I appreciated.

"Yeah, I am. I just got my first Pokémon yesterday." May replied.

I gave her a smile and turned to Norman. "S-Sir I want to g-get a Pokémon b-before I l-leave. So uhm is there a-any chance I-I could uhm borrow o-o-one of your Pokémon?"

Although it was for less than a second I felt I had to wait a year for Norman to reply. "Of course you can. Here this Pokémon should help you, May would you be a dear and go with him? It could help you get some hands-on experience catching wild Pokémon anyways."

May nodded. "Of course I will. It'll be fun!"

Norman took a Pokeball from his belt and handed it to me. I cradled the ball in my hand, looking down at it. The top part of the sphere was bright red, the bottom half was white. There was a black line in the middle and a white button on the front.

"Th-thank you." I practically whispered.

May and I walked out of the gym, strolling through Petalburg. We walked onto Route 102. It was the same as my dream had depicted it.

There were a few trainers standing around. The sun was shining brightly and there was a light breeze. Down the road, I could see Oldale Town.

There was a patch of tall grass to the right of us. "Alright. Tall gr-grass! That's where P-Pokémon hide." I walked in and pressed the button on Norman's Pokeball. The ball exploded open and a Zigzagoon jumped out.

The Zigzagoon was a short quadruped Pokemon with a long body and a tail as long as its body. Zigzagoon's fur was spiked up and ruffled. It had brown and white fur. The Pokémon looked up at me with its brown eyes.

I took a deep breath. I was so nervous and excited I just couldn't wait. "N-now we just n-need to find a wi-wild Pokemon. Wh-" before I could finish a Ralts jumped out at us.

"Go get em, Wally!" May encouraged.

"Zigzagoon use tackle!" I felt a surge of courage with this Pokémon by my side. We could handle a Ralts.

Zigzagoon ran forward in a weird way, zigzagging. It did confuse the Ralts which didn't teleport and was just struck by Zigzagoon.

Ralts flew into the air and hit the ground with a thud.

"N-now we throw a p-Pokeball!" Reaching into my bag I pulled out my very own Pokeball. I pitched it and by some miracle, the ball touched the Ralts on the head.

The Pokeball opened and Ralts was sucked into it. The sphere landed and shook three times before dinging to signify capture.

"I-I caught a Pokémon!"

A/N thanks so much for reading! I want to try to update this story every other week on Wednesday but maybe I'll shoot for every week. Other than that I hope you enjoyed this brand new story, have a great day! Bye!