Sal's first Sinnoh Pokémon encounter

As you step through the grasses and see the beautiful Lake Verity ahead of you, Barry comes screaming past and barges in front of you. You then notice a large man, almost twice your own height, wandering around, looking very stern, trying to understand the goings on at the lake. he is wearing a large white coat and has lovely, long, silver hair and a mustache that many a grown man would envy. He turns when he hears you enter. "Why hello there!" he says, brimming with happiness for the young trainer that stands before him. "You may call me Professor Rowan. I am the resident expert on Pokémon evolution in Sinnoh. I presume my assistant told you where to find me? Well, anyhow, you know me, I was up early this morning to continue my research first-hand as there is no other way for me!" He says with a hearty laugh.

Suddenly a couple of angry Starly race in and attack the professor before he is able to respond. "Argghh!! These pesky Starly are always here to try and prevent me from reaching their nest." he says while reaching for his briefcase. "Drat! it's too far away. Ok then, the both of you, grab yourself one of the PokéBalls in my briefcase that's near you and use it to fend off these Starly. Quickly!"

You step forward and open Professor Rowan's briefcase to find more than the usual three PokéBalls. In fact, there are eight and you may have the choice of any of them:

Turtwig
Chimchar
Piplup
Starly
Shinx
Burmy
Buneary
Stunky

As Sal reached Lake Verity, he felt rather downhearted by the long walk he had just taken. It certainly wasn’t any fun to walk around aimlessly without a companion by your side. Just as he was entering the clearing of Lake Verity, a teenager came bursting past him quickly. When Sal got a good look at the guy, he realised it was Barry again. I should have known… he thought. His gaze soon turned to a rather old man, quite a bit taller than him, wearing a lab coat. Sal approached the man and began to introduce himself.

“Um… sir? Are you Professor Rowan, by any chance? My name’s Sal,” he said, and the man turned around as he heard this sentence.

“Why hello there! You may call me Professor Rowan. I am the resident expert on Pokémon evolution in Sinnoh. I presume my assistant told you where to find me? Well, anyhow, you know me, I was up early this morning to continue my research first-hand as there is no other way for me!" the man said, confirming Sal’s suspicions.

Soon after he introduced himself, a couple of angry Starly burst out of nowhere, and began to attack Professor Rowan. "Argghh!! These pesky Starly are always here to try and prevent me from reaching their nest,” he said, as he reached for his briefcase. "Drat! it's too far away. Ok then, the both of you, grab yourself one of the PokéBalls in my briefcase that's near you and use it to fend off these Starly. Quickly!"

Sal was rather surprised with how sudden all of this was, but he did as he was told and opened the briefcase. There were a lot of Pokéballs inside, and he quickly scanned all of them. Three in particular caught his eye. A Chimchar, a Starly and a Burmy. He thought through all of the options, all of them being able to evolve into good Fire or Flying types. The Burmy itself wasn’t too appealing, however, as he was only a fan of Mothim really. Starly seemed a stupid choice, considering the situation, so that only left Chimchar. He picked up Chimchar’s Pokéball and threw it, releasing the Fire type Chimp Pokémon.

“Ok Chimchar, please help me protect the professor. Use Leer to stare one of these Starly down, then Scratch it!” he said, already fairly familiar with Chimchar and their moves.

The Starly glares angrily at this Chimchar, but at any rate, it can't really move as Chimchar angrily Leers at it. She then continues into a painful Scratch, which sends Starly away, but not before it Tackles Chimchar painfully. She squeals a bit, but is easily ready to go, even as Starly gets up into the air, readying itself for a second assault.

What will Sal do now?

The Chimchar was doing rather well, considering it was being given orders by someone it hadn’t met before. Sal smiled again, pleased that his first battle was getting off to a good start.

“Ok, let’s have two Scratches this time around!” he said, now interested in testing different move combinations, despite the fact that Chimchar wouldn’t know that many right now.

Chimchar was ready to go, but couldn't really do much at first, until Starly dives in for a Tackle, which she meets with a Scratch of her own, but Starly gets the upper hand. However, this time, Chimchar doesn't let Starly fly, and grabs it before Scratching it again, and this time Starly doesn't look too good anymore, but it shakes off Chimchar and gets some air again, so what exactly can Sal do now?

Sal watched as Chimchar kept fighting. The little Pokémon was certainly giving the battle all it could. However, it was becoming clear that Starly’s ability to fly was going to be tough to get around.

“Chimchar, let Starly swoop down, then try Leering at it again, before delivering another Scratch!” he said, now fairly sure that the battle would soon end, and he hoped that Chimchar would end up the victor.

Chimchar growls in agreement, and prepares herself as Starly charges her again, but Starly wasn't stopped by the Leer, but its speed does lessen, and as Chimchar Scratches in retaliation, Starly doesn't do much else but fall from the sky, unconcious. However, Sal is surprised by a second Starly collapsing to the ground, and as he looks over, he notices Barry waving.

"Well now, didn't you notice that the other Starly didn't attack? Well me and my Chimchar took care of it really- hey, you got a Chimchar too? What's going on here?"

Before Sal can respond however, Professor Rowan walks over to you two and simply says a few words.

"Well then, can say that I'm impressed at your abilities, but at any rate, I expect to see you two in my lab soon, I'll learn your names there, but I hope that you treat those Pokémon well. At any rate, I should be fine, now that I have my briefcase with me though."

And with that, Professor Rowan walks away, leaving you and Barry alone.

"Well then, it seems that I've got to go home, but you can come if you want, just follow me. Come on Chimchar!"

as Chimchar and Barry leave, Sal and his own Chimchar simply decide to follow.

Advance to Route 201 again.