This was a clear surprise for the chairman and, based on how he spoke about it, he considered it unacceptable for it not even to be an option for us to have a Pokemon. (It was an option, technically. It's just that the orphanage didn't give us any Pokeballs or Pokemon themselves. If we wanted to catch a Pokemon, we'd have to buy the supplies ourselves, and leaving the orphanage wasn't allowed unless it was an emergency.)

He clapped his hands together again, apparently having made up his mind. He announced that he had Pokemon he could lend us, if we wanted to try Pokemon battling for ourselves for the first time.

Even the children who weren't actively interested in Pokemon and becoming a Trainer instantly bursted into demands to be included, and the crowd that surrounded the chairman became a wrestling match to get to the front; a wrestling match which I managed to win, shoving my way through the other children by throwing my whole body at them to make them stumble aside if they didn't move voluntarily. As previously stated, I was one of the few actually actively interested in Pokemon training. I wasn't going to let a bunch of kids who just wanted to try it for the sake of trying it beat me to a chance to actually battle.

When the chairman began to point to children, and his finger landed on me, I felt my whole face light up, a sort of joy warming my whole body that I hadn't felt before. I had to resist the urge to pump my fists up and down, squeal, stomp my feet and jump up and down...