Your adventure begins with a choice! After a brief introduction from Professor Birch, you'll be prompted to select your gender and name your character. You can choose to be a boy (Brendan) or a girl (May). This choice is purely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay or the Pokémon you can catch. After selecting your gender, you'll be asked to enter your name. You can use up to seven characters. Choose wisely, as this name will be displayed throughout your journey and cannot be changed later. Your rival's gender will be the opposite of yours, and their name will be automatically set to the default (May if you chose Brendan, or Brendan if you chose May), unless you choose to rename them as well. This initial setup is quick but sets the stage for your personal journey through the Hoenn region.
