At the beginning of Explorers of Time/Darkness, there is a personality quiz which will determine what your starter Pokémon will be. It consists of eight personality questions and the last question, which is always whether the player is "Male" or "Female". At the end of the quiz, the player will have a score of points associated with a Pokémon nature. Depending on the Pokémon's nature and gender, the player will be assigned a certain Pokémon as a starter.