I had my account for a little while, I just started playing today on the Gold server.
At the beginning I was greeted by Prof Oak and after a few seconds of dialog it went back to the menu screen. I logged back in and went onto the Gold server only to be put directly into the game.
I also noticed a few other people in the server running around with the default character, so I though maybe you had to buy items and stuff later on in the game.
Then I had watched a little video on youtube of someone playing PRO and they were able to customize their character when talking to Prof. Oak.. But I never got that option, so I am bummed out.
I didn't get very far in the game, other than picking my starter and running around lost.