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The Adventure Begins...In Hoenn, That Is

by ShinyZekrom009

ShinyZekrom009 After seeing a few stories about a Trainer's first Pokemon around here, I decided to do one of my own. But not in Kanto...in the glorious region of Hoenn! (I changed some things around, to make it more realistic, and also to seem like more of a story.)
This was the fourth time Brendan had nearly been killed by flying boxes.

Why do I have to ride in the stupid moving truck again?, he thought sourly. Surely there was some other way to get to...whatever the town was called? Boat? Plane? Pokemon?

But no. There were no airports anywhere remotely close to the small town he was moving to. As for a boat, Slateport wasn't too far away, but of course, Mom couldn't afford the price. Pokemon were out of the question, too, because neither of them owned any. And even though Dad had lent them a Zigzagoon for protection, the energetic creature didn't have the capabilities for flight, or swimming across an entire ocean, for that matter. So, he'd had to ride in the back of this stupid moving truck, across the one bridge connecting Johto and Hoenn, for a thrilling sixteen-hour trip that including fun-filled games of Don't Be Flattened By Heavy Boxes! What fun!

Brendan sighed. Well, it wasn't Mom's fault. She had made a fuss about him being back there(No, I will not let you stay back there with all of the furniture! What if you injure yourself?!), but had relented in the end when he assured her that he would be careful. She was riding up in the passenger seat, with Zigzagoon stored away in her Pokeball. And here he was, dodging boxes and trying not to think about all the friends he'd left behind.

He hadn't wanted to move away, but they had no choice. Originally, Dad was just the person who stood at the door, welcoming Trainers into the Petalburg Gym and giving them valuable advice about the Gym and its Pokemon and Trainers. Apparently, he showed some potential as a Normal-Type Trainer of superb skill and became a Gym Trainer there. Then, a couple months later, the old Gym Leader quit, and Dad was chosen by the Elite Four as the new Gym Leader. This promotion meant that he was there to stay, so me and Mom now had to live in Hoenn.

Brendan could've help but feel a tad resentful, but he pushed the negative thoughts away and attempted to think about the pros, not the cons. He would be receiving a larger room, allowing all if his possessions to fit, without the cramped quarters that he was used to. In addition, his tenth birthday had occurred four days ago, and Dad had promised him in a letter that he would ensure that Brendan obtained his first Pokemon as soon as possible. He felt a rush of excitement at the prospect of going on his very own journey. Maybe moving to Hoenn wouldn't be so bad after all. He couldn't wait to arrive at his new home!

As if his thoughts had triggered it, the truck lurched to a sudden stop, causing several boxes to fall of of their stacks- and right onto Brendan. He tried to move to the side, but it was too late. He collapsed under the weight of the boxes, his legs giving way beneath him. The pain slammed into him like a charging Cranidos, and the previous aches and pains from other boxes falling him, which had subsided as the minutes dragged on, were brought back into existence. He moaned, struggling to sit up, but found that he couldn't. After a couple minutes of this, He finally decided to try rolling sideways, and, to his relief, it worked. He got up sluggishly, then glanced at the clutter of materials that had fallen out of their containers. Muscles screaming in protest, he put all of the boxes, and their contents, back to their original homes.

Just then, the doors were thrown open, and Mom called, "Brendan? What's taking so long? Don't you want to see our new house?"

Groaning, he stumbled towards the opening, squinting as the rays of sunlight stabbed his eyes, and lowered himself out of the back of the truck and onto solid ground. Hurrying forward, his mother grasped his shoulder, with the familiar expression of concern on her face.

"What happened?" she demanded, brow furrowed with worry. "Are you hurt? Is anything broken? Oh goodness, we need to find a doctor-"

"I'm fine!" Brendan snapped, shrugging her hand off. "I just tripped and fell, that's all."

With a disbelieving look, she asked, "Are you absolutely sure?"

He responded with a "Yes," not really paying any more attention to her, looking around. The town had several houses, each appearing to be almost exactly the same, at least on the outside. One building stood out: it was about the same height, but wider, and the exterior was noticeably different. Other then that, the only other noteworthy part of town was the path leading out of it, to the northwest of where he was standing.

"Brendan? Do you want to go inside now?" Mom questioned.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I would."

"Great! C'mon in then! And stay out of the way of the Pokemon, I've heard that this species can be very aggressive if provoked."

He responded with a "Sure thing" and followed his mother inside.

The first thing he noticed was the Pokemon. There were two of them, both around the same height as he, with white fur. A tuft of red rested on the foreheads of both. They were both preoccupied with hefty boxes full of an abundance of junk, and so they payed neither Brendan nor his mother any heed.

Next, he peered at the actual setup of the house. There was a living room, with the TV already unpacked and plugged in, and a kitchenette in the back corner. There were doors on the sides leading to both the bathroom and his mother's bedroom. Finally, a stairway that Brendan presumed led to his room. The house wasn't commodious, but it was better then what they used to have.

With a slight frown at his direction, Mom asked, "Well? Do you like it?"

He waited a few moments before answering. "It's awesome. It has everything we need!"

Mom nodded with approval, and the frown disappeared. "I knew you'd love it, especially since we have enough space. Now, why don't you go set that clock I got you? It'd be a shame if you wasted any of your birthday presents."

"Okay," Brendan remarked. He then proceeded to race up the stairs, ready to see what his room looked like.

The door stood ajar, so thankfully, he didn't immediately crash into it and fall down the stairs, as he likely would have done if the door had hadn't been already open. He stopped at the threshold, feeling suddenly nervous, then entered and surveyed the room.

A blue carpet was laid out in front of him, and to the right, a TV and Nintendo Gamecube. His bed was on the other side of the room. Taking a few more steps into the room, he noticed that his desk was in the back corner, along with his computer, a chair, and that notebook Dad sent him for his birthday. Finally, someone, probably Mom, had placed a map of the Hoenn region on the wall, to the left of the TV, and his new clock to the right of it.

Brendan toppled onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling. This was his home now. Mixed feelings welled up inside of him, and he sat up, glancing at the clock. Maybe he should set the time on that. But first, it was time to check out the rest of his belongings. Pushing himself onto his feet, he wandered over to the TV and Gamecube, neither of which functioned properly, as they weren't yet plugged in. Then, he opened the notebook and flipped through. It was almost entirely blank, except for a couple reminders he'd written in about the controls for his favorite video game. The computer had no mail of decorations stored, but it had a lone Potion. Thinking that it might come in handy later, he pressed a button on the keyboard, and the Potion materialized on the pad connected to the side of the monitor. Placing it in the backpack he was currently carrying on his back, He shut down the computer and studied the map. Judging from the physical features on the map and the sizes of the towns, he figured he was either in Littleroot Town or Odale Town. The other various small towns were located near volcanoes or even in the middle of the ocean, so they weren't logical possibilities.

At long last, he checked the clock. Peering at the clock face, he set the time according to his wristwatch. Satisfied, he turned and nearly jumped out of his skin. Mom was standing at the doorway, studying the room. He hadn't even heard her come up. Brendan's eyes then met hers.

"Brendan, " she exclaimed, "your father's on TV right now, being interviewed! Come see!"

We both thundered down the stairs, and hurled ourselves in front of the television set.

"...we brought this report from in front of Petalburg Gym," a blond reporter was saying. It then cut to commercials for Rydel's Cycles.

"Aww, you missed it," Mom said, visibly saddened. She turned to Brendan. "Oh, well. By the way, a friend of your father's, Professor Birch, lives right next door. You should go introduce yourself. I heard he has a daughter about your age. See, I told you that you'd make friends, even here in Littleroot Town." She winked at that last part.

Brendan rolled his eyes, but complied with her wishes and left the house, noting that Mom had called this place Littleroot Town and wanting to commit the name to memory. He ambled over to the Professor's house and knocked on the front door. A female voice hollered, "It's open!" and Brendan, with some surprise, opened the door and entered the house.

The house was a mirror image of his. Everything that had been on the left side of his house was on the right here, and vice versa. A little boy was sitting in front of the television, his eyes glued to the screen. A woman, washing dishes in the kitchen, stopped, stepped forward, and shook his hand.

"You must be the new neighbor. Hi, I'm Mrs. Birch."

"Yes. I'm Brendan. Umm...my mom told me to come over and introduce myself," he replied with a slight stammer. He was a very bashful person, and did not excel at conversing with others; thus, he suffered from a stammer that never went away.

"Oh, yes. Well it was nice to meet you. By the way, my daughter is home, and is upstairs in her house right now. If you want, you can go up there and say hello. I think you two would be great friends!"

Brendan nodded his assent, and Mrs. Birch resumed her cleaning. He crept up the steps slowly, reached the top, and knocked on the door. "Come in!" a feminine voice yelled. Nervous, Brendan turned the doorknob and walked in.

Mrs. Birch's daughter owned a lot of the same possessions that Brendan himself did. A bed, a pink rug, a TV and Gamecube(orange, not blue), a desk, computer, chair, and a clock. However, she didn't have a notebook, nor did she have a map of Hoenn. A plush of a short blue Pokemon with a green lily pad on its head sat on the carpet, and there was a Pokeball on the bare floorboards of the other side of the room. He took all this in quickly.

Then, he noticed her, sitting on the chair, eyes focused on him, and a smile on her face.
She had brown hair and a green and white bandana tied around her head. A strap ran across her chest, disappearing behind her shoulder, and connecting to the bag at her side.

"Um...hello. I'm May. What's your name?" She said all of this at a rapid pace, and it was clear that she was even more nervous then he was.

"Uh..my name's, uh, Brendan," I answered, berating myself for allowing my stammer to surface once more.

"Cool! So...do you have any Pokemon yet?" she queried, curiosity etched on her face.

He shook his head and said, "No, not yet. I just turned ten, and I moved, so I haven't been able to get one yet. My dad said he would get me one, but we still haven't met up yet."

"Oh. Well, that's too bad. Although, maybe my dad can...oh! I just remembered! He asked me to meet him at the Lab and help him out with something!" May got up off her chair, punched Brendan in the arm playfully, and shouted, "It was nice meeting you! Catch you later!" She started to sprint down the stairs, then came to a halt and asked, "How old did you say you were?"

"What? Oh, um....I've been ten for four days," I managed.

May smirked. "Ha! That means I'm exactly eleven days older then you." And she raced off down the stairs. Brendan stood there for a few moments in shock, then ran after her. She threw the door open, and it bounced off the door-stopper-thingy and began to close. Brendan caught the door with his left hand just in the nick of time, got out a "Bye, Mrs. Birch!" and hurried after her.

He exited the house just in time to see her sprint towards the big building. He ran after her-and collided with a small boy, falling onto his rear end. Rubbing his head, he stood up and held out a hand. The boy grasped it, and Brendan pulled him up, then interrogated him.

"What were you doing? You ran straight into me!"

The boy frantically jumped up and down, and shouted, "No time to explain! Have you seen the Professor's daughter?!"

"You mean May?" I replied stupidly. "She ran that way."

"Thanks! I gotta go tell her! The Professor's in trouble!"

Concerned, I continued to question him. "He is? Which way?"

The boy pointed towards the exit of Littleroot, then shot off towards the building May had called "the Lab." Brendan considered stopping by his house to inform his mother of the situation, but decided against it. There was no time to lose. He raced past the houses and out of Littleroot town, past a little sign, upon which the words "Route 101" were printed.

As soon as he arrived, he could tell that Professor Birch was in trouble. An enraged Zigzagoon was relentlessly chasing the poor Professor in circles. Brendan heard the pounding of footsteps and turned in time to see May freeze in her tracks, shocked.

Professor Birch, noticing them standing there, called out to them. "Help! In my bag! Pokemon!" he hollered in a panicked voice.

May shook her head and grabbed him arm. "Brendan," she exclaimed, pulling him over to a small brown bag that had been tossed aside. "We have to help him! There's Pokeballs in the bag! We can send out Pokemon to combat the Zigzagoon!"

Brendan nodded, and even though he was a little afraid, he was oddly excited as well. His first Pokemon battle was about to happen, even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances.

May ripped open the bag, grabbed a Pokeball, and tossed it on the ground. As soon as the sphere made contact with the earth, it popped open, releasing a beam of light that erupted out of it, coalescing into a definite shape. Then, The light was scattered everywhere in a shower of glittering stars, and a Pokemon emerged from it. The creature was orange and yellow, with feathers covering its body. A beak protruded from its face, and a yellow feather in the shape of a flame could be seen on the top of its head.

Brendan turned away from the Pokemon and May, even as he could hear the sounds of bodies colliding, and once he felt the heat of fire at his back. However, he was focused on which Pokeball he should choose. In the end, he grabbed the left one, and hurled it at the ground. The light released from the orb formed a green Pokemon with yellow eyes and a bushy tail. It turned its head to glance at him, awaiting his command. Brendan hesitated, then yelled, "Attack the Zigzagoon with anything you've got!"

The green Pokemon nodded in understanding, then launched itself into the fray. Brendan was in awe. This Pokemon worked flawlessly with May's red one, smacking the Zigzagoon with its hands, creating openings for the red Pokemon to unleash bursts of flame from its mouth. Once, the green creature even held out its hand, palm out, and three green orbs surrounded the Zigagoon, appearing to drain it, and then returned to his Pokemon, showering it with green energy that the Pokemon happily absorbed. Then, finally, both of the Pokemon rushed in and finished off the Zigzagoon together.

The two Pokemon, exhausted, returned to their respective Pokeballs when Brendan and May held them out. They looked into each other's eyes then, and the two knew that they were now Pokemon Trainers, and also best friends and rivals, from the bond formed between them by shared danger. The approach of Professor Birch was what caused then to break eye contact.

Appearing weary, the Professor looked at both of them in turn, although his eyes stayed on Brendan a little longer. He inhaled, exhaled, and then said, "Follow me to the Lab."

*****************************************************************************************************

"Are you alright, sir?! Did the Pokemon hurt you?"

The aide's frantic questioning was beginning to get on Brendan's nerves-and apparently the Professor's, as well. He gave the aide a look of annoyance, then answered, "I am perfectly alright, thanks to these two. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to speak to them about a matter of great importance."

The Lab assistant backed away, apologizing numerous times, as Professor Birch turned and regarded the two of them. When the aide finally shut his mouth, there was silence, stretching on for several moments, before the Professor spoke.

"So, you're Brendan. I received an email from your father. He said you had just celebrated your tenth birthday, and that you wished to have a Pokemon. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir," Brendan mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

"Well then, you'll be happy to know that I have decided to give you two the Pokemon you used to save me today."

Silence once again hung in the air. This time, it was May who broke it. "Really?!" she asked, eyes shining with joy.

"Yes. The two of you will receive your very first Pokemon. May, you will get the Fire-Type Pokemon, Torchic. And Brendan, your's is the Grass-Type Pokemon, Treecko." And he retrieved two Pokeballs, holding one out in each hand to the two young people.

Hesitating, Brendan didn't take the Ball at first. Then, he grabbed the Pokeball, cradling it gently in his hands. May took her Pokeball as well, beaming at her father as she did so. The Professor returned her smile, then held out two identical devices to the both of them.

"These are called Pokedexes," he announced, as they both stared at the devices. "It has a scanner that will allow you to scan a Pokemon every time you encounter it for the first time, and store information on it in its memory banks. Will you two, as a favor for me, accept these devices, and attempt to gather data on all the Pokemon of Hoenn for my research?"

May accepted the Pokedex immediately, saying, "Of course I'll help you, Father. Haven't I already been doing that?" She winked at him, then declared, "I'm going to go exploring with my new friend. Catch you both later!" And she sprinted out of the door.

The Professor sighed. "She'll never change."

Brendan, taking the device, finally found his voice. "I won't let you down, sir."

"I know you won't," he replied, still smiling. "Now why don't you head on home?" I'm sure your mother is probably wondering where the heck you've been for the past hour, and if she's anything like my wife, she'll be worrying up a storm!"

"Oh! I gotta go home!" Brendan shouted, and he hurried out the door towards home, with his new Pokemon. He grinned as he ran, thinking about the journey he was about to embark on. Moving to Littleroot had turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he was glad he got this chance to meet new friends, like May-and Treecko.
Tags:
  1. littleditto
    littleditto
    despite the flaws, it was very good. i liked it. :up::)
    Mar 17, 2014
  2. ShinyZekrom009
    ShinyZekrom009
    I actually did do some proofreading, correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuations mistakes, including some instances where I jumped from third to first person and back again(although I apparently missed a few, so thank you for pointing that out). The third-to-first-to-third-person thing is a reoccurring issue with many of my writings, and one that I will have to work on.

    And yes, that exchange with the boy was one I kind of rushed and didn't do a good job on. I just wanted to get through it and get to writing about Brendan and May coming to the aid of the Professor, so I was careless with the writing on that part. So, thank you for pointing out these flaws, so now I have something to focus on as far as improvement goes. :)
    Sep 16, 2013
  3. Psycho Monkey
    Psycho Monkey
    Yeah Hoenn! You picked the best region to write your fic about! ^_^

    My only issue with your story is you tended to bounce between third and first person a few times. For example, "This promotion meant that he was there to stay, so me and Mom now had to live in Hoenn." and the exchange with the little boy that told him about Prof. Birch being in trouble. I suggest that next time you proofread but other than that your story is pretty solid. :)
    Sep 16, 2013
    ShinyZekrom009 likes this.