CHAPTER 1: IMPACT
Birch hummed to himself contentedly as he made his way through Oldale. It was a fine day for a walk. In his satchel slung over his shoulder, he carried three pokeballs, containing each of the Hoenn starters. This was the last trio he had to collect for the next two months. He now had enough of them at his lab to hand them to new trainers as they began their journey as trainers. He greeted an old couple as hey walked by; he knew them from Littleroot. They greeted him back warmly as they continued on their way to the weekly farmers' market that was held at Oldale every Tuesday. Birch considered stopping for a coffee; one more cup couldn't hurt, it was his second that day. That's not bad, it's not like I'm having my ninth cup or something, he reasoned with himself. He could pickup something for his wife and his son as well. The big question: sandwiches or donuts? His mental debate was interrupted by a voice behind him, loaded with malice.
"Well, lookee here. If it ain't the Proff on his way home.", said one.
"That bag looks awfully heavy, Proff.", said another.
"Maybe we can do something to lighten the load?", added a third.
"So just hand over those balls, and you can be on your way.", concluded the fourth.
"You want...my balls?", asked an uneasy Birch, as he turned around slowly, taking in his stalkers. The four wore flashy outfits, sunglasses, and an excessive amount of bling, in typical hooligan fashion.
"When you put it like that, it does sound weird.", the second admitted.
"We want your pokeballs, you dunce!", shrieked the third."So make it snappy!"
"That's thievery! You can't just steal them, they're for the next generation of Hoenn trainers to raise! They need these pokemon!", Birch exclaimed, in a vain attempt to reason with them.
"Well, sucks to be them, doesn't it then?", the fourth, the leader, sneered, showing off his glinting gold teeth.
"Just hand 'em over and you won't have any trouble with us, Proff. What say you?", the first offered, in a tone suggesting no wasn't an answer Birch wanted to go with.
Birch was in a real pickle now. He didn't have any of his pokemon on him, his son was using them to train today. He himself wasn't a good battler as such.
Birch was considering making a run for it and hoping for the best, when a voice piped up.
"I say screw you. Those pokemon aren't going anywhere with the likes of you morons. Not on my watch."
The speaker was a boy, Birch could tell from his voice. He was tall and lanky, with messy brown hair. He wore a green-and-grey waterproof jacket, a dark grey T-shirt, beige trousers and blue running shoes. He had a blue backpack. His eyes were easily his most distinguishing feature, they were gold; not gold, but yellow. When he looked Birch in the eye, it felt like those eyes were piercing into him, reading him, thoughts intentions and more. It was unsettling. Very unsettling.
The hooligans shifted uneasily as each of them was sized up by the newcomer. The leader got over his unease and huffed,"Piss off, punk. I don't have time for worthless turds like you."
"No."
"Whatcha mean 'No', you little shit? Does it look like we're giving you a choice?"
"I don't really care if you are. I'll give you a choice: leave now and you get to keep your teeth."
"What, you're gonna hit me? You gonna punch the big bad pokemon thief? You ain't got the power to knock my teeth out with those bony hands!", the leader jeered. His cronies joined in, throwing insults and laughing. They stopped laughing when they saw that the boy was grinning too. The leader's eyes narrowed at the grinning boy. People had stopped to watch the ordeal. A few people were recording the whole thing as it played out on their phones.
"What's so funny, maggot?"
"Who said it would be me who'd get rid of your teeth?", the boy replied, smiling widely. He snapped his fingers.
Out of nowhere, a blur came and struck the leader in the jaw. As soon as it had come, the blur was gone. The leader's bloody gold teeth lay strewn across the paved stones, which were now spattered with blood. The leader groaned, eyes wide in shock and pain. His jaw hurt terribly, and his gums felt like they were on fire. Two of his goons helped him up.
"What was that?", Birch exclaimed.
"My partner.", replied the boy.
The leader got to his feet and pointed at the boy, and mumbled,"ya gunna guh dow, bai!"
His men took the cue and with hime, they each released two pokemon. The boy and his unknown pokemon were facing eight opponents. The hooligans' lineup included a Linoone, a Mightyena, two Poochyena, two Zubat, a Dustox and a Lombre.
"Proffessor", the boy began, "I'm going to need those pokemon. Right. Now,"
Birch didn't hesitate, this boy was the only thing standing between the starters and the thieves. He threw the boy the pokeballs, and the boy caught them clumsily.
The Hoenn starters come out.
"Torchic! Mudkip! Treecko! I need your help in putting an end to these pokemon thieves! Lend me your power!", the boy called.
Birch was surprised at how quickly the starters responded. The three turned to the boy, met his eyes and gave him a nod of acknowledgement.
How did he bond with them so quickly, Birch wondered, impressed and intrigued at the same time. He realized it was the tone with which the boy had addressed them, it was a tone of respect. He had spoken to the pokemon as if speaking to equals. Perhaps that was what had caused them to trust in and side with him so quickly, Birch mused to himself.
"Four against eight, maggot! You ain't gonna win!", one of the hooligans called out.
"How about you call another eight, then you can say that you tried?", the boy retorted.
"Grrr.."
With that, the battle began in earnest.
The boy snapped his fingers and the blur came once again, barrelling in at fantastic speeds towards the foes. In one hit, the Dustox was out cold. Another snap of the fingers, and the blur made another pass, trashing the two Poochyena in two successive collisions. The boy then proceeded to engage in battle with the starters at his side. He directed Torchic to take out Lombre with Peck, simultaneously guiding Treecko to defeat Linoone with several uses of Absorb and Mudkip to wreck Mightyena by dousing him with water gun. The two Zubat left didn't have a chance. The starters rained hell upon the two Zubat with Treecko using tail whip to bring down the opponents' defence while Mudkip used Tackle on one, with Torchic pecking the other. In the span of a few minutes, the thieves' pokemon had been totalled. They just stood there for a few moments, gaping in shock at their unconscious pokemon. They returned their pokemon and hightailed it out of there. The boy paid them no heed. He was busy commending the starters on what a great job they had done and how well they had worked together.
As Birch watched the thieves run off, he turned to the boy and the starters crowded around him, chirping away happily. The crowd broke into applause. They were all impressed with the boy and the pokemon. As the crowd began to disperse, Birch walked upto the boy.
"That was some serious skill you showed there, youngster."
"Thanks! It wasn't just me though. These guys did all the real work." That got him a group hug from the starters. As the boy got up once again, another pokemon descended upon the group. It was a Beldum. He went upto the boy and nuzzled him.
"Yes, Beldum, you were awesome out there.", the boy told Beldum, grinning.
"So it was Beldum who came and struck the leader and those other pokemon when you snapped your fingers?", Birch inquired, fascinated with the boy.
"Yeah. Beldum here is my oldest friend and partner."
"He is a powerful pokemon."
"Oh, he is. We've trained like crazy. Plus, I went to a tutor to teach Beldum the moves Metal Head and Zen Headbutt, to give him some moves that would power up his attacks thanks to STAB(SAME TYPE ATTACK BONUS).", the boy explained.
"You're an intelligent boy-er, I never did ask your name. What's your name?"
"They call me Havoc."
"Come on guys, back into your balls now. We've got to get going.", Birch called as he made his way over from the cafe where he'd been dozing for a while. The starters had struck up a quick friendship with Havoc. They'd been training with him and Beldum for two hours now, while Birch had gone to the tea shop, where he had dozed off. The starters just stood there, glaring at Birch like he had just said that people who used Jigglypuff as pillows had the right idea.
It took him a while to figure out why they were glaring at him like that. He finally got it.
"I get it! You guys want something to eat before we leave!"
The starters groaned collectively, and shared looks that said, "Seriously, is this guy for real? Can't he take a hint?"
Treecko walked upto him, looked him in the eye and grabbed his satchel and ran back to where Havoc stood with Beldum; the two had been watching this exchange quietly. Torchic and Mudkip joined him.
Birch finally took the hint.
"I get it now! You'd like to join Havoc and have him as your trainer! Did I get it right?"
The starters nodded vigorously.
"But all of you?"
The starters nodded vigorously.
"I can't do that."
The starters gave him a dangerous look as if to say, you sure about that?
Birch deliberated for a while. Havoc had showed him and proved himself to be a capable and caring trainer. It was unprecedented, for sure, but then again, there's a first time for everything. His mind made up, he walked upto Havoc and asked him a question he asked every trainer who came to him.
"What are pokemon to you?"
Without hesitating, Havoc answered, "They are a part of me. They are everything to me."
"I see."
This was a trainer worthy of all three starters, all right. His words and actions told him he cared for pokemon more than anything. He would take good care of these pokemon. He was adept at battling too; he had known immediately what moves the starters knew, without a pokedex.
"All right, then. I entrust these starters to you. Do you accept?"
"Hell yeah, I do!"
The starters surged towards their new trainer, tackling him in a group hug.s
Birch couldn't help but smile.
"I would also lie to give you a Pokedex. With it, you can sign up for the Hoenn Pokemon League. So come along with me to Littleroot to my lab, won't you?"
"Really? You'd give me a Pokedex? Wow! I've always wanted to go on a journey!"
"Let's go, then!"
Havoc returned his newfound pokemon to their balls along with Beldum, and followed Birch.
As they walked to Littleroot through the forest path, Birch asked Havoc, "Will your parents be all right with you going off on a journey through Hoenn?"
"I wouldn't know how they would feel about it. They abandoned me near Oldale when I was little. I was in an orphanage there for a while, but left when I was eleven. I've been living at a shelter since then, earning money through various odd jobs.", Havoc replied with a sad smile.
Birch was quiet for a while. A while later, he asked, "How did you meet Beldum?"
"Beldum and Metang migrate every few years. Beldum had been part of one such migration when he was caught in a storm and struck by lightning. He crashed in a dumpster as I was walking nearby. I found him and helped him recover and get his strength back. I trained him as well. When the owner of the orphanage found out I had a pokemon as rare as Beldum, he tried to take it away to sell it for money. That is why I left the orphanage. I ran away from there."
"You've had a difficult life."
"Not as difficult as some."
"Do you have a dream?"
"Yes."
"Would you like to share it with me?"
"Okay. I want to see the world. I'd like to meet pokemon from other regions. I'd like to battle with my partners with different people and learn from the battles to become a better battler. That is my dream."
"Well then, the Pokemon League is just for you! Why didn't you sign up for it?"
"I don't have a lot of money. I won't be able to afford it"
"But you don't have to worry about that, my boy! Pokedex holders don't have to pay for travelling or lodging expenses. The League covers the fares!"
"I did not now that."
"Well, you do now! So let's get you geared up for the journey of a lifetime! What say you?"
"Whoop, whoop!"
"Whoop, whoop!"
The Professor and the Trainer walked on, laughing.
Inside their pokeballs, the pokemon shook their heads at their antics.
