"So, what do you think?" Dad and I both looked at Mom, because she was the one who had to be happy with the new house. Dad would be spending a lot of his time working at the gym, and I could live in a cave if I needed to.
"It seems kind of... small," Mom frowned. She'd grown up in a house that could conservatively be called a mansion, so her view was usually skewed. This time, admittedly, she did have a point; the house barely looked big enough to fit all three of us.
"It's probably an optical illusion," I said, trying to come up with some excuse to placate Mom. "We've got a yard big enough for a herd of Tauros, so of course it seems small." Dad just smiled.
"Cozy, not small. Just look around and I promise you'll love it." Dad held the door open in a needlessly dramatic fashion, and Mom entered the house, sighing. Dad and I followed, though I intended to change out of the crappy clothes I wore for the trip over than I wanted to look around. "Most of the stuff is already unpacked," Dad said as Mom looked around.
"They did a good job fitting it all in, considering this house is about half the size of our old one," I whispered to Dad.
"A third, but don't tell her," he smiled. "Your room's upstairs, end of the hall." I thanked him and went upstairs. My room was small, just like the rest of the house, with just enough room for my bed, desk, computer, and dresser. I changed into my favorite pair of jeans (black, the only pair of that color I'd ever seen) and a plain blue shirt. Satisfied, I turned on my computer and checked my email. The only message I had was from my friend, Kendra, declaring that she'd just gotten her first Pokémon and was getting ready to challenge the Johto League. I sent her a quick congratulatory message in return and flopped down on my bed, sighing.
I've wanted to challenge a league since I was six, but my parents never let me. I was the only thing keeping her from pursuing her own dreams, but now that I'd moved here to Littleroot, in Hoenn, she was free to start. Three years my junior, but she was already starting what I'd been dreaming of for ten years. I briefly wondered why my other friends hadn't emailed, but realized that they'd still be in school, due to the timezone difference. At least my other friends hadn't planned on being trainers, so I wasn't keeping them from their dreams as well. I laid there thinking for a while, but eventually I got up and walked back downstairs to find my mom eating ice cream and watching TV.
"Hi, honey," she sighed, scarfing down another spoonful of double chocolate chunk.
"Hi, Mom. Where's Dad, at the gym already?"
"No, he doesn't have to work until tomorrow. He just went out to grab the rest of our things from the car."
"Right... I'd better go see if he needs any help," I said, slipping away from the awkward situation. I loved my mom, really, but experience has shown that the only cure for these moods was some alone time.
"Hey, like your room?" Dad was sitting on the hood of the car, looking out towards the middle of town when I walked out. The stuff we'd brought with us, a grand total of three boxes, was sitting on the ground next to him.
"Cozy," I said sarcastically, looking around. Our nearest neighbor was easily three hundred feet away, but the town still managed to be small, and I could see the treeline in every direction. I could even see a man sitting by the road out of town and writing notes. "But it's not like I ever did much in my bedroom, so I don't need the space."
"Yeah, that won't be changing anytime soon; as far as I know, Birch is the only one with a kid your age in town," Dad laughed, motioning to the largest house I could see, several yards away. "Guess I should take this stuff inside and try to cheer up your mom," he sighed.
"What happened to her?" Mom's emotional outbursts were strong, but she wasn't one to get upset over nothing.
"Oh, not much. I think she finally realized exactly what moving meant, is all, and she's not taking it well," he said as he jumped down off the car. "I guess you want to go explore the town?"
"I guess, but if there's only one person my age in town, maybe I'll just go check that route over there," I said as I pointed towards the only road out of town.
"Just be careful," Dad frowned. "Wild Pokémon, you know?"
"Dad, just because I had a bad habit of getting attacked at home doesn't mean I like it. It's not like I'm going to go cause trouble, you know?"
"Alright, alright," Dad said dismissively, smiling. "Just have fun, Spencer." I nodded, and Dad turned around and went back in.
"Alright, now where should I go?" I frowned, thinking on where I should go. I turned around to look back into town, only to see a girl standing a few feet away, walking up to me.
"Hey, don't think I've seen you before," she shouted, waving. When she got close enough, she closely examined me. "Nope, definitely never met. You must be the new Petalburg leader's son? Dad said he was moving in today."
"Uh... yeah, my name's Spencer, and that'd be my dad."
"I guess if that's the case, you're already a good trainer," she frowned. "Probably just going to get a Pokémon from Dad and go challenge the league."
"I would, but my parents won't let me. No Pokemon, and no leagues." The girl's smile returned almost immediately.
"Oh, that's great!" She must have seen my look of confusion, because she quickly spoke again. "Not that you can't be a trainer, I mean... that'd just be mean! I meant that you won't be leaving, because I'm so used to people showing up and leaving right away. It gets so lonely being the only person here older than ten and younger than thirty. The name's May, by the way," she said, holding her hand out. "My dad's Profressor Birch, and he's one of the few people allowed to register people for the Hoenn League and give out starter Pokémon."
"Ah, we lived near Professor Elm back in Johto, who did the same thing," I said, shaking her hand. "I know exactly what you mean, my only friends were people who didn't want to be trainers, or were nice enough to not leave without me." May smiled and pulled me into a quick hug.
"Look at us, just two souls sharing the same unfortunate fate!" May laughed and let me go, before sighing. "But without anybody else here, I'm mostly stuck helping my dad with his research... which I was actually just on my way to do, so..." May trailed off, looking towards me hopefully.
"Well," I said, taking the hint, "I'm not busy. Think I could come along?"
"That would be great! He's working j-" Before May could finish, a cry for help rang through the air, cutting her off.
"HEEEAAALP!" I turned around to see where it was coming from, and saw the man I'd seen taking notes earlier running from a small pack of Pokémon.
"Oh no, Dad! Come on, Spencer!" May grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the man, who had jumped up a tree to escape the Pokémon. He had a bloody bite mark on his pants, and a chunk missing from his lab coat.
"May! Oh, I'm so lucky you've come! My bag, and my Pokémon... I dropped them when these Poochyena started chasing me!" He pointed to where he'd been earlier, where a bag was sitting. "Can you and your friend fight these off?"
"Absolutely, Dad! Come on, Spencer!"
"Right," I said, running over to the bag. May opened it up and started digging through it.
"He really needs to keep this better organized," May muttered to herself. I looked over at Birch and the Pokémon. There were six small, gray Pokémon surrounding the tree, all nipping at his feet.
"Spencer, catch!" I turned back to May just in time to see her tossing me a Poké Ball, which I caught. "You know how to battle?"
"A bit, but I've never actually done it before."
"Well, that's two of us, I guess." May smiled halfheartedly at me before gripping her ball tightly. She pressed the button on the front and it expanded. "Let's hope for beginner's luck, then!" With that, she released her Pokémon in a flash of red light, and I followed suit. Seconds later, we had a Torchic and a Treeko in front of us. "Hey, you filthy Poochyena! If you're looking for a fight, we've got one for you over here!" The Poochyena stopped attacking the professor, and started barking among themselves. After a few seconds, two of them stepped away from the group and approached us, growling.
"Those must be the leaders," I mused to myself. "You ready, Treeko?" My Pokémon, the small, green lizard, looked up at me and nodded, smiling slyly. "Alright then, use pound!"
"Tree-treeko!" The Treeko dropped to its hand and feet and charged at one of the Poochyena, which jumped at the Treeko in return, its head lowered for a tackle attack. At the last moment, the Treeko turned around and slammed its tail into the Poochyena's face, knocking it to the side. The Poochyena slid a bit, but quickly regained its composure and jumped again at Treeko, slamming into its side. To its credit, Treeko did manage to land another pound attack as it was knocked backwards.
"Hyena!" The Poochyena jumped again at Treeko, who had only barely managed to keep himself from falling flat on his back. Rather than dodge, Treeko jumped straight at the Poochyena, but landed on its head and jumped forcefully off, sending the Poochyena's face into the ground. Treeko landed gracefully behind its foe and got ready to attack again if necessary, but the Poochyena barked to its friend, who seemed to be having just as much trouble with May and her Torchic, and ran back to the pack, who all ran off into the forest.
"Great job, May," Birch sighed as he dropped to the ground. May ran over, and I followed closely behind, picking up Treeko as I passed it. "And, uh... oh, you must be Norman's kid! Lucky for me you decided to move in today," he laughed.
"Dad, are you okay?" May helped her father stand up uneasily, obviously looking at the blood now staining his pants.
"Don't worry, honey, it looks worse than it is." Judging by his face when he tried to walk, he was lying, and May knew it. "C'mon, help me back to the lab." May and I both held him up and walked him to his lab, in the center of town. While we traveled, he explained that his lab was the closest thing to a Pokémon Center, since the town was too small for one.
"You two handled that well, despite your lack of battling experience," he said once we'd gotten him back to his lab, while he was patching up his leg. "And as you might know, I am allowed to register trainers and hand out starter Pokémon. As such, I've decided to let you keep the Pokémon you used to save me and to help you register as a trainer!"
"R-really? Oh, thank you so much, sir!" I could hardly believe it! After waiting for so long, I was finally given the means to live my dream!
"But Spencer, what about your parents? If living next to Elm wasn't enough for them, what makes you think this will be?" I looked over at May, the smile fading from my face because I knew that she had a point. It looked like she was trying to conceal her own disappointment.
"Oh, May, don't be such a killjoy. I know you're tired of living here, so the offer was for you too!" May's frown disappeared almost instantly, and I realized that she wasn't upset by the fact that I wouldn't be allowed to go, but by the possibility that I would, and that she'd be alone again. I knew exactly where she was coming from, but that still hurt. "As for your parents, Spencer... I'll call your father quickly after you leave and explain to him. If there's any problems, you have him talk to me, understand?" I nodded, and he handed me a set of trainer registration forms. "Now you kids run home, it's about dinner time. May, I'll be right behind, just tell your mother I'll be a few minutes late." I thanked the professor and May and I walked outside.
"Us, trainers... can you believe it? May's smile hadn't left her face yes, and her Torchic was just as happy, wrapped up in her arms.
"Barely! It seems like I've been waiting for this for so long," I said, smiling back. We said our goodbyes and split up, heading to our respective homes. "So," I said, looking at the Treeko that was sitting on my shoulder, "if we're going to be traveling together, you're going to need a name, aren't you? How about... Trent?"
"Tree," the Pokémon said after a few moments of thought, nodding his head.
"Well then, here's to the start of a great future, Trent!" We finished walking to my house, and I opened the door without a second thought, only to find Dad sitting at the kitchen table, looking towards the door with the most serious expression I'd ever seen him wear. Before I could ask what was wrong, he spoke.
"Professor Birch called," he said, staring at Trent who was still sitting on my shoulder. "We need to talk, Spencer."