With a jolt and a crash, Brendan fell out of the moving van, and into his new home town of Littleroot.
"Hello, Brendan. Are you alright? Oh, of course you are! Listen, we gotta get in the house and unpack!"
Just give me a sec… to recover… "Remind me again, why was I in the back?"
"We didn't have enough room in the front of the truck." Brendan nodded vaguely, and stumbled into the house, turning on the TV.
"We brought you this program from in front of Petalburg Gym."
"Tch. Just our luck. We miss Norman when he's on," Brendan's mother stated.
Brendan, much more rested from his nap, decided to visit Professor Birch's house across the turf. He walked in, and found a girl his age sitting at the table, finishing a sandwich.
"So you're that new kid… Norman's child."
"Yep. Some call me Brendan. Most just call me Norman's kid."
"Then I'll be sure to call you Brendan. And if you're looking for my father, he's out on Route 101, doing some study." Brendan nodded, and decided to look for Professor Birch.
"Help! Helphelphelphelp!" Professor Birch panicked. Or it was the Poochyena that was barking behind him. Brendan dropped his bag, and ran straight to Birch.
"In my bag! There's a Pokéball!"
Brendan swept past Birch's bag, picking up a Pokéball.
Wild POOCHYENA appeared!
Go! TORCHIC!
"Alright… Torchic, use a Scratch attack!"
"Wait, you don't have a Battle Ring? They're in the other pocket!" Professor Birch urged. While Torchic was attacking the wild Poochyena, Brendan combed Birch's bag, and found the Battle Ring. Equipping it, he turned back to the battle at hand… only to find it was finished.
"Whew… thank you, young boy. Come back to my lab… I need to sit down… and your bag's full of Wurmple."
"Wow… that was exciting…" Professor Birch stated. "I've never seen such a thrilling battle in my life. So tell me, what's your name?"
"Brendan."
"I'll remember it. Although, forgive me if I call you Brandon. I'm told I easily botch names. Anyway, would you like to keep the Torchic you used in that fight?"
"You'll let me? Alright, then, Torchic… welcome to the party!"
"You can count on me, buddy!"
"Oh, and Brendan? You can actually give a nickname to your Pokémon. Would you like to give it a try?"
"OK. How about… Torcher! I know he can't do any of that yet, but it'll fit when he can!"
"Torching things sounds good. But, remind me again… when can I torch things?"
"I think he likes it. Hey, why don't you go see May? She's out on Route 103.
"Hello, Brendan," May sighed. She looked out onto the ocean.
"Hey, May. What are you up to?"
"Oh… nothing, really. I always like coming out here, watching the tides rise and fall… nothing's quite as beautiful as the sea." Brendan looked out. True enough, there was a sort of charm to the way the waves ebbed and flowed.
"Brendan… how about a battle?"
"A battle?"
"Yeah. A battle next to this scenic ocean view? This'll make a great postcard."
PKMN TRAINER MAY would like to battle!
PKMN TRAINER MAY sent out MUDKIP!
Go! TORCHIC!
"Brendan, just checking: do you understand what your position means?"
"Yes. But that isn't relevant here, isn't it?"
"…Correct."
Mudkip and Torchic met in the centre of the round, Torchic scratching while Mudkip tackled. Torchic was knocked back a little bit. Torchic looked up, eyes blazing. He scratched again, dealing a surprising amount of damage. Mudkip fainted.
PKMN TRAINER MAY was defeated!
"Wow… a scenic view… and a battle against a tough trainer… you're good."
"Hello again, Brendan. I heard you beat May on your first try. That's amazing!"
"It was nothing."
"No, it was brilliant, Brendan. Listen… I'm doing fieldwork, helping my father document the wild Pokémon of the Hoenn region. If you don't mind… could you come with me?" Brendan took a moment's pause. May's words echoed in his mind.
"Yeah, of course I will!"
Told you I'd be finished within the week.
Welcome to Hoenn! Hoenn will introduce the whole Ability deal. After thought and some opinion, Pokemon will receive one of their abilities, the only criteria being that they have access to it in the generation which the story takes place. That means Torcher has Blaze instead of Speed Boost, for example, despite Speed Boost existing in Gen III.
...I'm out of things to say, actually... Except yes, that description was supposed to reference Radiant Dawn. And I tried to make it not spoil the major plot point until that's a thing.
Next time, on Sunny With A Chance Of Thunderstorms, May meets Brendan's father, as he did hers.