Trying out a pokefic that I've been thinking about for some time now. I don't want to give away too much background on my mysterious protagonist or plot twists, but I approached this as a gamer seeing the different game generations as a continuous series and tried to work my personal interpretations into the events of the game. Also, it always seems to me that if you're going to have bad guys who hold up radio towers or mercilessly cut off Slowpoke tails or steal Devon goods, they should be slightly more hardcore, so I tried to work on that as well.

So, please enjoy! I own no part of Pokemon (aside from merch), but I will mess with it anyway!

ooooo

Yesterday & Today

Chapter 1

The truck rumbled to a halt. A girl dozing in the back corner shook herself awake and stretched cramped arms and legs. Her mother was opening the back door as she made he way to the back of the truck, yawning lazily. Jumping down next her mother, she more securely tied the bandana reining in her very long brown hair and pulled on a sweatshirt.

"It's chillier here than in Kanto, huh?" she said to her mother, who smiled in response.

"It is," she agreed. "I hope there's somewhere nice to get some warmer clothes." Grabbing a cardboard box out of the truck, she added, "Why don't you go upstairs and check out your room?" The girl grinned and jogged towards the house, bringing a well-worn backpack with her.

Inside, pokemon she recognized from her father's work as Vigoroth were placing the family's belongings in the living room. She passed them carefully, then climbed the staircase. Upstairs, she discovered her own room was already filled with boxes, which she immediately set about unpacking. After a few minutes she gave up, having safely installed her most important possessions in their place in the room. Aside from making the bed, she had hooked up her computer and various video game equipment and set out some of her favorite photos. One in particular caught her attention, a picture of a young girl holding up a rather large trophy, and she gazed at it for a long moment before being overcome with restlessness. She checked the contents of her backpack, rifling through sensible traveling clothes: underwear and socks, a few shirts, light yet durable shorts, and one outfit of warmer wear. Next came her mess kit, a first aid kit, toiletries, and sleeping gear. Everything was in perfect order. Checking the PC, she decided to withdraw only a few potions from the extensive inventory.

"After all, I'm starting over," she grinned at her reflection in the mirror, feeling energized and eager for adventure. An athletic, if not somewhat short, friendly-looking girl smiled back, dark eyes twinkling. Double-checking her gloves and shoes for wear, she deemed them ready for the road and headed downstairs, slapping her pocket to confirm that she had her lucky charm as she stepped out of her room.

The girl's mother saw her from where she was helping the movers in the kitchen and came over. "Heading out already, my dear?" she said, not unkindly. "I just saw an interview with Dad on TV, so hopefully you can see him soon," she added cheerfully.

"Awesome! I really can't wait anymore to get going," the girl replied. "If I don't keep working, I'll become an unfit trainer."

"Of course, dear. You've wowed 'em twice before, and I know you'll do it again." Her expression sobered as she watched her daughter. "Have you chosen a new moniker for yourself?"

"I decided on 'Edith'. It has kind of a neat meaning, and what's more, it can be shortened to Edie, and that sounds pretty cool, right?" Her mom laughed.

"Ok, Edie." She kissed her daughter's cheek and waved to her from the front door, quite used to seeing her daughter off on adventures.

ooooo

In the cooling afternoon air, Edith extracted a tiny slip of paper from her backpack and squinted in the sun at Professor Oak's scrawl.

"Professor Birch, Littleroot Town, 231 Sapling Way," she murmured to herself. Glancing around, she quickly picked up on a large building rising above the houses. "Well, if that don't look suspiciously like a research facility…"

The sterile air inside immediately brought back memories of the two other labs Edith had been in during her long pokemon career, and the comfortable silence associated with the lab assistants hard at work fueled her growing excitement for adventure. A white-coated assistant noticed her standing in the doorway and stepped over.

"Are you looking for Professor Birch?" he inquired politely. Edith nodded, mildly pleased by his accent. "I am sorry to tell you, but he is out researching right now. He rarely leaves us specific plans, but his outings can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. However, we can take your name and phone number and alert you when he returns if you like…"

Edith's face fell, disappointed at the prospect of waiting. The assistant smiled knowingly.

"Are you interested in getting your first Pokemon?" he asked kindly.

Edith hesitated. "Well, not exactly." She abruptly became aware of her distinctly not 10-year-old appearance. "You know what," she hedged, "I'll come back later."

Back outside, Edith stalked impatiently among the houses, fervently planning her next move. As she approached her own home, she noticed one of her neighbors chatting with her mother.

"Oh, Edie!" her mother waved her over. "This is Mrs. Birch! She said she has a son around your age!" Edith immediately perked up at this new lead and shook hands with Mrs. Birch, a sedate and matronly-looking woman.

"You're probably looking for my husband, but he's gone out exploring again. If you'd like, you can head next door and meet my son Brendan to keep yourself entertained." Edith thanked Mrs. Birch and gingerly let herself in to the house next door.

"Hello!" immediately chirped a tiny girl inside. Edith jumped, startled, and looked around sheepishly.

"Uh…hi…I saw your mom outside and she told me to let myself in."

The girl bounded over and extended a pudgy hand. "I'm May! Pleased to meet you!" she squeaked.

"I'm Edie. How do you do, May?" Edith responded. May smiled toothily, and Edith noticed that she was missing several.

"Do you want Daddy to give you a pokemon? I'm only 8, but when I turn 10 Daddy's gonna give me a pokemon. My brother is 16 and he has a pokemon but he doesn't want to go exploring yet because he likes helping Daddy. What does your daddy do?" May finally paused for a breath, and Edith jumped in.

"Actually, my dad is a gym leader in another city." Before May could respond, Edith added, "Could you tell me where your brother is now?" May pointed directly above her head.

"He's upstairs in his room! You can go see him! BRENDAN!" May shouted. "My new friend Edie is coming to see you!"

Edith smiled and thanked May before hastily heading upstairs. Brendan was standing expectantly in his doorway with a half-smile on his face. This widened into a friendly grin when he saw Edith.

"Hey, neighbor. No doubt you're looking for my dad." He paused, looking more closely at Edith. "Are you…gonna get your first pokemon?"

"Well, no…I kind of just want to talk to your dad." She scratched her head uncomfortably. "So, this is your room?" she asked, ungracefully changing the subject.

"Yea, yea. It's kind of messy…" Brendan stepped with her into his room, halfheartedly trying to organize some of the stacks of pokemon research journals and textbooks on his desk. Edith noticed similarly unruly piles on his bed and floor, and a pokeball half-covered by laundry.

"Is that yours?" she asked, fishing it out and gently holding it out to him. Brendan stepped closer and took it from her thoughtfully.

"It's mine. I haven't trained it at all because I've been helping my dad with his research. It mostly plays with May…"

"That's really great that you help your dad out. I bet he really appreciates the sacrifice you make to help him," Edith offered, seeing Brendan's troubled look and trying to cheer him up.

He smiled gratefully at her. "I'm learning everything here that I would on my own pokemon journey, except I'm not getting any battle experience." Edith nodded. "I guess that means I'll be really prepared when I do go out in the world, huh?" They smiled at each other for a quiet moment, and Edith noticed absently that Brendan had lovely eyes. She discreetly tried to look him over more carefully: he was taller, but stockier than her, with unruly hair tucked into a spiky white hat and intense crimson eyes. Meanwhile, Brendan was doing the same.

When the silence stretched too long, they both cleared their throats and made a show of being otherwise occupied. Edith stood from her perch on a desk chair and headed downstairs towards the door.

"It was great meeting you, Brendan," she began awkwardly. "I think I'll go help my mom unpack some more now. I hope to see you again." Brendan smiled and gave a cute little wave before shutting the door. May came up behind him.

"She's cute! Are you going to marry her?" She said without ceremony.

Brendan flushed. "I just met her, May. I think it will have to be a little while before anyone thinks of that." He coughed uncomfortably and retreated to his room.

Outside, Edith saw that her mother was still chatting with Mrs. Birch and decided to take a walk. She left the small town fairly quickly and ambled along the path that connected it with a neighboring town. Despite being in an area densely populated by wild pokemon, she felt no need to have either pokemon or pokeballs with her on the walk. Due to her extensive experience, she felt comfortable dealing with all manner of creatures one-on-one and was eager to discover new pokemon in this region. Her musings, however, were interrupted by a shout nearby.

Pushing carefully through the brush, Edith soon came upon a vaguely familiar, extremely red-faced man being attacked by a striped, mammalian pokemon. He saw her immediately and gestured wildly at her. "You over there! Please help!" he gasped, trying to fend off the pokemon by waving his coat. "Get a pokeball!"

Edith couldn't help but gape for a moment; the pokemon seemed to just be scrabbling energetically at the man's pant leg, and he in turn was making all manner of noises in an attempt to scare it while trying to shake it off his leg. After a moment she located the pokeballs in his bag, but he had three. Were they all the same? What level were they? Would they listen to an unknown trainer? Hoping she had chosen an appropriate pokemon for the job, Edith let the pokeball fly.

The telltale flash of light was followed by the cry of the unknown pokemon Edith had released. Seeing it's distinctly water-like attributes and remembering the other two pokeballs in the bag, she finally gathered that this must be one of the region's starter pokemon, and the man, Professor Birch.

She hardly thought before saying, "Use tackle! Try to get um…that pokemon over there away from Professor Birch!"

The pokemon she had released looked back at her and seemed to recognize her status as a trainer. It then looked at Professor Birch, wiggled its backside a little in preparation, and launched itself headfirst into the side of Birch's assailant. Both pokemon tumbled away from him, and he took the opportunity to run to Edith's side. The wild pokemon, deeming this particular quarry decidedly more menacing than initially thought, scurried into the underbrush. The pokemon Edith had released looked expectantly at her, as if asking for confirmation that it had done the correct thing.

She clapped in response. "Good job!" The pokemon practically wriggled with delight at the compliment

"Thanks, Mudkip," Professor Birch dusted himself off and scooped up the pokemon, who chirped and squirmed happily in his grasp. "Thanks…" he began, looking gratefully at Edith.

"It's Edie," she supplied. Suddenly, Mudkip began to nose at Professor Birch's pocket.

"Oh, what are you doing?" Birch withdrew a slightly crushed berry from his front pocket. "Well, no wonder that Zigzagoon was pestering me! I should really pay attention to what sort of things I carry around with me…" He held the berry up so Mudkip could nibble on it.

"Are you Professor Birch?" He nodded, and together they gathered up his scattered belongings and started back for his lab.

"Are you interested in getting into the world of pokemon?" he asked conversationally.

"Well," she replied, "it's kind of a long story. My family just moved here from Kanto, so I already have a bit of history with pokemon. Actually, my father is a gym leader a few towns over. You've probably had some dealing with him during the application process."

Professor Birch chewed his lip thoughtfully. "I do know a new normal-type gym leader just started in Petalburg City. Very interesting gym set-up. Came from the fighting dojo in Saffron, and his daughter was…" His eyes widened as he looked at Edith. "If you're Norman's daughter, that makes you—"

"Right," Edith hastily cut him off. "I'd actually prefer that it remain a little-known fact. I'd really just like to start fresh here, like every other rookie."

Professor Birch nodded. "Though I can't guarantee that people won't recognize you. What you did…what happened…" he faltered briefly. "It's famous even here." The reached his lab and he held the door open for her. Inside he greeted various assistants before leading Edith to his office.

"You must be around 17 now, right?" he asked, taking the three pokeballs from his bag.

"Eighteen, actually," Edith replied.

"My son will be 17 next month," Birch mused. Edith immediately thought of Brendan and noticed that his father's eyes were a much less intriguing shade.

"We've met, actually," she murmured.

"Well," he announced after a moment, "it's rather unorthodox to give a starter pokemon to someone who has already completed a pokemon journey, but since this is a new region for you…and considering your history…I'd say why not."

Edith felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had been in one other similar situation before, but Professor Oak had been there to recommend her. She found herself mildly pleased that her reputation alone offered her such a favor.

"So, which pokemon would you prefer?" Professor Birch set up the pokeballs with the matching pokemon's stats and info.

Edith shook herself from her reverie. "Actually, I'd like to take the Mudkip I was using, if it's all the same to you."

"That's fine," Birch responded. "You know, of course, that you will have to start over as far as TMs and HMs are concerned. I'd also like you to limit yourself to level-appropriate items to make things fair."

"Of course," Edith replied. "I've gone through this process once before, and I'll be sure to advance in the same way as other trainers from this region." She and Professor Birch stood and shook hands.

"Listen…" Professor Birch started. "If you have a minute or two, would you mind seeing Brendan? I think sometimes he's embarrassed about starting out at his age, but maybe if you told him you were doing the same thing…I just don't want him to stay here with his old dad if there's something else he really wants to do." He sighed, voice heavy with worry for his son.

Edith smiled, trying to reassure him. "I'll definitely go talk to him. But you have to know that he does love working with you. Even if he wants to go traveling with his pokemon, he will miss you." She took Mudkip's pokeball off the desk. "I'll go see him now, before I head out."

Professor Birch walked her to the door and waved until she was out of sight. The clouds had retreated and the afternoon was heating up, so she removed her sweatshirt and packed it carefully, briefly wondering if its distinctive design would give her identity away to any particularly hard-core fans.

At the Birch house, she discovered that Brendan had gone out to Route 103. She resolved to either catch up with him there or somehow otherwise contact him, feeling more disappointed than she should have if she were just doing the professor a favor.

Eager to get on with her adventure, Edith immediately left the town for Route 101. Despite the delay this morning, she didn't intend to waste any more time getting started on her journey. Strolling through Route 101 and humming quietly to herself, she released Mudkip and gave him a friendly pat.

"Since we are going to be partners, I figure we should get to know each other, don't you?" she said cheerily, squatting down beside him. He ran around in a circle, chirping. Edith listened carefully, trying to catalogue the sounds for any sort of meaning. "Would you like a nickname?" Edith added. His response was the same cry repeated over and over, accompanied by more circling, making Edith laugh. "Alright then. What do you think of 'Wave'?" He stopped his circling and simply stared at Edith, who could have sworn he actually cocked an eyebrow. "Ok, 'Wave' is out. What about 'Marsh'?" A huff, followed by a snort. "Picky picky!" She paused, deep in thought. "Do you like 'Glade'?" Mudkip thought for a moment making what Edith could only interpret as a linguistic shrug. "Alright!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "A so-so nickname! Let's get this journey underway, then!"

They encountered relatively few wild pokemon, and even less people, but Glade was well-behaved—defeating every pokemon without fail (despite his only attack being tackle) and waiting patiently while Edith chatted with the people they met.

Shortly after they arrived in the next town, which was soon identified as Oldale. As was typical in regions that elected to sponsor a pokemon gym circuit, this town had no gym, but rather rudimentary elements necessary for trainers. Here, she rested her quickly blossoming Glade at the Pokemon Center, feeling suddenly very nostalgic at the hum of the automatic door sliding open, the well-worn couches lining the walls, and a nurse who looked eerily similar to all the other nurses that worked in Pokemon Centers. A very nice PokeMart employee showed her the local shop and gave her a potion, which she stored in her bag along with Awakening, Paralyze Heal, and Antidote. The cashier gave her a strange look when she asked for 20 Antidotes, but she simply paid him and left quickly.

When Edith tried to leave the town in the west, she discovered an extremely irritating scientist blocking the path in order to investigate some peculiar footprints. Frustrated, she headed to a grassy area north of town, determined to train Mudkip in the meantime.

After an hour of dirty, sweaty walking and rather constant pokemon battles, Edith discovered herself close by a tiny lake. She peered across the water at the distant bank on the other side, thinking wistfully of the HM that could get her there. She rinsed her face and hands in the water, and watched, amused, as Glade splashed in the shallows. As she usually did, she began to talk to the pokemon, paying careful attention to his different responses. Soon, she heard rustling in the brush around her followed by a thump too heavy for a baby pokemon. Whirling around, she called to Glade and fell into a defensive stance.

Brendan stood before her, looking bewildered. "Do you always react like this when you're startled?" he asked.

She immediately relaxed, feeling embarrassed. "A strange force of habit, I guess." At his questioning look, she elaborated, "I used to practice karate before moving here, so it's very natural to, uh…" Feeling uncomfortable, she cut off her explanation and decided to ask some of her own questions. "Never mind. What are you doing all the way out here, anyway? Not that it isn't nice to see you again," she added.

He flushed faintly before saying, "I decided to finally start my pokemon adventure, too. I got Treecko from home and headed out here to train."

Edith blinked. "You decided to come out here because I did?" Brendan's deepening blush gave her the answer. "Wow…" she muttered. "I'm kind of flattered!"

"Anyway!" Brendan almost shouted, eager to get the focus off of him. "Do you want to battle?"

Edith fell for the distraction and called Glade forward. "I'm not going to go easy on you!" Quietly to Glade, she added, "Keep using tackle on Treecko. This will be like all the other battles we've had. We can win this one slow and steady." Glade hummed an affirmative and scampered forward.

"Treecko, use pound!" Brendan began. Considering Treecko had the better speed and a type advantage, Edith would have to rely on Brendan using a non-attacking move and her stockpile of potions.

"You know what to do, Glade!" Edith cheered as Glade jumped straight at Treecko, tackling it into the dirt despite Treecko pounding on his back. Glade rolled off and away, circling before jumping in for another tackle. Treecko fixed Glade with a leer, but it was lost on the Mudkip as he tackled Treecko to the ground again. The two pokemon broke apart and faced each other, Treecko looking slightly worse for the wear.

"Use pound again, Treecko!" Brendan yelled, looking nervous. Treecko flung himself at Glade, fists swinging.

"Duck under and tackle him from behind!" Edith suggested abruptly, watching as Glade evaded Treecko's attack, skidding under the other pokemon and causing it to roll ungracefully away. Before Treecko could get up, Glade simply hopped right on top of him, pinning him to the ground. The already-weakened Treecko struggled half-heartedly for a few moments before collapsing under Glade's weight. Edith clapped, and Glade responding by hopping off of Treecko and trotting happily over to her. Brendan picked up Treecko, and, whispering words of encouragement, returned it to its pokeball.

"Great battle," she said genuinely, shaking Brendan's hand and taking her winnings. Fortunately, Brendan didn't seem disappointed in the least. He was about to reply when there came a strange ringing from his pocket. He extracted a slim cell-phone-shaped device, brushed off stray pocket lint, and flipped it open.

"Hey, Dad! I…oh, did Mom tell you? …Yeah…um well actually I'm with her now," he looked at Edith and smiled. "What? Oh yea, we can do that. Right. See you soon." Snapping the device shut, he turned to Edith. "That was my dad; he said he forgot to give you a Pokedex. If you don't have any more plans right now, do you want to walk back to Littleroot with me?" His face was pink again. Edith smiled and recalled Glade, who was playing in a patch of grass nearby, and they set off.

"So, you trained in a dojo when you were younger? Is that why you didn't take the Pokemon League challenge in Kanto?" Brendan asked as they neared Route 101.

"Yea," Edith lied, feeling bad but not wanting to explain too much. "I guess I was just more interested in that than in training, like you and your dad's research, right?" She countered in an attempt to throw the focus back on him.

"It is kind of the same," Brendan agreed. "Everything he does is so interesting, and he always appreciates my help. I guess I was afraid I would let him down if I left, you know?" Edith nodded encouragingly.

They passed a few minutes in silence, and Edith absentmindedly began to hum to herself.

"What song is that?" Brendan asked curiously. Edith looked embarrassed.

"It's not actually a real song. I have this weird habit where I make up little theme songs for places I go. So, like, Littleroot Town has a song, this route has a song, etcetera." Brendan chuckled.

"So, what does the theme song for this route sound like?" he asked. Edith began to hum it again, this time louder. After a moment Brendan began to provide drum back up, and they joked around for the rest of the walk.

Back at Professor Birch's lab, they found him watching a beaker spewing pink foam and furiously scribbling notes. When he noticed them, he left the beaker to an assistant and met them in his office.

"I'm sorry I forgot before, Edith, but you'll need a Hoenn Pokedex! You too, Brendan," he added. "Since they might take a little bit to get set up, could you go get that thing we talked about earlier, Brendan?" He looked directly at his son, who nodded and left. Now alone with Edith, Professor Birch leaned forward conspiratorially. "Do you have your old Pokedex with you?"

She extracted it from her worn backpack and handed it over to him. He scrolled through the entries, shaking his head with amazement.

"You've done a wonderful thing here, Edie," he said at last. "I'm going to install the current region's Pokedex info for you, but it will take about an hour, so feel free to go and come back." He was already beginning to fiddle with her Pokedex, so she gave a wave that was not returned and left the office.

Brendan was nowhere to be seen in the lab or outside, so Edith headed to her house to give her mom an update. Her mother was happy to see her.

"I'm glad you came back! I forgot to tell you that I got you new running shoes, so here they are!"

Edith slipped on the shoes, appreciative of her mother's thoughtfulness. "They're really nice, Mom," she said at last.

"I had them specially made for you in Celadon. They actually arrived here a few days before we did!" Edith smiled, touched by the gesture. After updating her mom on the pokemon situation and introducing her to Glade, Edith returned to Professor Birch's lab.

Brendan was already there, holding his new Pokedex. Edith's was somewhat less shiny and more battered, a detail that did not escape him. She ignored his questioning gaze and thanked Professor Birch.

"Did you get what I asked, Brendan?" Birch asked. When Brendan nodded, Birch bid them both good luck and reminded them to call should they need anything.

Outside, Brendan paused at his house. Edith stopped with him, enjoying the fading light play across his handsome features. "I, um…got something for you from my dad," he stammered, holding out a small parcel.

Edith took it and carefully unwrapped it, delighted to discover 5 pokeballs. "Wow, Brendan, thank you! That's just what I need to get started on my team." She looked gratefully at him. "Are you heading out tonight?"

"Actually, I'm afraid we won't learn as much if we travel together, so I'm going to leave tomorrow morning. I hope we come across each other soon, though," he added with a boyish grin.

"I would really like that," Edith said seriously. After a long look, she waved and headed for Route 101, determined to reach Oldale's Pokemon Center by nightfall and eager to catch some pokemon to fill up her Pokedex.