The Big Four Pokemon Adventure
Chapter 1: Don't Forget Your Roots!
Merida awoke from a fitful sleep to see the first few rays of the dawn peek through her window. She was excited to begin the day- her first step to becoming a pokemon master! She could hardly get any sleep, tossing and turning with visions of pokemon dancing in her head. She had been studying the different pokemon that lived in Hoenn ever since her father moved them there for work. She knew all about the starters, read up on type difference advantages and disadvantages, and had even purchased a map the week before from the pokemart in the neighboring town of Oldale. Her father had been conducting research on a route just north of the town, and she had practically jumped at the chance to go with him. She groaned at the sight of her hair in the mirror. She could never get it to do what she wanted! After a couple of failed attempts to run a brush through it, she pulled it into a ponytail and threaded it through the back of one of her favorite hats- red and white, like a pokeball! She finished getting dressed and headed downstairs.
"Well now, look who's up!" Elinor exclaimed. She was trying to set the table for breakfast while skillfully dodging the fiery triplets who dashed around the room.
"BOYS!" Merida shouted, earning a wince from her mother. The three only gave her their attention for a moment before they were back at it again. Elinor opened the door and shooed them outside, instructing them not to come back in until lunch.
Merida sat at the table and dug into her eggs and pancakes while her mom turned the TV down. A documentary on grass type pokemon was playing, and she recognized the deep voice of her father. He was talking about how grass types often used photosynthesis to gain energy from the sun, and how the process changed to allow them to absorb energy from a foe using Leech Seed. Merida was only half listening as he had told her all about it a month or so prior. Once he was on a subject it was almost impossible not to know everything about it just by being in the same vicinity! Grass types never really held her attention, anyway. She was far more interested in fire type pokemon! The sheer power in moves like Fire Blast and Heat Wave got her pumped up! She had only seen them on television, though. She was dying to see a fire type in person. Her room was plastered with posters of pokemon like Numel, Torkoal, and even pokemon from other regions like Kanto. She was enamored with the pokemon Ponyta, and vowed to catch one some day.
When her father found out about her passion, he ordered a subscription for Fire&Flames, the official magazine of Gym Leader Flannery. Any time she was on TV he made sure Merida was able to watch. He knew from experience that fire type pokemon could be very dangerous. If his daughter was going to become a fire type trainer, she needed to know how to take care of them! Flannery was always coming out with interesting articles that intrigued both Merida and her father. He was even featured in one once when she quoted from a short paper he had written on the similarities between the grass move Solar Beam and the fire move Flamethrower. He was beyond ecstatic.
"Here you are dear, a gift from your father," Elinor placed a box on the table. Merida's eyebrows shot up and a grin cracked wide across her face. She opened the gift carefully to reveal a brand new backpack! It was a sleek red, grey, and black.
"Awesome! Thank you!" She tried it on, loving the way the sturdy material sat on her back.
"It looks good on you," her mother complimented, "You should go to the lab and show him. He should be back any minute."
Merida nodded and rushed upstairs to grab her supplies. She was going to start her journey today. She had planned her route, noting each gym along the way. She needed to beat each and every one to earn the badges required to challenge the Elite Four! Once she defeated them, she would earn the title of Pokemon Champion! At least for the Hoenn region, she thought to herself. After that I can travel to new regions and meet new people and pokemon! She could barely contain her excitement!
She gathered her notebooks from her desk and placed them carefully in the main pocket of the backpack. One or two of the books were full of notes about the gym leaders she was going to face. They each had their own style, strategy, and type preference. She would need a well-rounded team to make it through. Most of the notebooks were empty, though. She wanted to document her adventure! She threw in her diary along with some pens and pencils, plus her map. She sifted through her favorite Fire&Flames issues and picked a handful to take with her. She wasn't sure if she'd have any down time during her travels and wanted to be sure she wouldn't get bored. There was a belt in the front most pocket, and she slipped it on. It had hooks along the side for her to put her pokemon! She was starting to feel like an official trainer.
"Good luck!" her mother shouted as she walked out into the sunshine. She smiled and waved goodbye to her mom and the three brothers that had managed to climb high in one of the trees in their front yard. They were just as curious (and as keen for goofing around) as a couple of Aipoms!
Merida made her way to her father's lab. Luckily it was only a short walk. As she passed by her neighbors she noticed a moving truck. Her father had mentioned that there was a family moving in, but she thought they wouldn't be settled for another week or so. She thought about stopping by to introduce herself, but decided against it. There wasn't much of a point since she was about to go adventuring, and she didn't know when she'd be back. The thought saddened her a little, and the true weight of it hit her with butterflies. She pushed those feelings away and filled her mind with exciting thoughts of the new people and pokemon she was going to meet as she continued to the lab.
~.~.~.
Hiccup stood nervously at the edge of the route leading from Littleroot to Oldale. He was sure he had heard someone cry out for help, but he knew how tall grass tended to house wild pokemon, and he didn't have any of his own to defend him yet.
"HEEEEELP!"
There it was again! Hiccup took a deep breath and made his way over to the noise. In any other situation the scene before him would be almost comical. A large, powerful looking man in a lab coat was running away from a small, doglike pokemon. He looked terrified of it, when he was easily five times its size. He caught sight of Hiccup and called out.
"You there! Help! Grab a pokeball from my bag!"
It was then that Hiccup noticed the bag laying by his feet. Three pokeballs had spilled out of it. He hesitated, then picked one up at random and tossed it at the wild pokemon. It stopped, turning to face him as a pokemon appeared from the ball.
"Kip! Kip!" the new pokemon was a brilliant deep blue, with a fin atop its head. There were bright orange fin-like protrusions on its cheeks and a large, light-blue tail. Hiccup remembered seeing the pokemon before in a pamphlet his mother had given him.
Take a look dear! These are some of the Pokemon in the Hoenn region!
He didn't want to leave his home in Kanto, but he didn't have much of a choice. His mother had found a great job here and so he decided to give it a chance. He looked once more at the pokemon before him and recalled its name- Mudkip! It was a water and ground type pokemon. Mudkip stared down the wild pokemon and Hiccup realized that he would need to give it a command.
"Uh, Mudkip, use…" his mind raced, trying to remember a basic move. "Tackle!"
Mudkip leapt after his foe and successfully landed the move. The wild pokemon growled, intimidating Mudkip.
Hiccup noticed the dirt underneath his pokemon and realized that it could be wetted to make mud! "Mudkip, give 'em a Mud Slap!"
Mudkip looked down and nodded, seeming to understand. It shot the ground with water and gathered up the mud in its paws, hurling it at the other pokemon. It howled in frustration and ran off into the woods, trying to shake the mud off of its fur.
"Alright! Great job, buddy," he beamed.
"Great job indeed!"
The man's voice startled Hiccup. He had been so focused on the battle that he had forgotten that the man was there.
"Thank you for saving me. You and Mudkip worked really well together! Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Professor Fergus. I was doing some field research when that Poochyena leapt out and attacked me."
Professor Fergus… where had he heard that name before?
"I'm Hiccup, my mom and I just moved here."
"Ah yes! You two came from Kanto, correct? I believe your mother is my new employee! Here, why don't you follow me back to my lab?"
~.~.~.
"Dad!" Merida shouted. Professor Fergus was difficult to miss. Standing at nearly six and a half feet tall he towered over the other scientists at the lab and nearly filled the double-doorway.
"Merida! I see you got my gift!"
She spun around once to show off her outfit. "You bet! I'm ready to get started!"
"Alright, alright, just give me a minute. I want you to meet our new neighbor!"
Hiccup peered from behind the professor. Merida hadn't even seen him walk in. She looked him up and down. He was about her height, and pretty scrawny. His mouse-brown hair didn't stand out much, but the freckles on his face and his grin were sort of cute. She squared her shoulders and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Merida."
"Hiccup," he replied, taking her hand in his. Her eyes were a bright blue, but her personality flared as bright and fiery as her hair. He noticed her posture and suddenly felt conscious of his own, standing up a little straighter and clearing his throat. "Uh, nice to meet you too."
"Now," the Professor began, "Hiccup here helped me out in the field this morning. He battled so well with Mudkip, it was like they were meant to be!"
Hiccup's face flushed and he gave a sheepish grin. "Thanks," he mumbled.
"Merida here is about to start her journey across Hoenn to become a pokemon master!" Fergus beamed. "Now dear, am I correct in assuming that this Torchic here will be joining you?" He reached into his pack and pulled out the three pokeballs that Hiccup had seen earlier.
Merida jumped up and down with excitement. "YES!"
Fergus handed her one of the balls and she held it out dramatically in front of her, calling the pokemon out.
"Alright, let's go Torchic!"
The small, red and yellow bird pokemon emerged, hopping up and down on one foot. It had caught on to Merida's excitement and shot a small ember into the air. "Torchee torchee! Trrrrreeeee!" it trilled.
Those two were made for each other, Hiccup thought to himself. Fergus turned his attention back to Hiccup.
"And you, as thanks for helping me out, why don't you take that Mudkip?"
"Really? That's awesome! Thank you!" Hiccup smiled in awe as the Professor handed him the pokeball. He couldn't believe it! Day one in a new place and he already had his very own pokemon! Torchic shot another ember into the air and he jumped back, thankful that he hadn't chosen that little fireball. He probably would have ended up burnt to a crisp.
"Alright Dad, I'm gonna get going." Merida called Torchic back and placed the pokeball on her belt.
"Right, one more thing before you go," Fergus said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Here- take these running shoes, these empty pokeballs, and this Pokedex." Merida clipped the pokeballs to her belt, slipped into the shoes and gave a curious look to the red device in her father's hand.
"I ordered these a few weeks ago and they just came in. It is a device that identifies pokemon and gives you information on them! I want you to do me a favor and take this with you. The more pokemon you record, the more we both learn! Bring it back to me when you've filled it up and I'll be able to sync it here at the lab and update my database."
"Alright!" Merida pumped a fist in the air. "I can't wait!"
"Where's the first stop on your journey?" Fergus asked. He was overcome with pride at seeing his daughter strike out on her own, but he was also sad to see her go. He knew exactly what route she was going to take. For the past few nights she had told him all about it. He just wanted her to stay for a few more minutes.
"I'm stopping in Oldale first to stock up on supplies, then it's east to Petalburg City and the Balance Badge!"
Fergus enveloped his daughter in one last hug before she set off. "Good luck! Don't forget to call!"
"I won't!" she shouted back, and with that her pokemon adventure finally began.
~.~.~.
A/N
Hello! This is my first attempt at a pokemon au fic. It is based off of the Emerald video game and the original show. For now it will be chaptered, but I don't see it going past 17 or 18 chapters and maybe an epilogue. I'd love some feedback on this! Leave a comment if you liked it and if you want to see more of this story. And don't worry- the other characters will show up soon! ;)