Hey, everyone! It's Squirtoran! This is my first fic ever, so I hope it turns out ok, but please forgive me if I make a few mistakes, but I will try my very hardest to make it a story worth your time! I appreciate any suggestions to improve my writing. I love writing and I aim to please my readers! Also, I am still in school so I won't always have time to write more, but I will try for a few chapters a week. This fic will eventually cross with another that one of my best friends is writing, so go ahead and check out Mist's Hoenn Journey, written by my good friend, Tawnypaw! But that's enough of my talking. Here's the first chapter of my story! It isn't much but count on a much deeper plot later. I hope you like it!
...
The moving truck rocked back and forth across the road, moving around the boxes in the back.
"How did I end up riding in the back?" Terra muttered to herself. "There's plenty of room up in the front." After tiring hours of constantly driving over bumps and taking sharp turns, the truck came to a slow stop, and she heard the door up in the front open, followed by a friendly greeting coming from outside.
"Hello, there!" said the voice. "Welcome to Littleroot Town!"
Terra opened up the the truck's back door to get out and see what was going on. They must finally be here! Terra and her mother had decided to move to Littleroot from a different town because Terra's father got a job as a Gym Leader not far from Littleroot, and the three of them didn't want to be separated overseas.
Terra looked around and took in the view. It had the same Hoenn beauty that she had grown up to know and love. The sun was shining brightly, warming the grass tickling Terra's exposed feet as it rustled in the gentle breeze. Bird Pokemon were singing in the trees as bug Pokemon harmonized with them. A sweet smell of flowers was carried in from the town's entrance, and the occasional petal or dandelion seed danced past Terra as a result of some larger gusts of wind that blew through the trees, causing their leaves to wave. It wasn't that the heat of this region bothered Terra-she hated the cold-but the wind was a welcome change as the chill washed over her from head to toe.
"Oh, and you must be Terra!" Terra heard the voice again. "Welcome to Littleroot Town! My name is Professor Birch, and I am a Pokemon researcher in this town. I've heard a lot about you from your father."
"Oh, hello," Terra replied, turning to see a man with brown hair and a lab coat standing by her mom. This guy must be her dad's friend. She had heard the name Professor Birch before. "You must be the friend my dad keeps talking about! Nice to meet you." Terra was normally pretty shy around people she didn't know well, but the atmosphere of Littleroot Town was so welcoming, and with the people she saw having friendly conversations nearby and how kind Professor Birch seemed to be, she was beginning to feel right at home already.
"Nice to meet you, too." he said. "You know, your dad told me that you may be interested in having your own Pokemon. What do you think?"
Terra's heart skipped a beat. A Pokemon! Of course she was thrilled at the thought. She had spent so much time with Pokemon when she was little, and she had as much experience with them as any trainer she knew. All the same, she was terrified that she would do something wrong or wouldn't be able to raise it right.
"Yeah, that would be cool!" Terra's thoughts proudly announced before she could decide whether or not to contain them. Oops.
"Well, I've got a surprise for you then!" answered the Professor. "How about you just get settled into your new house for a day or two. Have a look around town and get to know the place, but when you're ready, you're more than welcome to come to my lab."
"Sounds like a plan!" said Terra. Wow! She just arrived in her new home and she was already making plans to become a Pokemon trainer! "I can't wait!"
...
Terra woke to see the sun shining through her bedroom window and hear a bunch of Taillow singing outside.
Then, she remembered: Today was the day she was going to get her first Pokemon! I wonder what Pokemon it's going to be...she thought to herself. But in truth, she didn't care what it was! She was going to be happy with any Pokemon she got!
After quickly getting dressed, brushing her long, brown hair and tying it up, Terra burst out of her room and rocketed down the stairs, half running, half falling. She reached the living room downstairs. There were still some unopened boxes lining the walls because Terra and her mother had been working tirelessly to assemble the inside of their new house for the first few days, but had simply gotten tired of all the labor. After giving the decision about half a second of thought, they decided they were too lazy to keep organizing and that they would do the rest tomorrow, and that settled the matter.
Terra looked past the large room and into the kitchen, which was only separated from the living room by a short railing. Her mom was at the counter, making breakfast. She heard the soft sound of the TV coming from the same room. Based on the familiar music playing and the voice of the announcer, Terra guessed her mom was watching Terra's dad battling a challenger at the Petalburg Gym.
"Mom, today's the day I'm getting a Pokemon! I'll be over at the Professor's for a bit. See you later!" Terra turned to open the front door, but her mom protested that she didn't eat any breakfast. No matter what the excuse, the argument over whether or not one should ever skip breakfast was an argument Terra's mother always won. It always had to be something about 'nutrition.' Some weird mom thing.
Not wanting to argue, Terra strolled into the kitchen and grabbed a waffle of of a large plate displaying several small stacks of the toasted goods. She didn't bother putting it on a plate or putting syrup on it-although she loved syrup!-she wasn't even hungry. She was too excited. It must have shown, because her mother made a comment that she was continuously rocking back and forth on her heels as she devoured the waffle.
"Wow, Terra, you must be really excited to get your Pokemon! Usually you sleep until noon and actually sit down with a plate when you're hungry!"
"but I'm not hungry." Terra pointed out.
Her mother ignored her. "And you practically fell down the stairs and then almost flew out the door without touching the ground! Not to mention you had such a good time meeting all the townsfolk. You've changed a lot since we moved!"
Terra had to agree. Thinking back, she was surprised at her own unusual behavior. She was normally a calm, quiet person, but now she was all over the place, bouncing off the walls. New town, new girl, I guess. She decided in her mind with a shrug to her mother. "I guess I'm just happy. You know I can get like this when-" Terra cut herself off and her head jolted towards the window as a Taillow fluttered past. "What was I saying?" she asked when the Pokemon flew away.
Her mother sighed. "Never mind. Just be careful. I just hope things go back to normal once you get one of those Pokemon."
"Okay, bye!" Terra called over her shoulder, already half way out the door.
...
Now that the excitement of the morning and the adventure awaiting her had a chance to sink in, Terra felt herself reverting back to her normal ways-quiet, calm, patient. She walked down the street, enjoying the sunshine of the morning and the soft chatter of people as they went about their daily lives, meeting up with friends or bargaining at the market. If Terra received a smile from one of them, she would be sure to return it. She wasn't outgoing around people she wasn't yet familiar with, but she was still a friendly person.
Terra eventually reached Professor Birch's lab and knocked on the door. The door opened, but the man on the other side was not Professor Birch-but one of his assistants.
"Hi, can I help you?" he offered.
"I'm looking for Professor Birch." Explained Terra. "Do you know where he is?"
"He just left for Route 101 to do more Pokemon research." he replied, gesturing to the other side of town. "If you go out there, you should find him." he answered.
"Okay, thanks!" she said and headed out to Route 101.
...
As Terra walked out of Littleroot Town she thought she could hear something that sounded like an angry wild Pokemon's growl, followed by yelling and screaming. What's going on? she thought. She quickened her pace as she headed towards the noises, and was shocked by what she saw.
Professor Birch had backed up against a tree, and was cornered by a wild Pokemon. The Pokemon was small with thick, grey fur and a bushy tail. It had pointed ears and blazing yellow eyes, and it's sharp teeth were bared in a snarl. Its four black feet were poised for the small Pokemon to pounce at any moment.
"H-h-help!" cried the Professor. "Someone save me from this vicious monster!"
"Oh, no! A Poochyena!" yelled Terra. "And I don't have any Pokemon with me!" Terra thought for a moment. "I'll go get help!"
Though she couldn't really see how terrifying this small Pokemon could be, Professor Birch had been nothing but nice to Terra and her family since she arrived in Littleroot Town, and he even offered her a Pokemon! She wasn't going to return the favor by letting him get hurt. She turned to go back the way she came. She would find someone who had a Pokemon that would help.
"No! Don't leave me like this!" cried Birch. "You see that bag on the ground over there?"
Terra turned to see a bag lying on the ground a few paces away.
"Open it! There are three Pokemon inside! Pick one and help me out! Please!"
...
So what did you think? I know, it isn't much for a first chapter, but just wait for the plot to develop. Every story is different and since I kind of let my stories write themselves, I guess this one just happened to start a little slow. This was originally split into two chapters but I've heard from more than one person that they were both pretty short, so I thought I'd try merging them, so I hope this is a little better! :)