POKÉRUS
by Multikirby
Chapter 1
East's ears had been assaulted by the dull roar of an engine for who knows how long, his body vibrating due to the roll of the road. Following a quiet click, a luminescent glow illuminated East's face in the inky darkness as he laid his head back on the furniture boxes. Reflexively, he squinted his eyes and brought his hand up to shield them from the light cast by his PokéGear. Behind him, he could hear his mom humming to herself. He should be up there with her in the front seat. Instead, he was stuck in the back of the moving van, listening to the radio while avoiding shifts in the furniture that might threaten his life. He couldn't even see out of the stupid truck.
When his mom told East they were moving to Hoenn, he hadn't cared much. After all, he wasn't quite sure why they'd been living in Johto to begin with; his dad was a Gym Leader in Petalburg. Why they hadn't lived in Hoenn to start with confused him. What confused him further was that they were, in fact, not even moving to Petalburg. Instead, they were moving to Littleroot, a secluded community one town and two routes away from the city his dad lived in. When he pressed his mom about this, she simply gave a weak excuse about house prices.
Suddenly static attacked his ears, making East cringe. He switched off his PokéGear's radio function; he'd lost connection. Figuring that was the end of his 'inflight entertainment', and with nothing better to do, he laid down on one of the boxes and closed his eyes. That is, until his phone rang.
Grimacing in annoyance, he picked up his PokéGear and put in an earbud before answering the phone.
"...Eustace Erdet speaking," he slurred.
"Hello, Eustace Erdet Speaking, this is dad."
East remained silent.
"I just wanted to know how the road trip's going. How does Hoenn look?"
"I can't see it. I'm in the back of a moving van," said East.
"Oh, that's a real shame," Norman replied. "It's a beautiful place, famous for it's naturalness and connection to nature. Far cry from our vacation to Unova. Remember when we-"
"Dad, I can't see out of the moving van. I'll see Hoenn when I get out."
"...Alright, son. Oh, you're moving to Littleroot, right?"
"Yeah. Arceus knows why."
"Well, one of my friends lives there: Professor Birch."
"Professor...Birch? Wasn't that the name of the professor in Kalos?"
"No, that's Professor Sycamore."
"...Am I going to talk to Birch?"
"Professor Birch. And I'd like you to, yes."
"Why?"
"He's going to give you your first Pokémon!"
"...Goodie."
East raised a hand to his forehead and tried not to groan in disgust. He was doing it again. Except this time he actually had leverage. When he'd lived in Johto, he was too far away from New Bark to talk to Professor Elm for a new Pokémon. In Kanto, all of the Pokémon were taken. And in Unova and Kalos, he was too young. But Hoenn was famous for its 'connection to nature' which was a politically correct way of saying that it was borderline primal. Which meant that these people were probably lawless. Which meant that at best, there wouldn't be an age restriction. At worst, they may hand him an actual apricorn and tell him to go make a Pokéball and capture his starter with it. In their own primal language.
This was going to suck.
"Isn't it great? You can finally take on the Pokémon League challenge and become a Gym Leader like your old man!"
"...Great. What are the choices?" Might as well get this over with.
"There's Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip."
"Alright. I'll look them up on the way. It'll give me something to do since I can't see outside and I can't listen to the radio."
"Things like this build character, East."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Goodbye."
"Wait, just one more thing."
"What?"
"Birch has a daughter about your age-"
"No way. Don't even think about it."
"Just putting it out there. I'll see you later, East."
"Are you going to be at our house when we arrive?"
"No, sorry. Gym Leader duties."
"...Got it. Bye."
"Bye."
East looked at the PokéGear in his hands, still showing his father's thumbnail. He crawled to the front of the moving truck and rapped on the metal. "Mom, Dad called," he yelled through the metal.
"What'd he say?"
"Welcome stuff," East said passively. "Nothing major."
"Alright. If you say so, honey."
East settled back in his cardboard throne and began searching up the Hoenn starter Pokémon. He didn't want to do this. Being a Pokémon Trainer didn't interest him in the slightest. But his dad was a Gym Leader. Which meant he had to be a Gym Leader, too. He had to raise only Normal-Type Pokémon, he had to beat the Pokémon League challenge, and he had to inherit the Petalburg Gym.
It didn't help that he was already sick of Pokémon.
Sort of a thing that happens when you're completely exposed to all things Pokémon every minute of every day. Pokémon Centers, PokéMarts, Pokémon TV channels, Pokémon battles, Pokémon Super Contests, Pokéathlons, Pokémon Fan Clubs, PokéGears...
East was desensetized to Pokémon at twelve years old.
He huffed and begrudingly checked up on the data of Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip.
New neighbours, she thought excitedly. We're getting new neighbours!
Westrose Aurora Solaris Amethyst Birch I rushed around her room, trying to straighten out everything that seemed out of place, and even things that seemed in place.
"Mom! How much time do I have until the neighbours arrive?"
"I don't know, honey," her mother's voice returned from downstairs. "I only know that they're coming today and they're bringing a fancy new-fangled thing called a 'moving van'."
"...'Moving van'?" Westrose repeated. "What's that?"
"I'm not sure, honey. What are you doing up there?"
"Just...making my room really neat! They have a boy my age and I want to make a good impression!"
"Be sure to show him your computer! That might impress him!"
Westrose looked over at her new laptop. She'd gotten it for her birthday a month ago along with a cell phone...from her dad, of course. Her mother and father had opposing statements on technology. While one wouldn't directly contradict the other's wishes, it was useful for Westrose to know which parent to ask for certain things.
Right now, though, she was unsure whether her laptop would impress Norman's son. He was, after all, from Johto. And Norman had told her and her parents many stories about their vacations to such advanced places like Unova over dinner. Surely if he'd been to Unova, he wouldn't be impressed with something like a laptop.
"You sure?" Westrose yelled down.
"Of course! It's a very advanced piece of technology, isn't it?"
"...Eh, not really," Westrose said quietly. "It's just a laptop."
"Sorry?"
"I-I mean, yeah, I'm sure he'll be stunned!" Westrose shook it off quickly and smiled again. This was going to be great! There was nobody else her age in Littleroot. Norman's son would be a great friend! Who knows – she might even get a rival out of him!
Giving her room one last look, Westrose rushed downstairs to straighten out the kitchen. Her mom stepped out of the way of the staircase as Westrose whipped past her.
"What are you doing now?" River asked as she turned to watch her daughter.
Westrose turned back to her mother for only a moment. "I'm straightening out everything."
"You really mean everything, don't you?" River chuckled. "Goodness, where will it end?"
"On an atomic level!" Westrose cheered as she squinted at the hanging pans on the wall. Taking her thumbs and index fingers, she lifted the pan off of the wall about a quarter of an inch before moving it minutely to the left.
River brought her head down to study the newly adjusted pans. "Don't you think you're going...a bit far?"
"No way," Westrose said excitedly. "You only get one chance at a first impression, right? And if Norman's son is going to be my best friend, I've got to get it right, right? Right!"
East was pushed back into his cardboard seat as the truck stopped. A line of light appeared where the door was. It began to spread as the doors were thrown open. Two Machoke stared at him with rather vacant expressions. East didn't move.
"Come on out, Eustace!"
"In a minute, mom," he said, looking down at his PokéGear as the Machoke stepped in and took two boxes into their arms before walking out of the moving truck. East switched it off, put away his PokéGear, stood up, and walked out of the moving van. He looked up at his mom with an annoyed expression. She only smiled back.
His mother swept her arm out in a grand gesture. "Well, Eustace...welcome to Littleroot, Hoenn!"
As if on cue, a warm breeze swept past East as he stuffed his PokéGear back into the worn pocket on his jeans. He shivered a bit and looked up at his new home.
Well...I guess I understand what mom was talking about when she said she moved here because of housing prices...
It was a rather small two-floor house. His mom had told him that the second floor was all his, which meant that it was incredibly small. He walked through the open door and instantly was hit with a wave of A/C. He cringed and shivered a bit, crossing his left arm across his chest. Once he got over the threshhold, however, the blast of cold air petered out. He had to give Hoenn credit, though: he hadn't expected them to have houses, much less air conditioning. He was rather impressed by the cleanliness of the house, though it was more sparse than clean. Those Machoke were still prancing around, tossing boxes to and fro without a care in the world. They were currently unloading into the living room, blocking off the hallway to the master bedroom. East sighed and settled for investigating the kitchen. Again, it looked sparse, though that was to be expected since they were just moving in. There was the classic white tile, a surprisingly classy marble counter, and two sinks used for washing and drying the dishes. As far as he could tell, though, there was no space for a dishwasher. Which meant he'd be the dishwasher.
Joyous day.
Going to the left of the stove, East saw a plethora of drawers underneath the marble counter. He began checking their contents one by one, eventually coming to the corner. This corner had two drawers near the lip of the counter, on both walls. East curled his hand around a wooden handle and attempted to pull one of two corner drawers open, with the key word being 'attempted'. The drawer seemed to stop about three inches after being pulled out. East frowned and tried yanking the drawer open, but that didn't seem to change anything. It was then that East noticed that the perpendicular drawers were positioned in such a way that the handle of one prevented the other from being opened beyond three inches, destroying the usefulness of both.
"...Terrible design," East grumbled, deciding to abandon the kitchen after seeing some shadowy insect crawling within one of the inaccessible drawers. He resolved, since the Machoke were still bringing boxes into the living room, to go see his luxurious second floor.
East looked up at the stairs to the second floor, and began having second thoughts. They did not look safe in the slightest. Sure, they had a banister. But East felt like he was getting splinters by simply looking at the thing. And that was nothing compared to the actual stairs, if they could be called that. Well...obviously, they could. They weren't unusable, but...
Steeling himself, East clenched his fists and began climbing the stairs. The stairs screamed in pain. Understandably, this wasn't a very comforting sound. He took a deep breath and ran up the staircase. Each tortured screech that erupted from each wooden stair hammered itself into East's brain, nearly making him lose his balance with every step. But somehow he was able to withstand the psychological torture the staircase gave him and reach the second floor.
The smell here was different. Moldy. That wasn't a good sign. He'd have to tell his mother about that later. But at least it was larger than he'd expected.
That's why it pays to have low expectations, East said with a small grin. You're never disappointed.
East walked around his room. Unlike the stairs, the floor here didn't creak, yet that musky odour bothered him. He took out his PokéGear and opened a memo.
"...Corner drawers in the kitchen won't open...stairs give tortured wails when stepped upon...weird moldy smell in my room...stupid Machoke won't leave..."
Figuring that was enough for now, East pocketed his PokéGear again, before frowning. He took it out again and went to the radio function. Upon scanning, he found a local easy listening station on FM called Oldale Oldies, and a nationwide Hoenn radio station. The Hoenn news was clear enough, but Oldale Oldies was fuzzy.
"Johto had a way bigger priority on radio," East murmured as he tried to imagine where his furniture could go until he heard the signature shriek of the staircase. Someone was coming up the stairs.
"Mom?" he called, not looking away from a corner he'd designated as the source of the smell.
Only a grunt returned him. East tilted his head back and let out a breath of air. Stupid Machoke...
East waited for the pair of Fighting-Types to get to the second floor before walking down the stairs. East plugged his ears as the haunted choir once again sang the song of its people underneath his feet. "Might as well get it over with," he growled as he readied himself before speeding down the stairs. He glared at the stairs, as if doing so would actually scare them into behaving. His mom was unpacking boxes in the kitchen.
"So? How does the Casa del Eustace look?" his mom asked with a smile, gesturing to the second floor.
East shrugged. "It smells moldy."
Her smile faded. "Oh. Well, I'll have to look at it later," she said. "Don't worry, we'll have it fixed."
East nodded. "The Machoke are unpacking upstairs. What do I do while they do that?"
"Well, you could tour the rest of the house."
"Not interested."
"Ah. Maybe you could-"
East's mom was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Eustace, could you get that, please?" his mom asked. "I'm still unpacking the kitchen."
He was walking towards the door anyways. "Yeah, sure." He turned the doorknob and pushed it open.
In the doorway stood a very jolly, very big man. His open labcoat billowed in the breeze that floated through Littleroot, though part of it was pinned down by his fists on his hips. On his scraggly square face was a wide grin as he towered over the twelve-year-old boy.
"So you must be East!" he said, holding out a large blocky hand. "My name's Professor Birch. I'm friends with your father!"
East frowned. His dad had told Birch his nickname. Why would he do that? "Yes, I know."
"So he's told you about me, then?" he asked as he bent down to try to get on eye level with East.
East rolled his eyes. "No, he hasn't. I just say 'yes, I know' to anything that anyone says to me."
Birch gave East a confused look. Then his grin returned and opened, and he gave a very hearty laugh, slapping East on the shoulder. This threatened to make him keel over, so he stepped away.
"Well, hey, glad to see you're settling in alright," Birch said happily, as if he'd never stepped away in the first place. "You know, I have a daughter. She's been dying to meet you ever since she heard you were moving in!"
...A daughter? Oh, great. Just great. "...Dad told me."
"Yeah! If you want, I can take you over to meet her."
He shook his head. "If I'm going to meet someone new, I'd prefer it be on my own terms rather than someone else's."
Professor Birch fell silent for a minute. "Well, alright. If you change your mind, we're right next door," he said as he stepped back from the door.
East nodded as he stepped out as well. "I think I'm going to go take a look around Littleroot."
Birch's smile returned. "I could show you around, if you want."
"No thanks," East declined. "I'll go myself."
"Alright," he said. "I'll see you around, then, East!" He waved and walked back to his house.
East sighed. "A daughter," he mumbled. "They have a daughter."
