Chapter I

It's Just the Beginning

The lush green of the grass, the cool breeze that wanders through the trees, birds singing their song of peace. The year is 2022 and this is Littleroot Town, where I, Jace Nahatuka, live. I am 14 years old and I have always been filled with the urge to explore the Hoenn region, and the other regions for that matter. Fascinated by Pokémon, I sit next to the somewhat bushy, tall grass every day. Knowing the dangers of going in without a Pokémon of my own, I can only observe these powerful, joy-filled Pokémon rustle in the tall grass. Lately, I've been taking interest in my neighbors. Mainly because of the girl that lives there. She is a Pokémon trainer named May. Every day she gathers information about the Pokémon in the Hoenn region: the place where we live. My mom always worries for me but is excited when I go outside, especially if it is to meet someone new. The war that recently ended, which was called the Federation War, made my mom worry way more than normal about me. I heard that they fought the war with Pokémon along with guns. For some reason I hope to meet a veteran of that war. Well other than that, I hope that I will have an interesting life while I am alive.

… … … … …

"Ugh," I groan, just waking up. "Oh yeah, it's the weekend. Time to go meet May, I guess." Slowly, I get up to a sitting position, groaning most of the time. Rubbing my eyes, I stood up. I grabbed my black shirt and jeans so I could get dressed. "Good morning," my mom said when I started down the stairs. "Good morning," I replied. "Do you think I could meet the neighbors today? I want to get out of my shell a little today." With a surprised look on her face she slowly replied, "Yes! This is great!" I thanked her, got my shoes on, and started walking towards the door to go meet my neighbors. Right when I open the door I see one of my neighbors, May.

"Whoa!" I say, surprised to see May at my door. "What are you doing here?" May, slightly shifting her position, whispers, "I-I wanted to see if you'd come with me today t-to look at Pokémon. So, w-would you want to c-come with me?" Slowly I respond, "Sure. I was just about to go to talk to you anyways." Smiling, May grabbed my arm and pulled me away from my house, barely giving me time to close the door. As we approached the tall grass, I started panicking. "Hey, May?"

"Yeah, Jace?"

"How am I going to get a Pokémon for myself?" Now smiling, May says, "My father is a professor that studies Pokémon. He has two Pokémon in Poké Balls just lying around the house. I could ask if you could have one. I already have a Treeko."

"Okay! Thank you! I've always wanted to travel through the Hoenn region!" Both of us smiling, we ran back to May's house.

It wasn't that far of a run. Maybe 20 meters? I might have to measure that in my free time. Anyways, when we got to May's front door, May practically kicked down her front door. "I didn't know you were that strong, May!" I said, astonished at her recent feat.

"Hmmm… Where could those Poké Balls be?" May asked herself, ignoring the fact that she just opened the door with a swift kick without breaking anything.

"Umm, May? I think I found them," I said, holding up two red, black, and white Poké Balls. "Yes! Those are the ones!"

"May? What are you and this boy doing with my Poké Balls?" Professor Birch, May's father questioned.

"Oh! Dad! I didn't know you were home! This is Jace, our neighbor. I wanted to have him come with me to find new Pokémon today. But he doesn't have a Pokémon for himself. So we were going to borrow one of these."

"Well next time ask first, okay? And if you're going to have a Pokémon, Jace, you'll need one of these" Professor Birch sad, handing me a red object. "It's a Pokédex!" May supplied. "Do you have one May?" I asked, looking towards the Pokédex in Professor Birch's hands. "Yes! I do have one!" May brought a pink Pokédex into view.

"May? Just remember, keep getting information on the Pokémon in this region. That is the goal I gave you."

"Okay! I will! And thank you!" Turning towards Jace, "You can have your own Pokémon!" Naturally, because I was a right-handed person, I reached towards the Poké Ball on the right side. "Go ahead, let it out! I wanna see what it is!" May said with excitement in her voice. A wide smile was coming into view on her face. Pressing the button in the center of the front of the Poké Ball, I watched a stream of red light come out and hit the ground. When it disappeared, a blue and orange Pokémon sat before me, its head tilted. Pulling out her Pokédex, May scanned my new Pokémon. "Mudkip is its name." May said. Hoping for the best to come out of this I went down to pet Mudkip. Slowly but surely my hand made its way down to Mudkip's head. Patting Mudkip, I found out from May that my Mudkip was a male Pokémon, and had a special ability only found in Mudkip out of the two Pokémon that were available. It increases the damage for moves that are water type. 'So I guess I am going to have a couple water type moves for you, Mudkip' I thought to myself.

… … … … …

"C'mon Jace! I have something to show you!" May shouted at me as we were running through the forest. "Where are we going? I can barely remember the path home!"

"You'll see! Just keep running! We're almost there!" May said with a large amount of excitement. A few more minutes of running and May suddenly stopped in front of a clearing in the dense forest. "We're here!" May gladly said as she turned around to see me finally catch up. "Well I am guessing this place makes you very happy considering how big your smile is right now" I said, chuckling. Shifting her posture, May said, "Well, yeah, I guess it does make me happy. This has been the place for me to escape to and visit Pokémon when I had free time."

"Well I am glad you have a place like this. I still haven't had the time to explore to find one of these kinds of places for myself…"

"Well if you want," May said enthusiastically, "You could come with me to this place when I go!" Surprised by the hospitality, I slowly responded, obviously showing my surprise. "Ummm, are you sure? I mean, this is the place for you to have your time alone. I don't want to ruin that for you."

"Nah, it's fine. You're a pretty fun person so I might as well have you come with me."

"Okay!" I say enthusiastically, reaching for my Poké Ball. "Do you want to have a little battle to see how strong you are as a beginner? I definitely want to see your skill so we can train together!" May said. "Why not? It seems like a great idea! Come on out Mudkip!" I say, pressing the white button on the Pokéball. I was stunned to see the flashing red stream of light emit from the opened Pokéball. Once that light subsided, my Mudkip, looking innocent but strong, stood there.

"Have you even put Mudkip into your Pokédex? That's the first thing that I did when I got Treeko and the Pokédex!" May said.

"Now thinking about it, I haven't put him into my Pokédex!" I said, almost panicking. I pulled out my red Pokédex and flipped it open, aiming it at Mudkip. "The fin on Mudkip's head acts as a highly sensitive radar. Using this fin to sense movements of water and air, this Pokémon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes." The Pokédex supplied, surprising me. "Wow! Mudkip's fin can be very useful during battles. You should check what attacks he has!" May said excitedly, staring at me with a smile. Smiling back, I looked at the entry for Mudkip in my Pokédex. "He can tackle Treeko and growl at him." I said slightly laughing, "What about your Treeko? I still have yet to see it. Plus, I want to put it into my Pokédex!"

"That's right! Come on out Treeko!" May said, pressing the button on the Pokéball to release Treecko from the spherical home. Pulling out my Pokédex, I scanned Treeko. "Treecko has small hooks on the bottom of its feet that enable it to scale vertical walls. This Pokémon attacks by slamming foes with its thick tail."

"That's pretty interesting! Let's see what attacks it can use!" I said, looking back at my Pokédex. "Pound and leer, huh. Fair enough."

"Well, shouldn't we begin our battle now? I am getting really anxious!" May said, almost yelling.