To a Past Catalyst: Book 1
The Hoenn Adventure
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon
Author Note: Title by Nightmaric.
Beta read by Mystical Spirits.
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General Summary: The year is 2645. Both humans and pokemon were treated as equals, although they still traveled in a similar manner. Trainers would go out, but instead of pokeballs, they use submission crystals which only carried pokemon if they wished to be caught. Pokemon and trainers formed a new equal friendship rather then the old master/servant style relation of the years before.
But one little hole in the timeline would change everything. Of all the people in the world to be sent back to fix this, it just had to be him. It just had to be Jackson Daniel. He was the first of his kind, the first successful offspring of both a human and a pokemon. While his mother was a Lucario, he retained his father's human appearance. Other then his unusual gifts, he was the same as any other human.
A second fight between Dialga and Palkia resulted in a tear in time. It is believed that he gave his life to stop the fight, but he was really just thrown through time. Along with the four pokemon he had with him, he must now explore the world in our time hoping to find a way back home.
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Chapter 1: The start of the Hoenn adventure
May 12th, 2001…
A young boy walked along a dirt path. He was in his teens, maybe fifteen or sixteen. With the large hiking style pack on his back, worn faded out blue jeans with holes in the knees, and light faded green T-shirt, it was obvious that this boy had not been to a town is a while. To add to this fact was the small patches of dirt that covered his hands and other patches of visible skin. It must have been weeks since this person had seen a shower. The Eevee and Espeon walking by his side showed that he was a trainer. The Pokeballs on his belt, along with the badge case, and ribbon case on his pack confirmed this. He walked along the forest path hoping to quickly reach the next town.
Finally, after hours of walking under a slightly dark sky, the city of Rustboro came into view and with it, the light of hope which pierced the darkness of the upcoming storm that would show up any time now. The mountain path they were on had finally started descending to reveal the large city. "With any luck, we can find a pokemon center and hotel down there." The boy said. "Come on, it can't be more then a few miles. If we hurry, we can be there by dusk." The boy once again began walking.
"Vee? Eeev eev?" The Eevee asked in its native tongue. The Eevee had a knick in its left ear. Maybe some sort of old battle scar or the reminder of some accident, whatever it was, it didn't seem to bother the small brown fox.
"If you're too tired to walk, Jolts, there is always your pokeball. I've got enough stuff on my back already. In case you forgot, Opal isn't the lightest stone in the world," the boy said as he walked. His eyes never left the city in front of him. With a slight smile on his face, he continued walking forward happy to have found some place other then the forest to take a break and get more supplies.
"Esp esp. Espeon?" The Espeon asked, also in its native tongue. This Espeon was different from other Espeon. The gem a top her head was more of an oval rather then a circle and was a most brilliant shade of ruby instead of the dark crimson gems of their kind.
"We just had lunch a few hours ago. If I can hold out till we reach the town, so can you, Ruby." The boy said. He shifted the back on his back.
"Esp," There was a hint of sadness in the Espeon's voice as her ears began to drop.
"The sooner we reach town, the sooner I can get some real food. Not that instant stuff. Once we're in town, I'll get you all a snack to hold you over until I can find a hotel. Then I'll treat everyone to a real dinner." The boy said. "Salads, berries, soup, and yes, I'll even get you all desert." As the boy named off foods, both the Eevee and Espeon instantly cheered up. They even sped up a little forgetting just how tired they really were.. There was no doubt that they wanted what their trainer had promised. "Don't go too far ahead." The boy shouted as the pokemon too off ahead at a slight jog compared to the walk he had set his pace at. One of the pokeballs on the boy's belt began to shake. The boy grabbed it and threw it up into the air. With a bright flash of white light, the ball opened up and an Umbreon materialized before the boy. "You look like you slept well." The boy said as the Umbreon stretched out in front of him.
"Umbreeeeee." The Umbreon yawned as it stretched out, the second yellow ring on her tail along with all of the other rings matched her eyes, a lovely shade of bright gold. "Umbre, Bre Breon."
"Glad to hear it, now lets get moving. We finally found a city." The boy nodded in the direction of the town as he sped up in an attempt to catch up to the Eevee and Espeon that had taken off ahead of him. Umbreon let out a short sigh before darting down the path. He was not about to be left behind.
They group of four half walked, half ran to down the old dirt path. In the skies above them, a storm was brewing. A series of darker storm clouds weaved into the already dark mixing shades of a low gray with bolts of dark blackness intent on giving the area a good, heavy dose of water. As the group ran, the boy heard a very faint cry. He stopped.
"Hold up." The boy called out to his pokemon. Umbreon had stayed by his the whole time waiting to see what would unfold today. The faint cry sounded for a second time confirming that the boy had not been wrong, that he had heard something.
The boy darted into the woods with his Umbreon hot on his tail. He ran over the ground jumping over larger bits of overgrowth in order to find whoever or whatever was crying out. Eevee and Espeon were quick to follow suit, but as they had taken off ahead of the boy on the path, they had to play catch up. The boy knew the source was near, but couldn't isolate it. Not with the heavy supply of trees around altering the pitch and height of the sound he searched for. The sky above was growing darker and darker as clouds now began to swirl around. Rain had started to fall, but it was very light, just barely a drizzle at this time. If the sky was any clue, there was a fierce storm on the way. Had the boy not heard the cry, he would have rushed for the town.
"Help me, please." The cry sounded for a third time in the trees a short distance away from him. He identified the voice as a young female, in her teens most likely. Either that or one very loud older woman with a high squeaky voice, but the voice was slightly altered by the cover of the trees. A low growling could also be heard and by the sounds of it, it was some sort of canine class pokemon.
The boy charged toward the cry, moving throw the trees with ease. He quickly understood the reason for the cries of help. A pack of wild Granbull circled the tree a young girl had climbed up in. She had a torn shirt and jeans revealing large patches of skin. While she had her fair share of scrapes, the Granbull would see to it that she would never to worry about it if they caught her. If quite possibly the only good news, she the tree that she was in would keep her partially dry. Every few seconds, one of the Granbull would charge the tree. The girl hung on for her life. Beside the tree laid a small bag. Berries lay around the bag, as did a cell-phone. The girl must have tried calling for help only to fail or if she had seceded, then her help was still a long way off.
"Luna, use Shadow Strike." The boy commanded looking down at his Umbreon for a second. His eyes showed no fear, just worry. He had seen enough death in his life and wished to see no more.
"Umbre." Umbreon shot forward, nothing more then a blur of black smoke in the basic shape of her natural form. This blur of black smoke charged into a Granbull sending it flying into the forest. The blur of smoke then solidified into the Umbreon it once was. Eevee and Espeon both ran up to the boy just in time the first of the Granbull go flying.
Another Granbull charged the tree causing the girl to fall off the branch she was sitting on. She latched onto another branch and hung on tightly. "Help me." She once cried out for help. A few of other Granbull turned to face the Umbreon that had attacked them.
"Gran Gran. Granbull." The lead Granbull shouted at Umbreon obviously annoyed by the intrusion, but just as willing to take out the next closest thing.
"Hold your ground Umbreon." The boy said. "We've faced much worse before." While half of the twenty-some pack of Granbull began to charge the boy and his pokemon, the other half continued to try and get the girl. "Get ready, here they come." The boy took of his pack and threw it onto a large rock hoping it would at least partially dry. He then assumed a fighting stance, legs spread out, fists closed, and eyes locked on to his targets. His pokemon did the same, each taking a fighting stance that best suited their forms. "I'll take three, Luna, you do the same. Jolts and Ruby, think each of you can handle two."
"Esp."
"Vee." Both were ready to deal with the pack of Granbull. Its not like they hadn't faced off against uneven odds before.
The first Granbull lead the charge and the boy charged in to counter it. The Granbull jumped up as the boy ducked under sliding onto his back, a small sum of dirt covering his back. With one swift motion, he sent both of his feet up and delivered a powerful kick into the stomach of the pokemon above him sending it flying back with a look of shook on its face.
The rest of the Granbull charged upon seeing another of their kind fall in battle, and they did not approve of such hostile actions. Luna took the initiative and charged forward, once again, nothing more then a puff of smoke. Jolts and Ruby did the same. Luna used Shadow Strike very effectively, the blur of black smoke darting around rapidly striking three of the Granbull at random angles until one countered with a Mega Punch. Even though Luan was nothing more then a mass of gas with no physical form, she still took the full force of the attack, but the pain she felt was several time greater then that of any normal attack.. While the use of Shadow force did prevent most physical damage, the pain felt that the pokemon would feel was greatly increased. "Breeee." A high screech filled the air as she cried out in pain.
Jolts charged in. Jolts was fast, very fast for his age, even if he wasn't very strong. Every time one of the Granbull would go to hit him, he would move out of the way faster then the Granbull had been able to follow. They would see a few images of Jolts before he would counter with a quick attack. Upon seeing Luna get sent flying back, Jolts turned and darted off to stop one of the Granbull Luna was fighting from using Mega Punch for a second time.
The gemstone on Ruby's forehead lit up brightly giving off a high level glow. Several stones and fallen branches circled Ruby's body. Every time one of the Granbull would try to close the distance between themselves and Ruby, one of the many objects flying around Ruby would strike out at the Granbull in question. The gem on top of her head got brighter as one of the Granbull was lifted off the ground and sent flying into a nearby tree.
The boy had his own hands full. Instead of the three he had hoped to fight, many of the Granbull who were circling the tree turned toward him. The group of now seven Granbull all readied to attack the boy at once. "This could hurt." The boy said looking around making sure not to let even one of the Granbull catch him off guard. He knew he had his limits and he would rather not push them today if it could be avoided. A Granbull behind the boy charged forward, ready to present the boy with a Mega Punch. The boy countered with his own fist, but he aimed for the ground. The boys fist hit the ground sending a spray of dirt into the air. The boy used this distraction to charge two of the Granbull who had surrounded him. He charged in and slammed their heads together.
Luna was back on her feet and ready to get back into the fight. A small orb of yellowish energy appeared in her mouth. The energy grew until she let out a fair sized Hyper Beam attack. While it wasn't the strongest of Hyper Beams, it still worked wonders. The beam took out two of the three Granbull she was fighting and a few trees behind them. She then charged in again using her Shadow Strike attack for a third time, but as there was only competetor left for her to fight, she would have a much easier time keeping an eye on it.
Jolts had as of yet to take out any of the Granbull he was fighting, but they had still been unable to hit the little guy. It was like watching a small speed boat constantly tackle a battleship. While he barely did any damage, he was so hard to hit. He continued to avoid attacks and then return the favor with his own quick attack. With a swift hit to the gut, the first of the two Granbull he had been fighting fell over. It would seem that all that damage had racked up over time. The rain had now started to fall. It wasn't the much, but it did affect the battlefield. The dirt turned to mud and the tree the girl was hanging on was starting to get a little hard to stay in. She frantically searched for a dryer, sturdier grip that would keep her in the tree and away from the pokemon battle below.
Ruby had managed to take out one of the Granbull, but the other one was proving to be difficult. It caught Ruby off guard from the back and was now refusing to give her a chance to use her psychic abilities. Ruby dodged attack after attack trying to find an opening. A sudden slip on a patch of mud gave the Granbull the a chance to land a few blows, and the Granbull took full advantage of this. "ESPEOOON." The Granbull sent Ruby flying back with a powerful Charge attack.
"What?" the boy turned his back for a second, a critical error on his part. Two of the remaing Granbull he was dealing with charged him and pinned him down. Whilst one held him, the second starting to beat him. The boy reached back and threw the last pokeball on his belt into the air. With a flash, the ball opened up and a Flareon stepped forth. Without wasting anytime the Flareon charged in and tackled the first of the Granbull that was attacking the boy. She let loose a powerful Fire Blast at point blank range. The Granbull that had been in front of her now stood charred by the attack. It fell over quickly and didn't even try to get back up. The Flareon dealt with the second Granbull just as fast as she had dealt with the first using Flame tackle.
After seeing how quickly this new pokemon had dealt with the two Granbull, the rest of the Granbull ran off. They had lost more then enough of their numbers already and this new pokemon showed no signs of letting anyone who crossed it walk off.
"Flar! Flareon areon." The Flareon scolded the boy once again for his recklessness. She knew his habits and once again, he needed to call on her for help.
"They had her pinned up in the tree." The boy said. He ran over despite the beating he had taken and caught the girl just before she hit the mud only paying partial attention to his Flareon. "You really should be more careful. The Granbull mating season has just started. The females can very territorial against any other female, no matter what species they are."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." The girl cried. The rain was picking up quickly now, as did the winds.
"We can talk later, for now, we need a place to keep dry." The boy said. He looked up and knew while there may a few breaks in the storm, the storm would last well into the night and possibly into the morning hours.
"A friend of mine has got an old cabin down this path. I was on my way there when those things attacked me." The girl said.
"Then lets go." The boy replied. "Come on, before this storm gets any worse." The boy signaled for his pokemon to follow him as the girl led the way.
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After a short few minutes of running, they group came to cabin. It wasn't much, just a basic large one-room log cabin. It had small wooden stone in one corner and sink next to it. A table on the far wall held the dishes and other odds and ends in the cabin. There was also a curtain hung by one corner of the cabin that served as a place to change in private and beside it was a dresser. There was also a small generator on the floor that powered the lights and few other electronics in the cabin like an alarm clock and satellite phone. Finally, there were a few chairs scattered about. All in all, it was not a fancy cabin, more or less place to stay for the warmer months.
"It's not much, but it will keep us dry." The girl said. "My name's Linda. And thank you again."
"My name is Jackson. This here is Jolts." Jackson pointed to the Eevee who nodded his head. "That's Ruby and Luna. There twins." Luna and Ruby both sat down and held a paw up mirroring the other almost perfectly, the only reason being their different species. "And then we have Ember. She's the oldest of the team."
"Flar." The Flareon bowed its head as it said hello.
"Are you sure you're friend won't mind me staying here. I don't want to cause any problems." Jackson said.
"No worries. She always happy to have guests. Besides, it not like you can walk far in that mess." Linda pointed to the window. The rain was coming down in sheets as bolts of lighting danced in the distance.
"I see what you mean." Jackson said. Jackson pulled out a pair of towels and started to dry off his pokemon. With Ember's help using a very low grade flame, the group had dried off quickly. Jackson turned and looked at Linda. Her clothes were torn and not well suited for the cold weather of the storm, but they did cover her enough that she need not worry about being too revealing. He reached into his pack and pulled out his cloak. "It's not all that big, but it's warm." Jackson said as he put it on Linda.
"Thanks again. I lost my pack bag there as I was running from the pokemon." Linda said as she wrapped the cloak around herself eager to cover herself from the cold.
"I'm assuming from the bag of berries I saw that you were bringing them here for something." Jackson said.
"My friend, Lilly makes jams out of them, then I take the batches she had made back with me to Rustboro City where my mother transports them to Slateport city to be sold." Linda said.
A sudden boom of thunder that shook the cabin caused Linda to jump. She then scrambled over to Jackson and held onto him tightly. "You okay?" Jackson asked.
"I hate storms." Linda whimpered.
"I can see that." Jackson replied. Jackson turned to his pokemon. "I guess that meal I promised you will have to wait."
"Ee, eevee." Jolts whined.
"Espe." Ruby shrugged letting out a short sigh as if she had expected something to keep her master from keeping his promise.
The door suddenly opened. A lone dark figure wearing a large raincoat walked in. "Sorry for making ya wait, Linda." The figure said. "I was out trying to collect some herbs when the storm set in. The only light I had was from the bolts of lighting that showed up and they don't last long."
"No problem, I had company." Linda joked nodding her head toward Jackson.
"Name's Lilly. And you would be Linda's new boyfriend I assume." Lilly said as she took of the raincoat. "He sure is a cute one."
"Hold first things first." Jackson said raising a hand with finger extended out. "I'm not her boyfriend. I just saved her from a pack of Granbull, that's all." Jackson stated lightly sweeping his hand in front of himself. "Secondly, all I want to do is get to that town I saw earlier. I need more supplies soon." He then motioned towards his pack.
"Which town?" Lilly asked.
"I saw a town in that direction." Jackson pointed toward the direction of Rustboro City.
"Let me guess, you're new to the Hoenn Region aren't you. Everyone in the Hoenn Region knows about Rustboro City. It houses the Devon Corp's main facility." Linda said.
"You could say that I'm new here." Jackson said. His mind ran over the events that led him to where he was today.
"Well, there's no way to get there in that mess. I've got some mats I could lay out for you. You can stay here for the night." Lilly offered. She took the raincoat off. She wore a simple set of clothing underneath, a blue shirt and a pair of jeans, both of which were slightly wet.
"Thank you." Jackson said. "You don't mind if my Pokemon stay out do you?" Jackson asked.
"Not at all." Lilly said. "Now if you'll excuse me." Lilly grabbed her pajamas out of the dresser and walked behind the curtain. "Peak and you'll spend the night in the rain." Lilly said as she closed the curtain.
"No problems there." Jackson opened up his pack and began to look to see what all he had left. He pulled out containers of first aid items, a few pocket knifes, a hatchet, a tent, and several other odds and ends.
"You must do a lot of traveling." Linda said as she watched him pull out several items that could be deemed necessary for any traveler.
"I do a lot of traveling, yes." Jackson replied, pulling a thunder stone out of his pack.
"What region you from?" Lilly asked as she opened the curtain. She now wore a set of Pikachu pajamas. She put her old cloths away and handed a second set of pajamas to Linda. "Here, wear these."
"I'm from the Alidon Region." Jackson replied. He continued looking through his bag.
"Alidon, that's quite a ways off. What'd you come here for? The Hoenn League?" Linda asked. She closed the curtain before she changed.
"Contests more then anything else. My Flareon, Ember, always was happy to compete for ribbons rather then badges." Jackson continued to pull items out of his pack. Many of which were empty food containers or bottles. Finally, he pulled out three very large chunks of uncut Opal. "This Devon Corp, what is it? Some big department store?" Jackson asked.
"Devon Corp is the leading manufacturer out here. They provide the pokeballs, potions, pretty much everything a trainer, breeder, or Coordinater would need. Aside from the trading post at Slateport, no one matches the amount of money they make. Then again, the trading post is part of a network of trading posts that is spread across most of the regions." Lilly said.
"How do I look?" Linda asked as she walked out from the behind the curtain. She wore a set of Flareon pajamas.
"Flar." Ember happily commented upon seeing them.
"Looks like Ember approves of them." Jackson laughed.
Linda and Lilly finally noticed the Opal. "Where did you find that?" Linda asked. He eyes took in the sight of the uncut gemstone.
"One of the caves up there by the volcano. Place was full of em. I just grabbed what I thought would get a fair some of cash. I heard there was jewel cutter in Slateport, so I was hoping to have him take these and cut them. I'd keep a few for Ember and the sell the rest. That should give me enough money to last a while." Jackson replied.
"That's quite a find there. If I had to guess, that's a few thousand dollars worth of Opal right there." Lilly said. "And as for that jewel cutter, I have an Uncle who cuts gems among other things. If you let me have on of the opals for a necklace of mine, I'll introduce you to him and have him cut them for free."
"Thanks." Jackson started to pack up his bag again. "I'll give one after they've been cut then."
"Really, thanks. We can head for Rustboro tomorrow then. From there we can get a ride to Slateport. My uncle will be arriving by boat tomorrow." Lilly said.
Jackson looked at his watch. 8:00. "Its still a little early. I'm gonna do some training with Ember while I can. There is telling how long this calm will stay and the weather report predicted it would last all night." Jackson opened the door. It was still raining a bit, but the rain was a lot calmer then it had been earlier and there was no lighting or thunder. Ember followed suit. She always did enjoy practicing for a contest.
"Let's start with some basics." Jackson picked up a broken branch that had fallen from a near by tree. Little did he know Linda and Lilly were watching him via a window. Jackson tossed the stick into the air. As if on cue, Ember waited until the stick was at its highest before lighting the ends of the stick with two small fire balls. Each end of the stick gave of a small shower of lovely red and yellow sparks as the flames danced on each end. Ember caught the stick as it fell with her mouth and tossed it back up. She then caught it on her nose. "Lets give Phoenix Wing a try while were at it."
Ember threw the stick back up and jumped up after it. As she jumped up, she started a Flame Wheel attack lighting up the area with shades of red an yellow, but the higher she went up, the more it looked like the wheel was implode. The fire seemed to worm its way back in rather then extend out. Seconds after she had reached her highest point, the ring of fire that she had created burst outward in all directions in the rough shape of Phoenix with a mostly red body and yellow trim, the entire had gone from a night time darkness to an early morning glow. Ember landed on her hind feet and caught the burning stick in her mouth as it came down.
"That's your best attempt yet." Jackson said. They continued this same set of maneuvers over and over again for a few hours. Ember got a little bit better each time she tried. They stay out until the rain picked back up. Then they headed in.
"That was amazing." Lilly exclaimed as the door opened. She clapped happily as Ember bowed her head in acceptance of the praise she was offered.
"You were watching?" Jackson asked, not that this really surprised him.
"Of course we were. There's not much else to do out here." Linda stated. "But where did you ever get the idea for that one move. That one that looked like Moltres."
"That was Ember's own idea. She has spent years working on it. It's just now starting to come together though." Jackson replied.
"Well, it's getting late, we really should be getting some sleep. My alarm clock is for 8:00 in the morning. I'll wake both of you up then too. Night." Linda said. She handed out blankets.
"Night." Lilly said. She pulled the cover up over body as she laid back.
"Sleep well, girls!" Jackson
added. His pokemon were spread across the room: Jolts curled up into
a ball beside Jackson, and Ruby and Luna laid in a
back corner,
seeking body heat and sweet dreams together. Man and pokemon alike
had fallen asleep immediately in the comfort of one another, and
they
were soon unconscious to the world around them.
But Ember did not sleep. Her catlike eyes stared straight ahead, through the window and into the blackness of the storm, and suddenly everything seemed a lot less peaceful. A look of worry filled her as though there were someone out that she longed for.
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