Adventures in Hoenn
Act 1: Deoxys and the Awakening of the Three Regis
Prologue
The Hoenn region is a grand, beautiful island filled with all sorts of wonderful and fascinating Pokémon. With a vast array of locations, ranging from a sandy desert, to a humid rainforest, to an active volcano, Hoenn's hot and tropical climate attracts all sorts of different Pokémon, and with those Pokémon comes fun, adventure, and friendship.
About one year ago, the island was threatened by an environmental disaster caused by two terrorist groups: Team Magma and Team Aqua. The plans of these two groups were simple: to awaken the legendary Pokémon of the land, and reshape it for a better future, at least in their eyes. Team Magma planned to awaken Groudon, the Continent Pokémon, to expand the landmass; and Team Aqua wanted to awaken Kyogre, the Ocean Pokémon, to broaden the sea's horizon. Neither of their plans worked however, as they were thwarted by two young Pokémon trainers by the names of Brendan and May, and the arrival of a certain legendary Pokémon...
Today, the Hoenn region is safe from harm, and the young heroes are at peace, living in Littleroot town, and continuing their training to both become the greatest trainers on the island. During their training, they've visited a few other lands, and even managed to acquire some new pokémon. Things couldn't really be better for them at the moment.
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" cried Brendan, with a strong voice, filled with determination. His eyes were giant brown orbs fixated on the battle at hand. His large white hat covered his brown hair, and his ensemble was distinctive of that of a Pokémon trainer. A large green and white bag on his back, brown shorts, and a belt that had several kinds of poké balls on it. His bent posture and clenched fists revealed a type of offensive strategy in his combat.
The eager Pokémon roared as it swung its head back and thrust it forward, spewing a spiral of flames to its opponent.
"Hurry, Hitmontop! Dodge it!" responded May, the trainer he was playing against. She had a certain cunningness about her that made her strategies to be pretty defensive. Her brown hair swung in her face as she cried out her orders, and her ensemble was also a definitive trainer outfit. A red skirt with a large belt that also acted as a bag around her waist. She also had a red bandana around her light brown hair.
Heading its trainers orders, Hitmontop quickly put its hands on the ground and spun itself round and round. He managed to move over to the side, avoiding Charizard's Flamethrower.
"Now, use Hi Jump Kick, Hitmontop!"
Hitmontop careened all the way to the other side of the arena as Charizard tried unsuccessfully to hit it with its Flamethrower. Making his way up to fire dragon, Hitmontop then put his hands on the ground to brake and pushed himself up into the air. Soon after, he gave a hard kick in Charizard's face and landed in the back of him.
Charizard quickly recovered, and managed to whack the fighting-type with the tip of his tail, who flew a few feet away, and recovered on his head. He was breathing harder and had a black mark on his back; Hitmontop was burned.
"Finish it off with Fly, Charizard!" cried Brendan.
May knew she had to act fast, or she'd lose the battle there. So she clenched her teeth and said the only thing she could:
"Dodge it, Hitmontop! Just do your best to dodge it!"
With a few flaps of its wings, Charizard was already several feet in the air, and soon after it swooped down towards the burned Pokémon. Hitmontop did what he was told, and spun to the left, effectively dodging the fly. However, Charizard simply turned left as well and kept pursuing him. Hitmontop spun as fast as he could, but Charizard was catching up with him, so he put one hand on the ground, and spun around 180 degrees abruptly, passing right underneath the fire dragon, who hit the ground and dragged a few feet further.
"Rapid Spin!" cried May.
And she was right, for soon after his tumble, Charizard quickly lifted his head, turned it, and shot out a flamethrower, knowing full well that Hitmontop was right behind him. The rapid spin worked, and deflected all of the fire. He then quickly spun his way towards Charizard, who was trying to get himself back up, leapt up in the air, and dropped down with his foot on Charizard's back.
"Alright Charizard," cried Brendan, thinking he had an advantage to the battle. "now Seismic Toss him!"
This was easier said than done, for Hitmontop had tightly clinged to Charizard's back, and the poor Pokémon turned around in circles and was waving his arms trying to get him off.
"Mach punch him now, Hitmontop!" ordered May.
The burned Hitmontop started pummelling Charizard's back, doing little yet gradual damage. Having had enough of it, Charizard eventually threw himself on the ground, hoping to crush the pesky fighter. Hitmontop, however, managed to jump off a few seconds before, and began to spin a away from him. He also managed to hop over Charizard's tail as the fire dragon had tried to whip him with it.
"Great job, Hitmontop! I just hope you can keep this up though..." May muttered under her breath.
"Charizard, finish it off with a Gust!" screamed Brendan.
There was little May could do aside from ordering a quick evasion which, unfortunately for her, didn't work out. Hitmontop was blown away by the gust and fell on his back, unable to battle anymore. Brendan jumped up in euphoria.
"Yes!" he cried. "You're finished, May!"
"Don't hold your breath." replied May, "I've still got two Pokémon left, one of which is Blast-"
"Alright! Everybody out!" cried out a voice from afar. Both May and Brendan groaned in disappointment as they saw Norman running toward them, waving his arms. "The cleaner's here, we have to clear the gym."
"But I'm just about to win, Norman." said Brendan, in a disappointed tone.
"You have one Pokémon left, and you [i]still[/i] think that you'd have won?" said May. "Boy, you're stubborn."
"Sorry kids," said Norman, May's father. He was the Petalburg city gym leader and the father of one of the Hoenn region's champions. His entire demeanour was rather… plain. He was dressed in a dark grey jacket and light grey pants (they weren't sweat pants), and his hair was of a darkish hue. Nothing particularly striking could be noticed, he just looked like an ordinary guy.
"I've already delayed this far enough, and I really need the gym to be cleaned. challengers have been frequent lately and they've been scuffing up my floor. I have to keep things neat for them."
"It's alright Dad," said May. "we understand. We'll start another battle some other time."
"Thanks May." he said to her, before remembering to ask Brendan: "Say, would you need a ride home today, Brendan? I have to get out of the gym anyway."
"No thanks Norman," replied Brendan "my father's coming to pick me up."
"Oh, alright then. Any new discoveries that the professor made recently?" he said this as he and the children began walking towards the door of the gym.
"Nothing that can be called discoveries really, though he spends all of his nights gazing at the sky these days. He can't really study it during the day, so it drives me and my mother nuts when we want to sleep."
Norman chuckled. "Why is he fixated at the skies? Does he expect to find a comet to name?"
"He's been seeing some odd shooting stars through his telescope. One of them came really close apparently, and he says that it had a very strange formation."
"Was it a comet, maybe?"
"He's not sure. He's contacted the Mossdeep Research Center, but they haven't called back yet."
"Hmm," Uttered May. "sounds like Professor Birch is the only one lucky enough to have seen it."
"Yeah, it makes me and my mother wonder if he hadn't been imagining it, or something."
"Sounds vaguely familiar, eh, Brendan?" joked Norman.
"Hey, I'm telling you, I really did see Latios. He swooped right above me!"
"I'm joking." Norman said, as he chuckled. "It's not impossible that you may have seen it."
"Although it is highly unlikely." said May.
The trio finally came to the door and left the gym. Outside, waiting for them in his car, was none other than Professor Birch, the Pokémon Professor, waiting for Brendan to come out.
"Come on, Brendan!" he cried out from the driver's seat. "Dinner's almost ready and we don't want to be late."
"Coming, Dad!" replied Brendan. He turned toward Norman and May to say his farewells.
"So long, Norman! Bye May, I'll battle you soon!"
"Don't forget, we're going Wailmer watching at Lilycove City tomorrow!"
"I'll be there!" replied Brendan, as he made his way into the passenger's side of the vehicle.
Professor Birch made a wide u-turn and was on his way back to Littleroot town as he and his son waved to their friends. As soon as they got to a far enough distance, the professor started speaking to Brendan:
"Oh, uh… by the way son, you can't go Wailmer watching tomorrow."
"What?" Brendan asked, stupefied. "Well, why didn't you just tell me then?"
"I'm sorry, but I didn't want them to find out what I was doing. I've been very busy with my studies lately, and I don't want to appear as some sort of nutcase in front of them."
"Yeah, well, it's a little late for that…" he muttered, his head turned toward the window.
"What was that?"
"Why is it exactly that I can't go to Lilycove tomorrow?" Brendan replied, changing the subject.
"Well, as you know, you're mother and I have been doing a few studies concerning Hoenn's skies and we keep noticing a strange comet that keeps zooming in incredibly close to the planet."
"Yeah, you only talk about it every day, what of it?"
"Well, the Mossdeep Research Facility apparently thinks it's too good to return my calls, so we're going over there tomorrow to tell them personally. I can't let this discovery go unnoticed, what if it lands and we're not aware of it!"
"Why do you need me to come?"
"You're my son. I need you there for support. Wouldn't you like to re-visit the Space Center, anyway? It's been a while since you've been there."
"I guess…" he said hesitantly, peering out into the distance. Brendan was never fond of the Research Center, as he always found their scientists to be snooty and elitist, but he respected his father enough to help him through this. Maybe they would pay attention to what his father had to say this time around. "How are you getting there?"
"Your mother and I are going to drive all the way to Lilycove, and from there we're going to ride to Mossdeep city on her Lapras. You could simply fly there on Charizard."
"Alright then." Brendan finally decided. "I'll go with you."
"Thank you, Brendan; you don't know how much this means to me and your mother."
"It's alright Dad, I just hope I'll have enough time to go Wailmer watching later during the day."
"That's the spirit. Always be positive."
Finally, the two arrived at their destination, and Professor Birch parked his car in the driveway of their home. It was evening, and the sun was still out and was just about to set westward. The father and son entered their home, had supper with Ms. Birch, and relaxed for the rest of the evening. As usual, the professor stayed up until the late hours of the night looking out into the sky and writing down calculations, in preparation for the next day, while the others slept soundly.
Brendan woke up the next day by the sounds of his parents getting ready for their trip. They were in the next room, packing all of the papers and charts that they conducted their studies on. He got up from his bed, and went over to see them. He was still in his pyjamas while they were all dressed up and ready to go.
"W-What time is it?" he asked, still somewhat disoriented from getting up.
"It's 9:10" his mother replied. "We're just about ready to leave."
"What?" he asked, incredulously. "But I just got up. Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
"I'm sorry, Brendan, but we had a lot of work to do before leaving." his father replied, although not looking at him directly. He didn't seem that apologetic, but that was because he was quite busy at the moment. "Besides, we're taking two modes of transportation to get there, you still have plenty of time to get ready, eat and fly there."
"All right…" Brendan answered. "I just wished you would've woken me up or something."
"Sorry again, Brendan, but look at the bright side, it's not like we won't see each other today."
"Yeah, yeah…" the boy said, brushing them off and heading back to his room to get ready.
After he had brushed his teeth and headed back town, he saw his parents coming back inside the house. They had just finished putting their stuff in the car and were about to bid farewell to Brendan.
"Goodbye, dear" his mother said, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. He cringed as she did so and pleaded that she not repeat it again.
" So long Brendan." his father said. "See you in about a half an hour. Thanks again."
The two of them proceeded out the door before Brendan could even respond:
"…You're welcome."
He was now alone in the house. He stood in place for a moment, preparing himself mentally for how his day might turn out, expecting the worst but hoping for the best. The house seemed eerily quiet without anyone inside, and although he had already been in the house alone, this time he felt somewhat depressed. After a while he regained his senses and prepared to eat. Today was going to be a long day, so he had to pack it in as much as he could before leaving.