It had been a long hiatus for Ash Ketchum, albeit a well-deserved break. As he said goodbye to his mother for another leg of his journey, he was more invigorated than ever. Pikachu bid its own cheerful farewell to Delia Ketchum, who wiped away a tear, but smiled widely.
I really should be used to this by now, she thought, Seeing my son's back. Going on adventures… this is what makes him happy. And he looks so grown up, just like his father.
She'd even had to buy him completely new clothing, since he'd gotten too tall for his old sets. She supposed it was to be expected, considering Ash was nearly eighteen now. A lot of the baby fat had left his face, and when he'd come back after the Orange Islands, he'd had a maturity in his eyes that she'd never seen before. Somewhere along the line, her son had grown up, and she'd missed it. But so was the problem of being the mother of a future Pokémon-master.
Ash was heading to a whole new region, with hundreds of new Pokémon and battles to face. He could barely keep himself from grinning on the ferry. He tried to sleep, but every cell in his body was agitated with excitement. Pikachu felt the same, of course, electricity sparking from its cheeks occasionally. Time couldn't move fast enough.
After what felt like an eternity, Ash and Pikachu finally landed on a dock in the Hoenn region, setting foot in the town of Littleroot.
It reminded Ash a lot of Palletown, but with a quieter feeling. The trees encircled the small number of houses—no more than a dozen, so even smaller than his home town—and the ground was covered with flowers. He'd read in the guidebook that many towns in the region were more organic than the industrialized Rustboro City. A few blue bird-type Pokémon drifted through the sky, but he wasn't close enough to really examine them. He itched to try and catch one, but he had other things to do first.
He went to Professor Birch's lab first, having gotten a reference from Professor Oak. It wasn't a hard place to find, since it was the largest building that clearly wasn't a civilian home. He found the doors unlocked, and he called out a greeting over the sound of machinery.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" Ash yelled. At first, he thought that the lab was empty, but then he heard a gasp of surprised, followed by a heavy thump, and a cry of pain. A young man with short-chopped light green hair peeked his head above the table at the far end of the lab, stars in his eyes.
"Oh, ow!" He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. He squinted to the doorway where Ash was standing.
"I'm sorry, but you're have to come closer. I can't see a thing without my glasses! I seem to have dropped them somewhere around here…"
Ash obliged and walked around the table, avoiding the mess of boxes and paperwork.
Pikachu hopped from his shoulder and retrieved the man's glasses for him, where they'd fell between two boxes.
"Why, thank you, Pikachu!" He said gratefully. Now, fully able to see Ash, he examined the trainer before him.
"Hello, can I help you? My name is Alex, by the way."
"I'm Ash, from Pallet Town, and you've already met Pikachu. I'm here to see Professor Birch. You wouldn't happen to be him, would you?"
"No, no, I'm just a lab assistant. It's my fault the lab is such a mess right now. But the Professor did tell me about you… he said that you can find him on Route 101."
"Route 101, huh?"
"You could wait here, but—"
"No way! I'd rather go explore!"
Alex chuckled. "Well, all right then. You seem to be the enthusiastic type. Just make sure to take good care of your Pikachu, because the closest pokécenter is in the next town over."
"Will do! Thanks for your help!"
Before Alex could reply, Ash was out the door again.
He rubbed the back of is head again in amusement. "So much energy…"
Ash jogged through the town to the entrance. It felt good to feel the breeze again. Somehow, the Hoenn breeze smelled sweeter than the breeze back home. He was about to leave the town completely when he was stopped by a little girl with a yellow dress and bow in her hair. Ash knelt down to ask what was wrong.
"It's the Professor…" She sniffed.
"Professor Birch?"
"Yes. I think he's in danger. Keita and I followed him, but a little while ago, we were cornered by some wild Poochyena. I ran back here, but…"
"But the Professor and Keita and still out there."
"Yes! Please, I don't want Miss Kate to find out, we'll be in so much trouble!"
Ash tried to question her about this "Miss Kate", but the girl had fully dissolved into tears and her words were unintelligible.
"Well, Pikachu, looks like we've got a mission. Who knew that things would get so exciting so quickly?"
"Pika!" His friend agreed, his resolve mirroring his trainer's.
Ash layed a comforting hand on the girls shoulder and said, "We'll make sure to bring Keita and Professor Birch back safe."
As Ash trudged through the grass, he wished that he still had Pidgeotto to survey the area more quickly. Pikachu climbed a nearby tree and looked itself, yellow ears twitching as it listened for any indication of where the Professor might be. Suddenly, Pikachu spotted something several hundred feet south-west, and leapt from the tree.
"What is it buddy, did you see something?"
"Pika!" The yellow Pokémon confirmed, and went running in that direction. Ash ran after it, heart beating with adrenaline. Soon, he heard the loud voice of a man.
"You stay back, you hear? I don't want to have to use one of these Pokémon, but I will if I have to!"
Ash and Pikachu went around a tree and finally saw Professor Birch, with a small, dark-haired boy standing behind him. They were completely surrounded by quadripedal Pokémon that Ash assumed were Poochyena, and backed against a rock formation.
"Professor Birch! I'm Ash Ketchum, I came to help you out! Are you all right?" Ash yelled from a safe distance away. This drew the attention of the Poochyena.
"A little scratched up, but nothing to worry about!" Professor Birch replied. A Poochyena snapped at his heels, and he jumped back with a yelp.
Ash couldn't think of a way to get them away without knocking the Poochyena out, so he told Pikachu to use thunderbolt… a gentle one.
Pikachu ran towards the Poochyena, avoiding their fangs, until it was close enough to get all of them with one zap. A couple were knocked out, but the rest were only shaken and wobbly on their legs, and they ran away into the forest howling.
"Good job, Pikachu." Ash said, and his partner returned to its place on his hat.
Professor Birch looked impressed. "That's quite a shock your Pikachu has got there."
"Thanks. Keita, your friend told me where you were. She's really worried about you."
"Mimi?" Keita asked, a little hopefully, but then he went back to glaring.
"It must be," Professor Birch said. "You two
"She shouldn't have told!" Keita complained.
"But if she hadn't, we would have been in some serious trouble."
Professor Birch decided to bring the two wounded Poochyena back to the lab with him for observation. When Ash asked if that was safe, he said,
"Poochyena are notoriously territorial. I wanted to observe them in their natural habitat, but it looks like I got a little too close." Professor Birch explained sheepishly. "They shouldn't be nearly so aggressive away from their pack."
"I see." Ash nodded. He decided that he was right to come visit Professor Birch first—the man could teach him a lot about Pokémon.
They walked back to town and found Mimi waiting anxiously, her fists clenched. When she saw them, she looked immensely relieved.
"Keita, you're okay! I was so worried about you!" The little girl burst out, throwing her arms around
"You don't have to be such a big crybaby about it, Mimi." Keita grumbled in embarrassment, but there was a faint blush to his cheeks.
"You're a big idiot, Keita! I told you we shouldn't go into the forest without Pokémon of our own!" Mimi was still latched onto Keita as he struggled to walk with her weight, heading towards a house down the road. Ash chuckled at their antics.
"Those kids are nothing but trouble." Professor Birch said fondly. "Now, I assume that you're the Ash Ketchum whom Professor Oak told me about. He wanted us to touch bases, so I could get you started on the right track. Let's go back to the lab, and I can get you a new updated pokédex"
When they got back to the lab, Professor Birch's eyes widened. "Gee, Alex, you sure are a slob. I'm gone less that twenty-four house, and look what you've done to my lab…"
Alex stood to the side and bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, forgive me, Professor!"
"Well, I keep you around for your mind, not your cleaning habits…" Birch went to the metal table and reached into his shoulder bag, pulling out three Pokéballs and laying them down.
Ash was practically drooling. "Are those what I think they are?"
"If you mean the standard beginner Pokémon for the Hoenn region, than yes." Birch chuckled at the trainers enthusiasm. "You're not a beginner, but I sense that your experience could really be beneficial to the growth of any of these Pokémon, so would you like to take one with you on your journey?"
"Would I ever!" Ash nodded. He couldn't wait to see a Hoenn Pokémon.
"And you can record your Pokémon's growth in this new pokédex. I look forward to seeing the results. Now, the three Pokémon that you will get to choose from are Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip." A screen lit up behind Birch, robotically stating the statistic and characteristics of the three Pokémon. Ash didn't know why, but when the Treecko's picture flashed up on the screen, he got a great feeling. He went with his gut.
"I choose… Treecko!" He said, taking the red and white orb in his hand. "Wow, it's my first Sinnoh Pokémon!" Ash marveled. His boyish wonder about Pokémon would never leave him.
"That Treecko might take a while to warm up to you, but once he does, I'm sure you two will make a fine team!" Professor Birch said confidently.
"I sure hope so, Professor."
A long time ago, Ash might have made a victory gesture or yelled to the sky, but now, his glowing smile was a comparable indication of his joy.
"You know, Ash, if you'd like to see several kinds of Pokémon from the Hoenn region, you can go to the Pokémon Therapy Center. It the third house on your right. You can ask for Kate, she'll show you around."
"Thanks, I'll do that."