Pokemon: Emerald Dream
Chapter 1: The Move to Littleroot
Wheels rolled harshly against pavement and ground as a small, blue moving truck stopped in front of a medium two-story house in Littleroot Town. The back was unlocked and was pushed open.
"Alright ma'am, we're at the destination. You can hop out of the back now if you'd like." one of the moving men said as a teenage girl with medium-length brown hair stepped down from the truck.
She nodded her thank you and frowned as her mother walked out of the house. She was excited about to moving to the Hoenn region.
"Karin, honey! We're here. It's such a cute little town. It's small, but has a quaint feeling to it." the older woman said as the teenager looked around at the different trees and houses.
"It's not too bad. It'll take a bit of time to get used to though." Karin said.
Her mother smiled and nodded her head, then walked inside with her only daughter, telling her that everything has been put away, and that here is a clock upstairs that needs to be set.
Karin walked up the steps and tapped the bedroom wall and removed the clock gently, setting it to the time on her watch.
"Everything should be settled in up here. Why don't you run over next door and introduce yourself to the professor?" her mother suggested, smiling as her daughter raced down the steps and through the front yard.
Karin went over to Professor Birch's house and knocked on the front door. A faint voice yelled 'Coming' as a woman, most likely in her early 30's opened the front door.
"Can I help you?" she asked kindly.
The young teenager told her that she was sent over by Lynn Segawa, who was the wife of the gym leader of Petalburg City.
"You must be Karin! We actually have a son who is about your age. His room is up the stairs." she said as she went to sit back down. Slipping her shoes off by the door, she closed the door and walked up the steps.
She saw a pokeball laying on the floor, so she walked over and picked it up softly, attempting not to break it.
"Hey. Who are you?" a masculine voice muttered from the doorway. She turned and saw a boy with pale-white hair and light brown eyes in pokemon gear walking towards her.
"My name is Karin. I'm Norman's daughter." she told him as she handed him the pokeball.
He nodded and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Sorry about that. Dad told me that a gym leader's kid was moving in next door. I assumed you were a guy. Hey, would you like me to catch you a pokemon?" he replied.
"Brendan! Don't forget you need to help your father out with field work." his mother called from the kitchen.
He frowned and apologized, running down the stairs and out the door. Karin stopped by the door to put her shoes on, and thanked Mrs. Birch before heading the direction that her rival did.
"Hey, miss! There's a bunch of scary sounds coming from the grass over there.. I can't go and check, so will you go for me?" a little girl said as she looked around.
Karin nodded her head and raced towards the sound, blinking in surprise as it was the Professor himself, being chased by a wild Zigzagoon.
"You! Over there! Reach into my pokebag and grab one of the balls you see." he hollered.
Karin picked up a ball labeled Torchic and hollered out the words "Let's help him, Torchic!".
The pokemon was released from the ball and stood in front of her, ready to battle the Zigzagoon that was chasing Birch. It then stopped and turned to look at the girl and growled.
"Torchic, use scratch!" she requested as the Torchic just nodded and tackled the wild pokemon at lightning speed, and hopped back to Birch's savior.
The Zigzagoon shook itself and growled again, scaring the Torchic a bit, but was soon cut short when the other pokemon used scratch for the second time, scaring the pokemon away.
"Thanks. Hey, you're Norman's daughter! You seem to handle pokemon pretty well. I'd like you to have the Torchic that you used to rescue me with. Why don't you drop by the lab and we'll get you all set up for your trip?" he said to her as he picked his bag up.
She nodded and raced off towards the lab and waited inside for him to arrive. Once he did, he handed her a dark red trainer's bag and card.
"You're all set, Karin! I think you should drop by your house first and rest. My son is on one of the routes not far from Oldale Town. Why don't you go find him and get him to show you what being a trainer is about?." Professor Birch told her happily.
With a grin across her face, she shot off towards the location she was told, anxious to show him what she was capable of.
She dropped by a pokemart to pick up a few healing potions and walked into route 103, sneaking up on Brendan.
He turned around and jumped back in fright, blinking as he got his heartbeat under control.
"Hey Karin! Seems like dad gave you a pokemon. How about a quick battle and I'll teach you bout bein a trainer?" he asked as he removed a pokeball from his belt.
She smiled and hollered out the words that rang beautifully in her ear. "Let's battle him, Torchic!"
"Alright Mudkip, let's show em!" he said as his pokemon popped out of the ball.
After a few minutes, the mudkip fell over exhausted. Karin's torchic however, was full of energy.
"Not too bad for a first timer. I think I know why my dad has his eye out for you now. Even though you just got your pokemon, it likes you already. But, we should head back to the lab." he said as he walked back towards home.
Agreeing, she returned her pokemon and followed him, but stopped by the PokeCenter to rest her new companion. She then stopped at the entrance of Oldale Town, where he told her she should hustle back too.
"Go on ahead and I'll follow." she told him as he raced off to god-knows-where.
Jumping over ledges and cracks in the ground, she wandered back into Littleroot and headed towards the professor's lab.
Birch smiled as she walked in.
"Hi there, Karin! I heard you beat Brendan on the first try. Excellent! He's been helping me with my research for a long time. He has an extensive history already as a trainer. I also ordered this for my research, but I think you should have it. It's a pokedex. It automaically records the data of any pokemon you meet or catch." he said.
Brendan then sauntered over and looked at the pokedex in wonder.
"Well since you have that, I'll give you these." he responded as he dropped 5 small pokeballs into the ball slot in her bag.
Nodding once again, she raced off towards her house, only to be stopped by her mother, who had a box in her hands.
"Karin, there you are! Oh, you have a pokemon with you? How cute. I found these running shoes while cleaning the house. They're just your size." her mother said cheerfully as she handed her daughter the box.
Slipping off her old sneakers, she slipped the new red and white ones on and laced them up quickly, smiling as she tapped them against the soft grass and handed a red cell to her mom that way her number would be registered.
A beep sounded from the cell, meaning the number was saved. She slipped it back into the bag and raced off to start her new journey, not as a fourteen year old, but as a pokemon trainer.