Disclaimer: Pokémon is jointly owned by Game Freak, Nintendo and Creatures Inc. I don't own any of the existing canon characters nor do I own anything related to the intellectual property.
Pokémon: Delta Ellen
Chapter 1: Ellen Puts Her Best Foot Forward
"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting! Welcome to the world of Pokémon! My name is Birch. But everyone calls me the Pokémon Professor. And this... is what we call a Pokémon."
Two blue eyes were glued to screen of the PokéNav Plus: The only source of light in the back of the moving van. The video kept playing, which detailed what Pokémon were, despite the fact that the viewer did know a bit about them. The video was prerecorded, but it was so boring in the back of the moving van that playing along did ease it a bit.
"...But that's enough about me! What are you? Are you a boy? Or are you a girl?"
"I'm a girl!" The viewer's face was illuminated by the screen: her light brown hair had two tails at the front which resembled droopy puppy dog ears. A green bandana tied her hair together and resembled a green bow with white stripes. The soft light of the PokéNav also revealed she was wearing a green sleeveless top.
"Will you give me your name too?"
"It's Ellen!"
"So you're Ellen. Ah! I see, your THAT Ellen! You're the one who's moving to Littleroot Town, where I live! I expect we'll meet soon. Come see me in my Pokémon Lab!"
With that the video ended and the moving van went dark. After about five minutes in there, the moving van came to a stop. Slowly the doors opened, flooding the moving van with light and fresh air. Ellen had finally made it to the Hoenn region! Ellen put away her PokéNav, rushed to the entrance and jumped out, revealing her white and black shorts along with a yellow and red waist-pack. The breeze was perfect and the ground also felt nice and warm underneath her bare feet, toes instinctively grabbing the grass. Ellen viewed her surroundings: There weren't that many buildings, she could see her house, another one to her right, and a bigger building southwest of her, but otherwise it was trees, trees and more trees. The smell of pines filled her nose. It was all quite different from where she called "home" for the first eleven years of her life. She looked above to the blue sky, and saw... something. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it could have been a plane of some sort.
Before long, Ellen's mother approached her. "Ellen! You're finally here at last! Sorry you had to ride in the back of the moving truck, it must have not been easy for you."
"It's fine mom" replied, still taking in the sights of Littleroot Town.
"Anyway, we should see what our new home is like, come on!" Both mother and daughter made their way inside the house, which was very busy due to a number of Machoke moving heavy boxes around. Ellen made her way upstairs to find her new room, only to find that most of her stuff was already in there. Some of her stuff was out and installed already and some stuff was still packed in moving boxes.
"Oh! Ellen! Come quickly! It's the Petalburg Gym!" mom exclaimed from downstairs. Ellen immediately rushed downstairs towards where the T.V was set up. "Maybe Dad will be on TV!".
"...This is Stacey Fairweather signing off from the Petalburg Gym."
"Aww... It's already over. It looks like your dad was doing an interview but we missed his part... Although that does remind me..."
"Remind you of what?" Ellen looked at her mother quizzically.
"One of Dad's friends lives in town: his name is Professor Birch. His house is actually next door to ours so you should go over and introduce yourself."
"I suppose..." Ellen avoided her mothers gaze and looked down at the floor. Her toes subconsciously curled in apprehension.
"I know its difficult to move to a new place and all, but its a bit like how kindergarten was back in Olivine: you just gotta put your best foot forward." both mother and daughter made their way towards the front door "Now go on, Professor Birch is waiting." She gently pushed Ellen outside the door and closed it.
"My best foot forward..." Ellen repeated her mother's words as she lifted her right foot and wiggled her toes a bit before setting it down on the dirt road. There was no turning back now.
She made her way towards the house and rung the doorbell. The door opened to reveal a woman on the other side.
"Hello! And you are?..."
"I'm Ellen and um, I'm your new neighbour." she answered with a smile. "I've come to see Professor Birch."
"Oh I see, well, Professor Birch, my husband isn't here at the moment, but you can come if you want. We have a son that's just about the same age as you. He's been so excited to make a new friend as well." She glanced down and noticed Ellen's bare feet. "Do you mind wiping your feet before coming in?"
Ellen looked down and was surprised at how dusty her feet were. She quickly wiped them on the welcome mat. She entered the house and made her way upstairs. The house's layout looked much like her own new house but flipped horizontally.
Ellen found an open door and peered inside. She didn't want to seem rude, barging into a stranger's bedroom all of a sudden, but she did get a glimpse of who Professor Birch's son looked like. The boy had tanned skin and grey eyes and wore a hat that looked like he had white hair but his actual brown hair was visible underneath it. He wore a green and black shirt, black cargo pants, red and white shoes and had a red backpack on his back. Ellen's toes started to twitch so she reigned them in by curling them. Her cheeks started to blush at the thought that this would be her first impression.
"Pokémon fully restored... Items all packed and..." He finally noticed the girl standing just outside his bedroom and was taken aback. "Y-you..."
"Oh sorry, your mom invited me in here..." Ellen quickly shot out her hand "I'm Ellen. I just moved in to the house next door." the boy took her hand and shook it. "The name's Brendan. So, you're the new kid who just moved next door then? I didn't know you would be a girl. Dad- I mean Professor Birch- told me you were the kid of a Gym Leader, and I sort of hoped you'd be a guy."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ellen knew he meant well, but putting him on the spot would be kind of funny. Judging by how suddenly nervous he suddenly became meant that it was. "Oh I'm just kidding. Its an easy mistake to make."
"Ehehe... Anyway, let's be friends alright?" Brendan paused, thinking about what to ask Ellen about next. "Say Ellen, do you have a Pokémon with you?" Now it was Ellen's turn to get nervous. She was due to get a Pokémon back home, but then Dad was chosen to be a gym leader in the Hoenn region and they had to postpone the momentous occasion. Had Dad not gotten the role as gym leader in a different region, she probably would have had a Chikorita by now.
"Um... No..." Ellen said sheepishly.
"If you want, I can go catch one for you..." Brendan offered, but then he remembered something important that he had to do. "Aw wait, I forgot... I'm supposed to be going out to help my dad catch some wild Pokémon. Some other time, OK?" Brendan ran down the stairs. Not wanting to be left alone in house of someone she barely knew, she ran after him but lost sight of Brendan once she got out of his house.
Ellen had decided to go back home for the time being, but she then heard something to the north. She peered northward and saw the road that led outside of Littleroot's boundary. Ellen became a little curious as to what lay beyond. So she walked north until she heard it.
"AHHH! HELP ME!"
Automatically the young girl ran towards the sound. Ellen had to do a double take to what she was witnessing: a bearded man in a lab coat was being chased around by a large brown Pokémon. It had a very long neck and curiously was flying using large leaves attached to its back as wings. The man spotted Ellen as she was looked on with confusion.
"Ack! Hey you over! Please help me out!"
"What do you want me to do?!"
"My bag's over there!" the man quickly pointed to the bag lying on the ground near Ellen's feet. The large Pokémon started to bare down on him. "There are some pokéballs in my bag. Pick one!". Wasting no time, Ellen opened the bag and found three pokéballs. She chose one at random and threw it in the direction of the large brown creature. The ball opened to reveal a small orange coloured bird. It had small yellow wings, yellow legs and a yellow tuft of feathers on its head. It was tiny compared to the Pokémon attacking the man.
"Torchic?" It seemed to be ready for battle until it saw the size of its opponent. "TOR!" It screamed as it ran towards Ellen's legs and stood on top of her foot. Ellen wanted to comfort the small Pokémon, but she also knew that the man was in trouble and the small bird was the only one who could do the job. She also thought about her mother's advice from earlier that day.
"Listen" Ellen spoke with a clam yet with a sense of urgency "I know you're scared, to be kind of honest, I am too." she reached out her hand to pet its orange head "But need you to at least scare off that Pokémon. You need to put your best foot forward." Ellen then gently pushed the small creature of her own foot and towards the large brown Pokémon.
"Tor! Torchic!" The Pokémon turned its attention towards the small orange Pokémon and flew closer. Ellen hadn't ever been in an official Pokémon battle, but her father taught her that most Pokémon can use moves based on their general anatomy. From the way that it walked on her foot, Ellen noted that the claws on the orange Pokémon's feet were sharp. Perhaps it can use a Scratch attack? It was worth a shot.
"Um... Use a scratch attack?" The small bird leaped into action, it tried to claw at the long-necked Pokémon with gusto. Surprisingly it seemed to be effective as the opponent was taken aback by the small Pokémon tenacity. The large Pokémon made a bellowing noise and then flapped its leaf wings, creating a gust of wind that blew its opponent off its feet. Ellen observed the way the Pokémon moved. Despite its bulk, it was hovering a few feet off the ground. It was obviously a grass type due to the leaves sprouting from its back, but it may also be a flying type.
She looked at the small Pokémon she was commanding. The orange colouring reminded her of Charmander. Was it a starter Pokémon? If so, was it a fire starter? Could that man be...? Ellen was brought back to the battle at hand the little Pokémon fell over and got back up. She had never seen either Pokémon before, but had seen a few of her dad's battles. The Pokémon involved in those battles were much quicker and their attacks were fiercer and more focused. From what she could make out. It seems like both Pokémon here were unsteady and uncoordinated. Like neither of them have ever been in a real Pokémon battle.
"Alright then... use peck!" Ellen made note that her Pokémon had a small beak, so it should be able to use a pecking move right? Her Pokémon leaped right at the other Pokémon and it started to jab it with its beak, just like Ellen predicted. The large brown Pokémon didn't like that at all. It started to wail a little bit and it didn't even bother to respond with a move. Was it... giving up?
"Let's see... How about... Ember?" The small Pokémon responded by shooting small shots of fire from its beak. She was right! It was a fire type! The shoots whizzed straight towards the larger Pokémon but the attack missed, barely grazing it. It was however, enough to spook the other Pokémon and it bellowed even louder then before. Flapping its large leaf wings, it flew off, making its getaway before it got hurt even further.
"Whew..." The man in the lab coat got up from the ground and approached Ellen. "I went into the tall grass to do a survey, but I never thought I'd be attacked by a Tropius. I didn't even know they could be found out here... You saved my hide. Thank you so so much!... um..."
"Oh right! I'm Ellen!" she smiled.
"Ellen... OH! You're Norman's kid! I didn't realize who you were at first!" He looked around, making sure that no other Pokémon were going to jump out of the tall grass. "This isn't the place to chat, so let's head back to my lab."
"You're lab...?" Ellen suddenly remembered that this was the guy in the video she watched on the way to Littleroot. "Wait, you must be Professor Birch!"
"Yes I am! Anyway, let's go to the lab and continue our talk there." With that, Birch, and Ellen walked back to Littleroot, with the small orange Pokémon following behind them.
After only five or so minutes of walking, they made it to Birch's lab, probably the largest building in Littleroot. He greeted his aide as he headed for the main lab proper. Ellen looked at the various electronic machinery and wondered what they were used for. She had been walking on dirt paths and grass all day so feeling the cool linoleum underneath her bare feet was a nice change of pace. The curious orange and yellow Pokémon started to peck at her wiggling toes.
"Hehe come on that tickles... Um... Professor Birch? What is this Pokémon?"
"Its a Torchic, one of the three starter Pokémon new trainers can get in the Hoenn region." Birch said as he watched the Pokémon play. "Anyway, I've heard quite a bit about you from Norman. He said that you didn't have your own Pokémon yet. If that's the case then your battle with that Tropius went extremely well. I would not have known that that was your very first Pokémon battle. It was quite a performance. You really are your father's daughter."
"So you're a Torchic..." While Birch was talking, she had made a little game where Torchic would try to balance on top of her foot as she moved it up and down like a see-saw.
"Say, how about I give you that Torchic you used to save me. She already seems to like you a lot."
"R-Really?" Ellen couldn't believe that she now had her very own Pokémon. "Wow, thank you so much Professor!" She'd probably treasure this moment for the rest of her life.
"Do you plan on giving her a nickname?"
"Well..." She looked at the Torchic that was still balancing on her toes. She was looking straight up at her with soulful eyes. She was adorable but no real name was coming to mind at the moment. "Hm... I can't really think of a name right now. I would like to though."
"Well that's fine as well. You don't need to name her right away. Oh by the way, have you met my son Brendan?"
Ellen stopped moving her foot. "I visited your house earlier and he was there, but then he left. I think he said he was going to route 103."
"Route 103 huh? Well, that's further north past where we were. You'll have to pass through Oldale Town and then route 103 is just a stone's throw away." Professor Birch then remembered something. He dug into his pocket and pulled out an SD card. "Speaking directions... Ellen, do you mind passing me your PokéNav Plus?" Ellen took out her PokéNav from her pack and gave it to Professor Birch. He inserted the card into a slot and turned it on. "I just gave you an app for your device, the AreaNav." Birch also took out a pokéball and handed it to Ellen. "Here's Torchic's pokéball."
"Oh cool, thank you so much." Ellen took the pokéball and the PokéNav and put it in her pack once more. "Do you want to go into the Pokéball Torchic?"
"Tor-Tor!" Torchic jumped up and pressed the button on her ball. It automatically opened and she went inside it.
"Now then, Brendan's probably still working on route 103, and if you find yourself in trouble, don't forget that you have a wonderful partner by your side. Now say hi to my son for me will ya?"
"Okay, I will, bye for now." With that, she made her way out of the Pokémon Lab and northward towards Oldale town.
A/N: So that's the first chapter of this new fanfic. It's not my first fic, or even my first Pokémon fanfic, but I haven't written one in a very long time and I hope to continue it.
I'd love to know what you think so please leave a review and even constructive criticism if you're inclined to. If you're curious, Ellen is basically a take on May and a little bit of Sapphire from Pokémon Adventures. The fanfic is kind of based on a playthrough of Alpha Sapphire, but it's veer off that beaten path in several places. However, one thing I'll say now is that I'm not into writing romance. You're more likely to see world building then shipping in this fic.
That will be all for now.