PROLOGUE
The boy stared out the truck's window, unimpressed by the sights around him. The landscape consisted mainly of flat green plains interspersed with small trees, while low hills rolled by in the distance. There weren't many Pokemon to speak of, just the odd Taillow taking off from a branch. Drew sighed at the dull portrait outside; he was tired of it already. He'd just spent two weeks staring at nothing but endless blue water while coming over from Vermilion, and while the sight of land did excite him at first, that too quickly grew dull as the moving trucks made their way slowly towards Littleroot Town.
While he silently moped, the moving truck passed through an arched gateway that read- in what seemed a very enthusiastic manner- WELCOME TO LITTLEROOT TOWN!
Almost immediately after passing through the gates, the truck turned left, down a small street and pulled up outside an isolated house. Drew struggled with the lock on his door for a second, before throwing it open and clambering out of the truck, his lethargy vanishing in an instant.
However he'd felt about shifting, now that he was standing in front of the new house, his trepidation was quickly replaced by curiosity and excitement. It was a quaint construction, two-storied and wooden, painted white. The boy hadn't known what it was like to live in anything other than apartments, which led to his amazement. He took two steps towards the house, before turning to look at his parents- seeking their consent. Seeing the nods, Drew beamed and ran off to explore the structure.
Standing next to one of the trucks, Adrian and Mary Stroud watched the six-year-old frolic and smiled; they'd come to Hoenn to settle down, away from the frantic pace of city life and on first impression, Littleroot seemed perfect- an idyllic little hamlet for them to raise their child.
They had been told that Hoenn was completely different from Kanto in that it was a lot wilder, with many of the cities being located in and around the wilderness. Being from a large city, they'd never had to deal with wild Pokemon, but everyone knew what the creatures were capable of. If Hoenn was as wild as people claimed it was, they'd have to start relying on tamed Pokemon more.
With these thoughts running through his head, Adrian turned to look at the specimen which was currently unloading several large boxes from one of the trucks. The heavily muscled humanoid creature was taller than a man, but what really set it apart were the four thickly muscled arms that sprouted from its shoulders. Machamp had been with him for as long as he could remember, and while Adrian hadn't trained it to battle, he was reasonably certain that a creature as strong as this one could easily deal with any threats that turned up around his new home.
"Hello there!" a voice called out. Turning to find the source, Adrian saw a woman roughly his own age walk from directly across the street to his house.
"You must be our new neighbors! Hi, my name is Caroline Norman and I live across the street from you" she said, pointing to an almost identical building directly opposite their own.
"Hi, I'm Mary Stroud and this is my husband Adrian. We've just shifted here from Celadon in Kanto and I have to say, this town is such a nice change from the noise of the city." Mary said, taking the woman's now outstretched hand.
"Isn't it? I do love how peaceful it is here in the countryside." The other woman beamed.
"You don't find much in way of wild Pokemon around here, only Taillow and the odd Zigzagoon pack.
"They're harmless" she said quickly, noticing that Mary's eyes had widened slightly "They avoid humans as far as possible and I've yet to hear of a single instance where Zigzagoon have hurt people.
"I'd heard that there used to be packs of Poochyena around as well, but Professor Birch set up some device that keeps them away from the town.
"Even so, you should avoid heading into the wilds between here and Oldale unless you have some Pokemon of your own, Poochyena can be vicious."
"I'm sorry, Professor who?" Adrian asked.
"Professor Birch" she replied "he moved in a few years ago and built a lab in the town. For a scientist, he's very sociable. Very willing to teach youngsters who want to be trainers, too. My daughter May just started helping out at his lab, at his request."
"How old is your daughter?"
"She turned six last month" the other woman announced proudly.
"Oh, our son is the same age as her, then!" Mary clapped and smiled at Adrian.
"On that note, I'll have to excuse myself, ladies. Have to make sure Drew doesn't disturb the movers. It was very nice to meet you, Caroline." Adrian shook her hand before walking back towards the house.
Entering his new home for the first time, he saw the movers and their Pokemon unloading various boxes. Looking away from them for a minute, he scanned the entryway for Drew.
Unable to find the boy, he called out "Drew! Why don't you go play out in the town for a little while? These men need to finish setting up the house"
Almost immediately he heard small footsteps approaching him at a rapid pace from upstairs. He looked at the staircase to the right of the doorway and watched as Drew turned the bend in the stairs and ran towards him, stopping in front of Adrian.
"Can I?" the boy asked in between pants, looking excited nevertheless.
"Sure, why don't you go down to the lab? There's a girl your age there." Hearing the word 'lab' the boy's eyes grew even wider,
"There's a lab?!" he shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down on the ground.
"Yeah, why don't you go check it out? I'll send Machamp with you" Adrian said, smiling down at Drew.
The boy needed no further prodding, and was out the door as soon as his father finished speaking.
"Wait! You don't know where it is yet!" Adrian called out behind him, but his son didn't hear him. Chuckling, the older man decided that Drew could find the place himself; it was a small town so a lab would really stick out. He walked back outside to where Machamp was handing boxes over to a smaller Machoke from the back of a truck.
Calling the burly Pokemon down, he asked it to go with Drew and keep him out of any danger. The Pokemon nodded its assent and took off after the child.
-x-
Drew was beside himself with excitement as he ran through the streets of the town, and wondered aloud to himself as he went,
"What will it look like? What'll they be doing there? What- "he stopped short- both his speech and his motion- as he stared ahead- mouth gaping- at the structure that had appeared following the last bend in the road.
There weren't any other houses near the building, and it seemed to form one border of the town, with a fence rising up behind it- a small path set in, leading to the sea. The lab itself was large, much larger than any of the other buildings Drew had seen in the town- by far.
It isn't as big as buildings in Celadon whispered a small voice somewhere in the back of Drew's brain, as he stared- astonished- at the gleaming white building. It was three-storied; the exterior painted a glossy white that shone in the sunlight. The ground floor of it seemed not to have any doors, only a set of large windows that stretched from the ceiling to the floor.
Still dazzled by the lab, Drew walked up to it, looking for any way to enter. Stepping up to the large windows, he yelped in surprise as the two sides slid back into the wall automatically. Turning back to look at Machamp, he nodded to the large Pokemon as it motioned to say that it would wait outside.
The inside of the lab wasn't quite as awe-inspiring as the outside; it was laid out much like a hospital building. It was, however, filled with activity- with people in white lab coats rushing in and out of the multitude of rooms. None of them seemed to notice Drew, standing as he was at the threshold of the building.
Taking a deep breath, the boy walked inside, feeling suddenly very small. Immediately upon entering the building, a woman came over to him.
"Hello there" she said, pleasantly, "Are you looking for someone, by any chance?"
Drew thought for a second to recall the name he'd been told to ask for, "I-I'm looking for Professor Birch" he said, a little haltingly.
"Oh" the lady's brow crinkled with doubt.
"The Professor, he's always off collecting data in the wild. I think he mentioned something about visiting Route 101 today." she said. "Would you like to wait here for them?"
Drew shook his head "No, thank you. I think I'll come back some other time." He said, before turning back for the door.
The lab assistant chuckled to herself in disbelief as the child left the building and was quickly shadowed by a large Machamp. That boy doesn't act like any other child I've seen she thought to herself, amused.
-x-
Walking back out, Drew wasn't sure what to do next. It wasn't yet time for him to return home- it wouldn't be ready yet. And now the Professor wasn't in the lab, leaving him with nothing to do but wander the town.
Looking at Machamp, Drew sighed. The gray Pokemon was walking just behind him, but at the same time doing its best not to make eye-contact with him. Contrary to its appearance, the family's Machamp had always been very shy, and especially conscious around Drew.
Shaking his head at his large companion's nervousness, the boy turned back to the path he was on. A hundred yards from where he stood a solid metal door rose up on the path, with ten foot tall walls running down both sides from the door. Intrigued, Drew walked up to the door, wondering what was beyond it. Moving closer, he noticed that the wall running adjacent had bright yellow warning signs displayed intermittently; all of them screaming that the wall carried a significant charge.
Careful to avoid contact with the wall, Drew tried to raise himself to look through a small grate that had been cut into the door. As he pushed against it, the door swung outwards- it had been left open by someone earlier. Tentatively, he pushed it fully open, now somewhat wary of what may be on the other side.
Rising up before the boy, not more than a hundred feet away, were large swathes of dark green grass, which ran on for a distance before being swallowed by a dense thicket of trees and bushes. Still unsure of what he was looking at, Drew walked forward, wondering what he'd stumbled into. A short distance from the first patch of grass, Machamp stepped out in front of him, its instincts telling it that something was wrong. Almost immediately after it did so, a howl sounded from somewhere within the grass, shattering Drew's trance. He flinched and moved closer to Machamp, feeling safer near the muscled Pokemon. Howls rang out from several other locations within the waves of grass, in response to the first. As the howls died out, a low growl took their place; starting in front of the pair, before it was taken up from other areas along the line in front of them.
As Drew watched from behind Machamp- petrified by fear- a single, grizzled Poochyena stepped out of the grass directly in front of them. The shaggy black wolf was large, rising to the boy's chest. It bared its fangs in a snarl directed at them, saliva dripping from the large jaws. Following this one, several smaller wolves padded out of the dark grass to stop a few paces behind the first. Eyes wide with fear, Drew counted the pack to number at ten. He flinched as the leader barked sharply, and then watched- aghast- as the rest of the pack began to close in on them.
The wolves closed to a semi-circle around the pair, all of them growling now. Placing one hand on Drew's chest, Machamp began moving backwards slowly, pushing the boy back as well- never once looking away from the pack. All of a sudden, the large Pokemon shoved Drew back- softly- but still with more than enough strength to push the small boy almost ten feet away. Standing up tall, Machamp bellowed loudly before charging into the five wolves directly in front of it. Moving surprisingly fast for its size, Machamp closed the distance between itself and the Poochyena in a flash, driving two of its massive fists into the skulls of two wolves before they could react. Both died instantly as the attacks crushed their heads. Without pausing, Machamp began laying into the remaining seven, swinging out with all four arms as they tried to flank it. One wild swing caught a Poochyena square in its stomach, sending the hapless creature flying almost all the way to the woods. The other wolves fell away from the raging Machamp, trying to regroup.
Refusing to give them breathing space, Machamp leapt forward, grabbing one severely frightened wolf between two hands. With a deafening roar, it bent the creature until Drew heard an audible snap. Tossing the broken canine aside, the giant Pokemon turned to its remaining opponents.
Four of their companions having been killed in an instant, the five remaining pack members backed off, frightened by the ferocity shown by the larger Pokemon. Hackles raised, the five slunk back slowly, returning to stand beside the leader. The scarred wolf glared up at Machamp before turning to its pack and issuing short, sharp barks at them. Commands, Drew realized, as the other wolves fanned out to the sides and around Machamp immediately after the barks. As soon as they'd moved around Machamp, the leader howled, initiating an attack. Muzzles snapping and bubbling with froth, the pack charged in all around the four-armed Pokemon.
Drew watched from his seat a few feet behind, as the wolves tore into Machamp. The burly Pokemon wasn't able to hold five of them off at the same time, and wasn't given any time to attack. Every time it threw one Poochyena off, the other four were biting at it, snapping and clawing all of its body. In barely a minute, Machamp, blood streaming from numerous serious injuries, dropped to its knees, unable to stand any longer. The pack circled their fallen opponent, savoring the victory. Ultimately, one beast stepped up to Machamp, and evading a weak punch, tore out the grey Pokemon's throat in a spray of blood. As Machamp's body fell forward, the pack turned as one towards the only other person in sight.
His throat clenching up with fright, the boy ran towards the fence as fast as he could, unable to think of anything beyond the bloody jaws of the wolves behind him. All of a sudden, he was on his face, a few feet from the fence. Winded, he tried to pick himself up, only to find a weight pressed down on him, pushing him further into the ground. His back flared for an instant with a sharp pain, before Drew's vision faded.
-x-
Pulling on a pair of rubber gloves, Birch picked up one of the pellets from the ground in front of him, which, judging by how brittle it was, had been dropped a few days earlier. The groupings of such dropping that he had found in the region suggested that a small family of Zigzagoon and Linoone had passed through maybe two days earlier.
His back protested furiously as he stood up, eliciting a groan from Birch.
"Is everything okay, Professor?" a small voice asked behind him.
"It's nothing, May - I'm just getting old." He chuckled as he turned over to his pupil. She was just six, and all of 3 feet tall; yet she insisted on coming to the lab every day; and damn if she wasn't bright.
"Your back hurts, doesn't it?" she asked, wearing a worried frown. "You shouldn't be coming out to the field, then."
Birch smiled down at her, which only served to deepen her scowl; but before she could continue berating him, a howl rang out from the woods to their right. Both of them froze as the howls were answered by several more, from the same direction. Birch's mind worked furiously, there aren't supposed to be any of those in this area, I thought I'd taken care of that- his thoughts were shattered by a scream- a human scream.
Shit! That's a kid! Why the fuck is a kid out here? He thought, as his hands moved automatically to the red-and-white balls strapped to his belt. He pulled two free of their magnetic clasps, and threw them out, releasing a large Sceptile and an Absol in a flash of white light. They landed and were immediately on guard.
"Find the pack. Don't engage unless someone's in danger." He told the pair, knowing that they'd already caught the wolves' scent. Without wasting any time, the two Pokemon sped away to the East, quickly disappearing from sight.
Birch had an idea as to where the pack was, given the howls, but if there was a child in danger, he wouldn't reach in time to save him. So he'd sent out two of his faster Pokemon to hold the pack at bay until he could reach. He turned to May and picked her up, figuring that she was safer if she stayed close to him now. Pulling another ball free, he tossed it up, releasing a large blue and white bird which landed to allow him to climb onto its back.
Taking to the air, Birch set May down in front of him and signaled to the bird to move towards where the howls had come from. Clearing the canopy, the raptor sped away to the east. Within a few seconds, Birch could make out rough shapes a short distance from the main gate out from Littleroot. He pointed to the spot, asking Swellow to take him closer to it.
They arrived in time to see Sceptile charge from the treeline and slash one unsuspecting Poochyena to shreds with its bladed arms. Following behind it, Absol flickered as it rushed through the crowd of wolves and made for the one that had the boy pinned down. Lowering its head, it drove the tip of its bladed horn through the Poochyena's underbelly and threw it off the child. The gored Pokemon fell a few feet away and thrashed about, blood pooling around it from the stab wound in its belly. In the same time, Sceptile had made short work of two more Poochyena, leading to a full-blown retreat from the remainder of the pack.
Jumping off Swellow's back as it landed, Birch ran towards the boy, who lay face down on the ground. He hadn't moved in the time since Birch had first seen him, which was a worrying sign. There were three large rents -which bled furiously- across his back from where the wolf had obviously slashed him, but no other major injuries that he could see. Wasting no time, Birch carried the boy back to Swellow, getting set to fly back into town and get him to the lab. As the giant bird took off, he recalled his other two Pokemon; the Poochyena threat he could deal with another time. For now, he needed to make sure the boy lived.
-x-