Hello everyone and welcome to 'The Retold Tale of Advance Generation'. What's this story about? Well, just read the title and you'll find out.
Actually, I should elaborate a little bit.
The idea for this came to me when I was browsing about the Serebii Forums. I stumbled upon a thread where you could post your own ideas on how the anime should be. Stuff like what you would change and all that jazz. There were a couple on there that were very good. So I thought, why not take a step further and actually a story based off of similar ideas?
This particular story is based off my own idea. Advance Generation was my favourite part of the anime so I decided to make a sort of novelisation of it. I say 'sort of' because it's going to be different with lots of changes.
I now come to the important part of this message. If you do not like this idea or the story in general, then please do not post a review along the lines of, "OMG tis fic sux ass!!111!" That is what is called a flame. Flames have no place here or anywhere.
If there is something you don't like or something you have a problem then tell me in a constructive way. Example: "I think this bit (insert part of the story) could be improved or change because… You can do this by…," Or something along those lines.
Right, I will finish my rambling here and let you get on with reading the chapter.
The Hoenn region is a warm and tropical country located to the south of the central mainland, otherwise known as Kanto-Johto (Kanto and Johto are the two separate regions that make up the mainland). Hoenn is practically warm all year round with the air being humid commonly. The tropical trees, beautiful beaches and oceans as blue as the sky make Hoenn a great holiday destination.
Of course, neither Ash Ketchum or anyone from his native region of Kanto ever took those factors into consideration as he stood there, sweating, in his new hooded sweatshirt and baseball cap. The first thing Ash noticed when he stepped off of that boat and into Littleroot Town was that a lot of people were walking in tank-tops, vests and shorts; what people generally wore in this sort of weather. As for Ash, he was wearing a pair of baggy light blue jeans, a blue sweatshirt with a hood and a black t-shirt underneath it. He never complained about the weather before (probably because he'd get slapped if he did) but there's always a first for everything.
"It's hot, isn't it Pikachu?" he asked the yellow rodent that was perched on his left shoulder. Its long ears were drooped slightly as it too was bothered by the heat.
"Pika…," it let out. Ash, unable to fully understand what Pikachu was saying, took it for a yes. He took off his cap and ran a gloved hand through his messy mop of raven hair.
"Come on, let's get moving," Ash said, "The longer we stay out here the hotter we'll be."
Ash began to walk up the long concrete broad walk that was the Littleroot port whilst looking at the town to the side of him. It was bigger than his hometown and looked to be very busy. He could faintly hear the sound of merchants advertising their goods and the hustle and bustle of a market square. He figured that checking it out wasn't a good idea; he didn't like shopping anyway.
His next course of action would be to find the nearest Pokémon Centre and sign up for the Hoenn League. Once he had done that, he can go out and start collecting the eight required Gym Badges, wherever they may be.
But before any of that, Ash had to figure out where the Pokémon Centre was. So, Ash took off his green back pack and rummaged through it. He eventually found a thick but small book titled: "Your Guide to the Hoenn region – Maps Included!" This book was given to him by Tracey (a friend he met in the Orange Archipelago) before his departure. Basically, it had a map of the whole region and detailed pages on the main towns and cities. It also had town maps; an incredibly useful and vital tool for someone who has no idea where they are going.
After a quick flick through the book, Ash came across the page labelled Littleroot Town and began scanning the text. It took a while since he wasn't the quickest of readers but he found the part detailing the town's services. As it turns out, Littleroot Town has no Pokémon Centre.
"What kind of town doesn't have a Pokémon Centre?" he questioned. Pikachu shrugged. Ash flicked through the book again, "Looks like the closest town with a Centre is Oldale Town, which is not too far from here."
It didn't take long for Ash to find the town exit. Littleroot Town was big, but not that big. Besides that, he was perfectly capable of finding his way around. Ahead of him was a dirt trail surrounded by trees and plants. As Ash was about to leave, Pikachu's ears twitched and he suddenly hopped off of his shoulder. Ash looked at his little buddy curiously and could tell it wanted him to follow it. Pikachu ran off into the forest and Ash took off after it.
A fairly quick run through the trees led the two to a small clearing. Pikachu pointed at something. Ash looked ahead of him and saw a person being cornered up against a tree by a strange dog of some sorts. Ash quickly took action after seeing the person was absolutely terrified.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he said. Pikachu complied and unleashed a huge electric charge from its body. The unsuspecting Pokemon was hit full on and received an equally as huge shock. After the attack subsided, it turned around and growled at the attackers.
Ash took this chance to find out what it was on his Pokédex, "Poochyena: the Bite Pokémon. At first sight, Poochyena takes a bite out of anything that moves and will chase after prey until the victim becomes exhausted. However, it may turn tail if the prey strikes back."
The Poochyena, a cute looking pup with grey fur with dabs of black here and there and a bushy tail, snarled at Pikachu as he charged in. Neither Pikachu or Ash were intimidated in the slightest, "Quick Attack!"
Pikachu charged in, leaving behind a blazing trail, and body checked the charging Bite Pokémon. With it being winded, Ash decided to wrap this little battle up, "Thunderbolt it!"
Once again, Pikachu unleashed a charge and scored a direct hit. Poochyena fled, knowing it couldn't beat Pikachu, "Good job, Pikachu!" Ash complimented.
Pikachu gave its best version of a thumbs up and walked with Ash towards the person, who was a girl that was now standing up. She was wearing a tight red blouse, blue biker shorts with a white miniskirt over the top. She had white and black gloves and a red bandana tied around her head of chestnut brown hair.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Ash smiled, "That's good," he said. He walked over and picked the girl's fallen bike. He wheeled it over to the girl and let her take it. She got on and smiled at Ash.
"Thanks for helping me out," she said. Ash put his hand behind his head in his usual modest manner.
"Ah, it was nothing," he said, "Be careful from now on."
"Sure," the girl said. She was about to ride off but she suddenly froze up. Ash was about to ask what was wrong but was suddenly tackled from behind. Ash landed on his front as he felt something pin him to the floor. He managed to look over his shoulder to see very sharp set of teeth that belonged to larger version of the Poochyena he thought earlier. He looked around and saw that about ten Poochyena had filled the clearing.
"Pikachu, get this thing off of me!" Ash called. Pikachu nodded and charged up electricity in its cheeks. The dog growled at Pikachu, as well as the other Poochyena, causing the rodent to hesitate for a second. It hesitated long enough for one of the Poochyena to tackle him. Pikachu reacted by unleashing multiple bolts of electricity and though they did not hit their targets, they caused them to back off. One of them managed to graze the bigger dog, supposedly the leader of the pack, allowing Ash to throw him off.
The large dog recovered quickly and lunged for Ash as he was trying to stand up. It sunk its fangs into Ash's thigh, causing him to yell in pain. Pikachu unleashed a Thunderbolt in an attempt to get him off. Luckily for Ash, the dog let go and was momentarily paralysed.
"We need to get out of here!" the girl yelled.
Ash quickly looked around for a possible escape route. He quickly located one, "Pikachu, use Thunder!"
Pikachu let loose an even bigger charge which was large enough to shock all the Poochyena and their leader, "Come one, this way."
The girl rode ahead of him and into the trees while Ash quickly followed, ignoring the sudden pain in his leg. After the Bite Pokémon recovered from the shock, they gave chase.
The girl was quite a distance ahead, which was understandable since she was on a bike. Ash was running as fast as he could with the pain. After what seemed like hours of running, they both ended up in another clearing. Ash practically collapsed while the girl leaned over her handle bars.
"That was a close one," she muttered.
"You said it," Ash agreed. Pikachu sat in front of Ash, concerned about his injury, "Don't worry about this Pikachu, I'm fine. You just keep an eye out for those Pokémon."
"So who are you, anyway?" the girl suddenly asked.
"Oh, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," Ash introduced.
"I'm May Maple from Petalburg City," the girl, now May, smiled.
"Why did that Poochyena attack you, May?" Ash asked. May frowned as she thought back to when the dog attacked her.
"I was riding towards Professor Birch's Laboratory in order to pick up my first Pokémon," she started, "Then I think I may have run over that little things tail. It wasn't too happy about that so it attacked me. It managed to knock me off of my bike. I thought it was like, gonna eat me or something but luckily you showed up."
"Yeah, I was just about to leave Littleroot Town until Pikachu noticed something," Ash explained, "Speaking of Poochyena; I wonder what that big thing was."
Ash brought out his Pokédex again and started flicking through its pages. He eventually found the picture of the thing that attacked him. The Pokédex whirred for a moment before it began speaking in a pre-recorded voice, "Mightyena: the Bite Pokémon and the evolved form of Poochyena. Mightyena will give obvious signals when its preparing to attack. It starts to growl deeply and flattens its body. This Pokémon will bite savagely with its sharply pointed fangs."
"It must be the leader of the pack, or something," May stated, "That Poochyena from earlier must have been from the same pack."
"Yeah, probably," Ash said. He stood up, ignoring the pain once again, "We should probably get moving otherwise they'll track us down. Do you mindif I come with you to Professor Birch's lab?"
"Sure, you can come," May said, "I could do with some protection from a strong trainer, just in case I get attacked again."
"We've got you covered," Ash grinned. Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. The two began walking, supposedly in the direction of Birch's lab.
It was a relatively short trip. The two walked into the large and fancy looking building and made their presence known. A rather large man with brown hair and a beard came out into the hallway.
"Ah, May, you've finally arrived!" he greeted her warmly, "And you've brought a friend!"
"I wouldn't really call him a friend," May said, "I only met him twenty minutes ago. His name is Ash."
"Well, friend or not, he looks hurt," the man said with a frown. May looked back at Ash who looked perfectly fine, other than the red stain on the thigh of his jeans.
"Ah, we ran into some trouble on the way here, Professor Birch," May said. She explained the whole fiasco with the Poochyena and the Mightyena. Birch nodded in understanding.
"Mightyena and Poochyena are very aggressive and territorial Pokémon," he explained, "That wound needs cleaning and bandaged. Luckily, Mightyena bites aren't poisonous, just very painful."
"You can say that again," Ash grunted, "Where's the bathroom?"
"On the second floor, first door to the right," Birch said. Ash thanked him and walked off with Pikachu. Birch turned to May, "You ready to choose your first Pokémon, May?"
"Um… yeah," May said, stuttering slightly, "I'll never be ready to choose my first Pokémon…"
Birch signalled for May to follow him into a room. It was a very spacious room with lots of fancy and shiny looking machines and gadgetry. May resisted the temptation to press the rather ambiguous red button on one of the machines and waited patiently for Professor Birch. The man had picked up a brown bag from a desk and placed it down on a table that was in the middle of the room.
Birch opened the bag and took out a ball about the size of a golf ball. One half of the ball was red while the other half was white. He pressed a white button on it and the ball enlarged itself to about the size of a baseball, possibly larger.
"Alright then," the professor said, getting May's attention, "You get to choose one of these three Pokémon. First up: the grass type Treecko."
Birch opened up the ball and a flash of white light came out. The light started to shift into a shape of a figure. The light dimmed down and revealed a green gecko, standing on two legs, with a pink belly and a long tail that was a lighter shade of green. Its yellow eyes stared at May, causing her to flinch back.
"It's creepy!" she exclaimed. Birch figured that she didn't want that one. Treecko smirked at the frightened girl as a red beam hit it. In a matter of seconds, Treecko was sort of dissolved by the beam and sucked back into the ball.
"Okay, next up is the water type: Mudkip," Birch announced as he opened another ball. A small blue creature appeared in the same white light. It stood on all fours and had a fairly round head. It had a small tail and long fin on its head. It had orange gills on both cheeks and two beady black eyes.
"I dunno, it looks mischievous to me," May said, examining the Mud Fish Pokémon. As if to prove May's point, it spat water onto her face. May shook her head to get rid of some of the water and narrowed her eyes at the snickering Pokémon, "What was that for?!"
Birch sighed and returned Mudkip to its Pokéball before May could get her hands on it. He put the ball away and took out the last one, "Lastly, we have the fire type: Torchic."
Torchic was a tiny chick pokémon with orange feathers. It had a main of yellow feather around its neck, three yellow feathers on top of its head and beady black eyes. It waddled over to May and rubbed itself up against her legs.
"This one isn't so bad," she commented. She picked it up and held it out in front of her, "It's actually really cute. It's settled then, I choose Torchic."
Torchic smiled at her as best as a chick could. May smiled back at the fire type. It must have been infectious as Birch started smiling as well.
"Then you'll need Torchic's Pokéball," he said, handing May said ball, "Take these other Pokéballs and Pokédex as well."
She put Torchic down on the table and, put the Pokéballs away in her yellow fanny pack and examined the Pokédex, "Ash used one of these things. What does it do?"
"A Pokédex is basically an electronic encyclopaedia on Pokémon; it can give you information on just about any Pokémon you point it at," Birch explained.
"Oh," May said as she pointed it at Torchic. It whirred for a moment before a picture of Torchic appeared on the screen.
"Torchic: the Chick Pokémon. Torchic sticks with its trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 F, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black."
"This things pretty cool," May stated, checking out a couple more pages on her new Pokémon.
"Yes, it's a revolutionary device that not every trainer has," Birch explained.
Meanwhile, Ash was just finishing up in the bathroom. Luckily for him, the wound wasn't that deep though it still stung a lot when he applied the disinfectant. He triple bandaged the wound and put away the first aid kit his mother made him take. Actually, his mother made him take two, in case he lost one. In seemed a bit excessive but she was very insistent that he took both.
Fortunately, Ash had a spare pair of jeans as the other ones now had a large rip in them. Even his underwear got ripped so he had to change those too. Now that he was nice and bandaged up, he left the bathroom and went downstairs. He saw May and Professor Birch standing in the hallway, discussing something.
"If you work hard, you can one day become as good as your father, maybe even better," Birch encouraged.
"Sounds like a great dream, May," Ash said, walking up to them.
"Oh, uh… thanks Ash," May said. She then mumbled, "I'd trade Pokémon for a trip around the world any day."
"What was that, May?" Birch asked.
"Uh… I said I wouldn't trade it for the world!" May said, waving him off. Ash raised an eyebrow at May's strange behaviour yet thought nothing of it.
"Excellent," Birch smiled, "I suggest that you register for the Hoenn League at the nearest Pokémon Centre, which is in Oldale Town."
"Yeah, sure," the girl muttered.
"And you, Ash?" Birch asked, turning his attention to the teen.
"I'm going to Oldale Town as well," Ash said, "I came to this region for the Hoenn League."
"It takes at least half a day to get to Oldale Town so you two should get going," Birch informed.
"Alright, see you later," May said, walking towards the main entrance. Ash followed after saying his own goodbye. May was about to open the door until someone came barging through them, knocking May over in the process. Luckily, Ash was there to prevent her from falling to the tiled floor. May quickly stood up, looking to give whoever knocked her over a piece of her mind.
The man that just came in looked to work in the lab, judging by the white lab coat. He had green hair, glasses, and wore jeans and a yellow sweater. He was panting as he spoke to Professor Birch.
"Sir… we have… a problem," he manage to get out. He took a few deep breaths before speaking again, "A pack of Poochyena, led by a Mightyena, is waiting outside and they look really hostile. They're even attacking the other Pokémon that live around here."
"They managed to track us down?!" Ash said, absolutely shocked. Birch's face had gone from carefree and friendly to serious in a matter of seconds.
"Mightyena are excellent trackers with their naturally strong sense of smell," Birch said, "They're also very persistent and don't take losing too well. They must have tracked you down in order to get revenge."
"It must have smelt Ash's blood…," May said in realisation, remembering that the boy was bitten. She was scared of a bunch of Pokémon who were ready to tear them apart limb by limb, "What do we do?"
"We fight them off," Birch answered, "They're smart enough to realise when they can't win."
"Alright then, let's go," Ash said, walking out the door. Waiting for them outside was the same Mightyena from before, with the Poochyena lined up behind it. It growled and showed off its fangs, still stained a little red from when it bit Ash. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and stood battle ready in front of him, sparks flying from its red cheeks. Mightyena moved forward and flattened out its body, ready to attack.
The Poochyena suddenly formed a ring around the two Pokémon and Ash. The teen looked around in confusion but then figured out it was to be battle between Pikachu and Mightyena.
May, Prof Birch and the man earlier were standing a couple of metres behind the ring of Bite Pokémon, "What are they doing?" May asked, confused.
"It is part of their culture," Birch explained, "Poochyena and Mightyena do this when they fight amongst themselves. It's to ensure that no one interferes with their fights. They are very proud when it comes to battling and do not like receiving help from someone or something else in any way, shape or form."
"Oh…"
In the circle, Mightyena charged quickly at Pikachu, growling all the way. Ash knew that if he wasn't careful, he could end taking a few hits here because of the enclosed space.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. Pikachu sped off to meet Mightyena head on. The two collided but Mightyena, being physically stronger, knocked Pikachu away. Pikachu landed near one of Poochyena and it took a snap at him. Pikachu jumped out of the way but ended up taking the full force of a Take Down attack.
"That's so unfair!" May exclaimed, "Doesn't that count as helping? Why isn't that Mightyena unhappy about that?"
"Despite preferring to battle on their own, these Pokémon are very skilled in teamwork and working with one another. If they share a common enemy, then they don't care if it's one on one or eleven on one," Birch responded, "Basically, Poochyena and Mightyena like to fight alone. If they live in packs, however, they will use their numbers to their advantage."
Pikachu struggled to its feet. Ash looked worried for a second but remained determined, "Hit'em with Thunderbolt!"
The rodent unleashed the powerful electric attack but Mightyena was quick enough to avoid it. Mightyena charged in with is mouth wide open for a Bite attack.
"Use Agility to dodge," Ash countered. Pikachu started running around at high speeds, moving so fast that it could hardly be seen, "Now use Quick Attack!"
Pikachu zoomed and body checked Mightyena with added momentum thanks to Agility. Mightyena stumbled but quickly regained its footing. It wasted no time in charging in again and hitting Pikachu with a Take Down. It quickly followed up with a Bite attack.
"That Mightyena is strong…," Ash said to himself. He quickly formulated a plan, "Pikachu, use Thunder on the ground!"
Pikachu called upon the powerful electric attack and blasted into the ground in between it and Mightyena. The attack managed to create cracks in the ground and send rocks flying in numerous directions. The rocks hit Mightyena and some of the Poochyena.
"Now follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Ash called. Pikachu let loose the bolts and they hit the defenceless Mightyena. The Bite Pokémon roared in pain and collapsed to the ground, frazzled by the attack. Everyone stood in anticipation, waiting to see if Mightyena would get back up.
Mightyena attempted to get up but failed. It tried again with all the strength it could muster and succeeded. Remarkably, it ran in with Take Down and hit Pikachu, sending the electric type through the air and into May's bike that was leant up against the wall of the laboratory.
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed in worry. Pikachu managed to get up and let loose a Thunderbolt in response to the attack. Unfortunately, May's bike got caught in the charge and was quickly reduced to a frame of barbequed metal, much to her horror.
The attack didn't hit its mark but the Mightyena had already toppled in over in exhaustion. The Poochyena surrounded its fallen leader in order to protect it. Ash went to Pikachu in order to nurse it while May examined the remains of her bike.
Birch approached the protective dark-types. They growled at the Professor who put his arms up in front of him in response, "I'm not here to hurt you, but to help you."
The Pokémon cocked their heads in confusion as Birch kneeled down in front of Mightyena and softly stroked its black and grey fur. The Poochyena growled again but Birch paid them no heed. He turned to the green haired man, "Joshua, go get some potions."
"Right away," Joshua complied. He ran inside, picked out a couple of bottle from a cupboard and ran back out. He handed to Birch who sprayed the potion on the Bite Pokémon. The dark type hissed in pain for a moment before barking in content. It got up to its feet, barked to the Poochyena, and ran off into the forest. The Poochyena followed suit.
May stood up and sighed sadly at the mess in front of her. She saw Ash walk towards her with Pikachu on his shoulder and turned to face him with her hands on her hips, "Look what your Pikachu did, mister!"
Ash looked at her, surprised at her outburst, and then at the mess in front of her. He visually paled and sighed, "Wow, déja vu…"
"Pikachu…," Pikachu added. Both it Ash scratched the back of their head nervously.
"Um… we're really sorry, May," Ash apologised. May huffed and turned away from them. Ash sighed, as did Pikachu, "Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?"
"Hmm… I don't know," she said thoughtfully, "Maybe you could be my protection."
"Huh?" Ash was confused.
"Well, now that I've seen how some Pokémon act I can't help but fear for my own safety, especially now that it will take longer to get around" May said, "However, now that I've seen what a strong trainer you are, I figured that you could be my protection."
"…Okay, I guess I could do that," Ash said, unaware of the triumphant grin on May's face. Who knew flattery could work so well when convincing someone.
"But if you do a lousy job, there will be hell to pay, you got that?!" May turned around and glared at him, holding out a fist for good measure. Ash backed away slowly and nervously.
"I got it," he promised.
"Good, let's get going then, shall we?" May said, suddenly smiling widely. She grabbed Ash's arm and started to drag him away.
"You two, be careful now!" Birch called out to them, realising that the two were now leaving
"Don't worry, we will!" May called back. Ash struggled to break free of May's grip on his arm but she just gripped harder for whatever reason.
Ash sighed, "This is going to be an interesting trip."
"I can't help but think that those two are going to have some crazy adventures," Birch said to himself. He turned to Joshua, "Come on, it's time for dinner!"
Joshua sighed, knowing that the Professor always had incredibly large meals. He was going to do a lot of cleaning tonight that was for certain.
And that ends the first chapter. Tell me what you think, taking into account what I said earlier. Expect the next chapter in a couple of days, hopefully.