Hello everybody and welcome to chapter two of Hoenn Adventures! I hope that you enjoy and, if you do, leave a review voicing your opinion whether it be good or bad!
The next morning, Brendan woke up feeling that he had a good night's sleep, even after what happened just hours ago and his constant tossing and turning before even getting to sleep, and looked around his room seeing Treecko curled up on the end of his bed and Tailow was on the room's lampshade. Brendan presumed that Tailow felt at home being up there seeing as how it is the closest thing to a branch in the room. Brendan decided that it was high-time that he woken up looking at his clock and seeing that it was around half-past eight in the morning, woke up Treecko and Tailow returning Treecko into his pokeball and letting Tailow out of the window telling him that they would meet up later.
After that, he decided to take the new pair of clothes that his mother had put into his turtle-like green bag. He took out the outfit and placed them on the bed, smiling at them. His mother had gotten these from a shop a couple of years ago but she had customized them to fit Brendan. As he got dressed, he remembered what he had heard downstairs right before going to sleep.
Last night...
At around eleven at night, Brendan was awoken by a knock. It wasn't loud, but it was one that you could tell that the person who made the sound was feeling fear at that moment. Most would say that it's very strange and rare for someone to knock on your door this late at night but something was different about this knock in particular; it was a light and fragile knock. The door was quickly opened by what Brendan suspected was Linda.
"Mrs. Maple? Are you OK?" A woman, who Brendan suspected was Linda by hearing her voice, asked with a voice full of concern.
"Yes, I...I'm fine. Is Brendan here?" Another woman, who Brendan knew was Caroline, answered. Her voice was breaking slightly and Brendan pictured her eyes to be surrounded in red. Hearing his mother's voice, Brendan's eyes opened wider as he decided to listen in more.
"Did Norman send you here?" Linda questioned Caroline, avoiding her question. Caroline didn't answer so Brendan assumed that she nodded. Her next line was quieter than her last as if she had leaned over closer to Linda.
"Yes." Caroline replied, whispering. "Norman's around here somewhere he...he forced me to do this. If Brendan is here, tell him to get away from here as fast as he can!" Caroline looked Linda in the eye, trusting her completely. Linda saw this and nodded.
"Of course. You're a very good parent to put your child's well-being before your own. Brendan's a good boy who doesn't need to be harassed." Linda complimented, also whispering. "Would you like to come in?" Linda asked, playing an act for Norman to see so he didn't get suspicious of what the two housewives talked about. Caroline saw this and decided to play along as well.
"No, I'll be fine." Caroline answered before walking sadly to the house to the left. Linda started to look around to see if Norman was around: for as far as she could see, he wasn't. Until she heard some rattling in the bushes on the other side of the road. Though it was dark, Linda could tell who, or what it was, by its build: Norman. He followed Caroline to every door listening. Linda thought of calling the police but then realized that Norman would have the money and power to disprove and evidence put against him. Linda reluctantly shut the door knowing that her main priority was now getting Brendan away from Littleroot.
Present...
Brendan snapped out of his thoughts seeing that he had just been staring into space for a good minute or so. He privately thanked for the existence of doors as he continued to get changed. Brendan wore an orange-red and black short-sleeved skirt and black and grey knee length shorts. He wore white and green sneakers and a beanie that was a pure white color with a black band, with an orange semi-circle that was split in the middle, around it.
After getting dressed, he decided to go downstairs hearing the stove and faint, feminine voices. Brendan entered the room seeing Linda in the kitchen watching over and occasionally flipping over pieces of bacon on a frying pan and May at the table with several plates, which looked like they were licked clean, and she was chowing down on the bacon on the plate in front of her. May was still in her pajamas almost as if she awoke and immediately went downstairs to eat. Linda noticed Brendan and smiled.
"Morning Brendan, sleep well?" Linda asked as Brendan pulled up a chair next to May frightening her slightly. She smiled at him before returning to her devouring.
"Yeah...I did." Brendan replied, finding May's eating both very strange and almost a little cute. He smirked before looking back at Linda and grinning at her. "Thanks for letting me stay here last night."
"I'd feel terrible if I didn't. I couldn't let one of May's friends sleep on the streets." Linda smiled. "I need no praise, I'm sure that Caroline would've done the same if May was in your position. Want some bacon before you head out?"
"Yeah, if it's alright." Brendan answered. "I guess I'd better have some now before this one eats it all." Brendan joked referring to May causing her to stop her chomping and look up from her plate.
"Huh?" She asked seeing that both Brendan and Linda were looking at her. Brendan laughed slightly seeing that she spoke with her mouth full and there were parts of the bacon that she was eating around her mouth whilst Linda laughed; probably more than she should have. May went completely red when she realized what the two were talking about as she looked down to try to hide it though both of them saw it. Brendan smirked again seeing that the joke he played had a good outcome though he took slight pity on the girl and decided to change the subject.
"When do you wanna head out?" Brendan questioned causing May to lose her redness and look up from the table. She allowed Brendan off for his joke and silently thanked him for changing the subject.
"As soon as you're ready." May replied with a mouthful of bacon, again.
"May, don't speak with your mouth full! Honestly, I tell you that almost every meal!" Linda scolded her daughter but she did it playfully. "I don't know how Brendan'll deal with your big appetite!"
"Mom!" May turned to her plate and went red again. Though it was something that everyone that she knew knew about her, it was still something that she was embarrassed of. Brendan chuckled seeing a lot of good times with his new friend in the future though he felt pity once again and decided to cheer her up.
"No need to feel embarrassed May, I was gonna find out anyway. It just means that I'll just have to either get a bigger pot or make extras." Brendan sighed. May and Linda both stared at him shocked. "What?" He asked feeling the two pairs of eyes on him and not understanding why what he said was strange.
"You can cook?!" May repeated, loudly, clearly shocked.
"Well, yeah." Brendan replied, patting his now ringing ears. "What'd you think I'd done the years I didn't go on a journey? My Mom offered to teach me how to cook so I picked up a few things from her. I'll never be as good as her, though."
"All the more reason for you two to travel together! Does that mean that you can cook your own breakfast?" Linda jokingly asked. Brendan didn't catch on causing him to pull his chair from under the table. "It was only a joke Brendan, I didn't actually mean for you to cook your own breakfast." Linda told him causing her to laugh again. Even May was laughing, she didn't really laugh at her mother's jokes but the way Brendan acted towards it made it funny. She found that this made them even. Brendan sat back down in embarrassment pulling the bandanna on his beanie down in effort to cover his eyes in shame. The three talked for a long time with Linda mentioning that Birch wanted to see them at his lab and said that he had something that he wanted to give them saying that it would help them out on their journey.
After eating and getting ready for the day ahead, Brendan and May began to make the short trek to Birch's lab once again talking about what they were most excited for. May added to her explanation of earlier of what a coordinator was mentioning that each coordinator had to win five ribbons in five different contests, which were held in different towns across the region, in order to enter the "Grand Festival" where the winner would be crowned "Top Coordinator" winning a cash prize, giving them the opportunity to further their coordinating career, and a trophy. Hearing this and giving it some thought before finally deciding on it, Brendan had an idea of what he would aim for on his journey.
"I think I might take on the league." Brendan admitted after a moment of silence between the two after May's explanation. May was caught quite off-guard by this as she turned to Brendan with a puzzled expression as if asking what made him think of this so suddenly. Seeing this, Brendan decided to elaborate. "If Steven says I can become champion then I may as well give it a shot. I'll just have to get all of the Gy-" Brendan stopped in his speech and movement as his eyes widened.
"Brendan? What's wrong?" May asked, a little frightened and concerned at what Brendan was doing. Brendan gulped before replying.
"I'll...I'll have to fight my Dad." Brendan replied expressionless. May looked at him puzzled, once again. "If I wanna take on the league, then I'll have to fight my Dad for a badge." May's eyes widened as well.
"Well...hopefully, he's calmed down by then." May told him reassuringly. Brendan shook his head.
"Dad's...Norman's not like that." Brendan informed her, cringing at the word "Dad". "He holds grudges for years. He doesn't just sleep and feel better like most people. It was that that got him fired from his first job. Apparently, one of his co-workers insulted him causing Norman to almost beat the guy to death. He's probably even more furious now. He probably took it out on Mom." Brendan's eyebrows furrowed as he thought of a horrific scene of Norman hitting Caroline as a boxer would on a punching bag. He didn't shed tears when he thought of Norman in this way anymore, only anger, though, his eyes did wet slightly due to the images of his mother being beaten popping up into his head. Seeing his anger and picturing a similar scene, May pulled Brendan in for a hug catching him off guard slightly.
"Don't worry about it. Your Mom's a stronger person than you think. If she says that she'll be alright, then she'll be alright." May said, comforting her distraught friend.
"Sorry about bringing down the mood" Brendan apologized realizing that he turned a pleasant conversation into a depressing one. May shrugged.
"Don't be. I don't mind. I mean, like I said last night, I'll be there to help you through it." May replied with a reassuring smile. "C'mon, let's go see my dad! Race you there!" May taunted brightening the mood as she started to run towards the lab.
"May! Wait!" Brendan called though she didn't hear, or rather ignored him. "Dammit, you're on!" Brendan smirked before kicking up dirt and speeding towards the brunette. He found it easy to catch up to her since she was a pretty slow runner. "You're really slow, you know that?"
"Oh shut up!" May countered, playfully. "You're only faster because you don't have these two things attached to your chest, slowing yo-"
"H-Help me!" A masculine, yet slightly girlish, voice yelped causing Brendan and May to stop just outside of the exit of Littleroot Town. Also at the exit, was a little girl, aged around five years of age, wearing a bright yellow dress, chocolate brown hair that was tied into a bun and had a dark red ribbon on it and a white ribbon around her dress at her waist.
"I think I hear someone screaming up ahead." The girl admitted. May's eyes widened as she realized who the person that made the scream might have been causing her to sprint away again.
"DAD!" May shouted as she ran out of the small, quiet town and onto the more dangerous outskirts.
"May, wait!" Brendan told her as he began to run after her. His eyes widened as he saw the usually jolly Pokemon Professor pushed up against a tree by a small, grey and black dog-like creature, which had blood red pupils in yellow eyes, who was growling menacingly. He stopped once he caught up to May. "What is that?" He asked, referring to the animal that was terrifying Birch.
"That's a Poochyena. Easily one of the most aggressive Pokemon in the Hoenn region." May answered. "I'll take care of this, so stand back." Brendan nodded.
"Alright, just give a shout if you need a hand. I atleast have some knowledge about battling." Brendan informed her earning a smile from a brunette before he stood behind her. May took out the red-and-white spherical object from her fanny-pack and gripped it tightly in her right hand before bringing it back as far as she could and threw it with all of her might even hitting the "Poochyena" on the back of its head.
"Torchic, take the stage!" May announced as soon as the Chick Pokemon materialized into view. Torchic landed perfectly on her two talon-like feet and stared the Bite Pokemon down watching its every move. Poochyena turned its attention from the shaking Professor to the fire-type and growled at her. Torchic nor her trainer showed no fear as May stretched out her right arm pointing at Poochyena. "Ember!" She called out causing Torchic to jump slightly in the air and open her beak letting out small, spurts of fire that either surrounded Poochyena or hit it dead on.
"Woah..." Brendan gasped in awe of the power of the once cute and playful Pokemon that was now fearsome and powerful. Treecko popped out of his own ball and immediately jumped onto Brendan's shoulder to watch the battle catching him off guard slightly. "Oh, yeah, I guess that watching this would be good experience, huh?" Treecko nodded, not taking his eyes of Torchic which Brendan noticed and smirked. "Or...Is it that you want to watch and root for Torchic?" Treecko's eyes widened and his bright green cheeks suddenly changed to bright red causing him to turn his head away from Brendan to try and hide it though Brendan noticed easily and only smirked even more returning his attention to the battle. Treecko made a note to himself to get Brendan back.
"Scratch!" May ordered causing Torchic to run at Poochyena with her right talon-like foot to glow a brilliant white light. Poochyena decided to counter by making its fangs crackle with electricity, making both May and Birch's eyes widen, as it ran towards Torchic. They met in the middle where Torchic tried to kick Poochyena with her glowing foot but Poochyena caught it in its mouth biting down and sending electricity through its mouth to Torchic's body causing the Chick Pokemon to bellow in pain. "T-Torchic!" May gasped.
"W-What was that?!" Brendan exclaimed, completely surprised.
"Thunder Fang." Birch replied, now at Brendan's side startling him again. "It's normally a move that a Poochyena would need to learn through breeding and it's very rare for one in the wild to know one. Torchic is most likely paralyzed for taking a hit from it from such close range." Brendan's eyes widened as he knew what a Pokemon being "paralyzed" means from watching his father's matches. He turned to Treecko who seemed to have the same idea as him. They both nodded to each other before Treecko jumped off Brendan shoulder and ran at top speed towards Poochyena. Once Treecko was close enough, he swung his tail around smacking Poochyena away and into a nearby tree from Torchic and catching Torchic bridal-style so she wouldn't be smacked away as well. Treecko let Torchic, who, as Birch suspected, had small electric jolts going around her body showing that she was paralyzed, down slowly. Treecko looked at Torchic in the corner of his eye and shot a smile at her before looking back to where Poochyena flew to. It was impossible to tell what state Poochyena was in due to the cloud of dust covering the scene. Treecko smiling at Torchic caused her to blush though it was hardly noticeable due to her orange feathers hiding it.
Brendan and May were both surprised at how powerful Treecko was for being so small and not having much battle experience whilst Birch watched the direction in which Poochyena was flung to. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw that the Poochyena's eyes were shut and it was lay on the ground, unconscious. Treecko smirked and went back to his trainer's shoulders whilst May returned Torchic, thanking her for the hard work she put into the battle beforehand.
"Whew..." Birch sighed. "I only went into the tall grass to survey wild Pokemon when I was suddenly jumped!" He turned to Brendan and May. "You two saved me hide. Thanks a lot!" Brendan and May smiled at him. "It's no surprise that Treecko was able to knock out that Poochyena in just one hit with a Pound attack. His nature does boost his attack stat, after all."
"Nature?" Brendan repeated, confused.
"It determines what your Pokemon's best stats are." May replied, walking towards the two. "It can boost a stat, but lower another. For example, a Modest nature raises special attack but lowers attack."
"What's the difference between attack and special attack?" Brendan questioned. May opened her mouth to speak but Birch stopped her by putting his hand up.
"I don't think it's best to talk here. Unless you want to deal with the rest of this Poochyena's pack." Birch stated and the two teens nodded. Birch walked over to the fainted Poochyena and picked it up. "It was just doing what it knew so I think it's only fair that we help it recover at my lab. Same for your Torchic, May. C'mon, I've got something to give to you two!" He said excitedly beckoning the two to follow. They soon reached Birch's lab where, after being stopped by Joshua who gave Brendan his egg back, which he put in his bag, saying that it was completely healthy, they went into the same room as they did the day before when picking their starters. Birch walked over to a drawer and picked out two red, oval-shaped devices with a rectangular touch screen in the middle. He handed one each to Brendan and May. "These are PokeDexes, they allow you to scan Pokemon making it so you can read the date on them such as type, height, weight and research data founded by yours truly." Birch ended that the sentence in a proud matter before also bringing out 10 round, red and white with a black line in between the two semi-circle and a white button which Birch pressed making the top half of the spheres open up. He pressed the button again, closing the lids, before handing five each to Brendan and May. "These are pokeballs. They allow you to capture other Pokemon in the wild. You both get five each. You can only have up to six members on your team at a time, any more will be sent to your PC."
"Why are these smaller than usual?" Brendan asked comparing on of the empty pokeballs with Treecko's much bigger one.
"There's a button on the side." May answered showing one of hers as an example. She pressed the same button that Birch pressed to open them causing them to grow to the same size as Treecko's. "They go smaller so they're easier to carry." Brendan nodded doing the same action as May.
"You know a lot about this kind of stuff." Brendan complimented.
"Well, that's all thanks to my Dad." May said, modestly. "He taught me everything he knew about Pokemon from the basics to even their past."
"You also taught yourself about how to battle using Pokemon." Birch added. "It took you a while, but that Mudkip finally did what it was told!" Birch bellowed. "I still remember that look on your face when it used water gun on you instead of the Poochyena!" Brendan pictured the scene and laughed himself making May's already blood red face even redder.
"Wait, so that means that you've been attacked when doing fieldwork?" Brendan questioned. Birch nodded.
"Yeah. If not for May, I'd fear that I may not be here today." Birch replied, chuckling slightly.
"Don't you have a Pokemon of your own?" Brendan asked, confused as to why someone who works so closely with Pokemon wouldn't have one of his own. Birch shook his head.
"No, the closest I've ever been to owning a Pokemon is doing research on them. Being a Trainer never appealed to me." Brendan nodded, understanding Birch's reasoning. "What about you? Have you decided what you want to do on your journey?" Brendan nodded, remembering what he told May earlier.
"I'm gonna listen to Steven's advice and try to take on the league, even if it does mean taking on Norman to get a badge." Brendan replied.
"I wouldn't recommend going to Norman's gym first." Birch stated. "Mostly because of the situation between you and him right now and, even though Petalburg is the closest Gym from here, it's intended to be the fifth Gym for a reason." Brendan nodded, telling Birch that he understood.
"Can we go on our journey now, Dad?" May asked not wanting to hold in her excitement for much longer.
"Yes, yes of course! Go and enjoy yourselves! Feel free to call anytime to let me know how you're doing!" Birch answered.
"YAY!" May jumped and squealed into the air. Brendan sighed but smiled anyway.
"You're gonna take some getting used to." Brendan joked though May probably didn't hear him due to her giddy state of mind.
"C'mon! Let's go!" May grabbed Brendan's arm and dragged him out of the room.
"Bye Professor!" Brendan barely got out as he was dragged out of the lab. "May, could you got off please? Otherwise, my arm will either go limp or fall off!" May went bright red, which she tried to hide but Brendan saw it, let go of Brendan's arm, and turned her back to him with her left hand holding her right arm.
"S-Sorry..." May apologized, her voice having a hint of sorrow and shame in it which made Brendan feel bad for his way of speaking to her seeing that it came off more angrily than he expected it to.
"I-It's fine. I guess you're just really excited about this. I really don't blame you." Brendan reassured the clearly sorrow-stricken girl. May turned her head just so she could see Brendan in the corner of her eye and she smiled before turning around completely.
"Hey, seeing as how we're both officially trainers now, how about a battle? There's a battlefield that we can use that's behind the lab that they use for testing." May requested. "I'll teach you everything I know about battling so...I guess that I'll have to go easy on you."
"Oh please, I'm the son of a gym leader! I want you to face me at your full strength!" Brendan countered not wanting his first battle to be wagered in his favor.
"Alright then, just don't come crying to me when you get utterly destroyed!" May taunted as she began to jog to the back of the lab.
"Oh, we'll see who will be the one who'll get "utterly destroyed"!" Brendan countered again jokingly before smiling, both confidently and smugly, and picking up speed himself. Once he got there, he decided to look around taking in the sights. The battlefield's area was made of dirt and the actual battlefield was white markings being a rectangle that had two smaller rectangles on the two smaller sides of the rectangle, a vertical line in the middle of the rectangle and that same line was in the middle of a pokeball marking the centre of the field. The entire field was surrounded in greenery such as trees and forest flowers and there were two benches on the wall of the lab that the field was nearest to. May was already stood at the furthest part of the field from where Brendan was stood. He then walked to the rectangular box opposite May remembering times of when his younger self watched Norman's gym challenges and how both he and the challenger stood in each of the boxes, never losing sight of each other. Brendan dropped his bag from his shoulders letting it hit the ground beneath him, never letting sight of his opponent. Even though they made it seem like they were enemies, it was all just friendly rivalry. May took a pokeball out of her fanny-pack and enlarged it so it fit her hand perfectly.
"Now, you at least know how to send out a Pokemon, right?" May asked, trying to see how much Brendan needed to learn. Sure, he had the visual experience but that meant practically nothing. You could know everything about a Pokemon but actually putting that knowledge to use was something completely different.
"Of course!" Brendan replied. "But, just for a quick reminder, how do I do it again? It's been a while." Brendan laughed embarrassedly whilst May sighed seeing that this would take a while but she was more than happy to teach him about how to battle mostly because, ever since she had met Brendan just yesterday, she had felt something that she had never felt the same about anyone ever before. She had watched many romance movies with her mother when she was younger so she was pretty bright on the subject of love and, though she hadn't felt it before, outside of her family, she was leaning to the side that she did feel this way towards Brendan, especially since she cared for him as if she had known him for her entire life and not just for a little less than a day. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Brendan clap. "You alive in there?" He joked before May shook her head, trying to forget about her thought train.
"Yeah, sorry." May replied and quickly remembered what she was about to do before her trance. "OK, so, to release your Pokemon into battle, all you have to do is throw the ball into the air or onto the field and the Pokemon will do the rest. You can say something like "Pokemon, go!" when you throw your ball but it isn't necessary, just popular among trainers." Brendan nodded in understanding, once again getting memories from watching Norman or other battles when he was younger and how almost every trainer had their own "style" to sending out their Pokemon.
May then continued her explanation with an example as she drew her arm back slightly and threw the enlarged ball into the air. The ball went slightly forward, whilst making complete, three-hundred-and-sixty spins, making it almost in the center of May's side of the field before it stopped and opened and a bright, white light came out. The light soon transformed into the shape of Torchic and color was soon added to this making the Chick Pokemon come more into vision but, what neither of the two teens or Pokemon suspected to happen, Torchic soon realized that it was suspended in mid-air and it crashed to the ground, face first, creating a small cloud of dirt get kicked up. Brendan had to cover his mouth to hide the ever-growing smirk that was getting larger and larger and reaching nearer and nearer to his ears in a desperate attempt to not laugh as May's expression went from blank to furious.
"Torchic!" May balled to the small, fire-type. "I thought I told you to be ready when I sent you out!" Torchic looked apologetically towards her trainer as if telling her that next time, she would get it for sure. May sighed before looking back and Brendan and, even though he had his hand over his mouth, she could still hear him snickering. "Oh, you think that's funny do you?! Well, let's see Treecko's entrance and see if he does any better!" May's words caught Brendan's attention and the slight anger in them caused a shiver to go down his spine. Brendan unclipped Treecko's pokeball from his belt holding it in his right hand. He held it out in front of him and smiled before stretching his arm as long as it could've gone behind his head before giving his all into his throw sending the ball spinning horizontally towards the field.
"Treecko! Battle stance!" Brendan shouted as the ball landed almost perfectly in the middle of Brendan's side of the field and a white light soon spewed out from the open capsule quickly forming into the Wood Gecko Pokemon who was stood with his arms folded and his eyes focused on Torchic and Torchic alone like a predator to its prey. May had to admit that, even though Treecko was about an eighth of her size, she was pretty intimidated by the gecko's stern look and almost professionalism in making an entrance despite his lack of battle experience. Even Brendan was in shock.
"Just because Treecko had the better entrance doesn't mean that it's won any points in the terms in a battle. A contest, yes, but not here." May pointed out. "Also, may I remind you that Torchic is a fire type? And these Pokemon are specially bred so they know their starting elemental moves."
"I know, but you can't just base the outcome of a battle just by type." Brendan corrected May, who was quite shocked to hear this out of someone like Brendan, who had never held a pokeball before until just hours ago. "If Norman taught me one good thing, it's that a battle comes down to the bond between trainer and Pokemon, and how you battle. Type advantages aren't the defining outcome of a battle." May smiled at her 'pupil'.
"Well, you're smarter than you look." May teased. "But, how about you take the first move. You can scan Treecko with your PokeDex to see his moves, stats and a little information about him." Brendan nodded taking out his PokeDex from his bag and holding it up so it could scan Treecko. An image of Treecko appeared on the screen and a masculine voice played.
"Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokemon. Treecko is cool, calm, and collected—it never panics under any situation. If a bigger foe were to glare at this Pokemon, it would glare right back without conceding an inch of ground. Treecko's final evolved form is able to go through mega evolution. Treecko's known moves are Pound, Leer and Absorb."
"Mega evolve? I've never heard of that." Brendan admitted. "I heard of normal evolution when a Pokemon has a strong bond with their trainer and they reach a certain level, but not mega evolution."
"I think it's a new type of evolution that's recently been discovered." May informed him. "One of my Dad's co-workers in the Kalos region is doing some research into it." Brendan nodded before looking back down at his PokeDex and looked at Treecko's three moves: Pound, a normal-type attack that did physical damage; Leer, a normal-type attack that, instead of delivering damage, it lowered the foe's defense stat and Absorb, a grass-type that allowed the user to recover half of the damage that they just did to the opponent. Brendan was so immersed in looking at his PokeDex that he didn't realize May walking up to him. "Need an-"
"AHH!" Brendan jumped back in fright. Treecko immediately turned around hearing his trainer shout but lowered his guard when he saw that it was only May, who was laughing hysterically. Brendan also sighed when he realized that it was only May, but that didn't help the redness lessen any bit. "Christ, May! D-Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"S-Sorry! Just...y-you're reaction!" May snickered causing Brendan to sigh again and took a quick glance at Treecko who had one of his hands making impact with his face, clearly ashamed of his trainer's actions. Even though most wouldn't like being the subject of a joke and made fun of, Brendan found a solace in seeing May so happy. It even made him smile slightly on the inside and out. He decided to wait until May stopped her laughing fit and caught her breath before speaking.
"Anyway, you were gonna ask if I needed any help, right?" Brendan asked and May nodded. "Well, what's the difference in an attack that's "physical" and an attack that "special" orientated? I assume that a physical attack takes advantage of the user's attack stat and a special attack takes advantage of the user's special attack stat?"
"Uh huh. And a Pokemon's defense stat acts as a resistance towards the opposing Pokemon's attack and the same goes for special defense but just for special attack." May added. "But, some physical attacks make "contact," May continued using quotation marks, "meaning that abilities like Poison Point and Iron Barbs activate on the opposing Pokemon. We'll get to abilities later as they can get kinda complicated." Brendan nodded, taking May's word for it. "Because Treecko has higher special attack, that means that he will benefit from Absorb more but, as you know," May looked towards Torchic, "Torchic's a fire type so grass-type moves won't be very effective against her so Pound may be the better move to use, especially if used after Leer. A grass-type move would be better used against a water, rock or ground-type. Especially with Treecko sharing the same typing as Absorb allowing him to get Same Type Attack Bonus, or STAB for short." Brendan nodded again, feeling that he had some sort of strategy in mind after seeing more about his starter Pokemon as May went back to her side. "Alright, you go first!" Brendan smiled confidently before stretching his arm out as long as it could go, pointing at Torchic.
"Alright, Treecko! Po-"
"Wait!" May interrupted, her hand high into the air making both Brendan and Treecko sigh with Brendan almost falling over. "I forgot to tell you that normal-type attacks aren't super effective against anything! They are either resisted or nullified by other types!" May laughed embarrassedly after saying this and for seeing her opponent's reaction. "OK! That's it!" Brendan nodded slightly but mostly sighed before doing the same motion as before.
"Treecko, WITHOUT any interruptions this time, Pound!" Brendan commanded as if he was Treecko's army general sending him to the battlefield. Treecko nodded and instantly ran at full speed, as if he had waited all this time to get into battle, straight towards Torchic with his tail swinging back and forth, getting quicker the faster he ran. Once he was close enough, the gecko jumped slightly off the group and swung his tail towards Torchic.
"Dodge it!" May countered causing Torchic to jump backwards, avoiding the tail-slap. Brendan and Treecko were surprised that there attack was dodged and so easily, too. May was also slightly surprised that Torchic's speed was so great that she dodged the attack easily, but, being her kind self and seeing the confusion on Brendan's expression, she decided to explain. "You can dodge your opponent's attack if your Pokemon has enough speed to. It can really help to escape some early damage and could predict a winner. Just be warned that, even if your Pokemon doesn't take damage, but it takes a lot of energy to dodge an attack." Brendan nodded, understanding and remembering that in Norman's battles, he or the opponent would tell their Pokemon to dodge. "Ember!" May called, slightly startling Brendan from his slight trance. Torchic opened her beat wide and began to send small, spurts of fire from her mouth which sped towards Treecko at almost blinding speeds. Brendan decided to use his newly learnt knowledge to his advantage.
"Dodge, Treecko!" Brendan parried causing Treecko to duck down just as the fire type attack was about to hit him and roll to the right making him go on all fours.
"Follow Treecko no matter what, Torchic!" May ordered making Torchic move her aim straight towards Treecko. Both Brendan and Treecko's eyes widened at this and were surprised that Torchic had the skill to easily move her aim.
"Keep on dodging!" Brendan called out desperately knowing the consequences if Treecko was to be hit by the fire-type attack. Treecko nodded slightly before jumping into the air over the abundance of fire spurts making them all miss but Treecko had another dilemma: where would he land? Torchic would surely hit him once he had landed and Treecko didn't have much time to think before gravity took lead over his body and forced him to plummet to the earth. Brendan also realized this and he, too, scrambled his brain to see what he could do. May saw her opportunity and took it.
"Torchic, make sure that Ember is always under Treecko!" May commanded and Torchic did just that using every bit of her stamina to display her loyalty and determination for her new trainer. Treecko, seeing no other option, braced for both his hard landing and the super effective attack that would bring immense pain. Treecko shut his eyes, ready for the pain, but, he was completely surprised when his fall was cut shorter than he had expected and there was no pain, only a warm feeling and the sound of something being hit, grunting and a gasp. "T-Torchic! Stop!" May ordered, worry clear in her voice. Torchic opened her eyes which quickly widened seeing that her attack hadn't hit her expected target and immediately stopped as May ran towards Brendan. Treecko opened one eye slowly and found himself in the protective arms of Brendan and that he was taking the ember attack for him and, by the pained expression on his face, was taking mortal damage for it but stayed strong and stayed put. Brendan saw the gecko open his eye and gave a smile which Treecko was clear that it was hard for Brendan to put up.
"Hey, y-you doing alright?" Brendan asked, his left eye closing shut due to the pain he had received. Treecko was so speechless that he couldn't even reply. Why would someone who had only known him for less than a day risk his life just to save him? Surely, it should be him putting his life on the edge for Brendan, not the other way around. Brendan's smile suddenly disappeared and his eyes shut as his entire upper body began to fall to the right.
"BRENDAN!" Was the last thing that Brendan heard until his head hit the dirt ground hard knocking him out cold.
Ohhh! Cliffhanger! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for the next one!
