PokeChronicles Saga Vol. Emerald

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, all rights go to GameFreak and Nintendo.

A/N: Hello again everyone. Here is the second chapter where Brendan finally sets foot on his journey. Several things happen in this chapter, I'm trying to get the plot to move along the best I can.

Chapter 2: Brendan's First Step

"Yep, the first step on my big journey!" Brendan said aloud with fake enthusiasm. The boy stopped and looked around, chuckling to himself. He was in a huge forest and there didn't seem to be anyone nearby, barring his Treecko who gave him a weird look, this was Brendan's chance to let loose and be himself.

Truthfully, he was excited about this but at the same time he was nervous, what exactly would he find? He wasn't even sure he would have what it takes against any of the gym leaders but screw it, Brendan had said out loud that he was excited, the ebony-haired teen just reasoned that he would have to try and if this didn't work out, he could always go for something else. He shook the thoughts out with a yawn.

Damn, he was a lot more tired than he thought. He had stayed the night over at his house before setting out, feeling it was safer to start his journey early in the morning unlike a certain someone who was possibly reckless. Problem was, he overslept, courtesy of his mom being overly excited at the news he gave her, literally keeping the boy up the entire night.

"I'm so happy for you, dear." Brendan's mom pulled him into a tight bear-hug. "Your very own Pokémon, just like you always wanted!"

Honestly what is it with the bear-hugs? Brendan thought to himself.

"Mom, if you keep that up I won't have any air left!" Brendan exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Brendan's mother cooed apologetically, releasing her son. "It's just, you're finally going to start on your own adventure! I just-"

Here we go.

Brendan watched as she trailed off, bursting into tears of joy.

Brendan shook his head.

What's the deal with moms these days?

Brendan and Treecko stopped in their tracks, eyes shifting to the mounds of tall grass, no doubt there would be numerous wild Pokémon indigenous to this area.

"Well, might as well see if we can catch something." Brendan said to Treecko. The grass Pokémon silently nodded as he followed his trainer into the grass.

They both walked into the tall with caution; Brendan tightly gripped the pokeball in his hand. He wouldn't show it but he was nervous about catching his first Pokémon, Brendan remembered his days back in the Pokémon Academy when they told you that you had to weaken a Pokémon first before you could catch it. It sounds simple enough but it still felt unnerving to the young man.

And now I'm starting to sweat.

Brendan shook out of his thoughts as he heard a small rattling nearby, quickly tilting his head to where the sound originated from.

"You hear that, Treecko?"

"Treecko." Treecko murmured in reply, getting into a battle stance.

A small centipede-like Pokémon colored in red-pink hopped out of the grass and stood in front of Brendan and Treecko.

"Let's see, this is," Brendan checked his Pokedex, Wurmple, Bug-type.

"Guess I'll go ahead and catch this guy," He quickly glanced at the Pokedex, checking the Wurmple's gender and corrected himself, "I mean, this girl."

"Let's go, Treecko!"

Treecko leaped ahead of Brendan, ready to fight.

"Okay Treecko, use Pound!" Brendan ordered.

Treecko ran towards the Wurmple and punched her nose, then he sidestepped backwards waiting for his opponent's next move. Treecko jumped to the side when Wurmple shot out strings of web at him.

"Use another Pound, Treecko!" Brendan yelled, smiling when he watched Treecko land another hit and knock the bug Pokémon back. Brendan examined the Wurmple's injuries and could see that she was struggling to stand.

"So, do I just catch it now?" Brendan asked himself.

Brendan hesitated for a moment as he stared at the empty pokeball.

"I guess I do." Brendan said as he tossed the ball at the injured Wurmple. The ball whacked the Wurmple on her head as it opened up and enraptured her in a red light, minimizing its body into the pokeball. The machine closed itself and landed roughly on the grass. It shook once, then stood still.

But will it work? Brendan asked himself as he watched as the ball shook a second time.

I mean, it looks like its working.

One more shake and the ball was completely motionless, making a loud snap. Brendan examined the pokeball.

"So," Brendan glanced down at his Treecko who looked up at him. "Is that it?" Brendan asked him.

"Treecko!" Treecko chirped at him.

"Okay, so do I just pick it up?" Brendan calmly asked. "What if it breaks out?"

Treecko merely shrugged in response. Brendan gave him a soft smile, hands on his knees as he knelt down to Treecko.

"Do you wanna pick it up?"

The grass Pokémon crossed his arms in disapproval, he was happy to help Brendan but he wasn't going to be the kid's delivery man just because he was scared.

The teen sighed as he let his arms fall flat.

"Right, I'll get it then." Brendan said as he slowly walked up to the pokeball. When he got close enough, he carefully knelt to the ground and slowly reached his arm out to the pokeball.

Maybe if I just poke the pokeball? Brendan thought, he instantly shook his head at the terrible pun he made.

He poked the spherical machine, lightly knocking it back. Brendan yelped but continued to observe the pokeball, still completely stationary. The young trainer quickly grabbed the ball and attached it to his belt.

"Well, that was easy." Brendan said as he pulled out the Treecko's ball.

"Thanks dude, you were a big help," Brendan said to Treecko as they did a fist pump. "I'll heal you up at the Pokémon Center, okay?"

Treecko nodded as he was pulled into the red light that reclaimed him into his ball. Brendan clasped the pokeball back on his belt and turned to walk towards the town that was just a ways ahead, hands behind his head.

Next stop, Oldale.

The venture through Littleroot Forest certainly didn't take long. The trek wasn't too stressful and he managed to catch a wolf-like Pokémon with dark fur named Poochyena. Brendan finally reached the small town and looked to see the Pokémon Center plain as day. He entered the building and took sight of the inside of the building.

The young teen walked up to the counter and gave a smile to the nurse.

"Hello, would you like to restore your Pokémon?"

"Yes please, how much is it?"

"Free of charge, of course. Every trainer can get their Pokémon healed for free."

"Alright then," Brendan placed Treecko and Wurmple's pokeballs on the counter. The nurse took the balls and place them on the machine. After a few seconds, the nurse put the platter on the counter. Brendan grabbed both pokeballs and clasped them on his belt.

"We have healed your Pokémon to full health, take care of yourself." The nurse said as she bowed to the young man.

"Thank you." Brendan replied.

As soon as he stepped out, Brendan was immediately grabbed from behind. He yelped at the sudden force pulling at him. Brendan quickly turned to see who it was, the first thing he noticed was the green bandana, then he looked down at the feminine face.

May.

"Sup'." May said with a wave.

"Glad to see you're alright." Brendan replied.

May rolled her eyes, "I told you, nothing scares me."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Real-

Brendan yelped when she quickly jabbed his shoulder. He grabbed the afflicted area and rubbed it in soothing circles.

"Sorry." Brendan apologized.

"Glad to see you made it though. What was keeping you?"

"I overslept." Brendan grinned sheepishly. "So, why haven't you gone to Petalburg City yet?"

May simply gave him an unreadable expression and just mumbled her words out.

"Eh?" Brendan lowered his head to her better.

Are you gonna tell me or what?

"Listen, how about you let me tag along with you for a while." May said softly.

"Why?" Brendan asked.

"I dunno, because I want to." May said. "Now come on." May took Brendan's arm and dragged him to the woods.

"Now, I battled with one trainer up ahead, all he uses is a Zigzagoon, shouldn't be too hard for you to handle." May said as she patted Brendan's back.

The duo stopped near a boy with a blue cap.

"Hey kid, it's me again!" May called out to the youngster who turned his head to her. "This kid wants to battle with you!" she said, pointing at Brendan.

"Alright then! I challenge you to a battle!" The youngster said with enthusiasm. "Think you have what it takes to beat my Zigzagoon?"

With that, the youngster threw a pokeball ahead of him, releasing his Zigzagoon.

"Guess I'll give Poochyena a try." Brendan said to himself. He threw his pokeball and Poochyena popped out.

"Poochyena!" The Pokémon cried.

"Okay Poochyena, start things off with Tackle!

"Dodge and use Headbutt!" The youngster shouted.

Zigzagoon leaped to the side and bashed Poochyena with the attack.

"Poochyena, you okay?"

The Dark-type Pokémon barked in approval and stood in its battle stance.

"Go for another Tackle!"

Poochyena leaped forward and rushed the Zigzagoon to the ground. Another Tackle and Zigzagoon was down in an instant.

"Woah! You beat my Zigzagoon, you're really good!" The youngster exclaimed, running to his injured Zigzagoon and reclaiming it into its ball.

May rolled her eyes at the statement, the kid didn't even put up much of a fight.

"Not bad. Let's keep moving," May stated. Brendan nodded as he returned Poochyena into its ball.

Walking into the tall grass, they stopped when they spotted a Pokémon dressed in white, looking at the duo curiously. The most noticeable detail about this Pokémon was the bowl-cut green hair covering it's eyes and a pink shape sticking out of its head. Brendan has certainly never seen a Pokémon like this before, eyeing the strange Pokémon carefully, he pulled out the Pokedex and scanned the Pokémon.

So its name is Ralts, a Psychic-type Pokémon and it's female.

Brendan looked up to see the Ralts walking towards him, he flinched when she hugged his leg affectionately.

"It doesn't look like it wants to fight." May pointed out.

"I guess not," Brendan said as he carefully knelt to the Ralts. "Hey there, do you want to come along with me?"

"Ralts!" The Pokémon happily cheered.

Brendan pulled out an empty pokeball and held it in front of Ralts. "I have to catch you first, is that okay with you?"

The small Pokémon tilted its head in thought before nodding to Brendan.

"Alright," Brendan said. He switched the ball on and claimed Ralts in the red light. The pokeball immediately closed with a snap.

"Nice, wish it was like that for me." May joked.

The two continued on their road to Petalburg City. May caught a Lotad along the way and there were several trainers they battled with on the road as well. Treecko managed to learn a new attack move, Absorb, and May's Torchic learned Ember. Eventually, the duo reached their destination.

"Petalburg City." Brendan stated.

"Well duh, Sockhead." May bluntly replied as she jabbed Brendan in his shoulder.

Brendan made a face while he wandered ahead of her.

"So where are we supposed to go?" Brendan asked.

"There's the Petalburg Gym over there," May pointed to the building with a grimace. "But you don't want to go there now, do you?"

Brendan looked at her quizzically. "Why not?"

"We could go somewhere else." May suggested.

"But the gym's right there." Brendan stated. "C'mon."

May put her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." May murmured as she followed after Brendan.

The two of them eventually entered the gym, Brendan took the time to examine the surroundings. The structure was made up as a dojo of sorts.

"So what's so bad about this place?" Brendan asked curiously.

"May!" A voice called out. May instantly grimaced while Brendan turned to see where the voice had come from. They looked to see a tall man with smooth ebony-hair, a red jacket and blue cargo pants. To Brendan, he could have easily passed off as an older version of himself.

"Except I'm way better looking." Brendan said aloud. The man raised an eyebrow at the teen and May simply stared into space with a disinterested look, ignoring Brendan's little mishap.

Crap, I did it again. Brendan thought disdainfully.

"You're a trainer correct?" The man sternly asked, expression returning to normal. "I'm the gym leader of Petalburg City, Norman."

"Pleasure to meet you." Brendan replied, holding his hand out. Norman didn't return the gesture.

Ouch, did he take what I said that hard?

"Are you a friend of my daughter?"

"Your daughter?" Brendan blinked for a moment before he looked at May, who simply sighed in agitation. "May?" Brendan asked as he pointed to her with his thumb.

"Yes." Norman replied.

Brendan began to scrutinize under that stern glare that seemed to burn holes through him, just like May. Brendan reasoned that she had gained that trait from her father.

"So, has my daughter been getting into any trouble lately?" Norman asked, arms crossed.

"No, she's a pretty good friend actually."

"I see." Norman turned to his daughter. "May, you don't have to go through with this you know. No one's forcing you to be a trainer."

May scoffed at that. "Dad, I already told you I wanted to be a trainer. I can handle myself just fine." She retorted with her arms crossed.

Brendan could feel a lump in his throat. He was already feeling uncomfortable from the tension between May and her father, it was pretty obvious those two didn't seem to get along too well. Regardless, it was none of Brendan's business. Not like he had any right to pry on family matters.

Brendan was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard the door to the gym slide open. Brendan and May turned their heads to see a short boy who looked slightly younger than both of them. He had a mop of lime-green hair and sported nothing more than a white-collared shirt and blue jeans.

"Excuse me, I would like to get a Pokémon, please." The boy meekly spoke.

Norman quickly examined and glared down at the boy who interrupted the debate with his daughter. Realization suddenly hit him.

"Ah yes, your Wally, right?" Norman asked.

The frail green-haired boy nodded, holding his wrists together, instantly feeling uncomfortable under Norman's glare.

"Your parents called me earlier, they requested I help you catch a Pokémon but-" Norman trailed off as he looked at his daughter.

"May, why don't you and your friend help Wally catch his Pokémon?" Norman asked. Wally turned to look at the girl he was talking to and his heart instantly skipped a beat. He blushed as he continued to look at the girl named May.

Brendan couldn't help but notice Wally was watching her, blushing madly at the sight of her.

Does he have a crush on her or something?

Wally stopped gawking at her when she directed her eyes at him, then back to her father, giving him a bland expression. Personally, May wanted to refuse, she didn't even want to be here right now. Why couldn't Brendan have just listened to her? Now here she was having to play babysitter with a little tyke wanting to catch his first Pokémon.

"Consider it a test to show me if you're really capable of handling yourself." Norman stated bluntly.

May looked to the side and instantly formed a glare on her face when Brendan answered.

"Of course, we'll help." Brendan said for her. May turned to Brendan and gave him a disapproving look.

"Good," Norman turned back to the green-haired boy, handing him a pokeball. "Wally, I'll give you this Zigzagoon so you can catch a Pokémon. You'll also need this to catch a wild Pokémon." Norman finished as he handed the boy an empty pokeball.

"Okay, follow me you guys." Wally said enthusiastically. Brendan followed behind Wally but stopped when he saw May continue to stand where she was with her arms crossed.

"C'mon, May." Brendan called out to her. The girl sighed as she followed Brendan and Wally out of the building.

After the three teenagers left the gym and wandered back to Route 102, the trio slowly trekked through the tall grass.

"Wild Pokémon often hide in the tall grass, so you have to look really carefully for one, right?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, there are several kinds of Pokémon that will pop out." Brendan answered, turning back to May, who followed a ways behind them with her arms crossed.

As expected, a small Ralts popped out of the grass. Its head facing them, looking at them expectantly.

"Do you know what to do, Wally?" Brendan asked, glancing at the young male.

"Yeah," Wally nodded as he threw his ball. "Go, Zigzagoon!"

Zigzagoon popped out of its ball and stood in front of Wally. Brendan quickly pulled out the Pokedex and scanned Zigzagoon.

"Wally, it knows Tackle."

Wally nodded. "Okay Zigzagoon, use Tackle!"

Zigzagoon complied as it rushed into Ralts. It didn't take much for the Ralts to roll back, weakened from the attack.

"So, I just throw a ball at it now, right?" Wally asked, turning to Brendan and May.

Brendan nodded.

"Alright, hope this works." The green-haired teen murmured. "Go Poke Ball!"

Wally tossed the ball and it hit the Ralts. The ball opened and a red light claimed the Ralts inside the pokeball. After three shakes, the ball successfully closed with a loud snap. Wally walked towards the ball and picked it up.

"I got it!"

"Yep, you're very first Pokémon." Brendan exclaimed, happy for the young teen.

"Congrats." May piped in. "Now let's head to my dad's gym. You have to return his Zigzagoon, right?"

Wally turned to her with a blush, cheeks flaring from the girl's praise.

"Right." He blurted out and hid his face the best he could. Wally quickly made his way past the two teens and walked towards the gym.

"What's up with him?" May asked.

Brendan merely gave a simple shrug as the duo went to catch up with Wally.

The three teenagers entered the gym again and found Norman who was waiting inside.

"So how did it go?" The older male asked.

"I caught a Ralts!" Wally exclaimed excitedly, returning Zigzagoon's pokeball to the older man. "Thank you so much for you help, Norman!"

The gym leader nodded as Wally turned to Brendan and May.

"Thank you for the help you two, I'll be off to Verdanturf Town. See you later!" Wally exclaimed as he left the gym.

"So May, what do you plan on doing?" Norman asked expectantly.

May rolled her eyes. "I told you, I'm going to become the Pokémon Champion, which means I'll be battling you for a badge." May said as she placed a hand on her hips, giving her father an antagonistic glare.

"I suppose," Norman replied. "But I have nothing to gain from battling a greenhorn trainer." Norman bluntly stated, seemingly ignoring Brendan completely. "If it's a gym battle you want, go to Rustboro City and challenge the gym leader, Roxanne. I'll battle you once you have obtained four badges."

"Fine with me," May exclaimed. "I'll get four badges, come back here and show you that I have what it takes to win. I'll prove to you that I can be self-sufficient."

With a huff, May yanked Brendan's arm and turned their heels toward the exit.

"May," Norman called out. The young teen stopped in her tracks as she turned her head to her father. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"Whatever." May blandly replied as she took her leave with Brendan.

After leaving the gym, May stopped and looked at Brendan with a passionate fire in her eyes, she pressed her finger against Brendan's nose as she began talking.

"Brendan Birch, from here on out, you and I are officially rivals." May said with determination.

"We are?" Brendan asked.

May nodded, "That's right, we're both trainers aren't we? It's only natural that we become rivals."

Brendan said nothing as she continued.

"I decided to travel because I wanted to become the Pokémon Champion!" May flicked the teen's nose. "What's your story, Sockhead?"

"Story?" Brendan asked as he rubbed his nose. "I don't have a story, I guess I wanna try and see if I can become Champion, too."

"Then here's what we're gonna do." May said with that same fierce look in her eyes. "Both of us will travel around Hoenn, defeating all eight gym leaders along the way and receive a badge from each of them. Whoever reaches Ever Grande City first with all eight gym badges will get to take on the Pokémon League, the loser has to go home."

Brendan's eyes widened a bit at that last part. That sounded kind of unfair didn't it? It's not like that was actually a rule or anything.

Sounds like a little too much for me. Brendan thought. Then again, I started traveling so I could see if I could accomplish something, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

May stared at him intently as she held her hand out to him. "Deal?"

Should he agree to it? Brendan didn't really believe he could do it. Fight all the gym leaders, sure. He was willing to give that a try, but fight all of them and race to this Ever Grand whatever to fight the Pokémon League first with the loser having to go home? Impractical at best.

"Deal." Brendan firmly stated as he took the girl's hand and shook it.

"Alright then," May said. "First stop is Petalburg Woods!"

After a few seconds of staring, May quickly dashed off.

"See ya, Double D!" May yelled with a wave.

Did she just call me Double D?

Brendan shrugged the thought aside and left the city, his next stop would be Petalburg Forest. If he didn't hurry, May will have already gained her first gym badge by the time he showed up to Rustboro. He personally felt like he was giving this girl way too many head-starts.

With that, Brendan dashed after May into Route 104.

A/N: That concludes this chapter, hope everyone enjoyed it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask me in your reviews or PM me and I'll be sure to answer them. As usual, feedback is greatly appreciated. I'd love to hear from you guys!

Avid