The first day of training was going surprisingly well for Nick.

Mudkip had proven to be easy to tame and train, his Water Gun attack proving strong enough to dispose of pretty much any wild pokémon with a single hit, and generally following him around, tuning perfectly with his trainer's happy-go-lucky attitude as they strolled though the forest.

Between fights, Nick kept taking photos, excited about being finally able to explore the region on his own.

"It sure is something else entirely being out here on your own... this place is gorgeous…"

Following a passing Beautifly, he soon found himself in an open field, with many other Beautifly busy drinking nectar from the flowers.

Looking around, he felt like he stumbled into one of the paintings that he saw at his friend's house many times and that Alex's sister loved to paint.

"I must take a picture of this… Budew, join Mudkip!"

In a flash of light Budew came out of her pokéball, immediately rushing to the front to be in the photo with Mudkip.

"Perfect! Now, hold still..."

As he got some distance between him and his pokémon, however, Nick made a huge mistake: walking backwards, he found himself stepping on something soft and fluffy.

And before he could process what was happening, a growl told him what he stepped on.

A Poochyena's tail, and a rather angry one.

Realizing his mistake, Nick backed off, trying to make the angry pokémon calm down.

"Hey, buddy… I'm sorry, I didn't see you there..."

Apparently though, the Poochyena wasn't going to calm down, as it suddenly began howling, and in a matter of seconds, before Nick, Budew and Mudkip there were at least another 10 angry Poochyena.

"Well, only one thing left to do… RUUUUUUUUUN!"

Immediately calling back Budew in her pokéball, Nick and Mudkip started to run, in the hopes of reaching Oldale Town quick enough.

The pack was relentless in hunting them down, as all the various attempts from Mudkip to scare them away failed: as quick as one of them was stopped by his Water Gun, another one took his place.

"I already said I'm sorry, what else do they want?"

"Muuud..."

Mudkip only answered with a puzzled expression, as it looked like even he couldn't manage to try and get them to reason.

With Oldale Town on the horizon, their hopes suddenly sparked… until Nick tripped on a rock, bringing Mudkip down with him, and before they could regain their footing, found themselves surrounded.

"M-Maybe we can discuss this?"

"Cyndaquil, SmokeScreen!"

Suddenly, in a fraction of a second the whole group was suddenly thrown into a thick cloud of smoke, and before Nick could process what was going on, both Nick and Mudkip felt themselves lifted from the ground entirely, flying through the air and from tree to tree, soon enough ending up at the outskirts of Oldale Town.

"T-Thanks, whoever you are, you really saved me..."

Coughing a bit of smoke, Nick looked up, noticing the bizarre jumpsuit that his savior was wearing, white and red mixed in, and the purple scarf. But above all, he noticed that his savior in fact, was a girl dressed up as a ninja, her long raven black hair tied behind her head by a golden hair band, and a Cyndaquil with a red scarf lazily sitting on her right shoulder.

"Don't mention it. Helping those who are in need is my duty as a ninja! Uh... are you ok?"

The girl suddenly halted her presentation, as Nick stared at her almost petrified, sparks shining in his eyes, like a kid in front of a pile of presents under a Christmas tree.

"A ninja?! I didn't even think they existed!"

Looking rather proud, the girl stood in pose, her Cyndaquil mimicking her pose on her shoulder, almost looking like she came out of a tokusatsu show.

"Yup! My name is a mystery, my techniques are secrets passed through generations by the ninjas of the secret Mahogany village, I'm the devilish ninja of Mahogany! You can call me… Devil!"

Nick looked like he just met a superhero, both him and Mudkip amazed at the silly presentation of the young girl in front of them.

"Wait, Mahogany? Isn't that in Johto? Why are you in Hoenn?"

"Simply put it, I traveled through Johto and fought many strong trainers, and thought I was ready to become a ninja master, but I was proven wrong, so I decided to continue my journey… and my finger landed on Hoenn on the map."

"But… what's a master ninja? Shouldn't you already be a master to become a ninja?"

Sighing, Devil performed a perfect facepalm, before looking down on the still sitting boy in front of him.

"Uuuuuh, what does a rookie like you know?"

Feeling insulted, Nick immediately jumped up, just like when Alex used to challenge him when they were little, in situations that usually led them into trouble.

"I'm not a rookie! I went to trainer school!"

"Yeah, I saw Hoenn trainer schools there! I had to come and save you!"

"I was surrounded!"

The bickering was quickly turning into a proper fight, both of them yelling and shouting.

"Then I challenge you to a fight, and we'll see if you're a real trainer or just a rookie!"

"Challenge accepted!"

Nick was clearly nervous, as he was about to face his first real trainer fight, after not even a full day of being a trainer.

"Ok, this will be a 1 vs 1, no change allowed! Are you ready?"

Mudkip looked at Devil with a determined look, probably even more excited than his own trainer about his first fight against a trained pokémon, and almost gave out a warcry.

With a smirk, Devil took one of her pokéballs from under the belt of her jumpsuit, and almost posing, threw it like a shuriken.

"Go, Smeargle!"

"Smeargle!"

Perplexed, Nick took out his brand new pokédex, excited about using it for the first time, and as soon as he pointed it to the pokémon in front of him, a cold, robotic voice said

Smeargle: Painter Pokémon

Smeargle marks the boundaries of its territory using a body fluid that leaks out from the tip of its tail. Over 5000 different marks from this pokémon have been found.

"Don't let looks deceive you, Smeargle has trained with me since I was little, he's a ninja just like me!"

"Then let's begin, Mudkip, Tackle!"

Before he could reach Smeargle though, he had jumped off, and managedto stop just inches before hitting a nearby tree and hurting himself.

"You're never gonna win if you're so slow! Double team!"

Suddenly seeing many copies of Smeargle, Mudkip was disoriented, as each of them seemed to run around him mockingly.

"Don't panic, Mudkip! Spin in circles and use Water Gun!"

Despite being a decision took on the fly, it worked, the water dissolving the copies and hitting the real Smeargle before it could take Mudkip by surprise, but doing little to no damage.

"Not bad at all, you've got quick thinking by your side, I've got to give you that, but it's not gonna be enough! Thunderpunch!"

With impressive speed, Smeargle charged Mudkip, and before Nick could tell him to use Mud-Slap, hit him with a powerful punch, the electricity and strength of the hit sending him flying away, Nick catching him, exhausted.

"Muuuuud…"

"Well, just as I thought, still a rookie. Try not to get surrounded by Poochyena anymore!"

Before he could say anything, another cloud of smoke surrounded her, and when it finally dissolved, she was gone.

"Damn her… who do she think she is? Next time, I'll teach her a lesson..."

Calling Mudkip back in his pokéball, Nick quickly rushed to the pokémon center, to heal his injuries. While he waited though, he reached for the terminal, and before he could figure out how to register, another nurse approached him.

"A new trainer that wants to register to the League? Follow me."

Slightly startled by the sudden voice, Nick followed her to a nearby counter, and gave her his pokédex, which she inserted in a slot near a computer.

"Don't worry, everyone is disoriented at the start of the journey, but it's our job to help you since many start here in Oldale town. Oh, it's done.

On the monitor behind the nurse, Nick's ID picture appeared, and lots of informations, followed by the pictures of his pokémon.

Contestant: Nick Ruby

Home city: Littleroot Town

Badges: 0

Welcome to the Hoenn League

"Here, it's done. Now, you'll have to collect 8 Badges from the League-approved gyms, and in 10 months time reach Ever Grande City for the Ever Grande Conference, where you'll fight other trainers who managed to win the Badges. Good luck!"

Handing him back the pokédex, the nurse smiled at him, and hearing the beep of the healing room, reached for the other counter, where Budew and Mudkip waited for him, both back in shape, and thanked the nurse before going out, ready to continue with his journey.

Just after that though, he noticed quite the ruckus going on near, and the roaring of motorcycles.

Wanting to check what was going on, he ran towards the scene, and noticed a group of bikers running in circles around a girl with their motorcycles, and as the dust settled a little, saw the same girl that helped him before.

"If you pass through here, you have to pay us!"

"And why should I pay? You're just a bunch of stray Houndour who need to find a job."

Devil's mocking didn't help the situation, and all of them took out their pokémon, four Muk surrounding her.

"You little brat! We'll teach you what happens to disrespectful kids who try to pass through our territory!"

"HEY, LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Before he could realize what he was doing, Nick jumped in to help Devil, despite most people knowing that it would be a bad decision to take.

"What are you doing here, rookie? You'll only get yourself hurt!"

"I'm not one to leave a friend behind when she's in trouble! And I'm Nick, so stop calling me rookie!"

A surprised expression suddenly appeared on Devil's face, surprised that Nick considered her a friend, but her thoughts were brought back on their situation by the bikers themselves.

"That doesn't change anything, it just means we'll have two brats to teach a lesson to!"

"Cyndaquil, Mudkip, go!"

Almost in unison, Devil and Nick sent their pokémon against them, the combination of their attacks soon knocking out the boss' Muk, the other bikers running away once their boss was defeated, morale sinking with the defeat of the leader.

"We won!"

"I'll have to admit it, you're not bad roo… I mean, Nick."

"See? I have to be skilled, so I'll become the top breeder in all of Hoenn!"

Devil smiled and gave him a thumbs up, as she admired people with that kind of determination.

"That's a nice dream, for sure!"

"Hey, why don't we travel together?"

"W-What?"

Nick's proposal was sudden, and she didn't expect it: after all, ninjas acted alone, and wasn't used at the idea of a traveling companion.

"Yeah! We both a have a dream we want to fulfill, right? You wanna be a ninja master and I wanna be a breeder, and we'll have to face tough enemies, so why not join forces? We'll become even stronger, and we'll be able to reach our objectives!"

Nick's genuine enthusiasm made her smile, and shook his hand that he had extended during his passionate speech.

"Well, what are we waiting for? You have to collect Badges, don't you?"

Smiling, the newfound friends walked towards the following Route, ready for new adventures in the Hoenn Region.

Meanwhile, on Route 103…

The exhausted Taillow fell on the ground with a thud, unable to keep up with Torchic's fire.

"Excellent work Taillow, and now let's capture it!"

As Torchic stepped away, Alex took a pokéball from his backpack and threw it on Taillow, the pokémon entering the ball in a flash of red light, and making it move slightly as it still struggled, the button on the center blinking red.

"Come on..."

Suddenly, the ball stopped moving, and a sound announced the successful capture. Rushing to it, Alex held it high in a victory pose, his first pokémon captured.

"I've got a Taillow, yeah!"

"Tor Torchic!"

Alex and Torchic's celebrations were soon cut short, as they heard the sound of a violin near them, and looked around perplexed.

"Quite the impressive capture, young trainer, bravo!"

"What? Who are you?"

To be continued...