…Begins with a Single Step

That afternoon, the three had started towards Littleroot. It wasn't too far away from Oldale, only a few hours away, but Route 101 had several species of Pokemon, including Poochyena. There had been several horror stories of travelers being attacked by packs of the small wolf Pokemon, so the three were on their guard.

They were outfitted in Ranger body armor, which was quite state of the art. Thick ceramic plates covered their chests and backs, with forearm and shin guards that fitted nicely over their clothes. They also all had helmets with a flip-down visor that polarized, which could act as both sunglasses and night-vision. However, it was 4 O'clock in the afternoon, so they had no need for either.

The small band of travelers had made most of the journey in silence, slightly overwhelmed at the responsibility asked of them. Finally, Ron asked Jack about the second PokeBall.

"Hey Jack, how'd you get the second Pokemon?" Jack looked down at his belt.

"Oh! No, I don't have a second Pokemon. I just picked up another PokeBall off of a dead Aqua member." Ron was a bit surprised at that blunt and macabre observation of Jack. He laughed a little bit, but it was cut off by a distant howl. The three suddenly tensed, then without a word they all let out their Pokemon.

The Pokemon looked up at their trainers, then realized what they were tense about. The three Pokemon immediately got ready for a fight. Zippo's tail flame spurted up in anticipation, Cinder's flames spurted up, and Xylem stooped in a crouch, ready for a fight.

Another howl was let loose, and the sound echoed across the twilight hours. It was quickly followed by another, and another. Within moments, the air was crisscrossed with howls, that were drawing closer and closer.

The three humans got close together, with their backs to each other. Their three Pokemon got in front of their respective trainers, and waited.

They didn't have to wait long. The trees around them were started to be populated by glowing eyes; many glowing eyes. One of the eyes moved out of the trees, and it wasn't what the young trainers expected. It was a big, mangy Mightyena. More eyes followed it, and then suddenly the road in front and behind them had at least a dozen grimy and vicious looking Poochyena. They growled and snapped at the band, sniffing the air constantly.

Zippo, who had tasted his first blood at the battle in Oldale, was eager for more. Ron noticed the bloodlust in his eyes, and at this moment was happy to oblige it.

"Zippo! Use Ember!" His Charmander nodded, and let loose a small stream of fire at the pack of wolf Pokemon. Most of them jumped out of the way of it, but one of the Poochyenas got a full blast of the fire. It ran around yelping as its fur ignited and caught on fire. It accidentally ran into another Poochyena, and set that one on fire too. The two small wolves ran around in pain, and then bolted into the forest, away from the fight.

The rest of the pack froze at the sight of the flames, but the Mightyena growled at them, and they continued forward towards the group, albeit slightly more wary this time. Jack called out,

"Xylem, use Bullet Seed! Aim for their eyes!" Xylem let loose with a stream of small pellets, aiming for the face of them. They danced around, trying to avoid the small seeds, while Lauren and Ron ordered Cinder and Zippo to continue attacking the pack with their flames.

Several minutes passed, with the battle turning into a stalemate. The wild Pokemon would come in close, then dodge out of the way of the fire and streams of seeds, always seeming to never get hit. Finally, a Poochyena broke through and launched itself at Zippo, who gladly obliged the Pokemon's request for close combat. The rest of the pack followed suit, and it devolved into a melee.

The trainers were better off then their Pokemon at fending off the small wolves. Taller by far then them, they merely had to kick at the small wolves to get them off. The wild Pokemon could never get a good bite on them, because they had body armor on.

Suddenly, Zippo let loose a loud (yet high pitched) roar, and reared up, blood all over his snout, standing on a dead Poochyena, its throat having been torn out. The other Poochyena took one look at the bloodthirsty lizard, then turned tail and fled. The Mightyena ran away with them, but before it bounded into the trees, it gave the band one last glare. Then it followed the rest of its pack.

"That…. Was fun." Lauren gasped, out of breath. She was coming down from the adrenaline rush, and was suddenly tired. Jack and Ron nodded in agreement. Their Pokemon were faring better than them; Zippo and Cinder were sitting together, and Xylem was perched up in a tree, watching for more threats. The trainers decided to not recall the Pokemon. A threat could be right around the corner.

Within the hour, they finally got to Littleroot Town. Little more than a hamlet, the main attractions of the town were Professor Birch's lab and a small amphitheater. The population barely broke 1000.

"Excuse me fellas." A night watchman stopped the trio. He was wearing a cap and overalls, and had a Linoone at his side. "Can I ask your business in Littleroot? You seem decked out for battle."

They all looked at one another, then Ron stepped forward.

"We're here on behalf on the Ever Grande Ranger Corps. We need to escort Professor Birch to Rustboro, and quickly too. He should be expecting us."

"Rangers, huh? Aren't you guys a bit too young to be Rangers?"

"I'm sorry sir, but we have no time to waste. We need to get going." The watchman stared at them for a bit longer, then finally relented.

"Alright, I'll show you his lab. Right this way."

Professor Birch was dashing about his lab, trying to get his things ready. He received a telegram from Commander Zane, saying he was sending an escort for him to get to Rustboro. He was just about finished packing, but he still needed to find this one… last…. thing…. KNOCK KNOCK. He jumped up, startled by the sudden noise of someone knocking on his door. He rushed to the door.

The sight of a frenzied man quickly throwing open the door, then dashing back into his lab greeted the watchman and co. Ron suppressed a laugh; his friends did the same. They knew that they were dealing with one of the world's foremost experts on Pokemon… but it was still funny.

"Professor Birch!" The watchman called out. The Professor called back.

"Yeah?"

"These here Rangers are to escort you all the way to Rustboro!" He was met by silence for several seconds, then a flurry of noise. It sounded like bunch of random things and objects were being dumped on the floor.

"Ah yes! I know that…. Hold on… just a sec!" The watchman turned back towards the trio and shrugged.

"Birch is a bit of an oddball if you ask me. He's nice though… just a bit weird. It's alright though. He should be a fine enough traveling companion."

"Does he have any Pokemon?" Jack asked.

"Birch? No. Foolish if you ask me. We're a day's walk from any major city, so we can't take care of ourselves like they can in places like Rustboro or Mauville. No, we need to be able to protect ourselves. But, even so, the man just studies Pokemon. Doesn't train 'em."

"Well!" Everyone jumped at the sudden appearance of Birch. "I used to be a trainer, back when I was younger. My favorite was electric types. But, that was back then. Not any more. Gave them all to my brother, Wattson."

"Isn't he the Gym Leader in Mauville?" Ron asked. Birch nodded in affirmation.

"That he is. A fine man… Anyway! Should we get going now?"

The small band of travelers was soon on their way, after getting some supplies for Birch. They were barely ten minutes into their walk when Birch started talking.

"So. What happened at Oldale?" Ron looked at Birch.

"It was attacked by Team Aqua. They were searching for you. Didn't you know that?" Birch shook his head.

"Nope! Commander Zane just told me that he was sending an escort for me to get to Rustboro safely, that Aqua was searching for me, and they thought I was in Oldale. What happened?" Ron started to fill him in.

"It was attacked by a large force of Team Aqua members, at least 30 or so in number, AND their Pokemon. They had followed me earlier that day too, along with my step-dad. Apparently they thought you were in Oldale, with some new prototype that would help them 'fulfill their goals' or whatever. I don't know why." Birch looked confused for a second.

"Wait a second. Your step-father? Why were you with him?"

"Because… I live with him?" Ron answered, confused.

"So… you're not Rangers?" Lauren shook her head.

"Nope. Just trainers. They couldn't afford to send any more Rangers. You'll be fine though, don't worry."

"Alright…" Even as he said it, Birch was plenty worried. Team Aqua was a powerful force to be reckoned with, and Zane only sent some kids to escort him all the way to Rustboro! It was basically suicide. Suddenly, Birch felt himself grow hot, and felt nervous sweat drip down his neck. He didn't feel so safe any more.

"What… what sort of Pokemon do you three have?" In sync, they released their Pokemon. At the sight of the basic level Pokemon, Birch felt himself go woozy. Three kids and basic Pokemon! It wasn't basically suicide, it WAS suicide. However, Zane had to have had a good reason to send these kids and not Rangers. Maybe they were good trainers. That must've been it.

"Why do you ask?" Jack inquired.

"Oh… You know. Curiosity." They all walked in silence after the exchange, occasionally exchanging small talk, but nothing meaningful.

After a while, Birch asked Ron

"Hey, who is your step-father?" Ron was a little bit confused at the question, but answered anyway.

"Umm… Douglas Vanson. Why?" Birch's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Doug Vanson? He's your step-dad?" Ron slowly nodded. "He was my partner in this project!" Ron thought about it for a second, and then nodded.

"That explains why they followed us and attacked us before Oldale!" Ron thought some more. "What were you two working on anyway?" Birch shook his head.

"That's classified. They shouldn't have even told you three we were working on anything in the first place. Sorry about that. But I can't tell you."

"We understand." Jack said. "Some things are not meant to be shared with others."