Sorry for the really, really, really, really, really, really late update! I have already punished myself severely, so come visit me in the hospital (lol jk), but enough about me. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Now that I've got your attention, check out the section after the chapter! I've changed quite a few things for OC requirements! Okay, you may now proceed to read the chapter and leave a review afterward.
Real Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
An OC Story
"Finally…" groaned Tom as he and Kelli passed a sign reading "Welcome to Rustboro City, the city probing the integration of nature and science." He was exhausted. Not because the walk was tiring, but because he had barely gotten in a few miserable hours of sleep due to the several dozen mosquito bites he had gotten that night. Kelli had slept quite peacefully, and she was blissfully unaware of her friend's turmoil. As far as he could tell, the devilish bugs hadn't even touched her.
"I know you probably want to face the Gym Leader," she said, "but I'm not going anywhere until I wash up at the Pokémon Center."
"Fine," said Tom, swallowing his irritation and resisting the urge to point out that they needed to go there first to heal their Pokémon anyway. On the way to the Center, Kelli looked in awe at the amazingly tall skyscrapers. Tom would've been impressed, too, if he hadn't been in such a foul mood.
They walked into the Pokémon Center and dropped off their Pokémon at the front. Before Kelli had even requested a room, Tom was out the door heading to the Mart. He needed something that would stop the terrible itching. He was almost at the door when he started to walk faster. As he approached the doors, they opened for him, and-
SMACK!
His head collided with someone else's.
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
Both victims fell to the ground. Tom raised himself to a sitting position while rubbing his forehead. 'Could this morning get any-'
His thoughts stopped as he saw the person he'd crashed into. She was a young girl, most likely not any older than him. Her hair was a slightly dark blonde that fell down to the middle of her neck. It was mostly kept out of her face by a headband, and she wore glasses over her brown eyes. She wore a short-sleeved yellow shirt and a knee length black skirt. She was also nursing the spot where they had collided. Tom then noticed the bags on the ground, which were obviously what the girl had been carrying before he knocked her over.
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed as he scrambled to assist her in picking up the spilled contents.
"It's okay. I'm fine," the girl said as she picked up two of her bags. She looked at Tom only to find him looking quizzically at the other two bags she'd just purchased.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Um," he started to reply. He wasn't sure if he should get in her business, but in the end, his curiosity got the better of him. "Why are you buying so many of the same heavy book?"
Sure enough, there were at least three large, thick copies of the same book in each bag. They were entitled Training and Breeding of Pokémon.
"We had a small mishap at the academy," the girl explained, smiling sheepishly. "A fire Pokémon set fire to a bunch of our textbooks during a fit."
"Academy? You mean that trainer's school?"
"Yeah. I help out there a lot." She then looked at the watch she was wearing. "I need to get back before the next class starts."
"Oh! Let me help you!" said Tom as he picked up the remaining two bags. The books were even heavier than he thought. 'How was she planning on carrying twice this weight?'
"Thanks a lot…um…"
"I'm Tom," he said after realizing he had yet to introduce himself.
"It's nice to meet you, Tom. I'm Kacy," said Kacy with a smile.
"The pleasure is all mine." For some reason, Tom felt himself meaning it a lot more than when he'd said it to scientists that were visiting the lab at home.
They made their way toward the school with Kacy leading the way. On the way, Tom learned just what it was she did at the school. She taught the kids that stayed behind after school when they were confused about something. She bought supplies when they were low. Sometimes she even planned out lessons for the teachers.
"Also, I teach new trainers when they pass through town because the teachers just don't have time to add trainers to their classes for a few days when so many come through here," Kacy explained. She seemed to enjoy teaching, which Tom found very respectable for the very reason that he didn't think he would be able to keep up with it all.
Suddenly an idea popped into Tom's head.
"I have this friend that just became a trainer with me. Would you mind teaching her for a while?"
"Sure. I'm good to start even today if you want. Just bring her over."
At this point they had arrived at the school. Kacy led him inside and to the right down the hall. No one else was around due to classes taking place. Kacy stopped and opened a door to a small room with many supplies.
"This is the inventory. We can leave the books here and I'll put them in the right room when classes are out."
"Okay."
After they set the books in the room, they walked back to the door.
"So when will you be back?" asked Kacy.
"The sooner the better. We don't plan to stay here too long," Tom answered.
"Then how about now? We have enough time to get the first part done before lunch."
He was surprised. He didn't think that too much could get done in an hour.
"Alright, I'll go get her."
"Thanks for helping me carry the bags. And sorry for the trouble," she said , smiling.
A strange, yet not unpleasant, feeling suddenly gripped Tom's stomach, and for some reason, he found it difficult to speak.
"N-No trouble, really," he said with a smile.
"But didn't you need to buy something?"
Immediately the feeling vanished and was replaced by the terrible itching from last night.
"Oh…yeah. I guess I'll do that first," he replied nervously, "I'll see you soon then." He then began walking away.
"Bye."
As soon as he was out of sight he raced to the Mart, where he bought some medicine, and then sped back to the Center even more quickly. He asked the nurse where Kelli's and his room was and took off as soon as she answered. The nurse was too stunned by his speed to reprimand him from running inside in time for him to hear.
Tom collapsed on the bottom bunk after applying the medicine. He was exhausted despite not running at his fastest. The itching took too much away from his focus to do that. He'd normally lean far forward to take advantage of his already thin physique and become even more aerodynamic.
"I really need to get into shape if I'm gonna be traveling," he said to himself.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened and Kelli walked in.
"There you are. I wondered where you'd run of to," she said.
"There you are," he replied as he rose from the bed and took hold of her wrist, "Let's go; it's time for school." He then led a confused Kelli out of the Center and toward the school.
Kelli looked at the packet that had been placed in front of her by the strange girl who was, apparently, named Kacy. She gave Tom a menacing glare that told him quite clearly that she was not grateful in any way. Tom just ignored her.
"This is the test given to all new students. Don't struggle too much on questions you don't know. This is just to find out what you know already," explained Kacy.
"Well, I'm gonna check out the Gym. I'll be back soon," said Tom. He turned to walk out the door but found his way blocked by Kacy.
"You're a new trainer too, right?" she asked. He nodded, and she pointed at the desk next to Kelli. "Then you're taking the test too. Sit."
Before he even realized he'd moved, Tom found himself sitting at the desk with the packet in front of him. He heard Kelli make a weird noise and looked at her to see her trembling.
'Geez, she's fuming,' he thought, 'Oh well. She'll get over it.'
Tom got up from his desk and took the packet up to Kacy. She looked up from the book she was reading in surprise.
"You've finished already?"
Kelli heard this and looked up in slight surprise before focusing again on the test. She'd found it hard to believe that he was done while she was hardly halfway through.
"Yeah," replied Tom as he handed the packet to her. Usually when people were surprised at his knowledge on Pokémon he would feel a sense of pride, but today he felt uncomfortable. It felt like he was embarrassed, but that couldn't be it. He couldn't recall any reason why he should be. He grew more uncomfortable as Kacy looked over his answers with an increasing look of amazement.
"Um… If it's okay, I'm going to go take a look at the Gym now," he said.
Kacy nodded without looking up from his test. Tom turned and walked out of the room, closing the door as he left. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Why was he so tense? He decided to think about it later as he made his way out of the building. Luckily, the Gym was only a few blocks away. It was—as he expected—quite a large building. However, he couldn't find very much out from the outside, so he went in. As he walked through the automatic doors, he first saw a receptionist working at her desk. She noticed him and greeted him.
"Welcome to Rustboro Gym. Are you here to schedule a match with Miss Roxanne?"
Tom raised an eyebrow. "Schedule?"
She nodded. "Yes. Since a few months ago, trainers are required to schedule their matches with Gym Leaders at least a day in advance."
This was new to Tom. He hadn't heard of anything like this.
"I suppose I am then," he answered.
"Then may I see your Pokédex?"
Tom handed her his Pokédex and she slid it into an opening on the computer. He heard the machine make some sounds and his Pokédex popped back out.
"There you go," she said brightly as she handed it back to him along with a small booklet, "Your match is at 1 o' clock tomorrow afternoon."
Tom thought it was strange that he didn't have a say in the time, but he didn't have anything planned anyway.
"What's this booklet for?"
"That contains the rules for Gym battles. Some rules were changed recently, so we've been handing them out to every trainer that comes through."
'Exactly what I needed,' thought Tom. "Okay, thanks. See ya."
With that he walked out the door and checked his watch. He still had a while before he had to go back to the school, so he decided to go to Route 116 to train since that area had slightly stronger Pokémon to battle.
Tom sighed as he flipped through the rulebook for the Gyms. After fighting a few Pokémon in Route 116, it was clear to him that they were too weak to give his Pokémon any decent experience. So he decided to find a shady tree to lie under while he went through the rulebook that he eventually would need to read anyway. Everything was pretty much the same from what he had seen on the old battle videos, but there were a few brow-raising changes that he noted, such as the determination of the method of battle and the fact that the Leaders had a greater variety of Pokémon to chose from. The one that took the cake though, was that the Leaders were given knowledge of what Pokémon the challenger had. At first that seemed unfair, but as he thought about it, he realized that challengers always knew what type of Pokémon the leader would use, or sometimes even what species. Also, knowing what kind of Pokémon they had didn't give that much information. They still wouldn't know which ones the challengers would use, even if they had a good guess. And then there were the actual abilities of the Pokémon. Those could vary quite drastically, even among species.
As all this played out through his head, he heard loud cries of battle a ways off. Curious, he got up and made his way toward the noise. Then he noticed the sounds of battle had already ended, and now there was just shouting. He walked out into a field, a great contrast to the forest path he'd been on. He saw two silhouettes a short distance away. One was large and bulky, and as Tom got closer, he noticed it was a man wearing hiking gear. He was currently stomping his feet and shouting curses every few words. Tom frowned at seeing one of the types of people he hated most—second only to criminals. He then shifted his gaze to the second person. He was a young, short boy with light brown eyes and golden brown hair that went to his shoulders. Tom had difficulty telling whether his skin was barely tan or barely pale. In the end he decided barely pale. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and khaki shorts. The boy's eyes were aimed skyward and his mouth set in an unhappy frown as he walked away from the furious adult. Tom could easily read the boy's thoughts toward the man from his expression: 'You're the one who refused to let me leave without a battle.' As the boy left the man behind, he walked toward Tom until he noticed that there was someone in front of him. As the two boys' eyes met, Tom deduced that the boy must be ten because he looked younger than Kelli, but the age requirement for traveling alone was that exact age. The boy squirmed uncomfortably under Tom's gaze.
"Uh…" the boy started nervously, "You're not going to challenge me to a battle too, are you?"
"Nah. I can tell when someone's heart isn't into battling."
The boy looked startled before sighing in relief.
"Thank goodness. The last 6 people I met on the road wouldn't leave me alone until I battled them."
Tom nodded, remembering the many Bug Catchers that Kelli had thrashed on their way through the forest.
"The name's Glen! Glen Murdock! What's yours?" Glen asked cheerfully.
'He doesn't beat around the bush, does he?'
"Call me Tom," he replied.
"Okay! So where're you going?"
At this point, Tom could feel that something was off. Glen seemed way too enthusiastic for the situation, and he didn't seem to think that asking direct questions was awkward. Tom didn't think it was either, but he still took notice that most people did.
When he finally thought about the question, he realized Kelli would probably be finished with her test soon.
"I'm about to head back to Rustboro to meet my friend at the school," he said as he turned to walk down the road while still talking to Glen, "You want to come along?"
"Sure!"
"Hi!" greeted Glen after Tom had introduced him and Kelli to each other outside the school. It seemed Tom had been late in heading back, and the short lunch break was already over, so Kacy had gone back in to help a teacher with a particularly mischievous class.
"Hi," Kelli responded, slightly thrown off by his over-enthusiasm at apparently nothing.
"So how'd the test go?" asked Tom.
"I got a 68," answered Kelli plainly, though not without a bit of regret in her voice, "Kacy told me to come back tomorrow morning so she could teach me about status changes and move combos."
"Okay, but make sure you're at my Gym battle at 1 o' clock," said Tom.
"You're facing the Gyms?" asked Glen.
"Yeah. What about you?"
Glen shook his head. "Nah. I like contests a lot better. Speaking of which, would you guys come watch me at the contest tomorrow?"
"There's a contest tomorrow?"
"Yup! It's a short while after your Gym battle."
"I guess it would be neat to see. What about you, Kelli.
"Alright, but enough about that," said Kelli, suddenly smiling sweetly, yet Tom couldn't help but dread what the next topic would be about, "Let's talk about you and Kacy."
"Huh? What about us?" he asked. Glen just watched the conversation from the side with interest.
"Don't play dumb with me," continued Kelli, "When she told you to sit down, you moved so fast that I coulda sworn you were going to knock the desk over. I would've fallen off my chair laughing if I hadn't bit my tongue. And when she graded your test, you got all embarrassed about doing well! It's obvious that you like her! Well to me, anyway…"
Tom felt his face grow hot at the sudden realization, but he somehow kept his voice calm.
"That doesn't make any sense. Come on, let's get some lunch and we can train for the rest of the day afterwards." He then walked away towards the Center, leaving the other two behind. Kelli watched him leave with amusement dancing in her eyes, but Glen was just confused.
"Why did his face get all red? Is he sick or something?"
Kelli looked at him like she couldn't believe he was that clueless, mostly because that was exactly the case.
"Of course not. He's embarrassed."
"Why? What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Kelli sighed.
"Don't worry about it," she told him as she followed Tom. Glen also followed, still wondering what was so embarrassing about their conversation.
Sorry for the boring chapter, but some chapters are just necessary to move the plot along.
Glen Murdock is owned by kyuuketsuki fang.
Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)
Attention! I have decided to ease up on the restrictions for OCs, so please read.
I will possibly accept a second of the same starter, but they have much less chance of getting used than someone with Chikorita or Chimchar, who have STILL not been selected yet!
Lucario and Metagross are now acceptable because I can't imagine leaving them out, but a couple characters have already registered Lucario, so more entries of him probably won't make it.
Your train may have one Eevee form if you want, but I still feel iffy about using too many.
Shinnies will be accepted, but only one per submitter and trainer (that means if you submit two characters with one shiny, only one may be used, and if you submit a trainer with two shinnies, he WON'T be used).
Attention! Restrictions that remain!
Two or more starters or Eevee forms.
Legendaries, duh.
Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.
If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.
P.S. Those who already altered their parties to meet previous requirements will have their characters remain the same, as I think they are more balanced.
Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...
