Chapter 11: Mary

A few days later,

Mary O'Brien was walking to Professor Birch's lab with her sister Christine. Mary had celebrated her 10th birthday a few days ago and was now going to get her first pokemon. She was so excited. Her neighbor, May, used to hate pokemon. But once she received her Torchic, she enjoyed training. If Pokemon can do that for someone who hates them, Mary can only dream of what they can do to someone who loves them.

The O'Briens weren't Mary's birth family. Mary had been orphaned at the age of three. The O'Briens adopted her.

Her foster father was a scientist. He would work with some of the top Pokemon researchers to figure out how Pokemon get their power and how it affects the environment. He was born in Hoenn and was once a trainer.

Her foster mother was an artist. Two of her favorite subjects were her children and pokemon. She kept her past pretty quiet.

Christine, Mary's foster sister, was nine years older than Mary. Mary had first met Christine when she came home for a break from training. She was tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Christine was now nineteen going on twenty (A/N: Brock and Andy's age), and still training to be a breeder. She was also a top coordinator.

Mark was Mary's foster brother. He was seven, and dying to be in Mary's shoes. He loved Pokemon with a passion. He would go over to his friend's house to play and study Pokemon. Max, Mark's friend, was May's younger brother as well as the child of the gym leader. Max had joined his sister on her journey.

Even though Mary wasn't a biological member of the O'Brien family, she loved them as if they were. She didn't remember anything about her birth parents. They had died in a car crash.

"Are you excited Mary?" Christine asked.

"You bet." She answered.

"Now remember," Christine told her. "I'm only walking you to the lab. Once there, I have to get back."

"I understand Chris." She said.

0000

It was evening when Mary and Christine stopped at the entrance to the lab.

"This is it." Christine said. "Professor Birch's lab."

"Thanks for taking me." Mary said.

"No problem" Christine said. "You're my little sister in everything but blood."

With that, Christine called out her Dragonite.

"Why didn't we ride Drag?" Mary asked.

"One. Too much weight." Christine said as she got on her pokemon. "Two. It gave us more time to spend together."

"I like the last one better." Mary said.

"Good luck Mary." Christine said. "I'll see you around."

"Don't flirt too much." Mary teased.

Christine gave her a look before smiling and flying off into the setting sun.

0000

Mary entered the lab to see the Professor talking on the phone to another professor.

"Okay Professor Oak." Professor Birch said. "I'll keep my eye out for them. Thanks."

"No. Thank you." Professor Oak said. "Well, I must be going now."

"Yeah. Me to. Mary O'Brien is supposed to be coming over to get her first pokemon."

"Eh hem." Mary cleared her throat.

"Huh?" Birch said as he turned around to see the brown haired young girl in her white shirt and red shorts.

"Hi Professor." She greeted him.

"Hi Mary." Birch said before turning to the other Professor. "I have to go now, Sam. Bye."

"Bye." Samuel Oak said as they hung up.

"Sorry for interrupting." Mary apologized.

"No need for an apology." Birch said. "At least it wasn't Professor Elm. He can go on forever. At least Professor Oak knows when's a good time to stop."

"I hope I can meet them one day." She said.

"You will Mary." Birch said.

"What kind of Pokemon do you have for me?" she asked excitedly.

"Well," Birch told her. "Right now, they are at the Pokemon Center getting a check up. They should be back in a few hours."

"Oh." Mary said. "Why couldn't you give them the check up?"

"Nurse Joy's better at general check ups. I can handle emergencies if necessary."

"I can wait. Can you at least TELL me?"

"Well, there's Torchic, Treeko, and Mudkip." Birch explained. "Torchic is a fire type, Treeko is a grass type, and Mudkip is a water type. Don't make up your mind before you see them though."

DING DONG

"Joshua!" Birch called. "Can you get that?"

"Right away Professor Birch." The assistant called back.

A few minutes later, he came back looking like he had seen double.

"Joshua?" Birch asked. "What's wrong?"

"You might want to see this for yourself." Joshua said as two identical teenage boys came in each with a Pikachu on the shoulder.

"Hi." One of them said.

"You must be Professor Birch." The other one said.

"You two must be Ash and Aaron Ketchem." Birch said. "Professor Oak told me that you two would be coming."

"Figures." Ash whispered to Aaron.

"Pikachu" (Hello)

The Pikachus had turned to Mary and greeted her. This caught the boys' attentions and they turned to Mary.

"Hi." They said.

"I'm Ash and this is my twin brother, Aaron." The one named Ash introduced them.

"Hi." She said.

Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulders and hopped into Mary's lap.

"Pikachu wants to make friends with you." Ash explained.

Mary timidly held her hand above the Pikachu's head and slowly started to pet it.

"Pikachu" (That feels good)

"Pikachu likes it when people pet him like that." Ash told her.

"Is your Pikachu the same way?" Mary asked Aaron.

"You have no idea." Aaron said as Static went to join Pikachu. "Mind your electricity, Static."

"Pika Pikachu" (No problem Aaron.)

RING RING RING PHONE CALL PHONE CALL

"Hello?" Birch answered the phone.

"Hi Professor." Nurse Joy said on the other line. "The Pokemon are ready."

"Great. I'm ready over here. Thanks for checking them."

"No problem." She said smiling.

A few seconds later, the pokemon were over there and Mary was looking at the three pokeballs.

"Are you picking your first Pokemon?" Aaron asked.

Mary nodded.

"That's great." Ash said. "I remember when I got my first."

"What was it?" Mary asked.

"Pikachu" (Me.)

"Him." Ash said pointing to the Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Likewise." Aaron said pointing to Static.

"I didn't know Pikachus were on the list for people to get first." Joshua said.

"They're not." Aaron said. "We just slept in our first day and we were late. I wouldn't have it any other way"

"Pikachu" (You got that right.)

Professor Birch opened all three pokeballs and the three pokemon came out.

"I haven't seen those before." Aaron said.

"These are Torchic, Treeko, and Mudkip." Birch introduced the trainers.

"Pikachu" (Hi) both Pikachu's said

"Treeko" (Hi)

"Mudkip" (Hi)

"Torchic" (Hi)

Mary looked at each pokemon. The Treeko was a little too creepy for her. Mudkip was the same one Christine chose when she had started, so Mary wanted to do something different than her.

That left the Torchic. May had done well with her's. And it WAS cute.

"I choose Torchic." She announced.

"Torchic!" (Yeah!)

"Well then," Birch said calling the others back and handing her Torchic's pokeball. "It's all yours."

"Thanks." She said.

"It's late." Joshua said. "Why don't you three stay here for the night?"

"Thanks." The three trainers said.

0000

The next morning,

"Hey Ash? Aaron?" Mary said to the two boys.

"Yes?" they answered.

"I was wondering," she said shyly. "If I could travel with you two? I heard that people do better when they travel in a group."

The twins looked at each other and then at their Pikachus.

"Pikachu" (Sure)

"Okay." They said. "You're in."

"Thanks" she said.

"Where's the first city?" Aaron said.

"Petalburg." Mary answered.

"Is there a gym?" Ash asked.

"Yes." She said.

"Let's go to Petalburg." They said

TBC