Hello everybody and welcome to a new idea that I eluded to a couple of days ago called Hoenn Adventures! It's based on the events of ORAS (Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) but combining them sort of like what Emerald did. So, enjoy and feel free to express opinions on the beginning!
Chapter 1 - The Move
Most children at the age of ten would be ecstatic to choose a starter Pokemon and go out on a journey but not for aged fifteen Brendan. Brendan hated Pokemon thanks to his father's job: a Gym Leader. Gym Leaders were people who gave out 'badges' to people who bested them in a Pokemon battle. All in all, trainers, who were people who owned Pokemon, needed eight badges to compete in their region's Pokemon League, win the cup, and best both the Elite Four, who were four very powerful trainers (each region having its own Elite Four), and the Champion of the region who was even tougher than the Elite Four.
Brendan blamed Pokemon's existence for him not getting to know his father, Norman, as any son should have to right to, even if it wasn't their fault and more of his father's due to him spending more time at his workplace than his family home. The closest thing to Brendan got of speaking to his father was of what Norman did that day and how badly he 'destroyed' the challenger for thinking that they had the strength to take him down and that Norman wanted Brendan to inherit the Gym, even though that was the last thing that he wanted to do.
Due to his dislike of the creatures, Brendan never went on a journey, the closest being to go to the nearest town to pick something up for his mother, Caroline. Brendan would always be recognized as "The Gym leader's son" or "The Boy who hated Pokemon" though, he never cared to listen to them. He did have friends, but he hadn't seen them in atleast four years due to them wanting to spend more time journeying and when they did come home they were back out adventuring almost the very next day. Not that he blamed them. He knew that if he was anything like them, he'd do the exact same.
It was in the middle of summer and Brendan's family were moving from the region of Johto to the warm region of Hoenn. Norman had recently gotten moved to being the Petalburg City's Gym Leader acting as the fifth Gym that Trainers would take on. The Gym specialized in Normal-type Pokemon who, while they had no advantages in typing, they could learn any type of move making them unpredictable.
Brendan was sat at the back of the moving truck in pitch blackness feeling every bump that the truck passed over. His mother had apologized in advance for his transport but Brendan didn't really mind it too much. Brendan got on a lot better with his mother, who was named Caroline, since she actually seemed to care about him enough to get to know him. Caroline knew of Brendan's opinion of Pokemon and tried on many occasions to try to get him to change his mind such as getting him to help Professor Elm, a local Professor who worked closely with Pokemon and gave new Trainers of Johto a starting of Pokemon though, none of her or Elm's attempts worked but, before Brendan left Johto, Elm had insisted that he take a Pokemon Egg with him. The Egg was mostly green, with a cream colored bottom and three red spots near the bottom. Even though Brendan didn't like the idea of having a Pokemon with him, he felt bad turning down Elm's offer since Elm had come all the way from Newbark Town just to give him the Egg.
Brendan was a kind and energetic boy once you got to meet him but he always looked depressed. Brendan had slightly tanned skin, brown hair, which was short all around except the top of his head which allowed him to stick the right half of the top of his head's hair up, and gray eyes. He decided to wear something casual for the journey sporting a bright red jacket, which was tied around his waist, a dark green, short-sleeved shirt, blue, denim jeans and bright red sneakers with white borders and laces.
Brendan heard from his parents that they would be moving to Littleroot down in the south western part of the Hoenn region where he had also heard that a girl his age was going to start out on her journey as soon as he arrived but he just thought nothing of her since she would probably leave her to have fun. She probably already had friends anyway and, even if she did hear about Brendan's arrival, probably forgot about it anyway.
When the moving truck finally reached its destination, Brendan climbed out of it into Littleroot Town quickly finding that it was much quieter than what he was used to back in Johto being completely different than the hustling and bustling city of Goldenrod. There were only a few houses and a Pokemon Lab which looked more like one of the houses than a lab and owned by someone named Professor Birch (something else he had learnt from his parents). The small town was complete with a gentle, innocent breeze that swept across the lush, green grass. Brendan could instantly feel the heat from the sun: rain was only more common in the north-eastern part of Hoenn so Brendan had to deal with the strong sun beams for the rest of summer and most of winter since rarely ever snowed in Hoenn.
"Ma! Ma! Choke!" Brendan heard a gruff voice order snapping him out of his trance. He turned around to see two bipedal, humanoid Pokemon covered in grey skin. They had a vaguely reptilian face with a short snout, narrow red eyes, and four pointed teeth visible inside their mouth. Two of these teeth were in the upper jaw, while two were in the lower jaw. On top of their heads were three, light brown ridges. Their arms were muscular with dark red, vertical stripes on them. They possessed large, pectoral muscles that protruded slightly over their belt. They had black markings that resembled briefs along with a golden power-save belt. Brendan realized where he was and quickly realized that he was in their way, especially with the first Pokemon giving him the hand signal to step aside.
"Oh, right. Sorry." He apologized before sidestepping out of the way. One of the Pokemon rolled its eyes whilst the other gave a caring smile as if it told Brendan that it was fine. Even though Brendan hated Pokemon, he couldn't help but return the smile.
"Brendan!" Caroline shouted in an energetic voice from inside the two-story house. "Come see the house!" Brendan nodded, even if she couldn't see it, and headed through the brown door to his new home. Brendan's old house was an apartment that was small due to his father's job, Gym Trainer, not being much pay but it soon shot up once he became a Gym Leader though, he never bothered to use that money to upgrade possibly due to him almost never being at home and only popping around once or twice a week.
Brendan's eyes widened when he saw the size of his new house quickly noticing that it was easily double, no, triple the size of where he, his mother and his father used to live, even if it seemed not that great and more average to some. The first floor consisted of a living area, dining area and kitchen. Caroline smiled brightly seeing Brendan's awe-stricken state.
"So, what do you think? I, for one, adore the new place!" Caroline admitted, still excitedly. Caroline wore dark red, short-sleeved t-shirt, a navy blue, ankle length skirt, red shoes that exposed the top of her feet and a light blue hair-clip at the front of her light brown, shoulder length hair that went slightly down her back. She had brown eyes that had a kind aura to them, much like Brendan's grey ones. She turned to Brendan, still excited. "Oh! Brendan! You have to go and see your room! No longer will you have to stay in my and your father's room! Your room's second from the right." Brendan nodded, smiling himself seeing his mother smiling, which was something that she didn't do as much, and walked up the staircase. "Oh, you'll have to set the clock your father gave you." Brendan nodded but had a feeling that it was really Caroline who bought him the clock but she was just saying that it was Norman who bought it.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed that there were four doors to which he presumed was a guest room, his parent's room, his room and then a bathroom from left to right. As he entered the room in which Caroline told him was his, a bright smile crossed his face; it sure did feel nice being able to have a room of his own. This smile dropped when he noticed, in the far, top left corner of his room, was a large, round stuffed doll that had
"Typical..." Brendan muttered to himself though he decided to not let it bug him and just shut the lid of his laptop; those who he called friends were all back in Johto: somewhere he'd, hopefully, never have to see again. After setting the blue, rounded clock that was in the middle of the adjacent wall of his room's door, Brendan spent a couple of minutes in his room just getting used to the new atmosphere as the Pokemon he saw before, which he had learnt were Machoke, headed in and out placing objects where they needed to be placing, and placed his egg on the desk making sure that it was still warm enough in its glass container that was a bright orange colour on both the top and bottom. Even though he had no care for Pokemon, he didn't want to be responsible for killing an innocent life that wasn't even born yet. He wasn't sure what he would do with the creature when it did hatch, but he had no intention on just throwing it out as even that idea was wrong to him even though he had a strong negativity to the creatures.
"How do you like your new room, Brendan?" Caroline, who had walked in, wrapped her arms around Brendan's neck, and lay her head on his right shoulder, asked.
"I like it." Brendan answered. "I'd say that this room itself is bigger than our whole previous apartment." Caroline smiled before she stepped back and observed the room.
"Good! Everything's put away neatly!" She stated, smiling even wider. "They finished moving everything downstairs, too. It really is so nice having Pokemon around to help us!" She turned back to Brendan, who had spun around in his desk's chair to face her. "Oh, but you should make sure that everything's all there on your desk. How's your egg?" Brendan spun to the direction in which his egg was in.
"I'm no expert, but it seems to be doing fine." He replied, smiling slightly before turning back to Caroline. "I think that we'd know if wasn't doing good."
"That's good. I'll get lunch ready so come down soon, okay?" The brunette asked rhetorically though Brendan still nodded anyway. Caroline smiled before kissing him on the cheek and making her way to the door. She turned back just before she shut it. "Let's hope that Hoenn can bring great things, shall we?"
Brendan spent a few more minutes in his room before he decided to head downstairs. When he did, Norman had come in and was lay down on the light green couch that was in front of the TV. Norman wore a red jacket over a grey shirt and grey pants. His build was strong making him quite a hit with the ladies. He has short, black hair and light grey eyes and, even though they showed kindness to many, some saw a tad coldness in them. Brendan tried to head back upstairs slowly to get away but Norman saw him and smiled. It wasn't a nice, warm smile like his mother's, but more of an evil grin hidden behind a caring coat.
"Brendan!" Norman shouted, seeing his son. Brendan cursed under his breath but saw no way out of his predicament so revealed himself completely. "How'd you like the house? Big improvement, eh?" Norman asked with a grin showing that he was obviously pleased with himself.
"Yeah, you've really outdone yourself with this, Dad." Brendan replied, trying to sound optimistic. "It's a helluva improvement than the apartment we used to live in."
"Glad you think so!" Caroline, who was forced to sit at the dining table, smiled before she stood up and headed for the kitchen. "Lunch'll be ready in a bit so why don't you go say hello to the neighbor's daughter? She seems nice." Brendan nodded and headed for the door but was suddenly stopped when Norman grabbed the bottom of his shirt.
"Brendan, seeing as how we're in a different region, how about you start your Pokemon journey now?" The Gym Leader more ordered than asked. "You're more than old enough to do so now and that egg that Elm gave you would be a good starting Pokemon." Brendan rolled his eyes, gave an annoyed sigh and pushed Norman's hand away.
"How many times do I have tell you?! I'll go when I'm ready!" Brendan replied angrily mostly because Norman would always ask Brendan about when he would start his journey, and Brendan would always reply the same though Norman never seemed to listen or tried to force Brendan to change his mind if he kept on asking him the same question. Norman thought that Elm giving Brendan a Pokemon egg was a sign that Brendan would want to start a journey, but that turned out to be false. Norman had tried himself to try to convince Brendan to go on a journey by making him interact with his Pokemon but, like Caroline's attempts, they never succeeded though, unlike Caroline's attempts, Norman's reason for wanting Brendan to want to go on a journey was more for his benefit more than anyone else's.
"Oh, Norman, leave the boy alone. It's his life so he should be able to pick what he wants to do. Just because he's you son doesn't mean that he has to follow in your footsteps." Caroline stepped in knowing how this subject annoyed Brendan. Of course, she wanted Brendan to go on a journey as it would be a good experience for him but, unlike her husband, she could live with the fact that he didn't want to go quite yet. Her efforts showed no effect though, as Norman probably didn't hear her due to him being more focused on the TV than her. Brendan left through the front door, not wanting to be around his father at that moment in time.
Brendan had listened to his mother's advice, using it as an excuse to get away from his father right now. Yes, he wanted to get to know the man, but how could he if all he wanted to talk about was Pokemon? Even if he did listen to him and start his journey, the outcome would be the same with Norman only wanting to talk about Pokemon. Sure, they'd bond, but not in a good way. Brendan was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a middle-aged, plump man exit his house, which happened to be the house next to Brendan's, with a brown satchel over his bright white lab coat. The man noticed Brendan and waved over to him as if he was telling Brendan to come over.
"You must be Brendan! It's nice to meet you! I'm Professor Edward Birch! But you can just call me Birch." The man introduced himself, shaking Brendan's hand excitedly to the point where Brendan almost felt like he was going to throw up. When he was finally done, Brendan got a good look at the man. Birch had a kind smile on his face. He wore a white lab coat over a blue shirt and brown pants. He looked in his mid-thirties but had the energy of a five year old always going out into the field doing research on the wild Pokemon of the Hoenn region. He also was rather big, but that didn't bother him, he was almost always beaming with joy.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Brendan, Brendan Maple." Brendan replied with a smile shaking the professor's hand not wanting to be rude and make a bad first impression.
"How do you like Hoenn? The heat can get a little...intense but you get used to it." Birch chuckled.
"I noticed." Brendan joked. "But apart from the weather, it's already better than Johto!"
"You're from Johto then, eh?" Birch wondered. "I've always wanted to go there and meet Professor Elm. I heard that he was looking into Pokemon Breeding, he seems like a clumsy person but a really nice guy."
"Yeah he is. I only saw him on the few occasions that he came to my home city of Goldenrod and I felt like we became good friends." Brendan replied, smiling slightly as he reminisced about his time with Johto's famous Pokemon Professor. "He always wanted to give me a Pokemon but...I never wanted one. He eventually did though, in the form of an egg." Birch looked at Brendan in surprise.
"Y-You've never had a Pokemon?!" Birch exclaimed thinking that the situation that Brendan was in was practically impossible. "How old did you saw you were?"
"Fifteen…why?" Brendan replied, wondering why his age had something to do this. Sure, he knew full well that it was different for a child not to instantly go on a Pokemon journey at age ten, but surely it wasn't THAT rare. Birch's eyes widened even more.
"Fifteen and never had a Pokemon? I'm surprised!" Birch admitted. "Most kids nowadays jump at the chance when they turn 10!" Birch chuckled remembering seeing all of the excited faces he saw when new trainers came to get a Pokemon.
"Well, I've just never felt like going on a journey. It always seemed too complicated." Brendan lied. Even though Birch seemed to be a nice person, he didn't feel like telling him his actual reason for not going on a journey.
"My daughter's the same. She's the same age as you, actually. She never wanted to go on a journey because she thought I needed help around here with my fieldwork." Birch explained. "I finally convinced her the other day that I was more than fine without her help, especially with my aids." Hearing Birch speak about his daughter, Brendan remembered why he had come out of the house in the first place.
"Oh! That reminds me! My Mom sent me out here to go meet the neighbors. I suppose that's your family?"
"Yeah, sorry I can't stay, I've been called to the lab to investigate something my Aids spotted. I'll see you round then?" Birch began to speak as he walked backwards towards his lab.
"Sure!" Brendan replied enthusiastically. "Have a nice day!"
"You too!" Birch waved as he turned on his heels and sprinted to the direction of his lab: something which Brendan found both surprising and unique since, despite his age and physical appearance, Birch ran pretty fast almost as fast as a Dodrio. Brendan decided not to dwell on the almost super-human speed that Birch possessed and went to the Birch residence. The house's exterior was very similar to the exterior of his house except with the door and window being at different sides. When Brendan knocked on the door, it soon opened and a women wearing a purple dress, a white apron over said dress and brown hair open the door.
"Oh, hello. And...you are?" She asked curiously as she didn't recognize Brendan in the slightest.
"I'm Brendan, Brendan Maple. I just moved in next door and thought that I'd come over and say hello." Brendan replied.
"Ah, yes! I've heard about your arrival. You're the son of Petalburg's new Gym Leader, right?" Brendan nodded, slightly reluctantly before the woman stepped out of the way. "Welcome! I'm Linda, by the way." The woman introduced herself, giving Brendan a warm smile. "I'm sorry if there's a bit of a mess. I haven't had the time to clean in the last couple of days."
"Oh, really? It looks fine. I've seen unclean houses and this comes nowhere near." Brendan told her, making the housewife go slightly red.
"Oh, stop!" Linda exclaimed, covering her cheeks with her hands to hide her light blush. The Birch household was very similar to Brendan's house with it only being a polar opposite to it, much like the exterior, apart from some things being a different colour. Both the walls and flooring shared the same design. "Anyway, we have a daughter just around the same age as you and she's been excited about meeting you. She's just upstairs right now getting ready for her journey but she should be down soon." Brendan nodded. "Would you like anything?"
"No, I'm fine, thanks." Brendan answered as he sat down on the dark green couch and Linda pulled up one of the chairs on the dining table for herself to sit down.
"What about you? Have you been on a journey?" Linda questioned, sparking up a conversation.
"No, I never wanted to go on one since it always seemed too complicated to go on one." Brendan replied, lying once again.
"Huh, it's rare to see that the offspring of a Gym Leader, who's life revolves around Pokemon, has never had a Pokemon of their own, especially at your age." Linda stated before chuckling slightly. "I bet that Edward would be flabbergasted to hear that, being a Pokemon Professor and all."
"Actually, he already knows. I spoke to him when he was heading to his lab." Brendan informed her. "Plus, I do have a Pokemon egg that was given to me by Johto's Professor, Professor Elm, just before I left. It's at my home."
"Do you have any idea of what the egg might be? I'm pretty sure that my husband has something at his lab that could tell you." Linda suggested.
"No thanks. I'd like to be surprised the day it hatches but, I do have a suspicion that it might be a Pokemon from Johto due to its design." Brendan replied and Linda nodded, understanding his reason.
"Mom, who are you talking to down there?" A voice, which sounded feminine, asked from the upper floor. Linda smiled, giving a sly wink to Brendan, and headed to the bottom of the stairs.
"The boy who just moved in next door came over to say hello, sweetie. Are you done yet?" Linda answered causing a flurry of footsteps to speed down the stairs. Linda immediately cleared the area, quickly sitting back where she was previously. The creator of the noise soon revealed themselves as a young, teenage girl. She wore a scarlet tank top with a black undershirt, white short shorts with black lycra mini-leggings underneath, yellow and black ankle boots with orange soles, a red and white bandanna/kerchief and a yellow-and-green fanny pack. She looked about medium height and was slim with long, thick, mouse brown hair with a side fringe falling across her forehead. Her eyes were greyish-blue and gave off a peaceful and kind aura though, Brendan found himself accidentally staring at the girl's chest which was quite large compared to other girls that Brendan had seen. His mouth was slightly agape as the brunette made her way over to him, a bright smile on her face. She stopped when she stood in front of Brendan.
"Hi, I'm May, May Birch. You're Brendan, right? Petalburg's new Gym Leader's son?" The girl asked holding out her hand for Brendan to shake and a kind smile still evident on her face. Brendan blinked to snap himself out of his trance before returning the smile.
"Y-Yeah, that's me." Brendan replied, accepting the handshake. Linda smiled at the friendly interaction between her daughter and Brendan. Especially since she had seen Brendan's expression in the corner of her eye when he first laid eyes on her.
"Ah...It reminds me of how myself and Edward met..." Linda thought out loud purposely with an innocent smile on her face. She had to resist laughing when both of the teens went bright red when they heard her. May turned her attention to her mother.
"M-Mom!" May retorted angrily. "I've only just met Brendan so don't make a-accusations like that!" Linda couldn't stop laughing at the sheer redness on her daughter's face that made her angry tone more laughable than scary. May sighed as she sat down next to Brendan on the couch. "So, what brings you to Hoenn?" She asked, trying to change the subject.
"My Dad got a job at the Petalburg Gym. He used to be the Goldenrod City Gym Leader back in Johto but got swapped with some girl named Whitney. I'm pretty sure that they swapped him out for her because she was a native and pretty popular in the city with her family owning the local Miltank farm." Brendan explained.
"Sorry to hear that." May frowned but, they were shocked when Brendan shrugged.
"Eh, it's fine. I never really liked Johto that much anyway." Brendan informed her causing the two females to give him confused expressions.
"Why?" Linda asked with May nodding telling Brendan that she also went to know his reason.
"Most of my friends had gone on journeys and barely, if not then never, kept in contact. Whoever was left were either too upset that they didn't get a Pokemon or just sat in their houses all day. The closest that I had to a friend was Elm but he only visited once a month to collect any data that the daycare couple had found on breeding." Brendan answered.
"What about you? Why didn't you go on a journey?" Linda asked causing May to look at her in slight confusion but mostly shock. Linda saw this and decided to explain. "Brendan's never been on a journey, much like you May."
"I never felt ready to go on a journey." Brendan replied using the same reason that he had told Birch. "It seemed too stressful and complicated. My Dad really wants me to, though. I do have a Pokemon egg that I got from Elm but…I dunno."
"O-Oh." May spoke, her voice had clear disappointment. Brendan turned his head to her.
"What's wrong May?" Brendan asked seeing his new friend's sudden mood change and also feeling slightly sad himself seeing her spirits down.
"Nothing, it's just that..." May began to go slightly red again, "...I-I was h-hoping that you w-would g-go on a j-journey with m-me." Brendan felt awful at hearing this. He felt as if he had just crushed her entire existence and this was even more amplified by the saddened expression that she had currently.
"I-I'm sorry May." Brendan looked to the floor in sadness. Then it hit him. If he were to go on a journey, he would get to know this girl better. He had felt a feeling inside of him the minute he saw May enter the room. Linda's comment had pretty much confirmed it. "If this is love then, maybe I should..." Brendan thought.
"Well, I-I'd better go to Dad's lab..." May decided in a sad tone as she stood up and headed "Bye Mom, Brendan." Brendan snapped out of his thoughts when he heard this. He immediately stood up and grabbed May's hand, lightly, causing her to stop and go bright red once again.
"May, wait!" Brendan pleaded to the distraught girl. "I'll go with you to the lab. I'm not certain but maybe I'll see the Pokemon and have a change of heart." Brendan had told her this forgetting his dislike towards the creatures.
"You will?!" May suddenly shot from sadness to happiness in a matter of seconds which shocked Brendan but what shocked him even more was what the brunette did next. "Thank you!" May squealed as she hugged Brendan, her head on his chest due to their height difference, causing him to go red as well.
"W-well, no p-promises. But I-I'll think it o-over." Brendan answered, awkwardly returning the hug though he liked the feeling of both holding May close and seeing her so joyful.
After Brendan went back to his house to pick up his egg to bring to Birch's lab via Linda's recommendation to have it get checked up on, Brendan and May spoke to each other about their experiences with Pokemon as they made their way to the lab. May told Brendan that she was really into Pokemon Contests. She explained that instead of battling like a Gym battle, you would instead show the beauty of your Pokemon's moves. Brendan had heard of Contests when he would flick through the channels when watching TV or see them advertised occasionally, but he didn't see the point in them though he didn't tell her this fact as it would've obviously hurt her feelings.
When the duo walked into the lab, they walked around looking for the Professor. They had asked one of his aids where he was and he told them that he would be back shortly after doing some fieldwork. The pair sat on two chairs and began to talk again until the Professor came back shortly after.
"Ah May! Brendan! Welcome to my lab! I assume you've met?" Birch questioned walking towards to two. They both nodded. "Brendan, have you come to start your journey?"
"I'm not sure, I just came here to watch May pick her first and maybe I'll have a change of heart." He replied. "Oh, and, if it's possible, could I get this checked up?" Brendan asked, referring to the egg.
"Of course. Joshua here will do so." Birch replied signalling over a much younger man who was also wearing a lab coat, a yellow turtleneck shirt and grey trousers. He had round glasses over his grey eyes and very dark green, shaggy hair.
"I'll take good care of this little one. Could you tell me how long you've had it for?" Joshua asked, taking the egg from Brendan.
"Well, I'm not completely sure, but I'd have to say maybe a week, possible two." Joshua nodded before walking off.
"Well, let's get to it then! Follow me!" Birch told them as he walked to a pair of double doors. When the trio walked in, there were three Pokeballs and a brown, leather messenger bag on the table. Birch picked them all up and released them to show to Brendan and May. Brendan winced when he saw the three creatures on the table. May saw this and gave him a confused expression.
"Don't tell me you're scared of three little Pokemon!" May teased. Brendan's eyes widened since he was surprised that May saw his reaction, and he went slightly red.
"N-no, just never been so close to one before." Brendan replied.
"I thought your Dad was a gym leader? Didn't you watch his battles?" May asked in confusion.
"Well, yeah, but that was from the stands. Apart from that, I never really interacted with them." Brendan replied.
"Anyway, how about you meet the Pokemon?" Birch suggested as he moved closer to the desk with the three Pokemon.
"OK!" May agreed in excitement.
"This one here is Treecko, it's a grass type." Birch stated as he stood behind the gecko-like Pokemon on the far left of the trio of animals. Treecko was a small, green, bipedal reptilian Pokémon. It had yellow eyes with long, narrow pupils. Treecko's hands and feet each had three digits covered with tiny spikes. Its stomach and throat were red. It also had a line across on its stomach resembling a pouch. Treecko had a large, dark green tail with two separate lobes.
"Tree-ko!" The Wood Gecko Pokemon announced itself, its arms folded and its body posture facing slightly away from both Brendan and May though it kept a good eye on Brendan silently hoping that the boy would pick him. Birch then moved to the Pokemon that was in the middle of the three.
"This one here is Mudkip, it's a water-type." Birch said pointing at a blue, mudfish-like Pokemon. Mudkip was a small, amphibious, quadruped Pokemon. It had a blue body with a light-blue underside. It had a large head with a blue fin on top, and a light-blue tail fin. It had black, beady eyes and orange, star-shaped gills on its cheeks.
"Mudkip!" The Mud Fish Pokemon introduced itself bouncing on its heels in a cute-like manner. Birch moved to the Pokemon that was on the far right of the trio of creatures.
"And this one here is Torchic, it's a fire-type." Birch said pointing at a fire chicken-like Pokemon. Torchic was a small, chick Pokémon with stubby, downy, yellow wings. Its body was covered with orange feathers. There was an orange and yellow crest on its head that resembled a flame. Its two thin legs and short beak were of a light brownish yellow, and its feet had three toes in front and one in the back.
"Torchic!" The Chick Pokemon chanted in a playful matter as it ran in small circles eventually falling flat onto its face. Brendan was surprised that he didn't feel any negative thoughts to the three creatures and only thought about how cute and hilarious they were thought his eyes seemed to stick to Treecko. Something about his "cool and calm" attitude seemed to make him stand out to Brendan whereas Mudkip's playful and carefree attitude and Torchic's fun and energetic attitude, while he did like them, didn't appeal to him as much.
"Hmm, this is a really hard choice." May admitted giving each of the three animals each the same amount of spotlight in her gaze. Her eyes widened as she seemed to have an idea causing her to turn to Brendan. "What about you, Brendan? What do you think?" Brendan didn't reply as he seemed to be in some sort of trance. "Hey! Have you been paralyzed by their cuteness?" May teased as she waved her hand in front of Brendan's face snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Huh? What?" Brendan asked shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts.
"I asked you which one you thought was the best!" May replied to him playfully annoyed.
"Oh, right, sorry." Brendan apologized scratching the back of his head, sheepishly. "I think Treecko's pretty cool." The gecko looked at him, his eyes widened showing that he was surprised at what Brendan had just said, before running at top speed towards the Johto-native. "H-Hey! What're you doing?!" Brendan asked as the grass-type went in for a strong tackle sending Brendan to the ground. Birch and May couldn't help but laugh.
"I think that Treecko likes you Brendan." Birch told him, ending his laughing fit.
"Really? I didn't realize." Brendan joked as he playfully patted Treecko on the head earning a few delightful coos from the gecko. He surprised himself when he realized that he was completely fine around the Pokemon. He expected that he would freeze up even breathing the same air as the creatures but, seeing that these three barely reached the side of his knee, it seemed to help him be nearer to them.
"Guess that leaves only two choices." May stated turning back to the water and fire type once again looking at both of the Pokemon as they both gave the cutest expressions imaginable thinking that it would increase their chances of being picked over the other. For most trainers, this wouldn't have worked but on May, definitely. In the meantime, Brendan had gotten out of the gecko's light grip, stood up and placed the gecko onto his shoulder. "I got it!" May announced making both Brendan, Birch and the three Pokemon jump at the sudden outburst. May walked over to the desk and knelt down to their level. "Torchic, how about it?"
"Tor-chic!" Torchic chirped happily as she jumped from the desk and towards May who, in a surprisingly quick motion, caught the Chick Pokemon in her arms bringing the fire type into a tight embrace. Mudkip's smile dropped into a frown as it dropped its head. Birch noticed this and knelt down to the water type's level.
"Don't feel down Mudkip, I'm sure that there's a trainer out there that wants to pick you as a starter." Birch whispered in Mudkip's ear as he patted its head. Mudkip nodded and smiled at Birch who returned it.
"So Brendan, are you going to go on a journey or are you still not sure?" May asked once Torchic had calmed down slightly, returned her to her pokeball and put it in her fanny-pack. Brendan dropped his head slightly as if in thought.
"Do I want to go on a journey?"Brendan repeated in his thoughts."I'm leaning towards yes since I'm fine against these Pokemon but, what if I chicken out when I get into battles? Maybe I should tell them my real reason for not wanting to go on a journey. I mean, these are my first friends in Hoenn and I don't want to be moping around the place like I was in Johto. May seems like a really nice girl and I don't want to disappoint her."He sighed."It'll come out anyway so may as well get it over with."
"Guys," Brendan began not looking at the other two in the room. "I...I wanna tell you my reason for not wanting to go on a journey."
"You already did though...?" May asked, confused.
"No, I...I lied when I said that." Brendan heard Birch and May gasp causing him to shut his eyes tightly as if to shut out their shocked expressions. "The real reason I didn't want to go on a journey is..."
"Is because...? C'mon, you can tell your friends, right?" May encouraged holding Brendan's hand in a friend-like manner and smiling at him though he couldn't see it. Brendan nodded and took a deep breath.
"Is because I..." Brendan began quietly. "I-I hate Pokemon!" Brendan cringed at the sounds of the gasps from both Birch and May and prepared himself for the angry comments that he would get for thinking that way of, what many people thought, the kind creatures known as Pokemon.
"Why? Why do you hate Pokemon?" Birch asked in a calm voice. Brendan lifted his head up very surprised at the calmness in Birch's voice.
"I-It's because my Dad's a gym leader. Ever since he became one, he would always stay there for days...maybe even weeks and would barely come home." Brendan took a deep breath to try to stop the tears that were beginning to form. "A-And when he did come home, all he would talk about is Pokemon! He would always say to me "You are going to inherit the gym someday." when I didn't want anything to do with Pokemon!" Brendan was desperately trying to hold back the tears now as a few did escape down his cheeks. May, seeing her friend's distress, pulled Brendan into a tight hug.
"There, there. It's OK." May comforted him in a motherly, soothing voice.
"You guys probably think I'm some wimp now, huh?" Brendan asked pulling away from the hug, wiping his eyes, and dropping his head slightly.
"Of course not! We'd never think of you like that!" Birch replied walking closer to Brendan. "Maybe I should have a word with your father."
"No, you can't!" Brendan disagreed. "He'd be so ashamed of me for of what I think!"
"Brendan, he won't. He's your father, he'll understand." May said laying another reassuring hand on Brendan's shoulder and giving a caring smile. "C'mon, let's go talk to him." Brendan nodded still wiping his eyes desperately trying to rid of any evidence that he had shed any tears.
When the trio came to Brendan's house, the sun was setting meaning that there weren't many people out since they had either gone home or left town. Brendan had elected for himself to knock on to door and, when he did, the door was almost immediately opened by Caroline.
"Oh hello sweetie!" Caroline greeted before noticing Birch and May. "Oh! You must be the profound Professor Birch and his daughter! It's so nice to meet you! Would you like to co-"
"Mrs. Maple, is your husband home?" Birch asked interrupting Caroline in a serious tone.
"Yeah, what's up?" Norman responded appearing at the door.
"May we come inside?" Birch asked and Caroline nodded noticing the serious tone of the trio. She also noticed that Brendan was looking at the ground in shame and, opposite her husband, knew what this was about and, though she wasn't looking forward to what this would entail, she knew that this had to be done someday. The trio sat on the couch whilst Norman and Caroline sat at the dining table near to the couch. May held Brendan's hand once again in a friend-like matter to try to calm to boy's nerves down.
"Now, what's this about?" Norman asked. His tone told the three that he was slightly annoyed and wanted to get this over with.
"Well you see, Brend-" Birch began
"I don't want to inherit the gym!" Brendan shouted standing up and looking his father straight in the eye. Norman was taken aback by his son's sudden outburst.
"What do you mean?" Norman asked again confused but Caroline knew what was coming next.
"I mean I don't want to be forced into your lifestyle!" Brendan replied, shouting back at his father. "You always came home late and even on the rare occasion that you did come home all you talked of was Pokemon, yourself and nothing else! You barely even talked to me or Mom! Not even a "Hello!" or "How was your day?"!" Norman was taken aback even more from hearing this from his son though his expression showed no emotion.
"Go to your room." Norman ordered in an emotionless voice but Brendan didn't move. "I SAID GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Norman shouted standing up himself and anger clear across his face. Brendan ran upstairs and slammed the door to his room.
"Mr. Maple, I reall-" Birch began trying to calm down the raging Gym Leader.
"THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!" Norman balled back at the professor. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Norman pointed to the door.
"Norman please!" Caroline spoke trying to calm Norman down also.
"NO! I WON'T STAND HERE AND LET A COMPLETE STRANGER TELL ME HOW TO RAISE MY SON!" Norman shouted at his wife almost hitting her with his clenched fist but he didn't so he turned back to Birch and May "I SAID GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Norman balled even louder.
"C'mon May, do as he says." Birch told his daughter getting up from the couch and heading to the door.
"But what about Br-" May argued.
"There's nothing we can do, c'mon." Birch interrupted in a sad tone as he patted her back. May started to form tears in her eyes as she stood up herself and headed to the door but not before giving Norman one more glance.
"I hope you know what you've just done." May told him before walking out of the door with Birch. Norman shot a glare back but May was unfazed. She knew that Norman, despite his strong outside, he was weak on the inside and used his strong exterior to compensate for that weakness.
Upstairs, Brendan was laid flat out on his bed with his head buried in his pillow to not only block out his parent's arguing downstairs but also to try to not show weakness by crying. Even with this, he could still hear both his mother and father's angry voices echo throughout the entire house with Norman's showing nothing but anger and Caroline's, whilst still showing anger, was constantly cracking showing that she was also upset. Brendan turned over so he was now resting on his back and Treecko immediately curled up on his stomach in a ways to comfort his trainer.
"Why?" Brendan asked himself. "Why does he even care about what I want to do? He doesn't even care about me in the first place!" Brendan sighed.
"Tree..." Treecko sighed as well.
"What's gonna happen next?" Brendan sighed again. "Things'll just get worse from h-" His attention was suddenly diverted to the window when he heard a tapping sound. What was making the tapping sound was a small, navy blue bird with a piece of paper that was rolled up and tied with an elastic band. This bird was, as he had learnt from May, was a Tailow - one of Hoenn's famous flying-types known for its speed and attack strength. Taillow was a small bird Pokemon with dark blue feathers and patches of red on its chest and forehead. The patch on its forehead had a triangular upper tip. It had narrow brown eyes and a short yellow beak. It had elongated wingtips, and the underside of the wings was white. It had two sharp tail feathers, and its black feet had yellow claws.
"Tailow!" The Tiny Swallow Pokemon spoke seeing that Brendan had noticed its presence. Brendan wiped his slightly wet eyes before opening the window and letting the flying type in. As soon as Tailow was inside, it flew around in a circle around five times before landing on Brendan's head and dropping the note onto his lap. Brendan picked up the note, undid the elastic knot and unrolled the piece of paper. On the note, it said:
Dear Brendan,
I know what you must be feeling right now, I have some...slight problems with my father, also. But do not let that get you down. Though you may not see it, I see great potential in you and I think that there is not time like the present to use that potential to your best.
I assume that you gotten a Pokemon from Professor Birch, no? Well, why not go on a journey? I know that you think that it's "complicated" but, you seem to already have a travelling partner and I've seen the way that you act around her. Let's just say...you want more than the two of you to be "just friends", am I right?
Anyway, your Pokemon and you already have a strong bond with each other and you've barely known each other for even half a day and I'm pretty sure that you don't want your father to see you again, do you? Don't worry about your mother. She's a strong woman who's dealt with him for far longer than you've had to. She'll be fine.
Why would you trust a complete stranger, you ask? Well, we'll get to know each other, soon enough. But that's only if you take this chance. I hope you know what to do.
Stone
"Tailow tai! Low tai!" Tailow flew to the open window and nudged his head in the direction of the outside world.
"You're saying to run away?" Brendan asked, somehow being able to "translate" what Tailow was saying. "But...I can't leave Mom here with Dad, who knows what he'll do." Brendan looked down. "I know that this letter said that she's a strong woman but...it's a complete stranger! They don't know who Dad really is!" Tailow sighed but then it got an idea as it then flew over to Brendan's desk, snatched the note from Brendan's hand and pulled out a newly sharpened pencil from the pot, laying it next to the now blank piece of paper.
"You're telling me to write a note telling Mom to run away too?" The bird nodded. "Wait, why am I listening to a Pokemon? It's your fault in the first place!" Tailow looked at Brendan in confusion. "Don't even try to deny it! If it weren't for Pokemon, then Dad wouldn't have become a Gym Leader and would've wanted me to become one too! We would've lived a happy life if it weren't for you Pokemon!"
"You can't just blame it on the Pokemon, Brendan. It's not their fault." A voice said behind Brendan. He turned around to see a man with blue hair wearing a black suit and multiple rings on his fingers sat in the window. Despite his height and slightly muscular build, he fit in the somewhat small window-frame perfectly. He also had deep sea blue eyes.
"And who the hell are you?! And how the hell did you get in here?!" Brendan asked in anger.
"My name is Steven, Steven Stone. I'm not surprised that you don't know about me." The man replied. "And, how I got here is a secret." Steven tapped the side of his nose with a sly smirk.
""Stone"?" Brendan repeated before looking at the signature on the note. His eyes widened as he made the connection and looked back at Steven. "Wait, you're the one who wrote this note!"
"Good, your eyes work." Steven joked. "But, yes, that is me."
"Then you've been stalking me this entire day?" Brendan asked making Steven laugh embarrassedly.
"Well, I wouldn't call it "stalking" more like..." Steven stopped mid-sentence to think of an excuse. "...making sure you fit in well with your new surroundings." Steven chuckled embarrassedly after saying this. Brendan rolled his eyes.
"I suppose that this Tailow is yours?" Brendan asked and was surprised when Steven shook his head.
"No, Tailow simply saw what happened earlier downstairs so I decided to write a letter and Tailow gladly accepted." Steven replied.
"Tailow!" Tailow said proudly puffing out its chest in pride making the two humans smile at the Pokemon's attitude. Steven turned his gaze back to Brendan.
"Anyway...what's your decision? Stay here for the rest of your life in misery or go out there and explore the world for yourself?"
"Even if I wanted to...I couldn't." Brendan replied. "I can't just leave my mother here with my Dad..."
"Your mother is a strong woman, Brendan, she can handle him easily and she has been for God knows how many years but if you want to achieve your dream, then you'll have to do it." Steven explained.
"Oh yeah? And what is this 'dream' of mine?" Brendan asked, angrily again, making quotation marks in the air.
"That's not my question to answer. It may be to become to champion, it may be to become a Top Coordinator or, you may take the humbler approach and become a Breeder. You have to find that answer for yourself." Steven answered. "Like I said in the note, I see great potential in you. Enough potential for you to become champion of any region." Brendan was about to retort angrily like he had done with all of Steven's other replies, but he thought about what Steven said at the end. Could he? Could he really become the champion of a region? How? He had no experience in battling the only experience he did have was either watching his father at a very young age or seeing the odd match on TV.
"How can someone like me become the champion?" Brendan asked though, he got no reply so he decided to turn back around to see Steven but, much to his and the two Pokemon that were in the room with him, he was gone. "The hell did he just go?"
"Tailow." Tailow spoke nuzzling its head against Brendan's leg. Brendan picked up the minute flying type, putting it into his arms, and petting its head.
"I'm sorry Tailow, I shouldn't have lashed out on you. I'm so sorry." Brendan apologized.
"Tailow tai." Tailow replied, accepting the apology, before nudging Tailow to the window again.
"Yeah, he was right. It's the only way." Brendan admitted. Soon after the door to his room had opened. He was expecting it to be Norman but it was Caroline. Brendan didn't notice that his parents' arguing had stopped when he was talking the Steven. Caroline sat next to Brendan on his bed.
"I-I'm sorry about your father Brendan." Caroline apologized, her voice breaking slightly.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. It's that prick's fault." Brendan corrected her. Caroline would normally scold Brendan for using language like that, but she let it slide this once. "I...I'm running away." Brendan admitted again. Caroline was shocked but soon agreed.
"Go." Caroline agreed, tears in her eyes. "Go on your journey, get away from here as fast as you can!" Brendan turned to her.
"Mom, what about D-" Brendan began.
"Your Dad? I'll be fine. You go any enjoy yourself. Don't worry about me." Caroline interrupted, even more tears were in her eyes. Brendan pulled in for a hug as his eyes were beginning to grow wet.
"Mom, I'm so sorry!" Brendan apologized again through tears. "If I hadn't of said anything, this would've never happened!"
"It's not your fault, honey. It's mine. I should've spoken up years before. I'm proud of you for standing up to your father like that. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to someone like him, even a family member." Caroline then noticed the open window, Treecko and Tailow. "Guess you already have two Pokemon to take with you." She smiled.
"Tailow's not mine." Brendan corrected her. "It just flew in from the open window." Caroline smiled again.
"Still, it's rare for a wild Pokemon to care so much for someone who it has never met before." Caroline stated before looking back at Treecko. "You take care of him, OK?"
"Tree-ko!" Treecko replied doing a salute making Caroline and Brendan smile. Caroline looked towards Brendan.
"I'd go now, Norman's going to be here anytime soon and I fear what he's going to do to you. You know how he takes insults." Brendan nodded taking his turtle shell-like backpack and putting it around him and returning Treecko to his ball. Caroline gave him a kiss on the forehead as a goodbye.
"I promise, next time you see me that man will be gone." Brendan told his mother before he climbed through the window. Caroline smiled and nodded before she remembered something rather important.
"Take May with you." She told him causing Brendan to look confused. "She couldn't bring herself to travel knowing what you've gone through. You've found a great friend." Caroline smiled but it quickly went away when they both heard someone, Norman, walk angrily up the stairs. "Go! Quick!" Brendan nodded and quickly ran out to the roof shutting the window behind him, and hiding behind the wall, as Norman walked into the room.
"Where is the little shit?" Norman asked clearly angry. Caroline didn't answer and tried to walk out of the room. "Where do you think that you're going?!"
"Away from you!" Caroline replied, shouting as she tried to get out of Norman's grip. But to no avail. All there was was a smack and a thud. Which Brendan heard all of so he feared the worst though, he knew that there was no going back now so he quietly climbed down the wall and headed in the direction of the Birch residence: a place that, right now, was a hell of a lot safer than home.
Because the sky was pitch black, Brendan's movements were completely unseen as he used this to his advantage to sneak towards the Birch residence. Brendan had told Tailow that he would see it the next morning so the flying type said its goodbyes before flying off into the distance. Brendan knocked on the Birch residence's front door, his eyes not leaving his house's door for any sudden movements. Linda opened the door shortly after.
"Oh, Brendan! Are you alright? Edward told me what happened. I would've never thought that someone such as Norman would be like that." Linda admitted, obviously surprised.
"Yeah, can I come inside, please?" Brendan answered eyeing his house's door. Linda noticed this and quickly let him in. Brendan thanked her as his nerves calmed down instantly due to the Birch residence's calm and caring atmosphere.
"May! Brendan's here to see you!" Linda shouted from the bottom of the stairs and, for the second time today, May quickly ran down said stairs at the sound of Brendan's name and, as soon as she got down the stairs and spotted Brendan, she gave him a hug.
"I was so worried! Are you OK?" May asked clearly concerned for her friend.
"Y-Yeah." Brendan replied slightly red at how close he was to May.
"What's wrong?" May asked, even more concerned, as she pulled away from the hug but her arms still wrapped around him.
"Well...I-I left Mom with him..." Brendan replied, his eyes growing wet again.
"Sit down and tell us what happened." Birch suggested walking over to the house. Brendan nodded, sat down and, thanks to comfort from May, he explained what had happened. He even mentioned Steven appearing seeing these three as trustworthy enough to know a fact such as that.
"Steven? The champion?" Birch repeated, quite surprised. "I never would've thought that he'd be hanging around a small town such as this.
"Yeah, he came when I got a little angry at this Tailow that flew in with a note in its mouth." Brendan presented the note from his pocket and placed it on the table. "He's the one who brought up the idea of leaving to go on a journey."
"So, does that mean that you want to travel now?" May asked instantly after Brendan finished talking. Brendan nodded making May's face beam with happiness but it almost instantly went back down as it was not appropriate to jump and squeal like a high school girl at this moment in time.
"Tell you what, you rest here tonight and set off early tomorrow morning." Birch suggested and Brendan nodded, accepting the offer.
"I'll show you to your room Brendan...unless you want to sleep in the same room as May?" Linda teased as she stood up and headed to the stairs. Both Brendan and May went bright red as Linda giggled like a school girl and Birch rolled his eyes. Brendan thanked Linda but she told him that there was no need to. If he was going to help her daughter on her journey then he'd be welcome to stay here 'any day of the week'.
For the rest of the evening Brendan just lay on his bed thinking of the events that had happened. Treecko and Tailow, which had come back because it was worried about Brendan and had agreed to join Brendan on his journey, were asleep on Brendan's bed with Treecko being curled up on his chest, receiving slow strokes from Brendan, and Tailow was on his bed's headboard and occasionally flew around the room. Brendan lay there for hours just thinking: this was a lot to take in for someone at his age. He couldn't phone the police and tell them of what happened since he had no proof and Norman was a gym leader so he was highly respected by everyone who knew him. A knock at his room's door snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Brendan, can I come in?" A feminine voice, which Brendan recognized easily, asked.
"Yeah, sure, come on in, May." Brendan replied as the door slowly opened revealing the beautiful brunette that he thought very fondly of. Brendan smiled at her and she smiled back before shutting the door slowly and lying down next to him, her head slightly resting on his chest, and wrapping her left arm around his waist just barely avoiding the curled up gecko. Brendan put his left arm, that was holding the back of his head, around her, laying his hand on her arm.
"How're you feeling?" May asked after a slight moment of, not awkward but enjoyable, silence.
"Better, now that you're here." Brendan teased unable to suppress his smirk. May only rolled her eyes but she smiled slightly anyway. "But in all seriousness, still in shock. I knew my father my whole life. Sure, he and Mom would argue, but he'd never hit her or said any sort of insult that he ever meant. He'd always apologize the next day." Brendan explained.
"We'll get over it Brendan." May reassured him, snuggling more into his chest.
"'We'll'?" Brendan repeated slightly confused but mostly in shock that this person who he hadn't even known a day would want to help him with a problem like this. May looked up at him.
"Well, yeah, if we're going to be travelling together, I wanna be there for you, as friend a friend would." May responded, smiling. Brendan returned the smile, finding that it was impossible not to when he witnessed her smile. They both stayed like that for a while both enjoying being in the other's embrace before a knock on the room's door made them both jump slightly and their heads snap to the door.
"Brendan?" The person on the other side of the door's voice, who both Brendan and May recognized as Linda's, asked. "Would you like anything before bed?"
"N-No. I'm good, Mrs Birch, thanks." Brendan answered.
"Alright, then." Linda acknowledged. "Good night, then. You too, May." Both Brendan and May's eyes widened as Linda giggled. "You two keep your clothes on, now." Linda's giggling intensified as now both Brendan and May were slightly red. They both waited for her footsteps to disappear before speaking.
"W-Well...That wa-"
"How did she know I was in here?!" May interrupted jumping up and startling Brendan, Tailow and waking up Treecko in the process. She sighed before sitting down on the bed again as Brendan sat up allowing Treecko to sit on his left shoulder.
"Why does it matter?" Brendan questioned before getting a sly smirk. "Or...Were you trying to hide in my room in hopes of sleeping in the same bed with me...?" May went slightly red at this comment but shook it off and turned back to Brendan.
"I'd better go to my room before even my Dad gets suspicious. Even though he seems like a carefree kind of guy, he can get real over-protective sometimes." May stated laughing slightly.
"Hell of a better Dad than mine..." Brendan joked though May didn't catch on and her smile dropped. Brendan realized what he had done and immediately regretted it. "Ah, that brought down the mood, didn't it?"
"Yeah it did, Mr. Downer!" May agreed, playfully sounding annoyed causing the two to laugh together. May stopped before Brendan and stood up. "I really should get going..." May stated, a touch of sadness in her tone. "I'll see you tomorrow, OK?" Brendan nodded and smiled at the same time. May smiled back before leaning over to Brendan and, much to the trainer's surprise, kissed his cheek causing him to go slight red though it was hidden in the room's darkness and went for the door. "Night." She said, looking over her shoulder and smiling at the slightly-out-of-it boy after opening the door. She giggled slightly seeing Brendan's paralyzed state and left the room, shutting the door quietly, and heading to her own room. Brendan touched where May's lips touched his cheek lightly, still somewhat having the feeling of them being there. His slight trance was ended when he heard the chortling of his animal partner on his left shoulder.
"I knew I should've picked Mudkip..."
That shut him up