I do not own Pokemon, and probably never will, because I'm broke. This is a fanfiction, and nothing more, so please don't sue me.
It's been roughly one week since I moved to Littleroot town with my parents. For the past 16 years, we lived in the city. There weren't many pokemon where I lived, except for Taillow and the occasional Wingull. Growing up in the concrete jungle made me crave the outdoors more than anything. Sadly I'd rarely get the chance to experience it since the closest thing to the wilderness was the small park in the city center. One day my father got a job opportunity as an assistant researcher at Professor Birch's laboratory, which meant we would have to move from the city to the countryside. It was a dream come true. It's a quiet little town, full of greenery and life. A drastic change, compared to the city. I made friends with our neighbors, Brendan and May. They shared a dream of becoming great pokemon masters. Their infatuation became my own shortly after we met. May introduced me to his father Professor Birch, who gave the starter pokemon to Hoenn's young trainers. The three of us had the opportunity to be those young trainers starting tomorrow.
"Hey! Wake up, Eric!" Brendan shouted, throwing pebbles at my window. I sluggishly crawled out of my bed and opened the window. May and Brendan were outside waving at me.
"When you guys said we should meet in the morning, I didn't expect it would be at the crack of dawn." I groaned.
"Why don't you guys come in while I get ready?" I asked with a tired voice. They nodded and walked towards the front of my house. I shut the window and grabbed some clothes that I left out yesterday. I prepared my travel gear the night before, so I wouldn't have to waste time in the morning and stall those two. Not like it mattered, Brendan and May were probably waiting for me for a bit and that's why they pelted my window with pebbles. I made my way downstairs after gearing up and double-checking my pack. Compact tent, sleeping bag, first aid kit and some food to name a few. Brendan and May were at the table chatting with my mom when I finally got downstairs.
"There you are, Eric!" Brendan chuckled. I felt a little embarrassed about making them wait for me. "You ready?" He asked with a smirk.
"You bet your ass I am!" I flashed him a confident smile. I said goodbye to mom and we headed out the door. On our way to Professor Birch's laboratory, we kept wondering about what kind of pokemon we may get as our starter.
"I bet it's going to be something awesome, like a Bagon or a Vigoroth!" Brendan kept hyping.
"I hope it's something cute! Maybe a Marill or Beautifly! May chimed in. We finally got to Birch's lab. He was already waiting for us outside.
"Hey, daddy!" May cheerfully greeted the professor. Brendan and I looked at each other and chuckled. She ignored us and went up to her dad to give him a hug.
"Hey, there pumpkin!" Birch embraced May with a smile.
"Oh, hey you two!" He said, turning to us with May still clinging off him.
"Good morning, Professor!" I greeted him. May finally let go of his dad and the three of us entered his laboratory. It was full of machines and there were a lot of people in lab coats working on them. I saw my dad at the far end of the room and waved at him. He saw me and waved back before returning to his duties. Professor Birch led us to a desk with three Pokeballs on it.
"Today you three will become official pokemon trainers!" He exclaimed enthusiastically.
"You will each choose from these three Pokemon." He continued. Birch proceeded to open all of them in succession. Three small pokemon busted out of the ball, looking very excited.
"They are Treecko, Mudkip, and Torchic." He explained. We stood there in awe before May quickly ran up to the desk and grabbed Torchic.
"You're so adorable! I choose you, Torchic!" May held up the tiny bird pokemon as she kept praising it. Brandon and I walked up to the desk to get a better look at the other two pokemon. Brandon's gaze focused on Treecko. It had its arms crossed with a cocky smirk on its face.
"You're a pretty cool pokemon, aren't you?" Brendan smirked, picking up the little lizard.
"I guess I choose you little….guy?" I picked up Mudkip examining it. "Yupp, little guy!" I stated, much to the other's amusement.
"You three are officially pokemon trainers!" Birch looked at as with pride. He handed us each a Pokedex and a few Pokeballs before he walked us to the edge of town. We decided to go to Odale town together, but after that, we would each go our separate ways. May and Brendan were great friends, but they were really competitive. They each wanted to be the very best. May went north towards route 103 while Brendan went west of Odale town, towards route 102. I think he wanted to pay his dad a visit, who spent most of his time in Petalburg since he was the gym leader there. We said our goodbyes and I watched them walk out of sight. I stayed in Odale town for a bit. I decided to go into the general store and stock up on necessities, like potions, Pokefood and Pokeballs before heading off. Instead of taking the routes, I decided to head into the woods. I thought that the Pokemon would avoid the routes since people frequently walk it. After about an hour of aimless walking, I sat down to take a break and get some lunch. I let out my Mudkip, so he could also fill his belly.
"Come on out little guy!" I tossed his ball in front of me. He looked around confused, then looked at me questioningly. "I thought we could grab a bite to eat." I smiled, shaking a bag of Pokefood. His face lit up and he hopped around excitedly.
"Mud! Mud!" He kept yelping. I chuckled, then put down a bowl for him. He happily chowed down on the food. I sat down and enjoyed a sandwich that I bought from the store.
"I should give you a name." I blurted out. Mudkip looked at me with his mouth full and a curious expression. "I can't just call you Mudkip, that's like calling me, Human." I continued. "You're a water Pokemon, so I should give you a name that fits" I pondered. "How about Tide?" I asked him excitedly.
"Mwud-Kirp!" He agreed with his mouth full. Tide and I decided to relax for a while after our meal. The sounds of the forest put our minds at ease. The soft humming of nearby Nincada, the chirping of Taillow in the treetops and the distant barks of Poochyena. Tide would sometimes perk up and look around after hearing these barks. It must've sounded too close for comfort for him. I decided to pack up and get going after about half an hour. I withdrew Tide back into his ball and began walking deeper into the woods. I came to a small clearing shortly after, where I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by an unfamiliar sound. It sounded like tiny bells softly jingling across the forest floor. I tensed up and listened carefully. The soft jingle became louder and harsh as whatever was making it drew closer. I heard the shrubbery being pushed aside desperately as the source of the noise rapidly closed in on me. Out of the bushes, a small pale pokemon jumped out, it was the origin of the bell sounds. It looked terrified of something and it seemed to have been in a fight. It was covered in dirt and scratches. When it saw me it froze then started to tremble.
"Hey, the-" I was caught off by a loud yelp. It came from behind the bush the small pokemon came from. The pale pokemon ran towards me frantically waving its tiny arms. Out of the bush, a Zigzagoon jumped out, then a second and a third! They charged towards the little one with hunger in their eyes. I quickly grabbed hold of the tiny pokemon, but not before one of the Zigzagoon was able to bite down on my arm. I felt its teeth scraping my bones as I desperately tried to shake it off. I slammed it into a nearby tree to get it off. It finally let go, leaving me with a nasty wound. The pain was overshadowed by the adrenalin pumping through my veins. The little bastard got up and started growling at me while its buddies crept closer to me. A million thoughts shot through my mind all at once as my fight or flight instinct kicked it. I turned heel and began sprinting deeper into the woods. I heard the running after me yelping and barking. I was able to put some distance between us before I noticed that I was leaving a trail of blood. The wound on my right arm was profusely bleeding. I felt it growing numb as I had lost quite a bit of blood. The tiny pale pokemon was clutching onto my shirt. I held him with my left hand so I could shake my right arm into a nearby bush. Blood flew into it, covering it with my smell. I quickly pushed my right arm into my shirt so it would soak up blood instead of letting it drip on the floor before I started running again. I slowed down into a walking pace not long after. I lost too much stamina to keep running, not to mention blood. After stumbling around for a while I reached a large clearing with a lake at its center. I was out of breath and exhausted so I decided to stop here to rest.
"Oh boy, this will leave a mark." I chuckled to myself, looking at the wound on my arm. The tiny pokemon was still clutching my shirt. It was terrified and most likely in shock. I tried to gently pry it off of me. It took a few tries, but it eventually let go and I set it down next to me. I took off my backpack and pulled out the first aid kit. I did my best to clean the wound with a disinfectant before I began to try and stitch the gaping bite marks on my arm. It wasn't pretty, but at least the bleeding stopped. I wrapped it in a bandage and swallowed a painkiller before turning to the tiny pokemon standing next to me.
"Let's get you patched up, okay little guy?" I said with a reassuring smile. I reached for it, but it flinched and took a step backward. It was still scared and it didn't trust me.
"Don't be scared, I won't hurt you. I want to help you!" I held out my finger instead of reaching for the tiny pokemon with my entire hand. It looked at my finger with a mixture of fear and confusion. It reached out its tiny arm and grabbed my finger. It let me pick it up after realizing I wanted to help it. I dug out one of the potions I bought and sprayed it on the pale pokemon. Some of it must've gotten into its mouth because it started coughing.
"Rah! Rah!" Coughed the tiny pokemon.
"Sorry little guy!" I frantically apologized. The scratches on its body began to heal rapidly.
"Ralts…" It said softly, looking up at me. I smiled then gently placed it next to me. I put away the first aid kit and dug out my Pokedex.
"Now that your wounds are healed, let's see what kind of pokemon you are." I opened my Pokedex and pointed it at the little pokemon.
"Ralts! The feeling pokemon! Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horn on its head." Stated the Pokedex. It began analyzing Ralts and more information popped up on the screen. Turns out this little guy was, in fact, a little gal.
"Oh! You're a girl! Sorry for calling you a little guy earlier." I chuckled.
"You're still covered in dirt, let's clean you up in the lake!" I suggested, pointing at the lake. I carried her to the shore and got the dirt off of her horn, hair and what I assume was her dress. She seemed to have accepted me. She no longer trembled when I picked her up. I sat back down on the shore with her next to me.
"Now that you're patched up and clean, how about you join me on my journey?" I turned to her with a smile. "I'm an official pokemon trainer, you know!" I boasted.
"Ralts!" She said with a soft smile.
"Well, if you're going to be my partner, then I should give you a name!" I stated, scratching my chin.
"How about Elizabeth?"
Author's note: This chapter is actually a remake, as the first two chapters were quite bad, so I rewrote them and merged the two into one. I'll keep updating the chapters because it was pointed out that they are full of typos. This is my first ever fanfiction, so I can't promise it will be that good, but I promise to try and improve as much as possible.