Chapter one
It was very dark all around me with the only saving grace of a small, bright light that came from a screen of a message tablet that was in my grasp. It wasn't too bright, but it was enough to allow me to see where I wouldn't trip over anything. Where was 'where' anyway? Well, it was currently a large space on four wheels that held boxes and furniture. If you hadn't guessed by now: it's a moving truck. This truck met up with my family and I at an airport in the middle of nowhere in the Hoenn region. Why was I in the back of a moving truck? It had been my idea that seemed fun at the time. Of course, my dear old mom decided against it, but I said that it was no big deal and that I wanted some room to stretch my legs after being on a plane for several hours. My father had no problems with it; seeing as how we were going straight to the new house anyway. Who am I? Well, I wa-
The truck suddenly came to an abrupt stop; causing my small body to tumble forward and crash land on top of some very uncomfortable boxes. Oh Arceus! My stomach! I held my front in absolute misery for it was going to start hurting in a second-and here it comes! "Dammit!" I shouted with upmost pain. Not long after the halt, I could hear sounds of doors closing and cries of animals while the doors to the back of the truck started to open. I sat up quickly and squeezed my eyes shut in alarm as the light from the outside shined its brilliance in the dark container. It took a minute for me to slowly open my eyes and get used to the natural sunlight. When I did however, my vision made out a figure from the entrance that stood there with her arms crossed and a not-so-pleased look on her face.
"May Maple! I thought I told you to keep yourself strapped in! The only reason why your father and I let you back here was because you told us that you would keep yourself buckled!" my mother said in a reprimanding tone. It was effective for sure, for guilt stung at my conscious. Nevertheless, I formed a defense. "I did, but those straps back there were chafing my arms! And who knows how gross and old they are! Besides, who knows how long we would get here before I died of boredom!"
My mother gave out a frustrated sigh as she pinched her nose at the sad excuse while I promptly jumped off the truck and began to stretch my legs. Man, it felt great to be out of that truck; it was getting pretty stuffy in there.
"Did you at least use your time wisely to look at Professor Birch's message?" she asked with hope that I (the somewhat good daughter that I was) had at least did one thing she requested on the long ride.
"I did…five times. He might want to consider getting a professional writer or something to help record his lines because it kept asking me if I was a boy or a girl,"
One of the reasons why we moved was because my father (Norman Maple) had recently completed the requirements and met the criteria of the League in the Johto region to become a Gym Leader; his specialty was normal-type. The reason why he wanted that type was because it's often overlooked and labeled as the lesser of Pokémon types. He wanted the world to know that there was strength in normal-type Pokémon; they just had to find it.
Unfortunately, Johto already had a normal-type gym leader in that region, so he applied for and submitted applications in other regions. Hoenn was the only one to respond back and give my father a job. Before we left, he went to Whitney's gym in Goldenrod city and consulted her for advice. He got as much as he would expect from a sugared-up teenager, but nevertheless treated her with respect as he sat on his knees on the floor ten feet away from her while she stared at him with some awkwardness. I was too busy wandering around the gym to notice their whole conversation.
Despite that, the other reason for moving was because I also applied for Professor Birch's research program. I would have just as easily applied for Professor Elm's research, but there was only one opening and that had been quickly filled. I was in dismay, but soon found out that the town we were going to live just so happened to be in the same place as this Birch person. It was also a coincidence that he was best friends with my dad in his younger years.
My mother looked like she was about to get a headache from my answer, when that last part suddenly made the corners of her mouth turn up. Before I could brace myself, my mom let out a terrifyingly ecstatic laugh that made me jump in surprise. I should have known she would do that, but for some reason it always came as a shock to my system. She laughed like that when she found something funny.
"OH GOODNESS! I do suppose he should consider changing it," she forced herself to say in between giggles. Even the Machoke movers who were taking things from the truck were startled by her strange actions. It took me a minute for my heart to get back into a proper beating rhythm again. To this day, I still found myself wondering how my dad was never fazed by her strange and scary bursts of laughter.
Two hours went by as the Pokémon movers helped bring all of our things into the new empty house. 90% of the movers were Machoke so almost everything went smoothly. My mother helped direct traffic as she told them where to put specific items. I went upstairs to look at my soon-to-be room. I couldn't resist the silliness of shouting in my empty room as the echo bounced off the empty walls. When my things started coming into my room, I told them where to put my furniture and dolls. After it was furnished, I sat on my giant Lapras doll and thought about what I should do next. I was getting a little bored. I got up and quickly went downstairs to see that not even two hours into the move that everything was nearly put into place. One of the greatest the conveniences of moving ever.
I saw my mom and pulled up a chair with a bored sigh….and then inched closer to her with another sigh that my patience was already worn out. It took all about five minutes of sighing and inching closer to her on a table chair that she finally had my undivided attention; although, she was trying to concentrate on the finishing touches of the house. "May, why don't you go over to Professor Birch's lab and introduce yourself. Your father told him to expect you today since you'll be leaving and all. He also has a son about your age I think," she proposed to me.
OH! That's right! Months before we left for to the airport in Johto, my dad had told me that I needed to go to the professor's lab to get my Pokémon and all the other stuff I needed to go out into the world. I even trained for it too while I spent some days camping out in the nearby forests of my hometown. Getting used to sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag and learning how to start fires. He also taught me how to fish and forage for food. Dad told me that most trainers had to return back home or got into trouble because they were unprepared for the wilderness that laid between each town and city.
Aside from that, there was also something important that he always told me. He said it was vital to my well-being if I was to stay safe at all times.
"Didn't Dad always say that boys are nothing but trouble and needed to be punched in the face on sight?" I reminded her with my arms fiercely crossed and my brow raised. From five years of age to the present, my father had sat me down to talk about boys as if they were menaces to 'princesses' like me. He would never go into very much detail, but just said that they were a bad lot to mix in with. Each time we had those talks, he would also encourage me to exercise protection against them. That undoubtedly resulted in me at a very young age hitting the ever-living hell out of them whenever they came too close or smiled in my direction. There were a lot of angry mothers complaining about my violent habits. My own mother tried her best to explain to me otherwise; saying that not all of them are bad and made dad as an example. My dear old father however countered the argument and pointed out that it was because he was one of the only exceptions and never acted so unbecoming. Eventually, she gave up trying to tell me anything more about the touchy subject.
"Oh dear…I forgot about that. Well, your father is being silly and thinks that even when you beat the Pokémon league that you're going to be staying with us forever. As a mother who will eventually want her daughter to HAVE A LIFE, I want you to find someone to get along with so no more of this boy-hating nonsense! He's going to have to accept it and move on!" she said while ushering me out of the chair and nudged me towards the door. When we both got to the entrance, my mother had fixed up my big red bow and did a quick touch up on my hair. I have to admit, my excitement upon getting my first Pokémon was brimming over. I was going to be a trainer. "Have fun and PLEASE be on your best behavior!" she said to me before embracing me in a motherly hug before saying our temporary goodbyes and parted.
The sun shined beautifully and the trees swayed happily in the occasional breeze as I walked to Professor Birch's lab. Nature was one with Little Root town as colorful flowers and vegetation spread out their leaves for the eyes of passersbyers to gaze upon. Everything was nice to look at, but my mind couldn't be bothered with the lovely scenery because I was struggling with the map. Mom told me it was 'just down the road', but those simple directions became warped with my interpretation of the message and I now found myself being greeted by tall grass that came up to my waist.
"Fan-fuckin-tastic," I muttered, now frustration by my own stupidity of having no sense of direction. Despite all that training for the outdoors, my navigational skills were still lacking. I contemplated on giving up and going home to wait when I heard an awful scream. The shock of the sudden noise pulled my head away from the map and looked ahead. In the distance, I could make out something, but I needed to get a closer look. I left the map behind as I picked up my pace.
As I kept running, I finally was able to clearly make out the two very animated figures and the scene that was playing out. There was a person in a large tree while a small black dog was snarling at it. Clawing at the trunk of the tree to try and reach the person. My gaze looked up to see that this person in the tree was a grown man. He had short brown hair with a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a white lab coat with a dark blue t-shirt and an olive pair of shorts. I usually figured that any self-respecting scientist would wear fancy shoes (much less formal clothes) but on his feet, were black rubber sandals. Overall, he was the most lazily dressed scientist I ever saw.
I was unsure of how I could help him out. Well, the dog WAS pretty dam puny compared to the big man, but it looked like he wasn't man enough to try to punt it away or something. The scientist in the tree suddenly spotted me when I crept close enough and called out in a voice that sounded less like a professional and more like someone who was way in over his head.
"PLEASE! You gotta help me! That Poochyena chased me all the way up this tree and can't get my bag! It's over there" He pointed with urgency. My eyes quickly followed his gesture to ten feet away from the tree and saw a leather brown messenger bag all by its lonesome. "There's three Pokémon in my bag! PLEASE HURRY!" he exclaimed with fright.
While my mind was still trying to process this man being afraid of a little dog, I had no desire to get bitten by the animal, so I quickly ran to the bag and seized it with eager fingers. Unfortunately, it was a big mistake on my part as the sudden movement caught the animal's attention. Its glaring red eyes now faced me with its sharp fangs bared. I froze in place as my eyes were wide with fear. OH HELL!
By this time, there was no doubt about it that I was now more than nervous. Going back home suddenly became more appealing to me. Maybe it was tired and just all bark. Sweat was pouring down my face as I considered the idiotic idea of leaving the area. The professor in the tree had too shown a deeper fear on his face as he saw the new predicament. "Okay miss…don't make any more sudden movements; and whatever your first instinct might be, don't ru-"
"NOOOO! GO AWAAAAAAY!
Completely ignoring the professor's orders, I sped from the poochyena as fast as I could with the creature now following behind.
*To be continued in Chapter Two*