The following morning found Brendan in the Petalburg City Pokemart. The low hum of the air-conditioning the only sound as Brendan waited.
"It was a protect TM you wanted, right?" the Pokemart clerk asked, sticking her head around the door of the back room.
"Yes," Brendan replied, adding, "its for a new Pokémon in my party."
The woman smiled at him, as she came back through to the counter, holding a silver disk in her hand. "If you've caught a new Pokemon, you should show Professor Birch," Her smiled faltered as she added, "but if you do see him, make sure to ask him how he's feeling. He had a nasty encounter with a zigzagoon, and the poor man got bitten."
Brendan frowned at the news. Wild pokemon attacks were rare, especially around Littleroot. Something must have scared the zigzagoon. He made a mental note to ask May about it later. The news didn't alarm Brendan too badly, however. Zigzagoons had sharp claws and teeth, but their small size made them relatively harmless.
A fist of warm air greeted Brendan as he left the Pokemart, its blue doors closing promptly behind him. He had quickly paid, promising the clerk he would check up on Birch soon. He had intended to speak to the Professor anyway; he needed help to complete his plan after all.
Petalburg City was bustling, its paved streets filled with pedestrians enjoying the weather. The sun hadn't reached its highest point yet, and Brendan was already planning the rest of his day. Skirting the passerby people, Brendan walked towards the city's western exit. Petalburg City was actually only a large town. Roughly square in shape, with two sizeable ponds occupying opposite corners. Nestled next to the northeastern pool was the Pokémon Gym ran by Brendan's father, its metal doors firmly shut.
Brendan continued out of the city onto the southern part of Route 104, a whiff of salt his only welcome. The path from Petalburg carried on, slowly curving north away from the salty waves arriving on the beach below. The beach flanked the path's left-hand side, and extended several metres outwards. A crowd of colourful parasols populated the sand, their owners relaxing under them, or in the warm water. Wingulls cawed noisily as they circled above the busy beach. As Brendan watched, two beach-goers began a Pokémon battle to the obvious delight of nearby spectators. Brendan followed the high path, his destination ahead.
Petalburg Woods stood before Brendan, its dense forest blocking his view of the path ahead. However, Brendan didn't need to see the way, he'd been coming here since he was old enough to own a Pokémon. Once he was past the worst of the underbrush, he reached for the most recently occupied pokeball on his belt.
"Go, Mudkip!"
Mudkip landed softly on the forest floor. Its body, which had been hidden underwater before, was small and leathery. A grey tail fin wagged happily in the shade of the woods. Brendan reached into his bag for his newly bought TM. Technical Machines, known as TMs, were disks roughly the size of an open hand with a specific Pokémon move programmed onto them. The TM in Brendan's hand contained the move Protect, a common move for trainers to give their Pokémon since it could envelop them in an impregnable bubble, capable of repelling any attack.
Brendan knelt in front of his Pokémon, tapping the silver disk to its head. Immediately upon touching Mudkip, the disk disintegrated into a fine sprinkle of ash. Brendan quickly got to his feet, taking a couple of hurried steps back for good measure. Suddenly, a ball of blue light surrounded Mudkip, illuminating the clearing eerily. The sphere was only about a metre in diameter, but it easily encompassed Mudkip's whole body. After a brief instance the ball faded away, leaving behind no trace that it had ever existed. Content with what had just transpired, Brendan scooped Mudkip into his arms and continued deeper into the trees.
It didn't take long to find a wild Pokémon. The poochyena was digging at the base of a large tree, its grey paws clearing the soft earth easily. The Pokémon resembled a small, grey dog, although its face and throat were black. The fur at the base of its tail was rumpled and shaggy. Brendan dropped Mudkip in front of its opponent, its short legs absorbing the impact of the fall. The poochyena had noticed them by now, and it turned towards them growling.
"Mudkip!" Brendan said, pointing at the dog-like pokemon. "Use Water Gun!"
Mudkip slammed headfirst into the poochyena. It had ignored Brendan's command. As the two Pokémon struggled to disentangle themselves from each other, the poochyena's jaws closed around one of Mudkip's legs. Mudkip began to trash wildly, panic driving it. The poochyena held on tightly, but its sharp teeth had failed to pierce Mudkip's leathery skin.
"Mudkip, use Growl!" Brendan almost shouted, his Pokémon's panic infecting him.
This time, Mudkip listened. Mudkip opened its mouth, loosening a loud growl centimeters from the poochyena's face. The effect was instantaneous. The poochyena released Mudkip's leg with a yelp, its ears flicked back in pain. Mudkip rushed back towards Brendan, looking at him with newfound trust.
"Now, Mudkip," Brendan said, having regained his composure. "Use Water Gun!"
Mudkip opened its mouth once more, this time releasing a blast of water at the poochyena. The force of the attack sent the small Pokémon flying backwards, causing it to collide into the trunk of the tree it had been digging under. The poochyena landed on all fours and, without another glance towards its opponents, ran off into the forest.
Brendan scooped Mudkip into his arms. "Good job!" he said to the small Pokémon, a large grin on his face. "Too bad we didn't get to try out your new move though"
Mudkip hummed in agreement.
The pair continued deeper into the woods, the bond between them already stronger from the battle they had won.
Brendan frowned as he stood up. A loud voice had broken the quiet surroundings, startling him. He had been taking a picture of a cascoon for Professor Birch. Its cocoon-like body a darker shade of purple than Brendan had seen before. He quickly took note of the type of tree the cascoon was hanging from, as he knew it would be the first thing the Professor would ask him, before stepping back out onto the path.
A man stood some distance away, talking into what looked like a walkie-talkie. He was more or less Brendan's height, but obviously older dressed all in red. Brendan gasped as he saw the black 'M' printed on the man's chest. He was part of Team Magma. There had been rumours they had spread further south, but Brendan hadn't believed them. He believed them now.
The man's words travelled easily through the still air; he hadn't caught sight of Brendan yet.
"My orders were to search Petalburg Woods, sir," the grunt said. He listened intently to the reply, his face going pale.
"When was that order given?"
The man covered the mouthpiece and swore loudly, quickly putting the device back up to his ear.
"I'll get to Fallarbor as fast as I can, but…"
The response was cut off, followed by a long pause where the man said nothing. His face had formed into a sneer and his free hand was curled into a tight fist.
"I understand, but-"
This time the interruption was more abrupt, but the reply was short.
"Yes, sir" The man said through his teeth, putting away the device into his pocket. The man spat on the ground, wiped his mouth, and looked up, locking eyes with Brendan.
"Oi!" The man said angrily, moving towards Brendan. "What do you think you're doing listening in to other people's conversations?"
He had covered the distance between them quickly. Brendan could finally see his face. Small eyes rested under thick eyebrows, and his head was shaved, giving him a thug-like appearance. Brendan only saw one pokeball hanging on his belt. The man's beady eyes flicked down to the balls around Brendan's waist, his mouth widening into a cruel smile.
"That's one of them limited edition Premier balls," he said, pointing a gloved finger at the ball. "Give it here."
Brendan took a step back instinctively. Team Magma had a cruel reputation, but there was no chance he was just going to hand over the pokeball. Brendan stood up straighter, looking the man in the eyes. "No."
The grunt's smile only widened. He had been looking for a confrontation. "You're gonna regret that," He said as he took a couple of steps backwards, reaching for the only ball at his belt. "Go, Camerupt!"
The Pokémon landed heavily on all fours. It was huge, resembling a cow, with shaggy orange fur and three blue rings on either flank. The most alarming feature, however, were the twin volcanoes smoldering on its back.
"Lava Plume, now!" The man almost shouted with violent excitement.
Blobs of viscous lava erupted from the mounds on the camerupt's back, spraying everything nearby. Brendan cursed as he quickly stepped behind a tree to avoid the attack, his body shaking from the sudden rush of adrenaline. The man hadn't even waited for Brendan to call out a Pokémon.
The attack had started small fires in multiple places, the thick vegetation eagerly consumed by the flames. He's going to burn down the whole forest at this rate. Thought Brendan, as he reached for his belt.
"Go, Vigoroth! Go, Mudkip!" Brendan shouted, his voice trembling slightly. "Mudkip, put out the flames. Vigoroth, Fury Swipes!"
"Camerupt, Protect!" The man said, his voice almost hysteric. Vigoroth's claws bounced harmlessly off the blue bubble that immediately surrounded the camerupt. Vigoroth landed gracefully on its feet, ready for the next move. "Lava Plume, again!"
More lava poured out, forcing Vigoroth to dance backwards to avoid getting burned. Brendan yelled out in pain as flecks of lava landed on his arm, burning his flesh. To his left, Mudkip was frantically rushing from fire to fire, extinguishing each of them with a blast of water from its mouth. However, the second attack had spread more flames, and Mudkip was starting to tire. Smoke had begun to fill the clearing, the thick canopy of leaves preventing it from escaping. Brendan coughed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He needed to end this quickly.
"Vigoroth, Rock Tomb!" Brendan said. Vigoroth's eyes flashed red as it smacked the ground simultaneously with both arms. Immediately, small pillars of rock shot out from the ground around Camerupt's feet, encasing them in stone. Camerupt's eyes widened in panic. It couldn't move. "Mudkip, use Water Gun now!" A blast of water shot out from Brendan's left, hitting the large Pokémon straight in the face. The camerupt moaned in distress, flicking its ears back towards its trainer. The man had finally lost his smirk. His face was slowly going red and he was biting down hard on his lip. After only a brief hesitation he yelled: "Camerupt, use Earthquake!"
Brendan couldn't believe his ears. Using an attack like Earthquake outside of a battle arena was incredibly dangerous and catastrophic for the environment.
"Both of you, Protect!" Brendan said quickly, as Camerupt's eyes flashed orange and a seismic wave rolled out from under it, spreading outwards in every direction. Vigoroth jumped onto Brendan's chest, the blue bubble enveloping them both. The wave hit the ball, throwing both trainer and Pokémon backwards.
Brendan slowly got to his feet. His back ached from when he had struck the ground, but the protective sphere had absorbed most of the attack's power. Large cracks had appeared in the path, and several trees had been knocked over by the force of the attack. Most of the fires had also been put out by the moving rock, but there were still smoldering patches of grass in need of attention. Brendan suddenly looked around for Mudkip. If the attack had thrown both himself and Vigoroth several feet, he was scared to think how far it would have thrown the small Pokémon. Brendan quickly spotted the blue creature next to a tree some distance further back than where he was standing. Mudkip only looked slightly dazed. The protective ball must have stopped the worst of the hit.
Brendan finally turned his attention back to the large Pokémon. The camerupt hadn't moved at all, but the rocks trapping its legs had been shattered into small pieces by the wave. Brendan didn't wait for it to attack again.
"Vigoroth, Slash!" Brendan said, pointing a finger at the target. Vigoroth darted forward, ready to end the battle.
"Protect!" Shouted the man, panic in his voice.
Once more, Vigoroth's claws bounced harmlessly off the blue bubble that surrounded the camerupt. This time, however, Brendan had been expecting it.
"Mudkip!" Brendan said, his pulse increasing with the end of the battle in sight. "Use Water Gun, again!"
"Protect!" The man said desperately, but the blue ball didn't appear. He hadn't waited enough time between uses.
The blast of water struck the camerupt's face with deadly precision. The giant Pokémon wobbled slightly, and as its eyes closed it fell to the ground. Just before hitting the ground, a red light flashed, and the camerupt disappeared with a click back into its pokeball.
The man stared in shock at the now-empty space in front of him, before turning towards Brendan with newfound anger in his eyes.
"You little piece of shit," He said, walking towards Brendan, his hands curled into fists. "I'm gonna k-"
He stopped talking as Vigoroth moved between him and its trainer, his eyes focusing on the two pairs of long claws. The man's face curled into a snarl, as he began backing away. His eyes locked onto Brendan's.
"I'll get you next time, kid." He spat, before turning and walking away.