The jungle girl guided him through the forest with an in-depth knowledge of each path, surprising Jiraya by the girl's expertise in such difficult terrain. Another thing that surprised him was the deceptively fragile girl's strength. Stopping to take a closer look, you could see slight definitions of muscle throughout his body, the kind you get from a way of life and not from planned exercise.
Thinking of physical condition, he couldn't help but frown in dismay, remembering how far from his prime he was. Make no mistake, he was excited to be young again, but still, it was frustrating for all of his hard work to be thrown away for him to start over.
Being young again also worried him when it came to his own future. What was he going to do with this new life? If he took Sapphire into account as a yardstick for the average person in this world, they were unlikely to need shinobi in the current era, and without a prophecy hammering in his mind at every turn, he felt aimless, not knowing what to do. Looking at the excited girl who was pulling him by the arm among the leaves in the forest, he remembered when he first met Konan, Nagato and Yahiko. Children who had no opportunities and were forced to grow up to survive. They were the everyday mold of his old world, and seeing that air of innocence, Jiraya couldn't help but smile to himself, for that was his dream, a world where shinobi were no longer needed, a world where everyone could live. your own life,
He couldn't help but let out a light laugh, which made Sapphire look up at him, flashing her trademark smile with small fangs on display, perking up even more and almost running through the woods. He understood now what her goal was going to be.
Ensuring that this world never needs any shinobi besides him, to protect the innocence of the children who would shape the future. And who knows, he might finally get his wish when he retired? To be a traveling writer, traveling to the four corners of the world and putting your life experiences on paper. Jiraiya's literary works did not live on erotic tales alone, although he grudgingly admitted that only his Icha-Icha had been successful with the public. Well, there was nothing stopping him from bringing the acclaimed series into this world, and do you know what that means? He started to giggle perverted trapped in his own imaginary world.
Innocent as she was, Sapphire didn't notice the change in tone in Jiraya's laugh, and continued to guide him, until she reached the end of the forest, which was bordered by a large iron fence that stretched across the grounds, with a small gate to be open.
She walked over and entered a passcode into the lock system, opening the gate and waving at Jiraya.
"Come on, we're almost home and daddy is going to give a starter Pokémon to a new trainer, I want to see that!" She said barely containing her excitement, jumping up and starting to walk towards her house.
Jiraya smiled at the girl's excitement and followed her, surprising himself with the change of landscape, because what was once a dense forest, was now a well-delimited complex with several places full of creatures that he had never seen before, these should be the so-called Pokémon in this world. It was unnerving to him to think that such creatures had so much power, but he knew the greatest danger was not the creatures, but man and his greed for power. He swore that no one would ever be sacrificed to contain the power of one of these creatures, on account of some military leader's delusion of grandeur.
Pushing those thoughts away, he quickened his pace and quickly caught up with Sapphire, walking beside her already feeling a little better physically. Soon they both saw a large silver house, which the girl ran and pressed the intercom on the front door.
"Dad, I'm back from my expedition! And you won't believe it, I found a boy in the middle of the woods unconscious, I think he has amnesia because he doesn't know anything about Pokémon." She ended up whispering the last part, not knowing that Jiraya had overheard, he was a master spy for Kami's sake, eavesdropping on conversations was part of the curriculum.
Not long after, a slightly out-of-shape man in a blue shirt and white coat over it, and wearing green shorts with matching sandals opened the door and quickly enveloped the girl in a hug, causing Sapphire to scream indignantly. while trying to get out of his father's grip.
"Let me go! You're embarrassing me in front of my friend. – She stopped and looked shyly at Jiraya, now having left the hug and getting a little embarrassed, she looked at him fearfully – Well, we're friends, aren't we? I know I'm not like girls my age, and people tend to avoid me because of that." She ended up looking at the floor in a sad tone, and the Sannin didn't like what she saw, it didn't suit that overly cheerful girl he met. He saw the girl's father looking pityingly at the girl, and Jiraya knew what he needed to do.
Approaching, he ignored the girl's scent, after all she had been in the forest for 3 days, it was normal to have sweat odor, and hugged her, surprising the girl, who widened her eyes while the Sannin gave her head a small slap.
"Na na, now, I don't want to see you acting like that again. Who cares what people think? Each has characteristics that shape you into a unique person, and you are no different. Sapphire, in the short time I've known you, I've seen a girl who, yes, was excessively cheerful and who needs to learn to control what she says in the heat of the moment, but you know, that's not necessarily bad, that's what makes you good, you. Don't try to mold yourself to please someone, and if you don't have friends, be damned, they lose by not giving you a chance to get to know you. Now, come on, take off that sad face and go back to your usual cheerful self, if you don't have any friends, I'd be honored to be your first." Jiraya ended up releasing the girl and plastering a goofy smile.
Birch was surprised by the boy's words, and although he agreed with everything he said, he didn't expect someone so young to speak with such propriety. He was happy that his daughter had met the young guy, and who knows, it would be nice for the girl to have someone her own age to talk to, hell, he was afraid she'd decide to live forever with the Pokémon in the forest because of him. their difficulty socializing.
Sapphire on the other hand, looked at Jiraya who was still smiling, and absorbed everything he had said to her. Nobody ever said something like that to her, people always avoided her when they met her, and here he was, wanting to be her first friend! She couldn't stop her eyes from getting moist, but still she plastered on a smile that was characteristic of her, and hugged him.
Jiraya was happy that he had managed to cheer the girl up, but by Kami, even he had a limit to how much he could bear a strong smell, and the girl needed a bath. Knowing that his next words, if misplaced, would send him into a world of pain, he pulled out of the embrace and looked at Sapphire.
"I'm glad you cheered up, but well…don't you think it would be nice to take a shower? I can't imagine how unpleasant it is to go several days without being able to clean up, and you don't want to see the new trainer you talked about like that, do you?" Jiraiya said with a nervous laugh, fearing to ignite the fearsome female wrath and take a beating as usual.
Sapphire blinked twice and sniffed her armpit, only to earn a look of horror and shame as she looked at Jiraya and her father, who was holding back laughter. Without saying a word, she let out a cry of embarrassment and ran into the house, probably going to clean up.
This left the resident teacher and the Sannin alone for the first time, and Birch wanted to know more about the boy his daughter had known. She had mentioned amnesia, but he wanted to draw his own conclusions, and from the state of his clothes, he was concerned for the boy's physical integrity.
"Then I will introduce myself properly. I'm Adam Birch, but everyone calls me Professor Birch. I run the LIttleroot Pokémon Research Facility and as you can see, I am Sapphire's father." Birch said extending his hand to greet the young man.
Jiraiya gave a slight smile and squeezed his hand. "I'm Jiraya, just Jiraya. I've never met my parents so I don't have a last name, not that it matters to me. Well, I don't remember anything other than what happened when I woke up in your daughter's camp, and I hope you can help me to at least have some basic knowledge so I don't have any problems" finished the young man with a nervous laugh.
Birch looked at the boy and with a slight smile, indicated for Jiraya to follow him as they talked. "Relax boy, you're no bother. A friend of my daughter's is a friend of mine, and Sapphire had mentioned that you had amnesia, which appears to be true. I'm sorry about that, I can't imagine the feeling of not remembering anything about your life, but anyway, I can give you knowledge about what you need to know, from the geography of Hoenn to the Pokémon in that region." Jiraya perked up and quickly agreed, following Birch, who arrived in a room where he sat in an armchair, indicating another for Jiraya to sit. And then he started bombarding the Sannin with information, from what Pokemon was to things like types and weaknesses and strengths of different types that faced each other. It was similar in nature to elemental jutsu, where one element could be strong or weak against another, depending on the combination. He was also explained the basics of Hoenn's geography, and when Birch handed him a small book entitled 'Hoenn for Beginners', Jiraiya frowned in dismay as he could not understand the writing of that world. The teacher realized something was wrong and asked the boy, and before the boy could answer, a familiar voice entered the room.
She had a new bow in her hair, framing her hairstyle now much nicer to look at, but keeping the same idea of what he'd seen when he first met her, being her dark brown hair, with a little bangs and her spiky spikes. falling on the sides at shoulder height. She wore a black sports top with a red tank top over it, she wore a yellow fanny pack with green accents at the waist, and she wore tight black leggings with a white skirt over the top, wearing a pair of black fingerless gloves and ending with a pair of red sports shoes and short black socks. (For those who want a better image, search for Sapphire birch and open the bulbapedia link, it's the first image)
She looked at the pair in the room with embarrassment and asked shyly. "So I finished my shower, Dad bought these clothes for me, but I'm not used to wearing something like this, hey Jiraya, what do you think? She ended up looking at the floor with a slight shade of red on her face.
Said whose looked at what could only be Sapphire in amazement. What was once a jungle girl with practically nothing like clothing on her body was now a young woman in an outfit that fit her surprisingly well. As a self-proclaimed super pervert, he knew what to appreciate and this outfit was perfect for her. Not overly revealing and it hugged her athletic body perfectly.
Giving a thumbs up in a positive sign, Jiraya let his thoughts out to the audience. "Well Sapphire, your new outfit looks really good on you, you should wear more clothes like that." He finished with a goofy smile on his face, making Sapphire even more embarrassed, but now with a slight smile on her face. His father saw it and couldn't let the opportunity to tease his daughter pass him by.
"Oh dear, who knew the indomitable Sapphire Birch would have a crush on a boy, thought you'd date a Pokémon before that happened." Said her father with a teasing smile, causing Sapphire to let out an embarrassed cry and look at her father with wide eyes, while He and Jiraiya, to her surprise, laughed at her reaction.
She ran and punched her father over the head, causing him to fall with a huge bump and X in his eyes while babbling indecipherable words, and when she was going to give Jiraiya the same treatment for laughing at her, she stopped to see now with a slight smile as he patted her head again, which she would deny until the end of time, but she was enjoying it.
"Hey, no need to be like this, your dad was just teasing you. And you know, joking aside, you really do look pretty in your new outfit, believe me, I'm an expert at evaluating things like that, and you're sure to find someone you like one day." He said to immediately turn around to help his father up, with him still bewildered by yet another of his daughter's beatings on him.
Sapphire on the other hand was looking at Jiraya helping her father as she slowly held her hands clasped to her belly and thought about what he had said. It was new for her to have someone say things like that to her, let alone a boy, as everyone called her crazy when they first met her, and hearing her words left her with a funny feeling that she couldn't explain, but it wasn't anything she knew. I did not like.
And looking at Jiraya who had now sat her father back in the armchair, she smiled and spoke to herself.
"Find someone in? I would like that someday" she said to herself as she dropped her Torchic and took it out to feed, which made the chick Pokémon jump excitedly as it happily screamed its name.
After his departure, Birch asked Jiraya to accompany him again, taking him to one of the rooms in the complex and telling him to get a new pair of clothes, as the ones he was wearing were destroyed.
Gratefully, Jiraya complied and soon walked out wearing his new clothes, which consisted of a simple white long-sleeved shirt that did little to hide his current physique and long black pants, ending with a pair of black sneakers with red accents.
He was a little uncomfortable with these new world clothes, but he decided to play along and said he liked it. Birch happily nodded and led him back into the living room, where they resumed their conversation.
The midday sun was just starting to rise when a young girl emerged from the hills of Littleroot Town on her red bicycle, happily going to catch her starter Pokémon.
She wasn't going to lie to herself, she hadn't liked Pokémon since what happened to her as a child, involving Tentacool and a beach. She just wanted to travel and a Pokémon journey was the perfect excuse for that, and at 15, she was old enough for that.
Humming to herself, she continued on her way, until she saw a large silver complex in the distance, which meant she had arrived at Professor Birch's laboratory.
Excited, she increased the speed of her bike and ran to her destination, and when she arrived, she parked her bike and entered the lab, looking for the professor who would give her her first Pokémon, and her travel pass, which she had always wanted. .
As she walked through the complex, she couldn't help but be amazed at the size of the place, her father had said it was big, but she hadn't expected it to be that big. She lived in a Pokémon gym and this place made her house feel like a small apartment.
Walking aimlessly around the place, she started to hear two voices of people talking, and deciding to ask for information, she headed towards the sound.
When she arrived the first thing she saw was a burly man who she knew was Professor Birch, from the photos her father had shown her and the request she had made to reserve her starter Pokémon. He was happily chatting with a boy who quickly caught her eye.
Messy white hair, wearing a white shirt a little lighter in color than his hair, which hugged his obviously fit body. Long black pants and black and red sneakers. A simple ensemble that looked surprisingly good on him, and as a fashion addict, she liked what she'd seen. But when she saw him smile, her face instantly flushed and she felt her heart speed up. She knew very well what that feeling was, after all, she had dated many boys, but her father always scared them off as soon as she found out, which never took more than a day. But he was by far the most handsome she'd ever seen. "Mommy likes what she sees" she thought smiling to herself.
Coming to herself and remembering why she was in town, she pulled herself together and unconsciously fixed her clothes and hair, before approaching and making herself known to the pair of men in the room.
"Good afternoon, I'm May Maple, I should get my starter Pokemon today, can you help me Professor Birch?" She finished now in front of the pair, looking at them both.
Both Birch and Jiraya were surprised to see a carbon copy of Sapphire right in front of them, but Jiraya, and his expert eye for unraveling women, quickly noticed differences.
First was his physique. While not out of shape, she was certainly not half as well prepared as Sapphire, but on the other hand, she excelled at being more developed in her, well, assets. Wearing a red bandana that left her with the same hairstyle as Sapphire, and with hair the same color, that's where the similarities ended. She wore a short-sleeved red shirt that accentuated her developed bust for her age, with an orange fanny pack at her waist and wearing dark blue leggings and a white waist-length skirt, ending with black fingerless gloves on her hands, a pair of sneakers. red socks and short black socks. (For those who want a detailed image, these are the clothes from May's first appearance in the Pokémon anime)
Coming out of the shock of seeing a copy of Sapphire in front of him, Jiraya stood up and greeted the girl, who he noticed now standing, was a few inches shorter than Sapphire.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Jiraya and the man next to me is Professor Birch. Are you the girl who was going to catch her starter Pokemon? If so, I wish you luck and if you need anything, I'll be happy to help in any way I can" finished the white haired boy smiling at her.
This made May blush again as she found the way he had addressed her cute, and with practiced ease, approached him and broke his personal space, leaning on Jiraiya's side and placing her head on his shoulders. Smiling at him, May tried to start a conversation with the boy she had gotten an instant crush on, ignoring Professor Birch who was looking at the scene still numb from the shock of seeing a copy of his daughter in front of him, he was beginning to fear he had done something he shouldn't and didn't remember, because if his wife were alive, he would be in serious trouble. That woman put Sapphire's temper to shame.
"Thanks, that was sweet of you. I'm counting on you." She said smiling at him, leaving Jiraya in an unusual situation for him. Although he claims to be a super pervert, he has never been in a situation where a woman would willingly be around him, it was simply out of his comfort zone, and cursing himself internally, he was just like when he was a young man in his old age. world.
"B..well, I said I would help, so I can't go back on my word." Trying to change the subject, he tries to remind May why she was in the lab. "Hey May, wouldn't you like to choose your starter Pokémon right now?" he asked looking at the girl with genuine curiosity.
May looked at the boy and nodded, without leaving Jiraya's side, she smiled at Birch, who came out of his reverie and guided them to a room where he had the three starter Pokémon of Hoenn.
Soon after they left, Sapphire returned to the room with her Torchic in her arms, and tilted her head in confusion when she didn't find anyone, and hearing voices in the distance, she followed the sound and when she arrived in the room where her father kept the starter Pokémon. , froze at what he saw.
A girl who was identical to her was clinging to Jiraya as she smiled and talked to her father about the starter Pokémon she could choose. Sapphire didn't know why, but she began to growl softly with her mouth slightly open, showing her small fangs in threat, as if in hell she was going to let a girl take her friend away from her in front of her, or at least that's what she used to do. justify your thoughts.
With newfound determination, she approached just as the girl chose a Torchic as her starter, making her brows flutter in anger at the sight of yet another similarity between them.
"Hey, get away from my friend" Sapphire said as she grabbed Jiraya and pulled him away from May, who looked indignantly at the girl, only to freeze when she found herself looking at a copy of her.
Both girls momentarily forgot about their recent animosity, in shock to see a copy of themselves in front of them. They both pointed their fingers at each other and shouted in unison. "WHEEEEEEEEE?"
Jiraya stared, not knowing what to say as Birch was in the same boat, pinching himself to make sure he wasn't having a crazy dream.
After the initial shock wore off, the girls were about to start an argument when Jiraya intervened.
"Hey, calm down you two. Sapphire, I want to introduce you to May Maple, she is the girl who came to get her starter Pokémon, and May, this is Sapphire Birch, my friend who helped me when I was lost in the woods, she is Professor Birch's daughter here." He ended up hoping he'd managed to defuse the start of a ruckus.
Both girls blinked their eyes and moved their heads to the side in the same way, making a bead of sweat appear on the back of Jiraya's neck, they both looked at each other, and although they were still in animosity, they reached a silent agreement. "we'll work it out later" they both said mentally.
With tempers calmed, Birch continued, introducing may to the Pokédex and officially registering her as a Pokémon Trainer, surprisingly doing the same with Jiraiya, who even denying that he didn't intend to train Pokémon, Birch insisted, stating that you never know when he might need it. of catching a Pokémon, and even if he wasn't going to compete as a trainer, nothing stopped him from having his own Pokédex, which worked as a kind of personal identifier as well.
The rest of the day was spent in Birch and Sapphire begrudgingly passed on to May the basic information she would need for her journey, from Pokédex functions to basic first-aid instructions for Pokémon and herself.
When they finished giving the briefing to the novice trainer, she was getting ready to start her journey, and when she was about to leave the lab, a thought popped into her mind, and she couldn't let the opportunity pass.
Turning back and approaching Jiraya, she looked at the boy with a smile on her face and asked the question she needed. "Hey Jiraya, would you like to travel with me? I'm starting this journey today and well...I'm afraid to do it alone, so at least for a while, would you like to go with me?" she asked looking expectantly at the white haired boy. Jiraya on the other hand, was surprised by the question, and quickly assessed how positive it was to go with the girl. Aside from the fact that this aligned with his idea of traveling the world, he didn't know the dangers of these new lands, and May could get into trouble mainly because she was inexperienced. He was a shinobi veteran of two ninja wars, and while he knew next to nothing about Pokémon, he did know a thing or two about getting around while traveling.
Smiling at the girl, Jiraiya decided to communicate his answer. "I would love to travel with you, it would be a good opportunity for me to see what Hoenn has to offer, and it would help me get inspiration for my book." Said Jiraya surprising everyone with the last part of her sentence.
Cheerfully, May hugged him quickly and then released him when she remembered the end of her sentence. "Your book? Are you a writer?" she asked curiously.
Jiraiya smiled happily and nodded positively. "Yes, writing stories has always been my passion, but I never had the opportunity to fully focus on it. – His voice started to sadden and it took everyone by surprise – You know, where I come from, life is not easy and you have to worry about whether you are going to live one day after another, so I was forced to focus on being capable enough to defend myself, but now I have the opportunity to do what I always wanted, and that makes me very happy" he ended up smiling genuinely.
Sapphire looked curious and a little sad at what she heard from her friend, she wanted to ask more about what he remembered from his past but decided to leave that for another time, even she had good sense to avoid some subjects. Her priority, however, shifted to the fact that her friend would be traveling with that girl who had just shown up! She was furious internally but couldn't get mad at Jiraya as she knew he was being genuine in his statement, but with May on the other hand, she wouldn't let the shameless girl near her friend, he would protect him from the clutches. of your perverted copy.
Oh if only she knew...
May, however, looked sadly at the boy who had become attached, she had lived a life with a very well-structured family financially, so she never had any problems, but hearing from someone she had started to like, the difficulties he had passed, they couldn't help but make her feel an obligation to help him realize his dream. And she was glad he didn't aim to be a coach, which would make her less uncomfortable when she needed to say that she felt the same way, she just wanted to travel and so did he, that was great in her eyes.
Seeing that the mood had turned a little gloomy, Jiraya mentally punished himself and tried to change the subject. "Well, if we're going to travel, we need to prepare, Birch, do you know where we can get travel supplies? I don't want to leave with nothing, because you never know when you're going to need something." The teacher smiled and handed both of them two kits with the basics they would need to start their journey, from sleeping bags to an outdoor kitchen kit for preparing food.
"The Hoenn Pokémon League requires new trainers to be equipped with a basic kit to at least support themselves for the first few weeks of the journey, so you don't have to worry about paying any of that, but from here on out it's up to you, so use it wisely the money they earn from defeating gyms across the region." Birch finished with his standard speech he always gave to new coaches.
Jiraya and May nodded as they each grabbed their backpack, with Jiraya controlling himself not to seal everything in front of everyone, as he didn't want to reveal his abilities unnecessarily.
Sapphire looked at the two of them with unease and chest tightness, as she was watching her friend leave, when she looked at her father, and Birch when he saw it, smiled and understood what she wanted. Having already prepared for when that happened, he handed a Pokédex to his daughter and grabbed a starter kit for her, which caught her off guard and caught the attention of the other two teenagers.
"I was waiting for you to start your journey my daughter, and I know you want to go with Jiraya, it's pretty obvious looking at you. – This made Sapphire blush as she looked at the floor and swung her leg in embarrassment – So take care and call this old man whenever you can" Birch said as she hugged her daughter, which she happily reciprocated. Ending the father-daughter moment, Sapphire looked at Jiraya and shyly asked.
"Hey Jiraya, I know we've only known each other for a short time, but could I come with you? I dream of being a Pokémon trainer, but I would like to travel with you - she said, blushing slightly, before realizing that she could have a double meaning in her sentence, and raising her voice she tried to fix her mistake - I want to travel with you because you is my friend! Don't think anything funny or you'll meet my right crusader!" Finished Sapphire threatening Jiraya while she was still blushing.
May smirked at the girl when she realized what was happening, this trip would be fun for her.
Jiraya on the other hand, sighed inwardly as things were finally starting to become ordinary for him, and ordinary meant having a girl mad at him. In agreement with what Sapphire said, everyone said goodbye to Birch and walked off towards Route 101, the starting point for all trainers in Hoenn.
Sapphire was excited because she had finally started walking towards her dream of being a successful coach, and best of all, doing so with her first friend.
May was excited to finally be able to fulfill her dream of traveling the world, and looking at Jiraya she blushed slightly and cheered up, as maybe she would get more than just a new friend as they traveled together.
And Jiraya smiled to himself as he thought about the direction his new life had taken. He was now without any responsibility to any village, no enemies to deal with, no spying to do, just him traveling the world doing what he liked best, which ironically wasn't his 'research', but living without having to worry about kill someone.
This world was the closest he'd ever seen his dream, a world without wars, and he was going to seize every second of this new opportunity. Looking at the two girls who accompanied him, he saw them both talking, happy that the tense atmosphere had at least eased a little, and smiled, as it reminded him a bit of when he trained the Amekagure trio.
If he could pass on some of his life experiences to these girls, that would be more than enough.
Now, he needed to think about a good title for his new saga, after all, he had a new chapter to write in his tale, his life.