::blinks:: You . . . you really wanna read more? WELL I'M NOT STOPPIN' YA! READ ON M'FRIEND!

Disclaimer: What . . .?

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Chapter 2: Start of the Journey

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"Go! Cyndaquil!" Brendan said as the occupant of the ball formed from the red light into the tan and blue fire mouse.

"Cyyyn!" it said as it jumped into its trainer's arms. To the untrained eye it would seem like Cyndaquil was just trying to show affection to its trainer. His trainer, however, saw straight through the innocent mask, and arched an eyebrow before tossing it unceremoniously onto the battlefield, and smiling when it turned to glare at him.

Cyndaquil turned to face Torchic, whom was blinking at the interaction between trainer and Pokémon.

"-What?-" Cyndaquil growled. Torchic sluggishly shook her head and looked to May for an order.

"What?! A Cyndaquil? Oh boy!" Torchic anime-fell. May pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it towards the fire rodent. The sensor blinked red and a picture of Cyndaquil showed up on the screen. A monotone voice emitted from the red electronic encyclopedia to give the description.

{Cyndaquil: The Fire Mouse Pokémon. Cyndaquil is timid, and always curls itself up in a ball. If attacked, it flares up its back for protection.} After the description finished and the picture faded away May closed it and put it back into her hip-pack. She then looked up to see Brendan leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and Cyndaquil trying to throw as many rocks as possible at Brendan's face before he woke up. May sweat-dropped.

Must be some kinda love-hate relationship . . .

Brendan opened his eyes just in time to see a rock coming straight at his forehead. Snatching it out of the air just before it hit him, he tossed it up, caught it and chucked it right back at Cyndaquil. It struck him right on the nose, causing the Pokémon to yelp and hold its nose. Brendan sighed and shook his head.

"I've been your trainer for nearly five years, haven't you figured out by now that you end up hurt more than me? So why do you even bother?" he asked calmly.

Cyndaquil glared. "-'Cause it's fun!-" he said with a nasal voice.

Torchic turned to her trainer and stared at her, a little scared.

"Don't worry. You're too cute to hurt!" May said as she picked the bird up and hugged it.

"Done yet?" Brendan directed to May before a rock struck the side of his face. "THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR THIS!" he said before he grabbed hold of the Pokémon and started beating his fist into its skull. "GET IN THERE AND FIGHT!" Cyndaquil regained consciousness to find himself sailing through the air, only to land on his head and send him back into unconsciousness.

Wow . . . It's a good thing I won't be traveling with this guy! The whole world seems to hate him. It's nothing personal, I just don't want his bad luck . . .

Cyndaquil shook his head to stop himself from seeing twenty wide-eyed Torchic. For some weird reason this ticked him off, so he crouched and started giving his fiercest growl, which ended up still sounding like a cute purr. Torchic chirped and prepared herself for the battle.

May scratched the back of her head. "Uhh . . . so I'm guessing we're gonna battle now?"

"Yeah . . . yeah I think so."

"Alrighty then! Torchic, tackle Cyndaquil now!" Torchic chirped and ran towards the crouched mouse Pokémon. Brendan smirked. May arched an eyebrow at this and pondered why he wasn't giving Cyndaquil an order. When Torchic was only a couple of meters away Brendan finally gave a command.

"Quick Attack," was all he said, sending Cyndaquil into action. The momentum Torchic carried behind her wouldn't allow for her to avoid the attack so she met the full brunt of Cyndaquil's attack, sending her flying into a tree.

"Torchic, you okay?" Torchic stood up angrily. Tilting her head to the side, she spit out a loose tooth from her beak. This action had Cyndaquil completely baffled.

"-How did-"

"-Don't ask.-"

"-Alrighty then!-"

May stared at the battlefield, trying to think up a strategy. She hated to admit it, but Torchic was too weak compared to Cyndaquil, and the Pokémon May had used before were at least at Cyndaquil's level. A small sigh escaped her. It was pretty pointless to continue battling, but she didn't want to hurt Torchic's pride.

"Torchic Tackle again!" The Pokémon and Brendan gave May puzzled looks. Brendan shrugged to himself. If that's how she wanted to lose, so be it. He wasn't going to stop her. Torchic looked back at Cyndaquil.

"-Oh . . . kay . . . -" Again she sprinted towards Cyndaquil, who was scratching his head.

"Quick Attack."

"Jump and Scratch!" As soon as Cyndaquil started to move, Torchic jumped as high as she could and managed to rake Cyndaquil's butt as he sprinted past. This resulted in Cyndaquil firmly grasping his rear end . . . and jumping around like mad while sending a steady stream of curses at Torchic. If there was anything he hated more than getting punched in the face, it was getting either kicked, slapped, or slashed at the butt. So basically he wasn't too happy about what Torchic unintentionally did. Willing the pain away for the moment, he turned around to give Torchic a bone-chilling glare. Torchic involuntarily took a few steps back in fear.

"-Eheheh . . . Uhh . . . nice weather we're having, yes?-" said the sweat-dropping Torchic.

"-You . . . are going to pay that. NOBODY SLASHES MY BUTT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!-"

"-Uhh . . . right . . . I'll remember that.-"

"Quick Attack!" Brendan ordered. Cyndaquil, more than happy to obey, raced off towards Torchic.

"Gah! Torchic dodge it!" Torchic hopped over Cyndaquil just in time. The only problem was Cyndaquil had turned on a dime and was coming back at her.

"Growl!" Torchic took a quick breath and let out her loudest screech, making Cyndaquil bring its paws to its ears in a feeble attempt to block out the yelling.

"Good job! Now use Peck!" Torchic ran forward and stabbed the fire mouse with its beak, causing the Pokémon to scream a bit as it backed up and curled into a ball. As Torchic stepped back and got ready to send another barrage of pecks, Cyndaquil's eyes shot open and it uncurled itself, revealing a very, VERY pissed off Cyndaquil. Brendan smirked.

"Cyndaquil use Ember!" Brendan said as a small flame ignited on Cyndaquil's back. Then the flame grew to about the size of its body, and with a shout it let loose a shower of flames towards Torchic. May ordered it to dodge the incoming flames. She dodged about half of them before getting hit by three. She dodged the rest only to be slammed into a tree by Cyndaquil. The weakened Torchic struggled to her feet, her pride hurt more than her body. Then Torchic's body started to glow a very bright orange as its Blaze ability took effect. May puzzled over this for only a second before giving the next command at the same time as Brendan.

"Another Quick Attack!"

"Torchic, slow it down with your own Ember!" May said. Torchic let loose its own shower of flames towards the rushing Cyndaquil. Brendan however just smirked as Cyndaquil's Flash Fire ability took effect. Thus after the attack was finished Cyndaquil remained unscathed and running even faster.

"Cyndaquil use Flame Wheel!" Brendan said as the flame on Cyndaquil's back grew. Suddenly a fire surrounded the Pokémon. Two seconds later it charged after Torchic. It slammed into Torchic as the fire moved from Cyndaquil to engulf the firebird. Still engulfed in the fire Torchic slammed into another tree, bounced off and landed ####### the ground. This time she stayed there.

"No! Torchic!" May yelled as she ran over to its side. She picked it up, and seeing that it wouldn't be waking up anytime soon returned it to its ball. She heard Brendan say something to Cyndaquil, and then heard footsteps coming near her. She looked up and saw Brendan looking down at her. She blinked away a tear and stood up to congratulate him. Brendan tried cheering her up, saying that she did extremely well for her first trainer battle.

"You did extremely well for your first trainer battle."

"Shut up, no I didn't."

"Hey, I'm trying to cheer you up here."

". . . . . . ."

"Well," he said, avoiding May's sulking eyes. "I think we should head back to Oldale and get Cyndaquil and Torchic healed up." May nodded and together they headed south back to Oldale Town.

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"Here you go," Nurse Joy said as she handed the two young trainers their Pokémon back. "You two must have had quite a battle. The two were pretty well beaten up, especially Torchic." The two trainers thanked the freakishly freakish freak of a Nurse and sat down at a table to eat. They also let their Pokémon out to eat and play around.

"Hey Brendan?"

"Yeah?"

"Before Torchic used Ember it started glowing bright orange. Um . . . Do you know why?"

"Yeah. My dad told me that each Pokémon has its own special ability. Torchic's ability is Blaze. What Blaze does is power up your Torchic's fire attacks." May nodded.

"Ok. But why didn't the Ember work on Cyndaquil?"

"That's because Cyndaquil's special ability is Flash Fire. When it is attacked by fire Cyndaquil will absorb the attack into its body. When that happens Cyndaquil will also get a power boost from the fire. Remember that Flame Wheel? Well Cyndaquil knows the attack; he's just not strong enough on his own to be able to use it. Only by using your Torchic's fire attack was he able to get the power to use it."

May summarized her response to all this new information in the form of, "Oh."

Kris' Typhlosion never used Flash Fire . . .

The rest of the meal continued in that awkward silence. When they finished they watched their Pokémon chase each other all over the Pokémon Center. They were playing tag and Torchic was 'It' about four minutes and fifty seconds of the five minutes they played. When they had decided they had used up enough energy the Pokémon returned to their trainers' laps.

"May, I was thinking that we should both go back to Littleroot. I needed to give some info to my dad anyway and since you'll be starting your journey maybe you should go say goodbye to your mom."

"Oh . . . oops, forgot about that haha." So much for leaving without the five-hour 'safety' lecture . . . Well I needed to get my backpack anyways. Maybe I'll be able to sneak past her.

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Since May's house was closer they went to her house first. Brendan told May that he was heading off back to the lab and they waved good-bye. May slowly opened the front door and peeked in. Seeing the coast was clear, May crept ever so quietly to the stairs. The toilet flushed and the bathroom door opened, and May was upstairs in the blink of an eye. She got her backpack out of the closet. Then she decided that she would keep the hip-pack. All her essential items would be switched into the backpack, while all things Pokémon related, such as potions and Pokeballs, would stay in the hip-pack. So she moved her clothes, food and other items into the bigger bag, then fastened her sleeping bag and pillow to it. After packing an extra pair of clothes and a potion she had found in her PC she went downstairs, packed some extra food and drinks, avoided her mom, and stepped outside only to find Brendan waiting for her.

The white-haired trainer checked his watch. "Sure does take you a while to pack. How much stuff did you actually forget?" he said with a chuckle. May let out a small shy laugh and scratched the back of her head.

"Umm . . . Didn't ya say you were goin' back to the lab?" May asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I gave him the info but he said he wanted me to come get you and bring you back to the lab. I asked him why but all he did was repeat himself. I asked him again but all he did was repeat himself. I spent a good, fun thirty seconds like that," he said with a roll of the eyes.

"Well then," May said and began walking toward the lab, "I guess we can't let the dear professor waiting then. Let's go." Brendan nodded and they raced each other back to the lab.

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"So May, I hear you gave Brendan a bit of trouble in your battle. You should be proud. Not many around here can hold their own against Brendan for as long as you did." From the corner of her eye she saw Brendan roll his eyes.

"Lemme guess, you say that to all new trainers who challenge Brendan and lose miserably?" she said. Professor Birch gave a small, embarrassed smile.

"Anyway, you probably want to know why I sent Brendan to bring you here." Both trainers nodded. "Well, I given it much thought, and have decided that you two will journey through Hoenn together." Next thing the Professor knew a desk was placed on his head, and not too gently either.

"Do tell," Brendan nearly growled out. May was jerking her head up and down.

"Well," he said, with the desk still on his head. "I have decided that by going on this journey you two will be able to gain much more knowledge about Pokémon than by staying here." May eyed him curiously.

"My mom forced you into this didn't she?"

"Well . . . she's uhh . . . very persuasive . . ."

"I KNEW IT! SHE'LL NEVER TRUST ME!"

The professor gave a nervous chuckle. "Well . . . uhh . . . Good luck," he said, "and make us all proud."

May said nothing, just stomped off to the door and was greeted by the sun in the clear blue sky. In her pissy mood she did not realize her mother had seen her walking by the house. The embrace of her mother shocked her back to reality. Ah crap.

10 minutes of mushiness and safety lecture later . . .

Finally her mother finished and May was allowed to breathe once more. As she proceeded to catch her breath her mom remembered the main reason she was waiting for her daughter. She gave her a pair of Running Shoes, something that was supposedly a historical breakthrough since no one before this time knew how to run. May gave her mother one last hug, then stepped back. Then her mother gave her 1500 extra dollars to help her get steady with her money issue. She would have given May more but she told her that every time she won a battle she got money for winning.

Okay next scene.

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"Good luck he says. Gain much more 'knowledge' he says." May paused her ranting to take in her surroundings. It seemed . . . familiar somehow. "Hey wait a second . . . isn't this Route 103?" Brendan took a quick glance of the area.

"Uhh yeah . . . yeah this is 103." May eyed him warily.

"This route does go somewhere, right?" Brendan let out a timid chuckle and scratched the back of his head once again.

"No, no it doesn't."

May gave Brendan a smile, the kind of smile that was irritation coated in a nice, sugary innocent content. "Is it okay for me to ask WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Ah crap, she's already starting to hate me . . .

"Not only that, but you were here before too!" she continued. "Think next time, my white-haired wonder. That brain ain't there for no reason ya know!" May said as she stomped off back to Oldale Town. Brendan groaned and looked down to an amused Torchic and Cyndaquil.

"What are you lookin' at?" Torchic stared at him innocently. Cyndaquil gave him the kind of look that just begs to be kicked into next week. Brendan shook his head and followed May, with the two Pokémon following and chatting to each other.

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"What do ya think that guy's doin'?" May asked.

"I think—"

"I was talkin' to Torchic." Brendan glared at her and looked past her shoulder to the man May was staring at.

"He's sketching something." May rolled her eyes.

"Great observation there, B-chan." Brendan glared at her again. May saw this one and just rolled her eyes again.

"Let's go," she said to the others and started walking, intent on getting past the weird dude and on with her life. She took only two steps when the man stopped her.

"Please stand back! I just found the footprints of a rare Pokémon! When I finish sketching them you can pass okay?" Brendan, being the observant boy that he is, looked at the prints, then to the man, then to the man's shoes, then to May, then back to the man. He shook his head in disbelief.

"These are your own footprints you moron!" he said at the man. The man looked bewildered.

"How can you dare say that?!" he shot back, "I tell you I've found the prints of a rare Pokémon!" Brendan rolled his eyes.

"Dude, just give me your shoe." The man looked puzzled as he took off a shoe and gave it to Brendan. Brendan then proceeded to put the shoe on, then before the man could react made a foot print right next to one of the others.

It was identical.

"Oh . . . oops," the man said. "Sorry about that. I guess I got so excited about finding a rare Pokémon's foot print that I didn't check to see if it was mine." May rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, we could kinda tell," she said as she, Brendan, Torchic and Cyndaquil walked past the man and onto Route 102. To them their journey was officially and finally starting.

Wow. That sounded so . . . dramatic . . .

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Have you noticed that whatever the narrator says, Brendan says? No? Well that's cuz he only did that once.

Well . . . review pleaz! tntD!