Soon after competing in the Johto League, Ken and his friends decided to say their good-byes. Happy and Cool had decided to go home for now, but not before Ken gave Sentret, his first Johto catch to Cool as a going away present, while Yoshette had given Happy her Pokémon League cap. Hearing about a new region with new Pokémon from a Walrein trainer he had battled with in the League, Ken heads there alone.
Relaxing in the pool with the two Pokémon he had taken with him, he feels lonely since Yoshette, his "girlfriend" had decided to stay at Professor Oak's laboratory for a week to study up on Pokémon. His pink Lapras, Happy Ness, and his Pichu knew about his love for her, and would do their best to help him out in whatever way they could on his new journey.
"Your attention, please.", as a man's voice boomed out of the PA system's speakers.
"We will be arriving at Slateport City. Please have your belongings with you, as we
are not responsible for lost articles." Ken got out of the pool, recalled his Pokémon
to their Pokéballs, and headed for his stateroom to get ready. Since there is no port
in Littleroot Town, the closest port for him to get off is in Slateport.
The ship soon docked, and Ken began the long journey to Littleroot Town to meet up with Professor Birch, the Hoenn region's leading Pokémon expert. Just before arriving in town, he heard someone screaming. "Help me! Help me please!" Ken ran towards the screaming, where he saw a man in a lab coat being chased by a Poochyena. The man noticed him while trying to flee from the wild Pokémon.
"Hey! You over there. Grab one of the Pokéballs in my bag and use the Pokémon inside
to chase off this Poochyena.", the man called out. Ken opened the man's bag, and saw
three Pokéballs. He grabbed one and tossed it towards the Poochyena, revealing a small
orange bird Pokémon with a yellow comb on it's head. "Torchic!", the Pokémon cried out,
which Ken realized that this must be it's name.
"What attacks does this Torchic have?", he asked the man. "Have it use Scratch, and
hurry!", he replied as the Poochyena was getting closer to it's target. "Okay. Torchic,
use Scratch on that Poochyena!", Ken called out. Torchic ran towards the Poochyena and
scratched it with it's talons. Poochyena dove towards Torchic in what appeared to be a
Tackle attack.
"It also has Growl. Use that to lower Poochyena's attack power." the man called out,
having now managed to escape from the wild Pokémon. "Torchic, use Growl.", Ken called
out. Torchic let out a small growl, but it was enough to lower the Poochyena's attack
power. "Now use Scratch one more time." Torchic did so, but this time it knocked the
wild Pokémon unconscious.
"Don't worry about Poochyena, young man.", the man told Ken. "It just needs a good rest and it'll be fine. Now, if you'll follow me back to the laboratory, I'll properly introduce myself. Ken recalled the Torchic and gave the Pokéball back to the man, and followed him to the lab in Littleroot Town. Once there, the man did introduce himself to indeed be Professor Birch, and he had been studying Pokémon in their natural habitat when he got attacked suddenly.
"So, you're Professor Birch. My name is Ken, and I'm a Pokemon trainer. I came over from Kanto after hearing about the Hoenn region from a trainer I battled in the Johto League.", he said. Professor Birch recognized the name. "Ah, so you're the Ken that competed in the Johto League against Walrein. No wonder why you were so good with Torchic.", he replied. The Torchic that Ken used let itself out of it's Pokéball and walked up to the trainer.
"Hello there, Torchic. Is there something I can do for you?", he asked. Torchic decided
that it wanted to join Ken on his Hoenn League quest. "I'm not sure if the Professor will
let me take you. Besides, I've already got two Pokémon with me." Professor Birch heard the
news about how Torchic wanted to go with Ken. "Well, if Torchic does want to go with you,
then there's no choice. Take good care of it. I'd like it to be with an experienced
trainer as yourself, Ken.", he agreed.
"Well, if Torchic's coming with me, I'd better introduce it to the other members of my team.", he said and pulled out two Pokéballs. "Happy Ness, Pichu, come on out and meet Torchic!" He opened the two Pokéballs. Happy Ness whined while Pichu answered with it's own name. "Okay you two. This is Torchic. It'll be joining us on our journey." The two Pokémon nodded their heads.
Ken recalled the two Pokémon as well as his newly received Torchic. "Ken, the closest place to register for the Hoenn League is the Pokémon Center in Oldale Town. Good luck with your quest.", Professor Birch said, shaking hands with the trainer. "Thank you Professor, I'll give it my best shot.", he replied. Heading towards the outskirts of Littleroot Town, Ken headed towards Route 101 and Oldale Town.