May checked to see if Brendan had responded yet as she stepped out of the Oldale Pokemon Center. The sun was sitting high in the sky, and Hoenn's warmer climate was a pleasant reminder to thank her dad for choosing to take the job here instead of Sinnoh. A shudder went through her body just thinking of how cold it must be up there.
She reached what was technically the beginning of Route 102, and began her trek towards Petalburg. Plenty of younger trainers were also scattered among the trail admiring their new starters and playing with their friends. They were another reminder to May that she was alone, which was a slightly disheartening thought. Although she had no real qualms about travelling alone, she would much rather be able to enjoy her journey with a friend. Brendan had been her closest friend when she used to live in Johto, but he had left on his journey earlier than her, and now he was in a different region entirely. They had known each other for years, back when she lived in Olivine City.
It's been awhile since she's seen him.
In fact, the more she walked, the more she felt like an adult among a sea of children. All the other trainers she passed were clearly younger than her, and she felt a bit left out. She should've been walking a path like this years ago, and while she didn't blame her dad for constantly moving around, May still allowed herself to feel a bit disgruntled. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly walked right into someone.
"Excuse me, do you want to battle?"
She shook herself out of her trance and looked down. It was a younger boy in a green shirt, with his friend standing next to him. His hands were at his sides, a Pokeball grasped in one of them. He looked up at her with a curious expression. They couldn't have been older than 11.
The question registered in her mind after she saw the Pokeball. May had never actually had a Pokemon battle before, her only point of reference coming from the handful of battles that she watched her father compete in, but now that she had a Pokemon of her own she could try it out herself.
She gave the boy a shrug. "Sure thing. You ready?"
"Yep!" he exclaimed, before tossing his Pokeball into the air and releasing a Zigzagoon. Her own Pokeball followed suit, and Eevee materialized by her side. The kid let out an audible gasp.
He gasped. "Whoa, you got one of the rarer starters! Lucky!" The boy put his hands on his hips. "I'll still win!"
She looked down at her partner. "Eevee, you ready?"
The Pokemon yipped an affirmative, and she nodded. Looking back towards the kid, May realized that her knowledge on battling was sorely lacking. Feigning confidence, she said, "Alright kid, you go first."
"Okay then! Zigzagoon, use tackle!"
Zigzagoon charged forwards, and for a moment, May froze up. At that moment, she wasn't having a battle anymore. She was in the Petalburg Gym, talking to her dad after one of his challenges
"So dad, what actually makes you a good battler? I know you say that some trainers consider you the hardest gym, but what is that supposed to mean?"
Norman handed his Pokeballs to the nurse and took a seat next to her. He crossed his hands behind his head and leaned back, pondering the question. "Battling's a real complex thing. There's a lot of different things that trainers have to keep on the lookout for in order to gain the edge. Type, size and speed, items. It's easy to get overwhelmed by everything that could happen."
She nodded, it made sense. "But that doesn't answer my question."
He raised his hands briefly. "I'm getting there. Now sure, there's a whole lot of things that you need to keep track of, but what is the end goal for a trainer when they get into a battle?"
"To...win, right?"
"Right. You want your Pokemon to knock out the other trainer's Pokemon. A lot of inexperienced trainers overcomplicate things, and it's an easy mistake to make. It doesn't matter what the ruleset is, or if you're at a type disadvantage, or anything. The end goal is to knock your foe out. And it's the same for them; their end goal is to knock your Pokemon out."
"Now, what I think is the most important part of battling is a Pokemon's ability to avoid getting hit." He looked at her, who gave a slight giggle. "What?"
"Like Slaking?"
He allowed himself to chuckle as well. "I'll give you that one, but Slaking has his own way of dodging. You just haven't figured it out yet." He ignored May's doubtful glance and continued. "If a Pokemon is unable to get hit by an attack, and is able to consistently land their own attacks, what happens? They win. It's part of the reason why I chose to become a Normal type expert in the first place. Normal types are versatile, and people tend to forget that."
"It's the barebone basics of battling. Hit them, and don't get hit back. I may be the Normal-Type Gym Leader, but in reality, I'm a trainer's test on if they're proficient enough in the basics. That's why many trainers consider my gym the hardest."
Another chuckle. "In all honesty though, I would say the actual toughest gyms are Winona's and Wallace's. Now those two, they..."
His voice faded from her mind as May brought herself back from the past. Her mouth was moving before her mind could catch up.
"Eevee, dodge it and use sand attack!"
The fox sprang into action at her words, leaping out of the Zigzagoon's path and kicking up sand on the dismount. The Normal-type caught the majority of the sand right in its face, and it cried in annoyance. May allowed herself to smirk.
"Nice job! Now hit it with a quick attack!"
Zigzagoon had to pause for a moment to blink the sand out of its eyes, which gave Eevee the perfect target. She bolted forwards at speed and rammed right into its flank, knocking Zigzagoon back. It recovered quickly, hopping up and blindly jumping around in hopes of dodging any follow ups.
The boy cupped his hands together and called out to his partner. "Zigzagoon, you need to try and get the sand out of your eyes!"
"Eevee, hit it again!"
The Zigzagoon heeded his trainer and stilled himself, focusing on trying to blink the sand out of his eyelids. While the 'mon couldn't see it's opponent, the Zigzagoon could certainly hear it approaching at speed and tried to jump out of the way.
Eevee was moving too fast to account for the dodge and blew past the 'mon, and she had to slow herself in order to readjust. Pivoting on her forepaws, the Eevee spun herself around and charged again. This time, she was ready for the blinded mon's next attempt and adjusted accordingly.
The Zigzagoon hardly had time to react when the fox rammed into his flank, hard. Both trainers watched as the 'mon sailed across the clearing, landing unconscious at his trainer's feet.
The boy looked down at the Zigzagoon with wide eyes and returned it to its Pokeball, before looking back at May.
"Wow, you're so good! Where'd you learn to battle like that?"
"It's...just something I've picked up."
"Cool! Hey, dyou think I'll ever be that good?"
She gave a small shrug, saying the first thing that came to mind. "It just takes a lot of practice. I'm sure you'll get there someday." The boy nodded eagerly.
May turned back towards the direction of Petalburg, but the boy interrupted one last time, saying, "Hey, before you go, what's your name?"
She gave a small smile. "My name's May."
"My name's Connor. Nice job winning May! Maybe I'll see you around."
"Yeah, maybe. See ya around, Connor."
She watched the kid head back towards Oldale town with his friend, probably to heal his Pokemon, and she sighed, dropping the confident act. Turning, she continued towards Petalburg City. Her Eevee decided to walk alongside her, merrily leading the way. A couple more wild Pokemon battled her, and by battling them May learned a bit more about Eevee.
For one, May was beginning to doubt her earlier assumption that the Eevee was on the younger side. She was a capable battler, beating back wild Pokemon that got too close and coming out relatively unscathed, all without May's commands.
The smile she had been wearing turned slightly sour as she was faced with the reality of her experience, or lack thereof. A battle with a kid that looked like he'd been with his Pokemon for about four hours tops wasn't exactly a benchmark to celebrate. At this point, her Eevee could probably be a better trainer than herself. May had to become better, not only for her own sake, but for her new partner as well. She knew that wouldn't be fair for Eevee if she didn't improve her own skills alongside her.
Eventually she saw her destination in the distance. The gates to Petalburg City welcomed her into town as she started to venture through the streets. May felt it was a nice place to live, not big enough that the city felt crowded, but not small enough that the city felt empty. It was a good mix in between the two. Despite only being in Hoenn for a few years, she'd been here enough times to know where she was going.
She took a pitstop in the Pokemon center here, to keep her Eevee healthy after the journey here. While she waited, her eyes fell onto the TV hung up in the lobby. Apparently, a Starter Pokemon had been stolen earlier today in Johto. The news report held her attention for a moment, before the nurse called for her and she went to retrieve her Eevee.
May didn't actually visit Petalburg nearly as often as she should, but she knew where to go from here. Following the road for a few blocks, she took a left and headed right for the gym's entrance. As she walked inside, she was greeted by a well dressed gentleman, whom she immediately recognized.
"Hello, trainer! Are you perhaps here to challenge the gym?"
"Hey Clyde! I'm just popping in to say hi to my dad. Do you know if he's busy right now?"
"Oh! Sorry I didn't recognize you there, May. I think he's free right now. You know which room it is, right?"
"Yep, thanks Clyde."
"Not a problem."
She headed deeper into the building, hanging a right at the second hallway and heading towards the office. Before she stepped inside, she decided to take a peek at the battlefield. Creaking the door open, she saw that a small catastrophe had occurred, which was likely from the earlier festivities. Whatever starters her father had provided today had definitely been a handful, with plenty of gouges and scorch marks littering the floor
She continued to the office, where she knew her father would likely be filling out paperwork for the rest of the day. Starter day was fun for the younger kids, but as she had grown, she learned that those that hosted the events across the regions that weren't Professors usually ended up getting swamped in paperwork afterwards. It made sense though, someone has to keep track of all the new trainers and Pokemon. She stepped inside the office.
"Hey dad!" She exclaimed, making him look up and smile.
"Sweetie, hey! How are you? How was the trip here?" He got up from the desk and gave her a big hug.
"The walk was nice," She said, hugging him back. She motioned her head behind her. "What happened to the field?"
He broke off from the hug and chuckled. "I guess you took a peek in there, huh? It actually isn't that bad, considering some of the horror stories that I've heard from some of the others…" He trailed off for a moment, before continuing. "Well, the scorch marks were caused by an overexcited Electrike, and most of the other scrapes and whatnot were caused by the various first-timer battles." He gave her a look. "Speaking of battles, did you have any yet, May?"
She gave a short nod. "Yeah, I did! Eevee's actually really battle savvy. She went out of her way to chase away some of the wild Pokemon that came up to us while we walked here."
"Really! Usually, Eevee aren't the most aggressive Pokemon. And I would know, being the Normal type expert and all." May resisted the urge to groan. "In any case, do you know what you'd want to evolve her into?"
"Dad, don't you think it's a bit early to be deciding something like that?"
"Well, I always believed in figuring out these sorts of things early. But if you don't know, that's fine. I was only asking because I could get you the stone needed. They're not as cheap as you might think."
"Well, I'll let you know if Eevee ever makes a choice. But speaking of getting things cheap..." She unslung her bag and put it down, pulling her Pokedex out and placing it on the table. "Was this you?"
"No? Where'd you get a Pokedex? I thought you said you weren't going to get one because of how expensive they are." He questioned, clearly curious.
"Well that was my original plan. I decided last second that I'd buy one, but the Professor just gave it to me for free."
"Wait, really? That's just, well." He paused, trying to think of the right word.
"Odd?" She offered.
He nodded, raising his hands in a confused gesture. "Well yeah. Why would he do that? Even if Birch had an extra laying around, bonus revenue isn't easy for him to come by. It's not like the lab gets paid for every time a Zigzagoon gets scanned."
She nodded in agreement. "I know. So you didn't tell him to do this?"
He frowned. "May, I would never do such a thing. You should know that."
"Umm, i-is this a good time, or..?"
They both turned towards the door, where the new voice had originated from. A green-haired boy was poking his head in. He wilted slightly as they both stared at him, but Norman caught onto his nervousness and put on a big smile.
"Yeah, come on in kid. This is my daughter, May. She's just upset that I beat her in a battle."
May shot him a look. He shot back a mischievous grin before looking back to the kid.
"O-oh, ok. I'm here to, um, receive a starter."
She glanced at the clock. The hands pointed past noon.
Norman hummed. "Well, y'know you're a bit late, right? What's your name?
He lowered his head slightly. "I, uh, my name is Wally. I couldn't make it until now. A-are there...um, any starters left?"
He shook his head. "Sorry Wally, I was cleaned out earlier. If you want, I can go out and help you catch a wild Pokemon."
"Oh, um, that would be nice. C-can you do that?"
Norman took a step towards him. "Of course I can, Wally! It beats sitting here and doing all this paperwork. Do you mind if my daughter joins us?"
Wally glanced at May. "O-okay."
Norman kept the smile on his face and led the two of them out of the gym. May waved to Clyde as they left, and Norman began walking them back towards Route 102. May decided to ask the kid a few questions.
"So, where'd you from, Wally?"
"I…uh..live in Verdanturf Town with my cousin. She came out here with me so I could finally get a partner.
"That's nice. Verdanturf must've been a bit of a hike from here, right?" Wally nodded.
Her father joined in on the conversation. "Where's your cousin now, Wally?"
"O-oh, uh, well I think she went to visit some of her friends in Rustboro. I'm going to meet up with her again later."
His eyebrow crept higher in skepticism, but Wally, who was mostly looking downwards, didn't notice. "So you're alone right now?"
"Y-yes? It wasn't that far of a walk from here to Rustboro. I-I can make it back there on my own."
"I believe ya kid, I'm just asking."
At this point, they were a fair distance down Route 102. May could still see the entrance of the town in the distance, but barely so.
"So Wally, did you have any specific Pokemon in mind?"
"Not really, n-no. I just want a partner to travel with."
"That's good. I've had kids come to me saying they want the 'best' starter and whatnot. They don't realize that every Pokemon is a force to be reckoned with, if trained right." He pondered something to himself for a moment. "Now Wally, do you know much about how wild Pokemon behave?"
Wally shook his head, and May was slightly thrown by the question as well. What did he mean by that?
Norman looked off to his left. "Well, that's okay. Every trainer worth their salt has to learn this at some point." he looked at their confused faces. "So, I know both of you know how Pokemon are intelligent. Some of them are as smart as us, some smarter, etcetera. Now what most trainers have to learn is that Pokemon aren't very different from us at all. Pokemon around the world have begun forming their own little communities, and…"
Nevermind, she knew what this was about. May had already heard about how some of the smarter Pokemon have been gathering into groups and claiming certain areas as their own. These little gatherings functioned fairly similar to, well, a human town. It made sense, their own society served as a decent template for these communities.
And of course, her dad being who he was, would have to be involved in its existence. The discovery of such communities have only begun recently, but the amount that have been found have been growing rapidly, leaving the Pokemon League unsure on how they should handle the situation.
"S-so have you actually been to a nearby community Mr. Norman?" Wally's question brought her attention back to the conversation, because she was also interested in his answer. Her father nodded confidently. "I have. Granted, it was only once and it was only for a brief stint that the League had ordered, but I have been in the community that is closest to us."
"The reason that I'm telling you about this is so you don't accidentally catch one of these Pokemon, or at least, not without getting approval from the 'mon in question. These things are new and there aren't many rulings on them yet, but one of the first laws that's been approved is that a trainer must be mindful of the Pokemon that they're catching. We don't want an incident to occur. For example, say you caught a Bagon. If that Bagon is part of a community, then you might have to deal with a swarm of angry Salamence. You can understand why that could be a problem, right?"
Wally nodded vigorously at the thought, and the Gym Leader smiled. "Good. Of course, there aren't any Bagon that live around here, but for now, the League rules say to treat any and all of these communities with caution, should you come across them. It's to minimize the risk of causing an incident. Now May," he turned towards her. "Could you please send out your Eevee? She's going to help us capture a Pokemon for Wally today."
She gave a puzzled look and tossed the Pokeball high. Eevee popped out in a flash, and turned to her trainer. She motioned towards her father, and Eevee turned towards him.
"Well aren't you just adorable," her father said in a cheerful tone. Eevee preened slightly and he chuckled. "Wally and I need your help, Eevee. Could you possibly look around for a wild Pokemon for Wally to capture?"
The vulpine turned to look at the green-haired boy that stood behind Norman, and watched as he shyly waved to her. Eevee nodded, and raised her nose to the air to start sniffing her surroundings. The trio watched as she took a few steps forward, before she locked onto something's scent. Eevee darted through the brush, scurrying deeper into the woods and leaving the humans to wait on the path.
Her nose guided her through the forest as she followed the scent. Her sprint carried her through another group of bushes, and over a fallen log. She kept going until it led her to a rather thick tree in a small clearing. Against the tree lay a pair of Ralts, seemingly asleep. She took another tentative step closer and one of their heads shot up, looking at her.
The Ralts studied her for a moment, neither 'mon moving. Eventually, the Ralts spoke using her voice, immediately tipping Eevee off that these two were fairly young. "Who are you?"
She sat down on her hind, trying not to look threatening. "I'm a human's Pokemon. I'm looking for any wild Pokemon that might want to be caught by a human."
"Really? There are humans close by?"
Eevee caught onto the curious tone immediately. "Yeah. Are you two part of the community nearby, or are you wild?"
"We.." The Ralts paused briefly, before giving out an exasperated sigh. "We were just kicked out of our community. We're wild right now." She nudged the other Ralts, "Hey, wake up."
The other Ralts groggily arose. "What is it?" This one also spoke with his voice rather than telepathy.
"Do you want to be a human's Pokemon?"
"W-what?" This woke him up a bit more, and he could see that there was now an Eevee standing in front of them. "Where'd you come from?"
"I'm looking for Pokemon that might want to be caught by a human. Your friend he-"
"Sister." The first Ralts corrected her.
"Sorry. Your sister just told me that you two have been kicked out of the nearby community. Eevee paused, remembering that she'd been tasked with finding one Pokemon for the boy, not two. But at the same time, these two seemed to be in rough shape. Perhaps she could convince May to capture one for herself. She shook herself out of her trance. "If you want, there are a few trainers looking for Pokemon to capture."
"Will we be separated," one asked, his voice losing it's grogginess.
She winced. "Well, probably. It's two different trainers looking for something to catch. But I can try to make sure they keep in touch, so you're not separated forever."
There was little hesitation from the first one. "Let's do it. We don't know how long we'll last out here on our own."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, brother. We'll be fine."
"Alright." He nodded in her direction. "There's your answer. We'll go with you."
She nodded. "Follow me then." She led the duo back through the way she had just come. All in all, Eevee was quite content that she'd managed to find willing Pokemon to go so quickly. With the two Ralts in tow, the Normal-Type led them back to the path where her trainer awaited.
May looked back towards the woods as she heard something approach the group. She saw a rustle in a bush ahead of her, and moments later Eevee hopped out of the brush, with two Ralts in tow. Eevee said something to the Ralts, before turning back towards her.
"A Ralts, huh. Lucky you, Wally. Ralts are a rare sight around here." Norman said, before looking down at the Pokemon. "Eevee, do they want to battle?" Eevee shook her head in response. "Alright then. Wally, do you know how to use a Pokeball?"
"Um..sort of?" He said hesitantly.
"Here." Norman handed Wally a Pokeball. "It's simple to use. First, you have to prime it, so press the button on the front." He did so, and the Pokeball grew in his hand. Norman continued, "Now it's ready to be thrown. It's empty, so it'll try homing into the nearest Pokemon."
"Really?"
"Yep. No one throws perfectly every time, so it has an assist of sorts. Pokeballs have a built-in homing effect when you throw them at a Pokemon. Of course, it's not completely automated. Your throws have to be relatively close to your target, or it'll miss."
Wally nodded. "Okay," he said, a rare glimmer of confidence in his voice. He gave the Pokeball an underhand toss towards the group of Pokemon, and it impacted against Ralts head. The other one jumped back slightly, as the Pokemon next to them disappeared into the ball. It shook once, before signaling a successful capture. Wally reached down and picked up the Pokeball, staring at it.
May realized that Eevee was glancing between her and the second Ralts. She took the hint and unzipped her bag. May didn't have any qualms about training a Ralts. She took out her own Pokeball and tossed it towards the remaining psychic type. Once again, another successful ding.
"Congratulations to both of you. Especially to you Wally, you're now an official Pokemon trainer." Norman said with a smile on his face. "Now, have you already done the paperwork, or do you need help with that as well?"
"Oh, I..uh, haven't gotten that far yet…."
"Not to worry, you can come back to the gym with me and I can get you all sorted away."
"T-thank you Mr. Norman!"
"Not a problem Wally. Lets head back to the gym so I can get your stuff squared away."
Wally nodded and the trio headed back into the town limits. Eevee was eagerly walking alongside her, looking around as the autumn breeze swept through the city. Norman stopped them and pointed towards the orange-roofed building.
"It's a good idea to get any new Pokemon you catch checked out. You'd never know if something was wrong with them until they get a proper checkup. I'll go get your papers Wally."
Norman jogged towards the gym, leaving May and Wally alone. May shrugged and headed into the center, with Wally tailing behind. They were met with a surprisingly empty lobby. Walking up to the desk, they say a nurse that was completely occupied by whatever was on her computer screen. May cleared her throat.
The nurse became flustered when she realized that there were trainers at the desk. "Oh, sorry about that! I didn't hear you two come in. Are you here to heal your Pokemon?"
"We just caught some wild Pokemon and we wanted to make sure they're healthy."
"Well of course! Please put your Pokeballs right here," she slid a tray towards them, "And I'll give them a look-over."
May and Wally pulled out their Pokeballs and placed them onto the tray. The nurse nodded, taking the tray deeper into the center. May went to sit down on the couch, and Wally followed her, taking a seat at the opposite end. She glanced over at Wally, who had settled down and was currently looking at a map of the region. She couldn't imagine travelling alone at his age. Wally couldn't be any older than fourteen.
The door opened and her father walked in again, papers in hand. He waved at them, before sitting down next to Wally. He handed him the papers and continued to help him fill out the form.
May took this time to gather her thoughts. She now had two team members to train, and her journey only began hours ago. And a Pokedex, for free! Did the Professor plan on giving her the 'dex that whole time? She doubted it, especially with how the Professor acted earlier. She had handed him the money for it and everything, and he had just abruptly said 'take it'.
Now that she was thinking about it, that wasn't the only strange thing that happened today, her memory flying back to the first few moments of the day. 'And good luck.' Where did that even come from? And...the email!
Her hands shot to her bag, unzipping it and opening it up. She opened her inbox and searched for the email from this morning. The email hadn't moved from her inbox, still sitting there as the sole message that her computer had received today.
"Excuse me, your Pokemon are ready!"
She shook herself out of it and looked towards the nurse. A brief moment passed before the words actually registered in her mind, and she stood up, closing the laptop and sliding it back into her bag. She walked over to the desk and Wally followed her, packet still in hand.
The both took their Pokeballs back and sat back down, Wally handed the paper back to Norman, who took it and quickly skimmed through the pages. He smiled back at him and said, "Well Wally, it seems that everything is in order. I can handle the rest of the paperwork, but for now, you are officially a Pokemon trainer. Congratulations!"
"W...wait, just like that?"
"Well, there is more paperwork that I have to do, but you don't have to wait for me to finish it. You are free to begin your adventure however you want. You'll be getting your trainer card in the mail sometime in the near future, so don't forget to pick that up."
"O...oh, okay! Thank you Norman!"
"Not a problem Wally."
Norman gave Wally one last thumbs up before leaving him to his own devices. He walked over to May and sat down next to her, while she watched Wally walk towards the receptionist behind him. She spoke first.
"You beat me in a battle, huh?"
"Wha-" he began to sputter, before remembering the white lie he told Wally earlier. "Ha-ha. I'm sure you want to battle me May, but I hold the right to accept and refuse any challengers."
May looked at him, confused. "You don't want to battle?"
"Oh, believe me, I do. But I want the battle to be special. It wouldn't be any fun to battle you when your Pokemon only knows moves like Tackle, now would it?"
"You weren't going to accept my challenge from the start? Thats rude, dad."
"Sorry sweetie." he said, giving the most not-sorry look he possibly could.
"Fine." She put her hands on her hips. "But you owe me a solid dad."
"Ouch. That's fair though."
She motioned her head behind him and Norman turned to see Wally approaching them once more. He looked at her father.
"Umm...I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to start walking back to Rustboro now, Mr. Norman." He turned towards May, with a much more serious look in his eye. "The nurse just told me that our Ralts are siblings. I don't want to make them think that they're separated. Can I have your phone number?"
"Oh, really?" She asked in slight surprise. Wally nodded firmly. "Yeah, sure. Here, put your contact in my phone, and I'll put mine in yours."
The two of them briefly traded numbers and returned each other's phones. Wally pocketed his own and looked back towards her. "Well, I'm going to head towards Rustboro now. Th...thank you for helping me Mr. Norman. You too, May."
She smiled, "Not a problem Wally. I'll see you around."
Wally waved goodbye to them and walked out the doors of the center, beginning his own adventures. May watched the doors closed and sighed.
"He seems like a nice kid." Her father spoke." A bit shy, but I understand. It's not easy for a kid to travel so far away on their own. He was exaggurating earlier, walking from here to Rustboro isn't a short jog away." He paused briefly. "Did you catch his age, by any chance?"
"Nope. I'd guess around fourteen."
"Close. According to his papers, he's thirteen."
"He's that young, huh?" She said, intrigued. "No wonder he's so shy. I'd be terrified if I had to travel alone at that age."
"I agree. I'll let Roxanne know to keep an eye out for the kid, to make sure he gets there safely. What about you, May? Are you going to head right for Rustboro city? Or are you going to stay here for the night?"
"I think I'm going to start heading there today. I want to get a head start, in case I don't make it there tonight. If that happens, I won't have to waste all of tomorrow getting there. Besides, I need to get used to setting up my tent."
"You should make sure you have everything with you now, rather than once you're already there. Believe me, you don't want to be halfway across the region before realizing that you forgot something important."
"I will, dad."
"Alright. I'm going to go back to the gym and keep chipping away at the mountain of paperwork that's on my desk. If you need anything, give me a call." He gave her a hug and headed towards the door, before turning back to say one last thing.
"I'll ask the professor about the Pokedex and let you know what he says later, okay?"
"Okay."
He nodded, and with one last wave, walked out of the Pokemon Center. May took her father's advice and opened her bag, making sure that she had the essentials needed for travelling. After opening her pack she quickly realized that she had forgotten something important. She had forgotten to bring food to actually cook.
One quick stop to the grocery store later, she was actually ready to go. She headed to the other side of the town, which bordered Route 104. Nearing the exit of the town, she felt her phone buzz and she pulled it out of her pocket, hoping that perhaps Brendan had gotten back to her.
It wasn't a message from Brendan at all. It was an automated message sent out by the local police to all trainers to keep an eye out for a missing person that was last spotted around Petalburg. The paired picture showed a woman with short lilac hair and wearing a white/purple suit of sorts. May glanced around briefly to humor her herself, but of course there was no one that matched the picture she'd just received. She shrugged and pocketed her phone, before continuing on to Route 104.
She was met with a brilliant ocean view. She saw younger kids playing with their Pokemon on the shore, enjoying the afternoon while the sun is still up. May released her Eevee and Ralts, and walked along the shoreline with them. The two Pokemon seemed to be in a conversation with each other, and May wondered if she'd be able to understand them eventually. She knew that if trained properly, the Ralts might be able to speak telepathically with her. She wondered how far she would even get in her travels. She was going to try the gym challenge but as for how high she'd strive to reach, she didn't know.
But beating her dad would be a good start.
Some trainers challenged her during her trek towards Rustboro, which provided good experience for Eevee and Ralts. Most of these trainers seemed to be new, being partnered with either Zigzagoon and Taillow, along with the occasional Poochyena. But now May couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the Treecko that had gone missing, and who the other starters had gone to. Her thoughts drifted back to the news report from earlier. She'd have to ask Birch if he'd found the grass-type tomorrow.
While she walked she came across a house built along the shore. Extending from the house was a dock, with two powerboats slowly rocking on the surprisingly calm waters. Out on the front porch of the house was an old man sitting in a rocking chair, a Wingull perched next to him. The elderly man waved at her with a smile, and she walked up to see what he wanted.
"Well hello lass! I didn't expect you to actually come and say hello, I wave at everyone that I see."
"O-oh…" May felt slightly embarrassed.
"Ha-ha!" The man let out a hearty chuckle. "Not to worry, lass. I'm not gonna bite. Ye can call me Mr. Briney. And you are?"
"May."
"May. That's a wonderful name. Well May, if ya ever fancy taking a boat ride, feel free to ask. I've plenty of time on me hands nowadays, so I'd be happy to take young adventurers like ye across the isles of Hoenn."
"Just like that?"
"Sure! After all, It's not like many people stop to say hello to me and Peeko. They just wave and continue walking. But ye came to say hello, so I'll offer ye my services."
"Peeko?" She questioned, and the Wingull turned towards her. She nodded in understanding.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Briney. I'll be sure to come back if I need to."
"Aye lass. Feel free to come by anytime." He waved farewell as she continued to follow the coast north.
A considerable amount of time had passed since then, and she was almost to Rustboro City. She had reached the outskirts of Petalburg Woods, which served as the border to Rustboro's borders.
She looked to the sky and saw the sun beginning it's descent. She decided to set up camp now, opting to traverse the forest tomorrow morning. May began to put together the campsite, quickly putting together her new tent and a fire pit at a rapid pace. Eevee and Ralts were getting along nicely, chasing each other around while she toiled away.
Eventually the campsite itself was finished, and she could start putting together her dinner. She opted for something easy, boiling some water in order to make pasta for herself. For her Pokemon, she prepared some of the Pokefood that she'd bought from the grocery store earlier today. Her Pokemon chowed down happily.
After finally cleaning up, she looked out to the horizon. The sun was setting over the water, painting the sky with beautiful orange-reddish colors. The sunset was amplified by the calm waters, which reflected the masterpiece above.
May got into her tent and felt as her Eevee nuzzled up against her sleeping bag. Ralts soon followed, and the trio laid in the tiny tent together, keeping each other warm. Once the sun had set, the three were in for another treat. The clear night sky displayed thousands upon thousands of brilliant stars.
May's eyes absorbed all of the shining lights in the sky, and she settled down happy. She was finally on her journey. She laid face up, where more of the twinkling lights shone. As she fell asleep for the night, she could've sworn that she saw a shadow of something fly past, blotting out stars as it crossed overhead.
~0~
It was quite dark out by the time she had spotted who she was looking for. The sun had set about twenty minutes ago, give or take, and Roxanne just about to go into the forest and look for the kid herself, when she heard the soft shuffling of footsteps up ahead.
A figure stepped out of the forest's murky darkness and Roxanne could see that it was the kid Norman had told her about, identifying him by the distinct lime-green hair. The boy himself looked no worse for wear and a Ralts shuffled alongside him, allowing the Gym Leader to relax a bit. "You're Wally, right?" She asked once she knew that the boy had noticed her standing at the entrance to town.
"Y-yes, that's me. Who are you?"
She gave a warm smile. "My name's Roxanne. I'm the Gym Leader in Rustboro City. Norman called me and told me to keep an eye out for you."
"H-he did?"
She nodded. "He said that you looked a little under equipped to be making such a hike in a day." She kept to herself that he had also said that he looked too young to be doing so, but being a younger trainer herself, Roxanne wasn't going to put Wally down like that. "It was mostly just a precaution in the chance that you couldn't make it here by nighttime. To be honest, I was about to go and look for you, but it seems that you can handle yourself fairly well."
Wally smiled at the kind remark, and she continued. "Do you know where you're going from here Wally? It is dark out, and I'd rather you get back home safe sooner than later."
"I-I don't actually live in Rustboro City, but I know the, um, hotel where my cousin is waiting for me. I'll be okay." he said, before taking a glance towards his psychic type.
"Of course. Have a good evening, Wally." Wally thanked her for waiting and headed further into the city. Roxanne watched as he headed further down the road, and palmed a Pokeball once he was a fair distance away. She opened it and released her partner.
"Probopass, I hate to be a bother, but could you make sure that boy makes it back to his hotel safely?" Probopass rumbled in approval. "Alright, thanks. I'll see you back home." Roxanne left the task in Probopass's capable, err, noses, and headed deeper into the city, opposite the direction of Wally. After a moment, Probopass rose in the air and took off in the direction of the green-haired boy.
Unaware of the small figure trailing them at a distance.
~0~
I'm back with another chapter! School and work has been slowing my writing progress for these chapters, so I've been chipping away at these chapters during the moments when I can, but I'm happy with how this one turned out. Now all I can do is hope that there aren't too many errors in it.
So we're back in Hoenn! A few notable things in this chapter, with May meeting Wally and seeing her dad again, and catching new Pokémon, but the one that I want to draw attention to is what Norman was talking about to Wally and May. And that is the idea of these little pocket communities that Pokémon form in the wilderness.
It's always kinda thrown me that these intelligent creatures are content with just living in the wilderness, so this is my solution to it. Of course, these little gatherings aren't nearly the size of any human cities, the bigger ones hardly scratching...well, you'll find out about it eventually.
In any case we'll see a bit more about communities in the next chapter. Until then, feel free to follow, fav, and review if you're enjoying the fic. See you next chapter!