Pokémon: Hoenn Travels.
-The Important Stuff:-
1) I am not at all affiliated with Game Freak nor Nintendo, or any other companies that write/produce Pokémon.
2) I do not own any part of Pokémon.
-A Waiver:-
1) This is not a direct steal from anything already Pokémon-related that exists, not the show or a game or a novel/book. It is my own creation, therefore I may bend the rules a little bit to fit my needs.
2) The names of Professors, Gym Leaders, and Cities were taken from Ruby Version.
Chapter One:
The Visitors
With an armful of paperwork, I managed to pull the front door of my house closed after waiting for Luma to trot out. After securing the lock, I readjusted the papers I had tucked between my arm and ribs and turned away from my door.
My house was nestled in the wooded, north edge of Ecruteak City, with the raised front porch and the solid front door protruding from the tree line. The rest of the house was mostly concealed within the woods; however, the trees weren't particularly thick at the edge of the forest. The house was small, peaceful, and private, which is why I loved it.
I carefully made my way down the numerous porch steps, which had a thin glazing of ice on them. I cursed myself for not putting salt out the night before, knowing how cold it was supposed to be the following day. As I left my porch, I meandered down a brick path that I had built over several weekends during the last four months or so. The brick path wound itself away from my house and to the well-maintained, stone pathway of Ecruteak City proper.
It was a relatively short walk from my front door to the school building, less than fifteen minutes when the weather was nice and the walkways were clear. I found the time, whether it was fifteen minutes or longer, was useful in helping me prepare for the day and even more helpful in winding down after the day.
Almost every day, I would stop in the mart and grab my lunch as well as food for whichever Pokémon I would bring with me to class. I always spent a few minutes chatting with the shopkeeper, who had a son in my class, before continuing on with my plans for the day. I spoke today with the older man about the icy weather outside and the impending snowstorm. He was sure it wouldn't be long before it started and he was certain it would be quite the storm; his back was bothering him. As we talked, I bought a sandwich and several cans of food, then wished him a good day after I paid.
Leaving the store, I noticed my breath in the air as I exhaled deeply. New Bark Town had never gotten as cold as Ecruteak, but I had found that I enjoyed the cold. However, it lasting for months got a little bothersome.
"Is today a Pokémon topic or a normal education day?" Luma asked as she trotted briskly beside me. She hated the ice and snow. It messed with her psychic abilities and it seemed there was nothing worse than cold toes, at least in Luma's opinion.
"It was supposed to be Mathematics and Physical Science today," I answered. I had tucked the grocery bag on the top of my paperwork and cradled both of my arms around the stack.
"But?"
"I really hate teaching mathematics and I don't have it in me on a Thursday," I admitted with a soft laugh. "And given that I am not certain we will have class tomorrow, I thought we'd have a fun Pokémon day and buckle down next week on the not-so-fun stuff."
"Please don't tell me I have to interact with the little turds."
I laughed at Luma's comment. It wasn't that she hated the kids I taught, it was they got rather rambunctious and one too many times her sensitive ears or delicate tail had been pulled far too hard. "No, no," I shook my head. I could see the rustic exterior of the school just ahead of me. I quickened my pace; the temperature was dropping fast. "I called in a favor from Professor Evergreen last night."
"Is that why you went to the Pokémon Center so late?"
I was nodding as we came to the door. I managed to finagle my keys into the door lock, but I couldn't get them twisted with my armful. It had become uncomfortably heavy during my walk, especially with the added weight from the numerous cans of Pokémon food I had just purchased. "You mind?"
A blue aura formed on the keys and they twisted. The aura extended around the knob as soon as the lock clicked, turning it as well. Her Psychic ability then encompassed the entire surface of the door and it swung in. Luma hurried into the door ahead of me, shaking the cold from her body.
"Thank goodness you had the foresight to leave the heat on yesterday," Luma sighed happily as she trotted to the front of the room and jumped onto the desk at the front of the room.
I followed her, leaving the door open as I couldn't deal with it and all the items I held. I set them down on the desk beside her, though she quickly vacated the spot. "I'll turn it up a little too, I left it kind of low."
"So, Evergreen sent you some Pokémon?" Luma asked me from her spot on the floor. I glanced over the desk and found her leaning against the floor vent, soaking up the heat pouring out of it.
I laughed, returning my attention to the bag of groceries. "Yes, we are going to be discussing Pokémon types, especially the types of the beginner Pokémon. So, he sent me a Totodile and a Chikorita," I explained to her, walking around the desk and taking care to step widely over her. In the office behind the desk, I kept a small refrigerator. I stored my sandwich in it, and dropped the cans of food on the surface of the cluttered desk in the office.
"Not a Cyndaquil?"
I shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. "I brought Ty today," I answered, using the nickname my students had given my Typhlosion several times over the last few years. "I thought I could make it a pop quiz for them to name his basic evolutionary form."
"The students will love that."
I was laughing as I came out of the office space and returned to the stack of paperwork still sitting on the desk in the classroom. This desk was much more organized as I rarely used it to actually work, but rather sat at it when observing the students while they worked on tests or quizzes. The stack of work that I had brought to the classroom with me was actually tests that I had never gotten around to grading. I had finished them at home the night before. I pulled out the current seating chart of my students and went about placing the graded tests on the appropriate desk top.
"Hey Luma?" I called my Pokémon when the breeze that came through the door ruffled my ponytail and pushed several tests off the desk tops. I shuddered at the coolness of the wind and glanced back at my Pokémon.
"I will shut the door." She was already standing and heading in the direction of the opened door to retrieve my keys.
I heard the jingle of them being removed, however the breeze continued. My eyebrows came together in mild irritation as I turned to face the door completely. My snarky question got lodged in my throat as my eyes landed on Luma. She stood in the doorway; her ears fully alert as she stared off in a southernly direction. She was silent and I could tell she was taking in deep breaths, as her chest visibly expanded and contracted over and over again. Her entire body was rigid as she stood mutely taking in her surroundings, though I noticed the tips of her tail vibrating ever so slightly. I could feel her focus, even from across the room.
"Luma?" I asked her quietly after she stood like that for several seconds. She didn't respond to me, still focusing on whatever was outside my door. However, a few more seconds passed and she suddenly backed up, slamming the door, hard. "What's going on, Luma?" I asked her.
Her body was now relaxed and she returned to her seat beside the heat vent. "Everything's fine," she assured me, her tone was gentle. She had settled my keys on the top of my desk.
"What was it?" I asked her as I moved around the room, collecting the papers that had been blown on to the floor. When she didn't reply, I moved to my desk and stared over it at her.
"I just thought it was," she began, lifting her head and looking toward the closed door. She then interrupted herself with silence and rested her head on her paws. "Nothing, it was nothing."
"Alright guys, that wraps up our lesson for today," I called across the classroom cheerily as I returned the borrowed Totodile and Chikorita to their designated pokéballs. A collective, disappointed 'awww' came up from my class of mostly seven- and eight-year-olds. I gave them all an understanding smile. "Don't you worry guys, there will be plenty more Pokémon."
"Tomorrow?" One hopeful, young student piped up excitedly.
I looked from the kids and to the nearest window. I could see heavy, white flakes drifting lazily to the ground, where several inches had already accumulated. "No, tomorrow you get to play with your own Pokémon."
"We don't have class tomorrow?" A girl frantically asked me, she was basically standing in her seat as she waved her arm wildly above her head.
"Sit down, don't stand like that," I pointed at her and she immediately dropped. "Tomorrow's a snow day." I answered her as I set down the pokéballs containing the grass and water Pokémon. Typhlosion still stood at the front of the classroom, receiving hugs from several of my students. "Ok guys, say bye to Ty and get your jackets on!"
The children flooded to the front of the room, a cacophony of 'see ya, Ty' and 'bye-bye Ty' coming up from them. The then twenty-something students ran to the coat hooks lining the wall adjacent to the door of the classroom. Typhlosion released a happy chortle, waving after the kids, before he waddled toward the office located behind my desk. I wandered through my students, helping arms find their way into sleeves and hats onto heads. As I made it to the end of the kids and to the door of my classroom, I pulled open the solid, wooden door. I was greeted by a cold blast of air filled with wet snowflakes. I waved to the parents of my students waiting patiently in the heavy precipitation.
"Once you're bundled up and see your parents, go ahead and get home!" I called to my students and the large group hurried from my classroom and out into the snow. Several immediately fell into the pillowy snow, though they would shoot to their feet, and squeal happily. Parents would wave to me and shout thank yous in my direction, I would return the gesture. When the last student finally left with their mother, I shut the door and shivered.
I turned back toward my classroom, moving around the space to pick up loose papers that had been flung about.
"I really thought it was too late in the year to snow," Luma stated as she appeared out of my office and on the desk at the head of the room.
I glanced back and out the nearest window. The snow was falling heavily. "This will probably be the last one, spring isn't far off."
"I hate snow," she growled.
I chuckled, dumping the handfuls of paper I had collected in a trash can. "Want me to put you in your pokéball on the way home?"
"Definitely. I am not walking through inches of snow, plus I feel all funny."
"Your abilities are off?" I asked her. I went around the desk and into the office behind her. It was a small space, barely enough room for the furniture that was in the room. There was a large, cluttered desk in the middle of the space with a worn desk chair behind it. The desk faced toward the door and there were two armchairs on the opposite side, usually where parents sat during parent-teacher conferences. Behind the desk was a Pokémon bed and a small refrigerator. There was room for nothing else within the room.
"All of my senses are," she agreed, I could tell she had followed me into the office. "Everything feels off."
"We will be heading home shortly," I assured her, offering a quick smile. "Want to go in your ball now?"
"Sure. Just let me out when we get home."
"You know I will," I agreed before I called her into her designated pokéball. I left the school building just a few moments later, refusing to take any work with me over the weekend. From the school, I took a brief detour to the Pokémon Center, returning the Chikorita and Totodile to New Bark Town. An aide of Professor Evergreen sent me a quick thank you, assuring me that they had received the Pokémon. I then made my way from the center to my house at the edge. I moved relatively quickly, even though the snow was higher than my ankles. It was cold and windy, I didn't want to be outside for an extended period of time.
When I arrived home, I slipped up the stairs and struggled to get my keys into the lock because my fingers were so cold. Inside, I dropped my bag that held my personal items, including Luma and Typhlosion's pokéballs. I reminded myself to let them out, however I first wanted to get water boiling for tea.
Just inside the front door of my house there was a sunken living room. The living room had an overstuffed, worn sofa, a solid, wooden coffee table with scuffed edges, and a single armchair with a balled-up blanket that Luma often snuggled in. Against the far wall of the room there were several tall bookshelves, the shelves stacked full with books, photos, and potted plants.
From the front door, there was a walkway that skirted the edge of the sunken floor and led to the kitchen, which overlooked the front room. I walked into the kitchen to start the tea. My kitchen was quaint, but newly modernized with chrome appliances and marble counters and glass-cased cabinets housing my dishes. I had a small, circular dining table within the kitchen with four mismatched, cushioned chairs.
Beyond the kitchen, at the rear of her house, there was a glassed-in sunroom and a back deck. The sunroom was warm in the summer, thanks to sunlight streaming through the canopy of the forest and directly into the room. It was warm in the winter too, thanks to a large, stone fireplace tucked in the corner of the spacious room. Along the wall of the sunroom, under the massive windows, there was a massive sectional with pillows and blankets strewn across the cushions. Most of the time my Pokémon would relax in this room.
There was a glass door on the wall of the sunroom that led out onto a covered, back deck. The deck was large, though not as spacious as the sunroom. Every so often, I would cook a meal out on the deck and quite frequently in warmer weather, I would sit out on the deck with a cup of tea and listen to the wild Pokémon singing out in the woods.
There was a hallway that led off my kitchen and further into my house. Off this hallway was my single bathroom. Within that space, which was tiled on the floor and walls with white and light green tiles, there was a large, walk-in shower and a massive vanity counter and mirror. The shower had an intricate, frosted glass door and multiple shower heads, allowing for the most luxurious showers I had ever had. I had been able to fit some glass shelves in the space between the toilet and the shower, where I stacked extra toiletries and linens.
At the far end of the hallway there were doorways on either side of the hall. The door on the right led into my guest bedroom. The room was cluttered as I rarely had guests. When my mother or sister visited, I would force myself to clean it up. There was a small bed in the room, covered in a colorful quilt that was currently quite filled with fur from several of my Pokémon. Otherwise, I used the room as storage and had several unpacked boxes in the space.
Opposite of the guest room, on the left side of the hallway, was my bedroom. This space was much larger than the guest bedroom and since it was located on the front side of the house, many mornings I was awoken by sunlight pouring into the windows of my bedroom. I had splurged and purchased a very large bed, which was positioned against the wall furthest from the door. It had a gorgeously carved wooden headboard and a thick, multi-colored comforter. My dresser was stored in a giant walk-in closet, where most of my clothing was hanging on the racks within the space. My outfit style had changed over the last few years as I was working in a mostly professional setting. I had long forgone jeans and t-shirts, and almost exclusively wore button-ups or blouses and pencil skirts with heels. It made me feel more like an adult.
However, that didn't mean that I had gotten rid of my jeans. I just rarely found an occasion to wear them. When I was at home and not wearing my business casual clothing, I was usually clad in sweatpants and tank tops. My house stayed warm between having my Pokémon out, especially Typhlosion, and because I kept it at a warm temperature.
The teapot on my stove was whistling, indicating the water was ready for me. As I grabbed a cup from my cabinets, I heard a large crack and noticed the red beam of my Pokémon snapping out of her pokéball in my living room. I walked to the counter, concerned by her behavior. She almost never forced her way from the space.
However, as soon as Luma appeared on the walkway above the living room, she immediately hunkered low to the wood floor. The fur along her spine bristled and her tail lashed wildly back and forth. Her actions set me on edge.
"Luma?" I asked, feeling my breath quicken as my heartbeat hitched erratically in my ears. "What's wrong?"
Luma crept closer to the door, her tail still whipping wildly back and forth. I hesitantly left the kitchen and followed her to the front door of my house.
Finally, my Pokémon glanced back over my shoulder, her wide gaze landing on my face. "We have visitors," she whispered.
My heart leapt into my throat when a loud knock sounded at my door.
