May Maple's first day as a Pokémon trainer was not going quite as well as she had hoped.
Firstly, there was that she didn't actually have a Pokémon yet.
Secondly, there was that Professor Birch – the Pokémon Professor who was supposed to be giving her her Starter Pokémon – had somehow ended up stuck in a tree, menaced by a pack of Poochyena.
And now he was asking her to get one of the Pokéballs from his bag and help him out.
"Uh… this one?" May asked, picking up a Pokéball, and opened it.
A Mudkip came out, and looked at her expectantly.
"Use… an attack?" she tried.
Mudkip's expression became considerably less expectant.
"Mudkip knows Water Gun!" Professor Birch called.
"Then use Water Gun!" she said, and Mudkip used Water Gun.
Really, May had thought you wouldn't have to specify that you wanted a Pokémon to attack the enemy Pokémon. Instead of your own face.
Before the situation could continue, though, a spiky Pokémon flew overhead. All the Poochyena jumped, staring up at it as it circled once, and then ran for it.
The yellow-and-black Pokémon landed with finicky precision in the clearing, just next to the tree Professor Birch was in, and a trainer got off its back.
"Uh… do either of you know where Professor Birch lives?" he asked. "I tried following Professor Oak's directions, but we were just going around in circles."
"Gyaau," the Flying-type added.
"Hey, I'm bad enough with directions on the ground," the trainer pointed out, and his Pokémon just shrugged its wings.
"Well, I'm assuming you're Ash Ketchum," Professor Birch said, clambering back down the tree. "And I'm Professor Birch. It's nice to meet you at last, Professor Oak has said a lot about you. That's a magnificent Zapdos you've got there, very sharply defined plumage."
The Zapdos looked quite pleased with itself.
"She flew us all the way from Pallet Town since yesterday morning," Ash said. "Oh, uh… I think I need to get my trainer card registered with you? Is that something to do at your lab?"
"That's probably for the best," Professor Birch decided. "Oh – this is May Maple, she's a brand new trainer."
"Nice to meet you, May!" Ash said. "So you just got your starter Pokémon?"
"Not yet, actually," May replied, a bit embarrassed. "How did you know which one to pick?"
A second Pokémon, this one on his shoulder, said something. "Chuuu…"
"I… actually got there too late," Ash admitted. "Pikachu was the only one left… still, we got on pretty well after a bit of an argument to start with, and now I wouldn't have wanted anyone else."
The Pikachu on his shoulder cooed something, leaning into a scratch, and Ash started taking a harness off Zapdos before folding it up and putting it in his backpack. That done, he returned the Flying-type, and brushed his hands together. "So, uh… which way should we be going?"
"It's this way," Professor Birch told him, collecting up the Mudkip and the other two Pokémon from his bag.
"...so I don't know as much about the other two," Ash explained, as they walked. "But I battled someone who had a Blaziken recently. He even Mega Evolved it into a Mega Blaziken, which are really fast and strong, but Pikachu had it handled."
"I'd picked up the electricity from two Freeze Shocks, so I was all set," Pikachu agreed.
"Actually, maybe Ibid has something to say," Ash mused, and rummaged in his pocket. "Let's see…"
He flicked the switch to expand his Pokédex out into full size, then examined him for a moment. "Uh… search?"
"Please enter your search terms," Ibid requested.
"Torchic, Mudkip, Treecko and their evolutions?" Ash tried, and Ibid changed shape smoothly into each Pokémon in turn – Torchic, Combusken, Blaziken and Mega Blaziken, then the Treecko line and the Mudkip line.
"That's pretty cool," May admitted, as the Swampert did a pose and explained how it could detect approaching storms. "Professor, can all Pokédexes do that?"
"That one seems quite advanced, but they're all loaded with information," Professor Birch told her. "Ah, here we are – Littleroot Town. Let's get you both sorted out."
To May's distinct surprise, Ash was able to give her a bit of help with picking a starter Pokémon… not by talking about what each Pokémon was capable of as a species, but by talking to all three specific Pokémon and asking them how they thought it would be to have a trainer.
Mudkip was a lost cause already, and May couldn't really bring herself to be upset about that – apparently he was kind of rude about her, as Ash reported it – but the Treecko and the Torchic were both sort of interested for different reasons.
It sounded like Treecko was after a laid-back sort of trainer who did the normal sort of Pokémon journey, the kind where you went around for a few months, challenged a few gyms, and picked up a team of three or four Pokémon who would be with you the rest of your life. And Torchic was a bit more uncertain, but said that he was more ambitious about it all.
He wanted a trainer who would make help him become a better Pokémon.
May had never really thought about the extent to which Pokémon had different personalities before that day, but once she'd heard Ash's summary she had to think a lot about her own goals.
Which of those two versions of her did she want to be?
"That's a normal Pokémon journey?" Pikachu pondered. "I suppose it kind of has to be… it's not like everyone gets to the finals of the League. There's not enough people in the finals."
"Yeah, I think you're right," Ash agreed.
He was about to say more, but May nodded to herself.
"I think… I'd rather try and be what Torchic wants," she said. "I don't know if it'll work out like that, but… that's how I think."
"No worries," Treecko declared, shrugging.
Torchic just nodded firmly, then waved to May. "Then you're my trainer!"
"I'll just get that sorted out," Professor Birch told them both. "I've already got you registered for Hoenn, Ash, though I've kept your overflow Pokémon location as Professor Oak's ranch – it's got better facilities."
"That's great, thanks," Ash told him. "Then I guess it's to, uh, wherever the nearest gym is?"
He glanced at May. "Do you have any idea?"
"I can show you," May decided. "I'm heading back that way anyway."
May had a bike, and Ash had Zapdos.
Combining the two, however, did not work out. May could cycle as hard as she could, and Zapdos could fly just above her stall speed, and the combination meant that they'd still gradually drift apart.
"Maybe that's for the best?" Ash said, pondering, after the third attempt. "I know a bike is a faster way of getting around, but going by foot means you have more time to get to know your Pokémon… actually, that reminds me."
May watched with some confusion – as did her new Torchic – as Ash swung his bag down off his shoulder. He pulled out a little squishy green thing that looked like another Pokémon, set it on the ground, then stood back.
"Okay, Zygarde, I think we're done with flying for now," he said.
Zygarde flared up, going from Core Forme to 10-Percent Forme, and stretched first its front legs and then its back legs in a very canine manner.
"That is agreeable," the Ground-type declared. "The weather here is good."
"Glad to hear it," Ash said. "And, uh… so a Pokémon can hold an item, and it stays with them in their Pokéball… Zapdos, want to see if you can take May's bike with you until we get to where she lives?"
On the way from Littleroot to Oldale, Ash taught May a few more things about being a Pokémon trainer.
"So… if you want to focus on pure battling, then you can do the Pokémon League challenge," he said. "But then if you want to do something with Pokémon performing, you can do Contests instead – that's what my friend Brock did. And my other friend Misty was mostly focused on getting a big Water type team and getting stronger, because she's a Water type specialist, though she did get a pretty cute Togetic as well."
"Well, I don't think I'm likely to specialize…" May said, thinking about that. "I have seen a few Contests though. How did your friend do at them?"
"His Pokémon were pretty good, I think," Ash answered. "It's kind of… partly about coming up with routines, partly about training to battle, and partly about making sure your Pokémon is comfortable with their moves, I guess? So… Eevee has a trick she can use to block attacks, but it's making it so that looks good too."
"At which she was successful," Zygarde stated, then shook their head. "Apologies. Forgot there is no Vulpix."
"Yeah, I know…" Ash sighed. "I wonder how Brock and Misty are getting on?"
"...I said I only had three badges!" the challenger protested.
"Yes?" Misty replied, slightly confused, and next to her Gyarados tilted his head in similar confusion. "It's not like I Mega Evolved him or anything."
Togetic giggled.
A little further down the road from Littleroot to Oldale, May gasped.
"Look at that!" she said, pointing. "That's such a cute Pokémon – what is it?"
Ash held up Ibid, and the Pokédex transformed.
"Azurill," he announced. "A Normal and Fairy-type baby Pokémon that evolves into the Water and Fairy-type Marill."
May got out a Pokéball, but Ash looked at her oddly. "Wait, hold on… you don't know if that Pokémon wants to join you yet. It's just a baby Pokémon, remember, you can't just guess that it must want a trainer because you can see it by the side of a path."
That made May blink a few times. "I… huh, I actually didn't think of that. Is that the sort of thing most Pokémon trainers think about?"
She blinked. "It never seems to get mentioned."
"Well, I think most people kind of have to guess," Ash said. "And the fact trainers tend to weaken a Pokémon before they can catch them in a Pokéball kind of gives the Pokémon the chance to run away. But you can always just ask?"
"Most humans would not understand the answer," Zygarde pointed out.
"Yeah, I know most people don't understand Pokémon language, but if you ask and the Pokémon runs away then you've kind of got your answer anyway," Ash pointed out. "Pikachu, mind going over to ask?"
"Sure," Pikachu agreed, jumping down from Ash's shoulder.
"So… now we've got three missions at once," Jessie said, going through the folder. "The boss must really trust us to give us this much to do."
"No kiddin'," Meowth agreed. "Might be nice if we had a few more guys to help us out, though."
"Observation: I have an enormous flying fortress," Porygon declared. "Smug addition: to which I recently finished adding an after market cloaking generator. Inquiry: how is this not sufficient resources?"
"It ain't about resources, it's about guys," Meowth said. "An' it's also about resources."
He flicked his claws out and began counting. "We gotta still keep an eye on the Twerp, one way or another, so we can tell the boss when he's likely to come back home ta Kanto. An' we gotta watch out for these Team Aqua an' Team Magma guys, so that's two."
"I thought that was three," James protested. "You mean we have another job?"
"Yeah, make sure that Team Rocket got a presence here!" Meowth insisted. "So recruitin' and stuff."
"Logical conclusion: recruitment would solve our numbers problem," Porygon observed.
"I think having friends would be good," Muk said, placidly. "Poison types especially. The only things that can fight when Poison types get going are Poison types, Steel types, and some specific Pokémon… and those don't mind it when I hug them."
Arbok and Weezing exchanged glances.
"He's got a point, you know," Weezing muttered.
"Do we actually have a plan, then?" Jessie said. "Or something approaching one?"
Porygon let out an electronic sigh, then flashed up a message on all his screens.
STEP ONE. RECRUITMENT.
"...it's got a step one," Meowth said. "Dat's better than a lot of plans, right there."
"Your Cranidos seemed kind of excited about the Oldale ruins," May said, the following evening.
"Yeah, she's like that sometimes," Ash agreed. "I think she'd been there before, she's been around for ages."
May accepted that, then sent out her Torchic and Azurill.
"I think we're staying here for the night," she told them. "I'll leave it up to you whether you rest outside or in your Pokéballs."
"I've never been this far from home before," Azurill said, looking up and doing a spin with her spring waving around. "I'll stay out."
For his part, Ash had started fumbling his way through putting up a tent.
"Brock is way better at this," he admitted, then shook his head. "I'm just going to use a sleeping bag and put the tent up as a rainshield… think your Torchic can start a fire if I get some sticks together for it?"
He got some food out of his bag, and began sorting it. "That can be heated… that probably shouldn't be… the last time I tried toasting dango Zapdos zapped me for wasting good mochi… okay, I think food's sorted out. Want to try some training until dinner?"
"Like what?" May asked. "I… don't really know where to start."
Ash frowned for a moment. "So… for Torchic, for example, I know he knows Ember, but just being able to use an attack is the start. You can work on making it longer ranged, or making it stronger, or so that it hits an exact point. And for Azurill, when she evolves she'll be a Water type so you could work on that, or you could go for teaching her how to move… actually, that's probably a good start anyway."
"How to move?" May repeated.
Ash nodded. "Want to show them, uh… Croconaw, you and Pikachu!"
"Sure!" Croconaw agreed, emerging from his Lure Ball.
May blinked, but Croconaw just bowed to her – sweeping his arm out to the side – then began thumping his tail on the ground. "A one, two, three!"
As May – and both her Pokémon – watched, Croconaw began dancing around and jumping from side to side to avoid each Thundershock that came his way.
"Croconaw's really good at this," Ash explained. "He's dodging, but he's not just dodging – he's always ready to move in a different direction if he needs to, or to attack, or something like that."
"Oooh," Torchic said, impressed.
The next day, they reached Petalburg.
"Wow, May, that took you way longer than I was expecting!" Max said, greeting her in the usual way of a younger brother. "Did you get lost?"
"No, I met this other trainer who's been helping me out," May replied. "He was just staying back to talk to one of the people at the Pokémon Centre, he'll be along in a minute."
"He?" Max repeated, grinning. "You mean you met a boy?"
"It's not like that," May replied, crossly. "He's just been helpful."
Max sniggered. "Sure he has. It's not like he's…"
He trailed off, staring.
"...is that Ash Ketchum?"
"Yeah, that's his name," May agreed. "How did you-"
Max transferred his stare to his sister.
"You've spent the last couple of days travelling with Ash Ketchum? The one who won the Silver Conference and has so many Legendary Pokémon people aren't sure how many he has?"
"He didn't have any of those when I met him," May said. "So far I've seen his Pikachu, Cranidos, Croconaw, Zapdos and Zorua."
Max blinked.
"…how are you the one who's allowed Pokémon?" he asked. "You didn't know Zapdos was a Legendary Pokémon?"
"She mostly just eats dango," May defended herself, then turned around and waved. "Hey, Ash – this is my brother Max!"
Max was amazed to be meeting Ash.
"You've got Pokémon I hadn't even heard of until I saw them on TV!" he said. "And I thought I knew what an Articuno looked like, until I saw yours, but then I found out that there are Articuno that look different to the ones I'm used to… do you have any that haven't been shown on TV yet?"
"Well, uh…" Ash began, frowning. "Hold on… have they shown the Elite Four battles yet? I know they were going to edit that together, but Lance didn't say how long it was going to take..."
"Elite Four?" May said, interested. "They sound tough."
"They're the strongest trainers in – how have you not heard of the Elite Four?" Max demanded of his sister. "We had one where we used to live! We have one here in Hoenn! Dad had to speak to them to-"
"Ssh!" May protested. "I don't want to sound like I'm boasting!"
"...yeah, you don't get what a big deal Ash is as a trainer," Max decided. "And they're going to put your Elite Four challenge on TV? That's going to be amazing… but no, they've only shown the main Silver Conference battles so far."
"In that case…" Ash said, and began counting. "Uh, hold on… Ibid, can you show me a list of my Pokémon?"
A list duly appeared, and Ash began ticking them off. "He was against Harrison, right… and they were against Vincent…"
"Woof, by the way," Zygarde volunteered.
May crouched down to give the canine Ground-type a scratch. "Oh, this is Zygarde, Max. They're not actually one of Ash's Pokémon, they're just tagging along with him."
"I didn't even know that was an option," Max admitted.
"I think there's only two you wouldn't have seen, if you saw my full Silver Conference run," Ash decided. "That's Zacian and Ho-Oh."
Max fell over, and Zygarde darted around to catch the kid before he hurt himself on the ground.
"Ibid, can you check if they're available?" Ash requested.
"Checking," Ibid replied, turning into an hourglass, then reforming into the normal shape. "Zacian is available. Ho-Oh is currently having lunch."
"I guess it'd be rude to interrupt him," Ash decided. "Can you teleport Zacian here, then?"
"Please wait."
Ibid vanished in a flash of light.
"You forgot one, Ash," Pikachu said. "If it's counting registered Pokémon, anyway. Absol."
"Oh, yeah, that's right," Ash realized. "Absol is another one, but it's kind of a technically weird case."
Ibid reappeared with a Repeat ball. "Transfer complete."
"Thanks," Ash told the Pokédex, then sent Zacian out. "This is Zacian, she's my second Fairy-type, and my first Steel-type when she's in Crowned Sword Form. Which she isn't at the moment."
The Heroine of Many Battles bowed, elegantly, then tilted her head slightly. "Why is a small child passed out on the floor?"
"Ash mentioned he was your trainer, I think?" Pikachu said. "It could have been Ho-Oh though."
"Anyway, uh, doesn't Petalburg have a gym?" Ash asked. "Once your brother's okay, I should go there."
"You don't need to-" May began, but Ibid was already speaking.
"Correct," he said. "The Gym Leader in Petalburg is Norman Maple."
"Oh, huh, so he's your… uncle? Dad?" Ash asked. "Older brother? That's kind of neat whichever one it is."
AN:
Welcome to Hoenn!
Canon May doesn't actually recognize certain fundamental things about Pokémon…