North, South, East and West: North – Hoenn: Of Ground and Water
First things first. I must make a thousand apologies for such a late update. Put it down to a combination of laziness, summer holidays, work and Brawl. However, this story is not yet abandoned and hopefully will not be. So after the fawning grovelling is done, please enjoy the story.
Also note that trainer submissions are still open. Feel free to combine Pokemon from any region together to make a team but stick to region specific starters and no legendaries. Also specify whether your trainer is taking the gym challenge or the contest circuit.
Disclaimer: All Pokemon and related official characters are owned by Nintendo. I own Richard and Jeffrey is owned by Blake Wilson
Chapter 2: Beginnings
Once Jeffrey and Richard had finished shaking hands, Jeffrey turned and strode through the double doors into Professor Birch's laboratory, with no reason to tarry, Richard followed through quickly before the doors had a chance to close on him.
Inside, the entirety of the inside of the lab was a pristine white. The walls and floor gleamed with the shine and Richard felt obligated to turn round and make sure that he wasn't tracking mud into the room. The main entrance hall was one giant room almost thirty feet long. Large halogen lamps hung from steel cables in the ceiling and assistants decked out in white lab coats ran from cubicle to cubicle. Many of them were holding clipboards and all of them looked to be in a hurry. Richard caught up to Jeffrey who was standing in the centre of the room looking lost as to where to go.
"Where do you think the professor is?" Jeffrey asked. Richard shrugged and was about to answer when an aide walked up to them. He pushed his black hair out of his eyes and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
"And you are?" he asked.
"We're here to collect our starter Pokemon from Professor Birch." Said Richard pulling out his Pokedex and presenting it to the aide. Behind him Jeffrey pulled out his Pokedex as well and held it out. The aide snatched them both in one sweep of his hand and gave the machines a cursory glance. Not finding anything wrong with them, he handed them back to the boys, turned on his heel and walked off. Sharing a quick confused glance the boys hurried after him.
"You two are in luck." The aide said as the two followed him through a maze of corridors. "The professor often goes out for days at a time in order to study Pokemon in the wild. You just caught him before he left again." The aide reached a door in the corridor that was seemingly indistinguishable from its neighbours and rapped on it three times quickly.
"Come in!" A voice on the other side yelled. The aide pushed the door open with one hand and gestured for the boys to enter. Then he turned and hurried away into an adjoining corridor. They did so and found themselves standing in a smart office. A man in a lab coat and a pair of shorts was stooped over a backpack. As the door behind them clicked shut, the man straightened up, his back clicking as he did so and the two found themselves looking into the amiable face of Professor Birch.
The professor was about 40 years old. He was fat, but not obscenely so and he had a small goatee. He smiled at the boys although his eyes suggested he wasn't quite sure who they were.
"I'm Richard." Richard said, holding out the piece of paper that Professor Redwood had given him. Birch took it and unfolded it. His face broke into an even wider grin as he read it.
"Ah, you're one of Redwood's students. How is the old fellow?" Birch asked screwing up the slip and throwing it into a waste basket.
"You know the professor?" Richard asked confused. Redwood had mentioned Professor Birch before, but only as an authority on Hoenn Pokemon, never as a personal acquaintance.
"Of course. Redwood is a Pokemon professor as well. If I recall correctly, he's always the one who drinks a bit too much wine at the yearly reunion." Richard grinned as Jeffrey stepped forward. Birch saw him and smiled.
"And you must be Jeffrey Townsend yes?" Birch asked. Jeffrey nodded. "Yes, I was told you might be coming." With that, the professor walked over to a bookcase on one wall and lifted down a metal case by its handle. He set it on his desk and undid the catches. Three Pokeballs nestled inside.
"As nice as these introductions have been," the professor said, gesturing to the case. "I'm guessing that these are the reasons that you two are here." The two boys tried to appear uninterested in the Pokeballs but failed and eyed them excitedly. The professor laughed at their attempts to conceal their anticipation.
"Anyway, I'm sorry to say it, but my supplies of these Pokemon are a bit low. That's why I'm about to leave on another journey to visit my supplier. But until I get back I only have one of each. One Treecko, one Torchic and one Mudkip. Pick wisely."
"Which one do you want?" Richard asked Jeffrey.
"Depends on which one you want." Jeffrey replied gesturing to the box. "You go first."
"No. I'm cool with any of them, you pick first." Richard replied. This vein of conversation would have continued for some time if Professor Birch hadn't stepped in.
"Boys, as pleased as it makes me to see that chivalry is not quite dead in our modern world, if you two insist on being polite, I'm going to end up being very late so I'm going to make a proposition. I'm going to count to three. When I say three, both of you say which Pokemon you want most. If you both say the same we might have a problem but that's a chance I'm willing to take. One. Two Three."
Richard said "Treecko" at the exact time that Jeffrey said "Torchic". Birch's face broke into an even bigger grin.
"Wonderful." He reached into the case and pulled out two Pokeballs. He handed one to Richard and the other to Jeffrey. Richard pushed the button on the front of the ball and allowed the glowing mass of energy to solidify into the green gecko Pokemon. The small lizard crossed it's arms and stared up at the boy in front of it.
"S'up?" It said in a nonchalant tone of voice. Richard bent down to its level and rested a hand on the floor. Treecko quickly got the point and scampered up the arm in order to curl up on Richard's shoulder. Richard discretely plucked Zubat's Pokeball off his belt and released the bat Pokemon. The blue bat swerved in midair in order to regard the new arrival with only the slightest air of disdain.
"Zubat, Treecko. Treecko, Zubat." Richard introduced the two to each other.
"Hey." Treecko grinned extending a hand to the bat.
"I guess it was inevitable having team mates eventually." Zubat sighed, "You'd better hope for your sake that we get along." With that, Zubat landed gracefully on Richard's head, folded his wings around himself and began making fake snoring noises. Treecko rolled his eyes.
"Who put the rod up his butt?" he asked Richard who merely shook his head. Richard turned to Jeffrey who had yet to release Torchic from its Pokeball.
"Aren't you going to let him out?" Richard asked Jeffrey. Jeffrey shook his head.
"I'll introduce myself when I get home. I've got another Pokemon waiting for me there." The two walked out of Professor Birch's office in order to allow the Professor to finish his packing. Once outside of the lab in the natural light (they had waylaid another aide in order to renavigate the maze of corridors as both of them had forgotten the way in.) Richard turned to Jeffrey.
"So. What's next for you?" He asked.
"I've got to go home first and show Torchic to my parents. We live in Petalburg city. Then I guess I'm going to head to Verdanturf town. There's a contest hall there and I figure that it'll be a pretty good starting place."
"You're going to challenge the contest circuit?" Richard asked. Jeffrey nodded.
"Of course. There's nothing wrong with taking the gym challenge but I just feel that there's more to a Pokemon's potential that just battling. But where are you going now?" Richard shrugged.
"I'm heading to Petalburg too I guess. Contests sound fun and all, but I'm more interested in Gym Battles. There's a gym there isn't there?"
"Sure." Jeffrey said "But you've got no chance against Norman with just a Zubat and a Treecko. You really have no idea about this region do you?" Richard grinned sheepishly and shook his head. Jeffrey sighed and frowned, but then his face brightened.
"Tell you what, why don't we travel together?" He asked. Richard's eyes widened.
"You're serious? You don't even know me." he asked. Jeffrey nodded.
"Sure. It can get pretty lonely on the road without a travelling buddy. Besides, you seem like a nice guy. Face it. You could use the help of someone who knows this region, and I could use some extra company and protection on the road."
"Protection?" Richard asked raising an eyebrow, "from who? Team Rocket?"
"No." Jeffrey said "both Team Aqua and Magma disbanded years ago but you always get a few idiots who think that using stolen Pokemon is an easier way to make money than working an honest living like the rest of us. So what do you say?"
"I'd like the company sure. And the inside knowledge of Hoenn would be useful" Richard smiled. "But you don't know me. Are you sure you want to travel with me?"
"Sure." Jeffrey grinned, "Like I said, I'm pretty good at reading people. You seem nice. Anyway, if you turn out to be a jerk I can just leave you." He laughed brightly and held out a hand. "So?"
Richard hesitated for a moment before taking the hand and shaking it. "Ok, why not? Besides, I can always abandon you if you turn out to be the jerk."
Jeffrey laughed. "Fine by me. You know. This may be the start of a beautiful friendship."
And that brings Chapter 2 to a close, don't forget to R+R as that will speed up the creative process for new chapters. Also don't forget to submit any Original Trainers. After all, Professor Birch still has a spare Mudkip.