Adventures in Hoenn

Chapter Five: Teams Collide

*Alex's p.o.v*

Brendan and I trailed the Magma grunt to a cave. ''That coward must've went in here,'' I commented. ''He's got nowhere to hide now!''

''Excuse me, children?'' an old man asked coming up to us. ''Please help me. My poor Peeko has been stolen by a ruffian in blue.'' Team Aqua! I thought. ''He went into that cave there,'' the man went on.

''Sure,'' Brendan said. ''We'll get Peeko back.''

''What's Peeko?'' I asked.

''A Wingull,'' the man said. ''Please hurry!'' We ran right into the cave. And saw the Team Aqua and Team Magma grunt at the end of the cave fighting using their Poochyena.

''Gimme those goods!'' the Aqua grunt demanded.

''No!'' the Magma grunt responded. ''Maxie will rule this world and you, Team Aqua, will kneel before us!''

''As if!'' the Aqua grunt scoffed. ''Archie will rule the world and you'll be his foot stool!''

''Hey, you two!'' Brendan yelled. ''Give back what you stole!''

''Hey, it's that girl again,'' the Aqua grunt observed. ''And she brought her boyfriend!'' I'm not his boyfriend, I thought turning red.

''You're that girl from the other day when I was looking for that Ralts!'' the Magma grunt added.

''Give up, you two!'' I snapped. ''You're trapped!'' The grunts looked at each other.

''We'll team up just this once,'' the Magma grunt said. ''After that, we're enemies from here on out.''

''Fine,'' the Aqua grunt snorted.

''Poochyena, attack!'' the two commanded. The Poochyena charged us teeth bared.

''Marshtomp, Mud Slap!'' I commanded as I threw the Pokeball.

''Treeko, Bullet Seed!'' Brendan commanded as Treeko leaped off his back. The two Poochyena were quickly overwhelmed by our Pokémon. Peeko struggled out of the Aqua grunts arm and flew over to us landing itself on Brendan's head shivering in fear.

''It's okay, Peeko,'' I said soothingly. ''We'll get you out of here.''

''Thank you,'' Peeko chirped.

''You're welcome,'' I smiled.

''Wait, you can talk to Pokémon?'' Brendan asked.

''She sure can, little man!'' the Aqua grunt confirmed.

''Oh really?'' the Magma grunt asked looking at me intrigued. Eep, my secret! I thought. Way to go, Alex. Now you're in trouble!

''Ah shoot!'' the Aqua grunt exclaimed. ''I forgot that I'm not to let you creeps (referring to the Magma grunt) know!''

''Thank you all for this fascinating piece of information,'' the Magma grunt said. ''Maxie will be very interested in knowing.'' The Magma grunt then ran out of the cave accidentally dropping the Devon Goods. The Aqua grunt attempted to dive for the goods, but Treeko grabbed it with Quick Attack and knocked the Aqua grunt out.

''Good job, Treeko!'' Brendan praised.

''Yeah, good job,'' I said quietly.

''What's wrong, Alex?'' Brendan asked.

''Isn't it obvious?'' I snapped. ''Those creeps know about my ability to talk to Pokémon! They'll probably come after me now.''

''Hey,'' Brendan said to me holding my hands. ''Don't worry. I'll protect you.''

''Brendan,'' I said looking up at him with eyes watering. I felt a happy bliss as I held his hands. My heart started to race faster.

''Children?'' the old man asked coming into the cave causing us to quickly let go of each others hands. ''Did you find my Peeko?'' he asked.

''Mr. Briney!'' Peeko cried happily flying to her master.

''Peeko!'' Mr. Briney cried hugging Peeko. ''I'm so happy you're safe! Thank you so much children!''

''It's no problem,'' I said. ''So you're Mr. Briney?''

''How'd you know?'' Mr. Briney asked astonished.

''Uh, uh, I, uh-'' I stammered nervously. Can't keep your mouth shut, eh Alex? I thought to myself.

''You just look like a 'Mr. Briney,''' Brendan said covering for me.

''Uh, yes, I'm Mr. Briney,'' Mr. Briney said. I just breathed a sigh of relief. ''If there's anything I can do to repay you for your services, please ask.''

''Do you know where Dewford Town is?'' I asked.

''Oh, yes,'' Mr. Briney said. ''It's on an island to the south of Hoenn. I can take you there if you'd like.''

''That would be great,'' I said. ''Could you do it tomorrow?''

''Sure,'' Mr. Briney replied. ''What're your names anyway?''

''I'm Alex,'' I said.

''And I'm Brendan,'' Brendan said.

''It's a pleasure to meet you both,'' Mr. Briney said smiling. ''Just come by my house on Route 104. You can't miss it!'' Mr. Briney and Peeko then walked out of the cave. We followed suit and the man in green from earlier came to us.

''You got the goods back!'' the man cried out joyfully. ''Oh, thank you! Thank you!'' The man proceeded to kiss the package.

''Uh…sure,'' I said as all of us sweatdropped.

''Please!'' the man said. ''Come with me!'' We followed the man back to Rustboro City and into a tall building. When we reached the top floor, we met an old man sitting at a desk.

''This is the Prsident of the Devon Corporation,'' the man said.

''Welcome,'' the President said. ''I'm Mr. Stone.''

''These youngsters recovered the Devon Goods for me,'' the man said.

''Thank you very much,'' Mr. Stone said gratefully. ''Now, I have a favor for you to do for me if you don't mind.''

''No problem,'' Brendan said. ''What is it?''

''I have a son named Steven who is in Dewford Town,'' Mr. Stone explained. ''Please, deliver this letter to him for me.'' Mr. Stone handed us the letter.

''Sure,'' I said. ''You can count on us! It's right on the way to the next Gym, too!''

''Ah, hoping to take on the Hoenn Pokemon League, are you?'' Mr. Stone asked.

''Yes sir!'' Brendan and I said.

''Well, good luck!'' Mr. Stone said. ''And thank you again!''

''Sure thing!'' I replied smiling.

''Uh, could you please deliver that parcel you retrieved to the Shipyard in Slateport City?'' the green man asked. ''It goes to Captain Stern.''

''Okay,'' I replied.

''Thank you again,'' the green man said.

''Now, here,'' Mr. Stone said handing Brendan and I some kind of gadget. ''This is the Pokémon Navigator. Or PokeNav for short. You can use it as a map for the Hoenn region.''

''Thank you!'' we both said gratefully.

''Take care, young ones!'' Mr. Stone said.

''We will!'' Brendan and I said. We then left the building to find a hotel for the night.

*Anthony's p.o.v*

''Others found out about your secret?'' I asked shocked. ''Who?''

''These guys called Team Magma and Team Aqua and two kids named Brendan and Wally,'' Alex replied.

''Who're Brendan and Wally?'' I asked suspiciously.

''Now dear,'' Larraine said to me.

''New friends of mine,'' Alex said. Brendan then came up to the monitor shyly. I searched him up, down, and all around.

''I think you should just come home,'' I said. ''I have a bad feeling about you being there without us.''

''Dad, please!'' Alex begged.

''Young lady,'' I said sternly, ''I know what's best for you and I think you're safer here.''

''Please sir,'' Brendan said. ''I promise I'll protect your daughter. I won't allow her to be harmed in any way. Please, don't force her to give up her dreams of being the Hoenn League Champ.'' I thought for a moment.

''Okay,'' I finally said. ''I'll trust you Brendan. Protect my daughter. And that goes for your Pokémon as well, Alex.''

''Thank you, daddy,'' Alex replied smiling.

''I won't let you down,'' Brendan said. We then hung up.

''Please be safe,'' I said quietly.

''You did the right thing, sweetie,'' Larraine said to me. I looked towards her.

''I don't know what I'd do if I lost her,'' I said to Larraine. I picked up a picture of Larraine, Alex, and I when Alex was only seven.

''Don't worry,'' Larraine said. ''I have a feeling that she's destined for great things. Sometimes, you got to let the hatchlings leave the nest and test their wings.''

''Right,'' I said quietly.