Chapter 2: Littleroot Town

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Sapphire groaned as the truck hit yet another bump in the road, another sure sign that they were in the middle of nowhere. The day had been a real whirlwind of activity; with the multiple truck rides, the high-speed boat rides, and the long trip from Slateport City to Littleroot Town. She had been drafted by her overzealous mother to ride in the moving van with all of the cardboard boxes. Thank goodness they were secured to the walls of the truck; otherwise she was sure that she would have been crushed by the mountains of boxes that surrounded her.

Sighing, she let Shade out of his Pokeball, the dark weasel appearing in a flash of light. Shade smirked before climbing onto a particularly large stack of boxes.

"Sneasel!" He said, relieved to be out of his Pokeball. Sapphire allowed a tiny smile to grace her face.

"I know we've only just arrived in Hoenn, but we're not staying here for long." Sapphire said. "I'm not going to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere in a region that's nothing more than a bunch of islands! Besides, I'm tired of my overbearing mother with her attachment issues. I should have left on a Pokémon journey a long time ago. I think we ought to leave home and go back to Johto. What do you say? You with me?"

"Sneasel! Snea, snea sneasel!" Shade nodded, a grin crawling across his face. Sapphire smiled, before the truck lurched to a stop. Her eyes widened in panic.

"Shade, return!" She whispered as she recalled her partner. Shade groaned but allowed himself to be sucked back into the red and white Pokeball. Sapphire quickly shrank the ball down to its smaller size and shoved it in her pocket. Not a moment too soon, either, because suddenly the door opened, revealing two Machoke. They waited for her to climb down out of the trailer, before they began to unload boxes.

"Thanks so much for volunteering to ride in the moving truck!" Her mother cheerfully said as she dragged her daughter into the house and up the stairs. Sapphire snorted. Volunteering? Her mother had told her to ride in the moving truck. There was no volunteering that had taken place.

"Anyway, I suppose that you ought to unpack your things, and set the clock in your room to the correct time. Oh, and your father left your birthday present on your desk. I'm going to go supervise the movers. I love you, sweetie."

"Yeah, love you too." Sapphire said, before muttering, "Nice of Pops to wait until nine months after my birthday before he actually bothered to give me something." The girl sighed and waited until her mother was out of her room before she shut the door and locked it. She then released Shade into her new room.

"Okay, so here's the plan." She said in a hushed voice. "I'm going to unpack my stuff so my mother doesn't suspect anything. But, I'm also going to pack a backpack with a few spare changes of clothes, all of my life savings, and enough food to last a week. We're going to hit the road, travel back to Slateport, and then hop on a boat back to Johto. We'll be back home in under a week!"

Shade nodded, before his attention was drawn by a box on the desk, covered in shiny silver paper. No surprise, as Sneasel generally were thieves. But it did remind her of something else that her mother had said, that her father had left a (very late) birthday gift for her on her desk. She assumed that that was what the package was.

"Might as well open it up." She muttered, reaching out to grab the package. She carefully pulled off the wrapping, folding it neatly and set it off to the side. If she was going to run away tonight, she could use it for kindling. She then opened the box, revealing a pair of running shoes, a letter, and a device in a packaging apparently called a Pokénav. She looked it over, and noted with interest that the device had a map of the region included on it. She figured that the shoes and the Pokénav would be useful, but she ignored her father's letter.

"Thanks a lot, Pops." She muttered as she put the running shoes by her bed and packed up the money, five changes of clothes, the Pokénav, and Shade's Pokéball in her black, gray, and sapphire blue backpack. They joined some berries and apricorns she had picked in the days before her departure from Johto. Now she just needed to sneak some food that night on her way out, and she'd be fine.


That night, she laid awake while her mother fell asleep. She knew that her mother wouldn't wake, as she was a heavy sleeper and was not easily roused. When she was certain that her mother would be unaware of her actions, she silently got up from her bed. She changed out of her pajamas and into a fresh set of clothes and the running shoes her father had gifted her, quickly scrawled a note for her mother, and left it on the desk next to the still unopened letter from the man who was a father in name alone. Carefully she slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen, mindful of her mother's snores that echoed through the house.

She ignored the fridge, and instead raided the pantry, pulling out non-perishables such as crackers, dried meats, dried berries, and nuts, made several peanut butter sandwiches, and filled up four bottles of water at the sink. Slipping all of them into her backpack, she found she had just enough room for the Pokéballs and potions she had covertly purchased in the days leading up to her departure from Goldenrod City.

It was a struggle to close the zipper, but close it she did. Then, without making a sound, she eased the door open and stealthily crept out of the house, closing and locking the door behind her. All this time her mother had yet to stir.

Sapphire quickly hiked across the road and ducked down an alley. It wasn't until her house was out of sight that she began to run, setting off at a brisk trot. Littleroot Town was by no means a large place, and within ten minutes of running she was at the start of Route 101. She smiled before calling out Shade, the dark weasel silently climbing up her shoulder. It understood the requirement of stealth at this point in time. His trainer smiled at him, before checking the map on her brand new Pokénav.

"Looks like it's going to take us about two to three days walking time to get to Odale Town." She whispered. "If we hurry, we can cover a good portion of it tonight. Let's go!"

The woods were eerie to be sure, yet the foreign girl and Pokémon paid it no mind. They had nothing to worry about in terms of wild Pokémon, as all of the local fauna were safely tucked away in their nests. The lonely duo was the only ones awake at this point, save the few Poochyena that were out.

"I guess this place isn't too bad." Sapphire muttered as trainer and Pokémon scaled a sheer cliff face. "I still like Johto better, though. And it's too quiet. I miss the big city."

"Sneasel!" Shade quickly scampered up the rest of the cliff, his claws easily finding purchase on the rocks. Minutes later, Sapphire pulled herself up over the edge. She looked back down at the ground that was now ten feet below her. If she jumped, she would break her neck. She'd have to be careful as she continued. Breaking her neck was not high on her priority list.

"I think we've put enough distance between my mother and ourselves." She announced to Shade. "Daybreak will be coming soon. Let's find a place to sleep."


All was silent in the large cavernous room. Three Pokemon were sleeping in their beds. One of them was a grassy green gecko, another a orangey red chick, and the third a blue mud fish Pokemon. They were, or course, Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip; the three Starter Pokemon that all young trainers got to choose between when they started their Pokemon journeys.

What the three weren't aware of, was the intruder in the lab. Dressed in dark blue, the group of three trainers was led by a tall woman of about 21 years, with flowing black hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. She smirked as she saw the three Pokemon sleeping.

"You know the plan." She whispered. "Smash the Pokeballs and then capture them."

"Yes ma'am!" The two grunts replied before they began to stealthily sneak towards the Pokemon.

Mudkip's fin twitched. before the blue Pokemon lazily opened one eye.

He then yelped as he noticed that the unknown trio in the room. That yelp awakened his two companions, the young Pokemon startled to see that they weren't the only ones in the room. For a moment, the three Pokemon stared at the three humans.

Then Torchic and Treecko rushed forward, prepping peck and pound respectively. Both the grunts scattered, running throughout the lab as they tried to dodge the attacks. Mudkip was about to jump into the fray, when the leader walked toward the little blue Pokemon, a menacing grin on her face. Mudkip yelped again, all thoughts of fighting abandoned. The woman didn't attack the water type right away, however. Instead, she reached out and grabbed Mudkip's Pokeball.

Time stood still as the woman dropped it and crushed it beneath her feet, effectively releasing Mudkip against his will. The woman then grinned and pulled out another Pokeball, and the little blue Pokemon trembled.

"If you two buffoons are done fooling around with those Pokemon, we have a job to do." She sounded exasperated.

"Yes Miss Shelly!" The two echoed. Shelly, as the woman was now known, released a Mightyena into the room. Mudkip gasped as the Bite Pokemon dark wolf was certainly intimidating.

"Use bite!" Shelly ordered. Her Pokemon obeyed, springing forward to clamp its jaws down on the inexperienced Mudkip. The tiny blue water type cried out in pain before trying to retaliate with a tackle attack. However, despite its best efforts, the attack merely bounced off of the dark type. Mudkip was shocked, before crying out in pain when Mightyena angrily tossed it out the window. The blue Pokemon went sailing into the doors, its location now unknown.

Shelly angrily recalled her Mightyena, resolving to punish it later, before the doors to the lab flew open.

"What's going on?" Professor Birch demanded as he peered into the darkness. The good professor could only see blurry shapes, and he fumbled for the lightswitch. Shelly grimaced.

"Retreat!" She ordered before hopping out of the broken window, her two grunts following closely. They just made it, for at that moment the Professor turned the lights on. A blindingly bright radiance shown through the building, illuminating the scene in front of him.

Professor Birch looked around, taking in the senseless destruction of his equipment and the injuries that both Torchic and Treecko had sustained. There were shards of a Pokeball on the floor, and the sinking feeling in his stomach only grew as he realized that Mudkip was missing.


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