Well, it came out a bit later than I intended, but I've got another chapter out. Here's some time to reply to the reviews I've had.
rylek196: Romance may appear, but it'll be in short bursts, and accurate for their ages. The main protagonist is 12, after all, and I don't care what you say, but romance isn't something that'll realistically be happening with a pair of children. As for Norman, first, remember, we're seeing him from Brendan's POV. Norman isn't a bad person, but he's also not one who focuses on his family. That has consequences for the future. He is neglectful, but not despicable. If he'd been there, he would've helped Wally, but he wasn't.
mjstimpson: Exactly. I actually thought about a reasonable end to Ash's saga. It would've been a cliffhanger, with him winning the Sinnoh League and preparing to challenge the Elite Four. Then it would've cut to the Black and White series, with a brand new protagonist. Throughout the series, there'd be hints of what happened to Ash, people talking about someone defeating Aaron, Bertha, Flint, and Lucian. Then, Cynthia would be introduced, mentioning that since the new champion beat her, she decided to travel.
Hi, mom.
I'm in the Petalburg Woods right now, so this letter will probably take a while to get to you. I met a kid named Wally yesterday, and helped him catch his first pokemon. I also caught a Dustox, but she doesn't like me very much. She's been disobedient the whole time. Is it my fault? Am I a bad trainer? I'm going to Rustboro City, they have a bookstore there.
Love,
Brendan
Brendan folded the letter and put in his pack. He'd mail it when he got to Rustboro. He slowly stood up, and looked around the campsite. He had packed everything up, and returned Dustox. Disobedient as she was, he wouldn't let her wander around like he did with Neptune and Robin.
Despite his sour attitude, the day was bright enough, as pokemon wandered to and fro. Looking around, Brendan could see that the trees were far more tropical than in Johto, bright green on this morning. 'It really is beautiful out here.'
An hour later, he had to pause to stretch his back out. Unused to sleeping in the open as he was, Brendan had neglected to clear out the area he was sleeping of protrusions. As such, he was sore all over.
As he sat, Brendan looked over the Pokedex. He had seen and added a mushroom pokemon called Shroomish to it, and it honestly looked pretty interesting. He started as something bumped his leg, causing him to look down.
It was Robin, who had once again found something. Brendan held out his hand, and felt the now familiar weight of a potion hit it. He pocketed it, and Robin was off again. Neptune was walking next to Brendan as they continued on, looking around at their surroundings.
Suddenly, as they turned along the path, they stopped. Brendan blinked at the brown-haired, middle-aged man in a white lab coat standing a few feet away, looking around.
"Not a single one," he murmured, then, seeing Brendan, he lit up, and started walking towards him. "Hi! Have you seen any Shroomish?" the man asked.
Brendan blinked. "Shroomish? Why?"
"I really love that Pokemon," the man replied.
Brendan, wanting to get out of this conversation as fast as possible, prepared to tell the odd man where he had seen the Shroomish, when he saw movement behind the man.
As Brendan watched, a man wearing a black bandanna with a white A, a blue and white striped t-shirt, ripped jeans with striped socks and large shoes walked into the clearing.
Seeing the older man, he pointed. "I've been waiting outside of the Petalburg Woods for hours! But you just had to stay in here for so long, so I came in after you!"
Angrily, the man began striding forward. "You! Devon researcher! Give me those goods!"
"Aiiee!" The researcher scrambled back, hiding behind Brendan. "You're a trainer, right? Please, don't let him take my goods!"
The man growled, pulling a Pokeball off of his belt. "If you don't get out of my way, kid, I'll go through you."
Brendan felt himself shaking. 'I don't want to get in the middle of this. I don't want to get hurt.' Then he looked down, and saw Neptune striding forward in between Brendan and the man.
"MudKIP!" the pokemon declared, stomping his foot.
Seeing it, Brendan froze. 'Neptune- he'll get hurt, he'll-'
The man sneered. "So that's how it'll be, huh? Fine! Shred 'em, Poochyena!"
The Pokeball opened, releasing the now-familiar form of the canine pokemon. Almost immediately, both Neptune and Poochyena leapt at each other, using Tackle simultaneously.
"Bite!" the man snarled. His pokemon complied, biting down on Neptune's tail.
"KIIIIP!" Neptune's cry of pain snapped Brendan back to his senses. "Water Gun! Break his grasp!"
Neptune responded, blasting the Poochyena back, crying in pain as his tail tore from the force. "Hold on, Neptune! Hit him with Mud Slap!" Brendan commanded.
Neptune obeyed, managing half of the attack before freezing up in pain. The mud hit, but Poochyena managed to get back up.
The man laughed. "Heh, looks like your little fish ain't gonna be doing any thing. Poochyena, Dark Pulse!"
The canine began to charge with a black and purple energy, before Brendan snarled. "Robin! Headbutt!"
The beforehand unnoticed Normal type burst out of the grass, ramming Poochyena at high speeds. The shock of being hit caused Poochyena to lose control of the attack.
~BAAUM~
The resulting explosion sent both Robin and Poochyena flying. Robin bounced a few times on the grass, skidding to a stop before slowly getting up. Poochyena wasn't so lucky, slamming into a tree before falling to the ground, leaving a dent in the wood.
"Poochyena, no!" The man snarled. After returning the Dark type, he turned. "I'll let you off easy this time, but we're after something in Rustboro, too." With that threat, he turned and ran into the woods.
Brendan knelt by Neptune, looking at his pokemon's injury. "I have a portable healing device," the researcher spoke up, pulling out a small machine. "Here, place your pokemon in this."
Brendan complied, and then released his pokemon to see them both healed, with Neptune's tail restored. "Thanks. Who was that guy?"
The researcher frowned. "I don't know. But he said he was after something in Rustboro-" he gasped. "I have to warn the company!"
"What about the police?" Brendan asked. The researcher frowned at him. "You're not from Hoenn, are you?"
"That obvious?" Brendan winced. The researcher shrugged. "When you ask about police, yes. You see, the police force was decimated by battles against Team Rocket and requests for aid from Kanto and Johto. As of now, there are only police in major cities. The Gym Leaders and Elite Four have had to step up in order to maintain order, but they're only a small number. So, we make do, and the League instated bounty hunters, trainers who are contracted to help deal with criminal activity. Speaking of," he pulled out a device and pressed a few buttons, "I'm wiring a transfer to your account."
Brendan shook his head. "I wasn't really intending to help," he admitted. The researcher countered, "But you did, and it's company policy to reward trainers who assist them."
The researcher put the device back in his pocket, and turned, walking back the way he came.
Brendan sighed, and began walking again. 'I had no idea journeying was so dangerous. I'm going back home after I get to Rustboro City. I can't let Neptune and Robin get hurt like that again.'
He kept on walking, ignoring wild pokemon, and only paying partial attention to the one trainer he battled. As he rounded a bend in the path, Brendan noticed sunlight beginning to stream through the trees. Putting an extra boost in his pace, Brendan move forward, towards the route that would lead him to Rustboro City. Away from the terrible event that still terrified him.
As he walked away, he didn't notice someone emerge from the tree line behind him. It was a tan woman with similar clothes to the attacking man from before. "So, that's the one?" She mused. "Surprising power levels. Interesting. I'll continue to monitor the situation." Her eyes caught the light, and red gleamed.
"A double battle?" Brendan echoed doubtfully.
The two little girls in front of him nodded. "Yeah! Instead of sending one pokemon at a time out-" "We send two, which means the battle-" "Goes twice as fast!"
Brendan blinked as the twins completed each other's sentences. He had been paying half attention to the battles, until the two of them challenged him. He frowned.
"You're sure?" He asked, hoping he could find a way out of this.
"Yeah!" The two girls replied in stereo.
He sighed. "Alright. Neptune, Robin, let's go!"
The two girls squealed. "Ok, Lotad-" "Seedot-" "Go!" they declared, revealing the blue pokemon with a leaf on its head, and the pokemon shaped like an acorn.
Brendan grimaced. Both of them were grass types, which meant Neptune would be at a disadvantage. So he'd be stuck using Tackle, and moves in odd ways. He couldn't help it. He started to grin at the challenge. "Neptune, Growl! Robin, Tackle!"
His pokemon responded, Neptune releasing a growl that caused Lotad and Seedot to flinch, and Robin rushing forwards, slamming into Lotad and sending it sprawling.
"Lotad, get in the water!" "Seedot, Rapid Spin!"
The dual-type turned to the edge of the bridge they were on, and promptly jumped over the edge into the water. The acorn sat down, and began spinning, until it looked like a top. Then it began rushing towards Robin.
"Headbutt, Robin! Neptune, Water Gun on Seedot!" Brendan commanded. The Water Gun simply sprayed everywhere upon hitting the spinning pokemon, while Robin rushed forwards. On contact, both Seedot and Robin were sent back, with Seedot tripping back when it hit a space between planks. Robin was about to engage again when- "MUD!"
Unnoticed by the three of them, Lotad had swum around to the other side of the bridge, and come up performing an Astonish on Neptune. As Brendan and Robin spun towards Lotad, the sisters took advantage of their distraction.
"Rapid Spin!" "ZAAAAAG!"
Seedot scrambled back up and spun towards Robin, hitting him right in the side. As Brendan watched both his pokemon reel, a plan began to build in his mind. "Robin, Neptune, back to back!"
The two obeyed, spinning around so their tails were touching, watching each end of the bridge. Brendan's mind raced as he put the finishing touches on his plan. "Alright. Neptune, throw a Mud Slap all around the bridge. Robin, keep an eye on the water, and Headbutt Lotad if it ever comes in range. Go!"
The two immediately switched sides. Neptune began regurgitating mud from his mouth, flinging it around until it covered the bridge. Robin's eyes scanned the water, both in front of him and between the planks.
"Seedot, Rapid Spin!" "Lotad, Bullet Seed!" The sisters commanded their pokemon to attack again. Seedot began spinning again, rushing forwards, then abruptly, it started sliding.
"Yes!" Brendan shouted. The mud had slickened the bridge, reducing the friction to the point where Seedot was unable to control its movements. "Now, double team it, Tackle!"
Robin immediately left his post, jumping over Neptune to hit Seedot, while Neptune began sliding towards it on the mud, using his tail to control his direction. The two hits scored directly, sending Seedot spinning into the lake.
"Seedot!" The twins yelled, before Seedot resurfaced, floating unconsciously. "Return." As the girl returned her pokemon, her sister turned. "Lotad, Bullet Seed!"
The Lotad had been distracted by Neptune and Robin's abrupt move away from the side, but now it popped up on the bridge, and began spraying it with seeds.
Both Robin and Neptune fell back under the onslaught, but Brendan caught their attention after moving out of the way himself. "Neptune, give Robin a boost!"
They responded, Robin jumping onto Neptune, while Neptune bucked at the right moment to give Robin a second jump. "Robin, Headbutt!"
Robin arced through the sky, slamming into Lotad, causing it to collapse. Robin scrambled out of the resulting pile, trotting over to Brendan, joining Neptune as he did so.
"Lotad, return," the girl said, sighing as she looked at her sister. "Now we have to-" "Train more so we can-" "Beat you next time!" the two finished in stereo, pointing at him.
"Uh, ok. Good job," Brendan directed these words to his pokemon, "Return." As he recalled them, he turned, and continued on the bridge, looking ahead to the city he could see in the distance.
Rustboro City seemed to be a uniformly brown, with splashes of color from flower boxes in window sills and of course, the mart and pokecenter. As he entered, Brendan looked around, noting the tall buildings, and feeling surprised at how much fewer buildings there were in Rustboro than in Goldenrod and Olivine, back in Johto. Seeing the center, he turned that way, and began walking towards it, stepping aside to avoid running into anyone on his way.
As the doors opened up, Brendan looked around, before heading to the desk. "Ah, hello? Could I get my pokemon healed please?"
The Nurse Joy turned, and smiled. "Certainly. If you'll hand them to me, I'll have them to you in an hour."
Brendan pulled the two pokeballs off of his belt, and placed them in the nurse's hands. As she turned to go through the door behind the desk, Brendan looked around at the other people in the center. As his eyes passed over the table in one of the corners, he froze, and turned back to see May sitting there, staring intently at her computer while wearing a pair of headphones. He started walking towards her.
May was deep in the midst of the latest episode of Fairy Tail when she happened to check the time, and noticed someone walking towards her out of the corner of her eye. Panicking, she closed most of the tabs, paused the episode, and closed her laptop, before pulling off her headphones and looking up to see who was approaching. "Brendan!"
Brendan blinked. May had closed her laptop extremely quickly when she had noticed him, and was currently looking at him with a guilty look. "Hi, May. What were you looking at?"
"Nothing!" May yelped, grabbing her backpack from the chair next to her and stuffing her laptop into it, grabbing the cord and yanking it out of the wall. "Nothing at all!"
"Um, ok," Brendan responded. Maybe she had a learning disability? He'd be embarrassed to admit if he had one. He sat down across from her.
"Anyway," May said, wanting to distract him from what she was doing, "you made it to Rustboro City! That's great!"
"Ah, yeah," he agreed. "So, um, have you caught any new pokemon?"
Her eyes lit up. "Yeah! I caught a Wurmple, and she evolved really quickly, so now she's a Silcoon! And I have a Taillow, too!" Then she looked at him. "What about you, Brendan?"
Brendan wasn't sure whether to smile or frown. "Well, I caught a Zigzagoon, and I also caught a Dustox. But," he paused here, "Dustox won't listen to me."
May frowned at that. "It might be really powerful. I heard dad mention that sometimes really powerful pokemon won't listen to young trainers."
Brendan sighed. "I was afraid of that." He felt his shoulders sag. He was right. It was because he was a bad trainer.
Seeing his melancholy, May decided it might be a good idea to change the subject. "Come on," she said, rising from her seat, "Let's explore the city!"
Brendan fidgeted. "Well… I don't know- hey!" he cried as May grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out the door.
"We're gonna explore the city!" She said, keeping a hold of his arm. "We've got time before our pokemon are ready, so let's go!"
Brendan stopped struggling as he discovered he couldn't find a way to remove May's hand without hurting her. So he conceded, following along as she dragged him through the city, pointing out landmarks such as the Devon Corporation main building. After several buildings, May squealed and pulled him into a small shop.
Blinking, Brendan saw it was filled to the brim with costumes. May had let go of his arm and was now digging through the racks excitedly. "May? What is this place?"
May turned from the rack, holding an armful of outfits. Abruptly she turned bright red, and buried her face in the fabric. "I forgot you were with me!"
Brendan opened his mouth, closed it, and did so twice more before managing to speak. "I-uh- what?" He inhaled, exhaled, and gathered his thoughts. "Um, I don't really care if you like costumes, May."
May slowly raised her head, and looked at him. "Really?" She stared at him for a moment, then turned, and pulled more costumes off the rack. "Alright! Come on! I've got some for you too!"
Brendan started backing away. "I-I didn't say I wanted to try-waa!" He was cut off as May pushed him into a dressing room and gave him some of the costumes before closing the door. He could hear a door open next to him, signaling that she had entered a room as well. He sighed, and began changing.
Exiting the room, Brendan looked at himself in a mirror. He was wearing a beige shirt with white pants, brown boots, and a tan jacket. He had pulled his hat off, showing how messy his hair was. He heard the door open, and turned. May had emerged with her hair done up in two buns, wearing a sleeveless pink shirt and green pants. The outfit was completed with a pair of sandals and a headband. Her eyes widened.
"OhmyArceus!" She squealed. "You look just like Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan!" She looked down at her outfit. "I have to find a Mikasa outfit!" She rushed back into the dressing room, slamming the door behind her. Brendan returned to his dressing room, and redressed, exiting to see May hop out while pulling a shoe on. "Um, May, maybe we should get lunch?" he tried, hoping it would distract her from the costume wearing.
She blinked, then pouted slightly. "But…" she started, only to be interrupted. Gggrrrrrrr. They both stared at her stomach. She blushed. "Ok."
After picking up their pokemon, the pair found a burger stand, and ate as they wandered the city. May pointed out some of the landmarks while Brendan read a pamphlet he'd grabbed. Abruptly, May checked the time, and jumped.
"Oh no!" She yelled. "What is it?" Brendan asked. "I'm supposed to check the size of the Magikarp in the lake on route 104!" She turned and started running, waving as she went. "See you later, Brendan!"
"Oh." Sighing, he looked down at the pamphlet, then turned and started walking.
Entering the small bookshop, Brendan looked around. He knew he'd have to be careful about what books he got, since he'd be travelling. After looking through the selection, he bought two books, one on mythology and the other on the legend of Robin Hood.
Making his way back to the center for the night, Brendan read the first few chapters of the mythology book to Neptune and Robin, before turning into the room he had gotten. 'Tomorrow, I'll look around a bit more, then I'll head home.'
"Make your move tomorrow. Devon Corp. is planning to hire a trainer to deliver the package, and we'll lose our chance."
"Yes, boss."
And that's a wrap.
This chapter is to develop both Brendan and May as characters, and to actually give their friendship the development the game didn't have. It also explains the lack of police in Hoenn, and introduces a new concept: Mercenary Trainers. That'll become important for several things throughout the story. Also, Brendan writing letters to his mother will continue to be a staple of the series.