NEV

A smooth blue quadruped emerged from the Pokéball. "Mudkip, mud!"

"A M-Mudkip," I said. I tried to think. What could a Mudkip do? "Um… u-use Tackle."

"Mudkip!" it exclaimed. Mudkip jumped toward the Zigzagoon and landed with a lot of force.

The Zigzagoon took a break from chasing Birch to look at Mudkip and me. It growled at us and I flinched a little.

"M-Mudkip, use Tackle again!" I said. Mudkip repeated the move and tackled the Zigzagoon. Zigzagoon jumped itself and tackled Mudkip. But I noticed it was moving more slowly than before, and breathed heavily. We were actually doing damage.

"One more T-Tackle ought to d-do it," I told Mudkip.

"Muuudkip!" Mudkip tackled the Zigzagoon a third time. Zigzagoon collapsed to the ground, no longer able to continue fighting.

Birch picked up his bag and looked at us. "Thank you, both of you. Now that that's all settled, let's get back to the lab."

Birch, Mudkip, and I walked back into Littleroot, toward the lab. Two girls were standing at the front entrance, waiting for us.

"Kelli, May, nice to see you both here," Birch said. "This boy here is Nev. Nev, this is my daughter Kelli and her friend May. It looks like all three of the rookies will be getting their first Pokémon at the same time."

"I can't wait," May said with a look of sheer excitement on her face. She was pretty tall, brunette, wearing all red. "I've been ready for this for so long."

"Nice to meet you, Nev," Kelli said softly. She was the smallest of the three of us, and I could definitely see a lot of Birch's features in her.

The five of us stepped inside the lab, where we were greeted by the man I'd seen earlier. Birch took the two remaining Pokéballs from his bag and tossed them into the air. A green lizard and an orange bird emerged as they opened. Mudkip stepped forward to join them.

"This is Torchic, the fire-type starter, Mudkip, the water-type starter, and Treecko, the grass-type starter. You may each have one, so choose wisely."

May pulled Kelli and I in. "We've got to decide among ourselves. I really want Torchic. Do either of you want it?"

Kelli looked down. "They all look really nice. I'd love to be friends with any of them. How about you, Nev?"

"Um, I already b-battled with Mudkip, a-and I think we get along p-pretty well, so…"

"Then I'll get Treecko," Kelli said brightly. "Perfect!"

"Alright," May told Birch. "We've decided. I want Torchic, Kelli wants Treecko, and Nev wants Mudkip."

"Sounds good," Birch smiled. He recalled the three of them back into their Pokéballs and handed them to us. "Now… Um, where's May?"

"Sh-she just ran off…" I said.

"That's May," Kelli said. "She was so excited about starting her journey that she just left so quickly."

"I was supposed to give her a Pokédex," Birch said. "Here, you two take these Pokédexes and go. If you see May, can you bring her back here to get hers?"

"Of course," Kelli said.

Kelli and I left the lab and looked out. Neither of us could see May anywhere. "Sh-she's pretty fast," I noted.

"Yeah," Kelli agreed. "Well, we should go north. May's probably going to Petalburg City so she can challenge the gym there. The fastest way there is through Oldale Town."

"You m-mean we have to go through R-Route 101?" I didn't like that idea. The Zigzagoon was tough enough and who knew what other powerful wild Pokémon would be there.

"Yes," Kelli answered. She tossed her Pokéball into the air. "Ping-Pong, I choose you!" Kelli's Treecko came out of the Pokéball and looked at her.

"Ping-Pong?" I asked.

"It's a nickname," she explained. "Cute, right?"

"I- I guess." I tossed my own Pokéball so Mudkip could come out. "I'll c-call you… V-Victoria. Right now we're g-going back into Route 101. W-we're looking for May and T-Torchic. Ready?"

Victoria, Kelli, Ping-Pong, and I walked through Route 101. It was pretty clear of trainers and Ping-Pong quickly took out any wild Pokémon – mostly Poochyena – that attacked us with his Pound attack.

When we arrived in Oldale, I looked expectantly at Kelli. She knew her way around better than I did.

"Petalburg is just west of here," she told me. "Once we pass the Pokémon Center we'll be at Route 102, which leads straight there."

"I'm afraid not," a man said as he walked toward us. "There are some footprints all over the border of Route 102. I believe they are from an ancient Pokémon no longer part of this world. That area is temporarily closed off until all the necessary data can be gleaned from the prints."

"I-If we can't g-get through because of the footprints, th-then that means May c-couldn't either," I told Kelli.

Kelli put a finger to her lip. "Maybe she went north to Route 103 to take the long way around."

"H-how did she even get so f-far?" I wondered. Then I remembered that she was running in the hopes of getting to Petalburg quickly.

"May!" Kelli called out. It was softer than May's normal voice and barely louder than mine, but it was easily the loudest I'd ever heard from Kelli.

May stepped out of a building with a blue roof. "Oh, Kelli, Nev. Hi. I was just going to Route 103 to get to Petalburg –"

"There's s-something you've got to do before you g-go to Petalburg," I told her.

"You want a battle, don't you?" May asked. Before I could correct her, she tossed a Pokéball into the air. "Alright, let's go, Ernie! I choose you!"

A/N

Well, here's a good time to put in some notes. First of all, reviews are always welcome. Secondly, here's an overview of the protagonist's Pokémon that we've met so far.

Alana's Pokémon are Picasso the Smeargle, Olivia the Spinda, Sir X the Shedinja, Herb the Bibarel, Dawn the Klefki, and Meg the Wobbuffet. Picasso was named after the famed cubism artist Pablo Picasso, which was based on Smeargle's design as a painter. Olivia was sort of named after the Jenny Nimmo character Olivia Vertigo, by virtue of Spinda's apparent inherent dizziness (vertigo). Sir X has a complicated story with its name. Just ignore that for now. Herb was named for the American President Herbert Hoover. Bibarel is a beaver, which builds dams. Hoover. Enough said. Dawn was named for Dawn Summers of Buffy fame. The show had Dawn designated as "the Key", so what better name for a Klefki? Lastly, Meg was named after Meg Griffin, primarily because Wobbuffet physically resembles Meg's main role on the show: a punching bag.

Nev's first Pokémon is Victoria the Mudkip. While Victoria may seem like a random name, she was actually named for the real-world location Lake Victoria, where lungfish can be found in the wild. Future Pokémon either acquires will get more information later. Kelli's Treecko, Ping-Pong, was named for the Xiaolin Chronicles character, a dragon of wood who starts out as the protagonist's "little gecko". Lastly, May's Torchic Ernie was, like Meg, named for a Family Guy character, Ernie the Giant Chicken.

Now, as you may have figured out, this story takes place in a world that is a mix between the anime, the manga, and the games. The remainder of the story, bear in mind that it will not necessarily follow the same order as any of those mediums; Kelli's existence is proof that I'm willing to add major pieces that were not in any of them. Also, sorry about Nev's stutter. He's had it his whole life.