Whoo! I haven't dropped a one-shot in here for a while...

Thanks to kat151820 for the Fav and Follow!

Anyway, this is kind of what the starting point of a region is like for Maria post-Kanto. Specifically, this is the region she was in between Nintendo Kingdom and Capcom Kingdom. You know, the one I didn't cover. I've got a few events written out for her, though!

So, here we go!

Unova Arrival

Maria wasn't exactly sure what to expect of Unova when she arrived on the back of her Pidgeot. She certainly hadn't expected an area that looked almost exactly like a PokeBall, and she was definitely amazed by the towering skyscrapers that made up what looked like a large harbor-based city.

"Do you want me to circle around for a bit?" Paula asked, glancing back at her Trainer. Paula was one of the first Pokemon that Maria had managed to catch in Kanto, and was one of her strongest. As a result, she was able to take the trip from Sinnoh to Unova with minimal trouble.

"Uh..." Maria was really, really tempted to say yes to her Pokemon's suggestion, but they had been flying for more than a few hours. Paula had to have started to feel that by now. "I think I'll have to do that later. Let's just head down to Asperita so that we can meet up with Bianca - you know, that girl I told you about."

"Right. The blond one with the green beret."

Paula started to circle in a downward arc, heading towards the town that Black had pointed out on his map: a small area on the edge of the region, close to the mountains. Within minutes, they were flying above the rooftops, getting the attention of the people down in the streets below.

"There!" Maria pointed ahead of them at a hill that rose up on the outskirts of town. It looked like there were a couple figures standing there, but Maria couldn't see them too well.

"I see Bianca," Paula reported. She tilted her wings back a little in order to slow down as she came in and landed on the concrete platform that was on top of the hill.

"Thanks for the ride, Paula." Maria grinned widely and slipped off the feathery back of the Pokemon.

"No problem." Paula pulled her wings in and nudged Maria in the side with her head. "I'll stick around in town, so if you need to fly back to anywhere else anytime, just come back and let me know, all right?"

"I'll keep that in mind," Maria promised.

"You're Maria White, right?"

Maria turned her head, blinking when she heard the question. When she noticed the two people - one a young woman, and the other a younger boy with a decently-sized afro of dark hair - she gave a smile. "Yeah, that's me."

The young woman quickly recovered her composure and stepped forward, holding out a hand. "I'm Bianca, Professor Juniper's assistant. It's an honor to finally meet you."

Maria chuckled. "Believe me, the pleasure's all mine." She looked over at the boy, who still had a bit of a shocked look on his face. "And you are...?"

The boy blinked suddenly, then shook himself. "I'm Hugh."

"It's nice to meet you." Maria held out a hand, which the young man shook. "You're planning on starting your own journey, right? I'm planning on doing that, too."

Hugh frowned in confusion. "What? But you've already started."

"It's something that my Mom suggested a while back." Maria smiled a little sheepishly. "Mom said that every new region is a new journey, so she suggested I take it to the extreme by starting with a brand-new team. Originally, we'd moved every time that I wanted to start in a new place, but Mom and Dad are happy in Sinnoh. So, I just asked an old friend of mine to fly me over here." Maria motioned to Paula. "Meet the first Flying-Type that I befriended, Paula the Pidgeot."

Paula bobbed her head in greeting. "Hi."

Hugh blinked, then raised a hand cautiously and gave the Pokemon a wave.

"Oh, wow." Bianca stepped forward. "That's pretty cool. I don't think I've seen a bird Pokemon with such beautiful plumage before."

Paula lifted her head, practically preening. Maria chuckled.

"Paula and my other Flying-Types like to look their best," Maria explained. "They are part of a collection of Pokemon that are under a Trainer who's conquered four Leagues."

"I guess!" Bianca laughed, then turned and looked at Maria. "Well, you got here just in time to pick up your Pokemon. Hugh here was just telling me that he had raised one of his own from when it was just an Egg, so I've got the three Unova starters here for you to choose from." Bianca pulled a small capsule out from her purse and pressed a button on it, popping the capsule open and revealing three red and white spheres.

"What Pokemon do I have to choose from?" Maria moved over curiously, eyeing the PokeBalls with a strange light in her eyes that definitely said she was eager to meet the Pokemon that were inside.

"Well, I have a Tepig, an Oshuwatt, and a Snivy." Bianca motioned to each PokeBall in turn. "Which are Fire, Water, and Grass-Types, respectively."

Maria nodded in response. "Okay. Tepig, Oshuwatt, and Snivy...Hmmm. Well, I've been going with Water-Type Starters for the last few regions, so I don't think I'll go with that one."

Hugh let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, one that Paula noticed.

"Afro's got a Fire-Type," the Pidgeot twittered.

Maria glanced back at the Pokemon and raised an eyebrow before looking back at the PokeBalls. "Hmmm...You know, all of the rivals that I've had over the years seem to think that Grass-Types are pretty cool...so I'll go with Snivy."

Hugh lowered his shoulders in relief while Bianca smiled and handed over the PokeBall holding the Grass-Type. "Here she is. Be careful - this Pokemon line won't entirely trust their Trainer unless they have proof that they are decent Trainers."

"I've dealt with Pokemon like that before." Maria smiled confidently as she accepted the PokeBall. "Thanks for the tip, though. I'll definitely be keeping it in mind." She looked down at the PokeBall for a moment, then tossed it forward.

When the PokeBall exploded open, it released a green, lizard-like Pokemon that Maria hadn't seen before. It shook its head, then looked up at the three humans standing above it.

Maria crouched down, getting the Pokemon's attention. "Hi. I'm Maria, your new Trainer."

The Snivy eyed her, the Pokemon's head inclining back a little. She gave a small smile. "Greetings."

"Do you have a name of your own yet?" When the Snivy shook her head, Maria cocked her head to one side, considering what she could do. "Hmm...I think I'll call you...Emerald. Your scales look a lot like those jewels."

The Snivy puffed out her chest a little and smiled proudly in response to Maria's praise. "Why, thank you."

Bianca giggled. "I think the two of you are going to be able to get along splendidly."

Hugh grinned and grabbed a PokeBall from his belt, bouncing it up and down in one hand. "Hey, since you've picked your Starter already, how about a battle? I've raised this guy ever since it hatched, so we're pretty close already."

Maria looked up at the boy, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" She rose to her full height, Emerald moving to stand next to her new Trainer. "Well, I don't see why not. Ready, Emerald?"

Emerald nodded in response.

"Go, Tepig!" Hugh threw the PokeBall. "Let's show 'em who's boss!"

The PokeBall exploded, releasing a small, pig-like Pokemon with a curly tail that had a little red ball on the end of it. The Pokemon snorted, releasing a cloud of smoke from its nose.

Emerald stiffened a little.

"Everything's going to be okay," Maria murmured to the Pokemon. "He's not going to be able to do any Fire attacks just yet; there weren't any embers in that smoke." She raised her voice. "Let's start with a Tackle!"

Emerald jolted in surprise at the order, then lunged forward as Hugh yelled, "Tackle it back!"

The two Pokemon rammed into each other, and Maria gained a wide grin as Emerald backed up and started to circle around. "Keep it up. We're going to be able to wear that Pokemon down like this."

Emerald nodded slightly in response, then ran forward again as Tepig started to move in response to Hugh's order to do the same. The third time around, Emerald rammed Tepig in the side, sending the pig Pokemon sliding back. The Pokemon teetered for a moment, trying to keep his balance, then collapsed with a whine.

Hugh stared at his Pokemon for a moment; his shoulders sagged. "Oh, shoot. And here I thought I was gonna be able to beat a Champion..."

Emerald stared at Hugh, then looked up at Maria. "Champion?"

Maria rubbed the back of her head, smiling a little nervously. "W-well, yeah, I'm a Champion, but not of this region. Hugh, let's keep that quiet for now. I don't want to make anyone freak out because a Trainer is a Champion of four other regions."

Hugh blinked at that, then nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I guess it would get to be pretty big news if everyone found out about it."

Maria nodded. "Yeah." she looked over at Bianca. "You'll keep it secret too, right?"

Bianca nodded. "Yup. The two Professor Junipers and I know that you're a Champion, and one Black's and my close friends knows about it, too. His name's Cheren - he's the Gym Leader in town. He's a school teacher, too."

"Really?" Maria's eyebrows went up. "Cheren, huh?" She looked down at Emerald, who looked a little scuffed up, but no worse for the wear. "Sounds like we've got our first challenge. We're probably going to need more Pokemon on our team if we're going to be able to beat him, though. You up for a little training, Emerald?"

The Snivy blinked for a moment, then gave a nod. "Sure. Just make sure that I don't scuff my scales up too much."

"I'll make sure of it."

"Make sure you actually buy something for that this time," Paula spoke up. "I don't want to see any chaos like what happened before again."

"Right." Maria nodded to the Pidgeot. "Are you planning on sticking around or are you going to fly back and join the others?"

"I think I'll stick around." The bird Pokemon shrugged. "I'll explore for a little bit; if you need me, you can just holler."

Maria nodded, then looked over at Hugh. "Mind if we head out to the first route together? I don't know my way around this region yet, and I'm planning on getting my hands on a map of it later."

Hugh shrugged. "Okay, fine with me. Let's visit the Pokemon Center first, though." He returned Tepig to his PokeBall. "I'm going to need to load up on supplies and heal my Pokemon before heading out there."

"Sure." Maria motioned to the steps that led down from where they were standing. "Lead the way."

"Oh! Before I forget." Bianca held up two devices - one looked like a PokeDex, but the other one looked like a red and black USB stick. "You need to update your PokeDex for the Pokemon we have here."

"Right." Maria reached around to her backpack and pulled out a familiar red and black device. "Here's mine."

Bianca nodded, then plugged the stick into the PokeDex and opened it up. "Okay; it's uploading and...done." She closed the PokeDex again and unplugged the disk, then handed it over. "I made sure to register you, too, so you won't be able to access all of the data until you either really need to or you're Champion."

"Thanks." Maria grinned at Hugh. "Can't have me cheating by calling on old, powerful friends. It wouldn't be right for a new Trainer to suddenly have a Legendary from another region on her team."

Hugh stared at her. "So, you really do have Legendary Pokemon? How?"

"I make friends with them." Maria winked. "The hard part is proving to them that you can be friends with them. I'm sure the Legendaries who live here are no different, and I'm looking forward to proving to them that I am worthy of it." She paused, and her grin widened. "Especially after what happened in Sinnoh."

Hugh and Bianca stared at her.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Bianca asked. "I mean, I heard about what that Galactic fellow was planning on doing, but-"

"Let's just say that a lot happened on top of Mt. Coronet."

Paula snickered at Maria's words, causing Emerald to frown at the Flying-Type.

"She'll tell you when you're ready," Paula said mysteriously. "That's how I heard about it. It really makes me wish that I was there."

Emerald frowned. Maria chuckled.

"Well, let's get going." She looked over at Hugh. "Where's the Pokemon Center?"

Hugh blinked a couple times, then shook his head to get rid of the shocked expression. "R-right. It's this way." He started down the stairs, looking over at Paula as he passed. Maria followed after him, giving Bianca and Paula a wave before descending down into the town.

Maria breathed in, then out, and let out a sigh. "The air...it smells of..."

Hugh looked over at her. "Smells of what?"

"New beginnings. Adventure." Maria grinned. "Something tells me that I'm going to like Unova. A lot."

Yeah, it's short, but I like it this way. :) I've got a couple other one shots that I'm working on editing besides, but I can't guarantee when they're going to be up, since I've got other projects to work on, too.

So I'll see you guys next time I post something here!