Hi everyone and welcome to chapter twenty of this fanfic. This chapter will be Brendan focused along with a pokemon I mentioned in the last chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 20- A New Friend

"That stupid pokemon you gave me didn't listen to me at all!" A blond-haired boy wearing a blue expensive suit yelled at Brendan and Joshua. The pokeball in his hand was thrown at the two and Brendan was barely able to catch it.

"I'm deeply sorry about the inconvenience with the pokemon, you're free to pick another one if you want." Joshua gestured, trying to keep his tone calm even though on the inside he wanted to kick a certain rich boy in the butt for the past half hour.

"Humph! Knowing you people I bet the other Pokemon you have are just the same so save your breath!" He yelled. He proceeded to exit the lab and slam the door on the way out.

Brendan, who had been quiet the entire time, was glaring daggers at the door while holding the pokeball that was thrown. After a long sigh he released the pokemon inside revealing a green wood gecko. The pokemon looked around for a second as he was surrounded by the familiar atmosphere. He crossed his arms and looked away from Brendan and sulkily said "treecko ko."

Brendan sighed again looking over to Joshua who just shrugged. After a moment Brendan sighed. "Treecko that's the third one this month, you can't just keep disobeying the trainers that want to adopt you."

"Treecko ko!" the pokemon yelled as he turned around to face the boy and pointed a finger at him. From there he began saying a lot of verses that the boy couldn't understand so he looked on as if he understood.

"You know Treecko, I can't understand what you're saying. I wish I could though," Brendan replied which caused the pokemon to turn back around and cross his arms.

"Why don't you take the pokemon to get some exercise Brendan. There aren't any more trainers coming in today so it should be alright?" Joshua said as he checked his clipboard.

"I guess you're right," he sighed. "Maybe a bit of exercise will help Treecko calm down a bit and I can get a bit of work done."

Joshua nodded before going back to sit on his desk, typing up some of the data he had gathered from his fieldwork. After Brendan, Joshua was the professor's most reliable assistant and he yearned to learn anything he could from him as his dream was to become Hoenn's regional professor when he got older.

Both Brendan and Joshua were on great terms as they tended to work together especially when it came to the raising of the starter pokemon. Although there were those times when Joshua really liked to embarrass the younger boy, in which he would receive a book to the face. As everyone suspected Brendan's book tosses were a lot more painful once he had grown more.

Many of the books in the lab had been changed from hardcovers to paperbacks for this reason, but it didn't change the fact that it still hurt being at the end of his tosses.

Brendan grabbed two pokeballs that were sitting on a small white table. From there he returned Treecko to his pokeball and called for his two pokemon to come along as well. Skipper and Drake had been wondering around the lab making a bit of trouble for the other scientists.

"I'll see ya later then Joshua," Brendan said as he was heading out the door. The sound of a bark stopped the boy as he turned to his left to see a black dog who was looking at him with pleading eyes.

"You wanna come too Toto?" Brendan asked as he crouched down to pat the pokemon on the head. A loud bark and a nod from the pokemon made the boy say, "well come on then."

Although he had caught the pokemon over a year ago, his father was the one who took care of raising it while Brendan handled his own pokemon and the lab's pokemon. Unfortunately for the pokemon, the professor had been spending more and more time in the lab and was unable to give the pokemon the attention he wanted. When the opportunity showed itself, the dark type was more than ecstatic about joining Brendan on his fieldwork.

Brendan walked out into the town's streets to be greeted by the warm September air. May's thirteenth birthday had just been held and this year the boy had given her a necklace after his mother had suggested it.

Ever since the day of the Harvest Festival, the boy had become rather awkward around the girl. He accepted in his mind that it was best for them to stay at friends, but a gnawing feeling in his stomach sharply reminded him that he wanted May to be more than just a friend. He ignored the feeling knowing that their relationship could be destroyed if he confessed and she didn't feel the same.

There was also the fact that the Maple family would soon be moving to Petalburg City. He wasn't told many details about the move, but May had just said that it would be a lot more convenient for their family. Due to the move, the two would not be able to see each other as much and he was kind of happy about it. He wasn't happy that she was moving away, but he was happy that he wouldn't have more chances to make himself seem like a fool in front of her.

As he was stuck in train of thought, the boy failed to notice that a certain water type was about to water gun in the face. The water type seemed to be trying to help the boy with his confidence since that day, but it wasn't very effective.

He suddenly felt a sudden jet of water struck him in the face as he waved his hands in front of him in surprise. He wiped the water out of his face and yelled, "Skipper what was that for? I'm not May!".

"Mud Mud Kip," the water type responded as he made his way to the usual creek. Brendan sighed again and followed behind reaching the spot in a couple of minutes.

To his immense surprise, there weren't any pokemon at the creek so maybe he wouldn't be getting as much research done as he had expected. He then reached out for three pokeballs on his belt and said, "Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip come on out."

In front of him popped out the same Treecko from earlier but this time he was met with a small orange chick with small wings and another Mudkip.

Skipper was quick to greet the other water type as the two greeted each other by slapping their tails. From there the two went into the creek where they began having a splash war. Torchic meanwhile had settled by sitting on a nearby rock making sure not to take a step on the water. Treecko on the other hand had already climbed a tree and rested on one of the branches with both of his hands behind his back.

Drake who had been quiet for the majority of the trip let out a soft growl and ran towards the creek to play with the Mudkips. Toto merely settled for sitting next to the boy as he sat down on the grassy undergrowth and took out his clipboard to make observations of the pokemon.

"Guess you really miss being out in open huh," Brendan joked as he patted the dark type on the head earning delightful coos.

He then looked back at Treecko who was enjoying himself up on the tree. Treecko wasn't a bad pokemon, he just wasn't very good at following orders given by other trainers.

Brendan was checking on the incubator temperature to make sure that each egg was at an optimal temperature. On a large white table laid three eggs inside of their glass containers.

The container on the left contained a light green egg with multiple large dark orange spots dotting the surface. The egg in the middle was a light orange color with a yellow feather symbol at the bottom. The egg on the far right was one that the boy was very familiar with. The egg had a light blue coloring and was dotted with large orange spots across the surface.

"Let's see," Brendan said as he was checking the temperatures. "Yep that's about right," he continued as he inspected the following egg. Suddenly a bright flash of white light interrupted him as he looked at the egg at the far left. Brendan was quick to remove the glass casing so the baby pokemon could get room to stretch out.

After another short moment the light died down revealing the shape of green wood gecko who was crawled up into a ball. He opened his and took in his surroundings before stretching out his legs and arms. The first thing he caught sight of was of the boy who was looking at him. The pokemon was afraid at first but calmed down once the boy spoke.

"Hi Treecko, my name is Brendan. Nice to meet you!" He said with a grin and held his hand out for the pokemon to shake.

The pokemon stared at his hand for a second before his own smaller hand reached out and they gently shook.

"Great Treecko. I'll be acting as your temporary trainer until a trainer comes in to adopt you," Brendan continued. The pokemon seemed shocked at the boy's words as he gave him a skeptical look, but Brendan hadn't noticed as he was already grabbing the new pokemon something to eat.

Soon after Torchic and Mudkip hatched and Treecko was able to make friends with them. He had already became friends with Brendan's pokemon so he got along pretty well with them.

Brendan had taken them all out of the town to see what they could do. All three starter pokemon proved themselves to be cooperative as Brendan spoke his orders. Soon they would be ready to be adopted he thought and they would make incredible partners.

He remembered the day when his school friend Tom had come into the lab to pick his starter. The new trainer was dressed in his trainer's outfit and looked enthusiastic about beginning his journey. Brendan had let the three starter pokemon out so Tom could take his pick.

After a moment of contemplating Tom decided to go with Treecko and the wood gecko responded by jumping up and smacking the boy in the face.

"I'm really sorry about that Tom, Treecko doesn't usually act like that," Brendan said as he was taking care of Tom's wound.

"Nah don't worry about it Brendan, I'm sure the two of us will get along just fine. He probably just needs some time to get to know me is all."

"Great, there all taken care of," Brendan said as he put away the first aid kit.

"By the way Brendan when will you begin your journey?" Tom asked as he clipped Treecko's pokeball on his belt.

"Eh, soon I would say. I'm mainly staying behind for now to make sure that Dad doesn't get himself killed," Brendan joked.

"Hah hah for a pokemon professor, does your dad not get well with pokemon?" Tom asked.

"Well sort of. You see that Poochyena over?" Brendan said pointing towards Toto who was laying down on his doggie bed.

Tom nodded once he caught sight of it.

"You see that Poochyena actually bit Dad in the backside and I had to fend him off. From there he seemed to have taken a liking to him," Brendan said with laughter in his voice.

"Wait seriously dude? That's hilarious" Tom said right before he began laughing.

"Yep so I'm just staying behind for a bit longer to make sure he doesn't get killed."

Tom got up from his chair and said, "well it's been great seeing you man, let's meet up when you start your journey ok?". He held his hand out for a high five and Brendan reprociated the action.

"Definitely and good luck," he said as he saw the boy leaving the lab.

About a week later Tom had returned saying that Treecko wouldn't listen to anything he said and would often hit him whenever he commanded the pokemon do use a move. Brendan had apologized and offered the boy another pokemon which he gladly took.

A couple more trainers came back in after they had chosen Treecko complaining about the same actions. Brendan and Joshua found themselves raising a lot more Torchic and Mudkip than expected as the two were given out to trainers who returned the grass type.

Brendan would often later lecture Treecko about proper behavior, but the grass type would turn around and cross his arms avoiding eye contact with the boy.

Brendan's flashback was interrupted as he felt a sudden cold splash across his face. He looked to see that the two mudkip were having a large splashing war that was throwing water all around the area. Torchic had moved away from atop the rock as he was now hiding behind it. Toto had joined in on the fun as he was jumping around in the creek. Treecko looked on from his tree with disinterest.

Skipper had made his way out of the water and was now beginning to nudge Brendan into the creek.

"You want me to join in?" Brendan asked which earned loud nods from the pokemon inside the water.

"Alright," he said as he took off his shoes and lab coat then jumped into the cool water.

What happened to be a large splash war became even bigger as Brendan had begun splashing all the pokemon minus Treecko and Torchic.

Treecko had begun to turn his face to see the action but quickly turned back when he saw the boy looking at him.

"Wanna join in Treecko?" Brendan asked. He waved at the grass type who ignored him for a minute before he climbed down and ran at full speed towards the creek. From there the grass type tackled the boy sending him deep into the water until he resurfaced a second later.

"Hah hah, you're just a playful little one aren't you?" Brendan said giving the grass type a couple of head scratches.

As time went on, the amount of splashes decreased between the boy and the pokemon. Brendan walked back onto the grassy terrain as he was soaking wet. He pulled a a towel out of his bag and began to dry himself the best he could. He didn't bother changing clothes as he would be heading home soon anyway.

He then returned his exhausted Mudkip, along with his exhausted Bagon. Torchic was the least tired as he hadn't gotten in on the action while Treecko, Toto, and Mudkip all looked like they were about to pass out from exhaustion.

He returned them all to their pokeballs except for Treecko who didn't seem to want to return to his ball.

"So Treecko are you gonna tell me what's been bothering you so much and why you behave so badly with other people?" Brendan asked as he sat down on the ground. Treecko was soon to follow.

Treecko then began talking while making hand gestures trying to get his point across to the boy. Brendan could only nod as if trying to understand what the pokemon was saying while in reality he had no idea, so he decided to mess with him by talking about a topic that for some reason always created conflict among a certain group of people.

"So what you're getting at is that all the other trainers that came in disagreed on who's best girl." Brendan his hand on his chin. "That best girl debate can sure cause conflict don't you think?"

The grass type raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"I'm just kidding Treecko," he said. "Well it would help if you would just give me a sign since I can't really understand you."

The grass type jumped on the boy's head and made his way to his belt where he unhooked his pokeball. He held it in front of his face then pointed at it and then at Brendan multiple times.

"Wait, so you want me to be your trainer?" Brendan asked which earned a frantic nod from the grass type.

"Are you sure though? I mean, I probably won't be leaving for another couple months so you won't get to travel like if you let another trainer adopt you," Brendan warned.

Treecko shook his head at his comment and kept pointing at the ball and at the boy. He seemed to be dead set in his decision for a trainer. After all the boy had raised him from an egg and he wanted to stand and learn by his side.

"Alright if you're so sure then, then I'll gladly become your trainer."

He took the pokeball from the grass type's hands and clipped it back onto his belt.

"Now to think of a name for you," he said as he put his hand on his chin in mock thought.

"What do you think of Barley?" He asked.

The grass type shook his head in disapproval.

"Willow?"

Another shake.

"Alder?"

Another shake.

"Aster?"

Yet another shake.

"Sun?"

The grass type stopped for a moment before shaking his head again.

"Then what do you think of Zen?" Brendan asked as he was almost out quick ideas for a name.

The grass type looked at him for a moment before he nodded giving his approval for the name.

"Great from now you'll be known as Zen. Welcome to the team Zen!" Brendan exclaimed as he stretched his hand out for the grass type to shake which he quickly accepted.

Brendan walked back to town with Zen laying down on his head. He could already imagine the arguments that would ensue between the treecko and mudkip over who gets the spot.

He entered the lab where he was greeted by a couple of scientists and Joshua who was standing at the back of the room.

"Brendan you didn't skip out on training with the pokemon and had a field day instead?" he teased when he noticed the boy's wet clothing.

"Yeah yeah Joshua, I didn't get any work done," he said rolling his eyes as he placed the two pokeballs on the table. He then let Toto out letting him stretch out in the lab before going to his puppy bed.

"Brendan where's Treecko's ball?" Joshua asked once he had noticed that one ball was missing and the grass type was sleeping on the boy's head.

"Well Joshua let's just say that I found the problem that had been causing Treecko to act all up," he paused for a moment as he cleared his throat. "Well apparently Treecko seemed to be acting up with other trainers so he would get returned to lab," he began.

"But why would he do that?" Joshua asked still eyeing the pokemon on the boy's head.

"Well apparently he did it so that I could become his trainer. I officially added him to my team and named him Zen," he said with a bright smile on his face.

"Well that can certainly explain as to why he was acting up. Congrats Brendan looks like you have a new strong member for your party."

"Thanks Joshua," he responded. He looked over the area for a minute feeling his body getting weaker from exhaustion. He then said, "I'm going home then, I'll see ya later then." He began to make his way out the lab.

"See ya then," Joshua called out as Brendan's figure exited the lab.

Later that night Brendan had introduced his mother to Zen and she was more than excited to meet him. Despite various protests from the pokemon, Lisa caught the pokemon in a tight hug before she served dinner for her family.

Professor Birch was more than ecstatic that not only had his son gained a new partner, but he had also solved the Treecko problem that had been plaguing the lab for the past couple of weeks.

Brendan soon made his way upstairs to his room where he quickly changed clothes and released his three pokemon after feeding them so they could catch some shut eye.

The following day, Brendan had introduced Zen to May and for once May was relieved that at least one of the boy's pokemon was not out to get her.

The same couldn't be said for a mudfish though.

AN: I know Brendan has shiftry in the anime, but I'm honestly not the biggest fan of shiftry due to some childhood trauma involving that pokemon. As for the decision for treecko... well Brendan has sceptile in Generations and sceptile is a cool pokemon so why not?

As always their ages: Brendan- 13, May-13

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next update.