The Adventure Begins
"Pooch pooch!" A young Poochyena excitedly barked out as he chased his friend around the clearing.
"Pooch!" The other Poochyena flashed her friend a playful expression before picking up speed.
"Arooo!" A pair of Mightyena watched the two Poochyena run about and warned them not to go too far, their eyes focused upon the male Poochyena in particular.
"Pooch!" Poochyena barked back at his parents, telling them not to worry about him. The two Mightyena smiled and lightly shook their heads as Poochyena disappeared around the corner before suddenly jerking their heads towards the other direction as bushes began to rustle.
"Arooo!" Mightyena howled while requesting that whoever was hiding showed themselves to him.
"Arrooo!" A purple and black blur shot from the bush before coming to a screeching halt in front of the pack leader, the other Mightyena were all quick to utter out horrified gasps as a Mightyena with a rather unusual color pattern stood in front of them while snarling out in an aggressive fashion. It's black pelt was a darker shade than most Mightyena and while most Mightyena had grey fur, this one had dark purple colored fur while it's eyes glowed a rather sinister shade of red.
"Aroooo!" The Shadow Mightyena snarled, ordering the other Mightyena to stay back upon them attempting to approach. The other Mightyena flattened their ears but didn't break away as they feared the unusual colored Mightyena was after the Poochyena.
The alpha Mightyena similarly uttered a growl of annoyance as he pushed through the crowd. "Arooo!" He snarled out at the Shadow Mightyena, questioning what it was that the strange Pokemon wanted from them while also threatening him to stand down.
The Shadow Mightyena merely smirked in response before pouncing at the alpha Mightyena, the two began snarling out as they tussled about while nipping and slashing at the other. The pack silently watched on while fear briefly shined in the eyes of Mightyena's mate.
"Pooch?" Poochyena raced back to his pack upon hearing the commotion, his eyes widened from fear as he saw his father locked in combat with another Mightyena. "Pooch..." He cried out in a worrisome tone.
"Arooo!" Shadow Mightyena snarled out before managing to sink his fangs into the alpha Mightyena's neck, the alpha attempted to break free of his grasp but failed to do so as the Shadow Pokemon sank deeper into him causing the alpha to go limp while the color vanished from his eyes.
"Pooch!" Poochyena howled out, tears flooded from his eyes as rage quickly fueled his body. The pup snarled out before lunging at the Shadow Mightyena, sinking his fangs into the Pokemon's neck but he wasn't strong enough to get a good grip allowing for the Shadow Pokemon to knock him off with ease. "Pooch!" Poochyena yelped as Mightyena knocked him across the clearing.
Shadow Mightyena snarled at Poochyena and gave him a look that suggested he was next only for Poochyena's mother to tackle the Shadow Pokemon to the ground. "Arroo!" She snarled, wanting vengeance for her mate's death along with wanting to pay the Shadow Pokemon back for striking her son. The Shadow Mightyena turned and snarled out, one quick slash with his claw against her neck allowed him to stun her long enough to sink his teeth into her neck. Mightyena yelped and slowly turned her gaze towards her son as he recovered.
"P-Pooch?!" Poochyena teared up as he watched his mother undergoing the same fate that his father had a few moments ago. "Pooch!"
"Aroo..." Mightyena gazed towards her son. "Aroo..." She spent her last breaths telling her son that she loved him and begged him not to get vengeance until he was older, there was no way that Poochyena could take on the Shadow Pokemon right now and she didn't wish for him to join them at such a young age.
"Pooch..." Poochyena hung his head, tears continued flowing from his eyes before he slunk back into the ground and disappeared from view. The Shadow Mightyena didn't seem to care about the pack's true heir to the throne as the Shadow Pokemon leaped to where the two alpha Mightyena once sat before throwing his head back as he howled out, declaring himself the new alpha of the pack!
"Arrroooo!" Most the Mightyena howled out, accepting him out of fear while some Mightyena remained silent alongside the Poochyena pup. They knew there wasn't a point in fighting back, the Shadow Pokemon was just too powerful and had now established himself as the new alpha.
"Littleroot Town, this place honestly reminds me of home." Zach couldn't help but smile upon entering the small Hoenn town. "We don't have a Pokemon Lab as that's the next town over from us but it's just as small as Twinleaf Town!"
"Rio..." Riolu breathed out while taking in the view.
May began trembling as her eyes set upon the Pokemon Lab, a mixture of fear and excitement flowed through her at that moment. In just a few moments she'd be given the choice of picking her first Pokemon, she was already familiar with the species as Zach had given her a brief description of the three in the hopes of finding out which one would be ideal for her but she hadn't come to a decision yet.
Zach turned his gaze back towards May before silently tilting his head with visible concern as he noticed her trembling. "You okay...? If this is too much for you we can go and come back another time."
"No no, I'm fine!" May quickly snapped out of it while flashing him an appreciative look. "It's just difficult deciding on which Pokemon I should choose as my partner."
"Ah, I understand." Zach responded while looking thoughtful as his thoughts drifted towards both the Hoenn and Sinnoh region starter Pokemon. "I'd have a difficult time choosing between Treecko, Mudkip and Torchic, and Chimchar, Turtwig and Piplup. All of them evolve into amazing Pokemon that I'd love to have on my team but since I'll be starting off with Riolu, I'll just have to settle for catching one if we come across any." It wasn't an impossible feat as wild Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip did exist, they were just rare and difficult to find.
"Rio!" Riolu exclaimed while beaming up at his trainer.
"Well which of the starters do you think suits me best?" May questioned with a hint of a light blush.
Zach was silent for a moment as he became lost in thought. He always thought that Piplup suited Dawn but he never gave it much thought when it came to the Hoenn starters and May. "I-I'm not sure, honestly you should make the decision on your own. A trainer's first Pokemon is special, you're meant to be friends for life! I don't think I should be making that decision for you."
May let out a light sigh before nodding in agreement with his words. "This would be so much easier if we could have taken Rockruff with us, I'd snatch her up in a second if I could!"
"I know what you mean but my father's still extracting that 'Totem Pokemon' energy or whatever it was from her." Zach frowned before gesturing towards the lab. "Shall we get going? Perhaps the decision will be easier when you meet the Pokemon in person, it's entirely different from seeing them onscreen. Trust me, I'd know." He recalled the brief moment where he and Turtwig teamed up against the wild Bidoof at Lake Verity.
"Yeah, that'll probably be best." The two made their way towards the Pokemon lab and began knocking on the door, a few minutes passed before Zach tried again while knocking a bit louder however they'd be met with similar results as the door didn't open.
"Maybe he's not home?" May suggested.
"My what a lovely couple!" An elderly lady clasped her hands together. "Are you two looking for Professor Birch?"
"Huh?" Zach glanced behind his back as if he expected to see another boy and girl standing behind them.
May's cheeks shot dark red at the compliment, although it wasn't true she wasn't going to deny it. "Y-Yeah. We're here to get a starter Pokemon, do you happen to know where he is?"
The elderly woman shook her head as she looked towards the ground. "He's out doing field research again, he's rarely in town anymore I'm afraid. Not since... the 'incident' all those years ago."
"The incident? What inc-" Zach went silent as he pieced it together. 'Brendan Birch, Professor Birch... of course.' He always assumed that it was just a coincidence the pair had the same last name, now it appeared as if Professor Birch was the kid's father. "Oh."
The elderly woman slowly nodded while continuing to gaze towards the ground. "Brendan inspired to become a Pokemon researcher like his father and spent years reading through his father's books while lending his assistance to any lab work required. The two spent a lot of time together and were practically inseparable as there weren't any kids Brendan's age while his mother... passed a long time ago." She sighed, it was tragic hearing that she died giving birth to Brendan but Birch never held it against their son and maintained a healthy relationship with him. "Then when it finally came for Brendan Birch's birthday, he chose to take a Treecko and embark on a journey to catch Pokemon in order to further their research but unfortunately he didn't make it very far..."
Somebody began knocking heavily upon the lab's door early in the morning causing Birch to stumble out the door in a sleep drunken state, wearing only a white colored shirt and boxer shorts. "What is it..?" The Professor yawned out while looking towards the Officer Jenny that stood outside his door.
"Sir you're going to want to sit down for this," Birch gave the police officer a questioning look before doing as he was told, pulling up a seat before plopping down into it.
"Well...? What's the news?" He questioned. "Brendan wasn't caught stealing was he? He'd never-"
"I'm afraid that Brendan is dead, we found his body not far from Oldale Town's border."
Professor Birch's eyes widened while his hands clutched at his heart as he began sinking into the chair with a depressed expression before burying his face within his hands as he began mourning for his son. "Brendan..."
"They never did find Brendan's killer until recently." The elderly woman finished before trailing off as she gazed towards the distance. "The International Police report that the Kanto/Johto champion Rex died taking the killer out." Not long after that, Pokemon began learning moves that well exceeded the four move limit that they were constricted to for centuries. Of course trainers were required to follow the old rules, Pokemon were allowed to learn multiple attacks but you could only utilize four attacks per Pokemon for the duration of a Pokemon battle or risk disqualification. "Ever since Professor Birch's refrained from entering his lab as much as he possibly can, making it a tedious effort for new trainers to track him down as he's often doing field research either between here and Oldale Town or within Petalburg Woods."
"Poor guy." Zach frowned. It had been a long eight years since that day but it was hard to get mad at the guy, he lost his only son and was clearly trying to lose himself in his work to escape reality.
"Do you happen to know where we can find him?" May asked.
"Well he was just here this morning, it's possible that he's researching out at route 101." The elderly woman suggested.
"Strange, we should have passed him." Zach looked thoughtful for a moment before recalling there had been a brief moment where he lost sight of the area around him as May screamed at the sight of a Duskull before leaping into his arms. "Or we probably didn't look close enough, Riolu are you sure that he's not in there?"
"Rio..." Riolu's eyes glowed blue as he focused on the aura within the building, finding it completely devoid of life. "Rio." Riolu quickly shook his head, confirming that Birch wasn't there.
"Alright then we'll head out and look for him. Thanks again, lad-" Zach paused as the elderly woman had disappeared.
"Where did she go?" May shot a quick look around while wondering how somebody her age could disappear so quickly.
"Aroooo!" Shadow Mightyena snarled out at the Poochyena while ordering them to get to work at finding food.
"Arooo!" Another Mightyena looked uncomfortable at the idea of sending their pups out to find food for the pack.
"Arooo!" The Shadow Mightyena snarled, stating that the Mightyena were to guard their territory. "Arrrooo!" He didn't want the pack to have dead weight so he ordered the pups to get to work at finding food for the pack, failure to do so would end in banishment.
"Pooch..." The Poochyena's ears flattened as they whimpered out. The alpha's son narrowed his eyes at the Shadow Pokemon, vowing to take him down as soon as they had the chance to do so!
The Poochyena soon scampered off, however due to being little more than pups they didn't exactly know how to find food the natural way so they were easily drawn in by the delicious aroma of meat! "Pooch!" The Poochyena licked their chops and raced towards the delicious aroma before coming across Professor Birch who sat alongside the dirt road while eating a sandwich that he'd prepared prior to leaving his lab.
"Mmm..." Professor Birch closed his eyes while uttering out a pleasured grunt, unaware that Poochyena were closing in on him. His satchel sat propped up against a tree quite some distance from him and well out of reach as it sat beyond the Poochyena.
"Pooch!" A Poochyena leaped up and snapped at the sandwich, yanking it right out of Birch's hands causing him to bite his own fingers as a result!
"Yow!" Birch screamed out while frantically waving his hand about before pausing in place, his face quickly turned pale upon realizing that a horde of Poochyena had him surrounded. The Poochyena snarled out while looking towards the Poochyena that had stolen the sandwich, during his haste Birch had unintentionally smacked the Poochyena as he didn't know it was there! "D-Did I do that...?" Birch sweated while raising his hands above his hand to show that he meant no harm. "Now look this is clearly a big misunderstanding, you're all hungry so why don't you all back down and I'll come back with some food for all of yo-"
"Poooch..." The alpha's son flattened his ears as he looked towards his pack, it sounded like a good deal to him so he was quick to suggest that they accept Professor Birch's offer.
"Pooch!" A Poochyena snapped at him. "That guy hurt our fellow pack member, you really just going to let that stand."
"It was an accident!"
"We'll never beat that purple Mightyena with that attitude!" Poochyena scoffed before lunging towards the Professor, the other Poochyena quickly joined in while the alpha's son and the pup's friend hung back for a moment before joining in.
"Ah, help me!"
Riolu's eyes widened upon hearing the cries for help, the jackal pup quickly turned towards Zach and May before hastily motioning towards the distance. "Rio!"
"I heard that too, let's go. Somebody needs our help!"
"Rio!"
Zach and Riolu quickly raced ahead while May followed close behind, the three then came to a halt upon noticing Professor Birch surrounded by a horde of Poochyena.
"There has to be at least twenty of them there..." Zach clenched his fists before nodding towards Riolu. "Alright Riolu looks like we're getting in our first battle sooner than expected, use Quick Attack!"
"Riooo!" A white blur surrounded Riolu as he whisked across the field before throwing himself at one of the Poochyena, knocking them onto their side. The Poochyena yelped as he hit the ground, the Poochyena that surrounded him quickly turned before tackling Riolu to the ground causing the jackal pup to cry out.
"Riolu!" Zach cried out in concern for his Pokemon and close friend.
"Huh? Oh hey!" Professor Birch took notice of Zach and May and began hastily waving his arms to get their attention before pointing towards the nearby tree. "I seem to have found myself in quite the predicament and am in need of your assistance, that bag over there contains my recent batch of starter Pokemon but I just can't reach it. Would you mind opening the bag and let them out? They're trained to obey whomever holds their Pokeball so have them fire an attack once you release them!"
"On it," Zach was quick to act as Riolu was being overrun by the Poochyena. He quickly opened the bag and retrieved the Pokeballs and tossed two towards May before tossing the other one forward. "Go whoever you are!"
"Treecko!" The green gecko gazed calmly towards the Poochyena while awaiting his trainer's command.
"Use Leafage!"
"Treecko!" Treecko raised his arms above his head as several green leaves flew from his body and spiraled around his body before flinging themselves towards the Poochyena, striking the ones atop Riolu and forcing them off the jackal.
"Rio!" Riolu hopped back to his feet and gave Treecko a nod of respect before thrusting his palm against a nearby Poochyena, knocking the canine pup out.
The other Poochyena snarled and turned their attention towards Riolu and Treecko while May stumbled about with the Pokeballs she was given.
"Um, come out whoever you are!"
"Torchic!"
"Mudkip!" The two Hoenn starters cried out, Torchic looked raring to go while Mudkip stared off with a blank expression.
"Use-" May sweated as she realized she didn't know what moves the Pokemon had. "Um, Zach? What sort of attacks do Torchic and Mudkip have?"
"Torchic should know Scratch and Ember while Mudkip should have Tackle and Water Gun!" Zach swiftly responded.
"Alright, Mudkip use Water Gun!"
"Kip!" Mudkip turned around before promptly blasting May's with a stream of water causing her to form a sour expression.
"Torchic use Ember!"
"Torchic!" Torchic excitedly fired off several fire pellets towards her opponents causing the Poochyena to yelp out, a few of the Poochyena turned and shot towards Torchic before lunging at her while others ran towards Mudkip. The two starters cried out as the Poochyena bit them, Mudkip swiftly retaliated with Water Gun while Torchic fired off an Ember attack but they only managed to knock back one at a time which soon resulted in them falling to the Poochyena.
Treecko found himself in a similar position, the gecko fired his leaves at another Poochyena and managed to take him out but the others quickly overwhelmed him. "Ko..." Swirls formed within Treecko's eyes while Riolu continued fighting, taking down two Poochyena with his palms while sweat poured down his forehead as he found himself tiring out.
"Rio..."
"Pooch!"
"Pooch!" The Poochyena horde snarled as the remaining twelve slowly approached Riolu, the jackal pup took a combat stance before promptly dropping to a knee as exhaustion struck.
"Rio..."
"Riolu!" Zach reached for the Luxury Ball that sat on his belt before freezing up as he recalled Riolu's claustrophobia. He took a deep breath before leaping across the field, shielding his partner Pokemon from the Poochyena.
"Pooch!" The alpha's son came to a screeching halt and watched as the other Poochyena lunged at Zach, sinking their teeth into his arms and legs causing him to grunt out.
"Zach!" May fearfully screamed out.
"Rio!" Riolu gasped out upon seeing his trainer throw himself into harm's way like that, all these years later and they were still looking out for each other. Riolu took a deep breath before swatting the Poochyena off his trainer.
"Poooch!" The Poochyena cried out as they flew off him, the group quickly shook themselves off before turning their attention back towards Riolu as the jackal limped around his trainer before performing another combat stance.
"Rio!" The bruised jackal cried out.
"Riolu don't, you'll get yourself killed!" Zach anxiously exclaimed.
"Rio!" Riolu gazed back towards his trainer and gave him a look that seemed to say 'Trust me'. The jackal pup then closed his eyes as he meditated, his eyes shot open to reveal a bright blue glow as he began clasping his paws together. "Rioooo!" Riolu cried out as a large pulse of aura formed between his paws.
"Whoa, is that Aura Sphere?!" Zach gasped.
"RIOOOO!" The aura sphere flew across the clearing and battered against the Poochyena horde, knocking the vast majority into the sky as they were sent blasting off!
"Poooch!" The Poochyena howled as they disappeared over the horizon.
"Whoa..." Zach and May breathed out while Riolu stared down at his paws, seeming to be shocked that even worked!
"Don't celebrate just yet, one's still here." Birch spoke up, pointing out a lone Poochyena that stood back to it's feet. The other defeated Poochyena turned tail and ran for the hills but this one remained, his eyes locked directly onto Riolu.
"Pooch..." Poochyena had never seen such power before, perhaps if he went with this trainer he'd be able to get strong enough to take down Shadow Mightyena! Poochyena took a step forward and flashed Riolu a challenging smirk. Riolu swiftly got into a combat stance and raised his paw before motioning for Poochyena to approach. Poochyena charged forward but Riolu quickly stepped aside before thrusting his palm against Poochyena, knocking the wild Pokemon out cold! "Poooch..." Poochyena's tongue lolled out while swirls formed within his eyes.
"Way to go Riolu!" Zach cheered for his partner Pokemon. He quickly reached into his bag and retrieved a Nest Ball before hurling it towards the downed Poochyena, the ball opened up as it made it's approach before sucking Poochyena in as a bright red light surrounded the pup's body. The ball landed against the ground and began shaking back and forth before eventually chiming out to mark the capture a success!
"Poochyena the Bite Pokemon, a Pokemon with a persistent nature, it chases its chosen prey until the prey becomes exhausted." The Rotom Phone read out as Poochyena was registered into it.
"Alright, looks like we just caught our first Pokemon!" Zach cheered.
"Rio!"
May smiled at the pair before turning her attention to Professor Birch as the man got back to his feet, she returned Torchic and Mudkip to their Pokeballs before offering them back to Birch. "Here Professor, you should take these back."
Zach similarly offered Treecko back to the Professor before placing Poochyena's ball next to Riolu's on his belt.
Professor Birch looked the pair over before offering a light smile. "I've never seen you around here before, I'm guessing you came to get a starter Pokemon?"
"We're here to get one for her actually." Zach corrected him. "Did you come to a decision, May?"
May was silent for a moment as she reflected over the Pokemon's performances. Treecko obeyed Zach without issue but she had a hard time picturing herself with it, it seemed like a Pokemon fit for trainers like Zach who focused on Pokemon battles. Mudkip was cute but him blasting her with Water Gun upset her. Torchic was cute, listened to her and seemed like a fun and energetic Pokemon to have around.
"I think that I'd like Torchic as my starter Pokemon." May smiled.
Birch smirked lightly before handing the ball back to her. "Why don't you ask her then?"
May took hold of the ball before opening it up, allowing Torchic to burst back onto the grassy field. Torchic tilted her head as she gazed up towards May with a curious expression. "Tor?"
"Torchic, how would you feel about becoming my Pokemon?" May questioned while dropping onto her knees in order to make herself level with the Fire type.
"Torchic!" The fire chicken eagerly exclaimed with a quick nod, delightfully accepting May's offer before nuzzling against her legs!
"Torchic's an excellent choice, they can become quite the powerful Pokemon under the right hands!" Zach exclaimed.
May flashed him a smile before staring off with a thoughtful expression. Now that she had a Pokemon of her own it was probably time she start thinking up a goal for herself, sure she may have a goal standing right next to her but she wanted more than that. She wanted to prove herself a capable trainer but she'd watched more than enough Pokemon battles with Zach to know that it wasn't the right path for her, maybe she should try out one of those Pokemon Contests that Dawn always talked about, those sounded fun!
"Hey Professor, I know you're pretty busy with field work nowadays but if I were to catch a seventh Pokemon would you be able to look after them?" Zach was sure to ask before they went on their way. Their Rotom Phones already had the Pokedex app installed and both Norman and Ezekiel had given them plenty of Pokeballs to use on their adventure, there wasn't reason to stick around longer than they had to.
Birch went silent as he stared off into the distance for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "I-I don't think that would be a good idea, sorry. I don't wish to unintentionally neglect your Pokemon." Birch was getting better about it but he still refrained from being inside his lab for extended periods of time as it reminded him too much of his son, besides he'd grown rather fond of field research.
"Don't worry about it, I understand." Zach waved it off with a light smile. Though inwardly he began growing anxious, hoping that he'd be able to find an alternate means of storing his Pokemon soon.
Poochyena's friend watched Zach and May take their leave, silently wishing her friend good luck on his quest before scampering off.
"Poooch!" The Poochyena howled out as Riolu's Aura Sphere blasted them into the sky.
"Heh, that was quite an Aura Sphere attack..." The old lady delightfully cackled out as she watched them fly past while sitting atop a massive tree. "I'll be watching your career with great interest."