AUTHOR'S NOTES BEFORE READING:

This story is a follow-up/loose sequel to one of my other stories, Ascending Alola. I'm writing this story in a way that you won't need to have read AA to understand this one, but if you do have the time, I recommend reading it! It's one of my favorite projects, and it took me a long time to finish. I don't know if it's a technical masterpiece, but I really love the main characters.

A NOTE ON POKEMON CAPITALIZATION:

I don't want to be a part of the small war that's happening in the community. I've decided to capitalize the way that I want to. I own countless official Pokémon storybooks that I read to kids, and they capitalize Pokémon names and certain establishments, i.e. Pokémon Centers. I don't care if you do or don't. I don't care if it's wrong or right. Don't waste your time reviewing that aspect of my story. However, feel free to review my comma usage, any improper punctuation, and areas that could make do with more description, as I want to become a better writer and am always open to genuine constructive criticism. Debating over something as arbitrary as whether or not to capitalize Jigglypuff isn't gonna do that. Thank you!

Unova United

Track 1 - One Summer's Day

"Go! Go! Go!" a boy with light red hair yelled at the television. He lay on his stomach with his face dangerously close to the screen. He watched a conference battle that he had already seen a dozen times over the summer. He had studied and remembered every detail about the battle, but it still excited him to watch it; every time felt like the first.

"Would you calm down?" a woman with long blonde hair said softly. She had dark circles around her eyes from exhaustion. Although it was nighttime, she held a freshly brewed black coffee in her hands. She was just waking up to get ready to go to work. "It's too late to be making so much noise."

"Sorry, mom. I just can't believe that he actually did it! Making Unova proud!" the boy exclaimed excitedly.

His mother's eyes were deadpan, but she managed to crack a smile. "It's about to be your turn."

"Yeah!" the boy exclaimed while he stood up. He wore blue pajamas with a plaid design. He imagined himself on the battlefield while he held out his hand. He could see a Poké Ball. In less than twelve hours, the ball would be real. He wouldn't have to imagine. However, he was unsure about how far away he was from battling on a real battlefield.

The battle finished and highlights of other conference winners quickly flashed on the screen. He was well-studied. He knew all of their names, their Pokémon, and where they were from. He wanted to know what it took to be a champion.

"I'm just so excited for tomorrow. I'm gonna start my adventure, win eight badges, and then take on the league! It's that easy!" He had a self-aware tone to his voice, but his words were genuine. There was precedent for trainers to win in their first year, and he believed he could do it.

The boy's mother laughed. "You're really confident, aren't ya?"

"If he could do it, then I can, ya know?"

"He didn't win in his first year. Nonetheless, Aurea was telling me that you scored highest on all of the battling technique exams she gave you and your friends. So, who knows? Maybe you can do it?"

The boy flexed his very thin arm. "Oh yeah?"

"But then she mentioned that you failed at everything else. I guess it's true that you can't teach common sense."

He stopped flexing. "Oh-oh yeah?"

She gave her son a hug. "It doesn't matter, Braedon. You're a smart kid, and you'll do well. Now, I have to go to work. Are you going to bed, or what?"

Braedon pulled away from his mom and then looked at the door. He slinked to the coat rack and then slowly pulled on his hoodie. He eyed his mom the entire time, seeking approval.

"Go ahead, but don't be out too late. You have a big day tomorrow," she said before taking more small sips of her coffee.

He quickly put on his black hoodie that had been used so much that its seams were starting to rip. "I'm gonna go for a walk! Don't work too hard!"

"I always do," his mom responded.

With that, he was out the door. He started to run down the road, quickly passing all of the neighboring houses. Aspertia City was a quiet town on the western side of Unova. It was buried within a thick forest, making it well out of reach for the regular tourist. But it was Braedon's home. He could walk from one end of the town to the next within thirty minutes, which is something that he would often do.

He passed by the Pokémon Center, taking one last look at how its bright red lights lit up the small city at night. He passed by the gym, knowing that he would be challenging it within the next few days to test if he was really worthy of going on his adventure. He passed by the market which was starting to close down. He passed by the sports facility where the elderly did dance classes to stay fit. He passed by his best friend's house and thought about how they'd be receiving their new Pokémon together the next day. He passed by his other classmate's house and was relieved that they didn't see each other. And then, he arrived at his destination.

Braedon sat down at the small pond to the north of Aspertia City. He pulled off his shoes and his socks, and then he stuck his feet into the water, the coldness of the pond sending shivers up his spine. He sat down and looked across the pond as the reflection of the sun turned it orange. He knew that this would be one of the last times he could see this view in a while.

"I really found you here," a voice called from behind. Braedon cocked his head to find a girl the same age, standing behind him. She had tan skin and dark brown braided hair. She wore light blue jeans and a green t-shirt under a black jacket. "I didn't think you'd be so sentimental."

Braedon grinned from ear to ear. "Care to come and join me?"

The girl shrugged before smiling to herself. She then pulled off her shoes and socks and joined Braedon in dipping her feet into the cold pond.

"You saying goodbye to everything too?" she asked.

Braedon sighed before slowly nodding. "I'm gonna miss Aspertia. I'll be honest, I ain't a city boy."

"Braedon ain't a city boy?"

"Braedon ain't a city boy!"

The two laughed. It was a joke that was only funny to them.

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Is Mari a city girl?"

Mariella shrugged. "Eh. I can do whatever. We won't even be traveling through that many cities though. All of it will feel like the countryside, right?"

Braedon didn't really know. Unova wasn't a particularly large region. Instead, it started as one gigantic centralized metropolis that worked its way out into dozens of suburbs. These suburbs eventually got their own names and became developed enough to be declared cities. Aspertia City barely made the cut.

Everything was connected by subways and trains, making travel through the region relatively easy. But most Pokémon trainers avoided using the trains unless they were in a rush. Braedon had been on the train dozens of times, and the view from the window always appeared to be forested routes full of Pokémon.

The light of the sun had started to completely fade away, and soon, the pond, the forest, and the sky were all dark.

"Have you put any thought into the Pokémon that you want tomorrow?" Braedon asked.

They were gonna be offered three Pokémon that were nearly impossible to find but still incredibly common in Unova. Every kid read and studied the three Pokémon for months before they would get their Pokémon license. Most would make their choice based on appearances or typing. Braedon still wasn't sure how he should make his choice. He knew that Mariella was much more calculated than he was, and so her decision would affect his.

"If I can, I want a Snivy. I think I'm allowed to select first," Mariella said.

"Ladies first, so yeah."

"And, how about you?"

"Oshawott!" Braedon declared. He knelt over and looked at the tiny Pokémon with the large white head. The two smiled at one another before Braedon lightly scratched him behind the ears. "I'd like to choose Oshawott!"

A boy with nicely combed blonde hair and a grey turtleneck with a large red Poké Ball design on his chest clicked his tongue. "So, that leaves me with Tepig, I guess."

A teenage female with poofy blonde hair smiled as she closed the case that once held the Poké Balls in them. "Then I guess that's settled. Mariella with Snivy, Braedon with Oshawott, and Asa gets Tepig."

Braedon held his new Poké Ball in his hand before returning Oshawott, letting the red light absorb the small Water-type. It jiggled slightly and he looked directly at the button, feeling the energy that the ball had exuded. He smiled wide. Finally, after years of waiting, Braedon received his very own Pokémon. This was something that most kids dreamed about, and Braedon had something to prove. Within only a few more minutes, he'd be on his very own journey.

The girl with poofy blonde hair tucked the case into her bag and smiled. "Well, I'll be off. I have a few more trainers to meet here, and then I have to head to Floccesy Town to hand out more of Juniper's Pokémon."

Braedon gave a shifty-eyed look to Mariella and then stepped forward. "Um, isn't there something else that we're supposed to get today?"

The girl with poofy blonde hair stopped. Her eyes widened and she began to panic. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I forgot! Your Pokédex! I have three just for you!" She dropped her bag to the ground and began to fumble before pulling out three Pokédex. The three were allowed to preorder which color they wanted a couple of months in advance. Braedon received a white one, Mariella got one that was green, and Asa went for a red one.

The girl with poofy blonde hair handed out the three Pokédex, and she appeared as though she was too embarrassed to continue talking. She quickly turned around and started to walk down the stone steps. "The three of you take care! Don't get into too much trouble!"

The three nodded before exchanging looks with one another. They were known to argue and get into trouble at school, but they were all silent while they waited for the teenager to leave the observatory deck.

"How about a battle?" Asa suggested as soon as the girl's poofy hair was out of sight. He lightly petted Tepig on the head.

Braedon opened his mouth to answer, but Asa quickly interrupted him.

"My Tepig versus your Snivy."

"Oh, he wasn't talking to me," Braedon thought.

Mariella glanced over to Snivy and nodded. "I think we can take the heat. You up for a challenge, Snivy?"

"Sni-vy," the Pokémon quietly hissed.

Asa and his newly acquired Tepig ran to the other side of the small observatory deck. The sun had now risen, giving light to the entirety of Aspertia City.

"Yo, Brae, you mind playing referee?" Asa asked.

"Playing referee?" Braedon wondered. He realized that he had a grimace on his face, and he quickly snapped himself out of his trance. "Yeah, that's cool." He walked off to the center of the field and held up his hands, waiting for both trainers to give him the signal that they were ready.

"Begin!"

"Tepig, use Tackle!" Asa commanded.

"Snivy, wait for him to get close and then use Leer!" Mariella shouted.

Tepig snorted, and small embers exploded from his snout. He squealed and then started a headlong dash down the small field. Snivy stood still. He held out his arms, and once Tepig was close enough, his eyes started to glow red. Tepig continued his charge, slamming his body into Snivy, but a small red aura emitted off of his body.

"Tackle!" Mariella ordered.

Snivy quickly recovered and then stood up. He slunk forward and then rammed his head into Tepig. The Fire-type was slightly heavier though, and he was only pushed a few inches in the other direction.

Asa snapped his fingers and then made a gun with his forefinger and thumb. "One more Tackle! Give it all you got!"

Tepig adjusted his body so that he pointed straight at Snivy. Then, with one quick lunge, he drove his body into his opponent once again. This time, Snivy was lifted off of the ground and came down without any sense of grace.

Braedon's eyes widened, and he prepared to call the battle, but before he could make any sort of judgment, Snivy began to stir. He came back to his feet, hissed, and released two thin vines from the natural collar of leaves around his neck. He whipped them against the ground, causing a look of panic to come across Asa's face.

But, Tepig wasn't worried. Instead, he stood up as tall as he could before bellowing stronger embers from his snout once again.

"Just a little bit of experience in battle, and they're able to learn new moves," Braedon thought.

"Perfect timing! Use Vine Whip!" Mariella shouted.

"Fight back with Ember!"

Snivy divided his vines and then cracked them forward. They beat down against Tepig, but the Fire-type responded in kind immediately. He snorted and then launched small bits of flame from his snout. They grazed against Snivy's vines, forcing him to withdraw them.

"One more!" Asa commanded.

Tepig slammed his small front hooves into the concrete and then leaped into the air. He released the small embers, raining them down onto the entirety of Snivy. The Grass-type cried out in pain as the attack struck, and once the flames ceased, Snivy collapsed forward.

Braedon nodded and held up his right hand. "Snivy is unable to battle!"

"That was fun," Asa exclaimed as he calmly walked to his Tepig. The Fire-type was now full of adrenaline, and it bounced about, eager to continue to fight.

"It looks like I have more to learn," Mariella commented while she withdrew Snivy.

"Can we battle now?" Braedon asked. He ran to meet the two and excitedly held out his Poké Ball. "It looked so fun!"

"It was fun, but you have to consider my Pokémon, Braedon," Asa said while withdrawing his hyperactive Tepig. "It's not fair to intentionally fight my Fire-type Pokémon with your Water-type since we're at a natural disadvantage."

"But, you just fought Mari and Snivy-"

"Tepig also went through an intense battle and is in no condition to battle," Asa continued. "Be more considerate, Brae."

"Alright," Braedon huffed while he placed his newly acquired Poké Ball back on his belt.

The two boys went silent and avoided each other's gaze. Mariella looked at the two of them before she decided to break the silence.

"How about we go get healed up, grab a lunch box, and head off to Route 19? It'd be fun to get in some training! There's no way that any of us can take on Cheren right now anyways, so let's go get in some reps against wild Pokémon!" she suggested.

The two boys eyed one another. "Alright."

"Okay, let's meet on the edge of Route 19 in one hour!" Mariella exclaimed.

Braedon did not have to heal his Pokémon, so he instead went directly back to his house. He quietly entered through the living room door, finding his mother passed out in her chair. He adjusted her blanket and then proceeded to the kitchen where he could make a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Before leaving, he checked himself in the mirror. He had to make sure that he looked like a trainer and not just any regular kid. Compared to Asa and other boys his age, he was considerably shorter. He tidied up his hair, making it stand up near the front. He wore loose grey shorts that hang just above his knee over longer black compression shorts. And his new dark blue hoodie with short sleeves revealed even more black athletic wear underneath. He put on his new white and blue shoes once he was off of the living room carpet. He looked back at his mother. He would come back a few more times before officially setting out, but the thought of leaving her alone gave him a small sense of sadness.

He tried to push through the sadness, and he closed the door. He turned and looked north before he started to dash in that direction. Route 19 and his friends waited for him.

Just like anywhere that he wanted to go to Aspertia City, it took him only thirty minutes to get to Route 19. Only Asa was waiting by the hiking trail, and when Braedon saw this, he slowed from a sprint to a walk. When he reached the boy, he was unsure of what to say, and Asa didn't give him much to work with.

"You heal up your Pokémon?" Braedon asked.

Asa nodded. "Yeah. We're ready to train a bit."

They were silent for roughly five seconds, but it felt like an hour.

"You thinking you'll catch something?" Asa asked. "Oshawott ain't the best pick, and you'll need a second Pokémon to take on Cheren."

"Oshawott is a great pick!" Braedon exclaimed.

Before he could continue to argue or get angry, Mariella suddenly interrupted the two. She walked in between them and held her arms up high.

"Here we are! Route 19! Let's do this! Let's start our journey!" Mariella exclaimed excitedly.

"I mean, we have to come back for the gym, but yeah, let's get this started!" Asa added.

Braedon held out his Poké Ball. "Well, I'm not gonna wait for you guys to stand here all day. Let's go!"

With that, he ran forward and through the tall grass. He was never allowed to before, but now with Oshawott, he felt almost invincible. But that sense of invincibility was sucked out of him an instance, as he was tackled from behind by something. He turned around to find a wild Pokémon with crazed eyes staring directly at him. It stood up straight and growled at Braedon.

Braedon drew out his white Pokédex and scanned the creature.

"Patrat, the Scout Pokémon. Extremely cautious, one of them will always be on the lookout, but it won't notice a foe coming from behind," the Pokédex chimed.

"Patrat, huh? I'm sorry, but you're gonna be the first Pokémon I defeat!" Braedon said. "Go, Oshawott!"

Oshawott emerged onto the grassy field and held his scalchop into the air. He waved it around, ready to use it as a weapon against the wild Pokémon.

"Tepig, use Ember!" Asa's voice called.

Small flames rained down onto the Patrat. It turned around, and its wide eyes got even wider.

"Tackle!"

Tepig came to the ground and then charged forward. He rammed his body as hard as he could into Patrat, throwing the Normal-type Pokémon into the tall grass.

"Yeah! We did it!" Asa exclaimed excitedly. He threw his fist into the air.

"Hey, I was battling that Patrat!" Braedon shouted.

Asa shot him a look. "Well, battle faster."

"It's not an issue of battling faster! You just need to back off for a minute!" Braedon yelled back at him.

"Calm down, Brae," Asa muttered. "I'm sorry."

Braedon was unsure of how to respond. Mariella was watching closely, and he didn't want to explode in front of her. He was an official Pokémon trainer now, and he needed to act mature.

"It's fine. Just be careful next time," Braedon muttered.

"Will do," Asa said before turning his attention to some rustling grass. "Look! A Purrloin! Tepig, use Ember!"

The three continue to train, battle, and at times quibble with one another on Route 19. They hadn't even noticed it, but with every encounter with a wild Pokémon, they inched closer to Floccesy Town. It wasn't a place that they went to very often, but it did have a small shopping mall.

"What do you say we hit up Floccesy Town for a bit and then head back? Snivy is exhausted," Mariella exclaimed.

Braedon looked down at Oshawott. His Pokémon was tired as well, but through their training with weak wild Pokémon, he had managed to learn Water Gun. The excitement of going from the most basic of attacks, Tackle, to something considerably stronger was something that Braedon wanted to experience over and over again.

"Hey, down there!" a voice bellowed from afar, making all of the trainers look up.

Standing on a cliff, roughly fifteen feet high, was a man with long red hair. He wore torn-up baggy beige pants and a tan poncho with red trim. Around his neck was a necklace with six Poké Balls attached, and around his waist was a belt that contained six more. He jumped from the cliff and landed in front of the trainers. He paused before slowly pushing on his legs and forcing his knees to straighten out.

"That was dumb," Asa murmured.

"You okay?" Mariella asked.

"I guess I'm not quite as young as I used to be, eh?" the man exclaimed while he managed to stand up straight. He was old but in good shape, but his knees did creak when he moved. "I saw you three training, and it piqued my curiosity! You all look like excitable trainers, but I can tell that you're not quite seasoned yet. I assume, that like many others this week, your journeys have just started! My name is-"

"Alder," Braedon exclaimed. His arms fell to his sides, and he had a blank expression on his face. "You were the champion of Unova until this last season!"

"I-I didn't think you'd notice!" Alder exclaimed while he rubbed the back of his head. "I always kept a low profile, and no one ever seems to want my autograph."

"Don't worry. We're not asking for an autograph," Asa commented before Braedon stepped in front of him.

"I'll take an autograph!"

"Me too!" Mariella excitedly exclaimed.

"Oh, you slay me! But that's not why I called you!" Alder said while he pulled out a marker from his knapsack. He also grabbed two trading cards with his picture printed on them. He nonchalantly signed both cards and then casually handed them over to Braedon and Mariella. "Seeing you three training so intensely got me fired up! But, I think you could do even more with a little bit of discipline! Defeating a dozen Patrat and Purrloin is only going to get you so far! Come! Why don't you come to Flocessy and train with a former champion?"

"That sounds awesome!" Braedon said.

"You don't think it's weird that we're gonna train with a random dude?" Asa wondered.

Mariella shook her head. "Not a random dude! This is Alder!" She excitedly showed off the trading card.

"And, we were heading to Flocessy Town anyways!" Braedon added.

Asa shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I think I said I wouldn't start any new stories when I posted up the first chapter of my Crown Tundra story… but this one is a long-term story! I originally wrote this chapter roughly two years ago, and I've had to rework it almost completely. I'm glad to finally get it out.

A new story, and a new main character! Braedon is based on someone I've known for most of my life. With Logan officially being retired from main character status, Braedon is going to take over that role. I'm in my "phase 2" of stories, and Braedon, Yurie, Cyan, and Leinani will be the main characters/heroes of the next couple of regions.

A quick note: I usually base my stories very loosely off of the games, anime, and manga. I mostly just use them as a reference and for inspiration. This story will be heavily influenced by BW2, I think. I'm gonna try to add in my own personal spin on it as much as I can, but I really don't think that there is much of a way that I could improve that story.