Route 3 [Route 1 - Littleroot Town]

Mako Vernon

As i sent out my newly caught Aipom, both mine and Turbo's puzzled face came back again. After 2 minutes of silence, i speak up. "How about to call you Handy?" Aipom cheers. "Welcome to the team Handy!" Turbo and Handy leave me behind to go near a Buneary.

They were admiring the rabbit pokemon. But the rabbit pokemon had an evil grin...

Then the Buneary used Furstration. "Holly..." Before i could finish, Buneary uses Quick Attack on me. This pokemon is though. Is going to be mine.

Mia Fiore – An Old Beginning​

Leaves gently swayed above Mia's head, as she slowly inched closer and closer to Littleroot town. Walking beside her was her trusted pet turned partner, Carter, who seemed to be getting tired of all the hopping. Of course, this was because Mia had decided to take the fast track down route 101, which just so happened to involve… ledges. While it was convenient in that she didn't even have to think about fighting any wild Pokémon, the very regular hopping made it quite a bit more tiring than just walking. However, Mia didn't take notice of their growing fatigue. She was too busy watching various people running up and down the route, some in a hurry, others not so much.

Eventually, Mia noticed something different about the ground she was walking on. The dirt path below her feet was now concrete, while the grass all around her was replaced with bright and colourful gardens. She had finally arrived in Littleroot town… A cool breeze wafted through the quiet town, which was a strange sight for Mia. She was more used to the hustle and bustle of large cities, like Mauville. The peace and quiet was almost unsettling to her. Briefly resting under a tree atop a hill, Mia spoke to her partner. "This was where he started his journey, Carter. And it's where we're going to start ours."

After catching their breath, the two strolled into Littleroot town. Mia's first goal was to find Professor Birch's lab, as it was where she had to register for the gym challenge. However, this was easier said than done. Despite the town being much, much smaller, Mia was just as lost in Littleroot town as she was back home. Holding onto her map tightly, she began to wander aimlessly past multiple buildings. "So the map says… umm, is it over there?" As Mia's search began to grow in time, her mind began to grow in frustration.

"COME ON! HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO FIND A SINGLE BUILDING?" She shouted, almost loud enough for the entire town to hear.

Stopping in front of a building that was slightly larger than the rest, Mia searched over her map one last time. But she still had no idea where she, or the Professor's Lab, was. "This map would be more useful as ash." She growled, before releasing her grip on the map. "CARTER! USE EMBER ON THIS STUPID MAP." As it slowly floated down to the ground, Carter unleashed a small barrage of flames onto the paper. The sheet of paper was quickly devoured by the flames, disappearing into nothingness. "Well that solved… nothing." She sighed, as she tried to figure out what to do next.

Unbeknownst to Mia, someone had been watching her ordeal for quite a while. A young woman watched on from the distance in hysterics. After calming down, the young woman called out to Mia. "You wouldn't happen to be looking for Birch's lab, would you? Because it's right behind you." She laughed. Mia turned around in disbelief, and sure enough, Professor Birch's Pokémon Lab had been RIGHT NEXT to her. She quickly ran around to the front of the Lab, trying to save herself from the continued embarrassment.

Upon entering the Lab, Mia noticed that the building was very cluttered. Papers were scattered over various tables and floors, books were placed randomly around the room, various cables were tangled together. She had heard that Professor Birch preferred to work in a messy environment, but this was ridiculous. Her feet quickly danced around all of the boxes on the floor, walking past various strange, beeping devices. Eventually, she found the professor leaning over a desk while clutching onto a blood-stained cloth. But before she could say anything, Prof. Birch turned to face her. "You wouldn't happen to be looking for me, would you?" He asked, with a large grin on his face. "Yeah, I am." As she said this, the professor quickly flicked through a couple folders on his desk. "You're…. Mia, I presume?" Professor Birch responded, holding up a file with her name and picture on it.

Mia nodded towards the man, who then shuffled through a pile of junk. "Now where did I... A-hah! There it is." He pulled out a small, black and white device. "I believe this is your Pokédex. The Pokédex is an amazing invention, capable of documenting information on every last species of Pokémon." Birch quickly placed the Pokédex, as well as 5 Pokéball into Mia's hands, being careful not to break anything. "And, not only does it have a built in map, and mp3 system, but it also counts as your official registration into the Gym Circuit." Having already placed all of the Pokéballs into her satchel, Mia began fiddling with the Pokédex. "Would you like a tutorial on how to use it?" The professor eagerly asked. "No thanks, I'll be able to figure this thing out on my own." She said, still trying to turn it on.

After a brief silence, Mia was prepared to leave the building, but was interrupted when the professor spoke again. "Hey uhh, I heard some shouting going on earlier. Everything alright out there?" Crap… Professor Birch had heard her outburst earlier, and was now questioning her on it. "Oh… Uhh… Yeah. Some crazy girl was shouting all over the place. She definitely wasn't me. She's stopped now anyway, so I don't really know why we still need to be talking about it." She nervously laughed, prompting a very confused "Okay?" to come from the professor. And before either of them could talk again, Mia sprinted out the door.

As Buneary continued to use Frustration on Handy, Turbo got up mad. And when Turbo gets mad, no charm can calm down until he thinks it's enough. He tried a Night Slash on Buneary, throwing the poor pokemon to the tree. Then he used Crush Claw, making a big wound on Buneary. He tries to use Flame Burst on Buneary again.

Handy who finally figured out the trick went for a Foul Play. The pokemon was already hurt, but with this strike, she gives a big cry of pain. I threw the pokeball. If i catch Buneary i must take the pokemon to the Pokemon Center. If i don't, i must take the pokemon to the Pokemon Center. I think my fellas exaggerated. The Pokeball started to shake...

'Please stay inside...' I was thinking.

Gelius3

The Pokeball opened again after the first shake. Buneary seemed to be confused and shaken by what happened. It staggered a little as it tried to stay upright, its tiny legs wobbling. The pain is evident in her eyes and it was a real surprise it managed to get out of the ball with the damage it just withstood. However, it stood defiant in front of Turbo and Handy, and slowly dragged itself forward to execute another Frustration.

The Buneary used Frustration and makes wounds really bad on Turbo and Handy. It can manages to deal with 2 pokemon at once! And then she tries to do a Jump Kick. She hits my belly. I raised my hand in the air and fell in pain.

Buneary executes another Jump Kick on Torchic. Torchic cries in pain. Buneary does an evil smile. Then she does Quick Attack on Handy. Handy in response, jumped and fell on top of Buneary with Slam. Then he strikes with Foul Play. I got up to see what was happening. Handy had just hit Buneary.

Turbo uses Flame Burst and hits on Buneary. Buneary then used Frustration, but Turbo evaded. Handy uses Fury Swipes at the Buneary and the Buneary cries. Then he goes for a Quick Attack, sending Buneary to the tree.

Trubo uses Night Slash and Buneary was suffering even more. Then, when Turbo hits with Crush Claw on Buneary, i saw that the Buneary was suffering a lot. And that i was not commanding my pokemon due the lack of focus.

I pick another pokeball (The 5th i waste, because on my first attempt of catching Handy, he threw one of my Pokeball far away, maybe its falling in the head of someone now). I threw the pokeball. Buneary gets in it again. The ball was shaking.

(OOC: I hope is enough... 226 words...)

Mia Fiore – Engage the Enemy: Part 1​

"Nope, that didn't do it. And neither did that… or that… Ugh, why didn't this come with a manual?" Mia muttered to herself. She had been trying to get the Pokédex to work for what felt like decades, but no matter what she tried, it just wouldn't turn on. As much as she hated to admit, Mia knew that not getting a tutorial on the Pokédex was a mistake. In her hands was a potentially priceless device that was of absolutely no use to her. She sighed, beginning to give up on ever finding out how to use it. "Maybe it's busted?" She said to Carter, who was still walking beside her.


Their journey up route 101 was much longer than the way down. Apparently, the ledges that she had previously hopped down were one-way. Tall grass softly brushed against her legs, creating a loud rustling sound. As she continued to walk, Mia noticed that the rustling was occurring even when they weren't moving. She quickly scanned her surroundings but was unable to find the source of the noise. "Must've been my imagination." Mia shrugged, continuing on the path to Oldale. Her focus shifted back to the Pokédex, which was practically taunting her with its secrets. As she continued to fiddle with the device again, the rustling started up once more. And this time, she could see what was causing it.


Two ball-shaped Pokémon were rolling after her at a snail's pace, one pink, and one white. However, due to the slow speed they were moving at, Mia thought nothing of them. She wanted to get to Oldale town as fast as possible and the two Pokémon chasing her were too slow to be any sort of threat. So she simply avoided them. Finally stepping out of the tall grass, Mia was happy to see Oldale town finally coming into view. However, before she could go any further, she felt something stick to her leg. A thin, sticky thread was attached to her calf, and it seemed to have some weight to it. Looking back, Mia saw that it was the two cocoon Pokémon.


"You two are very persistent." She laughed, quickly brushing the thin layer of silk from her leg. "But I don't have time t-OOF." Her thoughts were brutally interrupted by the Silcoon, who had slammed into her gut. Mia tumbled to the ground, shocked by the Pokémon's sudden speed increase. Carter stood next to his owner and watched, amused. However, his amusement was cut short when the second Pokémon, Cascoon, started to attack him. Silk was sprayed onto his body, restricting his movement. But a simple ember was all he needed in order to break free. And so began their eternal game of Tug O' War, Cascoon continuously spraying string shot and Carter breaking free.


Silcoon was basking in the glory of its achievement. It had taken down a trainer. Not a Pokémon, not an item, but an actual trainer. And it had done so with a single move. Surely, its mother will appreciate its efforts now. Unfortunately for the Silcoon, it hadn't knocked out the trainer only knocked down. Mia slowly picked herself off of the ground as rage started to build up inside her. "Ugh… You are going to PAY for what you just did." She shouted at the small cocoon Pokémon, slightly out of breath. "HOW DARE YOU TACK-ARGH." The Silcoon realised that it hadn't succeeded at knocking Mia out. To fix this, he tackled Mia midsentence. Once more, she was knocked onto the ground.


At this point, Mia was fuming with anger. The Silcoon had knocked her onto the ground TWICE and Carter had done absolutely NOTHING to help her. "Carter… stop messing around AND GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME." She shouted whilst lying on her back. Carter responded quickly to Mia's commands, breaking free and distracting the Cascoon with an ember. His back flared as he charged headfirst at the still gloating Silcoon, slamming into it. The Silcoon was given a taste of its own medicine and was sent flying back into the tall grass.


"You will regret hitting me for the rest of your life, you miserable little bug! CARTER USE SMOKE SCREEN."


Black smog rapidly spread through the arena, obscuring everyone's view. This allowed Mia to stand back up, as there was little chance that the Silcoon could hit her through the smog. While doing so, she heard a loud beeping start in her right hand. Somehow, in-between being knocked onto the floor and getting up, Mia's Pokédex decided to start working. On the display screen, information on Carter quickly popped up. "Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Cyndaquil protects itself by flaring up the flames on its back. The flames are vigorous if the Pokémon is angry. However, if it is tired, the flames sputter fitfully with incomplete combustion.". While a fun fact, this information wasn't exactly useful to her at the moment. She quickly tried to scan the two Pokémon attacking her, hoping for some information on how to beat it. But, nothing came up. The cloud of smoke was too thick for the device to work from that distance.


"Okay, we're going to need to find these heathens before we can take them out, Carter." Mia said aloud, trying to listen for any sudden movements. Unfortunately, speaking aloud was a mistake. The Cascoon was able to pin down the origin of Mia's voice and immediately barraged her and Carter with Poison Stings. While doing so, a strange, almost metallic sound echoed through the smoke. However, it didn't seem to be doing anything. Choosing to ignore it, Mia had to think fast. She could try finding cover, but that would prove difficult. As a second wave of poison sting began striking her, an idea also hit her. Because the Pokémon knew where she was, she knew where the Pokémon was.


"Carter," she whispered. "I'm going to make a lot of noise in a moment. When I do, I need you to follow the poison stings to its source and use ember on it. Got it?" Carter immediately distanced himself from Mia, which she took as his understanding. Hopefully, he'll be able to find whatever was attacking them quickly. Taking a deep breath before hand, Mia screamed at the top of her lungs.

Somewhere near Oldale

The sound of the car's engine bothered him, but he wasn't about to say anything. It had been a miracle for him to even find someone willing to drive him all the way to Littleroot, a town so isolated they probably spoke their own language and had a bunch of tribal customs, like ritualistic sacrifice. Or just sacrifice, really; then again, he was pretty sure that without the ritual part, it could have probably just be classified as murder. Would that be a good defense in court? 'You don't understand your honour; murdering your taxi driver in cold blood and burying his body in a skip is part of my culture'.
Briv blinked for a moment, trying to wrap his head around what he'd just thought. Jeez, where did that come from?

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU STUPID COW!" the man screamed out of his car window, to the shock of the elderly woman crossing the street. Briv did his best to hide, lowering his head and letting out a groan. It was his own fault, really, not taking up pokémon training. Chasing his dreams. What a moron. If he had just pretended to show a partial interest in battles as a kid, his mother would have been satisfied and she wouldn't have resolved to send him to Hoenn to have his own 'adventure' as she so dreamily put it; he wouldn't have arrived in Lilycove after three days of sea sickness, and he wouldn't have had to ask for someone to take him to Littleroot, a town so isolated it might as well have been at the bottom of the ocean; he wouldn't have had to find out that no taxi went there except for one, and he wouldn't have found out that said taxi fit in the broadest possible definition of a car. This thing could fall apart any moment, he thought to himself as he looked around, taking in the patchwork body work and missing backseat. The driver himself looked like the kind of person who, had he taken a slightly different path in life, one could very well find smuggling drugs into a high-security prison.

what did his mother say to him before he left? "Do it or I'll disown you"? No, the other thing. "My life is ruined. Ruined!" no, that had been him. "There are troughs and peaks in every journey. Don't be discouraged by the present!" That's the one. He was pretty sure she'd read it on a fortune cookie anyway, but that wasn't important. Right now, he had to focus on getting this over with as quickly as possible, so he could go back home and concentrate on being pathetic.

He sighed and looked out the window. Trees sped by, or to be more precise, remained perfectly stationary as they sped by. Hoenn seemed like a fairly tropical place, and lacked any real mountains or cold climates, which made him feel especially stupid for dressing in a heavy hoodie and jeans. Okay, so geography wasn't his strong point, but he lived in Kalos! He wasn't expected to know what Hoenn was like! It was on the other side of the world, for pete's sake. Which reminded him; he was on the other side of the world, with almost no money and being driven around by a weird old man that, in the best possible scenario, would be taking him by an even weirder old man. He was certain he could survive a fight with one of them, but two old men was a dangerous combination: their hive mind made them very coordinated, and they could easily overpower him.

Briv took this moment to remind himself to get out more.

Littleroot Town

"We're here, boy!" the man said in his raspy, borderline murderous voice. He turned to look at him with the craziest grin Briv had ever seen, bar his local bartender whenever he spotted a tourist, for reasons unknown to basically 70% of Geosenge. "That'll be 52,500 P, thank you." He proclaimed, smugly.

So that why he was smiling.

"What?! That's preposterous! You've only been driving for twenty minutes!" Briv wanted to reply, possibly punctuating the phrase with a swing to the man's jaw and spontaneously becoming Lieutenant Surge while he was at it, but instead decided to pay up and grumble his grievances to himself, creating more repressed rage for his friend Mr. Liquor to deal with. The young man stepped out of the 'car' which immediately sped away, leaving him to take in the beautiful sights of the tropical region. Before him stood Littleroot, a number of cottages built in the middle of a forest, the springtime sunshine shining down on the various patches of grass that dotted the view; one could even say that they were the rule, rather than the exception. To the south of it stood a building slightly larger than the rest, with a yellow roof as opposed to orange; this was either the local lab or a bus station, and knowing Briv's luck it was probably the former.

Reluctantly, he made his way towards the edifice, sidestepping the various, frolicking children and giving extremely passive-aggressive glares to whomever dared smile in his direction. How dare they share their mirth with him? Couldn't they see he was busy being miserable? Honestly, the nerve of some people.

Eventually, he reached the laboratory. The building wasn't all that impressive, he thought; it was only twice the size of his hometown. chuckling to himself, Briv wished he had friends to share this wicked burn with. Entering through the door, he was almost knocked over by a brown-haired blur sprinting in the opposite direction, an ugly mole-thing clinging to her back. Was that a pokémon, or just a really sick animal? Did they even have animals? Briv decided it was best not to start questioning the nature of his own universe, and instead pressed forwards, determined to defy everything he believed in up until then. Spotting a fat man with terrible facial hair, he naturally assumed it to be the professor, and picked up his walking pace until he was walking side by side with him. "Hello!" Briv greeted, smiling. The old man turned his head and regarded him with a mixture of amusement and politeness, no doubt masking his extreme irritation with all these teenagers constantly interrupting his work. "Hello to you! How can I help you?" he asked, returning the smile.

"I've been sent half-way across the world to crush my own dreams!" Briv responded, still grinning. Birch seemed taken aback by this, which caused the adolescent to frown in confusion, before coming to the conclusion that he must've said what he was thinking instead of just lying. "I mean-- a pokémon. Adventure. Dex. Uuh... My mum's name is Ellie?" he attempted to salvage, almost certain he was about to be kicked out; surprisingly though, the professor's face lit up at the mention of his mother, and he smiled broadly. "Oh, you're Ellie's son? I haven't seen her in twenty-five years! My, time sure flies when you're handing out pokédexes." he laughed, and his assistant laughed with him. Briv didn't really get it.

"So, Ellie sent you to have you own adventure? I still remember when I first handed her a pokédex. She was very talented, she was! I hear she went and married an up-and-coming trainer in Kalos!"

"I don't know if 'up and coming' is the right way to put it. 'Slowly rising like a lost balloon" seems more accurate." the teen responded, cocking a brow. "But yeah, I'm going to go around Hoenn and get beaten by just about every trainer I can find. However, I apparently need a pocket monster for this."

"A what?"

"A pokémon."

"Ah, right." Birch smiled nervously, obviously not able to perceive the full genius that was Briv. Opening his bag, the Hoenn resident rooted around for a few moments, before looking to his assistant. "Did we give the rare pokémon to Brendon?" the assistant nodded. "But I seem to recall him giving you back the Treecko." Birch nodded, and rooted around a bit more. "Ah, here we are!" he said triumphantly, handing Briv a pokéball. "This is Treecko, the grass-type pokémon! It's main strength is in its speed. It'll make for a great partner!"

Briv examined the ball for a few moments, before releasing the critter inside. With a flash of red, a green lizard appeared before him, staring at him with the same amount of disbelief he was staring at it. "Is this a joke?" he asked, looking back at a very confused Birch. The gecko's eyes seemed to ask the same question. "This isn't a pokémon! Pokémon are six foot tall, and can levell mountains! This thing could barely level a plate of pasta." he glared back at the lizard, which wasn't impressed at all. Birch nervously chuckled, grabbing the pokéball and nervously returning the Treecko inside. "Well, you see, pokémon have evolutionary stages. I feel silly for not realizing it earlier but given your family, you've probably never spent much time with weak or first-stage pokémon. Once Treecko gains enough experience in battle, it will evolve, becoming a Grovyle, and then after that a Sceptile." He scanned Briv's features for any signs of comprehension, and found none. "Bigger lizard and really big lizard." Briv made an 'oh' face and took back the pokéball, looking at it with renewed interest.

the assistant cleared his throat, catching Birch's attention, and handed him a small, red console. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he laughed, handing it to Briv. "This is your pokédex. It automatically records data from any pokémon you've captured in your journey and stores it for later use. This way, you can always keep track of your pokémon's capabilities!" Briv nodded ad put the dex in his bag, no longer paying any real attention to the old man. "And this is your trainer card," Birch continued, handing him a small plastic rectangle, "On it, you can keep track of your progress through the Gym circuit!"

The Kalos-born cocked a brow. "Gym circuit?" he asked, skeptical. He didn't want to enter any tournament, and certainly not that thing his cousin was always banging on about, what with the "Oooh, the Elite four are so cool!" "I had a bike race with the Gym Leader of Cyllage city the other day!" and "The leader of Courmaline City is soooo hot!"

"Yes, Gym circuit! Every newly registered trainer is entered in the Gym circuit, so they can have a go at winning the gym badges! who knows, you might even become champion one day!"

Briv thought this to be unlikely, but he had given the man enough grief as it was, so he decided to thank him and take his leave.

"Let's go Flame! Hurry up! We're already two days late!"

I was heading to Littleroot Town! The small town that was home to Prof.Birch. The man who would make me a real Pokemon trainer!

I was in a rush because I was already two days late. My mom told me that if I wanted to be a trainer, I'd have to do it on my own. She gave me no help at all.

I had saved up my own money. Bought my own supplies. I also bought the boat tickets. I had to do everything. It took me longer than I thought it would. Thus, I'm now two days late.

"Route LOL? How did we get here?" I directed the question at a Flame who in return, performed a back flip. I assumed he was trying to tell me to flip the map. Though, he may have been trying to show off.

"Oh, route 101. That makes a lot more sense." I was just having one of those days.

I noticed a man walking around. He had brown hair and seemed like he was looking for something to entertain him. He seemed rather familiar with the area, so I asked him for some help.

"Hey, excuse me sir. Can you help me find Prof.Birch's lab? I was supposed to meet him a couple days ago but I'm running a bit late." I spoke a lot faster than I meant to.

"Well, that's quite the time delay." The man had a somewhat deep, assertive voice. I could tell he was used to giving orders.

"Please sir. Just help me find the lab. I need to get there right away!" I was pretty much begging. Flame started putting his hands together and bowing. I think that was to mock me.

"Just stay calm. You're already two days late. Five minutes isn't going to hurt. Just go down five houses and take a left. It's really big. You can't miss it," the guy said casually. He eyed Flame gleefully.

"Alright, thanks!" I took off at a sprint, sure that Prof.Birch was tired of waiting. More sure that I was tired of waiting.

It took me a few minutes to reach the lab. I had to go extra fast to make sure Flame didn't go climbing on any houses.

As soon as I reached the door I started knocking. A man who I recognized as Prof.Birch came up. I recognized the little curl in his hair.

"Hello sir. My name is Triqu! I'm here to receive my Pokedex!" I tried to sound happy. This was so he wouldn't be mad about my lateness.

Prof.Birch stood confused for a minute. He then nodded his head. "Oh, you're the trainer who was supposed to arrive two days ago. Am I correct?" He didn't sound angry. You can never be too sure though.

"I'm sorry. It was just that the boat ticket and my mom doesn't want m-"

"Slow down Son! It's alright. I'm sure you had a good reason for being late. I myself am not very punctual.
Come inside and allow me to grab something from the back room. This should only take a minute." The professor briskly walked away.

I stepped inside and noticed the clutter of the place. It was about three times worse than my room. That was saying something.

I then realized that Flame had left. I looked all around but didn't see him. I opened the door and he flipped over my head, swinging from the top of the doorway. He then sat facing me. I returned him to his pokeball. I was afraid that a paper would touch his tail and catch the whole place on fire.

"Here it is," Birch announced as he entered a room. He handed me package. I took it upon myself to shake it, trying to guess what was inside.

I finally gave up. I opened the box. Inside was a white Pokedex and 5 pokeballs. All neatly packed into a little starter kit.

"Usually, the Pokedex is red, but we had to give your case to a trainer who was on time. The only difference is the color. I hope that it doesn't bother you." He said it like I should be upset.

"Are you kidding me? This is awesome! I get to be the one trainer with a white Pokedex! Who else can say that?" This made me want to try it out.

"Come on Flame! Let's see this thing in action." Flame jumped out of his ball excitedly.

"Let's see..." I tinkered with it until I found the tutorial. After I read it, I tried to use it. I pressed the green button.

Chimchar- The Chimp

It agilely scales sheer cliffs to live atop the craggy mountains. Its fire is put out when it sleeps.

"It's also supposed to-" I stopped talking when I realized Prof.Birch was gone. I think he had left a while ago. I decided that I would just leave.

"Let's go Flame!" With that, we were off.

I exited the building and finally took in my surroundings. I hadn't had a chance beforehand to pay attention to anything. The town was tiny. Especially compared to Goldenrod. All of the houses were small and there weren't many people. I noticed a few trainers on route 101. They all seemed rather new to battling.

"How'd it go kid?" It was the same guy from earlier. "Hope that you didn't have too many problems."

"Nope! He gave me my Pokedex and left. I think he was busy. He seemed in a rush to do something." I started to analyze what had happened before. I was so excited that I didn't really think about anything.

"Did he explain anything to you? The gym circuit, how to use the Pokedex. Anything?" Brandon questioned. He was doubting my knowledge.

"Well, no. I already know it all. The gym circuit is the challenge trainers take to defeat eight gym leaders. The Pokedex stores info on its owner, Pokemon, and some other things. I learned it all in school." I had made sure to pay attention during the days we were taught those things.

"What about battling? How to catch Pokemon? These things are even more important."

He caught me off guard with those. Even Flame showed a confused look.

"I was just going to wing it. That's what I usually do and it works. I send out Flame, tell him to attack, then I throw a pokeball. It's pretty simple I think." I hadn't really thought about it.

"There's more to it than that." He said no more.

While he was walking away I shouted out, "Wait! What's your name?."

He replied quickly. "It's Brandon! I'm also commonly known as the Pyramid King. What's your name?" He forgot about introductions too.

"It's Triqu! With a q and a u!" I stressed the last part.

"I'll see you around Triqu!" He started walking away again.

"See ya!" He was gone by the time I finished.

I sat there thinking. Pyramid King. That title sounded familiar. The I realized who he was.

That was Brandon. The top Frontier Brain. Owner of Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. One of the best Pokemon trainers in the world.




I decided that it was time for some training! Flame had only done small workouts back in Goldenrod. It wasn't used to battling.

I headed for route 101. I heard about there being many Pokemon there. I decided to check it out myself.

I watched Flame play around in the tree. It wasn't bothering me. I was busy looking for wild Pokemon to battle.

I looked at the trunk of the tree Flame was playing in. Something started moving around. I noticed that it was a Wurmple! Here was my big chance.

"Flame! See that Pokemon down below? Hit it with Acrobatics!" Flame looked at me for a moment. He looked like he forgot how to use the attack. He did a flip out of the tree. Then, he jumped up, before coming down and striking the end of Wurmple's tail. The attack knocked Wurmple out of the tree. It fell on to its back, struggling to get up.

"Yes!" I screamed out. The move was a success. I then looked over at Flame who was struggling to stand himself.

"What's wrong Flame? Get up!" I was wondering what was wrong. Flame was sitting there looking sick. It then dawned on me what happened.

Wurmples have spikes on their tails that can release poison. Flame must have been stabbed by one.

By the time Flame gained his composure, Wurmple was back on it's feet. It still seemed to have been damaged by the attack. It was angry now.

"Flame! I need you to stick this one out for me! You can do it!" I wasn't sure that I believed my own words.

Flame managed to stand and move. It was just a lot slower than normal. I was about to give a command until Wurmple started moving in. Much faster than a worm should be able to.

Wurmple closed the distance. Then it used bug bite.

"Flame! Jump out of the way!" I ordered. The poison was taking it's toll. Flame got hit directly. This wasn't looking good. Wurmple was hanging on and not letting go.

I realized that without his speed, Flame was nothing. So I got an idea.

"Hurry up and use your ember to scare it away!" Flame worked slowly but surely. He managed to knock off Wurmple. It was only a few feet away and coming fast.

"Now use your flame charge constantly! Keep ramming it!" If this went right, Flame would gain speed and wear down the Wurmple at the same time.

The first try missed. Wurmple avoided it with ease. The second try nicked it. I could tell Flame was gaining speed. The third try nailed it. Wurmple still remained on it's feet.

"Don't let up Flame! Keep it coming!" Three more hits in a row. Wurmple was close to done. Not only had been hit constantly, but it had been hit with a fire type move. Everybody knew bugs were weak to fire.

"Stop Flame!" I shouted. I was ready.

"Here we go!" I threw a pokeball I had stored in my pocket before entering a route. Ready for this situation.

The pokeball hit the Wurmple. In a flash of red light, it went into the pokeball.

"Yes, I caught a Wurmple!" I yelled with joy. I then noticed that the ball was shaking.

We weren't quite finished. I watched the ball, praying that it would stay still.

I shout of happiness. Buneary was mine! I give an high five to Handy but then he remembers me that Buneary was way too hurt to celebrate. I pick up the pokeball and run to Oldale Town. When i reach Oldale, i saw a group of people taking.

"Someone threw me this pokeball and hurt me! I won't accept that!" Said the man.

"Let's find him or her." Said the woman.

"..." I fell like i should not be here. That was the pokeball that Handy threw. I slowly back away. I enter the pokemon center. "Nurse Joy! I need to heal my Buneary!" I put the the pokeball in the counter and Turbo. I withdrew Handy and gave to Nurse Joy.

"Don't worry. I will take care of your Buneary and your other pokemon." She said. She put the pokeballs on a machine. Then she comes back. "Here you go."

"Oh good grief." I said while Turbo got down from the counter. I threw Handy and Bunary's pokeballs to the floor. Both me, Handy and Turbo put a puzzled face on.

"Ai, Aipom." Said Handy.

"Tor Torichic." Said Turbo.

"Nah... That nickname won't work. How About Sweet?" I said. Buneary looked at me. "Then welcome to the team Sweet!" I extend a hand but Sweet hits my hand with the ear. I try again and Sweet does the same thing. I try again, and this time, Sweet does a Jump Kick on me. Turbo and Handy start to laugh at me. However, Sweet was going along with Turbo and Handy. "Maybe the Pokedex has information about the Buneary species."

I got up and picked my Pokedex. A monotone voice was heard.

"Torchic, the Chick Pokemon. Torchic has a place inside its body where it keeps its flame. Give it a hug—it will be glowing with warmth. This Pokémon is covered all over by a fluffy coat of down. Torchic sticks with its Trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black. It's a male pokemon, and his known moves are Ember, Flame Burst, Night Slash, Crush Claw, Bounce and Heat Wave."

"I already knew that. But---"

"Aipom the Long Tail Pokemon. Aipom's tail ends in a hand-like appendage that can be cleverly manipulated. However, because the Pokémon uses its tail so much, its real hands have become rather clumsy. It's a male Pokemon , and his known moves are Foul Play, Fury Swipes, Baton Pass, Quick Attack and Slam."

"That's good to kn---"

"Bunneary the Rabbit Pokemon. Its ears are always rolled up. They can be forcefully extended to shatter even a large boulder. When it senses danger, it perks up its ears. On cold nights, it sleeps with its head tucked into its fur. It's a female pokemon, and her known moves are Jump Kick, Quick Attack and Frustration. A strange curiosity about this pokemon: Even that this pokemon looks sweet and lovely, when caught it will hate his trainer. It's known for having very bad connections between trainers. Rarely will befriend his trainer."

"Oh. So you don't like me?" I asked. Sweet nods. "But i wanna be your friend!" Sweet uses Jump Kick on me. I got up. The nurse comes back.

"Sorry but can you help me?" I look at the nurse.

Mia Fiore – Engage the Enemy Part 2​

A high pitched shriek echoed throughout the sunny route 101. Poison stings shot through the smoke like bullets, all of them focused on the screaming person. That screaming person was of course Mia, whose master plan involved her getting bombarded by poisonous darts. The attack was relentless, eventually causing her to scream out of actual pain. This would all pay off… hopefully. Walking blindly in the smoke was Carter, whose goal was to find the source of the Poison Sting and end it. This was easier said than done as the attack he was following was small and gave off little light. As his trainers cry of pain slowly amped up in volume, Carter was wandering closer and closer to the Pokémon. Eventually he was able to see a shadow in the dark. His back began burning brighter, and without hesitation, Carter attacked with Ember. He spewed hot flames onto the Pokémon, stopping its attack.


The Cascoon, having used all of its energy when attacking Mia, did nothing to retaliate. Very faintly, Mia could hear a soft "Cas… coon." And after a few more moments, it went silent. "Carter…" She panted, "You can stop now." The Cyndaquil cried out to its master in response, overjoyed that it had beaten another Pokémon. The smoke clouds were finally starting to dissipate, allowing Mia to see all three Pokémon. One more to go… she thought, quickly wiping away the tears that had built up in her eyes. "Alright Carter, how about we finish the other one now?" She triumphantly asked, looking down at her Pokédex once more. She raised it to face the fainted Pokémon and information filled the screen. Cascoon The Cocoon Pokémon. If it is attacked, Cascoon remains motionless however badly it may be hurt. It does so because if it were to move, its body would be weak upon evolution. This Pokémon will also not forget the pain it endured.


"I thought this was supposed to be an essential tool for a Pokémon trainer, not a list of fun facts." Not only was this super expensive device impossible to turn on, it was also absolutely useless. Making sure that this wasn't the only thing the device could do, Mia faced the Pokédex to the Silcoon and pressed a random button. After a brief moment of silence, a loud, screech blared through the Pokédex's speakers. "How useful… Silcoon's cry." She bitterly stated, shoving the black and white device back into her bag. Looking over the nearly smog-less battlefield, Mia thought of what to do next. Left over silk from their previous attacks were spread across the arena. Luckily, it didn't seem to be large enough to slow Carter down.


"Carter, tackle it as hard as you can! Send it flying!" She ordered. The Silcoon didn't seem to be reacting to… anything and sat idle in the middle of the battlefield. Carter began his charge, sprinting headfirst into the bug. He slammed into it, creating an audible "SMACK". Unfortunately, Carter's tackle harmlessly bounced off of the Silcoon and left him feeling like he just smashed into a car. "What!?" Mia exclaimed, watching as Carter stumbled backwards. Unbeknownst to Mia, while the smoke screen was up, the Silcoon had repeatedly been using Iron Defense. No physical attack would phase it now.


Quickly, the Silcoon sprayed String Shot onto the dazed Cyndaquil. Earlier in the battle, Carter was able to effortlessly break through the silk. Now he was finding it harder, and harder to burn out of it. His fatigue had finally caught up with him and he was now trapped. Slowly, the Silcoon rolled over to him. Desperately squirming to get free, Carter could only watch as the Silcoon used bug bite. How it did so without a mouth, nobody knows (and nobody ever will). Carter cried out in pain, trying his hardest to break out of the silk.


Mia was in a shock. The Silcoon had turned the tables on them so effortlessly. She scrambled for a way to get Carter out of the Silcoon's "mouth". However, nothing came to her. Carter's health continued to be whittled down, stuck in his silky prison. "Oh… Oh no… At this rate, he'll be knocked out before I think of something to do…" Her eyes darted across the battlefield, desperately searching for a strategy. But, aside from the Cascoon, there was nothing but silk. And she definitely didn't need more of that. "Uh… UH….." She trembled, watching as the silk covered Pokémon chomped on her Cyndaquil. Silk covered Pokémon… The string shot… some of it is attached to the Silcoon. She thought, finally thinking of a strategy.


"Carter! Use every ounce of your strength and shoot ember onto ground." Weakly, the trapped Pokémon spat small flames onto the ground. The ember quickly caught onto a strand of silk. Flames spread across the different strands, eventually making their way to the Silcoon. It released Carter from its grip, dropping him onto the dirt below. The fire burnt through his silken prison, freeing him. The Silcoon collapsed onto the ground, defeated. "That was way too close." Mia stated, sighing out of relief. Carter was barely standing, panting heavily. "You deserve a rest…" Reaching into her bag, Mia pulled out Carter's Pokéball and returned him to it.


Leaving the two knocked out Pokémon behind, Mia walked down the rest of the route alone. Luckily, nothing else attacked her, otherwise she would've been in serious trouble.

Littleroot Town

"Alright, listen. Hey, HEY!" After arriving at the entrance of route 101, Briv had freed his pokémon to let it wander around with him. Better out here than in there, he thought to himself as he looked at the tiny pokéball; however, the moment he did so, the Treecko began climbing all over him, avoiding his attempts to grab it with unparalleled quickness and being a general nuisance. "STOP!" Briv screamed, finally managing to grab one of its tails and holding the gecko out in front of him, like a caught fish. The grass-type flailed for a few moments before surrendering and limiting itself to glare at its trainer, which he gladly returned. "You listen now, Goulash. I'm your trainer, and you're my pokémon; neither of us have much experience with this, but from what I've heard you're supposed to do what I say. Is that clear?"

No response.

Briv sighed, holding the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I don't like you and you don't like me, but if we're going to make it through this as quickly as possible and never see each other again, we'll have to cooperate, understand? If we don't, I'll be stuck in Hoenn for the rest of my days and you will be stuck with me. Okay?" For a very long moment, the Treecko gave no reaction, and Briv was already thanking his stars that winter wasn't very cold in this region; it then slowly nodded, much to the surprise of its trainer. "Oh? Oh! Good, that's good!" Briv said, letting his newfound partner down. Goulash regarded him for a brief moment, before climbing up his leg, up his torso and coming to rest on top of his head, an action that almost made Briv fear he hadn't got through to the grass-type at all and that maybe pokémon can't really understand human speech beyond battle orders.

"I, uh, okay. Okay! Let's go!" Briv proclaimed, pointing towards route 101 and marching in its direction. Goulash simply rolled its eyes.

Route 101

The route was very indicative of the general nature of Hoenn when compared to other regions; it was lush and overgrown, with trees looming overhead like arms trying to protect passers-by from the sun's rays. The air was hot but thankfully a stable breeze passed through the forest, keeping its residents cool. Briv took off his hoodie and wrapped it around his waist using its sleeves, wobbling his head in the process, but much to his surprise Goulash didn't even flinch. As he walked and scanned his sorroundings, he took note of a few fainted pokémon with some burnt grass around them. He wasn't an expert, but through careful observation he could conclude that the culprit must have been either a fire-type or an arsonist with a kink for animal cruelty. As he investigated the scene of the crime, a rustling sound caught the attention of his green companion, who turned its head in its direction and hissed at it. "What? What is it?" Briv asked, turning his head to see a small, furry pokémon emerge from the tall grass. Its fur was arranged in a zig-zag pattern of brown and beige, and it twitched around, sniffing and taking baby steps as it stared intently at the two with huge, unblinking eyes.

"Aaaaw! It's adorable!" Briv smiled, reaching a hand for it. "Hey little guy!" he said good naturedly, offering his fingers to it to let it sniff him, like one would do with a dog or a lillipup, if the former didn't exist. Goulash hissed, or dry heaved, or whatever noise the thing it was doing was supposed to be, to try and warn its trainer, but it was too late. The furry mammal took a sniff of his hand and promptly bit it, causing the adolescent to scream in pain as he flailed his hand upwards, catapulting the poor critter into the trees.

"It bit me!" he screamed, tears in his eyes, "That really hurt!" he continued to complain, earning nothing but an eyeroll from the Treecko. "That's it, that thing's going down!" Briv let his anger take control of his mind, and grabbed his surprised pokémon by the midsection, lifting it above his head like a football. "Go get it!" he screamed, launching Goulash in the direction he saw the mammal land. The bushes rustled with activity for a few moments, before falling quiet once more. Briv stood on his tip-toes to try and see what might have happened, but was only rewarded with the sight of his furry opponent leisurely walking out of the undergrowth in his direction. Briv stood completely still as it approached him, paralyzed with fear, and flinched when it touched his leg; much to his surprise however, it didn't go for another bite; rather, it rubbed up against his leg affectionately, like a cat or a skitty. He really needed to stop mentioning animals that may or may not exist, he thought to himself. Carefully, he bent down on one knee and tentatively stroked the beast, a gesture it seemed rather glad to accept. The mammal began making a high-pitched growling noise similar to a purr, and Briv smiled. "You're not so bad after all, are you?" he chuckled, the injured hand already forgotten. Another rustle of leaves caught his attention, and he looked up to come face to face with a very angry-looking Treecko, covered in bruises and with a stare that could have killed small woodland creatures.

Briv smiled sheepishly and gave a nervous chuckle. "Um, sorry about... throwing you..." he tried to apologize, but was rewarded with a lightning-fast slap across the face. "Okay," he said, rubbing his sore cheek, "I deserved tha--" he didn't even finish his sentence before another slap hit him. And another, and another. Goulash kept using quick attack in rapid succession, making sure his trainer would remember this punishment for a very long time.

"Ow, okay, ow, ow, okay, OW, OKAY!" Briv complained, pushing the slapping reptile away. "I get it, fine! I won't throw you next time!" he scowled, and then looked down at the furry pokémon which remained seemingly unaffected by the outburst.
"I should probably try and find out what you are, huh?" he said to it, reaching into his bag and opening up his pokédex. Reaching round the top, he gently pushed the small switch, and the console lit up, automatically beginning to scan the pokémon. Truly, it was a marvel of science; such an amazingly simple machine yet with so much functionality. It would take a real moron not to know how to operate such a thing.

"Zigzagoon," he read aloud, cocking a brow. That's kind of a stupid name, he thought, what, so it's a zig zag racoon? Thanks for nothing. The trainer tried to look up more info about the small creature, but the gadget drew a blank. "Not captured." he muttered to himself, clicking his tongue. After a moment of pondering, his eyes lit up and he reached into his bag once more, grabbing a pokéball and showing it to the Zigzagoon. "What do you say, buddy? Feel like traveling with me?" he asked opening the pokéball, and the furry little thing was enveloped in a flash of red.

The ball shook.