Pokémon Journey: Hoenn

Chapter 2: A New Start

Littleroot Town, Hoenn

9:38am, 1st April 2006

With the sun shining gently down from the sky, providing the perfect counter to the crisp morning air, you might say that this was the perfect morning to set off on a new adventure. And, despite the fact it was still early, Littleroot Town was already alive with activity.

Today was 1st April, the day on which the league season officially began across most regions and the day when most new trainers received their first pokémon. There was a buzz of anticipation hanging over the town for that very reason. Already, a small number of starting trainers had gathered outside the lab of Professor Birch, a pokémon expert native to Littleroot. They still had twenty minutes before the lab opened. To kill time, they talked excitedly amongst themselves about which starter they were going to choose, which gym they were going to challenge first, and their dreams of winning the Hoenn League.

They were so ensconced in their conversations that they scarcely noticed the arrival of another ten-year-old girl, but that suited her. She leant back on the wall, close enough to the others that she didn't stand out, yet far enough away to avoid catching their attention. She awkwardly fiddled with the end of her side-ponytail before absentmindedly running her hand through the rest of her long, brown hair. Her green eyes flicked between the other beginner trainers and the road, already waiting impatiently for the professor's arrival. She shivered slightly as she waited. It wasn't a particularly cold day, but it was still only spring.

"Oh? You're all here early!"

The beginning trainers all looked around to see a middle-aged man with short, messy brown hair and a noticeable stubble walking up the road towards them. His white lab coat made him instantly recognisable, even if the black T-shirt, dark green shorts and sandals he wore beneath it seemed out of place. He carried a brown bag slung over his shoulder.

"Professor Birch!" one of the others called, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "We've been waiting for ages!"

"Impatient as ever, aren't we, Corey?" The professor grinned cheerfully at them as he reached the gate and walked up the path to the front door. "The lab doesn't open until ten."

"It was supposed to open at nine," Corey sighed, shaking his head. "I can't believe you'd go off and do field work on a day as important as this."

"Sorry!" Birch grinned guiltily. He unlocked the door and opened it. "Since almost everyone is here, why don't you come inside?"

The beginning trainers trooped inside after him, Corey leading the way. The interior of the lab was dark and quiet at this time in the morning. Though the professor had some assistants, they wouldn't arrive until later in the day. The countless, impressive-looking machines in the rooms they passed lay silent and inactive. Almost everywhere, books and sheets of paper lay strewn across desks and, occasionally, the floor. Professor Birch's lab in Littleroot Town wasn't the tidiest place in the world.

Reaching an open room with a number of old, worn-out sofas and a low table which was, miraculously, clear of books and papers, Birch gestured for them to sit. He offered to make them drinks, which they politely declined. Then he set about organising something in the next room. The trainers were hoping that it involved preparing their pokémon and Pokédexes, but it seemed more like he was trying to drag things out until ten.

"Professor! It's time!" Corey called the instant the clock struck ten.
"Right you are!" Birch reappeared carrying a tattered cardboard box containing a pile of poké balls. Putting it down next to the table, he laid out three picture for them to look at: their three choices for their first partner.

The first one was a green, gecko-like creature with yellow eyes and nimble limbs. 'Treecko' announced the caption beneath the picture, before listing more specific information. The picture in the middle was of a small chick with orange feathers and small, down-covered wings beneath its large head. 'Torchic', a fire type. The final picture was of a blue, quadrupedal pokémon with a large fin on its head and a sturdy-looking tail. This one was 'Mudkip'.