Pokémon Heroes of Hoenn

Hoenn Headaches

Home... Home is where your heart is.

It's that one place that comes to mind when you get too far away from it. It's the place you recall the scent of to give you a sense of security. Home is the starting point for all of your hopes and dreams. Wherever you go, no matter how far, your journey will always lead you back home in the end. Because home is where you belong.

...

(One year after forty fifth chapter of Heroes of Johto)

I'm Ruby of Goldenrod City in Johto. I was raised in Goldenrod from birth, so any memory I've ever had was in that city. I've never left Goldenrod City before, but I never felt like I needed to. Why leave behind the only thing you've ever known, right?
However, that thought doesn't apply to my parents...
My family is currently moving to Littleroot Town in Hoenn. Not that I want to, but my opinion doesn't count. The only reason we're moving here is because my dad got a job as a Gym Leader here in Petalburgh City. If it weren't for him, I'd still have everything I know and love.... and I wouldn't be sitting in the back of a stupid moving truck surrounded by cardboard boxes.
Suddenly, the truck made an abrupt stop, causing all of the towering boxes to tumble. I yelped, trying to get up from my seat on the floor, only to be knocked flat on my back by the heavy boxes. A few seconds later, I heard the truck's back doors swing open and felt mom's eyes peering through.
"Goodness, Ruby! What did you do back here?!" mom gasped in shock. I groaned in both annoyance and pain in response.
I hate this place already.
The moving company lent us some of their Machoke to help with the move, so my room, for the most part, was already set up. But this... this isn't my real home. It's the exact opposite of home. Goldenrod was a large, bustling city with plenty of noisy neighbors and trains and such. Littleroot Town is small and quiet, with nothing but the wind in the trees to listen to. I threw myself onto my bed and groaned in frustration.
"I hate this town... Why did we have to move..." I muttered bitterly to myself.
"Ruby! Go introduce yourself to the neighbors! I already told them you'd be coming over!" mom called up the stairs.
I rolled my eyes to myself, pushing myself up and straightening my hat. I knew it was pointless to argue with her, so I didn't bother trying to object.
"Fine!!" I yelled back, dragging myself out of my room and down the stairs. I shot a glare at mom while she wasn't
looking and stormed over to the next door neighbor's house. I took a deep breath as I reached their doorstep. I knew I should at least appear to be calm, even if I was just about ready to flip a table and blow a fuse. I softly knocked on the door, a woman about the same age as mom answering quickly.
Too quickly if you ask me...
"Oh, you must be Ruby! Come in, come in! My daughter's upstairs in her room!" the woman exclaimed cheerfully, practically shoving me into her home and up the stairs.
"Are you trying to hook me up with your daughter?" I asked nonchalantly, keeping a straight face as I was forced up the stairs.
"That's her room right there. You two get along now!" the energetic parent called as she rushed back down the stairs. I sighed roughly, rolling my eyes once again as I twisted the door knob.
"Hey, I'm supposed to intro-" I started only to be instantly interrupted.
"Mudkip, Water Gun!" the brunette girl commanded as I poked through the door. The spray of water splashed me directly in the face, catching me off guard and causing me to choke. I coughed desperately, falling back against the door as I gasped for air. "Oh, I'm so sorry!! Are you alright?" the girl asked, falling to her knees beside me.
"Of course not, you idiot! You just attacked me!!" I croaked out, holding my hand to my throat in an attempt to sooth it.
"I didn't mean to, I was trying to hit those targets above the door. My Mudkip has a really bad aim, so that's why it hit you by accident." the girl explained softly.
"Oh, well that makes everything just peachy now, doesn't it?!" I asked sarcastically, shooting the girl a glare.
"Sure! Anyways, nice to meet ya! I'm Sapphire, and this is my partner, Mudkip. So, what's your name?" She asked enthusiastically. I groaned. She clearly didn't see that I was in a foul mood.
"Ruby..." I muttered bitterly.
"Nice to meet ya, Ruby! Let's be friends!" Sapphire said cheerfully.
"What? No!! No, no, you don't just tell someone to be friends with you! That's not how that works!" I snapped at her.
"Oh, okay. Would you like to be friends, Ruby?" Sapphire asked with the same cheerful tone and grin.
"That's not what I meant!!" I yelled, my eyebrows furrowing in irritation.
"But I changed it to a question." she stated simply.
"That doesn't make it better!!" I hissed.
"How would you like me to say it then?" Sapphire asked calmly, unaffected by my words and body language. I groaned, getting to my feet and dusting myself down.
"I can't take this anymore... I'm going for a walk." I muttered, beginning to drag myself back outside. I stormed about angrily for a while when I soon realized that Sapphire had followed me to the outskirts of town, adding on to my irritation. I whipped around, glaring dead into her sapphire blue eyes. "What do you want from me?!" I snapped.
"You don't have any Pokémon on you. I thought it'd be a good idea for Mudkip and I to stay with you so you don't get hurt by a wild Pokémon."
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much! I don't need your-"
"HEEEEEEEEELP!!" a voice cried out in the distance, unintentionally finishing my sentence.
"What is it now?" I groaned, sprinting off in the direction I heard the voice come from. I noticed a man wearing a blue shirt and a long white lab coat on the ground, backing away from a snarling Poochyena. "You must be joking." I muttered under my breath.
"Y-You there! Please, help me! In my bag, there's some Pokéballs! Hurry!" the man called out. It felt like some sort of instinct kicked in as I sprinted to the messenger bag and pulled out a Pokéball, throwing it towards the angered Dark type. A little orange and yellow Pokémon jumped out at it and waited for my command.
"That's a Torchic! Tell it to use Ember!" the man called.
"Uh, okay. Torchic, Ember!" I ordered. Torchic sprung up and shot little fire balls at the Poochyena. I felt a rush course through me, pushing me forward as the man called another move to me. "Use Scratch!!" I commanded with more enthusiasm than before. Torchic used its talons to scratch at the wild Poochyena, causing it to shiver in pain. Taking this as a chance, I tossed a Pokéball I happened to have on me at it, easily capturing it. I picked up the Pokéball from the grass, staring at it intently as I realized that was my first ever capture.
"Whoa..... you saved me...... thank you." the man said breathlessly, panting hard as he sat up.
"Yeah, sure." I murmured, placing Poochyena's Pokéball on my belt.
"Dad! Hey, dad! Are you okay?" Sapphire called, sprinting towards us.
"Yes, just fine, thanks to this young fellow." the man stated cheerfully.
"Oh? Ruby! You ran off so fast I got a little lost trying to keep up! Thanks for saving my dad!" Sapphire exclaimed with a cheerful grin.
"Yeah, yeah- wait, that's your- you're her father?!" I asked loudly, shocked to hear of their relationship.
"Why yes, and you must be Ruby! You're the son of my friend, Norman, aren't you? I'm Professor Birch, pleasure to meet you!" Professor Birch exclaimed joyously.
"Yeah, nice to meet you, too." I murmured.
"Well Ruby, since that Torchic there was the first Pokémon you battled with, why don't you take it with you? As a gift of my thanks, I'm leaving it in your care." Professor Birch stated softly.
"Are you sure? I don't want to just take it." I muttered. It's not that I actually cared, I was just trying to seem polite for some reason.
"Yes, indeed! You seem to have great potential as a trainer, Ruby. In fact, here, take this Pokédex. This will let anyone know that I have recognized your skills as a trainer."
"My skills... as a trainer?" I murmured, taking the bright red Pokédex from his hand as I pondered this.
That's right, I have not one, but two Pokémon in my possession now. That makes me a trainer for sure. I went from a regular eleven year old kid to a trainer in a matter of seconds. Things sure do change fast...
"Now you have a Pokédex just like me! Isn't that great? Mine is blue." Sapphire stated cheerfully. I ignored her as I heard a rustle in a nearby tree and whipped around to see what it was. My eyes locked on a certain tree as the rustling became visible in its branches. Within seconds, a black blur slammed into me, knocking me to the ground without a warning.
"Whoops, sorry! Didn't see ya there." someone said with a light chuckle, presumably talking to me. I groaned in response, forcing myself to sit up. I glanced around, spotting a girl with long raven hair and emerald green eyes smiling down at me.
"What was that for?!" I snapped, glaring up at her.
"I was practicing my patrolling routine when I heard Sapphire and the Prof. and thought I'd stop buy and say hello. I didn't know that you were here too." the girl stated simply.
"Patrolling? Patrolling what?! You're not a cop!" I snapped back.
"No, but I am a Pokémon Ranger! Or, I'm training to be one, that is. It's my job is to protect both captured and wild Pokémon from poachers and anything that can harm them. So naturally I'd need a good view of my surroundings to do that." she paused for a moment, smiling softly at me before continuing, "But hey, I'm really sorry about knocking into you like that." she stated genuinely.
"Fine, whatever." I sighed out.
"Oh Ruby, let me introduce you! This is my long time friend from Oldale Town, Emerald. Emerald, this is Ruby. He just moved in to Littleroot Town today." Sapphire introduced cheerfully as I rose to my feet.
"Oh, so you're not from around here, eh? That explains a lot. He doesn't look native to Hoenn. Where are ya from, Ruby?" Emerald asked casually.
"I'm from Johto.” I muttered, trying to find an opening to leave.
“Wow, a Johto boy. I don't think I've met someone from Johto before. Then again, nobody really passes through this area.” Emerald commented.
“Yeah, I can see why…” I muttered under my breath, turning to the Professor as I spoke. “Professor Birch, right? Thanks for the Pokémon and the Pokédex. I'm gonna go rest my eyes. The stupidity is starting to get to me." I stated bluntly, turning to head back to my fake home.
"Oh, you got a Pokémon and Pokédex too? Cool, he's one of us now, Sapphire!" Emerald exclaimed cheerfully. I flinched at the mention of me being 'one of them.' As if, I would never be anything like those idiots. I stormed off into this so-called home of mine, avoiding mom and throwing myself onto my bed.
I can't take all this stupidity anymore.
I began to grow drowsy soon enough, trying to forget about all of the stress that was building inside me.
I took off Torchic's and Poochyena's Pokéballs from my belt and tossed them onto my nightstand, placing the Pokédex between them.  
Like my neighbors in Johto used to tell me when I was down;

Tomorrow's a new day.