Pokémon Red (Book 3)

A New Beginning

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Chapter - 3
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Brendan arrived in the Hoenn Region along with his mother. For the past two hours he had been sitting in the back of a truck along with his furniture and luggage. The family was moving to Little Root Town as Brendan's father was the new Gym Leader of the Petalburg City.

Little Root Town was a small town in southern Hoenn, it was the town where famous Professor Birch lived and had his laboratory setup.

Brendan was into Pokemon and wanted to become a Pokemon Trainer and now that we was 10, he could set off for his very own Pokemon journey.

The truck stopped and the doors were opened by a Machoke. Brendan had a lot of knowledge in the field of Pokemon. If anyone were to argue him, he would challenge the for a Pokemon quiz and would easily beat them.

He was fascinated when he saw a Machoke, this was the very first time he was seeing one. Although he had the knowledge, Brendan had never seen Pokemon except for the ones that inhabited the Unova Region.

He lived in Accumula Town in the Unova Region. His father used to be a Researcher, but Brendan was sure that he wanted to be a Trainer.

He got off the truck and entered his new home. Without even noticing the ivy and ferns that grew on the crevices of the old winding stone path.

The house was beautiful but Brendan cared more about the interior. He didn't give it a second look and walked inside. The wooden flooring, cream colored walls, polished windows and the best fall ceiling made it the most perfect house he had ever seen.

He instantly ran upstairs to look at his new room, as the Machokes moved the furniture. The room was empty, he couldn't wait to see the readied room when the furniture is placed.

Machoke entered the room and hung a wall clock. The Pokemon smiled at the kid and walked outside. Brendan walked to the circular green wall clock and noticed that it wasn't working.

He frowned and instantly walked downstairs. The living room looked fabulous with the sofas kept in place and the decorations for the welcome party that was supposed to happen in the evening.

"Uh, Mom." Said Brendan, to her mother who was still deciding where the fridge should be placed. Machokes were struggling because of the indecisive woman. "I'm going outside, to look at the town and-"

"Sure, sure." Said Mom, wiping the dirt off the dining table. "Oh, no. I'll have to clean this."

Brendan smiled and walked outside. The town was bigger than he had expected. The road just outside his house had hundreds of houses identical to his.

His eyes searched for something fun, like a restaurant or an arcade or just a couple ten year olds playing football.

He didn't want to go far as he was unfamiliar with the neighborhood. He started to walk back when suddenly he heard a scream.

Brendan looked around, maybe it came from one of the houses or maybe the park behind the houses or maybe it was just inside his head.

"Help!" Now he was sure that it was coming from the park. Brendan ran past the houses and looked around. The park almost looked like a forest with tall trees crowding the place.

A man was sitting on a tree, trying his best to get away from a Pokemon. Brendan got scared when he saw the greyish Pokemon with long sharp teeths. It was something about the color that was terrifying and not the teeth.

The man wore strange clothes, who would wear a white coat with khaki shorts and sandals. He also had a beard which seemed funny to Brendan.

"You there!" Shouted the man. "Could you help me?" The man expected Brendan to help, but Brendan couldn't figure how he was going to do it. He was equally terrified as the man.

"How?" Asked Brendan, hoping for a cool answer like - oh, the Pokemon is harmless or call the police.

"Do you see that bag next to the Poochyena? Take a Pokeball out of the bag and fight it." Said the man, hoping that Brendan would be able to do it. "And be careful, they are very harmful."

Brendan wished that the man hadn't said the last line. He didn't want to know how dangerous the Pokemon was.

The bag was lying next to the Pokemon that had stopped growling and was sitting beneath the branch where the man was sitting, waiting for him to get down.

Brendan walked slowly to the brown bag and picked it up. He looked at the three Pokeballs inside the bag.

The Pokeballs had tags that read Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip. He quickly picked one of the Pokeballs and sent out the Pokemon.

"Alright, Mudkip!" The man cheered. "Mudkip, use Tackle." The Pokemon dashed into the Poochyena.

The Poochyena got up and growled at the Mudkip. You shouldn't have done that - Said the Poochyena as it attacked Mudkip with it's razor sharp claws. Mudkip's body was thick and hard, the scratch did not affect Mudkip.

It's nothing personal, but you shouldn't have attacked that man. He is a good Professor who wants nothing but helping Pokemon like us - Said Mudkip.

You mean Pokemon like you. You are a kind of Pokemon that people want, for god's sake you are a starter Pokemon that people choose every year - Said Poochyena.

But I didn't choose to be this. It means people want me and that you have your freedom, I mean if you want to be with a human then get yourself caught or something - Said Mudkip.

I wish that was possible but people don't want to catch a Poochyena. All they want is strong Pokemon and trust me I can be a lot stronger than this - Said Poochyena. Anyways, it's good talking to someone after so long, see ya around.

Poochyena walked away. Brendan had no idea what happened. The man jumped down from the tree and quickly picked up his bag, calling back the Mudkip.

"Thank you so much, uh..." The man said, waiting for Brendan to tell him his name.

"Um, Brendan." Brendan smiled. "What was that about?"

"Mudkip must've convinced the Poochyena into going away, probably. Are you, by any chance, coming to choose a starter Pokemon tomorrow?" Asked the man.

"Of course. I'm ten now, so I can, and I want to." Brendan was curious what the man had to say, there would obviously be a reason for him to ask such a question.

"We'll meet at my lab then. I'm Birch, I'm the one who's going to give you the starter." He said, wearing his sling bag on his shoulder.

"You're Professor Birch?" Asked Brendan. "I can't believe I'm meeting you, I mean I've just heard about you and your work on Pokemon Habitats in Human World was phenomenal."

"I didn't know your generation read books like that." Said Professor Birch, impressed.

"No, it's actually just me." Brendan smiled. "Good to meet you, I should be heading back home. I have this welcome party."

"Wait, you're Norman's son?"

"Yes. You know my father?" Asked Brendan. "Of course you do, he is the gym leader-"

"And I'll be there tonight at the party." Birch smiled. "See you there, Brendan."

Brendan's first day in the Hoenn Region was going descent according to him, and he couldn't wait for the next day. And now, the only thing in between him and choosing a starter Pokemon was the welcome party.