Route 101.
The most calming and friendly route in the entirety of the Hoenn region. It is very popular with beginner trainers who want to increase their experience with their Pokemon, as well as the residents of Littleroot, who would go there often for just a relaxing walk through the plains. But, Lucas and Harry weren't here for a relaxing walk, or to train their Pokemon. They were there to get their first Pokemon. They both ran through the plains of Route 101 at top speed and looked around for any sign of a lab coat, or just any Pokemon really. It was quiet for it being midday and nothing seemed to be moving at all. Everything seemed tranquil and relaxing, with the only sound being the rustling of the leaves under the calm breeze. Lucas asked Harry,
"You see anything?"
"Nah, other than a couple of Taillows.", Harry said, pointing to a couple of Taillows nesting in a tall tree. Lucas smiled and flung his bag onto the floor, opening the small compartment at the front which housed both his Pokemon Center Pass and an opened pack of Sitrus Berries. Lucas took a couple in his left hand and threw them up into the nest, the two Taillow in the nest being able to catch them in their beak and swallow them whole. Lucas grinned as the Taillow chowed down on it like the best meal of their life. Harry then looked at Lucas, with a slightly bored expression on his face, and asked,
"You done?"
"Yeah, I am.", Lucas replied, snapping out of his slight daze. He pushed himself from the floor, grabbing his bag. Harry helped to zip up the back compartment, and then told Lucas,
"Right, let's get going."
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Five minutes of running around the fields of Route 101 had yielded nothing in terms of being able to find the professor or the starter Pokemon they were promised. Only course throats from all the screaming and shouting they did, trying to find their Pokemon.
"Professor Birch!"
"Brendan!"
"Random girl I don't know!"
They looked around long after their voices were starting to go from all the shouting, searching through every nook and cranny of the Route. Or, at least, anywhere that seemed vaguely familiar to them. They found a couple of stray items along the way, a small and damaged Great Ball and a strange-looking potion that seemed not to heal Pokemon's health, but to revitalize their energy to fight. Lucas hadn't seen anything like it before but kept it close to him in case it ever proved handy. But, after a while of not even finding anything, people or Pokemon, Lucas began to tire out. He collapsed onto a plain of grass, sighing as he laid back, basking in the sun's warmth.
"Do you think Brendan's already back at the lab waiting for us?", he asked, looking up at Harry, who was still scouting out the area ahead of them, trying to find some sort of people or Pokemon. Then, he looked back at Lucas and responded,
"I don't think so. We would've passed him by now, and besides, exploring here will give us more opportunity when we do get our Pokemon."
"Are you sure? I think we should just go back to the-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A course scream suddenly came from the left of where Harry stood and Lucas lay. Lucas jumped up at the speed of sound and thought the voice that screamed out was familiar. Then, something strange hit Lucas. He felt like he could hear Brendan's voice and the ruffling of the grass beneath a Pokemon's paw. Then, he broke from the trance and looked over to the area where the scream had come from. They were on a perch at the highest point of the route, so they had a pretty good view over the plain. Through the grass, he could see movement. Instinctively, he knew that was where they needed to be. Through some feeling deep down inside of him.
"It's Brendan. And he has our Pokemon."
"How do you know that?"
"Gut feeling?", Lucas said, not being entirely sure of how he knew that the starters were there with Brendan. Harry then raised one eyebrow and said,
"Well, even if it's not Brendan, that person sounded like they were in trouble. Let's go."
And with that word, Lucas sped off in the direction of the scream, with Harry following closely behind but not able to output the same speed that Lucas had. Lucas leapt over a slant, his feet skating against the dry earth then tumbling onto the grass below, landing into a quick roll. Then, he leapt again into the air, turning and flicking off a pose before landing again on the ground, once again tumbling and going for a roll into a jump. But, he rolled a little too far, and landed in a heap at the bottom of the slant, groaning silently as Harry landed on the floor on his feet, smugly looking down at Lucas. Lucas pouted and said,
"500 Pokedollars to not tell anyone about that?"
"1000 and we have a deal.", Harry said with a smirk as Lucas slapped a 1000 bill into his hand, followed by 500 from earlier for not picking Torchic. Lucas then started running again, saying to Harry,
"Now come on!"
They jumped past brambles and thorny bushes, ducking and weaving through to avoid getting stinged. Then, they re-emerged on the otherside of the bush, in the scene of what appeared to be a fierce battle. But, what caught Lucas' attention was not the Pokemon fighting in the battle. Rather, it was the Professor, clenching his leg, desperately trying to hold in any cries of agony. The leg spilled crimson all over the green grass, staining it a pure red, dripping from the strands of grass onto the Earth below. And, as Lucas looked closer, it looked to be off a bite, where fierce fangs of flames had left their mark. Literally. Brendan's skin was charred around the edges of the wound. To the side was the other girl that was supposed to be choosing her starter. Except, she seemed to have already picked Mudkip and was now leading it into battle. Although, she seemed rather nervous about getting too close into the battle, fearing that Mudkip would get caught with a nasty injury just like Brendan did.
"Water Gun!", the girl called out anxiously, Mudkip shooting a stream of water towards an oddly coloured Poochyena, bearing bloody jaws. The girl had light blonde hair, a red sweater that looked hand-knit, grey leggings and black boots. Mudkip tried attacking but found Poochyena dodging and weaving around the stream, closing the gap with a ferocious look in its eyes as it approached Mudkip.
"G-Get out of there!"
Mudkip attempted to jump back, only to get pounced on by Poochyena, knocking the Water type straight back into Ellie's arms. She skidded on her boots, then tripped over a bag that lay behind her. Then, she quickly looked around for any people that could help. That's when Lucas saw her pale face and emerald eyes, and finally asked,
"What in Arceus' name is happening?"
"Can't explain. Just help!"
Both Harry and Lucas both rushed over to the brown bag that lay beside Ellie. Lucas got there first, scouring through the bag. Then, he looked at one of the Pokeballs and found a name branded onto the Pokeball. Lucas's face lit up and he exclaimed,
"A Torchic!"
"Yes, one of the starters. Now get over here and help!", the girl shouted, calling out yet another command for Mudkip, telling it to tackle the off-colour Poochyena. Harry then ran up behind Lucas and asked,
"Is there anything else in there?"
Lucas scoured through the bag of chewed pens and notebooks and found a Great Ball marked in pen with the name Treeko. Lucas tossed it to Harry and said,
"Let's have our first battle."
Both lined up by the girl and released their Pokemon out into the world. Torchic popped out with a bright glow from its fiery heart, being pumped up and ready for battle. Treeko was then released from its Pokeball and immediately took to hiding inside the tall grass, looking to get a sneak attack on its opponent. Harry said to Treeko quickly and discretely,
"Get behind the Poochyena and attack it from behind. The others will distract while you sneak up."
Treeko nodded and slithered away into the tall grass. The girl called back Mudkip from where it could get hurt, right in front of her. Carefully, she patted it on the head. Then, she turned to Lucas, took a deep breath, and said,
"I'll stay back and fire off Water Pulses, while you rush in to do some real damage. Sound like a plan?"
"Let's do it. Torchic, run up and hit it with a Scratch!"
Torchic bounced up into the air and sped off through the tall grass with explosive speed, bouncing up and down through the cover and out into the air. Then, with a battle cry, it jumped down on Poochyena with its claws bared. The move was obvious though, and the Poochyena easily sidestepped it. Torchic should've been hit hard for what was a pretty obvious attack, but a Water Pulse from Mudkip saved it from punishment.
"Thanks for the assist."
"No problem.", she responded with a smile, to which Lucas responded with his own, before turning back to the battle with confidence in his voice.
"Now, use Ember!"
The Poochyena then was helpless as a ran of smouldering coals rained upon it, burning its fur and claws. It got up again, ready to attack with its fangs combusting into flame.
"Now!", Harry suddenly exclaimed, and Treecko leapt out of the grass at Poochyena, striking it with a straight hit to the side, knocking Poochyena over. Then, it wound its limbs around Poochyena, holding it in a tight lock from which it couldn't even try to move.
Lucas looked to Harry and held out a fist bump, to which Harry gladly took. Then, Ellie weakly added her own fist bump to the pile. Brendan smiled at the three young trainers and threw a curved Pokeball at the Poochyena, the ball landing perfectly on the Poochyena's head and a red light emerged from the ball and trapped it inside. The ball dropped from Treeko's hand and rolled once on the ground. Then twice. Then a third time before the cap turned red and an audible pop sound came out of the Pokeball. Brendan smiled and attempted to get up, and succeeded barely. He limped over to the Pokeball, much to the horror of the girl who immediately ran over and said,
"What are you doing?"
"Ellie, I'm fine, trust me."
"Just settle down for a second, that injury to your leg is serious!", Ellie said, unloading a first aid kit from her backpack and spraying the leg with a Potion normally meant for Pokemon. Yet it still did absolute wonders on normal injuries. She then wound some bandages around his leg and asked,
"Is it any better?"
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt as much now. Thank you."
"Well, I think there are some other people you should thank as well.", Ellie said, turning around to Lucas and Harry, who were both standing beside their partner Pokemon and playing with their Pokemon. But, Brendan looking at them caught their attention and Lucas said,
"It's the least we could do."
Brendan chuckled and stood up from the floor, limping slightly as he walked over to his brown duffel bag. He then said to all of them,
"Right, in here are a Pokedex each and 5 Pokeballs. You should be able to add a Pokedex app to your phone as well from there if you'd prefer that.", Brendan said, tossing the two Pokedexs to Harry and Lucas respectively. Lucas's eyes sparkled as he booted up his Pokedex for the first time, basking in the glory of Pokedex's more retro design. After all, it was a modded version of the Game Boy Advance that had slowly been upgraded over time with every new model. But, they never did change the design. They can't fix what isn't broken. Then, Lucas looked up at Brendan and asked,
"Are you going to be okay to go back to the lab?"
"I'll be able to help him get back to the lab.", Ellie said, picking up his duffel bag for Brendan. But, Brendan shook his head and said,
"No, I'll be fine to walk back to your lab."
"But your leg!"
"I'll be fine, Ellie, you worry too much. I'm fine to go back to lab by myself."
Ellie wanted to say something to try and make it so she could help him get back to the lab, but she knew that nothing she'd say would be able to change her mind. So, she just responded,
"Ok. I'll call you when I get to Oldale Town."
Brendan smiled and walked away, back into Littleroot Town to inspect the shiny Pokemon he had just caught. Harry then looked at Lucas and Ellie and said,
"Well, now that I've got my Pokemon, I'm going to train it up so it can take on the first gym. See you in the next town."
And with those words, Harry quickly returned Treeko to its Pokeball and sped off from the worn plains, and left Lucas and Ellie alone. Lucas then smiled and asked Ellie, who was now standing beside him,
"So, what are you planning to do now?"
"Well, I was hoping to find a second member to add to my party. You?"
"I was thinking of doing the same thing."
Then, what his mom had said just before he left his house rang through Lucas's head. He had seen the injuries that were caused by even a small Poochyena and wasn't entirely sure if just his Torchic alone would be able to handle a large swarm of Pokemon just as aggressive as a Poochyena. But, if they had two people, he could at least have a chance of making it out without any sort of injuries and so, he turned to Ellie and asked,
"Hey, would you want to travel together?"
"E-Excuse me?", Ellie timidly asked, unsure of whether what she heard was truly what he said. Lucas looked slightly confused, fidgeting slightly as he said,
"Well, I just figured if we had the same goals, why not travel together? If that's okay with you?"
"Oh, of course! I wasn't anticipating having company, but it'll be nice to go through for a little bit with someone else."
"Sound great with me then! Come on, Torchic!", Lucas called back to his partner, the Chick Pokemon dashing across the plains and leaping into the air, landing smoothly onto Lucas' shoulder with a smirk. Mudkip leapt to its partner's side as well, nuzzling against Ellie's leg. She smiled and petted it lightly. Then, the trainers stood beside each other, with a one way trip into their first route. The first stepping stones of what would be a lengthy adventure together...