Chapter Text
A stone tablet.
Strange markings in a cave.
An abundance of Relicanth and Wailord, all seemingly heading towards Route 134.
Sandstorms, pelting Route 111.
Hail, driving rain, and the ocean freezing over on Route 105.
Weird magnetic fields messing with bikes, phones, and basically any electronic communication, on Route 120.
An ancient creature in a faraway region, awakening from its slumber.
3 pokeballs, tucked away inside a well-loved satchel, oblivious to the hatred of the occupants inside.
The crumpled form of a young man, clutching his well-loved satchel to his chest, as 6 eyes of red, green, and grey stare down at him through the darkness.
And another young man, driven utterly mad with grief, takes the role of a champion.
The end has begun.
---- Two Weeks Later ----
“And now, the latest news from your favourite Hoenn Radio Show… Pokemon Talk! I’m Michael, your host, and oh boy, do we have a show for you today! Strange weather, abundances of rare water types, league reshuffles, the ongoing search for- -and much, much more! But first, here’s- -with the weat-”
“ARGH! Stupid radio thing! Why! Won’t! You! Work?!”
CRASH!
Meet May, the protagonist of our story.
May is not your average 10-year-old.
Firstly, her father is Norman Price, the newest Hoenn Gym Leader.
He may not officially be the strongest trainer in the region, but if you were to ask for May’s personal opinion, she’d tell you that it’s gotta be pretty hard to beat her dad in terms of strength.
Secondly, she’s just [attempted to] throw the radio across her bedroom, which, May feels, was a thing that not many other 10-year-olds do.
And thirdly…
She’s stuck in her stupidly empty bedroom in the stupidly empty new house because of all this stupid awful weather!!!
She was meant to have set off on her journey two weeks ago, but nOoOoOo, it’s “tOo DaNgErOuS” and “I dOn’T wAnT yOu GeTtInG hUrT”, and “Look May, things are a bit tricky right now, and I don’t think the gyms are even open right now, what with all the league reshuffles… So please just stay at home?”
It’s a little bit of rain!
Rain has never hurt anyone. Ever. It’s just water, and what has water ever done to hurt anyone…
Ok, maybe it’s a little more than just rain.
The hail and sandstorm were not fun.
And that weird magnetic storm did wipe out the TV…
But still!
May doesn’t understand why her parents are so dramatic sometimes.
“-nd we’re back!”
Oh, the radio’s back on.
Kinda surprising that it’s still working after she threw it across the room, to be completely honest…
Must be a strong radio then, huh.
“Thank you, Ty, for that weather report, and now, onto the recent news! First up, the abundance of rare water types! Huge quantities of Relicanth and Wailord have been spotted on Route 134, ever since this strange weather started 2 weeks ago! Trainers, this may be your chance to catch yourself a rare Pokémon, so gather your electric and grass types and head down to Route 134!”
May sighs, and stares out the window. There’s no way she’d be allowed to go catch a Pokémon, not even if it were super rare…
Bang!
May jumps as a rock crashes against her window.
She scowls, and fully intends to yell at whoever threw the rock at her window, but stops when she sees her new neighbour, Brendan, waving up at her.
“MAY! MAY! DAD SAID HE’LL GIVE US A POKEMON! YOU’VE GOT TO COME OVER RIGHT NOW! C’MON, C’MON!”
A Pokémon? For HER? Hell yeah!
She runs downstairs, past her mother, who barely spares a glance in her direction, and out of the front door.
Ten seconds later, a significantly more drippy May sulks back inside and stomps upstairs.
Five minutes pass.
May comes back downstairs, much drier now, this time equipped with a raincoat, backpack, and… Swimming googles?!
Her mother, who is STILL NOT PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO MAY, looks up as the door closes, shrugs, and goes back to her knitting.
Meanwhile, outside, May is immediately buffeted by a very strong gust of wind, as she makes the mad dash across the street to Professor Birch’s Lab.
Inside the lab, there are way more scientists than usual, but May ignores all of them, and makes a beeline for Brendan, who waves at her from where he’s standing with his Father.
“MAY! Look at my new Pokémon! He’s so cute!”
He takes out a pokeball with a fresh ‘Property of Brendan Birch’ sticker slapped across it, and out comes… a small, little blue thing.
May stares at it.
“It’s… so… CUTE! What Pokémon is it? What’s he called? Tell me everything!!!”
“It’s a Mudkip! Apparently, they’re quite rare, so it’s super cool! He’s called Splashy, because he’s a water type, and I love him!!!!”
May is about to start squealing with delight over how cute Splashy the Mudkip is, but (thankfully) the Professor cuts in before the Lab can be filled with the sound of pre-pubescent screeching.
“I’m glad you’re excited over the Mudkip, May, but would you like to pick your own Pokémon now?”
May’s eyes go wide.
Her very own Pokémon?!
“You… You mean it, Professor?”
Father had let her cuddle Slakoth and Slaking before, but never had she ever actually had one of her own!
“Of course! If I’m giving a Pokémon to my son, I have to give one to his best friend as well! Now then, you can choose either Treeko or Torchic, so pick whichever you like!”
The two Pokémon come out of the pokeballs, and May gives them a look over.
Torchic is a small, chick-like Pokémon, and May is pretty sure it must be a fire type.
And Treeko is… Blue? Huh. May’s at least heard of a Treeko before, and she’s sure that it’s a Grass type, but, if that’s the case… Why is it blue?
Anyway, that’s not important.
Treeko or Torchic?
Torchic or Treeko?
Torchic is cuter, but…
OH! The rare water types that have been everywhere on the news for the last 2 weeks!
If she picks Torchic, then she’ll do terribly against them…
But if she picks Treeko… She might actually have a chance of getting a rare Pokémon!
So… There’s only one clear answer here!
“I choose Treeko! I choose Treeko! But… Professor… If it’s a grass type… Why’s it blue?”
Brendan nods along with her.
“I was wondering that too, Dad… Why is it blue?”
“Well, funny you should ask that. This Treeko here is a rare variant that is known as a shiny! It’s just a difference of colouration, as far as we are aware, but there have been rumours of Pokémon with the same base ancestor but who have split into different forms depending on region-”
“OK, Dad, we get it! Now, May… What are you gonna call your Treeko?”
May looks down at Treeko.
Treeko looks up at May.
She knows exactly what she’s gonna call it.
“His name will be… Shiny!”
A sigh can be heard from the very quiet room.
Brendan claps.
“That’s a great name!!!”
The two look down at their Pokémon for a moment, then together turn to look at the professor.
“Professor-”
“Dad-”
“What-”
“Are-”
“We-”
“Meant-”
“To-”
“Do-”
“Now?”
“Now?”
“Jinx! HAHA!”
Scowling, Brendan crosses his arms and glares at May, trying to convey his displeasure at being jinxed via eyes alone.
Professor Birch sighs.
He’d been doing that quite a lot, huh.
May wonders why.
“How would you two like to go on a trainer journey round the region? I’ve just had these new Pokedexes sent over, and I need some help in filling them out… If only I had two intrepid trainers with new Pokémon who could help me…”
“Ooh! Ooh! We’ll do it!”
“How could I have guessed you’d say that…”
May stares down at the Pokedex.
She’s finally going on her trainer journey…
Look out Hoenn, May is on her way!
“C’mon, Brendan! We’re off to Oldale Town!”
“Ha, you unjinxed me!”
“Aw, DANGIT!”