justgotta.myfastforum.org

Son_of_Shadows · Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2009 Posts: 3 Location: BEHIND YOU!

Yep, my fanfic debuts on the Just Gotta forums. Loved, but ignored on Serebii, maybe I can gather a larger following here. It starts shaky, but, I feel, gets much better as we go along. So then, without further ado...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its registered trademarks. Just my OCs.

Things to note:
This takes place ten years after the events of Emerald.
Blaze was originally supposed to be male.
If I put something in italics, it's a thought of a character.
I don't intend to have the Pokemon talk in this, but, if I get enough requests for it, fine, I will. That said, most Psychic Pokemon will use telepathy to speak. That'll be in italics, but I'll be sure to distinguish that.

--------

Chapter One: The “Dynamic” Duos

The alarm clock buzzed loudly as the sun rose over Littleroot Town. They called it a town, but it was barely a village, really. Joshua Colquhoun groaned loudly, rolled over in his bed, and slammed his hand on the snooze button, quickly falling back to sleep. “Ten more minutes...” he mumbled sleepily.

---

Across “town”, Victoria Coome was already dressed. She had been for an hour or so. Today, she and Radar, her ever-faithful Mudkip were going out to do some fieldwork on Route 103. She finished checking her satchel, full of items and research equipment for the twelfth time, and tied her long hair, half dark brown, half fair, into a ponytail. If she didn't, it fell down to her waist, which was quite inconvenient for fieldwork. She checked herself in the mirror. Looking good, she thought to herself. She had soft brown eyes that were almost chocolatey. Her facial features were pleasant, pale skin that glimmered in the moonlight. She wore light blue jeans, a white cotton polo shirt, and medium-length brown leather jacket, which she tied at her midriff with a matching belt. Nice, she thought. All in all, she looked pretty good. Attractive, even. Radar chirped at her cutely. He was either agreeing, or telling her to get a move on. The girl, of a slim build, and medium height, that made her look almost weak, turned to him and grinned. She loved the little Mudkip. He'd been her faithful partner for about a month now, and they were already inseparable.

“I know, I know, time to go.” Victoria shook her head at the small blue Pokémon and led the way downstairs, and out the door, heading north to Route 103.

---

A full forty-five minutes later, Joshua pulled himself out of bed. Dressed in only black boxers, he shivered, and pulled on his grey dressing gown, before heading downstairs. His mother greeted him, before throwing a rucksack at him, knocking the boy off his feet. It was heavy. He barely had time to stand up before she threw some new clothes at him, suitable for travelling. Tough black jeans, white trainers, a dark blue denim shirt, and black T-shirt. He was leaving today, on a journey, but his mother didn't exactly... approve. She refused to speak to him that morning at all. Joshua shook his head, giving up on his mother, and returned upstairs to change. He put on the clothes, finding them soft, and comfortable. Perfect for travelling. A tall, slim 16-year old, with short black hair, and deep blue eyes, he cut quite a striking figure, not least because of his acne. It was... pretty bad. He'd been applying cream every day for a year, and theorized that travelling around Hoenn, camping out in the fresh air, might do his skin some good. Besides... it'd also get him away from her, or, as he affectionately referred to her, “The Creature”, for a little while. See the world, clear up my skin, and get away from someone I can't stand. I should have done this years ago! He chuckled. This would be fun.

Eventually, Joshua headed for the local Pokémon laboratory. Professor Birch, and his daughter had left some years ago for a new region, Kanto, to be specific, to work alongside the great Professor Oak. Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader, and his son Brendan (or was it Brandon... Joshua could never remember which), a Pokémon Champion, had been hit pretty hard by it. Not that this really mattered to Joshua. The new professor was quite a kind fellow, but his daughter... Joshua couldn't stand the sight of her. He positively loathed her. Entering the lab, he called out, “He-ey, Professor!” Unfortunately, the professor was absent, according to one of his assistants, he was out on fieldwork on Route 101.

“Ergo, he isn't here,” the small, pale, nerdy, bespectacled assistant finished. Joshua had never met him before, but he already hated him.

“Say “ergo” again, I'll rip your throat out,” threatened Joshua, before leaving. The word “ergo” irritated him like no other. It was a word she used often. Bugger. I need to get my starter from that guy... I guess I'll head out to Route 101. He sighed, and headed north.

Route 101 linked Littleroot and Oldale Town. Home to many Zigzagoon and Poochyena, it was generally quite a peaceful place. Today however...

“HEEEEELP MEEE!!!!” That was the professor, being attacked by a Zigzagoon. You could hear the call a mile off. Joshua, fortunately for the professor, was not a mile away. He was about one hundred metres off.

“Hero time.” Joshua hummed heroic music as he sprinted towards the professor. “Professor Coome, are you alright?!” he called, reaching him.

“Joshua! Thank God! In my bag! There are two Pokéballs; use one of them to save me!” Professor Coome replied, running past. It was now that Joshua noticed the brown satchel, lying near a tree. Unopposed to rifling through people's things, he rummaged around until his hand touched a cold metal sphere. Bingo. He drew it from the bag, and pressed a button in the centre, maximising it. However, Zigzagoon now noticed him, and charged for him. As such, Joshua did what any sane, rational person would do. He screamed like a little girl, and threw the orb as hard as he could. A small chick, with orange feathers popped out, and ruffled said feathers. Torchic. She cheeped.

“Uh, use Scratch, Torchic,” he ordered. He may have been a complete noob when it came to battling, but, he'd seen a couple of “How to” programmes. The Chick Pokémon darted forward, and slashed at Zigzagoon with her talons. The small creature reeled backwards and came charging forward again. This time, Joshua ordered Torchic to jump over Zigzagoon, and scratch its back from the air. This went half to plan. Torchic jumped, dodging the Tackle, but landed on the creature, rather than scratching from the air. Torchic grinned, and rode Zigzagoon bronco-style into a tree. It collapsed, unconscious. Professor Coome approached Joshua. He was a small man, with grey hair, and brown eyes. He was in his mid-forties, Joshua guessed.

“Phew, that was close. Thanks, kid.”

“No problem. You forget I was coming today?”

“Um...” The professor hesitated, dropping his glance. Joshua sighed. For his considerable intelligence, the professor was surprisingly forgetful. “Well, no matter. Come, let's go back to the lab.” The professor draped a casual arm around Joshua, and the two headed back to the lab.

---

“You know, I saw that you and Torchic have a strong bond. How'd you like to keep her as your starter Pokémon?” asked the professor, once they were safely back in the lab.

Joshua looked at the Chick, who looked back at her. ”Torchic,” she said. He tickled her under the chin. She seemed to enjoy it.

“I'll take her,” answered a smiling Joshua, “and I'll nickname her Blaze.” He placed Blaze's Pokéball in his pocket.

“That's soooo clichéd,” commented the grey-haired assistant. Joshua spitefully thwacked him in the back of the head.

“Well, good luck on your trip... Hey, I have an idea!”

Uh-oh, he thought. When the professor got an idea, it usually meant trouble for Joshua.

“My daughter's out on Route 103. Why don't you go and see her?”

“No offence, Professor, but, she's not exactly my cup of tea...”

“Why not?”

“She's so... cocky, and superior.”

“C'mon, she's nice once you get to know her. Really. Please?” The professor widened his eyes. Joshua pitied him somewhat. He knew it was because Victoria didn't have many friends that he was asking. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if she had any friends at all... The professor doted on his daughter, almost spoiling her. Others seemed to resent her for this, though, it obviously wasn't her fault. Joshua reckoned that was why most people didn't like her, but the reason he hated her? She was un-be-lie-va-bly cocky. She believed herself to be a “genius”, and considered herself better in almost every possible way to Joshua. That irritated him no end. Still, she seemed pretty lonely... her only companion was that Mudkip. And she was kinda cute; even he could admit that... Plus, the professor's eyes were wide, and he couldn't resist them.

“Oh... alright, then. Route 103, wasn't it?” Joshua headed home first, to pick up his favourite brown scarf. He opened the door.

“Mom, I'm here for my-” She was already there, holding his scarf in her hands. The atmosphere was tense, and palpable.

“Here,” she said, “I knew you'd be back for it, so, I cleaned it.” Joshua reached out, to take the scarf, but she held it away from him, and started sobbing.

“I-I kn-know you have to g-go, but...” She broke down, unable to continue.

“Mum... I love you, but... this is just something that needs to be done. I want to see the world.” He felt awkward. He'd never dealt with his mother when she was like this.

“I don't know if you've noticed, but Littleroot is a backwater burg in the middle of nowhere. I can't just stay here my whole life.” The woman didn't stop crying. “I'll come visit. And I'll call you every so often.” She continued crying, hugging him tightly. He couldn't breathe in it. After almost passing out, he took the scarf, tying it around his neck.

“Right then. I'm off.” He smiled at her, before turning, and walking out the door. The sound of sobbing still filled the air. He felt bad leaving it, but, he figured his mother would be alright, after she had a little cry.

He headed north towards Route 101. So, this is where it begins... The open road. He felt a strange sort of empowering feeling, like he was independent. Still, he'd been born and raised in Littleroot, and it was odd just leaving it behind like this... He'd be back some day. He promised that. That said, it was, as he said, a “backwater burg”. Who could spend their entire life here? It was completely beyond him. Equally, it was beyond most residents why anyone would want to leave. Littleroot was incredibly peaceful and tranquil, not like the big city. It was a small village, filled mainly with farmers. The Pokémon Laboratory was the most interesting thing about the small village. It was also the biggest building there, and could be seen from Route 101.

Joshua felt the open road had many advantages however. He could be his own man, with no-one telling him what to do. In Hoenn, it seemed to be that you just took your social cues, and did what was expected of you... Camping out under the stars had inspired many a man to greatness, and he felt like he was following in the footsteps of many great trainers, such as Red, and Brendan. Red, these days, was a complete recluse. He'd spent more than a decade in Mt. Silver, doing God-knows-what. Presumably training obsessively. Brendan on the other hand, was more active. He was exploring the world with his faithful Pokémon. Other advantages of the open road included not having to shower every day, meeting fascinating people, and the fact that all the world was his bathroom. Score. This is going to be sweet, he thought.

Joshua stood on a hill on Route 101, so, he knew that was true. He looked at the lab, and the whole village, turned his back on it, and walked on towards Oldale with Blaze. Even as he did, a male figure garbed entirely in grey watched him from the trees. So, it's begun... I must wait. Wait until the time is right. Wait until he is alone, vulnerable, and, if possible, in the depths of despair. The figure's eyes (grey, of course) glinted in the sunlight, and grinning like the Cheshire Cat, vanished, leaving only a red zig-zag shaped stripe, and a wide toothy smile...

On the other side of the field the boy was walking through, warily in case of any Zigzagoon or Poochyena, a woman, garbed entirely in white watched from the tall grass. She was lying down, hidden under camouflage, observing Joshua through hi-tech thermal goggles. The camouflage paint on her face was unnecessary, considering she was completely obscured, but you could never be too careful in her experience. I had better report back... particularly if I saw him lurking around... The woman unclipped a Pokeball from her belt, released the Pokemon inside, and was whisked away, seemingly in a cloud in an instant.

--------

Me: Whew, that's a wrap, people.

Blaze: You do realise this sucks, don't you?

Me: What?! When did you get here?

Blaze: ... I dunno. But, I'm gonna be helping out with Author Notes, before and after each chapter.

Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

_________________
I call upon thee in the land of the dead, to unleash thy fury of thunder... Indignation!