*Flashback*

*End Of Flashback*

It was scorching hot, even for the early morning and there were hardly any clouds in the vast blue sky above Route 104. This Route was basically a small plot of grasslands that lead to Petalburg Woods, and further downhill was a small unused beach named Wingull Bay, which was named so because of the large flocks of Wingulls that would crowd onto the beach. Due to the common hot temperatures nowadays, any of the grassland that was exposed to the sun was a dried-out yellow that had turned crisp. Despite the fact that the beach belonged to the wild Wingull, nevertheless there was a large harbour beside it that was made especially for the tourists who wished to travel from Petalburg to Dewford or to Slateport and back.

Two teenaged boys named Brendan Norton and Wally Umbridge were headed for Route 104 which was just outside their hometown of Petalburg City. Brendan was leading the way with his Treecko, Forest, by his side and his companion Wally running ahead to keep up with his hasty pace.

“So then B-Boy buddy! Where are we gonna get my pokemon?” Wally asked joyfully and slightly out of breath.
“Here” Brendan said to Wally in a weary and monotonous tone.

Wally was desperate to create some kind of friendly conversation, anyone could tell. But Brendan was too angry at his father for blackmailing him into babysitting his next-door neighbour to care much. Forest could sense this too and even though it had been with Brendan for less than a day, the grass starter knew it’s trainer wasn’t somebody to be messed about with.

“Hey B-Boy what pokemon live here then?” Wally asked.
“How am I meant to know?” came the harsh reply.
“Sorry” apologized Wally, and then in a hushed whisper he said, “Sheesh, excuse me for asking a question.”

Although Wally believed Brendan couldn’t hear him at all, the teenager wasn’t deaf and heard the angry mumbles of protests that Wally was to scared to say to his face. Like Brendan’s father before him, he too had the same icy cold stare, thin lips and the commanding and intimidating influential face that looked like it had been carved out of stone. Brendan had that effect on most people, whether or not he liked them meaning he was a lonesome figure. Unlike to most people, Forest the Treecko wasn’t at all afraid of him like the other pokemon. Treecko was known as an independent pokemon that lived solitary lives, so Forest could relate to Brendan’s situation. Like the old saying ‘Pokemon take on the appearance of their trainer’s’, Forest had adopted the same icy look from it’s trainer.

“Look! Brendan it’s a pokemon!” shrieked the ecstatic Wally.

Brendan and Forest both simultaneously sighed. Turning around Brendan just about caught a glimpse of a slender midnight-black body, pointed ears and a bushy tail. Best guess went to a Poochyena and the frightened creature darted into the bushes, the thud of it’s paws no longer audible as it fled the two boy’s presence. Brendan whispered his apologies to the frightened pokemon and just hoped Wally hadn’t scared of everybody in the grassland plains.

How is Wally ever going to capture a wild pokemon when he scares them off at first sight with his shrieks of excitement? Thought Brendan, Time to give him some helpful tips he’ll treasure for the rest of his Pokemon training years.

“Wally! Lesson #1 – when trying to catch a wild pokemon it would be best to KEEP QUIET!” he explained to him irately.

Wally nodded his head like he understood and the duo continued their search for the perfect pokemon for him – that’s hopefully deaf.

“Brendan” hissed Wally tugging on his partner’s arm a while later and pointing at something in the long grass, “It’s a pokemon, I think it’s a-”

Wally trailed off as the pokemon emerged from the long grass.

It was a Whismur. It had light purple pelt and yellow-tipped ears that flopped cutely over it’s face. It’s feet too were yellow-tipped and the Whismur shuffled them apprehensively, deciding whether the two humans and pokemon were friend or foe. Brendan had heard enough stories as it is about these little critters. Their ability was called ‘soundproof’ which meant in and outside of combat any sound based attacks were ineffective on it. Since Whismurs’ were already deaf they were extremely sensitive to vibrations and contact, which meant an object falling a few yards away, could result in a single Whismur deafening an already deaf lady. If that was even humanly possible though.

This little one would be the perfect pokemon companion for Wally, thought Brendan. It’s a timid creature, but it must be pretty bold to step out before humans.

Brendan was pretty confident that this Whismur would be a good pokemon for Wally as a starter. But the key rule and the most obvious of all rules when it came to a wild pokemon’s capture, is that you need to catch it when it least expects it. And Brendan knew the perfect diversion.

Most fools would throw a rock and hope it would weaken the pokemon. Not only is that cruel and abusive to the pokemon, but it is also ultimately the stupidest thing to do. It’s like throwing a rock at Entei, you’d be freshly pound meat for the legendary dog no matter how small or weak it is. It’s the same with many pokemon. ‘Never underestimate the power of pokemon, and if you do. Just hope you’ve got backup nearby,’ it was a valued saying.

“Hey Wally, do you have any food?” Brendan whispered into the awed boy’s ear.

Wally took a step back and as quietly as possible he unzipped his belt pouch and handed a small biscuit to Brendan who was crouched on the floor. Brendan crumbled the small shortbread in his hands and held out a palm full of tiny crumbs. The Whismur cautiously approached Brendan and gingerly reached out for a single chunky piece. By this time, Brendan had finally gotten the point through to Wally to sneak behind the wild Whismur with a pokeball at the ready. It didn’t take long and Whismur was soon munching happily on the biscuit crumbs. Wally took the opportunity and threw the pokeball. The pokemon was sucked into the red light and the moment the pokeball hit the ground, it rocked viciously side to side glowing as the Whismur fought to free itself. It was a tense wait as the pokeball rocked back and forth, and it was obvious how tough it was for it’s size. After what seemed like hours and was really seconds, there was a ‘ping’ as the pokeball ceased rocking and silence filled the air.

Brendan turned to see Wally’s expression about his first pokemon capture, and he was more or less as awed about Whismur’s hard fight as he was. He bent down to retrieve the pokeball and a huge grin slowly spread and there was a sparkle in his eyes. As much as Brendan disliked Wally, he had known him since they were babies. They had a pretty extensive history stretching back from the time he was stuck in a tree at Trainer School to the time when they ran screaming from a rampaging Slaking at Brendan’s father’s Gym. Throughout all of those memories – good or bad- , the teenager couldn’t recall one time when there was a smile as big as the one on Wally’s face now. Even through his antagonism, Brendan was pleased with Wally and was sure he would make a good trainer someday.

“Treecko?” Forest asked looking up at Brendan with it’s huge yellow eyes.

It’s like it can read my mind sometimes, Brendan thought nervously to himself, then seeing the Treecko look away and chase a butterfly he then thought, Nah, impossible.

“We’ll be a good team too Forest” Brendan replied quietly.

Wally was hyped up a lot about his first pokemon capture and so immediately sent it out of it’s pokeball. The Whismur seemed confused since it had been in the same place barely minutes ago and then here it is again in the exact same spot.

Brendan left the two to their introductions and sat himself in the shade of a nearby willow next to the resting Forest. Despite the calmness all around him, Brendan couldn’t ignore the one thing that weighed heavily on his mind. The Grand Festival. The deal was to help Wally catch his first pokemon and to show him how to be a Pokemon Trainer, but Brendan’s goal was to compete and win in the Grand Festival. He couldn’t do both and he had his heart set on one. Besides all of that, coaching a greenhorn is hard enough when pokemon can be just too complicated to explain at times. And to top it all, with pokemon of his own to concentrate on with training, Brendan had his work cut out for him. A plan began to form suddenly in Brendan’s head as the thought about the Gym in Rustboro and the Normal-Ranked Pokemon Contests in Verdanturf entered his mind. Since both town and city were connected by Rusturf Tunnel, all he had to was find a way to leave Wally in one city and go to the Contest Hall in the other. Just as Brendan’s plan went into detail, there was a cry of fright which closely followed to an ear-splitting screech.

“Whismuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur!”

Brendan cringed in pain, clutching his ears as Forest darted up the trunk of the tree to undoubted safety. Wally fell to the ground clasping his ears as the Whismur stood unaffected, still screeching for all it was worth.

“Make it shut up Wally!” Brendan yelled over the Whismur’s screeching, barely audible.

But Wally was in too much pain to realise the hollering Brendan beside him at the time. There was a dash of green out of the corner of Brendan’s eye as Forest leaped out from the canopy of the trees and delivered a sharp Slam attack with it’s tail. Whismur was knocked backwards and as it did so the screeching faltered and stopped as the pokemon fainted.

“Whiris!” and Wally was up immediately running towards his fallen Whismur glaring at Forest.

“Good call Forest” Brendan commented as the Treecko nodded it’s head and did something that resembled a curving smile.

“Brendan, your pokemon just attacked my Whiris!” Wally announced glaring madly at Forest which coolly stared back.
“As it should have done, or we would have all been deafened!”
“It was just spooked by som-”

But Wally trailed off as there was a roar from the ground beneath him. Brendan was up in a flash and could already guess what was happening. Glancing around he noticed that they had to get away from the area; earthquakes triggered tsunamis if water was nearby, and Route 104 was grassland and beaches.

“Wally! It’s an Earthquake! Get outta there!!” hollered Brendan to the bewildered boy who was stuck to the spot.

Just as Wally looked up to acknowledge the teenaged boy’s message, his attention turned to a crack in the ground which dangerously split wider behind Brendan. And then a droning creak that as worse as the Whismur’s screeches sounded and the willow tree behind Brendan shook violently and it’s roots were ripped from the soil.

“Brendan behind you!!” shouted Wally pointing wildly at the willow tree.

Unfortunately for Wally, Brendan couldn’t hear him over the creaking of the falling willow. The teenager sat struggling to register what his companion was saying as he found he was being nudged roughly in the back by Forest. Brendan turned round to scold the Treecko, but instead was frozen to the spot as the tree creaked farther, towering above him. With the diminishing tree barely metres above Brendan’s head, Forest landed a powerful Headbutt on the teenager’s side and he landed painfully on his side with a gasping Treecko next to him.

“Brendan, you okay?” Wally asked Brendan as he grasped his side.
“Tree ko” and with that, Forest pulled a slender twig off the fallen tree trunk and chewed on it slyly.

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Author’s Notes: