Hoenn- A New Beginning Part 2

"Help? What do you need my help with?"

"Well, to be honest, a lot of things. Where should I start?"

"How about the part where you expect me to go to...where is this, Horn?"

"Hoenn. The Hoenn region. You don't know about the Hoenn region? Pick up a newspaper, jeez."

"A whole other region?

John was sitting down on his porch step near the north side of Lumiose City, staring at the hologram formed on his Holo Caster a foot away. Shown in flickering blue was a rather strange-looking man, if one could call him a man. Most likely more of a manchild. For one thing, he had facepaint on that gave off a Pikachu design, with a darker color around the cheeks where a Pikachu would have its electric sacs. He even wore a pair of Pikachu ears to go with it. The hologram also showed off some very strange "cool" clothes, such as a black jacket with neon-colored hexagons for design, his long brown pants that also seemed to resemble a Pikachu's design, and pure-black shades covering his eyes. Either this guy was trying too hard to be cool, or he was slowly trying to emulate a Pikachu without turning into one of those Poke-kid trainers. Or worse, he was trying to BE a Pikachu.

This man's name was John as well, but had taken up the moniker of Chu (once again going back towards the Pikachu assimilation plot) when he became a professional Pokemon trainer. He was definitely a confident trainer, since he had bragged about training at least 35 Pokemon at once. However, wherever Chu was from remained a mystery, at least as far as John knew. The man was currently in parts unknown, but had visited Kalos once for a tournament. He was talking with the younger John about a new opportunity that had arisen once the Kalos region's battling season was over and done with. An opportunity abroad in the vast land of Hoenn.

"Why are you trying to send me?"

"Personally, I think you need the experience."

"And what if I don't?"

"Trust me, you do."

Chu was also John's training mentor, which is why they were discussing these matters at hand. Chu had first met John via Holo Caster and helped him become a better Trainer after hearing of his own feats. John had managed to train a "small army," as Chu had put it. Really, it was only 17 Pokemon, but John was only getting by with the Pokemon he befriended and trained himself. He didn't even have a Pokedex to tell the names of his Pokemon, but he had found a way to challenge and defeat the Elite Four using those Pokemon he befriended. After he had become a Champion, Chu had found a way to contact him through his Holo Caster, and ended up sending him various materials to help his Training career. Vitamins, a Ditto, several Pokemon built for breeding...he taught John all of the ropes behind being a successful breeder and the benefits of training your own Pokemon.

"I still don't see your reasoning here."

"Look, I was in the Hoenn region myself a long time ago. It's an exciting place where I learned a lot of personal valuable lessons."

"I don't see how I can't learn that stuff at home."

"I've seen Kalos myself, and I deem it to be a pretty well-kept place. Not so for Hoenn. That place is rugged and vibrant. Wild. Extreme."

"Kalos is plenty extreme."

"You have several entire routes with no ways to reach wild Pokemon. You call that extreme? The roads are practically paved for you!"

"You don't look like a mountain man yourself, dude."

"No, but I was young once. Had adventures. Met friends. And you need to do that too. I bet you don't know anyone else your age who's a Trainer."

"I don't need anyone's help."

"Fine. You'll be leaving at the end of the week."

"What?! But what about my mother?"

"All kids need to go on adventures someday. I'm sure she'll buy that."

"What am I supposed to do, just fly there? Nix doesn't exactly know where Hoenn is."

"That bird of yours won't be able to get you to Hoenn anyway. Way too far. You'll be taking a plane."

"There aren't any runways in Kalos!"

"None that you know. I know people. I'll get one of my friends to take you, free of charge."

"So then are you going too?"

"Not really, no. I got my own place to be, honestly. A smaller region farther up the mainland."

"Where?"

"Orre."

"I swear you're making these names up as you go along."

"You don't know about Orre? Come on, work with me here kid."

"Isn't it that beatnik place? Like, full of crime and stuff?"

"Not at all, not anymore. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and meet with someone who shares a similar dream with me, to meet all of the world's Pokemon, big and small, weak or strong."

"Who?"

"A simple man who calls himself Miror B."

The Holo Caster was turned off, leaving John to wonder about everything Chu had just thrust on him. A new region? It certainly seems daunting...

---

"He's insane. He is totally just insane...why did I ever even sign up for this gig?"

John had just completed his fifth lap around Centrico Plaza, de-stressing the only way he knew how: biking. He would've taken Nix down to Camphrier Town, but it was already sunset and he needed to be home soon anyway.

Besides, he had eggs to hatch.

As a professional Trainer, John understood one major thing about tournament-grade Pokemon: they were 99% bred by experts, either by the trainers themselves or by proffessional breeders. Pokemon are amazing creatures able to breed with each other to survive, even different species entirely. And Ditto was always the most interesting of all, seeing as he is able to fulfill any breeding role. Luckily, when Chu had picked him up, he no longer had to worry about Dittos; somehow he had been able to receive a Ditto from what seemed to be a faraway land, one with perfect stats no less. From there, it was a simple task of obtaining the right Pokemon with the right ablities, and chaining generations from there. That's another great thing about Pokemon, John thought. They can breed endlessly, some straight out of the egg, with no noticeable "damage" made.

After the sun fully set on his 11th casual bike ride around Centrico Plaza, he decided to head for home in Jaune Plaza. Packing his collapsible bike back up in his pack, he unlocked the door and went into his apartment building.

His mother wasn't home, but that was a usual thing; she didn't really get home until late at night due to several businesses having late hours to contend to for their customers and associates. Something like that. But he was fifteen; he didn't need to focus on that sort of stuff. Not yet anyway.

After sitting down on the couch in the main room, he decided to think harder about this whole "going to Hoenn" business. Could he refuse? Would going be really worth it? He didn't know anything about this place...already sick of thinking about it, he flipped on the TV in front of him.

"-marking the second migration of Pidgeys and their evolutions this year. That's our top Pokemon story. In other news..." Local regional news, maybe there was something else on. "Many Trainers the world over have decided to flock to the Hoenn Region out west." Oh come on, he thought! "Perhaps this is due to the rumors concerning the discovery of new Mega Stones." Wait, there were new Mega Stones?

"Yes, our sources have confirmed of a rumor cycling around the watery region. Certain Pokemon in and out of the Hoenn region have claimed to have discovered new temporary Mega Evolutions that only work in the Hoenn region. Examples such as Sceptile, Lopunny, and even Sharpedo."

Suddenly John was very interested. Mega Evolutions were a key element in a Pokemon battle. He had already obtained several, including for his Banette and his Ampharos. They helped him through several key battles in his career.

But...was it still the safe thing to do? He was lying when he said his mother wouldn't allow it; she was actually more trusting than he had thought when he started this adventure a year ago. He was just unsure about going to an entirely new region.

He would have to be ready, and he would have to trust his Pokemon.

And so, John began to pack up everything he needed: TMs, hold items, recovery items, leftover vitamins, money, and all the Poke Balls and Premier Balls he could fit into his backpack.

"What's the worst that COULD happen?"