61Pokémon: Hoenn Travels.
-The Important Stuff:-
1) I am not at all affiliated with Game Freak nor Nintendo, or any other companies that write/produce Pokémon.
2) I do not own any part of Pokémon.
-A Waiver:-
1) This is not a direct steal from anything already Pokémon-related that exists, not the show or a game or a novel/book. It is my own creation, therefore I may bend the rules a little bit to fit my needs.
2) The names of Professors, Gym Leaders, and Cities were taken from Ruby Version.
Prologue:
The Young Teacher.
The salesman straightened the cap on his head and the tie around his neck before scooping his suitcase off the ground by the handle. He struggled a moment with the weight of the case until he was able to once again compose himself and take up a straighter, more confident posture. He knocked on the door of the small school building and took a step back, waiting for the young teacher he knew was inside to open the door.
The school was located in the approximate center of Ecruteak City, which allowed for ease of access to all of its denizens, or so the salesman assumed. The building itself was a single-story structure with a rustic façade. The exterior wall was wooden, dark boards paralleling each other vertically. There were small windows on either side of the front door, which was located in the center of the wall, and the salesman knew from his previous visits that the building housed only a single class room. That was because older students would go to Goldenrod Pokémon Academy if their parents wanted them in a public school, or to Olivine Private Pokémon Academy.
The door to the school creaked open after several moments and the man leaned in. "Good morning again Miss-" he said happily before pausing.
The woman wasn't on the other side of the door, in fact she wasn't even in the main classroom. The man looked around the entirety of the room. The interior was much more modern than the outside, as it had been recently renovated. The floors were a rich, shiny wood and the walls were papered in a soft, yellow color. The mouldings on the ceiling and floor were a clean white. Individual student desks and seats filled a majority of the floor space, all pointed to the front of the room where there was a much larger desk and a blackboard hanging on the wall behind that. Written at the top of the board in chalk were the words: 'Pokémon Types'. On the same wall as the blackboard, but tucked in the corner of the room there was a second, closed door. He knew beyond that door there was a small office where the teacher normally sat when she was in the building alone.
The man cleared his throat as he looked around and headed to the front of the room. "Excuse me? Ma'am?" He called out into the room.
Perched on the desk at the front of the room was a petite, elegant Pokémon. It was staring at him inquisitively as he neared. The man glanced over his shoulder to the corner of the room. In that corner, laying in a small Pokémon bed, was another Pokémon. It was licking its paws and rubbing them over the fins on top of its head. The man gulped, they weren't particularly menacing looking Pokémon, but after coming here so many times, he knew of their power. His free hand that wasn't grasping the suitcase immediately went to his waist. His Nidoking's pokéball was securely attached to his belt.
"Welcome back to Ecruteak City, Mr. Pointer," a woman spoke as the door to a small office opened and the young teacher stepped out of the room. Her raven-colored hair was pulled back into a high and tightly wound bun, piled atop her head and she wore dark-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose. She closed the office door behind her, in her arms she held a stack of papers. The heels of her black pumps clicked as she walked across the hardwood floor over to the desk at the front of the room. She looked up at the salesman now. "Need we go through this entire exchange again?"
"If you would allow me," he hurried over to the large desk at the front of the room and slammed his suitcase onto the desktop. The Pokémon that had been sitting there hissed at him as it resituated itself as far from him as it could while still remaining on the desk. "I'm not advertising workbooks anymore."
"No?" The woman's eyebrow arched at him as she set the papers she had been holding on the desk in front of her. She peevishly eyed his suitcase, not being able to see the contents because it was opened up away from her. "What now?"
"I have new and improved textbooks straight from Professor Dogwood herself," he boasted, catching her gaze over the top of his suitcase. He hit her with one of his most charismatic smiles. "I think you will really be impressed with her work."
"Professor Dogwood?" The woman repeated, a look of obvious skepticism coming over her soft, attractive features.
"She's just a new professor, but she has just graduated from the Viridian Pokémon Academy, which as I am sure you know has a fantastic reputation, especially when it comes to educating professors," the salesman quickly explained, and perhaps overexplained. However, he found the more he talked, the more people listened, and eventually bought whatever he was selling. "She's in a very close camaraderie with Professor Oak in Pallet Town."
"And where does she study now, Mr. Pointer?" The woman asked, setting her hands on the large desk and leaning over it towards him. Though her expression was serious, demanding his attention and his answer, Mr. Pointer couldn't help when he quickly glanced downward. Her white button-up shirt had just enough buttons undone that he could see ample cleavage.
"In, uh, Celadon City in Kanto," he explained, his eyes flicking back up to her face. With a nod of his head, he quickly bolstered his statement, to make it more believable. "It's a big city that most people of Johto have never been to, it's not surprising you haven't heard of her."
"Mr. Pointer," the woman sighed, her tone unmistakably exasperated.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Did you know that I travelled as a Pokémon trainer several years ago?" The teacher asked as she now leaned towards the pink Pokémon sitting on her desk. She rubbed the feline-like Pokémon's cheeks with both her hands, the Pokémon's eyes narrowed in contentment.
"I did not know that," he muttered.
"I collected every badge from Johto and went to the Indigo Plateau, placed second," she continued to explain. She was smiling as she stared down at her Pokémon, still affectionally petting her face. "And then I went on and explored all of Kanto."
"You did?" He could feel his voice and his ego deflate slightly.
"I did, and as a result I am still in very close contact with Professor Elm and Professor Evergreen of New Bark Town," she continued as she lifted her gaze back to the salesman. The Pokémon looked over her dainty, pink shoulder at him too, its eyes tapered again, but now in irritation. "And with Professor Oak of Pallet Town."
"Of course, you are," the young man sighed. He dropped his head and muttered to himself, knowing he had been caught in a lie, and a bad one at that.
"I've never heard of a Professor Dogwood," the woman spat. The Pokémon on her desk hissed viciously at him, startling him so much that he took a step back.
"Okay, in actuality, these books were written by Professor Dogwood." Accepting that he had been outsmarted by the woman, he opted for the partial truth. "She studies in the region known as The Hoenn Region, with Professor Birch in Littleroot Town."
"Why do you think I care?" The woman asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"She's my cousin, I'm just trying to get her some decent publicity and positive reviews on all her hard work and research," the man told her, then thought to himself: and to get myself some profit.
The eyes of the pink Pokémon on the desk flashed as the gem on her forehead lit up. After a moment, a low growl emanated from its throat.
"See, that I believe," the woman replied as she turned away from him and towards the blackboard. The black skirt she wore hugged her tiny waist, emphasizing her small size and long legs. "But only the second part of your statement."
"The positive reviews?" The man inquired as he looked away from her legs and up to her face, confused about what she meant. Even if that was the only thing she bought, he could work with that. He could sell water to a drowning man.
She turned slightly and met him with a poised stare. "The part you thought," she corrected him. "About profit."
He felt his stomach turn with uneasiness. Normally, when he came to visit this woman, she would listen to his speech, advise she didn't have the funds for it, and welcome him back in a few months to try again. Taking it as a challenge, which he loved, he refused to give and kept showing back out. He didn't understand what game she was playing with him now. He also didn't understand why how she could have guessed that he had been thinking about money. "Ma'am please," he finally spoke again after quietly gathering confidence. "Just look through these books," he said and closed the distance between himself and his suitcase again. He grabbed one of the weighty, hardback textbooks and held the copy out toward her.
Her eyes dropped to the cover and one of her delicate eyebrows arched ever so slightly. "And for what purpose could I possibly need that book, Mr. Pointer?"
"It is a very impressive and enriching text," the man retorted as he repeated one of the reviews he had read from the back of the book. He was started to feel annoyed with her toying with him and was ready for her to just dismiss him again. He didn't know anything about the book, he hadn't actually read it himself, he had no need. He was just a man after money, he didn't need the superfluously unnecessary information found in the pages of the text.
The pink Pokémon on the desk shocked him once again when it scoffed loudly in response to his words. "You are a deceitful man, Mr. Pointer, a deceitful man and an awful salesman. What makes you think we would ever purchase anything from you?" Her voice was soft and her words were excellently enunciated, resulting in a barely discernible, eloquent accent.
The salesman's eyes widened as he looked from the speaking Pokémon and up to the young teacher. She didn't appear at all surprised as she stared back at him; in fact the look on her face was one of agreement with her Pokémon's comment. "She speaks?" He asked, his eyes remaining on the teacher's calm face.
"I do, Mr. Pointer," the Pokémon answered him, "and I have a great deal to say to you about your pointless antics."
"Holy Mew," he whispered.
"How many more times are you going to come here and inconvenience us? You are condescending and insulting and in no way credible," she spat at him, and even though her words were slicing through the air, she still appeared composed. She then jumped off the desk and sat down beside the teacher's legs, still glaring up at the salesman. "You have much in common with an annoying Venomoth that won't leave Pokémon trainers alone," she finished as she sat and wrapped her two-pronged tail elegantly around her legs.
"Luma," the teacher chuckled softly, reaching down to gently stroke the Espeon's head. "While I appreciate your help and definitely agree with you, let me handle Mr. Pointer."
"That's only because you can't do as much damage as I can, Rowan," the Espeon replied, her eyes not leaving Mr. Pointer's face. As he met her stare, her mouth opened and exposed her sharp teeth as she hissed at him again.
His jaw was perpetually open as he tried to process the situation he found himself in. Even with all his talking skills, he had no idea how to get himself out of it. He looked between the teacher and the Pokémon at her feet, waiting for the opening he needed to leave.
"As you can see, Mr. Pointer," she spoke finally, and he could feel the dismissal in her voice. "My classroom is already quite impressive and enriching."