Dai: Still own nothing, not gonna change.

Verity: No matter how much you do this, you're hopeless.

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She did it. She lost her pursuers. Gasping, the cream colored fox turned. They were definitely gone. Too exhausted to search for Oran Berries, the Pokemon dragged herself under a bush and passed out.

She was woken by the sound of a bike. A girl was going past. The fox crawled out of the bush. Normally she only used telepathy with those she knew, but this was an emergency.

'Please... Help me...'

The bike stopped. The girl got off the bike and looked down at the Pokemon who lay at her feet.

"A Pokemon...?"

'Help me... Please...'

"You're a Ninetales, right? And you're using telepathy?"

'You know a lot about Pokemon?'

"My father is the Gym Leader in Petalburg," The girl explained as she tended to Ninetales' wounds. "And I'm going on my journey today. Of course, just between you and me, I'm not the biggest fan of Pokemon."

'Then why are you going on a journey? And why are you helping me?'

"I'm traveling so I can see new places, and I helped you because you were in trouble."

The girl packed up her supplies. "There you go."

'Thank you. What can I do in return?'

"Well, I was going to Littleroot Town to get a Pokemon, but I'm kinda... lost..."

Ninetales nodded. 'Say no more. Come on...'

"May. I'm May."

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Eventually, May and Ninetales reached Professor Birch's Lab. The assistant seemed worried about something.

"Sorry, but the Professor is out at the moment. Please wait until he gets back..."

May, however, was not listening, and went right out the door. Ninetales dashed after her.

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Ninetales had no clue why she chased after May, she just knew it was a good idea. There was a nagging doubt that she shouldn't do this, but she ignored it. After all, she didn't trust this girl not to get into trouble.

Eventually, they came to the edge of a cliff. Professor Birch was in a tree, having been chased there by a group of Poochyena.

"Why is he in a tree?"

'He must have disturbed those Poochyena. We need to help.' Quickly, she darted over to a bag, scanning the inhabitants with her mind. She had never been more glad that she had developed the psychic abilities hidden within her kind than now.

One of the bag's inhabitants seemed rebellious, while another was shy. However, it was the third Pokemon Ninetales thought was best. It might not be the cutest, but she believed that it would work. Digging through the bag, she came out with a Poke Ball and ran it over to May.

'Use this.'

May threw the Poke Ball, and out came a Wood Gecko Pokemon. "Tree ko!"

"That's..."

'Treecko, a Wood Gecko Pokémon. At its current level, it can use Leer, Pound, and Absorb.'

"Got it, Ninetales. Treecko, use Pound!"

"Ko Treecko!" Treecko jumped down the cliff, hitting some Poochyena with his tail. He disappeared into a large battle. May couldn't see what was going on.

'May, you need to tell Treecko what moves to use. If you don't you'll lose for sure.' May nodded and tried to focus.

"Treecko, Absorb!"

The Poochyena, upon feeling this new onslaught, fled, leaving Professor Birch in the tree. He climbed down. "Come on, we have an emergency. This kid has a Pikachu that has too much electricity. They're out there somewhere."

He ran off, leaving May, Treecko, and Ninetales.

"Well, I guess we follow him."

'I suppose we do.'

"Treecko Tree."

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Professor Birch, May, Treecko, and Ninetales arrived at another cliff to see a boy carrying a Pikachu. Suddenly, Pikachu was grabbed by a battery robot.

"I suppose it was too much to hope they'd leave us alone."

"Who are they?"

"Team Rocket. They steal Pokemon, and mostly are after my Pikachu."

No matter how much Pikachu zapped, he couldn't do anything. All of the electricity was just absorbed, except for one stray bolt, which destroyed May's bike. There had to be something they could do.

Ninetales had the solution. Running forward, she jumped and unleashed a blue Flamethrower, causing the machine to overheat. Somehow, likely because of poor building skills, the robot exploded, sending Team Rocket blasting off.

Ninetales was pushed back by the force of the explosion. 'Remind me never to do something like that again.'

When Ash gasped, May shrugged. "Yeah, she has telepathy. It works for me."

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Back at Birch's Lab, he determined that Pikachu's electricity levels were back to normal. After that, he turned to May.

"I suppose I should show you the Hoenn region starter Pokemon. There is the Grass-Type, Treecko, the Water-Type, Mudkip, and the Fire-Type, Torchic. Which will you pick?"

"Treecko, definitely."

The Professor handed May Treecko's Poke Ball, five empty Poke Balls, and a Pokedex. May turned to Ash.

"You coming, or what? I was going to go alone, but after what happened to my bike..."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Say to be a new trainer in Hoenn, don't you only have to be seven?"

"Yes, but my parents come from Johto and wanted my brother and I to wait before we started out journey. He just turned seven, and is upset he can't come with me."

"I see."

'Do you have room for one more?'

"You're coming, Ninetales?"

'I'm looking for something very important, and if I travel with you, well, safety in numbers, right?'

"Right."

As the two trainers and three Pokemon left the Lab, it was the beginning of a new journey, and they were ready for it. Still, May couldn't help but wonder how Ninetales had been injured, and how things could have changed if it hadn't happened.

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Dai: Needless to say, if Ninetales hadn't been injured, things would have been very different. We are here to focus on how this impacts the Pokemon world, as well as make things up to Max.

Verity: We've seen kids his age with Pokemon, he can have Pokemon. It's that simple.