A boy sat uncomfortably in the back of the moving truck, his blackish-brown hair in a spiked mess. Of course, that might be his fault since he was making sure his precious Gameboy Advance was unscathed throughout the trip. He began playing it to keep himself entertained, fixating his golden brown gaze on the pixelated sprites.

The truck pulled into a halt, indicating it has arrived to its destination. The back slowly opened, allowing him out. Happy to breath the fresh, crisp autumn air, the boy leaped out. He brushed the dust off his brilliant red shirt.

He was greeted by his mother, who said, "Rico! You're finally here! Wasn't it tough riding in the back of the bumpy moving truck all that way?"

Rico rubbed his neck. "Ugh, you're telling me."

His mother took a deep breath and spread out her arms.

"Well, this is Littleroot Town. What do you think?"

Rico thought the town was extremely small, consisting of the grand total of three buildings.

"This is going to be our new home!" Mom continued. "It has a quaint feel, but it looks like it should be a nice place to live, don't you think?"

Rico was beginning to zone out, up until his mother said, "And you get your own room this time, Rico!"

That caught his attention.

"Come on! You have to see the inside!"

With that, Mom entered the previously vacant house, Rico following.

They came into the house, which was scattered with boxes, both full and empty. Muscular Pokemon known as Machoke were carrying the items and furniture.

In another universe, maybe these Machoke can only emit cries and say their own species.

However, the tallest Machoke, clearly the leader, said to his kindred, "Alright, boys. Job's done. Let's roll out."

(Author's brief comment: ...What? The original Nuzlocke comics had Pokemon talking.)

On the way out, the same Pokemon said, "Nice doing business with ya."

"See, Rico? Isn't it nice in here, too? The mover's Pokemon do all the work of moving us in and cleaning up after. This is so convenient!"

"Even though they did a bad job at cleaning. I swear I can see glass from when that Machoke dropped a glass jar," Rico interrupted.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt to bring out the broom!" Mom said.

Except if I get cut.

"Why won't you take a look at your new room? Your father bought a new clock for the occasion! But you need to set the time."

Rico went upstairs, and found the clock hanging nearby. He checked his watch.

12:51...there.

The clock hands were on the proper tick marks. He also checked out the desk, which had a personal PC on it. Looking at it, he found a Potion. Dad must have left it there, but he didn't need it yet.

"Rico! Come down, quick! It's Petalburg Gym!"

He immediately rushed downstairs.

"And that's all we have today! Tune in tomorrow for more!" the broadcaster chattered, then it went into some story about a meteor shower.

"Oh...it's over," muttered Mom disappointedly. "I think Dad was on, but we missed him. Too bad."

Rico was a bit saddened himself. He hadn't seen his famous father in a while, and wanted to catch a glimpse of him.

His mom seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh, yes. One of Dad's friends lives in town. Professor Birch is his name. He lives right next door, so why don't you introduce yourself?"

Rico, having nothing else to do, decided to pay Birch a visit. He knocked on the door, and was not met by the Pokemon Professor, but a young girl with dull light brown hair and gray eyes.

"May I help you?"

"Uh, is Professor Birch home?"

"No, but, um, you can come inside. If you like."

Wow, letting a stranger in the house. That's real safe.

Letting him inside, Rico saw a bag with a mess of items around it. The girl must be a Pokemon Trainer, or at least about to be. Then he saw a Pokeball, and settled on the former.

"Who...who are you?" The girl seemed a little nervous. She must have common sense, after all.

"I'm Rico," he replied.

"Oh...so your move was today. Um, I'm May. Nice to meet you!"

Rico only nodded.

May took a glance at her disorganized mess of a bag, and went on. "I...I have this dream of becoming friends with Pokemon all over the world."

Seemingly unsure how to carry on the conversation, May looked back at Rico. "I...I heard about you, Rico, from my dad, Professor Birch. I was hoping you would be nice, Rico, and that we could be friends. Oh, this is silly, isn't it? I...I've just met you, Rico."

The brunnette chuckled nervously, then suddenly seemed frantic.

"Oh no! I forgot! I was supposed to go help Dad catch some wild Pokemon! Rico, I'll catch you later!"

May quickly dashed out the door, leaving Rico alone.

Rico wandered around Littleroot Town, taking a look at the small town. When he passed by the path to Route 101, May suddenly ran up to him.

"Rico!"

"What is it, May?"

She gasped, "It's my-"

"Help!" Rico heard someone cry out.

Rico ran to see Birch being chased by a furious Poochyena.

"Get back here, ya little-"

He blocked out whatever curse word it was going to use, and looked at May.

"I want to help, but I left my Pokemon at home!"

"Of course you did," said Rico sarcastically.

Professor Birch noticed Rico. "Hello! You over there! Please! Help! In my bag! There's a Pokeball!"

Close by happened to be the mentioned bag. Rico sprinted to the sack and zipped it open. Either Birch forgot the true number, or he couldn't count, but there was three Pokeballs as opposed to one.

Forget about checking them out! Birch'll get eaten if I'm not quick! He grabbed a red and white capsule at random.

"Oi!" Rico shouted, stealing the Poochyena's attention.

A Pokeball flew through the air, opening with a loud crack! A strange-looking blue Pokemon with fringed orange cheeks and two large fins, one on top of the head while the other seemed to serve as a tail. It's pitch-black eyes looked determinedly at the dark colored canine.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play it? With a puny Mudkip?" it growled.

Mudkip looked at Rico. "What now?"

"Use Tackle!"

The Mudkip charged at the Poochyena, knocking it over and dealing a good bit of damage.

"Argh! Tackle!" It rammed into the Water-type, though it didn't deal as much damage as latter.

Mudkip finished it off with another Tackle.

The Poochyena, giving one last snarl, turned tail and ran away.

The professor was grateful. "Whew. I was in the tall grass studying wild Pokemon with my daughter when I was jumped. You saved me. Thanks a lot!"

"No problem," Rico replied.

"Oh? Hi, you're Rico! This is not the place to chat, so come to by my Pokemon Lab later, okay?"

Birch then headed south to his lab.

May turned to Rico. "Thank you for saving my dad. He would be that Poochyena's lunch right now if you didn't help! Well, I'm going to keep going ahead. Picking up my Pokemon first, of course. Well, I'll see you later!"

After the girl left, Rico looked at Mudkip. "Better get inside your Pokeball."

He (Rico assumed it was male) seem reluctant to return to his Pokeball, but was obedient as Mudkip was recalled.

"Time to pay Birch another visit," Rico muttered, walking to the Pokemon Lab.