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Hoenn League: A Brendan and May Adventure
- Thread starter Breezy
- Start date
T
Trainer Justin
Guest
You're one of my favorite authors too! Can't wait for the next chapter!!! Good luck!
Sorry for the long wait guys, brainstorming ideas and it kinda took up the entire fanfiction part of my brain. But I'm here, updating so as you can guess, I've got ideas!
Sarcasm by the way.
May quickly sat up, alarming the boy next to her, making him sit up as well. “You know where we are, right?” she asked, pushing herself up to her feet.
“Uh ...” Brendan did the same and looked around, trying to look past the camp scenery. “Lavaridge? I didn't really explore this area yet.” He motioned forward down the hill, May following behind him, his eyes fixated ahead, trying to make sense of the setting. He could saw smoke spiraling toward the sky from chimneys, but the trees were too thick and tall to see the buildings.
“Yeah,” she answered. “And there's a gym there! I want a new badge! I call dibs on the challenging the gym leader first!”
Completely forgetting about his promise, Brendan declared, “Not if I get there first!” He ran past the curve toward the city, kicking up dirt in his wake. “Catch me if you can, slankoth!” he mocked.
The girl stood there, watching the back of her friend, her mouth gaping open. “No fair! You got a head start!” she whined as she began to chase him, the wind whipping through her hair.
Brendan turned his head around a bit to look at the girl chasing after him. He stuck out his tongue tauntingly, but this was short-lived; he soon tripped over a rock, falling flat on his stomach. He groaned as May kicked dirt in his direction as she passed, giggling.
The boy let out a tired groan, groggily getting back up and walked toward the hot city, hands clasped behind his back. His hands found their way toward his back pocket, and he felt what he had stuffed in there: his Team Magma bandanna. He pulled it out, examining the cloth. Was it really worth it to follow what he believed in when he could lose a great friendship over it? He rolled his eyes, ignoring the question he asked himself and pocketed the bandanna again as he headed into Lavaridge City.
“I am happy to say that your electrike did splendid in his recovery. However, I would like to keep him overnight just for observation. He should be fit enough to battle against Flannery tomorrow. Here are your room keys for tonight.” Nurse Joy smiled, her slender fingers handing May a golden key. “Now if you excuse, I must check on the rest of the pokemon. Good luck tomorrow!”
“Thank you, Nurse Joy!” May, her fist wrapped tightly around the key, watched Nurse Joy turn her back before turning around herself, stepping onto the toes of a person standing directly behind her. “Oh, I'm so sorry,” she quickly murmured an apology but then noticed it was the foot of Brendan she had stepped on. “Ah, never mind.” The girl stood on tippy toe and patted Brendan's hair, smiling broadly.
Brendan merely sighed and continued to stare dull eyed at May, his arms crossed, his hands clenched.
“Oh, get over it,” May murmured, rolling her eyes. She held out the room key on her index finger, letting the key dangle on its silver key ring. “Since it's so late, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow until for my gym battle. Thunderbolt is still under Nurse's Joy care, so I'd rather wait anyway.”
“So I really could have gone first since Thunderbolt is not in condition. What's wrong with him anyway?”
May did her best not to stare open-mouthed at the clueless white-haired trainer before her. “No, you couldn't have,” she replied coolly, motioning Brendan to follow her down the hallway toward the rooms. They tread quietly down the hall, flattening the shaggy red carpet underneath their feet. “And Thunderbolt had a tough fight compared to the others. He just needs to rest is all.”
An annoying, nervous feeling bubbled in May's stomach as she inserted the key into the room they rented for the night, jiggling the doorknob to see if it opened. Did Brendan really forget what happen? She supposed it was the best considering how ... odd he acted during it. Still ...
Fighting back the feeling in her stomach, May finally opened the door, greeted by the cool air of the open window in the room. The two trainers entered, May sitting on the bed pushed up to the right and Brendan throwing his backpack on the bed to the left. She watched as he unclipped his pokenav from his belt, checking the time. He, too, threw that on the bed and unzipped his backpack, searching its contents. “The gym really is closed now?” he asked absentmindedly.
She shrugged, watching the back of her companion's back. “I would assume. The sun is setting after all. Besides, do you really want to battle after today?”
The boy let out a quiet laugh. “I guess not. It is kind of early, though. Too early to sleep.”
“Oh? What happened to your 'early to bed, early to rise' philosophy?”
“Psh.” Brendan continued to clean out his backpack, pulling out crumpled up paper balls and old granola bar wrappers. May continued to watch him, more out of boredom than interest, her blue eyes sweeping over his appearance. Brendan was lean, but not that lanky either. Underneath that sweater were toned muscles, something she saw when she accidentally walked in on him changing shirts, but he wasn't too muscular. Average, really. Okay looking, she supposed.
“Like what you see?”
Brendan's voice quickly snapped May out of her thoughts, flushness bathing across her cheeks. “No way!” she said, half yelling, half mumbling.
A cocky smirk made its way to Brendan's as he turned his head to stare at the flustered girl. “Aw, it's okay, May. I've been told I'm quite the handsome boy. So it's okay to stare.”
“Oh please, Brendan. We all know that the only one who would have told you that is your mom.” She grinned as Brendan's smirk dropped into a frown. Unclipping the fanny pack from her hips, May remarked, “So really. You're the one native to this boring island. There must be something to do in this city. Or is this place just surrounded by trees?”
“Hmm ...” Brendan pulled out his pokemon manual and sat on the bed, making the springs creak. He flipped through it, his thumb fanning through the pages, before stopping on the section that went into detail on Lavaridge Town. “Settled on the foot of Mt. Chimney, north is the Jagged Pass, blah, blah – oh, here we go. Lavaridge is known for its hot springs. Magma from Mt. Chimney runs through the veins of water, thus heating up the springs. Well, there's that.”
“Hot ... springs?” repeated the girl.
“Yeah.” Brendan slammed the book shut and stretched a bit to place it on the dresser squeezed between the two beds. “So do you want to?”
“Hot ... springs?” she peeped out again.
He stared at her wearily. “You really are the weirdest girl I've ever met.” Brendan dug through his backpack again, pulling out a pair of wrinkled board shorts. He flapped them in the air to straighten them out. “Whatever. I'm going.”
“Wait. Why?”
The bed springs creaked again as Brendan stood up, heading toward the door, pulling it open. “I hear going in them attracts money. Latios knows we need it.” He rolled his eyes. “Besides, I suppose it'll be nice to relax. Join me later if you want if you're done staring ... or whatever you're doing.” With a slight nod and a small wink, Brendan left the room and shut the door behind him.
The air that brushed against May from the door closing made her shiver. It would be nice to relax in a hot spring. But not in front of Brendan. Not in front of a boy who would ... stare at her while in a bathing suit. She was already uncomfortable with her body as it was, and she didn't need no smirking jerk to make fun of her.
She looked at the time. Thirty minutes past seven. Too early to sleep.
With nothing else to do in the small, quaint town, May sighed and pulled her fanny pack on her lap, looking for a bathing suit.
“So you decided to join me huh? Knew it.”
May frowned as Brendan leaned back against the side of the nature-made hot spring, staring at her. She blushed a bit, gripping tightly onto the towel that covered her bikini-clad body. “Well, there was nothing else to do. You'd be surprised how boring the news is,” she murmured. She dipped a slim foot into the water and then quickly pulled it back out, surprised at how hot it was. “It's boiling hot. How can you stand it?”
Brendan's right hand swirled the water around, making it wave back and forth across his arm. “You get used to it. So are you coming in?”
May looked back and forth between the boy in the hot spring and the pokemon center doors behind her. The latter seemed more relaxing. “Um ... Don't know.”
“Oh, come on,” he urged. “I thought girls liked this kind of thing.”
“We do! It's just–” May's eyes darted back and forth in her head, “–well ... Can you close your eyes first?”
Brendan raised an eyebrow. “You're not serious, are you?”
May nodded frantically. “I don't want you to see me ... er, my body.”
“Uh, why?”
“Brendan, please ...”
Rolling his eyes, Brendan slapped his hands against the front of his eyes, obeying May's request. He didn't know what the big deal was; Brendan knew that May's figure was anything BUT embarrassing. Girls. He couldn't help but peek, though, peeking through the gaps between his fingers. He watched as May took in a sharp intake of breath before off the towel around her and folding it neatly, placing it near her feet.
Now, Brendan always considered May “okay looking” even during their first encounter. She certainly wasn't bad to look at anyway. Decent face, nice eyes, a pretty smile, a relatively curvy figure, a nice ra – well, he won't get into that. But there was something about her today. Maybe it was the light she was cast in, the orange glow of the sunset and the lit torches that bordered the hot spring made her radiate. Maybe it was because he was squinting between his fingers. Or maybe, just maybe, it had to do with the fact that she was a tiny, red bikini. Either way, Brendan saw her in a more attractive light.
He watched as May sat down and dipped her legs into the hot spring before she dropped in, the hot water rippling as she did. She shivered at the sudden amount of heat that overwhelmed her, doing her best to adjust by lapping the water up and down her arms.
“Okay,” she sighed. “You can look now.”
Brendan dropped his hands, letting them splash in the water. He gazed at May's flushed face, not sure if she was blushing because of the hot water or the predicament she was in. She was tense, her shoulder hunched up, her arms hugging around her upper body. “Relax,” he murmured. “You're in a hot spring.”
The girl let out another sigh before relaxing her shoulders and letting her arms float in the water. She closed her eyes, breathing in the steam, enjoying the bubbles. “This is nice,” she remarked softly, pressing her back against the side.
Brendan watched her relax. Not out of interest, mind you, but boredom really. Yeah. Boredom. She did look rather ... pretty. Gah, what was he saying?
“Like what you see?” she mocked, opening one eye and smirking.
Brendan, startled, jumped a bit at the statement, eyes wide. “Psh! Don't flatter yourself!” he quickly exclaimed, perturbed. “I got lost in my thoughts, and you so happen to be in front of me, and well – ugh, just forget about it!”
May let out a small laugh that rung through Brendan's ears. “Why don't you relax instead?” she advised, lapping the water against her upper arms. She raised her hands, picking up the folds of her wet locks and pulled it up, only to drop them and let them drape around her moist shoulders.
There was an awkward silence with the exception of tweeting birds and the fire in the torches crackling.
“You look nice,” Brendan muttered.
May looked at him oddly. “You're saying that because I'm in a bathing suit.”
“No – well, yeah the bathing suit did help.” The boy smiled sheepishly as the girl glared at him. “But really, May. You just look ... pretty.”
“You're a liar.” May, blushing, looked down into the water. “Thank you, though.”
Brendan felt awfully embarrassed the next morning when he woke up, the taillow chirping cheerfully in the trees outside the window. Flat on his back, his hands resting on his chest, the boy stared up at the ceiling, staring at its design. Why did he say that? Why did he say she was ... pretty? Dammit. Damn girls and their ability to hypnotize him with their skimpy bathing suits.
Turning onto his side, he noticed that May was staring at him, and he freaked out, quickly sitting up in place.
“Gah, why are you staring at me?” he shouted, his hair sticking up in several places.
May simply blinked, getting up in a much calmer manner. “I don't know,” she replied after a few seconds of silence. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her blanket. “Mostly because I was lazy to turn away. And I wasn't staring at you. I was staring at the wall to the side of you.”
“It was still in my general direction!” he screeched.
“Man, what's with you?” she questioned. “Whatever it is, get over it.” Stretching her arms over her head, May looked at the clock that hung on the wall. “Hmm, eleven. You actually let us sleep in? That's, like, a first. How nice.”
“Yeah, well. Considering that we're going to be stuck here for awhile, I figure there was no need to wake up early.” Rubbing his hair, messing up further, Brendan asked, “So are you ready for your gym battle?”
“I guess. This is a fire-based gym, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, I think I'll be fine then.” May hopped onto her feet, her loose pajamas straightening out around her legs. “You know, those hot springs did make me feel loads better. I haven't slept that well in weeks! How did you sleep?”
Brendan was pretty restless throughout the night, thinking about what happened. “Er, good,” he lied.
“Good.” Smiling, May picked up her bag and headed toward the door. “Well, I'm going to get ready. You should, too. I'll see you at breakfast?”
He nodded again. “Yeah,” Brendan said, still moving his head.
Ignoring the odd look May gave him before she closed the door, Brendan flopped back down onto his bed, muffling himself with his pillow. Today was going to be a long, awkward day.
When the glass doors of the Lavaridge gym opened, and the two trainers were greeted by thick, billowing white smoke. Hesitantly, the two entered, the doors immediately closing behind them. The smoke started to choke them. What was odd about the gym was that the floor was littered with holes, hot steam rising from them.
May, blinded by the smoke, slowly tread across the gym's floor, groping for a wall. When she finally found one, she continue to run her hands up and down the wooden walls, looking for a door. “I don't get it,” she murmured after circling the small room. She used her hand to fan herself, sweat tricking down her face. “How do we get to the gym leader? This is just one big, blank room with ... holes.”
“You answered it yourself,” Brendan replied, standing behind May. He motioned toward one of the holes. “So would you like sand pit number one, or geyser number two?”
“What do you mean?” May asked, puzzled. She peered down into one of the holes, noticing that it contained sand in it. She turned around to look down the other hole, noticing it was filled with hot water.
“We have to go through one of these geysers or sand pits in order to reach the gym leader,” Brendan explained. “I'm guessing that each pit leads to different rooms, maybe in the right direction, or maybe in the wrong direction. I read about it in the guide. Lavaridge went all out when decorating their gym.”
“Isn't that dangerous?”
He shrugged. “Probably. Pick one.”
Tentatively, May chose the hole to her right, dipping a foot into it. She was sucked in immediately. “Brend – AH!” she screamed as she went down under. Brendan laughed and hopped into the sandpit after her, the warm sand oozing through his clothes. It wasn't a disgusting feeling, though. It was rather soothing.
May screamed as the sand pit took her into another room and spat her out. She landed on her bottom with a loud thud, groaning to herself. A few seconds later, Brendan hopped out of the sand pit without the slightest look of dizziness. He looked at May, who stumbled around before falling down, and shook his head, offering her a hand.
The girl, still dizzy, looked up. “Ah!” May screamed in terror. “Five Brendans! The horror!”
Brendan shook his head again and picked up May by himself, brushing the dirt off her shoulders. “Ready to try that again?” He smirked, amused.
“... Dammit.”
May was practically in tears as they reached another dead-end in the Lavaridge gym.
“I wanna get out of here!” she cried. “My butt hurts, my feet hurt, I can hardly breathe, and we've been trying to find Flannery for the past forty-five minutes!”
“Don't give up now, May. We're so close! I know it!” Brendan replied optimistically as he turned his back to May, looking around for another hole. “Besides, I'm not giving up, and neither should you!” He walked a bit away toward the back wall, looking for hidden holes enclosed by smoke.
May hesitated before replying. “... Fine, but you better be right about us being close!” The girl looked around, noticing a ledge. Standing up tippy toe, she noticed that the drop wasn't too bad and that it would lead back to the room they just left. “There's a ledge,” she remarked, “so let's – ah!” May screamed as a geyser covered in thick smoke shot her up into another room.
Turning his head quickly at May's scream and getting whiplash from it, the boy remarked, “May?” Brendan looked around but couldn't find his friend anywhere. “Oh, Mayyy? Did she already jump over that ledge?” he asked himself as he completely missed the secret geyser May fell into when he hopped over the ledge. “Well, that's rude. I can't believe she left without me!”
Her rough landing resounded throughout the small room.
“Ow!” May grumbled as she picked herself from the floor, sighing. Besides being lost in this hell hole of a gym for almost a hour, she lost Brendan as well. “This sucks!” she cried out loud. “This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!”
There was no used complaining about it, though. She either had two choices: find the gym leader or leave it, and both options included going through those annoying sand pits. She noticed two sand pits in the room so she hopped into one. The sensation of sand brushing against her skin, warmness hugging her tight, and breathing underwater overwhelmed her like before. She soon entered another room, gasping for breath, with three different geysers and sand pits. Feeling extra lucky, she hopped into one which turned out to be another sand pit.
The former option came up.
Coughing to clear her throat of sand and brushing the dirt off her clothes, May stepped further into the gym leader's room. “I'm May Maple from Littleroot Town, and I challenge you to a pokémon battle!” May demanded as she held out an enlarged pokéball arm's length in front of her. She examined the leader in front of her. While obviously older than the girl trainer, May noticed that the leader was fairly young, much like Roxanne was. Her black t-shirt embroidered with a red flame showed off her finely-toned belly, and a pair of jeans held up by a red belt showed off her curves nicely. Her bangs, a nice shade of red, framed her face, revealing her bright, red eyes. May couldn't help but admire her hair. It was a simple ponytail, but the gym leader split it up into four separate parts.
Flannery stood up from the mat on the floor and started to talk – or at least try to anyway.
“I am Flannery, the fire type – wait, no. I'm the tamer of the fire types! I have – let me start again. My grandparents have taught me the skills of ... training fire types and I shall use it ... um, against you! So prepare to lose, you weak, little girl!”
May just blinked twice, confused. She figured the leader was trying to sound strong and confident, but she sort of failed.
“Er, what are the rules then?” May asked, ignoring the stumbling introduction.
Another voice answered for her. “Both trainer or gym leader are able to use three pokémon each.” A judge appeared in the midst of the smoke as he took his place in the middle of the sidelines. “The challenger will be able to return her pokémon at anytime while the leader cannot. No time limit!” The judge raised both red and green flags in the air and then swung them down. “Let the battle begin!”
“Let's go, Slugma!” Flannery quickly pulled a pokeball from her belt and threw it toward the field. A slugma appeared in a blaze of white which, in May's honest opinion, looked like a blob lava instead of a pokémon. A pair of eerie, yellow eyes embedded itself in its boiling, lava-like form.
Evaluating the situation, May threw the pokeball she had in her hand. “I choose you, Thunderbolt!” she cried. Thunderbolt burst out of his pokéball like a rocket and instantly took a battle stance, grunting and pawing at the ground, a somewhat amusing picture because of his small stature.
“Slugma, start things off with Rock Throw!” Flannery commanded.
“Dodge it, Thunderbolt, and use Spark!” May countered.
Slugma's blob-like body crawled over toward a few rocks scattered along the gym, and he rammed his body into them, sending them toward Thunderbolt. The electrike easily evaded them with his speed, and darted toward the slugma, charging his body up with electricity. With a snarl, bolts of electricity running up and down his tiny body, he tackled the slugma, sending the blob skidding along the rocky ground.
“Slugma, Ember!” Flannery instructed as the fire type regained composure ... or as much as a slugma could compose of itself, anyway. Slugma stretched out his body and a gap in its lava body opened, sending out tiny flames at Thunderbolt. May's pokemon took the hit full on, the flames licking his body and making him screech, but he held on strong, snorting.
“Thunderbolt, use Quick Attack!”
Thunderbolt kicked his back legs in the air, also kicking up dirt, and he sprinted at Slugma at an alarmingly fast pace. The electrike tackled Slugma into a large rock and grinding his head against him. The slugma's hot body, however, slowly began to trickle down Thunderbolt's head, making Thunderbolt screech at the intense heat. He jumped back, letting the slugma drop down and tried to paw at his head, smoke burning the fine hair along his hair.
Although worried about her pokemon, May knew he was tough enough to take a bit of a burn. “While it's down, Thunderbolt. Spark it again!” she ordered.
Thunderbolt charged up his body with friction and rammed into the Slugma again, powerful electric waves jumping from his body to his opponent's. As quick as it came, the electrike jumped off Slugma, and Slugma collapsed in a heap, its lava body spreading everywhere, small swirls in place where his eyes should be.
The judge raised the green flag. “Slugma is unable to battle! Electrike is the winner!”
“Slugma, return!” Flannery recalled her pokémon into its ball and shrunk it down, getting out another.
“All right, Thunderbolt! You did it!” May cheered as Thunderbolt ran to May. White light suddenly engulfed Thunderbolt, and May gasped. He was evolving ...
“Hey, Muddy?” Brendan asked his pokémon (who he had let out more out of boredom) a question. “You said you knew where we were going, but I don't see an exit.”
Muddy cast his eyes over to Brendan and shrugged, toddling next to him. He blinked a few times, realization dawning over him. “Oh, we were looking for an exit?” he asked, surprised. “I thought you said, 'Hey I need to find an egg, zit!'”
Brendan slapped his forehead. “No, I did not say egg, zit! I said exit! Exit!”
Muddy put his hands up in the air for a few seconds and dropped them down. "Well now it makes sense! I was like, 'I can find the egg, but I don't have zits, so why is he calling me a zit?' You should speak more coherently next time.”
“... Well, I'm glad we cleared that up, pal.”
Muddy smiled goofily. “Me too!”
Brendan slapped his forehead again and jumped into a geyser.
“Thunderbolt, you're a totally cool manectric now!” May squealed happily, hugging her poor pokémon to death, his short, coarse fur pricking against her soft skin. “That's so cool!”
“Um, right,” Thunderbolt blinked, trying to escape May's clutches by squirming. “I kind of need to battle now.”
“Oh, right, let's go win us a badge!” May let go of Thunderbolt, examining his new appearance. Obviously taller than his previous form, Thunderbolt traded in his green fur for a sleek blue and yellow. His yellow fur pointed out in different directions, but it didn't look messy; it had a complete look to it. His eyes were red and tough, excited for the battle. He jumped back onto the battlefield, a determined look on both trainer and pokémon's face.
Flannery sent out another Slugma, looking exactly like the first one. She smirked. “Get ready for round two! Slugma, Flamethrower!” she directed.
“Thunderbolt, dodge and use Quick Attack again!”
Thunderbolt dodged the jet of orange-red flames and attacked the slugma from the side, head butting it and sending him skidding toward the wall. Slugma landed in a heap, but he was still able to fight back.
“Time to bring out the big guns, Slugma! Overheat!” Flannery couldn't help but smirk. She knew that this battle was won.
Naïve, May directed, “Try and dodge it, Thunderbolt” unknowing the effects of the attack the gym leader called.
“There's no use,” Flannery commented.
Slugma's body into flames, causing the entire room to be engulfed in an intense, red hot light. May felt the heat radiate from her position on the field as a wave of worry washed over her body. Was her manectric going to be okay? Okay was an understatement as the newly evolved manectric howled in agony, collapsing in a heap as the fire bathed over him.
“Holy – what attack is that?” May cried out as she clumsily got out her pokédex, almost dropping the device between clumsy fingers. She clicked attacks and looked up the move that slugma was using.
“Overheat: A powerful and devastating fire attack that is unavoidable. The downside to this strong attack is that it lowers the user's special attack drastically,” the pokédex informed her.
May growled as she covered her eyes, waiting for the attack to finally die down. She gasped. Thunderbolt was on the ground, all four legs sprawled out, one eye desperately opened as if he wanted to continue battling. She got out Thunderbolt's pokeball to return him, but Thunderbolt quickly got up and dodged the beam of red light, his teeth baring, his claws digging into the ground.
“Thunderbolt, what are you doing?” May exclaimed, flustered, a bead of sweat running down her neck. “Return!” She aimed the red return beam at Thunderbolt again, but he quickly stepped aside to dodge it. “You're going to get hurt again, and I couldn't live with myself if you end up in the critical condition part of the pokémon center again!”
“Please! Just let me battle! I know I can win! Don't you believe in me?” Thunderbolt pleaded as he gave May the famous puppy eyes.
“Argh, you sure do know how to make a girl feel bad.” May shook her head and sighed. He was stubborn, just like her. “Fine! Thunderbolt, use a Thunder Wave!” The sounding of snapping electricity rung through her ears as the manectric charged up an attack.
“I have to admit, kid. You and your pokémon sure do have moxie. Too bad you need more than that the defeat me! Dodge it, Slugma, and finish off that manectric with another Overheat!”
“Crap.”
Brendan and Muddy landed outside of yet another sand pit, still looking for the exit. The swampert was still cheerful while his trainer was awfully annoyed.
“Where's the exit, exit?” Muddy murmured to himself. “I mean, I've seen 'Exit' in big green lights but not 'Exit, Exit!'”
The boy blinked, stopping in his tracks, making his pokemon stop as well. “Did you just say, 'Exit, exit?'” Brendan asked, taking off his bandanna to get rid of excess sand in his hair.
“Yeah. That's what you told me to find, remember?”
Brendan took in a deep breath and exhaled. “I didn't mean 'exit, exit!' I meant exit as in 'Look, a way out!' or 'Hey look! The light at the end of the tunnel!' or even ' Exit: The freakin' way way out only used for idiots!' I didn't mean look for 'exit, exit' because I don't even know what that means!” Brendan huffed, frustrated.
“Duh! 'Exit, exit' is like ... two exits.” Muddy grabbed for Brendan's hand and pulled up three of his fingers. “Two, see?” He looked at his trainer's fingers, confused. “Oops. This is three. My brain has brain farts sometimes.” He pulled up a fourth finger. “There! Two!”
“Latios help me.”
“Thunderbolt!” May cried as she ran to her pokémon's side.
The manectric lay flat on his side, burn marks scorched all over his body, shivering from too much heat. May quickly reached into her bag and took out some burn heal, spraying it on.
“That should help,” she murmured as she put the empty burn heal in her bag. S he got out Thunderbolt's pokéball and returned him, thanking him for all he had done.
“There is a thin line between bravery and stubbornness,” Flannery commented on Thunderbolt's downfall as May switched Pokeballs on her belt loop.
May frowned as she enlarged another pokéball, choosing not to respond to the gym leader's comment. “Go, Skittles!” The skitty came out in a beam of red light, mewing softly, her tongue licking her front paw softly. She then noticed her tail and tried to paw at it, mewing louder. “Faint Attack!”
Skittles looked up from her tail and obeyed orders, glowing a reddish color and disappeared, leaving Slugma confused. She appeared behind him and rammed her head into his molten lava body. Skittles got burned in the process, letting out a loud, screechy hiss from it, but it did leave Slugma with very little health left.
“Slugma, Overheat now!”
“Not this time! Finish it off with a tackle, Skittles!” With a mew for a battle cry, the skitty tackled the slugma again, its molten body tumbling around before drooping into a large heap.
“Slugma, return!” Flannery recalled her pokémon in a beam of red light. “Not bad,” she muttered, “but you haven't seen the end yet!”
“Duh! It's not like I can't count,” May retaliated sarcastically.
“... I choose you, Torkoal!”
In a blaze of white light, a black and reddish-orange tortoise type pokémon appeared on the battlefield, billowing white smoke coming out from her back. The torkoal's eyes were narrowed, but they weren't in spite; May figured that was about as wide as her eyes could go.
“Say hello to Torkoal!” Flannery proclaimed proudly, crossing her arms. “And now say bye-bye to your little skitty! Overheat her now!”
Torkoal roared and erupted hot molten lava from the opening on her volcano-shaped back, spreading the lava throughout the battlefield. Skittles hissed as the lava engulfed her in flames.
“Skittles!” May screamed, wincing at the amount of heat that hit her body. She couldn't even imagine how Skittles was feeling. Worried for her pokemon's health, she decided to throw in the towel, pulling out Skittles' pokeball. “Oh, return!”
“Overheat is a powerful attack coming from a Slugma,” Flannery pointed out as May returned Skittles. “But coming from a torkoal ... Well let's say it's indestructible!”
“'Til now that is!” May cried, unleashing her starter pokémon. “Get 'em, Flare!” She smirked as the six foot three blaziken took place in front of the torkoal. Flare blew out a flame she created on the top of her claw tip, confident, just like her trainer. “Get ready to lose! Flare, Double Kick!”
Flare's long legs made her move quickly toward her opponent's side of the field. She lifted one of her heavy, muscular legs to kick Torkoal in the face, sending her skidding a few feet. Torkoal blew out gray smog from her nostrils, clearly angry with the attack.
“It isn't over 'til it's over! Torkoal, another Overheat!” Flannery commanded.
With another mighty cry, Torkoal erupted fiery hot lava from the volcano on her back, sending it hurling towards Flare. Flare's eyes turned to slits as the lava came closer, and in a desperate attempt to protect herself, she put her claws up in a defense position in hopes of shielding herself from the lava. It plunged into her body like a wave crashing onto shore, but she did not fall from pain. In fact she held her ground.
“All right, Flare!” May cheered as Flare ruffled her feathers, brushing the attack off. “Looks like Flare's fire type saved her from that one! And you thought you were hot stuff!”
Flannery, flustered, growled, “Overheat again!”
“That is SO getting old! Quick Attack, Flare!”
Flare kicked up dirt in her path and she ran quickly toward the torkoal, lowering herself as she gained speed, advancing on her opponent. Torkoal, lava boiling, ready to launch, was rapidly hit in the side by the blaziken's powerful legs.
“Torkoal!” Flannery cried as her torkoal fell over on her side, the lava spilling out of her back and scorching on her side. Immediately, the stout, fat legs of Torkoal wiggled about in pain as she tried to get back on her feet, but the struggle was in vain. She was too tired to stand back up, let alone fight.
“Torkoal is unable to battle! The challenger wins!” the judge declared, raising May's flag.
“All right, Flare, we won!” May jumped up in excitement, pumped a fist in the air, and ran over to her Flare, wrapping around her blaziken's lean frame and hugging her. “We won, we won, we won!” she cheered.
Flare smiled as the affection, her arms drooping slightly from tiredness.
“Darn,” the gym leader muttered, snapping her fingers. “I thought grandpa said Overheat would win for sure ...” Shaking her head, Flannery walked over to May, pulling a badge out of the pocket of her jeans. “Congratulations, May! You deserve this!” She handed May an orange, metal badge shaped like a flame.
“All right! I got another badge!” May cheered, raising the new badge to the light, making it shine with brilliance. “Thanks, Flannery!”
“No problem, May!” Flannery replied, smiling. “This battle has taught me a lot: I have more to learn.”
“So do I. We all have something new to learn.”
“Brendan?” asked Muddy meekly, staring at the frame of his fallen trainer. He was hunched over a bit, his paws almost touching the ground.
“What?” his irritated trainer replied.
“Are you dead?”
“No. Almost, but no.”
“Oh. If you die, can I have your bandanna? I think it'd look nice on me.”
Before Brendan could come up response, he heard the glass doors of the gym behind him swing open, and he quickly sat up, brushed the dirt off his back, and turned his head, spotting a happy girl trainer skipping toward him.
“There you are!” May said warmly, running toward them. “Where were you, Brendan?”
“I got lost in there,” Brendan admitted, blushing in embarrassment. He stood up, standing next to his pokemon. “But I knew you could win!”
May smiled a pearly white smile, her blue eyes glowing with pride. “Yup! It was awesome!”
“Wish I was there.”
The swampert snickered. “That doesn't surprise me after you babbled on about May for so long.”
Brendan immediately punched his laughing pokemon lightly in the arm, a blush rising to his cheeks. May looked at the two, confused.
“What did your swampert just say?”
“Um, nothing!” Brendan let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway, congrats!”
May gave Brendan a final odd look before smiling back. “Thanks, weirdo,” she replied, punching the boy lightly in the arm as well. “Come on. Let's go to the center. I need to heal my pokemon.”
Ignoring his still laughing swampert, Brendan scuffed the ball of his foot against the grainy ground and followed after the girl trainer. “I'm going to kill you, Muddy,” he murmured.
“Oh,” the swampert remarked sadly, following after his trainer. He then perked up. “Can I still have your bandanna?”
“Whatever.”
Last Revision: 09/05/09
Sarcasm by the way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gym Battle at Lavaridge City
Gym Battle at Lavaridge City
May quickly sat up, alarming the boy next to her, making him sit up as well. “You know where we are, right?” she asked, pushing herself up to her feet.
“Uh ...” Brendan did the same and looked around, trying to look past the camp scenery. “Lavaridge? I didn't really explore this area yet.” He motioned forward down the hill, May following behind him, his eyes fixated ahead, trying to make sense of the setting. He could saw smoke spiraling toward the sky from chimneys, but the trees were too thick and tall to see the buildings.
“Yeah,” she answered. “And there's a gym there! I want a new badge! I call dibs on the challenging the gym leader first!”
Completely forgetting about his promise, Brendan declared, “Not if I get there first!” He ran past the curve toward the city, kicking up dirt in his wake. “Catch me if you can, slankoth!” he mocked.
The girl stood there, watching the back of her friend, her mouth gaping open. “No fair! You got a head start!” she whined as she began to chase him, the wind whipping through her hair.
Brendan turned his head around a bit to look at the girl chasing after him. He stuck out his tongue tauntingly, but this was short-lived; he soon tripped over a rock, falling flat on his stomach. He groaned as May kicked dirt in his direction as she passed, giggling.
The boy let out a tired groan, groggily getting back up and walked toward the hot city, hands clasped behind his back. His hands found their way toward his back pocket, and he felt what he had stuffed in there: his Team Magma bandanna. He pulled it out, examining the cloth. Was it really worth it to follow what he believed in when he could lose a great friendship over it? He rolled his eyes, ignoring the question he asked himself and pocketed the bandanna again as he headed into Lavaridge City.
- - -
“I am happy to say that your electrike did splendid in his recovery. However, I would like to keep him overnight just for observation. He should be fit enough to battle against Flannery tomorrow. Here are your room keys for tonight.” Nurse Joy smiled, her slender fingers handing May a golden key. “Now if you excuse, I must check on the rest of the pokemon. Good luck tomorrow!”
“Thank you, Nurse Joy!” May, her fist wrapped tightly around the key, watched Nurse Joy turn her back before turning around herself, stepping onto the toes of a person standing directly behind her. “Oh, I'm so sorry,” she quickly murmured an apology but then noticed it was the foot of Brendan she had stepped on. “Ah, never mind.” The girl stood on tippy toe and patted Brendan's hair, smiling broadly.
Brendan merely sighed and continued to stare dull eyed at May, his arms crossed, his hands clenched.
“Oh, get over it,” May murmured, rolling her eyes. She held out the room key on her index finger, letting the key dangle on its silver key ring. “Since it's so late, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow until for my gym battle. Thunderbolt is still under Nurse's Joy care, so I'd rather wait anyway.”
“So I really could have gone first since Thunderbolt is not in condition. What's wrong with him anyway?”
May did her best not to stare open-mouthed at the clueless white-haired trainer before her. “No, you couldn't have,” she replied coolly, motioning Brendan to follow her down the hallway toward the rooms. They tread quietly down the hall, flattening the shaggy red carpet underneath their feet. “And Thunderbolt had a tough fight compared to the others. He just needs to rest is all.”
An annoying, nervous feeling bubbled in May's stomach as she inserted the key into the room they rented for the night, jiggling the doorknob to see if it opened. Did Brendan really forget what happen? She supposed it was the best considering how ... odd he acted during it. Still ...
Fighting back the feeling in her stomach, May finally opened the door, greeted by the cool air of the open window in the room. The two trainers entered, May sitting on the bed pushed up to the right and Brendan throwing his backpack on the bed to the left. She watched as he unclipped his pokenav from his belt, checking the time. He, too, threw that on the bed and unzipped his backpack, searching its contents. “The gym really is closed now?” he asked absentmindedly.
She shrugged, watching the back of her companion's back. “I would assume. The sun is setting after all. Besides, do you really want to battle after today?”
The boy let out a quiet laugh. “I guess not. It is kind of early, though. Too early to sleep.”
“Oh? What happened to your 'early to bed, early to rise' philosophy?”
“Psh.” Brendan continued to clean out his backpack, pulling out crumpled up paper balls and old granola bar wrappers. May continued to watch him, more out of boredom than interest, her blue eyes sweeping over his appearance. Brendan was lean, but not that lanky either. Underneath that sweater were toned muscles, something she saw when she accidentally walked in on him changing shirts, but he wasn't too muscular. Average, really. Okay looking, she supposed.
“Like what you see?”
Brendan's voice quickly snapped May out of her thoughts, flushness bathing across her cheeks. “No way!” she said, half yelling, half mumbling.
A cocky smirk made its way to Brendan's as he turned his head to stare at the flustered girl. “Aw, it's okay, May. I've been told I'm quite the handsome boy. So it's okay to stare.”
“Oh please, Brendan. We all know that the only one who would have told you that is your mom.” She grinned as Brendan's smirk dropped into a frown. Unclipping the fanny pack from her hips, May remarked, “So really. You're the one native to this boring island. There must be something to do in this city. Or is this place just surrounded by trees?”
“Hmm ...” Brendan pulled out his pokemon manual and sat on the bed, making the springs creak. He flipped through it, his thumb fanning through the pages, before stopping on the section that went into detail on Lavaridge Town. “Settled on the foot of Mt. Chimney, north is the Jagged Pass, blah, blah – oh, here we go. Lavaridge is known for its hot springs. Magma from Mt. Chimney runs through the veins of water, thus heating up the springs. Well, there's that.”
“Hot ... springs?” repeated the girl.
“Yeah.” Brendan slammed the book shut and stretched a bit to place it on the dresser squeezed between the two beds. “So do you want to?”
“Hot ... springs?” she peeped out again.
He stared at her wearily. “You really are the weirdest girl I've ever met.” Brendan dug through his backpack again, pulling out a pair of wrinkled board shorts. He flapped them in the air to straighten them out. “Whatever. I'm going.”
“Wait. Why?”
The bed springs creaked again as Brendan stood up, heading toward the door, pulling it open. “I hear going in them attracts money. Latios knows we need it.” He rolled his eyes. “Besides, I suppose it'll be nice to relax. Join me later if you want if you're done staring ... or whatever you're doing.” With a slight nod and a small wink, Brendan left the room and shut the door behind him.
The air that brushed against May from the door closing made her shiver. It would be nice to relax in a hot spring. But not in front of Brendan. Not in front of a boy who would ... stare at her while in a bathing suit. She was already uncomfortable with her body as it was, and she didn't need no smirking jerk to make fun of her.
She looked at the time. Thirty minutes past seven. Too early to sleep.
With nothing else to do in the small, quaint town, May sighed and pulled her fanny pack on her lap, looking for a bathing suit.
- - -
“So you decided to join me huh? Knew it.”
May frowned as Brendan leaned back against the side of the nature-made hot spring, staring at her. She blushed a bit, gripping tightly onto the towel that covered her bikini-clad body. “Well, there was nothing else to do. You'd be surprised how boring the news is,” she murmured. She dipped a slim foot into the water and then quickly pulled it back out, surprised at how hot it was. “It's boiling hot. How can you stand it?”
Brendan's right hand swirled the water around, making it wave back and forth across his arm. “You get used to it. So are you coming in?”
May looked back and forth between the boy in the hot spring and the pokemon center doors behind her. The latter seemed more relaxing. “Um ... Don't know.”
“Oh, come on,” he urged. “I thought girls liked this kind of thing.”
“We do! It's just–” May's eyes darted back and forth in her head, “–well ... Can you close your eyes first?”
Brendan raised an eyebrow. “You're not serious, are you?”
May nodded frantically. “I don't want you to see me ... er, my body.”
“Uh, why?”
“Brendan, please ...”
Rolling his eyes, Brendan slapped his hands against the front of his eyes, obeying May's request. He didn't know what the big deal was; Brendan knew that May's figure was anything BUT embarrassing. Girls. He couldn't help but peek, though, peeking through the gaps between his fingers. He watched as May took in a sharp intake of breath before off the towel around her and folding it neatly, placing it near her feet.
Now, Brendan always considered May “okay looking” even during their first encounter. She certainly wasn't bad to look at anyway. Decent face, nice eyes, a pretty smile, a relatively curvy figure, a nice ra – well, he won't get into that. But there was something about her today. Maybe it was the light she was cast in, the orange glow of the sunset and the lit torches that bordered the hot spring made her radiate. Maybe it was because he was squinting between his fingers. Or maybe, just maybe, it had to do with the fact that she was a tiny, red bikini. Either way, Brendan saw her in a more attractive light.
He watched as May sat down and dipped her legs into the hot spring before she dropped in, the hot water rippling as she did. She shivered at the sudden amount of heat that overwhelmed her, doing her best to adjust by lapping the water up and down her arms.
“Okay,” she sighed. “You can look now.”
Brendan dropped his hands, letting them splash in the water. He gazed at May's flushed face, not sure if she was blushing because of the hot water or the predicament she was in. She was tense, her shoulder hunched up, her arms hugging around her upper body. “Relax,” he murmured. “You're in a hot spring.”
The girl let out another sigh before relaxing her shoulders and letting her arms float in the water. She closed her eyes, breathing in the steam, enjoying the bubbles. “This is nice,” she remarked softly, pressing her back against the side.
Brendan watched her relax. Not out of interest, mind you, but boredom really. Yeah. Boredom. She did look rather ... pretty. Gah, what was he saying?
“Like what you see?” she mocked, opening one eye and smirking.
Brendan, startled, jumped a bit at the statement, eyes wide. “Psh! Don't flatter yourself!” he quickly exclaimed, perturbed. “I got lost in my thoughts, and you so happen to be in front of me, and well – ugh, just forget about it!”
May let out a small laugh that rung through Brendan's ears. “Why don't you relax instead?” she advised, lapping the water against her upper arms. She raised her hands, picking up the folds of her wet locks and pulled it up, only to drop them and let them drape around her moist shoulders.
There was an awkward silence with the exception of tweeting birds and the fire in the torches crackling.
“You look nice,” Brendan muttered.
May looked at him oddly. “You're saying that because I'm in a bathing suit.”
“No – well, yeah the bathing suit did help.” The boy smiled sheepishly as the girl glared at him. “But really, May. You just look ... pretty.”
“You're a liar.” May, blushing, looked down into the water. “Thank you, though.”
- - -
Brendan felt awfully embarrassed the next morning when he woke up, the taillow chirping cheerfully in the trees outside the window. Flat on his back, his hands resting on his chest, the boy stared up at the ceiling, staring at its design. Why did he say that? Why did he say she was ... pretty? Dammit. Damn girls and their ability to hypnotize him with their skimpy bathing suits.
Turning onto his side, he noticed that May was staring at him, and he freaked out, quickly sitting up in place.
“Gah, why are you staring at me?” he shouted, his hair sticking up in several places.
May simply blinked, getting up in a much calmer manner. “I don't know,” she replied after a few seconds of silence. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her blanket. “Mostly because I was lazy to turn away. And I wasn't staring at you. I was staring at the wall to the side of you.”
“It was still in my general direction!” he screeched.
“Man, what's with you?” she questioned. “Whatever it is, get over it.” Stretching her arms over her head, May looked at the clock that hung on the wall. “Hmm, eleven. You actually let us sleep in? That's, like, a first. How nice.”
“Yeah, well. Considering that we're going to be stuck here for awhile, I figure there was no need to wake up early.” Rubbing his hair, messing up further, Brendan asked, “So are you ready for your gym battle?”
“I guess. This is a fire-based gym, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, I think I'll be fine then.” May hopped onto her feet, her loose pajamas straightening out around her legs. “You know, those hot springs did make me feel loads better. I haven't slept that well in weeks! How did you sleep?”
Brendan was pretty restless throughout the night, thinking about what happened. “Er, good,” he lied.
“Good.” Smiling, May picked up her bag and headed toward the door. “Well, I'm going to get ready. You should, too. I'll see you at breakfast?”
He nodded again. “Yeah,” Brendan said, still moving his head.
Ignoring the odd look May gave him before she closed the door, Brendan flopped back down onto his bed, muffling himself with his pillow. Today was going to be a long, awkward day.
- - -
When the glass doors of the Lavaridge gym opened, and the two trainers were greeted by thick, billowing white smoke. Hesitantly, the two entered, the doors immediately closing behind them. The smoke started to choke them. What was odd about the gym was that the floor was littered with holes, hot steam rising from them.
May, blinded by the smoke, slowly tread across the gym's floor, groping for a wall. When she finally found one, she continue to run her hands up and down the wooden walls, looking for a door. “I don't get it,” she murmured after circling the small room. She used her hand to fan herself, sweat tricking down her face. “How do we get to the gym leader? This is just one big, blank room with ... holes.”
“You answered it yourself,” Brendan replied, standing behind May. He motioned toward one of the holes. “So would you like sand pit number one, or geyser number two?”
“What do you mean?” May asked, puzzled. She peered down into one of the holes, noticing that it contained sand in it. She turned around to look down the other hole, noticing it was filled with hot water.
“We have to go through one of these geysers or sand pits in order to reach the gym leader,” Brendan explained. “I'm guessing that each pit leads to different rooms, maybe in the right direction, or maybe in the wrong direction. I read about it in the guide. Lavaridge went all out when decorating their gym.”
“Isn't that dangerous?”
He shrugged. “Probably. Pick one.”
Tentatively, May chose the hole to her right, dipping a foot into it. She was sucked in immediately. “Brend – AH!” she screamed as she went down under. Brendan laughed and hopped into the sandpit after her, the warm sand oozing through his clothes. It wasn't a disgusting feeling, though. It was rather soothing.
May screamed as the sand pit took her into another room and spat her out. She landed on her bottom with a loud thud, groaning to herself. A few seconds later, Brendan hopped out of the sand pit without the slightest look of dizziness. He looked at May, who stumbled around before falling down, and shook his head, offering her a hand.
The girl, still dizzy, looked up. “Ah!” May screamed in terror. “Five Brendans! The horror!”
Brendan shook his head again and picked up May by himself, brushing the dirt off her shoulders. “Ready to try that again?” He smirked, amused.
“... Dammit.”
- - -
May was practically in tears as they reached another dead-end in the Lavaridge gym.
“I wanna get out of here!” she cried. “My butt hurts, my feet hurt, I can hardly breathe, and we've been trying to find Flannery for the past forty-five minutes!”
“Don't give up now, May. We're so close! I know it!” Brendan replied optimistically as he turned his back to May, looking around for another hole. “Besides, I'm not giving up, and neither should you!” He walked a bit away toward the back wall, looking for hidden holes enclosed by smoke.
May hesitated before replying. “... Fine, but you better be right about us being close!” The girl looked around, noticing a ledge. Standing up tippy toe, she noticed that the drop wasn't too bad and that it would lead back to the room they just left. “There's a ledge,” she remarked, “so let's – ah!” May screamed as a geyser covered in thick smoke shot her up into another room.
Turning his head quickly at May's scream and getting whiplash from it, the boy remarked, “May?” Brendan looked around but couldn't find his friend anywhere. “Oh, Mayyy? Did she already jump over that ledge?” he asked himself as he completely missed the secret geyser May fell into when he hopped over the ledge. “Well, that's rude. I can't believe she left without me!”
- - -
Her rough landing resounded throughout the small room.
“Ow!” May grumbled as she picked herself from the floor, sighing. Besides being lost in this hell hole of a gym for almost a hour, she lost Brendan as well. “This sucks!” she cried out loud. “This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!”
There was no used complaining about it, though. She either had two choices: find the gym leader or leave it, and both options included going through those annoying sand pits. She noticed two sand pits in the room so she hopped into one. The sensation of sand brushing against her skin, warmness hugging her tight, and breathing underwater overwhelmed her like before. She soon entered another room, gasping for breath, with three different geysers and sand pits. Feeling extra lucky, she hopped into one which turned out to be another sand pit.
The former option came up.
Coughing to clear her throat of sand and brushing the dirt off her clothes, May stepped further into the gym leader's room. “I'm May Maple from Littleroot Town, and I challenge you to a pokémon battle!” May demanded as she held out an enlarged pokéball arm's length in front of her. She examined the leader in front of her. While obviously older than the girl trainer, May noticed that the leader was fairly young, much like Roxanne was. Her black t-shirt embroidered with a red flame showed off her finely-toned belly, and a pair of jeans held up by a red belt showed off her curves nicely. Her bangs, a nice shade of red, framed her face, revealing her bright, red eyes. May couldn't help but admire her hair. It was a simple ponytail, but the gym leader split it up into four separate parts.
Flannery stood up from the mat on the floor and started to talk – or at least try to anyway.
“I am Flannery, the fire type – wait, no. I'm the tamer of the fire types! I have – let me start again. My grandparents have taught me the skills of ... training fire types and I shall use it ... um, against you! So prepare to lose, you weak, little girl!”
May just blinked twice, confused. She figured the leader was trying to sound strong and confident, but she sort of failed.
“Er, what are the rules then?” May asked, ignoring the stumbling introduction.
Another voice answered for her. “Both trainer or gym leader are able to use three pokémon each.” A judge appeared in the midst of the smoke as he took his place in the middle of the sidelines. “The challenger will be able to return her pokémon at anytime while the leader cannot. No time limit!” The judge raised both red and green flags in the air and then swung them down. “Let the battle begin!”
“Let's go, Slugma!” Flannery quickly pulled a pokeball from her belt and threw it toward the field. A slugma appeared in a blaze of white which, in May's honest opinion, looked like a blob lava instead of a pokémon. A pair of eerie, yellow eyes embedded itself in its boiling, lava-like form.
Evaluating the situation, May threw the pokeball she had in her hand. “I choose you, Thunderbolt!” she cried. Thunderbolt burst out of his pokéball like a rocket and instantly took a battle stance, grunting and pawing at the ground, a somewhat amusing picture because of his small stature.
“Slugma, start things off with Rock Throw!” Flannery commanded.
“Dodge it, Thunderbolt, and use Spark!” May countered.
Slugma's blob-like body crawled over toward a few rocks scattered along the gym, and he rammed his body into them, sending them toward Thunderbolt. The electrike easily evaded them with his speed, and darted toward the slugma, charging his body up with electricity. With a snarl, bolts of electricity running up and down his tiny body, he tackled the slugma, sending the blob skidding along the rocky ground.
“Slugma, Ember!” Flannery instructed as the fire type regained composure ... or as much as a slugma could compose of itself, anyway. Slugma stretched out his body and a gap in its lava body opened, sending out tiny flames at Thunderbolt. May's pokemon took the hit full on, the flames licking his body and making him screech, but he held on strong, snorting.
“Thunderbolt, use Quick Attack!”
Thunderbolt kicked his back legs in the air, also kicking up dirt, and he sprinted at Slugma at an alarmingly fast pace. The electrike tackled Slugma into a large rock and grinding his head against him. The slugma's hot body, however, slowly began to trickle down Thunderbolt's head, making Thunderbolt screech at the intense heat. He jumped back, letting the slugma drop down and tried to paw at his head, smoke burning the fine hair along his hair.
Although worried about her pokemon, May knew he was tough enough to take a bit of a burn. “While it's down, Thunderbolt. Spark it again!” she ordered.
Thunderbolt charged up his body with friction and rammed into the Slugma again, powerful electric waves jumping from his body to his opponent's. As quick as it came, the electrike jumped off Slugma, and Slugma collapsed in a heap, its lava body spreading everywhere, small swirls in place where his eyes should be.
The judge raised the green flag. “Slugma is unable to battle! Electrike is the winner!”
“Slugma, return!” Flannery recalled her pokémon into its ball and shrunk it down, getting out another.
“All right, Thunderbolt! You did it!” May cheered as Thunderbolt ran to May. White light suddenly engulfed Thunderbolt, and May gasped. He was evolving ...
- - -
“Hey, Muddy?” Brendan asked his pokémon (who he had let out more out of boredom) a question. “You said you knew where we were going, but I don't see an exit.”
Muddy cast his eyes over to Brendan and shrugged, toddling next to him. He blinked a few times, realization dawning over him. “Oh, we were looking for an exit?” he asked, surprised. “I thought you said, 'Hey I need to find an egg, zit!'”
Brendan slapped his forehead. “No, I did not say egg, zit! I said exit! Exit!”
Muddy put his hands up in the air for a few seconds and dropped them down. "Well now it makes sense! I was like, 'I can find the egg, but I don't have zits, so why is he calling me a zit?' You should speak more coherently next time.”
“... Well, I'm glad we cleared that up, pal.”
Muddy smiled goofily. “Me too!”
Brendan slapped his forehead again and jumped into a geyser.
- - -
“Thunderbolt, you're a totally cool manectric now!” May squealed happily, hugging her poor pokémon to death, his short, coarse fur pricking against her soft skin. “That's so cool!”
“Um, right,” Thunderbolt blinked, trying to escape May's clutches by squirming. “I kind of need to battle now.”
“Oh, right, let's go win us a badge!” May let go of Thunderbolt, examining his new appearance. Obviously taller than his previous form, Thunderbolt traded in his green fur for a sleek blue and yellow. His yellow fur pointed out in different directions, but it didn't look messy; it had a complete look to it. His eyes were red and tough, excited for the battle. He jumped back onto the battlefield, a determined look on both trainer and pokémon's face.
Flannery sent out another Slugma, looking exactly like the first one. She smirked. “Get ready for round two! Slugma, Flamethrower!” she directed.
“Thunderbolt, dodge and use Quick Attack again!”
Thunderbolt dodged the jet of orange-red flames and attacked the slugma from the side, head butting it and sending him skidding toward the wall. Slugma landed in a heap, but he was still able to fight back.
“Time to bring out the big guns, Slugma! Overheat!” Flannery couldn't help but smirk. She knew that this battle was won.
Naïve, May directed, “Try and dodge it, Thunderbolt” unknowing the effects of the attack the gym leader called.
“There's no use,” Flannery commented.
Slugma's body into flames, causing the entire room to be engulfed in an intense, red hot light. May felt the heat radiate from her position on the field as a wave of worry washed over her body. Was her manectric going to be okay? Okay was an understatement as the newly evolved manectric howled in agony, collapsing in a heap as the fire bathed over him.
“Holy – what attack is that?” May cried out as she clumsily got out her pokédex, almost dropping the device between clumsy fingers. She clicked attacks and looked up the move that slugma was using.
“Overheat: A powerful and devastating fire attack that is unavoidable. The downside to this strong attack is that it lowers the user's special attack drastically,” the pokédex informed her.
May growled as she covered her eyes, waiting for the attack to finally die down. She gasped. Thunderbolt was on the ground, all four legs sprawled out, one eye desperately opened as if he wanted to continue battling. She got out Thunderbolt's pokeball to return him, but Thunderbolt quickly got up and dodged the beam of red light, his teeth baring, his claws digging into the ground.
“Thunderbolt, what are you doing?” May exclaimed, flustered, a bead of sweat running down her neck. “Return!” She aimed the red return beam at Thunderbolt again, but he quickly stepped aside to dodge it. “You're going to get hurt again, and I couldn't live with myself if you end up in the critical condition part of the pokémon center again!”
“Please! Just let me battle! I know I can win! Don't you believe in me?” Thunderbolt pleaded as he gave May the famous puppy eyes.
“Argh, you sure do know how to make a girl feel bad.” May shook her head and sighed. He was stubborn, just like her. “Fine! Thunderbolt, use a Thunder Wave!” The sounding of snapping electricity rung through her ears as the manectric charged up an attack.
“I have to admit, kid. You and your pokémon sure do have moxie. Too bad you need more than that the defeat me! Dodge it, Slugma, and finish off that manectric with another Overheat!”
“Crap.”
- - -
Brendan and Muddy landed outside of yet another sand pit, still looking for the exit. The swampert was still cheerful while his trainer was awfully annoyed.
“Where's the exit, exit?” Muddy murmured to himself. “I mean, I've seen 'Exit' in big green lights but not 'Exit, Exit!'”
The boy blinked, stopping in his tracks, making his pokemon stop as well. “Did you just say, 'Exit, exit?'” Brendan asked, taking off his bandanna to get rid of excess sand in his hair.
“Yeah. That's what you told me to find, remember?”
Brendan took in a deep breath and exhaled. “I didn't mean 'exit, exit!' I meant exit as in 'Look, a way out!' or 'Hey look! The light at the end of the tunnel!' or even ' Exit: The freakin' way way out only used for idiots!' I didn't mean look for 'exit, exit' because I don't even know what that means!” Brendan huffed, frustrated.
“Duh! 'Exit, exit' is like ... two exits.” Muddy grabbed for Brendan's hand and pulled up three of his fingers. “Two, see?” He looked at his trainer's fingers, confused. “Oops. This is three. My brain has brain farts sometimes.” He pulled up a fourth finger. “There! Two!”
“Latios help me.”
- - -
“Thunderbolt!” May cried as she ran to her pokémon's side.
The manectric lay flat on his side, burn marks scorched all over his body, shivering from too much heat. May quickly reached into her bag and took out some burn heal, spraying it on.
“That should help,” she murmured as she put the empty burn heal in her bag. S he got out Thunderbolt's pokéball and returned him, thanking him for all he had done.
“There is a thin line between bravery and stubbornness,” Flannery commented on Thunderbolt's downfall as May switched Pokeballs on her belt loop.
May frowned as she enlarged another pokéball, choosing not to respond to the gym leader's comment. “Go, Skittles!” The skitty came out in a beam of red light, mewing softly, her tongue licking her front paw softly. She then noticed her tail and tried to paw at it, mewing louder. “Faint Attack!”
Skittles looked up from her tail and obeyed orders, glowing a reddish color and disappeared, leaving Slugma confused. She appeared behind him and rammed her head into his molten lava body. Skittles got burned in the process, letting out a loud, screechy hiss from it, but it did leave Slugma with very little health left.
“Slugma, Overheat now!”
“Not this time! Finish it off with a tackle, Skittles!” With a mew for a battle cry, the skitty tackled the slugma again, its molten body tumbling around before drooping into a large heap.
“Slugma, return!” Flannery recalled her pokémon in a beam of red light. “Not bad,” she muttered, “but you haven't seen the end yet!”
“Duh! It's not like I can't count,” May retaliated sarcastically.
“... I choose you, Torkoal!”
In a blaze of white light, a black and reddish-orange tortoise type pokémon appeared on the battlefield, billowing white smoke coming out from her back. The torkoal's eyes were narrowed, but they weren't in spite; May figured that was about as wide as her eyes could go.
“Say hello to Torkoal!” Flannery proclaimed proudly, crossing her arms. “And now say bye-bye to your little skitty! Overheat her now!”
Torkoal roared and erupted hot molten lava from the opening on her volcano-shaped back, spreading the lava throughout the battlefield. Skittles hissed as the lava engulfed her in flames.
“Skittles!” May screamed, wincing at the amount of heat that hit her body. She couldn't even imagine how Skittles was feeling. Worried for her pokemon's health, she decided to throw in the towel, pulling out Skittles' pokeball. “Oh, return!”
“Overheat is a powerful attack coming from a Slugma,” Flannery pointed out as May returned Skittles. “But coming from a torkoal ... Well let's say it's indestructible!”
“'Til now that is!” May cried, unleashing her starter pokémon. “Get 'em, Flare!” She smirked as the six foot three blaziken took place in front of the torkoal. Flare blew out a flame she created on the top of her claw tip, confident, just like her trainer. “Get ready to lose! Flare, Double Kick!”
Flare's long legs made her move quickly toward her opponent's side of the field. She lifted one of her heavy, muscular legs to kick Torkoal in the face, sending her skidding a few feet. Torkoal blew out gray smog from her nostrils, clearly angry with the attack.
“It isn't over 'til it's over! Torkoal, another Overheat!” Flannery commanded.
With another mighty cry, Torkoal erupted fiery hot lava from the volcano on her back, sending it hurling towards Flare. Flare's eyes turned to slits as the lava came closer, and in a desperate attempt to protect herself, she put her claws up in a defense position in hopes of shielding herself from the lava. It plunged into her body like a wave crashing onto shore, but she did not fall from pain. In fact she held her ground.
“All right, Flare!” May cheered as Flare ruffled her feathers, brushing the attack off. “Looks like Flare's fire type saved her from that one! And you thought you were hot stuff!”
Flannery, flustered, growled, “Overheat again!”
“That is SO getting old! Quick Attack, Flare!”
Flare kicked up dirt in her path and she ran quickly toward the torkoal, lowering herself as she gained speed, advancing on her opponent. Torkoal, lava boiling, ready to launch, was rapidly hit in the side by the blaziken's powerful legs.
“Torkoal!” Flannery cried as her torkoal fell over on her side, the lava spilling out of her back and scorching on her side. Immediately, the stout, fat legs of Torkoal wiggled about in pain as she tried to get back on her feet, but the struggle was in vain. She was too tired to stand back up, let alone fight.
“Torkoal is unable to battle! The challenger wins!” the judge declared, raising May's flag.
“All right, Flare, we won!” May jumped up in excitement, pumped a fist in the air, and ran over to her Flare, wrapping around her blaziken's lean frame and hugging her. “We won, we won, we won!” she cheered.
Flare smiled as the affection, her arms drooping slightly from tiredness.
“Darn,” the gym leader muttered, snapping her fingers. “I thought grandpa said Overheat would win for sure ...” Shaking her head, Flannery walked over to May, pulling a badge out of the pocket of her jeans. “Congratulations, May! You deserve this!” She handed May an orange, metal badge shaped like a flame.
“All right! I got another badge!” May cheered, raising the new badge to the light, making it shine with brilliance. “Thanks, Flannery!”
“No problem, May!” Flannery replied, smiling. “This battle has taught me a lot: I have more to learn.”
“So do I. We all have something new to learn.”
- - -
“Brendan?” asked Muddy meekly, staring at the frame of his fallen trainer. He was hunched over a bit, his paws almost touching the ground.
“What?” his irritated trainer replied.
“Are you dead?”
“No. Almost, but no.”
“Oh. If you die, can I have your bandanna? I think it'd look nice on me.”
Before Brendan could come up response, he heard the glass doors of the gym behind him swing open, and he quickly sat up, brushed the dirt off his back, and turned his head, spotting a happy girl trainer skipping toward him.
“There you are!” May said warmly, running toward them. “Where were you, Brendan?”
“I got lost in there,” Brendan admitted, blushing in embarrassment. He stood up, standing next to his pokemon. “But I knew you could win!”
May smiled a pearly white smile, her blue eyes glowing with pride. “Yup! It was awesome!”
“Wish I was there.”
The swampert snickered. “That doesn't surprise me after you babbled on about May for so long.”
Brendan immediately punched his laughing pokemon lightly in the arm, a blush rising to his cheeks. May looked at the two, confused.
“What did your swampert just say?”
“Um, nothing!” Brendan let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway, congrats!”
May gave Brendan a final odd look before smiling back. “Thanks, weirdo,” she replied, punching the boy lightly in the arm as well. “Come on. Let's go to the center. I need to heal my pokemon.”
Ignoring his still laughing swampert, Brendan scuffed the ball of his foot against the grainy ground and followed after the girl trainer. “I'm going to kill you, Muddy,” he murmured.
“Oh,” the swampert remarked sadly, following after his trainer. He then perked up. “Can I still have your bandanna?”
“Whatever.”
Last Revision: 09/05/09
Last edited:
Piggyback
“Why are we back here again?”
Brendan slapped his forehead as May glanced at him, curious. “You really do fail at this listening thing,” he remarked dully. He trudged forward, May on his heels, flattening the clover grass underneath his mud-caked shoes. Luckily, they were near the ocean, the sea breeze cooling down his flushed skin. “The Lavaridge and Fallabor area is a dead end. We need to go back toward the Mauville area and head across the river toward the eastern half of Hoenn. I checked the news and they said that Rusturf Tunnel is cleared.”
“Well, can't we take a break or something?” she groaned, slouching. “We've been walking all day!”
“Girls,” he muttered. “Fine. I guess we are ahead of schedule.” Brendan led May to the edge of a ledge and sat down on it, swinging his legs over the side. May sat down next to him, pulling out her water bottle from the side pocket. Meanwhile, Brendan pulled out his badge case from his backpack and admired all four of them, letting them glint in the light. “I'm still amazed that I got my fourth badge.”
May bit around the tip of her water bottle and looked at Brendan through the side of her eye. “Why?” she asked. “Flannery uses fire types and, well, you have a swampert.”
“Don't ruin my moment.” Brendan closed his badge case with a satisfying shut and slipped it inside his backpack. “You know, since we're not going to be in this area for awhile, we should visit Petalburg again.”
May looked at Brendan and beamed. “It would be awesome to see my dad again!” she remarked cheerfully before taking in another drink of water.”
“Yep. We should challenge him for our fifth badge, too.”
At this, May spat out her water all over Brendan's face and gagged. “Wha – what?” May gasped in between breaths.
Brendan wiped the water off his face with his hands, a look of disgust on his face. “I said we should challenge your dad for the Petalburg gym badge,” he repeated, wiping his fingers on the edge of his shirt. “We're not going to be back here for awhile, so we kind of need to if we want to qualify for the league in time.”
May started to breathe heavily like she were hyperventilating. “Oh, no, no, no!” She bit her lip with worry. “I can't battle my dad! He's too strong! I've seen him train before!”
“So what?” Brendan shrugged his shoulders. “You'll have an advantage over him. He only knows one of your pokémon, and she has long evolved. You know most of his pokémon by hear.! You can prepare for it in advance!”
“No way, Brendan! His pokémon are way too strong. There's this one attack he uses, Facade–”
“My care meter is very low right now, May,” Brendan interrupted, causing the girl to glare at him. He stood up, brushing the dirt off his rear. “We have to. Get over it.”
“I don't want to, and you can't make me!” The girl remained sitting and crossed her arms, pouting. Brendan merely stared at the top of her bandanna-wearing head.
“May, come on,” he complained, tapping his foot, rolling his eyes. “Let's go.”
“No,” she replied firmly.
“Stop being stubborn.”
“I'm not.”
“Then get up.”
“No.”
With a sigh, Brendan murmured, “Fine. Be that way,” before bending down a bit and picking May up by the waist, swinging her over his shoulder. He used his arm to pin down May's squirming legs.
“Brendan Birch! You put me down right now!” she screeched, pounding her fists into his back.
May's beatings weren't strong enough to affect him as he carefully scaled down the ledge, landing softly. A light smirk on his face, the boy made his way to a small slope, continuing his trek toward the busting, stone city. Soon, the wild glass littered with dandelions transformed itself into the hard asphalt streets of Rustboro. Brendan ignored the stares that people gave him while May continued to screech like a bird. He admired the city, its tall building trying to grasp for the sky, the windows reflecting the bright sunlight. It only seemed like yesterday that he was here, trying to get his first gym badge.
The further Brendan walked, the weaker May's pounds and screams were, and they, too, disappeared as soon as he walked the straight street toward the opposite exit of the city, the sounds of city life fading from his ears. Brendan always enjoyed the bridge that lead from Petalburg Forest to Rustboro; it was such a peaceful, breezy area. Shifting May on his shoulder, he began his descent toward the creaky, wooden bridge, admiring the rippling lake.
“Are you still alive?” he asked the girl.
No answer.
He stared at the planks of the bridge, his long legs skipping every two. “Oh. So you're not talking to me, huh?”
Again, no answer.
Brendan finished crossing the bridge, his eyes fixated on the tiny flower shop that bordered the dark forest. “You're such a brat.”
“I am not!” the girl finally shouted, smacking the back of Brendan's head, making him wince. “And can you stop carrying me like this?”
“I actually kind of like it,” he mused.
“Because my ass is, like, right next to your face?”
Brendan actually forgot about that, his hand still gripped tightly around May's thighs so she wouldn't fall off. “It's not a bad view,” he joked only to receive another harsh blow to the head. Stars blurred his vision for a bit, but he quickly shook his head to get rid of them. “I mean, since you're such a slower walker, me carrying you is making us travel faster. And don't get your hopes up; I'm not carrying you everywhere.”
“Wouldn't want you to anyway. It's uncomfortable.” She squirmed.
“Oh, fine. It's not like you can turn back anyway.” Brendan carefully dropped May on the ground and motioned toward the forest. It took him a few steps to notice that she wasn't following after him. “Ugh. What now?”
“My legs are numb. Carry me.”
Brendan's eye twitched. “First you complain about me carrying you, and now you want me to carry you? Make up your mind.”
“Carry me in a different way.”
“Latios ...” he said under his breath, stomping over to May while removing his backpack straps from his shoulders. “Carry this, then.”
May reluctantly took Brendan's bag in her hands, throwing it over her shoulder. “Oh, so now I'm your mule?”
“No.” He rolled his eyes. “It's just so you won't have that in your way.”
“Of–” May let out a squeal as Brendan pulled her closer to his back and picked her up, letting all her weight balance on his back as he quickly scooped his arms underneath her legs. The girl understood what he was doing and wrapped her arms his shoulders. “Oh,” she murmured. “Piggyback. Gotcha.”
Shaking his head, Brendan entered the forest, the cool air a relief to his sweaty neck. Petalburg forest, although located in a relatively hot part of the region, was always cold and moist, dew dripping off the foliage. Vines wrapped themselves around the thick bases of trees. Amongst the trees were chirping taillow, and he occasional heard the scraping and rattling of a zigzagoon scratching and nibbling at something. Bug catchers were on their hands and knees, weaving through the grass, looking for traces of bug pokémon.
“Brendan?” the girl on his back asked quietly.
Brendan snapped out of his thoughts, focusing his eyes on the dirt trail ahead. “Yeah?”
“Why are you nice to me all of a sudden?”
What a weird question. “Um, why do you ask that?” he questioned back, confused.
May wrapped her arms tighter around Brendan, noticing the exit to the forest up ahead. “Well, you were kind of mean to me when we first started, and you used to make fun of me when I got tired, and ... I don't know. All this stuff. So why are you being so nice?”
Rays of sunlight peeked their ways through the thick branches of trees, decorating the forest flooring in a striped pattern. Brendan adjusted May on her back, slightly tightening his grip around her thighs. “Why not?”
May's eyes squinted at the sudden bombardment of sunlight when the two exited the forest. She watched as Brendan scuffed the ground, clouding the air space in front of them in a light dust. “I thought you didn't want to travel with me.”
“And I didn't.”
“Oh ...” Brendan felt the breath of May's sigh against the top of his head. “Well–”
“Let me finish,” he interrupted. “I mean, it was obvious that you didn't want to travel with me and that I didn't want to travel with you at the beginning of our journey. But, you know ... we've been traveling for a few months now, and we've gotten pretty close.”
“Dare you say we're friends now, Brendan?” she asked slyly.
“We have been, May.”
This made her smile. “Just when I think you're a jerk, you say something nice like that.”
“I know, right? I'm just full of surprises.”
May let out a small laugh, but it was short-lived when Brendan followed the dirt road into the quaint town of Petalburg. The sound of laughing children playing by the town's lake rung through her ears along with the busy chatter of neighbors as they talked by their white picket fences. Brendan continued to trudge forward, adjusting May on her back once more.
“We got here pretty fast,” she remarked, turning her head to look at the scenery.
“Really? Felt like it was hours to me,” Brendan replied. “I don't get why you're so nervous about battling your dad.”
“Because it's my dad,” she whined, pressing her head into Brendan's hair. “He was the one that taught me everything about pokémon. How am I supposed to beat him?”
“Whatever.”
“'Whatever' doesn't answer my question.”
“Whatever.”
“Brendan!”
“Well, what do you want me to say?” Brendan stopped in his tracks and turned his head a bit, staring the girl in the eye. His fiery, red eyes caught May off guard. “You and I both got a lot better in battling since the last time we've been here. Don't underestimate yourself.”
“How do you know that? How do you know we got better?”
Brendan was about to answer when someone yelled a sharp, “Hey, you!” He slowly turned around, May still gripping onto him, noticing a girl waving them down.
“Yeah?” he asked back as the girl caught up to them, panting.
“You're Brendan Birch, aren't you?” she asked between pants of breath.
“Er. Yes. Why?”
“You don't remember me?”
“Um ...” Brendan examined the girl in front of him, May still clinging onto him. She didn't look any older than he, give or take a few months. Fiery red hair framed her face, bangs partially covering her bright, green eyes. Her clothes were baggy, a pair of khaki cargo pants hanging loosely around her hips, though her navy blue tank top managed to reveal that she had some curves. “No ...?”
“Idiot. I'm Kath, remember!”
He blinked, still not getting it.
“You know. Kath?” she repeated. “Kathryn Kasumi from pokémon school?
He stared this time.
“Ugh, forget it! I challenge you to a pokémon battle!” she exclaimed as she held a pokéball arm's length away from her. She flicked her bangs out of her eyes.
Brendan turned his head and smirked at May. “So you want to know how we both got better in battle?”
She nodded.
“I'll prove it now with you still on my back.”
“Aren't you amazing?” the girl replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Nevertheless, she laced her fingers together, tightening her grip around Brendan. Brendan and Kathryn found a clearing outside the city in a patch of grass, and the two stood a bit's away to make room for a battle.
“So how many pokémon each?” Brendan asked as he pulled out a pokéball from his belt, one arm supporting May's weight.
Kath threw a pokéball in the air and caught it. “How about two versus two?” she suggested.
“Fine with me.” Reeling as far as his arm could go with May still on his back, Brendan threw the pokéball in his hand. “All right, Silver, come out!”
In a burst of white light, Brendan's chosen pokémon appeared, quickly taking to the air. Silver managed to evolve from a nincada to a ninjask in a training session back in Lavaridge town. Since then, the ninjask loved flying after being on the land for so long, his ability to fly only adding on to his quickness. His white wings beat the air quickly, and he buzzed back and forth, silver claws clicking together. His red, beady eyes stared at the opposing trainer in front of him, the sunlight reflecting the gold plating that protected the top of his head.
Kath observed the pokémon in front of her before deciding to use the pokémon she already had in her hand. “I choose you, Sparkie!” Kath threw the pokéball, and the ball spiraled before releasing the creature within. Sparkie turned out to be a pikachu, a small, mouse pokémon. The creature wagged its lightning bolt-shaped tail, her yellow fur ruffling in the wind. She squeezed her red cheeks, electricity sparking from it
“All right, Silver!” Brendan yelled, his arms wrapped tightly around May's legs. “Slash!”
“Thunderbolt, Sparkie!” Kath countered.
Sparkie's red cheeks scrunched up slightly as she released a bolt of lightning towards the ninjask. Thanks to his speed, Silver was able to dodge although missed his chance to slash at the pikachu, flying over her head with a slight buzzing noise.
“Use Leech Life, Silver!” Brendan commanded.
Silver shot out a tiny, needle-like pin from his mouth, and it punctured Sparkie's skin, zapping some of her energy, making her squeal, trying to scratch where the needle was. The needle returned to the ninjask and punctured him as well, giving him some of Sparkie's energy.
Brendan's opponent gritted her teeth. “Agility, Sparkie, and then charge up energy for another Thunderbolt!” Kath directed.
Sparkie took off like a rocket and became a yellow blur as she sped around Silver. The sound of electricity crackling resounded through the open field, but Brendan nor the ninjask couldn't see where was was. Silver spun around slowly, trying to spot the pikachu, but every time he did, Sparkie ran away in a blur of yellow fur.
“Now, Sparkie! Thunderbolt!”
Sparkie ran directly under Silver, and before the bug could fly away, Sparkie released the charged up energy from her body in a mighty crash of lightning. The ninjask took the attack head on and quickly dropped to the ground, wings twitching.
“Silver, return!” Brendan recalled his pokémon, thanking it for a job well done. He shrunk down his ninjask's pokéball and enlarged another. “Get ready for round two! Go, Sirius!”
Sirius, too, had evolved into a mightyena while battle, but he did it while battling Flannery. Brendan and May had a bit of a laugh at that, considering her electrike also evolved into a manectric during her own gym battle. The two, for some reason or another, had built up a fierce rivalry, so the two evolving under the same circumstances seemed appropriate.
Sirius burst out from his pokéball in a blaze of light, pawing at the ground, his wet nose twitching from the sea breeze. Truth be told, Sirius really hadn't changed from his poochyena form other than getting bigger and his face becoming more fierce and shapelier. His ears were still perked up and soft, his tongue still hung between sharp teeth, and his eyes, although more vicious, were still the same piercing red. He did shed more fur as Brendan unfortunately realized when he woke up to piles of black hair littered across the room they rented in the Lavaridge pokémon center.
Something poked him in the head, and he turned his head sharply, glaring at the smiling girl trainer still clinging onto his back.
“You're in battle, remember?” she remarked.
“Oh ... right.” Shaking his head, Brendan ordered, “Crunch, Sirius!”
“Agility, Sparkie!” Kath retaliated.
Sirius sprinted towards Sparkie and was about to take a bite out of her, but she, too, dashed off behind Sirius in a blur of yellow fur. Sirius bit down on his tongue in the process, and he roared with with pain, sticking his tongue out to air it out.
“Now Thunderbolt!” Kath cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
It was kind of odd to be right besides Brendan in battle, and not just beside him, but literally on top of him. She had never been that close to someone while in battle– not even her dad—and she heard everything that Brendan muttered out loud. She heard his curses when his pokémon got hit and his quiet whoops whenever his pokémon landed a hit. She never realized it, but she wondered if she made the same noises Brendan did while in battle.
She felt his movements – the tension in his back muscles. She felt his shoulders stiffen when Sparkie charge up her cheeks and shocked his mightyena from behind. She stared at the back of his neck. A light sweat formed there, resting in the lines of his strained neck, and she observed how Brendan's fists seemed to clench and unclench, depending on the circumstance.
“You can do it, Sirius,” she heard him whisper. The energy that radiated from Brendan's body was felt by May. She clenched onto him tighter, invigorated by his battle as well.
Sirius clenched his teeth furiously and turned around, his eyes glaring coldly at the mouse pokémon. While the attack was powerful, it wasn't enough to knock him out.
“Sirius, Take Down now!” Brendan yelled.
Sirius ran and jumped up into the air, landing on Sparkie. She fell onto the ground with a loud thump, Sirius pinning her down by his four paws. She squirmed, but Sirius only gave her a triumphant glare.
May could feel the excitement pump in Brendan's veins. “Finish her off with Crunch!” he proudly proclaimed.
Sirius bent down his head and bit Sparkie's pointed ears. She screeched in pain and started wiggling as if trying to get out, but Sirius felt her movement get weaker, the frantic wiggles growing more faint until she gave up, eyes closed. Sirius let her go and trotted over to Brendan for a pat on the head.
“Return, Sparkie!” Kath returned her mouse pokémon and whispered kinds words to her. She then enlarged another pokéball as she shrunk down Sparkie's. With a flick of her wrist, she released another pokémon. “Let's go, Yurei!”
Brendan and May watched as pokémon appeared before their eyes. He was a tiny thing, eyes shaped like diamonds. The pokémon did a weird, almost evil, giggle as he jumped up and down, lacing his sharp, purple claws together. His back was hunched, his shoulders raised. Both trainers recognized the pokémon as a sabelye.
“Yurei, Shadow Ball!” commanded his trainer.
Yurei stood up straight and wiggled his fingers, a small, purple flame appearing between his palms. He threw the small, dark ball of energy toward the mightyena, and Sirius took the attack full on, blasting him of his feet. The beast tumbled backward a bit (May noting that Brendan let out a gasp from this) before groggily getting back on all fours, only one eye open.
“You can do it, Sirius!” Brendan tried to pump up his pokémon with encouraging cheers. “Crunch!”
“Yurei, Shadow Punch!” Kath commanded quickly.
As Sirius darted over toward the sabelye, baring his teeth, Yurei's right fist glowed with purple flames. She sidestepped to avoid Sirius' sharp teeth and punched him in the jaw, making the mightyena's mouth close with a sickening crunch. Dazed, Sirius stumbled back a bit on clumsy paws before falling onto his side, too tired to fight.
“All right! We won!” shouted Kath excitedly, running toward her pokémon and giving it a high five.
Brendan begrudgingly returned his pokémon back to his ball, but he gave it words of praise anyway, his eyes sparking with warmth. Minimizing it and hooking it back on his belt, Brendan, still holding onto May, walked across the grassy field to Kath, extending his hand in congratulations. “You were great,” he remarked with a smile. May could tell he genuinely meant it; his voice was sincere and not filled with spite.
Kath returned her pokémon and shook Brendan's hand. “So where is it?” she demanded.
Brendan blinked. “Er, what?”
She sighed. “Brendan Birch, you'll never change,” Kath said, pulling her hand away. “Forget it. I gotta go heal my pokémon anyway.” She then looked up at May and nodded. “What's going on here anyway?”
Brendan shrugged, shifting May a bit from doing so. “You're better off not asking,” he replied.
“I figure. It was nice to see you again, Brendan. You two make a cute couple by the way.” Kath winked and waved goodbye to the two before they could reply, heading inside the small town toward the pokémon center.
As Brendan blushed at the comment, May affectionately ruffled the hair of her friend's hair, making him groan in annoyance. “You did well.”
“I lost, weirdo,” Brendan muttered as he, too, began to walk toward the city, his arms still scooping up May's legs.
“Nevertheless, I thought you did,” she replied. “And that's all that matters. I learned a lot.”
“Whatever.”
“I'm serious!”
“I never said you were kidding.” Brendan turned his head and smiled at May. “Enjoying it up there?”
She nodded. “Enjoying it down there?” She winked.
“Ugh.”
“I'm cute, and you know it.”
“Sometimes.”
Brendan laughed as he received another light thwack in the head as he made his way toward the pokémon center.
Last Revised: 09/06/09
Last edited:
T
Trainer Justin
Guest
You mean Muddy evolved during the battle with Flannery? I REALLY wanteed to read how Brenden won!!! Oh well, at least Brenden won! You are definately 1 of mai fave. authors! Your stories take place in Hoenn!!!
Dark Latios
Beautiful Tragedy
good chaps Breezy! they are long enough and very descriptive as for this chap it is very good. My favorite pokemon in the story is Muddy he is so funny and dumb XD. can't wait for the next chap!
Yuugis Black Magician
Namaikina Imouto
Muddy & Flare (pun) evolved before the last Brendan and May battle.
Wondrous Sableye
Heh.
Oooookay…the special was weird…but, funny! The whole "Wow, I thought I gave up on thinking" was funny, too…
...update to forgot, sorry.
Well, that made sense didn't it?
Anyway, enjoy!
At the crack of dawn, Brendan woke up, his ruby-red eyes gleaming with pure happiness. Because today was the day. Today is the day that-
"I'm going to get my fifth badge!" Brendan exclaimed. "Yes! Finally we're at the half way point of our journey! May! May! May, guess what?" He walked over to May's bunk bed and started hopping up and down like an eccentric Spoink. "May! May! Hello? Anyone in the house? May!"
"Grr ... what?" May sat up angrily with a scowl perched on her face. She eyed Brendan wearily. "Yes, B Boy? How may I help you this fine morning? This fine, SIX o'clock, morning? Is there something you would like to say?"
"Yes. Um, hi?" Brendan said meekly. May wasn't the one to wake up at the crack of dawn apparently.
May bit her lip and screamed, "HI!" before falling back down and going back to sleep.
"But May!" Brendan whined. "You haven't even heard the news yet! I'm getting my fifth badge on the fifth day of the fifth week of the fifth month! Isn't that awesome?"
May groaned and sat back up. "No."
Brendan stuck out his tongue and crossed his arms. "Meanie."
"Why, I thank you full heartedly for the compliment," May retorted sarcastically. "Now if you excuse me, I need two more hours of sleep. It's part of my daily routine, you know." And with that, May picked up her covers and fell backward, hitting her head on her fluffy, white pillows.
"Aw, come on, May!" Brendan groaned as he put his hands on May's shoulder and tried to shake her awake. "Fifth day on the fifth week of the fifth month-"
"Months don't have five weeks, smart one," May said caustically. "Months have only four weeks so it would actually be the fifth day of the first week of the sixth month when you get your fifth badge."
"But saying the entire fifth thing is cooler!" Brendan exclaimed. "Please, May! Wake up! I want to get my badge as fast as I can!"
May sat up and sighed. "The gym's not even open yet," she pointed out.
Brendan shrugged. "So what's your point? Is there a point to this?"
May, for the third time that morning, fell backward onto her pillow. "No, Brendan," she said simply. "There is no point of the gym not being open at six in the morning. Now go back to sleep!"
"Aw, but I don't feel like it!" Brendan whined. "Can I sleep with you, May?"
SMACK!
"Pervert!" May slapped Brendan across the face, causing the white-haired trainer to stumble back to his bed.
Falling back, Brendan pressed his left hand on his red, swollen cheek. He winced and glared at May. "What the hell was that for?" he exclaimed. "All I asked was if I could-" He watched fearfully as May rose her hand. "I didn't mean it like that!" he said quickly. "Really, I do! I mean, I want to sleep with you but not in the same bed, you know? Sleep ... at the same time."
"Uh huh," May said dully. "I thought you didn't want to sleep anymore."
"I lied," Brendan said, lying again.
May shook her head and laid back down to sleep for a few more hours. Seconds passed by, minutes ticked by and so on and so forth. All of a sudden, a slight gurgling was heard coming from May's side of the room.
May popped up like a piece of toast in the toaster. "Now since I'm awake," she started. "I'm starved! Let's go down and eat!"
Brendan stared dully at the girl trainer, his hand still clutching his face. "Great." He shook his head. "Just great."
May poured the rest of the milk in the pitcher into her tiny glass cup as she shoved a fork-full of buttery, syrupy pancakes into her mouth. She smiled as she chewed her food thoughtfully.
Brendan chugged down his glass of milk before sighing in relief. "Damn, May," he said, awed. "You devoured those pancakes like a garbage truck ... if garbage trucks can eat that is."
May finished the last of her pancakes and drank the rest of her milk before speaking. "Why thank you!" She laughed. "A girl has to eat you know!"
"While everyone else starves," Brendan said smartly, resulting in the whacking of his shoulder. "Ow! Okay, I've been smacked in the face and now I got punched in the shoulder! Jeez, May. Are you on PMS or what?"
May decided to ignore this comment as she threw away the scraps into the trash can. Wiping her hands on her biker shorts, she glanced downward toward Brendan who was still sitting down. "So, are you ready to fight my daddy?"
Brendan smirked. "Readier than ever! Time to kick some butt!"
"Don't get too cocky, understand?" May warned. "My dad is pretty tough, if not tougher than that. Normal type Pokémon can learn pretty much any type of move, so get ready for any type of surprise. Also, be careful around the attack Facade. All my dad's Pokémon have that move. It's a pretty powerful attack but if the user gets paralyzed, poisoned, or burned, their attack power increases."
"Okay, May. I know all this stuff. I did read the Pokémon Guide last night after all."
"Just making sure, B Boy. You do tend to be a little ... a little-"
"A little what?"
"I don't know yet. I'm still looking for the word."
"Fineeee."
"Ooh, its on the tip of my tongue."
May ..."
"Hang on."
"Out with it already!"
"Fine, sheesh. Your battling techniques tends to be wild. You seem to go more by chance then strategy at first until you seize up your opponent which is good but can be really bad at times."
Brendan just nodded as he stood up. Walking over to the entrance, he held the door for May. "After you, madam."
"Haha. I'm still not letting you win a Pokémon battle against me."
"Damn."
Brendan and May walked to the gym in complete silence. May could sense Brendan was getting more nervous by the second despite the cocky smirk etched on his face. She shook her head and stopped short in front of the wooden-looking building.
"So." Brendan looked at May. "This is it, huh?"
May shuddered as a gust of wind blew across her face. "Yeah," she murmured. "Scared?"
Brendan snorted. "Why should I be?"
"Remember, watch your cockiness. You never know when it's going to come back and bite you in the butt!"
"Speaking of butt, I'm going to kick some!"
May shook her head again. Why bother telling Brendan helpful advice when he just turns it into a arrogant yet witty sentence?
"So are we going in or what?" Brendan asked. "Staring is fun and all but-"
"Okay, we'll go in. Don't get all anal on me." May walked up the stone steps while Brendan pondered on what “anal” meant.
"Hey, wait up!" Brendan yelled as he rushed up the stone steps to catch up with May. Catching his breath, he pulled open the doors and stepped inside after May. He observed the room with careful eyes and frowned. "Where's Norman?" he asked quietly.
"Think, Brendan." May slapped her forehead. "Most gym leaders have a challenge of some sort before actually revealing themselves. In my dad's case, he has several rooms filled with different trainers. All of their Pokémon are normal types, but they have different strategies. Like one trainer may take speed over strength, another might stall and tire out the opponent's Pokémon while the other heals in between the battle."
"I see," Brendan said. "How many rooms are there to get to Norman anyway?"
"I think about three."
Brendan sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Let's go in that one," he said, pointing to one door. He walked over and read the description. "The Strength Room. Does that mean that this trainer rather take the offensive than the defensive?"
"Pretty much." May nodded. "Ready for round one?"
"Oh yeah." Brendan smirked as he slid open the wooden door. He stepped in quietly, and his eyes rested on a boy Cooltrainer who had a Pokéball ready at his right hand side. He was dressed in a red and white jogging suit, the jacket zipped down slightly, revealing a plain, white shirt underneath.
The Cooltrainer smirked at the sight of Brendan as he held the Pokéball arm's length away from him. "I know you. I saw you on the Pokémon Report with Gabby and T.Y. Well, Mr. Hotshot, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" He ran a hand through his blond hair, his dark blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "So bring it!"
May snorted. "Great. The world has two arrogant Brendan Birchs. Fun," she murmured to herself.
Brendan shook his head, the same smug smiled etched on his face. "I thought the challenger was suppose to challenge the junior trainer, not vice versa. You're just jealous that I got on television and you didn't! And at least I don't look like a human Pokéball."
Cooltrainer looked down at his clothing of red and white. Rolling his eyes, he started to speak again: "If you want to get to Norman, you're going to get passed me! I specialize in strength because nothing can beat brute force!"
"Then why aren't your training at Brawly's gym?"
"So let's battle now!" Cooltrainer released his Linoone, ignoring Brendan's comment and immediately injected it with an X Attack. "With this X attack," Cooltrainer began to explain, "I can boost up my Linoone's power!"
"Oh really?" Brendan said sarcastically. "Thanks for telling me some useless information!" Brendan enlarged a Pokéball. "Let's get 'em, Sirius!" He sent out his Bite Pokémon in a blaze of light. "Start things off with Crunch now!"
"Linoone, dodge and use Headbutt!" Cooltrainer quickly retaliated.
Sirius sprinted toward Linoone and snapped at his tail but Linoone jumped up into the air, causing Sirius to bite his tongue. The Linoone landed on the floor gracefully and rammed his head into Sirius's body, causing the hyena Pokémon to collide into a wooden wall.
"Those X Attacks really do boost up a Pokémon's attack power!" May exclaimed in surprise as Sirius slid down back to the floor. "A normal Linoone wouldn't have enough power to headbutt a Mightyena into a wall!"
"Sirius, Quick Attack now!" Brendan ordered.
Sirius hopped back onto his feet and became a blur of black fur. Linoone was hit unexpectedly and skidded across the ground. Linoone shook his head as if shaking the attack off.
"Gonna have to take it up a notch Birch if you wanna beat me!" Cooltrainer said triumphantly. "Linoone, Slash attack now!"
"Sirius, stand your ground!" Brendan countered.
"What the – Sirius is going to get killed if Brendan doesn't think of something!" May cried quietly in alarm. "That Headbutt was strong! I wonder how strong its Slash is."
"Stupid." Cooltrainer shook his head. "Now you have to suffer the consequences! Go Linoone! Slash 'em good!"
Linoone nodded and used his left paw and slashed across the unmoving Sirius's face, who just blinked and growled in return.
"What the?" Cooltrainer exclaimed in annoyance. "With X Attack and Linoone's powerful moves, that should have fainted that Mightyena for sure!" He gaped as Linoone began to glow a bright red. "What the?"
Brendan held back his laughter. "Oh, stop gawking. It's making me blush!" he said in a high pitched, girly tone, laughing soon afterward. "Don't look so stupid. You know that most Mightyenas have the characteristic 'intimidate' where the opposing Pokémon loses attack power when the characteristic is in affect! So therefore, you just wasted an X Attack. Sirius, Crunch now!"
Sirius caught the off guarded Linoone by the tail with his mouth and spun it around. He let go and Linoone crashed into the bench that May was sitting on.
"We have plenty of power even if we don't have X Attack!" Cooltrainer stated confidently. "Linoone, Headbutt again!"
"Dodge, Sirius, with Faint Attack!" Brendan retorted.
Linoone used the bench to hop off of so he could have more power behind the Headbutt attack. But just before Linoone was going to whack Sirius, the Bite Pokémon disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a bewildered racoon.
"Be alert and watch for that Mightyena, Linoone!" Cooltrainer instructed.
Linoone used its sharp senses to try and sense Sirius.
Cooltrainer gasped. "Behind you, Linoone!"
Too late. Sirius used his body on a full force tackle attack. Linoone would have crashed into Brendan if he didn't duck just in time.
"Ah! Linoone, return!" Cooltrainer called back his Linoone in alarm before sighing in relief. Shrinking down the Linoone's Pokéball and sighing again he said, "Fine, you can pass." The two metal doors that covered the wooden doors slid inward at these words. "The door on your left is the speed room and the door on your right is the one-hit KO room. Each one if really different, so I would pick the one that you're good against."
"Kay, thanks!" Brendan returned Sirius to his Pokéball and ran toward the left room which had the words "Speed Room" printed on it. Sliding it over with May behind him, he entered the room to be greeted with a girl with green hair who was wearing the female equivalent of the boy Cooltrainer's outfit.
May sat down on another bench as she shrugged. Why were all her dad's junior trainers part of the Cooltrainer group?
"Hey, I know you!" the girl Cooltrainer squealed in delight. "You're-"
"Brendan Birch, I know." Brendan held in his sigh. "Son of the great Professor Birch and seen on the Pokémon Report, yada, yada, yada. I just want to get past you and the other trainer so I can finally battle the gym leader!"
"Geez!" The Cooltrainer was taken aback by Brendan's attitude. "I'm glad they didn't show your attitude on the show otherwise you would have been beaten to the bloody pulp! How does Norman's daughter travel with you?"
"You get use to it after awhile." May shrugged. "And he's only arrogant when he's about to battle a gym leader. I think it covers up his nervousness."
"I'm not nervous!" Brendan fidgeted with a Pokéball. "Kinda freaked out but-"
"Nervous," May stated with a sigh.
"Um, right," the Cooltrainer said. "I specialize in normal-type Pokémon with excellent speed. Do you think you can catch up with my velocity?"
"It's not a bad speech if you were a gym leader," May muttered under her breath.
Brendan smirked. "We'll just have to see, don't we? I choose you, Muddy!"
"I choose you, Delcatty!"
In two bright flashed of white light, a Mudcat and a delicate feline appeared.
Cooltrainer injected a X Speed into Delcatty before starting the battle. "Delcatty, Doubleslap now!"
"Dodge, Muddy, and use Mud Shot!" Brendan ordered.
Delcatty, with her new found speed, quickly darted toward Muddy and gave him a series of slaps with her two paws. Muddy stumbled to the ground but was able to pelt the Feline Pokemon with mud.
"Muddy is fast, but that Delcatty is faster now that its injected with X Speed," May observed. "Muddy didn't even have a chance of dodging at least one out of those five Doubleslap attack."
"Muddy, use Take Down now!"
"Quick Delcatty! Dodge with Faint Attack!" Cooltrainer countered.
Muddy jumped into the air and body slammed into the floor as Delcatty disappeared into the air just like Sirius did before. Delcatty appeared behind Muddy and used an attack and flipped into the air, landing hard on the fallen Swampert before jumping off him.
"Muddy, Iron Tail now!" Brendan chose the new attack that he taught Muddy a few days ago.
Muddy's tail shone with silver light as he heaved it upwards and brought it down heavily where Delcatty was. But at the last moment, Delcatty sped out of the way as if she teleported to another place in the room, causing Muddy's tail to crash down and crack a few wooden panels in the floor.
"Great! Dad's going to get mad about that," May murmured.
"Delcatty, Strength attack now!" Cooltrainer commanded.
"The only way that I can attack is if I either slow down that Delcatty or go head to head when Delcatty is attacking," Brendan thought out loud. "Try your Take Down again, Muddy!"
The two Pokemon sprinted towards each other, leaving uplifted dirt in their tracks. What seemed like hours – when it was actually a few second – they finally collided head on. Muddy, being the taller and heavier out of the two, only stumbled back but Delcatty fell on her back, her legs flailing about in the air. She quickly stood up but instead of a cold glare or a growl that most Pokemon give their opponent head on, Delcatty only smiled and winked adorably at Muddy.
Brendan immediately caught on and cussed mentally though he wasn't able to finish his cuss, for the Cooltrainer's cheering caught him off guard.
Muddy blinked twice and let it sink in before he got little pink hearts in his eyes. He stood entranced as Delcatty worked her Cute Charm.
"Cute Charm, huh?" May thought out loud. "Brendan has to deal with a love struck Swampert along with a frickin' fast Delcatty! What's he gonna do now?"
"Concentrate, Muddy," Brendan pleaded. "It's just a girl Pokémon that winked at you. No big deal. You can probably get any girl Swampert anytime you want!"
"But the Delcatty is right here!" Muddy protested, not taking his eyes off Delcatty. "While the others are not here!"
"Delcatty, while he's infatuated! Doubleslap now!"
"Muddy, please!" Brendan begged. "Dodge and try another Iron Tail!"
Delcatty began her series of slaps while Muddy stood there with a love struck grin on his face, unfazed as Delcatty slapped his face. On the third slap though, Muddy seemed to have slipped out of his trance.
"What the?" he said, startled. Muddy flicked up his tail and it shone with silver light. He brought it down heavily upon Delcatty's back who was still busy trying to slap Muddy silly with her sharp claws. A sickening crack was heard as Muddy's tail brought Delcatty down flat onto the wooden floor.
"Well, that sounded good," May said sardonically.
"Delcatty, no!" Cooltrainer cried.
Muddy brought up his tail and smirked triumphantly seeing as his opponent blacked out.
"Return!" Cooltrainer recalled her Pokémon and whispered words of praise to her. "Well, I will admit," Cooltrainer said, "that you are a pretty good battler, but too bad that you have a pretty arrogant, supercilious, I'm-the-high-and-mighty attitude going on."
"Hey! It's only when I battle!" Brendan argued.
Cooltrainer shook her head and snapped her fingers, causing the metal doors to slid inwardly again. "The door on your right is the Defense Room while the door on your left is the Special Room. Choose wisely."
"I choose the defense room!" Brendan went to the right. He stopped a few feet from the door when he turned around. "Coming, May?"
May slowly got up and got rid of some leg cramps. "Of course! Can't wait to see when my dad kicks your butt!"
"Haha, hilarious!" Brendan rolled his eyes.
Two battles and a trip to the Pokémon Center later, Brendan and May stood outside Norman's gym once again.
Brendan heaved a sigh before opening the wooden doors to face Norman. It was already two o' clock by the time Brendan finished battling most of the Cooltrainers in the gym. Getting tired of beating Linoone's and Delcatty's, Brendan decided to go to the big league, the gym leader. He placed an unsteady hand on the bar that opened the door before turning back to May. "Well, this is it," he stated. "I'm going to get my fifth badge."
"Oh, no way!" May gasped in surprised. "I thought I was just sitting in my dad's gym because there was no other place to sit!"
"I hope you're being sarcastic."
"Would be kinda sad if I wasn't now, wouldn't it?"
Brendan rolled his eyes for the second time that day as he pushed open the door. He entered the room with May trailing behind. A slight clink clink caught his attention, but he ignored it, both nervous and eager to battle Norman.
"Oh great, my Pokéball fell off my belt!" May rushed down the stone staircase and retrieved her Pokéball. She ran up the stair again and was about to enter the gym when a man opened the door.
"I'm sorry, miss," the man apologized. "But I was given direct orders to not anyone to enter the gym from now until next week." To make his point, he looked at the Cooltrainers leaving through the back door.
"But my friend is battling the gym leader right now!" May put emphasis on the last word. "I want to cheer him on!"
"Impossible," the man scoffed. "All challengers, if they enter, will be refused by Norman! Your friend should be coming back outside in a few minutes."
"But can I check?" May asked politely. "My friend is real good friend's with the leader, and Norman could let him challenge him." If felt weird for May to say her dad's name but she didn't feel like saying that she was the leader's daughter.
"I'm sorry, little girl, but you can't enter."
Little girl? May's right eye began to twitch as she thought to herself. Who does this guy think he is?
"I'm no little girl, pal!" she argued, poking a finger in the man's chest. "I can take care of myself! And by the way I'm the leader's daughter, May!"
"Oh in that case, Norman says to tell his daughter to stop yelling at me. He knew that you were going to get angry."
May huffed and walked down the stone steps. She knew that Brendan would be able to battle Norman no matter what the guy said. So what was a girl to do in Petalburg? There weren't many shops here, she didn't really know Wally's parents well enough to actually knock on their door and visit them and wild Zigzagoons and Taillows were too weak for her Pokémon to train on. So now what?
May sat on a cold step and shivered. The wind was blowing hard today which caused her skins to prick up they tried to keep herself warm. She sighed and dug through her bag. Maybe she could reorganize her stuff while Brendan battled.
Brendan quickly ran through the rooms, barely waiting for the wooden doors to open all the way. He came to the last door that said "Gym Leader Norman" and opened it slowly, peeking his head through the crack.
Norman didn't hear Brendan for he was busy packing up a suitcase full of clothes.
"Um, is this a bad time?" Brendan piped up as he entered the room.
"What?" Norman was sitting on his suitcase, trying to zip it up but was alarmed when someone yelled. He sprung up in surprise, causing clothes to fly up into the air.
Brendan caught a shirt with one hand and a pair of pants with the other. "These yours?" he joked.
Norman pulled off a pair of shorts off of his head. Throwing the clothes back into his suitcase, he smiled at Brendan. "Sorry, Brendan. Just packing up. Going to visit Littleroot again, see my wife, talk to Professor Birch, and so on."
"I see," Brendan replied. "Well how about one more battle with me before you leave? You know, a gym battle for the Balance Badge?"
Norman laughed as he kicked his suitcase aside. "Sure. Bryan!" He called out a Cooltrainer's name. "Can you judge the battle between Brendan Birch and me?"
"It would be a honor, sir," Bryan replied hastily. He jogged over to the judge's stand as Brendan threw the clothes over to Norman who was picking them up.
Brendan and Norman took both their places in the trainer boxes as Bryan raised up both his arms.
"Brendan Birch from ... uh-"
"Littleroot," Brendan finished for him.
"Right! Brendan Birch from Littleroot Town challenges Gym Leader Norman to a gym battle. It shall be a three-on-three match! No time limit! The challenger shall be able to substitute his Pokémon, while the leader cannot!" Bryan looked at both leader and challenger before lowering his arms. "Begin!"
"Let's go, Slakoth!" Norman chose his Pokémon first.
"I choose you, Kadabra!"
"Let's see here." May opened all the pockets of her bag. "My Acro bike that I used, like, twice, some Super Potions, an old Pokéball, my PokéGear, My PokéNav, my PokéDex, a badge case that I forget to put my badges in, a ribbon I forgot to put on Flare when she won that competition in Verdanturf when she was a Combusken, a – what's this?" She pulled out a pair of Brendan's dirty boxers decorated with red and white Pokéballs. "Eww!" She immediately dropped the boxers in disgust. "You have a sick and twisted mind, Brendan!" Grabbing the dirty boxers with the tips of her fingers, she smirked when she spotted a flagpole with no flag on it. "That pole could use some decorating." She laughed, an evil glint in her eye.
A flash of white light appeared from beside her and Flare took form.
"You're like that annoying Psyduck that pops out of the girl character's – Misty or whatever – bag in the earlier seasons of the Pokémon anime," May commented.
"Is that good?" Flare asked. "I couldn't help by overhear what you said about Brendan's underpants and the pole."
"Oh yeah," May said evilly. "I'm going to get him back for throwing me into that lake last week."
"What's wrong about that?" Flare asked, puzzled.
"Well, it was cold!" May whined. "And the lake was freezing!"
Flare stayed silent before responding. "Whatever you say, May. Whatever you say."
"Slakoth, Yawn attack now!" Norman commanded.
Slaking, a pink hunk of blob who laid on its side every waking and sleeping moment of its life, gave out a tiresome yawn as if it were bored with the battle. It caused a strange chain reaction from both leader and challenger to Kadabra himself.
"Kadaaahbra ..." Brendan said groggily, covering his mouth as he yawned. "Use Confusion!"
Kadabra, his spoons at ready, released a bright purple light that took over Slakoth's body. Slakoth stood up unwilling and began to tap dance across the wooden floor before being thrown back into the wall, cracking the plaster. It landed on a bench, causing it to snap in two.
"Are you alright, Slakoth?" Norman asked worriedly.
Slakoth didn't respond because it was busy counting its fingers.
"Slakoth's characteristic is Truant which means that it takes every turn off," Brendan thought out loud. "Now's my chance to do some damage! Kadabra, Psychic!"
Kadabra stayed silent and if Brendan knew better, it looked like drool was coming out of his mouth.
"Use Psychic, Kadabra!" Brendan repeated.
"Maybe you should use your PokéDex and see what's wrong with Kadabra," Norman suggested helpfully.
Brendan flicked open the cover of the data device and pointed it at Kadabra.
"Kadabra is temporarily unable to battle because either Hypnosis, Sleep Powder, Yawn or any other attack that puts a Pokemon to sleep has taken affect. Kadabra will be awaken in two to five turns," the PokéDex informed.
"Damn!" Brendan cussed.
"Go, Slakoth! Slash now!" Norman ordered.
Slakoth got up lazily to its feet and walked over slowly in steady yet small baby steps. When it reached the sleeping Kadabra, whose head was lolling on his shoulder, he raised up one sharp claw and brought it down sharply upon Kadabra's face. Needless to say that Kadabra was immediately awoken by that but it didn't matter seeing as he fainted a few seconds later.
"Kadabra is unable to battle!" Bryan stated triumphantly. "Slakoth wins!"
May and Flare walked over calmly to the flag pole with May carefully clutching the pair of boxers in one hand. The reached the pole in the matter of moments, and the two both stared straight to the top where a metal clamp hit the metal pole every now and then because of the wind.
"Are you sure about this?" Flare asked. "It is kind of mean after all."
"He's the one who put his dirty undergarments in my bag! He practically rubbed the idea in my face," May argued. "Good thing he didn't actually rub the boxers in my face. So how do we get that metal clamp thing down anyway? Pull the string?"
"Of course not!" Flare laughed. "All things can be solved with fire!" And with that, Flare blew a jet of orange- reddish flames at the pole. The flames licked the clamp but caused the string to go up in flames.
May watched in horror as the flames raced down the pole and onto the dry, brown grass.
Flare quickly stomped it out and glanced at May, fear rising to her throat. Her trainer was nice and all, but when she got mad ... A slight “ching!” was heard, and Flare caught something in her claw. "Look, May!" she exclaimed. "I got the clamp down!"
"Flare ..."
"Kadabra, return!" Brendan recalled his Pokémon. "You did a great job!" He switched Pokéballs and gazed at the screen. Kadabra's picture faded but there were two empty spaces below it. "Let's see," Brendan pondered. "Maybe Muddy can do the job. Let's go, Muddy!" He released the Pokéball he held in his hand.
Muddy appeared in a burst of white light, a determine smirk etched on his face instead of his goofy looking one.
"Muddy, Muddy Water now!" Brendan commanded.
Muddy concentrated, a rare moment in this Swampert's young life, shaking the building, causing the ground to crack behind him. Dirty water shot out from the ground like a small geyser before interrupting into a huge wave. Muddy brought the wave of dirty brown water over his head. He jumped onto it and surfed at the last moment and then jumped off, causing the murky tidal wave to come crashing down on the Lazy Pokémon.
It was hard to tell whether or not Slakoth fainted seeing as its eyes were closed and it was not moving, but after a few minutes, Bryan declared it unable to battle.
"Slaking, return!" Norman returned his Pokémon as Slakoth's picture faded off the screen. "Not bad, Brendan," he observed, "but let's see how you do against my next Pokémon! Go Vigoroth!"
"Tai!" May released her flying type. "Take this clamp that Flare 'accidentally' broke off and then hook it through that loop thing up there!" she said, pointing to the metal loop hole. She handed the clamp the Tai. "It smells like burnt rubber up there so don't breathe in too much!" She glared at Flare for a minute before turning her attention back to Tai.
"It was an accident like you said, okay?" Flare protested. "I didn't mean to catch the string on fire!"
May watched a trainer's Totodile shoot a jet of water at the pole for safe measure. "Right, Flare, right."
"Vigoroth, start things off with Slash now!" Norman instructed.
Vigoroth, a hyperactive monkey type Pokémon unlike its two other evolutions, was quick and agile, giving Brendan very little chance to observe it. He had a crazy, wild look on his face, and his long arms were outstretched, showing off his sharp, black claws. His white fur blew behind him as he dashed toward Muddy in a flash and slashed at his stomach. Muddy cursed in Pokémon language and bit his tongue, causing more pain to course through his body.
"Muddy, Mud Shot!" Brendan ordered, hoping to lower the Vigoroth's speed.
Muddy inhaled deeply and shot out a jet of sticky, wet mud that stuck to Vigoroth's white fur. Vigoroth stomped in fury and tried to get the mud off but to no avail.
"Vigoroth, Focus Punch!" Norman directed.
Vigoroth kept his cool and began to concentrate, a powerful energy aura surrounding him.
"Better finish this fast. Focus Punch is a hell of an attack," Brendan muttered. "Muddy, Take Down now!"
Muddy rushed toward Vigoroth on two feet and slammed his body into the Norman's Pokémon. Vigoroth fell down with Muddy on top of him, breaking his concentration and causing Muddy to lose some energy of his own.
"Vigoroth, Facade now!"
May used the somewhat charcoal string and lowered the metal clamp. She hooked the boxers on them and raised them back up. "Aren't they beautiful, Tai?" she joked.
Tai cocked his head, confused. "What's so pretty about them?"
Vigoroth was panting with exhaustion. Sweat rolled off of its forehead and onto its nose. It rammed Muddy with a full forced body slam attack that caused Muddy to stumble back a few feet and fall on his tail.
"Facade," Brendan remembered. "May said that it was super powerful when a Pokémon was paralyzed, poisoned, or burned! She never said it was this powerful when it wasn't either!" He paused. "Damn, I need to expand my vocabulary. Muddy, finish Vigoroth off with Water Gun now!"
Muddy shot out a jet of icy cold water, causing Vigoroth to skid across the polished floor. Now it was a staring contest. Who could stand up the longest? Both Pokémon were panting heavily, both were tired, but both didn't want to faint. Vigoroth, in the end, fainted, x's in its eyes.
"Vigoroth is unable to battle!" Bryan announced. "Brendan's Swampert is the winner!"
Vigoroth's picture faded off the screen as Norman recalled his Pokémon and thanked it for its hard battling.
"Well, it looks like I'm down to one Pokémon," Norman declared, looking at the enlarged Pokéball he picked out. "Let's see how you do against it! I choose you, Slaking!"
"Slaking huh?" Brendan murmured as Slaking took form, examining its appearance. It was huge to say at least, looking nothing more than roll upon roll of fat. Stubby arms and legs poked out against his chubby belly. It looked tired and apathetic, but Brendan knew the thing could pack a powerful punch – if it wanted to anyway. "All the better, the harder the battle, the more better it is! Muddy, start things off with Muddy Water now!"
"Counter with Yawn, Slaking!" Norman retaliated.
Muddy summoned another muddy wave of water and rode on it, crashing it over Slaking's head. The heavy Pokémon didn't seem fazed by it but only yawned, causing Muddy to yawn also.
Slaking wasn't able to attack this turn because of Truant so Brendan took this to his advantage. "Muddy, before the Yawn kicks in! Iron Tail!" he ordered.
Muddy yawned again and flicked his tail up like before, causing his tail to glow with steely, silver power. He brought it down heavily upon Slaking's side. If Brendan looked closely enough, he would have seen a wince coming from Slaking's face. Muddy fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, the yawn effect kicking in.
"Slaking, Focus Punch!"
Crap! Brendan thought. With Muddy asleep, we can't make Slaking lose focus!
"Now, Slaking!" Norman ordered. "Show them your stuff!"
Slaking, a bright red aura surrounding him, quickly got on his feet with a sudden burst of energy and punched Muddy skyward. Muddy crashed into the ceiling and he awoke up, startled. He fell back to the floor, causing part of the roof to come down with him.
Brendan winced at the sound Muddy made when he fell. It was a mix between a bone cracking and a bowling ball dropping on tile. "Are you okay, Muddy?" he asked worriedly.
Muddy got up groggily and nodded slowly, a feign smile on his face to assure his trainer he was fine. He got in a battle stance and glared daggers at the opponent who only yawned in return.
"Let's go, Muddy! Muddy Water again!" Brendan commanded.
Muddy jumped up in the air using his sore muscles and summoned his third dirty tidal wave, bring it down over Slaking's head. Slaking was drenched from head to foot and looked more worn out than tired.
"Slaking, Rest now!"
"What?" Brendan exclaimed in anguish.
Slaking closed his eyes and began to drift off towards slumber land.
"Dammit!" Brendan cursed.
Muddy panted tiredly and fell forward, too weak to battle any further.
"Brendan's Swampert is unable to battle!" Bryan stated.
"Muddy, return!" Brendan recalled his Pokémon and smiled. "You did a great job, pal! You deserve a nice, long rest." Brendan began to think. What Pokémon would be able to defeat Slaking and be able to withstand a Focus Punch just in case? Not Sapphire since she couldn't move out of water that much. Sirius? Nah, fighting moves are good against the dark. Ninjask would have to do then.
"I choose you, Ninjask!" Brendan chose his final Pokémon. Ninjask appeared in a flash of white and he buzzed, flapping his wings hurriedly. "Ninjask, Fury Cutter!" he instructed.
Ninjask rose one of its left claws and slashed at Slaking's face. The attack was weak so far so it wasn't able to wake up the Lazy Pokémon just yet.
Ninjask glowed a light blue color and Brendan could tell that its Speed Booster was in effect. "Ninjask, try a Screech!" he ordered. Might as well work on lowering its defense while it's sleeping.
Ninjask hovered a few yards away from Slaking and beat its wings furiously, causing a high pitched sound wave to come out from them. It rebounded throughout the room, loud enough to wake up the dead. Slaking, not being one of the dead, continue to sleep for another turn.
"Now use Fury Cutter again!" Brendan commanded.
Ninjask raised his right claw this time and slashed at Slaking's stomach, a little more effective than usual. Slaking woke up slowly and blinked twice, staring at his new opponent.
"Slaking, Focus Punch!" Norman commanded.
"Ninjask, Double Team!"
Slaking focused his energy into one mighty punch while Ninjask began to make duplicates of itself.
"Now, Slaking! Focus Punch!"
"Dodge it! Agility!"
Slaking threw a vigorous punch toward one of the Ninjask copies but they all flew upward in the nick of time.
"Now, Ninjask! Slash attack!" Brendan cut the air with his arm.
Ninjask returned all the duplicates to his body and slashed repeatedly at Slaking. Slaking, who was standing before, fell back to its side and began to count its toes this time.
Norman had to skip his turn because of Truant once again.
"Ninjask, Slash again!"
"Slaking, Rest!" Norman countered.
"Not this time! Counter Rest with Screech!"
The severe sound waves kept Slaking wide awake while lowering its defense all the same.
"Now finish Slaking off with another Slash!" Brendan ordered triumphantly.
Ninjask raised both its claws and used a double Slash, causing Slaking to wince in agony before rolling to its other side and blacking out.
"Slaking is unable to battle!" Bryan affirmed. "Brendan is the winner!"
Slaking's picture faded off the screen and Brendan jumped into the air. "Alright, Ninjask! You did it!" he cheered. "You were awesome!"
Ninjask buzzed happily around Brendan's head and landed on top of it for a few minutes before Brendan returned him back to his Pokéball.
"Great job, Brendan Birch," Norman smiled. "I'm proud to present you with the Balance Badge!"
Brendan took the shiny badge out of Norman's hand and smirked. "Alright! I got the Balance Badge!"
Norman couldn't help but smile again. "I hope May doesn't get too mad at you since she wasn't able to get in the gym herself."
"But why would she be mad at me?"
Brendan ran down the steps as fast as he could as looked for May at the same time. "May!" he screamed. "I got my fifth gym badge! I got my fifth gym badge! I got my fifth-" He froze when he caught up to May and a group of trainers who had their hands over their hearts. "What the hell is that?" He pointed to his pair of Pokéball boxers flying over the city of Petalburg. "Those are my ... how did you ... You have a sick and twisted mind!"
"I wonder what pair of boxers he has on today," a little girl murmured.
"Probably a pair of Masterball ones," another little boy snickered.
"Oh, how embarrassing," a girl around Brendan's age laughed. "But it is kinda cute."
The sound of a camera sounded.
"Blackmail!" Wally took a picture and waved it in the air when it developed.
"Shake it like a Polaroid picture!" a girl giggled.
"Where the heck did you come from?" Brendan asked angrily.
"I used to live here, idiot!" Wally laughed. "But I have to go back to Verdanturf and make copies of this! See ya!" He turned around and dashed back to the outskirts of the city.
Brendan, who was about to follow, sucked in his cheeks and glared at May who smiled innocently at him.
"What?" she asked. "I think your boxers are cute." She backed away slowly, smiling. "Well, I have to go now!" She turned around and ran for her life.
"Maaaaaayyyy!"
Well, that made sense didn't it?
Anyway, enjoy!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boxers and Balance
Boxers and Balance
At the crack of dawn, Brendan woke up, his ruby-red eyes gleaming with pure happiness. Because today was the day. Today is the day that-
"I'm going to get my fifth badge!" Brendan exclaimed. "Yes! Finally we're at the half way point of our journey! May! May! May, guess what?" He walked over to May's bunk bed and started hopping up and down like an eccentric Spoink. "May! May! Hello? Anyone in the house? May!"
"Grr ... what?" May sat up angrily with a scowl perched on her face. She eyed Brendan wearily. "Yes, B Boy? How may I help you this fine morning? This fine, SIX o'clock, morning? Is there something you would like to say?"
"Yes. Um, hi?" Brendan said meekly. May wasn't the one to wake up at the crack of dawn apparently.
May bit her lip and screamed, "HI!" before falling back down and going back to sleep.
"But May!" Brendan whined. "You haven't even heard the news yet! I'm getting my fifth badge on the fifth day of the fifth week of the fifth month! Isn't that awesome?"
May groaned and sat back up. "No."
Brendan stuck out his tongue and crossed his arms. "Meanie."
"Why, I thank you full heartedly for the compliment," May retorted sarcastically. "Now if you excuse me, I need two more hours of sleep. It's part of my daily routine, you know." And with that, May picked up her covers and fell backward, hitting her head on her fluffy, white pillows.
"Aw, come on, May!" Brendan groaned as he put his hands on May's shoulder and tried to shake her awake. "Fifth day on the fifth week of the fifth month-"
"Months don't have five weeks, smart one," May said caustically. "Months have only four weeks so it would actually be the fifth day of the first week of the sixth month when you get your fifth badge."
"But saying the entire fifth thing is cooler!" Brendan exclaimed. "Please, May! Wake up! I want to get my badge as fast as I can!"
May sat up and sighed. "The gym's not even open yet," she pointed out.
Brendan shrugged. "So what's your point? Is there a point to this?"
May, for the third time that morning, fell backward onto her pillow. "No, Brendan," she said simply. "There is no point of the gym not being open at six in the morning. Now go back to sleep!"
"Aw, but I don't feel like it!" Brendan whined. "Can I sleep with you, May?"
SMACK!
"Pervert!" May slapped Brendan across the face, causing the white-haired trainer to stumble back to his bed.
Falling back, Brendan pressed his left hand on his red, swollen cheek. He winced and glared at May. "What the hell was that for?" he exclaimed. "All I asked was if I could-" He watched fearfully as May rose her hand. "I didn't mean it like that!" he said quickly. "Really, I do! I mean, I want to sleep with you but not in the same bed, you know? Sleep ... at the same time."
"Uh huh," May said dully. "I thought you didn't want to sleep anymore."
"I lied," Brendan said, lying again.
May shook her head and laid back down to sleep for a few more hours. Seconds passed by, minutes ticked by and so on and so forth. All of a sudden, a slight gurgling was heard coming from May's side of the room.
May popped up like a piece of toast in the toaster. "Now since I'm awake," she started. "I'm starved! Let's go down and eat!"
Brendan stared dully at the girl trainer, his hand still clutching his face. "Great." He shook his head. "Just great."
- - -
May poured the rest of the milk in the pitcher into her tiny glass cup as she shoved a fork-full of buttery, syrupy pancakes into her mouth. She smiled as she chewed her food thoughtfully.
Brendan chugged down his glass of milk before sighing in relief. "Damn, May," he said, awed. "You devoured those pancakes like a garbage truck ... if garbage trucks can eat that is."
May finished the last of her pancakes and drank the rest of her milk before speaking. "Why thank you!" She laughed. "A girl has to eat you know!"
"While everyone else starves," Brendan said smartly, resulting in the whacking of his shoulder. "Ow! Okay, I've been smacked in the face and now I got punched in the shoulder! Jeez, May. Are you on PMS or what?"
May decided to ignore this comment as she threw away the scraps into the trash can. Wiping her hands on her biker shorts, she glanced downward toward Brendan who was still sitting down. "So, are you ready to fight my daddy?"
Brendan smirked. "Readier than ever! Time to kick some butt!"
"Don't get too cocky, understand?" May warned. "My dad is pretty tough, if not tougher than that. Normal type Pokémon can learn pretty much any type of move, so get ready for any type of surprise. Also, be careful around the attack Facade. All my dad's Pokémon have that move. It's a pretty powerful attack but if the user gets paralyzed, poisoned, or burned, their attack power increases."
"Okay, May. I know all this stuff. I did read the Pokémon Guide last night after all."
"Just making sure, B Boy. You do tend to be a little ... a little-"
"A little what?"
"I don't know yet. I'm still looking for the word."
"Fineeee."
"Ooh, its on the tip of my tongue."
May ..."
"Hang on."
"Out with it already!"
"Fine, sheesh. Your battling techniques tends to be wild. You seem to go more by chance then strategy at first until you seize up your opponent which is good but can be really bad at times."
Brendan just nodded as he stood up. Walking over to the entrance, he held the door for May. "After you, madam."
"Haha. I'm still not letting you win a Pokémon battle against me."
"Damn."
Brendan and May walked to the gym in complete silence. May could sense Brendan was getting more nervous by the second despite the cocky smirk etched on his face. She shook her head and stopped short in front of the wooden-looking building.
"So." Brendan looked at May. "This is it, huh?"
May shuddered as a gust of wind blew across her face. "Yeah," she murmured. "Scared?"
Brendan snorted. "Why should I be?"
"Remember, watch your cockiness. You never know when it's going to come back and bite you in the butt!"
"Speaking of butt, I'm going to kick some!"
May shook her head again. Why bother telling Brendan helpful advice when he just turns it into a arrogant yet witty sentence?
"So are we going in or what?" Brendan asked. "Staring is fun and all but-"
"Okay, we'll go in. Don't get all anal on me." May walked up the stone steps while Brendan pondered on what “anal” meant.
"Hey, wait up!" Brendan yelled as he rushed up the stone steps to catch up with May. Catching his breath, he pulled open the doors and stepped inside after May. He observed the room with careful eyes and frowned. "Where's Norman?" he asked quietly.
"Think, Brendan." May slapped her forehead. "Most gym leaders have a challenge of some sort before actually revealing themselves. In my dad's case, he has several rooms filled with different trainers. All of their Pokémon are normal types, but they have different strategies. Like one trainer may take speed over strength, another might stall and tire out the opponent's Pokémon while the other heals in between the battle."
"I see," Brendan said. "How many rooms are there to get to Norman anyway?"
"I think about three."
Brendan sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Let's go in that one," he said, pointing to one door. He walked over and read the description. "The Strength Room. Does that mean that this trainer rather take the offensive than the defensive?"
"Pretty much." May nodded. "Ready for round one?"
"Oh yeah." Brendan smirked as he slid open the wooden door. He stepped in quietly, and his eyes rested on a boy Cooltrainer who had a Pokéball ready at his right hand side. He was dressed in a red and white jogging suit, the jacket zipped down slightly, revealing a plain, white shirt underneath.
The Cooltrainer smirked at the sight of Brendan as he held the Pokéball arm's length away from him. "I know you. I saw you on the Pokémon Report with Gabby and T.Y. Well, Mr. Hotshot, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" He ran a hand through his blond hair, his dark blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "So bring it!"
May snorted. "Great. The world has two arrogant Brendan Birchs. Fun," she murmured to herself.
Brendan shook his head, the same smug smiled etched on his face. "I thought the challenger was suppose to challenge the junior trainer, not vice versa. You're just jealous that I got on television and you didn't! And at least I don't look like a human Pokéball."
Cooltrainer looked down at his clothing of red and white. Rolling his eyes, he started to speak again: "If you want to get to Norman, you're going to get passed me! I specialize in strength because nothing can beat brute force!"
"Then why aren't your training at Brawly's gym?"
"So let's battle now!" Cooltrainer released his Linoone, ignoring Brendan's comment and immediately injected it with an X Attack. "With this X attack," Cooltrainer began to explain, "I can boost up my Linoone's power!"
"Oh really?" Brendan said sarcastically. "Thanks for telling me some useless information!" Brendan enlarged a Pokéball. "Let's get 'em, Sirius!" He sent out his Bite Pokémon in a blaze of light. "Start things off with Crunch now!"
"Linoone, dodge and use Headbutt!" Cooltrainer quickly retaliated.
Sirius sprinted toward Linoone and snapped at his tail but Linoone jumped up into the air, causing Sirius to bite his tongue. The Linoone landed on the floor gracefully and rammed his head into Sirius's body, causing the hyena Pokémon to collide into a wooden wall.
"Those X Attacks really do boost up a Pokémon's attack power!" May exclaimed in surprise as Sirius slid down back to the floor. "A normal Linoone wouldn't have enough power to headbutt a Mightyena into a wall!"
"Sirius, Quick Attack now!" Brendan ordered.
Sirius hopped back onto his feet and became a blur of black fur. Linoone was hit unexpectedly and skidded across the ground. Linoone shook his head as if shaking the attack off.
"Gonna have to take it up a notch Birch if you wanna beat me!" Cooltrainer said triumphantly. "Linoone, Slash attack now!"
"Sirius, stand your ground!" Brendan countered.
"What the – Sirius is going to get killed if Brendan doesn't think of something!" May cried quietly in alarm. "That Headbutt was strong! I wonder how strong its Slash is."
"Stupid." Cooltrainer shook his head. "Now you have to suffer the consequences! Go Linoone! Slash 'em good!"
Linoone nodded and used his left paw and slashed across the unmoving Sirius's face, who just blinked and growled in return.
"What the?" Cooltrainer exclaimed in annoyance. "With X Attack and Linoone's powerful moves, that should have fainted that Mightyena for sure!" He gaped as Linoone began to glow a bright red. "What the?"
Brendan held back his laughter. "Oh, stop gawking. It's making me blush!" he said in a high pitched, girly tone, laughing soon afterward. "Don't look so stupid. You know that most Mightyenas have the characteristic 'intimidate' where the opposing Pokémon loses attack power when the characteristic is in affect! So therefore, you just wasted an X Attack. Sirius, Crunch now!"
Sirius caught the off guarded Linoone by the tail with his mouth and spun it around. He let go and Linoone crashed into the bench that May was sitting on.
"We have plenty of power even if we don't have X Attack!" Cooltrainer stated confidently. "Linoone, Headbutt again!"
"Dodge, Sirius, with Faint Attack!" Brendan retorted.
Linoone used the bench to hop off of so he could have more power behind the Headbutt attack. But just before Linoone was going to whack Sirius, the Bite Pokémon disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a bewildered racoon.
"Be alert and watch for that Mightyena, Linoone!" Cooltrainer instructed.
Linoone used its sharp senses to try and sense Sirius.
Cooltrainer gasped. "Behind you, Linoone!"
Too late. Sirius used his body on a full force tackle attack. Linoone would have crashed into Brendan if he didn't duck just in time.
"Ah! Linoone, return!" Cooltrainer called back his Linoone in alarm before sighing in relief. Shrinking down the Linoone's Pokéball and sighing again he said, "Fine, you can pass." The two metal doors that covered the wooden doors slid inward at these words. "The door on your left is the speed room and the door on your right is the one-hit KO room. Each one if really different, so I would pick the one that you're good against."
"Kay, thanks!" Brendan returned Sirius to his Pokéball and ran toward the left room which had the words "Speed Room" printed on it. Sliding it over with May behind him, he entered the room to be greeted with a girl with green hair who was wearing the female equivalent of the boy Cooltrainer's outfit.
May sat down on another bench as she shrugged. Why were all her dad's junior trainers part of the Cooltrainer group?
"Hey, I know you!" the girl Cooltrainer squealed in delight. "You're-"
"Brendan Birch, I know." Brendan held in his sigh. "Son of the great Professor Birch and seen on the Pokémon Report, yada, yada, yada. I just want to get past you and the other trainer so I can finally battle the gym leader!"
"Geez!" The Cooltrainer was taken aback by Brendan's attitude. "I'm glad they didn't show your attitude on the show otherwise you would have been beaten to the bloody pulp! How does Norman's daughter travel with you?"
"You get use to it after awhile." May shrugged. "And he's only arrogant when he's about to battle a gym leader. I think it covers up his nervousness."
"I'm not nervous!" Brendan fidgeted with a Pokéball. "Kinda freaked out but-"
"Nervous," May stated with a sigh.
"Um, right," the Cooltrainer said. "I specialize in normal-type Pokémon with excellent speed. Do you think you can catch up with my velocity?"
"It's not a bad speech if you were a gym leader," May muttered under her breath.
Brendan smirked. "We'll just have to see, don't we? I choose you, Muddy!"
"I choose you, Delcatty!"
In two bright flashed of white light, a Mudcat and a delicate feline appeared.
Cooltrainer injected a X Speed into Delcatty before starting the battle. "Delcatty, Doubleslap now!"
"Dodge, Muddy, and use Mud Shot!" Brendan ordered.
Delcatty, with her new found speed, quickly darted toward Muddy and gave him a series of slaps with her two paws. Muddy stumbled to the ground but was able to pelt the Feline Pokemon with mud.
"Muddy is fast, but that Delcatty is faster now that its injected with X Speed," May observed. "Muddy didn't even have a chance of dodging at least one out of those five Doubleslap attack."
"Muddy, use Take Down now!"
"Quick Delcatty! Dodge with Faint Attack!" Cooltrainer countered.
Muddy jumped into the air and body slammed into the floor as Delcatty disappeared into the air just like Sirius did before. Delcatty appeared behind Muddy and used an attack and flipped into the air, landing hard on the fallen Swampert before jumping off him.
"Muddy, Iron Tail now!" Brendan chose the new attack that he taught Muddy a few days ago.
Muddy's tail shone with silver light as he heaved it upwards and brought it down heavily where Delcatty was. But at the last moment, Delcatty sped out of the way as if she teleported to another place in the room, causing Muddy's tail to crash down and crack a few wooden panels in the floor.
"Great! Dad's going to get mad about that," May murmured.
"Delcatty, Strength attack now!" Cooltrainer commanded.
"The only way that I can attack is if I either slow down that Delcatty or go head to head when Delcatty is attacking," Brendan thought out loud. "Try your Take Down again, Muddy!"
The two Pokemon sprinted towards each other, leaving uplifted dirt in their tracks. What seemed like hours – when it was actually a few second – they finally collided head on. Muddy, being the taller and heavier out of the two, only stumbled back but Delcatty fell on her back, her legs flailing about in the air. She quickly stood up but instead of a cold glare or a growl that most Pokemon give their opponent head on, Delcatty only smiled and winked adorably at Muddy.
Brendan immediately caught on and cussed mentally though he wasn't able to finish his cuss, for the Cooltrainer's cheering caught him off guard.
Muddy blinked twice and let it sink in before he got little pink hearts in his eyes. He stood entranced as Delcatty worked her Cute Charm.
"Cute Charm, huh?" May thought out loud. "Brendan has to deal with a love struck Swampert along with a frickin' fast Delcatty! What's he gonna do now?"
"Concentrate, Muddy," Brendan pleaded. "It's just a girl Pokémon that winked at you. No big deal. You can probably get any girl Swampert anytime you want!"
"But the Delcatty is right here!" Muddy protested, not taking his eyes off Delcatty. "While the others are not here!"
"Delcatty, while he's infatuated! Doubleslap now!"
"Muddy, please!" Brendan begged. "Dodge and try another Iron Tail!"
Delcatty began her series of slaps while Muddy stood there with a love struck grin on his face, unfazed as Delcatty slapped his face. On the third slap though, Muddy seemed to have slipped out of his trance.
"What the?" he said, startled. Muddy flicked up his tail and it shone with silver light. He brought it down heavily upon Delcatty's back who was still busy trying to slap Muddy silly with her sharp claws. A sickening crack was heard as Muddy's tail brought Delcatty down flat onto the wooden floor.
"Well, that sounded good," May said sardonically.
"Delcatty, no!" Cooltrainer cried.
Muddy brought up his tail and smirked triumphantly seeing as his opponent blacked out.
"Return!" Cooltrainer recalled her Pokémon and whispered words of praise to her. "Well, I will admit," Cooltrainer said, "that you are a pretty good battler, but too bad that you have a pretty arrogant, supercilious, I'm-the-high-and-mighty attitude going on."
"Hey! It's only when I battle!" Brendan argued.
Cooltrainer shook her head and snapped her fingers, causing the metal doors to slid inwardly again. "The door on your right is the Defense Room while the door on your left is the Special Room. Choose wisely."
"I choose the defense room!" Brendan went to the right. He stopped a few feet from the door when he turned around. "Coming, May?"
May slowly got up and got rid of some leg cramps. "Of course! Can't wait to see when my dad kicks your butt!"
"Haha, hilarious!" Brendan rolled his eyes.
Two battles and a trip to the Pokémon Center later, Brendan and May stood outside Norman's gym once again.
Brendan heaved a sigh before opening the wooden doors to face Norman. It was already two o' clock by the time Brendan finished battling most of the Cooltrainers in the gym. Getting tired of beating Linoone's and Delcatty's, Brendan decided to go to the big league, the gym leader. He placed an unsteady hand on the bar that opened the door before turning back to May. "Well, this is it," he stated. "I'm going to get my fifth badge."
"Oh, no way!" May gasped in surprised. "I thought I was just sitting in my dad's gym because there was no other place to sit!"
"I hope you're being sarcastic."
"Would be kinda sad if I wasn't now, wouldn't it?"
Brendan rolled his eyes for the second time that day as he pushed open the door. He entered the room with May trailing behind. A slight clink clink caught his attention, but he ignored it, both nervous and eager to battle Norman.
"Oh great, my Pokéball fell off my belt!" May rushed down the stone staircase and retrieved her Pokéball. She ran up the stair again and was about to enter the gym when a man opened the door.
"I'm sorry, miss," the man apologized. "But I was given direct orders to not anyone to enter the gym from now until next week." To make his point, he looked at the Cooltrainers leaving through the back door.
"But my friend is battling the gym leader right now!" May put emphasis on the last word. "I want to cheer him on!"
"Impossible," the man scoffed. "All challengers, if they enter, will be refused by Norman! Your friend should be coming back outside in a few minutes."
"But can I check?" May asked politely. "My friend is real good friend's with the leader, and Norman could let him challenge him." If felt weird for May to say her dad's name but she didn't feel like saying that she was the leader's daughter.
"I'm sorry, little girl, but you can't enter."
Little girl? May's right eye began to twitch as she thought to herself. Who does this guy think he is?
"I'm no little girl, pal!" she argued, poking a finger in the man's chest. "I can take care of myself! And by the way I'm the leader's daughter, May!"
"Oh in that case, Norman says to tell his daughter to stop yelling at me. He knew that you were going to get angry."
May huffed and walked down the stone steps. She knew that Brendan would be able to battle Norman no matter what the guy said. So what was a girl to do in Petalburg? There weren't many shops here, she didn't really know Wally's parents well enough to actually knock on their door and visit them and wild Zigzagoons and Taillows were too weak for her Pokémon to train on. So now what?
May sat on a cold step and shivered. The wind was blowing hard today which caused her skins to prick up they tried to keep herself warm. She sighed and dug through her bag. Maybe she could reorganize her stuff while Brendan battled.
- - -
Brendan quickly ran through the rooms, barely waiting for the wooden doors to open all the way. He came to the last door that said "Gym Leader Norman" and opened it slowly, peeking his head through the crack.
Norman didn't hear Brendan for he was busy packing up a suitcase full of clothes.
"Um, is this a bad time?" Brendan piped up as he entered the room.
"What?" Norman was sitting on his suitcase, trying to zip it up but was alarmed when someone yelled. He sprung up in surprise, causing clothes to fly up into the air.
Brendan caught a shirt with one hand and a pair of pants with the other. "These yours?" he joked.
Norman pulled off a pair of shorts off of his head. Throwing the clothes back into his suitcase, he smiled at Brendan. "Sorry, Brendan. Just packing up. Going to visit Littleroot again, see my wife, talk to Professor Birch, and so on."
"I see," Brendan replied. "Well how about one more battle with me before you leave? You know, a gym battle for the Balance Badge?"
Norman laughed as he kicked his suitcase aside. "Sure. Bryan!" He called out a Cooltrainer's name. "Can you judge the battle between Brendan Birch and me?"
"It would be a honor, sir," Bryan replied hastily. He jogged over to the judge's stand as Brendan threw the clothes over to Norman who was picking them up.
Brendan and Norman took both their places in the trainer boxes as Bryan raised up both his arms.
"Brendan Birch from ... uh-"
"Littleroot," Brendan finished for him.
"Right! Brendan Birch from Littleroot Town challenges Gym Leader Norman to a gym battle. It shall be a three-on-three match! No time limit! The challenger shall be able to substitute his Pokémon, while the leader cannot!" Bryan looked at both leader and challenger before lowering his arms. "Begin!"
"Let's go, Slakoth!" Norman chose his Pokémon first.
"I choose you, Kadabra!"
- - -
"Let's see here." May opened all the pockets of her bag. "My Acro bike that I used, like, twice, some Super Potions, an old Pokéball, my PokéGear, My PokéNav, my PokéDex, a badge case that I forget to put my badges in, a ribbon I forgot to put on Flare when she won that competition in Verdanturf when she was a Combusken, a – what's this?" She pulled out a pair of Brendan's dirty boxers decorated with red and white Pokéballs. "Eww!" She immediately dropped the boxers in disgust. "You have a sick and twisted mind, Brendan!" Grabbing the dirty boxers with the tips of her fingers, she smirked when she spotted a flagpole with no flag on it. "That pole could use some decorating." She laughed, an evil glint in her eye.
A flash of white light appeared from beside her and Flare took form.
"You're like that annoying Psyduck that pops out of the girl character's – Misty or whatever – bag in the earlier seasons of the Pokémon anime," May commented.
"Is that good?" Flare asked. "I couldn't help by overhear what you said about Brendan's underpants and the pole."
"Oh yeah," May said evilly. "I'm going to get him back for throwing me into that lake last week."
"What's wrong about that?" Flare asked, puzzled.
"Well, it was cold!" May whined. "And the lake was freezing!"
Flare stayed silent before responding. "Whatever you say, May. Whatever you say."
- - -
"Slakoth, Yawn attack now!" Norman commanded.
Slaking, a pink hunk of blob who laid on its side every waking and sleeping moment of its life, gave out a tiresome yawn as if it were bored with the battle. It caused a strange chain reaction from both leader and challenger to Kadabra himself.
"Kadaaahbra ..." Brendan said groggily, covering his mouth as he yawned. "Use Confusion!"
Kadabra, his spoons at ready, released a bright purple light that took over Slakoth's body. Slakoth stood up unwilling and began to tap dance across the wooden floor before being thrown back into the wall, cracking the plaster. It landed on a bench, causing it to snap in two.
"Are you alright, Slakoth?" Norman asked worriedly.
Slakoth didn't respond because it was busy counting its fingers.
"Slakoth's characteristic is Truant which means that it takes every turn off," Brendan thought out loud. "Now's my chance to do some damage! Kadabra, Psychic!"
Kadabra stayed silent and if Brendan knew better, it looked like drool was coming out of his mouth.
"Use Psychic, Kadabra!" Brendan repeated.
"Maybe you should use your PokéDex and see what's wrong with Kadabra," Norman suggested helpfully.
Brendan flicked open the cover of the data device and pointed it at Kadabra.
"Kadabra is temporarily unable to battle because either Hypnosis, Sleep Powder, Yawn or any other attack that puts a Pokemon to sleep has taken affect. Kadabra will be awaken in two to five turns," the PokéDex informed.
"Damn!" Brendan cussed.
"Go, Slakoth! Slash now!" Norman ordered.
Slakoth got up lazily to its feet and walked over slowly in steady yet small baby steps. When it reached the sleeping Kadabra, whose head was lolling on his shoulder, he raised up one sharp claw and brought it down sharply upon Kadabra's face. Needless to say that Kadabra was immediately awoken by that but it didn't matter seeing as he fainted a few seconds later.
"Kadabra is unable to battle!" Bryan stated triumphantly. "Slakoth wins!"
- - -
May and Flare walked over calmly to the flag pole with May carefully clutching the pair of boxers in one hand. The reached the pole in the matter of moments, and the two both stared straight to the top where a metal clamp hit the metal pole every now and then because of the wind.
"Are you sure about this?" Flare asked. "It is kind of mean after all."
"He's the one who put his dirty undergarments in my bag! He practically rubbed the idea in my face," May argued. "Good thing he didn't actually rub the boxers in my face. So how do we get that metal clamp thing down anyway? Pull the string?"
"Of course not!" Flare laughed. "All things can be solved with fire!" And with that, Flare blew a jet of orange- reddish flames at the pole. The flames licked the clamp but caused the string to go up in flames.
May watched in horror as the flames raced down the pole and onto the dry, brown grass.
Flare quickly stomped it out and glanced at May, fear rising to her throat. Her trainer was nice and all, but when she got mad ... A slight “ching!” was heard, and Flare caught something in her claw. "Look, May!" she exclaimed. "I got the clamp down!"
"Flare ..."
- - -
"Kadabra, return!" Brendan recalled his Pokémon. "You did a great job!" He switched Pokéballs and gazed at the screen. Kadabra's picture faded but there were two empty spaces below it. "Let's see," Brendan pondered. "Maybe Muddy can do the job. Let's go, Muddy!" He released the Pokéball he held in his hand.
Muddy appeared in a burst of white light, a determine smirk etched on his face instead of his goofy looking one.
"Muddy, Muddy Water now!" Brendan commanded.
Muddy concentrated, a rare moment in this Swampert's young life, shaking the building, causing the ground to crack behind him. Dirty water shot out from the ground like a small geyser before interrupting into a huge wave. Muddy brought the wave of dirty brown water over his head. He jumped onto it and surfed at the last moment and then jumped off, causing the murky tidal wave to come crashing down on the Lazy Pokémon.
It was hard to tell whether or not Slakoth fainted seeing as its eyes were closed and it was not moving, but after a few minutes, Bryan declared it unable to battle.
"Slaking, return!" Norman returned his Pokémon as Slakoth's picture faded off the screen. "Not bad, Brendan," he observed, "but let's see how you do against my next Pokémon! Go Vigoroth!"
- - -
"Tai!" May released her flying type. "Take this clamp that Flare 'accidentally' broke off and then hook it through that loop thing up there!" she said, pointing to the metal loop hole. She handed the clamp the Tai. "It smells like burnt rubber up there so don't breathe in too much!" She glared at Flare for a minute before turning her attention back to Tai.
"It was an accident like you said, okay?" Flare protested. "I didn't mean to catch the string on fire!"
May watched a trainer's Totodile shoot a jet of water at the pole for safe measure. "Right, Flare, right."
- - -
"Vigoroth, start things off with Slash now!" Norman instructed.
Vigoroth, a hyperactive monkey type Pokémon unlike its two other evolutions, was quick and agile, giving Brendan very little chance to observe it. He had a crazy, wild look on his face, and his long arms were outstretched, showing off his sharp, black claws. His white fur blew behind him as he dashed toward Muddy in a flash and slashed at his stomach. Muddy cursed in Pokémon language and bit his tongue, causing more pain to course through his body.
"Muddy, Mud Shot!" Brendan ordered, hoping to lower the Vigoroth's speed.
Muddy inhaled deeply and shot out a jet of sticky, wet mud that stuck to Vigoroth's white fur. Vigoroth stomped in fury and tried to get the mud off but to no avail.
"Vigoroth, Focus Punch!" Norman directed.
Vigoroth kept his cool and began to concentrate, a powerful energy aura surrounding him.
"Better finish this fast. Focus Punch is a hell of an attack," Brendan muttered. "Muddy, Take Down now!"
Muddy rushed toward Vigoroth on two feet and slammed his body into the Norman's Pokémon. Vigoroth fell down with Muddy on top of him, breaking his concentration and causing Muddy to lose some energy of his own.
"Vigoroth, Facade now!"
- - -
May used the somewhat charcoal string and lowered the metal clamp. She hooked the boxers on them and raised them back up. "Aren't they beautiful, Tai?" she joked.
Tai cocked his head, confused. "What's so pretty about them?"
- - -
Vigoroth was panting with exhaustion. Sweat rolled off of its forehead and onto its nose. It rammed Muddy with a full forced body slam attack that caused Muddy to stumble back a few feet and fall on his tail.
"Facade," Brendan remembered. "May said that it was super powerful when a Pokémon was paralyzed, poisoned, or burned! She never said it was this powerful when it wasn't either!" He paused. "Damn, I need to expand my vocabulary. Muddy, finish Vigoroth off with Water Gun now!"
Muddy shot out a jet of icy cold water, causing Vigoroth to skid across the polished floor. Now it was a staring contest. Who could stand up the longest? Both Pokémon were panting heavily, both were tired, but both didn't want to faint. Vigoroth, in the end, fainted, x's in its eyes.
"Vigoroth is unable to battle!" Bryan announced. "Brendan's Swampert is the winner!"
Vigoroth's picture faded off the screen as Norman recalled his Pokémon and thanked it for its hard battling.
"Well, it looks like I'm down to one Pokémon," Norman declared, looking at the enlarged Pokéball he picked out. "Let's see how you do against it! I choose you, Slaking!"
"Slaking huh?" Brendan murmured as Slaking took form, examining its appearance. It was huge to say at least, looking nothing more than roll upon roll of fat. Stubby arms and legs poked out against his chubby belly. It looked tired and apathetic, but Brendan knew the thing could pack a powerful punch – if it wanted to anyway. "All the better, the harder the battle, the more better it is! Muddy, start things off with Muddy Water now!"
"Counter with Yawn, Slaking!" Norman retaliated.
Muddy summoned another muddy wave of water and rode on it, crashing it over Slaking's head. The heavy Pokémon didn't seem fazed by it but only yawned, causing Muddy to yawn also.
Slaking wasn't able to attack this turn because of Truant so Brendan took this to his advantage. "Muddy, before the Yawn kicks in! Iron Tail!" he ordered.
Muddy yawned again and flicked his tail up like before, causing his tail to glow with steely, silver power. He brought it down heavily upon Slaking's side. If Brendan looked closely enough, he would have seen a wince coming from Slaking's face. Muddy fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, the yawn effect kicking in.
"Slaking, Focus Punch!"
Crap! Brendan thought. With Muddy asleep, we can't make Slaking lose focus!
"Now, Slaking!" Norman ordered. "Show them your stuff!"
Slaking, a bright red aura surrounding him, quickly got on his feet with a sudden burst of energy and punched Muddy skyward. Muddy crashed into the ceiling and he awoke up, startled. He fell back to the floor, causing part of the roof to come down with him.
Brendan winced at the sound Muddy made when he fell. It was a mix between a bone cracking and a bowling ball dropping on tile. "Are you okay, Muddy?" he asked worriedly.
Muddy got up groggily and nodded slowly, a feign smile on his face to assure his trainer he was fine. He got in a battle stance and glared daggers at the opponent who only yawned in return.
"Let's go, Muddy! Muddy Water again!" Brendan commanded.
Muddy jumped up in the air using his sore muscles and summoned his third dirty tidal wave, bring it down over Slaking's head. Slaking was drenched from head to foot and looked more worn out than tired.
"Slaking, Rest now!"
"What?" Brendan exclaimed in anguish.
Slaking closed his eyes and began to drift off towards slumber land.
"Dammit!" Brendan cursed.
Muddy panted tiredly and fell forward, too weak to battle any further.
"Brendan's Swampert is unable to battle!" Bryan stated.
"Muddy, return!" Brendan recalled his Pokémon and smiled. "You did a great job, pal! You deserve a nice, long rest." Brendan began to think. What Pokémon would be able to defeat Slaking and be able to withstand a Focus Punch just in case? Not Sapphire since she couldn't move out of water that much. Sirius? Nah, fighting moves are good against the dark. Ninjask would have to do then.
"I choose you, Ninjask!" Brendan chose his final Pokémon. Ninjask appeared in a flash of white and he buzzed, flapping his wings hurriedly. "Ninjask, Fury Cutter!" he instructed.
Ninjask rose one of its left claws and slashed at Slaking's face. The attack was weak so far so it wasn't able to wake up the Lazy Pokémon just yet.
Ninjask glowed a light blue color and Brendan could tell that its Speed Booster was in effect. "Ninjask, try a Screech!" he ordered. Might as well work on lowering its defense while it's sleeping.
Ninjask hovered a few yards away from Slaking and beat its wings furiously, causing a high pitched sound wave to come out from them. It rebounded throughout the room, loud enough to wake up the dead. Slaking, not being one of the dead, continue to sleep for another turn.
"Now use Fury Cutter again!" Brendan commanded.
Ninjask raised his right claw this time and slashed at Slaking's stomach, a little more effective than usual. Slaking woke up slowly and blinked twice, staring at his new opponent.
"Slaking, Focus Punch!" Norman commanded.
"Ninjask, Double Team!"
Slaking focused his energy into one mighty punch while Ninjask began to make duplicates of itself.
"Now, Slaking! Focus Punch!"
"Dodge it! Agility!"
Slaking threw a vigorous punch toward one of the Ninjask copies but they all flew upward in the nick of time.
"Now, Ninjask! Slash attack!" Brendan cut the air with his arm.
Ninjask returned all the duplicates to his body and slashed repeatedly at Slaking. Slaking, who was standing before, fell back to its side and began to count its toes this time.
Norman had to skip his turn because of Truant once again.
"Ninjask, Slash again!"
"Slaking, Rest!" Norman countered.
"Not this time! Counter Rest with Screech!"
The severe sound waves kept Slaking wide awake while lowering its defense all the same.
"Now finish Slaking off with another Slash!" Brendan ordered triumphantly.
Ninjask raised both its claws and used a double Slash, causing Slaking to wince in agony before rolling to its other side and blacking out.
"Slaking is unable to battle!" Bryan affirmed. "Brendan is the winner!"
Slaking's picture faded off the screen and Brendan jumped into the air. "Alright, Ninjask! You did it!" he cheered. "You were awesome!"
Ninjask buzzed happily around Brendan's head and landed on top of it for a few minutes before Brendan returned him back to his Pokéball.
"Great job, Brendan Birch," Norman smiled. "I'm proud to present you with the Balance Badge!"
Brendan took the shiny badge out of Norman's hand and smirked. "Alright! I got the Balance Badge!"
Norman couldn't help but smile again. "I hope May doesn't get too mad at you since she wasn't able to get in the gym herself."
"But why would she be mad at me?"
- - -
Brendan ran down the steps as fast as he could as looked for May at the same time. "May!" he screamed. "I got my fifth gym badge! I got my fifth gym badge! I got my fifth-" He froze when he caught up to May and a group of trainers who had their hands over their hearts. "What the hell is that?" He pointed to his pair of Pokéball boxers flying over the city of Petalburg. "Those are my ... how did you ... You have a sick and twisted mind!"
"I wonder what pair of boxers he has on today," a little girl murmured.
"Probably a pair of Masterball ones," another little boy snickered.
"Oh, how embarrassing," a girl around Brendan's age laughed. "But it is kinda cute."
The sound of a camera sounded.
"Blackmail!" Wally took a picture and waved it in the air when it developed.
"Shake it like a Polaroid picture!" a girl giggled.
"Where the heck did you come from?" Brendan asked angrily.
"I used to live here, idiot!" Wally laughed. "But I have to go back to Verdanturf and make copies of this! See ya!" He turned around and dashed back to the outskirts of the city.
Brendan, who was about to follow, sucked in his cheeks and glared at May who smiled innocently at him.
"What?" she asked. "I think your boxers are cute." She backed away slowly, smiling. "Well, I have to go now!" She turned around and ran for her life.
"Maaaaaayyyy!"
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T
Trainer Justin
Guest
That was funny! Great chap. I wonder if May get the 5th badge too...... Well, see ya'!
Wondrous Sableye
Heh.
That was funny! Especially the underwear gag, the Brendan-smackings, the sarcasm, and the starting,(I'm gonna hafta remember this 'un…)"At the buttcrack of dawn…" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *collapses into a laughing heap*
Wootness, almost done posting all of HLBMA here. Why I said wootness, Breezy don't know *shrugs*.
Anyway, enjoy!
May skidded to a halt on the sandy beach on the outskirts of Petalburg. She laughed quietly as Brendan followed her but tripped as a little kid ran past him. Smiling a little, she walked over to Brendan, her hand held outward to pick the white-haired trainer up.
"Are you alright?" she asked, trying to stifle her giggling. "That was a nasty fall you got there. Saw you eat some dirt. Mmm, mmm good!" she chuckled slightly. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."
"Yeah, yeah," Brendan grumbled, mad that May hung up his boxers for everyone to see. "How did you get my boxers anyway?" he exclaimed as he picked himself up. "That's just sick and twisted! Sad and wrong! Mean and nasty!"
"Well you're the one that put your little undies in my bag," May huffed. "You were practically screaming, 'Put my boxers on the flagpole because I was stupid and put my dirty boxers in May's bag because I wanted to be funny!' So ha! You lose, I win!"
Brendan rolled his eyes and frowned. "So now what do we do? The gym is closed for one week because you dad is going back home, and we can't leave this area until you get your own stinkin' badge ..." He kicked the sand, causing the dirt to fly up and land into his eyes.
May thought for a few seconds. "We can go swimming!" she chirped cheerfully. "I got a new bathing suit at Lavaridge a few days ago!"
"Too cold," Brendan complained.
"Fine," May replied. "Then how about we go train or battle against some Pokémon Trainers?"
"Nah," Brendan shook his head. "The Pokémon here wouldn't give my Pokémon much experience." He smiled weakly as a few Taillows, Zigzagoons, and Wurmples jumped out of their homes to glare at Brendan from on top of the cliff. "And we already beat the trainers here. Besides, Muddy, Ninjask, and Kadabra are in the Pokémon Center getting healed." He fell backward, the soft sand cushioning his fall. "Maybe we can just stay here and relax." He sighed happily, putting his hands behind his head. "I'm tired after that long battle with Norman today."
May shook her head at her befallen friend. "Whatever," she stated. "If you're going to stay here, then I'm going to go fishing!" She dug through her bag and pulled out a fishing rod. "Just got this!" She beamed as she sat on the water's edge, throwing the line into the sea.
Brendan sat up and watched May's back, interested if she would find another Pokémon. After a few minutes of waiting, Brendan fell backward again, his snow white hair turning a dirty light brown from the sand. "This is boring," he grumbled, his arms and legs spread wide as if he were trying to make sand angels. "Boring, boring, boring, boring, bor-"
"No one's making you stay, you know!" May retaliated sharply, her dark blue eyes glaring at Brendan's body. A slight tug on her line caught her attention. "Alright! A Pokémon!" she cheered in delight.
"Finally!" Brendan pushed himself up and walked over to May's side who was struggling on reeling on the hooked Pokémon.
"Must be a ... big ... Poké ... mon!" May said, her teeth grinding as she dug her heals into the ground. "Sand ... doesn't ... really ... hold you ... down ... huh?"
Brendan shook his head. "Try standing up, Yam."
"Oh yeah! That's smart!" May smiled in delight and stood up, her grip on her fishing pole tightening. She used all her might to pull in the caught Pokémon. "I think I almost ..." She gave the line a final tug. "Got it!" she yelled as the hooked Pokémon emerged from under the sea.
"Tenta!" a Tentacruel appeared, May's line wrapped around one of its many tentacles. His beady, black eyes glared from underneath his jelly-like head.
"Uh oh!" May's eyes widened with fear. "It looks angry."
Brendan slapped his forehead, "No really, May?" he said sarcastically. "Go battle it!"
"Right!" May said confidently. "I choose you, Ta-" May was interrupted as the Tentacruel unleashed some black, sticky ink onto her face. "Ew!" She dropped Tai's Pokéball into the sand and collapsed on her knees, loosening her grip on her fishing pole, setting the Tentacruel free. "Gross!"
Brendan coughed slightly to stifle his laughter as he watched the angry jellyfish speed away. He then glanced downward toward May and laughed ... hard. He crumpled down back onto the sand and laughed uncontrollably, his face slowly turning red from so much laughter. Tears started forming in his eyes. "That was so funny!" he managed to get out between chuckles. "Woo." He calmed down and sat back up only to laugh again as May tried wiping the ink off her face with a towel.
"It's not funny!" May shouted as she tried to wipe off the rest of the ink off her face but failed. Picking up Tai's Pokéball and clipping it back on her belt, she began folding up her fishing rod and shoving it into her bag. She stomped up the beachy shores and back onto solid concrete into Petalburg, most likely to wash up.
Brendan, meanwhile, finished the last of his laughter, wiping away a tear that managed to escape from his cheek. He stood up and followed May back into the city from a far distance. He knew this wasn't a right time to talk to her from the long history of pissing her off from the first time they battled to, well, now. Entering the bright, cheery city, he noticed that the rookie trainers have stopped laughing at his high flying boxers on the pole and at the closing doors at the Pokémon Center.
"May must have entered," Brendan murmured. "Now's my chance to take down those boxers!" He quietly crept over to the pole and pulled down on the string, causing the boxers to lower down. Oddly, the string left his hands black and made them smell like charcoal as he retrieved his boxers from the metal clamp.
"So those are your boxers, huh?" a voice from behind him chuckled for a second before stopping.
Brendan whirled around and saw Wally's mother cover her hand with her mouth to refrain from giggling again. "Pleasure to see you again, Brendan."
"You too, Mrs. Wood." Brendan smiled out of politeness. "Yeah, these are my boxers." He shoved them in his backpack and flushed a bit from embarrassment. "May thought she would be funny and hang them up there when I was battling Norman a hour ago."
"I remember May." Mrs. Wood laughed again, her eyes twinkling. "My little Wally-kins came by a few moments before and told me all about her. I believe he has a little crush on her."
"Oh, you're not the only one that noticed!" Brendan forced out a laugh and plastered a fake smile on his face.
Mrs. Wood grinned. "I'm sure you'll get May first, Brendan. After all, you do travel with her."
Brendan just gaped at her. "I ... I don't like ... What?"
Mrs. Wood shook her head. "Never mind, dear."
"So what are you doing out here anyway?"
"Oh, I was just waving off my little Wally off. He left a few minutes ago. I'm so proud of him. He's not even sick anymore! I believe his Pokémon helped him get stronger throughout his journey." Mrs. Wood wiped away a tear. "But I still worry about him though." She sighed and glanced at the exit of Petalburg. "Anyway, my husband would like to see you."
"Huh?" Brendan asked, clueless.
"Didn't Norman tell you to visit us, dear?"
"Probably." Brendan shrugged. "I was too excited in getting my badge that I didn't really listen to Norman's after speech. I think I did hear him say something about going to Wally's house."
"Well then, come on!" Mrs. Wood said cheerfully as she led Brendan down the dirt path back down to her house. She opened the door and pushed Brendan inside lightly with her hand before closing the door.
Brendan saw Mr. Wood lounging on a couch, reading The Pokémag, a famous Pokémon magazine, taking a sip of his drink every now and then.
"Hun, Brendan Birch is here!" Mrs. Wood said, alarming Mr. Wood, causing his drink to spill over his shirt.
"Oops." Mr. Wood, tried to soak up the drink with some napkins but shrugged it off when most of it didn't come off. Throwing the wet napkins into a trash can, he went over to Brendan and shook his hand. "Brendan, my boy! Good to see you again!"
"Ditto." Brendan smiled, wondering if he ever met Mr. Wood before. He took back his hand. "Mrs. Wood and Norman said you wanted to see me?"
"Oh yeah!" Mr. Wood dug through his pants' pocket and pulled out a metal blue box the size of a Pokéblock. "This is the HM, Surf!" Mr. Wood stated proudly as he handed it to Brendan. "My favorite HM move. I help create HMs and TMs in the Hoenn Area, you know."
"That's awesome!" Brendan smiled. "Thanks for the Surf HM! I'm going to teach it to my Swampert later!"
"This is a thank you for helping Wally catch his Ralts – well, now it's a Kirlia. Sorry for taking a long time to find something to thank you with. Please, let May borrow that HM too if she gets a Water Pokémon."
"Don't worry, I will." Brendan pocketed the HM. "And you didn't have to give me anything to thank me, sir."
"No problem. We have plenty of Surf HMs." Mrs. Wood smiled happily. "Anyway, where are you headed from here?"
"Well after May gets her next badge from her dad, I guess we're going to head towards Mauville and surf towards Fortree and the other cities over there," Brendan replied. "Well, I have to find May, so bye Mr. and Mrs. Wood!" He walked over to the door and opened it. "Thanks again!"
"Bye, Brendan!" the two chorused in unison.
Brendan slowly shut the door behind him and saw May sitting at one of Petalburg's ponds, fishing. "Fishing in fresh water this time, May?" he laughed. "There no Tentacruels here!"
"That's why I'm fishing here! No need to worry about Tentacruels and their acid attacks!" May said cheerfully, her spirits raised from twenty minutes of washing her face. "I wonder what are in these ponds anyway." Her question was soon answered as she felt a tug on her line. "Alright! A Pokémon!" she cried happily as she began to reel in the Pokémon. The hooked Pokémon was easier to pull up than the angry Tentacruel, and soon, a Magikarp emerged, flopping about.
"Haha! A Magikarp!" Brendan laughed, his hands resting on his knees as he bent over, chuckling. "How sad! A pathetic Pokémon for a pathetic trainer! Perfect mat-" Brendan's mocking was interrupted when the Magikarp released May's hook, its gaping mouth swallowing the top of Brendan's head. Brendan froze for a minute before running around in circles like a crazed Poochyena. "Ah! Get it off, get it off!" he shouted, running around May, getting her dizzy.
"Hold still then!" May giggled slightly at the sight. "Love the new hat, Brendan," she joked.
"No time to be funny!" Brendan yelled. "Get it off!" He stopped running in circles and reached up with his two hands to pry the Magikarp off. He successfully pulled the Pokémon off and threw it back into the pond. "Good riddance!" he huffed.
"Hey! That was my Pokémon!" May cried.
The Magikarp plunged face first into the water and went under the somewhat shallow waters. A few seconds passed and a white light blasted from the pond.
"What was that?" Brendan questioned, shielding his eyes with an arm.
"Something not good, I bet," May retorted as she blinked twice, trying to rid her vision of the annoying, multicolored circles that obscured her eyesight.
A gigantic wave of water appeared, almost submerging Brendan and May in it. There stood a seething Gyarados, taking up more than three-quarters of the pond water with him, his scales a deeper shade of blue than usual. It glared coldly at Brendan who backed away slowly.
"Cool!" May cried in delight. "I can catch a totally awesome Gyarados!"
"Good Gyarados," Brendan said softly, backing into a wall. "Good boy."
"Gyraaa!" The Gyarados roared in anger and began to tackle downward toward Brendan.
"T.B., use your Thunderbolt attack!" May immediately released her Pokémon from its Pokéball.
In a flash of red light, Thunderbolt appeared and instantly unleashed powerful, tiny shocks of electricity toward the enraged Gyarados. The attack caught Gyarados's attention, and he turned around, ignoring the quivering Brendan. Gyarados's face twisted into a look of hate and rage as he tackled below toward Thunderbolt. The Discharge Pokémon growled as he flew backward back into the wall where Brendan was currently standing.
"Thunderbolt!" May cried, worried.
"He's all right, May!" Brendan shouted as Thunderbolt skidded down the wall back onto all fours.
"Thunderbolt, Howl and then Spark!" May commanded.
Thunderbolt howled toward the sun as if he were a wolf to the moon and charged toward the Gyarados, sparks generating from its body. He rammed his body into Gyarados's, causing tiny sparks to go up and down the huge serpent's body.
The Atrocious Pokémon thundered furiously and unleashed a strong jet of water. Thunderbolt took the hit back on and rammed back into the wall, leaving a dent in it and causing some plaster to chip off.
"Hang in there, Thunderbolt, and use Spark again!"
Thunderbolt nodded and sprinted towards the water/flying type. His body charged with electricity again, and he tackled toward the Gyarados, who quickly dodged. The Discharge Pokémon missed and landed in the now shallow pond, causing the water and Gyarados to go up in electric power. Gyarados winced in pain as his body paralyzed.
"Now's your chance, May!" Brendan shouted. "Catch him!"
"Right!" May nodded, a determined smirk on her face. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out an empty Pokéball. "Go, Pokéball!" she shouted as she released the Pokéball from her grasp. The Pokéball engulfed Gyarados in its grasp, turning the Atrocious Pokémon into a red beam of light. The Pokéball landed in the shallow pond , and the ball shook as Gyarados tried to escape. The familiar "ding!" was heard, telling May that Gyarados gave up and that she caught a new Pokémon
"Alright!" May cheered as she jumped into the muddy bottom of the pond to retrieve her newly caught Pokémon. "I caught a Gyarados!" she said, elated. "Good job, Thunderbolt!" she smiled at her Pokemon as she returned him.
"So, what are you going to name your new Pokémon?" Brendan asked as he jumped into the pond too, landing into a puddle. "Wow, that Gyarados took out a lot of water." He observed the city and saw that most of the ground was wet along with some building walls.
"I think I'll name him Hydro," May thought out loud, "because Hydro Pump is my favorite water type move!" She shrunk down Hydro's Pokéball and placed it on her belt. "Well, I think I have the best team in the world!"
"Uh huh." Brendan shook his head but grinned all the same. "Well I think we better fix this hole in the ground and make it a pond again." He ran into the Pokémon Center and quickly retrieved his injured Pokémon's Pokéballs. He then released Muddy and commanded him to use Water Gun to refill the pond. Sitting on the ground, watching Muddy fill the pool, he watched May shine Hydro's Pokéball. "Having fun?" he asked.
"Yup!" May nodded happily, her eyes shining with excitement. "I can't wait to use my Gyarados!"
Then there was silence for a few minutes ...
Brendan shrugged and stood back up, May following suit. "You know, when you said, 'I can't wait to use my Gyarados,' I expected a trainer to come up and challenge you."
"I'm sorry," a voice giggled from behind the trainers. "I didn't know I was suppose to be here at a specific time!"
Anyway, enjoy!
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Petalburg: Surf, Sand, and Angry Water Pokémon
Petalburg: Surf, Sand, and Angry Water Pokémon
May skidded to a halt on the sandy beach on the outskirts of Petalburg. She laughed quietly as Brendan followed her but tripped as a little kid ran past him. Smiling a little, she walked over to Brendan, her hand held outward to pick the white-haired trainer up.
"Are you alright?" she asked, trying to stifle her giggling. "That was a nasty fall you got there. Saw you eat some dirt. Mmm, mmm good!" she chuckled slightly. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."
"Yeah, yeah," Brendan grumbled, mad that May hung up his boxers for everyone to see. "How did you get my boxers anyway?" he exclaimed as he picked himself up. "That's just sick and twisted! Sad and wrong! Mean and nasty!"
"Well you're the one that put your little undies in my bag," May huffed. "You were practically screaming, 'Put my boxers on the flagpole because I was stupid and put my dirty boxers in May's bag because I wanted to be funny!' So ha! You lose, I win!"
Brendan rolled his eyes and frowned. "So now what do we do? The gym is closed for one week because you dad is going back home, and we can't leave this area until you get your own stinkin' badge ..." He kicked the sand, causing the dirt to fly up and land into his eyes.
May thought for a few seconds. "We can go swimming!" she chirped cheerfully. "I got a new bathing suit at Lavaridge a few days ago!"
"Too cold," Brendan complained.
"Fine," May replied. "Then how about we go train or battle against some Pokémon Trainers?"
"Nah," Brendan shook his head. "The Pokémon here wouldn't give my Pokémon much experience." He smiled weakly as a few Taillows, Zigzagoons, and Wurmples jumped out of their homes to glare at Brendan from on top of the cliff. "And we already beat the trainers here. Besides, Muddy, Ninjask, and Kadabra are in the Pokémon Center getting healed." He fell backward, the soft sand cushioning his fall. "Maybe we can just stay here and relax." He sighed happily, putting his hands behind his head. "I'm tired after that long battle with Norman today."
May shook her head at her befallen friend. "Whatever," she stated. "If you're going to stay here, then I'm going to go fishing!" She dug through her bag and pulled out a fishing rod. "Just got this!" She beamed as she sat on the water's edge, throwing the line into the sea.
Brendan sat up and watched May's back, interested if she would find another Pokémon. After a few minutes of waiting, Brendan fell backward again, his snow white hair turning a dirty light brown from the sand. "This is boring," he grumbled, his arms and legs spread wide as if he were trying to make sand angels. "Boring, boring, boring, boring, bor-"
"No one's making you stay, you know!" May retaliated sharply, her dark blue eyes glaring at Brendan's body. A slight tug on her line caught her attention. "Alright! A Pokémon!" she cheered in delight.
"Finally!" Brendan pushed himself up and walked over to May's side who was struggling on reeling on the hooked Pokémon.
"Must be a ... big ... Poké ... mon!" May said, her teeth grinding as she dug her heals into the ground. "Sand ... doesn't ... really ... hold you ... down ... huh?"
Brendan shook his head. "Try standing up, Yam."
"Oh yeah! That's smart!" May smiled in delight and stood up, her grip on her fishing pole tightening. She used all her might to pull in the caught Pokémon. "I think I almost ..." She gave the line a final tug. "Got it!" she yelled as the hooked Pokémon emerged from under the sea.
"Tenta!" a Tentacruel appeared, May's line wrapped around one of its many tentacles. His beady, black eyes glared from underneath his jelly-like head.
"Uh oh!" May's eyes widened with fear. "It looks angry."
Brendan slapped his forehead, "No really, May?" he said sarcastically. "Go battle it!"
"Right!" May said confidently. "I choose you, Ta-" May was interrupted as the Tentacruel unleashed some black, sticky ink onto her face. "Ew!" She dropped Tai's Pokéball into the sand and collapsed on her knees, loosening her grip on her fishing pole, setting the Tentacruel free. "Gross!"
Brendan coughed slightly to stifle his laughter as he watched the angry jellyfish speed away. He then glanced downward toward May and laughed ... hard. He crumpled down back onto the sand and laughed uncontrollably, his face slowly turning red from so much laughter. Tears started forming in his eyes. "That was so funny!" he managed to get out between chuckles. "Woo." He calmed down and sat back up only to laugh again as May tried wiping the ink off her face with a towel.
"It's not funny!" May shouted as she tried to wipe off the rest of the ink off her face but failed. Picking up Tai's Pokéball and clipping it back on her belt, she began folding up her fishing rod and shoving it into her bag. She stomped up the beachy shores and back onto solid concrete into Petalburg, most likely to wash up.
Brendan, meanwhile, finished the last of his laughter, wiping away a tear that managed to escape from his cheek. He stood up and followed May back into the city from a far distance. He knew this wasn't a right time to talk to her from the long history of pissing her off from the first time they battled to, well, now. Entering the bright, cheery city, he noticed that the rookie trainers have stopped laughing at his high flying boxers on the pole and at the closing doors at the Pokémon Center.
"May must have entered," Brendan murmured. "Now's my chance to take down those boxers!" He quietly crept over to the pole and pulled down on the string, causing the boxers to lower down. Oddly, the string left his hands black and made them smell like charcoal as he retrieved his boxers from the metal clamp.
"So those are your boxers, huh?" a voice from behind him chuckled for a second before stopping.
Brendan whirled around and saw Wally's mother cover her hand with her mouth to refrain from giggling again. "Pleasure to see you again, Brendan."
"You too, Mrs. Wood." Brendan smiled out of politeness. "Yeah, these are my boxers." He shoved them in his backpack and flushed a bit from embarrassment. "May thought she would be funny and hang them up there when I was battling Norman a hour ago."
"I remember May." Mrs. Wood laughed again, her eyes twinkling. "My little Wally-kins came by a few moments before and told me all about her. I believe he has a little crush on her."
"Oh, you're not the only one that noticed!" Brendan forced out a laugh and plastered a fake smile on his face.
Mrs. Wood grinned. "I'm sure you'll get May first, Brendan. After all, you do travel with her."
Brendan just gaped at her. "I ... I don't like ... What?"
Mrs. Wood shook her head. "Never mind, dear."
"So what are you doing out here anyway?"
"Oh, I was just waving off my little Wally off. He left a few minutes ago. I'm so proud of him. He's not even sick anymore! I believe his Pokémon helped him get stronger throughout his journey." Mrs. Wood wiped away a tear. "But I still worry about him though." She sighed and glanced at the exit of Petalburg. "Anyway, my husband would like to see you."
"Huh?" Brendan asked, clueless.
"Didn't Norman tell you to visit us, dear?"
"Probably." Brendan shrugged. "I was too excited in getting my badge that I didn't really listen to Norman's after speech. I think I did hear him say something about going to Wally's house."
"Well then, come on!" Mrs. Wood said cheerfully as she led Brendan down the dirt path back down to her house. She opened the door and pushed Brendan inside lightly with her hand before closing the door.
Brendan saw Mr. Wood lounging on a couch, reading The Pokémag, a famous Pokémon magazine, taking a sip of his drink every now and then.
"Hun, Brendan Birch is here!" Mrs. Wood said, alarming Mr. Wood, causing his drink to spill over his shirt.
"Oops." Mr. Wood, tried to soak up the drink with some napkins but shrugged it off when most of it didn't come off. Throwing the wet napkins into a trash can, he went over to Brendan and shook his hand. "Brendan, my boy! Good to see you again!"
"Ditto." Brendan smiled, wondering if he ever met Mr. Wood before. He took back his hand. "Mrs. Wood and Norman said you wanted to see me?"
"Oh yeah!" Mr. Wood dug through his pants' pocket and pulled out a metal blue box the size of a Pokéblock. "This is the HM, Surf!" Mr. Wood stated proudly as he handed it to Brendan. "My favorite HM move. I help create HMs and TMs in the Hoenn Area, you know."
"That's awesome!" Brendan smiled. "Thanks for the Surf HM! I'm going to teach it to my Swampert later!"
"This is a thank you for helping Wally catch his Ralts – well, now it's a Kirlia. Sorry for taking a long time to find something to thank you with. Please, let May borrow that HM too if she gets a Water Pokémon."
"Don't worry, I will." Brendan pocketed the HM. "And you didn't have to give me anything to thank me, sir."
"No problem. We have plenty of Surf HMs." Mrs. Wood smiled happily. "Anyway, where are you headed from here?"
"Well after May gets her next badge from her dad, I guess we're going to head towards Mauville and surf towards Fortree and the other cities over there," Brendan replied. "Well, I have to find May, so bye Mr. and Mrs. Wood!" He walked over to the door and opened it. "Thanks again!"
"Bye, Brendan!" the two chorused in unison.
Brendan slowly shut the door behind him and saw May sitting at one of Petalburg's ponds, fishing. "Fishing in fresh water this time, May?" he laughed. "There no Tentacruels here!"
"That's why I'm fishing here! No need to worry about Tentacruels and their acid attacks!" May said cheerfully, her spirits raised from twenty minutes of washing her face. "I wonder what are in these ponds anyway." Her question was soon answered as she felt a tug on her line. "Alright! A Pokémon!" she cried happily as she began to reel in the Pokémon. The hooked Pokémon was easier to pull up than the angry Tentacruel, and soon, a Magikarp emerged, flopping about.
"Haha! A Magikarp!" Brendan laughed, his hands resting on his knees as he bent over, chuckling. "How sad! A pathetic Pokémon for a pathetic trainer! Perfect mat-" Brendan's mocking was interrupted when the Magikarp released May's hook, its gaping mouth swallowing the top of Brendan's head. Brendan froze for a minute before running around in circles like a crazed Poochyena. "Ah! Get it off, get it off!" he shouted, running around May, getting her dizzy.
"Hold still then!" May giggled slightly at the sight. "Love the new hat, Brendan," she joked.
"No time to be funny!" Brendan yelled. "Get it off!" He stopped running in circles and reached up with his two hands to pry the Magikarp off. He successfully pulled the Pokémon off and threw it back into the pond. "Good riddance!" he huffed.
"Hey! That was my Pokémon!" May cried.
The Magikarp plunged face first into the water and went under the somewhat shallow waters. A few seconds passed and a white light blasted from the pond.
"What was that?" Brendan questioned, shielding his eyes with an arm.
"Something not good, I bet," May retorted as she blinked twice, trying to rid her vision of the annoying, multicolored circles that obscured her eyesight.
A gigantic wave of water appeared, almost submerging Brendan and May in it. There stood a seething Gyarados, taking up more than three-quarters of the pond water with him, his scales a deeper shade of blue than usual. It glared coldly at Brendan who backed away slowly.
"Cool!" May cried in delight. "I can catch a totally awesome Gyarados!"
"Good Gyarados," Brendan said softly, backing into a wall. "Good boy."
"Gyraaa!" The Gyarados roared in anger and began to tackle downward toward Brendan.
"T.B., use your Thunderbolt attack!" May immediately released her Pokémon from its Pokéball.
In a flash of red light, Thunderbolt appeared and instantly unleashed powerful, tiny shocks of electricity toward the enraged Gyarados. The attack caught Gyarados's attention, and he turned around, ignoring the quivering Brendan. Gyarados's face twisted into a look of hate and rage as he tackled below toward Thunderbolt. The Discharge Pokémon growled as he flew backward back into the wall where Brendan was currently standing.
"Thunderbolt!" May cried, worried.
"He's all right, May!" Brendan shouted as Thunderbolt skidded down the wall back onto all fours.
"Thunderbolt, Howl and then Spark!" May commanded.
Thunderbolt howled toward the sun as if he were a wolf to the moon and charged toward the Gyarados, sparks generating from its body. He rammed his body into Gyarados's, causing tiny sparks to go up and down the huge serpent's body.
The Atrocious Pokémon thundered furiously and unleashed a strong jet of water. Thunderbolt took the hit back on and rammed back into the wall, leaving a dent in it and causing some plaster to chip off.
"Hang in there, Thunderbolt, and use Spark again!"
Thunderbolt nodded and sprinted towards the water/flying type. His body charged with electricity again, and he tackled toward the Gyarados, who quickly dodged. The Discharge Pokémon missed and landed in the now shallow pond, causing the water and Gyarados to go up in electric power. Gyarados winced in pain as his body paralyzed.
"Now's your chance, May!" Brendan shouted. "Catch him!"
"Right!" May nodded, a determined smirk on her face. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out an empty Pokéball. "Go, Pokéball!" she shouted as she released the Pokéball from her grasp. The Pokéball engulfed Gyarados in its grasp, turning the Atrocious Pokémon into a red beam of light. The Pokéball landed in the shallow pond , and the ball shook as Gyarados tried to escape. The familiar "ding!" was heard, telling May that Gyarados gave up and that she caught a new Pokémon
"Alright!" May cheered as she jumped into the muddy bottom of the pond to retrieve her newly caught Pokémon. "I caught a Gyarados!" she said, elated. "Good job, Thunderbolt!" she smiled at her Pokemon as she returned him.
"So, what are you going to name your new Pokémon?" Brendan asked as he jumped into the pond too, landing into a puddle. "Wow, that Gyarados took out a lot of water." He observed the city and saw that most of the ground was wet along with some building walls.
"I think I'll name him Hydro," May thought out loud, "because Hydro Pump is my favorite water type move!" She shrunk down Hydro's Pokéball and placed it on her belt. "Well, I think I have the best team in the world!"
"Uh huh." Brendan shook his head but grinned all the same. "Well I think we better fix this hole in the ground and make it a pond again." He ran into the Pokémon Center and quickly retrieved his injured Pokémon's Pokéballs. He then released Muddy and commanded him to use Water Gun to refill the pond. Sitting on the ground, watching Muddy fill the pool, he watched May shine Hydro's Pokéball. "Having fun?" he asked.
"Yup!" May nodded happily, her eyes shining with excitement. "I can't wait to use my Gyarados!"
Then there was silence for a few minutes ...
Brendan shrugged and stood back up, May following suit. "You know, when you said, 'I can't wait to use my Gyarados,' I expected a trainer to come up and challenge you."
"I'm sorry," a voice giggled from behind the trainers. "I didn't know I was suppose to be here at a specific time!"
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I'm skipping the Valentine's day chapter of this story 'cause its kinda pointless not unless you're really into the Pokemon characters. But it does have Hoennshipping in it so if you really want to see it, just tell me k?
The trainer giggled again as Brendan and May stood up from the miniature lake that Muddy was still busy filling up. She was rather tall but by her facial features, she looked about their age. Her coppery, auburn hair covered her bare shoulders since she was wearing a halter top. Her shoes kicked the ground, causing some dirt to uprise and land on her shorts. Her entirely black attire contrasted with the perky smile plastered on her face and the giggly attitude.
"And you are?" Brendan trailed off, his shoulders shrugging.
The girl laughed. "I'm sorry. What?"
"Who are you?" May replied, glancing at Brendan through the corner of her eye.
"Oh, I'm, like, sorry again. I'm-"
A piercing scream interrupted her, causing Brendan to quickly turned around.
"I'll be right back," he said slowly as he backed away and returned Muddy back to his Pokéball. He ran to the outskirts of Petalburg and disappeared from sight.
Thanks for leaving me, B Boy, May thought angrily in her head.
"Anyway," May tried to bring up conversation. "Um, that's Brendan by the way, and I'm May! May Maple!" She reached out to shake the other girl trainer's hand. "So who are you again?"
"Oh hi! Nice to meet you, May!" the girl replied cheerfully. "I'm ..."
Brendan rushed out of the city of Petalburg into the beach area. One hand clasped onto Sirius's Pokéball while the other ran nervously through his snowy-white hair. His eyes darted back and forth, his shoes filling with the soft sand of the beach. He knew someone – or something – was here.
The trainer heard rustling behind him, and he turned around sharply; nothing was there except the slight breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees and the splashing of waves on the shore. Brendan shrugged and continued his path down the long stretch of beach, but then he heard more rustling leaves. The white-haired trainer turned his head again to face the top of the cliff but found no one there. Frustrated, Brendan kicked some sand and shoved his hands into his pants' pockets, continuing his path down the beach.
"Well, as much as I love walking around the beach with my shoes full of sand and also looking like a loner, I'm getting out of here," Brendan said to himself. "Great, now I'm talking to myself." Caught up in his thoughts, Brendan didn't notice the figure behind him, ready to pounce.
"Jenn huh?" May inquired when the other girl trainer finished. "That's cool. You said you are from Lilycove right?"
Jenn nodded. "Yup! It's the best city out there!"
"Oh, I know, I've heard so much about it!" May smiled. "I so want to go there but with Brendan holding me back ...” She looked toward the outskirt of the small city. "Where is he anyway? Oh well. Anyway, you want to be a Victory Road trainer too?"
"Yeah! Of course!" Jenn giggled. "I'm practically half way there! But-" the smile etched on the girl's face completely vanished, "-no one gets in the way of my dream. You're in my way. I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"
May, taken aback by the sudden change in Jenn's attitude, smirked. "Sure! Six-on-Six sound good to you?"
Jenn nodded, her face brightening with a smile again. "Yes. And this way, you can test out your new Pokémon like I overheard!"
"Right!" May nodded, pumped up for the upcoming battle. She enlarged a Pokéball. "I'll start! Go, Thunderbolt!"
Brendan, sadly enough, did not sense the presence behind him until too late. The “thing” pounced on him like Professor Birch and that Poochyena. Brendan's eyes widened as he tripped over his two left feet, collapsing into the soft sand. He tried to reach out for one of his Pokémon's Pokéballs but his arms were clenched underneath him because of the “thing's” weight. A loud, piercing scream pulsed through his ear, and he winced. He tried to squirm from underneath the mysterious person but to no avail; he was stuck. So he did the only thing he could think of. Good thing he paid attention during the safety code lessons in the Pokémon Academy ...
"This person is not my parent!" the boy bellowed from the top of his lungs. "That really doesn't help when there's no one around to hear you," Brendan muttered out loud a few seconds later.
The person on top of the poor boy shrieked again, and Brendan flinched, the scream echoing throughout his ears.
"Oh, my Latias!" the person screamed in delight. "You are, like, Brendan Birch, aren't you?"
Brendan groaned. "Uh, yes?"
The individual on Brendan's back giggled in delight. "That is sooooooooo totally awesome! Do you know who you are, Brendan?"
Brendan, confused by the girl's stupidity, grunted and push the girl off his back. Brushing the sand off his clothes, he observed the girl now that he was standing on two feet again. The girl was shorter than him by at least a couple of inches even with her sandals that were at least a few inches tall. Her long, brown, layered hair stopped at mid-back, a few bangs whipping her face in the summer breeze. Her bright, blue eyes sparkled with delight as she saw her “idol.”
"You are Brendan Birch, aren't you?" the girl squealed.
Brendan sighed. She looked like one of those air-heads, but he wouldn't judge a person until he actually met them. Maybe she was being sarcastic.
"Well, aren't you?"
Brendan mentally slapped his forehead; yep, an air-head alright.
"Er, yeah," the white-haired trainer replied weakly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Who are you?"
"Oh, my Latias! Brendan Birch asked for my name!" The girl's eyes twinkled as she beamed. "I am, like, Cassie!"
And I, like, don't care! Brendan thought in his head, mocking the girl's voice. Then why the hell did I ask who she was? Latios, I'm an idiot.
In a burst of white light, a Manectric with a determined smirk etched on his face pawed the ground, glaring coldly into the distance. Yards away, their was another flash of light, and a confident-looking Mightyena formed, his dark black fur blowing in the wind, its red and yellow eyes flashing dangerously.
May took up her opponent's Pokémon and smirked. At least she would know the attacks of Jenn's first Pokémon thanks to Brendan's own Mightyena. "Thunderbolt, Quick Attack now!"
Thunderbolt nodded his head and sprinted toward the Bite Pokémon with incredible agility. He hit the Mightyena dead on, but it wasn't strong enough to leave a large enough dent in the wolf's energy let alone knock him out.
"Mightyena, Crunch 'em down!" Jenn countered, beaming.
Mightyena, his teeth bared, raced over to the Discharge Pokémon and bit him mid-back. Thunderbolt howled in pain as the Bite Pokemon's teeth sunk into his skin, leaving serious bite marks.
"Hang in there ,Thunderbolt, and use your Spark!" May commanded.
Thunderbolt charged up in volts of electricity and charged towards Mightyena, his blue and yellow fur crackling with the power. He rammed his body into Mightyena's own, shocking the dog with electric power. Mightyena in return used his Thief attack and stole the small magnet chain that hung around Thunderbolt's neck. The Bite Pokémon jumped out of the Discharge Pokémon's way and dropped the item next to his owner's feet.
May sensed Thunderbolt's electric power decreasing. "Try another Quick Attack, Thunderbolt!" she ordered.
Thunderbolt, once again, raced over to the hyena Pokémon and tackled him in a swift manner. Mightyena rolled over but quickly got back onto his feet, his crimson-colored eyes narrowing.
"Alright, Mightyena! You're doing great!" Jenn cheered. "Use Swagger!"
Mightyena nodded and gave Thunderbolt a determined, confident, and prideful look, clearly stating: "You can do it Thunderbolt!"
The naive Thunderbolt fell under the Swagger curse, getting too over confident. His attack power rose to an incredible height but the Swagger effect made him confused – the boost of power was quite pointless if the Discharge Pokémon couldn't aim right. Thunderbolt stumbled around the battlefield, a smirk sketched on his face but puzzlement written in his eyes. Clueless, Thunderbolt tackled what he thought was Mightyena with his head, but ended up crashing into a nearby mailbox instead.
"Hehe, what a fun Manectric," Jenn giggled. "But anyway, time to finish this off! Mightyena, Crunch down and finish him off!"
Mightyena gave out a short bark in agreement and charged toward the Discharge Pokémon, his sharp white teeth sparkling in the sunlight. He bit down hard at Thunderbolt's right fore leg. A sickening crunch was heard. Thunderbolt roared with agony, until he went limp in Mightyena's teeth grasp.
"Thunderbolt!" May cried. "Return!"
Cassie clung to Brendan's arm like glue. Brendan gave up trying to rid the girl off of his arms what seemed like years ago. Let's face it – the girl was a human vice.
"Uh, do you mind letting go of my arm?" Brendan asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "I think it's going numb."
"Oh, the ocean is so beautiful!" Cassie remarked, oblivious to Brendan's question.
"Eh heh, right," Brendan muttered under his breath. "Hold up, how do you know who I am in the first place? I only became a trainer a few months ago and only got a few badges."
"Silly." Cassie batted her eyelashes. " You were, like, on the Pokémon Report with Gabby and T.Y.!"
"Oh, right then." Brendan blinked twice. "Which one?"
"Oh the third time you met them." Cassie counted on her free hand, her other hand still clinging to Brendan's arm. "The one where your totally awesome Mightyena chased T.Y. around the battlefield! That was, like, sooooo funny!" The girl giggled. "It was like, yeah!"
"Like yeah huh?" Brendan said dully. "Do you mind if you kinda, like, yeah, let go of my arm or something?"
"Anyway," Cassie continued, her grip on Brendan tightening, "like, I have this really big thing for boys that appear on television, especially The Pokémon Report, because, like, Gabby is my idol and all and I want to be, like, like her and all! She is so cool! Like the first time you appeared on her show! Tee hee."
Hmm, good career choice, Brendan thought. You two are both annoying than hell.
"Ah, well. Mind letting go of my arm?" Brendan asked again.
"Don't you think my hair is totally awesome?" Cassie inquired, twirling a strand of hair through her fingers. "But like, Suzy – you know here right?"
"Well considering I only met you fifteen minutes ago against my own free will-"
"Yeah, that Suzy! That little biznatch! She, like, told me that my hair was all ugly and that I needed to cut it because it stunted my growth! Like I need to grow! Right, Brendan? I'm like, so totally tall! At least with these shoes anyway!" Cassie giggled. "But yeah! I hope that she ... that she .. um ... breaks a fingernail! Oh, I'm so evil, aren't I?"
Brendan was busy trying to pry the girl's hand off again due to his boredom. "Oh, what?" he asked. "Uh ... right."
"Latias, Brendan Birch actually agreed with me!" Cassie remarked happily. "We can, like, get married, have kids and, like, live until we're, like, fifty! But anyway, where were we again? Oh yeah! Anyway, Suzy called my hair ugly! Can you believe that?"
"Oh no! Latios forbid."
May returned her Manectric in a beam of red light, congratulating her Pokémon for a great battle and wearing down the Mightyena. She shrunk down Thunderbolt's Pokéball, switched it with another on her belt, and enlarged the new Pokéball. "Ready for round two?" she asked, a confident smile on her face. "Let's go, Cherry!" She released her butterfly in a blast of bright light. "Use Silver Wind!" the bandanna-wearing girl quickly commanded.
Cherry, a brightly colored Beautifly, flapped her wings rapidly, steel-colored, star-shaped objects fluttering out of her wings, whacking the poor dog all over. Mightyena growled, his teeth bared, his eyes cold with fury.
"Mightyena, Bite attack now!" Jenn ordered.
"Dodge by flying up high, Cherry!" May countered.
Cherry fluttered skyward while Mightyena charged toward the butterfly, eyes flashing. He jumped up as high up as his powerful legs could take him and missed Cherry by a few feet. The Bite Pokemon landed hard on the ground, his legs almost buckling. He turned his head and saw the butterfly giggling, her eyes sparkling playfully. Mightyena growled and tried another round of sharp bites but missed again much to Jenn's disappointment.
"Now, Cherry, finish 'em off!" May cheered. "Secret Power!"
Cherry nodded, her multi-colored wings flashing dangerous red and yellow. She flew straight down toward the Bite Pokémon, her wings still glowing with crimson-colored power. Her head rammed into Mightyena's body, causing the wolf Pokémon to skid across the battlefield, crashing into a white picket fence. Mightyena howled in pain and his knees buckled fully this time, knocked out.
"Good job, Mightyena, return!" Jenn recalled her Pokémon, switched Pokéballs, and enlarged another. "Okay then!" the girl trainer said with a grin. "I choose you, Pelipper!" She released her large pelican Pokémon. "Start things off with Wing Attack!"
Cassie tripped into the sand, one of the heels on her shoes wedged in between two rocks. Unfortunately, she brought down the white-haired trainer with her seeing as her hand was still clinging to Brendan's arm.
"Ugh, I HATE nature!" Cassie exclaimed, sitting on her knees and brushing the dirt off her tank top. "It's, like, so ... dirty!"
Brendan had his face down in the sand. "Mm hmr moo. Mm MMEE mu ..."
"Aw, that's so sweet," Cassie remarked, her eyes glinting in the sunlight.
Brendan rose from the sand, a confused look plastered on his face. "What? I just said that I hated you-"
"Oh don't say it; I heard it the first time," Cassie giggled, interrupting the boy trainer. "You just said you LIKED me!" she squealed in delight. "Latias, this is totally incredible!"
"WHAT!" Brendan shouted, pulling Cassie's hand off his upper arm. "I didn't say that! In fact, it's the total opposite of what you think I said! The air in your head must block out your hearing or something! What I was trying to say for the past seventeen minutes of torture is GO AWAY! Go ... do your girly things for Latios's sake!"
"Hmpf, well then!" Cassie replied angrily, her dark blue eyes flashing with fury. She flicked her brown hair over her shoulder and stomped back toward Petalburg. "I hope you never get interviewed by Gabby again! She doesn't need an annoying nuisance like you in her way!"
Brendan snorted in agreement. "Yeah, I hope I never see her again either. ALONG with you."
Pelipper flew toward the Butterfly Pokémon, one of its wings glowing with power. With a tremendous sweep of his wing, the pelican whacked the Beautifly, knocking the air out of her. Cherry crash-landed into the ground, leaving a dirt trail behind her. Cherry groaned and slowly hovered back into the air, panting.
"Hang in there, Cherry!" May cried out, worried.
"While her guard is down, Pelipper!" Jenn shouted. "Use Surf attack!"
Pelipper glowed a shining blue, staring at the pond's water that Muddy just refilled moments ago. With a flap of its wings, it sent a large wave of water hurtling toward Cherry. Cherry eyed her trainer fearfully as the wave went overhead and crashed over her, washing the top part of houses along with it.
"Ugh," May groaned, taking over her bandanna and wringing it out – she just HAD to take the side where the pond was. "Are you alright, Cherry?" May asked, concerned for her Butterfly Pokémon.
Cherry was flat on the ground, her wings spread across the grass floor, her antennas limp from the powerful water attack. She rose into the air slowly, her wings dripping with water.
"Oh no!" May cried. "Cherry can't fly fast when her wings are wet!"
"Perfect then!" Jenn exclaimed, smiling. "Finish her off with another Wing Attack now!"
Pelipper nodded and swept down toward Cherry's level. It swiftly flew past the butterfly, its wing spread wide, glowing with white power. Cherry got the wind knocked out of her again, slamming hard into the ground, swirls where her bright blue eyes were a few moments ago.
"Cherry return!" May recalled her Pokémon. "You did great! You deserve a nice rest." She minimized Cherry's Pokéball and maximized another. "Ok then. This time it won't be easy! Go, Flare!" With a flash of white light, the tall Blaze Pokémon appeared, her claws alight with red and orange flames. "Flare, Fire Punch now!"
Flare, eyes flashing with flames, jumped into the air and landed in front of Pelipper in an instance. In that short amount of time, she punched the Waterbird Pokémon right in the kisser, part of its face burnt from the flames on Flare's claw.
"Pelipper!" Jenn cried. "Supersonic now!"
Pelipper, a burn mark on its cheek, let loose visible sound waves from its mouth, aiming toward the Blaze Pokémon. Flare didn't move as the waves surrounded her, blocking out her hearing and her trainer's commands.
"Flare, finish it off with Blaze Kick!" the bandanna-wearing girl trainer screamed from the top of her lungs. Flare was oblivious to May's command and stood there, her claws still ablaze with flames.
"Now Pelipper, Surf!" Jenn commanded.
Pelipper, its mouth still open wide to continue the Supersonic attack, glowed, once again, a blue shade, a gigantic wave forming overhead Flare. Flare noticed the wave from behind her and jumped to the tops of some nearby trees, the wave falling harmlessly at the Blaze Pokémon's feet. Pelipper rose its head though, directing its Supersonic at Flare again.
"There's got to be a way to shut the bird up," May thought out loud. "Maybe if I scream loud enough, she'll hear me. But she might confuse them, wouldn't she? Maybe if I use one word, she'll think of it as another." May paused. "Worth a shot! Flamethrower while you're still in the tree, Flare!" she screamed, hoping that her words would work.
Flare only caught onto a few words of her trainer's orders: Fame, throw, white, tree, fare.
Obeying orders, the Blaziken jumped down and used her strength to pull out a tree branch. She then threw it toward the Waterbird. Pelipper didn't want to get knocked out by it so he stopped the Supersonic and caught the branch in its mouth. Flare winced; she couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Okay, Flare! Blaze Kick now!" May cried triumphantly.
"Protect now!" Jenn smirked.
"Dammit!"
Flare roundhouse kicked at Pelipper's head but the waterbird created a golden, star-shaped barrier that protected it from the Blaze's Pokémon barrage of kicks.
"Flare, try Blaze Kick again!"
"Protect!"
Flare heated her lower claws with blue and white flames as she kicked at Pelipper with enormous strength. The attacks were futile against the Protect defense though and Flare's attacks were in vain.
"Now, Flare!" May yelled, fists clenched closed. "Sky Uppercut!"
Flare stopped her barrage of fiery kicks and backed up, one claw poised ready to punch Pelipper upward.
"No, Pelipper!" Jenn cried. "Keep your Protect shield up!"
Pelipper, out of breath, powered up his protection field only to let it die down.
"What!" Jenn exclaimed, clueless.
"Protect is a powerful defense that blocks all attacks, leaving the user completely safe," May explained, a smug smile on her face. "But Protect also drains a lot of energy, especially if used twice in a row. So ... Flare, go!"
Flare sprinted towards the waterbird Pokémon and drove it skyward. Pelipper, being a Flying type, tried to slow itself down but the force behind the Sky Uppercut attack was tremendous.
"Now, Flare! Flamethrower!" May commanded.
Flare inhaled deeply and shot out a stream of orange-red flames hurtling towards Pelipper. Pelipper took the attack dead-on, scorching the poor bird even though it was part Water. The Waterbird dropped swiftly toward the ground, spiraling. It landed with a hard thud, dirt uprising from where it lay, the ground vibrating from the rough fall.
"Pelipper, return!" Jenn called back her waterbird and congratulated it on a job well done. She enlarged another Pokéball after switching it with Pelipper's. "Okay. We can play fire against fire if you wanna!" Jenn beamed. "Go, Blaziken!"
Brendan rubbed his sore arm and groaned. Latios, that girl had a hard grip. He walked up the sandy hill that led back to the cliff only to walk into someone. Already in a ******-off mood, he snapped,
"Watch where you're going idiot!" The angry white-haired trainer looked up to see who dared to bump into him on a bad day. He gulped. "Eh heh ... sorry?" he apologized meekly when he saw who he walked into. The stranger hovered over Brendan's head by at least six inches and was heavily built. Brendan thought that most of his body weight was muscle. He looked at least a year or two older than him and had chestnut colored hair and crystal blue eyes. Wait ... he swear he saw those same colored eyes and hair on someone else.
"Hey, punk! I heard you told my little sister to leave you alone!" the heavily-built guy barked. "No one tells my sister to leave them alone! Not even you, kid! Not even the Brendan Birch!"
"Me?" Brendan pointed to himself, laughing. He put on a fake accent. "Thez iz nut Brendan! Thez iz ... Bernard! Brendan's lost tween brother! Everyone seemz to confuse us, but it iz, how you zay, all right! Now I muzt go-"
The muscle man clenched his fists around Brendan's throat, choking him. "You. Me. Fight."
"Eh heh," Brendan managed to squeak out.
"You make Danny angry!"
"What's with the third person speech?" the boy trainer choked out. He mentally slapped himself; don't ask people sarcastic questions when they're about to kill you.
Danny threw Brendan on the sandy ground, advancing on him slowly.
Beads of sweat formed on Brendan's head as he rubbed the sore spot on his neck. I can't face this guy! He's HUGE! He's bigger than huge! He's ... another word bigger for huge! Gigantic? Yeah that can work. I'M GONNA GET KILLED! And I didn't even make a will yet! Brendan quickly got back onto his feet and enlarged a Pokéball. "If you want to get to me," he stated, a confident smirk forming on his face, "then you're going to have to battle me first! One-on-One! That is if you have Pokémon."
Perfect, Brendan thought smugly in his head. Even if this muscle mean man does have Pokémon, they must be idiots! Just like him and his sister!
"Fine!" Danny roared angrily. He enlarged a Pokéball. "Machamp, let's fight!"
"Crap."
The two mighty Blazikens glared menacingly at each other, the air growing tense. The two girl trainers held their breath, seeing which one of them was going to make a move first.
May took the opportunity. "Flare, Fire Punch!"
"Blaziken! Counter Fire Punch with Blaze Kick!" Jenn countered.
Flare dashed toward her opponent, one claw licked in flames. She punched fiercely at Blaziken's face who blocked with its own Blaze Kick attack. The two were engulfed in flames as the two fighting-fire type attacks collided with each other. Flare took advantage of this situation and used her other claw to jab at her opponent's head. The other Blaze Pokémon ducked and brought its leg back down. It then tripped Flare with a Double Kick attack.
"This is going to be tougher than I thought!" May exclaimed out loud. "Those two are practically equal to each other!"
"Great job, Blaziken!" Jenn cheered her Pokémon on as her Pokémon landed back on their side of the battlefield. "Blaze Kick again!"
Blaziken jumped into the air and swung one heavy leg, engulfed in flame, down upon Flare's head. Flare dropped to the floor under the weight but charged back up in flames for a second, the effects of her Blaze ability kicking in.
"Now Blaziken, Overheat!"
Blaziken put two claws on Flare's back and engulfed them both in flames, one feeling nothing, the one going through hell on Earth.
"Flare, hang in there!" May cried, as Blaziken stopped his fiery attack. "Use Slash attack!"
The Raging Fire Pokémon slashed at her opponent's face with a sharp claw. The other Blaziken cried out in agony, one claw gingerly touching its wound.
"Oh, hold on, Blaziken, and use Double Kick again!" Jenn ordered, concern in her voice.
Blaziken let go of its face and jumped into the air. He landed two kicks, one at Flare's head, the other at her back. Flare was thrown toward Jenn's side of the field, looking weak and weary, her Blaze ability activating once again.
"Hang in there, Flare! Flamethrower!" May commanded.
Flare, her body still bursting with flames, projected a steady stream of flames that knocked Blaziken off its feet, courtesy of the boost of energy from the Blaze affect.
"Blaziken, Fire Punch!" Jenn instructed, the smile slowly fading from her face.
Blaziken threw a powerful punch Flare's head if she didn't duck just in time and tripped the other Raging Fire Bird with a Double Kick.
"Now, Flare! Flamethrower!"
"Blaze Kick, Blaziken!"
Flare hovered over the fallen Blaze Pokémon and blew out a fiery jet of flames. The attack would have hit dead on and possibly fainted Blaziken it didn't quickly jump back onto his feet and kicked Flare in the chest, knocking her over.
"Great, Blaziken!" Jenn rooted. "Finish her off with Overheat again!"
Blaziken engulfed Flare and himself in flames that licked at their body, one not feeling affected by it, the other howling in agony. Blaziken smirked and stopped the attack with a swipe of his claw. Tension filled the air again just like at the beginning of this round. Flare slowly got back to her feet, panting heavily, her own flames licking her own body. The two Raging Fire Pokémon staring a steely-cold staring contest between each other. Who dared to fall first?
It was Flare as she fell forward at Blaziken's feet, tired and fainted.
Who to face against a Machamp? Brendan thought in his head. Not Sirius definitely! Maybe Ninjask if he had more attacks than Cutting ones. Kadabra, possibly but that wouldn't be too fun would it? Muddy? He hasn't been in a battle for a while I must admit.
"Okay then!" Brendan maximized a Pokéball and threw it onto the sandy battlefield. "Let's get 'em, Muddy!"
In a burst of flashing white light, the Mud Fish Pokémon appeared, a confident smirk plastered on his face. Like trainer, like Pokémon.
"Let's go, Machamp! Start things off with Cross Chop!" Danny ordered, crossing his arms.
Machamp roared a mighty battle cry and crossed his two bottom arms into a X shape. The X glowed in white power as the Superpower Pokémon charged toward the Swampert. He uncrossed his arms when he was only a few feet away from Muddy, ferociously slashing him with his power-packed arms. Muddy blocked with his own arms but was still sent skidding across the battlefield almost into the ocean.
"Surf them down, Muddy!" Brendan commanded.
Muddy glowed a light shade of blue and pointed a paw at Machamp. A huge wave of water went overhead Brendan and Muddy and crashed down on Machamp, also getting Danny soaked to the bone. Machamp was swept off his feet but landed safely on the now wet sand; the sand absorbed Machamp's fall.
"Machamp, Seismic Toss!" Danny directed.
Machamp jumped back onto his feet and bolted toward the Swampert, his four arms stretched out wide. The Superpower Pokémon captured Muddy in his grasp and jumped high into the air thanks to his powerful leg muscles. Reaching a high enough altitude, the Machamp threw the Mud Fish Pokémon hard to the ground.
"Slow down your landing with Water Gun, Muddy!" Brendan quickly retaliated.
Muddy, whose eyes were screwed-shut closed, fired a jet of icy cold water down onto the ground. Luck wasn't on Muddy's side this time; the sand absorbed the water just like how the sand absorbed Machamp's fall. It didn't slow Muddy down but the attack did manage to make the ground softer than usual, so Muddy didn't get as hurt as he should have been.
"Machamp, Vital Throw now!" Danny instructed.
Machamp glowed with energy for a second and began to shift his weight around between his two feet as if full of excitement. He then charged toward Muddy with incredible speed, picking up the Mud Fish Pokémon in all four arms and throwing him out to sea. Muddy landed with a rough splash onto his back. Luckily, it didn't paralyze him, but it did practically knock the wind out of him.
"Ouch," Brendan winced as he turned around to face the ocean. "You alright, Muddy?"
Muddy swam back to shore and shook himself dry. He nodded as he glared daggers at the now laughing Machamp.
"That's the spirit, Muddy!" Brendan called triumphantly.
"What?" Danny asked curiously. "Glaring at your opponent?"
"No," the white-haired trainer said slowly. "Getting back onto your feet is what! Use Mud Shot, Muddy!"
Muddy nodded again, shooting a jet of sticky, brown mud toward the Superpower Pokémon. The attack hit dead on, blinding the Machamp for a second. The muscle-packed Pokémon stumbled across the battlefield, trying to wipe the mud off his face.
"No, Machamp!" Danny exclaimed.
"While his guard is down, Take Down!"
Muddy rushed towards the Machamp and jumped into the air, careening into the Superpower Pokémon and knocking him down onto the ground. Unfortunately, that was when Machamp cleared himself of the infernal mud. He glared coldly at the Swampert who only smiled innocently in return.
"Quick, Machamp! Revenge!"
In a quick flash, Machamp pushed Muddy off him and pinned the Swampert down onto the sandy ground by the neck.
Brendan cussed, thinking of a strategy.
"Flare, return!" May recalled her Pokémon and whispered words of praise to her. She switched Pokéballs and threw the new one onto the field. "Let's go! Skittles!" She released her feline Pokémon. "Shock Wave!" she cried, using the new TM move her cat just learned a week ago.
Skittles, a lovely Delcatty, mewed and charged up with pure electric power, shocking her fiery foe. Blaziken was enraged by the attack and blew a jet of flames toward Skittles on its own free will. Skittles narrowly dodged the barrage of the incoming flames but her left leg got burned all the same.
"Let's see ... Attacks ... attacks," Jenn thought out loud.
"Huh?" May inquired, puzzled by her opponent's clueless behavior.
Jenn shrugged. "Dunno, just seemed more dramatic if I said that." She giggled. "Okay, Blaziken. Blaze Kick!"
"Dodge, Skittles, with Faint Attack!" May quickly retaliated.
The Raging Fire Bird Pokémon roundhouse kicked at Skittles with his claws aflame, but she swiftly dodged by using her Faint Attack. She appeared behind Blaziken and tackled from behind. Blaziken stumbled forward but didn't fall. He did, however flare up with flames – the Blaze ability.
"Hurry, let's finish 'em off!" May cheered. "Use Assist!"
Both Skittles and one of May's Pokéballs on her belt glowed a bright red, and soon Skittles released a powerful ball of energy from her mouth – a Dragon Rage attack from Hydro, the Gyarados. The Dragon Rage crackled with power and it hit the Blaziken dead on, knocking it onto his back. He blacked-out and Jenn returned it, congratulating it on a job well done.
"Okay, round four!" Jenn enlarged a new Pokéball. "You're up, Swellow!"
"It's weird but we pretty much have the same Pokémon," May pondered out loud. "Okay, two but still. Skittles, Shock Wave now!"
"Dodge with Aerial Ace!" Jenn retaliated.
The Calm Pokémon charged up with electric power again and aimed the attack at the Swellow. The fast-moving bird quickly dodged the electric attack and used its sharp beak to slash across Skittles's face. Skittles mewed in anguish, a red cut forming on her cheek.
"Ouch! Are you alright, Skittles?" May asked worriedly.
Skittles nodded, a determined smile etched on her face.
"Good!" May cheered happily. "Use Doubleslap attack!"
Skittles mewed and sprinted toward the Swallow Pokemon. She jumped into the air and severely slapped the poor bird with her two front paws repeatedly. Swellow dodged the last few and flew out of Skittles's reach.
"Steel Wing, Swellow!" Jenn directed.
Swellow's right wing glowed with steely-silver power and it flew speedily towards the Feline Pokémon. It swiped its wing, whacking Skittles off her feet, colliding into another mailbox.
"Skittles!" May cried as she saw swirls in her Pokémon's eyes. "Return!" She recalled her Pokémon into her Pokéball with a beam of red light. "Good job Skittles! I'm proud of you." She changed Pokéballs on her belt. "You ARE tougher than you look, Jenn."
"Thanks!" Jenn smiled brightly. "Wait-"
"I choose you, Tai!"
Muddy was gagging. He wanted to cry out but the Superpower Pokémon closed over his vocal chords. Instead, he squirmed, trying to kick the Machamp off him.
"Muddy, Dig now!" Brendan shouted, getting worried.
Muddy tried his best to dig backward. The attempt was useless and even if Muddy was free of Machamp's grasp, the sand would just easily refill the hole the Swampert would create.
"Machamp, you're doing great!" Danny yelled, pleased with his Pokémon.
"Water Gun won't do no good if Muddy's neck is closed," Brendan grumbled out loud. "So now what?"
Muddy had his own idea. Reaching out a grabbing a handful of sand, he aimed it into Machamp's eyes kind of like a Sand Attack. Machamp howled in pain again, the second time he was blinded. His two bottom arms let got of Muddy's neck and before his upper arms could grab a hold of the Mud Fish, Muddy jumped back onto his feet and Water Gunned Machamp back into the cliff. Machamp created a dent in the cliff and fell forward.
"Argh! Machamp, return!" Danny recalled his Pokémon, flames in his ocean-blue eyes. Nevertheless, he thanked his Pokémon for a job well done as he advanced on Brendan again, ignoring the fact that the Swampert behind him was poised, ready to pounce on him if anything happened.
Brendan couldn't help but feel cocky at the moment. He did, after all, defeat muscle man. "Oh yeah, oh yeah!" he cheered. "Who's the trainer now? I win, you lose! I win, you lose! I wi-"
POW!
May released her own Swellow in a blaze of light. Tai flapped his wings and gave out a battle cry, eyeing his opponent carefully.
"Swellow, Wing Attack now!" Jenn attacked first for this round.
"Counter with your own Wing Attack!" May retaliated hastily.
The two Swallow Pokémon flew towards each other with amazing agility and their wings slashed at each other, clashing together like a sword fight. The two retreated back to their own sides of the field, glaring icy cold daggers.
"Tai, Quick Attack!"
"Fly up high, Swellow!"
Tai rocketed toward the other Swallow Pokémon but Swellow dodged out of the way by flying up high above the clouds.
"Now where did that Swellow go," May thought out loud.
Tai was curious too as he rose up high to find Swellow. He found him soon enough as the Swellow spiraled down toward him, its sharp beak prodding Tai in the back. May's Swallow Pokémon fell to the ground in a heap, creating a small crater.
"Try and get up, Tai!" May cried, concerned.
Tai rose out of his own hole, wincing with every movement he made. He hovered back into the air very slowly, his wings quaking every now and then.
"Must have been a powerful Fly attack," May murmured to herself. "Okay, Tai. Use Aerial Ace!"
Tai, despite his injuries, dashed toward Jenn's Swellow and slashed at it with his beak, slamming the other Swellow into the ground this time.
"Swellow!" Jenn cried. "Are you alright?"
Swellow fluttered back into the air but soon fell back down, knocked out by the Aerial Ace attack.
"Return!" Jenn took back her Pokémon into its Pokéball. "Good job Swellow; you deserve a nice rest." She smiled as she switched Pokéballs. "Okay! Let's go, Sharpedo!" She released the scary yet strong shark Pokémon from its Pokéball into the small pond. "Use Crunch!"
Amazingly, Sharpedo jumped out of the water high enough to grab Tai from mid-air and crunched down hard on him. Tai tried to squirm out of the shark's grasp by flapping his wings but failed. He gave a sharp intake of breath as Sharpedo's teeth began to sink down into his flesh and he fainted on the spot because of the blinding pain.
"Tai, return!" May recalled her Pokémon from the shark's grasp. "You did awesome!" She switched Pokéballs on her belt and took out another – Hydro's to be exact. "Finally it's time to test my new Pokémon! Go Hydro!"
In a blast of white light, the Gyarados appeared, roaring a mighty battle cry as he hovered in the air.
"Hydro, uh," May paused. "Damn, what are Hydro's attacks?" She took out her Pokédex and scanned Hydro.
Jenn took advantage of the situation. "Sharpedo, Surf!"
Sharpedo glowed a dark blue and a wave of water from the pond grew overhead, crashing down onto Hydro. The Atrocious Pokémon wasn't hurt too bad though seeing as he was part water.
"Ah ha!" May said, finished with her scan on her Gyarados. "Use Thrash now!"
Hydro roared again and whacked Sharpedo out of the water with his strong tail. Sharpedo flew out the water and crashed into a house wall, chipping the sides.
"Ooh, I'm not paying for that!" Jenn laughed. "Sharpedo, are you alright?" she asked worriedly when her Shark Pokémon didn't move.
Sharpedo slowly slid down the wall and panted heavily since it was out of water. With a quick intake of breath, it fainted right on the spot. Hydro thundered triumphantly – his first win.
"Sharpedo, return!" Jenn recalled her Pokémon. "You did a great job!" The girl trainer eyed her opponent's Gyarados. "Hmm ... That Gyarados is stronger than it looks, especially since May caught it. But Aggron can take it on! Go!" She threw a Pokéball onto the battlefield. The white form took shape into a strong, tall, Aggron with a fierce look in its eye, its tail sweeping back and forth.
Hydro turned around to face his opponent, casually glaring at him through lazy eyes.
"I wouldn't underestimate this one, Hydro," May warned. "Yeah, it was easy to take out that Sharpedo with a flick of your tail but Aggron is no lightweight."
"Aggron, Thunderbolt!"
Aggron – practically being a living lightning rod – charged up with electricity and pounded his fists on the ground, the jolt rushing toward the Atrocious Pokémon at an alarming weight. The attack zapped Hydro, but he was only sparked a little so to speak, still ready to fight.
"Hydro ... uh," May tried to remember Hydro's attacks again. "Oh yeah! Use Dragon Rage again!"
A powerful red and yellow energy ball formed from the inside of Hydro's mouth. He fired at the Iron Armor Pokémon, the energy ball crackling with power.
"Protect now!" Jenn countered, smiling.
"That attack is getting SO old!" May muttered under her breath.
Aggron used his arms to create a golden barrier between him and the Dragon Rage. The energy ball kept prodding on the indestructible force shield until it disappeared into nothingness.
"Hydro, Bite now!" May ordered.
Hydro dove downward, a determined look in his eye, as he reached the Iron Armor Pokémon and bit him on one of the horns. The attack seemed useless though against Aggron's layers of steel.
"While you're at close range, Aggron! Metal Claw!" Jenn cried triumphantly.
Aggron rose his right claw and concentrated steely energy on it. He swiped down hard at Hydro's back, leaving red slash marks in a sea of blue scales. Hydro roared in agony and let go of the Aggron's plates. He flew back a few yards and swung his tail at him, another thrash attack. Aggron didn't move though but stood his ground. He caught the tail in between both hands, only skidding back a few feet.
"Alright, Aggron!" Jenn cheered happily. "Now finish him off with Thunderbolt!"
Aggron roared and charged up with electric power, also shocking the Atrocious Pokémon. Hydro thundered angrily and tried to get out of the Iron Armor Pokémon's grip but failed.
"Hydro!" May cried.
Aggron stopped his vicious Thunderbolt attack and released Hydro from its grip. The Gyarados flew back to his side of his field ever so slowly and dropped dead, blacked out.
"Return, Hydro!" May recalled her Pokémon. "You did a great job; you deserve a nice rest." May looked up and walked over to her opponent's side of the field.
Jenn was busy congratulating her Pokémon, beaming and giggling. She returned her Pokémon in a beam of red light when she saw May coming her way. "That was a good battle, May!" she giggled again. "I haven't had a tougher one than that for a LONG time!"
"Ditto." May shook Jenn's hand and smiled. "So now that the battle is cleared out of the way, what do you want to do? Hang on – what happened to Brendan?"
"If you mean that white-haired kid who's wearing a black and red bandanna and limping, he just came back!" Jenn giggled, "Ouch. I wonder what happened to him. He looks scratched up!"
Brendan appeared from the outskirts of the city, limping on his left leg, one hand carefully covering his right eye. He soon reached the girl trainers – despite the fact that he was staggering – and dropped his hand, revealing his black eye.
"Are you alright? What happened to you?" May asked worriedly, reaching out and gingerly touching around Brendan's eye with her fingers, the other hand lifting his chin slightly.
Brendan sighed, wincing with every time May touched his black eye. "Please. Don't. Ask."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hydro's Battle and the Beach Bully
Hydro's Battle and the Beach Bully
The trainer giggled again as Brendan and May stood up from the miniature lake that Muddy was still busy filling up. She was rather tall but by her facial features, she looked about their age. Her coppery, auburn hair covered her bare shoulders since she was wearing a halter top. Her shoes kicked the ground, causing some dirt to uprise and land on her shorts. Her entirely black attire contrasted with the perky smile plastered on her face and the giggly attitude.
"And you are?" Brendan trailed off, his shoulders shrugging.
The girl laughed. "I'm sorry. What?"
"Who are you?" May replied, glancing at Brendan through the corner of her eye.
"Oh, I'm, like, sorry again. I'm-"
A piercing scream interrupted her, causing Brendan to quickly turned around.
"I'll be right back," he said slowly as he backed away and returned Muddy back to his Pokéball. He ran to the outskirts of Petalburg and disappeared from sight.
Thanks for leaving me, B Boy, May thought angrily in her head.
"Anyway," May tried to bring up conversation. "Um, that's Brendan by the way, and I'm May! May Maple!" She reached out to shake the other girl trainer's hand. "So who are you again?"
"Oh hi! Nice to meet you, May!" the girl replied cheerfully. "I'm ..."
- - -
Brendan rushed out of the city of Petalburg into the beach area. One hand clasped onto Sirius's Pokéball while the other ran nervously through his snowy-white hair. His eyes darted back and forth, his shoes filling with the soft sand of the beach. He knew someone – or something – was here.
The trainer heard rustling behind him, and he turned around sharply; nothing was there except the slight breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees and the splashing of waves on the shore. Brendan shrugged and continued his path down the long stretch of beach, but then he heard more rustling leaves. The white-haired trainer turned his head again to face the top of the cliff but found no one there. Frustrated, Brendan kicked some sand and shoved his hands into his pants' pockets, continuing his path down the beach.
"Well, as much as I love walking around the beach with my shoes full of sand and also looking like a loner, I'm getting out of here," Brendan said to himself. "Great, now I'm talking to myself." Caught up in his thoughts, Brendan didn't notice the figure behind him, ready to pounce.
- - -
"Jenn huh?" May inquired when the other girl trainer finished. "That's cool. You said you are from Lilycove right?"
Jenn nodded. "Yup! It's the best city out there!"
"Oh, I know, I've heard so much about it!" May smiled. "I so want to go there but with Brendan holding me back ...” She looked toward the outskirt of the small city. "Where is he anyway? Oh well. Anyway, you want to be a Victory Road trainer too?"
"Yeah! Of course!" Jenn giggled. "I'm practically half way there! But-" the smile etched on the girl's face completely vanished, "-no one gets in the way of my dream. You're in my way. I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"
May, taken aback by the sudden change in Jenn's attitude, smirked. "Sure! Six-on-Six sound good to you?"
Jenn nodded, her face brightening with a smile again. "Yes. And this way, you can test out your new Pokémon like I overheard!"
"Right!" May nodded, pumped up for the upcoming battle. She enlarged a Pokéball. "I'll start! Go, Thunderbolt!"
- - -
Brendan, sadly enough, did not sense the presence behind him until too late. The “thing” pounced on him like Professor Birch and that Poochyena. Brendan's eyes widened as he tripped over his two left feet, collapsing into the soft sand. He tried to reach out for one of his Pokémon's Pokéballs but his arms were clenched underneath him because of the “thing's” weight. A loud, piercing scream pulsed through his ear, and he winced. He tried to squirm from underneath the mysterious person but to no avail; he was stuck. So he did the only thing he could think of. Good thing he paid attention during the safety code lessons in the Pokémon Academy ...
"This person is not my parent!" the boy bellowed from the top of his lungs. "That really doesn't help when there's no one around to hear you," Brendan muttered out loud a few seconds later.
The person on top of the poor boy shrieked again, and Brendan flinched, the scream echoing throughout his ears.
"Oh, my Latias!" the person screamed in delight. "You are, like, Brendan Birch, aren't you?"
Brendan groaned. "Uh, yes?"
The individual on Brendan's back giggled in delight. "That is sooooooooo totally awesome! Do you know who you are, Brendan?"
Brendan, confused by the girl's stupidity, grunted and push the girl off his back. Brushing the sand off his clothes, he observed the girl now that he was standing on two feet again. The girl was shorter than him by at least a couple of inches even with her sandals that were at least a few inches tall. Her long, brown, layered hair stopped at mid-back, a few bangs whipping her face in the summer breeze. Her bright, blue eyes sparkled with delight as she saw her “idol.”
"You are Brendan Birch, aren't you?" the girl squealed.
Brendan sighed. She looked like one of those air-heads, but he wouldn't judge a person until he actually met them. Maybe she was being sarcastic.
"Well, aren't you?"
Brendan mentally slapped his forehead; yep, an air-head alright.
"Er, yeah," the white-haired trainer replied weakly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Who are you?"
"Oh, my Latias! Brendan Birch asked for my name!" The girl's eyes twinkled as she beamed. "I am, like, Cassie!"
And I, like, don't care! Brendan thought in his head, mocking the girl's voice. Then why the hell did I ask who she was? Latios, I'm an idiot.
- - -
In a burst of white light, a Manectric with a determined smirk etched on his face pawed the ground, glaring coldly into the distance. Yards away, their was another flash of light, and a confident-looking Mightyena formed, his dark black fur blowing in the wind, its red and yellow eyes flashing dangerously.
May took up her opponent's Pokémon and smirked. At least she would know the attacks of Jenn's first Pokémon thanks to Brendan's own Mightyena. "Thunderbolt, Quick Attack now!"
Thunderbolt nodded his head and sprinted toward the Bite Pokémon with incredible agility. He hit the Mightyena dead on, but it wasn't strong enough to leave a large enough dent in the wolf's energy let alone knock him out.
"Mightyena, Crunch 'em down!" Jenn countered, beaming.
Mightyena, his teeth bared, raced over to the Discharge Pokémon and bit him mid-back. Thunderbolt howled in pain as the Bite Pokemon's teeth sunk into his skin, leaving serious bite marks.
"Hang in there ,Thunderbolt, and use your Spark!" May commanded.
Thunderbolt charged up in volts of electricity and charged towards Mightyena, his blue and yellow fur crackling with the power. He rammed his body into Mightyena's own, shocking the dog with electric power. Mightyena in return used his Thief attack and stole the small magnet chain that hung around Thunderbolt's neck. The Bite Pokémon jumped out of the Discharge Pokémon's way and dropped the item next to his owner's feet.
May sensed Thunderbolt's electric power decreasing. "Try another Quick Attack, Thunderbolt!" she ordered.
Thunderbolt, once again, raced over to the hyena Pokémon and tackled him in a swift manner. Mightyena rolled over but quickly got back onto his feet, his crimson-colored eyes narrowing.
"Alright, Mightyena! You're doing great!" Jenn cheered. "Use Swagger!"
Mightyena nodded and gave Thunderbolt a determined, confident, and prideful look, clearly stating: "You can do it Thunderbolt!"
The naive Thunderbolt fell under the Swagger curse, getting too over confident. His attack power rose to an incredible height but the Swagger effect made him confused – the boost of power was quite pointless if the Discharge Pokémon couldn't aim right. Thunderbolt stumbled around the battlefield, a smirk sketched on his face but puzzlement written in his eyes. Clueless, Thunderbolt tackled what he thought was Mightyena with his head, but ended up crashing into a nearby mailbox instead.
"Hehe, what a fun Manectric," Jenn giggled. "But anyway, time to finish this off! Mightyena, Crunch down and finish him off!"
Mightyena gave out a short bark in agreement and charged toward the Discharge Pokémon, his sharp white teeth sparkling in the sunlight. He bit down hard at Thunderbolt's right fore leg. A sickening crunch was heard. Thunderbolt roared with agony, until he went limp in Mightyena's teeth grasp.
"Thunderbolt!" May cried. "Return!"
- - -
Cassie clung to Brendan's arm like glue. Brendan gave up trying to rid the girl off of his arms what seemed like years ago. Let's face it – the girl was a human vice.
"Uh, do you mind letting go of my arm?" Brendan asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "I think it's going numb."
"Oh, the ocean is so beautiful!" Cassie remarked, oblivious to Brendan's question.
"Eh heh, right," Brendan muttered under his breath. "Hold up, how do you know who I am in the first place? I only became a trainer a few months ago and only got a few badges."
"Silly." Cassie batted her eyelashes. " You were, like, on the Pokémon Report with Gabby and T.Y.!"
"Oh, right then." Brendan blinked twice. "Which one?"
"Oh the third time you met them." Cassie counted on her free hand, her other hand still clinging to Brendan's arm. "The one where your totally awesome Mightyena chased T.Y. around the battlefield! That was, like, sooooo funny!" The girl giggled. "It was like, yeah!"
"Like yeah huh?" Brendan said dully. "Do you mind if you kinda, like, yeah, let go of my arm or something?"
"Anyway," Cassie continued, her grip on Brendan tightening, "like, I have this really big thing for boys that appear on television, especially The Pokémon Report, because, like, Gabby is my idol and all and I want to be, like, like her and all! She is so cool! Like the first time you appeared on her show! Tee hee."
Hmm, good career choice, Brendan thought. You two are both annoying than hell.
"Ah, well. Mind letting go of my arm?" Brendan asked again.
"Don't you think my hair is totally awesome?" Cassie inquired, twirling a strand of hair through her fingers. "But like, Suzy – you know here right?"
"Well considering I only met you fifteen minutes ago against my own free will-"
"Yeah, that Suzy! That little biznatch! She, like, told me that my hair was all ugly and that I needed to cut it because it stunted my growth! Like I need to grow! Right, Brendan? I'm like, so totally tall! At least with these shoes anyway!" Cassie giggled. "But yeah! I hope that she ... that she .. um ... breaks a fingernail! Oh, I'm so evil, aren't I?"
Brendan was busy trying to pry the girl's hand off again due to his boredom. "Oh, what?" he asked. "Uh ... right."
"Latias, Brendan Birch actually agreed with me!" Cassie remarked happily. "We can, like, get married, have kids and, like, live until we're, like, fifty! But anyway, where were we again? Oh yeah! Anyway, Suzy called my hair ugly! Can you believe that?"
"Oh no! Latios forbid."
- - -
May returned her Manectric in a beam of red light, congratulating her Pokémon for a great battle and wearing down the Mightyena. She shrunk down Thunderbolt's Pokéball, switched it with another on her belt, and enlarged the new Pokéball. "Ready for round two?" she asked, a confident smile on her face. "Let's go, Cherry!" She released her butterfly in a blast of bright light. "Use Silver Wind!" the bandanna-wearing girl quickly commanded.
Cherry, a brightly colored Beautifly, flapped her wings rapidly, steel-colored, star-shaped objects fluttering out of her wings, whacking the poor dog all over. Mightyena growled, his teeth bared, his eyes cold with fury.
"Mightyena, Bite attack now!" Jenn ordered.
"Dodge by flying up high, Cherry!" May countered.
Cherry fluttered skyward while Mightyena charged toward the butterfly, eyes flashing. He jumped up as high up as his powerful legs could take him and missed Cherry by a few feet. The Bite Pokemon landed hard on the ground, his legs almost buckling. He turned his head and saw the butterfly giggling, her eyes sparkling playfully. Mightyena growled and tried another round of sharp bites but missed again much to Jenn's disappointment.
"Now, Cherry, finish 'em off!" May cheered. "Secret Power!"
Cherry nodded, her multi-colored wings flashing dangerous red and yellow. She flew straight down toward the Bite Pokémon, her wings still glowing with crimson-colored power. Her head rammed into Mightyena's body, causing the wolf Pokémon to skid across the battlefield, crashing into a white picket fence. Mightyena howled in pain and his knees buckled fully this time, knocked out.
"Good job, Mightyena, return!" Jenn recalled her Pokémon, switched Pokéballs, and enlarged another. "Okay then!" the girl trainer said with a grin. "I choose you, Pelipper!" She released her large pelican Pokémon. "Start things off with Wing Attack!"
- - -
Cassie tripped into the sand, one of the heels on her shoes wedged in between two rocks. Unfortunately, she brought down the white-haired trainer with her seeing as her hand was still clinging to Brendan's arm.
"Ugh, I HATE nature!" Cassie exclaimed, sitting on her knees and brushing the dirt off her tank top. "It's, like, so ... dirty!"
Brendan had his face down in the sand. "Mm hmr moo. Mm MMEE mu ..."
"Aw, that's so sweet," Cassie remarked, her eyes glinting in the sunlight.
Brendan rose from the sand, a confused look plastered on his face. "What? I just said that I hated you-"
"Oh don't say it; I heard it the first time," Cassie giggled, interrupting the boy trainer. "You just said you LIKED me!" she squealed in delight. "Latias, this is totally incredible!"
"WHAT!" Brendan shouted, pulling Cassie's hand off his upper arm. "I didn't say that! In fact, it's the total opposite of what you think I said! The air in your head must block out your hearing or something! What I was trying to say for the past seventeen minutes of torture is GO AWAY! Go ... do your girly things for Latios's sake!"
"Hmpf, well then!" Cassie replied angrily, her dark blue eyes flashing with fury. She flicked her brown hair over her shoulder and stomped back toward Petalburg. "I hope you never get interviewed by Gabby again! She doesn't need an annoying nuisance like you in her way!"
Brendan snorted in agreement. "Yeah, I hope I never see her again either. ALONG with you."
- - -
Pelipper flew toward the Butterfly Pokémon, one of its wings glowing with power. With a tremendous sweep of his wing, the pelican whacked the Beautifly, knocking the air out of her. Cherry crash-landed into the ground, leaving a dirt trail behind her. Cherry groaned and slowly hovered back into the air, panting.
"Hang in there, Cherry!" May cried out, worried.
"While her guard is down, Pelipper!" Jenn shouted. "Use Surf attack!"
Pelipper glowed a shining blue, staring at the pond's water that Muddy just refilled moments ago. With a flap of its wings, it sent a large wave of water hurtling toward Cherry. Cherry eyed her trainer fearfully as the wave went overhead and crashed over her, washing the top part of houses along with it.
"Ugh," May groaned, taking over her bandanna and wringing it out – she just HAD to take the side where the pond was. "Are you alright, Cherry?" May asked, concerned for her Butterfly Pokémon.
Cherry was flat on the ground, her wings spread across the grass floor, her antennas limp from the powerful water attack. She rose into the air slowly, her wings dripping with water.
"Oh no!" May cried. "Cherry can't fly fast when her wings are wet!"
"Perfect then!" Jenn exclaimed, smiling. "Finish her off with another Wing Attack now!"
Pelipper nodded and swept down toward Cherry's level. It swiftly flew past the butterfly, its wing spread wide, glowing with white power. Cherry got the wind knocked out of her again, slamming hard into the ground, swirls where her bright blue eyes were a few moments ago.
"Cherry return!" May recalled her Pokémon. "You did great! You deserve a nice rest." She minimized Cherry's Pokéball and maximized another. "Ok then. This time it won't be easy! Go, Flare!" With a flash of white light, the tall Blaze Pokémon appeared, her claws alight with red and orange flames. "Flare, Fire Punch now!"
Flare, eyes flashing with flames, jumped into the air and landed in front of Pelipper in an instance. In that short amount of time, she punched the Waterbird Pokémon right in the kisser, part of its face burnt from the flames on Flare's claw.
"Pelipper!" Jenn cried. "Supersonic now!"
Pelipper, a burn mark on its cheek, let loose visible sound waves from its mouth, aiming toward the Blaze Pokémon. Flare didn't move as the waves surrounded her, blocking out her hearing and her trainer's commands.
"Flare, finish it off with Blaze Kick!" the bandanna-wearing girl trainer screamed from the top of her lungs. Flare was oblivious to May's command and stood there, her claws still ablaze with flames.
"Now Pelipper, Surf!" Jenn commanded.
Pelipper, its mouth still open wide to continue the Supersonic attack, glowed, once again, a blue shade, a gigantic wave forming overhead Flare. Flare noticed the wave from behind her and jumped to the tops of some nearby trees, the wave falling harmlessly at the Blaze Pokémon's feet. Pelipper rose its head though, directing its Supersonic at Flare again.
"There's got to be a way to shut the bird up," May thought out loud. "Maybe if I scream loud enough, she'll hear me. But she might confuse them, wouldn't she? Maybe if I use one word, she'll think of it as another." May paused. "Worth a shot! Flamethrower while you're still in the tree, Flare!" she screamed, hoping that her words would work.
Flare only caught onto a few words of her trainer's orders: Fame, throw, white, tree, fare.
Obeying orders, the Blaziken jumped down and used her strength to pull out a tree branch. She then threw it toward the Waterbird. Pelipper didn't want to get knocked out by it so he stopped the Supersonic and caught the branch in its mouth. Flare winced; she couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Okay, Flare! Blaze Kick now!" May cried triumphantly.
"Protect now!" Jenn smirked.
"Dammit!"
Flare roundhouse kicked at Pelipper's head but the waterbird created a golden, star-shaped barrier that protected it from the Blaze's Pokémon barrage of kicks.
"Flare, try Blaze Kick again!"
"Protect!"
Flare heated her lower claws with blue and white flames as she kicked at Pelipper with enormous strength. The attacks were futile against the Protect defense though and Flare's attacks were in vain.
"Now, Flare!" May yelled, fists clenched closed. "Sky Uppercut!"
Flare stopped her barrage of fiery kicks and backed up, one claw poised ready to punch Pelipper upward.
"No, Pelipper!" Jenn cried. "Keep your Protect shield up!"
Pelipper, out of breath, powered up his protection field only to let it die down.
"What!" Jenn exclaimed, clueless.
"Protect is a powerful defense that blocks all attacks, leaving the user completely safe," May explained, a smug smile on her face. "But Protect also drains a lot of energy, especially if used twice in a row. So ... Flare, go!"
Flare sprinted towards the waterbird Pokémon and drove it skyward. Pelipper, being a Flying type, tried to slow itself down but the force behind the Sky Uppercut attack was tremendous.
"Now, Flare! Flamethrower!" May commanded.
Flare inhaled deeply and shot out a stream of orange-red flames hurtling towards Pelipper. Pelipper took the attack dead-on, scorching the poor bird even though it was part Water. The Waterbird dropped swiftly toward the ground, spiraling. It landed with a hard thud, dirt uprising from where it lay, the ground vibrating from the rough fall.
"Pelipper, return!" Jenn called back her waterbird and congratulated it on a job well done. She enlarged another Pokéball after switching it with Pelipper's. "Okay. We can play fire against fire if you wanna!" Jenn beamed. "Go, Blaziken!"
- - -
Brendan rubbed his sore arm and groaned. Latios, that girl had a hard grip. He walked up the sandy hill that led back to the cliff only to walk into someone. Already in a ******-off mood, he snapped,
"Watch where you're going idiot!" The angry white-haired trainer looked up to see who dared to bump into him on a bad day. He gulped. "Eh heh ... sorry?" he apologized meekly when he saw who he walked into. The stranger hovered over Brendan's head by at least six inches and was heavily built. Brendan thought that most of his body weight was muscle. He looked at least a year or two older than him and had chestnut colored hair and crystal blue eyes. Wait ... he swear he saw those same colored eyes and hair on someone else.
"Hey, punk! I heard you told my little sister to leave you alone!" the heavily-built guy barked. "No one tells my sister to leave them alone! Not even you, kid! Not even the Brendan Birch!"
"Me?" Brendan pointed to himself, laughing. He put on a fake accent. "Thez iz nut Brendan! Thez iz ... Bernard! Brendan's lost tween brother! Everyone seemz to confuse us, but it iz, how you zay, all right! Now I muzt go-"
The muscle man clenched his fists around Brendan's throat, choking him. "You. Me. Fight."
"Eh heh," Brendan managed to squeak out.
"You make Danny angry!"
"What's with the third person speech?" the boy trainer choked out. He mentally slapped himself; don't ask people sarcastic questions when they're about to kill you.
Danny threw Brendan on the sandy ground, advancing on him slowly.
Beads of sweat formed on Brendan's head as he rubbed the sore spot on his neck. I can't face this guy! He's HUGE! He's bigger than huge! He's ... another word bigger for huge! Gigantic? Yeah that can work. I'M GONNA GET KILLED! And I didn't even make a will yet! Brendan quickly got back onto his feet and enlarged a Pokéball. "If you want to get to me," he stated, a confident smirk forming on his face, "then you're going to have to battle me first! One-on-One! That is if you have Pokémon."
Perfect, Brendan thought smugly in his head. Even if this muscle mean man does have Pokémon, they must be idiots! Just like him and his sister!
"Fine!" Danny roared angrily. He enlarged a Pokéball. "Machamp, let's fight!"
"Crap."
- - -
The two mighty Blazikens glared menacingly at each other, the air growing tense. The two girl trainers held their breath, seeing which one of them was going to make a move first.
May took the opportunity. "Flare, Fire Punch!"
"Blaziken! Counter Fire Punch with Blaze Kick!" Jenn countered.
Flare dashed toward her opponent, one claw licked in flames. She punched fiercely at Blaziken's face who blocked with its own Blaze Kick attack. The two were engulfed in flames as the two fighting-fire type attacks collided with each other. Flare took advantage of this situation and used her other claw to jab at her opponent's head. The other Blaze Pokémon ducked and brought its leg back down. It then tripped Flare with a Double Kick attack.
"This is going to be tougher than I thought!" May exclaimed out loud. "Those two are practically equal to each other!"
"Great job, Blaziken!" Jenn cheered her Pokémon on as her Pokémon landed back on their side of the battlefield. "Blaze Kick again!"
Blaziken jumped into the air and swung one heavy leg, engulfed in flame, down upon Flare's head. Flare dropped to the floor under the weight but charged back up in flames for a second, the effects of her Blaze ability kicking in.
"Now Blaziken, Overheat!"
Blaziken put two claws on Flare's back and engulfed them both in flames, one feeling nothing, the one going through hell on Earth.
"Flare, hang in there!" May cried, as Blaziken stopped his fiery attack. "Use Slash attack!"
The Raging Fire Pokémon slashed at her opponent's face with a sharp claw. The other Blaziken cried out in agony, one claw gingerly touching its wound.
"Oh, hold on, Blaziken, and use Double Kick again!" Jenn ordered, concern in her voice.
Blaziken let go of its face and jumped into the air. He landed two kicks, one at Flare's head, the other at her back. Flare was thrown toward Jenn's side of the field, looking weak and weary, her Blaze ability activating once again.
"Hang in there, Flare! Flamethrower!" May commanded.
Flare, her body still bursting with flames, projected a steady stream of flames that knocked Blaziken off its feet, courtesy of the boost of energy from the Blaze affect.
"Blaziken, Fire Punch!" Jenn instructed, the smile slowly fading from her face.
Blaziken threw a powerful punch Flare's head if she didn't duck just in time and tripped the other Raging Fire Bird with a Double Kick.
"Now, Flare! Flamethrower!"
"Blaze Kick, Blaziken!"
Flare hovered over the fallen Blaze Pokémon and blew out a fiery jet of flames. The attack would have hit dead on and possibly fainted Blaziken it didn't quickly jump back onto his feet and kicked Flare in the chest, knocking her over.
"Great, Blaziken!" Jenn rooted. "Finish her off with Overheat again!"
Blaziken engulfed Flare and himself in flames that licked at their body, one not feeling affected by it, the other howling in agony. Blaziken smirked and stopped the attack with a swipe of his claw. Tension filled the air again just like at the beginning of this round. Flare slowly got back to her feet, panting heavily, her own flames licking her own body. The two Raging Fire Pokémon staring a steely-cold staring contest between each other. Who dared to fall first?
It was Flare as she fell forward at Blaziken's feet, tired and fainted.
- - -
Who to face against a Machamp? Brendan thought in his head. Not Sirius definitely! Maybe Ninjask if he had more attacks than Cutting ones. Kadabra, possibly but that wouldn't be too fun would it? Muddy? He hasn't been in a battle for a while I must admit.
"Okay then!" Brendan maximized a Pokéball and threw it onto the sandy battlefield. "Let's get 'em, Muddy!"
In a burst of flashing white light, the Mud Fish Pokémon appeared, a confident smirk plastered on his face. Like trainer, like Pokémon.
"Let's go, Machamp! Start things off with Cross Chop!" Danny ordered, crossing his arms.
Machamp roared a mighty battle cry and crossed his two bottom arms into a X shape. The X glowed in white power as the Superpower Pokémon charged toward the Swampert. He uncrossed his arms when he was only a few feet away from Muddy, ferociously slashing him with his power-packed arms. Muddy blocked with his own arms but was still sent skidding across the battlefield almost into the ocean.
"Surf them down, Muddy!" Brendan commanded.
Muddy glowed a light shade of blue and pointed a paw at Machamp. A huge wave of water went overhead Brendan and Muddy and crashed down on Machamp, also getting Danny soaked to the bone. Machamp was swept off his feet but landed safely on the now wet sand; the sand absorbed Machamp's fall.
"Machamp, Seismic Toss!" Danny directed.
Machamp jumped back onto his feet and bolted toward the Swampert, his four arms stretched out wide. The Superpower Pokémon captured Muddy in his grasp and jumped high into the air thanks to his powerful leg muscles. Reaching a high enough altitude, the Machamp threw the Mud Fish Pokémon hard to the ground.
"Slow down your landing with Water Gun, Muddy!" Brendan quickly retaliated.
Muddy, whose eyes were screwed-shut closed, fired a jet of icy cold water down onto the ground. Luck wasn't on Muddy's side this time; the sand absorbed the water just like how the sand absorbed Machamp's fall. It didn't slow Muddy down but the attack did manage to make the ground softer than usual, so Muddy didn't get as hurt as he should have been.
"Machamp, Vital Throw now!" Danny instructed.
Machamp glowed with energy for a second and began to shift his weight around between his two feet as if full of excitement. He then charged toward Muddy with incredible speed, picking up the Mud Fish Pokémon in all four arms and throwing him out to sea. Muddy landed with a rough splash onto his back. Luckily, it didn't paralyze him, but it did practically knock the wind out of him.
"Ouch," Brendan winced as he turned around to face the ocean. "You alright, Muddy?"
Muddy swam back to shore and shook himself dry. He nodded as he glared daggers at the now laughing Machamp.
"That's the spirit, Muddy!" Brendan called triumphantly.
"What?" Danny asked curiously. "Glaring at your opponent?"
"No," the white-haired trainer said slowly. "Getting back onto your feet is what! Use Mud Shot, Muddy!"
Muddy nodded again, shooting a jet of sticky, brown mud toward the Superpower Pokémon. The attack hit dead on, blinding the Machamp for a second. The muscle-packed Pokémon stumbled across the battlefield, trying to wipe the mud off his face.
"No, Machamp!" Danny exclaimed.
"While his guard is down, Take Down!"
Muddy rushed towards the Machamp and jumped into the air, careening into the Superpower Pokémon and knocking him down onto the ground. Unfortunately, that was when Machamp cleared himself of the infernal mud. He glared coldly at the Swampert who only smiled innocently in return.
"Quick, Machamp! Revenge!"
In a quick flash, Machamp pushed Muddy off him and pinned the Swampert down onto the sandy ground by the neck.
Brendan cussed, thinking of a strategy.
- - -
"Flare, return!" May recalled her Pokémon and whispered words of praise to her. She switched Pokéballs and threw the new one onto the field. "Let's go! Skittles!" She released her feline Pokémon. "Shock Wave!" she cried, using the new TM move her cat just learned a week ago.
Skittles, a lovely Delcatty, mewed and charged up with pure electric power, shocking her fiery foe. Blaziken was enraged by the attack and blew a jet of flames toward Skittles on its own free will. Skittles narrowly dodged the barrage of the incoming flames but her left leg got burned all the same.
"Let's see ... Attacks ... attacks," Jenn thought out loud.
"Huh?" May inquired, puzzled by her opponent's clueless behavior.
Jenn shrugged. "Dunno, just seemed more dramatic if I said that." She giggled. "Okay, Blaziken. Blaze Kick!"
"Dodge, Skittles, with Faint Attack!" May quickly retaliated.
The Raging Fire Bird Pokémon roundhouse kicked at Skittles with his claws aflame, but she swiftly dodged by using her Faint Attack. She appeared behind Blaziken and tackled from behind. Blaziken stumbled forward but didn't fall. He did, however flare up with flames – the Blaze ability.
"Hurry, let's finish 'em off!" May cheered. "Use Assist!"
Both Skittles and one of May's Pokéballs on her belt glowed a bright red, and soon Skittles released a powerful ball of energy from her mouth – a Dragon Rage attack from Hydro, the Gyarados. The Dragon Rage crackled with power and it hit the Blaziken dead on, knocking it onto his back. He blacked-out and Jenn returned it, congratulating it on a job well done.
"Okay, round four!" Jenn enlarged a new Pokéball. "You're up, Swellow!"
"It's weird but we pretty much have the same Pokémon," May pondered out loud. "Okay, two but still. Skittles, Shock Wave now!"
"Dodge with Aerial Ace!" Jenn retaliated.
The Calm Pokémon charged up with electric power again and aimed the attack at the Swellow. The fast-moving bird quickly dodged the electric attack and used its sharp beak to slash across Skittles's face. Skittles mewed in anguish, a red cut forming on her cheek.
"Ouch! Are you alright, Skittles?" May asked worriedly.
Skittles nodded, a determined smile etched on her face.
"Good!" May cheered happily. "Use Doubleslap attack!"
Skittles mewed and sprinted toward the Swallow Pokemon. She jumped into the air and severely slapped the poor bird with her two front paws repeatedly. Swellow dodged the last few and flew out of Skittles's reach.
"Steel Wing, Swellow!" Jenn directed.
Swellow's right wing glowed with steely-silver power and it flew speedily towards the Feline Pokémon. It swiped its wing, whacking Skittles off her feet, colliding into another mailbox.
"Skittles!" May cried as she saw swirls in her Pokémon's eyes. "Return!" She recalled her Pokémon into her Pokéball with a beam of red light. "Good job Skittles! I'm proud of you." She changed Pokéballs on her belt. "You ARE tougher than you look, Jenn."
"Thanks!" Jenn smiled brightly. "Wait-"
"I choose you, Tai!"
- - -
Muddy was gagging. He wanted to cry out but the Superpower Pokémon closed over his vocal chords. Instead, he squirmed, trying to kick the Machamp off him.
"Muddy, Dig now!" Brendan shouted, getting worried.
Muddy tried his best to dig backward. The attempt was useless and even if Muddy was free of Machamp's grasp, the sand would just easily refill the hole the Swampert would create.
"Machamp, you're doing great!" Danny yelled, pleased with his Pokémon.
"Water Gun won't do no good if Muddy's neck is closed," Brendan grumbled out loud. "So now what?"
Muddy had his own idea. Reaching out a grabbing a handful of sand, he aimed it into Machamp's eyes kind of like a Sand Attack. Machamp howled in pain again, the second time he was blinded. His two bottom arms let got of Muddy's neck and before his upper arms could grab a hold of the Mud Fish, Muddy jumped back onto his feet and Water Gunned Machamp back into the cliff. Machamp created a dent in the cliff and fell forward.
"Argh! Machamp, return!" Danny recalled his Pokémon, flames in his ocean-blue eyes. Nevertheless, he thanked his Pokémon for a job well done as he advanced on Brendan again, ignoring the fact that the Swampert behind him was poised, ready to pounce on him if anything happened.
Brendan couldn't help but feel cocky at the moment. He did, after all, defeat muscle man. "Oh yeah, oh yeah!" he cheered. "Who's the trainer now? I win, you lose! I win, you lose! I wi-"
POW!
- - -
May released her own Swellow in a blaze of light. Tai flapped his wings and gave out a battle cry, eyeing his opponent carefully.
"Swellow, Wing Attack now!" Jenn attacked first for this round.
"Counter with your own Wing Attack!" May retaliated hastily.
The two Swallow Pokémon flew towards each other with amazing agility and their wings slashed at each other, clashing together like a sword fight. The two retreated back to their own sides of the field, glaring icy cold daggers.
"Tai, Quick Attack!"
"Fly up high, Swellow!"
Tai rocketed toward the other Swallow Pokémon but Swellow dodged out of the way by flying up high above the clouds.
"Now where did that Swellow go," May thought out loud.
Tai was curious too as he rose up high to find Swellow. He found him soon enough as the Swellow spiraled down toward him, its sharp beak prodding Tai in the back. May's Swallow Pokémon fell to the ground in a heap, creating a small crater.
"Try and get up, Tai!" May cried, concerned.
Tai rose out of his own hole, wincing with every movement he made. He hovered back into the air very slowly, his wings quaking every now and then.
"Must have been a powerful Fly attack," May murmured to herself. "Okay, Tai. Use Aerial Ace!"
Tai, despite his injuries, dashed toward Jenn's Swellow and slashed at it with his beak, slamming the other Swellow into the ground this time.
"Swellow!" Jenn cried. "Are you alright?"
Swellow fluttered back into the air but soon fell back down, knocked out by the Aerial Ace attack.
"Return!" Jenn took back her Pokémon into its Pokéball. "Good job Swellow; you deserve a nice rest." She smiled as she switched Pokéballs. "Okay! Let's go, Sharpedo!" She released the scary yet strong shark Pokémon from its Pokéball into the small pond. "Use Crunch!"
Amazingly, Sharpedo jumped out of the water high enough to grab Tai from mid-air and crunched down hard on him. Tai tried to squirm out of the shark's grasp by flapping his wings but failed. He gave a sharp intake of breath as Sharpedo's teeth began to sink down into his flesh and he fainted on the spot because of the blinding pain.
"Tai, return!" May recalled her Pokémon from the shark's grasp. "You did awesome!" She switched Pokéballs on her belt and took out another – Hydro's to be exact. "Finally it's time to test my new Pokémon! Go Hydro!"
In a blast of white light, the Gyarados appeared, roaring a mighty battle cry as he hovered in the air.
"Hydro, uh," May paused. "Damn, what are Hydro's attacks?" She took out her Pokédex and scanned Hydro.
Jenn took advantage of the situation. "Sharpedo, Surf!"
Sharpedo glowed a dark blue and a wave of water from the pond grew overhead, crashing down onto Hydro. The Atrocious Pokémon wasn't hurt too bad though seeing as he was part water.
"Ah ha!" May said, finished with her scan on her Gyarados. "Use Thrash now!"
Hydro roared again and whacked Sharpedo out of the water with his strong tail. Sharpedo flew out the water and crashed into a house wall, chipping the sides.
"Ooh, I'm not paying for that!" Jenn laughed. "Sharpedo, are you alright?" she asked worriedly when her Shark Pokémon didn't move.
Sharpedo slowly slid down the wall and panted heavily since it was out of water. With a quick intake of breath, it fainted right on the spot. Hydro thundered triumphantly – his first win.
"Sharpedo, return!" Jenn recalled her Pokémon. "You did a great job!" The girl trainer eyed her opponent's Gyarados. "Hmm ... That Gyarados is stronger than it looks, especially since May caught it. But Aggron can take it on! Go!" She threw a Pokéball onto the battlefield. The white form took shape into a strong, tall, Aggron with a fierce look in its eye, its tail sweeping back and forth.
Hydro turned around to face his opponent, casually glaring at him through lazy eyes.
"I wouldn't underestimate this one, Hydro," May warned. "Yeah, it was easy to take out that Sharpedo with a flick of your tail but Aggron is no lightweight."
"Aggron, Thunderbolt!"
Aggron – practically being a living lightning rod – charged up with electricity and pounded his fists on the ground, the jolt rushing toward the Atrocious Pokémon at an alarming weight. The attack zapped Hydro, but he was only sparked a little so to speak, still ready to fight.
"Hydro ... uh," May tried to remember Hydro's attacks again. "Oh yeah! Use Dragon Rage again!"
A powerful red and yellow energy ball formed from the inside of Hydro's mouth. He fired at the Iron Armor Pokémon, the energy ball crackling with power.
"Protect now!" Jenn countered, smiling.
"That attack is getting SO old!" May muttered under her breath.
Aggron used his arms to create a golden barrier between him and the Dragon Rage. The energy ball kept prodding on the indestructible force shield until it disappeared into nothingness.
"Hydro, Bite now!" May ordered.
Hydro dove downward, a determined look in his eye, as he reached the Iron Armor Pokémon and bit him on one of the horns. The attack seemed useless though against Aggron's layers of steel.
"While you're at close range, Aggron! Metal Claw!" Jenn cried triumphantly.
Aggron rose his right claw and concentrated steely energy on it. He swiped down hard at Hydro's back, leaving red slash marks in a sea of blue scales. Hydro roared in agony and let go of the Aggron's plates. He flew back a few yards and swung his tail at him, another thrash attack. Aggron didn't move though but stood his ground. He caught the tail in between both hands, only skidding back a few feet.
"Alright, Aggron!" Jenn cheered happily. "Now finish him off with Thunderbolt!"
Aggron roared and charged up with electric power, also shocking the Atrocious Pokémon. Hydro thundered angrily and tried to get out of the Iron Armor Pokémon's grip but failed.
"Hydro!" May cried.
Aggron stopped his vicious Thunderbolt attack and released Hydro from its grip. The Gyarados flew back to his side of his field ever so slowly and dropped dead, blacked out.
"Return, Hydro!" May recalled her Pokémon. "You did a great job; you deserve a nice rest." May looked up and walked over to her opponent's side of the field.
Jenn was busy congratulating her Pokémon, beaming and giggling. She returned her Pokémon in a beam of red light when she saw May coming her way. "That was a good battle, May!" she giggled again. "I haven't had a tougher one than that for a LONG time!"
"Ditto." May shook Jenn's hand and smiled. "So now that the battle is cleared out of the way, what do you want to do? Hang on – what happened to Brendan?"
"If you mean that white-haired kid who's wearing a black and red bandanna and limping, he just came back!" Jenn giggled, "Ouch. I wonder what happened to him. He looks scratched up!"
Brendan appeared from the outskirts of the city, limping on his left leg, one hand carefully covering his right eye. He soon reached the girl trainers – despite the fact that he was staggering – and dropped his hand, revealing his black eye.
"Are you alright? What happened to you?" May asked worriedly, reaching out and gingerly touching around Brendan's eye with her fingers, the other hand lifting his chin slightly.
Brendan sighed, wincing with every time May touched his black eye. "Please. Don't. Ask."
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Wondrous Sableye
Heh.
Great chapters, VERY FUNNY! I think some of us readers(Dang, am I the only one left?!? Oh yeah, it's, like, 11 PM)would like to read the Valentine's chapter/special…
C
cherryblossomharuka
Guest
Me too! Pease post the valentine chapter here! I am a big fan of hoennshipping! Just one question. Does May and Brendan kiss in the valentine special?
Dark Latios
Beautiful Tragedy
wow good chapters! Very funny like Wondrous Sableye said. Can't wait for the valentines special!^^
Wondrous Sableye
Heh.
cherryblossomharuka said:
…And there would be a reason for them not to because…?
C
cherryblossomharuka
Guest
I kinda wished that May and Brendan have kissed under a mistletoe in the christmas special, but it turned out that they didn't '_'
Breezy, I just noticed something on your update thing where you post when you are going to do the next updates. It says that they will be updated in late June, but it is July. Is this just a mistake or something. By the way, I am glad that you got over the writer's block and you are updating HLBMA by next week at least.
Wondrous Sableye
Heh.
cherryblossomharuka said:
Still…ya hafta wonder(part of my name!XD) exactly what they were doing in those bushes…Oh well. XP