I wanted to write a story about Hoennshipping and a story about a tavern, so I figured, why not both. :P Reuploaded with fixed grammar and a few detail changes.
It was almost midnight, and May sat by the bar, gleaming with pride at her Pokemon Center. It was situated on route 123. After years of adventuring, she had decided to settle down, and with the funds she received from beating ten-year olds in pokemon battles, she was able to receive a license to open up her own Pokemon Center. It was the newest model of Pokemon Centers too, with a bar, a mart and a healing station, all in one. She even had rooms on the second floor for trainers to rest before setting off. Unfortunately, she didn't have the funds to hire an employee, so she ran the mart, the bar and the healing station all on her own. However, that didn't quite matter since not many people went to route 123. It had been a month since she opened up the center and business wasn't exactly booming, but as long as she had the license, the International Pokemon Center Faculty would continue funding her Pokemon Center.
The Pokemon Center was empty; she was sitting at the bar by herself. Her bandanna was wrapped around her arm, and she had been drinking. . . a lot. She hiccuped and downed another shot. It was like her own little playground.
As she was lazing around, drunk out of her mind, the doors to the Pokemon Center opened and a familiar little jingle rang out. May turned her head around and saw a handsome trainer. He had grey eyes and a black backpack on. Unlike most of her customers, this trainer was a fully grown adult. He seemed to be about thirty years old, almost same age as May.
May stood up, and greeted him, "Welcome to the Pokemon Center . . . How may I *hic* help you?"
The man stood there with one eyebrow raised. "Uhh, May, are you okay?"
May stared at him with a dazed expression. "Excuse me? How do you know my name?"
He laughed and gave a bright smile. "May! It's me Brendan! Don't you remember?"
She blinked her eyes. "Brendan? Oh my god! How have you been?"
Brendan sat down by the bar and said,"I've been doing well, I recently visited Alola."
"The Alola? The one with multiple islands?"
"Yep, it's really quite a beautiful region, much warmer than Hoenn. I saw a ton of new pokemon there and met many promising trainers. I also paid a visit to the Battle Tree, which is the Alolan version of our Battle Frontier. I even saw Red and Blue there!"
"Red and Blue?! No way! How are they doing? I haven't seen them in years."
"Yea, they're doing great, they're working as bosses for the Battle Tree."
"Oooh! What about you?"
"I challenged them and won . . . of course."
"So, same as always," May said while rolling her eyes.
"Yep, how have you been doing?" Brendan said with a grin.
"Well, as you can see, I've opened up my own Pokemon Center."
"And getting drunk an awful lot."
May glared at Brendan and pulled her bottle closer to her. "Don't judge me."
"Who's judging you?"Brendan shrugged before grabbing a shot glass. "You're a bartender aren't you?"
May giggled before pouring Brendan a glass. He downed the glass in one gulp and May poured him another glass.
May then asked, "Well, what brings you back to Hoenn?"
Brendan took a deep breath, looked into May's eyes and said, "I wanted to come home."
May tilted her head and said, "Home? Why? Isn't it much better to be out there, adventuring, having fun?"
"I've had enough adventures to last me a lifetime, it's time for me to settle down."
". . . is that so."
"Yep, my pokemon are tired, they've been fighting for more than twenty years, it's time for them to retire."
"I suppose so, how's Swampert doing?"
". . . I guess that's another reason I've decided to come back."
May looked at Brendan oddly. "What do you mean?"
"Swampert has . . . passed on."
"Oh . . . I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I've gotten over it. It still stings, but it's okay. How's Blaziken?"
"He's doing fine, why?"
"Nothing, it's just, I think Swampert would've wanted to see Blaziken one last time."
". . . really? Why?"
"Well, I'd wanna see you one more time before I die."
May flinched and said, "Wait, are you dying?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that. It's just that I realized that I had accomplished everything I set out to do."
"What do you mean?"
"May, do you remember when I asked you to marry me all those years ago?"
May sat on the stool, dazed. "No, you didn't . . "
"Well, you said that you would only marry me if I became the strongest trainer in the world."
"Is that the reason why you left?" May began to tear up.
"Yes . . . the reason why I left Hoenn for twenty years was to do exactly that. I've been relentlessly training my pokemon for twenty years and challenging the strongest trainers I could find. It was only when I found Red, the strongest pokemon trainer in the world, that I found my ticket back home."
May was already tearing up and a faint sob could be heard. "You big idiot."
Brendan got down on one knee, and pulled out of his back pocket, a ring. The ring was made of gold and silver and was adorned with three gems: a ruby, a sapphire and an emerald.
May gasped when she saw the ring.
"I've been away for twenty years, training to become the strongest trainer in the world. I've been through thick and thin but one thing has always stayed constant, I love you and will always love you. I want you to be the plusle to my minum. May Maples, will you marry me?"
May punched Brendan on the shoulder, speaking in a half sob, "yes, you dummy."
Brendan teared up and sprang up. He pulled May in for a deep kiss. May's lips tasted like alcohol, but it didn't matter to Brendan. He had been waiting for this moment for twenty years. Fireworks were going off in his head and he never wanted the moment to end.
When they finally separated, May looked at Brendan. "Your face, it looks older, more . . . mature. You look so different."
"I think I know what'll bring you back." He pulled out a very familiar white object from his bag. He put it on and turned back to May.
"Well? Do I look more familiar now?"
May laughed, "You look like such a dork with that on."
Brendan laughed too, "Well you know what, you're marrying that dork."
May grinned and said, "I sure am."
May landed a kiss on Brendan's lips before glaring at him."Oh and don't ever leave me like that again."
A shiver ran down Brendan's back as he said,"Wouldn't think of it." He relaxed a little bit and held out his arms for a hug, "As I'm here by your side, I'll be happy."
May leaned into Brendan's chest and fell into his embrace. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this Brendan."
"I love you too, May."
The two spent the rest of the night sitting at the bar. Drinking about old times and talking about what's happened since they parted. The rest of the world didn't matter that night and for the first time in twenty years, Brendan had found his home, in May's Pokemon center.