"Torchic, Ember!" A girl's voice shouted in the distance. The small, orange and yellow chick-like creature gave a small chirp of recognition before obediently opening its beak and letting lose said attack.
"Mudkip, counter with Water Gun!" a young male voice commanded. The blue finned creature jumped up, orange cheeks expanding as it threw its head back and released the strong water attack. The girl, having short brown hair, sapphire eyes, and wearing a red, dark blue, and white polo shirt with a white undershirt, black spandex shorts and a matching red and white bandana along with dark blue and white gloves, clutched her hand into a ball and fist pumped the air.
"Yes! Now Torchic, dodge and use peck!" At the sound of its master's stern yet energetic command, Torchic responded to the water attack with fierce determination, avoiding its weakness of the cool blue liquid and jumped towards the assailant, landing a hard blow to its body. The water creature weakly stood up before collapsing back onto the ground, too weak to continue the battle any further.
"Good job Mudkip, you deserve a rest." The boy said. He wore a black and red headband with white hair on top and black coming out from the bottom. He had on a red and black shirt with black pants. His piercing ruby eyes looked towards the brunette and a soft smile appeared on his face.
"Good job Torchic!" The girl smiled. "You did great as usual!"
"Geez, May, for once I thought I was gonna beat you. You proved me wrong again!" May looked towards her longtime friend with a big grin plastered on her face.
"You're just too predictable Brendan!" She informed the boy, patting him on the shoulder as he hung his head animatedly down in defeat. His head shot up quickly though and he elbowed the girl playfully in the arm.
"You are majorly ready to start taking on the Gym Leader's challenge!" May laughed as she bent over and picked up her Torchic.
"You think so? They all have really strong Pokémon, I've heard." Brendan slung his arms around the girl's slender shoulders and sighed.
"Yes, yes, that's true, but you've raised your Pokémon really well. In your training alone you've managed to beat almost every trainer in Petalburg City! The only trainers you haven't beaten are ones that are too afraid to go against you!" May blushed in embarrassment but felt a burst of pride run through her veins.
"Well, becoming strong and winning all of your Pokémon battles or challenges are essential if you want to become the Pokémon Master!"
"Pokémon Master…" Brendan repeated under his breath before smiling widely at his friend. "You'll have to get through me first!"
"Already have." May smugly responded, making Brendan sweatdrop as he recalled all of the times he was beaten by the fiery brunette. May continued walking back towards home, imagining her future adventure and all of the great battles she would have. She squeezed her Torchic closer to her chest in anticipation, heart racing.
She was going to win it all.
"Ah, May, your back." The tall man known by the name of Norman greeted his daughter, noting the triumphant grin that hung on her face as she walked into his gym. "I take it your rematch with Brendan went well?" May nodded.
"Yep! I beat him again! He never stood a chance to begin with, seeing as how I memorized his entire battle strategy and came up with my own ways to counter it! Even though he had the advantage type he still came out behind me!" Torchic chirped with happiness at its prized victory. Norman smiled.
"I'm so proud of you for following in my footsteps with my love for battling. I just know you would make an excellent Pokémon Master." May's eyes widened in shock at the turn of the conversation.
"Pokémon Master?" She gasped; the words that ran through her head a million times sounded foreign when they came from her father's lips. Norman was the Petalburg City's Gym Leader, and he was one of the strongest ones there was. He had risen May since she could talk how to train, handle, and battle with Pokémon. She never complained, being one of the headstrong types that love a challenge. But she knew her father recognized anyone who had potential to achieve a goal that high, and just mentioning to May that she would make an excellent Master lit up the young girl's face. Norman nodded.
"If you're anything like me, which you've proved that you are many times, then you will be a fearsome opponent and be able to conquer anyone who stands in your way! You have a strong love of battle and a fierce desire of winning, yet you treat your Pokémon kindly and lovingly. You have all of the qualities only a Pokémon Master has!" May was a bright shade of red after hearing all her father had to say about her. She felt something well up inside of her that told her she just couldn't let him down!
"Thanks Dad, I'll make you proud, I promise!" May stood sat her Torchic down on the gym floor and balled her hands up into fists. "I'm going to go take on the Gym Leader's challenge and win! Not just here either, all over! I'm going to go to all of the regions and defeat the Gym Leaders!" Norman laughed at his daughter's eagerness.
"Alright, but before you get too far ahead of yourself, know this; the day you come back home to challenge me will be one of the greatest moments in my life. Just know that I'll be with you in spirit as you travel around on your journey. You're going to do great." May bent over and picked up Torchic, looking back at her father. She gave him a smile and a nod before turning and running out. She wished she could do more than that, but her family's pride didn't allow anyone to act like that. It showed a sign of weakness. She didn't really mind though, for being affectionate wasn't really her thing.
"I didn't think you'd be leaving so soon! I just gave you the idea this morning!" May smiled towards Brendan as he walked beside her away from Littleroot town where she went to in order to say goodbye to her mother and little brother.
"Yeah, well, Dad was going on about how proud he was of me for killing you in a battle for the second time and I guess I didn't really think the rest through." Brendan let out a sarcastic sounding laugh as he crossed his arms.
"I went easy on you both times!" He retorted. May waved him off.
"Yeah yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night." She snickered. Brendan playfully punched her arm. "I'm just kidding!" She smiled. "You are really strong Brendan, are you going to try to become the Pokémon Master too?" The black and white haired boy shrugged.
"Who knows? You're strong, are you going to try to become the Master?" He mocked. "Or are you going to be a coordinator and enter contests?" May scoffed.
"Who would want to enter those stupid things?" She asked, a look of pure disgust on her face. Brendan laughed.
"They're just like Gym Leader battles, only you win ribbons instead of badges."
"Then why don't you become a coordinator?" The brunette huffed.
"Well, I decided to stick around here and help Dad with some research." May recalled Professor Birch, the man who gave her Torchic just a few months before. Before then, she would use her father's Pokémon to train with until she got her own. She was amazed at how quickly she managed to get a reputation around her hometown for being a strong trainer.
"Well, one less trainer in my way," May teased her friend. Brendan laughed and the two continued on like that until they reached the outside of Petalburg City.
"Well, this is where I begin my journey." The sapphire eyed girl said as she stopped and looked at the endless road ahead of her. She gripped onto her orange, newly acquired pouch that hung loosely around her waist as she mentally prepared herself for the first step. She felt a firm, assuring hand on her shoulder.
"You'll do fine. I'm sure I'll see you every now and again while gathering data for Dad." May nodded to Brendan.
"Yeah… well I better get going! Gym badges don't earn themselves!" She smiled. Brendan smiled back.
"Yep! Now get out of here! I need to start training for when I see you again!" He began to push her towards the route playfully. "Mudkip and I won't go easy on you next time!"
"I'll be sure to see to that!" May challenged as she gave one last wave of farewell to her childhood friend and started walking, taking the first few steps of her journey towards the orange sunset.
"You saw it here, folks! Yet another spectacular performance from the young coordinator Drew from LaRousse Town!" The audience screamed with excitement as the screen went black, creating utter silence. Norman placed the remote back on the shelf of his office at the Petalburg Gym and shook his head. How people could get so excited over something as trivial as a Pokémon contest was beyond him. The thought made him further appreciate his daughter and the path she has chosen to compete in gyms and not weak things like this. He looked out the window at the bright orange sunset settling over Hoenn. Make me proud May.