He was just like summer, and she loved summer. If she had any wish, it would be to live a lifetime of summers. - Anna Godbersen
May hummed under her breath as she made her way to the Birch residence at her mother's request, clasping her hands behind her back once she'd knocked on the wooden door.
A kind looking woman answers, though her eyes showed how tired she was. "Oh, hello dear. What can I help you with?"
May smiles and extends her hand, biting onto her bottom lip for a moment. "I'm May Maple; I just moved in next door!" The woman returns the sentiment and smiles as she shakes May's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you May. I'm Mrs. Birch. My husband was telling me that your family would be moving to Littleroot." Mrs. Birch pauses for a moment, looking over her shoulder as a thump sounds from behind her.
"My son, Brendan, was excited to meet his new neighbor. It's not often that people move here. You're welcome to come inside for some tea if you'd like to meet him." May grins and nods her head, walking inside the house as Mrs. Birch steps out of the way.
"Feel free to take a seat wherever you'd like!" The woman heads into the kitchen as May takes a seat at the table, removing the warm kettle from its resting place. "I hear that your father got a job as Petalburg's Gym Leader. Were you excited to move?"
May thinks for a moment to decide how she wants to answer, before she reluctantly nods her head. "I think I was nervous until the truck finally arrived, but then excitement started to replace the nerves. Littleroot is a lot smaller than I expected, but it's such a nice little town."
Mrs. Birch smiles as she prepares some tea for the both of them. "I agree; Littleroot has a very quaint feel to it. I was surprised when I realized how much I loved it here."
The two continue a pleasant conversation as a small blue Pokémon runs down the stairs, stopping in front of May with a curious look in its eyes. The young woman stiffens at the sight, sipping at her tea to hide how uncomfortable she was. A male's voice suddenly sounds close as someone approaches.
"Mudkip! You know better than to run around the house when Mom is home!" A young man steps into the open space of the first floor, adjusting his hat as his eyes fall on his mother and May.
"Oh, I didn't realize we had company! I apologize if Mudkip startled you."
May forces a smile as she swallows her drink, setting the cup down before she stands up. "It's fine, I promise."
"I'm Brendan, by the way! I'm assuming that you're the new kid in town?"
"I wouldn't say that I'm a kid, but yes, I am new in town. I'm May and—" she lets out a shriek as Mudkip jumps up to say hello, her body stiffening as the Pokémon steps closer.
The water type tilts its head, seeming to wonder why May didn't greet it. Brendan also looks confused, moving forward to scoop his partner up into his arms.
"Are you alright?" he questions as his mother rushes to May's side, hoping to calm the girl down.
May nods slowly, taking a seat as Mrs. Birch pulls the chair out for her. "I'm sorry. I've always had a fear of Pokémon. That's why I haven't gone on a journey. Again, I'm so sorry."
Brendan's expression softens as he looks at her. "It's okay May. There's nothing to be sorry for." He pauses for a moment, wanting to say more, but his PokéNav rings from his pocket. "Sorry, I need to take this." He steps aside as Mrs. Birch rests her hand on May's shoulder.
"Are you sure that you're okay?" May nods and looks over at Brendan, who seems to be deep in conversation with whoever was on the other line. "I'm better than I expected to be." the brunette admits as she raises an eyebrow at Brendan. He hangs up the phone and returns to the two women, sighing quietly. "I apologize for cutting this meeting short, but my dad needs me to check something out on Route 3. It was nice to meet you May! Hopefully I'll run into you again soon!"
He waves at her as he heads toward the door, exiting the house with the door slamming behind him.
"I wish I could stay longer, but I should probably head out as well. Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Birch. It was a pleasure to meet you!" May smiles at the woman, shaking her hand once again before getting up to leave.
She leaves the house after smiling at Mrs. Birch one more time, carefully shutting the door behind her.
With her hands in her pockets, May makes her way across town, hoping to make it home before lunch. She's halfway across town when the shouting begins.
"Help me! Someone please help me!"
Deciding against her better judgement, May follows the stranger's voice into the outskirts of Littleroot Town.
A man in a lab coat is being cornered by a large doglike Pokémon, a smaller creature hiding behind its legs. The larger Pokémon has its teeth bared, ready to attack the man if he were to move again.
May stays quiet, quietly making her way behind the Pokémon in order to catch the man's attention. He notices her instantly, his eyes darting toward a bag that sat to their right. She nods at him as he realizes what she has to do, although fear starts to bubble up inside of her.
The brunette takes a deep breath and opens the bag, three shrunken Pokéballs catching her eye. She blindly grabs one and enlarges it, noting how awkward it felt in her hand.
May inhales once again before tossing the Pokéball into the air, catching the attention of the large Pokémon. It turns toward her, back legs tensing as it prepares to lunge.
May's eyes follow the burst of light, settling on the small orange bird Pokémon as it appears before her.
"Torchic!" it cries, eyes trained on the target ahead of it. May opens her mouth to call out an attack, though no words leave her mouth. She suddenly realizes that she has absolutely no idea how to battle, much less what attacks this Pokémon knew.
She freezes, petrified. Why on earth did she decide to be a good person today? Now she was facing certain doom and would never fall in love, or get to see the world.
The opposing Pokémon growls, startling May into moving. She whimpers, trying to think of a solution as quickly as possible. The Pokémon she had called out chirps its name once again as the young woman tries to remember the many types of Pokémon. The orange color of Torchic leads her to believe that it is a fire type, which meant that it probably has a weak fire type move.
"Use Ember!" She finally calls out, watching in awe as Torchic runs towards the large Pokémon and releases a powerful barrage of embers. The attack seems to do the trick, since the opponent decides that a battle isn't what it wants.
The two doglike Pokémon retreat into the brush surrounding them, and May suddenly falls to her knees. Exhaustion is evident in her eyes as the man approaches. "Thank you so much; I have no idea what I would've done if you hadn't shown up when you did." He extends a hand to help her up.
She takes it, shakily rising to her feet. "I'm Professor Birch, and you are?" May is silent, her eyes focused on the bushes that the Pokémon walked through.
Professor Birch looks at her for a moment, before turning his head to see what she was looking at.
"I guess it would be a good idea to leave this area quickly." He retrieves his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "Would you kind walking with me to my lab Miss…"
"May. My name is May." She finally says, trying to ignore how nervous she felt.
Recognition flashes in the professor's eyes, and May wonders what he's thinking about. "I'm guessing that you're May Maple, Norman's daughter?"
"You know my dad?" May asks, raising an eyebrow at the man in front of her.
"Indeed I do!" Professor Birch laughs. "Norman and I started our journeys from Littleroot at the same time. He and I were rivals back in the day, but we were always good friends. I was his best man when he got married to your mother. How's Caroline been doing?"
The two hurriedly start walking back toward town, Torchic walking next to May as if trying to protect her.
"My mom's doing well. Dad is too, as far as I know. They never mentioned knowing the professor, though." Her eyes dart between Torchic and the path ahead of them, and she starts to wish that she hadn't decided to follow the voice in the first place.
"I'm sure they've been so busy with everything, so I'm not surprised that I was never mentioned. How is your brother doing? He just turned ten, didn't he?"
May nods, shoving her shaking hands into her pockets. "Yeah, Max was very excited to start his journey, especially in a region he knew nothing about. He said that it would be a fun challenge."
"From what your father has told me about him, I think he'll do well. I'm sure that he'll love the selection of starters that Hoenn offers."
"Has dad said anything about me?" May asks quietly, almost afraid of the answer. Professor Birch nods, a smile spreading across his face.
"Your father speaks very highly of you. He tells me that you're smarter than you give yourself credit for." He pauses for a moment, glancing down at Torchic as it chirps happily and hurries toward the town as it comes into view.
"He also said that you were afraid of Pokémon, and based on your performance in that battle earlier, I find that a little hard to believe."
May sighs, wishing that her father wouldn't be so open about that particular fact. She tries to think of a way to take the focus off of her. "Speaking of Pokémon, what were those two that attacked you?"
The professor accepts the change in subject, sensing that she was uncomfortable with the topic.
"The larger one was a Mightyena, and the little one was its offspring, a Poochyena. They're known for being aggressive Pokémon, and I should've been more careful."
The pair finally makes it back into town, and while May wanted to head home right away, she follows Professor Birch to his lab since he'd asked her to. Torchic had fallen back in line, chirping next to her as its little claws clicked against the pavement of the sidewalk.
The professor opens the door for her, allowing her to enter the building first. She thanks him before stepping inside, her eyes landing on a young man with a red hat. Professor Birch enters after her, cursing lowly under his breath, quickly approaching the male as he talks to an assistant across the room.
A yellow Pokémon sits on his shoulder, jumping down as it catches sight of Torchic. As the two Pokémon start to play, May steps further into the room and toward the three men ahead of her.
"I'm sorry for the wait Ash. There was a little situation that had to be taken care of."
The young man, who May assumed was Ash, waves it off. "No worries, I was enjoying my discussion with Anthony here."
The assistant smiles and agrees that all was well before rushing back to work. Ash and the professor start to talk, and May could hardly keep up with what they were saying. Something about Professor Oak and a journey? She shakes her head and walks closer, clearing her throat quietly.
"Uh, Professor Birch, did you still need me here?" She asks, the two men turning toward her at the question.
The professor seems surprised, as if he'd forgotten that she was there. "Oh yes, I'm sorry for making you wait. I wanted to talk to you about going on a journey."
"A journey?" She asks, startled. "But Professor, I—"
"You have potential, May. And I think that Torchic would be the perfect Pokémon to help you."
She's quiet for a moment as she looks down at her feet. The professor opens his mouth to speak again, but she beats him to it.
"Can I step outside to think for a moment?"
Professor Birch nods at her before turning back to Ash to continue their discussion.
May turns around and hurries toward the door, ignoring the whispering of the men behind her. She fails to notice the little yellow Pokémon slipping out beside her.
The brunette exits the building and sits against the wall, the grass tickling her legs as she crosses them. All is quiet save for the soft chirping of the bird Pokémon settled in the trees, and May starts to think about the day's events. How could she ever go on a journey when she was so afraid of Pokémon?
If a little Mudkip scared her, how on earth was she going to face other Pokémon like Mightyena?
The sound of twigs breaking catches May's attention, snapping her back into reality and out of her worried thoughts. The yellow Pokémon from inside was worriedly looking at her as it sat by the door. She tries not to make a sound as the Pikachu starts to approach her, and she almost fails as it crawls into her lap.
"Pika!" Happy that May wasn't ignoring it, Pikachu nuzzles against her hand, urging her to move it. The young woman shakily starts to pet the Pokémon, her breath catching in her throat. Everything was silent once again, and May could feel the soft rumbling from Pikachu as it purred beneath her touch.
She didn't know how much time had passed since she'd exited the building, though she assumed it had been at least ten minutes. The door to the lab opened up and Ash poked his head out. He caught sight of May and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.
She looks up at him, at his amber eyes and at the smile on his face. He silently sits next to her, reaching out to pet his Pokémon as well. Pikachu shifts to further enjoy the attention, and Ash chooses that moment to break the silence.
"Professor Birch told me that you saved him from some Pokémon a little while ago. Are you alright?"
May nods in response, focusing her gaze on Pikachu instead of looking at the cute boy sitting next to her.
"He also told me why you were so reluctant to start a journey. And while the topic is probably sensitive, I do want to say that it takes real courage to overcome your fears. I think you would make a great trainer."
May stayed silent for the most part, though she whimpered quietly as Pikachu stretched and climbed onto Ash's lap. She wished that she wasn't so embarrassed by her very legitimate fear.
"I know we don't know each other well," Ash continues, focusing on her as he spoke. "But I'm here in Hoenn to go on a journey myself, and I'd really like it if you decided to join me."
May finally lifts her gaze to look at him, staring into his eyes for a moment. Realizing that he was completely serious, she comes up with an answer almost instantly.
"I think that sounds wonderful. One of the biggest reasons why I never went on a journey myself was because I was scared to go alone." May admits, twiddling her thumbs. "I really appreciate your kindness, so I'll take you up on your offer."
The two share a smile as Pikachu jumps onto Ash's shoulder. He rises to his feet, offering May a hand. "Why don't we head inside to give the professor an answer?"
May takes his hand and stands up with his help, hesitating for a moment. She finally reaches up to pet Pikachu on her own accord. "I think that's a great idea."
The two of them walk to the door and Ash opens it for her. She smiles over at him as she steps inside, finally feeling at ease. Maybe moving to Hoenn wasn't so bad after all.
okay wow hi hello ! i would've put this author's note at the very beginning of this chapter, but i wanted to put the quote that inspired the title somewhere important. i probably shouldn't start another story because i always end up suffering from horrible writer's block, but i really liked this idea and i wanted to write this out. this is very much omega ruby/alpha sapphire based, and will probably contain some elements from the anime.
ash and may are both around eighteen, and max is ten, simply because he's great and i wanted to include him. ash has traveled through kanto, johto, sinnoh, and unova, but kalos is an established and well known region for the sake of following the storyline of oras. as far as the whole fear of pokémon goes, it was really just a little idea that hit me after remembering the story of may and the tentacool in ag103. if i was surrounded by a bunch of poison type pokémon, i would be terrified.
so yeah, i just expanded on that and it turned into this. i'm sorry if this a/n is too long and too boring; i just wanted to get all of this out so no one would be confused on the subject of this story! i hope you guys enjoyed this, and i hope that you'll continue to read as it progresses!
- aj