A/N: Where did this come from...? I don't remember where the inspiration came from, but I think I just wanted something with a bunch of UST for my favorite trio XD Wally's totally a Hoennshipper, guys.
"Hurry up guys!" May called behind her shoulder, running down the stairs ahead of her friends. "You're so slow!"
"We're the ones carrying all the bags!" Brendan called after her, lugging two backpacks and a giant umbrella. Wally carried his bag and a basket with their lunch.
"That's no excuse, I'm burdened too!" May laughed. She was carrying a little bag swinging from her wrist that held their sunscreen. She was joking of course, but it didn't make Brendan stop his grumbling.
She reached the bottom of the steps and threw her arms out happily. "Slateport beach! Where have you been the last few months, gorgeous?"
"Who are you talking to, May?" Wally asked, walking down beside her. Brendan was still on the stairs, dragging his feet.
"To the sand, to the sun. But especially the water!" May said. She grinned at him. "Isn't it great that I suggested a vacation here?"
"What do you need a vacation for?" Brendan muttered, finally reaching them at the bottom. "It's not like you've been doing anything these past few months."
"Oh sorry, I guess if you're not writing a thesis on non-evolutionary pokemon for some scientific journal, you don't deserve a vacation." May said, the sarcasm thick in her tone. "Not all of us can be as smart as you Brendan."
"That's not what I mean and you know it!" He said, dumping their bags on the sand. "And you haven't had any challengers in weeks, Miss Champion."
"Hey guys, don't fight." Wally said, stepping between them. "Today's supposed to be fun!"
May glared at Brendan over Wally's head for another moment. "Okay, you're right. Come on, let's go find a good spot on the beach, Wally!"
She grabbed his arm and walked away, towards the water. Brendan sighed and grabbed the bags from the sand and went after them.
"We should be near the water, but not too close to the waves." May was saying, surveying the area while she walked. "Do you guys want to be near the Seashore House?"
"Aren't there a lot of trainers there?" Wally asked. "I mean I wouldn't mind a few battles, but we are supposed to be taking a break right?"
"Hm, you're right." May said, pausing to think. "Okay, we're giving the Seashore House a wide berth! To the other side of the beach!"
They ended up picking a spot that was close to the beacon on the right side of the beach. They dropped their bags on the sand and set up the umbrella. Well, Brendan attempted set it up. May and Wally set out their towels and sat on top of them while they watched Brendan struggle to keep it open. Eventually May got fed up watching him and stood up.
"Just let me do it!" She said, taking the umbrella from his hands.
"Oh please, if I can't do it, what makes you think you can?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
May gave it a sharp tug and it snapped open, almost effortlessly. She gave him a cheeky grin after she planted it in the sand. "You were saying?"
Brendan pouted and said nothing.
The sun was beating down particularly harshly that day, and the ocean's breeze wasn't helping too much. May was the first to speak up about it.
"It's too hot to just be sitting here. Anybody up for a swim?" She asked.
"We'll have to put on sunscreen first." Wally said, reaching for the bottle in the little bag. "I burn really easily."
"I don't need any sunscreen!" May said, waving her hand dismissively. "I never burn."
"Even if you don't burn, you can still get skin cancer." Brendan said, holding his hand out after Wally had squirted some onto his own arms. "And even if you don't, you'll get wrinkles faster."
"You saying I'm old?" May asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
"I'm saying it's better to be safe now than sorry later." He said, rubbing his arms with the sunscreen. He held it out to her. "Well?"
"Fine." May said, snatching it out of his hands. She squirted a huge glob onto her hand and slathered it onto her legs. "Ew. It feels gross."
Wally's eyes widened. "You're not supposed to use that much May!"
"Oh." She lifted her sticky fingers and laughed. "Well, at least I have plenty for my arms right?"
"Right." Wally said, taking the bottle from her and getting a dab for his face.
May scraped up the extra lotion and rubbed it on her arms. "I think I'll still need some for the rest of me."
"You only need a dab for your face." Brendan said, rolling her eyes.
"It's not for my face, it's for my upper body." She said, taking off her oversized t-shirt and gesturing to her torso. "See, there's still a lot of skin to go."
Brendan's eyes widened. May didn't notice, but his gaze lingered on her body for a second too long. His face flushed and he got up quickly. "I'm going to go get a soda."
"We have drinks here." Wally said, holding up the basket.
"No, I need a soda from the Seashore house." He said, already walking away from them. "I'll… I'll be back soon."
May shook her head. "What's his problem? He can you help me out with my back?"
"Yeah sure." Wally said, grabbing the sunscreen. "You'll help me with mine right?"
She grinned. "Of course!"
/
He… he hadn't been expecting to see that!
Brendan chugged his soda down, the carbonated water burning a little as it went down his throat. It felt uncomfortable, but it was definitely helping.
He hadn't realized how much May had grown since the day he'd met her. They were just kids back then, bickering the same way they bickered now. She had been scrawny and quick-tempered, someone to battle, not look at. But she wasn't a kid anymore, he'd seen that. Where had she been hiding those?
Yes, the t-shirt was baggy, but he hadn't known that she'd gotten so developed underneath it. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. She looked really good in that dark blue swimsuit, no doubt about it. But he couldn't keep thinking about it. This was May, his rival and (sometimes) good friend.
"Hey kid, you want to battle?"
He opened his eyes and turned to see a big burly Sailor holding a Pokéball out towards him. A battle, yeah. A battle would be a good distraction. And then he could go back and act like everything was normal.
He grabbed his Swampert's Pokéball from his shorts' pocket. "Yeah, sure."
/
"Where do you think he is?" May asked after she surfaced. She and Wally were currently in the ocean, treading water as they looked towards the Seashore House.
"I don't know." Wally said. He shifted and started floating on his back, his legs still kicking to keep him up. "He's been gone a long time, hasn't he?"
"Do you think he got caught up in battling?" She asked.
"Probably, you know what it's like at the Seashore House." He said.
"Yeah, but why didn't he just take a water bottle from our basket?" She shook her head, sending water droplets flying in every direction. "Why'd he have to go all the way across the beach for a soda?"
Wally turned his face away from her to hide his knowing smile. He'd seen Brendan's face when May took her t-shirt off. "He probably wanted something sweet."
May seemed to accept that. "Well I still say he was being dumb though."
Wally noticed Brendan walking back from the Seashore House, Pokéball in hand. "Look he's coming back."
"You go meet him, I'm not done swimming." May said. She dived down and when she came up again, she was almost thirty feet away.
Shaking his head, Wally started for shore. He took a deep breath and went under, kicking his legs under the water, propelling himself towards the beach. He reached the sand and walked towards the umbrella, reaching it just as Brendan did.
"Hey, welcome back." Wally said, grabbing his towel and wrapping it around his shoulders.
"Hey." Brendan said, kneeling down to put his Pokéball in his bag. "Where's May?"
"Still swimming." Wally said, turning back to the shore to check. He could just make her out as a speck in the waves. He wasn't worried about her getting caught in a riptide though, May was a great swimmer. And besides, she knew not to swim so far out that it was dangerous. "Where have you been?"
"Battling practically every trainer in the Seashore House." Brendan sighed, wiping his brow in mock exhaustion. "I thought I'd never get out of there."
"Well, you're here now." Wally said, sitting down next to him. He grabbed the basket and pulled out two water bottles, offering one to him. "Are you thirsty again?"
"Yeah, thanks." Brendan said, and almost chugged half of the water in one long drink. "It's hotter out here than in there."
"The water's great." Wally nodded over to the shore. "You should go and swim with May."
Brendan glanced over to the water. His face went pink. "I think I'm safer here."
"Safer?" Wally asked. He was confused until he noticed his face. "Hey, are you blushing?"
"What? No!" Brendan exclaimed. "It's probably sunburn."
Wally raised an eyebrow. "You're wearing sunscreen."
"Well I'm not blushing." He said, taking another long drink of water to hide his face.
"Okay, I believe you." He said. He didn't sound very convincing though, and from the corner of his eye, Brendan could see that he was struggling not to smile.
They watched May swim for a while, pausing to eat the sandwiches they'd prepared for their trip. They'd each finished one when May came out of the water, dripping wet and jogging over. Their eyes widened when they saw her.
"Hey guys, saved some for me?" She asked, a big grin on her face.
Wally shielded his eyes and turned his face away. "Um, yeah. In the basket."
"Thanks!" She knelt down and grabbed one. Brendan was still staring at her, almost as if he couldn't look away, and Wally kept avoiding eye contact. "What's with you two?"
"I wasn't looking!" Brendan shouted, suddenly standing up and running towards the water.
May frowned. "What's going on?"
Wally grabbed her towel with the hand he wasn't using as a shield and held it out to her. "You need to put this on."
"Why?" She asked, looking down at herself. She gasped when she saw that somehow the strings of her bikini top had come loose, exposing her breasts and quickly wrapped the towel around herself. "Oh my god!"
Wally only looked back when he was sure that she was covered. "Are you okay?"
"I think I'm going to die from embarrassment." May whimpered, sitting down and hiding her face in her towel. "How I didn't notice it before?!"
"Um… just think of it this way. It could have been worse." He said, patting her back.
"How could it be worse?!" May asked, lifting her face from her hiding place in disbelief.
"Well, you could be hiding a boner in the ocean like Brendan is right now."