Late Valentines thing.
Anyway, notes:
Animeverse AU I think. Maybe a bit of gameverse. I have no idea.
For the sake of things making a bit more sense, I raised the trainer traveling age thing to thirteen because ten always seemed really weird to me. Especially if they're traveling alone in a jungle or an underwater cave or whatever.
Also for their birthdays I just took Ruby and Sapphire's birthdays and swapped them. So July 2 for May and September 20 for Brendan. Then added a year to Brendan because I can.
Regarding Brendan's Pokemon, I just used what the anime cameos showed him with, and threw in stuff from his in game team as the rival.
Anyway.
Coalescence
She was six, and he was seven.
Her family lived in Goldenrod. Their parents were close friends and one day the Birches came to visit from another region and brought their son. While the adults talked and laughed and eventually got really drunk, the two of them played outside.
She was afraid of him at first, because he was a stranger. But she watched him play with a Sentret with a stick and feed it cookies, and decided he couldn't be that bad.
Then he convinced her to climb a tree and she did and got stuck and decided she hated him and it was all his fault both their parents and even her four year old brother were laughing at her and she was never talking to him again.
He apologized after, and she was going to forgive him, but he let out a giggle at the very end and she hated him again.
…
She moved to Hoenn a couple years later, and discovered he lived next door. She went up to his room and he wasn't there, and she waited for him for half an hour before his mother noticed and told her he had gone out to help his dad with work.
Then he came back and they went about five minutes before he said she was dumb for not just asking his mother where he was, and she absolutely hated him and didn't talk to him for a couple of days, and this time it actually was his fault.
…
She had always been nervous around Pokemon.
There were exceptions. She helped Vigoroth clean up the house every week and it was one of her best friends. She liked to cling on to Slaking's head sometimes as it ate, and every minor motion it made extracted a burst of giggles from her. And when it was cold she would take a nap in front of the fire with Linoone and Furret.
But Pokemon from outside made her nervous. She never really understood why, and her mother said she was timid, but she didn't really know what that meant.
He was different. He was always playing with Pokemon outside.
Sometimes she watched him from the window, and sometimes she was brave enough to bring out a blanket or a chair and sit nearby.
A Poochyena growled at her once, and she was scared, but he scolded and it whined like it was apologizing, and she wondered if he was a Pokemon trainer.
She asked him and he laughed at her and asked her if she really didn't know what a Pokemon trainer was, and she hated him for it.
When she finally started talking to him again he told her no, he wasn't, but one day he was going to become Champion. And she didn't know what that meant either but she believed him.
…
His first Pokemon was an egg. He was nine.
She asked him if they were supposed to cook it, and he gave her, as her mother described, through a fit of laughter, "the most incredulous look", and she went and got a dictionary and looked up incredulous but still had no idea what it meant, but guessed that they weren't going to cook it.
It hatched and it was a Mudkip. It was cute and she wanted to name it something cute like Snuffles or Muddy or Bloo.
He didn't nickname it. Its name was going to simply be Mudkip. When it evolved, it would be Marshtomp, and then Swampert. When she asked him why, he simply shrugged and said the professionals didn't nickname their Pokemon. It was how her dad did it, it was how the trainers on Battle Tower Live did it, and it was how Steven did it. So it was how he was going to do it.
She asked him why he got a Pokemon and she didn't. He said it was because he was a year older than her. She reminded him it was only ten months. He insisted that was practically a year and he was more responsible anyway, and if she had gotten one she would have probably tried to cook it.
She really hated him sometimes.
…
They went to trainer school together. One of the classes was mixed with second and third years. She sat behind him and sometimes copied his test answers. He never officially told her she could, but he made no effort to hide his paper either. She would bring him snacks the next day. It was like a business partnership.
Sometimes he put the wrong answers on purpose and had her copy it, only to correct it after she had turned her paper in.
One time the teacher asked her to stay after class and asked why she thought Zigzagoon was known for the move Explosion, and there went another week of not talking to him.
He graduated trainer school and spent his summer training with Mudkip. She spent hers watching him. She had no idea why, as it was actually very boring. But she did it anyway.
"Why do you practice all day?" she would ask him.
"I want to become Champion," was his simple reply.
And eventually summer break ended and she started school. He came to walk her home every day, even though she was getting to the age where that was gross.
She pretended she wasn't sad when his thirteenth birthday came in September. It was a weekend and they went together to the Pokemon Center in Oldale Town so he could register for the League. She sniffed a bit and wiped her eyes while they waited, and when he asked her what was wrong she told him she had allergies, and of course she wasn't crying and that she was glad he was leaving.
"Do you really have to go today though?" she asked him.
"Why wait?" was his simple response.
And when she saw the determination and excitment in his eyes and how he gripped Mudkip's Pokeball, she couldn't bring herself to ask him to stay.
She walked with him to Petalburg and saw him off. And he was gone, off into the woods and to Rustboro to get his first badge.
For the next four months she pretended that he had done something horrible (again) and she was simply not talking to him. And in a way, he had done something horrible because now she was bored and had no one to help her with homework and maybe just a little bit sad and lonely. But only a little bit.
…
He came back and she saw that he had changed. He was quieter, and she could have sworn he was taller, but maybe it was just his posture. He had lost some of his cockiness, even though his smirk was the same.
His hair was messier. She couldn't tell at first because he wore his dumb hat all the time, but when he took it off his hair was all over the place. And even though she said it looked stupid, it made him look older and maybe just a little bit cool.
As for his Pokemon, Mudkip and Nuzleaf had evolved to Swampert and Shiftry. And he had a Lairon now.
And he had four badges.
They had lunch together, with both of their families. Max wouldn't shut up about his badges the whole time, and her dad had to tell him to leave Brendan alone because he needed to eat and he could ask him about his journey later.
But after lunch she dragged him away and Max was outraged but couldn't do anything because Brendan was her friend and not his.
"So," he said, after she pushed Max out the door for the last time and locked him out. "What've you been up to?"
And she told him about school and the new friends she'd made and how interesting her life was even though he was gone and how she met Steven the other day going to a dinner with her dad and no she didn't get to talk to him but it was still really cool and boy did he miss out.
Then he told her how he met Steven a few times and even got some training once, and she called him a liar even though she actually believed him, and he got a bit mad about that and wouldn't tell her anything else.
But eventually he relented and told her about the rest of his adventures in places like the desert on Route 111 and Mount Chimney and Meteor Falls where he trained with Steven for a week before coming home.
"What is it with you and training?" she asked him.
"I had to get stronger before coming back to challenge your dad," he replied, with a determined half-grin.
And then she remembered her dad was a Gym Leader and he came home to mainly challenge him and not visit her and got a bit mad at him again.
Then he gave her the Moon Stone he found at Meteor Falls and she forgave him.
Then she asked him if he was sure about it because weren't Moon Stones really rare? And he said he already looked up all the Pokemon that evolved with Moon Stones, and yes he was sure he didn't need it. Probably.
And she got a bit mad again and told him she hoped he would lose.
In return he snuck her the most infuriating smirk when the referee declared him the victor.
After the battle he was really quiet and finished his dinner early and excused himself and went outside.
She followed him after finishing her own plate and told him he only won because he was lucky and her dad was holding back anyway.
He didn't correct her, and she was worried.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Your dad is really, really strong," he said simply.
"Well of course," she said proudly. "You're never going to be as strong as him."
And he looked frustrated for a moment, but it disappeared and he gave her another smirk.
"I'll catch up to him one day," he said. "You'll see."
He still moped for a week but eventually left and she was lonely again and decided she should have let him mope a bit longer and what kind of jerk only stays for a week before taking off again.
Then she told her friends at school about this, expecting to hear their agreements that yes indeed he was a jerk and she was too good for him, but instead they told her she had a crush on him.
She did not. That was gross and he was gross and annoying and a jerk and she hoped he tripped and twisted his ankle while crawling in a cave somewhere.
And her friends informed her that it was really cute how upset she got when talking about him and she stormed off telling herself that she really did hate his stupid face.
…
One night she got an email from him, which was weird because he hardly ever responded to her emails, let alone sending her any on his own. It was a picture of his badge case, with all eight badges in it. There was no message, but she understood.
The next day at lunch her parents told her Brendan was competing in the upcoming Ever Grande Conference and the four of them were going with his parents to Ever Grande to watch.
And while she pretended to be surprised that he had qualified, secretly she was happy because he had already told her.
They got off the boat and she saw him and he looked different again. He was definitely taller now, and seemed have regained a bit of his cockiness. But now he also radiated confidence, and his slight smirk was backed by an even, almost fierce look in his eye. After staring at him for a while she decided he wasn't as gross as she pretended he was.
When it was her turn to talk to him, though, she pointed out a bit of dirt on his shoulder and said he was gross and not to stand so close to her.
They browsed some of the booths set up near the stadiums for a bit, and then it was time for the battles to begin.
He made it to the semi final round as the entire stadium cheered him on. According to his dad, he had been interviewed a few times during his journey, and was one of this year's dark horses. Professor Birch almost fell out of his chair in excitement as Brendan entered the stadium and calmly raised an arm to greet the audience, triggering a tumult of cheers. If he won just two more battles, he would be the youngest trainer to win the Ever Grande Conference in its history.
His opponent was a few years older than him, a guy named Tyson. Later May found out that they were rivals, and had battled each other before. And that, against him, Brendan had lost in a standard Pokemon Battle for the first time in his life.
Their battle was probably the highlight of the entire tournament, even more so than the final round.
But in the end, as hard as Brendan and his Pokemon tried, Swampert fell to Tyson's Sceptile, and for May, the Ever Grande Conference was over. She didn't even remember the last battle. All she was thinking about was that the incredible boy she had grown up with had lost.
She found him after the tournament, leaning back on a park bench with a magazine over his face.
"Have you really only been a Pokemon trainer for a year?" was the first thing she said.
He snorted and the magazine fell off. He looked exhausted. "Eight months," he corrected.
She picked the magazine off the ground and placed it back on his face. Littering was bad.
He took it off and placed it on the bench and gave her a dirty look.
"I still can't believe you made top four," she said, sitting down next to him.
"I could have taken the next guy, you know," he said, staring ahead of him at something she couldn't see. "I just didn't expect that Sceptile to get so damn fast."
He let out a deep, slightly shaky breath. "...I was so close."
"Why didn't you just use your Magcargo?"
"That stupid lizard has Earthquake."
"Oh."
They sat there and she wondered what would have happened if he had won the Ever Grande Conference and if they would still be here talking.
Once a trainer earned all eight badges they got to compete in the Ever Grande Conference. A winner of the Ever Grande Conference had the right to challenge the Elite Four. And after that, they would challenge the Champion for the title.
If Brendan had won today, he would be on the fast track to reaching his goal. He wouldn't have any more time for her, and she wouldn't be able to bring herself to bother him.
So no, they probably wouldn't be here talking if he had won. And for a moment she felt like he was slowly pulling away from her with how far he was going in just eight months and she was never going to to keep up with him. And one day he would leave her behind and it was all his fault for moving so fast and if he really wanted to run off then maybe he should and never come back.
But she was starting to have some semblance of control over blurting out things that she didn't really mean, so she didn't say it.
"Well what are you going to do now?" she asked instead.
"Don't know," was his answer. "I have an invitation from this guy Scott to go to some island, but I don't think I'll take it."
"Why not?"
He just shrugged. "I dunno."
"That's not an answer," she said. But she didn't press him because she was glad he wasn't going off to some island for who knew how long.
"Hey, your birthday is coming up," he noted.
"It's a week after graduation," she replied, pointedly.
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that," he said. "Want me to come? I'll bring balloons."
"No. And don't bring balloons."
And even though she didn't hear from him for another month, as her name was called and she stepped onto the stage to receive her diploma (it was just basic trainer's school, and while she didn't really mind, she didn't understand why it had to be so showy), she saw his stupid white hat in the crowd and was that a sling on his arm.
She asked him about it later and he told her that he dislocated his arm while training in Meteor Falls with Steven and they got in a fight again when she asked him that if he was so busy training that he couldn't come down and visit, why didn't he stay in Meteor Falls forever.
And then on the morning of her birthday, he showed up on his Tropius and told her to get on, and she looked at him like he was crazy and he said they were going to a famous restaurant in Lavaridge where they cooked the noodles with the heat from the hot springs. And even though she said it sounded gross and there was no way she was going to get on, she did eventually. And it was delicious.
At her party later he gave her another present. It was a red bandana and he explained that she would need something to keep twigs and dirt out of her hair if she went traveling. Also to hide her messy hair if she didn't have time to fix it on the go.
She put it on and he made a weird face like he was holding in a laugh and she half-heartedly threw the box at him. She didn't take it off though. She thought it looked cute.
The next day he was waiting in her kitchen when she came downstairs with bedhead and in her pajamas and clutching her pillow. He said hi and she screamed and threw the pillow at him and ran back upstairs to change and shower and do the rest of her morning routine. And when she came back down he showed her the picture he had taken of her and oh god she looked awful, and she jumped him and wrestled his PokeNav away to delete it.
"You messed up your hair again," he pointed out.
"You're horrible," she said to him, "And gross and annoying and I hate you so much."
He rolled his eyes and tossed her a paper bag with her favorite bagels from her favorite bakery in Rustboro.
"Hurry up and eat," he said. "We're going to Oldale. You're a Pokemon trainer starting yesterday."
And so after taking her sweet time to enjoy the bagels while he watched impatiently, they went to the Oldale Pokemon Center where she registered herself as a Pokemon trainer.
"So," he said, as she returned from the front desk. "How does it feel to be a Pokemon trainer?"
"Like I'm missing something really important," she replied, glancing pointedly at his Pokeball belt.
He gave her a small smirk and tilted his head at the door. "Let's go then."
And so they went back to Littleroot to the lab where his dad was late, and as they waited, she was practically jumping out of her seat.
"Excited?" he asked smugly.
"No," she said, and as an afterthought, added, "Maybe I'll pick Treeko just to spite you."
"Half my team knows Ice Beam."
"Why?"
"Just to spite you."
"Very funny."
And eventually Professor Birch arrived and she picked Torchic because she had already decided a long time ago that the fire type was what she was going to pick. Because maybe one day he would battle a really strong grass type again and she would be there to cover his back. Or something.
She wasn't sure what she had been thinking at the time but Torchic was super cute anyway.
"You're not going to name it something stupid like Snuffles, are you?" asked Brendan warily. "Because it's going to evolve and one day you're going to have a Blaziken named Snuffles and that's probably illegal."
She had thought for a very long while on what she was going to name her first Pokemon and really couldn't come to a good answer.
"I don't think I'm going to name it after all," she replied.
"Why not?"
Because he didn't do it, and it would feel weird if she did. But she wasn't going to tell him that.
Instead she stuck her tongue out at him as she held and petted her new Torchic. "That's a secret."
He simply rolled his eyes and they thanked his dad and they left to go sit outside.
"So," he said after a while. "What are you going to do now?"
She looked at him, and back to her Torchic who chirped happily at her, and back to him, and said, "I'm not much of a trainer."
"Nope."
"Oh shut up."
"You're thirteen now though," he said. "You've got a whole year meant for traveling before you have to even think about going back to school."
"Is that what you're going to do?" she asked. "Go back to school?"
He shrugged. "Probably not. Might go to Kanto and challenge the Gyms there. I haven't decided yet."
"Oh."
She remembered when they were ten and he asked her if she wanted to travel Hoenn together when they were old enough and she said no, because he was gross and traveling was gross, and why on earth would she want to get lost in forests and caves and get mud and dirt everywhere especially with him.
And now that he had already done his traveling through Hoenn and gotten all his badges, there was no way she could ask him to travel with her. But it was only because she didn't want to travel alone, and none of her friends were becoming trainers yet, so he was the only remaining option.
"You're stupid," she eventually said.
"Where'd that come from?"
"From you being stupid."
Because it was all obviously his fault.
She spent a few days moping and playing with Torchic and wondering what she was going to do. She half hoped that he would disappear again and solve her dilemma for her, but instantly regretted it because she always hated how he would just run off like that without consulting her.
It was strange to hear all the noise his Pokemon were making next door every morning. And even though she wanted to be mad at him for being loud, she couldn't this time because she was glad he was around.
She asked her dad about it, asking if he thought she could challenge the League like Brendan did. And after a long conversation, and regardless of what her dad thought, she decided that it wasn't for her.
But she still wanted to go traveling. She didn't want to do it alone, but maybe something would work itself out.
She gathered her courage together one day and packed a bag. When her parents found out, they went and bought her all sorts of traveling gear, and helped her pack a bigger bag and oh god it was going to be a pain lugging all this junk around.
Brendan came over and asked her if she was leaving, and she said yes.
"Want me to come along?" he asked.
And she stared at him in disbelief for a moment because he could have saved her a week of agonizing over things if he had just said so sooner and what was wrong with him and threw her bag at him which he ducked, and the bag wasn't zipped up right so her stuff went flying everywhere.
And he watched her clean everything up while laughing himself silly asking if she really spent the past week working herself up to ask him to go with her and did she think it was a marriage proposal or something and she absolutely hated him.
More notes:
I probably googled coalescence 20 times since I started this fic just to make sure I didn't spell it wrong. That would be pretty embarassing.
I'm really not sure how May ended up so tsun. I only meant for a little bit but things kind of got out of hand as I was writing. Oops.
Second part (probably a third too because of length) coming eventually.
