Chapter 1

I Want to See the World!

"But Dad, I'm twenty years old now! I want to go to the surface and train with my Pokémon, just like you did,"

May crossed her arms over her shoulders as she discussed the topic of leaving home with her father in their underwater living room. This had been a regular occurrence for a long time now, and May was desperate to get his approval. Every summer, mertrainers from across the ocean would gather at the surface of the water and train their Pokemon for the entirety of the season. She had fervently watched those same merpeople return from their training stronger and more confident than they were before. Although she herself was a competent trainer, she knew that, with the time and effort she had put into training, she could make it to the surface with the others.

She swished her mermaid tail back and forth impatiently as she waited for her father's response. As usual, he sat in his chair with the same placid expression on his face. He too, had his arms crossed, but was much more collected than his daughter. Her mother, on the other hand, looked at her expectantly. Her hands clasped together in her hand, she quickly glanced from her to her father, anticipating who would pipe up next.

"Age has nothing to do with it. You're not going." He finally responded, not even bothering to open his eyes to look at her.

May rolled her eyes. "That's not a real reason why I can't go! Just because you're afraid to let me go up there doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to."

"May, I can't let you go to the surface because you're not nearly as prepared as you should be," her father suddenly said. Never had he been so vocal in their previous arguments. It was usually one word answers with him, but tonight, he was in a chatty mood. "The minute you raised your head above the water, trainers would swarm you with Pokemon far stronger than your own." He raised a hand when he saw May open her mouth to protest. "I know you've been trying your best to train with the resources down here, and I am proud of you for that, but the truth of the matter is that those surface trainers have had numerous more opportunities to grow stronger than you have. Just look at what happened to Wally."

May closed her mouth when he said that name. "Oh…yeah."

Her father nodded his head solemnly. "You remember what happened to him, right? He thought he was well enough to make the trip. His parents, though reluctant, let him go. But…"

"I know," said May, "He went to the surface and got really hurt and he's never been the same since."

"And that furthers my point that you'll need much more intensive training before I even consider you capable of doing your best up there. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt just because you overestimated yourself."

"Norman…" her mother said quietly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please try to see it from her point of view. She's missed out on surface training for the past three years. Surely now would be a good time to start."

He sighed before looking to his wife. "I know what she's thinking," he said. "She's an adult now. She trusts in her Pokemon's abilities and she wants to further her bonds with them. But until she learns the fundamentals of battle, I won't even consider letting her up there." Norman, apparently fatigued rom the long speech, got up from his chair and swam towards his bedroom. "I need to meditate for a while."

"Of course," said his wife with a small smile. Once the door closed, the two women sighed heavily. May's mother patted the couch cushion beside her and May slowly swam to it. "I know you must be frustrated with your father right now, but you know why he's said no, right?"

"Yeah," conceded May with a frown. "And they're all good reasons too. I know I'm not the strongest trainer on this side of the coral reef, but Brendan and I have been training a lot lately and I thought that if I could just go up there to the surface, I could challenge dad and show him just how much I've learned."

"Oh sweetie…" her mother said as she hugged her close. "I know you've always wanted to prove yourself to him, but he knows that will come with time. Nothing has to happen this instant. And if it's meant to be, it will. Just give it some time, ok?"

May looked up at her mother and nodded. "I just wish it would come faster."

"Just you wait. Before you know it, you'll be swimming circles around your father!"

"That'll be the day," May smiled as she got up. "I'm gonna go hang out with Brendan, ok?"

"Alright, but make sure to be home for supper!"

xxXXxx

As she had expected, Brendan was training his Pokémon on the open waters outside of his house. She released her luvdic and commanded it to use bubblebeam, which effectively scared her unsuspecting friend.

"Hey!" he cried out in surprise. The minute he noticed her swimming up to him, he returned his Pokémon and came to meet her. "So, today's the day right? Going to break down Daddy's protective walls?"

"Already tried," she replied as she took a seat on her favourite rock.

"Well aren't you spry today. So what'd the boss say?" Brendan asked.

"What he always says. A big fat no."

Brendan looked down to the seafloor and furrowed his brows. "Aw, that sucks. I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"Nah, it's alright," May replied with a small smile. "He actually explained himself this time though, which is an improvement. I didn't get the 'nod-grunt-no' routine."

"Wow, he must really want to get it through your thick skull."

May slapped Brendan on the arm and retorted, "No he doesn't! Besides, my head is perfectly made, alright?"

"I know, I know. But seriously, what did he tell you?"

"That he wants me to get much, much stronger before I ever dream of going up to the surface like the other trainers. He says that the people up there are ten times more powerful than I am and he doesn't want me to waste my opportunity just because I overestimated myself."

"Well, he does have a point. You still can't beat me yet, so how can you be expected to defeat those guys?" he said as he pointed a thumb towards the surface.

"Hey, I'm getting there ok? I beat your seel and your poliwhirl last time."

"But you still can't tackle my mudkip!"

"Someday…" May sighed and looked upwards. "Brendan."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll ever get up there?"

"We?"

"Yeah, us. I wouldn't want to go up there without you. But really, do you ever think we'll be strong enough to hold our own against the other trainers out there?"

"I think, as long as we keep battling with each other and making sure our Pokemon are growing stronger, we will. And I thnk it'll happen sooner than you think."

May smiled and patted her luvdisc. "Maybe you're right."

A/N: As per usual, my opening chappie isn't as long as subsequent ones, but I really just wanted to get this one out of the way. And yes, I shouldn't be starting a new story when I've still got two others on the go but I'm in a Pokemon mood so I'm writing while I've got it going on. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for about two years but only since the remakes did I actually put some decent thought into it. Also, I'm making most of the characters in this fic older because it's weird if I keep their canon ages. Like Steven will still be the same but here, May, as previously stated, is 20 and Brendan is 21. On another side note, the theme song for this is "Love Across the Ocean" by Kumi Koda. Look forward to some adventures with Brendan and May and some serious foreshadowing! Toodles!