Summary: When tragedy hits the Maple family of Petalburg City, May is forced to grow up, grow strong, and take back what's precious to her through a path she thought was lost long ago… Anime!Trainer!May; partial game adaptation/novelization. No romance or shippings (yet?)

World: A fusion of all Pokémon media types. Mostly game and anime. Pokémon here will know more than four moves and have combo-moves that don't exist in-game (ex: the anime's Flaming Tackle, Thunder Armour and Aura Storm for example.) and there will be various cameos from many media types — know that I will include Brendan, Wally, Drew, Harley and Solidad.

Warning: Spoilers for Hoenn games. AU/Very loosely following Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, since I just got the (former) game (…and am still playing through it…). Contains coarse language (Poké-ified and censored for the kiddies, but recognizable) and may pop out violent, overdramatic, angst-y, cheesy, or fluffy scenes. Be prepared to be patient with this. Also note that I have no beta — feel free to review, criticize and nitpick. If you flame me, please do so with reason.

Dedication:
~To those who haven't found a fanfic with animeverse!May following the footsteps of gameverse!May — a Coordinator and a Trainer.
~To those who believe May's Blaziken should have been a battler—a fighter and a conqueror Pokémon.
~To those who grew up with Generation III and still play catch up with both new and old games these days…

Like a Penny (Waiting for Change)
by rayningnight

Route 001: Just a Stranger

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No Munchlax! NO! DON'T—

May sprinted into the woods, running and running and running, her speed only slowing after an eternity and her …everything aching by the minute, before she slowly lost all feeling in her legs and hit the ground, collapsing legs and planking arms.

The pink Kitten Pokémon crawls onto her lap and snuggles in close. May grins and reaches over to scratch just behind her ear, because she always knew Mom wanted a pet, and Skitty preferred playing and mischief than following orders anyway—

This wasn't supposed to happen.

She's a Top Coordinator. If not for Solidad, if not for Robert, if not for Wallace, if not for the current Pokémon King of Hoenn — but no, she's the "Princess of Hoenn." She's high. But not high enough. And being so used to bringing out beauty and skill where there is none — when she needs skill and power to battle and defeat, if not win—no. She cannot. And it saddens her and angers her when Blaziken loses to a Grimer of all Pokémon.

One of the Poké Balls in her bag rattles.

Norman. Father. Stranger. Not Dad. Not Papa. Not unless May could look in the mirror and see something other than Mom's ice blue eyes staring back at her—

Blaziken popped out of his Poké Ball and sat on his knees next to her, circling his arm around May, who turned into the open chest. May bit her lower lip as she tried to stifle her grief but free-flowing tears dampened Blaziken's beige breast feathers anyway. Push it down, put it away. Push it down, put it away… she mentally chanted.

"T-This wasn't supposed to happen, Blaze—" May choked, ducking down.

"I'm leaving, May." Not Sis. Not for a year. Not anymore. "I'm going to get stronger. I'll become a Pokémon Champion of Hoenn. Show them what they'll be up against. And then I'll crush them." He pauses, before a sad smile crept over his face as he lays a hand down on Kirlia in an apologetic manner.

May took in a shaky breath, opening tear-blurred eyes as she stared at the Poké Ball still clutched in her hands.

The Big Eater Pokémon suddenly pops out May's bag, but unlike the usual optimistic oblivious expression of never-ending hunger, there's a sad, determined glint in his eyes. It only took a look between her brother and Munchlax to see what they both wanted. Max is already holding a Poké Ball — a rare, all-red, black-striped Poké Ball.

A Cherish Ball.

Max and she agreed a long time ago that Pokémon caught in anything other than the red-and-white Poké Ball was cheating. If he ever captured with anything other than the "original Ball", then Max swore he'd trade his first non-traditionally caught Pokémon over to her.

May wonders how long he and Munchlax planned this.

She wonders if either know how much this breaks her already wrecked heart.

May wondered what exactly he caught with such a rare Poké Ball, which would've needed more than just a Gym Leader like Norman to pull strings to get. The Cherish Ball would make whatever Pokémon captured inside desired — "cherished" — because of the catching capsule, what with the Devon Corporation only able to distribute five out of the twenty Cherish Balls Silph Co. had created. The other fifteen had been given to the current Champions of every region and to the current King or Queen Coordinators of each region.

She closed her eyes from the memories and decided to let out each of her Pokémon to meet their new partner, the new member of her ever-shrinking family.

Blaziken gently tightened the reassuring hold on her.

Beautifly appeared in a shower of sparkles and spores before landing on May's head, which brought a shaky smile of nostalgia.

Venusaur stomped over once shaking off the feeling of trapped Poké Ball space, nuzzling May's back in affection.

Wartortle and Glaceon appeared in a pair, both licking the twin tear streaks on May's cheeks.

And May let out a bark of derisive, bitter laughter when out of the rare, famous, coveted Cherish Ball — an even rarer, silver-bodied, golden-taloned Beldum hummed a greeting to its new Pokémon Trainer.

Max sure went all out for her— their Munchlax.

(—o—)

"Oh my! …Miss? Miss?!"

"Hey, are you okay?"

May looked up through tear-crusted eyelashes. Although she loved her Pokémon partners, she'd wished to be alone, and had returned all of them back into their Poké Balls — even the Beldum. May wondered how long she'd been curled in this position: knees tucked to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, back against a tall fir tree.

She smiled shakily up at the new company — two boys, from the high tenor voices — in front of her. She couldn't see very well, not with the sun beating down at that moment, casting shadowed silhouettes instead of brightening their features.

Both boys must've noticed her squinting, because they quickly moved out of the sunlight and she could finally make out their appearances.

The first was pale. Very pale. Pale white skin, pale green hair, pale blue eyes — really, he even matched his naturally pastel appearance with a white button-up, light green trousers and icy-blue sneakers.

The second was vibrant. A direct opposite. She wondered if he knew he was wearing exactly all the same colours of her outfit like a few of her personal fan(atic)s: emerald green, burnt orange, and ink black. At first, May was surprised by the shock of white hair — before she realized, no, the black-striped bandana was actually sewn into the white — and actually, if she looked closer, she could see a bit of black bangs contrasting with the boy's reddish-russet eyes.

"…Um… Miss..?"

With haste, May rubbed the tears from her eyes and cheeks, dazzling them with her stage smile. "Oh, I'm fine! I'm okay! So sorry if I bothered you — were you having a Pokémon battle?" she noticed the two Poké Balls in the pale boy's hands.

"Oh no, I was just helping this guy out with catching his first Pokémon!" the vibrant boy quickly assured.

To provide better explanation, the pale boy threw out both Poké Balls, "Show yourselves!"

Crimson beams bolted to the ground and in white light silhouettes, two shapes formed. One had a bulge, and not unlike a mushroom, a stem formed at the bottom in a familiar shape—

"Ralts!"

—and the other grew a cat-like face and split forth a flower-like tail—

"Skitty!"

And May burst into tears all over again.

(—o—)

Brendan had no idea what to do.

"Um… I… I'd like to get a Pokémon, but…"

"I'm going to go stay with my relatives in Verdanturf Town. I thought I would be lonely by myself, so I wanted to take a Pokémon along. But I've never caught a Pokémon before. I don't know how…"

"Oh, wow! A Pokémon!"

Brendan had thought the day turned out pretty well. He'd made a new friend, helped said friend with catching his first (and second!) Pokémon without a hitch, and he'd even been able to copy a few notes about the Pokémon for his Dad, since both were pretty uncommon Pokémon. Wally and he had found a whole tribe of Ralts before they'd scattered. With these findings, it was official that Route 102 was the only place in Hoenn to catch the Feeling Pokémon — though, Skitty weren't going to be easily found in Hoenn either, since Wally's Kitten Pokémon was apparently an anomaly; most likely, it only got lost between the thick forests between Route 116 and Route 102 than anything else.

Brendan had been sure to make that note.

Plus, it was pretty cool that Wally would be starting with these two rarities instead of the common Poochenya or Zigzagoon Brendan had expected.

But now, with the unveiling of Wally's very first Pokémon, whom seemed to kick-start some waterworks in this brown-haired girl, he really hoped this wouldn't knock down even more of Wally's already low self-esteem.

Was the girl scared of Pokémon?

"O-Oh gosh, are you okay?" the sickly twelve-year-old asked worriedly, before shaking himself. "Well, of course you aren't alright! You're crying!" That comment didn't help at all. "Oh… umm… here, I found some Oran berries back there, and they're quite tasty! — probably leftover from some passing kid trainer…"

Suddenly the brunette's cries got louder and Brendan flinched because he (and apparently Wally too) did not do with girls and tears and — oh Arceus, Brendan would never be fond of puffy eyes and runny noses and wet cheeks and—

Brendan looked around frantically. His interactions with any of the female gender were usually when in battle or Pokémon Centers or some shop — never personally! Heck, now that Brendan thought about it, he didn't even have any family cousins or friends that were girls around his age.

This was totally not cool.

Wally's Ralts and Skitty were in a frenzy, jumping all over the place, pulling funny faces and trying to make the brunette smile or at least stop crying (or at least, that's what Brendan interpreted).

And it wasn't working.

Weren't cute Pokémon like Skitty and Ralts supposed to make girls smile and laugh and all that?

Taking drastic measures, Brendan took a page from his mollycoddling mother, and wrapped an arm around the girl awkwardly, whispering assurances and, "They're nice Pokémon!" and "Don't worry, everything's going to be okay!"

As long as there're no more waterworks! Brendan thought desperately.

(—o—)

The Birch family was really nice.

When he'd mentioned wanting a Pokémon to his cousin Wanda, (who'd dragged him to visit one of her close friends, who apparently received an assistant job in the famous Hoenn lab of Littleroot Town, which wasn't too far from Petalburg City), the son of famous Professor Birch had immediately passed him over a Poké Ball.

He'd apparently overheard their (rather loud on Wanda's part) conversation, and since they were in for a new batch of starter Pokémon next week anyway, he handed over the last Pokémon that one new trainer had ordered — but whom had cancelled a few days later, explaining that they'd been given a Pokémon by their family.

Of course, Wally really couldn't just take a Pokémon from them since starter Pokémon were for Trainers who were fast-tracking towards Gym Badges or Contest Ribbons (neither of which Wally really strove for yet). Eventually, after a few days stuck in town (since Wanda's parents were still hashing out the details of some sale, and she'd also told her boyfriend to come visit, and he'd need a few days to run all the way over from Rustboro City…), he became fast friends with Brendan Birch. After a few more conversations and an (invigorating, for his very first two-sided) argument, Wally had managed to convince the white-capped boy that he wanted to catch his own Pokémon. They'd been shopping for supplies and running errands for the lab at the Poké Mart in Oldale Town and he'd really like some help in capturing his very first Pokémon, pretty please?

So they headed off into Route 102, since Brendan had needed to see if there were any wild Surskit like the rumours had been whispering about — and then they'd accidentally fallen into a tribe of Ralts in mid-ceremony. Apparently one of them had evolved into a Kirlia, if the Emotion Pokémon covered in daisy chains and pink petals in the middle was any evidence.

One small Ralts had kept tripping over his "dress"-like legs while the rest had already scattered into the woodland, and Wally had noticed he'd been injured, so with a quick spray of some Potion from the Poké Mart, everything was okay again for the little squirt, but then Ralts was ever so grateful, and those large eyes underneath his "hat" were even more convincing than Wanda's—

Well, long story short, Ralts had become part of the team after a quick battle with Wally's (borrowed) Treeko.

And then there was Skitty — whose capture Wally shudders to recall, because it was literally a series of unfortunate events that will never be told unless forced under torture by a horde of Golbat and Ghost-types.

Anyway, while heading back to Oldale Town, Wally had heard sniffling sounds and soon noticed an odd-looking Pokémon near a fir tree just on the outskirts of town — and then realized that no, it was a human girl, about his and Brendan's age, who was crying and so obviously not a Pokémon.

Trying to see what was wrong, and upon mentioning his newly-captured Pokémon, he set them out—only for her to break down crying again.

As soon as Brendan's consoling hug at least lessened the tears, Wally let out a sighed in relief. He'd been standing to the side awkwardly, unsure if he should join in and make it a group-hug (he'd never tried to hug a person other than family before! What if he did it wrong?) but once he saw Ralts (his very first Pokémon!) wincing he quickly remembered he was a — the FeelingPokémon.

Negative emotions were uncomfortable for his species, especially in his first evolution. Once he evolved into Kirlia, it'd be more tolerable, and once he became a Gardevoir or Gallade, then his Psychic mind would be impenetrable — but right now, it definitely wasn't good for his health.

Wally quickly returned his Pokémon, and turned back to the pair just as Brendan and the girl stood up. Wally blinked. Once—Twice—

"Umm …wow. You two are wearing matching outfits!" Wally blurted out and flushed at the sudden volume.

Brendan glanced over to the brunette and then down at himself, pulling at the orange part of his shirt with raised eyebrows. "Huh, well isn't that a coincidence!"

The girl also had raised eyebrows now, and Wally noticed an odd emotion — relief? — flash across her face. "Oh, so you don't — erm, know me?" she asked tentatively. What, did she think Brendan was a creeper or something?!

Wally stepped closer nodded vigorously. "Yes, Brendan's not a stalker or anything like that at all! He's Professor Birch's son, so…" a thought suddenly occurred to him. "O-Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves! Sorry, I'm Wally," he stammered out.

"I'm Brendan Birch, if you didn't catch that yet," Brendan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "And you are…?"

The brunette smiled, and Wally's face reddened as he noticed the honest crinkles around bright blue eyes. "You can call me May," the girl — May — suddenly dropped down and scooped up Wally's Skitty into her arms.

He is literally the Worst. Trainer. Ever.

HOW DID HE FORGET TO RETURN SKITTY!? He only had two Pokémon to look after—

His nervous breakdown must've shown on his face because May poked him and said, "Oh, it's not your fault that Skitty popped out. All Skitty are quite playful, so I wouldn't keep them in their Poké Ball too often. I think they get antsy inside or something — they're felines and like to roam wherever, whenever. Oh! Not all Pokémon are like that of course," she mentioned, likely for Wally's benefit as a new Trainer. "There's the odd egg in a dozen or more, but most are content in the capsule's Poké Space."

A wave of relief washed over Wally as he took hold of Skitty's Poké Ball and returned the Kitten Pokémon. Meanwhile, Brendan piped up with a curious tilt to his head. "Are you a Pokémon Trainer? You seem pretty knowledgeable for someone who seemed burst into tears—oof!" Wally elbowed the senior Trainer with a wide glare. Really, Brendan? Putting a foot in the mouth, much!

May let out a derisive huff. "Thanks."

Brendan bit his lip and flushed. "Sorry, I speak before I think more often than not. It's the reason why I've spent most of my life behind books and research with my dad instead of travelling and battling often. Scholars don't need to really talk…" His words seemed to catch up with him and his pinked cheeks reddened even further. It was a strange look, Wally thought, since Brendan never really blushed or made those awkward un-picturesque faces.

"What? How could you be content with that?"

Brendan gave a thin-lipped smile. "Well, I still learn about many Pokémon, which are my passion themselves. I've travelled over to Rustboro once even." It wasn't a really nice smile, Wally noted faintly. "Doubt I'll ever go again, considering how the papers and 'net went on about me when I defeated Roxanne."

"And now you won't follow your dreams because of this odd problem along the way?" May appeared angry for some reason. "A scare with the press and BAM game over?"

Wally noticed how Brendan stiffened suddenly, curved lips falling flat.

"It isn't just some 'odd problem.' Weren't you listening? I'm the son of the top Professor of the entire Hoenn region! The one who's made almost as many breakthroughs as Professor Oak and Rowan, even though he's, like, twenty years younger!"

Wally stayed quiet. He'd noticed the strange people in bushes and the reporters that always seemed to pop out of nowhere when they walked into Oldale but it never really occurred to him how… famous, the Birch family was. Wally paused, and looked closer at Brendan, who had tensed muscles that squared off his shoulders at a painful angle. Was this subject really something that should be discussed when it so obviously was a landmine on Brendan? Especially when May was, really, just a stranger. Wally himself wouldn't feel comfortable enough to talk about this obviously touchy topic with Brendan…

He snapped out of his thoughts as the heated argument went up a few decibels with each line.

"So what? Step out of his shadow then!"

"That's not as easy as you think it is!"

"It's been done before with Professor Oak's grandson—"

"And look at him now! He's a rising star in Pokémon R&D International, and that's after he defeated the Pokémon League of his region! How could I ever measure up to that?"

"Why are you measuring yourself 'up to that'? If you want to take on the Pokémon League then do it, if you want to get into this R&D whatsit then do it. Decide what you want to do — and then resolve to do it! Even my kid brother's chosen his path!"

"Resolve?" Brendan sputtered. "I am resolved! I've done this for year since I turned ten! I work on my papers, research the right places, the right Pokémon, discover and devise, craft and construct, hand 'em over to my dad's assistants and redo the cycle over again. I'm happy!"

"You're not happy!" Wally winced at the high volume.

"Yeah? And how can you tell? I just met you! You're still just a stranger than anything to me!"

The brunette quieted, the fire leaving her eyes replaced by cool glass. "It was your voice: 'discover and devise, craft and construct.' I know a mantra when I hear one, and that kind of one? It's the same I use to go through the worst sort of days, to keep going through the motion, because there's nothing left I can do, no other path I can walk. They're the days I look at myself in the mirror and hate what I see. The days that never seem to end…" her voice lowered and flattened.

Wally seriously wondered to himself how the …conversation (more or less…) had fallen into this. With the depressing silence, he worried his lower lip and folded his hands and just fidgeted in general. A familiar itch was creeping up his throat, and he coughed once—no, twice, which caught the other two's attention.

Feeling the burning gaze of Brendan and the frigid blank one from May, Wally stammered out the first thing that came to mind.

"U-Umm, then why don't you just ch-change? I-Instead of, uh, looking for another path or, uh, keep walking down the same… erm… maybe m-make a new one? Isn't there some saying about 'carving your own path' or something?"

He was totally just spewing nonsense and making everything up on the spot, but as he would later learn, this was the moment of revelation that would affect the duo — their journeys, their dreams, their very lives — and would later impact the rest of the Hoenn world.