March 22. Early morning. Petalburg City Gym.

May Maple's day was off to a terrible start, and it wasn't even seven in the morning.

First of all, she couldn't sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep pretty much all night, and she had no clue why.

Well, okay, that was kind of a lie. She knew the reason she couldn't sleep. It was because every single time she finally settled down and got comfortable, this strange feeling crept over her. Like she was being watched, listened to, tailed somehow...

It was irrational, May knew, but it still made it nearly impossible for her to sleep. Whenever she did manage to drift off throughout the night, she would fall into a restless and fitful sleep, tossing and turning until she finally woke herself back up. And while she did know that the strange feeling was the reason, she had no idea why she was even getting such an odd sensation.

Eventually, morning came, and May woke up... on the floor. She was sore all over, and she probably hadn't gotten more than a measly two or three hours of sleep, but she wasn't about to try and go back to sleep. It would be a fruitless effort; even though she had never been a morning person, May figured that sleeping in was not going to be a successful endeavor this time around.

She struggled to disentangle herself from her blankets - if there was one thing that being tired did to her, it made her even more clumsy than usual - and stumbled out of her bedroom and down the hallway.

She'd been home for awhile now. Following her Hoenn, Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh journeys, May had come back to Hoenn to visit her family before the new season started. She also wanted to retry the Pokemon Contest League here in Hoenn. This year, May told herself determinedly, is going to be my best yet.

Then there was Drew. She blushed a little thinking about him. May wasn't sure where her rival would be going this year, but she could only hope he would be in Hoenn again, too.

As for Ash, well, she knew he'd be heading off to some new region this year, yet again. "Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova so far," May mused to herself. "Wonder where he'll go next..."

Then there was Max, who - as May well knew - would be finally starting his Pokemon journey this year. May smiled to herself; that would be exciting. She knew he'd been looking forward to this for years...

"Okay," May decided. "I'll train a little today, and" - she broke off with a yawn - "then maybe I'll go see Drew..."

Then she tripped and fell into the wall, leaving a very ugly bruise on her left cheek.

No, May Maple's day was definitely not starting off right.

March 22. Early morning. Pallet Town.

Ash woke up early that morning.

He knew the moment his eyes snapped open that he wasn't about to fall back asleep. Seeing that Pikachu was still snoozing beside him, he was quiet and careful as he got up, got dressed, and headed out of his room.

Now, I'm sure we all know that Ash's idea of "quiet" and "careful" goes a little something like this: fall out of bed, hobble over to his dresser, knock over his lamp, whisper-yell "I'm sorry" as loud as possible, slam open his dresser drawers, grab his clothes, step on an old toy Nidoking whose spikes hadn't gotten any less sharp, and jump around the room crying "OW!" multiple times.

Needless to say, Pikachu woke up soon enough, as did Ash's mother.

"It's alright," Delia said with a smile, trying to convince her son that his profuse apologies were unnecessary. "I needed to get up early to make those pancakes anyway..."

She winked at him then, and both Ash and Pikachu perked up right away.

What was he supposed to be sorry for again?

"Mmmmm," Ash said happily as he munched on his fifteenth (or maybe sixteenth) pancake. "Mom... you are the most AMAZING cook... on the PLANET."

"Pika!" Pikachu protested. "Pika-chu, pika!"

Ash frowned for a moment, trying to decipher what Pikachu meant, then laughed. "Well, I'm not saying Brock and Cilan aren't good," he promised, "but no one can hold a candle to Mom."

"Thank you, Ash dear," Delia said with a smile. She turned to gaze thoughtfully at Pikachu. "Isn't it interesting how you can understand what Pikachu's saying?"

Ash grinned, and his mother cringed at the view of half-chewed food. "Well, I mean, we're partners," he said after swallowing. "Of course we get each other, y'know?"

Delia was about to respond when, suddenly, a shiver ran down her spine, and a strange feeling settled down upon her - almost as if she were being watched somehow. She paused for a moment to glance uneasily about the room.

"Mom?" Ash prompted, cocking his head, as Pikachu did the same. "What's wrong?"

Delia shook her head, trying to rid herself of the feeling. She put on another smile for her son. "Nothing, dear."

But though she didn't feel it anymore, something was still watching.

March 22. Late morning. Cerulean City Gym.

"Misty?"

The redhead looked up at her sister's voice. "Daisy," she sighed. Bags of exhaustion hung under her eyes. She hadn't even tried to sleep last night. When her father - the mere thought of him made her want to spit - had called last night, she had found herself somehow unable to hang up the phone. She had stared, transfixed, as he spoke to her in cold monotone.

There was no "I'm sorry." No important reason why he had left them, no justification for abandoning her family. There were no sentiments, either. Granted, Misty hadn't really been expecting any kind of "I love you" or "I miss you" after all this time, but she sorely felt the absence of those simple words.

He'd even had the nerve to call her his daughter! What kind of a man does that? Leaves his family, then calls back years later and acts like nothing happened? Like he can still claim them as family? The moment he hung up, Misty had stormed around the house for a good ten minutes, venting her frustration and pretending the walls were listening.

But as soon as she had calmed down, his warning came back to haunt her.

Was it even true?

And if so, what difference did it make? She was just a girl; a gym leader, sure, but only a fifteen-year-old girl whose name wasn't nearly as well known as some other hotshot trainers out there.

Did what her father told her really affect her at all?

"Misty, you need to listen."

"Leave me alone, you - you - "

"I must warn you."

"No! You abandoned us! Why shouldn't I just hang up now?"

"You could," he said coldly, uncaringly. For some reason, though, Misty didn't hang up. Rather, she clutched the receiver to her ear, suddenly anxious to hear what this man had to say that made him contact her for the first time in years.

"You're in danger," her father continued, apparently seeing she had no intention of ending the call. "I assume you've heard of the organization called Team Rocket?" Seeing her nod, he kept going. "I have discovered that their leader, Giovanni, plans to take control of this entire nation."

She snorted. "Tell me something I don't know. They've wanted to take over Kanto since I can remember, and they never get anywhere."

"I am speaking of the entire nation. All of Napaj. All five regions."

His tone unsettled her, but she tried to act nonchalant. "So they've expanded their horizons a little. Is that all?"

She moved to hang up the phone, but hesitated for one brief moment, and that brief moment was enough.

"Team Rocket is stronger than you believe. There is something they have been working on for years now, something the likes of which has never been seen before," her father snarled. "And soon they plan to unleash it."

"Mewtwo," Misty mumbled under her breath, recalling suddenly the encounter they'd had on Mount Quena. "Oh, don't tell me they're trying that again..."

Her father either didn't hear her comment or ignored it. "This could put the entire world in danger. You especially." His face remained hard and cold as if made of stone.

"I've warned you. Now goodbye, Misty Waterflower."

She stiffened quite suddenly at the way he used her last name. He hung up, but still she didn't move, turning his words over and over in her mind...

The way he'd said "Waterflower"...

As if it wasn't his own surname as well.

After the call, Misty had spent at least two hours trying to figure out what on earth he had meant by that. "If you're going to warn someone, no need to be so doggone cryptic about it," she had grumbled to herself.

Finally, though, she decided to go to sleep. She would tell her sisters about it in the morning, but for now, she needed rest...

But somehow, for some reason, she just couldn't drift off.

And then she had received her second late-night call from a virtual stranger, except this time, the news was far more unsettling.

So Misty had gotten to packing, because she had a trip to make to Viridian City.

March 22. Late morning. Petalburg City.

Drew Hayden didn't quite know how he'd ended up in May's hometown. It was something along the lines of her dragging him back to meet her family and so they could train together and so they could start their journey together and, oh look, she'd happened to buy an extra boat ticket four weeks ago, and already made reservations in a little motel down the street from her house! What a coincidence.

So, yes, he had ended up in Petalburg City somehow, and it was partially against his will. But Drew didn't mind so much. It was a nice town, and the air was fresh and clear - nothing like his hometown. LaRousse City was pretty much the opposite of nature, so Petalburg's simplistic environmental beauty was a welcome change of pace.

His Pokemon clearly loved it, too. Roserade especially seemed to enjoy the fresh air.

All in all, there was really no problem with being in Petalburg City except for May's father.

Norman Maple had mastered the death glare, to the point where it literally sent a shiver down Drew's spine. He didn't know what the guy's deal was. It wasn't like he was being cruel to May or anything! It had been three years since he had met the naive little brunette in Slateport City, since he had been an ignorant, obnoxious brat. They'd both come a long way since then. In fact, it had been May herself who taught Drew that a person didn't have to be the best to be worth something.

But Drew had a feeling that Norman's threatening scowls weren't because of how spiteful and unkind he had once been to May.

No, it was more because of how close the two had become since then.

"Jeez, May," Drew grumbled as he pushed open the door to his motel room and stepped out into the hallway. "Why d'you have to have such an overprotective dad?"

The young brunette yawned and stretched as she walked down the path toward the motel. She was still sleepy - well, of course she was still sleepy. She was probably going to be sleepy all day, considering she hadn't gotten a wink last night.

May yawned again.

She really liked sleep.

"This is going to be a long day," the fourteen-year-old mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

March 22. Around noon. Viridian City.

If Dawn Berlitz remembered correctly, the exact words he had said were, "Waterflower. Misty Waterflower. Right... and that one kid... Ketchum, wasn't it?"

She had been walking home last night when it happened. Well, not home, exactly - she was actually heading to the Pokemon Center where she was staying in Viridian City - but not that it mattered. She was walking down the street when she saw him.

A rather bedraggled-looking man, isn't he, the blunette had noted, her brow creasing with anxiety as she gave him a once-over. He was pacing across the sidewalk beside a dark alleyway, muttering things under his breath, face unrecognizable under the cover of darkness. Instintively, Dawn's hand had drifted over her small pink shoulder bag, where she kept her Pokeballs.

And then she had heard him speak, as she walked by...

Hearing his words, Dawn gasped, freezing for a brief moment. She recognized those names.

She turned her head, risking a glance back at the man, who gave her an odd look. She looked him up and down once more, this time catching something she hadn't last time.

His jacket pocket bore the Team Rocket insignia...

He followed her gaze. Their eyes locked, and she saw his eyes narrow.

Dawn called out her Togekiss and got away from there as fast as possible.

That had been last night. Now, in the morning light, Dawn resolved she was not going to leave her Pokemon Center room all day.

The entire reason she was in Kanto was to try out the Contest League here. After traveling through Sinnoh and then Hoenn, Dawn had decided to travel through Kanto next. She was expecting exciting Contests, a fresh new start, beautiful cities, and a chance to catch new Pokemon.

She definitely hadn't expected to come across a member of Team Rocket muttering the names of her friends.

So now Dawn waited in her room in the Pokemon Center for a certain visitor from Cerulean City, hoping that she'd get here soon, and all the while wondering what could possibly be going on.

There you go!

It's been awhile - too long, I suppose - but I hope you enjoyed today's chapter. Trust me, next chapter will be longer and action-packed, and you'll see a lot more characters and ships, too! ;3