Whoop, whoop.

The plot is, *gasp*, moving ever forward.


"Mmm…"

May took a moment to stand still and enjoy the warmth of the morning sun on her face as she left Oldale town. A light breeze ruffled her bangs, and with it came the sound of taillow chirping in the distance. She inhaled the fresh smell of grass imbued with the sweet aroma of nearby pecha berries. Though May's surroundings initially had a calming effect on her, her anticipation for what's to come was simply too exciting. She could feel the grin growing on her face as thoughts of her new journey came back, so she opened her sapphire blue eyes and started humming a catchy song as she continued walking forward.

See? I knew mom would let me travel once I showed her my Mudkip. May could feel a smirk on her face.

In fact, not only was her mom ecstatic to hear that May had a new pokemon, but she even gave her a cotton bag filled with pokedollars! May touched her fanny pack in memory, knowing that it contained not only her necessities, but also her money. Her mom even got up early to cook an extra large breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, sausage, and fruit salad. May's mouth watered at the memory of maple syrup and butter, her taste recalling the rich flavor as though she had just taken a bite.

"I have such a weakness to food", May said out loud with a sigh.

May was excited beyond belief that her time for adventure had finally come! And yet… something was missing. Like, a companion.

I'm so bored! May inwardly groaned, kicking a rock with the toe of her shoe as she walked. It skidded ahead till finally resting at the edge of a grassy patch, May's blue eyes lazily following its path.

Suddenly, May was pulled out of her reverie by the sight of a familiar black clad butt sticking out of the long grass up ahead.

No way… May grinned mischievously, her penchant for mischief taking over. She slowed her walk to a creep, and her fingers twitched in anticipation. Drawing closer so she was right behind Brendan, May could hear the subtle cursing coming from the professor's son.

"Mother son of a- oh, c'mon! Where'd it go?" Brendan muttered under his breath, eyes roaming the grass before him in search of something.

Almost… May's grin grew even bigger as she leaned over Brendan's hunched form.

Suddenly, the twig her foot was standing on snapped as she leaned forward, the added pressure being too much for it to withstand.

Crap! As soon as she saw Brendan start to whip his head back, she launched forward and pushed his shoulders back into the earth, shouting "RAAAARGHHH!" right in his face.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Brendan yelled at the top of his lungs, his ruby red eyes as large as saucers, and his hands in front of his face in weak defense.

May started howling with laughter, tears in her eyes. "Hahahaha! Oh my g- hahahaha!"

She tried to regain her composure enough to talk, but after remembering the look of horror on Brendan's face when she startled him, she lost it again. "Ahahahaha! I'm sorry, I just- hahaha!, can't help it. You f-face was so-pfffff, hahahaha!"

Brendan scowled at May and got up from his position on the ground with his arms crossed in indignation, though she was laughing so hard she didn't notice. "Wow, thank you May. I've only spent the last half hour searching for the skitty I spotted, and then you come along and FREAKING RUIN IT."

At this, May opened her eyes and quelled her laughter enough to say, "Uh, that skitty was probably long gone. With the way your butt was up in the air? It would have to be blind to miss you."

Brendan just rolled his eyes and muttered a "Whatever, still rude" before snatching his bag off the ground and stomping ahead on the path.

Ok, so she's probably right, but still. He shook his head and frowned. Talk about embarrassing as hell.

May stopped her laughing and took off after Brendan's form. Once she caught up (much to Brendan's chagrin), she twirled around in front of him with a bright smile, walking backwards to keep ahead.

"Sooo… whatchya doing?"

"Trying to get away from you."

"Oh, come on Brendy-poo, don't be like that. Where's your sense of humor?"

Brendan stopped with a huff and gave May a piercing glare. "Fine, but first? Don't ever call me Brendy-poo." He gave a look of disgust when muttering it. "Second? I'm going to try to find the skitty you chased off for my dad since it showed signs of having a rare ability. Once that's done, I'm headed to Petalburg City."

May brightened at this. Wow, talk about perfect timing! We may have gotten off to a rough start, but I just know traveling with someone, even him, has GOT to be more exciting than doing it by myself.

She snapped her fingers in decision and gave Brendan a one-hundred watt smile. "Sweet! I'm headed to Petalburg City too! We might as well go together."

Brendan was about to shrug May's offer off and decline, but his dad's words echoed in his head, "Keep an eye out for her… she'll probably need a lot of help."

Well, Brendan thought, I did say I'm a nice guy, so I can't really leave her to fend for herself…

"Hellooooo, earth to Brendan." May knocked on Brendan's head with her knuckles, startling him slightly.

"Jeez, take a chill pill, I was thinking", Brendan responded.

May crossed her arms and pouted, looking slightly offended. "Uh, you should be flattered that I want to travel with you."

Brendan sighed, and after deciding his dad would kill him if he found out he ran into May only to ditch her, he gave the girl a resounding "Sure, we can go together."

May grinned and pumped her fist in the air in excitement, "YAY!"

"-But on one condition." Brendan interjected. May looked sidelong at him, waiting for him to continue. "You have to help me find that rare skitty you shooed away."

May didn't even pause. "Pshhh, you got it! Piece of cake."

Brendan couldn't help but crack a smile at her enthusiasm, her cheery disposition being semi contagious and all.

"I promise you I'm great company. I mean, really, I can even sing!" At that, May started humming a popular Hoenn tune that's replayed on t.v. way too often.

Brendan moaned out load and rolled his eyes. "Oh hell no, don't start that."


"Ok, I know I said I'd help you find your super special skitty and all, but this is just ridiculous," May groaned out loud as she and Brendan finished searching for the pokemon in another patch of tall grass, only to come up empty.

Brendan couldn't disagree. The two had been scouring grassy spots for the last couple hours, and at this point they were starving.

*grargggghhhh*

May put a hand on her stomach and looked at Brendan pointedly, "See? Even my stomach agrees. Let's head to your dad's lab, give him the news, grab a bite to eat, then head to Petalburg city already."

Brendan sighed, then nodded his head in agreement. "Fine, let's go."

The two companions walked back to Professor Birch's lab in Littleroot town so Brendan could share his report. Unfortunately, that also meant telling his dad that he lost the rare skitty they'd been watching for the last week. Ugh… this sucks. All that searching for nothing.

Finally standing in front of the lab entrance, Brendan swung the door open, holding it so that May could enter. Huh, May thought as she walked into the lab, he may be an arrogant arse, but apparently he isn't completely hopeless.

As if hearing her thoughts, Brendan suddenly stuck his foot out in front of May so she had no choice but to stumble, just barely catching herself before she tripped.

May whipped her head around to give Brendan a death glare, but he was closing the door behind him nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets, feigning innocence.

I take it back! May thought fiercely. He's a stupid, melodramatic, arrogant bastard through and through!

Brendan strode forward to talk to his dad, who was currently sitting in his favorite chair fiddling with a small handheld machine. With a small smirk, he thought to himself, I may have agreed to let May travel with me till Petalburg city, but there is no way I'm going to let the trip be all sunshine and rainbows. What with bumping into me, jumping me, ruining my pokemon research, and humming annoying ass songs for hours, the girl has another thing coming.

Professor Birch looked up from what he was doing as Brendan approached him and gave him a welcoming smile. "Brendan, my boy! So, how'd it go? Did you catch the skitty we spotted?"

Brendan looked to the side with a frown, mumbling the verdict with disdain, "Almost, but it got away." He shoved his thumb back to point at May, who was currently fiddling with a blinking piece of technology on the far side of the lab. "Thanks to this girl."

Ignoring his son's accusation, Professor Birch lit up as he realized May was here as well and waved his hand at her in greeting. "May, I'm so glad to see you again! It looks like you met up with my son."

May startled at the professor's voice, her head whipping towards him in surprise as her concentration with the gadget before her broke. Unfortunately, her thumb pushed a button on the piece of technology when she changed her focus to Professor Birch, causing it to emit flashing red lights in alarm along with a terrible screeching sound.

"Ahhhh!" May jumped at the sudden noise in panic, dropping the gadget to the lab's floor in the process. It shattered into pieces as it hit the hard linoleum, the screeching reverting to a *yeeooooww* before finally going dead.

"..."

The silence was finally broken by May's awkward laugh, "ehehe… I, uh, can fix that. I think." She scratched her head sheepishly and kicked the electronic's pieces to the side with her foot. "Sorry."

Brendan slapped a hand to his forehead in irritation and groaned, "Seriously May?"

Conveniently deciding to ignore Mays hiccup, Professor Birch drew his eyes from the broken pieces back to May's face, calling her over with a hand gesture and smile. "C'mon over, I have something for you."

May walked over to where Brendan and the professor were standing, her curiosity piqued.

Professor Birch held out the small device he was fiddling with earlier in his right hand and motioned to May with his left. "If I could have your PokeNav please?" After opening the zipper of her fanny pack, May dug around for a second before handing him her white and red PokeNav Plus. After obtaining it, the professor used the small device in his right hand and a series of buttons on the PokeNav Plus to mess with the device till he was satisfied, then returned the machine to May. "There, now your PokeNav Plus is updated like Brendan's!" At this the professor clapped Brendan on the back with his hand, but the young trainer just rolled his eyes. "The new features will help you on your journey, especially in the beginning," Professor Birch informed May.

"Yeah, that's nice and all of you dad, but you really didn't need to do that." Brendan pointed at May then back to himself. "Turns out we're traveling together till Petalburg City, and since we all know what an awesome trainer I am, I'll make sure to teach this noob how to survive in the pokemon world." Brendan smirked and crossed his arms.

May pinched Brendan hard on the arm.

"Ow!" He yelped, his fingers immediately rubbing the sore spot. "What the hell May?!" He yelled as he gave her an accusatory look.

Ugh, this know-it-all weenie, May thought.

She put one hand on her hip and gave Brendan an annoyed look. "First of all smartypants, I'm not a noob. I may have only just gotten my first pokemon, but I haven't exactly been living in a box all my life. I know what the pokemon world is like since I've been living in it since, I don't know, I came out of the womb." May flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I may be from Johto originally, but pokemon are pokemon no matter what region you're in. I mean, jeez, my dad is a gym leader for goodness sake, so I'm not totally ignorant." May huffed as she finished her small tirade.

Before Brendan could respond with a snarky comment, Professor Birch clapped his hands together in excitement. "Wonderful! I see you two are getting along well."

May and Brendan both stared at the professor incredulously. What the? As if I could get along with this brat, Brendan thought to himself. By the look on May's face, she was thinking the same thing.

"And what's more?", the professor continued, "It looks like you are traveling together too! This is just great, I can't wait to see what adventures you two have and what pokemon you come across." Professor Birch started pushing the two young trainers out the door, one hand on each of their backs. Before they could protest, May and Brendan found themselves shoved outside the lab.

"Have an exciting journey you two!"

The two dumbfounded teenagers looked back to see the professor waving at them cheerily from the lab's doorway. "And don't forget to stick together! There will be times when you find yourself in trouble, and having a friend by your side could mean life or death." And with that, Professor Birch turned and entered his lab, the front door closing solidly behind him.

"..."

"..."

"Well," Brendan began, "guess that's that." He turned and started walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?! Don't leave without me you… you… butt-munch!" May yelled at Brendan's retreating form, picking up her pace so she could catch up with him.


"Howy ship," Brendan said through a mouthful of food. After chewing some more, he swallowed and patted his belly in contentment. "Your mom makes bomb food."

May stopped licking the excess jam off her fingers, which was all that was left of the homemade razz berry scone she just devoured, and looked Brendan's way with a grin. "I told you she did, didn't I?"

The new companions had made a pit stop at May's house after leaving Professor Birch's lab. May's mom was more than surprised to see her daughter back after seeing her off just that morning, but quickly filled the bellies of Brendan and May with scrumptious sandwiches and sweets. Of course, May remembered to snatch a few extra pastries for the journey. She patted her fanny pack with a lazy smile.

Oh yes, I'll be enjoying these warm, tasty pieces of heaven later. She licked her lips in anticipation.

It's now late afternoon and the two teenagers were nearing Oldale Town. Brendan, who had been walking beside May thus far, suddenly looked over at his female companion with a smirk. I'm bored as hell, so time to spice things up, he thought.

Putting his hands behind his head, Brendan soaked up the sun rays and casually asked May, "You want to have a pokemon battle?"

"No," May replied without hesitation.

The thought of intentionally using pokemon still rubbed her the wrong way. I may be stuck with a Mudkip, but that doesn't mean my opinion on pokemon is going to suddenly change and make me want to be a top trainer or anything.

Brendan was irked at her response and lowered his arms to look over at her in frustration. "Oh c'mon, you're not even going to consider a battle? I'm flipping bored May!" Brendan figured she wouldn't last long in a battle against him and his pokemon, but it would still be better than the anticlimactic experience his trainer debut was starting off as.

"Look, I know you're a noob at this and all-" May shot Brendan a glare as the words left his mouth, "-but who better to show you how it's done than me, someone who's battled pokemon for a few years now?" Brendan shot May a cocky grin.

May grit her teeth in annoyance. Just ignore the stuck up arse May. You should have seen this coming when you asked for him to travel with you. Which was a decision she's been beginning to regret.

But Brendan kept rattling on. "Seriously though, you should take advantage of me while you can. I could give you a few pointers, you know? Help you to not get demolished by experienced trainers like me in the future."

Ignorehimignorehimignorehim, May repeated over and over in her head like a mantra.

"..."

There was a long pause between the two of them.

Fine, Brendan thought as another smirk grew on his face, if she won't willingly battle, I'll make her.

"Hey skittle tits", Brendan said in May's direction, fingering the lone pokeball strapped to his belt. "You scared or something? Afraid that I'll wipe the floor with you? Not that I blame you… I mean, let's be honest, you don't stand a chance against me in battle."

May was infuriated. THAT'S IT! Who the hell is he calling skittle tits?!

She rounded on Brendan and shoved her finger in his face, her patience snapping. "If a battle is what you want Brendan Birch, then a battle is what you get! I'm going to wipe that infuriating smirk off your face!"

Brendan's grin only grew wider as he saw May lose it. He backed away from her in excitement, his adrenaline kicking in. After snatching his pokeball off his belt and enlarging it, Brendan gave May a wink. "Ladies first."

His cocky attitude just fueled the fire in May, so she grabbed her only pokeball from its place hooked on her fanny pack's strap, enlarged it, and threw it at the place between Brendan and herself.

"Mudkip, I choose you!" A flash of light revealed the Mudkip in all his pudgy blue glory, his usual smile replaced with what was supposed to be a fiercely intimidating glare.

"Pfffff.. Hahaha!" Brendan laughed as he took in the sight of May's pokemon, which just irritated May even more and caused her to shake her fists in anger. The poor Mudkip just looked back at his trainer in horror upon realizing his battle face was being made fun of. He'd been practicing it in his pokeball for hours!

"Sorry, but it's hilarious seeing him all serious like… as if he stood a chance against my Hotwings!" At this, Brendan threw his pokeball near the still insulted Mudkip to reveal his Torchic in a flash of light.

Now it was May's turn to laugh.

"Hahahahah!" She was howling with laughter, bent over from the force of her giggles. "You- Ah, hahahaha!" Even May's Mudkip spared his trainer a concerned glance, worried by the force of her laughs and tears in her eyes.

Brendan's Torchic just stood her ground, a look of contempt on her face.

"Shut up! Why the hell does everyone always laugh when I bring her out? Look at her, she's badass!" Hotwings slowly turned her head to glare daggers at her trainer.

"Hahaha! It's because- pfffff", May had to compose herself some so she could talk, "you named her Hotwings." After saying the ridiculous nickname, May had to bring her gloved hand to her mouth to quickly stifle her giggles.

Beyond furious, Brendan returned his attention to the battle at hand."Enough talking! Hotwings, use scratch now!"

The Torchic quickly took action at her trainer's command and dashed forward to land a series of scratches on the Mudkip's face. May's Mudkip howled in pain and jumped back from the aggressive Torchic.

May's attention quickly returned to the battle as she heard her Mudkip's pained cry. Fudge! Time to get your head in the game May. No way are you letting this turd beat you.

"Mudkip, use growl!" May shouted.

The water type pokemon grit its teeth and guttered out an impressive growl at Torchic, lowering the fire type's attack. Better to lower stats before the battle gets too serious, May affirmed herself. Like she told Brendan before, she wasn't totally ignorant on pokemon. Being home schooled by a gym leader meant that May inevitably became knowledgeable on pokemon strengths and weakness, and the basics of battle. Therefore, even though his pokemon was a few levels higher, she knew that Brendan was at a disadvantage since fire is weak to water.

While May strategized in her head, brendan wasted no time retaliating.

"Torchic, use scratch again!"

"Mudkip, dodge it!" May yelled immediately after.

The fire type leaped towards the Mudkip and raked its claws along the pokemon's flank before it could move more than an inch.

So fast! May thought. There was no time for Mudkip to get out of the way.

"Bubble, now!" May yelled.

"Dodge it Hotwings!" Brendan retaliated.

May's Mudkip opened its mouth to let out a torrid of bubbles at Hotwings, but the torchic easily jumped out of the way. Knowing ember wouldn't be as effective, Brendan repeated the same command.

"Use scratch again! You've almost got him Hotwings."

And it was true. Though Brendan's torchic is a few levels higher than it's opponent, both pokemon are young and fairly low level in general. Their exhaustion was evident as Hotwings had to take a deep breath before she rushed at the Mudkip, claws extended. The water type pokemon wasn't looking much better as it took in heavy breaths of air, red claw marks covering its body from the earlier attacks.

Knowing her Mudkip may not be able to take another hit to the face, and that the torchic will be on him any second now, May yelled, "Quick, spin around and block with your tail!"

The Mudkip did just that, it's thick and hardy blue tail taking the brunt of Hotwings' scratch attack. A look of surprise crossed both Brendan face and his Torchic's.

"Keep turning and use bubble!" May commanded.

The Mudkip didn't stop it's spin, and just before completing its three-sixty it let out another torrid of bubbles. Hotwings tried to jump out of the way, but it was too late. The beam of bubbles hit the fire type pokemon right in the face at close range.

Brendan took in his pokemon's condition with worry etched on his face. "Stay conscious Hotwings, you can do it!" he yelled in encouragement.

No way, just no way. I can't lose to that amateur. But he could already see Hotwings stumbling, and with a slightly dazed look, she collapsed to the ground in a faint. Damn. Brendan returned Hotwings to her pokeball and muttered soothing words to it, "You did your best Hotwings. We'll get them next time."

Meanwhile, May felt a surge of pride for her and her Mudkip, and was currently doing a happy dance, her hips shimmying back and forth. "Woohoo, heck to the yes! See that Brendan? Me and my Mudkip just opened a major can of whoop ass on you!" she yelled with a huge grin.

Brendan just rolled his eyes, muttering, "beginners luck" under his breath.

Mudkip looked up at his trainer tiredly, his usual wide smile back in place. May gave him a thumbs up and wink as she walked over to him. The adrenaline from the pokemon battle was still surging through her body, and winning made her almost giddy.

She bent down to her pokemon's level and placed an affectionate hand on his rubbery forehead. "You were amazing," she told him with a dazzling smile. The Mudkip wore an elated grin as he returned to his pokeball, which May soon returned to it's place on her fanny pack's strap.

"I hope you know I went easy on you," Brendan said out loud before May could gloat more. "You're welcome."

May just rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Pshh, yeah, that's totally what happened. Cause you know, it would be such a shame if I actually beat you fair and square," she said sarcastically as she and Brendan returned to walking side by side to Oldale Town.

"Exactly."

"Ugh, whatever. You just don't want to admit that I kicked your booty."

"You had a type advantage."

"That didn't stop you from bragging about all your skill and experience before."

"Gah, just shut up, you got lucky."

"Whatever you say sore loser."

"Stank face."

"Wurmple licker."

"Skittle tits."

May smacked Brendan upside the head and shot him a smoldering glare. "Rude! Stop calling me that already."

Brendan gave her an appraising sidelong glance once May turned away with a huff. May was fairly curvy actually and filled out her tight shirt and bike shorts well. Brendan smirked to himself anyway. But the nickname get's to her every time. It's perfect.

The remainder of their short journey to Oldale Town went like this, with the two young trainers bickering back and forth, each insult spewed from their mouths becoming more and more creative and colorful. At the end of the ordeal, the same thought ran through both Brendan' and May's head - Why did I agree to travel with them of all people.

Once May and Brendan made it to the lush and green Oldale Town, they immediately went to the Pokemon Center to heal their battle weary pokemon. Brendan held the door open for May, who in turn looked at him with suspicion. Getting irritated with the delay, Brendan sighed and told her, "Jeez, don't worry. I won't do anything, so c'mon."

Finally, May decided to risk it and walked through mumbling a, "thanks then" on her way inside the building.

May walked up to Nurse Joy behind the front counter and handed her lone pokeball over, giving the pinkette nurse one of her sunny smiles.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center," Nurse Joy said, returning May's smile with one of her own. "Would you like me to heal your pokemon?"

May nodded her head and answered, "Yes please!" then stepped to the side while Nurse Joy placed the pokeball onto a soft cotton-lined tray, which was picked up by a pink Clefairy and delivered to a room down the hallway for healing.

Brendan walked up next and handed his own pokeball over to Nurse Joy. After seeing it off with the Clefairy and thanking the cheery woman behind the counter, Brendan sat down in one of the plush blue couches in the corner of the room.

May joined him, then turned to him with a curious look and asked, "So what exactly happens to our pokemon after the Clefairy take them?"

"Well," Brendan started as he slouched some to get more comfortable, "How my dad explained it to me is that the Clefairy take the tray of pokeballs to a room where a large machine is located." May nodded her head and waited for him to continue. "Then they place the pokeballs into the machine's slots and hook them up to a series of wires, one connected to a source of power and the other to a Clefairy. The Clefairy uses it's healing ability on the pokeballs with the additional boost from technology, which heals the majority of ailments a pokemon may have."

May nodded her head in understanding, then looked up when she saw the same Clefairy from before return with a tray carrying her's and Brendan's pokeballs. They accepted their pokeballs graciously, then said thank you and left.

Brendan pulled out his orange PokeNav Plus from his backpack and checked the time. "Hey May, if we want to make it to Petalburg City before nightfall, we better pick up the pace," he said, his fingers pressing a few buttons on the small machine.

"Well, hurry up then slowpoke!" came May's distant reply. Brendan looked up from his PokeNav Plus to see her already quite a few yards away, her hand waving at him to hurry, and a sunny smile on her face.

"What the-," Brendan quickly threw the gadget in his hands into his green backpack, swung the bag over his shoulder, and hurried to catch up. They had a lot of ground to cover while the sun was still up, and they were bound to run into all manner of obstacles on their way.

Little did the two young companions know, their journey was just now starting, and it would only prove to become increasingly more arduous as time went by. Brendan's and May's future was to be filled with plenty of laughs, arguments, and exciting battles, but not everything was fun and games. Unbeknownst to them, something dark and ominous was brewing in the background. The two adventurous teenagers will have to grow much, much stronger and learn to depend on one another if they plan to overcome the forces they will inevitably face. Will they be able to get over their differences and grow as both trainers and individuals before it's too late?

Only time will tell.


Author's note:

DUN, DUN, DUNNN.

I hope you guys enjoyed the second chapter! The plot will be slowly picking up, so you can look forward to that.

Reviews are always welcome and appreciated! 3