Hello again! In this chapter, Brendan and May arrive at their first Gym in Petalburg City. However, they come across minor setbacks...

Aaron Crimson: Thank you, and of course I will (or try to)!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of it's characters.


Thwack! Brendan's face hit a tree branch as he browsed on his Pokedex (Professor Birch sent May and him each a Pokedex earlier).

"Why am I not surprised?" remarked the boy, rubbing his face.

"You shoulda payed more attention! See, look, we're here!" said May, pointing to Petalburg's entrance. They both ran inside, observing the fine surroundings of the city. Brendan stopped all of a sudden after reading the Gym sign.

"Oh no...This is my dad's gym. I highly doubt we can beat him yet. We hardly have any pokemon!" he said.

"You do have a point." replied May. "It says here that you should have at least four badges before coming to this gym... Darnit! I guess we'll have to skip this Gym for now. We should train, too."

"Yeah." Brendan simply replied. "How about we split up until...let's say sundown. We'll meet here in front of the Gym and discuss where we'll rest." May nodded and headed for Petalburg Woods. Brendan decided to head back to Route 2. When he arrived, he noticed a boy with green hair, battling a Raltz with a Zigzagoon.

"Uhm...How do I catch this again?" panicked the boy. Brendan tossed him a Pokeball from behind, hitting him in the back of the head. "Oww!...Wait, where'd this thing come from?" said the confused boy.

"I gave it to you," responded Brendan. "Sorry about making it hit your head, I thought you'd notice, heh heh... Simply throw that ball, called a Pokeball, at the Raltz once you've weakened it enough."

"O-Okay! Zigzagoon, use Tackle!" commanded the green haired boy (with newfound confidence that he knew how to do it). The pokemon did as it was told, and the Raltz was directly hit. He threw the Pokeball at her, and the wild pokemon was caught after a few seconds.

"Great job!" commented Brendan. "Oh, and my name's Brendan."

"Thanks, and I'm Wally." The boy said thankfully and somewhat shyly. The two boys shook hands. "Now, I must return this Zigzagoon to the man that lended it to me. I do hope we can meet again and battle sometime, bye!" said Wally, running off to the Gym.

"Alright, see you later!" said Brendan, waving. "So he borrowed that pokemon from my dad...I knew that Zigzagoon looked familiar. Ah, well, time to start training!" Brendan dashed into the deep grass as he sent out his Mudkip and Wurmple.

-Several hours later-

Brendan and May met at the Gym doors as the sun was setting. May had evolved her Torchic into a Combusken, caught a Shroomish, and caught a Tailow. Brendan still hadn't evolved Mudkip, but Thorn (his Wurmple) had evolved into a Cascoon. He also caught a Seedot.

"The Petalburg Woods were fun! Me and Torchic, or should I say Combusken, had a blast fighting and catching pokemon!" informed May. She was sweaty and smelled like dying plants, but she seemed happy. Brendan liked that.

"Mudkip, Thorn and I enjoyed our exciting training, and we found a new friend, too. I think we should take them all to the Pokemon Center." commented Brendan.

"Agreed. We all trained pretty hard, although I doubt you trained your pokemon to be as strong as mine," teased May as they headed to the PC.

"Yeah, right. Say that to Thorn, he evolved just like your Torchic. I'd clearly win." Brendan protested.

After their pokemon were healed, they went to the Pokemart to buy supplies.

As they exited the store, May asked, "Alright, smart guy, where are we gonna sleep?"

"Hmm, maybe let's try asking some of the local people if we could borrow a room," suggested Brendan.

"Sleep in the same room with you? I need my privacy!" May complained.

"Well, it's that or no room at all." Brendan said, somewhat ticked.

"Then I'll sleep outside!" As if karma had heard their conversation, it started to rain.

Brendan smirked and said, "Are you sure?" May just sighed in defeat. They talked with an elderly couple, and they generously gave them their guest room. There was only one bed, however.

"I call the bed!" claimed the boy as he ran inside.

"Not if I get it first!" shouted May in response. They jumped onto the bed almost simultaneously, with May landing on Brendan's back.

"Oh heck no!" cried May, leaping off the bed, leaving Brendan just laying there in pain. Brendan got up, about to sass at her, but then he looked at her and paused. He grabbed some blankets, spread them on the floor, and slept there without a pillow. He didn't say anything. May just went ahead and went inside what covers were left on the bed. She felt sorry for Brendan, but she was grateful.

"Brendan..?"

"Yeah..?"

"...Thank you."

"Any time."