What happened last chapter: ..."Good night, May." He whispered to her softly, even though he knew she couldn't hear him, and he laid back against his sleeping bag, and closed his eyes, dreaming of nature, and the Pokémon world.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 4: The Fanclub

As he leaned towards her, Brendan suddenly steered from the direction of her lips to her cheek. He placed a kiss on her cheek. May was shocked, and put her hand up near her cheek, to see if it really happened. She stopped crying, and wiped her closed eyes against the sleeve of her shirt. "I'll always be your friend." Brendan smiled weakly, a little guilty. He really had meant to kiss her on the lips.

Somehow, this hurt and helped her at the same time. "Just friends..." she thought. Just friends...it just didn't feel right to her. But she couldn't have high hopes."Well, I don't want to waste anymore time. Do you want to continue our journey?" she grinned back, although nervously.

"Sure," Brendan agreed and took his backpack, full of pokémon research and medical supplies. They continued walking in the direction to Lily Cove, which was a city close to the sea. Then, they would surf with their pokémon to Ever Grande City, where the Pokémon League was.

After a day's worth of walking, Brendan and May were invited to rest inside a kind old lady's home. "'Night, May." said Brendan, his eyelids drooping. "Good night, Brendan." replied May, snuggling under the cozy, warm covers of quilted bed the lady provided for her, and slept, finally, in comfort.

The very next day, May and Brendan waved goodbye to the old lady who had kindly lent them rooms to sleep in. They walked, and stopped near a Fanclub in Lilycove. Smiling fans greeted them, but they really paid their utmost attention to May, the oh-so-called "future champion."

"So..." some fans asked Brendan. "You know the future champion! That's so awesome! I'm so jealous, dude." One of them punched him in the arm.

Some guys envied Brendan. "She's so hot...how come you get to travel with her?" they all eyed her lustfully. Conciously, Brendan could feel a feeling of jealousy and protectiveness rushing through his veins. What was happening to him? Why did he suddenly feel this way?

"Do you have a crush on her?" smiled a little boy. "I heard that when boys grow up they like girls! Which is weird because I think girls are icky."

"Uh...well...I..." Brendan had a loss for words, for he was caught off-guard by the question. In response, he blushed so deeply that the other guys knew it meant "yes".

"Haha! We knew it! Come on...let us give you some advice..." the olderboys pulled him away from the group of female May fans and whispered into his ear. From time to time, Brendan nodded and smiled. Was getting girls like that a piece of cake like they said it was?

Hours later, after prying May out of the begging fingers of the Fanclub, Brendan asked May to walk beside him for a while in the forest. "You know, May," he said, recalling what the boys told him to tell May. "You look beautiful tonight. I mean, like...your outfit is beautiful."He blushed and looked down at his shoes.

May's heart fluttered, although... "Really?...but...I always wear this outfit!" She said, still looking down at her outfit to see if it was still true. Sometimes, unconciously, she checked her outfit to see if it was still clean or if she needed to change. She really hated washing her clothes in the river. These were one of the few times she wished to be home.

Brendan didn't know what to say next. "Well...you look pretty." he tried to compliment her in a not-so-stupid way.

May looked skeptically at him. "Ok. Tell me what's up. I can tell that something is wrong by the guilty look on your face. You sound so...not you." she could only describe that weirdly, she didn't know how to describe Brendan except being nice, handsome, and...what was she saying? She mentally slapped herself on the head.

"Ahh...well...the thing is May...this is hard to say...I like you. I really like you. Like...beyond liking." sputtered out Brendan stupidly. The Inner Brendan smacked him in the face.

At least they had something in common.

"Those were lot of 'like's." smiled May. "The thing is...Brendan...well, I like you too." she reponded shyly.

"...Really?" relief was very evident in Brendan's voice, so was joy. "...uh...Good!"

"Yeah..." replied May shyly, looking at the ground. Brendan went with his first instinct and couldn't control it. Helifted her face gently with his two fingers, so he could look into her blue sky-colored eyes. "Your eyes...they're so pretty...like sapphires." he mummured. All May could see were his lips...those beautiful lips...and went closer towards them.

May and Brendan were holding each other close, experiencing ecstasy, bliss and heatedness at once. Their cold, lonely little world was now warm and open. What they didn't know was that right now, a pesky camera man was busy videotaping the whole scenario. "This is going...to be the talk of the Hoenn region." he grinned mischieviously, looking back into the camera.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preview of the Next Chapter, "Found Out":

...On the PokeNews, a newscaster was discussing the weather, and moments later, the weatherman's program was interrupted by a new caster who was smiling devilishly, looking at the screen, staring at more than 1000 faces live.

"It has been known for about a few minutes that May Maple, the next Pokemon champion and Brendan Birch, Professor Birch's son, are a couple. For those who asked for proof, please see the next few moments of footage we have newly acquired."...