w00p w00p. I'm almost to the fifty review page mark. I feel so loved.

Disclaimer: Never had and never will own Pokémon.

The Boat Ride to Dewford

Brendan felt cold. He sure it was to be expected seeing as the entire city was made out of stone and he was blanketed in the shadow of a very tall building. As he looked out the window, staring at the wall of said towering building, he couldn't help but contemplate his journey so far ... rather his journey with that annoying, bratty girl. It made him depressed; he would be stuck with her for at least a year. How was he supposed to survive that? But then, out of the abyss (well, the sliding doors) was the bright, very pleased May who bounced into the pokémon center, her radiance blinding him like the intensity of a million suns. How annoying. She took the seat across from Brendan, noticing that he gave her the side-eye but chose not to comment on it. She then watched as Mudkip noisily slurped up his water before slopping up the rest of his pokémon food on the table, smudging his mouth with smashed food.

May was back earlier than she said she would be. She must have failed catching pokémon. Better rub it in. "Hmm, you're here early," Brendan remarked slyly, looking at the time of his pokenav. "No luck catching pokémon?" He puffed out his chest. "I caught a–"

"Actually, you brat," interrupted May, raising an eyebrow. "I did catch some pokémon." She looked up thoughtfully and started to list them off, counting them on her fingers. "I caught a wingull, and a wurmple, and a slankoth! I nicknamed him Brendan. Just kidding! It would be an insult to the pokémon."

"Well gee. Thanks," Brendan replied sarcastically, picking at his pancakes with a fork. He swirled the syrup around his plate. "I caught a–"

"Andddd ..." May interrupted him again, "I also caught a Skitty! I only kept her and the wurmple on my team, though. I named the skitty Skittles–"

"Wow, that's very creative." Brendan rolled his eyes. "How long did it take you to think of that name? A day or two?"

"–and I named my wurmple ... I named my wurmple ... Actually, I don't think I named my wurmple yet. It's sad really. She's the only one without a nickname. Now I know how you feel. But I wouldn't know what to name her anyway! She could be a Dustox or a Beautifly! I'm hoping for a Beautifly. They're so ... beautiful."

"Uh, great," Brendan replied, unsure if the last statement was a sarcastic remark or a pity call. "Wait, how did you get a Skitty? I thought you only went past Petalburg Forest. The skitty breed doesn't live anywhere near Petalburg."

"I did, but it was still too early to go back, so I went ahead and went to Route 116, and I caught my Skittles!" May said jubilantly, raising her fist in the air. "So what were you saying earlier? Something about catching something?"

"Huh?" Brendan seem preoccupied with watching Mudkip and his eating habits. "Oh, I just caught a nincada and a whismur – not as many as your collection. You know, girl ..." he trailed off, turning his head to look at a row of computer pushed up against the wall of the center, "with all these nicknames, you might want to register them in your name. You don't have to, technically, but it makes things more official. We can put them in them in the database using those computers there."

"It's May, once again. And hmm ..." She took some time to think about this before nodding. "Great, then. Maybe we can think of some nicknames for your pokémon, too!"

"That'd be nice. Wouldn't it be, Muddy?" Brendan picked up his flailing mudkip, annoyed that he was being forced apart from his breakfast.

"Stop calling me that! I hate that name!" he squealed, trying to wiggle out of Brendan's grasp. Brendan was too strong, though, and he too tiny, and he went limp in his trainer's arms as he and that annoying girl partner of his walked over toward the computers.

The chairs squeaked under the cold linoleum as May plopped herself in the plastic seat, Brendan following suit in the one next to her. He reached over and turned the computer on, and the screen fizzled for a bit before dimly turning on, the light behind the screen slowly growing in strength. Once it was finally on, Brendan pulled out his trainer's card and swiped it through the card slider next to his name. Instantly, Brendan's trainer information was on screen, revealing his hometown, his starter pokémon, and his age.

"July second, huh?" May peered over to look at Brendan's computer, reading his birth date. "Darn. That makes you older than me by ..." she counted on her fingers again, "two months. Almost three." She huffed, blowing up her bangs.

"As should be," Brendan muttered absentmindedly, typing in new information. "A boy always should be older than his girl companion."

"Must you be so ... so sexist all the time?" May rolled her eyes. "And 'girl companion?' Really? You make me sound like a sidekick."

"It's true. And you're not?"

"Ugh. Whatever, Brendan Birch!" May pulled out her own trainer's card, a striking silver color compared to Brendan's shiny green one. "I got my license in the Johto region. Does it matter where I get it, even if I'm traveling in another region?"

Brendan was too distracted to answer right away, his eyebrows furrowed. "What? Oh." He gently took May's card from her grip and compared the two cards. The cards were similar in nature with the picture placed to the right and information listed to the left, the region, but the region, which decorated the top were different with "Johto" on May's card written in a dark gold and "Hoenn" on Brendan's written in white. He flipped the cards around, reading the information on the back. "I doubt it matters," he replied unsurely. "As long as you're registered under the international database, you should be fine." He handed her back the card.

"Ah ... right." May swiped her trainer's card through the card slot, and her information was brought up as well. "Guess I should change this ..." She highlighted the slot that said "hometown" and changed it from Goldenrod to Littleroot. "What are trainer's cards for anyway?"

"Did you not learn anything in school?"

"I was home schooled, remember? Learning about the importance of trainer's cards wasn't that high up on my list. Besides, Johto rarely used their trainer's cards outside of registering for the league once you got all eight badges."

"Oh, uh ... Pretty much the same here, then." Brendan smiled sheepishly as he entered his poochyena and lanturn underneath the slots that read "Most used pokémon."

May turned to look at Brendan's screen again before doing the same on hers, inputting her torchic, wurmple, and skitty in the slots. "Do these things update on their own? Like when a pokémon evolves or something?"

Brendan pulled out pokéball from his belt and showed May the bottom of it. Finely etched on the bottom of the sphere was a serial number. "Your pokémon is connected to its ball. If you input the serial number in the computer, the database somehow reads the energy in the pokéball and is able to tell if the pokémon has evolved. I don't know. I didn't really pay attention when my dad was blabbering on about it." He set the ball on the table and inputted the data for Sapphire's ball and his poochyena's.

May nodded and pulled out her three pokéballs, setting them on the table, inputting their data as well. "Now to nicknames," she remarked with a smile, her finger trailing over the smooth surface of each ball. "Well my torchic is Flare, obviously ... Actually, since I liked Flare and Ember equal, maybe i'll combine them ... Flarember. It sounds pretty, doesn't it?" She typed that in quickly.

"What's the point of that? You're still going to call her Flare, aren't you?"

"Yeah. But it's pretty," she repeated, continuing to type. "Skitty is Skitttles ... And I'll name my wurmple Cherry. I don't know why, but I think it fits her." She gave the enter key a satisfying tap. "And there."

The boy sat back in his chair and sighed, looking down at the mudkip resting in his lap. "Nicknames, nicknames ..."

"Do you have to have nicknames for your pokémon?" asked May curiously.

"Well, no. But it kind of separates them from their pack, you know? Makes them more different." He scratched Mudkip's head, making the being growl in delight. "Hmm ..."

"You should name your poochyena Sirius," May said thoughtfully.

"Er, why?"

"Well, it's the dog star, isn't it? And it seems fitting."

"It does have a ring to it." Brendan nodded, typing it in under his poochyena's slot. "Sirius it is. And my lanturn already has a nickname, Sapphire. Nincadas are kind of silver-looking, and to keep with this whole color theme, so I'll name him Silver. It's kind of neat since I already have a pokémon named Sapphire." He looked back down at Mudkip. "What about you? What do you want to be called?"

The mudkip snorted. "I don't care."

"Oh, really?" The boy smirked. "What if I called you Bemired? You still wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Go ahead and bluff. I don't believe you."

Brendan smirked and typed it in, hitting the enter key with a loud tap. "I don't bluff. I do."

Mudkip's eyes went wide as it hopped out of Brendan's lap and onto the desk, poking a paw against the glass screen. "You really didn't nickname me that, did you?" he whined, turning around to face his smirking trainer.

"I thought you didn't care. I'd still call you Mudkip if you wanted."

"But ..." Mudkip looked down. "I kind of liked the nickname Muddy ..."

The boy trainer's jaw dropped. "Whaaaaaat?" Brendan picked up his mudkip and looked him straight in the eye. "After all that crap you gave me? Does 'Brendan, I hate the name Mudddyyy' ring any bells?"

Mudkip went limp in Brendan's arms, shifting his eyes to the side. "Well ... I lied. Now change it!"

"I'd already submitted it," muttered his trainer. "I'd have to go to some office to officially change it again. That's so trainers don't confuse their opponents if they look them up in the trainer database."

"Changeeeee it," the mudkip whined again.

"Ugh. Tell you what. There's an option to have a middle name. I'll make your middle name Muddy and we'll go by your middle name. Sound fair?"

"Fineeeee."

Brendan plopped Muddy on the floor, and the being scampered around on the floor, trying to bite at his tail. Brendan inputted Muddy's middle name in the slot and let out a relieved sigh. "Finally. Nicknames. Hopefully I won't have this much trouble once I catch other pokémon."

May ignored Brendan. "I want middle names, too."

Brendan rolled his eyes. "So put them in. You don't have to ask me for permission."

The girl trainer rubbed her chin, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. She then snapped her fingers. "I'll make Flare's nickname Blair and Cherry's Berry!"

"Cute. Rhyming. What are you going to make Skittles'? Wittles?"

"No. That's lame." She stared at the dull-eyed Brendan. "You're lame."

"Whatever, girl."

"It's May. And I'm going to make Skittles' middle name Angel because she's a total sweetie." She glanced down at the third pokéball that rested on the table and gave it a small smile. "You should give your other pokémon middle names too, seeing how Bemired–"

"Muddy."

"–Muddy has one."

"You know how much trouble I had thinking of regular nicknames. Now you want me to think of middle names?"

"It can't be that hard. You're just stupid. For example, you should continue that constellation thing you have with your poochyena. Make his middle name Orion. What do you know about Silver?"

"They're fast, especially when they evolve. So I'll give him the middle name of Dart. Sapphire ..."

May snapped her fingers again. "Diamond. Just to keep with the gem theme. And she's kind of a diamond in the rough, isn't she since she really can't hone her electric power yet."

Brendan gave the girl a small smile. "I like that. Thanks, girl," he remarked as he typed that in.

"May Maple. Repeat it."

"No thank you." Brendan logged and scooted back in his chair before standing up. He bend over to scoop up Muddy before returning him to his ball. "So did you find anyone that could sail us to Dewford?" he asked, clipping his team's pokéballs to his belt.

"I did, actually." May did the same as Brendan, careful not to smudge the glossy surface of each pokéball." She got up from her chair and stretched her arms above her head, letting out a small yawn. "Remember that one old man who's wingull we saved? He lives near the outskirts of Petalburg Forest, and he has a boat, and he often sails to Dewford, so he'd be happy to help us get there."

"Awesome." Brendan pulled on his backpack strap and nudged his head toward the door. "Ready to leave?"

May looked at her trainer's card for a minute before pocketing it. "Uh, yeah. Let's go, B Boy." The two headed toward the door, and the door opened for them, the cool wind blowing against their face. May stepped out first, followed by Brendan, and the two quickly made their way toward Petalburg forest. "Want to know something weird, Brendan?"

"Hmm?"

"Wally sent me a video gram today." Brendan's eyes went wide at this. "It was really weird since I never gave him my phone number and part of the message was cut off and was replaced by some other guy's voice. I wonder why he called me. I know it has to be more than him telling me that he made it to Verdanturf Town ..."

Brendan gulped back nerves and did his best to respond. "Oh, you got a video gram from Wally?" he repeated, trying to sound clueless. "How did Wally get your pokénav number? You just got it."

"He sent it to my pokégear, actually," May answered, unaware that Brendan knew that already as the two crossed the bridge that lead toward the entrance of the forest. "I'm really curious ... He's a nice boy, don't you think?"

A nice boy that doesn't say thank you, Brendan thought angrily in his head.

"Uh, yeah," he replied out loud, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it too much, May. That Wallace kid does seem like one of those freak children that take five hours to say good-bye after all."

"Well, if you say so ..." May still sounded uncertain as the two entered the gaping darkness of Petalburg Forest once more.

"... Do you think we should call an ambulance?"

"I don't think he's sick, May. Not physically, anyway."

The two trainers watched Mr. Briney chase his wingull around a mahogany table in a weird mix of amusement and morbid fascination. Round and round he went, the old man chuckling like a mad man and the wingull chirping in delight back, flying circles around the old man's head. The old man and his pokémon hadn't noticed that Brendan and May had entered the cozy cabin.

"Shake a can of pennies or something," the girl trainer hissed.

Brendan gave May the side eye before clearing his throat. "Er, Mr. Briney?"

At this, Mr. Briney stopped in his tracks, the wingull landing on his shoulder. He let out another hearty chuckle as he walked over toward the two wide-eyed trainers, shaking both of their hands warmly. "It's good to see you again, May. And you, too ... uh–"

"Brendan," the boy answered.

"Ah, yes. I suppose you're both here to head to Dewford, correct?"

The two rookies nodded.

"Well, I'm ready to go when you are." He motioned toward the door, Peeko on his shoulder chirping at this, and opened it, a blast of ocean air almost knocking the poor old man back. He let out another chortle, bewildering Brendan and May further, before heading toward the docks where a small, white boat was docked, bobbing up and down in the gentle ocean current. "She's a beauty, isn't she?" It was a little scruffy looking with scratches all along the sides with dirt encrusted on it. The sail flapped meekly in the wind, and it looked like it smelled something awful as well. "I've had this boat for years."

"It's beautiful," May agreed, running toward the docks, the floorboards groaning under her weight. She climbed aboard, enjoying the gentle rocking of the boat. "I love traveling on the sea. Come on, Brendan!" she yelled as Mr. Briney climbed aboard as well. Peeko hopped off the old man's shoulder and flew toward Brendan, pecking at his head playfully.

Brendan groaned, swiping at the bird as he shakily stepped on the docks, already feeling nauseous from the swishing water underneath the floorboards. Truth be told, Brendan got seasick, and quite easily at that. But it had to be done. He had to get to Dewford and get that badge and deliver that package and that letter. Gulping back nerves, the white-haired trainer climbed aboard as well, and Mr. Briney quickly started the ship, letting it rumble a bit before steering it forward toward the open ocean. May let out an excited whoop as Brendan quickly slumped to the floor, clutching as his stomach, his face turning dangerously pale.

May gripped the railings tightly, enjoying the light ocean spray that graced her face. Everything seemed to go by in a blur, but May was able to make out several small island that dotted Hoenn's beautiful oceans. Up ahead, she could see a flock of wingull and pelipper fly over head and watched in amazement as a pelipper swung down toward the ocean, its huge beak slicing the thrashing water with ease. The sun was delightful on her skin, and the cool ocean air provided much relief. It would have been a picture perfect moment if she hadn't looked down and noticed the boy trainer slumped on the floor. "Oh, don't tell me you get seasick!" she complained, slowly sliding down to look at Brendan's white face. Her hand made her way to below Brendan's slumped head, and she pushed it open, noticing that his cheeks were blown out and his eyes were wide but dizzy. "Ah, crap." May quickly pushed Brendan's head back down and backed away a bit, afraid that he would barf all over her new clothes. "Do you ... do you need something?" she asked from far away.

The boy trainer didn't reply, his hand making its way from his stomach to his closed mouth.

May looked back and forth between Mr. Briney and the slumped form of Brendan. "Mr. Briney!" she whined as Brendan stumbled to his feet and bent over the railing, letting out an odd choking noise. "Brendan's going to hurl, I think!"

"Shut ... up," he managed to gasp out.

The boat went over a particularly large wave, making the girl squeal in delight and the boy groan in agony. "Let it out, my boy!" declared Mr. Briney, laughing.

May's face twisted in disgust and she almost hurled herself as she watched Brendan twitch a bit, gripping the railing tight, before releasing his breakfast into the thrashing ocean below. She quickly turned her head, trying to suppress the memory. "Are we almost there, Mr. Briney?"

"Aye, lass." Mr. Briney pointed toward a small dot of land up ahead. "That's Dewford Island. It's a nice little town. Quite quaint. Brawly, the gym leader of Dewford, puts a lot of effort in keeping the water around the island clean. He's quite the fellow."

May didn't respond, shuddering as she heard Brendan upchuck again. The boat started to slow down, and before she knew it, Mr. Briney docked at one of Dewford's many docks, letting the ramp down. "There we go, you two. We're here. I think I'll spend my time fishing and visiting the locals, so I should still be here if you need me!"

"Thank you, Mr. Briney!" May pulled at the back of Brendan's shirt and dragged him off the boat, waving at the old man and his chirping wingull. As soon as the two hit the sandy shores, Brendan flopped over and kissed the land, grabbing fistfuls of sand and flinging them in the air.

"Raikou, watch it!" the girl squealed, wiping at her eyes.

"You're going to have to learn the Hoenn legendaries," Brendan muttered, standing up. He brushed the sand off his clothes. "Most people use 'latios' or 'latias' here. Sometimes 'rayquaza,' too."

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes. Don't you want to be a cool kid?" Brendan swung his backpack around to the front and unzipped it, pulling out the letter the Devon president gave him. He then handed it to May who took it in her hands without second thought. "Now that you got that, you go look for Steven. I'm going to challenge the gym leader here!" And with that, the boy gallantly stomped toward the gym, the sand cushioning his steps, but May pulled him back by grabbing onto his backpack.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked, waving the letter in Brendan's face.

Brendan pointed toward the largest building on the island, its tall, wide windows gleaming in the sunlight. Grains of sand were embedded in the walls of the gym, giving it a beach-y effect. "To the gym," he repeated. "Can't you listen, girl?"

"It's May. And I heard you the first time. You can't just leave me to find Steven by myself!"

"Oh, it can't be that hard. I'm sure he's in one of these houses." Brendan motioned his hand toward the few homes that were littered across the small island. "Just knock, ask, and then leave if he's not there. You're a big girl. You can do it all by yourself. I believe in you!"

"Don't be a jerk. And even if I can, why do YOU get to challenge the leader first? Don't you remember that ladies go first?"

"I see none here." Brendan let out a small laugh as May lightly socked him in the arm. He rubbed at where May punched. "C'mon, May. You got to battle Roxanne first. If I battle first, then I can give you hints about what pokémon Brawly uses. It's a fair trade off."

May let out a defeated sigh and ran a finger down the sharp edges of the envelope. "Fine. Go ahead. See if I care."

"Great!" Brendan cheered, dashing toward the gym. "See you later!"

"Yeah, yeah." May waved him off and began to head to the first house. "It's going to be a long day, isn't it?"

Reasonably short chapter. Oh well. This was another chapter that had nothing important in it like a gym battle. Fwee.

Well, thanks for reviewing and LaTeR dAyZ!

Last Revision: 6/25/09