"Oh my stars! You did sooo much better than I expected on your first try May!...or should I say...Birdie-Chan?"
"I have a real name, and you know what it is so don't go callin' me that unless you wanna swallow your teeth,"
"Aw boo! That's no fun! Especially since it's a cute nick name too!"
I groaned as my head was firmly laid on the vanity counter in the dressing too while Lisia babbled on. My first Contest Spectacular experience felt like a blow to my pride. When the music started up, I tried to nudge skitty out in front of me to perform. I paid for the attempt with deep scratches on my leg and it took everything I had to keep from swearing in front of the audience. Oh the irony of mocking the other contestants only to find out that I was the most ill prepared!
"Yaaaay! Go sempai!"
Oh arceus. To make matters more mortifying, I had forgotten that Wally was in the audience. His cheering could be heard through the empty silence of the spectators. If he was going to end up as the only person who liked my act, then I was doomed for sure.
Gears were furiously turning in my head to figure out how I could salvage the performance. Wasn't there something that she liked to play with? Suddenly, images of a red ball of thread crossed my mind. The times that we stopped to relaxed, skitty would beg me with its adorable stare to take it out for her amusement.
Grabbing her ball from the fancy belt hold, I opened it to materialize the desired item. Before skitty could take it, I snatched it up, unraveled some of the thread and made a knot that prevented the ball from unraveling any further. "Skitty look!" I said while waving it wildly in front of her. She stopped trembling once it was in her line of sight and began to way her tail.
"Come on! You can catch it right?"
That was her cue to start running after the suspended thread ball with excitement. I tied the end of the thread to my finger and started to throw the object up in the air. In response, skitty started to jump up wildly in the air to attempt to catch it. I did it a few more times before walking back and showing it to her once more. She energetically chased after it. The stage was slippery, so it was natural that she skidded with difficulty and even rolled past her target. While it wasn't really dancing, I was something that came close to it...I think.
The audience seemed somewhat interested in the adorable act and produced scattered shouts of cheering. In the end, I finished it off with luring skitty to me and held her close to my chest while flashing the audience with a cutesy smile. As far as that went, I guess I did okay. It was a much better scenario than backing out or setting fire to the stage and burning down the building. And strangely enough, I landed in third place (despite my blunders in the beginning) with the girl and her taillow in second and the man with his slakoth in first; who knew huh?
While it all seemed like marshmallows and rainbows, the mistakes combined with the world seeing my girlish expressions left a bitter taste in my mouth. Although, the cherry on top was once again SYCAMORE indirectly helping me save face! AAARGH! Curse him and his stupid present to skitty! It was because of HIM that she didn't completely obey me in the first place! I hope he's miserable right now!
Back in the safe haven that was the dressing room, I was getting ready to take off my costume when a knock came to the door. The two of us looked at each other with mild curiosity. "That's odd. There's nobody else scheduled to be here. Maybe...its a secret admirer!" She said excitedly as she got up to answer the door. I gave out a rough sigh as my head was still planted on the counter. Hopefully not Wally to tell me how 'adorable' I looked or something; I didn't like looking so exposed and defenseless.
I heard the handle being turned and the door open, but was made me look up in alarm was how Lisia reacted to who was on the other side of it. "Oh!...Oh my! H-how can...h-how can I...hi!"
Even though I could only see the back of her, Lisia was unusually stiff with most of her turning a bright pink from embarrassment. She sounded like she was trying to find her breath.
I immediately stood up in alarm, for I easily recognized what caused those kind of reactions that claimed many female victims...and who usually caused them.
"Sorry to bother you, but I was kinda wondering if you've seen someone named May around here?"
BRENDAN! Wait, Brendan?!
My head quickly tilted to the side and got a better view of the person at the door. I nearly let out a shout of surprise when I indeed identified him as the old, adorkable friend that I started my journey with. However, he went through a major drastic change. Brenda now had red jacket with a thick tuft of fur stitched on one side. His shirt looked odd with its mix of colors that consisted of yellow, green and black. A red and gold belt held up his black jeans that were tucked into red boots. Like myself, he wore a bracelet (though more simple in design) with red diamond shapes decorating the round accessory and the same blue-greenish stone set in the middle. Wait a sec...did he have highlights?
Strange as the situation was, my heart was glad to see a familiar, non-intimidating face again. I swiftly sped to the door and attacked him with a monstrous hug with a stupid grin stapled onto my face."Good arceus! I'm so glad to see you!" I exclaimed as he tried to recover from the shock of my assault. It took him a minute to recompose and pry me off him.
"Nice to see you too...when you're not strangling me to death,"
"What are you doing here anyway?! I thought you were with your dad?!"
At my question, the teen gave me a smug grin. "Well I was, but dad said he wanted me to find a certain special kind of Pokémon on a list he gave me to study their habits. He also mentioned that I should train my own team in the meantime to do it. As you can see though, I'm taking a bit of a break,"
"So is that why you're dressed all goofy like that?"
Brendan frowned as I addressed his current choice of attire. His face blushed. "It's not goofy! It's cool! Unlike that sugar-coated mess that SOMEBODY'S wearing," he countered as he pointed out what I had on to take the heat off of him. My mouth split into a scowl as I was reminded of the embarrassment that was forced on me. "What do you know anyway?! You're just a boy! Now go away! I need to change!" I said while shooing him several more feet out of the dressing room before slamming the door. After a heavy sigh and leaning against the thick wood, I turned to see a still stiff Lisia.
"Lisia! Earth to Lisia!" I exclaimed while waving my hand in front of the face to capture the teen's attention. When she finally returned from the abyss that made up her fantasies, she shook her head. "I'm sorry! It's just that...he was so cute! But I can't believe that he asked for you! It's not fair! I want to gave a cute teen romance story with hiiiim!" She whined while grabbing onto my shoulders.
"Hey! I don't like him or anything! GAH! YOU'RE HURTING MY SHOULDERS! LISIA-"
...
After fending myself from the heart-broken teen idol and changing back into my comfortable clothes, I went out to the lobby where I saw my former companion sitting on a couch also wearing his normal clothes. His zigzagoon curled up on his lap and gave the occasional growl of its speech as if it was trying to talk to him. Skitty was exhausted from her performance so wingull was taken out to stretch her wings. Though it preferred to sit on my head alot.
I was more than eager to catch up on things with him, but no sooner had I taken my first step, did my vision of him get blocked by Wally's adorable face.
"May-sempai! You were so amazing! And you looked so pretty in that dress! *sigh* I wish you wore it ALL the time!"
Those wintery blue eyes sparkled with enthrallment as he practically pinned me down with his excited compliments. The scene hadn't gone unnoticed by Brendan's keen observations and walked up to the two of us. The zigzagoon used his shirt as a means to climb up to his shoulder.
"Woah, May... Are you talking to a boy and NOT punching him? I feel kinda jealous!" He joked while seeing the non-violent interaction between us. Wally however, took the jest the wrong way and gave me a teary-eyed look. "What does he mean by that, sempai?! Do you like him more than me?!" He exclaimed while attempting to cling to me. I naturally responded by restraining his attempts with holding his shoulders and trying to push him away. How many times was this going to happen to me today?!
"Wally, what the hell?!Dammit Brendan, help me out here!"
"What do you want me to do? Spray him with water?"
" I dunno! You're a boy! Can't you talk to him or something?! He's from the same shameless species as you!"
"You make it sound like I'm an alien! Uh-uh! If you want breathing space, then ask nicely!"
What?! Ask nicely?! While I got used to him during the time when Birch was my acting professor, it felt like I had to wash my tongue with soap whenever I had to say things like that. Still, it was leaps and bounds ahead of what I was dealing with a second time. Sentences timidly started to form from my lips. Oh arceus, I think I'm starting to get nauseous.
"P-please...please help me...OR I'LL RIP OUT YOUR SPINE-"
"Ah-ah-aah! That didn't sound very nice or friendship-tastical. I guess I'll be going then-"
"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY AND SACRED, PLEASE HELP ME!"
I was sweating bullets forcing down the rise of bile down just from saying those compromising words. Fortunately, it was enough for him to act as he politely grabbed Wally by the back of his sweater and dragged him away for a hopefully useful conversation.
...
Fifth-teen minutes of talking between the two boys yielded very good progress. Shortly after it ended, the timid boy came up and gave me a deep no along with a lengthy apology; whatever he and Brendan talked about, it must have been really something. Now I had to thank Brendan...again. It wasn't as bothersome as asking for help, but I still struggled with it like last time.
"Uh...thanks,"
"Eh, not a problem! The great and powerful Brendan is always here to help the poor and unfortunate!"
"Wow, you sound just as conceited as Professor Sycamore," I absent-mindedly blurted out. Upon hearing the name, Wally started to cough and sputter nervously as his first encounter with him wasn't so pleasant. He didn't know the name of his tormentor, be he knew that I was his student (sorta). Brendan picked up his strange change in behaviors and raised a quizzical brow at me.
"Speaking of which, where is that guy anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be traveling with you?"
Crap! I didn't even think about that! What I supposed to say; that I ditched him? That probably wouldn't go over very well with him. My I stole a quick glance at Wally and then looked back over to Brendan.
"Well...he um...he left for business and stuff! Nerds right?"
The strange answer seemed to work as he let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead. "Typical of a guy like that. Well, at least its just him and not his boss we have to worry about. I heard that guy's a jackass,"
Hm, he had a boss? It was funny to think that care-free Sycamore had someone above him giving orders. Now that I really think about it, he has been here for a while. Wasn't he worried about losing his job? From what Brendan said, he didn't sound like a nice guy.
Anyway, the subject was quickly abandoned for the sake of our sanities and left the Contest Spectacular building. Unfortunately, Brendan couldn't join us because he needed to check on his mom, but he assured me that we would meet up again in Fallarbor Town where the next contests would be. Wally and I waved him goodbye and watched him disappear in the Rusturf Tunnel.
Now that our business was finished here, it was time to move on to our next destination: Lavaridge Town! The decided plan was to travel up to Mt. Chimney and go through the Jagged Pass to get there. It seemed like a simple enough plan. Sycamore would have probably gotten there by now and realized the trick; so there could be some chance that we might run into him on the way. However, I wasn't top worried since Wally and I were trainers and could use our Pokémon to escape that possible situation.
Wingull and magnemite were accompanying us back to get some things for Wally when my bird caught the sight of a nanab berry tree and zeroed in on its fruit. It made a sharp turn to the right of Wanda's house and landed on one of its branches to seize one. Ugh, seriously wingull? We had important stuff to do! I went after her and clamored for the gull to get down. Of course, Wally thought I looked adorable from the way I called out to my bird to make it come down and giggled. Magnemite paid no attention to the scene because thoughts of Wanda's cooking were on its mind and thus was the one to reach the door.
The light atmosphere took a sudden drop when the small steel/electric-type opened the door with its magnetic abilities to reveal a composed-looking Sycamore who was about to leave. I turned around to see the now unfortunate encounter that Wally was unlucky enough to walk back into. My first response was to hide behind the tree with a frightened, flushed expression stapled all over it. Wally himself stood frozen in place as he tried to recover his senses; sadly he had no chance to flee.
"Well, well...Mr. Wally looks to have finally returned! You must have been very busy indeed to be gone most of the day! However..." The professor glanced at the empty space beside the boy in an almost comedic manner before locking back on him. There was no doubt now that he knew Wally lied to him. "...you seem quite...companionless. You're very informative cousin told me that you left the house with my student this morning. I can only wonder if you would be so kind as to talk with me more about that,"
Wally's only form of defense was to remain silent. After a long, terrifying minute of an unanswered response, Sycamore strangely let out a laugh as if he heard a funny joke. It unnerved the both of us, for he seemed very unpredictable.
"How shy you are! Almost as if you're terrified of my presence! I believe we should remedy that before bridges start burning, wouldn't you agree?"
Despite the 'friendly' statement, there was still a silent returned while I contemplated on what to do. Finally, I bit my lip as I decided to give myself up. Of course Wanda was home so the professor couldn't do anything to him, but it felt wrong to continue letting Wally take the fall for my absence; even if he was a boy. I slowly crept out of hiding when my current companion had suddenly spoke. "Uh...uh-huh! I-I think so too! In fact, s-stay a while! He exclaimed while ushering the professor back into the house and closed the door with a heavy slam.
Arceus, what was going through that soft head of his?! I felt a great need to go and rescue him, but that obvious hint he made also prompted me to take advantage of the situation. My fists clenched and I furrowed my brows with resolve. Wally's sacrifice would not go in vain! I grabbed wingull's and put her back in before running on the path that led to Mauville City.
...
My lungs were practically on fire as I was finally within the city limits. I was currently out of danger of getting caught, but now faced the problem of getting to my next destination. The combination of my terrible sense of direction mixed with the city's labyrinth-like streets raised my chances of getting apprehended. It was only a matter of time before Sycamore finished off Wally and come back here to hunt me down. I bet the bastard took so much enjoyment out of doing that when he was in the mood for a little sport.
Without thinking, I frantically ran deeper into the city with my nerves on end. My eyes darted everywhere as I scanned the directories of where 'here' currently was. Hang on a minute...this was the fourth time I came to this one! Dammit! What do I do?! What do I do?! Panic was beginning to set in when someone lightly tapped my shoulder.
Upon feeling the action, I quickly turned around with all senses on high alert to see a pair of siblings and a small, brown Pokémon. The one who looked older had short, blond hair with large spectacles on his face. He wore a light blue jumpsuit with black sneakers. And just like Maxie, he had 'nerd' written all over him. The little girl on the other hand had a short, blond side ponytail with a brown shirt, a ruffled white skirt and brown leggings with Mary-janes. The small animal that was with them looked between a cross of a marril and a raichu.
"Excuse me miss, but you look pretty lost. Are you trying to find something?" He asked while adjusting his glasses. I blinked while studying him with a curious glare. For some reason, I thought of him to be more of Watson's grandson or underling given what the theme of this city was. "Err...yeah. I'm trying to go to Lavaridge Town. You wouldn't know how to get there, would you?"
He didn't say a word to me, but walked over to the directory that I was next to. Feeling a smidge uncomfortable, I scooted away to claim my personal space while he studied the map. It was funny how focused he looked with his brows furrowing in thought. While he was doing that, I stole a glance at the little girl who happily squeezed her Pokémon in an adorable hug. The creature let put small squeaks of joy in appreciation. "Ah-huh...I see now..." mused the strange kid when he finished observing the layout of routes and turned his attention back to me. "I believe the road to Lavaridge Town is north of here. Right now we are located in the west part of the city. I suggest that you go down this main street like you're going to the Pokémon center, but keep going past it. After that, it wont be hard to miss," he replied as if he were stating mumbo-jumbo than giving out directions.
"Thanks! I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Hope to see you later!"
"Okay! Have a good night!"
...
After following the helpful guidance without having the misinterpretation of my doubts getting in the way, I finally found myself where I was supposed to be : Going towards Lavaridge on route 111. The surrounding area had a few pine trees and even fewer normal ones. While there were large patches of tall grass, the amount of were very small. It wasn't a mystery of why the vegetation was like this. It was only natural to notice that the party responsible was an active volcano that has a tendency of blowing a gasket and spewing ash everywhere. The rocky environment was becoming more prominent with each passing step.
"Heeeey Maaaay! Over here!"
"Huh?!" I said in surprise while turning my head.
"No! The other way!"
On command my head obliged the order and turned once again to see the excited Gabby and Ty running towards me...actually Ty had to be satisfied with a light jog because of the heavy camera he carried. So thus the reporter was the first one to greet me with a light slap on my back. It took a minute for the cameraman to meet up with us.
"Hey kid! Remember us! It certainly has been a while!"
"It's only been two weeks,"
"Still a long time in my book! But how have ya been? Busting any Team Magma butt lately?"
"Not really, they've been pretty quiet. I'm actually on my way to Lavaridge Town right now," I replied while stretching my arms. The two news crew employees both turned their heads to look at each other and then to me. Their once happy expressions melted to a sad disappointment. "Sorry kid, but we just found out that the cable car's broken down. It's getting fixed right now, but they won't know how long it'll take,"
I frowned as my plans for getting the next badge were officially delayed; the next best thing was traveling to Fallarbor Town to meet up with Brendan and compete in the next Contest Spectacular. Well, at least I didn't have to find out the hard way. With a sigh, I put my hands on my hips. "I guess I'll just wait in the next town then. Thanks," I said before shortly starting to walk away.
"Hey, wait a sec!"
I stopped and turned to face the two when Gabby called me again. She scratched the back of her head in a way that would suggest she was beating around the bush. "Since you're here and all...you wanna have an interview battle?"
"An interview battle?"
"Yeah! Since you helped us out at the museum, we got inspired to interview trainers and test their skills! We even got our Pokémon last week! So how about it?"
"Hmmm...sure!"
"Great! Ty, let's cue the interview!"
*To be continued in chapter 15*