A/N: 5 chapters away from the "movie" now. That will be a massive chapter so I should start editing these chapters sooner. Sometimes I've just edited these chapters in a sitting. The "movie" chapter will be impossible for me to edit in a day. Well anyway, this chapter marks the 300 page mark. Making May's journey the longest story I have EVER written.
My first fan fiction was a pokemon fic called Char. It was about a Charmander growing up and having an adventure and blah blah blah. I made it a long time ago when I was very young. Looking back at it now makes me cringe. There were so many things wrong with it. That's why I destroyed most of the evidence that I wrote it. Why am I saying this? Well if you remember then you'll see a reference at some point as a joke. Not in this chapter though.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest... whoops wrong story. I mean I don't own Pokemon.
Chapter 25 Into the deep
Early in the morning, Brendan woke up and got ready. He planned on giving May his Wailmer and then leaving for Littleroot. Brendan walked out of the room and went over to see May. He opened the door... not thinking about her privacy. But May wasn't there. The bed was empty and made up.
(Where is she? I thought May would still be asleep. I guess I should check outside.) Brendan left the pokemon center and went to look for her. It didn't take long. He spotted May with Arcanine, Miltank and Grumpig.
"Okay, one more time. Ready?" May asked them.
"Ar."
"Grumpig."
"Millo."
May started giving them orders. "Miltank, Heal Bell."
The ball on Miltank's tail glowed. She swung it and a nice jingle was heard.
May nodded in approval. "Good. Now Grumpig, use Bounce."
Grumpig hopped up and then bounced on his tail spring. He bounced so high, a person would think he was a bird.
(That might be a little too high. I can barely see him.) May thought.
Grumpig fell back down very fast. But he landed on his tail so he didn't hurt himself.
"That was excellent. Now, Arcanine, do Extreme Speed."
Arcanine seemed to disappear for a second. But then reappeared right where he was.
"Very good. I can't wait to see you use these moves in battle." May said to them.
Brendan couldn't help but say, "Wow."
May was surprised to see Brendan walk over. She didn't know he was watching.
"Did your pokemon learn new moves?" He asked.
"Yeah. I woke up really early. So I decided to train all of my pokemon. They all went to level 55." May said.
That was a shock to Brendan. (Woah! 55!? All of them? May trained them to be that strong in such little time? She is amazing.)
"I wanted them to have one more training session before-" (I look for Team Aqua) "-the next gym battle. Miltank, Grumpig, you can return to your pokeballs." She recalled Miltank and Grumpig.
Brendan handed her the pokeball containing Wailmer. "He's not as strong as your pokemon now, but he should help in finding Aqua's trail."
"Thanks Brendan. I'll give Wailmer back as soon as I can."
"No problem. Well... I should be heading back home now. Don't forget to call me if you find something. Or for anything else."
(Leaving already? Well he did say he would.) "I will. Bye Brendan."
Brendan smiled and waved to her. "See ya, neighbor."
Then May and Brendan went their separate ways. May and Arcanine walked towards the beach. Brendan walked in the direction of Fortree. Neither of them knew that this was the beginning of a big day.
May and Arcanine arrived at the beach. It was nice and empty. "This will take a while. You should go back in your pokeball." Arcanine agreed and returned to his pokeball. Then May released Lapras in the water. "Okay Lapras. Lets hurry and get to Mossdeep."
"La." Lapras helped May on her back and started swimming in the direction of Mossdeep city. Lapras swam at a steady pace. It was nice to go swimming like this.
May started to think about her training with Lapras earlier. (I could of had Lapras learn some strong new moves while training. But moves like Sheer Cold and Hydro pump don't have good accuracy. Better to have moves that hit every time then a strong move that doesn't. I don't think she minds though. Now that I think of it, she's the only pokemon I have that hasn't learned a new move.)
Her thinking was cut off as Lapras started humming. Which sounded like the song she put May to sleep with before. "Man, you're in a good mood."
Lapras looked back to nod and smile before turning back. May noticed the Mystic water tied around her neck. May had given her pokemon different items today since the EXP share wasn't really important anymore. The Mystic water made water attacks stronger. May took off Arcanine's Soothe Bell and gave him Charcoal so his fire attack would be stronger. Miltank kept the Silk scarf which made normal moves stronger. May had given Flygon Soft sand and Grumpig held the Amulet coin. Which would help them get more money.
After an hour at sea, May and Lapras spotted Mossdeep. They were getting very close. (First I'll find the HM. Then I'll have Wailmer look for Team Aqua's trail.) Lapras swam up to the shore and let May off. "Thanks Lapras. You can return now."
She had Lapras recalled and walked into Mossdeep. It looked like a nice place. A few people were Wailmer watching. Mossdeep didn't look too big, so finding the HM called Dive probably wouldn't take too long. May released Arcanine and started looking around. They came up to a house that was near the space center. A rocket could clearly be seen next to the large building. May and Arcanine walked in the house and saw two sisters and a Wingull...
(That wingull looks familiar. But I'm sure it's not Peeko.) May thought.
The older sister spoke up. "Welcome trainer. Is there something I can do for you?"
(I'll think of it later.) "Yes. Where can I find the HM holder for Dive?" May asked.
The strange younger sister walked up. "I think you are looking for the man that lives near the pokemon center. He has it."
"Thanks for telling me. That makes things a lot easier." May said.
"You're welcome." The little sister took a note from the Wingull and started reading it.
(Okay, that really seems familiar.) This was probably going to bother May all day.
The older sister told May, "You must be wondering what that is all about. My little sister exchanges mail with her boyfriend in Fortree. ...I don't envy her one bit at all."
"I didn't say that you did." May said.
The older sister paused. "...I know..."
Then May finally go it. (Oh yeah! I remember now!) "Hey, I saw him. He gave a letter to that Wingull and obviously sent them over here. That's a long way from here."
The strange little sister said, "That's right. Even though I can't see him since he lives in Fortree, my pokemon carries mail back and forth for us. I'm not lonesome, even though we are apart." Wingull suddenly ran outside and flew away. "Whoops. Wingull left for Fortree before I could give him another letter. Oh well... Wingull is a little forgetful at times."
"...Well anyway, thanks for telling me where to find the HM." May said.
The older sister smiled. "It was our pleasure. Just remember, it's the house closest to the water. Very close to the pokemon center."
After hearing that, May left their house to go find the HM holder. She came up to a house that seemed to be the right place.
Arcanine sniffed the ground and looked at the door. "Ar. Ar ar."
(Odd. I wonder what he's trying to say.) Rather than go through a whole process of charades, May just opened the door to see who was inside. They went in and the man inside was started and walked over. To May's surprise, she saw the man was- "Steven?"
"May?" Steven said in surprise.
(Arcanine must have smelled Steven. Wait. Is this his house?) "Um... do you live here?"
"Yes, this is my place. It's a little embarrassing how empty it is here." Steven said.
The only things there were his big table, a few rocks on display, a small bookshelf and chair. Other than that, the house was pretty empty. The rocks on display looked familiar. May couldn't put her finger on it. She saw something like this a long time ago. But where?
"Oh, here, you should take this HM. It contains Dive. I've already taught my pokemon." Steven gave her the HM.
"So you had Dive. Thank you for giving this to me."
"You are very welcome. By the way, you have the sixth badge now right? And you are going to get the seventh?
"Yep, that's the plan." May said.
"Very nice. After you win the seventh badge you'll need just one more to qualify for the pokemon league challenge. Well, good luck in your gym battle." Steven said.
May started walking towards the door. "Thanks. Well I should go now."
"Okay, but I should let you know that I'm not at home very often. So this might be the last time we meet for a while. So take care." Steven said.
They said their goodbyes and May left. Steven closed the door and was glad to see May.
(Her pokemon are getting stronger. I can tell by the way her Arcanine looked. But at their current strength... they are not strong enough for the big leagues. Keep training May.) Steven went over to look at his rock collection. It still seemed like there was room for improvement. (I should go find more rare stones before leaving again.)
By the beach, May released Wailmer. "Okay Wailmer. Are you ready to look for team Aqua?"
"Wail!"
"Okay. Do your best. I'll do the same when I get the next badge." She held out the HM and it's power went into Wailmer. He learned Dive.
Wailmer quickly dove underwater to look for traces of Team Aqua. May put the HM away and started walking to the Mossdeep gym. She hoped that after she won the battle, Wailmer would be back with good news.
May and Arcanine came up to the gym. The sign for it surprised May. (What?) "It says Mossdeep city pokemon gym leaders: Liza & Tate The mystic combination!" (Two gym leaders? What is this about?) "Weird. Well lets go inside."
She hoped Gym Dude was there. The sign didn't give any clue as to what pokemon type the leader... or leaders, used. They went in.
Sure enough, Gym Dude was waiting. Right by the door in fact. He was happy to see her. "Yo, how's it going, Champion-bound May?" He asked.
"Good. But does this gym have two leaders?"
'Yep. And the gym leaders here use psychic-type pokemon. If you go up against them with fighting- or poison-type pokemon, they'll inflict horrible damage! Plus, they'll come at you with outstanding combination attacks." Gym Dude said.
"So... it will be a 2 on 2 battle, right?"
"Exactly. If you want to win, you'll need to show them how tight you are with your pokemon. Go for it! I'm sure you can win this! I'll be watching."
"Thanks again." (Psychic pokemon. They are weak against dark attacks. Arcanine and Flygon's Crunch attack should work.) After talking with him, May went through the whole process of getting to the gym leaders. The gym trainers didn't make things easier. But May found her way. Flipping switches and battling trainers didn't take too long.
She made her way to two girls. They had to be the gym leaders but...
(They're the youngest gym leaders I've ever seen! They have to be 12 or 13!) May thought in surprise.
The two girls came over to May looking very happy. And they looked a lot alike.
"Hello there, trainer. My name is Tate. And this is my sister." Tate said.
"Hey, my name is Liza." Liza said.
"Hi... my name's May." This was a little weird for May. But she wasn't bad at 2 on 2 matches. The girls on the other hand, were a little odd.
"Hehehe... Were you surprised?" Tate asked.
"Fufufu... Were you surprised?: Liza asked.
"That there are two Gym Leaders? We're twins!" Tate and Liza shouted at the same time.
"We don't need to talk because..." Tate started.
"We can each determine what..." Liza continued.
"The other is thinking..." Tate continued.
"All in our minds!" Liza finished.
(Man that is annoying.) "I challenge you both for the badge." May said.
Tate and Liza looked at each other and smiled before taking out their pokeballs.
"This combination of ours..." Tate started.
"Can you beat it?" Liza finished.
They released their Lunatone and Solrock.
(Those are Rock-Psychic pokemon. On second thought, I'll have Flygon sit this out and use Lapras.) May released Lapras from her pokeball.
"Our pokemon are Lunatone and Solrock!" Tate and Liza shouted in excitement.
"I'm going with Arcanine and Lapras." May said,
The battle for the seventh badge began. Gym Dude watched from afar to see how May's pokemon would do.
"Arcanine, use Crunch on Lunatone. Lapras use surf."
Arcanine ran forward and bit Lunatone very hard. The super-effective attack nearly knocked Lunatone out. But Arcanine was shaken off. Arcanine jumped back next to Lapras to make room for her attack. A big wave crashed down on both Solrock and Lunatone. Lunatone was knocked out. But Solrock hung in there despite the super-effective water attack. Liza recalled Lunatone.
"Aw... poor Lunatone." Tate said.
"But the battle isn't over yet." Liza said.
The twins called out foe an attack together. "Use Psychic on Lapras!"
Solrock was hurt very bad, but was able to hit Lapras with a psychic blast. Lapras shook off the hit and didn't seem to be fazed. Tate quickly pulled out a Hyper potion and healed Solrock of all damage. May was waiting for them to bring out a new pokemon. But they didn't seem to have another one.
It was now two on one. Lunatone and Solrock were stronger than May expected, but she planned on finishing up the battle. "Use Crunch again."
Arcanine nodded and leapt at Solrock. The poor pokemon didn't stand a chance when Arcanine clamped down on him. Solrock was KO'd in one shot.
"What?! Our combination..." Tate started in shock.
"Was shattered!" Liza finished in shock as well.
May congratulated Arcanine and Lapras on their win. All that training really paid off. May recalled Lapras and Tate recalled Solrock.
"It can't be helped. You've won..." Tate started.
"So, in recognition, take this." Liza finished.
They handed May the Mind Badge. May gladly accepted it.
"The Mind badge enhances the Sp. ATK and Sp, DEF of pokemon." Tate said.
"It also lets you use the HM move Dive outside of battle. Experiencing it with your pokemon." Liza said.
"You should also take this, too." They gave her TM04. "That TM04 contains..." Tate started.
"Calm Mind!" Liza continued.
"It raises SP. ATK and..." Tate continued.
"It raises SP. DEF!" Liza continued.
"It's a move that's perfect..." Tate continued.
"For Psychic pokemon!" Liza finished.
May cringed. (That twin thing is getting on my nerves. I gotta get out of here.) "Thanks for the 2 on 2 battle. That was a nice change from the other gym battles."
(It is very rare that someone would beat us in battle. I can count the times on one hand. Her pokemon are tough.) Tate thought.
(Her pokemon beat ours so fast. That was the fastest battle I've ever seen.) Liza thought.
"Looks like the bond between you and your pokemon is far stronger than the bond that we share as twins." Tate said,
"You will become even stronger! We've battled you, so we know." Liza said.
Tate and Liza shouted at the same time. "On behalf of everyone here at Mossdeep gym, good luck getting the final badge!"
May and Arcanine walked back over to Gym Dude after that.
Once again, he was ecstatic. "Wow, you're astounding! You're one great trainer! I can tell your pokemon are much stronger than the last time I saw them."
"Thanks. My pokemon worked really hard to get this strong." May said.
"It's a little sad though. I watched you from the very beginning of your gym leader challenge. From humble beginnings. Now it's almost over. But I'll try not to get too depressed. I'm glad that I was a witness to all of this. You're going to the top! I can feel it! Go for it! Champion-bound May! I'll see you at the last gym!" Gym Dude happily said.
"Okay, see ya." May and Arcanine left the gym and May looked at the Mind Badge. "This is great. I got the Mind Badge."
"Aaaaarrrrrrooooo!" Arcanine stopped howling in victory as May's mood changed.
(But this means nothing if Team Aqua uses the Red Orb. I hope Wailmer found something that will help us.) "Come on Arcanine. Lets see if Wailmer returned."
Arcanine nodded and they started walking to the beach where May let Wailmer out. But once they got there, they didn't see any sign of Wailmer.
"Looks like we'll have to wait a little bit." (I'm starting to get hungry.... Hm...) "Hey, stay here and wait for Wailmer while I get us something to eat." May told him.
Arcanine agreed and looked out at the sea to spot Wailmer. May walked away and left him there. Mossdeep city was nice and serene. The pretty flowers and the many trees were relaxing. A few people passed Arcanine by as he waited.
But one little girl really liked him. She ran up to him and hugged him. Arcanine stayed still and hoped the young girl would stop. "Aw... a big dog pokemon! You're so cute! I want you to come home with me!" She tugged on Arcanine's tail to try to drag him to her house but he was too heavy.
That didn't stop her from pulling his tail though. It was starting to hurt... a lot. So Arcanine carefully pulled his tail back. So he wouldn't hurt her by mistake.
"You don't want to come home with me?" The little girl asked.
Arcanine shook his head and hoped she got the message.
"That's okay! We can play here!" She pulled his ears next and tried to see how they felt. Arcanine really wanted to run away from this pestering girl, but May expected him to stay. So... he was going to stay put. The little girl tried to crawl on his back, but Arcanine stood from his sitting position to get out of reach. Where were this girl's parents? Shouldn't they be watching her?
"Come on! I want to ride you doggie!" The girl settled on clinging to one of his legs.
Arcanine sighed. Why did he have to go through this torture?
May started to come back after her quick trip to the pokemart. She bought a bunch of sandwiches for her and her pokemon. Then she spotted Arcanine and a little girl. (Poor Arcanine. He must have a high tolerance for children. I'll help him out.)
The little girl was so happy when clinging to Arcanine. But he suddenly disappeared. The little girl looked around and didn't see a trace of him. "Doggie? Where did you go?" She looked around a little but decided to give up and go home.
Right after she left, May released Arcanine from his pokeball. "Sorry you had to go through that. But this sandwich should make up for it."
May let out all her pokemon to eat. They all enjoyed the food and then all but Arcanine returned to their pokeballs. May was starting to worry about Wailmer. He still hadn't returned. (Man. I hope something didn't happen to him. What would I tell Brendan? "Uh. Sorry. I lost Wailmer and I have no clue where he is. Hope he's not dead. Anyway, we're still friends right?" Yeah... that wouldn't go well...)
As if hearing May's thoughts, Wailmer suddenly surfaced nearby. He squirted water out and looked right at her.
"Wail! Wail!"
May was glad to see him. "Wailmer!" (Thank goodness he's okay.) "Did you find anything?"
"Wail! Wailmer!"
To May's surprise, Lapras came out of her pokeball and went in the water. Lapras and Wailmer faced each other.
"La?"
"Wail wail."
(What is she doing?) May thought.
Lapras nodded and looked at May with determination. Wailmer started swimming away.
"Wait! Where are you- Ah!" May was cut off as Lapras grabbed May from the back of her shirt. Lapras placed May on her back and quickly went to follow Wailmer. "I'm guessing Wailmer wants to show us something."
Lapras nodded. "La."
"Aaaaarrrrrrooooo!"
(Whoops, Arcanine is still at the shore.) May took out his pokeball and quickly recalled him. Wailmer must have found something that would help them find Team Aqua. May was glad. A lead at last!
Wailmer and Lapras swam far out. May looked behind them and couldn't see Mossdeep anymore. Or any other place in the distance. Just a lot of water. They reached a certain area near some shallow water and stopped.
May was confused until Wailmer dove underwater for a few seconds before surfacing. "We have to go under?"
Lapras nodded and May took out her comtank. She put it in her mouth and took a test breath before nodding. It seemed to work okay. Wailmer and Lapras held fins and went under.
May closed her eyes for a moment when they dove. When she opened them again, she saw that they were in an underwater ravine. They went really deep. May took another test breath. Everything seemed to be okay, so Wailmer led Lapras and May through the ravine. She was soaked, but May was actually enjoying herself. A few water pokemon swam by looking a little surprised to see a human down this deep. Wailmer led them pretty far, and May was starting to worry about her air supply. But then she saw something. Wailmer had led them to an underwater cave.
(I wonder what's inside. Wait, could this be the cavern Capt. Stern was talking about yesterday?) May wondered.
Turns out she was going to get that answer. Because Wailmer and Lapras brought her inside. Once they were in, it didn't seem like they were in a cave. But what May saw almost made her spit out the Comtank. (What the-!)
Preview: May got the seventh badge. But that is the farthest thing from her mind. May finds herself in a great struggle. If she doesn't make it through, she wont be the only one affected. Next time... Chapter 26 Seafloor Cavern
A/N: It is really tough to write Tate and Liza's dialog. That's one of the things that is best in script form. But I guess it doesn't matter. They don't play a big part in the story anyway.
What really happened
I like Lapras's moves so I had May capture a wild Wailmer to have him learn dive. It wouldn't feel right to make Lapras forget Surf, Ice Beam, Sing or Thunderbolt. Brendan was never separated from his Wailmer.