Author's Notes: I doubt anyone noticed, but I went back and changed Vince to Vito. Turns out there's a Cooltrainer Vito on Victory Road that I forgot about and its hinted that he's a Winstrate .
Chapter probably seems to jump around a bit. I actually didn't intend to show much of their trip, mainly just wanted to focus on the scenes in the towns.
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Emerald
Chapter Eighteen:
Back to the Beginning
"We could head west through Verdanturf, a fairly long route. We could also head south towards Slateport, then go west through the route just north of there. We'd just have to cross the strait, and we'd north of Oldale. Easily the quickest route. Or we can go back the way we came, going to Slateport and taking the ferry to Dewford, and then taking another ferry from Dewford to near Petalburg. That'd take us a few days though. I'd rather take the quickest route myself, how about you May?" Alex looked up from his pokenav to the girl sitting across the table from him.
"Sounds fine to me." May replied, though she didn't seem to be paying much attention to Alex. She was busy browsing through her pokedex.
"I need to catch more pokemon..." May said, closing her pokedex and placing it on the table. She picked up her glass of milk and took a sip of it, idly gazing around the restaurant they had stopped at for breakfast. It was the same place they ate the last time they were in Mauville.
"Considering how close we'll be to Littleroot, there's a chance we might run into Brendan or Professor Birch on our way to Petalburg."
"I know...I want to go to Littleroot anyway. I haven't even talked to my mom since I left. I bet she's worried sick about me, and I'm likely to run into Birch in Littleroot..." May sighed. With only 22 pokemon recorded in her pokedex, she didn't have nearly as many as Brendan had the last time she saw him, and he likely caught more since then.
"Mind if I take a look?" Alex asked her. May absent mindedly shoved her pokedex towards him. Alex picked it up and turned it on, holding it below the edge of the table so May wouldn't see what he was doing with it.
"Its not that bad really..." Alex said as he pretended to be scrolling through it. He took a cable out of his pocket and hooked it up to May's pokedex, the other end was already connected to his pokenav. He reached for his pokenav and pressed a few buttons. The screen on May's pokedex went black and the word 'Loading' appeared in the middle of the screen. After a while, the screen returned to the top of the list in May's pokedex, which now showed Treecko and Grovyle in addition to May's Torchic and Combusken. Alex pulled out the cable and closed the pokenav, then handed it back to May.
"Give it some more time and I'm sure you'll have a pretty good pokedex, though I guess time isn't really on your side at the moment, huh?" May took her pokedex back and placed it on her belt.
"No...but I guess I'll just have to accept I won't have a good pokedex this time either. But just you wait!" May quickly stood up, raising her hand in the air.
"I'm going to catch more pokemon than Birch could ever hope to catch! I'll fill out my entire pokedex if I have to! I'll..." By this point, May realized everyone else in the cafe was staring at her like she was crazy. May quietly sat back down in her seat.
"Next time we're in Mauville...we're going to a different cafe..." Alex said with a light chuckle, shaking his head.
"Sorry...I guess I get a bit carried away sometimes...so I guess we're leaving now?" Alex nodded in response to May's question, and she quickly finished the rest of her milk abd placed the empty glass on her tray. They both picked up their respective backpacks and left the restaurant without another word.
"So we're going straight to Oldale then?" May asked. The two of them had left Mauville shortly after leaving the restaurant, and were heading south on Route 110.
"Pretty much. We head south until we reach Route 103, then head west down that route. Then its just a matter of getting across the strait and we'll be north of Oldale."
"So that means...two routes to pass through, both probably having the same pokemon..."
"Well you don't have a Minun, May, and I'm pretty sure there's Poochyena around here." Alex could tell May was at least a little upset about having what she thought to be a small pokedex, but he didn't want her to find out about what he did to her pokedex. Not yet anyway.
"You already have a Minun!" May shot back. "I don't want to catch the same pokemon you already have."
"Why's that?"
"It'd seem like I was copying you since we've been travelling together the past while." Alex rolled his eyes.
"First you say you'd be willing to 'complete' the pokedex to beat Brendan, but now you won't catch a pokemon you don't have just because I have it? You know, we won't always be travelling together."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" May asked, stopping and looking over at Alex. Alex stopped as well.
"We're trainers. Someday, our journeys are going to come to an end, and we'll probably go our separate ways."
"Oh come on, Alex! Its not like we'll stop being friends, right?" May replied with a smile. Alex stared at her for a moment, as if lost in thought.
"...Heh, yeah, sorry. Don't know what I was thinking." Alex replied with a laugh. May folded her arms over her chest and glared at him.
"You had to think about that...is there something you're not telling me? Besides just about everything about you."
"Uh...no! I just...didn't realize how my question sounded!" May seemed to consider Alex's answer for a moment.
"...If you say so. Why don't you ever tell me anything about yourself though? We've been travelling together for a while now and I still only really know your name! Can I at LEAST know your last name?"
"My last name?" Alex turned his back to May as he thought about that.
"This is really something I should have thought of a long time ago..." Alex thought to himself, his eyes darting around for some kind of inspiration for a name. He spotted a man riding a bike with a griffin tattooed on his arm, but ignored it.
"Yeah, you know, that second name everyone has..." May said, rolling her eyes.
"I know what a last name is..." Alex replied. He briefly glanced up at the sky.
"...That'll work."
"My last name...is kinda embarassing. I'll only tell you if you promise not to laugh."
"Ok then...I promise I won't laugh..." May said, tilting her head to the side. She wasn't sure if Alex actually intended to tell her, or if he was just pulling her leg.
"...Sky. My last name is Sky."
"Sky? I don't see whats so embarassing about that..."
"Yeah, Alex Sky." Alex said, turning to face her. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, lets get going already! We've been stopped here long enough." Alex started off down the route, but May paused for a minute, desperately trying to figure out what was so embarassing about the name 'Alex Sky'. She eventually gave up and ran to catch up with Alex.
It took the two of them most of the day to reach the lake. They had stopped for a short break near the beginning of Route 103 under the cycling road to eat and feed their pokemon, and May was still trying to figure out why Alex thought his last name was embarassing. Alex refused to tell her because he thought it was funny watching her try to figure it out. May wasn't sure if there was some kind of meaning behind the words, or if Alex was just embarassed by his last name being Sky. By the time they got to the lake, it was the middle of the afternoon.
"Its not really that long..." May said as looked across the strait.
"Lets swim across!" She suggested.
"Sw-swim? As in...in the water?" Alex asked nervously.
"Well where else do you swim?" May replied, rolling her eyes.
"You're acting really strange today Alex..."
"Well its just...uh...you see...the water is filled with Carvanah!" Alex said with a nervous laugh.
"And besides, how do you expect to swim over carrying all your stuff anyway? Especially your egg. And I don't think either of us have a pokemon that could help us cross like that."
"Oh...right..." May looked over her shoulder at the large pokemon egg that was still nestled safely in the backpack she bought to carry it in.
"So how are we going to get across then?" She said looking back to Alex.
"Well...I'm kinda hoping I could convince Skarmory to take us across. Though he seems to have gotten over his hatred towards us, I don't think he's overly willing to help us yet."
"Well he helped us get out of Mirage Tower, didn't he?"
"Yeah, and then he dropped us outside the desert when I asked him to take us to Mauville." Alex took Skarmory's pokeball from his belt, and held it in his hand for a moment. He then turned around, facing away from the river, and clicked the button to open the pokeball, releasing Skarmory. The steel bird pokemon appeared standing before them and stretched its wings. It turned to Alex, looking at him with its usual hateful stare.
"I know your probably not happy to see us again so soon..." Alex said to Skarmory. There was a loud clank as Skarmory opened and closed its mouth in response.
"...but we kinda need your help again to get across the water." Alex gestured towards the expanse of water before him.
"Please?" Skarmory looked out at the water, then at Alex and May, but didn't seem to give a response.
"Pretty please?" May asked, giving her best puppy-dog eyes expression. Skarmory just glared back at her. Alex leaned closer to her and whispered.
"I don't think thats helping..."
"I want to go home and see my mom though..." May replied, not bothering to whisper. Skarmory, upon hearing that, moved closer to the two and knelt down like it usually did to let them on its back.
"Well that worked!" Alex said with a laugh. May shot him a look before climbing onto Skarmory's back. Alex rubbed the back of his head in embarassment before hopping on in front of May.
"Alright, lets go!" Alex shouted, pointing towards the other side of the strait. Skarmory flapped its wings, lifting itself off the ground then flying out over the water. Alex could feel himself growing nervous as they flew out over the water, but he tried not to show any signs of it. Skarmory was flying only a few feet above the water. He tried to keep focused on the other side of the strait far ahead of them.
May, however, wasn't very nervous at all. She actually felt a bit more secure knowing that if she fell off Skarmory somehow, at least she wouldn't fall far and would only fall in the water anyway. May looked down at the water and could see groups of various fish pokemon and Tentacool swimming around as they sped by, but she didn't see any of the Carvannah that Alex said were in there. May wished she could catch some of the pokemon she saw swimming around.
It didn't take Skarmory long at all to fly across the strait, and soon Skarmory came to a stop, hovering over the sandy shore on the other side of the strait, before finally setting down with a thud. Alex and May jumped off Skarmory's back, though Alex seemed a bit wobbly on his feet.
"Thanks Skarmory. I'll try not to bother you for a while..." Alex said as he recalled the pokemon and placed the pokeball back on his belt. May looked back at the water they just crossed over.
"I bet there's a bunch of pokemon swimming around in there that I haven't caught yet..." May said with a sigh, still thinking about her pokedex.
"If you had a rod you could try to catch them." Alex said to her. "Anyway, lets get going, we're almost to Oldale." Alex started off towards Oldale, leaving the sandy beach and moving onto the grassy field. May stared out at the water for a moment longer, thinking about the fish-like pokemon she saw swimming around before slowly following behind Alex. She pushed away thoughts of her pokedex, instead thinking about how surprised her mom and dad would be to see her home again.
"I think I'm going to stay home at least for a day..." May said as she finally caught up with Alex.
"It'll be great to finally sleep in my own bed instead of a hotel! I've actually been in Mauville more than my own home in Littleroot!" May said with a giggle.
"I take it you're exaggerating..." Alex replied.
"Nope! I left home the day after arriving in Hoenn and got Torchic my first day here. In fact, my first day in Hoenn was the same day I met you..."
"We also went our separate ways that day. Or rather, you fell behind."
"I still managed to catch up with you in Slateport though!" May stuck her tongue out at him.
"And then I beat you in a pokemon battle." Alex replied with a smug look on his face.
"Don't get cocky! I'm going to beat you next time! I'll make sure I have a Heracross next time I battle you too." Alex's grimmaced when May mentioned Heracross.
"Still can't believe I lost to someone like Vito...but he did have powerful pokemon." Alex said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Whats the Safari Zone like anyway?" May asked him.
"Safari Zone?" Alex thought for a moment. "Oh, the place where I said you can find Heracross. Its basically a pokemon reserve of sorts. You can go in there for a small fee to try to catch pokemon, but you're not allowed to fight them with your own pokemon."
"What! Then how are you supposed to catch them?"
"Any way possible. I heard you can even throw rocks at them if you want to. Safari Zone pokemon won't attack you, but they won't stick around if they feel threatened either. There's a lot of pokemon in the Safari Zone that you won't find anywhere else in Hoenn. Many pokemon were brought to the Safari Zone because there were so few of them in the wild and people were worried they might disappear from Hoenn altogether. Pokemon in the Safari Zone are safe from any outside influences but can still be caught by trainers."
"So I can find pokemon in the Safari zone that I can't find anywhere else...I can't wait to go there!" May shouted excitedly.
"Well we'll kinda be heading in that direction anyway."
The two of them had arrived in the small town of Oldale while they were talking. The town hadn't changed a bit since the last time they were there. Just a small town with only a few shops and, of course, the ever so necessary pokecenter. The two of them finally came to a stop next to the pokecenter.
"You know, it just occurred to me...you're going to continue on to Petalburg to face my father aren't you Alex?" May asked him.
"Yeah, and you're going back to Littleroot...guess this is where we split up, just like when we first met."
"Kinda funny, isn't it? We're back where we started and going our separate ways..."
"We'll probably meet up again eventually." Alex said. "Fate seems to have decided to torture me like that."
"HEY! Just whats that supposed to mean!" May shouted back, clenching her fist.
"Relax! I'm just kidding!" Alex replied nervously, holding his hands in front of him.
"You better be! Besides, you're lucky you get the privelege of travelling with someone like me." May said, brushing one side of her hair back.
"Right...lucky. Anyway, I should be going now...I want to try to get to Petalburg and challenge your dad today."
"Alright...guess I'm just holding you up, huh?" May said with a slight laugh.
"Guess you are. Anyway, I'll see you around, May." Alex turned and started to walk west from the pokecenter towards Route 102.
"Hey, wait!" May called out to him. Alex stopped and turned toward her.
"Huh? What is it, May?"
"Alex, I want you to wait for me in Petalburg!"
"Err...you want me to what?" Alex asked in bewilderment.
"I want you to promise me you won't leave Petalburg until I get my badge too!" Alex thought over May's request for a moment.
"So you want me to wait for you in Petalburg so we can travel together again..." May nodded.
"...Alright. I promise I'll wait for you in Petalburg. You better not keep me waiting long though."
"I'll try not to." May replied, sticking her tongue out. "Anyway, bye Alex!" Alex waved before heading off towards Route 102. May watched him walking away for a while, before finally starting on her way south towards Littleroot.
"Alex better keep his promise..." She thought to herself.
"Travelling alone was so...quiet and boring. Besides, I still have to beat him in a battle!"
Oldale wasn't very far from Littleroot, so it was a relatively short walk for May and before long she was standing outside her house. Her house actually seemed a bit unfamiliar to her. She had only spent one night in her new home before leaving on her journey. As she opened the door, she could smell something cooking.
"Hello? Mom?" May called out into the house. She slipped her shoes off, leaving them on the carpet by the front door.
"May? Is that you?" May heard her mother from the kitchen. May walked down the hall and went into the kitchen. Her mother was standing in front of the stove near a large pot of boiling water.
"Oh! It is you May! I wasn't expecting you'd be home!" Her mother said as May walked into the kitchen. Her mother immediately dropped what she was doing and hugged her.
"I was in the area so I thought I'd drop by for a while!" May said, hugging her mother back.
"You should really call home once in a while, May! Your father and I worry about you!" Her mother said, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
"Sorry mom, I just never really thought about it...I've been fine though! Besides, I had Torchic with me and I've caught a bunch of other pokemon too!"
"I'm glad to hear that..." Her mother stood up and went back over to the stove.
"Your just in time for dinner too, May. Though I guess I should put more spaghetti on now that you're here!" Her mother said, reaching for a package of dry spaghetti and emptying it into the pot of boiling water.
"Spaghetti! I love spaghetti!" May cried excitedly.
"Oh I know...you always used to love pasta. I usually have to make a lot of it because you tend to go back for seconds, and thirds, and fourths..." May blushed slightly in embarasment. She usually overate when it came to pasta.
"By the way...whats in your backpack May?" Her mother asked her. "I don't remember you having that when you left home."
"Huh? Oh! Its a pokemon egg!" May took the backpack off and set it gently on the floor. She opened it up and took the blue pokemon egg out and held it up for her mother to see.
"Thats a pokemon egg?" Her mother asked, looking at the egg. "You could make a pretty big omlette with that..."
"MOM! You're not making an omlette with my egg!" May shouted, clutching the egg close to her.
"I would never do that, sweetie!" Her mother replied, smiling sweetly. She went back to attending the food, lifting the lid on a second pot filled with tomato sauce and meatballs and adding a bit of seasoning to it. May put the pokemon egg in her backpack and picked it up, carrying it instead of putting it back on her back.
"I'm heading up to my room. Call me down when its ready!" May said to her mother before leaving the kitchen. She went upstairs and into her room, then set the backpack down on the floor. She took one of her pillows off her bed and placed it on the floor at the foot of her bed. She then took her egg out of the backpack and placed it on the pillow.
"There, you should be fine there!" She said to it. She then grabbed her tv remote off the desk her computer was on and turned on her tv.
"Its great to be home, for at least a little while." May said to herself, lying down on her bed and watching tv. She decided to take a quick look over her pokedex, though, as she planned to see Professor Birch at some point during her stay in Littleroot, and she was still a bit upset about only having 22 pokemon caught. What she saw on her pokedex, however, surprised her.
"Huh? 37 pokemon?" May scrolled through the list to try to figure out where the other 15 came from.
"Treecko? Grovyle? These aren't my pokemon..." May scrolled further through the list, and soon realized all of Alex's pokemon were registered in her pokedex, even though they weren't earlier that day.
"That jerk..." May muttered, a slight smile crossing her face.
"He must have loaded his pokedex onto mine when I wasn't looking somehow...he could have at least said something...I wonder why he did that though?" May turned her pokedex off and placed it back on her belt, then turned her attention back to the tv. A pokemon contest in Lilycove was being aired.
"Wonder if Alex managed to beat dad..."
"What...the...heck?" Alex looked around from the entrance to Petalburg, confused by what he saw. Local police officers seemed to be out in force, and were questioning local citizens. Alex quietly snuck closer to one officer, who was questioning an old lady, and hid in a nearby alleyway. The poice officer was holding a yellow notebook and was writing things down.
"And you didn't see where he went?" The officer asked her.
"No sir...he just ran around the corner with his Mightyena and disappeared. I haven't seen him since..." The officer wrote this down.
"Alright, thanks for your time mam..." The officer tipped his hat and walked off. Alex stepped out of the alley.
"A man with a Mightyena huh? I wonder why the police are looking for this guy, whoever he is." Alex shrugged.
"Well whatever, not my concern. Guess I should be careful though." Alex continued through Petalburg, intent on going to the gym, but decided to take a detour through the back of town away from where all the police were. He figured whoever it was they were looking for would be in the general area they were searching. He ducked through an alley, taking a route around the edge of town towards the gym.
"Wonder if I should have a pokemon out...just to be safe..." Alex said to himself as he walked.
"Yes...that would have been a good idea...wouldn't it?" Alex heard a familiar voice behind him. Alex quickly grabbed a pokeball and turned around, coming face to face...with Detective Dirk.
"...Detective Dork. I was starting to think I finally managed to lose you too."
"I haven't been following you for a while now...because I've finally realized the truth..." Dirk said, snickering. He then realized what Alex called him.
"And its DIRK damn it! D-I-R-K! DIRK!"
"Whatever you say..." Alex smirked. "So whats this 'truth' you claim to have realized?"
"I've realized...that all trainers are criminals...the gym leaders and the Elite 4 are criminals...all are just one big criminal organization...hiding behind two smaller criminal organizations...everyone is a suspect...and only I, the great Detective Dirk, can bring them all to JUSTICE!" Dirk then started cackling like a madman.
"...Guess I figured out who the police are after then." Alex thought to himself.
"Sheesh. Dork always was a few cards short, but now he's lost the entire deck."
"And you...Alex..." Dirk said as he finally calmed down. "You and your girlfriend...are the ones orchestrating it all! I will put an end to you right now, and then she's next, wherever she is! I will make sure all you trainers are brought to justice!" Dirk reached into his trenchcoat and grabbed a pokeball.
"Well that settles it...you're nuts, I'm NOT a criminal, May's NOT my girlfriend, and you don't stand a ghost of a chance of beating me or even May, so you can forget about challenging gym leaders or the Elite 4. Not that it matters what I say to you because you've completely lost it and won't listen to reason." Alex brought up the pokeball he was holding.
"Lets teach this guy a lesson once and for all, Grovyle!" Alex pressed the button to release his pokemon, and Grovyle appeared kneeling on the ground with its arms crossed.
"Heh heh heh...everything is going according to plan..." Dirk pressed the button on the pokeball he was holding and threw it to the ground.
"Pelipper, lets take this guy down!" The ball split open as it hit the ground, releasing a blue and white feathered pelican pokemon.
"Pelipper? Funny, he usually sends out his Poochyena first...and his Poochyena has likely evolved too. Doesn't matter I guess, I'll beat him anyway..."
"Pelipper, use Water Pulse!"
"Grovyle, use Quick Attack and jump!" Dirk's Pelipper fired blue rings of water towards Grovyle, but Grovyle shot straight up into the air to avoid the attack.
"Now come down on it hard with Leaf Blade!" A green blade formed on Grovyle's forearm and it started to plummet back towards the ground. Grovyle came down towards Pelipper and gave it a good hard slash with its blade, knocking Pelipper straight into the ground from the force of the attack, while Grovyle landed gracefully behind it. Pelipper struggled to get up off the ground, but to no avail. The pokemon slumped over, unconcious. Defeated in a single attack. Dirk didn't look even remotely concerned, however.
"Oh darn...my Pelipper was defeated...whatever shall I do now?" Dirk snickered as he picked up Pelipper's pokeball and recalled his pokemon. He put the pokeball back in his trenchcoat, and pulled out another.
"Now its your turn, Loudred!" Dirk released his Loudred behind Grovyle, and a purple pokemon with a large mouth and what looked like speakers for ears appeared with its back to Grovyle.
"You should quit while you're ahead and just give yourself up." Alex said to Detective Dirk. Dirk just snickered.
"Why would I quit now...when I have you right where I want you?"
"What are you talking about?" Dirk grinned, and seemed to have a wild look in his eyes.
"Mightyena! Now!" He shouted.
"What?" Alex looked behind him and saw Dirk's Mightyena rushing towards him. Grovyle turned and saw it too and tried to get to Alex, but was caught off guard by Loudred's fist hitting it in the side of the head. Grovyle fell over, and Loudred pinned it to the ground, preventing it from getting anywhere near Alex. Alex reached for a pokeball to call out another pokemon, but he was moving too slow.
Mightyena bared its fangs, preparing to bite Alex. Just as it was getting close enough to bite him, however, a blast of mud struck Mightyena from behind, sending it sliding past Alex and into Loudred. Loudred was knocked off Grovyle, who immediately jumped back up on its feet. A Marshtomp ran up alongside Alex, followed by none other than Brendan Birch.
"Alex! You ok?" Brendan asked him.
"Yeah, I sure wouldn't be if you didn't show up though!" Alex replied.
"Damn you!" Dirk yelled. "I would have had him if you hadn't shown up!"
"Dirk, face it. You're just a washed up detective." Brendan said back to him. He then turned to Alex.
"What do you say we finish this guy off?"
"Couldn't agree more..." Alex replied. By this point, both Dirk's pokemon had gotten back on their feet, and Mightyena shook the mud off its fur.
"Grovyle, hit Loudred this way with a Leaf Blade!" Grovyle was more than happy to comply as it charged into the pokemon that had pinned it earlier, slashing the unprepared Loudred with its Leaf Blade and sending it staggering backwards towards Brendan's Marshtomp.
"Marshtomp, Tackle it back!" Marshtomp charged forward, slamming into Loudred and knocking it back towards Grovyle. Mightyena had stopped shaking the mud off by now.
"Mightyena, attack that kid's Grovyle! Loudred, don't let yourself get knocked around like that!" Dirk called out. He was actually starting to get worried now that his plan had failed.
"Grovyle, knock Loudred into Mightyena with a Pound attack!" Grovyle glanced towards Mightyena with a look of hatred in its eyes, and smashed Loudred into the hyena-like pokemon sending them both sprawling to the ground on top of each other.
"Finish them with Ice Beam, Marshstomp!" Marshtomp stood up on its hind legs and fired a blue beam from its mouth. The beam struck Dirk's pokemon and froze both of them in a giant block of ice. Dirk grumbled and recalled his frozen pokemon. He placed the pokeballs back in his trenchcoat and pulled out the remaining three.
"I will not be defeated!" Dirk cried out as he released his three remaining pokemon. The mushroom pokemon Shroomish had evolved into Breloom, which stood on two legs and had a more humanoid appearance. It also had a long tail with several green spores on the end and still had a mushroom on its head. It also had two arms with which it could deliver powerful punches. Numel, the small volcano-like pokemon, and Dustox, the purple moth-like poke were also among Dirk's remaining pokemon.
"Dirk really doesn't play by the rules..." Brendan muttered.
"I've noticed..." Alex said, reaching for another pokeball. He held it up and pressed the button to release the pokemon inside it.
"I bet I know someone who'd be eager for a fight...Skarmory, go!" A red beam shot out from the pokeball Alex was holding, and Skarmory appeared standing before them. The pokemon was more than pleased to see it had an opponent to face instead of just ferrying Alex around.
"Breloom, spray them all with a Stun Spore!" Dirk's Breloom turned around and seemed to wag its tail, releasing a yellow cloud of spores into the air. Without any command from Alex, Skarmory flew through the Stun Spore cloud completely unaffected and grabbed Breloom's tail in its claws, then flew straight up. Dirk, Alex, and Brendan all watched as Skarmory flew straight up, carrying the helpless Breloom up with it.
"Thats one aggressive pokemon." Brendan commented.
"Well its already tried to kill me and May twice. Once before I caught it and once after." Alex replied. The two of them then turned their attention to Dirk's remaining pokemon.
"Alright, Marshtomp! Attack his Numel with Water Gun!"
"Grovyle, hit that Dustox with a Quick Attack!" Brendan's Marshtomp sprayed a stream of water from its mouth towards the unsuspecting Numel, while Alex's Grovyle charged towards Dirk's Dustox then shot towards it with a Quick Attack. Dirk turned his attention back to the battle too late to issue a command, and Numel was knocked back several feet by Marshstomp's Water Gun attack and Dustox was knocked to the ground as Grovyle slammed into it. Dustox immediately got back up, but Numel was pinned back by Water Gun. The pain it was feeling from the attack was too great for it to gain any ground.
"Dustox, hit that water pokemon with your Psybeam attack!"
"Marshtomp aim your Water gun at Dustox!" Marshtomp changed the target of its Water Gun attack to Dustox, but Dustox managed to fire off its Psybeam attack and pushed back against the Water Gun with a beam of psychic energy. Numel ran forward as it was no longer pinned down, stopping to rest near Dustox. Alex was about to command Grovyle to attack Numel when suddenly Breloom came plummeting down, striking both Dustox and Numel as it smashed into the ground. Skarmory rushed by over Alex and Brendan's heads as it pulled out of its dive, and neither of Dirk's pokemon were even remotely capable of battling. All three of them laid in a heap looking in pretty bad shape.
"Damn it! Useless pokemon!" Dirk shouted, recalling his three fallen pokemon. Skarmory finally came back around and landed in front of Alex and Brendan.
"Just you wait, Alex...I'll get stronger pokemon than you could ever imagine...and then I'll put an end to the criminal activities of all trainers! Just you wa-" Dirk was cut off as he was suddenly tackled from behind by two police officers. They both forced Dirk's hands behind and slapped a pair of handcuffs on him.
"Dirk Dawson, by order of the Petalburg Police Department you are under arrest!" One of the officers said.
"What! Get off me! You're one of them aren't you! I'll stop all you evil trainers! You hear me!"
"Save it for the judge!" The officers forced Dirk to his feet and started dragging him towards the police station. Alex, Brendan, Grovyle, and Marshtomp all stared in shock at the sudden turn of events. Skarmory wasn't at all interested, though.
"Dirk's finally lost it." Brendan finally said as the police were out of sight.
"No kidding..." Alex replied, then turned to face Brendan.
"Thanks for the save back there."
"No problem. I was watching you battle Dirk and it seemed like you needed some help. Even I never would have expected him to order his pokemon to attack you..."
"Yeah, seems like he's been causing a bit of a commotion around here, though I never did figure out just what he was up to. What brings you to Petalburg anyway?" Alex asked him.
"I came here to challenge Norman, just to see if I actually stood a chance against him. I haven't been collecting badges, just researching pokemon." Brendan replied.
"So how'd it go then?"
"Heh...I lost." Brendan rubbed the back of his head in embarassment, and Marshtomp looked a bit ashamed as it overheard its trainer talking.
"Norman's tough...way stronger than May. Speaking of May, where is she? Wasn't she travelling with you?"
"She's staying in Littleroot for a while to visit her family."
"I'll have to stop by Littleroot then I guess, see if she's gotten any better. Her dad is probably already on his way there actually."
"He is?" Alex looked at his watch. It was already past 5 pm, when all league-owned pokemon gyms closed.
"Well so much for challenging Norman today..." Alex muttered.
"Well there's always tomorrow. Anyway, I'm going to head to Littleroot." Brendan took out Marshtomp's pokeball and turned to his pokemon, who seemed like it had been having a conversation with Grovyle. Skarmory didn't seem interested in associating with either of them.
"We're going now, Marshtomp. Return!" Marshtomp gave a nod to its trainer, before it disappeared inside its pokeball. Brendan then turned back to Alex.
"It was interesting battling alongside you, Alex. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." Brendan said, extending his hand to Alex.
"I don't doubt we'll run into each other again, and it was great battling alongside you too." The two of them shook hands, then Brendan departed.
"Well, guess I'll just find something to eat then and check into a hotel for the night." Alex then looked at Grovyle at Skarmory, both of whom were looking back at him.
"Of course, I might as well feed you guys and the rest of my pokemon while I'm out here." Both of his pokemon responded with their respective cries, and Alex took the rest of his pokeballs off his belt.
A young girl with brown hair tied back into a ponytail was standing on a podium next to a small humanoid grass pokemon that seemed to have green and yellow leaves for a skirt and a pair of flowers on its head. It was apparently a pokemon called Bellossom, and the girl was its trainer. She was wearing a green t-shirt and striped green and yellow skirt to match her pokemon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this contest's winner is none other than Lilycove's very own Suzy and her Bellossom!" A man announced. The contest May was watching on tv had just ended, and Suzy and her Bellossom had won.
"Suzy's Bellossom receives the Master Rank beauty ribbon for its victory, the highest rank a pokemon can receive! Congratulations, Suzy and Bellossom!" A red haired woman walked up to the podium and handed the ribbon to Suzy, who then carefully stuck it on her Bellossom's torso. The crowd gave a loud cheer, and the broadcast ended.
"Wow! That girl's Bellossom was soooo cute! I'll have to get one of my own someday!" May picked up her remote and started flipping through the channels, looking for something else to watch, stopping when she suddenly heard the front door open then close.
"Wonder who that is..." May turned off her tv and hopped off her bed, then went downstairs to see who just came in. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw her father standing in the doorway untying his shoes.
"Dad? What are you doing home?" She asked him. Her father looked up, surprised to see her.
"Well I live here, of course. Whats your excuse, stranger?" Her father said with a laugh, taking his shoes off and placing them on the carpet next to May's.
"Oh, very funny dad! I decided to stop home for a while since I was in the area!"
"And what brings you to this neck of the woods? You haven't four badges already have you?" May took her trainers card out of her pocket and showed it to him.
"Well I guess you have...then I guess you'll be looking to challenge me then next, huh?" Norman said to her, folding his arms over his chest.
"Yep, and I'm going to beat you too!"
"Well don't think I'll be taking it easy on you just because you're my daughter. You'll have to earn your badge just like every other trainer."
"Hey you two, dinners ready!" May's mother called out from the kitchen. May immediately rushed in and sat down at the table. Norman walked in behind her. May's mother met him at the entrance and the two of them kissed.
"How was your day, honey?" She asked him.
"The usual. Had a few challenges from trainers. Didn't hand out any badges today though. How was yours Caroline?"
"Oh nothing special..." She replied with a sigh. "Its just so quiet around here with May travelling around Hoenn, and you're at the gym all day..."
"Mom...I'm right here!" May interrupted.
"Oh sorry, dear!" Caroline replied sheepishly. "I'm just so used to you not being here..."
"Its alright, mom." May said, then went back to piling spaghetti onto her plate.
"We should sit down and eat before she takes it all." Her mother said. Norman and Caroline then sat across from each other at the table and put took their food from the two pots on the table. One was filled with tomato sauce and meatballs, the other with spaghetti. After filling their plates, everyone started eatting. Norman found himself distracted by May's eatting however. Before he could even take a bite of one of his meatballs, May was gobbling down her spaghetti like it would vanish.
"Does she...always...eat like that?" Norman asked his wife.
"Only when I make pasta." Caroline replied, who wasn't paying attention to May.
"I've been gone too long..." Norman said, still too preoccupied watching his daughter eat. She quickly finished her plate of spaghetti, then grabbed another heaping plate full of spaghetti and shoveled it into her mouth. She quickly finished that plateful of spaghetti, and grabbed yet another, emptying the pot. By the time May had finished her third helping, her mother had finally finished as well, and Norman had yet to start.
"That was good, mom..." May said, sighing happily as she lied back in her seat.
"I'm glad you liked it, dear." Her mother replied.
"Norman, aren't you going to eat?" Norman snapped out of his daze.
"Oh, sorry, yeah. Kinda got distracted...I've never seen anyone eat like that..." Norman then finally started to slowly eat his meal, enjoying every bite.
"I guess I'm just gifted!" May said. Norman nearly choked on a mouthful of spaghetti.
"By the way dad...did you happen to battle a boy named Alex today?" May then asked him. Norman swallowed his food.
"No, don't recall battling anyone by that name anyway, why?" Norman took another mouthful of spaghetti.
"Really? He was in a hurry to get to Petalburg to challenge you...oh well." May stood up and took her plate over to the sink.
"I think I'm going to take a shower and head to bed." May said as she left the kitchen.
"Night mom, night dad!" Norman waited until he heard May reach the top of the stairs, then turned to his wife.
"That IS our daughter, right?" He asked her.
"Thats her all right." She replied.
"Alex didn't challenge my dad yet? I hope nothing happened to him..." May thought as she lied in bed, the lights already turned out.
"Though I guess he probably just got delayed a bit...I mean, he didn't have much time to get there as it was, it wouldn't have taken much to make him miss his chance I guess..." May yawned.
"He's probably fine...wouldn't be like Mr. Know-it-all to be caught off guard..." May closed her eyes, and started to drift off to sleep. Shortly after she fell asleep, the egg at the foot of her bed shook slightly, then fell over on its side on the pillow.