Chapter 38

As soon as Gabby and Ty had packed up, Brendan approached us, taking us under each arm and bringing the three of us close together. He laughed.

"You two were so cute, I almost jumped in there myself!" I hid my face in my hands.

"My dad is going to kill me," I whispered. "He watches the news every time it's on. There's no doubt that he saw everything." Brendan punched my shoulder. "Ow, what gives?"

"Your dad had to learn of it sooner or later," he said. "You're dating the champion, Mew. Gym leaders are usually the first ones to know about that kinda stuff." He jabbed a thumb at Steven who pushed it away. "This dude, right here, this is your dad's boss. So, in a roundabout way, you're your dad's boss!"

"Shut up," Steven said. "I'll take care of Norman. If he has to listen to anyone, it would be me." He pulled out his PokeNav and began dialing the number. He held it to his ear for a few seconds before pulling it away. "Odd, it says it's busy."

My PokeNav started ringing. The two of them could tell by the look on my face that I was not ready for the shout-fest that was about to start. I picked up the phone and held it far from my ear, one eye closed to ease the impact.

"Hello?"

"Are you coming to challenge the gym?" His voice was abnormally taut. I was so surprised that he wasn't yelling I didn't think to answer. "Are you a challenger or not, young lady?"

"Um, Dad?"

"This is Norman," he stated. I paused.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Norman," he corrected again.

"Ok, I know you're upset. Can you just listen?" After I spoke, he grumbled. I heard Mom in the background, whispering to him. As soon as she finished, he snorted. "Look, it's not exactly what I planned." He didn't say anything. "Ok, stop it. I'm sixteen I can do what I want." Both Steven's and Brendan's arms went to their heads. They must've seen what was coming, because I sure as hell didn't.

"Mew Zakuro!" my father screamed. Now was the time to hold the phone away from my ear. I muffled him a little bit by putting my thumb over the speaker, but it didn't seem to do much to soften the blow. "You get home this instant! You are grounded! If I had my pidgeot I would fly over there and kill you! What on Earth are you thinking?! I just got the job here and you decide to date my boss?! What on Earth do you expect I tell the other Leaders?! I basically set you up with the guy!"

"Dad," I whispered.

"That's Leader Norman to you, Challenger!" I could hear mom trying to calm him down, but now he was ignoring her completely. "You come to Petalburg right now! As soon as you're here, your pokemon better be prepared, because I'm not losing to you! You are not leaving LittleRoot once I beat you! Why, if I had my pidgeot-"

Click. My mom must've gotten ahold of the phone because he sounded as if he wasn't the least bit done tearing into me. Luckily the crowd had dispersed after the TV shooting, or else I would've made the news twice. I flipped the PokeNav shut and tucked it in my back pocket, expressionless.

"You, uh," Brendan started. "You're taking this real well." I twitched.

"I'm so dead." Steven, who had been ruffling his hair the whole while I had been yelled at, straightened it and took a deep breath. "Even you know it. Can't you command him to just chill out?"

"I'm afraid I can only govern what happens when you two battle," he explained sadly. "If it makes you feel better, I can help you prepare for battle." I put my arm across my face.

"So you're telling me you're not going to try and calm him down?" He paused.

"I suppose I can after you two battle. When you guys are done, maybe he'll let me talk to him as a friend, not a boss." Brendan chuckled.

"I guess we have to head back that way now?" He rubbed his neck and looked towards the ledges we had to climb to get here. "I suppose fiery path is our best bet for now." He looked towards the sky. "If we take our bikes, we can get to Mauville by tonight. We should head out now."

"Right," I said.

"Hey, wait!" Flannery ran up to me, a big egg in her hand. She handed it to me, smiling wide. I stared at her, unsure of what to say. "It's an egg. A pokemon egg."

"What pokemon?" I asked, rolling it over delicately in my hands. It was so warm like it had been put in an incubator for some time. "It's pretty hard for an egg. What pokemon is inside?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," she admitted. "A trainer found this egg in Granite Cave. He brought it to us when it wouldn't hatch. Even keeping it in the springs and the warm sand won't help it." Her ice patch started dripping down her face. She wiped it away and handed me a fanny pack filled with blankets. After she clipped it around my waist without my permission and secured the egg inside, she gave me a thumbs up. "Good luck, girl. If you need help, Steven has my number." Then she turned and ran towards the pokemon center. Steven reached forward and delicately took ahold of the egg. He ran his thumb over it.

"You're right when you said it was hard. It's definitely not a squishy pokemon." He snuggled it back in the fanny pack. "All I can tell is it'll have great defence but terrible speed."

"So a like a rock type? Ground? Steel?" Brendan clapped his hands together. "I got it! It's a dragon type."

"No," Steven sighed. "There are no known dragons hanging out in Granite Cave. Good guess though." After he spoke, we all started back to the pokemon center. The two of them took the lead while I held the egg close to my face. I couldn't see through the thick, white and green spotted shell, but I could feel the warmth the pokemon was emitting. I put my cheek up to it.

Wow. The little guy/girl even had a heartbeat. A loud one. It wasn't dead, like Flannery had probably guessed. It just took quite a long time to hatch. I tucked it back in the fanny pack. I made sure the zipper or anything else scratched the shell. It made me feel better knowing it was comfortable. We entered the pokemon center.

"Awe, look at little Mew." Brendan stepped up to me and started rubbing my head. "You already love the little guy in there."

"Or girl," I corrected. He chuckled.

"Calm down, girl. We'll see in time." He pat the egg softly. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll love you just like your other pokemon, which you should probably heal before we head out."

"O-oh, right." I ran up to the counter and began healing my pokemon. Steven and Brendan stayed by the door, where they readied their bikes for the road. Steven adjusted his hair and started adjusting my seat to the right height.

"You know," Brendan said quietly, "her dad wouldn't have freaked out so much if it had been me dating her." Steven rolled his eyes. "You know it's true."

"I'm sure he would have freaked no matter who dated her," he replied. "I'm beginning to feel some jealousy from you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what? Me and her? Or you and her?" Steven stopped adjusting the bike to meet eyes with the rival. Brendan's eyes were fiery red again. "I may not look like it, but I have more experience in bizarre things like Mew's powers." Steven narrowed his eyes.

"What do you know about this?"

"A whole lot more than you do." Brendan leaned forward, face inches away from Steven's. "I bet I can steal her from you if I really wanted to. But she likes you. I'll let you have her." He adjusted his hat, which had nearly fallen off. Black hair exposed itself for the first time. Steven pushed him away.

"You're not Brendan Birch."

"You're right. I'm not." Steven made to grab at him, but the fake Brendan clasped his arm tightly, bending the bones. The champion hissed from under the pressure. "Believe me when I say you two can trust me. If she's going to fulfill her destiny, she's going to need you by her side. But if you screw her over again and make her give up one of her lives for you, I'll make it so you can't be revived."

"I'm not afraid of people like you," Steven said, yanking his hand back. "Who are you?"

"Someone who can take out your team in six turns." He adjusted his hat again. "For the safety of Mew and yourself, you better keep quiet about this. She's not ready to meet me for real yet. Not until her time has come." Steven didn't say anything. "Oh ho. You must know who I am then. Play your cards right, and I may just battle you."

"Why are you in Hoenn?" The champion snapped quietly. "You know I only welcome Cynthia here. Not anybody of your kind." His red eyes flared brightly.

"Sadly, you don't know enough about me to be saying that. I'm here for the sake of Mew. And Mew needs you. Therefore, I technically need you, too." He paused. I approached right then with my team in their pokeballs and the egg nestled in my bag. I hugged onto Steven and he hugged back, glaring at Brendan. His eyes shone red.

A deep, ominous Red.

Mew Received The Egg!

Mew's Pokemon Are Fully Healed!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!