Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon but he does! :points and runs:
Muddy: :pointing to himself: Me?
:comes back: Yes, Muddy. You own Pokemon.
Muddy: Alright! :cackles gleefully:
-.- Anywa-
Muddy: Muddy's a happy Swampert!
You always interrupt me when I say anyway-
Muddy: Want to know why?
No, anyway-
Muddy: Because he got voted for favorite Pokemon! Not here! But at the other site Breezy writes on! He is very happy!
Flare: Oh joy.
Muddy: You're just mad because you didn't get voted :sticks out tongue:
Flare: Whatever. Anyway, I'll say anyway since Breezy always gets interrupted when she says that.
Seriously. -.-
Flare: Here's chapter 42. Breezy will like to thank everyone that said happy birthday to me and Mud Boy over here. :looks at Muddy:
Muddy: :on the phone: Yeah, Bob. I own Pokemon AND might be favorite Pokemon. I kinda doubt it though but yeah. At least I was nominated by some people! :grins:
Flare: Enjoy. Oh yeah, Breezy fixed that battle thing between Skittles and Sapphire. She hasn't posted the edited versions of the chapters yet, but she's getting to it. So, yeah.
Muddy: Breezy would also like to say that this is a filler chapter just to get out of the lingering foul mood that Maxie has set and to get back to the ... lightheartedness. Whoa, that's a word? AMAZING!
Flare: -.- Yeah, it's a filler. It's kinda a nice change from the past few chapters (not the Pokemon-based ones of course) that Breeze has wrote. So enjoy once again!
Wally's Return
Brendan thought his journey would be something simple: Catch some Pokemon, get eight gym badges, make new friends on the road and so on and so forth. He never thought that life on the road could be so ... complicated. He never thought it would be so drama-filled. Hell, he never thought that he would have someone to travel with, to share the laughs and the tears.
Maybe it was because he didn't think about the hardship of travel and what made things so hard in the first place.
What really freaked him out though was the fact that he didn't care that May was gone; he didn't care that he was alone out in the pouring rain; he didn't care at all. Period. He figured that he might as well find the girl trainer otherwise he'd probably get his head bitten off later when he found her again.
"Ha, yeah right! Why bother finding a girl that's only going to have a pissy fit when you find her again?" Brendan ran a hand through his wet locks of snowy-white hair and turned back around toward the Weather Institution a mile or so ahead. He was surprised that May ran that far without a sign of tiredness. Hell, he was surprised that running those few miles felt like a few seconds instead of fifteen minutes.
Soon enough, Brendan spotted both Chris and the shaggy-haired trainer he was fighting up ahead underneath the shade of a pine tree, and by the looks of it, the two became fast friends.
"Hey, Brendan!" Chris spotted the white-haired trainer coming up. Noticing that Brendan was one friend short, he asked, "Where's May? Did you get her? What hap-"
Brendan shook his head, stopping the other boy trainer mid-sentence. "I seriously have no clue," he answered as he too stood underneath the shade of the tree to get out of the rain. "She ran off when I was talking, and I didn't go after her this time."
"Why not, dude?" the shaggy-haired trainer questioned, his grin slowly dying down. "She's your best friend isn't she?"
Brendan nodded. "Yeah, she is. I dunno. It just seemed like the right thing to do, ya know? Leave her alone for a few days to think about things and train and heal her Pokemon."
"Does she need it or do you?" Chris inquired, a small smirk plastered on his face as usual.
Brendan laughed. "I guess we both need it, actually, now that I think about it. We've been traveling for WAY too long and surprisingly, it got on our nerves as much as that's hard to believe."
"Ah sarcasm. You're learning well." Chris shook his head and looked towards the distance. "Well, I believe it's time for Chris Conifer to head back down the journey ... the journey of life. It's a hard road, yes, but it is a road I must challenge and defeat!"
"What the?" Brendan shook his head but a smile emerged on his face all the same. "Did you get that out of a greeting card or something? That had corny written all over it, for Rayquaza's sake!"
"It's very possible that it came from a greeting card, it is," Chris replied, shoving his hands into his black, baggy jeans. "But seriously, I gotta go punch a wall or something. That Maxie sometimes ..." He too shook his head like Brendan but for a different reason. "Alright. Talk to ya later, B Boy and Koran, I'm out!" With that, Chris walked past the two other boy trainers and down the dirt path, ignoring the rain that beat down on his head. Chris's departure left both Koran and Brendan in a tense silence.
"... You like her, don't you, dude?" Koran piped up after a few minutes of restlessness from both trainers.
This startled Brendan. "W-what? No!" he answered sharply, trying to hide his blush by looking at the ground. "I don't, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to talk about it with some stranger I met on the street so to speak."
"Ha, you do, dude," Koran remarked with a smirk. He leaned against the tree and stared up at the thickets of the pine trees once again. "You don't have to deny it, you know. I'm not going to tell her. Heck, I probably won't see her for awhile anyway." The surfer trainer looked back down towards the white-haired trainer. "So admit it, Birch, before you crack."
Brendan sighed and plopped himself in the wet grass. "Great, I'm spilling my heart's content to some random surfer trainer that I just met. Fun stuff, Birch, fun stuff."
"Hey, the world is crazy like that," Koran replied lightly. "So you do then? You do like her?"
Brendan frowned and picked at the wet grass. "I'm not sure actually," he admitted. "I thought I did, and then I changed my mind. Then I did again. Then it changed back. And now ... Now she's gone. Latios, I thought I wanted her gone too. Dammit, Birch! Stop contradicting yourself!"
"You make it sound like she's dead, dude," Koran retorted with a smirk. He shook his head and stared at the top of Brendan's head. "So do you like her or don't? It's either yes or no ... or maybe. Whatever."
Brendan fell backward, his ruby-red eyes staring straight at the stormy-gray sky. "You know what? I think I do."
"I can't believe he didn't chase after me!" May huffed as she trudge along the dirt path towards Fortree City. She kicked a rock off the path in anger. "I mean, we're best friends! Well, this shows how much he cares! But then again." The girl trainer stopped in the middle of the road. Maybe she was being too melodramatic with running away and not having Brendan chase after her. They were friends, not lovers. Right?
Latias, this is getting very ... soap-opera-ish, May complained in her head as she continued her way towards the nearest city. Besides, I think Brendan and I need a break from each other, to get things straight. Or at least I do. I don't really care for old what's-his-face right now anyway. And now I can get Secret Base supplies without him whining behind me! Fun!
The girl trainer skipped on happily towards Fortree City with thoughts of Pokedolls running through her head.
Meanwhile though ...
"... But you're not going to do anything about it. Are you, dude?" Koran asked.
Brendan sat back up and sighed. "No. It's just not the time," he answered, running a hand through his hair for the second time that day. "If we do get in a relationship on the road, I mean, who knows what will happen? I mean what if-"
"I don't need the details, dude," Koran interrupted him.
"I didn't mean like that!" Brendan groaned, slapping his forehead. He ignored Koran's laughter and he continued to speak. "I mean, what if we break up? We might never speak to each other again, and May is a good friend after all, and I don't want to lose our friendship. And even if we do continue to travel together if we break up, it's going to be all weird and ... some other word for a few days, or months, or YEARS even! And I don't want that!"
"You don't want a lot of things," Koran remarked. "'I don't want a relationship, I don't want to lose May as a best friend, I don't want the air surrounding me to be tense-'"
"Alright, I get it!" Brendan complained, smacking his forehead. "It's just ... It's just not time."
Koran stayed silent for a minute before pushing himself up from the tree and walking away from the shade of the pine tree. "Speaking of time, dude, I've gotta go. Later!" And with that, the surfer-trainer left the scene, probably headed back toward Mauville or Slateport.
"That was weird," Brendan remarked as soon as Koran was out of eye shot. "Very weird."
May's sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with delight as she saw the many things that would perk up her Secret Base – if she'd ever make one that is. Finally taking one last glance at a polished wood table and chair set, May exited the store tree house only to bump into a familiar face.
"Wally?" the girl trainer asked, surprised that the green-haired trainer was also in town.
Wally Wood looked up from something he was holding in the palm of his hand and grinned at the sight of May. "Hey, May!" the boy trainer replied happily as he pocketed the item he held in his hand. "I didn't know you were here too!"
May nodded. "I just made it here a few minutes ago and went straight away to the Secret Base supplies store." She laughed softly to herself. "I guess I'm a shopping fanatic! Anyway, what brings you to town?"
If possible, Wally's grin grew even wider as he put his hand back into his pocket to retrieve the item. Pulling his hand back out, he showed off his newly acquired badge from the Fortree gym known as the Feather Badge.
"Just got it a hour ago," he answered proudly before reaching into his green and white backpack for his badge case. "It was a tough fight, but my Kirlia won in the end!"
"Oh, so your Ralts evolved then?" May questioned, admiring Wally's finely polished badges even though she had her own set.
Wally closed the black leather badge case and placed it safely back in the small pocket of his backpack. "Yeah," he answered with the same grin plastered on his face. "I've capture a whole bunch of other Pokemon too like Roselia, Skitty, and Abra!"
Sounds familiar, May thought about Brendan when Wally mentioned an Abra but immediately shook the idea out of her head.
"So is Winona a hard gym leader to battle?" May asked as the two trainers climbed down the ladder onto solid ground. "She's the mistress of Flying types isn't she?"
The green-haired trainer nodded. "She's kind of difficult to battle with her – nah. I think I'll just let you figure it out." Wally smirked as May punched him lightly on the arm.
"C'mon! Tell me!" she whined as the two strolled around the town.
Wally stuck with his decision though. "Ha! Like hell I'm gonna tell you now!" he laughed as he stuck out his tongue. "Anyway though" The green-haired trainer looked around and noticed something was missing. "Where's Brandon? Don't you travel with him?"
May's warm smile slowly faded away as soon as Wally mentioned Brendan. "He's gone," she said quietly, bowing her head toward the grassy grounds of Fortree.
Wally perked up. "He died?" he asked cheerfully. "Alright!"
May punched Wally playfully on the arm again. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but he didn't. Brendan and I are no longer traveling together. Well, for now anyway. We got in a big fight, and I ran away, and he didn't follow me, and I thought I would look weak if I turned back, so here I am, talking to you. Doesn't that make you feel special?"
The emerald-eyed boy only rolled his eyes in response. "Why yes, yes it does," Wally remarked in the same tone of sarcasm like May's. "But you two are going to be traveling together again right? It would just break my heart to see two great friends apart like this!"
"Your sarcasm is not needed." The brown-haired girl rolled her dark-blue eyes in response to Wally's comment.
"I'm not being sarcastic – at least to my last comment anyway," Wally replied as the two entered the Pokemon Center through the clear, glass doors. "You two were the best of friends in my book and – I don't know. I think it would be stupid to break up a great friendship over a dumb fight. What did you guys fight about?"
May sighed and rubbed the temples on the side of her head. "Actually, Wally, everything was kind of blurry at that time. I'm not sure what exactly we were fighting about. Our pride was on the line, I guess."
"Ah," was all Wally said as he went up to the counter to retrieve his Pokeballs. Clipping them back on his belt, he sat down next to May who cushioned herself in a plushy red couch. "Well, if you're ever lonely while you're on your journey, you can always call me!" Wally remarked cheerfully. "Always happy to get a call from someone who isn't doesn't check if you put on deodorant."
May laughed at Wally's comment. "You know what?" she asked as she made eye contact with Wally. "I think we should travel together."
"... You want me to travel with you?"
"She wants him to travel with her?" a white-haired trainer asked bewilderedly as he spied on both Wally and May from a table afar at the Pokemon Center. "That girl has got serious issues to work out!" Peeking his head over the corner of The Pokemon Chronicles, the daily newspaper, he watched Wally scratched his head, confused by May's comment.
"What about Brandon?" he heard Wally ask.
"Oh, Brendan will find me. I'm sure he will!" May's soft and delicate giggles rung in Brendan's ears. "Besides, why do I have to call you when I can just wake up and talk to you person-to-person instead? You'll save money after all, and Latios only knows how much trainers need it these days."
"Yeah but-"
"Oh come on, Wally!" Brendan could tell that May was giving Wally the puppy-dog look by the looks om the boy's face. "Please?"
"Say yes and you're dead," Brendan muttered under his breath.
"But if I say yes and Brendan figures out, won't he kill me?" Wally questioned.
Ha, you're catching on! the white-haired trainer thought triumphantly in his head.
From what Brendan saw, May placed a hand on Wally's shoulder for reassurance. "Don't worry. If he tries to lay a finger on you, then I'll take care of it!" she answered triumphantly, her eyes darting back and forth across the Pokemon Center.
Brendan gulped nervously and hid his head behind the newspaper even more. Even if he wasn't here supposedly, May still gave him the jitters when she spoke like that.
"I guess we could try it." Wally shrugged as May squealed in delight.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Brendan heard the girl trainer cheer as he watched her hug Wally tightly. He had to hold back his laughter as Wally tried to squirm out of May's hug of death.
That's it! Squirm like the little worm you are! the white-haired trainer thought angrily in his head.
May let go of Wally soon after and checked the time on her PokeNav. "Hmm ... Ten already. Think we should get a room?" she asked, clipping her PokeNav back on her belt.
Wally yawned in agreement, showing both Brendan and May clear signs of tiredness. "Yeah, let's get a room," he answered, finished the last of his yawn. "I'm tired from battling Winona and getting a new gym badge today."
What? Brendan exclaimed in his mind. You mean that Walter is beating me? There's just no possible way! I've got to get to the gym before it closes! About to jump up from his seat, Brendan remembered that Wally and May were only a few feet away from him. Dammit, go get a room already! I can't believe I just thought that.
As soon as Brendan thought those words, both Wally and May got up from the cushy, red couch and toward the main desk to get a room for the night. Nurse Joy quickly pulled out a key from underneath the main lobby counter, and with that, the two trainers went off to their room. This left Brendan to himself and just in the nick of time too for Chansey came skipping down toward his table to give him back his Pokeballs.
"Uh, thanks." Brendan sweat-dropped after Chansey chirped out her infamous call. He took his Pokeballs from the metal tray and nodded the Nurse Chansey off. "Now, time to go get my Feather Badge!"
The white-haired trainer leaped back onto his feet, only to hit his thighs on the bottom of the table. Cursing, Brendan slowly got out of the booth and left the Pokemon Center, the cool night air blowing across his face. Quickly, the boy ran toward the nearest ladder and climbed up, only to cross the bridge and climb back down to where the gym was held. Still running, Brendan was getting psyched up for his upcoming battle only to get smacked in the face by something he couldn't see. Brendan, dizzy, fell backwards and stared at the crescent moon high above his head.
"What the heck?" he exclaimed as he sat back up to rub the back of his head. Thinking that his hand would go through, he punched in front of him only to meet up with the invisible wall again. Cursing again, Brendan took back his fist and sucked on it to ease the pain.
"I don't get it," Brendan admitted as he got back onto his feet. Climbing up the ladder and crossing the bridge toward the East end of Fortree, Brendan walked toward the outskirts of town where more tall grass grew. Sighing, he spotted another bridge that crossed over a rather large lake and sat down at the edge of it. Though he did happen to see yet another familiar face at the other end.
"Steven!" he called out, getting back onto his feet to walk over to the silver-haired trainer.
Steven looked up from a device he held at hand and grinned at the boy trainer coming towards him. "Hey, Brendan!" he replied as Brendan was next to his side. "I'm sure you're wondering what these invisible walls are too aren't you?"
"Well now that you mention it ..." Brendan trailed off. "What are they anyway? Are they really invisible walls or what?"
Steven shook his head no. "Well." He looked at the device in his hand again. "I think I'll let you see for yourself. Do you have your Pokemon ready to battle?"
Brendan picked up a Pokeball and enlarged one to maximum size. "Yeah, but why?" he asked.
Steven pressed a button on the light and red light poured out of it. Aiming it at a direct location, Brendan began to notice that a small, chameleon Pokemon with red and yellow decorations decorated all over its body began to form right in front of his eyes.
"That's a Kecleon!" Brendan remarked excitedly as he quickly scanned it on his PokeDex. "It camouflaged with the scenery around it! So that's why I couldn't see it before!"
The Kecleon roared angrily as it began to charge towards Brendan.
"Careful now!" Steven warned.
"Right!" Brendan smirked and released the Pokeball he had in hand. "I choose you, Sirius! Use Iron Tail now!" he commanded.
Sirius howled as he bursted out of his Pokeball and immediately, his tail glowed a shining silver. Sprinting toward the Kecleon, he roared another mighty battle cry and swung his tail at Kecleon who easily avoided the attack by jumping up high.
"You can do it, Sirius, buddy!" Brendan cheered. "While it's up there, use Take Down!"
The Mightyena hopped up into the air and collided into the Kecleon, bringing both of them down with a loud crash, Sirius on top. Kecleon squirmed underneath the Bite Pokemon but finally got back up when it slashed at Sirius's face. The Mightyena howled in agony as he stepped back, letting Kecleon out of his grip. Kecleon took advantage of this moment and ran for it.
"Dang, he got away!" Brendan groaned as he returned Sirius back to his Pokeball.
"It was a pretty good battle though," Steven remarked. "Like you've said though, that Kecleon had hid itself by camouflaging with the background. The only thing you can actually see when Kecleon is camouflaging itself is the yellow zigzag on its belly." Steven handed Brendan the device he was holding earlier, leaving Brendan confused.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's the Devon Scope. We just invented it for this purpose," Steven answered. "Maybe you could use it for something." With a flick of his wrist, Steven enlarged a Pokeball and released his Skarmory into the air. "Until next time, Brendan!" And like a flash of lightning, he was gone, leaving Brendan alone once again.
Brendan pocketed the Devon Scope in his pants pocket and walked across the bridge toward Fortree again. Truth be told, he didn't have much mood to battle right now. What he really wanted to do was spy. See how May liked it without him ...
"Great, she likes it," Brendan groaned as he spied outside Wally and May's room through the window. Brendan watched Wally tell a joke and May laugh. He was the one that was suppose to make her laugh, not him! Not Acorn!
Okay, so it's Wal-nut. Whatever. Not like he took notes or anything. Not like he cared if he got it right.
"I've really gotta learn to stop ranting in my head," Brendan complained as he continued to spy on the two other trainers. Without noticing, a flash of white light bursted out from Brendan's belt and instantly appeared the infamous Swampert by the name of Bemired Muddy.
"I'll be honest with you." Muddy noticed Brendan watching Wally and May through the window. "I think you're a psycho. I think that you need a good sit down with a therapist to talk about your feelings with. I think you need to stay in one of those houses with the mattress all over the walls – actually, that sounds kind of cool!"
"Shut it, Muddy. I'm working here!" Brendan growled as he placed his forehead on the cool glass.
"On becoming a psycho perhaps?" Muddy laughed as he dove into the Pokemon Center's pool right behind him. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. Night!"
"Yeah, yeah. Night." Brendan waved his Pokemon off as he watched Wally and May laugh it up. "I wonder what's so funny."
Wally finished the remainder of his joke, leaving both him and May in fits of laughter.
"I can't believe you were that stupid!" May managed to gasp out through her giggle fit.
"Hey, I was only a rookie after all!" Wally's laughter began to die down and soon after, so did May's. Sighing, he swung his feet over the edge of his bed and stared at the wooden door. "Hey, I've got a question, May."
"Alright, shoot," May replied as she took off her shoes and entered the covers of her own bed. She propped up her head against her pillow so she could still see Wally's face.
"You don't have to answer this, but do you like Brendan?" he dared questioned.
"Oh, it's very possible, Wally," May answered thoughtfully. "Hell, I might be in love and not even know it!"
May didn't notice the look of disappointment written on Wally's face luckily. Wally, though, quickly wiped if away with a small grin. "So are you going to do anything about it or what?" he questioned, fiddling with an empty Pokeball by rolling it between his fingers.
"Well, do you think I should?" May asked back.
Wally sighed again and stared deep into May's sapphire-blue eyes. "I'll be honest with you. I ..." Something white caught Wally's eye when he glanced towards the window. Like hair of some sort. "I think you should do whatever your heart says." Wally realized that Brendan was there but he didn't do anything about it. He would be worried too if his usual traveling companion was with another guy in a room
But whether if Brendan was awake or not was the real question.
Muddy rolled his eyes, picked up his trainer's sleeping bag, unrolled and unzipped it and laid Brendan's sleeping form in it. "Honestly, if I don't win most caring Pokemon of the year, I'm not sure who will." The Swampert took a glance inside what he was staring at and sighed in annoyance. "You do seem to like her again, don't ya, B Boy? I thought we jumped over that hurtle already, but apparently you tripped and landed on your face."
Muddy leaned against the wall that Brendan was currently sleeping on and frowned. He and Flare had a talk about this – If Brendan and May were to get together. Well, there wouldn't be as many fights, he supposed, and probably both wouldn't battle against each other if Team Magma or Team Aqua struck again. But if they were to split up, they might never see half of their friends again.
"Well, that's not good is it?" Muddy muttered under his breath.
Well, call him selfish or call him stupid but Muddy was back on Brendan and May's case. This time to make sure that they will never get together.
"Haha, I'm kidding! You guys are so stupid sometimes!" the Swampert laughed. "If I did do that, I'd get killed! This time, Bemired Muddy Swampert's plan to get Brendan and May together will not fail! Did I just call myself Bemired?"
"Yo, the Swampert talking to himself!" a Pokemon sleeping in the lake's waters shouted angrily. "You've got problems!"
Muddy stood back up and glared at the water. "Well you've got cooties! HA!" He jumped up and down in triumph. "Beat that, monkey turd butt! I dare ya! What now, son? What now?"
This caused the other Pokemon to stay quiet and Muddy heard it go back underneath the water.
"I win!" Muddy pounded a fist in the air for victory. "Woo! Well, that was fun. What was I doing again?"
Now as we watch Muddy ponder about what he was pondering about in the first place, some of you can't help but wonder.
What is he planning – as soon as he remembers what he was suppose to be planning? All we know is that things are going to be different from now on.
Lame ending, shut up. :sweat-drops:
Whoa, Muddy talked kinda ghetto in a few sentences. Haha son.
Well, this is a light-hearted chapter compared to the last few ain't it? I even threw in some Hoennshipping goodness in. That just ... gawd lol. I guess I don't dislike it with a passion as much as I thought.
Flare: Riiiiiight.
Shut up. Anyway-
Muddy: Anyway!
You interrupt my anyway-
Muddy: Yeah, I interrupt your anyway with my own because I'm cool like that! :grins:
LaTeR dAyZ!
Last Revision: 1/13/09