May

Adventure is still in the air!

...Well, for now, at least.

Brendan seems to be getting cold feet so fast they might turn into ice cubes if he's not careful. If I can't find a way to get him excited about exploring the world with me, I'll be on my own real soon.

Though, as I recall, his dad is the gym leader in Petalburg. Maybe seeing his dad in action will inspire him to keep going. Better yet, if Brendan had a battle with him...

Oh, who am I kidding? Brendan would get clobbered by any gym leader so bad he'd never leave Littleroot again.

Maybe I should just accept that I have to go on alone. It was a crazy dream anyway—to think I'd have a friend, a real friend, to travel around and see Hoenn with. I just hope when the time comes for us to go our separate ways, I'm not too scared to keep going.

I don't want to go home yet, but am I really ready to be on my own? I thought I knew, but now that it's coming closer and closer to becoming real, I'm not so sure.

I look over at Brendan sitting on the bench, anxiously looking back where the nurse took our Pokemon. He doesn't look like he's having fun, I'm sure of that. He looks like he's ready to bolt out of here at a moment's notice. If it weren't for me wanting to go on, he'd probably be home right now. If it weren't for me, he'd probably be...

Happy.

I don't think he's worried about what his mom told him. I think he's come this far because of me. Because he wanted to be a good friend. And I haven't returned the favor at all. Realizing that feels like someone punched me in the stomach. Even I wouldn't want to be my friend at this rate.

That settles it. We'll go to Petalburg, then we'll go home. Together. Maybe tomorrow we can go a little further than we did today. Or maybe it will happen the next day. Or whenever. It doesn't matter. As long as we're both doing it.

I walk over and sit next to Brendan. I don't know exactly what to say, so I just give him a smile and wait quietly until they bring our Pokemon back. I can tell he's tense, but he relaxes a little when I sit beside him. It might seem selfish of me to think of myself right now, but it does make me feel better to see him do that.

The moment the nurse steps out from the back room of the Pokemon Center, Brendan jumps to his feet.

"Are they okay?" he asks. I can tell he's trying not to seem frantic. It's not working.

"They're in perfect health," the nurse says with a warm smile. Brendan sighs with relief.

"Thank you," Brendan says. He slips the two Pokeballs holding his Mudkip and Wurmple into his backpack. "How much do I...?"

By the time he looks up again, the nurse had returned my Pokemon to me, and gone back to work. I'm proud to say I only laughed a little.

"Pokemon Centers work for free, you dummy," I say. "But we should spend some of the money we earned at the Pokemart. Come on."

I lead Brendan to the Pokemart just next door. And while they don't carry the exciting stuff here in Olddale, they have what we need.

"Two potions and a set of five Pokeballs, please," I say to the man behind the counter. "And my friend will have the same."

"I will?" Brendan says.

"Yes, you will. Trust me."

We both hand the man some of the money we won off the Olddale Champions. Hopefully we won't need these potions for a while, but it's always good to have some with you. Just in case.

From there, we make our way through Route 102. Not much happens along the way to Petalburg. At one point, Brendan tried to catch a Zigzagoon up in a tree, but missed. The Pokeball bounced off a branch and hit him on the head. That was pretty funny.

I show him a thing or two as we encounter a few wild Pokemon here and there—nothing too major. I'm sure Fluffernugget and Silky are happy to be out of their Pokeballs for a while, and the same goes for Brendan's Pokemon. But what's really interesting is that Brendan is starting to perk up a little bit with every wild Pokemon we train on.

"You know," he says, "I might not be too good at battling yet, but I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of things."

"Hey, you won didn't you? You should be proud!" I say. And I mean it, too. Brendan was a tough opponent when we had our first battle back in Littleroot. He might be new, but he's not bad.

"Yeah...you know what? You're right. Even though she did try some dirty tricks, a win is a win."

"Dirty tricks? Like catching you checking her out?" I just couldn't help myself.

"No! It wasn't like that at all. You were there, you saw what she did!" he says indignantly.

"I'm just teasing you. Relax. Besides, she did you a favor. You wouldn't want to be with a girl like her."

We both suddenly get quiet. I'm not sure why I just said that, or what my point was. Shut up! I really don't! Oh, man, could this be more embarrassing?

Petalburg is just up ahead, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

As far as cities go, I know Petalburg isn't the biggest. I've seen pictures of big cities in books and magazines and stuff, and Petalburg is not nearly on their level. But it's still the biggest town I've ever been to, and it's beautiful.

There are two gorgeous ponds here, and I can only imagine what kind of Pokemon live in them. The water is so blue and vibrant I could just stare at it all day. Even more amazing, there are more people outside doing their own things than there are in all of Littleroot. Some lounge around by the water, some are leaving or entering the Pokemon Center or Pokemart here. No matter what they're doing, just about everyone is doing something I could never do in my home town. It makes me just a little bit jealous.

Brendan has to keep me focused on what we're here for—and good thing he does. I was starting to get dizzy from spinning around so much trying to look at everything. But then we reach it, the middle of Petalburg. The gym stands tall and kind of menacing, and outside it...

Uh oh.

A skinny kid with messy green hair is trying to force himself into the gym, but two gym trainers, a guy and a girl, are holding him back. Brendan sees it too. And when the gym trainers push the green haired kid to the ground, Brendan takes off in a sprint.

"Brendan, wait!" I call after him. But he's not stopping. All I can do is follow him.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Brendan yells at the trainers.

"Oh, brother, not another one," the girl says. "Parker, stop him."

"Sure, Lori, I'll do all the work," the guy grumbles. He's the one who pushed over the green haired kid, who is still on the ground.

"You think I'm going to let you treat him like that?" Brendan shouts. "You think you can get away with that crap?"

"It's my job," the guy, Parker, says without a care in the world.

"Your job is to push people around? Wha-"

I pull Brendan back by the arm and whisper in his ear: "Listen. These guys are tough. I can tell. We don't want to mess with them."

"I'm not scared of them," he says.

"My job is to keep weak trainers like you two out of this gym," Parker says. "Now beat it."

"You don't understand," the green haired boy says, standing up again. "This is my only chance. I need to see Gym Leader Norman right now-"

The boy tries to force himself past Parker and Lori, but Parker throws him back again. The boy collapses on the ground, wheezing softly.

"I've had it," Brendan says. "Back off, or you deal with me."

"With you?" Lori laughs. It's a real ugly laugh. I almost cover my ears.

"Fine," Parker says. He throws a Pokeball, and out comes a fierce-looking Linoone. "You want to go? Let's go."

"Brendan, please don't," I beg him. But he's not listening. He sends out Fishbait without hesitation. Without any clue about what's about to happen to him.

Upon seeing Brendan's Wurmple, now Parker bursts out laughing too.

"My Linoone is about to put your pathetic worm in the Pokemon Center for months!"

"What's going on here?"

Everyone freezes. Parker withdraws his Linoone hastily.

"L-Leader Norman!" he stammers. "I was just making sure these challengers were up to snuff."

"Outside the gym boundaries?" Norman says. He certainly looks like a Gym Leader. He's a tall man, with a slight receding hairline. His collared jacket looks a lot like Brendan's shirt—same colors, same sporty design. Similar fashion sense must run in the family.

"Sir!" the green haired boy runs up to Norman. "I have to talk to you as soon as possible."

"He's going to get it now," I hear Lori mutter to Parker.

"Wally, right?" Norman says. "I think I know why you're here. And I think my son can help you."

Norman looks to Brendan, who has called back Fishbait and now stands awkwardly as his father approaches.

"Let's talk, son."