Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters that are included in the story.
This story includes and references events that took place in Pokémon: Omega Ruby and Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire. It does not, however, attempt to tell a story that took place the aforementioned titles.
Stronger, Chapter 2:
May was new to Littleroot Town. She was new to the Hoenn Region itself.
She had just moved all the way from the Johto Region. This was no big deal to her though; despite her friendliness, she was not particularly close to anyone back in Olivine City. She was actually quite ecstatic to be in the Hoenn Region now.
All her life, she had seen and heard about pokémon constantly. She would call her father consistently, and he would tell her about the opponents who never quite defeated him. Of course, May knew that he would be defeated occasionally, but he never brought those tough trainers up in conversation.
She eventually came to the conclusion that in her life, she wanted to be a pokémon master, traveling all across the Johto Region, eventually defeating the Champion, Gold, and perhaps even the mysterious Red, in Mt. Silver. Unfortunately, the move was too soon for her to begin her journey in the region she resided in at the time; instead, she would wait nearly a year and begin it in a brand new setting.
Upon arriving at Littleroot Town, May knew that settling into her room would be pointless. She knew that a professor that lived nearby had received some new starter pokémon, and she had to take that opportunity to pursue her dreams.
Her mother had her greet the neighbors before anything else though. May, knowing that the professor lived nearby, saw this as a wonderful opportunity to meet him. When she knocked on the house next door to hers, a middle aged, dark-haired woman greeted her.
"Oh, hello Dear! You must be one of our new neighbors!" the lady greeted.
"Yes ma'am! My name is May!" she replied.
"Well, you look to be about the same age as my son, Brendan! Why don't you go upstairs and greet him?"
May was a little taken aback, but she wasn't opposed to meeting new people; she was already excited to make friends in her adventure. She walked upstairs into a room with a pokéball in its center and a boy, who she presumed to be Brendan, in the corner. He looked to be two inches or so taller than her (she's 5'5" (1.65m) so he's 5'7 (1.7m)), and he had dark brown hair covered mostly up by a white hat.
"Eh, he's alright I guess." May thought, regarding his looks.
Brendan looked over at her and raised his eyebrows. "Um, hi? If you knocked, I didn't hear, sorry. Are you the new neighbor?"
"Yeah, the name's May!" May walked over and extended an open hand to him, which he took and shook.
"My name is Brendan. Are you going to be a pokémon trainer too?"
May was surprised. "How did you know?"
Brendan shrugged and smiled. "Just a lucky guess! But I'm glad I found another one, I've been curious about who's going to get the pokémon my dad just received."
May was even more surprised now. "Your dad got some pokémon? Is he the professor?"
Brendan nodded. They both went on talking about how they were very excited to become trainers, and walked down to Professor Birch's Pokémon Lab. Upon realizing that the professor was not there, Brendan went to ask his mother where he had gone. May, however, had other plans. She started walking to the outskirts of town to see if there was any long grass with a pokémon she may be able to catch within. As she headed to the northernmost part of Littleroot, she heard a girly scream, and her heroic instincts kicked in.
It was not a girl being attacked though, it was a man. A middle aged, bearded man was being chased by a wild pokémon, one May had never seen before.
"Help me please!" the man begged as it bit on to his laboratory coat. "Take one of the pokéballs and get this thing off of me!"
May, without pause, grabbed the closest ball to her, pressed the button in the center, and threw it in the direction of the attacking pokémon. Out of the ball came a green reptilian with a small twig in its mouth. May had been told how to battle by her father, but she didn't even know which moves this thing knew. The professor, who now had a moment of respite, said "That's a Treecko," gesturing towards the green pokémon. "It knows 'Pound' and 'Leer.'"
"That's all I needed to know." May said confidently. "Treecko, use Pound!" The Treecko lunged, balled its hands up into fists, and let them drop together like a hammer onto the other pokémon.
"Poochy…" the other pokémon groaned, as it hid its tail between its legs and ran off.
May wiped sweat off her brow and smiled. "All done, you're all safe and sound now!"
The man in the laboratory coat sighed in relief and withdrew the Treecko, as well as the other pokéballs that had fallen outside of the bag which May drew them from. "Thank you very much, young lady. I am Professor Birch, please stop by my laboratory whenever you can and I'll reward you for your bravery."
May gasped. Not only did she just meet the Pokémon Professor, but she just saved him. She felt as though she had been blessed. May stopped by to tell her mother everything that went down, as well as to tell her that she is about to begin her great journey. Of course, her mother knew this from the start, so there was no conflict.
May went to see Professor Birch to receive her reward. Brendan was there as well, clearly waiting to receive a pokémon. "Now, son, this young lady here saved me. You may be my son but she has earned the first choice of pokémon." Professor Birch explained. May was not surprised that she was receiving a pokémon as her reward, but the idea of it still excited her greatly.
"I want Treecko! I battled using it, I can't imagine choosing any of the other ones!" May explained, as she reached for its pokéball. Professor Birch did not stop her, he even chuckled a little as she did so. Brendan smiled at May's enthusiasm and reached for the ball closest to the left. "I don't care which pokémon this is, I know I'll love it no matter what." Professor Birch smiled at the two promising young trainers, who were now starting to leave.
"Wait a second you two!" he exclaimed. "Take these!" Professor Birch handed each of the two a Pokédex. "This is so you can identify any pokémon you encounter." The two thanked him and left.
The two went through route 101 separately. May took her time and trained her Treecko for almost twenty minutes, while Brendan rushed through to Oldale Town. Once May got there, she traveled north and found Brendan waiting patiently.
"Waiting for me?" she asked.
"Sort of, I was curious to see how strong you got!" Brendan grinned and threw out an orange and yellow bird-looking pokémon. May, knowing a challenge when she sees one, threw out her Treecko and looked at Brendan's pokémon with her pokédex.
"Torchic… A fire type, huh? Well then I'll just win with brute strength!" May thought to herself. "Treecko, use Quick Attack!" she commanded. As she did, her Treecko seemingly vanished, and appeared right in front of the Torchic, punching it with blinding speed.
"Torchic, counter it with an Ember!" Brendan retaliated. The Torchic let out a small fireball, which hurt Treecko a little more than May anticipated, but she was not worried. The Torchic was not far from fainting.
"Finish it off with a Pound, Treecko!" May said. As she did, Brendan began to call for another 'Ember,' but the Torchic simply wasn't fast enough. May's Treecko slammed hard on the Torchic, and knocked it out, rendering it too weak to continue battling.
Brendan sighed. "Oh well, at least it was a fun battle! I guess we'll see who's stronger next time we meet! You'll be surprised, you hear?" said Brendan.
May went back to Oldale Town to heal her Treecko. She decided not to train too much more, she was ready to get to see her dad. She breezed through Route 102, defeating all of the trainers she saw, while avoiding tall grass as much as possible.
Once she got into Petalburg City, she got lost quite quickly, as it was a larger town than Littleroot or Oldale. She stopped into the Poké-Mart and bought a map. When she went outside to orient herself to the map… *WHUMP!* She felt someone that must have been a middle schooler bump into her before falling over.
She turned around to see a pale, green-haired, skinny boy that was clearly just a small high schooler. He was mumbling and blushing, trying to apologize.
"Oh my Arceus… he is SO adorable." May thought to herself as she helped him up while reassured him that everything was okay, and he should not be the one apologizing.
She was intrigued by this boy, so she started to make some small talk. Through this, she learned that he was looking for May's father's Pokémon Gym, which she jumped on the opportunity to assist him in finding.
On the walk to the Gym, she learned even more about him through the things he said, and through the things he didn't.
May learned that his name is Wally, and that he is 15 (only a year younger than May). She could tell from how he stuttered and how short his responses were that he was incredibly reserved. He would occasionally cough while trying to speak, so she gathered that he was a little sickly. During her conversation with him, she brought up how she had just moved into Littleroot Town all the way from the Johto Region. This apparently brought up some bad thoughts or memories, because Wally suddenly looked very sad.
"Oh Arceus… Please don't be upset, please don't cry!" May thought as she tried to comfort him with a hug, which she was somewhat disappointed that he did not return. Soon though, Wally pulled himself together and wiped the tears from his face.
"S-sorry about that, the topic of moving just bums me out a little… I hate crying in front of people, I'm so weak…" Wally said, reprimanding himself.
"He doesn't want to be weak..." May realized. She knew what she had to do, she had to make him see that he was nothing of the sort. "Don't be ridiculous!" May piped up. "You're here to see my father, that must mean you're super tough!"
Wally explained that he was not even a pokémon trainer yet; he was looking to become one. May encouraged him, and insisted that he come with her to catch one. "Follow me! I'm the future champion- I hope- so I know a thing or two about how to catch a pokémon!" May not only believed that one day she would become the champion, but she hoped this confidence would provide some credibility. Wally seemed to be very inspired by this confidence, as he followed her.
Both of them walked to Route 102 together. They exchanged words more comfortably, though Wally was still without a doubt the most shy person May had ever met. She wanted to change that, even if it was cute. She saw within him a brave trainer who could overcome anything, especially any sickness. She wanted to go on her adventure with him, and she encouraged him to accompany her. She saw the potential her newfound friend held within.
Wally soon was approached by a Ralts. As it took May by surprise, she instinctively took out her Treecko, but Wally halted her. As if he had known the Ralts all of his life, he held out his hand to it. The Ralts put its tiny appendage into Wally's palm.
"That is so incredibly cute!" May thought, as she accidentally commented on it aloud, causing Wally to blush furiously. He, of course, captured the Ralts, which May ran up to congratulate him for.
May wrapped her arms around him, very excited not only that on this day, she has found a new friend, but she has also found a fellow trainer to accompany her on her on her adventure. Taking her by surprise, Wally hugged her back.
"His arms are so small… Cute!"