Chapter One

~ Small Town Girl ~

"Look, can we talk about this later? I have to get to the Gym."

May winced at the edge in her father's tone. She had ventured downstairs for a glass of milk, but upon hearing the raised voices she paused on the other side of the kitchen wall.

"You always have to get to the Gym, Norman."

Her mother sounded tired.

"That's the job of a Gym Leader, Caroline. You're always on call, it's like… like raising a child. You have to be available for whenever they need you."

"Yes, your Gym is exactly like a child. It's almost more of your child than your own children actually are, in that it sucks up more of your attention than they ever have."

May couldn't listen to this anymore. She set a smile onto her face and walked briskly towards the kitchen door, stomping her feet a little louder than usual to announce her presence.

But no-one seemed to hear.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Norman was demanding as May pushed the ajar door wide open.

"What does what mean?" May asked innocently.

Norman sighed, welcoming his daughter with a weary smile. "Nothing darling. How's my little girl this fine evening? Not planning on staying up too late, I hope. You need your beauty sleep if you're going to become a great Gym Leader one day. Happy trainer, happy pokémon, as they say."

"Of course daddy," May replied sweetly.

"Did you need anything, honey?" asked her mother, who appeared to be ignoring her father completely now.

"Just some milk."

"Oh I'll get it, you wait there," Caroline offered quickly.

May wondered when the warmth in her mother's voice had last been used on her father, and when had it become reserved for only her and Max.

As Caroline went to the fridge, Norman picked up his coat from the back of the chair it had been slung over.

"Are you going out?" May asked, trying to sound like she didn't already know the answer.

"I got a call from Tony. Some of the pokémon are restless after yesterday's defeat and he thinks I should go in to calm them," Norman responded as he buttoned the coat.

"It's almost as if your dad hasn't had all day to coddle them," Caroline interjected as she handed May a glass of milk, her tone layered with poisonous sugar.

Norman didn't spare his wife a single glance. "You'll understand when you take over one day, May. Gym Leader is a demanding job, but worth it. There's nothing as rewarding as raising a single team of pokémon who become as close to you as family, and being able to guide talented trainers on their journeys not only to become strong enough to battle in the big leagues but to find themselves along the way."

Caroline snorted quietly and looked away. She muttered under her breath something May was sure she wasn't supposed to hear: "It's not like you have a family at home, or two young trainers who need your help discovering themselves."

For the first time, May noticed the empty bottle of wine on the counter, and the glass on the drying rack still dripping soapy water. She gave her father a noncommittal response, hugged him goodbye, hugged her mother goodnight, and took her glass of milk back upstairs – where she wiped away the tears before they could form.


It was the doorbell that woke May the next morning. Blurry-eyed, she reached for her phone to check the time.

9:17am.

The doorbell rang again, insistent and unrelenting. She groaned. Her father would be at the Gym by now, her mother at her Pilates with Pokémon class.

May sighed. She rolled slowly out of bed, like jelly sliding to the floor in red cotton pyjamas. She sat there a moment, leaning against the bed, shivering in the freshness of the air. Until the doorbell rang again.

Where was Max?

"I'm coming!" she shouted, despite knowing that whoever it was wouldn't hear her. She picked herself up, grumbling under her breath.

When the bell rang a fourth time, it was like a fuse lit under her arse and she jumped into motion, thundering down the stairs and tearing the front door open like a maniac.

On her doorstep stood the last person she had expected to see: Professor Birch, clad in a spotless lab coat which had been buttoned wrong, beaming from ear to hear – so different was his disposition to his usual collected manner that May almost didn't notice his son (and her bestest friend in the whole world) hovering behind him.

Upon spotting Brendan, May was suddenly extremely aware of the fact she was clothed only in a pair of very thin pyjamas.

"May!" Professor Birch burst out before May could overcome her surprise. "So sorry for dropping in on you like this – oh dear, I hope I didn't wake you – but I couldn't wait! I have such exciting news! May I come in?"

May blinked. "O-oh, yes, please, come in," she stuttered, standing back to let her neighbours pass by. "Um, do you want anything to drink? Coffee, tea? Milk?"

"Tea would be great," Birch said, seeming to calm down now that he was inside.

"Er, coffee, if you're making one," Brendan added, offering May a sympathetic smile. "Sorry about Dad, he's a bit overexcited."

"No problem," May responded, getting over her initial surprise. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. I'll just make the drinks, I could do with a coffee myself," she added with a little laugh.

Once they were all settled in the living room with their steaming hot drinks, May leaned forward, facing Birch and Brendan across the coffee table. "Is everything okay, Professor? I'm afraid my parents are both out, but if there's anything I can help you with…?"

"Actually, it is you I wanted to talk to," Birch replied, seeming to have composed himself in the time it had taken to make the drinks. "You see, I just got off the phone with the Chancellor of the University of Gala – you have heard of UG, haven't you?"

May nodded. "My dad mentioned it. It's a relatively new university, isn't it, but it's rising fast in both academic and competitive ranks. Dad said it's becoming a contender for Unoenn."

"Unoenn?" Brendan asked, unimpressed.

"You don't know Unoenn?" May gasped. "They're the top universities in the whole world, based in Unova and Hoenn respectively. Have you been living under a rock?"

"No," Brendan scoffed, "I just don't pay attention to uni gossip. Everyone knows you only go to uni if you have no ambition and don't know what to do with your life, so you go to uni to 'find yourself' or whatever, but all you leave with is a mountain of debt and no way to get into whatever field you've decided you want to pursue because all the open places have been snapped up by people who dive straight into their career after school to learn on the job instead of wasting three years at an institution whose only purpose is to milk you for more money than you'll ever make."

May stared at Brendan, mouth agape. She had never heard him be so negative about anything.

His father also stared at him, extremely disapproving.

"Brendan, we've been over this. It's a unique opportunity which most people would be lucky to get. You learn skills you won't learn anywhere else and get to experience things most trainers can only dream of."

Brendan leaned back into the sofa, nearly spilling his toffee-coloured drink on the dirty white cushions. "Name one Champion who started their career fresh out of uni," he challenged.

May frowned. "That's different. Most Champions start their career at eleven and never attend school. They train with their pokémon all day every day, and that's why they become the best. But not everyone makes it, even then – it's incredibly risky, my dad always says, because if you go to all those lengths and still don't make it to champion, then you have nothing – no education, not enough skills to make it as a good trainer because you missed out on the pokémon classes in school too – and you'll be stuck leeching off your parents the rest of your life."

Brendan muttered something under his breath that May was glad she didn't catch.

Professor Birch smiled warmly at May. "Exactly! Anyway, we've gotten off topic… the reason I burst in on you like this, is that the Chancellor of UG offered me a position teaching there! And when I said, I wasn't sure if I could leave my son behind, he said he would be delighted if I brought Brendan with me!"

May smiled, but a little of her excitement melted away. It wasn't until then that she realised how enthusiastic all this discussion of university had made her. "Congratulations," she said. "That's amazing, Professor."

"It is, but that's not all. I mentioned that my neighbour is the Leader of Petalburg Gym, and the Chancellor's interest was piqued! One thing led to another, and… well, let's just say, there's a place for you at UG if you want it!"

May almost choked on her coffee. Hurriedly she placed the mug on a coaster, and tried to formulate words as she stared at Birch in disbelief. "I- I- I don't know what to say," she admitted.

"Just don't say you're actually considering this," Brendan interjected.

May frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, you want to take over Norman's job one day, don't you? The best way to train for that is out in the real world, not stuck in some snobby excuse for an institution of 'learning'."

"Brendan," tutted Birch before turning back to May. "You can take as much time as you need to think about it – but you will need to make a decision before the end of the week, I'm afraid. UG is rising in academic status and spots are ever more limited. I don't think I need to remind you that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

May nodded. Then the frown returned to her brow. "But… I didn't exactly get good grades in school. Won't they care about that?"

"Well, normally, yes, but… right, if I tell you this then you must promise never to repeat it," Birch said confidentially, leaning forward.

"I promise," May replied, leaning forward herself.

Brendan rolled his eyes, and kept sipping his coffee.

"The Chancellor told me that the skill level in pokémon training of applicants this year was below average. Most children of Champions and Battle Masters and Gym Leader and the like are going to Unoenn, understandably, but if UG wants to stand a chance in the University Leagues this year, that's the calibre of students it needs. So, upon my mentioning you… let's just say they are very keen to snap you up, regardless of school grades." Birch sat back with a wink, but May sat back more slowly.

Fortunately, May was saved from an immediate response by the abrupt arrival of her brother.

"Did I just hear that right? Boy, UG must be desperate if it's begging May to attend."

"Max, lovely to see you," Birch greeted the sixteen year old. "You must know that if you were older, I have no doubt you would be offered this same opportunity. Alas, this is the way things are."

"I'm sure," Max responded dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I have no doubt that if UG knew what a waste of space May is, they wouldn't want her anywhere near their precious reputation. Are you sure they asked for the right Maple? Our names do begin with the same letter and are both one syllable, it would be easy to get us confused."

Birch chuckled. "Don't be so harsh on your sister. She shows great promise as a trainer."

May wasn't so sure. Max had always been much better at handling pokémon than she ever had been. She had just never managed to bond with Torchic in the same way that Mx had bonded with his Swampert. And he had a whole team now, whereas May only had Torchic. She had given up on telling herself that tomorrow was the day she would venture out to Route 101 and catch her first new pokémon.

But, having always been inexplicably competitive with her know-it-all younger brother, his attitude now pressed all the wrong buttons and she found herself firing back at him with all guns blazing.

"Oh, I'm sure with the high level of teaching at UG I'll excel in every class. I'll show them they've chosen the right Maple, mark my words Max."

Birch turned back to May happily. "So you accept?"

"Yes," May said firmly, determination oozing from every pore.

Birch then turned to Brendan. "See? You don't want to get left behind, do you?"

May looked at him pleadingly. "Please come, Brendan. I don't know what I'd do with you you."

Brendan sighed, and sat up. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll go. But only because I don't want May to have to do this alone. I still don't think uni is good for anything."

"Excellent!" Birch beamed, clapping his hands together. "Now ale we have to do is tell your parents, May!"

Max sniggered. "Good luck with that, I can't imagine them every saying yes to their little girl travelling to the other side of the world for uni when she's never even gone further than Petalburg."

May sipped her coffee silently. The enormity of what she had agreed to just began to sink in. The University of Gala was in Gala. A whole new region, with new pokémon and new people and her parents not a call away, but a phone call away.

Still, she found solace in the fact that at least Brendan would be with her. Brendan, the boy who'd been her best friend since they were little, and who never let her down.


A/N: In case you're curious, 'Unoenn' is supposed to be pronounced like 'Unknown' (a pun on both the pokemon and the word lol).

Also I got inspired for this fic while watching Fresh Meat (a Netflix series about uni students in England, it's hilarious and really well-written, and as a British uni student myself I related to it at lot; I definitely recommend watching!)

Although the fic technically follows May as a main character, it will also delve deep into the stories of the other 'core' characters: Misty, Ash, Drew, Dawn, Paul, Gary, and Leaf - and a few more besides.

I hope you stick with it!

~ Jay