AN: I'm all out of pre written chapters!

HOORAY!

. . .

That's the problem, the next chapter might take longer to get published, but not too long. I think.

Some new people get introduced here, you're probably familiar with them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or FMA.

See the end for more notes.

Chapter 4: Making Connections

Training Balo wasn't too challenging when the pokemon on the routes surrounding Petalburg were fairly low level. In fact, Rob didn't even have to employ the classic 'put the weakest pokemon in front so they can get experience before switching out to a stronger one' strategy.

Occasionally a bug type trainer would challenge them. Since Balo was weak to bug, Robby would switch out. It wouldn't be nearly as efficient if the team was forced to go back to the Pokemon Center everytime they had a battle. As it was already, they returned after, approximately, every five battles for a brief rest.

It was a nice day, there were clouds rolling in from the east, but the sun was still shining upon the land below, making it an ideal training day. Afterall, tomorrow wouldn't be nearly as nice.

"Now, rapid spin!" Robby shouted. Balo hovered, before spinning as fast as a top. Shooting forward, the baltoy rammed into the low leveled taillow, fainting it in that last hit. It hopped into the air, spinning triumphantly. "Great job, Balo."

There was a sudden buzz from the young pokemon trainer's watch. Looking down, he saw it was a notification from his pokedex app.

"Aw, sweet! You leveled up. And learned a new move: mud slap." Tapping on the move description, Robby frowned. "It says here it only has a power of 20, but it also lowers the accuracy. So that's better than sand attack."

Balo floated (Pun intended), "Hah. Trainer Robby has declared that I am greater than you."

Silver gave a small smile, before a small shake of his head. "Congratulations, you must feel very accomplished."

"I am." Walking over, the silver eevee gave a flick of his tail to the starter, who continued to spin obliviously.

"Good, because you need to work as hard as possible in order to catch up-"

A youthful voice interrupted Silver's tease. "Oh," he gasped, "wow, a silver eevee! That has to be one of those rare shinies Dad told me about!" It was another trainer. He emerged from the foliage to the right, gaining the attention of Robby.

The boy wore a strange white hat that covered up his hair with a strange red pokeball emblem on the elastic part of the beanie-like-hat. His tight jacket was black and red and he wore some sort of stylish gray shorts. A light green single strap backpack was slung on his shoulder. He had brown eyes and his face was filled with concealed awe.

"Hey! You stay away from my pokemon!" Rob's shout interrupted the trance like state the fellow trainer seemed to have entered at the site of such a rare pokemon. Robby growled, stalking closer.

At the appearance of a new trainer, the boy scowled. "Don't you go assuming things about me. With that Baltoy right there, I'm not dumb enough to even think that those Pokemon weren't someone else's. And I'm not a Pokemon thief!"

The attitude was a complete 180 from how he had acted when he was alone, it almost gave Silver whiplash. However, him being an expert in strange people, it only managed to mildly faze him. It did severely confuse Balo though; whether or not that was good thing was not up to the retired alchemist.

"Yeah? Then why are you getting so defensive!"

"Maybe it's because some imbecil is shouting at me!"

"Oh yeah? I'll show you imbecil!" He looked over at Balo with a beckoning gesture. "C'mon, this guy's asking for it!"

Pausing briefly in twirling, the baltoy managed to somehow send a pleading look to Silver, who sweatdropped.

"And I'm not gonna get it! Tiko, let's show this fool!" Suddenly a green figure emerged from the grass.

Treecko, the Wild Gecko Pokemon. A grass type. Treecko has small hooks on the bottom of its feet that enable it to scale vertical walls. This Pokémon attacks by slamming foes with its thick tail. Treecko is the first evolution in the Sceptile line.

Robby's brown furrowed once he realised he was at a type disadvantage. "Figures you're from Littleroot."

"That isn't what's important right now."

"Well, if we're battling, you should introduce yourself."

"Fine," The boy crossed his arms, assuming a standoffish position, "My name's Brendan. And it'd be customary if you gave me your name too."

"Rob." They shook hands in a stiff, frustrated manner, each trying to squeeze the others hand harder, in a petty form of strength. Silver couldn't help but droop at the unneeded contention going on between the two. Tiko seemed to have the same idea.

Approaching the eevee, the gecko rubbed the back of his head. "Hi, name's Tiko. Sorry 'bout Brendan; I've only been with him for a day and the best thing I can tell you is he is definitely socially awkward."

Al shot him a confused look. "What? If anything, he looks a bit defensive. . ."

"That's one way to say it, but. . ." Tiko paused, shaking his head, "I don't really know how I know this, he's defensive because he doesn't like it when people judge him. I don't think he really knows how to handle it since. . ." the treecko cut himself off.

Silver nodded. "No, I understand what you mean. I've, uh, had some experience with someone who's at least a little defensive, though definitely for different reasons." His thoughts flashed back to how Ed had always overreacted to even a hint of being called short.

Balo observed the exchange in silence. Both trainers were still exchanging insults, though the reasons why puzzled him. Especially Trainer Robby's response to the 'imbecile' remark. The 'I'll show you imbecile' was not a proper response to that form of mockery. Perhaps Trainer Robby was unaware of the true meaning of imbecile. He needed to expand his vocabulary if that was so.

Tiko's explanation of his trainer's behaviour certainly made sense, unlike the words being thrown around in the trainers' argument. Balo sighed, the world blurring in a kaleidoscope of color. Spinning was truly a miraculous form of meditation. Sadly the zoning out would not last as there was a heated argument going on.

"Let's get this thing started." It was a simple statement but enough to end any distractions and build up tension.

"Balo, you're up." The baltoy mention spun forward gently.

"Tiko." The green reptilian took a step forward.

"No hard feelings?"

"A pokemon battle is for fun; I am willingly participating. I will not hold anything within reason against you."

"Start."

"Balo, use mud slap!" the baltoy spun, unearthing soft mud from beneath the topsoil, sending it flying at the opponent, who swiftly dodged.

"Tiko, absorb." Reptilian eyes narrowed, small green orbs seemed to leave Balo's body, before they were absorbed by the treecko. It was a weak grass type move, but it also restored energy by sapping it from their opponent.

"Balo!" Robby's teeth clenched. Just from one hit the clay doll Pokemon already seemed to have a lot less energy than before, wobbling in the air. "Shake it off and use rapid spin!" Balo nodded before twirling at high speeds.

Spinning forward, he rammed into Tiko, who hadn't had enough of an opportunity to dodge.

"Grab it!" The treecko braced himself on the ground, digging his small claws into the body of Balo, halting its spinning entirely. Robby gasped, shocked. "Drain it dry!"

With all of Balo's mobility gone, he couldn't dodge what would happen next. Slowly, green energy escaped it, healing Tiko in return. More and more came, and with each one, the treecko seemed more and more energized.

"Use confusion!" Was Rob's desperate plea. However, Balo had already fainted. Taking out the ground type's pokeball, he enlarged it, returning the baltoy to it.

Walking up to his opponent, who was in the middle of congratulating Tiko, he stuck out his hand. Brendan stood up, glancing at the hand uncertainly. Hesitantly, he took it and shook it twice.

"Thanks for the match. And," Robby paused, rubbing the back of his head, "sorry for jumping to conclusions."

Brendan smiled. It wasn't particularly bright, instead small but genuine. The prodigy nodded. "I should apologize for, uh-"

"Brendan!" A newcomer burst through the foliage. She wore a red bandana and had light brown bangs that framed her face. Her red tank top had small black patterns and she wore white shorts. A yellow and green fanny pack added a bit more color to her outfit. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

She looked over and spotted Rob, allowing him to see the glare on her face. "Did ya get into another fight?"

What ever dignity Brendan might have had was sweep from beneath his feet. "M-may! Uh, I'm so sorry!" He turned to face her, hands working overtime trying to help him come up with an excuse, until he bowed.

"I don't need any of your terrible excuses! If you get into trouble this early in the journey, ya pops is gonna kill me."

"B-b-but-"

"But what?!" May glared. "I'm not gonna be with you for your whole journey; you have to be less rash." Softening, she glanced over to Robby. "Anyway, who's this?"

"I'm Rob." Robby pointed to himself, before glancing over to Silver, who had previously been taking in the scenery. "That's Silver."

May finally noticed the strangely colored eevee. "That's one pretty eevee. It isn't shiny, either." That earned her two bewildered glances from the boys. "What? Shiny eevee kinda look like a bleached version of regular eevee. They aren't entirely white, only at the tail and neck fluff, and they have a tint of color in their gray. Also, they have dark gray eyes, not red."

By now she had a smile on her face, but when she looked at the gobsmacked faces of the other two, the frown returned. "What?"

It was Brendan who spoke up. "Nothing, I just didn't expect you to even know what a shiny eevee looked like."

"It's called the internet."

That shut them up.

The internet was something that took Al a while to figure out. For three months he was absolutely clueless as to what it was, but eventually he managed to understand it was some sort of library. Of course, he figured out that Rob's watch somehow connected to the internet and he was able to research on a few of the questions he had.

He had stumbled across cat pokemon videos, but didn't appreciate them nearly as much as he would have, considering he had occasionally been in those situations himself.

He also had to figure out how to clear the history a few days in when the first thing that came up in the search bar was 'The proper social conduct for an eevee.'

Looking around, Silver spotted a patch of blue behind a bush. "Hey, you can come out."

". . ." The blue blob shifted and a streak of orange was seen.

"Uh. . ." Silver moved closer, trying to get a better view of the pokemon, who was most definitely the girl's. "Hello?"

Al batted away a branch, moving closer to the newcomer.

Mudkip, the Mud fish Pokemon. The fin on Mudkip's head acts as highly sensitive radar. Using this fin to sense movements of water and air, this Pokémon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes. Mudkip is a water type and is a part of the Swampart line.

Mudkip's eyes were closed and she seemed to be laying down. Maybe she's sensing the vibrations around her with her fins. Silver moved closer, but suddenly heard a sound.

"Z. . . z. . . z"

Silver fell over. Retreating from the sleeping figure, he bumped into a log. Leaves rustled and suddenly a strange, soft thing fell right on his head. Gasping, he shook it off, discovering it was a wurmple. A wild wurmple.

The bug glared and shot a thread of string at the eevee, who dodged. "I'm so sorry!"

"I'm not letting you get out of trouble with just an apology!" Wurmple used string shot once more, but it was dodged once more. This got the attention of the three trainers.

Robby grinned. "Alright, Silver use-" He was interrupted by a hand to his face.

"Oh no you don't!" May declared. "I'm gonna catch this one. Muma!" The asleep mudkip was suddenly wide awake, dashing to her side.

"Use water gun." Nodding, she opened her mouth and a high pressured water stream erupted from it. The water hit the wurmple directly, who then slammed into the tree he had just fell from.

"Pokeball, go!" Enlarging an empty pokeball, May threw it at the downed bug, and it snapped open, absorbing the wurmple in with a red light. Closing it fell to the ground, shaking once, twice, three times, before it clicked to confirm the capture. "Great!"

Smiling she pumped a fist before picking up the pokeball. "We should go back to the pokecenter. Both of your pokemon are weakened and I need to heal Zore."

"You already named him?!" Robby burst out.

"Yes," She giggled. "Now let's go."

. . .

The trip to the Pokecenter was uneventful, relatively speaking.

The small group of acquaintances had handed their injured Pokemon over to the nurse, before moving to sit down on a waiting bench.

"So, uh," Robby started, trying to break the awkward silence the triplet had fallen into, "any reason why you guys are going on your journeys?"

May glanced over to Brendan, who remained silent, albeit tense. She seemed to be considering something, before coming to a conclusion. "I want to be the best."

That made Rob splutter incredulously. "The best? Kinda a lofty goal, isn't it?"

Brendan muttered something with a snort, before speaking up. "If you think I defeated you quickly, I doubt you want to see how fast she would defeat you. Probably without any of her Pokemon taking any damage."

Robby glared. "You only defeated one of my Pokemon, I doubt either of you can defeat Silver." That was met with blank looks.

The eevee in question was currently curled on the bench next to Robby, taking a quick snooze. Silver hadn't been battling so he didn't exactly need to be healed.

"I've had him for a year or so," Rob elaborated, earning just one head nod.

A door opened, filling the lull in the conversation. A nurse peeked her head out, scanning the crowd. Her eyes landed on the threesome and she fully emerged from behind the door that apparently led to the medical wing. The nurse began approaching them, two pokeballs in her hand.

"Hello," She was addressing May, "Are you. . . May Senri?" When the girl in question nodded, the nurse gave a small smile. "Your Pokemon are all healed up! We thank you for your patronage." With a bow, she walked away.

May smirked. "Ready to meet my newest Pokemon?" She didn't wait for a response, and released both Pokemon in a flash of white light.

Muma, the mudkip, blinked lazily. She looked like she was hardly functioning, but managed to do a once over at the wurmple who sat next to her. The bug in question had a rather nervous expression on his bugey face.

May bent down, placing her hands on her knees. She shot a bright smile at the wurmple who seemed to calm down slightly. However, he seemed to glance uneasily at Mudkip, almost as if he was expecting to get attacked suddenly by the passive pokemon. Muma's fin twitched, Zore jumping a rather impressive height for being a bug known not to jump.

He quickly scampered up an unsuspecting May's arm, though she didn't seem to mind. Instead she cooed, "Awww, you don't have to be afraid of Muma. . ."

And with a few strokes, the tense bug pokemon slid off her shoulder like some sort of limp noodle, flopping down onto the floor. Al didn't know if bugs could purr or not, but Zore certainly seemed to be trying.

Silver, who had blearily woken up, only ended up blinking at the strange interaction. He had expected some sort of struggle to bond with a wild pokemon, but May made it seem so effortless. The human-turned-Eevee (Or would he be a human-turned-suit-of-armor-turned-eevee?) hadn't exactly seen many newly caught pokemon, so maybe it was a normal thing to see a human and pokemon bond so quickly.

Al glanced over to the dumbstruck expressions on Rob's and Brendan's faces. Then again, it could just be May, Silver reevaluated.

The girl in question proceeded to scoop up the limp bug pokemon, cradling him in her arms. Muma gave a yawn, before standing up on her stubby little legs. Glancing up at her trainer, the mudkip murmured something softly, so softly that it didn't quite reach Al's giant, bunny-esque ears.

May stood up, Zore still in her arms, turning to the rest of the group. "I'm leaving."

"What! You're going already?" The protest came from Brendan's mouth, and he flinched directly afterwards. Almost as if he didn't want to say that outloud.

"Oh, please," May scoffed, "you don't need me to take care of you. You're the one who was so determined to catch all the pokemon. Besides, if I stick with you, you'll hold me up."

This was where Robby intervened. "You should at least stay the night at the Pokecenter; it's supposed to rain tonight."

"I have an umbrella and a raincoat. Plus, Muma likes the rain." There was a determination in her eyes, one that Al was very familiar with. It seemed to be the the same type of determination that often was reflected in his older brother's eyes.

Brendan sighed. "Fine. You're right about me holding you up, I'll probably double back on this route a couple times to make sure I caught every different pokemon on it, anyway." May beamed, before turning around and heading towards the door.

"Bye!" She cried out, Brendan and Rob echoing the sentiment. Then, she was gone.

Robby slumped in his seat. "She left in a hurry."

"Yeah,"Brendan murmured, shouldering his bag. Another nurse came in, the same one as before.

She approached the remainder of the group. "You must be. . . Rob Davis and Brendan Birch?"

Brendan froze at that, glancing over at Rob as if to judge his reaction. The youngster simply accepted the pokeball containing Balo.

"You are Brendan Birch, right?" The boy in question managed to nod, stuck within whatever internal crisis he was having, and took Tiko's pokeball numbly.

Rob turned to Brendan, who was staring of into space, rather pale, hands shaking. "Look," Rob started, "I don't care if you are the son of some famous Professor. All that does is explain why you're stuck up."

That managed to get a response from him. "I am not stuck up-"

"Whatever. But you can't deny you're a nerd." Rob waved him off, much to the other boy's protests. "I'm gonna check out a room. You can come over to play cards or something."

When Rob walked off, he could feel the other boys eyes follow him until he left the main lobby.

. . .

Once Robby reached his room, he released Balo in a flash of silver white light. It had already begun raining, the occasional flash of lightning and roar of thunder accompanied the water as it pelted the roof of the Pokecenter.

"So," Rob was the first to break the comfortable silence, "do you know how to play Scum?" Robby pulled out two decks of cards, or some sort of emphasis on his words.

Al grinned. It seemed sweet, maybe cute, on his eevee face, but Rob felt a shiver run down his spine. The trainer reflected how, somehow, Silver excelled at this game. He and his family sometimes played it outside, mostly so Silver could play along.

They were uncertain if the eevee would even understand how to play cards, but they were eager to try. That day they created a card playing master.

Or monster, take your pick.

Balo shook its head and Robby opened his mouth to explain the game. Only for a knock to sound at the door, interrupting him before he even started.

Turns out Brendan decided to take the offer of cards.

. . .

The group ended staying up far later than they should've, considering that they're going to be walking all day the next day and that they are preteens.

But when you are playing Scum under the rule of a particularly cruel king (*Cough* Silver *Cough*), sometimes you have to combine forces to overthrow the king. And when that attempt doesn't work, you have to try again.

The next one didn't either. Or any of them, really. Silver ended up staying the king, with Balo as queen. Brendan became the merchant, a nice middle class. But the bottom of the stack ended up being Tiko, a peasant, and Robby, a scum (truly the lowest of the low).

The only question was how did Al hold his cards if he didn't have opposable thumbs?

That is something no one will know. Not even Al.

Notes:

That's right, it's game territory, not anime. Or manga, as much as I love the Ruby and Sapphire Adventure.

If you were looking forward to see Ash and friends, sorry to disappoint. I haven't watched the Hoenn anime for a long time, so it wouldn't exactly be accurate. And, yes, the protagonist and the rival are both going to be OP. When compared to an only ok trainer like Robby (no matter if he has Al as a Pokemon or some tragic backstory), they would destroy him since I consider them prodigies.

Also, don't forget to tell me what you think Ed should evolve into. How's Ed doing, anyway?

Maybe you'll find out next chapter?

So with that as motivation (if that counts as motivation), please review!