Penny in the Air

Chapter 5

Author's Note: This is a present for my friend and reader, Mew Suger. Her birthday present from me. I am working on the other stories; no story of mine will ever be abandoned. EVER. So happy birthday Mew Suger!

Also, I've noticed something. Sometimes, about 50% of the time actually, the underlining I put in the story does not show up in the uploaded version. And when I went back to reread all of the chapters for this story, I realized that I forgot to clear one thing up. May is around 18 or 19. Maxie and Archie are around 25. I do not support pedophilia so I have adjusted the ages to fit that mindset.

Key:

Thoughts

Memories (dialogue straight from the game.)

xXxXx- line break

XxXxX- point of view change

Onwards we go.

xXxXx

Maxie woke up to Hunter licking his face. He looks over and sees Archie being woken up by his own Mightyena.

Archie grumbled and sat up, patting Mighty on the head while sleepily looking around. As Maxie sat up, they both glanced at the place where they had laid May the night before.

The bedroll had been carefully and neatly rolled. There was no sign of the young woman they had taken care of the night before.

"That's odd." Maxie whispered, his voice rough from sleep.

Archie looked at him, sleep still partly clouding his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"May has never seemed like the type of girl to leave without saying goodbye."

"Maxie." Archie drags the other's attention to him. "We were always the ones who left first. I don't know about you but I never gave her the chance to say goodbye."

Maxie sighs and stands up to put his bedroll away. "I didn't either, but she was always such a quiet and polite girl that her leaving without a goodbye seems strange."

The two of them began to pack up all of the supplies they had left out and prepared to leave.

"Oh, the two of you are already awake?" A soft female voice spoke from behind them.

Startled, Archie drops the bag of berries he had been retrieving. The berries fell out of the bag, but before they hit the floor of the cave they began to float.

"Yulem, could you put the berries back in the bag?" The voice contained a large amount of quiet amusement.

Maxie and Archie turned and saw May sitting atop of her Metagross. It took them a moment before they realized that she was secured on the Pokémon by strong vines.

Noticing them staring at the vines, May spoke again in her quiet voice. "I can't stand very well, and my Pokémon don't want me to go too far from them. Their solution was to have Tluais secure me onto Yulem with his vines." She gestured to her Froslass who was holding a bucket formed from ice. "I went to go get some water so that I could make breakfast to thank you for helping me. The Whismur and Julp told me what you did." The Whismur peeked out from behind May and made a small sound in way of greeting.

"You talk like you can understand them" Archie commented, not really paying attention to what he was saying. She…didn't leave?

May smiled softly. "One of the perks of having a Psychic type on your team. It will allow you to speak and understand your Pokémon. It helps me to feel closer to them, like I can help them grow stronger that way."

With her Pokémon's help, May swiftly put together a simple breakfast for them all. They ate in relative silence for awhile before Maxie broke it.

"Why didn't you call out one of your Pokémon to fight the Hariyama? They wouldn't have stood a chance against your Altaria or your Metagross."

A thoughtful look appeared on Archie's face. "That's true. What were you planning to do? Spar with them yourself?"

They both glanced over at the girl in time to see a faint blush form on her cheeks.

Archie stood up, astonishment painting his features. "You were?! Are you absolutely insane?! They were at least twice your size! And there were two of them! Why would you put yourself in harm's way like that?!"

"Oh yes. You couldn't care at all." Maxie said in a quiet, sarcastic voice.

"Shut up Maxie!" Archie shouted at his counterpart, causing Maxie to chuckle.

"Um, what?" May's face was the picture of confusion.

"Nothing." They both replied at the same time.

Maxie tried to banish the amused smile he had. "May, were you not wanting to strain your Pokémon anymore? Because it does not seem like they were happy with your decision."

May sighed. "I'd worked them so hard already…" A thought seemed to occur to the young woman. "What were the two of you doing here together? I…wasn't sure that you got along."

"We don't." The two jinxed each other again.

Archie scowled at Maxie. "I had been hiding out here, that guy showed up for a chat, and we saw you training."

May's eyes brimmed with curiosity. "May I ask what you were chatting about?"

Both of the older men turned away, unsure what to say. They missed the flash of sadness that appeared in May's eyes, quickly chasing out the curiosity.

The girl stood suddenly, and would have fallen if Archie had not been close enough to catch her.

Blushing brightly, May stuttered. "I…I should…" Conflicting emotions rolled through her sky blue eyes. She looked at the two men, slight desperation on her face. "What are your plans now?" Now that you have managed to cause me so much pain and confusion.

Maxie frowns, slightly worried about how the girl was acting. "I'm not sure. I've spent so much of my time trying to expand the land that I've never really thought of anything else."

"Pretty much the same here, only with the ocean." Archie's voice was a low rumble as May was mostly unable to stand on her own so he was still supporting her. He looked over May's head and noticed the way that the other man was glaring at him. Archie couldn't help but smirk a bit and carefully shift the girl a bit closer. "What about you May?"

May's blush brightened as she realized the close proximity, though she knew if she tried to move, she would fall again and really felt no need to try. "I am still going to try for the Championship, but I need to do more training and also…"

Maxie leaned down a bit so that he was eyelevel with her and was happy to see her blush brighten even further. "And also what?"

"I- I have to figure something out. It's been confusing me for a while…I should go!" Vines swiftly came and wrapped around May, lifting her and placing her gently upon her Metagross. Before they left, she turned once more to face the two men. "It was good to see the two of you again. Especially since I did not have to fight you for once. Goodbye."

Maxie and Archie watched as her, her Pokémon, and the wild Whismur disappeared from view.

Archie fell back against the wall of the cave and groaned. "Why is that girl so…? We are doomed. No matter what we do, she beats us. She is way too nice for her own good." He looked over at his long time rival. "What happened to get your thinking look on?"

"She blushed."

"What?"

"When you caught her as she fell, she blushed. When I leaned down to look into her eyes, she blushed even brighter. What do you think that means, Archie?" Maxie focused his eyes onto Archie's face.

Archie was dumbfounded. "She blushed? And I didn't get to see it?"

Maxie sighed and decided to wait awhile to see if they could have a serious conversation.

XxXxX

"May! What happened?!" Brawly came rushing over when he saw Yulem and Tluais depositing May on the ground in front of the Poke Center.

"I'm fine. Just a little wobbly after being hit by a Whismur screech. It'll pass." May stood much more steadily and confidently than she had in the cave. She returned her Pokémon to their Poke Balls and took a few steps before she nearly collapsed again.

Brawly quickly caught her and scooped her into her arms. He carried her into the Poke Center and stood over her while the nurse checked her out.

The nurse informed them that May would be back on her feet in a day or two, until then, she needed to rest.

Brawly looked at May. "Come on. I've got a spare room you can borrow for a couple of days."

"No! It's okay!" May raised her hands in protest, but stopped when she saw Brawly's expression. She sighed and allowed him to help her up and support her to his house.

When they arrived, Brawly helped her settle in his guest room then placed his hands on her shoulder forcing her to look at him. "Now. What is it that has you all worked up?"

May's eyes darted off to the side. "I don't know what you mean."

Brawly sighed and sat down beside her. "May, I have never seen you so confused. Don't forget that I was the second Gym Leader that you fought. You were completely sure of yourself even that early in your journey. Want to tell me what has finally managed to fluster you?"

May is silent for a while. "I…I'm not sure what it is. There's…this feeling. I don't know what it is. I've never felt it before."

Brawly turned. "Why don't you try to describe it to me?"

xXxXx

Author's Note: Well now. I am going to open a poll. Do you want May to figure out that she is in love in the next chapter or later on? Also, I am seriously not sure where this series is going. No clue where it's going, or how long it is going to take to get there. Feel free to throw ideas at me.

I am so sorry that I have not updated my stories lately. Sooooo much writer's block. I am working on getting rid of it.

As always, thanks to my beta, Morohtar Singod. I blame him for all the plot bunnies that he has given me.

I am not a writer! I am a puppet controlled by fictional characters!