Penny in the Air
Chapter 5
Key:
Thoughts
Memories (dialogue straight from the game.)
xXxXx- line break
XxXxX- point of view change
Onwards we go.
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As the girls at the Figy berry omelets that May had fixed for breakfast, Whismur was running around with one of Roxanne's Geodudes. Winona watched them sleepily.
"May, what are you going to do with the Whismur? You haven't caught her, or you would have named her already." She said.
"I was thinking of taking her to my dad actually. I know he'll take good care of her." May said as she cleaned dishes against Roxanne's wishes. "And I thought I should go see my mom too. So I'll be leaving soon."
Roxanne was drying the dishes and putting them away. "Well we should definitely do this again sometime. Just hang out, us girls. Maybe after you beat the Elite Four and the Champion we can invite the girls from the Elite Four. I bet it would be fun with Phoebe and Glacia."
"Next time is in Lavaridge." Flannery said. "Hot springs."
Liza was smiling brightly. "Maybe we could do each other's nails. I could bring my nail polish collection."
"I'm not one for doing my nails really…" Flannery chewed on her omelet.
"I have red and black that I don't use very often that would look great on you." Liza suggested. "Sometimes I get with the girls of my Gym and we do each other nails. The Hex Maniacs always choose black."
"It does sound fun. We could make it into a full on spa day. I could pick up some facial masks or something from Lilycove Department Store before I come." Winona stroked Swablu's head as she talked. Swablu cooed and stole the last of her omelet.
Roxanne shoved May away from the sink and tossed a towel at her head. "Sounds like we have a plan. May, we'll let you set the date so just call us when you're ready. Now go see your dad." She hesitated. "Are you going to tell him?"
May tilted her head to the side. "About our spa day plans? I don't see why."
Flannery laughed. "She meant about your crushes May."
May's eyes went wide. "I…I don't know. I don't know how he'd take it."
Winona hummed and gathered the plates from the table to carry them into the kitchen for Roxanne. "Maybe don't tell him yet. Norman seems like a steady and calm man, but you are his only daughter."
May nodded as she tried to head into the kitchen after Winona to finish the dishes. Nosepass stood in her way and she laughed. "Alright! I won't help anymore!" She looked at Winona. "And I'll try to keep quiet, but I've never tried to keep a secret from my family before." She scooped up Whismur as she ran by and cuddled her.
"You guys are pretty close, huh?" Liza asked.
"I guess, even though Dad's almost never home. Always at the Gym and training." May scratched Whismur between her ears. She glanced out the window at the sunrise. "I should be going."
Liza stood up from the table. "I should be going as well. Shall we fly part of the way together?"
"Littleroot is out of your way. Don't worry about me." May smiled at them all.
"Then I'll fly straight back to Tate and our Gym, see what he's been up to. Call me if you need anything, okay?" Liza released Xatu.
"Call any of us." Roxanne said, leaning against the kitchen doorway. Flannery and Winona made sounds of agreement. "Especially if you run into those two again."
"I will, I promise. Thanks for all your help!" With a wave, May left Roxanne's house and released Jlutem. She slid onto Jlutem's back, Whismur tucked firmly in her lap. "Let's head home."
The early morning flight was refreshing. May could really understand Winona's love for flying Pokémon. There was nothing else like being in the air, the only thing that came close was diving deep underwater. But that was more like going to another world.
Fresh air whipped around her as she flew. Whismur had buried herself into her arms, clearly not enjoying the flight as much as May did. Luckily it wasn't a long flight and soon enough they were setting down in front of May's home. May scooped Whismur up and slid off Jlutem's back and let Jlutem follow her in the door, the Altaria humming a greeting as they entered.
Surprise flooded May at the sight of her dad sitting with her mom at their table. "Dad! I didn't expect you to be home." So much for talking things out with Mom.
Norman smiled at her and stood up to give her a hug. "What? I can't visit my beautiful wife?" He hugged May around the Whismur. "Is this your latest catch?"
"Actually, no. I was hoping that you would like her." May gave a cheeky grin. "This Whismur managed to knock me out a few days ago, maybe with her you have a chance of beating me."
"Ouch." Norman pulled back like he was hurt.
"Are you all right May?" Mom asked, concerned.
"I'm fine. It was at Granite Cave and I spent a couple of days at Brawly's recovering from Whismur's shriek." May quickly hugged Dad and went to hug Mom, setting Whismur down on the ground where she immediately grabbed onto May's leg.
Norman hummed in thought as May hugged her mother. "Whismur aren't normally found in Granite Cave."
May nodded. "I think she may have been abandoned, two Hariyama were attacking her when she ran into me."
"Oh poor thing." Mom squatted down and opened her arms to the Whismur. "You must have been so scared." Sensing safety, the Whismur darted to Mom's arms and allowed herself to be cuddled comfortingly. "At least May was there to take out the Hariyama."
May rubbed the back of her head. "Actually, the Whismur's shriek knocked me out almost immediately."
Norman frowned. "Did the Hariyama get scared off then?"
May's eyes went wide as she realized she'd talked herself into a corner. "No, Brawly fought them off. He'd come to check on me." She was surprised how easily the lie slipped off her tongue, but she didn't want to cause her parents worry.
"Brawly's a fine young man. I'll have to bake him something as thanks for helping you." Mom said, setting Whismur in one of the chairs at the table and came over to give Jlutem some attention as well. "The two of you would be cute together, you know."
May made a face. "Mom, he's like a big brother to me. The thought's just weird."
Norman was making a face too. "May's too young to be thinking about falling in love. And she's going for the Championship anyways. How is that going anyways?"
May resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her father and latched on to the topic change. "I made it through Victory Road but lost against Sidney after a hard fight. Now I'm focusing on training." And figuring out how this love thing works.
"Want me to go wipe the floor with him and avenge you?" Norman asked.
May grinned at her father. "You can't even beat me, how could you beat Sidney?"
"I'll have you know my own training has come along nicely. I could probably give you a run for your money." Norman was smiling, but there was confidence in his eyes.
May grinned cheekily again. "Maybe if you add the Whismur to your team you could."
Norman reached over and scratched the Whismur behind one ear. "You really want me to look after this one don't you?"
May took a seat at the table, Jlutem coming and putting her head in her lap for some attention. "I'd catch her myself but my team is full and she'd just be stuck in the computer system. I don't want that for her." She gently rubbed Jlutem's head. "I don't like to do that more than I have to."
"Well even if your father doesn't want her, I'll take her. I could use some company around here with the two of you gone so often." Mom stood up and went to the kitchen. "Do either of you want tea or coffee?"
"Some tea would be nice." May said, feeling guilty for not visiting more.
"I'll take some coffee." Norman said, rubbing the back of his neck in a guilty way. "I was planning on taking her, but maybe she'd be better off here with your mom."
"I was joking Norman. Take her, train her. Try and beat your daughter with her." Mom set the kettle on the stove to boil.
"Only try?" Norman asked.
"I have faith in May. She won't lose to you." Mom's smile was clear in her voice as she prepped mugs of tea and coffee for the water.
"Well I know who the favorite is now." Norman said. May laughed and he smiled at her. "I'm glad you're doing okay May. After everything that happened with those Teams…and now this incident at the cave after your first loss. You seem to be holding up well."
"My Pokémon have been with me the whole way." Jlutem trilled happily to confirm this, trying to wrap her wings around May at the same time. May laughed again. "It's hard to be down with them with me."
The water boiled and Mom poured it into the mugs, bringing the mugs over to the table on a tray. "I'm glad they're with you May."
"Do you want me to catch you a Pokémon to keep you company Mom?" May asked, adding some sugar to her tea. "I could do it while I'm training." She gave a pointed look to her dad. "And maybe a certain Gym Leader can do some of his training around here."
Mom laughed. "I really wouldn't mind having a Pokémon companion. And I understand that your father has to train at the Gym so that he can be there if there's a challenger. Just like you can't do your training around here if you really want to get stronger."
"I know." May sighed and sipped at her tea. "But one thing I can do is come visit more." May's eyes were determined.
"I'd like that a lot." Mom reached over the table and squeezed her daughter's hand before looking at her husband. "You probably need to be heading back to the Gym, don't you?"
"I do, but…" Norman turned to May. "How about a little mock battle?"
May looked pointedly at the Whismur. "If I win, I get to name her."
"Deal."
Together they finished their drinks and went outside. May let out Hruno and Norman let out his Spinda.
It wasn't much of a battle.
Norman had a mixture of pride and disappointment on his face. "Well I don't think it will take you long to get strong enough to wipe the floor with the Elite Four and the Champion."
May was giving a big hug to Hruno who was cooing into her hair. She smiled at her dad. "I'm going to take my time training though. I didn't like the feeling of losing."
Norman smiled wryly. "I understand that." His smile softened when May giggled. "I'm proud of you though, you know that right? You are already such an amazing Trainer."
May came over and hugged Norman. "Thanks Dad." She just leaned into the hug for a minute. "The Whismur's name is Whimsy."
Norman laughed. "Whimsy it is."
Together they walked over to where Mom was watching in the house's doorway. She was smiling proudly. "You'll have to rest your Pokémon before you go back to work, so go take a nap with them. How are yours doing May?"
"Pretty good, but I'll let them nap in my room if they want. Can I have some more tea?" She asked. Mom nodded.
Norman knelt down in front of the Whismur that had watched their fight. "Well little one, I may not be as strong a Trainer as my daughter but do you want to try training with me anyways?" He held out a pokeball.
The Whismur reached out and poked the capture button, letting herself be enveloped in light. The pokeball rocked in Norman's hands twice before giving a final click. As soon as it had, Norman pressed the button again and Whismur came back out.
He smiled down at the Pokémon. "Welcome to the team Whimsy." Whimsy ran forward and hugged his leg. "Now let's go take that nap." They disappeared into the house.
Mom watched him disappear into their room before turning to May. "Alright. You wanted to talk to me about something, didn't you?"
Tension left May's shoulders. "Let me put my Pokémon in my room and then we can talk." She ran up the stairs to her room and let all her Pokémon out. "You guys can take a nap or something. I'm going to talk to Mom." Julp grabbed one of her dolls and hopped onto her bed to sleep with Hruno. Yulem settled on the rug with Tluais at their side. Jlutem settled on the window sill. Yuso came and hung off her shoulders as May turned and went back down the stairs.
Mom was setting two fresh cups of tea on the table and sitting down. May set down next to her and fiddled with the mug, not sure how to start. Mom sipped at her own tea, stroking Yuso's head as she waited for May to gather her thoughts.
May took a deep breath and a sip of tea. "I'm in love with two men."
Mom took another sip of tea. "Do you love one of them more than the other?"
"No. And I don't know how they feel about me. There's a chance they might hate me." May knew what the Gym Leaders had said to her, but she couldn't let go that there was a chance.
"So not that Steven you've mentioned before." Mom hummed. "And not Brendan either."
"Oh I'm pretty sure Brendan hates me. These two though…" May sighed.
"I'll keep my thoughts about Brendan to myself for now…" Mom stroked Yuso's head again. "Yuso could you go make sure that Norman is sleeping?" Yuso nodded and floated away. "May, what are you struggling to tell me?"
May took a big gulp of tea. "It's the leaders of the two Teams I defeated. I think I might have been in love with them even before I defeated them." She forced the words out in a rush.
Mom was steady as a rock. "And you still defeated them anyways."
"I didn't know I was in love with them until yesterday." May was quiet now, relief a heady thing.
"Well I should hope you trust me enough to not hide something like this for very long." When May looked at her mother, her eyes were full of teasing laughter. Mom reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "Love is a funny thing that you can't control. I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me about it." She glanced towards her room. "Though your father definitely not ready to hear you're in love. You heard him earlier. He still thinks you're too young." She laughed, as warm as the tea. "Like your nineteenth birthday isn't coming up in a few months. He's in denial."
May smiled, wrapping her hands around her mug. "I think if you brought that up, he would pass out. He still sees me as too young to beat him in battle despite having lost to me twice now."
Mom chuckled in agreement. "What are you going to do now?"
"Train. I don't know where they are, so there's nothing I can do about them at this point. But I can get stronger and continue going for the Championship. And if I run into them…" May sighed into her tea. "I don't know what I will do."
"Just try talking to them for now. Learn more about them. Maybe what you learn will change you feelings, for good or bad. But whatever happens, know that you can come talk to me." Mom reached over and hugged May tightly. "No matter what."
Yuso came floating back into the room, cooing a warning. Norman walked into the room a few steps behind her, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Did you have your Pokémon spying on me?"
"That was a short nap, dear." Mom said in reply. She sipped her tea.
"Well I did have a cup of coffee just a little while ago. You're hiding something." His eyes were still narrowed.
"You had one on one time with May, I wanted some without you interrupting us. Should have had Tluais cast Sleeppowder on you." She was silently laughing now, mug shaking slightly with it.
"Sadly not a move Tluais knows." May hummed, joining in on her mom's teasing.
"Alright, keep it to yourselves then. I need to be going." He opened his arms. "Can I get hugs from my family before I go?"
They both stood and went in for a group hug. May relaxed in the warmth of her family with a sigh. Norman's arms tightened around both of them briefly before he let them go. Kissing his wife's cheek and May's head, he stepped back and looked at them for a moment before turning and leaving.
He stopped at the door for a moment and looked back. "I'm proud of you May. You're going to win against the Elite Four and the Champion, I just know it."
"Yeah." May said with a nod and watched her father disappear out the door.
Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Help me prepare lunch for us and your Pokémon?"
"Sure. Let me do one thing real quick though." After her mom nodded, May went up to her room. She sat on the edge of the bed, feeling Hruno's warmth at her back, and called Brawly.
"Hello? May, what's up?" His voice was like always.
"I may have told my dad that you were the one who saved me at Granite Cave. I'm going to tell my mom the truth, but I told my dad—" May's words were practically tumbling over each other to get out.
"Whoa! Whoa! It's okay May. It's probably for the best. Thanks for the warning though." Brawly's steadiness calmed her down. "You're going to tell your mom though? You sure that's okay?"
"Yeah I already told her that I'm—I—" May voice caught in her throat in a way it never had with her mom.
Brawly's laugh was warm and gentle in her ear. "Figure it out did you?"
"With Roxanne's help. She told me—" May stopped and took a deep breath. "She told me I looked like a girl in love. We had a sleep over and talked and it fell into place."
"Well if you had to hear it from someone else, Roxanne is a good person to hear it from. Decided what you're going to do about it?"
"Everyone keeps asking that and…I have no clue. There's a chance I might not even see them again." The thought made May's eyes burn, catching her by surprise. She blinked furiously as Yulem, sensing their Trainer's distress, stood and came over to bump against her legs. Slowly the rest of her Pokémon gathered around her.
Brawly snorted. "I could make good money on betting that you were going to run into them again if I could find someone willing to take the bet."
May laughed. "You're not a gambling man." She wiped at her eyes as a tear slipped free.
"No I'm not. You'll see them again May. What you do then is up to you. But if they do anything you're not okay with? Call me immediately." Brawly's voice was as serious as it got before a battle.
"Okay. I will." May was calming down again. "Listen, I have to go help my mom with lunch. I just called to keep you in the loop."
"I'm glad you called May. Take care of yourself and your Pokémon. And let your Pokémon take care of you."
May looked at the way her Pokémon were surrounding her, all awake, and smiled. "They already are. Bye Brawly."
"Bye May." Brawly said before ending the call.
May took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes again before Yuso brushed her hands aside and laid her own against her cheeks until they were cool. Smiling at her Pokémon, May took time to hug each one to the best of her ability before she stood up. "Want to come help Mom and me make lunch?" She started walking to the stairs and they all followed her. Yuso hung from her shoulders while Julp ran ahead of her down the steps. Yulem was too big to fit down the stairs and was returned to their pokeball for the trip down, released once they were on the first floor again.
As May helped Mom cook lunch with the Pokémon's best aid, May told Mom the truth about the cave incident. Mom still insisted on baking Brawly something as thanks for his help. May promised to deliver it before resuming her training. Mom admitted to feeling better about her crushes now that it seemed like they wouldn't hurt her.
They spent lunch and the rest of the day chatting about other parts of May's journeys. Mom got all the details of her loss out of her over yet another cup of tea. May took a break from talking as her mom took time to give each of her Pokémon some one on one love. Over dinner May made sure to get what her mom had been up to out of her. Norman returned late after closing the Gym for the night and they all turned into bed shortly after.
When May woke up with the sun, she found her mom had been up for a while already. She'd been baking up a storm and filled May's bag with cookies and berry hand pies for her and her Pokémon and had a cake all ready to be delivered to Brawly. Breakfast was pastries and laughter as the family ate together before May was seen off by her parents and Whimsy.
May glanced back from Jlutem's back to see her parents smiling and hugging, waving until she was out of sight. Holding the cake securely in her lap, she set off back to Dewford.
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Author's Note: Family Time! And a farewell to the Whismur, kinda. She's part of the family now. Side Quest obtained! Find a Pokémon for Mom! If you have any suggestions for what Pokémon she should get, write it in the comments. Anyway. Yes she's heading back to Dewford, no I'm not going to write her delivering the cake. She'll have delivered it by the time the next chapter starts. It gets to Brawly still warm from the oven. Who do you think she'll run into next chapter? Archie or Maxie? Where do you think the meeting will occur? Are these questions just a grab for comments. Probably. I'm not even sure people are reading this. I know two chapters in two days is fast, don't get used to this speed. I have other stories I'm trying to work on, including some original ones. Likely no consistent updates. To anyone reading this, I hope you enjoyed!
I am not a writer! I am a puppet controlled by fictional characters!