Chapter 22, right? Oh, yeah, just messing with you. Anyway, I'm using Microsoft Word, so that there would be no more spelling errors going around… Okay, let's get started! Now, where are the usual Pokémon that would distract me?

Gil (interrupting): Hiya!

Me (sweat-dropping): What happened to Charlie and Linole?

Gil (flying around me): Oh, them, they need a break, so they sent me to annoy you for a while...

Me (sweat-dropping even more): Was that really necessary?

Gil: Well, they said you need to be entertained by annoying you…

Okay… while I settle this new changes going on around, why don't you read chapter 22… oO;

Oh, yes, I'm also making big changes around starting with paragraphs and everything else you see here.

And yes, I have actually played the Emerald version, so I'm going to properly arrange the events starting here…

-

Chapter 22 – Secret Base! What For?

"So, what are you thinking about?" Phil asked as he saw Brendan staring at something. He was really baffled with Brendan's sudden reaction.

"What?" Brendan turned around and looked at Phil.

"Never mind," Phil murmured and thought it would be best not to find out more about what Brendan is thinking.

" Brendan and May, sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! " Kipp singed out as Terk continued laughing.

Phil sweat-dropped as Kipp and Terk continued to make fun of Brendan. But it seems that Brendan is not getting annoyed by the Pokémon's teasing at all. Phil didn't understand why, or maybe there is something between Brendan and May after all.

-

Back at Route 111, May and Avegaille had just finished making a call to Brendan. May had no idea whatsoever on what to do next except to follow what Brendan had just instructed to her.

"Hey, what's bothering you?" Avegaille asked as she looked at May with confusion.

"Um, uh, nothing," May replied nervously. She turned away from Avegaille.

"Come on, let's go this way," Avegaille said as she took May's arm and went off to go to Route 112.

-

At Route 112, May and Avegaille climbed through the pathway which leads to the cable car. They saw Brendan and Phil standing near the entrance of the Fire Path. May and Avegaille quickly approached them.

"What took you guys so long?" Brendan asked as he was starting to get irritated again. He started to tap his foot on the ground, waiting for their answer.

"I think I remember now… me and Avegaille had a two-on-two battle against some reporters," May replied as she looked up and placed her finger on her chin. Then, she looked at Brendan again. "And we got interviewed for winning the battle!"

"That means you guys get to be on TV!" Phil exclaimed out happily.

" Uh, um, what's a TV? " Terk asked as he scratched his head.

"Um, uh, we'll show one to you once we get to a town…" Phil said as he sweat-dropped. He took out his Pokéball and sent back Terk to his ball.

"Come, on, I don't think we have all day!" Brendan exclaimed out to everyone in an irritable way. He also took out Kipp's Pokéball as he sent back the annoying Pokémon.

"Whatever, Mr. Bread Head," May said sarcastically. She turned away from Brendan as she folded her arms across her chest.

Then, the four of them walked off at the east direction as they saw the cable car entrance but it was being blocked off by two Magma grunts. All of them were really puzzled to as of what's going on around.

"Sorry, you can't pass beyond this point," one of the Magma grunts said to them. "And you can't force us to battle you all either just because of this…"

"Fine," Brendan grumbled as he turned around and walked off.

Avegaille, May and Phil followed Brendan until they reached the entrance of the Fiery Path again. All of them didn't know what to do next.

"Well, we might as well find out where this goes," Brendan said to all of them as he entered the path.

Everyone else who was left behind followed Brendan. While they were inside, they are all starting to get that creepy feeling. The pathway had only a few light shining through and to make it worst, the ground is so warm, they could feel that there is some volcano activity below. But the good thing is that the Fiery Path is only short, in which they were all able to get out with relief.

"Finally, some light and air," May said in relief as she took a deep breath.

"Come on, I don't know what we're supposed to do but maybe we should go to Fallabor first," Brendan interrupted as he continued to walk off.

Avegaille sighed as she took out her Pokénav. She saw that Fallabor is a lot of more miles away. After she had finished looking at her Pokénav, she noticed that everyone else has walked off. Now, Avegaille doesn't know where they are.

"Hey, where did everyone go?" Avegaille asked herself as she quickly looked around.

Since there was no one else around, Avegaille decided to continue to walk off by herself until she could find everyone else. While at Route 112, she noticed that a guy was looking up the tree. She thought that maybe he has seen her friends, so she decided to talk to him.

"Do you want to know what I'm doing?" the boy asked as he turned to Avegaille.

"Um, well, sure, why not," Avegaille said as she shrugged.

"Look at this tree here," he said to Avegaille.

"Okay…"

"See that ivy there?"

"Yeah…"

"You can use Secret Power to make your very own Secret Base," he finally said. "Besides from trees, you can also find small indents near walls. Here, try it!" He handed to Avegaille a TM.

"A TM?" Avegaille asked as she held the TM in her hand.

"Teach it to a Pokémon, once you do, you'll be able to create a room for yourself on the field. That's where the secret base comes in. You can buy decorations to put inside your secret base," he explained to Avegaille. "Well, I have to go and find new places to make my secret base. See ya!"

After that, he walked off, leaving Avegaille still clueless about what to do. She had forgotten to ask the boy if he has seen her friends around. Avegaille decided to let out Tike so that he can learn Secret Power. She took out a Pokéball from her belt as she held it in her hand. Then, a white light appeared as Tike got out from the ball and landed on the ground.

" Is there something you want from me? " Tike asked as he looked at Avegaille.

"Um, I'm just going to teach you Secret Power," Avegaille replied as she knelt down to get closer to Tike. "Is that okay?"

" Well, if you really want to, " Tike replied as Avegaille attached a small box in his forehead. Then, the machine started to input the data of the move into Tike's head. The machine disappeared after Tike had learned the move.

"Well, can you use Secret Power in this here tree?" Avegaille asked as she pointed up on the tree.

" Sure, of course I can! " Tike exclaimed as he went up on the tree. He used his claws to drop down the ivy beneath the tree.

"Cool!" Avegaille exclaimed out. She picked up Tike from the ground as she decided to see what's inside the tree. She climbed through the ivy to get inside.

-

At Route 113, Brendan, May and Phil are quite experiencing the volcanic ash falling down to them. The three of them were walking through the ash-covered grass, trying to get to Fallabor as much as possible. They didn't even notice that Avegaille wasn't with them until…

"Come on, Avegaille, you have to at least talk to us!" Brendan exclaimed without turning around. He sensed that something was wrong when Avegaille wasn't responding at all.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" May asked as she turned around and noticed that Avegaille wasn't behind her or Phil.

"She must have been exploring somewhere," Phil said, but not sure of his answer. "Well, we can always call her to see where she is." He took out his Pokénav and activated it. Then, he started to look for Avegaille's number.

"Well, for not, let's stop by here," Brendan said to them as he leaned his back against a large rock behind him. He folded his arms across his chest while he waited.

-

At the insides of the Secret Base, Avegaille looked around as she noticed that the place was empty. She knew that decorations have something to do with making the base into a livelier place, but since she hasn't bought any decorations yet, she had to leave the base empty. Then, her Pokénav started to make ringing noises as Tike explored around the base.

"Hey, Avegaille, where are you?" Phil asked over the Pokénav as Avegaille looked at the screen.

"Um, just around Route 112," Avegaille replied nervously. "Just look for a large tree with an ivy dangling on it. Then, climb on it and you'll find me…"

"Well, if you say so," Phil said as she looked at Brendan and May for a while. "I'll see if I can convince these two to go back to Route 112."

"Okay, thanks," Avegaille exclaimed out as the Pokénav screen turned blank. She turned off her Pokénav and placed it back in her pocket. While she waited for her friends to arrive, she decided to let out all of her Pokémon for some company.

-

Back at Route 113, Phil turned off his Pokénav as he looked at Brendan and May, who were talking about something. He decided that they should know where Avegaille is right now.

"Um, guys, I know that getting here is a bit rough, but we have to go back to Route 112 for Avegaille," Phil finally said to them. He waited for Brendan's sudden reaction, but nothing came out.

"Well, I think it's only fair, since we left her behind without even calling her attention," May said as she shrugged.

"Fine, I'd be left alone if I disagree anyway," Brendan said bitterly as he gave out a loud sigh.

-

Walking back to Route 112, May noticed that the sun was getting dimmer, meaning that it was getting dark. Their journey to get to the routes was rough indeed. Phil noticed the giant tree that Avegaille told about. He quickly approached it as he looked for the dangling ivy. Brendan and May just caught up with him as they gazed upon the giant tree. Phil climbed through the giant ivy as Brendan and May shrugged and decided to do the same.

Inside the base, Avegaille had just set up all of the blankets that she brought so that at least the base as something decorative in it. She noticed that her friends have also arrived just in time. May quickly went near Avegaille, to see if she's all right. While at that, Brendan and Phil decided to sit down for a while on one of the blankets and release out their Pokémon.

"Avegaille, well, I must say, I'm impressed, but what is this place exactly called?" May asked as she sat down with Avegaille on one corner of the base. She noticed that everyone else had let out their Pokémon, so she decided to let out hers too.

"A Secret Base, but since you guys found it, I don't think you can call it still a secret," Avegaille replied. She leaned her back on the wall. "Anyway, I think it's getting dark. We could spend out night here."

"Yeah, this place is good enough for a room," May replied as she looked around. She noticed that something is missing on the place besides from the blankets. "We could also put up dolls here, if there's a place to put them."

While Avegaille and May talked about on what they should do with the base, their Pokémon had another meeting, this time, Brendan's and Phil's Pokémon joined them. And while the Pokémon had a meeting of their own, Brendan and Phil decided to have a conversation of their own, in which the girls cannot hear.

" All right, today, we're going to have a first official Pokémon meeting in this… err, what is this place called? " Terk asked as she looked at everyone.

" A Secret Base, " Tike replied. " My trainer taught me a move that will enable me to create secret bases! "

" Okay, that's nice, " Terk said sarcastically as she sweat-dropped. Then, she turned back to everyone else. " Anyway, what topic must we all talk about? "

" A song, a song! " Linole chanted out as he jumped up and down.

" Songs? " Charlie asked but a bit confused. " Why would we talk about such things? " He looked to everyone else to seem to disagree with Linole's idea.

" Well, how about if we talk about this secret base here instead, " Kipp suggested to everyone.

" Hmm, that's seems okay, " Terk agreed as he nodded. He noticed that everyone else is agreeing.

" Ah, while all of you talk about bases, I shall start with a new gig, called pair up Pokémon! " Sean exclaimed out to everyone. " I shall try to see and find a perfect couple in our group. "

" Meow, that seems fun, " Kathy said curiously. She looked around to see if there are pair ups to be made in the group.

While the Pokémon in the base continued to chat, Avegaille and May are sharing more stories about their pasts and also their interests on Pokémon. and while they do that, Brendan and Phil are also sharing some strategies for themselves whenever they are on facing battles.

It seems that the secret base has a purpose after all! A place where trainers and Pokémon chat all day long until they fall asleep.

-

End of chapter 22

Yeah, well, a really, really long update, since I have to synchronize the story with the title………. Anyway, I'm planning to make a more sneak preview of what happens to these four after their Hoenn Journey. For now, adios! I think that's Spanish for so long or good bye! But I'm not Spanish, it's just that our country has been colonized by Spaniards before…

Gil: Well, adios to you too!

Oh, no not again… (sweat-drops) Well, bye now…