Chapter 11:

The white-haired trainer fell to his knees, his knees sinking into the soft dirt, and he continued to look downward toward where the end of the waterfall collided with the sharp rock. Ruby eyes watched closely, and they noticed something . . . Something rather odd. Brendan didn't take a second thought about what he noticed though; he was too wrapped up in what Maxie did.

"What have you done?" he said in an eerily calm voice as he stood back up. He turned around, head bowed down, shaking with anger once again. "You just . . . You just let her die. Just like that. No second thought. No conscience to tell you that this is wrong. Nothing." He laughed, lifted his head, and stared into the startled scarlet of Maxie's eyes. "Oh Maxie . . . Maxie, Maxie, Maxie, you silly little leader. I wonder how you still lead people when later on, you'll kill them, even without spilling blood. Because you killed me. Slaughtered me really."

Brendan walked toward the leader and deposited his Pokéballs in his open hands. "You win. Take my Pokémon because they're the only thing you don't have. You took my friend, you took my starter, and finally, you took the love of my life. Surely you can spill the last of my blood by taking the only thing left that I care about. You know what?" Brendan walked over toward the edge of the cliff and looked down again. "Push me Maxie. Push me so that I can be with them. Push me so my damned life can be over with. Because you know what? You won! You got your revenge. Or at least you will. You were just bent on destroying three of the idols in the Hoenn Region. The same ones that caused you utter humiliation. Well now you can brag that you defeated them BECAUSE YOU WON!"

Maxie was too startled to do anything because of Brendan's speech. Brendan noticed this and snorted.

"Won't even grant my last wish and kill me yourself huh? Fine. I'll do it myself!" Closing his eyes, the white-haired trainer fell forward in a graceful manner, arms spread wide, feet spread apart.

Then there was silence.

Archie, who had stayed quiet all this time, walked over to the edge of the waterfall and peered down, Maxie next to his side. "Did he . . . did he just commit suicide without us telling him to do so? Or us actually killing him?"

Maxie, too bewildered for words still, glanced down too, but then a powerful blast of cold air blew at his face, and a red, white and black blur blew past, landing behind the two leaders.

"Well, you weren't expecting that were you?" said Brendan as the two leaders' heads turned toward his direction. He laughed and dusted off the dirt off his sleeves, straightening the bandana on his head. "Surprise!"

"What the-" Maxie took a step forward but stopped. "How did you do that!"

"A friend," Brendan said simply, placing two fingers to his lips and whistling soon after.

Soon, a heavenly creature revealed herself from below the cliff, her feathers puffy and white to resemble a cloud, the rest of her blue feathers preened down, not a single one out of place. A harmonious harm hummed out of her open mouth as she flew upward. Two riders were on her back, one a girl, dripping wet, her clothes sticking to her, her hair limp, and the other rather dirty with green hair.

"How did you survive that fall!" shouted Archie as Wally flew over his head on his Altaria, May clinging onto him so that she wouldn't fall off.

"A friend," the boy with green hair said simply, running a hand through his wet locks. He tossed Brendan a yellow, one-strap backpack with six Pokéballs clipped around in. "I believe these are yours B Boy."

Brendan, with open arms, caught the bag and put it on, smirking. "Well, looks like we won didn't it?"

Maxie, open mouthed, un-clipped one of Brendan's Pokéballs on the backpack that he gave him and opened it. A large blast came from it along with confetti, a sign bouncing out of it, reading "SURPRISE!" Maxie threw the fake backpack down with disdain and glared at the three trainers.

"You . . ." Archie said, pointing at Wally who landed next to Brendan. "You tricked me!"

Wally smiled innocently. "Aw, did I make a fool of the big bad Aqua leader?" Wally said in a baby tone, helping May off his Altaria before returning the bird back into her ball. "Well, it was a few moments ago when you thought you tricked me huh? What goes around goes and kicks you in the ass!"

"Watch the language!" shouted Brendan, lightly smacking Wally on the shoulder.

Wally only laughed. "This is PG-13 remember? I can cuss all I want dammit."

"Actually," said May, "it's now Fiction Rated T."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Damn that shouted Maxie, pointing at the three trainers like his counterpart. "You three knew about our plan all along! But how!" He glared at Brendan. "You told Wally didn't you despite what I said!"

"Obviously, you need to keep a better eye on me," replied Brendan, rolling his eyes, crossing his arms. "I mean, I told him in broad daylight in one of the most public places ever. Come now, after all we've been through you think you can trust me? Even if you were threatening my life, I'm not going to shut up about it. I'm dumb, you have to realize that."

"That's how you foiled my plans too huh Wally?" Archie demanded to know. "Because he told you what was going on!"

"Well, duh," said Wally as if this were obvious. "Just because I look dumb doesn't mean I'm dumb like B Boy over here. I've got smarts."

"I've got pants," said Brendan, causing both the boys to go up in a fit of laughter and the girl to look at them oddly.

"I fail to see the humor in that," said May, rolling her eyes.

Maxie rubbed his chin, thinking. "The Devon Corporation ball," he said. "You couldn't of possibly known about that."

"No," replied Brendan. "But our Pokémon did. Aren't the wonders of a Lairon's shiny exterior just marvelous Maxie?"

"And that fall! How did you survive that fall Wally! I didn't see the flash of light that appears when you call upon a Pokémon even if I wasn't looking in your direction! What did you do!"

Wally began to pick the dirt out of fingernails, flicking the pieces at the leaders. "Well, that was mere luck," he admitted. "There was this friend at the bottom like I said. His formal name is Bemired. We call him Muddy."

"Like you said," Brendan added, "the new Devon Corp ball has flaws. Even the tiniest of scratches can break the Pokémon free from control. And like you stated, there were sharp rocks at the bottom."

"So that means Muddy was able to break free too. Water can crash down onto the rocks, but it can also save you too. He used his Water Gun attack to soften my fall." Wally pointed to one of Brendan's Pokéballs. "And now he's back with us on the good side. Ergo, you lose sucker!"

"I'm not done yet!" Maxie glared at Wally who only waved back mockingly in return. "You, May! You had to of known too! You must of wondered why Brendan would of just . . . broke your heart like that! So you asked didn't you? You asked Wally! And then when you were having tea with the imposter Wanda, surely you realized that it was rather odd that she picked Tohjo Falls for you to relax right?"

"Oh good, I didn't have to answer anything," May said. "Correct Maxie, but I didn't know ieverything/i about Brendan and Wally's plan. Luckily I went with it though." She smiled weakly and blinked her sapphire eyes at the Magma Leader. "You lose."

"Me? Lose?" said Maxie. "Trust me little May, this is far from over." He flicked his hand down, releasing a gray ball from his grasp. The ball broke into two, and puffs of thick, gray smoke shrouded the area. "See you in hell!"

When the smoke cleared, both Archie and Maxie were gone.

"Think we should try and go after them again?" Wally asked, staring at the empty space where Maxie and Archie once were. "I mean, after all this time . . ."

Brendan shook his head. "No. He's right; this is far from over. We'll come face to face sooner than we expect. Until then, I think we should enjoy what little time we have without them instead of worrying about them coming back. Plus I'm lazy."

"Of course. I forgot who you were for a minute. Anyway, let's go home."

.-.

"Your mom's a sardonic idiot!"

Brendan rubbed his temples and contained himself from hitting the green-haired trainer smack across the head. He looked up toward the endless blue of the sky, the bright gold of the sun causing his ruby eyes to sparkle like diamonds. He wiped his hand across his forehead, ridding himself of sweat. "Since we left Tohjo Falls, Hoenn doesn't feel right. It's pretty hot."

"Your mom's hot!" Wally said cheerfully, only to stop dead in his tracks and stare straight ahead. "Did I just say what I think I said?"

"Nah, you just imagined it."

"Good. I thought I was going crazy."

"Wally? Crazy? No way!"

"I know. Crazy ain't it?"

The pale silver of the moon shone down upon the heads of the three trainers as they made their way through the thick, long grass of Verandturf back to Wally's house after a long day of playing cat and mouse. Starlight danced across the clear, crisp sky, oddly brighter than usual as if they were celebrating the victory along with the trainers. The air held a stillness in a serene-like manner, and it was then that the three realized that things, once again, were back to normal.

"I'm glad it's over," May said. "I don't think I could of put up with that act any longer."

Wally nodded. "It's rather odd though. Let's think about some things that didn't seem to contribute to anything though but seemed to happen anyways? Like that underground part. What was up with that?"

Brendan shook his head. "I can't believe you forgot. It was to "prove" to Maxie or Archie or whoever that I was going to go through and kill you out of anger. Duh."

"And the random beginning. Like the middle of the night part."

"Just seeing if I could actually kill you before we planned things out."

". . . Whatever. I still think there's some answered crap. But now that the fun is over, we need to plan my cousin's surprise birthday party!"

Ignoring the weary sighs of his two friends behind him, Wally walked up the stairs of his aunt's front porch that creaked with old age as he stepped on it, the porch doing the same when Brendan and May followed behind the green-haired trainer. Considering that night was creeping in, the lights were off when then usually shined through the lace curtains and through the window, even before twilight grazed the skies. The three didn't notice this though as Wally pulled out his key, unlocked the door, and opened it. Darkness greeted them, until . . .

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY WALLY!" rang throughout the room, the lights flickering on and basking the bewildered trainers in a golden glow.

Brendan, May, and Wally stood in front of the door, confused, as multi-colored pieces of confetti rained down on them. Friends, family, and trainers that Wally met throughout his adventures were there, blowing party favors and continuing to throw confetti up above the green-trainer's head.

Wally reached behind him, managed to whack Brendan lightly in the stomach, and asked: "Uh, what's today?"

"Thursday."

"The date idiot!"

"You could of said that! It's May 27th."

Wally flushed a bright red. "Oh heh. Happy birthday to me then. I was so caught up in the Archie and Maxie business that I forgot my birthday was this week."

"Which is awfully odd, since you should of realized your birthday was coming even before the entire Maxie and Archie fiasco," Brendan muttered so only the three could hear. "And planning a surprise party for your cousin for sure wouldn't remind you of your own birthday."

Wally entered the house, walked up to Wanda, and pointed a finger at her. "You! You . . . you said your birthday was coming up, so I wanted to plan you a . . . how come no one . . . what the fuck!"

Wanda threw her long, wavy brown hair behind her shoulder and winked at her boyfriend that stood next to her. "See? I told you he would say that. Using your stupidity against you, I said that my birthday was coming up, knowing that you would get preoccupied in it because you love me so much so you would forget about your own birthday! Surprise!" She shoved a present wrapped in green wrapping paper and tied together with a huge blue bow into Wally's chest. "You know, we didn't have to do much. We used the invites you made for your own party and used the food and decorations you bought for your own party!"

Wally turned his head and glared at May. "See! I told you these were girly colors!"

May wasn't concerned about the color though. She passed through the crowd of trainers in loud, angry stomps, unhooked her fanny pack from her hips and smacked Wally over the head with it. "YOU MEAN I PLANNED THIS ENTIRE THING WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE TO! You're such an idiot Wally Wood for not knowing your own birthday!" Again, she smacked the whimpering Wally with her bag. "I'm going to cut you up, put you in a taco, and eat you for dinner for putting me through all that planning Wood! You mark my words! Mark it down with your birthday so you won't forget it!"

"Now, now May," said Brendan, walking behind the eye-twitching May and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's his birthday after all. Wait until tomorrow to do those things." An evil glint passed through his ruby eyes as he let go of May's shoulder. "Until then, let's party!" He smiled cheerfully and nodded his head toward a trainer to put the music on.

"I don't think I'm going to have much fun tonight," Wally said, gulping soon after, as he was forced into a crowd of trainers, wishing him a happy birthday. May took this moment to turn around and talk to Brendan.

"Can we talk?" she shouted over the roar of the music.

Brendan read her lips and nodded, heading back toward the quiet serenity of Verandturf.

.-.

It was already night by the time Brendan and May managed to squeeze themselves out of Wanda's house and into the open fields of Verandturf where their only company was the loneliness of the air. The trees rattled their branches in the wind and Mightyenas howled in the distant. Brendan felt the hair on his arms prick up and chills run up and down his spine, but it wasn't from the odd tension of the night, but the weariness held in May's sapphire eyes that tugged a tight knot in his stomach.

Breaking the awkward silence, Brendan began to talk. "So . . . uh . . . why did you call me here? Anything wrong?"

"I love you," May blurted out, blushing a light pink soon after.

Brendan scratched the back of his head. "Uh, I love you too. I thought we got past this awkward part in our relationship."

"And I always will love you. . . . Remember that.That one night," May said, lowering her head, tears blurring her vision, "when you told me that you hated me . . . Even though I know that you intended to save me by saying so, it still hurt."

"I know," Brendan replied, ashamed of his plan that failed anyways. "It's just that, well, me and Wally started to panic because you could of died and it was the only thing that we could think of and-"

"You know, I would of understand as well as Wally. But no, obviously guys have to fix things themselves and to protect the weak little girls from getting hurt! I could of helped too! We've been so much together from the first invasion of the Team Magma Grunts, to sneaking inside their headquarters at Lilycove and fighting them in the skies! What makes you think that I couldn't handle this either?"

"Ugh, May, you don't understand! This was the matter of life and death! This was the matter of me choosing who would stay alive! If I didn't, we all could've of been dead!"

"At least we'd still be together though huh!"

The two glared angrily at each other, for the other wasn't getting their point.

"You know that I could never put you in harm's way," Brendan said simply, crossing his arms. "Neither could Wally. It was the only way!"

"Life isn't black and white like that Brendan!" snapped May, puffing up her bangs. "You know I can't just stand there and do nothing! I would of understood, you know I would of!"

"You don't understand May!"

"Well, you don't understand me either. Obviously we don't know each other as well as we thought."

"And what's that suppose to mean?"

May looked up, the tears gone from her eyes. What replaced them was a fierce look of determination. "I think . . . I think we need a break. A break from each other for awhile. To have us think."

Brendan bit his lip almost until they bled. Sighing, he nodded his head in agreement. "Y-yeah, you're right. It's been so long and we're always together, and even though we're a couple . . . All things need time to themselves. Okay. We'll see how it works out."

"Okay then." May turned around and walked back toward Wally's house, only to look back at Brendan. "Just to let you know, I am going to miss you. I do love you . . . a whole lot." Then she walked away.

Brendan pocketed his hands inside of his pants' pockets and shrugged, his hair swaying gently in the wind. "Obviously not enough for you to stay though."

.-.

He watched her take off on her Swellow. He didn't stop her though. He wanted to of course, but that could only make things worse.

I've realized he thought in his head, beckoning Wally over, that we can't solve things by ourselves if it involves other people. We can't just pretend that it's our problem. We can't believe that no one else cares. Because it's not true, and you end up hurting someone more than what a simple cut to wrist can do.

"Well," Wally began, watching May fly off into the endless sky. "That's that. She's gone. For now anyways. But until then . . ." He handed Brendan his backpack and nodded. "I think we should get our final badges."

Brendan laughed. "Plural for you, singular for me."

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need a grammatical lesson. . . . Think we'll survive traveling together? We use to hate each other with a passionate passion."

"Passionate passion huh? And, after all the shit we've been through, I think our petty arguments are nothing now. We'll survive. I think it'll be nice - can't believe I said that - traveling with you."

"Ditto that."

And with that, the two walked down the dirt road to Mauville, heading toward their next gym badge and the sun.

You also realize that things aren't always black and white, and that there's always a gray area. I just wish Wally and I learned that earlier; life would of been a heck of a lot easier back then. There are more than two paths in the road. There's more than just two choices. In a way, it's kind of like destiny. You assume you know what's planned for you, but then you end up doing something you totally didn't expect. Like . . . realizing fate. All of a sudden it comes to you . . .

Gasping for air in this world of hate, it was then I realized my fate.

What exactly does that mean, you ask? There's different answers given from different people. For example, May would say something like bad times snap you back into reality. Wally would say something like you get pulled into something in times of trouble.

As for me, I believe that it doesn't mean the realization of something, but the acceptance of it. If we live in a world of hate and we realize it, we should accept it and try to do something about it right? . . . It doesn't matter though. Knowing that isn't going to help me. Knowing what's in store won't determine how the outcome is going to be like.

But I was proved wrong one fine day in May.

There we go. I also explained the point of RF in Brendan's little thought thing while spoiling the third part of the "May I" trilogy called "One Fine Day in May." Now be happy campers and review, ja? It wasn't as popular as May I, but I still like it. (ebil laugh) Thanks for reading!

Muddy: WHOAMG! Breezy finished a fic!

Crazy!

Muddy: Unbelievable. I, like, lost faith. And that's bad. It's like . . . it's like losing your soul. You know, that thing inside you that makes you feel like shit if you do something bad. So maybe it's not bad if you do lose it. Hmm . . . Perhaps my hole in the sky can suck out all of our souls so we all can not feel bad! And I can make fun of you and not feel bad, and you wouldn't feel bad if I make fun of you because we don't have our souls! IRONY! HA! CHA! CHA CHA CHA CHARMIN!

Disclaimer: Charmin (c) to . . . whoever makes it

Muddy: I hate you.

Disclaimer: Back atcha fungi.

Muddy: I am not fungi you . . . you gumbo!

Disclaimer: Gumbo (c) to its rightful owners.

Muddy: That's a thing? o.0

Yeah well . . . meh. I'm just too lazy to respond with a sarcastic remark.

Muddy: Speaking of respond, I got burned in hell today Breezy.

Ignoring the fact that didn't make sense . . . Flare again?

Muddy: Yep. Speaking of update, UPDATE MUDDY AND FLARE DAMMIT!

Mmm, nah. I didn't even mention update in my last sentence. o.o;

Muddy: ;.; Pooie. I thought you'd fall for it.

You mistake me for stupid.

Muddy: I love that stupid. He's funny. Anyways though (reads script). Th . . . thlanks fur . . . redding! Thlanks fur redding!

. . . LaTeR dAyZ!