Disclaimer- I do not own Pokemon, May, Brendan, or anything else in this story.
Chapter 1-A Bitter Begining
The moving truck bounced as it drove down the bumpy roads of the Hoenn region. An island continent rich with flora and fauna, its residents saw Hoenn as the birthplace of life, and truth scientists had uncovered evidence to support those claims. Ruins of ancient civilizations dating back millennia were located just offshore under the sea and fossilized Pokemon shells had been found that were even older. The Hoenn Government tried to maintain a connection with this nature and as a result had opted not to pave roads across the continent. The only exceptions were large residential areas and key trade routs used to disperse goods that were coming from other regions, like Johto to the Northeast or Kanto to the far East.
To the sole occupant of the moving trailer, the lack of properly paved roads was a source of great distress. 'Stupid backwater region' thought May Green to herself for the billionth time. Picking herself up off the floor and unconsciously straitening her long chestnut brown hair, May picked her magazine up off the floor and sat back down in the lazy boy chair she had just been tossed out of. Instead of going ahead with her mother May had chosen to spend one last night in Johto with her friends and go with the moving truck the next day. What she hadn't expected was that there was no extra room in the cab. As such she was forced to spend the six-hour drive from the port in Hoenn to her new house in the trailer of the moving truck being thrown around by every little bump.
To May the discomfort of the ride was testimony to the fact that she hated this stupid region. She had been forced to leave the only home she had ever know to move to some backwater town in the poorest region on this half of the planet. And why? Pokemon. God she hated them.
Unlike most people, who loved and admired the strange creatures that shared the world, May did not. It was because of Pokemon that her father had been absent for most of her childhood, and it was because of them that when May had twelve her father suddenly left one morning, leaving May and her mother all alone. And it was their fault now, almost five years later that she was stuck in this stupid truck far away from everything she knew.
May thought of how excited her mother had been when her asshole father had sent them a letter, the first in all five years, telling them that he had been made a Gym Leader in the Hoenn region and that he wanted them to come and live down there.
'Yeah, like I was supposed to be proud or something.' May thought with a sneer. "Oh yay! My jackass father has returned and says he's finally succeeded in doing the very thing he abandoned me for. I am ever so glad." May sang out to no one in a sarcastic singsong voice.
"Great May. You're talking to yourself again." The girl sighed sadly.
Suddenly the truck jerked to a stop sending several boxes labeled 'cookware' falling onto the girl.
To the large Machoke who opened the trailer door it must have been funny to see the small human girl cussing and kicking boxes out of the way because it started to laugh. Unfortunately this didn't go over well with May.
"Shut up!" the girl yelled at the large gray Pokemon. She picked up the nearest box she could find and threw it at the laughing creature, who caught it with ease. Kicking a few more boxes out of the way May stomped to the open door of the truck. "Move!" she commanded to the Machoke who was now in the process of unloading a large bookshelf. The gray Pokemon sighed and moved to allow the girl to pass.
'I hope she gets crushed by a fridge.' Thought the superpower Pokemon but he was smart enough to keep to himself as he lifted the heavy object.
A gust of warm late summer air and a brightly shining sun greeted May. Shielding her emerald green eyes from the sun May looked around the small town.
'Quite the tiny little hell hole,' the girl thought to herself as she scanned the town. There were only a handful of houses and one large building across from her. May estimated that no more than 50 people could be living in the town. 'Great. I go from the bustling metropolis of Goldenrod to some desolate little farm town. As soon as I'm legal I'm going back to Johto.'
May's silent rant was cut off by the shouts coming from the closest house. Apparently one of the movers' Machoke had dropped and broken what it had been carrying and was being chewed out by its owner for it. May smirked at the dismay on the Pokemon's face, however the smile faded when she saw a woman approach the man.
The woman was May's mother. The woman always had a warm smile on her face that could calm anyone. As a child May had always marveled at how pretty her mother was, the girl had wished to grow up to look like her, with soft brown curls, delicate features and the heartwarming smile. And now Mays mother had that very smile on her face as she talked to the mover, no doubt assuring him that it was no problem and, May thought with disdain, 'Probably slipping in some of that be nice to Pokemon crap that she so often spewed.'
Unlike her daughter, Mrs. Green did not loath Pokemon; and being a former Pokemon nurse she was a firm believer that Pokemon should be treated with kindness and warmth. Ironically her own Pokemon received neither from her own daughter. The creatures knew well enough to stay out of the angry girls way. Her daughter's cold treatment of Pokemon was exasperating for Mrs. Green and was a constant argument between the two, but despite that the women were the only one the other had and May did love her mother very much.
Still May couldn't understand why her mother loved Pokemon so much when they were the reason her father had left. Whenever May said so her mother became very sad and distant. Her eyes would fill with tears and she'd mumble something like "it's not because of them." Her mother would never elaborate and May couldn't help but feel that her mother was hiding something.
After resolving the problem with the movers May's mother spotted her standing by the truck and ran over to hug her daughter. "Oh Sweetie! I'm so glad you made it! You're going to love it here!" The older woman chimed happily. May couldn't help but feel slight agitated by her mother's giddiness.
"Somehow I doubt that," she muttered, but her mother either didn't hear her or chose to ignore the comment.
"The environment is beautiful! And smell that fresh country air!" Mrs. Green inhaled deeply as if to prove her point.
"The air was fine in Goldenrod. And at least there I'd die of lung cancer with my friends."
May's mother gave a slightly annoyed expression but brushed it aside. "Oh don't worry May, you'll make lots of friends. You where so popular back in Johto! Come on inside the house, it's lovely. You even get your own room!" she added cheerfully, as if that would brighten May's mood.
'I'm an only child. I always had my own room' thought the girl but she followed her mother inside anyways.
Inside the house the Machoke were in the process of setting up the living room furniture. Her mother turned to May, "See May. The movers Pokemon do the job in less then half the time of normal, aren't Pokemon useful?"
"Sure. If you don't mind pea-brained slave labor."
Mrs. Green sighed, "Alright. Alright. Why don't you go upstairs and check out your new room. The movers' Machoke have already set up your room."
"Good for them," muttered the girl.
"May…." Her mother was still smiling but May could tell from her tone that it would not be a good idea to continue harassing the Pokemon.
"Fine. I'm going." May marched up the stairs and proceeded down the hall to the room that her stuff had been set up into. She hated to admit it but the Pokemon had been quick getting the job done, her room was already set up except for some boxes in the corner. May started to unpack all of her clothes and junk. Unpacking everything took only a few hours and after setting up her computer May found herself staring out the window. She saw the townsfolk going about their business and children played in the grass. May figured the average age of the residents must've been in the twenties, she had yet to see a single person her age. Sighing to herself she admitted that it probably wouldn't have made a difference anyways. Her mother was wrong, May had never been popular back in Johto; her unique views on Pokemon alienated her from most of the other children at school. The only people who ever talked to her where either outcasts like herself or guys trying to get into her pants. She had only had one real friend and now she was far away.
May turned away from the window and lied down on her bed. "Why did we have to move here?" she asked to no one. "I was finally getting over it. I was finally pulling my life together. Then he comes back and expects it to be 'forgive and forget'. And mom drops everything to run to his beck and call." May rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
'What's Mom thinking? It's not like he ever acted like a good husband anyways. Sent one letter in five years and that's to tell us to move to the middle of nowhere. I didn't even get to read the damn letter. Mom was almost desperate to get here. He probably thinks we'll welcome with open arms like some returning prince." May snorted bitterly.
"Sweetie? Are you alright?"
May had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed her mother come into the room.
"What? Oh…. Yeah. Yeah, I'm great," May laughed humorlessly at the last statement.
"Sweetie," Mrs. Green's voice filled with worry, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Why would you ask that?" May turned to face the wall, her back to her mother at the door.
May's mother came over to sit down on the bed beside her daughter. "It's about your father isn't it?" Mrs. Green heard her daughter sniff her nose and knew that the girl was crying. Stroking her daughter's hair the woman stayed silent.
"Stop it." The girl choked out, but she did nothing to back it up and her mother continued. "I hate him," she said finally.
"You don't mean that," replied her mother sadly.
"I hate him so much." May cried through the tears.
"He's not as bad as you think…."
"Go away. I don't want to here it"
"May…."
"I said Go Away!" the girl shrieked.
May heard her mother sigh sadly, then get up and leave the room slowly. May knew that she had made her mother cry, but she didn't care. It was her fault for dragging May out here.
What May didn't notice was that her mother had placed a small brown package on her dresser. She also didn't notice that when her mother had left she had pocketed the small note that had been attached to that package.
It was late when May woke up.
'I must have cried myself to sleep' the teenager thought to herself. Looking at her watch she saw that it was after midnight. Feeling restless May rejected thoughts of returning to bed and got up. She was about to leave her room when she noticed a small brown package on her dresser. She didn't recognize it from earlier so she figured that her mother must have put it there.
Curiosity getting the better of her May picked up the package and checked it over for any indication of where it came from. Not finding any she tore the wrapping off. Inside was a small alarm clock. 'Weird' she thought as she set the alarm clock down.
Leaving her room May found the hall dark. 'Mom must be asleep.' May felt a pang of guilt as she thought of her mother. She knew that she shouldn't have yelled at the woman, but a dark voice in May's head told her that it served her mother right for dragging May out here. Shaking that dark feeling away May resolved to apologize to her mother in the morning.
Heading downstairs May found herself in the living room. The moonlight shone so brightly through the large window that May did not need to turn on a light. Looking around the living room she could see that the movers had indeed done a good job, the house was already set up.
'I could use some air' thought May. The teenager moved past the large couch and opened the front door.
A warm summer night awaited her outside. As she stepped outside May gasped in spite of herself, 'There were never that many stars in Goldenrod.' Closing the door behind her May began to walk around the small town.
Eventually May found herself at a path leading into a sparse woods. Shrugging to herself May followed the path until it came out onto a small beach located next to a lake. Sitting down on the beach May stared out over the water at the full moon's reflection. Even May, city slicker that she was had too admit that the view was beautiful. And somewhere deep inside herself May felt the strangest feeling of familiarity, as if she had been here before.
May's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps. May looked behind her to see someone emerge from the path she had followed.
It was a boy, about the same age as she was though he was significantly taller and well built. He had hair so blond it almost seemed white, although she thought that might be a trick of the light. He was standing in the shadows so May could not see much of his face, although from his body language, and the bottle he carried, she guessed that he had not expected to find anybody on the beach.
"Who are you?" asked May, breaking the silence.
"That depends," the boy replied, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on whether or not you're single." The boy flashed what was no doubt meant to be a million dollar smile; the moonlight even glinted off his teeth. May just stared at him for a few seconds then snorted and turned back around.
"That has to be the stupidest line I've ever heard."
"After a few moments of silence, May heard the boy approach her, "Mind if I sit here?" he asked as he came up beside her.
May didn't even look up, "It's a free world. Do whatever you want." The boy did just that, plopping himself down beside her and popping the cork out of his bottle. A few minutes of silence passed by, during which the boy took a few drinks of his bottle. Finally the boy broke the silence.
"So you going to tell me your name?"
"You never told me yours."
The boy chuckled. "Fair enough." A few more minutes passed before he spoke again, "Not from around here I take it?"
May rolled her eyes, "What gave it away."
"Three things really." The boy raised a finger, "First the Johto accent. Second," he raised another finger, "Second the Johto fashion sense, and third," He raised a final finger, "I've never seen you before."
"And just because you've never seen me I'm new here?"
"When you live in a town as small as Littleroot it does." He took another swig of his bottle. "I'll assume you're the new neighbor who moved in next door to my house."
"Unless there's another family moving in to this town then I'm going to have to say you assume correctly." May replied. A few more minutes of silence past when a sudden breeze caused May to shiver and pull her knees up to her chin.
The boy must have noticed this. "Want a drink? It'll warm you up." May looked away from the lake to see the boy holding out the bottle to her. She could see that it was about half full of a dark liquid.
"What is it?" May asked eyeing the bottle.
"Charizard fire whisky. Strong and it burns the hell out of your throat on the way down but it's good stuff."
"No thanks. I'm underage." May replied. That wasn't the real reason, May was a teenager and like most teenagers she wasn't a stranger to alcohol, but she didn't like the idea of getting drunk near a strange male alone on a beach. The boy was right Charizard fire whisky was notoriously strong.
"Doesn't stop me any," the boy said with a grin as he took another large swig of the bottle. May finally looked at the boys face. He was relatively handsome she supposed, but his eyes were the most noticeable thing about him. They were the neatest color of amber she had ever seen. Nowhere in Johto would you find eyes like that.
The boy noticed her staring at him and he gave her a cocky grin, "Hey, I know I'm gorgeous but it's rude to stare."
That brought May back to reality and for the tiniest second her cheeks flushed pink but then she snorted and looked away muttering something about cocky pretty boys. The boy just grinned and looked out over the lake.
"So you gonna give me a name or do I have to make one up for you?" the boy glanced at May and when she didn't respond he continue, "All right then. From this day forward you shall be known as Bob."
May almost fell over, "Bob!" she yelled, glaring at the blond.
"You don't like it? I think it's a nice name." He replied taking another swig.
"It's a guys name."
"Not true. It's universal." The boy stuck his bottle in the sand and put his arms behind him and leaned back.
"Like hell it is."
"I have a female cousin named Bob."
"Of course you do." May narrowed her eyes.
"It's short for Bobella of course," the boy said with a completely straight face.
"Of course" May grinned and turned back to look at the lake. But the boy wasn't done yet. Leaning forward he offered his hand to May in greeting.
"Well Bob. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Littleroot. My name is Brendan Birch."
May stared at Brendan for a few seconds before shaking his hand. "Very well Brendan. You can stop calling me that now."
"You have a name you like more?" he asked grinning.
May grinned back, "Very clever. Fine you win. May Green."
"Well May Green it's a pleasure to meet you." Brendan took another swig of his bottle before continuing, "I hope you don't mind if I call you Bob."
"That's not fair, I told you my name."
"Yeah well I like Bob."
May sighed, "This place just gets better and better."
"What brings you here then?" Brendan asked. May had to respect the guy; he had downed over half a bottle of fire whisky by himself and didn't seem to be getting drunk, normally that much liquor would floor a grown man.
May really didn't feel like spilling her heart out to a stranger so she just made up a story, "My mom wanted to move somewhere with clean air, and I'm not legally allowed to live by myself."
"I guess that means you didn't want to come?"
"That's an understatement."
Brendan couldn't miss the bitterness in the girls voice but he decided not to dwell on it. "I think you'll like it here. It's really not that bad. And pretty soon the Pokemon League starts, that's always fun."
The Pokemon League was an annual event that each region participated in. Aspiring trainers from all over had eight months to qualify for the region finals. This was done by traveling all over the region and challenging Gym Leaders for Badges. At the end of the eight months all trainers that had successfully won eight badges would participate in the region finals. Then the top 3 qualifiers from each region would move onto the World Championships. The World Championships lasted for two weeks in the summer. The title of Pokemon Champion was given too whoever came out on top over the best of all the regions.
To say that May was unexcited about the Pokemon League would be an understatement. It took every once of self-control May had to not voice her particular opinions in a way that would offend Brendan. Instead she simply didn't say anything.
"I'm thinking of competing this year," Brendan continued, "My Dad doesn't really want me too, he'd rather me go into science. But I think I could do pretty well, although there's been a couple new Gym Leaders added this year, Apparently Old Man Emberson retired leaving his granddaughter in charge, and there's this new Gym Leader who's replaced the old Petalburg Gym. I've heard he's ruthlessly strong and no one knows how he battles so I think he may be a tough one to beat."
May had gone very quiet. She of course knew the man that Brendan was talking about, and the very thought of him made her angry. She tried to contain it, the last thing she needed was to explode at the first person she'd met in this new place.
"What kind of Pokemon do you like Bob?" Brendan asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"None." She replied coldly.
"Excuse me?" Brendan asked, clearly confused.
"I don't like Pokemon." May repeated, her voice icy.
"Oh…. Well that's alright too. I guess." He was obviously surprised but he didn't condemn her like so many others had, and for that May was grateful. Usually when people learned of her views the shunned her and some had even gone so far as physical violence. May still bore scars, internal and external, from the times that some of the other kids had decided to teach to Pokemon hater a lesson.
They sat there in silence for a long while until May promptly got up. "It's late and I should get home." Without giving Brendan a chance to say anything May hurriedly ran off.
Brendan sat alone on the beach for a few more minutes. 'Wow. Bob has some issues." He thought to himself and then he promptly downed the remainder of the bottle of fire whisky.