Author's Note: This story takes place when May finishes her journey with Ash so she's back in Littleroot Town only to find her old friend.
The Man of my Dreams
Hi. My name is May. I'm a really big fan of Brendan Birch. He is the son of the famous Professor Birch and the Pokemon League Champion of the year. I think he's so handsome and cool but… he's such a mysterious person. He never really showed himself in the public although he is the famous to all people in Hoenn. No one had ever really talked to him in person before. He only battles with less words, more fight. That is Brendan Birch.
"He's so late! I've been waiting for about half an hour, here!" thought May furiously.
The brown-haired girl wore a red and white blouse with a matching white skirt. Her yellow fanny pack hung slightly loose around her waist. She stood waiting for someone beside a Pokemon Mart in Lilycove City. Her sapphire-blue eyes tinkled in worry mixed with frustration.
A few minutes later, a boy with jet black hair came running towards her in a rush. Droplets of sweat rolled down his forehead. He wore a pair of orange-glassed spectacles that he never took off in front of May. His attire consists of a black shirt with dark green slacks.
"Oh, err… Hey, May... Sorry I'm late..." he panted while wiping his forehead with a kerchief.
"Danny! Do you know how long I've been waiting?" she asked while crossing her arms.
"Uh..?"
Danny is my best and only friend in the world. We have been friends ever since we were young kids. 3 years ago, he had to move to another region, separating us apart. We lost contact with each other but we have only met up again a few days ago, inside this Pokemon Mart here, in Lilycove. What a coincidence! I'm really happy he's back but… somehow, he's just always late for everything!
"Oh, never mind!" said May, "…but I won't forgive you so easily next time, OK?"
"Phew…" he sighed in relief. "Well, thanks, May... I…"
May was not listening and her eyes trailed to a local magazine sold inside the Pokemon Mart.
"Huh? Hey, Danny, look!" she squealed.
Danny followed to see the magazine she was looking at.
"What's this? There's nothing special about this magazine..."
"Brendan's face is on the cover of this magazine! He never allows anyone to take his picture! He leaves quickly after every battle!" she explains. "And here it is; a good close-up photo of him! Oh, he's so handsome…" she said dreamily.
"Hmph," Danny scoffed. "What's so great about him? I'm better looking than him!"
"Shut up, Danny! For your information, he is the son of the famous Professor Birch and he won the last Hoenn Pokemon League challenge! How can you beat that? How dare you made fun of my one and only love! He is the man of my dreams, you know!" May told him angrily.
"Love..?" he thought.
May hit him on his right arm and yelled, "Hey, are you listening?"
"Ow, hey! Alright, alright! Gee, I was just joking… No need to get so frustrated on me!" he resented.
"Whatever. Come on! I have to buy that copy of the magazine!" May squealed excitedly again.
May grabbed Danny's arm and forcefully pulled him inside the Pokemon Mart. She got the magazine she wanted and kept sighing at Brendan's picture. Danny rolled his eyes at May. They were walking down the street of Lilycove City, heading towards the beach. Up in front, a man was selling ice-cream.
"Hey, May! You want ice-cream? I'm buying!" he said, breaking the silence between them.
May looked up from the magazine and said, "Okay, sure!"
So Danny bought a chocolate-flavoured ice-cream for himself and a vanilla-flavoured one for May. They sat down together at Lilycove's east bay. The sea's wind blew at them while they quietly finished the ice-creams. May was staring at Danny and realized something.
"Hmm… No way..." she whispered.
"What's up, May?" Danny, realizing she was staring, asked her.
"Your face… It looks like Brendan if watched closely..." she voiced out her thoughts.
Danny was shocked and he quickly replied, "Huh? N-No! How c-could I be Brendan Birch?"
"Emm, just a little resemblance..." May crawled closer to Danny. "Why don't you take off those glasses for a while? I want to observe better…"
"Uh..."
Danny did not move a bit. His face flushed bright red. Suddenly, May stopped and sat down again.
"But you know what? You're right. You? Look like Brendan? Yuck!" she shrugged the topic off.
"Phew..." Danny sighed in his mind.
Danny somehow looked relief. He continued eating his ice-cream and something out of the corner of his eye caught his interest. It looked like a card, sticking out from May's bag. He mindlessly pulled it out.
"Hm? What's this in your bag? A picture? It's…" he said with an evil glint on his glasses.
May just realized he stole the picture from her bag and snatched it right back from him, hitting him again.
"Hey! Don't look! Give that back!"
"Ouch! Argh! That hurts!" Danny rubbed the back of his head. "Hmph, what's there to hide, anyway? It's obvious that it was a photo of Brendan, right?" he said with a mocking tone at the edge of his voice.
"You don't understand…" May's face changed. She looked really heartfelt. "This is my only secret treasure of my heart…"
She slowly placed the picture back in her bag. Danny's face also changed when he heard that from her.
The next day, I heard that Brendan will be battling at Evergrande City. What else could I do? I immediately decided to go watch him. I even invited Danny to come with me. It'd be great to go watch my idol with my best friend. But, he declined. He said that he had some sort of… 'business' in Rustboro City. Okay, fine, I understand. I guess… I mounted my beautiful Altaria and flew to Evergrande City without Danny.
At Evergrande City, May was amidst the crowd, trying to get the best seats in the stadium, when she suddenly saw someone she knew. "Huh?"
"Hey... That's Danny!" she thought in surprise. "I thought he had some things to do in Rustboro! He looks like he's in a rush... What is he doing here in Evergrande? What should I do? Oh, just follow him!" she finally decided.
May pushed herself out of the crowd and began following him quietly.
"Argh, he'd better have a good reason for lying to me! I'm so going to miss Brendan's battle!" she screamed angrily in her head.
At the same time, Danny turned his head around. He felt as if someone was following him. He was right but luckily, May hid herself behind a wall just in time.
"Huh! He really is sensitive!" she said to herself, her heart beating rapidly in excitement.
When May was sure he had not seen her, she poked her head out to check where he was going. She was surprised to see where.
"What? This is the Pokemon League Building! What is he doing here?"
May managed to sneak inside from the back door. She thanked God no one saw her so far.
"Hmm… Now where did he go? Could it be that he's one of Brendan's challengers? Why wouldn't he tell me, then?"
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a man's voice from inside a room. She did not realize she was standing right outside Brendan Birch's own dressing room.
"Hey, Brendan! You're late again. You know that today's match is important!" the voice said.
May could not believe what she was hearing. The door was left open slightly and she dared herself to look inside. Now, she could not believe what she was seeing.
"Hurry! The battle will start soon. Brendan, put on your usual attire and hat. Come on! Come on! Those challengers don't have all day, y'know!" the guy May heard from before said quickly. May assumed he was Brendan's personal assistant. He had blonde hair, styled in a spiky fashion to one side and was dressed in yellow and orange clothes.
"Yeah, yeah... Whatever, Seth… I have my own reasons, OK?" Danny said, clearly annoyed.
He was sitting in Brendan's chair, looking into Brendan's mirror. He took his hat and wore it over his head, covering his black hair completely and took off his spectacles. He brought out a pair of contact lenses from a small box on the dressing table and placed them in his eyes. His appearance quickly changed into Brendan's.
"D-Danny..? You... you're Brendan..? This whole time..?" May stuttered. She had pushed the door open and her presence was clearly informed.
"Hey! Who are you? How did you get in here? I'm calling security!" yelled the guy whom Danny called Seth.
"May..? What are you doing here?" he looked totally surprised.
"Wait, you know each other..?" Seth exclaimed. He shot a glare at Brendan, "Didn't I tell you not to make friends as Danny?"
"I know what you said! Shut up for a bit, will you?" Brendan shouted back at him. "May is… special…"
"I... followed you... when I saw you, here... in Evergrande..." May's eyes started to water. "Why didn't you tell me..?"
"I'm sorry, May… I never meant to lie…" he sighed. "By the time you started your journey, I was already at the Hoenn Pokemon League. I won. We never met. Since I can't just go around town as Brendan after my victory, I assumed identity as Danny sometimes, just to relax a bit. My buddy, Seth, here is the only one who knows. And then, I met you. I… I had to know your name so I… Well, you remember the first day we met, right?"
"Oh-ho! Now I understand..!" Seth said to himself loudly.
Brendan stood up and walked to May. Her tears rolled down her cheeks. He put his hands on her shoulders.
"I thought I could love you as Danny instead of Brendan but... Ah, you must've hated me so much, now, anyway... I'm really sorry, May..."
May wiped her tears and took something out from her fanny pack. She showed it to Brendan.
"Here!"
"Hn?"
"Look! You can now look at the secret treasure of my heart that I hid from you!"
"It's a picture of me and you... And you wrote..."
"Yes, I love Brendan…"
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him on his lips. He was caught off-guard for the first time. All Brendan could do was freeze in shock until May released her kiss.
"You're not Danny… You never were... That's why… I love you, Brendan... because… you're the man of my dreams..."
"...Thank you... I love you, too, May..."
He returned May's kiss passionately.
"Um, hey? Hello, I'm still here, y'know!" Seth said. "Sorry to interrupt your romantic moment, but Brendan, you've got battles to fight!"
Brendan and May stopped kissing. Brendan laughed softly and told his love, "May, he's right. I've got to go. Seth, give her the special backstage pass and get her the best seat there is in the stadium. I'm going to battle!"
So there I was, watching Brendan and his Swampert battling at the Pokemon League from the best seat ever. It was the most miraculous day of my life!