Megan's POV

It was the morning after the contest and I was currently talking to my mom on the video phone. She was cradling my baby brother in her arms as she spoke to me.

"Did you see the contest yesterday?" I asked.

"I did, Sweetie." she replied. "I saw that you were performing with more passion and determination than usual. Why was that?"

"I wanted to win the very same contest that you had won when you were traveling with Adam's dad. April also helped drive my determination to battle harder than ever, since she also wanted to win the contest for the same reason. During my battles, I had been hoping that you were watching, so that I could make you proud, seeing me win the very same contest that you did."

"I am proud of you, Megan. Regardless of the outcome, I'm always proud of you for trying your best and reaching out to achieve your goal. I'm also proud to see how much you've grown as a person since you left home. You WILL reach your dream, I have no doubt about that."

I smiled at my mom's words. It meant a lot to know that she was proud of me, and to hear her say it.

"We're going to be going across the ocean to Mossdeep City, where the next contest and gym are. But along the way, we're going to stop at some of the small islands that you and Adam's dad stopped at during your journey. We wanted to experience some of the same sights."

"I remember those islands. It was a fun experience. Just be careful."

"I will, Mom. I've gotta go and meet up with Adam and Jason so that we can catch our ship."

"Okay, Sweetie. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye!"

The call ended and I ran out of the Pokemon Center and towards the docks to meet up with the boys.

A few days later, we were on Wazoo Island, exploring a museum that was full of treasures from the bottom of the ocean. It was very large and very crowded inside the museum and I could understand why. There were a lot of valuable and interesting treasures and artifacts.

"This museum wasn't here during the time when our parents traveled." Adam pointed out.

"Yeah, it's still fairly new, only a couple of years old." I noted.

"What happened when your parents first visited this island?" Jason asked.

"When they traveled here, they met a diver who was always searching for treasures in the ocean." I explained. "Unfortunately, the things that he kept finding weren't very valuable."

"Well, it looks like he finally made it big!" Adam said in amazement, as the plaques for each piece stated that they had been discovered by that man.

There were gold coins, many different gemstones, a beautiful necklace, other pieces of jewelry, lost treasures from ships where Pokemon once inhabited, and green, red, and blue shards.

The museum was so big and had so many exhibits that it took us the entire day to explore it all and see everything. Once we had finished, we walked to the museum's gift shop before leaving.

As we walked further into the shop, we ran into Amber, April, and Adrian, who were looking at jewelry made from the different colored shards.

Adrian held up a bracelet made of red shards and showed it to my sister.

"Do you like this one, April? If so, I'll buy it for you as a gift. A beautiful bracelet for a beautiful girl."

April blushed and replied, "Thank you. You're so sweet, Adrian. It means a lot to me."

It was strange to see April acting shyly, since she was usually so confident. But when it came to Adrian and his flirty compliments, she was always blushing. Adrian must have noticed this, because he spoke up.

"Sorry, I'm not...making you feel uncomfortable, am I?" he nervously asked.

"No, not at all!" April reassured him. "I like the attention that you always give me and I understand that it's because you care so much about me...but it's still strange to have a boy so interested in me and complimenting me so much. I guess I'm still adjusting to it."

"I just want to always show you that I'm thinking about you, and that I want you to be happy."

"And I want you to keep doing so, Adrian. Don't change how you act. Because I love you just the way that you are. I may still be adjusting to how you're treating me, but don't think for a minute that I don't enjoy it, or that it makes me uncomfortable. It stirs a new feeling in me, but it's a very happy feeling."

Hearing this, Adrian let out a sigh of relief and held April in a warm embrace, which she returned. I smiled as I watched them, wondering if Adam and I would be that close someday.

I then turned to where Adam was standing, beside Amber.

"Are you going to buy me a bracelet, too?" she asked playfully, and winked at him.

Adam smiled at her. "Sure, I can get you one if you'd like." he replied.

Hearing that, something stirred inside me and made me upset. Did Adam actually like Amber as more than a friend? She was very pretty, more so than me, and she'd known him a lot longer than I had. I knew that Amber liked Adam and she'd made sure to show it at this moment. But what about Adam's feelings towards Amber? Did he like her that way as well? If so, then that made me angry for some reason...

Then, before I knew what was happening, I was speaking up rather forcefully, saying, "Adam, how about you buy me one instead?"

Adam looked over at me, Amber looked at me, and I saw my sister look at me. They all had surprised looks on their faces. I hadn't even thought of the words before they'd come flooding out of my mouth. I hadn't wanted him to buy Amber a bracelet!

In that moment, I realized the truth behind my sudden actions. I...I liked Adam. I liked him even more than I had realized, and I...loved him! That was why I was so upset with Amber being so open with her feelings for Adam, and why I had spoken up against her.

"I'll get both of you a bracelet. What color would you like?" Adam said, not wanting to play favorites.

I chose a green bracelet while Amber chose a red one. I slipped the bracelet onto my wrist as we left the gift shop.

I vowed to wear it and always remember that on this day, this bracelet helped me to realize my true feelings for the raven-haired boy that I was traveling with. The boy known as Adam Ketchum, who I hadn't realized that I had fallen for...until now.

Adam's POV

A few days passed since visiting the museum and today we had reached the ABC Islands. The first island that we arrived at was Island A, since the Pokemon Center was there and we headed inside and booked a room for the night. The next ferry wouldn't arrive until tomorrow, so we decided to just relax in our room.

"I've heard of these islands because of the Clamperls' evolutions being either Gorebyss or Huntail, depending on which island they live on." Jason said.

"Yes, when our parents were here, there was this huge feud about it." Megan explained.

"Yes, the feud between Island B, where a Clamperl evolves only into Gorebyss, and Island C, where they only evolve into Huntails. The people had so much anger between one another and both thought that the evolution of Clamperl based on their island was superior to the other's." I said.

"I'd like to see the islands and see where and how they evolve. It could really help me in learning more and understanding, rather than just reading a little bit of it." Jason said.

"I'd like to see about it, too." Megan said.

"I would as well." I added.

So we walked out of the room with Pikachu and Espeon following us.

"Do the people on the islands still fight like they did when your parents were traveling?" Jason asked.

"I don't really know. Do you?" Megan asked, looking at me.

"I have no idea. My dad didn't ever say if it had been resolved for good when he traveled."

As we were going to leave the lobby, a man and a woman stopped us. They seemed familiar to me, but I knew that I had never seen them before. Still, they seemed familiar because of their looks, of how my dad had described two people like them that he'd met on his Hoenn journey.

They both appeared to be in their mid-twenties. The man had brown hair that was cut in a high and tight style. He wore jean shorts, a green button up shirt, and sneakers. The woman had red hair that was curly and reached her shoulders with light makeup on her face. She wore a yellow sun dress with a pink and white flowered pattern, and white sandals.

"Hello, sorry to stop you. I'm Keith and this is my wife Nancy. Are you Master Ketchum's son, who visited the islands as a boy, many years ago?" the man asked.

So that's why they were familiar! My dad had told me a story about them, since they had befriended him during his journey on these islands.

"I am. My name's Adam Ketchum."

"Well when you see him, could you tell him that we just found out that we're going to be parents?"

"That's great! Congratulations!" Megan said, smiling.

"Thank you!" Nancy said, beaming.

"I'll be sure to tell him. Congratulations." I said.

"I'm Megan Hayden. My mom was May, the girl who was with Master Ketchum when he first came here."

"And I'm Jason Oak. So...how are things on the islands? Are things still peaceful, or has the Gorebyss/Huntail feud been reignited?"

"It was solved over time, so things are peaceful now." Nancy said.

"But of course, you'll always still have those few people that disagree on the matter and still favor one evolution over the other as being superior." Keith said with a small shrug.

"Anyway, it was nice to meet you both, but we have to go." I said, since we had somewhere to be.

"Of course. It was nice to meet you. Tell your parents that we say hello, and to pass along the news that we're starting a family." said Nancy.

We then said our goodbyes and headed down towards the water after leaving the lobby.

"So how are we going to get to the islands?" Jason asked.

"My Pidgeot and Feraligatr can carry us by air and sea. I'm going to fly." I said.

"I'll ride on Feraligatr." Jason said.

"Adam, I'll fly with you." Megan said, not surprising anybody.

After exploring Island B for a bit, we entered the cave where the Clamperls and Gorebyss lived. It was a pretty sight to see. As we walked around, we saw a plaque that was placed and it explained why Clamperls in this area evolved only into Gorebyss; it was because of the minerals in the water that came from that island. Those minerals were from fossilized Deep Sea Scales buried on the island.

At the sea cave on Island C, we saw where the Clamperls and Huntails lived. Like Island B, there was a plaque that also explained the reasoning behind the evolution of Clamperl to Huntail there. The water there had different minerals from that island than the water from Island B had. Those minerals came from fossilized Deep Sea Teeth buried on the island.

After we finished exploring, we headed back to the Pokemon Center. Jason had observed and taken notes on the Pokemon and the reasoning behind their evolutions and he wanted to read over some more of his studies that he had done over our journey, and before we'd started to travel across Hoenn.

As we walked into the lobby Nurse Joy called us over.

"I forgot to mention something to you earlier, Adam. A few days ago, a young girl who was around your age stopped by on the island and said that if a boy looking like Master Ketchum came here, then pass along a message for her. The message was simply, 'I'll be seeing you again very soon.'" Nurse Joy said.

I was confused. "Who was she?"

"She didn't leave a name. But she had long orange hair and she wasn't alone. She was traveling with three others; a man and a woman, along with a girl who was younger than her."

My eyes widened. A girl with long orange hair? I only knew one girl who looked like that! But...why would she be in Hoenn? And who were the three people traveling with her?

Author's Note: Our heroes enjoy several days of exploring the small islands on the way to Mossdeep City, seeing many new and extraordinary things.

But along the way, Megan sees the loving interactions between her sister and Adrian, which triggers the realization in her heart of her true feelings for Adam: she's fallen for him, just like Amber clearly has!

As for Adam, he's learned that an unknown girl with orange hair is looking for him in Hoenn, along with three others!

Which girl will confess her love to Adam first? But who is the mystery girl that's looking for him? And who are the people with her?

Keep reading to find out as the journey continues in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!