Thank you for the reviews and votes! The poll is still open, so if you want your opinion heard, get to voting! Rhyperior and camerupt (Who I would include even if he had zero votes. It's his signature!) are tied for the lead, but it's really close all around.

(11-8-22 chapter clean up complete dear god why didn't someone take adverbs away from me in 2014. Also my cringe humor went from cringe funny to just cringe on my tolerance meter so I changed a bit with some of the Oldale characters)

Chapter 3: Best of Luck

May couldn't help but admire herself in the mirror.

She wore a sleek, red tank top with a black collar. Her shorts were white, although she had black spandex underneath to prevent them from riding up. New yellow tennis shoes fit comfortably over her feet, the official league logos on the tags radiating expense. It was all expensive, and absolutely perfect for traveling in the tropics of the Hoenn region.

Along with her new trainer outfit, Norman had purchased her a backpack that was specially designed to make everything inside feel as light as possible. She could only bring the necessities, and she knew she would be severely lacking many feminine novelties (Such as countless outfits or a ton of makeup) during the weeks on the road. Her parents had, however, filled her backpack with numerous traveling goods, from potions to Pokechow to some rice for her to attempt cooking with. Attempt being the key word.

May felt so… professional.

Yet there was something missing. She peered more closely at her reflection, trying to figure out what was wrong. Her outfit was awesome, but it needed more… Character?

It didn't take May long to figure out how to fix the problem. She ran over to the very back of her closet, pushing aside her mass of clothing to find what she was looking for. A small cardboard box lay in the floor, one of several she had yet to unpack. She shuffled through various childhood mementos before finding what she was searching for.

May smiled as she grasped the worn red cloth of her old bandana in her fingers. She went back to the mirror and pulled it over her head the classic way she used to wear it when she was a little girl, so that it covered her hair like a hat.

Her nose wrinkled at once. She looked like a ten-year-old boy; no way was she wearing it that way.

She debated on what to do briefly before folding the bandana up into a thin line and tying it, headband style. After shifting the bow so that it was perfectly centered on her head and helping her brown hair fall just right, she was satisfied. May grinned.

Perfect.

Downstairs, Caroline waited for her. She kept going through May's backpack, even though they had both checked it a dozen times that morning and the night before. The woman's hands were shaking lightly.

"Mom," May said, meaningfully.

Caroline let out a deep, shuddering sigh. "Oh. I guess it's time for you to leave now, isn't it?" She forced a smile.

May stepped forward and hugged her tightly. She had always envisioned her father being there when she left on her journey. In her imagination, he would be the final one seeing her off, probably giving her priceless last minute tips. Instead, she had to go meet him, and she was left with only her mother.

"Bye," May whispered. She slung her backpack over her shoulders, and raising her voice, she yelled, "Soren, come on!"

Soren emerged from the kitchen, where he had been picking through his last minute breakfast of Pokechow. Seeing his trainer, he ran over to her and darted up to rest comfortably on her shoulder. His yellow eyes narrowed in dislike when Vigoroth's hulking form followed him into the living room.

"Vig!" the normal type cried, outraged.

"Sorry, Vigoroth. I almost forgot you," May said, laughing as she gave him a parting pat on the head. He had been getting more and more antsy since they had settled into their home. If Norman knew what was good for him, he'd pick up the pokemon sooner rather than later.

"Please be careful, May," Caroline said seriously. "Make sure you don't trust just anyone, and go to your father as soon as you reach Petalburg City."

May's hand froze against the doorknob. "I will," she promised, perplexed.

She shook off the weirdness of her mother's words when she entered the cool morning air. It was incredibly early, barely past dawn. There was one more place she felt she had to visit before officially leaving, if only it wasn't too early.

Her worries were for nothing, she realized. The Birch's kitchen light was on, so someone had to be awake. Hopefully that included the one Birch she was looking for.

She walked past their perfect rose gardens and knocked on the door. Several seconds passed with no one answering, although she was sure she could hear someone moving around inside. Soren shifted on her shoulder, glancing at her questioningly.

"I need to talk to Brendan," May said in a hushed voice. "You heard what the professor said- his pokemon died! He can't keep blaming himself. Maybe he'll feel better if he gets out of here."

"Treecko, tree…" Soren said, sounding doubtful.

"It'll be fine." She hoped.

May didn't know under which circumstances or even which pokemon of Brendan's had passed away. All she knew was that it had happened nearly two years ago, and that Brendan had never forgiven himself. She doubted her talking to him would help, but she would feel better if she at least tried, especially after thinking so badly of him earlier.

Just when she was deciding she might as well leave, the door swung open to reveal Lisa Birch. The woman was still in her nightgown, but she looked as if she had already been awake for a while. She blinked at May.

"Oh… May. Hi! Is everything okay, dear?" Lisa asked. Obviously May was one of the last people she expected to show up randomly on her doorstep.

Faced with the reality of explaining her situation to Lisa, May fully realized how awkward and weird it really was. "Um… I-I… I'm leaving to travel today, and I was just wondering if your son- Brendan, not Noah- is home. Well, I guess he's home, because it's six a.m., but can I just see him really fast?"

If anything, Lisa seemed even more surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry, May, but Brendan just left a few minutes ago. I think he's running an errand for his father."

"Oh," May said blankly. "Okay then. Well you can just tell him- wait, actually, you don't have to tell him I stopped by. Sorry for bothering you."

"Okay, dear. I hope you have a nice time," Lisa said, her furrowed brow catching in the early morning light as she shut the door.

"Well that wasn't what I was expecting," May remarked. She went back down the pristine walkway, and Soren began making strange choking noises. It took her a moment to realize that he was laughing. "Hey! It's not funny- Oof."

She collided with something warm and firm when she turned the corner around the house. Tilting her head up, May's sapphire eyes met a pair of curious brown ones. Brendan raised his eyebrows at her, but he didn't look angry. Yet.

He smoothed out his shirt and moved away for the sake of personal space. "Why are you always in my way, Maple?" It wasn't a question, but more of a casual observation.

May huffed. "Well excuse me for looking for you."

"Oh? On the job this early? Well who needs me this time? Noah?" Brendan asked.

She had to take a moment to pause and forcibly remind herself that her point was to be nice to Brendan this morning. Did he really have to make it so difficult? And awkward? Actually, everything was awkward with May, but Brendan only made it worse!

"Actually, I do," May said smartly. She then realized that sounded a bit strange, intensified by the odd look Brendan fixed on her. "I was just gonna say that you're welcome to come with me if you want too. Not because of your dad, just because you seem kind of bored. I guess."

May trailed off lamely. She watched Brendan's face for any sign that he was about to scream at her like he had his father yesterday, but none came. Instead, his lips only turned down in a slight frown, and he pointedly avoided her eyes.

"Uh, thanks, but no thanks."

She wasn't surprised at his answer, exactly, but she was caught off guard by how rejected she felt. Maybe Brendan didn't really need someone to talk to after all. Maybe he was happy following in his father's footsteps, letting his so called potential waste away.

"Okay…" May didn't know what else to say, so she turned to leave. She could see the Littleroot sign in the distance. Her future was out there, with or without Brendan.

"Wait," Brendan called, just before she was out of earshot.

May stopped and looked back at him questioningly. Soren let out an impatient breath, but she shushed him. Brendan hesitated.

"Good luck," he said finally.

Disappointment washed over May. Still, she smiled a tiny smile at the boy and nodded. She had a long road ahead of her, and she had a sinking feeling she would need all the luck she could get.

Brendan lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

His pokeball belt rested on his desk, out of the way. Contrary to what it might seem, Brendan loved each and every one of his pokemon dearly. They were his best friends, and he held them in equal regard to his family members.

But he knew they were unhappy. They were fighters by heart, and they had been carefully selected and raised to love battling. Needless to say, such competition hadn't been a priority lately.

If Brendan was being honest, he was unhappy, too.

The door cracked open, but he didn't bother looking to see who it was. It wasn't like he couldn't guess, anyway. His visitor didn't speak for a while.

"Brendan Birch." It was his mother's voice. His eyes flitted to her form, perched against his doorframe. She was staring at him with that look he despised so much.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Laying. Moping. Remembering. Brendan was doing a lot of things.

"Nothing," he said instead.

"That's exactly the problem," she said, more sharply than he had expected. Her attitude was so unexpected that he couldn't help but sit up and stare at her. He had been waiting on another pity party.

"That girl has no idea what to expect out there. You learned the hard way," his mother said, so bluntly that it brought fresh pain rushing back to Brendan's chest. "Do you want the same thing to happen to her?"

"No-"

"I'm tired of you sitting around like this, every day. You're miserable, and you're living in the past. It wasn't even your fault," she bit out. He could see tears in her eyes. "I want my son back."

And Brendan sat, staring open mouthed like a helpless magikarp, as she disappeared back behind his closed door.

Oldale Town was all grassy clearings and rolling hills. Occasional pastures of strange yellow pokemon (Numel, her pokedex reminded her) dotted the fields she passed. The houses all had wide, rustic porches, and they were spaced far from one another. If not for the presence of a pokemon center and pokemart, it would have seemed even more backwoods than Littleroot Town did.

Thankfully, with the limited number of buildings, May was able to spot the trademark red roof of the pokemon center with relative ease. She trudged towards it, hoping there was a room available for the night. Although she had managed to make it to Oldale from Littleroot long before dark (With lots of help from her new Hoenn Map), her feet were already beginning to ache, and she was wishing she had been a bit more physically active back in Azalea Town.

Soren had perched himself on her head again, and every once in a while he would start to nod off before rapidly shaking himself back awake. May had yet to battle another trainer, and he had only had to warn away a couple of bold poochyena during the walk to Oldale Town. Because of this, she suspected his sleepiness had a lot more to do with pure boredom than actual exhaustion.

A few elderly people stood outside in their gardens as May walked by their houses, watering their growing vegetables or handing hay to their weird pokemon. Many of them did double takes before tossing her cheery waves. It was painfully obvious that not too many travelers passed through the area.

May was very relieved to finally reach the pokemon center. The faint smell of medicine hit her as she walked in, but she couldn't complain. A scant few number of trainers lingered about the lobby, and she suspected that most of them were locals just having their pokemon checked up on, or even just looking for something to do. Only one nurse worked the reception counter.

"Hello. How can I help you?" the woman asked, smiling up at May.

"Can I reserve a room for tonight? It's just me and my treecko," May said. Soren was perfectly fine, so she didn't want to waste time (Her own, or that of the nurse) with a checkup.

"Sure," the nurse chirped. She typed in a few quick things on her computer before hunting out a worn bronze card key. She offered it up to May. "There you go! There's a cafeteria through that door if you get hungry, and the lounge is a popular place for trainers."

May thanked her and headed towards her room to get settled in. As she passed by the lounge, she accidentally caught eyes with a teenage boy with stringy brown hair and glasses. He held her gaze for an uncomfortably long moment, so she sped up her pace and avoided further eye contact. Suddenly, she wished that Brendan had come with her, at least for the sake of a familiar face.

May shook off the thought and glanced at her card key, seeing that her assigned room number was 02. It wasn't hard to figure out why she had gotten such a low number when she reached the overnight wing and saw that there were only two doors total. The room that didn't belong to her was predictably labeled 01.

"Alrighty then," May said. Soren snorted into her hair, and she reached up to ward his face away with her hands. "Hey, gross!"

"Tree!" he cried, leaping from her head and landing on his feet. He glared at her.

May shook her head at his gal and unlocked her door. The room was small and crammed with the two bunk beds that sat shoved up against opposite walls. There was such an insignificant amount of space in between them that May doubted she would be able to fully stretch her body out on the floor without bumping into both beds, and she wasn't a tall girl. Another door led to an even tinier bathroom.

Sighing, May sat down on one of the bottom bunks, tossing her backpack behind her in a way that marked it as hers. None of the other beds were disturbed, making it obvious that she would be the only occupant in the room that night. Although she felt a bit lonely, she was more relieved that she wouldn't have to bunk with a total stranger.

Soren, at least, seemed to like the bunk beds. His drowsiness from before had evaporated, and he began leaping about both beds, clinging effortlessly to their posts in between jumps. May noted that in a large forest, his native home, he would be practically impossible to catch with all the available climbing space.

Since Soren was making something of his time, May decided to follow his lead. She kicked off her sweaty shoes and pulled out her Pokedex. Norman had taught May that in order to be a good trainer, one must know her opponents as well as her own pokemon, and she couldn't do that with her limited knowledge on native Hoenn species.

May's face tightened in concentration as she flicked through the pages, refreshing herself on the basics of those pokemon. Some of them were vaguely familiar, but foreign at the same time, like most things she'd seen in a textbook but never touched.

She was determined to make her father proud, so proud that he would know without a doubt he had made the right decision in finally allowing her to become a trainer. If that meant she had to return to studying, so what.

Soren had taken to napping at the foot of her bed and May's senses had gone dull from so much reading when a loud growl erupted from her stomach. She clutched at her belly sheepishly when it awoke Soren, who blinked up at her accusingly. Apparently, that granola bar for lunch hadn't been too filling.

May stretched and stood up, storing her Pokedex back in her bag. "Let's go eat."

"Treecko," Soren said, not about to turn down a meal.

"But not much people food for you, Mr.," May said, tauntingly waving a small baggie of Pokechow in front of his nose. She closed the door behind them. "If we want to keep you in tip top battling shape you've got to eat this!"

"Treecko, tree," Soren protested, thumping his strong tail against the ground. After feeding him the brownies, May had been adamant that he continue eating actual pokemon food for the main portion of his meals. Of course, she had already weakened several times and slipped him something a little tastier.

May only made one wrong turn before finding the center cafeteria the nurse had told her about, and she wasn't surprised by what she found. Like everything else about Oldale Town, it was small, with only about five round tables for people to sit at. Several other trainers sat in clusters around the room, each of them chatting with the familiarity of friends. May figured that since pokemon center food was known to be extremely affordable and Oldale had a noticeable shortage of restaurants, many locals chose to dine there.

The food line was very short, and it lacked a wide array of options. May reluctantly chose the best looking hot dog she could find and a tiny bag of Flamin' Hot Growlios, her favorite snack chips. At least those were the same in Hoenn as they were in Johto!

She paid the chansey at the end of the line, grateful that the food was cheap. Her parents had supplied her with only a couple thousand pokedollars, and she wanted to make sure it lasted for as long as possible. Unfortunately, the part after paying was the worst.

Everyone else in the lunchroom had friends to sit with. More than any of the others, one table of teenagers lowered May's spirits. They sat with their attention focused on a pretty black haired girl, listening to what she said intently. A zigzagoon sat on her lap, which was covered in a pristine skirt. Despite the pokemon, that girl was definitely no traveling trainer.

But at least she wasn't by herself.

Glumly, May started towards the empty table in the corner. As she made to sit down, her feet got tangled up and she stumbled forward. Her tray knocked against the side of the table so hard that she barely managed to keep the contents from spilling out all over the floor.

The other people hushed and looked at her.

May turned scarlet. "It's okay, I'm okay!" she blurted, holding her hands up as if that further proved her point.

Most of the diners returned to their own business, but May heard the table full of teenagers sniggering to themselves. It was in that type of way that was sort of quiet, but was still loud enough so that it was obvious they were mocking her. The ringleader was the black haired girl.

Humiliated and annoyed, May took her seat and picked at the slightly stale bun of her hotdog. Soren watched her with concern as she went on to pour his Pokechow into a small foldout bowl, her hands shaking with anger, embarrassment, or both. The laughter of the other trainers rang up again in the background, and he turned to shoot them a furious glower.

May doubted they even noticed him, but she appreciated the effort.

"Tree?" he asked.

"It's fine," she said, trying to make herself sound more upbeat about the whole thing than she really was. "It doesn't matter anyway. Hey, want to try a Growlio?"

Soren sniffed the proffered snack, but then recoiled in disgust when the spicy seasoning crept up his nose. He looked at her like she was insane for even suggesting he eat something like that. Shrugging, May ate it instead.

"You're missing out," she teased.

"Missing out on what?"

May jumped and nearly stuck her elbow in her plate, an action that made her grateful she had passed on the soup. The nerdy looking guy from before stood over her table, holding his own tray and eyeing the empty seat across from May. His glasses glinted under the fluorescents.

"Uh, nothing." May laughed awkwardly. "You're definitely not missing out on anything over here!"

Soren slapped himself in the forehead, hard.

Instead of leaving in search of a more 'fun' table, the boy sat down across from her. "I'm Quentin."

"Hi, Quentin," May said, avoiding his gaze. He stared at her expectantly, and she realized she was supposed to offer up her name, too. "Oh! I'm May."

Quentin then noticed Soren. He poked at the pokemon's tail with the end of his fork, but Soren growled and 'accidentally' smashed his hand up against the table with said tail. Quentin winced and clutched at his crushed fingers, taking the hint.

"Ow," he said. "So you have a treecko. Awesome, they're really rare. In fact, I was surveying some peculiar footprints outside earlier, and I thought they might've belonged to a sceptile, but then… Never mind."

"Oh. Wow."

The boy pulled at his collar. "So, uh, is that the only pokemon you have?"

May nodded. She took a large bite of her hotdog, hoping Quentin would get the message and stop talking to her. Something about the way he watched her left her unsettled. But of course, she could never be that lucky.

"I've got a magnemite." He adjusted his glasses, and May found herself almost growing interested in what he was saying. Maybe he just wanted to battle her, and that was why he'd wandered over. His eyes darted over her. "Personally, I would've guessed a skitty, for you."

Despite her better judgment, May raised her eyebrows and forced down her chunk of hot dog. "Why?"

Quentin shuffled, offering something like a smile, like he was about to say something charming. "I mean. It's small and cute, I guess."

Any trace of interest May had was swallowed by a swell of disbelief. Apparently, it showed on her face, for Quentin fidgeted in his seat. He rubbed at the back of his head and faked a laugh, as if that would ease the tension.

Small and cute. Honestly, what was that supposed to mean?

"Really?" May said sharply. Soren watched Quentin squirm with obvious delight.

"Sorry. Never mind."

Satisfied that she had scared him off, May tried returning to her meal. Considered what Quentin would think if she showed him small and cute.

She was almost finished when a tap on her shoulder interrupted her. Surprised, she turned in her seat to face two other guys. They were younger than her, probably around twelve or thirteen, and they looked at her with a type of excitement that was entirely different than Quentin's had been.

"Sorry to bother you, but we were just wondering if that was a treecko," one of them said, pointing at Soren with interest.

"We saw him from our table a minute ago and we just had to ask," the other chimed in. It was then that May realized that they had been sitting at the previously laughing table, which soured her attitude towards them a bit.

"Yeah, he's a treecko," she said, not sounding very welcoming.

Her tone didn't deter the boys.

"Awesome! I've never seen one! Actually, we barely see anything interesting out here," the first said. He rolled his eyes, thinking back on something unpleasant. "The best thing we've got is Tiana and her zigzagoon, and believe me, we've heard about that plenty."

They asked if they could touch Soren, and May hesitantly told them that they could. The boys seemed nice enough, at least. On the plus side, their presence made Quentin quiet down, and Soren seemed to enjoy the praise.

"Ahem," a feminine voice cleared its throat.

The boys, including Quentin, paused and stared behind May with slight fear.

"Tiana! H-hey. What are you doing over here?" one of the younger boys asked nervously.

May recognized this Tiana immediately from before. With her perfectly curled black hair, flawless makeup, and admittedly cute clothes, it was obvious that this girl was the girl of Oldale. She held a zigzagoon against her chest,, and upon closer inspection, May could see that its stripes were tinted golden, unlike the duller brown of most of its species.

"Am I not welcome here, Allen?" Tiana asked, pulling one side of her pink lips back into an annoyed expression.

The boy, Allen, quickly shook his head. "Of course you are! My bad!"

Accepting Allen's answer, Tiana turned to Quentin and the other boy. They cowered under her look. "And what about you two? Am I not good enough for you, either?"

Quentin nodded rapidly, but the other one kept quiet too long for Tiana's liking. "Rick!" she snapped.

"Sorry, Tiana, but I was just looking at her treecko. They can become really powerful, and they're rare on top of that."

Slowly, Tiana turned her heated look to May. "Oh?" she asked, too lightly.

May decided Tiana's outfit wasn't that cute after all. She crossed her arms, disliking the girl more by the minute.

"It's definitely not any better than my Zoe," Tiana said. She smiled at May as if she owned the world, and adjusted the arm holding her zigzagoon. The pokemon blinked at the two trainers, ears flattening uncertainly.

"Soren happens to be wonderful," May said. She could feel her temper rising like lava in a volcano.

"Really? Look at those twig legs," the other girl said, pointing at Soren. He cried out, highly offended, but she wasn't finished yet. "And that dry scaly skin. Ew."

Quentin, Allen, and Rick glanced anxiously between the two girls, practically quivering in fear. Actually, everyone in the cafeteria was watching them now, but May was beyond caring. She stood up furiously.

"Yes, really!" May yelled, jabbing a finger into Tiana's chest. Ignoring her startled gasp, she continued, "and he could beat your prissy little zigzagoon to a pulp any day! In fact, he can do it right now! I challenge you to a battle!"

Shocked whispers filled the room, and Tiana narrowed her eyes at May. She smirked. "Fine. Let's take this outside."

A few minutes later, May stood outside the pokemon center across from Tiana. Soren was in front of May, squared off against her special zigzagoon, Zoe. A small crowd had gathered around them, for everyone had followed them from the cafeteria in eagerness to see their battle.

Although May's temper still very actively flared, it had had time to simmer a bit, allowing her to feel a bit of nerves. She knew from practice back at her academy that she was a pretty good battler, and her dad had taught her a lot. However, this was a real life situation. She had only gotten Soren a couple of days ago, while Tiana could've potentially had Zoe for years.

Knowing her worries would only get in her way, May cast them aside. Tiana turned from where she had been talking with some of her friends to flash her a falsely sweet smile. The last thread of May's patience snapped.

"Get her with pound, Soren!" May ordered.

Soren acted immediately, darting forwards at Zoe. Caught off guard by May's sudden start, the zigzagoon barely had time to react. She moved instinctively to avoid Soren, but he still managed to sweep her feet out from in under her with his tail. He then leap backwards and out of reach of Zoe's flailing claws.

A few people cheered, and others laughed as Zoe struggled to get back on her feet. Tiana, however, fumed. "Knock him out with a tackle!"

Zoe ran towards Soren, surprisingly fast. Confident in his own abilities, Soren waited until the last second to step aside, but Zoe simultaneously curved with him. Her head hit him hard in the chest, her greater weight sending him tumbling.

Soren jumped back to his feet, widening his eyes and panting. May could tell he couldn't believe he had been hit. Before she could tell him to do anything else, Zoe was running for him again, wide open.

Zoe was fast, but May knew Soren was faster.

"Jump over her!" May said quickly, struggling to keep her head.

Just before Zoe rammed him again, Soren soared over her in an athletic front flip and landed on his feet like an Olympic gymnast. Presented with the wide-open target that was Zoe's back, Soren spun around and hit her hard with his tail. However, she curved again as she had done before, leading him to get her on the side instead of the middle of her back.

May stared, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure Zoe out. Just as she began to realize that maybe Zoe always ran like that, in zigzags, the other pokemon abruptly fell over. She looked like she was in a dead faint. The crowd seemed every bit as confused as May felt.

Blinking in surprise, Soren cautiously stepped towards her. She still didn't move, so he nudged her in the side. Nothing happened.

He looked at May, smiling at what he thought was a victory.

"Now, Zoe!" Tiana shouted, a wicked glint in her eye.

The zigzagoon came to life, leaping on Soren and easily pinning the much lighter pokemon to the ground. He struggled underneath her, but Zoe didn't budge. Tiana laughed.

"See, what did I tell you?" she said. "How should we finish him off, Zoe? Let's make it good…"

May stared, mind running a mile a minute as she helplessly watched Soren's predicament. He was tiring fast, and despite all of his good points, she knew he didn't have much of a defense. He couldn't take another big hit, so she had to get him out of there, and fast.

"That was dirty, Tiana!" Quentin yelled from the sidelines. An odd expression crossed his face. "That's kind of-"

His voice was suddenly muffled by Allen and Rick, who both elbowed him simultaneously.

"How about a nice headbutt to the face?" Tiana taunted. "That should do it."

"No!" May cried, as Zoe reared back. "Use leer, hurry!"

And Soren's eyes glowed a ghostly yellow, freezing Zoe in her tracks. She gazed into them, distracted. Using this to his advantage, Soren smacked her in the face with his tiny green fist.

"Zig!" Zoe cried, shaking her muzzle from the sting. She made the mistake of lifting her weight off of Soren ever so slightly, which gave him just enough room to wiggle free. Seizing the opportunity, he quickly gave her another swift pound to the face, this time with his strong tail.

Zoe fell, for real this time. She struggled to rise, but the impact to the head probably left her vision swimming, causing her to pass out. May stared at her, disbelieving.

She had done it. She had just won her first official battle as a trainer. Oh, she couldn't wait to tell her dad!

Most of the crowd cheered for May, while a few tried to console Tiana. The other girl was shrieking horrible things in the background as she was forced to recall Zoe, but May could care less. She ran forward and embraced Soren in a tight hug. He squirmed, but finally he gave in and just let her have her moment.

"You were awesome, Soren," May praised him. "Sorry I almost lost it there."

"Treecko." He shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

But it was kind of a big deal. Out of the two pokemon, Soren had clearly been the stronger one, plain and simple. However, May hated that most of the battle had depended on his natural ability and just luck more than anything.

"Maybe tomorrow we can actually, you know, train," May suggested. Soren sighed, and she laughed at him, giving him an affectionate squeeze. "How about we get you that check up first, though?"

AN: This chapter goes to all the creepers I've had for inspiring my take on the weird footprint guy (You know you've all had them, girls). I couldn't just leave him out! All of the characters May met are based loosely on actual characters in the game. I'll try to include other random NCPs that catch my eye as I go along, but if there are any you'd particularly like to see included, let me know!

To you naughty readers who aren't reviewing: remember, Santa's watching! XD And I've had a long week of finals (Which I probably did badly on because I was obsessing over this fic. Lol), so comments would be especially appreciated!

I think I'll start doing a question at the end of each chapter to open up more interactions with you guys. I love talking to my readers!

May will catch her next pokemon at some point before battling Roxanne. Which one do you think it will be?