If I could give all of my reviewers a hug, I totally would. I love you guys! Actually, I love anyone who reads this, period, but my reviewers are particularly awesome.

Chapter 5: Pride and Promises

"How much longer?" May asked, trying (And failing) to keep the whine out of her voice. She forced herself to increase her pace so that she was walking side by side with Brendan again; if she wasn't careful, it was so very easy to lag behind him.

Brendan adjusted his backpack straps impatiently, although he did not get out his Pokenav. "I told you, we should be there any time now. It sort of pops up out of no where-"

Pop up out of nowhere it did. As they rounded the last bend of the thin tree line, the unmistakable form of a city came into view.

Unlike most large human settlements, Petalburg was not filled with skyscrapers, nor was the land hugely overrun with roads or concrete. Instead, long, flat buildings lay stretched out across a wide area, far enough apart to allow for breathing space, but close enough together for people to walk to any destination with ease. Only necessary areas were paved, which made as much room as possible for trees and grass to grow naturally.

Even from their distance, May could see that a single building towered over all the rest. Large and tan, located at the peak of the city, it was built in the simple form of a classic fighting dojo. She knew without a doubt that it had to be the Petalburg Gym, a thought that brought her walking to a halt.

Glad to have reached the city, Brendan continued forward, but he stopped when he realized he was no longer being followed. He eyed May as if she was having mental problems, something he had done at least three times a day since meeting up with her.

"What's wrong with you? Come on!"

Nerves were suddenly eating away at May's stomach. She had been excited to see her father, because no matter how angry he had made her about the move, she was and always had been a daddy's girl. For days, she had been anxious for the moment she could show him that she was now a trainer, just like him.

But what if he thought she wasn't good enough?

May shook her head. He wouldn't think that; he would be proud of her, even if all she had was a magikarp!

"Nothing," she said, catching up with Brendan. As they neared the edge of the city, she asked, "Where should we go first? The pokemon center?"

Earlier in the day, the closer vicinity to the city had brought them into contact with a couple other trainers. Brendan had nudged May forwards each time to battle them, saying she could do with the practice. He never so much as lifted a finger for one of his own pokeballs, but May wisely kept her mouth shut, deciding maybe his battling was a topic to broach at a later date. Besides, she did need practice, and she and Soren managed to defeat everyone except for one boy with a particularly resilient taillow. As for her treecko, he was currently taking a well-deserved rest in his pokeball, and she figured he could also do with a check up at the center.

"The gym," Brendan said instead, in a 'duh' kind of voice. "Don't you want to figure out when to schedule a match?"

"What?!" May cried, stopping dead again. Her voice took on a slightly hysterical note. "Battle my dad? Are you crazy? We won't stand a chance!"

"You're the one who told me you wanted to challenge the Hoenn League," Brendan said irritably. "Because Norman's a gym leader now, and daddy or not, you have to beat him to get there."

"But he's unbeatable!" May argued, biting her lip anxiously. Brendan just didn't understand! She was sure that if he were told he had to face off with his father in a pokemon trivia or something else professor-y, he would feel the same way!

Brendan scoffed. "No one's unbeatable. Aren't you supposed to go visit him or something anyway?"

"Yes, but I'm not battling him," May said stubbornly. She charged forward into the main hustle of the city, her determination to avoid Brendan's logic outweighing her slight weariness of the crowd. There wasn't really an unbearable amount of people, but there were certainly more than what May was used to.

"Fine, don't battle him. Technically you don't have enough pokemon yet anyway," Brendan relented. He still looked as though he thought she was making an irrational decision, but she paid it no mind. "But why don't you at least go ahead and visit him now?"

May hesitated. "Um. Alright," she said, still torn between excitement and nerves.

"Finally," Brendan grumbled under his breath, spinning on his heel to avert their direction towards the gym.

He expertly weaved his way through the mass of people, so quickly that May felt alarmed she would get lost from him. True to her fears, her petite form was easily overshadowed amongst the mostly larger people, obscuring him from view. She desperately maneuvered her way around a woman carrying groceries, hoping she was heading the same way as Brendan. Thankfully, the broad back of her traveling companion reemerged into her vision, and she surged towards him, instinctively latching onto his t-shirt.

Brendan slowed, peering down at her curiously.

"Sorry," May said, embarrassedly letting go of his shirt. "Me and cities- you know, small town girl."

Apparently, Brendan managed to make sense of her blabbering, for he slowed his pace slightly. May kept up with him much more easily after that, to her immense relief, and soon they had gotten through the worst of the crowd. From where they stood, the steps leading up to Petalburg Gym were only a few feet away.

May stared up at it, in awe, while Brendan turned to look at her mischievously. "Sorry I left you. I forgot what a country bumpkin you are."

She stopped admiring her father's gym to glare at him. "You're from Littleroot Town, same as me!"

"But I've been places," Brendan said in a superior way.

May rolled her eyes and pushed past him to take the lead up the stairs. The steps themselves weren't that high, yet they were wide and awkwardly spaced, which left her panting by the time they had reached the top. Typically, Brendan showed no signs of tiring, gifted with a combination of long legs and a fit body.

Still trying to even out her breathing, May stared at the door. It was very tall and wide, with a simple inscription across it. It read, "Balance is key," a fact Norman had lectured May on since the first day she had inquired about training tips.

"A team prepared for anything is a balanced team, and a balanced team is a good team," he would always say.

"Are we going in? Today?" Brendan asked, staring over her shoulder impatiently.

May started out of her memories and back into the present. Nervously fiddling with Soren's pokeball on her belt, she asked, "Should we knock, or…?"

Seeing the look on Brendan's face, she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Shaking her head, she pushed the door open, putting all of her weight behind her to budge the heavy wood.

Like the outside of the gym, the inside was exceedingly plain. Simple wooden floors and a high ceiling formed a lobby type room, a sharp contrast to the battlefield she had been expecting. Two other large doors with their own inscriptions stood to the far left and right of the opposite wall, but May's attention was indisputably drawn to the figure standing between them.

To a stranger, Norman probably would've looked quite imposing. He was a tall man, riddled with muscles from his constant training, and his arms were crossed. His black hair, still quite full for his age, was cut neatly short against his head. This combined with his thick brows and square jaw gave him a ruggedly handsome profile.

May, however, sought out the little details such as the laugh lines around his warm brown eyes and the presence of his favorite training flip flops, which he refused to get rid of no matter how worn out they became. Norman's mouth dropped open slightly at the sudden appearance of his daughter, and she smiled at him uncertainly.

"May?" he said finally. To her relief, his tone held both surprise and happiness. "What are you doing here?"

"Daddy!" May cried, unable to restrain the sudden rush of joy she felt at seeing him after weeks of separation. She ran over to hug him tightly, taking comfort in the familiar woodsy scent of his coat. Although he was caught off guard, Norman eased his arms around her to return the embrace.

After a moment, the pair stepped apart to look at one another, May beaming. She grabbed Soren's pokeball and held it in Norman's face, practically shaking with excitement.

"I'm a trainer! Ohmygosh, thank you so much for letting me get him, I-"

Norman chuckled, but with her initial thrill slowly dying down, May could see that there was a definite strain to his normally relaxed face. His eyes swiveled around his gym, pausing briefly on Brendan, who was hovering awkwardly behind May, before returning to his daughter.

"I didn't expect you so soon," he said. Realizing how that sounded, he corrected himself, saying, "I mean, I meant to come home before you got your pokemon, but… Never mind, this way is fine."

"What? What do you mean?"

Before he could answer, before May could introduce him to Soren, before much of anything could happen, a loud knock sounded on the front door of the gym. Norman's face paled, and suddenly he held May's arm in a strong grip, leading her forcefully away from the front of the building. One look at Norman's other hand revealed that he also had a bewildered Brendan in his grasp.

"What are you-"

"Shhh!" Norman hissed. He came to a stop in front of a small slatted door that May had completely overlooked before then. The next thing she knew, Norman had yanked the door open and shoved both of them inside it, ordering, "Not. A. Sound."

He closed the door quietly, enveloping the two teenagers in darkness apart from the small rays of light filtering in from the slats. The wood was angled in a way that allowed them to see bits of movement outside, but so that no one could see inside. However, the dim lighting didn't help the fact that the space was uncomfortably cramped; shelves of pokeballs and various potions lined the wall behind them, and it was impossible for May to move so that she wasn't pressed against Brendan in some way.

The knocking began again, more urgently this time. A loud creaking sound told them that the entrance had been opened.

"See, they knocked!" May couldn't help but whisper. "I-"

Brendan's hand was clasped over her mouth in a split second, his other gripping her shoulder lightly for support. May swallowed nervously, suddenly hyper aware of his proximity. She could feel the warmth off of his body, and occasionally his cool breath caressed the side of her face. It smelled spicy, kind of like cinnamon. She had never been so close to a boy before.

Judging by the tenseness of his face, however, Brendan was far more concerned with what was going on outside their storage closest than with the fact that she was female.

"Blaise. What a pleasant surprise." Norman said, although his tone was clipped, formal. "Or should I call you Mr. Steele, now?"

Vaguely, May could make out her father step aside to allow a suited man entrance to the gym. He let the door swing shut behind them, but did not move away from it, as if he was hoping the visitor wouldn't be staying long.

"Don't be ridiculous," the stranger said. "You shouldn't call me anything other than Blaise."

"Oh, good, good." Norman then stiffly shook hands with Blaise Steele. "To what to I owe the this visit?"

Blaise stepped around Norman, slowly walking around the lobby and inspecting it in a casual manner. May felt her heartbeat increase as he neared their closet, and although Brendan had long since dropped his hand from her mouth, his grasp tightened slightly on her shoulder. It might've been her imagination, but May could've sworn she saw Blaise stare thoughtfully at the door before continuing his trek across the lobby.

"You should know that it's PPA policy to keep a check on League operations," Blaise said finally, turning to Norman. "And despite your history, you certainly qualify as a League operation now, Norman."

Norman cleared his throat. "Of course. I would expect nothing less."

"Although we have no doubt that you're a competent gym leader, we'll require updated information for our database. Your team, certification for your gym trainers, the usual," Blaise said, sounding as if he were discussing yesterday evening's news over lunch with a close friend.

"Of course," Norman said. "Will you be requiring an inspection today?"

Blaise took a while to respond, as if he enjoyed leaving Norman hanging. "No," he said finally. "I simply stopped by today as a friendly reminder. There won't be a formal inspection until next month, but we hope to have your information cataloged within a few days."

"I'll do my best," Norman replied.

"Wonderful," Blaise said, although his tone didn't sound particularly enthused. "I guess I should be on my way for now, then."

"Won't you stay?" Norman asked, although May could tell he wanted the man to do exactly the opposite. She couldn't say she didn't agree with him.

"I'm afraid I'm running on a tight schedule," the other man said, to everyone's relief. "I probably won't be returning for the inspection, but I'm sure I'll see you around sometime."

"I hope so." Norman followed the man towards the exit, and shook hands with him one last time. After a quick farewell, Blaise Steele had disappeared as quickly as he had come.

Silence dominated the room for several long minutes, presumably so Norman could be sure the man wouldn't be returning.

"You can come out, now."

Brendan opened the door, reaching around May to do so, and the two of them stumbled awkwardly out of the closet and back into a reasonable range of personal space. Slightly flustered, May attempted to comb down her hair, which had been ruffled in the stir. Brendan fiddled with the hem of his shirt obliviously.

Norman had his back to them, busy making sure all of his window shutters were closed. May shot a confused, nervous look at Brendan. He seemed very worried, as if he had a better idea of what was going on than she did.

Frankly, May was tired of being in the dark.

"Dad, who was that? Did you know him? Why did we have to hide?" she asked. Norman turned around, and she dared him with her eyes to even try not telling her.

Norman hesitated. After a few moments, he let out a long sigh, as if he was finally facing something he had been dreading for a very long time.

"That man… he's a high ranking member of the Hoenn Pokemon Protection Agency, PPA for short," Norman began slowly. May could see Brendan's face light up with slight understanding, but she felt as confused as ever. She didn't know what PPA was!

Before she could ask, her father continued. "PPA is a branch of the Hoenn government dedicated to protecting the pokemon of the region. They operate separately from the League, but they've really been sticking their noses where they don't belong lately."

"They've come by dad's lab a few times, trying to prove he's abusing pokemon or degrading their habitats or something," Brendan jumped in surprisingly, looking annoyed. "I say they have no clue what they're doing."

Norman snorted. "Sounds about right."

He turned his attention back to May. "They do have a lot of influence, and they have eyes everywhere. They started with good intentions, but sometimes they get a little extreme."

May still didn't understand why she had to hide. Sure, if this PPA thing didn't like the League, the tenseness between Blaise Steele and Norman made sense. However, if PPA only wanted to protect pokemon, why had Norman felt the need to conceal her?

"May," Norman said, reading her face. "I don't want you involved with PPA. Under any circumstances."

She opened her mouth to drill him with questions, but he continued on his explanation in a grave tone.

"Being a gym leader automatically puts me in involvement with them, so I'd rather you didn't parade around the fact that you're my daughter. You don't have to keep it a huge secret, but don't go blabbing it to just anyone."

"What?" May asked, confused and borderline hurt. Did he not think she could take care of herself as a trainer, not at all? Or was he maybe a little ashamed of her?

"Just promise me, okay? And keep everything I've said here between us," Norman begged.

"Fine, okay," May said, subdued. Brendan nodded in agreement.

"Good," Norman said, obviously relieved his daughter hadn't put up a fight. May slumped unhappily, and he cleared his throat. "Hey… You still haven't shown me that pokemon of yours."

At the mention of Soren, May perked up slightly. She took his pokeball, which had remained in her hand throughout the entire ordeal, and she pressed the release button. It shot open, pouring a white light onto the ground in front of her to form Soren.

"Tree," he greeted, rubbing one eye lazily. He was clearly still a bit tired from his battles that morning.

"This is Soren," May said proudly. "And Soren, this is my dad!"

Norman knelt down to peer more closely at the tiny pokemon. Soren blinked, briefly caught off guard, but he quickly crossed his arms in an effort to look tough. However, he couldn't stop his eyes from following Norman's movements, for even he could clearly sense the man's power.

"What an interesting pokemon," Norman said, eyes brimming with emotion as he stood back up. "I'm happy that you finally get to be a trainer, May."

May was reminded of the fact that it was Norman who had always forbidden her from having a pokemon. However, a warm feeling still bubbled in her stomach at the unmistakable pride in his words. He was proud of her, and she hoped desperately not to let him down as a trainer!

"Me too," she said, happily.

"May, I have something-"

Yet again, a knock sounded on the door, although it was much softer and almost timid this time. May and Brendan both tensed and looked to Norman for a sign of what they should do, sure that it was Blaise Steele returning. Norman, however, remained surprisingly calm, if not slightly disgruntled at being interrupted again.

"It's okay. I was expecting more than one visitor today," he said mysteriously, and then he raised his voice to a yell. "Come on in!"

Slowly, the door peeled open, and a boy poked his head in. His eyes, which were a startling emerald, swept across the room before he cautiously made his way inside.

Although he seemed to be about May's age, he possessed none of the healthy, fit glow that Brendan was blessed with. Instead, he was scrawny, and he was only a couple inches taller than May, who was a relatively short girl. His hair was a lank, greenish brown, and his skin was almost sickly pale, as if he rarely went out into the sunshine.

"H-hi," the boy stuttered nervously, twiddling his thumbs. He glanced at May and Brendan, and a flush spread over his formerly white cheeks. "Um. M-My mom c-called?"

"Yes, I talked to her yesterday," Norman said. He smiled at May, as if he were telling her that this boy was okay. "Wallace, is it?"

"W-wally, sir," the boy corrected meekly.

"Oh yes, Wally! I owe your mother a favor, or several…" He laughed awkwardly, trailing off and leaving the three teens to stare at him questioningly. "Anyway, you wanted to adopt a pokemon?"

"Yes, please…"

Norman frowned. "Ah, I hate to tell you, but I'm afraid I don't have any spares. Not a problem, though- we can just catch you one quickly!"

He explained all of this as he stepped around the three of them and over to the storage closet that May and Brendan had been cramped in only a few minutes ago. With the door open to the brighter lighting of the gym, May could better make out the contents inside, which Norman was shuffling through methodically. No wonder she had felt something stabbing into her back- there was way too much stuff in there!

After a few moments, Norman fished out a pokeball, and then he held it up to his face for some sort of inspection. Wally's eyes widened nervously as he watched the gym leader. "Y-you-re going to h-help me catch a pokemon?"

"I'm afraid not; I have something to take care of," Norman said, chuckling. His gaze landed on May and Brendan, and his smile widened. "I'm busy, but May and Brendan will be happy to teach you."

May stared at him.

"Leave it to my parents to force me in the company of every teenaged boy in Hoenn," she thought glumly, recalling her disastrous first encounter with Brendan.

Brendan didn't say anything, looking almost as uncomfortable as she felt. Wally was watching them hopefully, if not a bit embarrassedly, and May knew she couldn't leave it up to Mr. Grouch himself to reassure the boy.

"Yeah, sure!" May said, despite the fact that she'd never caught a pokemon before either. In her defense, she knew the technical aspects of it at least!

"Great!" Norman said. Apparently, he had deemed the pokeball acceptable, for he tossed it in Wally's direction. The boy started and lunged for the ball, which slipped through the tips of his fingers and banged loudly to the ground. Blushing, he quickly picked it up and proceeded to clutch it to his chest tightly, as if he were determined not to let go of it again.

Brendan looked on with an incredulous expression, and Soren made the coughing noise that May had long since learned to be his mocking laugh. She kicked him lightly with her foot, sending a meaningful look at him when he gave her a "what'd I do?" expression. Thankfully, Wally was too busy avoiding everyone's eyes to notice.

"Let's go then," Brendan said, after a long moment.

Soren climbed up to settle somewhere between the top of May's head and her shoulders, making sure to mess up her hair as always. She sighed, eyeing him resignedly. She supposed it wouldn't make sense to return him, seeing as they were heading to catch a pokemon, and she might need him again in mere minutes.

"Bye Dad," May said, without thinking. She winced internally, although Norman didn't seem upset, and Wally did nothing but blink between them curiously. Apparently her father knew enough about him to deem him harmless (It wasn't really hard to figure out why).

"Bye," Norman said. "Make sure you come back before you leave, I have something to give you."

"Oooh, what is it?" May asked, pausing in the door and grinning at him eagerly. "Can I have it now?"

Brendan groaned, and Wally took a noticeable step away from the other boy, nervously fiddling with the pokeball in his hands. May ignored her traveling companion, eager to discover what her supposed "gift" was.

"No," Norman said, accustomed to his daughter's nosiness. "Come back and you can have it."

"Aww." She pouted, but Norman ushered them out the door and back into the streets of Petalburg.

"Hmph. Now I'll drive myself crazy wondering what it is," May complained. It was noticeably easier to navigate the streets this time, either because the mid afternoon rush had died down or because Brendan was being more considerate about his pace with Wally. It was probably a combination of both.

"It's called karma, Maple," Brendan drawled. She furrowed her eyebrows, so he elaborated. "You always drive me crazy, so now it's your turn."

May pursed her lips and felt her cheeks puff up, a habit that was becoming rather natural after being around Brendan so much. "I do not! You drive me crazy!"

"Oh yeah. Leading you around, putting up your tent, being your brave protector… real annoying."

"Excuse you!" May sputtered incredulously. "Brave what?!"

They squabbled over a bunch of nothing for several minutes, with May finally getting a reality check when she felt Soren begin to bang his head miserably against her own. Glancing upwards, she could see that he had both of his hands over his ears and that he was glaring daggers at them.

"Oh, whatever!" May exclaimed, trying to ignore the victorious smirk on Brendan's face. She slowed her pace slightly to fall into step with Wally, who had begun to trail behind them. The poor boy looked fearful for his life.

She attempted to smile at him, but knowing her it probably came across more like a grimace. He would barely even look at her face, and his eyes kept traveling anxiously to the ground, to her, and back again.

"So," May said, trying to start a conversation. "Are you going to challenge the League?"

Wally's eyes widened comically. "Oh, n-no! My parents would never l-let me!"

"Great job May, great job," she thought. To Wally, she said, "Oh, sorry!"

"Um, so what are you going to do with your pokemon?" she asked after a brief silence. Brendan was still ahead of them, but she thought he was straining hard to eavesdrop if the slight tilt of his head was anything to go by.

"My parents just d-don't want me to go t-to my uncle's house alone," Wally said. "I'm m-moving in with him…"

"Oh!" May didn't know what else to say, although she really wanted to ask why. Unfortunately, it seemed like it might be a sensitive subject, and they were rapidly getting far enough out of Petalburg to start hunting pokemon.

To her immense shock, Wally explained his situation voluntarily. "They think it will help m-my asthma. The air's clearer w-where he lives."

"Oh, cool," May said, truly interested. She smiled a less forced smile at him, and his lips twitched up into a shy one of his own.

"Alright, do you know what kind of pokemon you want?" Brendan asked Wally abruptly, stopping. May was surprised at how quickly they had gotten away from the city; it was now nothing more than a few buildings in the distance.

Wally shook his head, clueless.

"Zigzagoon would probably be good…" Brendan said, more to himself than to anyone else. May couldn't help but wrinkle her nose, because all she could think about was that snob Tiana's zigzagoon and how it had played dead to trick Soren. It didn't sound very appealing.

"Tree," Soren said distastefully into her ear.

"I know," she replied quietly.

Brendan shot her a suspicious look, but apparently he didn't deem the problem worthy of starting another argument over. Oddly enough, he began wandering around, feeling at seemingly random tree trunks and mumbling nonsense under his breath. Every now and then, he would bend more closely over one, examine it carefully, and then shake his head and move on.

Wally stayed quiet, not questioning him, but May looked on with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry," May whispered to Wally. "He has this thing with trees."

Brendan stopped to glare at her, his hand resting on the trunk of a small oak with peculiar marks running across its lower trunk. "I heard that."

"Seriously, what the heck are you doing?"

"A lot of pokemon mark their territory on trees, Maple," Brendan said defensively. "And zigzagoon do it by rubbing patches off with their fur-"

"Oh my gosh, there's one right there!" May yelled excitedly, pointing to a tree several yards behind Brendan. Sure enough, the fuzzy brown and tan face of a zigzagoon was peering curiously at them, although at the sound of May's loud shout, it yelped and immediately darted away into the depths of the undergrowth.

Brendan slapped himself on the forehead, and May's hands shot up to cover her eyes, as if that could erase her mistake. She felt like such a moron.

"Oh Suicune, I'm sorry!" she cried, cringing.

"Oh, nice!" Brendan griped. "And if you're gonna make proclamations to legendaries, at least use Hoenn ones."

"Guys?" Wally said timidly. They paid him no mind.

"Well sorry for living in Johto for the past ten years?"

"Um…. May-"

"All I'm saying is that people won't look at you like you're crazy if you'd just use Latias."

"Raaa!"

The bright, happy voice, which was filled to the brim with innocence, did not belong to Wally. Finally, May and Brendan stopped fussing long enough to send weird looks at the boy. His own bewildered face was focused fixedly downwards instead of on them, however.

A tiny white pokemon was tugging on Wally's pant leg, its cheerful cherry colored eyes turned on him from underneath its green helmet. "Raa!" it said again, smiling hugely up at the boy.

"No way!" Brendan cried, disbelieving. He immediately whipped out his pokedex, clicking madly. "That's a ralts!

"Quiet, Brendan, you wouldn't want to scare it away," May hissed, scowling at him for his hypocritical behavior. He was too thrilled to respond, although his voice was significantly lower when he spoke again.

"I can't believe this! I spent weeks looking for one when I started my journey, and I didn't see a single one anywhere! Even my dad has only seen then a handful of times in the wild!"

Although May had seen information on ralts in her own pokedex and absently noted that it would make an interesting addition to her team, she seemed to have missed just how valuable it could be. She had often forgotten how skilled of a trainer Brendan really was over the past few days, but when it came down to it, she knew he wouldn't be that excited over nothing.

"Y-you can have it," Wally said to Brendan, looking marginally disappointed, but honest. "I would be fine with a wurmple, or something…"

Brendan's expression went carefully blank. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. With some reluctance, he said, "No, you should catch it."

"R-really?"

Brendan nodded, and then he turned to May. "Get Soren down there. It shouldn't be hard to weaken."

Soren looked to May for approval, but she found she couldn't give it to him. That ralts was just sitting there, blissfully playing with Wally. It looked so fragile and happy. How could they battle something so precious?

"Do we really have to hurt him?" Wally asked sadly, voicing her thoughts exactly.

Brendan frowned. "I know it sounds bad, but it's just how you do it."

"He could just ask and see if Ralts minds battling. Soren might hurt him…" May said apprehensively.

"Treecko, tree," Soren said, sounding like he agreed with Brendan on the fact that pokemon were built to battle.

"Raa," Ralts said again, this time lightly nudging the pokeball dangling in Wally's hand. It smiled, and then it pressed its horn firmly to the button on the pokeball. The capsule opened and sucked the ralts in in a beam of red light, and it didn't even shake once before making the all-revealing ding sound.

Brendan's mouth hung open. "What… he just caught that ralts. Just like that… How lucky can a person be…"

"More like it caught itself," May mumbled, also shocked.

Wally simply stared at his pokeball, wonder in his emerald eyes, and May felt a warmth in her chest. As corny as it sounded, Wally and Ralts increased her excitement over being a trainer, if that was even possible.

Out of the corner of her eye, May glimpsed Brendan's expression, and for the first time she saw that true love of pokemon reemerge in him, too.

AN: In case you don't check my profile (And I'm sure most of you don't), I planned not to update over Christmas for a couple of reasons. Basically, I wanted to focus on Christmas, my life was surprisingly hectic considering I'm out of school, and I needed to polish this chapter. Oh this chapter. It was a major pain in my butt. I had blocks on it when I first wrote it, and I've had to go back through it this week to rework some plot issues. Hopefully I've gotten everything straightened out now!

Anyway, I decided to release it today in honor of New Year's Eve! :) I hope you guys enjoyed the introduction of Wally! The next update will come not this Friday but the next, so things will be pretty much back on schedule.

But first, I have a big question about Wally!

What type of naming scheme should he give his pokemon? I have a vague one for Brendan and May (Brendan's have some sort of deeper meaning, while May's are simply unique, sometimes borderline weird names). I'm having trouble with Wally's though, so any ideas would be appreciated.

Oh, and Archie's poll is open, so go vote!