WHAT? We broke 60 reviews already?! The response to last chapter was amazing. Love you guys!

Warning: This seems kind of pointless because my story is rated T, but there will be very mild cursing in this chapter (And it might pop up again in certain situations). I just wanted to let you guys know since I don't make a habit of adding swearing to my writing.

Chapter 7: Into the Woods

Wally's emerald eyes glinted with sadness as his parents packed all of his belongings into the small family car. Ralts, who he clutched tightly to his chest, kept patting his arm reassuringly.

May adjusted her backpack and gave his shoulder a light squeeze. "Hey, we'll visit you if we stop by Verdan Town, won't we, Brendan?" she said, hoping she sounded comforting.

"It's Verdanturf, May," Brendan grumbled, rolling his eyes. Despite his annoyed show, he nodded at Wally, and then he pulled his Pokenav out of his pocket. "Give me your number and I'll let you know if we're around."

Wally blinked before clumsily typing in his Pokenav number on Brendan's device. May watched enviously, wishing she could exchange numbers with anyone, really. All she had was a Pokegear, and she had left it back in her room because it couldn't even get signal in the Hoenn region!

"Wally!" Wally's father shouted at him from the front seat, his hands on the wheel. He shot his son a meaningful look.

"Well, bye," Wally said regretfully. "T-thanks again."

As quickly as he had come into their lives, he was gone. May watched the car disappear, feeling slightly saddened by his departure. She wasn't sure she would see him again, and although she really didn't know him that well, Wally had managed to grow on her in the short time they had hung out.

"He's a sweet kid," May said aloud. Surprisingly, Brendan nodded in agreement.

"Yup. So, ready to go?" he asked, pulling on his backpack straps as if to better illustrate his question.

May nodded, and the two began walking down the travelers' path out of Petalburg at a reasonable pace. As they got further from the city, the trees and vegetation around them grew steadily thicker, and a strange smell entered the air. It was all completely unfamiliar ground to May, but she trusted Brendan to get them where they needed to go.

"Um, which gym are we going to again?" she asked after a while, breaking the silence. Although she and Brendan were slowly becoming more accustomed to one another, sometimes there was a lack of conversation when they weren't arguing.

"The one in Rustboro City. It's the easiest to get to from here, and the leader uses rock types, which gives you an advantage," Brendan explained.

"Oh, good," May said. She was still distracted by the peculiar scent in the breeze, which seemed to be becoming more prevalent. It was vaguely familiar, and when she inhaled deeply again, her eyes brightened in understanding. "Is the ocean this way?"

"Yeah," he replied, completely disinterested. His eyes were focused firmly ahead on a distant clump of tall, dark trees.

"I haven't been to the beach in forever!" May said excitedly. There were no beaches located very close to Azalea Town in Johto, so her parents had only taken her to the ocean a handful of times. Unfortunately, a thought occurred to her, and she frowned. "Oh, but I forgot to pack a bathing suit!"

"We don't have time to go, anyway," Brendan said dismissively, shooting her a weird look.

"What? Why not?" May cried, shocked. Why wouldn't someone go to the beach if they had the opportunity? "Don't you like the beach?"

"Yeah, I like the beach." Brendan rolled his eyes in exasperation. "But we need to start through Petalburg Woods. It's a long way."

"Fine." May pouted. Under her breath, she grumbled, "Fun sucker."

Brendan snorted, apparently having heard her, but not really caring. With a hint of a smirk on his lips, he said, "Besides, that beach sucks compared to most of the ones in Hoenn, anyway."

May wanted to ask him which beach he would rather take her to, but they had reached their destination. The former distant clump of trees was up close and personal, and it looked a lot more intimidating. Shadows fell under the broad leaves, making it hard to see inside, and the smell of damp earth replaced the salty tang of the ocean.

Seemingly undeterred, Brendan continued right on into the trees as if they had never paused. May bit her lip, but she followed him between the thick trunks, not wanting to seem like a baby.

The lighting in the forest was significantly dimmer than that outside, but May could see what a wild haven the place was. Tall grass and other vegetation sprouted everywhere across the ground, completely uncontrolled, and the rustle of pokemon life could be heard from all sides. She didn't catch sight of any of the creatures until she nearly tripped over a large rock, which sent a silver bug type scuttling out from underneath it and into the trees.

May gasped, jumping instinctively closer to Brendan. Apparently, she had already been subconsciously standing very near him, because their arms brushed from her action. An unwelcome tingle shot up May's skin where it had touched his ever so briefly.

Brendan's eyebrows rose, and the knowing look on his face caused her palms to sweat nervously. "Scared, Maple?"

"No!" May scowled, although she was secretly a bit relieved that was all he had noticed. "And quit calling me Maple!"

"Fine, May," Brendan said, dragging out the sound of her name obnoxiously.

"I'm just saying, it is my name and I'd like to be called it sometimes! You said it earlier when you where talking to me and-" May continued blabbering, only cutting herself off when she noticed Brendan shaking his head in amusement.

They continued on with little speaking for what could've been either hours or minutes, May wasn't sure. The visibility in the forest stayed largely the same; if anything, it became even harder to detect the sun as they progressed. She was getting used to it, but she couldn't completely shake the nasty feeling that there were bugs lurking everywhere.

Finally, after May's feet had begun to ache, Brendan came to an abrupt halt. They had entered an area where there were no trees for maybe ten feet in either direction, something they had only encountered a few other times while following the forest path.

"We should set up camp here," Brendan suggested.

"But-" May checked her pokedex, confused. "It's not even four yet. The sun isn't going to set for a while."

"It gets dark really fast in here," Brendan said, pointing upwards towards the far-reaching trees. May understood what he was getting at, because the trees would probably obscure the sun completely by the time it was dusk. Besides, he had been in this forest before, while she hadn't.

"Hm. Okay."

Brendan released all of his pokemon, setting them various jobs to help with camp. Orion and Knox went after firewood, while Neptune was ordered to fill the cooking pot with water. Acumi went to gather berries, and a grumbling Iris trailed after her.

May dropped her backpack off of her shoulders, letting it land next to Brendan's, and decided to follow his lead. She grabbed the two pokeballs off of her belt and released their occupants. Soren stretched gratefully, although he looked a bit irritated at not having been out since breakfast. Demi let out a pleased cry and wobbled over to Neptune, who was just about to lug the pot out of sight.

"Ril!" Demi said, eagerly poking at the pot as if asking if she could help. Neptune frantically shook his head and practically fled the clearing. Demi deflated momentarily before looking around for the rest of Brendan's team, but it was to no avail. They had all disappeared just as quickly as Neptune.

"Your pokemon are a bunch of bullies," May accused, patting Demi on the head sympathetically.

"My pokemon don't want to babysit," Brendan corrected, throwing out his sleeping bag. May shot him her best winning smile, and a brief stare down ensued. Finally, Brendan sighed miserably and pulled her capsule tent out of her bag to begin setting it up.

"Hmph," May said after a moment. "Soren will play with Demi, won't you, Soren?"

She looked around for her treecko, but he was no longer standing on the ground next to her. After glancing around confusedly for a moment, she finally spotted him up in the branches of a nearby tree. He was laid back lazily with his hands behind his head.

"Treecko tree," he said, waving one hand to casually deny her request.

"Gee, thanks," May said, glaring up at Soren.

Brendan sniggered from where he was adjusting the poles to May's tent. She shot him a displeased look, which did absolutely nothing to quell his laughter. Annoyed, May picked up Demi and turned back to Soren.

"Get down here, Soren! We're gonna go train!" she snapped, stomping back towards the main path. Soren hopped down obediently, and Brendan straightened.

"Hey, wait!" Brendan called after her. He furrowed his brow. "You're not going far, are you?"

May spun around, the hand that wasn't holding Demi poised on her hip threateningly. "I'll be fine."

Brendan shuffled uneasily. "I'm just saying it's a big forest and you only have two tiny pokemon."

"Tree!" Soren jumped in, offended. May joined him in scowling at Brendan.

"My pokemon are fine!"

"I know, but-"

"Well which ones did you have when you came through the first time?" May asked irritably, interrupting him. He hesitated, and she knew she had won.

"Orion, and- You know what, never mind," Brendan cut himself off coldly and dusted his hands off, standing up. He had finished setting up her tent. "Go ahead, but you'll get lost if you leave the path."

"So I won't leave the path," May said in a finalized tone, and she quickly made her way out of sight of their camp.

She needed to get away from Brendan. Where did he get off, acting as if she couldn't take care of herself? She was a trainer! So what if she was a beginner. He had been too, at some point, and he had traveled alone!

"I don't know what he's worried about," May said, glancing around at the trees surrounding the path. She wouldn't admit it for anything, but the woods did seem an awful lot bigger and darker without Brendan leading the way. She squeezed Demi slightly. "We've already camped out alone and everything, haven't we, Soren?"

"Tree…" Soren said dryly, obviously recalling the wurmple incident.

May frowned down at him, but Demi distracted her by wiggling uncomfortably around in her arms. Sighing, she loosened her grip so the azurill could jump to the ground and walk alongside Soren. Her eyes followed the blue pokemon carefully, because it seemed like it would be easy for Demi to wander off and get lost.

May didn't really know what type of training she was looking to give them at the moment. A battle with a wild pokemon would be nice, or even just a place with more space for them to move. Either way, nothing in the immediate vicinity of camp caught her eye, so she continued ahead.

They had been walking for barely five minutes when two boys appeared, both of them headed the opposite direction as her on the path. They looked young, probably around ten years old, and they each held long nets, which they were swinging jovially as they moved. May knew they had spotted her as well when one of them pointed excitedly towards her.

"Hey, look, it's a trainer!" he exclaimed.

The other pushed in front of him (Much to his companion's annoyance) and said, "Battle me! Oh, please, battle me!"

May started to grin, thrilled at her luck. She couldn't believe she had found other trainers so close by! Just as she was about to agree to his request, a pink form resting on top of his hat caught her eye. It was a wurmple.

May looked from the bug type's many wiggling legs to the joyful face of its trainer. The trainer who was clearly a bug catcher. It should've been obvious. The smile quickly fell from May's face.

"Um… No thanks," she said, biting her lip. "My pokemon are kind of tired."

"They don't look that tired to me," the first boy said suspiciously. His gaze traveled over Soren's incredulous expression to Demi's oblivious smile.

"Oh, they are," May lied quickly.

"Dang it!" The boys' shoulders slumped. "Okay then. See ya later!"

They passed her, and she gave the one with the wurmple a particularly wide berth. She was glad Brendan wasn't with her when she ran into them, or he would have surely had something to say about her denial of a battle.

"Treecko," Soren said as soon as they were gone. He glared at her accusingly. Meanwhile, Demi poked playfully at a stray pile of decomposing leaves.

May groaned. "I'm sorry, Soren! You know I hate bug types."

"Tree."

"They just… They were what he used that night," May said, gripping her arm uncomfortably. She had briefly mentioned to Soren what had happened to her, and why her parents hadn't wanted her to be a trainer for so long. Still, she hated to bring it up, because it was impossible not to feel some of that fear again when she did.

"Ko." Soren's face softened uncharacteristically. He stepped forward and patted her knee, which was the highest place he could reach without climbing up her. She gave him a thankful smile.

Their moment was interrupted when a loud, furious cry cut through the air. The pile of leaves Demi had been prodding exploded in every direction, and the angry face of a small, green pokemon appeared from underneath them. After a moment of recollection, May realized that it was called a shroomish.

"Demi!" she hissed, eyeing the pokemon apprehensively. It didn't look like it could do much, but the way it was shaking its leafy body threateningly wasn't particularly comforting.

"Zur!" Demi said happily. She waved at the shroomish, and as if in slow motion, she opened her mouth and spat a single bubble in the pokemon's direction. It splashed onto its forehead with a ridiculously loud 'pop'.

If it had been possible, May had no doubt the shroomish's skin would've turned red from anger. The frills around the opening on top of its head quivered, releasing a cloud of dangerous-looking purple spores. They rose as if in slow motion, causing the nearby weeds to wilt upon contact.

May and Soren watched in horror, backing up and holding their breath instinctively. Unfortunately, Demi was slower on the uptake. When the spores reached her, she inhaled deeply before promptly cringing to the forest floor in pain.

May reacted on impulse. In a flash, she had returned both Soren and Demi, and she put a hand over her mouth and nose before just running. The shroomish was blocking the direction they had come from, and the noxious cloud was floating the opposite way.

She went the only way she could, which was directly into the depths of the woods

Brendan carefully peeled open the zip-lock bag Wally's mother had sent them and pulled out two of the four sandwiches. They would last the rest of the day, but after that, they would have to feed themselves again.

Oh, how he would miss her cooking.

A scaly, clawed hand reached around his shoulder eagerly to grab at the two remaining sandwiches, but Brendan whipped them out of reach with a scowl. "Orion, those are for May! Go eat your Pokechow."

"Blaze!" Orion said, pouting. He stuffed a handful of the brown kibble in his beak, yet he continued to eye the sandwiches longingly.

Brendan checked the time on his Pokenav for the thousandth time, seeing that almost an hour had passed without a peep from May. If he weren't a gentleman and all, he would gladly offer up her food to his pokemon. She deserved it after rushing off into the woods stubbornly and without a clue.

Brendan sighed. He hadn't always been such a worrywart. In fact, he had passed through Petalburg Woods all alone when he was only a beginner. He'd had no other pokemon except for Orion, back when he was still a torchic, and him.

His current team formed a rough circle around him. Orion had finished all of his Pokechow, and he was now arguing with Neptune over the rest of his. Knox watched the argument silently, although he seemed quite amused if Brendan looked at his expression hard enough. Iris stepped forward, clearing growling for them to shut up. However, Neptune took a swipe at Orion and accidentally raked his claws against her shell, which immediately drew her into the fight as well.

A tornado of glowing leaves abruptly shot at the trio, and the force of it sent them scattering to opposite edges of the campsite. Acumi hummed in satisfaction and leaned her long neck around so she could lick Brendan's cheek, as if nothing had happened.

Brendan gave her a pat on the side of the neck, amused. Although the empty feeling had not left him (Or, he thought, his pokemon), at least he could enjoy time with his team without wallowing in depression. A year ago, he had barely been able to even look at any of them without feeling shame.

He checked the time again. It had officially been an hour.

Orion, Iris, and Neptune wandered back towards where the firewood was assembled, looking ruffled and annoyed. Brendan stared contemplatively at all five of his pokemon. He was going to have to send someone to check on that troublesome girl.

Orion was the obvious choice, because he both liked May and she seemed the most comfortable around him. However, Brendan figured she deserved to be uncomfortable at the moment.

"Hey, Knox," he said. "Could you go find May?"

"Dusknoirrr," Knox chanted eerily, and then his body literally disappeared as he went to do his trainer's bidding.

May was desperately lost.

Her chest was beginning to tighten with panic. After running so blindly from the shroomish, she had tried and tried to find the road again, but it was all in vain. She had stumbled into the truly wild part of the forest, and she was stuck. She had no way to call Brendan, and she was afraid to send Soren away to look for the path while Demi was unable to protect her. Even her backpack with all of her supplies was lying back at camp.

"Lost in a scary dark forest by week two…." May thought, laughing uneasily to herself.

Deciding she might feel a bit better if she wasn't so alone, she tapped the release button on Soren's pokeball. The white light dimmed to reveal the treecko, and his yellow eyes still seemed panicked from the encounter with the shroomish.

May immediately picked him up, just wanting to feel close to someone. "We're lost," she said, and her voice sounded weak even to her own ears.

"Treecko…" he said, looking around warily.

"If we keep walking, we'll have to find something eventually… Right?" May asked. Soren shrugged uncertainly, so she sighed and cautiously began moving again. As if someone was answering her prayers, she rounded the very next tree and caught sight of a man wearing a suit, of all things.

The guy couldn't have looked more out of place if he had tried. His green suit was wrinkle and dirt free, which May had no idea how he had managed with him being so far into the forest. His hair, a dark brown color, was gelled perfectly to his head, and he was glancing around as if he were searching for something.

"Oh, why hello there!" he said, dusting a nonexistent speck of dirt off of his pants when he saw her. He laughed, which jostled the nametag pinned to his chest. It read "Devon Corporation: Ronald" in plain letters.

"Uh, hi," May said awkwardly. She was thrilled to see him, really, but she couldn't help but remember her father's words about being cautious. This man didn't seem dangerous, though…

"You wouldn't happen to have seen a pokemon called shroomish around here, would you?" Ronald asked, his face hopeful. May could see that he was not a trainer, for he lacked any visible supplies or pokeballs. All he carried was a simple briefcase.

"Unfortunately…" she grumbled, recalling the evil little shroomish that had caused her to get into this predicament in the first place.

Ronald didn't seem to hear her, for he continued. "They're my favorite pokemon, but I can never find one. That's actually how I ended up here… I was supposed to make my delivery as quickly as possible, but I thought I saw one and I couldn't resist taking a second look."

"So you don't know the way out?" May asked, disappointed.

"Oh, not at all," Ronald said. He frowned, although he seemed significantly less disturbed about being lost than she was. "Perhaps I can pick up a map on my Pokenav-"

"There you are!" a gruff voice bellowed. May jumped in surprise at the sudden sound, and her peripheral vision revealed a dark-skinned figure storming out of the trees. His face was twisted into a dangerous scowl.

Soren tensed at once, and May couldn't help but see why. If she had thought Ronald looked strange, then this guy was something else altogether. A black bandana was wrapped around his head, and it had the rough symbol of an 'A' emblazoned in its center. His shirt and socks were white with broad blue stripes, and his ratty pants were cut off at the knees. He looked rather like a pirate that had escaped from his ship.

"I've been waiting for days to ambush you, and you had to dawdle like a moron in this damn woods!" the man shouted, and Ronald practically quivered under his gaze. "Just hand over the package and I won't hurt you or the girl!"

To May's shock, Ronald leapt behind her and grasped her shoulders, terrified. "Oh, you're a trainer, aren't you? Please, help me! I can't let him take this package!"

"Um…" May's heart pounded fearfully in her chest when the pirate-like man turned his full attention to her. He snorted, catching her off guard.

"Please. Like this puny girl could stop me."

Courage that May didn't really know she had suddenly came bubbling to the surface alongside her anger. She was not puny, she was not weak, and she sure wasn't helpless! She was sick and tired of people treating her that way.

"Get him, Soren," May said, glaring at the man.

Apparently, the guy didn't take the hint, for he dared to take a step towards her. Soren hissed threateningly from deep in his throat and jumped at him, smacking him roughly on the arm with his tail. He flipped to the ground gracefully and poised himself protectively between the man and May.

"Oh, so that's how you wanna play, huh?" the man said darkly, rubbing his injured arm. He snagged the only pokeball off of his belt and threw it forcefully to the ground in front of Soren.

A poochyena materialized, snarling just like his trainer. Upon seeing Soren, he immediately surged forward, fangs flashing. Just in the nick of time, the treecko darted out of the way, only to be snapped at yet again. This time, Soren smacked his mouth away with his tail before jumping a good distance from his opponent.

"Shake it off and tackle it, Poochyena!"

Poochyena rubbed at his sore jaw with his paw, and then he growled at Soren with renewed vigor. He ran forward, black paws digging into the ground with the force of his movements.

"Absorb, Soren!" May cried, balling her hands into fists nervously.

Soren stayed where he was, managing to maintain a significant calm for a pokemon who was about to get mowed over. He closed his eyes in concentration, and a white light glowed off of his skin. Gradually, it appeared on Poochyena's as well. Globs of energy began floating off of the dark type and back to Soren, but the attack took too long. Poochyena slammed into him, only partially slowed down by the loss of so much power, and sent him careening into the trunk of a nearby tree.

Soren grunted upon impact, and when he crawled to his feet, May could see that his back had been scraped by the bark. A few feet away, Poochyena's limbs were quivering. Apparently, the absorb had done more damage than she had thought.

"You've got him cornered, now bite his brains out!" the crook demanded, pointing towards the weakened Soren.

He was right; Soren was trapped among a tight grove of trees. May began to panic, but then she remembered one of the key things that made treecko so special.

"Climb that tree, Soren!" she said quickly.

Despite the fact that he was injured, Soren spun around and shimmied up the trunk faster than lightening. Within seconds, he was nestled safely on a branch that was far out of Poochyena's reach. He made a taunting face down at the enraged canine.

Soren then began leaping from tree to tree, leaving the poochyena to helplessly run around barking on the ground beneath him. Although it was satisfying to watch, May knew they couldn't win just by running their opponent around in circles.

"Use another absorb!"

He paused, and his skin began growing white again. However, the light off of Poochyena was significantly dimmer, and nothing of significance was drained from him. Soren was too far away.

May frowned. A pound attack from so high would be the most effective, but Poochyena was just so much heavier than Soren. If he managed to get him in his jaws, the battle might be over. It was times like this when she really wished he had another range attack to work with.

A brilliant idea suddenly occurred to May- if only it would work.

"Soren, get to that branch over there!" she ordered, pointing to a thinner branch two limbs away from where he already was. If he was confused at her request, he didn't show it, and he hopped over to her chosen spot easily.

Predictably, Poochyena trailed after him, but his trainer had had enough. He stomped his foot furiously.

"That's enough! Do something, you useless pokemon!" he screamed.

Poochyena desperately reared up on his hind legs so that his two front paws were propped up on the tree directly below Soren. He nipped at the air uselessly. May crossed her fingers, hoping her luck held out for just a bit longer.

"Use pound attack to break that branch, but don't fall out of the tree!" she begged.

Soren's eyes brightened in understanding. He crawled up the trunk of the tree so that he was a couple feet above the branch before swiveling back around to crash his tail into its base. With a loud crack, it broke off and fell to the ground, straight towards the poochyena waiting below it.

Poochyena realized all too late what was coming for him. He attempted to scramble out of the way, but not before the limb slammed into him with a crash and a series of pained yelps.

Above him, Soren still clung to the trunk of the tree. He peered down at the still body of the poochyena, clearly trying to decide if it was safe for him to come down or not. After a moment, the man groaned and recalled his pokemon, and May knew they had won.

Soren jumped happily into her arms, and she squeezed him tightly, relieved. Behind her, Ronald tapped on her shoulder excitedly. She had almost forgotten he was there.

Unfortunately, the pirate-man wasn't planning on letting them get away so easily.

"I might've lost the battle, but that treecko's just as puny as you! I can just take the package myself," he roared, starting forwards.

May stiffened, and Soren turned in her grip. His body was bruised and beaten, yet she knew he was prepared to try to fight off the large man if necessary.

Abruptly, something eerily cold wafted in from behind she and Ronald. The pirate man paused, a look of pure terror overtaking his face. He stared at something over their heads for a moment before sprinting off in the opposite direction.

May almost didn't want to turn around and face whatever monster was scary enough to send such an intimidating man running, but she slowly inched her head around. A gray, skull-like face peered back at her, and her heart gave a thrill of fright before she realized it was just Knox.

Wait… Knox had come to find her! She was safe!

"Ahhh!" Ronald screeched, latching onto May's arm in a death grip. He had finally noticed the dusknoir's presence.

"Hey, it's aright! It's just my friend's pokemon," May exclaimed. With difficulty, she pried Ronald's hands off of her.

"Oh," Ronald said shakily. He took a cautionary step back from Knox, but he focused his gaze on May. "Thank you so much for helping me. I don't know what I would've done without you!"

"Lose your briefcase?" she said, without really meaning to. She was glad she had helped him, honestly, but he was starting to get on her nerves. Ronald stared at her, aghast at the very idea, so she strung on an awkward laugh to try to make it sound better.

He shook his head, and then he fished around in the pocket of his suit for a moment before pulling out a shiny greatball, which he held out to her. Hesitantly, May allowed him to drop it into her hands.

"Oh, thank you," she said uncomfortably. Greatballs were expensive, and she hadn't really expected him to own such an item, much less to thank her with one.

"It's the least I can do," Ronald assured her. "This package is more important than you can imagine!"

May seriously doubted it would amount to anything for her, but she didn't say that. She simply smiled at him in what she hoped was a thankful way.

"Noir," Knox said in a chilling whisper. May felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and she saw Ronald shudder.

"Um, I guess I'd better go," she said. Knox's interruption had called her attention to the fact that darkness was falling, and fast.

"Can you find your way? I could probably lead you out," Ronald said. He pulled out a shiny Pokenav and squinted down at it. "Probably."

"No thanks. Knox will take me back to my camp," May said, really wishing it wasn't Knox. She would've enjoyed anyone's company more, even Ronald's!

Well, maybe Iris would have been worse. She still wondered if the shelgon wouldn't like to have her for an afternoon snack.

"Okay. Well, I need to get back to Rustboro, pronto. Thanks again!" Ronald said, still inspecting his Pokenav screen as he headed off into the trees. May hoped he managed to actually get out of the forest and finally complete his oh-so-important delivery.

"So, um," May began, turning to Knox uncomfortably. "Ready?"

"Dusk," he said, and his red eye glinted eerily. He treaded through the trees, his feet seeming to glide rather than actually touch the ground.

Thoroughly crept out, May followed after him. Soren shifted in her arms to meet her eyes, and although he didn't seem quite as freaked out by Knox as she was, she could tell he was also put off by the ghost type. Silently, she vowed not to add any ghosts to her team.

Weird as he was, Knox served his purpose. Not a peep was heard from any wild pokemon during their journey, probably because they were all just as scared as May was. Within mere minutes, she could see the comforting glow of their campfire through the undergrowth.

Brendan sat on a log near the fire, where he appeared to be checking the time on his Pokenav. His hat was off, allowing his black hair to stick up freely, and his pokemon lounged around the campsite in various positions. He looked up abruptly at their arrival, his brown eyes glowing ruby from the flames.

"What happened to you?" he asked, surprisingly concerned.

For the first time, May thought about what she must look like. There were twigs in her hair, and her sneakers were smudged with mud from her frantic run. Worst of all was Soren, who still looked thoroughly beat up in her arms.

She plopped down heavily next to Brendan, and Knox floated off somewhere into the shadows. "Long story," she said tiredly.

Brendan raised his eyebrows, silently urging her for more detail. May sighed, preparing to tell him everything, but then her hand suddenly shot to her pokeball belt in concern. She had almost forgotten about Demi!

Sitting Soren down next to her, she released Demi into her arms. The azurill appeared, and just as May feared, she didn't look very well. Her fur was tinted a sickly purple, and shudders racked her tiny body.

"Oh," May said worriedly. Any knowledge from trainer's school mangically evaporated from her mind in her flustered state, and there were no pokemon centers around! She was a terrible trainer. No wonder her parents wouldn't let her do anything!

Beside her, Brendan was rummaging around in his backpack. After a moment, he pulled out some unfamiliar bottles of what looked like medication and lined them up. Unlike May, he remained extremely calm.

"What pokemon did it?" he asked, eyes darting between Demi and the labels on the bottles.

"Shroomish," May managed to reply through her panic.

"Here," Brendan said, gently pulling the shivering azurill from her arms and into his lap. He quietly convinced her to swallow a few pills from one of his bottles. "It's fine. Poisoning isn't that hard to heal. She might be a little weak for a day or two, though."

Slowly, Demi's breathing eased, and she seemed to glow a little healthier. He handed her back to May, and then he peered down at Soren. Muttering quietly to himself, he selected another bottle. He dipped his fingers into it and started to move his hand towards Soren, but he seemed to think better of that idea when he caught sight of the treecko's glaring eyes.

"You might want to do this," Brendan said dryly, handing the medicine to May. He wiped his fingers on his shorts. "It's for cuts."

"Oh-Okay," May said, heart still reeling from her previous worry. She dabbed her hands into the goo before rubbing it carefully onto the scales on Soren's back, where the bark had scraped him.

"Thank you," May said to Brendan when she was done, and a warm feeling pooled in the pit of her stomach. Although it hurt her pride to admit it, she didn't know what she would've done without his help. She'd probably still be lost in the woods with two badly injured pokemon.

"I'm pretty awesome, I know," he said dismissively, back to his normal self. May let out an annoyed breath of air, which he ignored. "So are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"Well, I got lost," May started. "And I ran into this guy who worked for some really big company- Oh, I can't remember what it's called."

"Devon?" Brendan guessed.

"Yeah, that one! Anyway, some other guy jumped out at us and tried to steal his briefcase. Me and Soren fought him, and he ran away."

Brendan furrowed his brow, looking incredibly troubled. "What? Are you crazy? Why would you do that?"

May was caught off guard. She knew what she had done was dangerous, but in the end it was a good deed, wasn't it? Shouldn't Brendan be just a little bit proud of her?

"He needed help!" she cried defensively. "And he said whatever was in his package was really important."

"Of course it was important. He might've gotten fired without it." Brendan rolled his eyes. He shook his head, and a thoughtful expression overtook his incredulous one. "But why would someone want to steal it…?"

"I don't know, but I think he was a wacko anyway." May snorted out an unladylike laugh, remembering his odd outfit. "He looked like a pirate. Literally."

"Wait, was it like a uniform? What did it look like?" Brendan asked, seeming confused.

"Uh, I don't know. Blue-striped shirt, black headband," she said, shrugging. Wasn't the fact that he looked like a pirate amusing enough without going into specifics?

"That sounds like Team Aqua," he said, frowning. "They're these crazy ocean activists, but I've never heard of them attacking anybody. He must have been just a rogue member, if that's who he was. I'll have to keep Knox out tonight in case he comes back."

May had no idea, but what was it to her, anyway? She had nothing to do with this Team Aqua, and as far as she was concerned, her little moment of heroism had passed.

AN: I swear my characters just take over for themselves sometimes. They're just like, "No, Alphinia, we can't get on with the plot! What a ridiculous idea. We want to run our mouths and hopefully bond some more!"

On a more serious note, I really wanted to show here that Brendan and May ARE becoming friends, and they do care about one another. They tend to argue a lot, but I didn't want it to be one of those things where they do nothing BUT argue.

I also recently realized that I OVERUSE THE SAME NAMES. I had the Devon worker named Robert (So if you see that in place of Ronald anywhere, please let me know), which I mentioned in passing as Professor Birch's first name. I also did a similar thing (By unfortunate coincidence, this time) with Brendan's mom. Lisa Birch. And then there's contest idol Lisia. ORAS hadn't come out yet when I wrote the chapters with Lisa in it, so I claim innocence on this one!

Lastly, I've been adding playlists to the wiki. Know any good songs that remind you of a character or the story in general? Let me know in a review or PM!

Which game villains were the best and why? (Aqua/Magma and Team Rocket are kind of tied, mostly out of nostalgia. I did like how unique Cipher was though. See, this is why my chapters get so dang long winded; I can't make up my mind!)