Can I just take a moment to say what an amazing fanbase this story has? I've seen other stories with way more followers than this one, yet less reviews. Seriously, you guys rock for encouraging me the way you do. Every single comment means so much to me!

And isn't my new cover awesome? :D I always wanted to have an original cover, but my digital art abilities are nonexistent. Anyway, credit to this one goes to Antares25 over on Deviantart. There's a lot of great ORAS art on their profile, so check it out!

On one last note, I found more errors than usual when I proofread this, and now I'm paranoid that there are others. If you spot any definitely don't be afraid to call me out!

Chapter 13: Of Legends and Lore

"Grovyle!" Soren hissed, and May immediately noted that his voice had sunken an octave deeper. He was still thoroughly beaten up, yet his evolution had left him with the newfound vigor of an adrenaline rush.

May clenched her fist in determination. If Soren was still prepared to fight, then so was she!

"Pound!" May said, liking the look of the strong leaves extending from Soren's body. A good lick from those should definitely sting.

Soren lunged towards Houndoom, using the force of his strengthened muscles. Houndoom gathered his senses and snarled, and his sharp white canines lit aflame once again in preparation for the grovyle's attack.

May's heart skipped a beat; Soren had grown a lot bigger from evolution, yet Houndoom was larger still. Getting locked in his flaming jaws for a second time would mean the end. She opened her mouth to tell Soren to get away from Houndoom, yet she was distracted when the leaves attached to both of his wrists became outlined in a red light.

Soren's golden eyes glinted, and he smacked Houndoom's muzzle away from him with one of the leaves. He blinked, momentarily caught off guard at what had just happened, before rapidly continuing his assault. Each time his leaves made contact, they would increase fractionally in length and the red glow would intensify.

Whatever attack it was, it wasn't pound, but May didn't have time to study it. Houndoom abruptly roared and twisted his body around to ram his large horns into Soren's gut. The grovyle flew several feet through the air, but he maneuvered to land feet first. Oddly, he stumbled clumsily and barely managed to keep his footing upon impact with the ground.

May frowned. Soren was usually precise in every aspect, but he seemed much sloppier than usual. Whether it was from pure exhaustion or trying to adapt to his new form, she couldn't focus on it now.

Can we knock him over? May wondered, knowing she would have to go the extra mile to win this. Houndoom was stronger than Soren, but with a little strategy, they might stand a chance.

"Bullet seed at his feet!"

As Soren prepared to follow her orders, a swirl of fire arose from the back of Houndoom's throat, but neither pokemon got the chance to attack. Suddenly, massive rocks sprung out of the ground between the battling pokemon, leaving their attacks to bounce harmlessly off the hard surface.

An enormous pokemon stepped forward out of the shadows. Plates of silver armor adorned his primarily black hide, and piercing blue eyes shone from beneath his deadly set of horns. All in all, he was probably the most impressive specimen May had ever laid eyes on, more so even than Orion.

If that's Tabitha's pokemon hunting me down, I'm doomed, was all May could think.

A call of, "Oh, shit," rang out in May's ear, reminding her of Tessa's presence. She had almost forgotten the girl was there.

But then the new pokemon turned to Houndoom and roared with such fury that the very walls of the cave shook from the force of it. May struggled not to flinch, and Soren took a few tired steps closer to his trainer so that he was almost brushing against her kneecaps.

Houndoom eyed the great beast for a moment, sizing him up, before shooting off into the tunnel he had emerged from.

"Thank you, Aggron."

The voice was smooth and coolly masculine, and as quickly as he had appeared, Aggron was sucked into a beam of red light. May's gaze followed the flash of light to the hand clutching it (A hand that was adorned with several priceless rings), up the arm of an expensive suit, and into steel colored eyes.

May's jaw almost dropped. Steven Stone, the champion of the Hoenn region, was standing right in front of her.

"Is everyone alright?" Steven asked, but May barely heard him. She couldn't help but focus on the way his perfect silver hair framed his face, and the fact that his suit was spotless, even within the dirty cave.

He's so beautiful, May thought. Wait, Steven's talking to me! Steven is talking to me!

"Um, what?" she stammered aloud.

Unlike May, Tessa had enough wits about her to answer intelligibly. "We're fine. Brawly!"

Tessa ran from her side, passing Steven to go to a figure standing behind him. All tan, muscular arms and disarrayed blue hair, Brawly was definitely handsome, but he posed a striking contrast to Steven's more refined appearance.

May, however, was distracted from the gym leader when her eyes landed on the boy beside him.

"Brendan!" she blurted, her relief seeping into her grin. He was pale, there was a bloody scrape across his forehead, and his expression was grumpy, yet he looked otherwise unharmed.

"Nice to see you didn't get trampled by lairon," he said tiredly, pressing a dirty rag more tightly across his forehead. It didn't really seem to be helping his predicament, but his halfhearted smirk made her pause any commentary on it. "But you've seen better days."

May was suddenly aware of what she must look like. Her hair had fallen almost completely out of its ponytail, her tank top was crusted with dried blood, and she had grime smudged practically everywhere. To top it off, she could feel rows of bruises forming on her arms and legs. Even Tessa, dirty as she was, couldn't look as terrible as she did.

She mustered a scowl at the boy. Couldn't he be happy to be reunited with her, his rather lovely traveling companion, just this once?

"Would you mind telling me what happened?" Steven's voice cut in, reminding May of where she was. As if to add effect, Soren trembled against her leg, and she glanced down, noticing that he had resorted to resting against her to prevent himself from collapsing.

Seeing her pokemon's distress managed to knock her out of her celebrity-induced daze. Frowning, May ran a gentle hand across an uninjured area on his scales, which quivered under her touch. In the background, she could hear Tessa detailing the general story of what had happened and something about how Steven and Brawly had come to investigate reported disturbances, but her attention remained on Soren. She wanted to hug him, but she was afraid it would only aggravate his wounds further. To avoid that, she simply returned him with the internal promise to thank him heartily later.

"Why did Team Magma take you captive?"

It took May a moment to realize Steven's question was directed at her. His eyes met hers, and her brain seemed to stop working.

"Oh- they just found me and thought I sent some pokemon after them. Some freak named Tabitha set that Houndoom on me," May grumbled, glaring at the memory of him. She wished she could get him back. "I think he was in charge."

Brendan snorted. "That was Team Aqua that scared the lairon. I heard them bragging about it while I was- Uh. I heard them."

May wondered what Brendan had done that made him seem ever so slightly flustered, but Brawly's comment answered her question. "You mean when we found you hiding in that hole?" He laughed.

Brendan's scowl deepened. "I wasn't hiding! I was trying to stay out of the lairon's way, and I just happened to still be there!"

May giggled in that loopy way that could only be achieved when one was either numb with shock or dead tired. That numb part of her brain wanted to say something to tease Brendan, but Steven caught her eye by rubbing his chin in thought. "Hmm. Well, I'm sure they won't bother you again as long as you're careful. We bumped into them on the way here, and they fled."

Stupid hooded creeps, she thought, clutching the keystone gleefully. The cool feel of it brought her hurdling back down to Earth. Oh yeah, the stone!

May thrust the rainbow rock forward so that Steven could see it. Surely he, as a stone collector, would know what it was. If he didn't, she didn't know who would.

"This!" she exclaimed eagerly, and everyone but Steven gave her odd looks. His eyes were almost disbelieving as they took in the sight of the tiny stone. "Tabitha used this to open the door. I grabbed it before I ran away."

She trailed off sheepishly at the looks she got. Brendan and Tessa were both glaring at her, while Brawly looked amused. Steven's expression was focused, unreadable as he studied the rock.

"Awesome!" Brawly chortled, clapping her on the shoulder as he laughed. "You got guts, dude!"

As May took in his charming grin, she could see why so many girls on the island were infatuated with him. She came to the conclusion that Brawly wasn't bad. Not bad at all.

Tessa glanced at Brawly incredulously before crossing her arms. "I helped…" she said, staring at the ground.

"Are you trying to get killed?" Brendan asked. He suddenly seemed much less exhausted and much more frustrated.

"May I?" Steven nodded towards the keystone, breaking up the impending argument. May passed it to him at once before shooting Brendan a look that said, 'I'll handle you later.'

Steven's brow was crinkled in such heavy concentration (Or was it worry?) as he inspected the stone that May couldn't help but speak up again. "They called it a keystone. I think."

Steven took several seconds to respond. "They were right." He frowned, glancing between May and the keystone. She could now clearly see that he was concerned. "This is one of the rarest stones in the world. I'm afraid you might've just made yourself a dangerous enemy."

There was something ominous about Steven's words, and an uncomfortable tingle crept down May's spine. She could feel Brendan's eyes on her, but she avoided them like the plague. She had no desire to see the ridicule that was probably there.

"Maybe they won't remember me," May suggested. "It was pretty dark."

"Maybe," Steven said, but the troubled crease between his eyebrows didn't disappear. He cleared his throat, staring at May and Tessa. "I'd like one of you to show me this room they found, if that's alright."

"I will," May said immediately. Not only did she still have to give Steven his letter, but Tessa was looking less thrilled about the situation by the minute. Plus, she still thought it was super cool to talk to Steven Stone.

"Good. I've got to give my pokemon a talking to," Tessa said, glaring down at one pokeball in particular. May raised an eyebrow, but the other girl either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

Brawly blinked at Tessa's comment, but he lifted up a hand to ruffle her grubby ponytail nonetheless. Tessa scowled at his actions, which he laughed off. "I'll come with, just to make sure those 'freaks' are gone," he said.

He wiggled his eyebrows at May, highlighting his use of her earlier description of Team Magma and Team Aqua. Her face heated in embarrassment, and she could practically feel annoyance rolling off of Brendan and Tessa in waves. Steven remained in his own world, still flipping the keystone over in his palm as if a better angle would give him all the answers.

Before moving to leave, Brawly elbowed Brendan "So, bro. Did you come back for a rematch? Me and Tess will be headed to the gym later."

"No bro," Brendan said, rubbing at his ribs as if Brawly had just severed a major artery.

Brawly sighed dramatically. "Bummer." He winked at them, and then he cupped his hands around his mouth as if he were talking to someone very far away. "Yo, Steven! Catch ya later!"

Brawly draped a friendly arm across Tessa's shoulders and dragged her towards what was presumably the exit, and Steven only mumbled incoherently in response. Apparently Brawly wasn't really expecting a proper goodbye, for he didn't look back once.

As she and Brendan watched in uncomfortable silence, May was suddenly reminded of the letter from Mr. Stone, which was the reason they had entered this forsaken cave in the first place. She fished around in her backpack for it, ready to deliver it once and for all.

"Steven-I mean Mr. Stone-" May blurted, as her hands latched around the fancy envelope. She tried in vain to smooth out a badly wrinkled corner, but the creases refused to budge.

Oh my Latias, I'm giving Steven Stone a wrinkled letter, she thought, as she relented and handed it to him. Out loud, she said, "This is from your dad."

Steven blinked, and then he slowly took the envelope from May. He opened it, allowing his eyes to scan over the print for several minutes. Finally, he folded it into his pocket and looked up with a frown on his face.

"Thank you for coming out of your way to track me down," Steven said. His lips twitched into a small but still-there smile, and May was reminded of Mr. Stone's businesslike manner. "You can call me Steven. Mr. Stone is my father."

He fiddled with his tie uncomfortably before clearing his throat.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you two." His gazed hovered on Brendan for a very long moment before drifting to May. Recognition lit his face. "You're Norman's daughter."

A tiny part of May fluttered with excitement at the prospect that he knew who she was, but a much larger part suppressed a groan. How did everyone keep realizing who she was? Did her dad flash a picture of her at every League meeting or something? He couldn't expect her to stay all secretive at this rate!

May heard Brendan snort, and she would've snapped something at him if she weren't in the presence of the champion. Apparently, Steven read the conflicting emotions on her face, for he raised his eyebrows in what looked kind of like amusement.

"He doesn't want people to know," Steven said, more to himself that to May. He seemed thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "It's alright. Brawly will have no idea."

"I bet," Brendan said under his breath.

"Good," May breathed, relieved.

"So where was that cavern?" Steven asked after a moment, steely eyes on May.

She froze, suddenly reminded that she was far from an expert on direction in Granite Cave. The majority of her time in it had been spent either running or being blindfolded, and she had no sense of direction to begin with.

"Maybe Tessa should've stayed- Ow!"

May pushed past Brendan, making sure to jab her elbow into his stomach. Much to her displeasure, she noted that it was rather firm instead of soft and pudgy like she had hoped. Recoiling in what was definitely disgust, she focused on finding the gaping hole leading to the lower floor.

"Well… it was down this ladder…" May said, trailing off awkwardly.

Steven sighed. "…Let's go, then."

After several minutes of fumbling around in the dark, they stumbled upon the correct corridor. May thought she was prepared for the glow of the keystone this time, but she was still taken aback by the power of its light. Beside her, she could see that it was having a similar effect on Brendan, yet Steven merely concentrated on inserting the stone into the hole and watching the rock pull itself apart to form a door.

They stepped inside the ancient room, and May took it in in awe. The first time around, she hadn't had the chance to appreciate it at all, but the entire wall before them painted an incredible scene.

On the left, a large, dinosaur-like beast flashed its claws viciously, while a stream of fire poured out of its jaws. Beneath it, spirals of earth erupted from the ground. The earth harshly transitioned to sea, which it somehow seemed to be at war with. Great waves and torrents of rain met the land, guided by the fins of a great sea pokemon. The only color on the wall rested in the sapphire glinting on the sea pokemon's head and the ruby locked where the land pokemon's heart would lie.

Although the image was depicted using a simple, primitive paint, there was something about it that hit home with May. Her heartbeat sped up in what might have been fear, and beside her, Brendan's brow was scrunched up uncomfortably.

Whoever the people were that made this mural, they had experienced something terrifying.

"What terrible power…" Steven mumbled, voicing what everyone was thinking. "It can't be mega evolution without a trainer, but… What is it?"

Something about the mural made it hard for May to study it too closely, but the more she did, the more she realized there was a strange familiarity to it.

"What are those pokemon?" she whispered to Brendan. Steven was still contemplating to himself, and she didn't want to interrupt him.

Brendan shook his head, coming out of his daze from staring at the painting. He raised an eyebrow at her. "They're Groudon and Kyogre. You know, from the legend of Hoenn?"

May didn't like the tone of his voice, as if he couldn't believe she was asking him that. "Yes, I've heard of Groudon and Kyogre," she said snippily. "Dad used to tell me stories about how they made Hoenn in their war over the land and sea, and they almost destroyed it before going to eternal sleep. But that didn't really happen."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Steven said, and he actually looked seriously worried. His eyes never left the mural.

"But… I thought they were just stories. You know, like the legend of the burned tower in Johto," May said. They couldn't be real. If they were, then the entire world would be in jeopardy if anything every disturbed them. She glanced at Brendan, who was typically such a realist, for support, only to find that he had a far away, troubled look in his eyes.

"Every legend has a grain of truth. What I'm worried about is what Team Magma and Team Aqua were doing here." Steven's words echoed around the cavern, and May found herself growing more uneasy by the minute.

Steven cleared his throat, and she expected him to say something else troubling about Groudon and Kyogre. He caught her off guard when he held up the keystone and said, "Do you mind if I hold onto this for a while?"

"Oh." May blinked. "Uh, sure."

He seemed relieved. "Thanks. Wouldn't want Team Magma to find you with it. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure they don't come after you."

"What is it for, though?" she asked, trying to avoid the prospect of them coming after her. If Team Magma needed the keystone so much, it had to have some other use apart from opening old doors.

Steven hesitated a moment before responding. "It helps accomplish mega evolution," he said gravely.

May allowed those words to sink in, and Brendan was jerked out of his deep thoughts. He frowned.

Team Magma might possibly be able to mega evolve their pokemon.

Fantastic.

It was hard for May to explain the relief she felt when they emerged from the cave. Although the sun had almost completely set over the ocean, she never realized how soothing the feeling of the salty breeze or the soft sand beneath her sneakers could be.

"Thank Groudon," May said, but then the image back in the cavern flashed across her mind. "Never mind. Thank Latias."

The familiar seaside cottages of Dewford were just ahead, but May's gaze was zeroed in on the pokemon center. She couldn't wait to make sure her pokemon were all right, and after that, she wanted to take a long, peaceful rest.

Steven glanced briefly over the town. When he didn't see anyone outside (Potential fangirls, probably), he said, "I'll walk with you, just to be safe."

Brendan let out a frustrated breath of air from where he walked by May's side, but he failed to voice what he was thinking. Instead, he twisted his pokeballs sulkily around on his belt. May didn't think he had pulled out a single one the entire time they had been in Granite Cave.

He could've beaten them, May thought wistfully. She knew it was true, but she wished she knew why he didn't put his abilities to use. Whatever had happened to his deceased pokemon, it had truly scarred him deeply.

Steven was observing Brendan as well, but he turned away when the boy glanced up at both of them questioningly. The champion cleared his throat.

"So, May," he began. "How long have you been a trainer?"

After being in Steven's presence for a while, the twinge of excitement at being addressed had simmered down, but only slightly. May pursed her lips in thought, trying to recall the long weeks she had spent on the road.

"Uh…" She counted on her fingers for aid, and a jolt of shock ran through her when she realized the answer. "Wow. A whole month."

"In three days it'll be a month," Brendan corrected.

May gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Why are you counting?!"

"Well," Brendan said, smirking. "I've got to get through it somehow."

"Brendan Birch, you-"

"Really?" Steven cut in quickly. He tugged at his tie again, yet the look on his face held more surprise than nervousness. "Your grovyle is very advanced. I assumed you'd been training for at least a year or two."

"Oh, well thanks," May said, practically glowing from the compliment. A little voice inside of her, however, kept saying that she should have done better in that battle. She only got through it with some lucky calls and lots of will on Soren's part.

Steven simply nodded in response. As they approached the pokemon center, she felt his eyes appraising her in a new, pensive light.

"I should probably go now," Steven said, before they went inside. He kept looking over his shoulder uneasily, as if he expected a rabid fangirl to pounce at any moment. "Thank you again for delivering my letter."

"Anytime," Brendan muttered, still focused on the pokeballs on his belt. Considering how excited May thought he'd be about meeting Steven, he seemed very distant.

A run in with raving lunatics could do that to a person. She would know.

"Bye," May said, severely disappointed that he was leaving. She almost said "See you later" before recalling that meeting Steven Stone was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. Unfortunately.

Steven nodded again and called out a sturdy, metallic bird pokemon. As Skarmory allowed Steven to swing a practiced leg over his avion body, his yellow eyes met May's. Abruptly, she realized she had seen him before, yet it felt like ages ago now. An excited grin grew on her face, but it faded when Skarmory flapped his wings and zoomed away into the endless night sky.

"I thought you'd be crying when he left, not smiling, " Brendan said. He was hovering by the glass doors, which had opened automatically due to their close proximity.

"Ha ha. Steven's skarmory delivered my dad's job offer to him," May said, too intrigued to take the bait. She weaved around Brendan and allowed the warm, slightly medical scented air of the pokemon center to envelope her. Did this mean her father knew Steven on a personal level?

If he did, she was going to have to give him a serious talking to about not introducing her sooner.

"Oh." Brendan shrugged. "I guess the champion helps hire the gym leaders."

"He landed on my kitchen table," May added, remembering how it had been the first family dinner they'd had in a long time. They hadn't had one since, either.

Brendan raised an eyebrow at her as they wandered over towards the reception counter. Thankfully, the room was void of all other trainers apart from one girl, whose back was to them. She had a long, black ponytail, and she was wearing torn gym clothes.

It took May several seconds to recognize her as Tessa. She supposed she wasn't used to seeing her in actual light and all.

Tessa's hands were braced against the counter, and she was scowling down at the nurse. "Machop will be ready, right? Brawly always runs us through important drills first thing in the morning."

"I'm sorry, but he's going to need extra rest," the nurse said firmly. She didn't appear surprised at the situation, which made May wonder if Tessa behaved this way often. "You'll just have to focus on training your meditite tomorrow."

Tessa gritted her teeth and leaned back on the balls of her feet. She shot a glare that looked like it could slice diamonds towards a small blue figure huddled at her feet. The pokemon, which May saw was indeed a meditite, was bipedal, and its white head reminded her distinctively of an onion.

"Maybe," Tessa growled, "if Meditite could do anything useful, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Meditite," the pokemon whimpered, wringing his hands.

May could feel irritation bubble higher and higher under her skin. There was really no need for Tessa to talk to her pokemon that way; the poor thing looked about ready to burst into tears. Soren and Demi had both almost driven her to the brink of insanity at times, but she'd never been outright mean to them.

Before May said anything, Tessa groaned and stomped out the door. She spared May and Brendan the slightest of nods as she passed them, and poor Meditite was left to trail pitifully after her. He barely made it through the automatic doors before they closed with a loud swish.

"If I was Team Aqua, I might've tied her up too," May muttered, crossing her arms and glaring out the door.

Brendan rolled his eyes, but she could see a hint of annoyance on his features that wasn't directed at her. Instead of commenting, he pushed her towards the nurse.

"How can I help you?" the woman asked tiredly. There was an aura of relief about her, probably because Tessa was gone.

May handed over her pokeballs, biting her lip as worry replaced her displeasure over Tessa's attitude. Both of her pokemon had taken some pretty bad hits, but she was the most worried about the burn on Soren's leg. Not only was he particularly fragile against fire in the first place, but Houndoom-inflicted burns were known to be some of the hardest in the world to heal (Not to mention the most painful).

"My pokemon battled a houndoom today," May said, trying to keep the shame out of her voice. "I think they got burned pretty badly."

The nurse shook her head, exasperated. "When will you trainers learn…" she grumbled, and then she began typing something in on her computer. Without looking away from her screen, she said, "I'll give you an update in a few minutes. You can wait in the lobby if you'd like."

They wandered over to the abandoned set of cushy couches and armchairs. May took a chair, while Brendan settled on the longest couch so he could fully stretch out his legs. Sand on the cushion scratched against May's thighs, but she was reluctantly growing accustomed to its never-ending presence.

"Soren and Demi will be fine," Brendan said.

May started, realizing that she must look rather mopey with the way she was staring silently down at her hands. She couldn't help it! Despite Steven's earlier words about her being advanced for her level, the reality of what had just happened was sinking in. She had only barely stood up against the houndoom, and what she did do was luck. If Soren hadn't timed his evolution perfectly, then her mistakes could have cost both she and her pokemon dearly.

"I know," May said. Brendan scratched at the side of his face awkwardly and focused on the pattern etched into the couch. As always, he was at a loss when she wasn't either biting his head off, blabbering excitedly, or doing something stupid that he could make fun of.

She frowned. "Brendan?"

He grunted, which she took as the signal to go ahead.

"Do you really believe Groudon and Kyogre exist?"

Brendan paused, and she could tell her question had caught him off guard. He yanked off his hat, exposing his messy black hair to the world, and squeezed the material tightly in his hands.

He looks better without that stupid hat, May thought fleetingly.

"Well," Brendan said, hesitating. "Yeah, I think so."

May furrowed her brow. Deep down, she had always sort of believed that some of the legendary pokemon existed. However, the tiny, pessimistic part of her brought up valid points, such as why nobody had discovered the two massive and incredibly powerful pokemon. Even if they were asleep like the legend told, it seemed so improbable.

"What about other legendary pokemon?" she asked, secretly hoping he believed in them.

Brendan crumpled his hat more tightly than ever, and May realized at once that she had just trod on sensitive ground. To her immense surprise, he didn't explode or draw into his protective shell like usual. Instead, he sighed.

"Yes, because I've seen one."

"What!?" May cried. She shifted so that her knees were tucked in under her and her hands were grabbing the arms of her chair. "When? How? Which one? Where-"

"If I tell you, will you stop yelling? Geez." Brendan cut her off, cupping his ear for effect. She could tell he already regretted mentioning it.

May glowered at him; she hadn't been that loud. However, her curiosity outweighed her irritation by a mile, so she nodded.

He mumbled something, and she had to ask him to repeat himself. He scowled, climbing to his feet. "I said Latias! Now I'm going to bed before you send me into a headache-induced coma."

May jumped up to follow Brendan, ready to question him further. She so rarely got him to open up, so she considered an instance such as this to be a huge breakthrough. To top it off, he had seen Latias! That was far too exciting for her to not have the full story.

However, as Brendan disappeared down the hallway, the bell at the counter jingled and the nurse called, "May, your pokemon's healing session is complete!"

May redirected her path to the nurse's desk at once, although she inwardly promised that she wasn't about to let the subject of Latias die. When she reached the counter, she realized with dread that the nurse only held one pokeball. The woman wasn't smiling.

"Are they okay?" May asked nervously. She stared hard at the pokeball, and after careful observation, she realized that it was Demi's.

"Well," the nurse said. She typed something in on her computer. "Your azurill should be good to go, but I recommend taking it easy for a few days. She's clearly been through a lot. Unfortunately, the burn on your grovyle's leg needs more treatment, and he needs even more extensive rest. It looks like his evolution has taken a toll on him."

May took Demi's pokeball, heart sinking. "But he'll be all right?"

"You can pick him up tomorrow, but he'll need special ointment until it goes away completely. Houndoom burns are nasty, and he was very overexerted."

"Okay. Thanks," May said. Her nerves calmed upon knowing that both of her pokemon were going to be fine, yet she felt surprisingly lonely in knowing that she'd have to spend the night without Soren. Since she'd gotten him, they'd never really been apart.

May glanced at the time on her Pokenav. It was late, but her mind was far too preoccupied for her to consider sleeping anytime soon. She knew that Brendan was probably already in bed asleep (Or at least pretending to be), so she really didn't want to go back to their room.

The beach it is.

As always, the automatic doors squeaked open for her to pass, and the sound of waves crashing filled her ears. May slipped off her sneakers and stuffed them in her backpack so that she could feel the sand against her sore feet. She headed slowly down towards the ocean, pressing the release button on Demi's pokeball as she went.

Demi wiggled her ears and nuzzled into May's calf upon seeing her. She bent down to hug the tiny pokemon to her, relaxing into her soft fur.

"Glad you're okay," May said, smiling.

"Ril!" Demi squeaked back. Her voice was happy, but exhausted.

They started further down the beach with Demi trailing blissfully behind May. She kept alternating between bouncing along on her large tail and using her feet. The sand didn't provide ideal traction for her to hop with, yet it also got in the way when she tried to drag her tail along behind her. Either way, she ended up with several mouthfuls of the fine grains.

May tried to pick her up to solve the issue, but Demi responded by hopping just out of reach. When her trainer grasped at nothing but empty air, she erupted into a fit of giggles.

"Keep tripping then!" May said, but she was also laughing.

It amazed her how playful Demi was even when she was exhausted. She wasn't even bothered by being in the dark, which she normally hated. The night on the ocean with Demi had left her strangely at ease.

They reached the water soon after, close enough so that the cool liquid could lap at May's bare feet. The moon reflected gloriously off the ocean, a large white egg shape swimming with the ripples of the tide. May admired it as best she could while keeping one eye firmly on Demi, who she half expected to hop right into the waves and be lost forever.

The moment of serenity was interrupted by none other than Tessa.

"I'm through with you, Meditite," the girl spat, gazing coldly down at the same meditite from before. They were standing farther from the water than May was, next to one of the houses on the outskirts of Dewford. "I'm sorry, but I can't handle it anymore. I need pokemon who can battle!"

Meditite gasped and looked at her with horrified eyes, but Tessa wasn't done yet. "Don't even start. No matter how much of my time I waste trying to train you, you can't even use your psychic powers. That's the only purpose of you and you can't even do it!"

May's sizzling temper exploded.

"Tessa," she snapped. Even Demi stopped prancing around the water to watch the scene. "It's not his fault that Team Aqua kidnapped you, so just shut up already."

Tessa swiveled around to stare at May with an open mouth. Her shocked expression rapidly transformed into one of anger.

"Mind your own business."

"Stop being a jerk and I will." Lots of other things were on the tip of May's tongue, but she restrained herself. Just barely.

Tessa scowled. "I took off from my job for a month to go catch this stupid pokemon. A month! And now that I've gotten him, he won't even do his job."

"Well no wonder!" May cried, throwing up her hands. Demi blinked up at her trainer, and Meditite shrunk back behind Tessa's legs. "If I had you for a trainer, I wouldn't do anything either! I mean, have you even said one nice thing to him? I doubt Brawly appreciates his trainers acting like you, anyway!"

By the time May's rant was over, she was practically shaking from the release of her anger. Tessa clenched her fists, and May wondered if she was going to punch her. Surprisingly, instead of rearing back to strike, the other girl yanked a pokeball off of her belt and threw it down into the sand.

"Stupid weakling. If he's so pitiful, then you take him."

And Tessa stormed off into the distance, leaving Meditite to fall down to his knees, sobbing.

AN: This chapter probably left some of you with more questions than answers. Yay.

Brawly's personality was super easy to get, although I had to consider Steven's slightly more. I know he has a bigger character in ORAS, but it's still hard for me to put into words. So yeah, I had to think about his a bit because I wanted to get it right, but I'm pretty pleased with the way he turned out. Cool, very intelligent, and just a bit more awkward than one would expect from any famous celebrity that's not Steven ;) And for those of you who were wondering, yes, Tessa is based off of an actual NPC in Brawly's gym. I hope her weirdness and purpose makes more sense now!

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but it keeps slipping my mind. If you'd like to read another great game novelization, I recommend "Titanium" by Ten-Faced. Check it out and leave some reviews, I promise you won't regret it!

The fire type poll is up, so don't forget to vote! And to be honest, I really wasn't completely ready for this update, but I hated to leave you guys hanging with that cliffhanger for too long. That means that the next update will take a while.

Do you prefer Groudon or Kyogre? I've always been a Kyogre kind of girl.