You guys will probably think I'm an insane person, but I was going crazy wanting to get this chapter out already. Know why? I hated having 19 chapters listed. 20 looks like such a better number xD Hahah.

Chapter 19: Under the Bridge

"Are you sure it's not gonna rain?" May asked, for probably the tenth time.

She then lifted her face upwards, as had quickly become her ritual over the past half hour. Not a single sliver of blue peaked through the thick clouds blanketing the morning sky, and the air was heavy with humidity, even for a coastal area.

Brendan's fists tightened around his backpack straps, and May could almost imagine his temple throbbing with annoyance. "If it does, I guess it'll be too late," he said.

It was so going to rain.

"See, you know I was right now," May said, nodding her head in a self-satisfied way. She seriously did not want to start the long trek to Mauville in a downpour, but at least she'd have won the debate she'd had going on with Brendan all morning.

They'd left from Slateport nearly an hour ago after a hurried goodbye to Professor Birch and Noah, who were both returning to Littleroot Town. Noah had hidden his face tellingly in Skipper's fin when he had to watch his big brother leave, but Professor Birch couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Apparently the fact that his oldest son was functioning took a huge priority over the gloom brought on from not seeing him for months.

Brendan rolled his eyes, unwilling to rise to May's bait again. She grumbled to herself and pulled out her Pokenav, another action that she had repeated multiple times that morning. Her eyes trained on the screen, where the map app was highlighting a tiny blob called Mauville City.

"Mauville is a large city located in the heart of the Hoenn region, at the crossroads of its nostalgic past and new technology," were the only words her Pokenav had to describe it.

Even May, with her serious lack of directional skills, could see that it was located a fair ways to the north of Slateport. To reach it, they had to traverse Route 110, a path famous for its manmade land bridge and the Seaside Cycling Road. They hadn't even made it to the large estuary they'd need to cross just yet, so May assumed the trip would take them several days.

Although a part of her still detested walking, she was glad to be back on the road. She'd spent the past several weeks cooped up by the beach, and the only real traveling she'd done had been by boat. It was nice to be moving again.

Mauville also had a pokemon gym. Brendan and the guidebooks told her that it was ran by a man named Wattson, who was an expert at handling the electric type. May wasn't quite sure what to think of that. It left Demi at an immediate disadvantage, and their stay in Slateport had put her training on the backburner for a few days. She'd definitely have a good bit of work to do before she was prepared to face him; she might even need to consider finding another team member.

May absently kicked a pebble across the worn dirt path they were following. Facing Roxanne, and to a much lesser extent, Brawly, had nearly given her a nervous breakdown, and she was still nervous now. However, focusing on Wattson felt amazingly normal compared to Archie, Tabitha, and Blaise Steele.

She clenched her fist. Some hardcore training would also help her protect herself from anyone like them. Even though she was determined to stay away from them from now on, she wanted to be prepared for the worst. Blaise Steele probably cared nothing about her now that the museum ordeal was over, and Tabitha hadn't gotten a good look at her in the darkness of Granite Cave.

Archie, however, had seen she and Brendan as clear as day, and his warning still echoed ominously in May's ears.

You have one chance, you hear me?

Her train of thought crashed and burned when her sneaker scuffed clumsily across a large sprig of grass, knocking her off balance. May gasped and stumbled towards Brendan, where she caught her footing by digging her fingers into his shoulders.

"Whoops," she breathed, releasing him and laughing sheepishly.

"Klutz." He paused and glanced skywards with a frown on his face, as if her near fall was no surprise to him by this point.

May followed his gaze curiously only to be nearly blinded by a tiny drop of liquid to the eye. Oh.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a one-off. The first raindrop was followed by another and then another. She groaned with dread, running her fingers through her short ponytail.

"I told you so!"

"You jinxed us," Brendan argued. Of course he would refuse to admit defeat. May pursed her lips in annoyance.

They walked for what felt like ages in the light drizzle, which slowly seeped into May's clothes and made the fabric stick miserably to her skin. Judging by the way Brendan's own outfit clung to his frame, he was undergoing the same discomfort.

Jinxed us, my butt, May thought, observing Brendan haughtily out of the corner of her eye.

Thankfully, as was customary with most precipitation on the coast, the rain blew away before lunchtime, leaving the sun beaming down on them (And hopefully drying their clothes). At the same time, the ocean became visible through the sparse tree line to their right, and it curved in up ahead to form an estuary.

Above the water, there was a sturdy, high formation of steel that rose into the sky. It zigzagged right over the gleaming ocean, only occasionally crossing over the thin land bridge below it. Even from her position on the ground, May could almost make out the thrilled bicyclers zooming with ease to Mauville.

She enviously wished it wasn't bikes only.

Below Seaside Cycling Road, a seemingly endless strip of land stretched across the inlet. It was so obviously artificial that May doubted for a second that any pokemon would even inhabit it. It had no trees, simply tall grass, shrubs, and possibly the occasional bolder. It rose several feet out of the water, forming a straight cliff of earth that had clearly been assembled by human machinery. At the foot of it, large drains allowed the waves on either side to seep through and mix salt water with fresh.

May eyed it uncertainly. It stretched only a hundred or so yards at its widest width, and there were no trees for cover. Could that really be considered habitat?

"Will there even be any wild pokemon for me to battle?" she asked.

She never really actively hunted down the native pokemon of an area just for training, but she always liked to battle the occasional one who challenged them. It was good practice, especially now when her team needed it so desperately.

"Yeah," Brendan assured her. "Lots."

"Okay-" May began, but a strange sound from far away made her freeze.

"Wahhh. This is awful!"

May wrinkled her brow and slowly turned to look at Brendan. She really hoped he had heard it, too, lest she have to worry she was finally going insane. Thankfully, Brendan was already staring at her with a puzzled expression on his face.

"You… heard that, right?" she asked.

He nodded, straining his face as if he was trying to hear the sound again. May bit her lip, listening. The air was silent apart from the crashing of waves in the distance and the chirping of taillow overhead.

Brendan said, "Well, I guess-"

"Wahhh!"

He made a face. "Never mind."

"We should go check it out," May said, starting towards the land bridge, where the sound seemed to be coming from. One hand rested over her pokeballs, just in case she needed to draw one quickly.

Brendan grumbled something to himself. He stayed where he was for several moments before finally jogging to catch up with May.

"Most people avoid weird noises," he said dryly. May spared him a glance, and when she detected unmistakable curiosity on his face, she knew he didn't really think the sound was dangerous. If he did, he would be putting up much more of a fight.

"I'm not most people."

"No kidding."

May stuck her tongue out at him and continued peering around her surroundings. Across the unnaturally flat surface of the land bridge, the tall grass rose up to her knees in annoyingly itchy blades. Suddenly, she could see how a small pokemon could easily hide there, although the source of the noise was still nowhere to be found.

Then, behind a particularly large bush, May spotted what looked like a cloud spread out across the grass. She squinted her eyes. No, it looked like a cloud with a girl's head in the center.

"No way," Brendan said, surprise coating his voice. May felt the same way, only until she realized that his face was alight with recognition as opposed to confusion.

She did a double take at the cloud-girl, only to realize that it wasn't a cloud at all. There was a girl plopped miserably on the ground, her hair springing up at horrible angles, but what May had mistaken for a cloud was actually wings. A slender, blue neck arose out of them, and she finally saw it for what it was.

An altaria had its cotton-like wings wrapped around the girl in a hug.

The girl was wiping away tears. "Oh, Ali! Why is this so hard?" She sniffled, and a gooey coat of mascara and eyeliner ran down her cheeks. Her hair, a soft shade of aqua, still defied gravity in a terrible way that made May wonder what in the world the poor girl had been through.

Ali cooed, a soft musical sound that seemed capable of producing the sweetest lullaby ever sung. Her small, black eyes darted up to see that she and her trainer had an audience. She lightly nudged the girl with her beak.

The girl glanced up, and her vivid blue eyes widened in horror. She gasped dramatically. "Oh! I can't believe people are seeing me like this."

She wiped desperately at her eyes, but the flood of tears only seemed to increase.

"Hey, it's alright!" May tried, taking a hesitant step towards the girl. She looked back at Brendan for help, but he was pale with unease. He motioned frantically for May to go ahead, looking rather like he wanted to disappear.

She rolled her eyes. Boys.

It wasn't like she was an expert at comforting people, either! But she had to try.

She kneeled down next to the distressed pair and awkwardly reached across Ali's tuff of wings to grasp the girl's shoulder. "What's wrong?''

"Oh, it's so silly," the girl cried. "But this is a disaster. I can't even get to Mauville by myself like a normal trainer, and I couldn't even battle that wild pokemon, it was raining, and it stole my food, and my fans would be so disappointed in me!"

May didn't know what fans the girl was talking about, but she did emphasize with making a fool of herself. "Hey, you should've seen me! I got attacked by wurmple on my first night in the woods!"

The girl sniffed. "But wurmple are so tiny."

Gee, thanks, May thought, but out loud, she said, "Uh, yeah, they are. See, you aren't the only one who makes mistakes!"

"I guess so," the girl said childishly, even though she looked about sixteen. She sighed, and May was relieved to see that the tears seemed to have quelled. "I don't normally meet people like this, but I'm Lisia and this Ali."

May smiled. "I'm May. That's Brendan over there."

"Nice to meet you," Lisia said, beaming. Even through her tear and mascara streaked face and crazy hair, May could see that the girl was stunning. She felt a slight pang of jealousy, but she pushed it aside.

Lisia brushed off Ali's wings and stood. To May's dismay, the other girl was wearing a light blue sundress and strappy silver sandals. To go hiking.

"Oh," Lisia moaned, cupping her hands around her face. "I guess I might as well head back to Slateport. I'll never get to Mauville at this rate! I can only hope no one else sees me like this… I look worse than a slugma underwater."

She illustrated her point by tugging on a lock of frizzy hair.

"What happened?" May asked. She had little doubt that Lisia had initially left Slateport looking like a beauty queen as opposed to the wreck she was now.

Lisia sighed theatrically. "It was an electrike, I think. It shocked Ali and I and stole all of the food that my manager sent with me. It also ruined my hair with its attack!"

"Your manager?" May repeated, confused, but Lisia continued obliviously.

"I'm not really very good at battling," she admitted. Her glossy pink lips quivered. "Ali's strong, I know it, but I've only trained him for contests. And that electrike was like super fast. It knew what it was doing!"

Ali's a him? May thought. The feminine name didn't help, but he'd just seemed far too beautiful to be a boy. With his gleaming blue feathers and downy tuffs of wings, Ali was one of the most gorgeous pokemon May had ever laid eyes on.

"I just really wanted to prove that I could make it to my next contest on foot, like a real trainer."

Lisia looked at the ground. She seemed utterly depressed with herself.

"Well, I mean… "May began. Her eyes darted to Brendan for confirmation, but he was still standing far away, as if he thought Lisia carried a contagious disease. She really didn't know if she was doing the right thing, but they couldn't just abandon Lisia as she was. "You can come with us to Mauville. We have some food, and my pokemon can protect us."

"What?" Brendan stuttered in the background, but he was ignored.

Lisia's face lit up like a beacon. "You mean it? Oh, this is going to be so totally awesome!"

She lunged forward and enveloped May in an ursaring hug that should've been impossible with her bony arms. Lisia's wild hair was everywhere, in May's mouth, in her eyes, and she could barely breathe with the other girl's grip around her. Her shoulders drooped in relief when she was finally released.

"I don't usually get to hang out with friends," Lisia tittered excitedly. Then her eyes widened as if she had suddenly remembered something horrifying, and her hands shot to her hair. "Oh. But dear Kyogre, let me do something to this hair first! Oh, and this awful makeup."

Lisia dug rapidly around in her purse before she finally pulled out a mirror, a brush, and some beauty products to go to work. May was quite sure she didn't own that much makeup, much less carry it around with her in the wilderness. She nervously crept over to Brendan.

"Who is she?" she whispered, furrowing her brow. Lisia kept mentioning fans, and Brendan had seemed to recognize her. She'd also said something about coordinating, but May had never really followed the contest world. She'd always been more interested in competitive battling, like her father.

Brendan watched Lisia awkwardly for a moment before turning his attention to May. Quietly, he said, "Lisia Halio. Her whole family is big in Hoenn. Her uncle, Wallace, is the Sootopolis gym leader, and Lisia's a celebrity now because she's the top coordinator in the region."

May raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But she's our age!"

Brendan never responded, for Lisia came bounding over to them. Her hair was newly done up into a perfect, bouncy ponytail, and her makeup had been flawlessly painted over. Ali fluttered along behind her.

Geez, why does she look so nice out here? May couldn't help but glance subtly down at her own mud-stained sneakers and athletic-style attire. Oh Suicune, now I feel like a boy.

"Oh, thank you such much, May! You guys are completely amazing!" Lisia gushed. Her bright eyes fell on Brendan, and she smiled. "Hi, Brendan. It's great to meet you!"

Brendan blinked. "Uh, you too," he mumbled, digging his sneaker into a wad of grass uncomfortably.

Lisia didn't remove her gaze, observing him in a way that was almost pensive. An unpleasant feeling stabbed lazily at the pit of May's stomach, and she frowned. What was so interesting about Brendan?

Lisia's smile grew wider. "I remember you! My uncle thought you were going to win the Ever Grande Conference the same year I became a master coordinator! But… For some reason you didn't compete, right? That stinks."

May winced. Oh great…

Brendan's expression became carefully closed off. Red flags went up immediately in May's mind. Even though he'd finally told her a little bit about Sirius, they hadn't broached the topic of his training career since, and she really didn't think he was about to start now with a random stranger.

She hurriedly stepped in front of Brendan. "Ready to go? Mauville's waiting!"

Lisia, of course, didn't turn her down. "Oh. Yes! This is gonna be so fun!"

Crisis averted, they continued down the land bridge, where vast expanses of water extended on either side of them into the horizon. Occasionally, May could even make out colorful sailboats entering and leaving Slateport's harbor in the distance.

She had little time to enjoy the scenery, however.

May honestly thought it would be a bit quiet and awkward with a third person they didn't really know, but Lisia was a complete chatterbox. She told them about her next contest in Verdanturf, and how even though she was going to Mauville with them, she was still determined to get to Verdanturf alone once she bought more supplies. It was close by Mauville and it was a very simple path to get there, according to Lisia.

Thinking of Verdanturf reminded May of Wally, who she was surprisingly eager to see again. They'd have to pay him a visit, for sure. Maybe they could even have another slumber party!

May couldn't dwell on Wally for long, as Lisia quickly moved on to topics other than Verdanturf. Brendan wasn't providing much assistance in socializing with the girl, so it was all up to May to nod and smile along as Lisia talked their ears off.

"-and Lilycove really does have the best department store, May! It's dazzling. You've got to go!"

"Sure I will," May said, fighting back a huge grin. A mall that enormous did sound incredible, but for the time being, she was more entertained by observing Brendan out of the corner of her eye. He'd been tugging his beanie over his ears and squashing his face into pained expressions ever since Lisia had abandoned the topic of pokemon for more girly subjects.

She finally lost the battle against her grin. "Doesn't that sound fun, Brendan?"

He shot her a look could melt a vanilluxe. "I can't wait."

Lisia peered around May in surprise, her hand covering her mouth to muffle her giggle. She looked thrilled. "You like shopping?"

May snorted out a loud burst of laughter, which resulted in another glower of death from Brendan. He came to a sudden halt, determinedly staring off at the dulling sky instead of responding.

"Let's camp here," he muttered, throwing down his backpack.

May frowned. They were still in the middle of the land bridge, but the other side of the route was only a speck in the distance. Unless they wanted to keep traveling into the night, they had little choice but to camp on the thin strip of ground.

"Fine." She shrugged.

"We'll have a great view. Look how ah-mazing the sky looks!" Lisia raved, perfect teeth flashing at the sunset. She paused for a moment, and her face morphed into one of contemplation as she stared at the beautiful altaria at her feet. The expression seemed strangely out of place on her. "Hm. I wonder if I could get Ali's dragon pulse that color…"

Brendan grunted something to himself, and May rolled her eyes at him. She didn't really know squat about contests, but she could at least agree that an attack that color would be nice to look at. "It'd be pretty-"

A light crackle made her freeze. She abruptly spun around, eyes shooting to a tall cluster of grasses behind them.

Nothing else stirred. It took May several moments to register that both of her companions had fallen silent. She turned back around just in time to see Brendan lean meaningfully towards Lisia and say, "She has a few screws loose-"

"I do not," May said hotly. She clenched her fists and pursed her lips. "I heard something!"

Brendan raised his eyebrows, while Lisia blinked worriedly at her. "I didn't hear anything, May…" she said, peeking down at Ali. "Did you?"

"Tiaa," Ali cooed, shaking his head. He seemed almost as stumped as his trainer.

May crossed her arms, glaring down at the grass. It was as stubbornly still as ever, so she sighed in defeat.

"Whatever." She tossed her backpack to the ground and nudged it towards Brendan with her foot. Slowly, her eyes trailed up to him, and she put a sugary sweet smile on her face. "I'll just trust you, Brendan. You know what you're talking about, after all."

Brendan scowled. "No, I'm not setting up your tent."

Lisia bounced happily in her sandals next to Brendan. "I have one! May and I can share if you'd like to do it instead!"

"I'm not setting up any tents," he reaffirmed quickly.

Lisia's lower lip popped out into a perfect pout that May wished she could imitate. Instead, she huffed, blowing up a few wisps of light brown bangs off of her forehead. Brendan appeared surprisingly unaffected by both girls' displays.

"Hmph. Would you rather cook?" May challenged.

"I'd rather you didn't."

She smacked him on the arm, and he groaned.

"Fine, fine. Give me the stupid tent." Brendan irately took the small bag from Lisia's eager hands and set to work on her tent. Although it was contained in an even smaller capsule than May's, she could immediately tell that the actual tent was far finer than her own. It must have cost a fortune.

Just how famous was this girl?

As Brendan continued fiddling with the expensive tent, May released both of their pokemon and poured them some Pokechow before glumly appraising their supper prospects. Truth be told, she could probably set up her own tent by this point (She'd watched Brendan set it up enough times, surely), and she could probably do it better than she could cook.

She got sick sense of pleasure out of getting Brendan to do it for her. Sue her!

"Ooooh, what are we having?" Lisia asked, leaning over May's shoulder.

"Uh. Ramen?" she decided. Upon second thought, she added, "Probably burnt ramen."

Lisia frowned. "Can you burn ramen?"

"I can," May mumbled, although she wasn't sure if the other girl heard her. "Hey, Neptune, Orion. Can you help me?"

With a little assistance from Brendan's two pokemon, who solved her fire and water problems, respectively, May got the noodles going over a small flame. As she cooked, Soren slid his bowl of Pokechow over from where the other pokemon were and sat close enough to her so that he was leaning against her crossed legs. His sharp golden eyes alternated between watching the fire and Ali lazily.

"You can't have people food just because you're being sweet," May said, glancing down at him with a raised eyebrow. Despite her words, she practically glowed with happiness at his rare show of affection.

"Vyle," he muttered.

"He's so cute, May," Lisia said. She cupped her hands beneath her chin and beamed down at Soren fondly.

"Gro grovyle!" Soren cried, glaring at Lisia. The leaf on his head flared up in protest.

"Cool, she meant cool," May said, nudging Soren back on his haunches with a spare hand. She shot Lisia a meaningful look, and somewhat surprisingly, she caught the hint. Lisia zipped her lips about Soren and instead turned to her bag.

After a moment of shuffling, she pulled out a fancy container filled with what looked vaguely like cupcakes. They were iced in all colors of the rainbow, and May found herself staring open-mouthed over her cooking pot as the other girl handfed a pink one to Ali. The altaria gobbled it up in delight, and when he was finished, not a single crumb lined his beak.

Lisia giggled. "Yummy, huh? It's a special occasion, so a few extra calories won't hurt."

"What are those?" May blurted, her mouth practically watering. Soren had perked up against her side, although his gaze on the bland Pokechow beneath him seemed innocent enough. She knew better.

"Oh- they're pokepuffs! They're all that electrike didn't steal," Lisa said, smiling. "Does Soren want one?"

"Aw, I thought they were cupcakes!" May cried.

Brendan snorted from in under a mass of tent poles, but she deliberately looked at Soren instead. The grass-type was showing no clear desire for a pokepuff, yet the hopeful flaring of his nostrils gave him away. May smiled, bemused. "Yeah, I think so."

As May gingerly took a chocolate one for Soren, Lisia was swarmed by two blurs of red and blue. Orion loomed over her, gazing at her with wide azure eyes, while Demi pawed cutely at her legs. The rest of the pokemon hung back, but their longing expressions told all.

"Oh." Lisia laughed pleasantly. "Of course you can have some! There should be enough for everyone here!"

Demi swallowed hers in one gulp, prompting Lisia to coo, "Adorable!"

The marill's round ears twitched, and she smiled up at the girl through a stuffed mouth lined with icing. "Ril!"

"Blaze." Orion nudged Lisia pleadingly.

"Oh alright. Which one do you want?"

His eyes raked over the selection of pokepuffs before landing on one in the center. It was glorious, topped with beautiful blue icing and silver swirls. He shoved his clawed finger in its direction eagerly.

"Okie dokie! Here you go-"

As Lisia held Orion's chosen pokepuff out to him, the grass May had been suspicious of before abruptly burst apart to reveal a blurred green figure. It shot into their campsite at lightening speed, moving so quickly that she could hardly make it out. In a millisecond, it had zipped by Lisia and snatched the pokepuff right out from in between her fingers.

The creature paused at the edge of their clearing, grinning back at them wickedly around the pokepuff in its mouth. Its green fur cackled before releasing a wild burst of electricity in every direction.

May cringed, but when the blinding flash ceased, the pokemon (An electrike, she realized subconsciously) was gone. She blinked, her gaze falling on Orion in front of her. His feathers were slightly singed, and they stood up in every direction rather like Lisia's hair had earlier. His claws clenched into furious fists.

Beside him, Lisia and Ali had somehow avoided the blast and were staring up at Orion in amazement. Dazedly, May reached to pat at her own hair only to discover that it was still lying miraculously flat.

That electrike had purposefully zapped Orion, seemingly to rub the fact that he'd just stolen his pokepuff in his beak.

That takes guts, May realized, as Soren snickered beside her. I could use that…

"Blaziken!" Orion stomped his foot, looking uncharacteristically scary. Small bursts of flame sizzled around his hands, and he charged off into the field of grass after the electrike.

"Orion!" Brendan yelled, probably afraid his pokemon was about to set the entire land bridge aflame. For her part, May was already scrambling to her feet after Orion in a split second decision, and her fingers latched around her backpack containing all of her supplies. The ramen bubbled in the pot, forgotten, but all May could think of was that the electrike had stood up to a fully evolved altaria and blaziken.

She wanted it on her team. Badly.

"Hey, Orion, don't hurt him, I'm gonna catch him!" May exclaimed, clumsily trailing behind the enraged blaziken. Thinking better of her actions, she added, "C'mon, Soren!"

Hoping at least one of her pokemon gathered the senses to follow her, May charged through the grass. She came upon Orion, who had managed to corner the electrike between him and the water below. To his credit, the much smaller pokemon glared back at Orion confidently, pokepuff still latched between his jaws.

"Orion!" May cried, rashly running over to the fuming bipedal bird. She grasped his arm, and she was alarmed to feel that his feathers were far hotter than normal.

"Blaziken, blaze!" Orion cried, but he seemed to melt under her pleading look. "Blaze…"

At that moment, Soren came darting through the bushes. His yellow eyes glared at all three of them, as if he couldn't decide whom he was the most annoyed with. Eventually, he seemed to settle on Electrike.

"Gro," he said, making a threatening gesture with one of his clawed fingers. It was clearly his way of saying, "Bring it on bro."

To May's shock (And Soren's dismay), Electrike plopped down on his butt. His black eyes shown with unmistakable challenge, and he slowly chewed the pokepuff, as if he were savoring the moment.

"Trike," he said when he was done, fluffing the fur on his chest. He wiped the icing off of his mouth and turned as if to leave.

"Grovyle, gro!" Soren raised his voice. May and Orion could only watch, dumbfounded.

"Ela, electrike." Electrike picked up his pace, completely dismissing Soren's challenge.

May clenched her fists, suddenly feeling a rush of annoyance to rival her pokemon's. "I don't think so. Bullet seed!"

Electrike had almost reached a run, but Soren's practice with balance and moving targets back in Dewford hadn't been for naught. He leaned forwards and shot a round of seeds from his mouth at rapid fire, most of which collided with Electrike's turned back.

The impact caused Electrike to recoil in pain and then trip over the grass beneath him. He regained his footing, and electricity danced across his fur, which was suddenly standing on end in fury. He spun back around, tiny fangs flashing.

"Trike!" he barked, and the sparks transformed into powerful strands of lightening that streaked across the surroundings.

May froze, terrified. A bolt was coming straight for her! This was nothing like the harmless attack back at camp; this looked bad. In a last desperate attempt, she threw her hands across her face in preparation to be fried.

However, instead of lightening coursing through her fragile body, two heated, impossibly strong arms wrapped around her and carried her to the ground with them. Her jaw jarred upon impact, but May hardly registered the pain as she saw Orion's blazing leg curve masterfully in an arc above them, singing the electricity away in a whirl of fire.

"Oh my Suicune," she stammered, as Orion sprung off of his back to bring them upright. He released her from his arms, and for a moment she doubted whether her trembling legs would support her. She had almost been electrocuted!

Get a grip, May, she chided herself. Soren still needed her to focus. She let out a shaky breath.

Splotches of grass all around them had been blackened, yet Soren seemed relatively unaffected. Apart from the angry tenseness in his shoulders, he was fine. May mentally praised every legendary she could think of that electric attacks weren't very effective against him.

Electrike, meanwhile, was panting after the release of so much power. Soren glanced back at May, and upon seeing her nervous state, a low hiss arose in his throat. If she thought he had been angry before, she had thought wrong.

Electrike's fur sparked again, but this time, the electricity was noticeably calmer. He gritted his teeth in frustration and charged forward, leaning his head down like a tauros ready to gut his opponent with his horns.

"Meet it with leaf blade!" May said, managing to collect her senses.

The leaf on Soren's arm glowed green and sharpened like a grass sword, which he swung mightily towards Electrike as soon as he was in striking distance. Electrike snarled and leaped over it at the last minute in an impressive show of speed, but he wasn't the only one with amazing reflexes. Just before his attack hit, Soren powered up his opposite leaf and sliced it across Electrike's muzzle.

Electrike let out an involuntary whimper, yet he staggered back onto his paws as if he was prepared to fight Soren until he literally could move no longer. Soren bunched his muscles in eager anticipation of the challenge.

May, however, had had enough. Her hand groped over a pokeball in her bag—the greatball Ronald had given her, she realized—and she hurled it in Electrike's direction with all her might.

Please don't miss please don't miss, she begged, and thankfully, the ball smacked Electrike on the forehead and sucked him inside.

May couldn't help but bite her lip as the blue ball shook. One… two… three… And then the click of a successful capture rang throughout the air.

"Thank Latios," May said, grinning as she picked up the greatball. The electrike was powerful, she could tell. He seemed to have a bit of an attitude, but once he learned how to better control his attacks, she just knew he'd be gold. "We have a new teammate to help beat Wattson!"

Soren glared at the greatball with intense dislike. "Gro."

"Blaziken," Orion said, and he exchanged an unusual glance with Soren. May got the distinct feeling that they'd come to a strong agreement that neither of them liked Electrike.

"You boys will have to be nice to him. He's going to be around for a while," she said. The others had learned to get along for the most part, after all. Soren had been so jealous of Orion upon first meeting him, and now they were fine. "You'll be best friends in no time."

Soren rolled his eyes, and Orion squawked out a laugh. May shot them both a disproving look and slowly started back in the direction of their camp, staring at Electrike's pokeball in deep concentration.

"I think he's a Gunner," she decided. It was the easiest nickname for her to think of yet.

It definitely fits, she thought wryly, remembering how she'd almost been cooked by that out-of-control discharge attack.

May had just spotted Lisia's hand excitedly waving at her over their newly erected tent when her Pokenav buzzed in her pocket. She answered it, blinking curiously.

"Hello?"

"May?" Relief seeped through to the core of her being when she recognized the sound of her father's voice. He was finally back at his gym! "You called? Are you okay?"

He sounded exhausted, but she couldn't help but grin. Whatever he'd been so busy with, it seemed like it was finally over. She was sure it was just some sort of gym leader's business that wouldn't concern her.

"Daddy, you won't believe the pokemon I just caught! Oh, and I wanted to tell you about my battle against Brawly…"

AN: None of you guys guessed who May was going to meet this chapter XD Lisia, Ali, and Gunner! Most of you said Wally, which was probably the most obvious choice, but I'm guessing some of you are just ready to see him again. Don't worry, I've got that covered and I'm so pumped about it! He's got a nice little arc coming up : )

Halio is Latin for "of the sea", which I thought was fitting for Wallace's family. I refused to have Lisia hiking in that contest outfit, so she's wearing a sundress. It's still ridiculous for traveling, but I think it suits her. Also, I thought it would only be natural for May to compare herself to a girl like Lisia at their age.

What's your favorite fossil pokemon? I actually think most of them are pretty cool, but today I'm gonna go with Aerodactyl.