Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.
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Brendan got down on one knee and patted Aster's head with one hand. "You be a good girl, okay?" He then got back up and smiled to his little friend, while trying his best to not show any sign of sadness to her.
"Mur, Mur!" Aster jumped happily a few times in front of him and then turned away, walking with haste towards Zinnia.
The woman picked her little girl and put the tiny ball of a Pokémon in front of her, on top of the Salamence. "She's always a good girl, right Aster?" Zinnia gave a soft pinch on one of Aster's ears.
"Mur, Mum!" Aster cried loudly, swinging her head to the sides.
"You take care too." Brendan waved to Zinnia, a genuine smile showing on his lips. "It was good to see you again."
"Yeah, I enjoyed my night here too." She replied with a wide grin. "Don't be a stranger, okay?"
"That will be hard, considering that I'm always strange." The Pokémon Champion ran one hand on the end of his long hair, making a goofy face. "But maybe I can make an exception… Just for Aster."
"You really are cute, you know that?" The Draconid woman smiled and shook her head. "If Only I didn't had stuff to do, I could just stay here with you."
"No thanks." Brendan laughed nervously. "Nothing of good can come of a guy and a girl sharing a house, like this…"
"Hahah, I was thinking of some bad things we could do under that roof." Zinnia laughed and patted her Salamence on the back. "I guess we are totally in sync on that."
With a mighty roar, the blue dragon ascended to the sky, carrying his trainer and the little Whismur on his back.
"See you later, Aster…" Brendan lowered his head, finally expressing his sadness with a dry smile. "And you too, crazy woman."
A few beeping sounds coming from the device on his pocket, got Bredan's attention. He pulled his Pokénav out and noticed a new message waiting for him.
'A new challenger is entering the halls. Battle against the Elite Four will commence at any moment.'
"Another one, huh?" Brendan looked towards the big tower, south of his house. "Maybe I will get to battle someone again."
With the wild visitor gone and Aster leaving together with her, the champion's life is set to change, in one way or another. But, for now, his day starts on the same peaceful way as before.
Deep beneath a cave on the sea of Lilycove City, a new group of people is slowly filling the empty spaces left by the now scattered Team Magma. A new organization coming to life within the ashes of the destroyed Team Rocket. After the crushing defeat against the now legendary Pokémon Trainer Red, Giovanni has finally found his new purpose and the right people to drive forward his will.
The mastermind of the new Team Rainbow Rocket, is currently sitting in front of his desk, analyzing all the data and personal files gathered around him. While Giovanni is busy scheming the next step on his plans, the grunt members are relentlessly working on changing their new occupied base to a proper and respectable state.
A couple of knocks sounded on the metal door catching Giovanni's attention. "You may enter." He said with a stern voice, putting a handful of papers down on the table.
With their leader's command, a mysterious person entered the room slowly pacing his steps as they walked inside. "You called, boss?" The shadowy figure said with a cool masculine voice, the man hiding himself beneath a large and dark coat, which with the help of the dark lighting of the place, is completely hiding his face and features.
"Yes I called, but not only you." Giovanni responded with an annoyed expression. "Where are the others?" He carefully watched the man's figure as he asked.
"Don't need to trouble your big heart with this, boss." Responded the man. "They are all coming, just a bit of delay on the way, you know… the usual stuff."
Giovanni relaxed his expression and turned his chair around, facing completely away from his underling. "That maybe be true, but I don't have the time nor the patience to wait another week for their arrival." He stretched his right arm to the side, reaching with his hand a cup of wine sitting on the desk. "So you will have to do this alone for now."
A few chuckles escaped the robed man's mouth. "Then lucky you that I was the one to arrive early, huh?"
The boss man turned his seat around and gave a fierce, burning glare to the other man. "Rush, I will not accept failures, do you hear me?"
The man called Rush pulled the hood from his head, revealing a bright pale skin, a light moss-green somewhat long spiked hair, going as far as his shoulders, shining emerald eyes and a large overconfident smirk. "I hear you, boss. This will be a walk in the park, like always."
Taking a large sip from his wine cup, Giovanni closed his eyes and sighed. "I have chosen you because of how strong and skilled you are. But your personality is always such a trouble." He placed the cup back on the table and stood up from his large chair. "The target is not a simple trainer. He is the Hoenn champion, take this seriously."
"To me that is just a simple Pokémon trainer." Rush frowned and rubbed his left cheek. "You worry too much, boss. Is not like this guy is Red or anything like that."
This time Giovanni was the one to let out a little chuckle, he closed his eyes and got a very vivid image from his past flashing in his mind. "I once underestimated a trainer and that led me and my organization to our ruin. Remember, even Red was a nobody before he became what he is today." He walked forward and patted his young underling on his left shoulder. "But like I said, the target is already a Pokémon champion. Don't, underestimate, him."
This time Rush didn't said any funny remark back, instead he only eyed his master on the eyes and nodded. "I will do as you command, master Giovanni." With a swift change of behavior, the young green-haired trainer nodded his head one last time and walked out of the room.
Giovanni watched through the windows as his promising new follower left the corridor with a new found determination. He then went back to his large padded chair, taking hold of the papers in front of him. "This time… I will change the world." His eyes stared at a particular piece of paper with a picture of a young Brendan in his mid-teen years on it. "And I will start with you, guardian of Hoenn."
After a little disappointment on the league's halls, Brendan took a time for himself and walked over to a little café on the center of Ever Grande City.
"Welcome, please enter-" The owner of the shop walked over, she is an older woman with grey hair. As soon as she landed eyes on the young man entering, a warm smile crossed her face. "Good job at work today." She said with a soft and caring voice.
"Thank you." Brendan said rubbing his left cheek with one finger, a shy smile shining on his lips.
"I have your table reserved for you." She pointed to the far corner of the café, a little hidden spot close to the wall and the back windows, with a small table and two chairs. Perfect for anyone that doesn't like to stand out.
Ever since he became the Champion of Hoenn, Brendan spends a few minutes of his days on this place. He found this little shop by chance as he tried to find a safe place to hide form a dire storm; now this is like his second house, and the owner takes great pleasure of recieving the young man here to for having lunch at her store.
As per usual, he quickly walked over to his spot, sitting one the chair closest to the wall, having a giant window on his left side. Since he is always here, Brendan doesn't even need to order his food anymore, because it takes no more than a few moments to the old owner to show up with a tray full of all kind of different dishes for him.
"Here, something for your appetite." The old woman appeared with a small cup of tea.
"Black tea?" Brendan smiled after getting close to the scent of fresh tea. "Thank you, granny Gin."
"Oh you, don't mention it." The woman smiled chirpily and took a seat on the free chair in front of Brendan. "Say kiddo, would you do a favor for old granny Gin?"
"For you? Anything." He replied back.
"See that young boy over there?" Gin turned just a bit to the side, pointed to a table on the other side of the building. "He is such a cutie pie and a really passionate kid about Pokémon." She turned over and leaned in closer to Brendan. "I heard he is a big fan of a certain Pokémon trainer, who just happen to come to my shop every day."
Brendan tilted his chair to the side and eyed the spot where she pointed before. A young boy is happily chatting with his mother, they both enjoying their meal while a little Aron is lying on the seat next to the boy.
"Want me to go and say hi to him?" Brendan asked a bit unsure.
"That would be lovely." Gin giggled and clapped her hands. "I will leave you to it and go prepare your special order." She gave him a quick wink and quickly disappeared towards the kitchen.
With a low sigh, Brendan got up from him seat and slowly walked over to the boy's table. "Uhm… Hi." Brendan said a bit awkwardly, as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry to bother, but I would like to speak with you for a few moments. If that is not a problem."
The boy looked upwards and then froze on his seat, his mouth agape. The mother looked a bit annoyed at first, but as her eyes landed on Brendan's features, her expression changed to a very eager smile.
"Oh my, is not a bother at all." The young woman said happily. "Would you like to have a seat?"
"M-m-m-m-MOM!" The boy yelled ever so high. "He is, he is!" Unable to talk properly, the young trainer shuffled around on his big backpack and took a bit old magazine, showing it to his mother. "Look!"
A very big picture of Brendan is showing at the cover of the magazine, with a bright text in golden colors on top of it. 'The new Pokémon champion is a dashing young man!' This is a picture they took of him almost three years ago, his hair was still short and he was using a very wild and daring costume for his contest presentation.
"The Champion?!" The woman eyed him with a new found curiosity. "She clapped her hands together and smiled to her son.
The boy jumped out of his chair, almost launching himself to the ceiling. He landed in front of Brendan, his eyes shining and his lips trembling. "It's you, The Champion! I can't believe it!" All the commotion was enough to wake up the little white and grey Pokémon sleeping on the chair. Aron jumped down on the ground and began to run around his trainer.
"You can call me Brendan." Brendan kneeled in front of the boy and smiled. "What's your name?" He raised his right hand in front of the little trainer.
"It's T-Tim." Still trembling without control, the boy did his best to raise his hand and reach out to Brendan's in a firm handshake.
"Nice to meet you, Tim." Responded Brendan, which made the boy squeal in return.
Tim looked to his mother with a big wide grin, then he lowered his head and all his excitement died out.
"What's wrong sweetie? Aren't you happy that you met your hero?" His mother said with a calm voice.
"But mom, if Brendan is here… Then big brother didn't make to the end." Tim said almost crying.
'Big brother?' Brendan eyed the kid at bit closer and noticed something familiar about him. "Your brother is a young trainer with a blue cap and brown shirt?" He asked the boy.
"Yeah. Did you see him?" He asked back with a bit of hope.
Brendan nodded, a short grin appearing on his lips. "I saw him battle the Elite Four just earlier. It's a shame he couldn't pass, but he is a great trainer. You should feel proud of him."
"Eric lost?" The mother let out a sigh. "So that is why he is taking so long to come back…" She got up and walked over to her youngest son. "We came to Ever Grand to support him, he said that he would become the new champion for sure. Poor boy, he is probably feeling guilty and doesn't want to tell us that he lost."
"There is no shame in losing, that only makes you stronger." Brendan said with a stern voice. "He should feel proud that he could challenge the strongest of Hoenn, and next he should muster his courage to go even higher."
Little Tim's eyes sparkled with inspiration, the boy could only stare in awe at Brendan.
"And you?" Brendan pointed to the boy. "Do you want to be the champion some day?" He asked with a chirp smirk.
"Yes, I do!" The boy replied with a loud voice.
"Then let me test your strength." The young man raised his left arm and held the palm of his hand in front of the boy. "Punch me with all you got."
The boy eyed his mother, feeling a bit unsure. The woman smiled and nodded, giving Tim enough courage to do exactly as Brendan said. His fist flew at his idol's hand and then a smacking sound echoed around them.
"Hm…" Brendan looked at him with a serious gaze. "Now command your Pokémon to head butt my hand.
Tim nodded and pointed forward. "Aron, use Tackle" The little steel Pokémon cried out happily and jumped forward, smacking his head against Brendan's hand.
"Yeah, I can see a lot of promise on you two." Brendan nodded with a serious face. "If you train with dedication and take very good care of your Pokémon friends, you will be even stronger than me."
"Really?" Tim asked, his eyes shining with so much joy that almost looked like he was starting to cry. "Did you heard him, mom?"
"I sure did, sweetie." The woman patted her son's head. "Why don't we go and find your brother, to give him the good news?"
"Okay." Tim nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, Good bye Brendan." He waved one hand, a really big smile on his lips. Then he dashed out of the building, the little Aron following him close behind.
"He really is energetic, isn't he?" She said, watching through the windows her little boy jumping with joy outside. "Thank you for being so kind to him." She took three steps forward and leaned over, kissing Brendan softly on his left cheek. With that, the young mother ran outside, meeting with her son. Both quickly walking away in search of the big brother.
"You sure have a kind heart, don't you?" A soft elderly voice sounded from behind. "The boy is over the moon with happiness and If my old sight is not failing me, I think the mother was also very pleased with your presence." Gin tapped Brendan's back and laughed. "You can't spend a day without making a lady fall for you, can you?"
Her comment made the young man blush and shake his head. "Come on granny, is not like that. Beside when was the last time I made someone fall for me?"
"You can play dumb all you want, but I know how women thinks…" The grey haired woman eyed him and sighed. "Or maybe you are just plain dumb, hohoho."
"Come on Brendan, it will not be that bad." Steven said with a chuckle. "I talk with experience on this."
"I… I don't know. I like it here, it's nice and cozy." Brendan pointed to his house right behind of him. "And no trouble and way less people."
"No, not this time." The light steel-haired man shook his head. "Last time I let you convince me, but this time we are going… Trust me, you need a bit of distraction."
Brendan tried to argue against it for a few more minutes, but in the end, he got dragged by Steven to Slateport City, he was not really dragged all the way there, they flied on Latios to the bustling port city.
They landed on the clear sands of the beach, Brendan patted his blue Pokémon friend on his head and dismissed him; and with that Latios flew away to do whatever he was doing before Steven called him with Brendan's Eon Flute.
"Can you feel it?" Steven said closing his eyes. "Even the air here is different."
"More polluted?" Brendan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"More human energy… Stop being a downer." The former champion snapped his fingers two times and did a spin, turning to face the city. "Let's see what we can find here, with so much interesting things around, anything can happen."
Brendan did not respond, he only followed his friend while staring at his back with suspicious eyes. As they entered the bright stone streets, the abnormal amount of people walking around got his attention.
"Is there anything happening here?" Brendan noticed on the corner of his eyes a few new stalls on the open market area.
"Very observant of you." Steven smiled. "They are holding a festival here today, a celebration about the new season that is starting."
"A festival to celebrate fall?" Brendan let out a few chuckles, but as his gaze followed all the people laughing and having fun, his reaction changed to a sincere smile. "Maybe this is not that bad."
"Right?" Steven laughed sincerely. "Come, let's check inside the market square."
Squeezing their way between a few people, they walked in to the center of the festivities. Steven quickly 'disappeared' towards a stall selling very rare and sparkling rocks. Brendan on the other hand made a quick tour between a few vendors and interesting shops, a little nostalgic feeling taking over him.
"Look mom, dad. They have Pokémon plush." A little girl ran past Brendan, she is holding a large candy on one hand and a little Mudkip doll on the other one. Their parents walking side by side, holding their hands together and watching their little daughter waving one hand happily.
Just for a moment, he saw a little version of himself doing something very similar and then his parents following after him. "I really liked this kind of stuff, huh?" With a bittersweet smile, Brendan walked over to the candy stall and got one of the really big swirl lollipops. And just like he gone back to being a little boy again, he began to lose himself on the sugar filled nostalgia.
"Brendan?!" A very familiar voice called him from behind, a voice that Brendan could never forget, and just from hearing again his heart began to ache.
Still holding the tip of the lollipop with his lips, Brendan slowly turned his head to the side and got a full view of the girl calling out to him. "May?" He said back, his teeth clenching on the candy inside his mouth.
"Hah, I didn't know that you had a sweet tooth." May said with a warm smile.
Just then he noticed how ridiculous he looks like with the giant and colorful candy hanging on his mouth. "Ah, no… I don't like candy that much." Brendan quickly pulled the lollipop away, trying to hide it behind him.
May stared at him with curious, wondering eyes. She held her hands behind her back and began to swing back and forward, like a little girl would do. "Can we talk?" She said with a pleading voice.
Surprised and a bit confused, Brendan only nodded his head. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head, quietly following the young woman out of the market square, going towards the lighthouse area. They sat together on the steps going upwards to the lighthouse. A few other people hanging out close to the shore, most of them are couples enjoying the cool breeze of the late afternoon.
For a moment there was only silence between them, Brendan kept his gaze away from the woman at sitting by his side. While May watched his face with the corner of her eye. "Aster is not with you today?" She asked, finally making him look to her.
"No, she… is not living with me anymore. Her mother came back and they left together." His face showed a pained expression as he spoke.
"Her mother?!" May's mind went away, imagining a big female Exploud showing up on Brendan's front door.
Her confused gaze made him let out a little chuckle. "Her real trainer, but they are so close that it feels more like mother and daughter." Brendan explained. "This trainer helped me with something and when everything was over, she left Aster behind to go on a journey by herself."
"Oh, so it's a girl." May said back. "Are you two close?" She asked with interest.
"Not really, I know her, but nothing much pass that." He scratched the back of his head, messing with his hair. "Ah… I really miss Aster and not even a day has passed since she left."
"Hm… I didn't know that Aster had a 'mother'. But I always knew that she has a father." May raised her hand and with one finger poked Brendan on his left cheek. Then she trailed her hand a bit to the side, slightly running the tip of her fingers on Brendan's long hair. "Why did you let your hair grow up like this?"
Brendan got a bit startled by her question, he pulled a bit away from her and looked to the other side. "I just forgot to cut and it ended up like this." Using one hand, he calmly pulled his hair together and arranging it on loose ponytail.
"I like it, it's very pretty." May said with a wide smile.
To her simple and sincere compliment, Brendan could only nod back in response, a shy smile showing on his lips.
"How do I look?" She asked with an amused grin. "Come on, look at me."
His eyes wandered back to her, his gaze losing itself on her figure. His heart began to beat fast and his hand slowly sliding forward trying to reach out to her. 'She is even more beautiful than before…' Brendan leaned just an inch closer to her, his eyes never leaving her warm gaze.
"Brendan?" May asked, tilting her head to the side.
"You look amazing." He said with a smile, getting out of the trance. His response making the young woman blush and giggle.
"I missed this, you know?" May jumped to the side, bumping her shoulder onto his left arm. "Talking away or just spending some time next to you… I really missed this." She placed one hand on top of his.
Once again, Brendan stared onto her eyes. "May…" His heart crying out to him, pleading for him to reach over and embrace her.
"Yesterday I was talking with Wally about this." She said with a happy grin. May had no malicious intention on her comment, but didn't stop it from being an unfortunate one.
With a sudden movement, Brendan jumped away from her, getting back on his feet. He took three steps forward, gazing to the ocean with a conflicted expression. 'What I am doing here?' Brendan scold himself mentally, remembering the events of a few years ago. "Sorry, I should go." Feeling a familiar pain in his heart, the champion began to slowly walk away.
"Brendan!" May jumped from the stony steps were she was sitting, a worried expression showing on her face. She attempted to run after him, but her legs would not move, just like the day when he walked away from her life. "Can we talk again?" Holding one hand in front of her chest, she mustered all her courage to ask this.
Her words made him stop on his tracks. Brendan took his Pokénav out of his pocket and began to type something.
A few moments later, May's own Pokénav made a beeping sound. She received a new message from a very old and familiar ID. Inside is a little happy sticker with an image of a tiny Pokémon.
"It's the same number, I never changed it." Brendan said as he put his device away. "Whenever you feel like it, just call me." Brendan turned to look at her, a wide and warm smile on his lips. "I will answer every time." Waving his right hand one last time, Brendan walked away, leaving May by herself in front of the lighthouse.
She clenched her Pokénav, bringing it close to her face. A few tears falling down on the dark screen, but different from last time, those are tears of joy. With a silly grin on her lips, May began to type away on her Pokénav, calling to someone important to her.
The screen lit up with a brighter light, someone appearing on the screen. "Oh, hello." Wally answered with a smile. "How are you doing May?"
"Wally… I found him." The woman said with an energetic voice. "I met Brendan again."
At first the young man with green hair seemed a bit troubled by the news, but quickly his lips parted in a friendly smile. "Why don't you tell me everything over a dinner?"
May laughed and nodded. "I would love to."
It was short, but impactful. Meeting May again shook Brendan to his core, he found himself confused, sad, happy, and most of all conflicted with his own thoughts. He looked to the busy festival in front of him, but now he has almost no desire to go back there. So instead, the young champion turned away from the gathering and walked towards north end of the city, going to the route 110 exit.
"Look who I found." An unfamiliar voice to Brendan, sounded from the side. "I just wanted to have a bit of fun on the festival, but I guess I got lucky."
Brendan turned over, his gaze meeting the figure of a young man with spiked green hair. "Can I help you?" He asked more of courtesy, as he has no mood to waste time with a stranger now.
"If you could, that would be great. The name is Rush by the way." The man took a step forward, taking a Poké ball out of his long coat. "So champion of Hoenn, Could you please lay down and let me kidnap you?"
Brendan glared at Rush, this is the worse time possible for a weirdo guy to show up in front of him. Normally he would gracefully step away and let the stranger be, but something is wrong with this guy and Brendan can feel it. He brought his hand to his pants' pockets and cursed softly, with all the hastiness and with Steven dragging him away, Brendan has only one Poké ball with him. "It's just you and me then." He pulled the Poké ball out and prepared himself for battle.
Rush shook his head, but a very pleased smirk showing up on his lips. "Haha. Well looks like I will have to beat you up first. Fine by me, it's more fun this way."