Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.

Author's Notes: Well, I will start this one by apologizing for the long time I took to make this chapter. Last week I worked on a different story I really wanted to make, and on this one I was not feeling very confident about the parts I was writing, so I just kept pushing it for later. Anyway, I had the scenes on my mind, but I didn't like how they turned out when I write them down.

Sorry about the little rant, but without further ado, here is the new chapter.

After a little trip around Hoenn's sky, they finally reached the place where Zinnia wanted to take the young champion; she gave no explanation to why they are here, she only nodded to him and jumped down on the reclusive island. Brendan jumped from Salamance's back, his bare feet landing on soft and clear sands. He glanced the scenery around him, the pure and serene moonlight raying down on them, making the seawater appear to be a crystal mirror shining away with beauty.

This piece of scenery is a very small and remote island. A few and scattered palm trees dot the sands, and a couple of aquatic Pokémon occasionally hops out of the water and spend a little time on the wet sands. A place like this feels almost unreal, on how natural and disconnect it feels from the rest of the world.

Brendan took a moment to feel the sensation of the warm sand on his toes; he let out a little grin and looked to the expansive blue sea in front of him. "This place feels nice. Where are we?" He gave a side-glance to her, asking with a bit of fake disinterest.

Layla swooped in, landing on the other side of the little island. She eyed her trainer from after and after checking that he is safe, Layla sat down on the sand, feeling cozy and warm, the big Swellow laid down, getting ready to sleep.

Zinnia kicked the sand on the air, and then she jumped to the side, letting the yellow dust fly past her. She did a quick turn, a big grin on his lips. "We are nowhere." She replied with a genuine tone of voice.

Her response made Brendan tilt his head; he eyed her with a curious expression. "Nowhere isn't a place." He responded with a joking tone himself. "I'm pretty sure I saw Sootopolis City when we were flying, but I don't recognize this place."

Zinnia waved her hands, calling him to approach her, to which Brendan quickly complied; he walked slowly, pacing his steps and watching her with curious eyes.

"This is my secret lair." She raised her right arm and tapped his forehead with two fingers. "No one will find you here, the perfect spot for hiding away." She turned to the sea and began to laugh away with joy.

"You're sounding like a real criminal." He said in a jest. "Now what? We stand here and watch the sea?"

"Nop, not the sea." Zinnia turned, grabbed his arm and pulled both of them down to the sands. "The sky is far better, right?" She pointed upwards to the endless dark ocean with dotting lights, that is the sky at night.

Following suit, Brendan stood in place and together with Zinnia; he watched the sparkling star's lights. "Yeah, this is better." He said peacefully. This scene and the calm atmosphere are so soothing that Brendan's body is slowly forgetting the faint pain still pinching his torso.

"Hehe, I knew that you would love it." Zinnia boasted proudly. "Is good to take some time away and just stare upwards to the sky. Tell me, when was the last time that you did this?" She drifted her eyes away from the stars, glancing to the young man beside her.

"To tell the truth… five days ago." He responded to her.

"What…?" The draconid woman looked disappointed with his answer.

"Haha, I was just talking with Aster, when Naito and Layla landed next to us. Then Ekkisu showed up too." Brendan sat up, his eyes in line with the sea, but not looking at anything specific. "Didn't take much time for a lot more Pokémon to show up, we ended up staying there watching the stars and having fun."

"Say Brendan; why every time you talk about the things you do, there are only Pokémon with you." She watched as Brendan's expression turned from happy to troubled. "I mean, I love Pokémon too, but…"

"They don't leave you, no matter what happens." Brendan said with a dry voice. He crossed his arms on top of his knees and laid his chin on top of them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sour the mood."

"I don't mind." Zinnia showed a gentle smile to him. "Look, this is nowhere." She pointed behind her, to the middle of the tiny island. "What we say on nowhere stays here. So if you want to talk about it, I'll listen."

Brendan looked to her; his eyes went up and down, measuring her up. He opened his mouth, but only a little whisper escaped his lips. The troubled memories tried to come up, but they faded away, his words tried to reach out, but they are stuck on his throat.

"Is about that girl? The one that I saw sleeping at the hospital?" Zinnia asked, breaking the silence between them.

Brendan flinched at her words; he frowned and shot a few glares to the sand in front of him.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I will not push you." The draconid woman said with a sorry little smile.

"She was my girlfriend." Brendan responded, much to Zinnia's surprise. "We broke up a few years ago… I broke too, on the inside."

For a few moments, they both stop talking. Brendan kept staring down biting his lips, while Zinnia is quietly watching him, eagerly waiting for him to take another step and open himself to her.

Brendan raised his head and glanced to the side, Zinnias intense gaze made him sigh and shake his head. "May was the first friend I met here in Hoenn and the closest one too. Took little time for me to fall head over heels in love with her. She is an amazing girl."

The sincere and saddened smile on his lips stung quite a bit for Zinnia. For the little time she has spent with Brendan, she has never seen him with that expression. 'If she is so great, why aren't you with her right now?' She thought of saying that just to see his reaction, but deep inside she knew that would only make him sad or angry.

"I always tried to reach a high standard and I wanted to be the best, for her and for Hoenn. May was my support, the reason why I could go as high as the sky…" He looked upwards to the stars, a faint glow on his eyes, a few tears threating to come out. "That just made it all worse, when she just came up to me and basically said that she was cheating on me with my best friend."

The look on his eyes was so hurt and lonely, that made Zinnia feel a sting on her chest. "She cheated on you?" She spat angrily. "Then that bitch is not as great as you thought she was."

"It was my fault." Brendan said. "I don't get… I don't really get it. But when she told me that, she said that it was my fault, that I left her behind. She said that I loved my ambition of being a champion more than I loved her."

"And you believed that?" The draconic woman asked puzzled. "She could easily be blaming you for her own fuck-up."

"I did. I do." Brendan responded. He looked to Zinnia and smiled. "That was the last time I wholehearted believed someone."

"Still not fair…" Zinnia lowered her head, looking down to her feet. "You know what? It's her loss." She glanced to Brendan, a big grin on her lips.

"Sorry to bring the mood down." He scratched his left cheek with one finger. "But, enough about me. So mysterious Zinnia, do you have any cool story from your adventures? A love story, perhaps?"

"Mysterious, pfft… Hahaha." The draconid woman leaned into the side and slapped Brendan on the arm. "Well, my grandiose champion, I do have a few stories to share."

"Love stories…?" Brendan now leaned in closer, giving a dirty look to her.

"I will get to that, shut up! It's my time to talk about my tales." Zinnia pushed him away, waving both hands, shooing the young man away, so he would not lean in closer again.

Brendan only nodded and smiled. He leaned a bit backward, supporting himself with his elbows on the sand.

"Anyway… after you helped me deal with the meteor, I decided to travel to many places and meet a whole lot of new people." Zinnia shook her head, her red eyes sparkling as a few memories came back to her. "You will not believe this, but my first attempt to explore a cool new place, I ended up trapped with a crazy investigator and his pursuit of a criminal gang lurking on a place called Veilstone City."

"That's quite fitting actually." Brendan threw a smirk at her way. "You're the only person I could picture falling right into trouble the moment you arrived on new lands."

An angry snort was the first answer she gave to his smart remark. "I don't always look for trouble, far from it, mind you." She glared to him and pouted. "I've made friends, discovered a lot of Pokémon that were new to me. I even tried to make a few connections… with a guy, I met."

"Boyfriend connections?" Brendan asked with curiosity.

"Hell yeah!" Zinnia boasted proudly but quickly deflated and tilted to the side. "Kind of, we didn't go that far."

"What happened? You scared the poor guy?" He eyed her with a funny expression, a mixture of sad and sarcastic tone on his voice.

"I will have you know that he was very interested in me." She grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it at Brendan's legs. "He was really sweet and kind, but it didn't feel right to me."

"Why is that?" Brendan asked seriously, dropping his playful manner.

"Because on my free and alone time, I thought more about you than I thought about him." For the first time, Zinnia avoided Brendan's gaze, out of embarrassment. At this moment, she can only guess what expression he has right now. "It was not fair to him." She said in a low voice, almost whispering on her breathe.

"Yeah… I suppose so." Brendan continued to watch her, his mind racing about something that he could not quite understand. "Zinnia, why do you feel like that about me?" He asked without much ceremony.

"Don't ask me something like that with a straight face, you jerk." Zinnia said in complaint, but as she turned her head to face Brendan, a bright smile is adorning her face. "I can't quite explain why, but after Sky Pillar, you never left my thoughts." She glided her way on the sand, moving really close to Brendan, placing her right hand on top of his left one. "I always wondered how you were doing, if you were the same cute and kind guy I meet all those years ago or if you had become so famous that you had changed somehow."

"Did I change?" Brendan twirled his hand around, wrapping his fingers around hers.

"Ha! Imagine my surprise when I came back to find you hiding away on a secluded house and with very long hair to top it off." She felt his arm filching and noticed his eyes averting away from her. With a quick response, the draconid woman reached upwards with her free hand, running her fingers on his hair. "You didn't change, Brendan. Even if you push yourself away from other people, you still share your kindness with the Pokémon around you."

Her words echoed within the young man's chest. A tingling sensation fuzzing inside of him, making his heart race with a feeling he made sure to never it feel again.

Taking the next step, Zinnia leaned in closer pushing her upper body against his torso. "And I really like your new hairstyle." She grinned as she approached her mark; she felt the warm sensation of his breathe grazing her skin. Inch by inch, she moved ever so close, her heart racing and her mind going numb, then her lips finally reached to his.

Zinnia moved her left arm around his back, pressing herself even more against him. She moved her mouth, never leaving his lips, her tongue exploring, searching for his. Warm, wet and full of passion, a first kiss powerful enough to leave an everlasting feeling on both of them.

With one last peck on the lips, Zinnia pulled herself away from him, a very satisfied smirk on her expression.

Brendan looked a bit conflicted, even though he has a smirk even bigger than hers, on his eyes a very clear sign of doubts is showing up. "Zinnia is this something that we should keep in here… on nowhere?" He asked a bit afraid of the answer.

"You decide." She replied simply. "If you disliked it, we can just forget this and leave at that. But if you want to."

Brendan leaned in this time; he locked his lips on hers again, sharing an even deeper and longer kiss with her. "Screw the rules of nowhere."

His bold acting got the girl by surprise, yet a pleasant surprise. "Yeah, screw those." Zinnia jumped on top of Brendan, this time with enough force to tackle him to the ground. "But I want to do a little something else before we disregard the rules."

"Hm? What is that?" Brendan asked, while trying to endure the little pinches and tickles she is throwing at his sides.

"Well, that shall remain a secret…" Zinnia kissed his left cheek, pressing her breasts against him. "Just for the two of us, here on nowhere."

Giovanni tapped his table with the tip of a pencil, and each knock on the wooden surface his mood is getting worse. He glanced at the clock at the wall, and the passing hours making even harder for him to control his temper. Then the stepping sounds of someone walking down the hallway, announcing that his long wait has finally ended.

Rush pushed the door open and with an afraid look in his eyes, he entered his boss office. "I'm back, boss." He said barely looking to Giovanni.

"I hope you have something very… very important and convincing to tell me." Giovanni glared at his underling, making Rush jump. "You disappeared for more than two days, and I can't see the Champion accompanying you, no! In fact, I had to see the aftermath of your little attempt by the local media and how you turned this man into a bigger hero to them."

"Boss calm down, I only ran into him by chance and I took the opportunity to make my move." Rush tried to explain, a bit of desperation in his voice. "He was like a lost kid, so unaware of his surroundings. I had to take my chance."

"And you failed!" Giovanni yelled angrily. "I said to not underestimate this man and yet you have chosen to do just that."

"I didn't come back empty handed." Rush said with a scowl in his face. "I will take responsibility for my mistakes. I failed to see that man's talents, but I didn't fail completely on my mission."

"Elaborate." The team leader calmed down a little; he ran two fingers on his forehead, making a circle massage on his aching head.

"When we fought, and I mean we even come close quarter fight." The young man showed a few bruises on his arms and the damages on his clothes. "In the middle of all that I managed to get something from him. It's true that I couldn't kidnap the Hoenn's Champion, but I brought a part of him back with me."

"A part of him?" Giovanni's rage finally died out completely. "What is it? Where is it?"

"I took it to the guys downstairs; they are working on it right now." Rush said with confidence. "Believe me, boss, it will work. Our plain is still in course."

"You're very optimistic, Rush." The team rainbow-rocket turned his chair around, looking away from the young man. "Even if this works, the real Champion is still free out there and even more famous now. How do you propose that we could make this work?"

"Think with me, the more trusted and loved he is by the people of Hoenn, the bigger the impact of our plan." Rush said with a spark of ingenuity in his eyes. "When I get him out of the way, the chaos will be unstoppable."

Giovanni turned back, a genuine smile on his lips. "It seems that you really do have a way to salvage this. Tell the rest to start the next phase; you may leave now."

"As you wish, Boss." Rush gave a quick salutation and a sigh of relief. He then turned around and began to make his leave.

"Rush!" Giovanni called him out, making his underling stop and look at him. "I will leave the mask to you."

"Boss…" Rush felt an immense sense of accomplishment, he felt that his skills are being truly recognized by his leader. "I shall not disappoint you, master Giovanni."

"I will hold you to that statement." Giovanni once again turned his chair away, making him face the back wall of his large room. "For the time being let the Grunts run freely on Hoenn, but don't make your next move. Let's wait until the other enforcers arrive."

Their morning began as much eventful as ever and while this is a far cry from what Brendan is accustomed to. On the first rays of sunlight, the draconid girl started to ask him to accompany her to Mauville City; at first, Brendan rolled his eyes and disliked the idea. However, after a fierce persistence on her part, the young champion finally gave up.

Flying at Salamance's back, they quickly flew towards Ever Grande first, as Brendan desperately wanted to take a bath and put proper clothes, what he didn't expect was a certain draconid woman's attempted to barge in on his bathroom butt naked while he was taking a shower.

After a few more banter and provocation on Zinnia's part, Brendan prepared himself not only wearing his nicest clothes but also taking with him almost the entirety of his official Pokémon team, a little safeguard to prevent another situation like the one in Slateport. With that, they hop back on Salamance's back and flew down to the busy city of Mauville.

"Come on, Brendan, you are too slow." Zinnia giggles happily, as she pulls the young champion by his arm, leading him away down the streets.

"It's normal to feel a bit slow in the morning, especially after everything that happened." Brendan let out a large yawn. "How can you have so much energy, we barely slept last night?"

"I don't know about you, but I slept nicely, even if was for a short time." She grinned as she said that. "Look, a lot of people are going there." She pointed forward, to a little shop at the end of the street.

"Yeah, that is a given." Brendan replied. "Crooner's Café is a very famous place."

"We should hurry up; maybe we can get still get a table for ourselves." Zinnia began to run towards the Café, pulling Brendan with her.

A few pairs of curious eyes watched intensely as the young couple skipped their way on Mauville.

"Did you see that?" Asked a woman in awe.

"Who's that?" The man at her side asked confused.

"I can't believe you." She said disapprovingly. "Hurry, we are going to miss them." She rushed away in the streets, going hastily after Brendan; her partner followed after her, still confused but certain that she has found a good story.

"Heeey! Wait a minute, please!" She shouted loudly, getting the attention of everyone on the streets, Brendan and Zinnia included.

The draconid woman turned around a not amused look on her face. "Are you talking with us?" She asked a bit annoyed.

"Yes, I am!" The woman said happily, as she catches up with them. She then shifted her attention to the young man beside Zinnia and smiled. "You are Brendan, aren't you?" She asked him.

"Hm… well, I'm Brendan." He scratched the back of his head. "Don't know if I'm the Brendan you are looking for though."

"I was right, yes!" She jumped in joy. "I know that you are the right one." She tilted her head and looked eagerly to him. "You remember me?"

Brendan raised an eyebrow, and quietly studied the woman. She is a bit tall and has a lean body, her clothes are very fashionable and yet very professional. She has a bobbed brown hair and brown, inquiring, eyes. In her right hand, she holds a small blue, white and red microphone.

"Gabby?" Brendan responded, he has a confident look on his face, but his voice came as very unsure of his answer.

"Yeah, you remember me." She smiled brightly. "And this is Ty." She pointed behind her, to the man catching up to her.

Ty is a tall man with somewhat long fuzzy dark hair, hidden under his grey cap; he has a thin goatee and an easygoing look to him. He wears long blue jeans pants, bland dark shoes, and a short-sleeved white shirt.

"Heya, kid." Ty said with a short smile.

"Hey there." Brendan waved one hand to him.

"Gosh, it has been so long since I last saw you." Gabby said. "Where you were hiding? Nah, you are probably very busy now, right? But, I so wanted to do an interview with you, can I? Please, It will not take much time." She began to shoot a barrage of words, taking little pauses between them.

"Er…" Brendan cringed a few inches back; he looked at Zinnia and shook his head unsure of what to do.

"I told you. You are very famous." Zinnia said with a huge grin on his lips.

"You probably remember how she is, but Gabby is not that bad Kid." Ty said. "Just give Gabby a couple of minutes."

"Okay… I don't mind." Brendan replied and nodded his head.

"Thank you!" Gabby jumped with joy again. "So let's start with the best. What is like to be the Champion of Hoenn, the very best of our region?"

"I think, I could describe it was an amazing experience." Brendan put a serious façade and looked straight to the camera. "Sometimes is a bit heartbreaking to see trainers saddened after a loss, but I prefer to think that I'm inspiring them to get better and stronger."

"You certainly are." The reporter clapped her hands happily. "On a more personal topic." She suddenly got a devilish grin on her lips. "Who is this pretty lady with you? Have our precious Champion got his heart captured by her?"

Brendan panicked, he looked to Zinnia and then to Gabby. This is too sudden; he doesn't know what to say. Well, he doesn't even know on what terms he and Zinnia are, so how he could respond this.

Zinnia only stared as Brendan continues to panic and stand there in silence. She could easily jump in and save him, but this is way too amusing to watch, so she decided to keep quiet and look at him with a fake concerned expression.

"Gabby, I think that was too personal." Ty said, he noticed how stiff Brendan got and felt sorry for the guy.

"Okay…" Gabby looked deflated but quickly cheered up again. "Then let's talk about that incident on Slateport's autumn festival." She pulled a few papers out of her pockets. "According to witness, a strange man attempted an attack on the city, but you fought against him. Is it true? Who was him?"

"It's true…" Brendan held his tongue before saying what he really know about that. "But I don't know him. I only know that he is dangerous and he must answer for his actions."

"And we will bring him to justice!" Zinnia jumped in, she placed her hand on Brendan's right shoulder and smiled to the camera. "Don't worry people of Hoenn; your incredible champion is on the case."

"Amazing line!" Gabby clapped cheerfully.

"Yeah, I got a great shot too." Ty nodded approvingly.

"Lastly, I know it has been a long time since our last interview. But could you say those words again?" Gabby asked with puppy eyes. "The same words you always said on our interviews."

A long and exasperated sigh escaped Brendan's lips. He dreaded the thought of the things he said as a kid, so many cringe trademarks came out of his mouth. "Erh…" He poised himself in front of the camera and very hesitantly raised his right arm, holding his fist up. "Guys, whatever dream you carry on or in any situation. Always remember…" Brendan closed his eyes and gave thumbs up to the viewers. "Just have fun!"

"Lovely!" Gabby jumped around, feeling giddy with so much happiness.

"That was a good one. Thank you, Kid." Ty gave Brendan, the thumbs up and nodded his head.

With Gabby squealing in excitement over her new interview and Ty nodding happily, the pair of reporters walked away, ready to work on their new piece, leaving Zinnia and Brendan on their own in the middle of the streets.

"Just have fun…" Zinnia snorted and arched forward. She did her best to hold the laugh in, but just as the other duo left, she could not hold in anymore. "Hahahaha, that was so sweet and innocent."

"I was a kid when I came up with that." Brendan frowned and started to walk towards the Café again. "I thought it was cool at the time…"

"Oh it is, it is. Hahaha." Zinnia charged after him, hugging him from behind. "The kids will love it when they see you on the TV."

"Oh god." Brendan froze in place. "They will put that on the TV." He took one hand to his face. "I will never leave my house again."

May and Wally started their day in a full panic. They spent their night on Brendan's hospital room, not only it was their first chance to be close with him again; they were also worried about him and someone trying to do something while he is hurt.

However, imagine their surprise, when they woke up and the bed was empty with no sight of their friend left. They looked everywhere for him and asked everyone in the building about him, yet they got not a single clue, making both of them terrified for their friend's safety.

As of now, May is sitting on the chair on Brendan's room again, looking on her Pokénav, while Wally went downstairs again to look for him one more time.

"Brendan… Where are you?" May said, she looked at the reflection on the dark screen of her gadget, she looks horrible; her eyes are red and large bags under them, her hair is messy and her make-up is not on the best condition either. But nothing of that matters now, she can only things about Brendan.

Wally opened the door and walked in; he looked a May and shook his head. "No one saw him." He said with a dry voice. "How could this happen? We can't lose a person like this."

"You think that someone came in here and took him?" May asked, her head hanging low.

"That can't be… We would hear it, wouldn't we?" Wally scratched the back of his head. He walked towards the bed and placed his left hand on the bedsheets. "Dammit, what happened?"

"Wally!" May said loudly, her voice almost going on a higher pitch. "Look at this!" She pointed to her Pokénav.

Wally did as she asked and looked at the screen on her hands, a pretty reporter making a colorful entrance to her show.

"And today I had a very special person to interview. You guys will not believe it." The screen parted in two, the woman on live broadcast going to a side and a recording appearing on the other. "Yes, that is it. The Pokémon Champion himself. Without further ado, I will let you watch this awesome interview with our awesome Brendan."

"What?!" May and Wally shouted at the same time.

"What is Brendan doing on Mauville?" Wally asked with a shocked expression, but a relief grin on his lips.

"Who is that with him?" May noticed the woman standing next to Brendan. She watched the interview, and the more she watched, more she could see how strangely close those two are. "Is he on a date?" She asked and frowned.

"Well, at least we know that he is safe." Wally commented, he too noticed the affection between the two.

"He ditched us here… He walked away and didn't even told us that he would leave." May clenched the Pokénav on her hands. "I will not let you do this again Brendan. I will not." She turned the Pokénav off and tucked in on her pocket. She then jumped out of the bed and stomped away from the room.

"Wow… That is a reaction." Wally watched as his friend stormed out of the hospital, fuming with anger. "You still like him, huh?" He stood up and slowly walked out of the room. While not sure what he should do, for the moment, he decided only to go with May and see what she will do.

Reviews:

JohnAnonUnDoe chapter 4 . Jan 20 – Thank you and I'm happy that you like my story. Well, I will not lie, I can see how interesting this story could be if it was for May and Brendan, but I will try to make it even more interesting with Zinnia x Brendan.

I hope you will like what is in store for this one.

Naruto is Jesus 666 chapter 4 . Jan 22 – I'm glad that you like it. Reading comments like this really makes me excited to continue writing this story.