Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.
Author's Notes: Nothing much to say this time, so let's jump straight to the new chapter.
"What do you think?" Professor Birch pointed to an impressively big pile of papers, a huge listing of his new research. "Maybe I let something pass?" He eyed his daughter with concerned eyes. His gaze kept going from May to the report pile and then back to her again.
The Pokémon professor known as Birch is a fairly chubby man, on his early forty-years. He always wears loose and comfortable clothes in combination with his long white coat. In his always-ongoing pursuit of new research, he barely spares the time to sharpen his beard or haircut, but strangely enough, this messy and yet stern look suits him very well.
"I looked at it three times already. Don't worry dad, everything is perfect." May reassured him with her special sweet voice.
"You think so?" A big smile popped on the man's lips. "This is amazing; I can finally point out how certain group of Pokémon can influence the entire eco-system of a region." His eyes sparkled in a fiery inspiration, prompting the man to clap his hands and let out a moderately loud shout.
May couldn't help herself and giggle at the sight of her father's enthusiasm. Even at his age, he gets extremely excited with every piece of good news. His little outbursts of happiness are akin to of a little child, something that she will never get tired of seeing.
"Oh May! I didn't know you were back." A woman of short brown hair closed the lab's door behind her. She quickly rushed her way inside and hugged the young researcher.
"Sorry mom, I've forgotten to pass home before coming to see dad." May said with a side grin. She hugged her mother back, pressing her left cheek on the older woman's neck.
"I don't mind. I know how your dad gets when he is close to finishing a research. Drives me crazy sometimes." The woman turned to her husband and gave him a witty smirk.
"I'm not that bad… Am I?" Birch looked at her puzzled, to him there is no difference of how he acts before, during or after a research period time.
"You are impossible." His wife replied, much to his dismay. "But I love you just like that." She parted away from her daughter and hit her own cheek with one hand. "Oh my. Here I am talking about you and I almost forgot why I ran so fast to the lab."
"Something happened?" May eyed her mother apprehensively.
The woman noticed May worried eyes and shook her head, smiling dearly to her daughter. "Something did happen, but is nothing bad." She looked at Birch and grinned. "Quite the contrary. I think you two are going to lose your minds about this."
"Honey… Could you tell us what happened? I'm getting the shakes from so much curiosity." Birch walked closer to the two women, taking his mind away from his precious mount of paper.
"Well, I went to Slateport for a little bit. I was doing a little shopping for that special spice that you like so much." She pointed at her husband. She noticed both him and May looking at her with desperate eyes, her little tale taking excessively long to get to the point. "Anyway… While I was there, I got to talk with a very energetic boy." She giggled as she remembered the little trainer who bumped into her.
"Mom, please stay focused." May interviewed before her mother could wander even farther away with her tale.
"Okay, okay, geez..." Her mother looked at her with furrowed brows and pouted. "This charming young trainer told me about his battle with a strange that came over for another region." She paused yet again just to tease those two, one last time after she got a sigh of exasperation from her husband, she continued. "Apparently, this stranger battled against him using a Pokémon called Lugia."
Birch froze in place, his toes clenching down on his sandal and his legs getting soft on their hold. "Lu-Lu-Lugia?!" The good professor shouted from the top of his lungs. "Are you sure, Lugia? The Lugia? Here in Hoenn?"
"Pretty sure, the boy was just as excited as you are right now." The professor's wife giggled holding one hand in front of her mouth.
"Wow, I never expected that someone could've tamed the lord of the seas." May said in astonishment. 'Brendan could probably capture something like Lugia.' For a moment, she imaged Brendan standing on top of a lone stone in the middle of the ocean, facing off against the legendary Pokémon.
"This is a unique opportunity! We cannot let this one pass, to see the mighty Lugia with our own eyes. Unbelievable." Birch ran to a cabinet on the far back side of his lab, he switched his comfortable sandals for a pair running shoes. "Let's go, May! We need to track this trainer."
"Wait, dad! What about your research?" She questioned her father with a surprised voice, as he prepared himself to zoom away through the door. "You are so close to finishing it."
"That can wait!" The professor said in a panic. "Imagine the things we can learn from Lugia! This is more important at the moment." Birch grabbed the door handle but stopped before he could open the doors. He looked behind him and smiled at his wife. "Honey, I will be late for dinner. I love you!" With that, he darted out of the building."
"Oooi, he also said something about the Johto Pokémon League champion." The woman sighed and smiled. "Make sure that your father will not get jumped by a wild Pokémon, okay?" She embraced her daughter again and then walked out of the lab.
"I'm supposed to be the child here…" May rolled her eyes with the situation, but the sudden change of events do not upset her. Just like her father, she also has a wild craving for learning new things about Pokémon. If she needs to 'babysit' her father for a little bit to see a legendary Pokémon from another region, that is fine by her.
Wally is sitting on the warm floor, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He tried his best to keep himself focused and meditate, but the absurd amount of noises coming from the other side of the door is impossible to ignore. He slowly opened his eyes and glared at the wooden door at the end of the room.
"Are they making a ruckus because of a strong trainer again?" For a moment memories of a very busy day flashed on his mind.
One day an especially capable young lady appeared and completely brushed aside all the trainers inside the gym, they got so worked up about this trainer that Wally himself began to look at her with different eyes. In a mix of fault from the girl's overconfidence, the trainers exalted noises and his own lack of self-restraint. The then recently appointed Gym leader opted for using his primary team of Pokémon, instead of the one he carefully prepared to face new challengers. Sadly, the talented woman stood no chance against his overly trained team, making their battle really disappointed, for her and for him.
Wally snapped back to reality as the door creaked open at a slow pace. The Gym Leader raised to his bare feet and turned his back towards the door, making the same stance the previous leader used to do when he waited to greet a new challenger. "I welcome you, challenger. My name is Wally; I'm the Gym Leader of Petalburg City."
"I can see that." A proud and stern voice replied to him, the familiarity of this voice made the young gym leader clench his fingers and widen his eyes. "Is kind of strange seeing you like that. Is like staring at a mirror."
In a fast movement, Wally turned to the other said, his lips parting in a surprised but happy smile. "Norman, you're back!" For the first time in days Wally smiled genuinely, he practically ran across the room stopping just in front of his mentor. He felt like a little kid again, his eyes shining and his hands trembling with excitement just for seeing the man he respects so much. "It's so nice to see you again."
"It's nice to see you too." Norman smiled at his pupil. "I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised with the things I heard about you." He placed on hand on Wally's shoulder and nodded. "The toughest and challenging Gym of Hoenn. While this complicates the order of things, is also a fresh change to our region as a whole."
The man's comment made the young trainer scratch his cheek and grinned shyly. "I'm just doing my job."
"An outstanding job from what I heard." Norman's gaze continued fixed on Wally, like searching for something on the light of his eyes. And if he had found what he was looking for, the older man closed his eyed and nodded. "I can still see it in your eyes."
"I... Don't." Wally looked to the side, completely understating what his mentor is talking. A painful topic, but a frequent one whatever they met on the past.
"Everyone needs to grow at each passing day, even I do." Norman said. "That is why I will not tell you to forget this or to change yourself. Not anymore." He pulled his hand away and opened his eyes.
With conflicted eyes, Wally stared at his master's gaze. "Are you saying that I should go on? Are you letting me face him again?" He said in confusion.
"If this is what you want, then that is what you need to do." Norman's voice got more serious and deep, in a reflection of what he used to be when teaching Wally. "However, you need to come to terms with yourself. If you need to beat Brendan, if you need to surpass him… then put everything into it. Think you can do it?"
"Hah, well. Brendan is human is he not? So he is not unbeatable." The young man with lemon hair replied with a fake little laugh, his gaze shifting to the side avoiding Norman's eyes.
"Wally look at me." Norman's voice made his pupil shudder, but he complied and raised his gaze upwards. "Even on Johto and Sinnoh people know his name, they know about him. Just like a few others, Brendan has a force in him that most can't even understand what it is." This time Norman grasped Wally's shoulders with both hands, looking firmly at his eyes. "Can you rise above that? Can you find in yourself to go above him? I will ask you another time. Do you believe that you can defeat Brendan?"
"I don't… I think…" The scene of Brendan walking away and leaving him behind on the sea of flowers came into his mind. Wally bit his lower lip and frowned. "No."
"No?" Norman asked. A tinge of disappointment showing on his voice.
"Doesn't matter what I say. I can shout for everyone to hear that I will beat him, in the end, that doesn't really matter." Wally finally smiled, his expression serene and clear of any doubt. "So no, I don't think that I can beat Brendan. However, I will beat him, no matter how and when. I will defeat the 'unbeatable' champion."
"Actions speak louder than words." Norman nodded approvingly. "You have grown, more than I expected. Now, I didn't come here just to give you a lecture. Although old habits die hard." The old man laughed softly. "Would you to take a little walk with your old mentor?"
"That is a silly question." Wally responded with a young spirited grin. "Where to?"
"Littleroot, I want you to meet someone." Norman said with an expression that resembled a goofy grin, something that unsettled Wally. Never in a thousand years had he imagined seeing Norman doing that. "And just between you and me. When you go on to face my son, I will be cheering for you."
"That means a lot coming from you." Wally said with a little sparkle on his eyes, he fought back the single tear threatening to fall, not wanting to cry in front of Norman. "Thank you."
After postponing for so long, after letting his ambition to fall into a void of forgetfulness. Wally has decided to reignite the fire of his ambitions. His regret for not standing at the height of his close friend with time turned into resentment, over Brendan and even at himself. Not anymore, with Norman's words, with his master consent. Wally is finally ready to pursue his goal, the time for a re-match is finally here.
'Brendan better watch out, his rival coming back for revenge.' With a little selfish entertaining thought, Wally smirked to himself. A little action that didn't go unnoticed from Norman's eyes. The old trainer just nodded and smile, seeing how pumped his pupil got, surely has made him happy too.
"Is this really necessary?" Brendan eyed the large group of people at the end of the street; he felt a cold shiver cross his back. He turned his gaze to the woman walking beside him, his eyes pleading for compassion.
Zinnia rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I thought you had overcome your phobia of people." She looked to the pink ball walking just in front of her and laughed when Aster covered her eyes with her large ears.
"I don't have a phobia of people… I just don't like to dive into a sea of people for no reason." He replied with a little annoyed pout.
"It will be fun, trust me." Zinnia grabbed hold of one of his arms and dragged him all the way through the commotion. Pushes and shoves accompanied by a few low 'I'm sorry' as she battled against other people to reach a little stall selling a sweet cake in the shape of a flower.
Brendan could barely breathe with so many people squeezing in on him, all trying to make their orders at the same time, he just closed his eyes and prayed to make out of this mess alive. He felt a strong push bring him to the side and with another big push; he popped out of the crowd with Zinnia still holding him by his arm.
"Not that bad, was it?" Zinnia asked with a grin.
"Did I survive that?" Brendan looked behind him and sighed. He can barely understand how that many people could gather in just one small point, so he just gave up trying to see how they could fit in there.
"Yes, you did, and it was worth it. Look at this." The draconid woman raised her other arm, showing a delicate transparent bag filled with the flower-like cakes. "Come let's find a proper place to eat them."
The couple made of a spirited woman and a way to serious young man ran across the streets of Mauville, mainly because Zinnia insisted on running around instead of walking normally. In little time, they reached the highest part of the large city, making themselves comfortable in one of the large white benches at the roof garden.
"You really like sweet food, huh?" Brendan noticed the large grin on her lips as Zinnia unwrapped the packaged, taking one cake in her hand.
"Not really, I just like cute things." She pointed the dessert at Brendan, dangling it in front of him. "It looks cute, right?"
Brendan looked at the small cake, tilting his head to the side as he focused on the shape of the dessert. A soft and brown base with the top colored in red with a clear shape of a rose formed on it, it is a pretty cake but not something he would risk going back to that mess again. Then his eyes glided from the cake to the woman holding the sweet food. Her bright red eyes staring at him, a bright grin on her lips making him melt at the sight of it. "Yeah, it's really cute." He responded with a slight blush on his cheeks.
"You can have this one." She said happily. Then she dove back on the bag pulling another cake out. "Do you like this one, Aster?" Zinnia placed a blue flower-cake on the little Whismur's lap.
"Mur!" Aster wasted no time and grabbed her cake with her tiny hands. Zinnia giggled after seeing her little girl happily dangling her feet while sniffing her meal.
She took the last cake out and held it close to her nose. As the sweet fragrance filled her senses, Zinnia smiled and took a large bite out of her green colored cake. "So tasty." Her voice came out muffled.
Brendan took a bite out of his own cake, the sweetness overflowed his tongue, a feeling he never quite liked. "Yeah, I like it too." He said convincingly but did not bring the cake back to his mouth again, instead he watched as Zinnia delighted herself with her dessert. Brendan raised his left arm, his hands reaching out to her, but he stopped before she could notice his movement. With a defeated sigh, he looked back to his cake and dropped his chin on his chest.
'That wouldn't do. I can't leave them like that.' A man sitting on a bench at a corner of the roof has been watching the young couple for a few minutes now. He closed the book he was reading and got up from his seat. With a suspicious smirk on his lips, he put his book on the large bag at his side and walked towards Brendan and Zinnia.
"Wait, Zinnia? No way is that really you?" The man posed with the most fake surprised face on the planet. "What are the odds of finding you here of all places?"
Brendan looked at the man with a confused but slightly upset expression. He watched as this stranger casually seats beside Zinnia while showing a way too big of a smile on his lips.
"Max?" Zinnia looked at him perplexed. "What… are you doing here?" She shot a glare so intense at him that even Brendan twitched at the intensity of it.
"Me? Well just enjoying the view of this amazing city." He gave another fake smile at her, something that did not please the woman very much. "Who is this? A friend?" He pointed at Brendan, tilting his head as he asked.
"My name is Brendan, I am-"
"BRENDAN?! I heard of that name before." The man known as Max held two fingers on his chin clenching his eyes in a thinking pose. "Wait, for any chance are you the infamous champion of Hoenn?"
'Infamous?!' Brendan frowned at the man but nodded in response anyway. "Yes, that would be me. Although I don't know anything about fame…"
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Max waved one hand in apology. "Is just that you are really famous, even in Sinnoh, as a monstrous trainer, what they call you again? Oh yeah, the unbeatable champion."
"That is a bit… too much." Brendan cringed backward, for a moment he thought about just standing up and leaving, but a quick concerned glance from Zinnia changed his mind. "Aren't all the champions undefeated? This unbeatable title is a bit stupid in my opinion."
"That is not true, don't sell yourself short." Max pointed to Brendan. "Even Pokémon League champions lose some battles, is not like they will lose their title for just losing one battle." A burst of healthy and loud laughter erupted from the man's mouth. "So, what are you two doing here by yourselves? A scandalous meeting maybe?"
"You…" Zinnia glared at the man. The romantic mood now completed ruined, with just a few minutes of his presence; Max made the draconid woman livid with anger and Brendan extremely uncomfortable for being here.
Aster tossed a little piece of her cake at the man's noise, the little pink ball of a Pokémon jumped from her seat and began to push Max's away from the bench.
Brendan felt something vibrate on the large pocket of his pants, where he keeps his Pokénav. With a sigh of relief, he pulled his device out and looked at the lighted up screen. A ticking icon got his attention for a new message inbox; he touched the icon with a finger and stared at it as the screen changed to a large textbox.
'Brendan, please call me. It's really important.' He noticed Steven's name at the sign and felt just a bit worried about the lack of words on this one. As Steven's messages tend to contain an unending amount of words.
"Something happened?" Zinnia noticed the change in his expression and tried to take a look at the screen on his hands.
Brendan put his Pokénav down and smiled at her. "Sorry, I need to make a call. I will not take long." He saw a questioning look appear on her face but walked away before she could ask whom he would call.
Zinnia waited just until Brendan walked to the other side of the rooftop and then she jumped on the top of Max, her fingers pressing his face with a lot of force. "What the hell are you doing?" She shouted fiercely.
"Ow, what? Ouch, stop that." Max jumped from his spot, getting away from the livid woman. "Can't a man have a friendly chat with Hoenn's champion?"
"Have a chat? Of course. Now to annoy the living crap out of him? No." She hissed threatening to jump at the man again. "What is the matter with you?"
Max clicked his tongue but winked at her with one eye. "Don't be like that; I'm just trying to help you out." He straightened the leather strap of his bag across his chest and smiled. "Anyway, I will leave you to your romantic little date, good luck partner." He started to walk away but then stopped, looking at her with a serious expression. "Just don't forget that we have a group of criminals to catch. See ya."
"Max, I swear if you do something like that again. I'm gonna call your wife and tell her to take you back to Sinnoh." She yelled again, this time waving her fist on the air. The easygoing man just shrugged off and walked down the stairs.
"Is your friend gone?" Brendan popped from behind her; with his Pokénav already back on his pocket.
"Yeah, don't worry about him. He is just a bit quirky, but he is not bad." Zinnia said with a sad little grin. "Can we still enjoy our time together?" She asked with pleading eyes.
"Of course we can." Brendan replied with a warm and large smile. "But only until early evening, I have to meet with Steven, later on, something serious is happening and he will only tell me about it personally."
"It's a long time away until evening." She took hold of one of his arms again and nuzzled her cheeks on his shoulder. "Let's have even more fun together."
"MUR!" Aster jumped up and down, trying to get their attention.
"With you included of course. What a silly little girl you are Aster." Zinnia patted her little pink ball. "To Mauville Game Corner!"
"What is he doing?" Rush pointed toward Josh who is sitting close to the edge of the cliff, peacefully watching the sea waves.
"I don't know, kid and I don't want to know." Raz responded in his usual hispid way. "The way he looks at things creeps me out sometimes."
"Oi, erh… Josh. What are we waiting for?" Contracting his own instincts, the young man with mossy-green hair called the attention of his mysterious comrade. "Is getting kind of late, isn't it?"
The red gems that are the man's eyes shifted from the sea to Rush's figure. They stared intensely at the young trainer, making him froze in place. "Learn some patience, will you? Let me enjoy the dusk scenery of this place." Josh patted the head of curious little Oddish how walked close to him without a worry in the world.
"I don't like the sound of this, but I agreed with the stupid kid." Raz came forward and pressed the matter. "What is the point of doing this, if we wait until nobody is there any more?"
"Ha… Neither of you understands it, do you?" Josh lost his interest in the other two men and turned his gaze back to the sea. "You shouldn't hurry the perfection of art, there is no going back to try and change it."
"I think he lost it." Rush whispered to the large man at his side.
"Art?" Raz shouted, making all the nearby Pokémon to flee scared of his deep and loud voice. Even the little brave Oddish ran away after the large man's outburst. "This is serious stuff you know? Or are you so fucked in the head that this is funny to you?"
With a tired sigh, Josh stood up on his feet. He gazed at the sea one last time and then turned to look at his comrades. He shot a burning intense glare at Raz, making the imposing man take at least three steps backward. "Sometimes your mouth just ran out of control, doesn't it?" He walked forward, taking a single Poké-Ball out of his pants pockets. "But doesn't matter, your ignorance is a given, seeing what you truly hold dear in your heart."
Rush glanced at Raz, trying his best to hold his laugh in. For a moment, he could swear to see the large man flying forward and charging at the black-haired man. However, Raz normal swearing and fits of anger never came; instead, he bit his lips and glared silently at Josh, not taking a step closer against the other man.
"The starry sky is making its appearance above us, a beauty truly outstanding. Perfect for a new entrance…" Josh looked upwards, smiling to himself as he prepared to launch his Pokémon out. "Zero, the time is nigh." The composed trainer dropped his Poké-ball on the ground, an elegant and powerful black and red Aegislash appeared in front of him. "You two can go back if you want, I will finish the job." With one last word to the other two, Josh made his way into the forest his eyes set on the sparkling town on the other side of the trees.
"So, are we going back?" Rush asked Raz.
"You do whatever you want; I will not follow that guy into this." The large man puffed his chest and turned to leave. "I even feel bad for whoever is on his sight today." An annoyed snort escaped his breath as the man stomped his way away from Rustboro.
"Art, huh?" Rush glanced to the city and shook his head. "There will be no art here today." With a sad nod, he followed Raz, going away from their supposed leader.
Brendan descended at Rusboro at the start of the evening; he patted the head of Latios and watched as the blue dragon flew away to the sky. In a fast pace, he walked around the city making his way with haste to the place where he agreed to meet up with his friend. As he reached the entrance of Devon Corporation's main building, he saw the unmistakable image of Steven waiting for him on the main gate.
The man with light steel blue hair and friendly blue eyes waved to his younger friend and nodded his head. "Good evening, sorry for making you come here in such a hurry." He said with a saddened tone of voice.
Brendan nodded and smiled. He noticed the pained expression on Steven's face, there is no way he could refuse to aid his friend when something is making him make that face. "Don't worry about it. You know how it works, if you need help, I am here for you." He leaned in closer and bumped his fist on Steven's chest.
This made Steven grow even sadder, his eyes staring at Brendan with something that resembled pity. "Yeah, you always help those who are in need."
"Steven, what happened? You are starting to scare me here. You are usually way louder and talkative than this." Brendan raised an eyebrow and studied his friend's uneasiness, something is definitely wrong.
"Before that, let's go to a more suitable place, shall we?" Steven pointed to a little park close to them that at this time is almost empty save from a few people chatting freely with the cool breeze of the evening making it even more enjoyable.
A little suspicious formed inside Brendan's head but followed Steven anyway. They both found an empty bench next to the trees and a strange silence enveloped them.
"So, what is it?" Brendan asked, impatience getting to him.
"Ah… this is way harder than I expected… Look Brendan I just want you to know that I love you like a brother, you know that, right?" Steven looked at Brendan's eyes, something that was so difficult for him to do now considering what he is about to say.
"And you are like one to me… Steven you are starting to creep me out. What happened?" Brendan asked again, this time his voice coming even louder and a bit of desperation showing in it.
"There is no easy way of saying this, so I will just say up front." Steven clenched his fists and looked to the ground. "Brendan this is about-"
A massive explosion erupted a few meters in front of them, the loud noise and blinding light making everyone at the park to fall down to the ground and cover their ears in fear. Still disoriented, Steven opened his eyes and tried to assert what just happened, and then his whole body froze. His heart stopped beating for a few moments.
"What… what?" He could not believe his eyes; no one who stared at the scene in front of them could believe what they are seeing. The main building of the Devon Corporation now engulfed in flames; a giant circular hole opened in the middle of the big structure almost making the entire thing collapse to the ground. In the midst of panic screams and the black smoke taking up the sky, Steven could just say one word, he could only think of one thing as his eyes tearing up out of control. "Father…"
PS - I would like to say thank you for those who are following this story and reading each chapter. Is a very special feeling to know that you guys like what I'm making here. I will also like to ask you guys to leave a review, saying what you like and what you dislike, that way I can make the story even better.
Reviews:
Krumpte chapter 7 . Feb 25 – Haha, Brendan has yet to show his entire team, but he is not so innocent to just let all the legendary out and about. Which one he has with him? That is a little secret, which I will share with you all in given time.
Guest chapter 3 . Feb 25 – That would be pretty cool huh? I wonder what Brendan will feel like if that little trainer one day shows up at the league halls with a super strong team. I can imagine him feeling very proud of how stronger that trainer got, maybe we can get to see that one day, who knows. ;)