There was no time to waste as the seven of us ran back outside the cavern. Brendan carried Professor Cozmo while I ran out with Chirpie after scolding him for taking snacks from thugs. He tried to argue back the case, but it was futile. Archie and his two men came out with us and planned on immediately going after Team Magma like I was. Originally, Brendan wasn't a big fan of this idea since A: We were unfamiliar with shady-looking Team Aqua, and B: It was certain that there was going to be a full-fledged gang war that would surely erupt if they met with Team Magma. Despite the spelled out consequences, I was too stubborn to shirk at the idea of possibly meeting up with Maxie again. I was determined to beat him down and his band of thugs. My former travel companion however, would be trusted with the task of bringing the professor down the mountain to safety. That suited me just fine since I didn't want him to talk any logical sense into me that prevented them from being pounded into a pulp.

Brendan walked up to me with a still unconscious professor being supported on his shoulders and managed to put a hand on mind. He had a serious look on his features this time and the relieved knowledge that I wouldn't hit him in the face like our first meeting. "I want you to make sure you're careful out there...those guys are really dangerous. But if you can, hit Tabitha in the face for me,"

I was a little surprised that he would request to fit in (let alone use) violence for an act of revenge, but then again, I could see the anger in his eyes from seeing how much Kippie wailed in pain from her injury. If that was Chirpie who had gotten hurt, Tabitha would have acquired more than just a black eye. I nodded back with a partially serious look and turned to my firebird. "Okay Chirpie, we're gonna hafta go down this mountain asap, so let's hurry!" I declared while starting to break into a run.

Before I could get any farther however, I felt three sharp talons grab ahold of my shoulder and yank me back. Hey! What on earth was he thinking?! "What gives?! Scuba thug said that they're going to Mt. Chimney and they already have a head start! How come you're stopping me?!" I demanded with a pouty face my Pokémon remained straight-faced throughout the entire spiel. When I finally finished, the large firebird turned away from me and knelt down; it took me a minute to realize what the gesture meant. Was he offering me...a piggyback ride?! Hell yeah!

Almost instantly, I jumped on his back and secured my arms around his neck. My excitement reached maximum levels as I anticipated the epicness of what was to follow. Once I was secure, the fire/fighting-type let out a screeching cry and leaped over the edge. The Team Aqua leader and his men witnessed the exit got rather excited by it. Archie took out a pokeball from his belt. "Man, that looked pretty dam cool! Can't have a lil' scamp like her outdo me though! Go wailord!"

Meanwhile, my stomach was now constantly dropping up and down in my belly from the fast -paced movement, but I couldn't help but laugh from the rush I was getting from the hardcore piggyback ride. Wind rushed in my face and the view from this perspective was so amazing. Looking down, I could see the miniature version of the ground steadily magnify as we kept going further towards the bottom. The freedom to do this so boldly felt refreshing; I wished I could do something like this on a whim.

Unfortunately, my thoughts were pushed from my mind as I started to faintly hear the sound of rushing water. I managed to turn my head out of curiosity to see and my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as a result. A large wave of rushing water came crashing down with Chirpie and I in its path. "AH! Chirpie! Move out of the way!" I screamed above the forceful winds that drowned out most of my volume. He did manage to hear, but it was a challenge to execute the command. Trying to move side-to-side at a fast pace on a mountain with questionably stable rocks wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Chirpie slowed down to try and move safely across.

Ultimately, it was a terrible mistake on my part as the water caught up to us quicker than expected and swept the both of us away. We were separated by the force of the current that tossed me every which way until I couldn't even comprehend what was up or down! On top of the swirling around underwater, it was getting hard to hold my breath. The burning in my lungs was becoming more prominent; which prompted me to frantically claw for life.

Just when it seemed grim, I felt thick vegetation rushing against me and finally stopped tumbling around. I shot up straight to the surface and gasped for fresh air. It took a moment of recovering from to close call to realize that I was back down the mountain again. The water started to recede and I was able to stand on the now very muddy ground. A quick examination of myself revealed more knocks and bruises, including a large cut on my knee. It hurt really bad, but not enough to handicap me.

While trying to figure out what other injuries I sustained, I heard a screeching cry from behind me. Though only still new to comprehend, the sound was too unique for it to belong to any of the while Pokémon in the area. Sure enough, my head turned to see Chirpie coming towards me; completely worn, irritated and drenched. What wasn't expected had been the small person he was carrying using the strength of only one arm, and a small blue bird sitting on top of his head. The person in question made my eyes go wide as I never thought that I would see him again.

"WALLY?!"

I ran swiftly to the three where Chirpie laid down the unconscious Wally down on the soaked grass. While scanning him from head-to-toe, I realized how calm his face looked; it was just as strangely adorable as it was when awake and constantly on frightful alert. Interesting as he was, the fact remained that Wally needed to be woken up. How did they do that? It was...kissing right? My face suddenly burned from the horrific thought. Dad did tell me about something one day called 'Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation'. Or a t least he started to before he paused in the middle of the lesson and quickly switched the subject in learning how to use my shoe as a blunt object. Well, there was also this one time I watched a movie where the hero had woken up his girl of interest by pressing on her chest and kissing her lips. Yeesh! Every time that thought came up, I could feel my face turn red! Ugh, I didn't want to do it, but I couldn't just leave him; especially when he had covered so much for me. My mind was tormentingly made up.

My face scrunched up with burden while kneeling down to get closer. I could feel my pride keeling over and my sense of morals being killed instantly, but I kept telling myself that it was for the greater good. Now upon being only inches away from his face, my body trembled of his closed lips. And then!

"WALLY, WAKE UP!"

The left hand attached to my arm came crashing down on his stomach in the form of my clenched fist. It impacted and made his body jump upright and start to cough out water. Okay, so I pulled a cop-out, but I did manage to wake him up. I really didn't want to kiss him! I've already unwillingly kissed two too many times in my life!

He continued to sputter and cough out water until his breathing returned to normal. "You okay Wally?!" I asked as relief filled me from head-to-toe.

"S-sempai...you're here? And...you saved me?!"

"Actually, Chirpie found you-"

"THANK YOU SEMPAI! I'm forever in your debt!"

Without warning, Wally attacked me with a hug; nearly squeezing out all the air in my lungs. For someone who was supposed to be incredibly weak, he sure was strong. "Get off me Wally! You're too close to me!" I demanded while squirming in his hold to break free. Normally it would be easy to punch a boy without a hitch, but his adorableness made it difficult for me to do. As if this wasn't terrible enough, a loud, bellowing laugh suddenly ripped out into the air; making us turning our heads to see a massive blue whale perched on top of the surface of the left side of the nearby lake, the secondary culprit. The primary one was standing on top of it. He was currently watching the scene and making all sorts of jeers like he was a ten-year-old. "OOH! Are you guys gonna kiss?! Right out in the open too! Better hurry up before somebody catches ya!"

Ugh, I am really starting to hate that man. Did Maxie actually think of this guy to be a rival? It was pretty stupid to think that he had any flunkies in the first place. I sharply stood back up; making Wally lose his grip on me. My face was fixed into an angry scowl.

The man withdrew his wailord and landed right in the water; though he didn't mind one bit with his only choice of wear being a wetsuit. Seeing as how he was the boss of Team Aqua, it only took Archie a matter of moments to reach the edge of the lake and meet up with us. He looked like an animal while surging through the water. It was too bad that a pokemon didn't mistake him as easy prey, grab him by the foot and drag him down to his watery doom.

"So lil' scamp, you done smoochin' your 'damsel in distress' already? Cause we gotta go kick some Magma ass at Mt. Chimney asap!"

"You and your stupid wailord almost drowned us! There's no way I'm traveling with a moron like you! Besides, you're just a shameless thug like Maxie!"

"And who's fault is it to try and look cooler than me while getting off the mountain? You're alive ain'tchya? And I'm nowhere near like that skinny nerd! I actually care what happens to Pokémon! Back in my day, we gave a shit about em' ya know? Nowadays, they're just more like entertainers or somethin'. One day, I'mma find a way to raise the sea level so every Pokémon in the world can be happier and make things go back to the way they were!"

Wow, that sounded a little deep there. He may have been a muscle head, but this was something he put a bit of thought into. I then started to wonder how this all came about: How Maxie and Archie started to feel this way, and what they did to become who they were. The issues with their ideals however, was how flawed they were. For example, Wally suddenly spoke up with curiosity.

"Um...if you raise the sea level for Pokémon, then what will happen to the ones on land?"

"That's easy! They'll learn how to swim eventually!"

"And the fire and rock-types?"

"Well, the only explanation to give, is to say: 'Shut the hell up kid, because I'm Archie!' "

...

Inevitably, Archie joined Wally and I on our journey to Mt. Chimney while his two flunkies went ahead to deliver assess the situation and prepare for battle. For the three of us, the first and foremost priority was to rest at Fallarbor's local inn. Our party got our own rooms despite the Team Aqua leader egging Wally on to get me to share my sleeping quarters with him. The tormenting adult knew no bounds with his terrible mockery.

The next day, I got up early and forced my travel companion to get up so we could ditch Archie before he could wake. Unfortunately, when we got to the front desk, he was already there with a stupid grin on his bearded face.

"Nice try, but you two lovebirds can't escape the epicness that is Archie! Now let's go get some Magma pukes!"

UUUUGH! I would love to murder this guy right now! He was practically asking for it. The unfortunate part was that I didn't have the muscle power to accomplish that. So we resumed our journey and traveled back across the ash-filled route; making sure we weren't mistaken for wild Pokémon this time around. As we traveled across the landscape, curiosity got the better of me and I asked Wally what happened between him and Sycamore. He instantly averted my gaze and blurted out a quick 'nothing'. I almost would have believed it if not for the professor's sadistic nature and the nervous sounding response that was followed by the nervous dripping of sweat. It was obvious that Wally had gone through a lot of torment from what had transpired at Wanda's house, so the subject was dropped. To prevent that madman from talking to us though, I then asked my friend how he was able to get so far. Fortunately, that subject was approved for discussion.

After he left his cousin's house, Wally set off to Mauville and defeated Wattson to claim his badge. He had wisely chosen kirlia and roselia for that match. Afterwards, he stayed in the city that night and went to route 111 the next day. While going on that path, he met up with Gabby and Ty, and ended up in a battle with the duo. He managed to hold his own; describing the battle as 'nerve-wracking'. The next few days were spent training and getting to know his Pokémon better while being more comfortable with the wilderness. Eventually, he resumed his journey and captured more Pokémon in the Fiery Path. When all was said and done, he stayed at the rest house I went to not too long ago. And so, Wally left the next day and made his way to Fallarbor Town after enduring countless hours of falling ash (which we were currently in) and eventually met up with me again.

It was admittingly courageous of him to make it so far despite all the setbacks he had. Sure he was very clingy and constantly stared at me with those disgustingly adorable eyes, but he took being a trainer very seriously. One day, I hoped to battle him to test his sturdiness as a precious mentor to his Pokémon. Somehow, I had a feeling that I would be tested in the process too.

Just before dark, the three of us reached the rest house and spent the night there. The old lady who lived and maintained the place gladly welcomed and served us food. Apparently Wally and I were 'thin rails' and needed to eat a lot. If course, Archie couldn't miss a second of making us embarrassed (or rather me) and ruffled both of our heads while joining our company. "AHAHAHA! Better listen to grams'! You can't even dream about beating me with those little twigs you call arms!" He taunted as he held up one of mine as proof. I just glared at him, took back my limb and scarfed down my bowl of rice and fish; fumbling with my chopsticks from the frustration.

After dinner, the Team Aqua boss was the first to go into the bathroom, a mistake that was instantly regrettable. An hour and forty- five minutes...that's how long he took in there while Wally and I suffered. Even then, he still wasn't out yet. Finally, my spread thin patience had been fed up. I stormed over to the door and slammed a heavy fist against it repeatedly.

"You've been in there forever! Get out already!"

"Make me!"

He was gonna play that game huh?! That scuba thug has another thing coming! Gathering up all my fury, I summoned the strength needed to remove the obstacle in my way.

"Maple style! BURNING KICK OF RAAAAAGE!"

One forceful hit of my foot made the door give away and violently swing open. Inside was a half-dressed Archie (wearing only a towel around his waist and his bandanna) with a scrub brush while a sharpedo swam around the square tub. Thankfully, my rage blinded me to his indecency. "Get out NOW!" I screamed while shoving him and his Pokémon out. While being held, the water/dark-type shot me a glare, but did nothing to act upon the hate. Once I was the only occupant, I slammed the door...or at least what was left of it.

...

The next day, we all set out again with Archie taunting my fury from the night before by calling me a 'ruffled lil' scamp' and constantly retold the events of the previous night in his own mocking way. After the fifty-fourth time, I felt like hitting my head repeatedly against a brick wall. Several hours would pass before he finally got bored of the mockery.

When we finally ended up at the entrance of the cable car station, I quickly went in with the growing hope of being able to ditch the man and move onto Lavaridge Town without being tormented any further by his presence. By far, Archie was the worst travel companion with Sycamore coming in a close second. Ngh, it was funny how I used to perceive Birch as the kind but annoying thorn at my side; now, I wished that I spoke up at the beginning to avoid all of the annoying drama now thrusted upon me and take him instead!

Anyway, we went inside the small station where a blond, uniformed woman kindly greeted us behind the counter with her customer-friendly smile. "Good afternoon! Would you like to take a trip to the top using the cable car?" She asked in a versed tone.

"Um, yes ma'am. For three please,"

"Oh? Is that another cosplayer?"

"Huh?"

"Your friend in blue. He's the forty-seventh person dressed in blue to come through here today. Yesterday, there were forty-nine people dressed in red that used the cable car,"

That wasn't good. My instincts told me that something was definitely going down and that we would get sucked into the second we went up there...much like what Brendan said as well. It was pretty much a given that this would happen, but what worried me most that we might already be too late with possibly apprehending Maxie. Tabitha might have left already too! Still, we accepted the ride and piled into the little car. I had a serious expression on my face in preparation for the possible fights we might be about to face. Wally's features twisted into their usual nervousness at the thought of getting involved with gangs while Archie looked like he was hungry for action. The several (horrendous) days he spent with us forced him to substitute his bloodlust by aiming his torture at the most reactive person of the group (me).

Right now, the cable car was making its ascent up the mountainous volcano with the support of thick wires. My party ad I had no choice but to listen to the calm elevator music whilst squished together. In attempting to keep myself mentally prepared, I focused on the rocky scenery we gradually passed by. Beside me, Wally tried to distract himself by twiddling his thumbs and messing with the buttons on his sweater. Archie however pulled out his phone, dialed a number and started to engage in a conversation with an unknown receiver. Of course I was too absorbed with looking outside the cable car to notice what he was saying; and so the ride went on for another hour. I made a note to bring a distraction with me the next time I decided to come up here. The company I kept was too shy and frust-

"Woah! What the hell's going on down there?!"

I felt close to dying from boredom when my eyes locked onto a scene that definitely wasn't part of the tourist attraction. Below us, were the two rival groups of Hoenn fighting against each other in a massive Pokémon brawl. Wally and Archie quickly looked up from what they were doing to gaze at the battle upon hearing my statement.

"Oh my gosh! How are we going to enter the station now?! We'll be attacked before we get out!"

"Easy! We jump!"

The sensible member of our party and I turned our heads to the clearly insane leader of Team Aqua. The thought of being so close to Team Magma made a dangerous grin spread across his face. Was he trying to kill us?! The only possible conclusion that I came to was that Archie was really Hades and was trying to choose the craziest of ways to kill us and forever torture us in the underworld below. It was a bit of a stretch, but there wasn't any other logical explanation for his strange behaviors.

He got up from his seat and forcibly opened the door to the cable car the smell of smoke and ashes hit us full force to quickly overwhelm our senses. Wally however, was the one who coughed and sputtered more violently than the rest of us due to the complications with his previous breathing issues. "Oh yeah. Totally forgot about the weak kid," he said rather causally...what an asshole. He dug into one of the compartments in his belt and pulled out a blue bandanna. Normally when a person gives another person an item to use, it was considered an act of kindness. For some reason however, I couldn't help but feel repelled by the gesture. Probably because he had this evil smile on his features while holding it out to the poor Wally. There was some hesitation on the younger trainer's part, by he eventually took it and tied it around his face to help filter out the air.

"Um...thank you,"

"Oh, not a problem at all kid...now out you go!" He replied shortly before grabbing him by the front of his sweater and tossing him out of the cable car.

Poor Wally had no chance or strength to fight back as he was thrown out to his doom. A horrified expression crossed my face when my brain finally processed what had his occurred. I shot up from my seat and ran to the opening to see the inevitable conclusion that Wally was...I didn't even want to think it!" The hot wind blew harshly against my face as I nervously poked my head out of the cable car.

"You're turn lil' scamp!"

I didn't have time to react as I felt Archie's rough boot kick my back to push me forward and out of the safety of the car.

"BY THE WAY! THAT'S FOR KICKING ME OUTTA THE BATHROOM YESTERDAY!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

...Many days ago...

Wally wad nervous, more so from when he first met May. That was because her terrifying professor was sitting rather peacefully across the table from him. Unlike the first time they encountered each other, the man's ecstatic smile was more natural while his ocean blue eyes weren't trying to burn a hole in him. Probably the reason for such tameness was because they were still in Wally's uncle's house. Unfortunately for the little boy, Wanda (who had previously been the only other occupant) left minutes ago to run errands. It was several long minutes of the professor observing the boy in a seemingly harmless manner.

"My, my...so quiet you are! I thought you would be clamoring away, like a chatot! Quite unusual of a silence who was wanting to tell me where my lost little birdie has flown off to,"

"...I um..."

"Yes?"

"...I...I lied!"

"Really?!" He said while feigning surprise in an attempt to dump guilt on his conscious. "What would make such a smart boy like yourself tell such a terrible, ugly lie?"

Wally gulped hard as he gathered up his bravery to say it. "I REALLY like May-sempai! I want to be...her knight!"

After his confession, an uncomfortable silence took ahold of the room and the young trainer's eyes dared to look upon Sycamore's face for some sort of reaction. Wally was certainly afraid of what was to follow, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze from him.

It was only after two minutes of the boy's words sinking in when a chuckle came past the professor's lips; then it evolved into what was speculated to be a genuine laugh. Sweat immediately started forming on Wally's face while trying to figure out what sort of response would ensue. Eventually, the laughter died down and the professor calmly stood up to purposely tower over the unfortunate soul.

"What a very silly, misguided child you are! Going so far in your superficial infatuations to say such a thing!" He replied in a mocking voice. Very suddenly, the atmosphere took a severe 180 degree turn as the homely, quaint feeling turned heavy and uneasy. Sycamore smiled wider, but that was because it was inspired by the need to tear down the otherwise feeble obstacle before him.

"Say what you will little boy...but she has no need for such a burdensome weight. At any rate, whether Miss May realizes or not, she already has her prince charming!"

*To be continued in chapter 19*