After that terrible episode in Lavaridge town (in which I did give some fuss no sooner did the event pass) was over, Professor Sycamore and I travels back to Petalburg City. We stopped in Mauville, but briefly after much protesting on my part. I knew that if it went his way, we would have stayed there for at least several months! He was really sneaky about it too; charmingly nudging me towards fancy places to eat or making me stay up to early hours in the morning so I couldn't put up any kind of argument. Those devious intentions were all hidden by a seemingly friendly smile. Thankfully, remembering our past visit and thinking about facing my father was what kept my thoughts in place.

Speaking of which, Sycamore didn't seem to mind that idea either. In fact, when we did leave the technology- based city, he was non-stop about planning some sort of 'surprise' after beating him or how easy it'll be. Of course I stared at him like he was a complete moron for even thinking like that. For some reason though, it was almost starting to sound like he disliked my father. Nah! That couldn't be it!

...

We got to Rustboro City on a humid evening with dusk spread out in a golden fiery-orange that covered the spacious sky. This was to be our only night here before going to Petalburg. To make matters turn frustrating, the inn was pretty full so we had no choice but to share a room. I didn't have any issues with sleeping outside, but the professor happily denied that request. That evening put me on guard.

The room we got was a fairly good size with two lavender futons with a small table and four mauve zabutons. The walls were the tan color of teak wood while the ceiling had been made of a pale yellow painted plaster. Of course, I immediately took a liking to the homely decor because I was always a sucker for that quaint feeling. Sycamore on the other hand could have cared less about it, since he preferred a more elegant or modern style.

I was setting down my pack and just finished taking off my shoes when the professor came in. "Ah, still here darling? I thought for sure that you would have left by now!" He poked with a teasing voice. Yeah, I definitely would have been gone by the time he charmed his way into the hearts of the manager and workers of the inn to get us free stuff or whatever else he was doing. The only problem was that he somehow got ahold of my case of gym badges. I could only suspect that it happened during one of those days when we stopped in Mauville. If dad presented me with the badge and I didn't have the holder,he would get mad! So in all, I was forced to stay with Sycamore. Still, I could try to make him suffer a little if I was gonna go through this.

"Yeah, whatever,"

My response was bitter and defiant whilst I turned my back to Sycamore. Of course, he merely giggled at my resistance and laid himself on his side on the futon next to mine. Great, now I can see his handsome, idiotic face; which morphed into a meek expression. Considering that he could have the drop on me at any time, I didn't let up any of my defenses. I remained stubbornly pouty.

"Okay darling, maybe it was in bad taste to make such a comment, but how could you blame me when you always act so coarse? Even now, you have such a grumpy face!"

"I dunno, Maybe its because you're holding MY badges hostage and purposely kept me from knowing where Wally was!"

I started to feel sleepy, but my pride refused to give in and lay down on the futon. Instead, I resorted to pinching my skin every now and then so the annoying pain would keep me awake. This chosen tactic would work for a few minutes, and then fail from getting tired of doing it. Curse this weak teenage body!

Back to the conversation, the professor let out a soft sigh and used the arm he wasn't leaning on to push a stray lock of hair (which I had plenty of) back into place without messing with my side bangs too much.

"Dear, let us say that you did know where that silly boy is and had no restrictions to keep you from finding him. What would you do?"

"Easy, go find him and kick some ass!"

"Just like you did when I saw you in the hold of that tasteless individual on Mt. Chimney?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Furthermore, I would also like to question the authenticity of such a villain. How do you know that he was not feeding you lies to induce paranoia? You need to think about these things, lest you walk into a trap; or seriously hurt yourself,"

"I'm fine! I don't need some Pokémonless professor telling me to watch where I'm walking! I can do what I want!"

Professor Sycamore sat up on his futon as I started to blink more than needed to keep my eyes moist. "Oh yes indeed; even nearly tumbling to your untimely death in an active volcano! Look at yourself darling! Even now, you are denying that delicate body of yours proper rest!" He voiced while his bold hand stopped messing with my hair, but framed the side of my face. I don't really know exactly why but I liked the when he did that; especially when his thumb would brush against my cheek. At this moment, Sycamore wasn't being annoying, clingy or trying to attack me. He was actually being sweet...in his own weird, nerdy way.

"And since you are under my tutorship, I (Professor Augustine Sycamore) will do everything within my powers of authority to make certain that you ( My lovely student: Miss May Maple) is in top condition at all times and nurse you back to health in the case you are not!" He said in the most enthusiastic voice. "Now, will you be a good , little girl for me and grace your poor professor with one of those enchanting, adorable smiles you so rarely make before retiring for the evening?"

Well, he did have a point. While I mainly trusted my fight and flight (rarely the latter) response, they've nearly got me killed on several occasions. At the very least, I could indulge him in one happy facial expression.

As my frown started to disappear and make way for a smile, I could feel my heart turn all warm and fuzzy. Sycamore's own lips upturned with an excited grin upon seeing my now cutesy face.

"Now there is that beautiful maiden that I have not seen for quite some time! All she had to do was put away her tough, merciless persona!" He said with a cheerful laugh. My face tinged a bright color upon hearing the compliment, so I quickly trained my eyes on the wall to the behind him.

"Also darling, there is something else that needs to be addressed,"

"Okay, what is it?"

"It has gotten quite chilly despite how small the room is and it would be much more practical if we kept each other war"-

"No!"

Aaaaaand, moment ruined.

My smile instantly melted and I tore my face away from his grip to lay down; staring the other way with an annoyed look. "Do not be like this dear? You treat me as if I was some kind of menace! It is simply the case of keeping your cute self in my hold for the night! A completely harmless gesture!"

Riiiiiight, nothing bad came out of letting him have me in his arms; ugh, I shouldn't have let him hold the side of my face.

I dug into my belt and pulled out my sixth pokeball. "Go skitty!"

The ball opened and out came the pink, little cat. It took a minute to realize her surroundings, but when she did, skitty saw the professor and ran to her favorite ( I begrudgingly admit) person. She leapt into his lap, went into a circle a few times and curled up in it.

I inwardly laughed at the irony. The Pokémon he interacted with the most in order to keep me within his sphere of influence, was also repellant between us. You see, she didn't like to share very much. Skitty started to get a little possessive and would hiss and get violent if someone so much as looked at her 'things' (apparently if it's just me, then I'm also in that category) . Great master plan, professor!

"Good night, Professor!"

"*sighs* Good night dear,"

...3am...

Mmmm...so tired...why am I waking up?

My eyes wearily fluttered open despite my conscious need for sleep. I sat my tired body up while rubbing my eyes before looking around the slightly darkened room for anything out of the ordinary. Through one window, the moonlight showered its unearthly brilliance through it to illuminate the space confined in the four walls. When I turned my head, I saw a slumbering Sycamore with a skitty curled up into a pink ball on his chest.

For some odd reason, I got curious and decided to get up from my futon to have a closer look. Skitty lightly mewled in her sleep as her small body grew warm from laying on his unbuttoned chest. Ugh, why did he always have to do that?! Granted, he was nicely toned...and was firm to the touch, but...dam it! Why couldn't I think up a mental counter-argument?! To make things worse, my eyes inevitably traced their way up to his face.

Like any human being, I found that his hair was messy while sleeping, but he somehow managed to look good. The professor's face was so peaceful and beautiful! Before I realized it, I was staring at him from only several inches away. Yeah, I'm sure watching him sleep while hovering over his face with only a small amount of space separating us wasn't strange at all! I wondered if would wake up if I kissed those soft lips; not that I would actually do it, because that would be totally weird...hahaha...ugh, I'm such a creep.

"You force me to take such actions kitty..."

Hm?

Sycamore started to talk in his sleep; turning to his side and making skitty slide off, but snuggled up to his torso and fell back into a deep slumber.

"...It is all I can do if I want to have you..."

Well, this was certainly interesting. While alot of things were unknown to me, I was smart enough to understand that he was talking about someone in his sleep; someone he liked.

Okay, good for him. I could care less about who he fantasized in his dreams and maybe there might be some small chance that he could lay off me to chase after this 'kitty'. But the more I started to think about it, the more questions started to pop up. Questions like: Was she more violent and destructive than me? I can be a billion times more chaotic and terrifying than her! Or other ones such as: What if he's talking about owning an actual cat Pokémon?! *Gasp* What if he's trying to own my skitty"?! I wouldn't put it past him to commit such a heinous act! Well, he can't have her! Skitty may prefer him more, but I was the one who caught her! She's mine!

Despite what I thought, I had still been fixated on him intently with my face stuck in a frustrated stare. In fact, it wasn't until he turned again and brushed his arm against one of my thighs did I realize how much I was still obsessing over the subject. The professor's limb suddenly froze as his hand registered contact with the feeling of skin that wasn't his. Oh shit.

Sycamore started to stir with a light groan; going as far as slowly opening his eyes to find out what he was touching. Not good! Maybe if I sat reeeeeeaally still, he would go back to slee-AH!

Without warning, his hand squeeze my thigh and made my hair stand on end. It's not working! Plan B! Plan B!

"Uhhh...May dear, is that y-OOF!"

The professor wasn't able to finish his sentence. That was because I promptly grabbed my pillow and shoved it in his face. Now with the assured distraction in place, I stumbled over back to my futon and noisily dove under its quilts. Now for the finishing touch. I pretended to toss and turn sporadically before voicing a fake complaint. "UGH! OH MY GIRATINA! I'm trying to sleep, professor! Knock it off already! You're too loud!"

Oh yeah, May Maple: The master of stealth and subtlety.

"Darling, I can hear your heavy breathing; and you attempted to smother me with your pillow,"

"No I didn't! I was trying to sleep!"

A small, tired chuckle erupted from hearing my lie and he shifted slightly in his quilts. "If you declare so, little birdie. I do suppose it may have been all apart of my wild imagination. However, I think I shall keep your pillow for my troubles,"

With that, he gave a short, tired smile in my direction and laid back down with the fluffy object in hand. Oh good, he finally bought it. And though I had to burrow deep into my futon so I could have something soft underneath my head, I was fortunate to be let off easy. Weariness took over once again and I went to sleep.

...

The morning came to quick for me, I tried so hard to ignore the chirping bird Pokémon and bright rays of sunlight that now flooded through the window by balling myself up in the mass of quilts. Unfortunately, Professor Sycamore bursted through the door with what seemed to be an unrelenting supply of energy. How could this guy function so properly?! Just a few minutes of an interrupted sleep cycle threw me out of whack, but he was going along just fine! Did he always sleep so little?! Actually, that would make plenty of sense considering how early I've seen him up. Still, he was just all around very weird.

"Good morning dearest! It is time to wake up! Sleeping in is not an option today!" He said in an extra excited voice. From the security of my covers, could hear the soft mewling of skitty that were followed by the noises of Sycamore's silk trousers rustling; probably from my cat Pokémon rubbing up against them.

"Uuuuuuuuugh...leave me alone...i don't want to get up,"

"Maybe you would have wanted to, if you did not spend most of your night watching me with such interesting intentions while I slept!" He poked once more.

"I wasn't...for the kajillionth time...lemme sleep..."

"Darling, if you keep refusing to get yourself up and ready for the day, then I might have to resort to using a form of incentive of my choosing!" He declared with a tinge more of estaticness in his tone.

"Mmmmgh..."

I was very focused on trying to get rest, so forming a decent sentence hadn't been a top priority in my brain. As my eyes were still closed, my ears suddenly registered light footsteps. Huh, they're getting kinda closer...its actually starting to irritate me-WAS I JUST TALKING TO SYCAMORE?!

Very quickly, I remembered what kind of possible consequences might ensue if I didn't listen to him. Outside the futon, the professor was now only inches away with the full intent of grabbing and tearing away the thick quilts when my head popped out from underneath them. My eyes were wide open with fright from how close I came from receiving his method of waking me up. "OKAY, OKAY! I'm up! Just gimme five minutes!"

...

Soon enough, we were back on the road again with our backs turned to Rustboro City and our faces pointed towards Petalburg Woods (after he was benevolent enough to give me my badges back...okay, I whined until he gave in).From the time we went into venturing through it, my anxiety grew. Not getting enough rest really didn't help me either. Of course, Sycamore made it worse. I felt more scared everytime he would mention me battling my dad and that he would actually try to get permission to observe the match between us. Did he want me to get a heart attack?! I had to get rid of him fast or I'll definitely lose! Fortunately, I could ditch him easy without recalling any of my Pokémon since they were all back I my belt to save their energy.

I did a quick 180 degree turn to face the kalosian. "Professor, I hafta use the bathroom! Sycamore stopped to give me a puzzled look before registering my need. He actually looked a little unsure.

"We should go back then? It could be some time before we reach Petalburg City,"

"Darling, it is such an uncivilized place to go!"

"I can't wait! I gotta go now!"

"Darling, this place is so uncivilized to conduct your...'business' here!"

"I can be civilized when I'm dead! Now stay here while I go over there in those bushes...and DON'T let anyone go over there!"

With that argument won, I immediately made a run for it to the large shrubs and dove in with no hesitation. Once the cover of greenery effectively hid me, I got down on my stomach and started to crawl away. It was a little nerve-wracking to make sure that I wasn't making a whole lot of noise while doing so. Even though guilt was gnawing away at my conscious for leaving Sycamore yet again, I was committing the act for the sake of my focus. Still, I wonder how long he would wait before he caught on that I was missing.

...

This was it: I was finally gonna do it. The time had come to challenge my father. When I got back to Petalburg, I made a pit stop at the center to catch my breath. It was mid-afternoon by the time I arrived, so it was decided that preparing myself mentally would be a good idea. My nerves were so spiked that they could poke a hole in concrete.

Okay, I'm just blowing it out of proportion. Maybe its not as terrifying as I'm making it out to be. I mean its only my very intimidating father...*shudders*

After being trapped in my thoughts for too long, I promptly jumped up to my feet and shook my head. I better hurt up and do this before I faint or something. Besides, it had been at least fifteen minutes since I came to the Pokémon center. The fib that the professor believed bought me at least a ten-minute head start. Time to go get the balance badge before something goes wrong!

...

The Petalburg City Gym was a traditional looking dojo that stood proudly in the heart of the quaint civilization. From its cyan blue shingles to its old built wood, this place really suited my father; especially the height. From how it was looming over the smaller buildings, any poor fool of a challenger wouldn't have any problem feeling intimidated. Ugh, why don't you stick spiked wooden poles at the front with severed eads topping them?! Might as well dad!

Anxiety shook me from head to toe, but I braced myself and pushed the doors opened. When the heavy doors gave way, my eyes gazed upon the interior that matched the theme of the outside; except more newer looking. Coffee brown wood made up the walls and ceiling the entrance only had about three square feet of polished wood with the rest of the floor in the large room covered in tatami*. Oh, better lose the footwear. Immediately, I sat down to take off my shoes and left them neatly by the wall next to the others. Now the only thing I had on my feet were cherry-colored socks.

Now ready to fight my way through the gym, I looked around the large room more thoroughly and discovered two doors that were spaced several feet from each other. I hope it wasn't one of those gyms that forced trainers to take pop quizzes; my brain didn't want gl handle a challenge like that.

For several moments, I debated which one to go through. Anxiety started to creep up on me again, so I decided on the door to the right. Crossing the floor and hopping up to the ledge, I went to the entrance and opened it to reveal a slightly smaller room. Inside, there was a female trainer sitting on her knees with two doors behind her. Hm, how long was she sitting like that? Her legs must have fallen asleep by now!

The trainer had previously sitting there with her eyes closed in meditation, but upon hearing my presence, she opened them and flawlessly stood up. "Welcome May Maple to the Petalburg City gym! We have been expecting you for some time now!"

"You have? How?"

"How else? Your father,"

...A month after May left with Brendan from then on ...

Every morning at the Petalburg City Gym lounge when 8:01 hit, Norman strolled right in with the trainers of the gym who were watching a small television set. It had all been fine and dandy until a very thick kendo sword went eight through the screen. That certainly got their attention as they all turned their eyes on him. His face was completely etched with ferocity. The only boy trainer (Which the gym guidelines forced him to have despite the leeway Ericka got) looked nervous with the rest of his companions sharing the same feeling of dread.

"*Ahem* Good morning, today will be the start of a daily announcement of a match that you all will be participating in, within the future,"

He pulled out a picture of May Maple. Like most photos of her, she had an angry face that couldn't be taken seriously. He held it out for everyone to see before putting it in his jacket. "This girl will eventually make her way here to defeat me. Since you are all what stands as the obstacles between the challenger and I, my expectations for you will be high...except for you, Cornelius, because I don't expect much from am uncouth hooligan like you. Feel free to quit at any time,"

The teen felt a blow being taken to his self confidence, but he kept his mouth tightly shut. The last thing he wanted to do was give his superior a reason to beat the shit out of him with that kendo sword he always carried. At least his wife was so much nicer. How did she ever marry him anyway?"

"When you encounter her, put every ounce of your will into your abilities as a trainer! For the sake of your pride, become an impossible wall that is not scaled by ordinary means!"

The air grew heavy as his intimidation started to leak in the atmosphere.

"If you fail, the consequences will be great!"

...

"So, he's gonna empty out the lounge?"

"You clearly don't understand. All of us treasure our safe haven between the strict training and challenger battles! If you defeat us, our only place for entertainment will be stripped into nothingness and I won't be able to watch Titan teens in the morning anymore!"

Good arceus! What kind of horrible torture was my dad bringing upon his workers?! He's never done such a terrible thing to me like that in my life! Maybe ground me for a day or sent me to bed early, but not something so insane as that! While I felt bad for my opponents to be stuck in a situation so horrifying, I couldn't back down. If I did, then I would fail as a trainer and let my team down.

"Sorry to hear that, but I'm not gonna give up! So I've got to battle at my hardest!"

The trainer across from me said nothing immediately in return, but grabbed a pokeball from her belt. It was clear that words in a situation like this would do little to affect either parties.

"So be it, May Maple! Then prepare yourself to face my swiftness in battle! I will be as quick as I can to put your team out of commission!"

...

All the battles I powered through in this gym were super tough! Each trainer I came across had their own strategy for battling. They were formidable and kept me on my toes, but they were no match for the combined efforts of Chirpie and mightyena. Since my firebird was half fighting-type and used those kinds of moves, it was nearly a flawless victory. Though mightyena wasn't similar to her bird-like counterpart, she still had some moves that she could use to her advantage.

Funny enough, the most strongest of the trainers there was the only boy in the gym. His zangoose did everything it could to bring down my dark-type. It struck fast and hard without letting up. Unfortunately for him, my large wolf was faster and full of more energy. In the end, zangoose fell with a heavy thud and mightyena was barely left standing. After giving my Pokémon soda to drink, the boy trainer and I withdrew our battle partners before giving each other a respectful bow.

"That was a pretty good match. You fight good,"

" Thanks,"

"So I guess this is it. You're gonna be facing your dad next,"

"Oh, uh yeah,"

"I uh...I know Norman's your dad and all, but he's kind of a dick,"

"Yeah, I know...well, see ya,"

"See ya,"

I gave the boy a short wave and went behind him so I could get to the large, menacing doors that were obviously designed more for intimidation than practicality. My nerves were starting to get rattled again as anxiety began to build up inside. Here I am; just behind this door was my father. Mustering up my strength, I pushed against the heavy, wooden doors until they began to move. Slowly but surely, they gave way to my force. I kept on pushing until they revealed a large room.

"Okay dad! I'm ready to beat-eh?"

The room I was in had no tatami mat flooring. It was just made of a dark polished wood whose tree species was unknown to me. There was a large window that took up 90% of the wall standing across from me in the room with a framed rice paper canvas. The symbol of the gym was brushed on there with black ink. Through the large window , I could see a sakura tree sitting by the edge of a small pond. Surrounding the two objects were little shrubs that sat on lush, green grass.

While the sight was pretty, there was only one question: Where the hell was dad?! Yeah! No matter how many times I looked around the room, he was nowhere to be found! Tell me this wasn't some sick joke! Maybe all this anxiety finally made me snap and I'm dreaming all of this up! HAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA"- "Oh, May. You're here already?"

I was beginning to enter a breakdown when a voice got my attention from behind. Instantly, I whirled around to see the whole cause of my mental misery: My father.

For the purposes of his gym, the maple sandals on his feet were gone; leaving him barefoot. Aside from that, my dad's features hardened due to the 'work mode' he was in. The porcelain cup of green tea that he had in his hand told me that he was on a short break.

I stood there completely clueless as to how I should respond to him. In the perspective of my dad, he must have thought that I looked adorable, for his stern expression lightened up a little and ruffled my hair. Back before I started my travels, I would have enjoyed the fatherly gesture. Now, I felt a little embarrassed, so it came as a surprise to him when I leaned back to escape further ruffling. He immediately dropped his hand to avoid any awkwardness, but it was inevitably in his voice.

"...So May...*ahem* I must congratulate you for coming this far. Even now you have brought yourself flawlessly here before me-"

"Dad, how are you?"

He was a little taken back by the question,as it wasn't what he expected. It had been a long time since I saw him; let alone mom. Even though I was nervous about battling my dad, it was still disappointing deep down that he couldn't even say anything that other than business. Now that I think about it, I did more of the affection giving while he merely ruffled my hair.

"I'm, um...fine,"

"And how's mom?"

"She's fine as well,"

An awkward silence suddenly took over between the both of us. Wow, this was the last thing that I expected to happen. Quick! Say something to salvage the situation!

"Oh...good,"

Shit! Try something else!

"I'm glad. I missed you both," my voice managed to choke out. Dad looked at me a little more strangely ( probably because of my off behavior) but chose not to make a comment about it. Instead, he stepped back and sat on the floor. "May, why don't you join me for a moment?"he requested with a calm tone. That...came right out of left field. I didn't really know how to respond to that other than giving a nod and joined him on the floor.

Now that the two of us were sitting, it felt somewhat better; although dad sat on his knees while I chose to be cross-legged. Still, it certainly beat him towering over me or making my sentences sound awkward. "Forgive me May. Just seeing you here after your journey so far gives me a sense of pride. But I keep forgetting that you're still so young,"

"I-I'm not that little! I'm two years away from being an adult!"

"But you are. In more ways than you think; it's nothing to be ashamed of. Just don't try to grow up too fast,"

From that, my dad did something that I wouldn't have anticipated in a million years. He got up from where he was sitting and went over to me. Before I could say anything, he got back down to his knees again and gave me a hug. This was...entirely new, but I liked it. Back when I left dad at the gym, he made a point that any displays of affection weren't allowed while he was at work. Yet here he was, embracing me with his fatherly cares. I buried my face in his shirt like I always did and hugged him back. I could feel my eyes getting all teary. Out of all the things to happen, this is definitely one of the last things I expected!

The two of us stayed that way for what seemed like forever ( even though it had only been ten minutes) when my father began to hear muffled sniffling sounds.

"May are you crying?"

"NO!"

Oh yeah, that was very convincing!

Pretty much knowing that it was a lie, he moved away to see my face. Lo and behold, my eyes were wet and my nose started to run. Ugh, why did crying make people look so gross? I looked back at him to see something that was supposed to represent a short smile. In response, my mouth fell down in a pouty frown while I quickly rubbed my face dry.

"Not crying huh?"

"Whatever dad! Let's just start the match already!"

...

Back in Littleroot Town where May Maple's residence laid was Mrs. Maple; tidying up the house. A daily routine that she brought over from Johto, and the Hoenn humidity wasn't going to slow her down. She had just finished sweeping the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Oh? Was Mrs. Birch here already? May's mother stopped what she wad doing to answer the door.

Upon opening it, she found out very quickly that hadn't been her next door neighbor. "Good day, madam. I was wondering if this is the Birch residence. You see, I'm a very big fan of his," the person at the door asked. The visitor in question looked to be around the same height as Norman wearing a brown suit. For some reason though, it felt like the attire clashed with him. Maybe it had something to do with his large glasses and flaming red hair. He looked very odd, but then who was she to judge after marrying a man who refused to let their daughter have a normal relationship with any boy.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but this is the Maple residence and Professor Birch will be out for some time,"

"The Maple residence. That name sounds very familiar,"

"Oh yes! My husband Norman is the new gym leader in Petalburg City!"

"Hmm, not him, but rather someone else,"

"Oh. Then you must be talking about my...'impulsive' daughter,"

"Yes, I believe that's it. May Maple then,"

Oh please tell me that she's not beating up poor, young boys in the street everywhere she goes,"

"Oh the contrary, she's been quite popular in the news lately...for the better,"

"Really?! I must insist that you come in then and talk more about it!"

*Continued in chapter 23*

*Tatami: Rice mat flooring