Confusion. Yep, that's the best way to describe this situation. Pretend you were somebody just minding your own business and accidentally stumbled into this room. A room where me with a Kalosian professor having a large, black and gray wolf facing off against a purple inflated ball who accompanied a giant camel with small volcanos on its back. These creatures were owned by people dressed in dark red sweater onsies with nerd shorts. THEN imagine a live ice sculpture skating in with a person calling themselves 'The Birch Squad'.

I know; 'The Birch Squad' was a pretty weird name. Way to make the situation strange by using a stupid name like that!

Anyway, Tabitha didn't react so much about the name, but Brendan's Pokémon he chose for battle. "Hah! I doubt that! Don't you know that ice-types are weak against fire?!" He spat, almost as if Maxie's admin had been insulted about him bringing a disadvantaged type. Brendan only stood there with crossed arms.

"I know, but what kind of fire-type moves are you gonna use in a cramped office space?"

"...I...uh...stomp on it, camerupt!"

Tabitha's giant fire camel found itself to be flustered by how restrained it felt from the lack of space, but managed to raise a mighty hoof and attempted to step on the little ice creature. It moved out of its line of fire and skated around the foe. Everywhere this thing went, thin sheets of frost blanketed the floor. "Let's do this quick: Hit it hard and fast with your hammer arm technique!" Brendan commanded in full on excitement. His battle partner moved back in front of the beast; an arm half-raised and glowing. The camerupt saw what was coming and stretched out its neck in lightning speed. It got the ice sculpture's arm alright, but the non-hazardous one.

"Oh sh-BAM!"

One punch. That was all it took; a brutal hit to the face from a fight based attack to send it back….or if you wanna be specific, sending it back against his owner to slide against the wall. Everyone watched as Maxie's right hand man nearly get squished by his Pokémon as they collided. Obviously, the impact caused damage to the plaster wall and possibly some cracked ribs in Tabitha's case. A computer desk that had the unfortunate luck of being close to them was effortlessly destroyed.

Brendan's skating ice piece turned around to return to him. Maybe now's the perfect time to apprehend him.

"Mightyena get back up! I need your help in getting Maxie's man-child!" I shouted, for any attempt at getting on my feet would've resulted in falling flat on my butt. My large wolf Pokémon ( who had already been messed up by that koffing tackle) forced itself to stand. But just as she did, the SAME poison-type ball of inflated gas came back upon her with a slam. What gives?! How is that even possible?! I couldn't even begin to question the logic of its lack of weight inflicting a ton of damage, but this thing was in my way!

Mightyena got back up quicker this time and jumped on another computer desk; accidentally knocking over an expensive monitor with a wag of her tail. Whoops…I'll pay for that…eventually.

Back to her obstacle, my dark-type growled threateningly at her adversary and crouched in a readying position to strike. With careful precision, Mightyena ju-suddenly stopped when an object was thrown her way, and it wasn't just any object. Lying on another desk across from her was another Team Magma boot. Oh no! "Mightyena don't-"

Too late. Her desire to seize and chew holes in it overrode her focus and swiftly jumped onto the other desk for the footwear. I tried to get closer to issue a command, but koffing got there first.

"Koffing, cover the room in your smokescreen,"

Upon hearing the command, the gas ball shrunk itself to spray put a foul-smelling odor that blanketed my sight. An opportunity had been quickly seized as sounds of returning Pokémon grunting, stressed noises, rustling of papers and feet retreating were clearly heard. Nooo! Must find and destroy! I can't just let them leave without any personal insults or black eyes! Unfortunately however, I couldn't even stand up right on the ice.

"You got lucky that I didn't put you in your place this time! But you better stay outta my way if we see each other again!"

…..

Rain, so much rain. I'm surprised this part the region hasn't flooded by now. In the aftermath of our encounter with Team Magma, Brendan and I finally gave each other casual greetings and helped pick up the mess. Professor Sycamore of course conveyed his 'sincerest apologies' and somehow convinced them to allow us to stay for the night. Despite how much office equipment we wrecked, the head of Hoenn's Weather Institute was actually more grateful than pissed. In fact, he even gave us each a weather Pokémon called castform. One of its interesting features is that it could change appearances depending on the weather. Though while he went on about how we couldn't be able to control the weather, I was pretty sure he forgot about the fact that trainers could command their Pokémon to change the weather. Therefore, we actually could. I'll let him have his moment though.

"By the way: What did those Magma nerds want with those maps anyway?"

"Well young lady, they were looking for topographic maps that dated back to 4,000 years ago,"

"What's a topographic map?"

I really shouldn't have asked what that was, because I got an extremely long answer. Although duty bound to collect any information necessary for battling Team Magma, four hours of listening to this guy talk just barely made it worth standing straight the whole time. What I got out of it, had been that those kind of maps had plenty of uses; including earth sciences. Since Maxie was a complete nerd with no hope of doing anything else, I knew that he'd probably use it for another plan for me to ruin. It was only a matter of time now before Team Maple paid him a visit. Enjoy your small victory while you can, it won't last long!

After gleaning all the information I could from the head of the institute, I decided to head back downstairs to reunite with the rest of the occupants there. Brendan Birch was the first person I saw while coming down the stairs. He had been squatting down to be closer to his Pokémon. It held a frozen nanab berry. Upon noticing me, the ice creature faced those golden orbs in by direction while holding the fruit more protectively. Its master was much more friendlier.

"Hey May. You figure out what Team Magma stole?"

"Yeah, but it was only maps. If it was me, I would have at least lifted a couple of things from the vending machine over there,"

"Man you never change, always thinking with your stomach…or your fists. Have you ever thought about using nice words or being non- violent for once?"

"Hey! There's plenty of times where I've been ni-"

"DISCOUNTING Pokémon Spectaculars,"

NGH. He got me there. Brendan better be thankful that I'm nicer to him (and Wally) than before. I attempted to make a face at him, but instead gave him a grin that said 'I knew he was right'. But in a playfully pouty way, I tossed my head with an "Hmph!" and declared "I'm gonna go get something from the vending machine!" Brendan turned his attention back to his Pokémon, but shouted to me: "Bring back some octiyaki bites: seaweed flavored!" The ice-type made an excited sound upon hearing what its master requested. Brendan waved a finger at it in response. "AFTER you finish your nanab. You gotta eat all the good stuff first so you can get stronger,"

Brendan is such a dad. Taking care of his battle partners, as he put it, was like raising a kid sometimes. You feed them, nurse them back to health play with them, teach them right from wrong, but most importantly: Loving them unconditionally. He told me there were times when he was mad at them, but like with myself, Brendan learned to be patient. I wish I could've hung out with him more than 'You-know-who'.

Walking around to the vending machine, I took put my wrinkled bills along with heavy change. Looking over what was desired behind the plastic casings had always been fun. Vending machines held many diverse brands and flavor of snacks. Drinks however used to be an issue.

I think it was many years when people started putting the treat dispensing machines up. For the LONGEST time, the options were water, lemonade or soda. Only up to a year ago did someone finally say in the vending business: 'Hey, these are some pretty limiting choices. Let's change it up!'. Now we have palpico yogurt, apple juice, jelly drinks and a ton of other stuff I can barely pronounce. May I meet the man who changed it all and sob joyfully in front of him in gratefulness.

Anyway, I began inserting money into the machine while deciding which one to get first. I could go with the octiyaki bites first, but I reeeeeally wanted to eat some flaafy cotton candy. Oh? There's even sunflora seeds; not to be confused with actual sunkerns. After thinking about what to limit my choices to, it was the final decision to buy all the options in multiple quantities. Hey, if you're rich enough to get what you want, then do it. Although it may be full of regret later.

Satisfied of my valuable load, my feet moved to face the way I came from, when something caught my gaze. What was that on the floor? Immediately, the priority of going back to Brendan was pushed back to investigate the mysterious object. When I got close enough to analyze, it was revealed to be…. A box of hello panchams. Did somebody drop this? Meh, who cares?! Scoooore!

Very carefully, I tucked the box under my arm. Now to-oh, another one!

Sitting just a few feet away from the pancham shaped treats was another snack container. Not missing a chance, I went for and seized a pack of pop roggenrolas. Cool! Maybe I could dare Brendan to drink some with soda-what's that? Just beyond the pack was yet ANOTHER treat just around the corner. Today must be my lucky day!

In a quick movement, I sprinted around the said corner to where the small waiting area was. Oh, this one was a bag of sour cherrims. Upon picking it up however, I felt my fingers brushing against something else that was hidden underneath. It was- "Chocolat Le Kalos?"

The trap that I unknowingly walked into suddenly sprung. Before anything like escaping could be processed in my head, a hand quickly slapped against my mouth as an arm encircled my waist. I could have fought back, but my hands were currently occupied. The snacks might get messed up if I chose to go on the offensive.

I was immediately pushed against the wall and caged in. And wouldn't you guess? It was the king of schemers himself.

"Well hello my clever little bird: We meet again,"

"….are you wearing khaki shorts?"

My eyes didn't deceive me. Professor Augustine Sycamore was indeed wearing yellowish-brown khaki shorts with leather sandals and a light blue t-shirt. From how his body language was postured it told me that he was pretty uncomfortable. Though now dressed akin to a normal human being, the charming aura was still there.

At questioning the obvious, a malicious smile grew across his face while leaning in closer. "And who pray tell is the one to blame for such a fate? I will have you know: Those were the only set of proper clothes I had," He said with an underlying hint of a spiteful fashion. Still acting like the 'gentleman' he was, that was the all the anger he permitted himself to show.

"That's your own fault! Maybe if you listened to Professor Birch, then you wouldn't be as miserable as you are right now!"

Upon hearing his name, Sycamore frowned with a glare and abruptly snatched the bag of octiyaki bites I reserved for Brendan. Wordlessly, he looked me straight in the eyes, dropped the bag to the floor shortly before crushing it under his foot. The bag exploding with a pop resonated in my ears like an agonizing sound.

"AAAAAAH! YOU BASTARD! I WAS SAVING THOSE!"

"That is what happens when you say such unsightly things. However, I believe further consequences are in order to discipline such an impudent girl like yourself!"

Without any hesitation, Sycamore stole another bag from my bag and dropped it on the floor to be stomped on. Again, the sight and sound of the wicked deed being committed wrenched my heart. He's such a cold-hearted monster! Even the look on his face while he went on destroying my most materialistic desires, displayed immensely cruel joy. I knew he wouldn't stop until there was nothing left.

"No please! Stop it!"

"Too late! Your hot-headed habit of rebelliousness will cost you greatly!"

The horrible professor tried grabbing another bag to ruin, but I hugged them protectively and turned my back on him. Not used to such extreme levels of defiance, snatched me up by the waist and made further attempts to take them from my hold. I think the loss of his normal attire was getting to him.

"Cease this intolerable behavior at-"

He suddenly froze in place with his arm still holding me up. What's with-oh.

I didn't understand at first, but when I lifted up my head to see his vision was directed, my own had widened as we both saw Brendan Birch standing several feet away with a soda bottle in his hand. The ice Pokémon who was with him shrilled in surprise. Not good!

"….what are you two doing?"

"Brendan! I can explain! It's not what it looks like!"

"So it doesn't look like you both are trying to kill each other over snacks?"

Wait a second, he hasn't caught on yet? Oh thank arceus! I could still make up something! Thinking quickly to avoid say suspicious long pauses, my brain managed to come up with a decent excuse. "Actually, we were! Professor Sycamore tried to steal my stuff! He's EVIL!" I declared while wriggling out of the kalosian man's hold. Brendan only stood there in puzzlement. That was when the professor laughed to make the scene less awkward than it was currently playing out.

"Evil?! Oh Miss Maple! I do believe you are quite mistaken! It is most certainly I who is simply taking back what is mine! Do take care to remember who belongs to whom,"

"Isn't it 'what belongs to whom'?"

"Of course! Silly me! Proper phrasing simply continues to escape me!"

Eventually, Sycamore had to put me down since Brendan wasn't about to leave for the sake of both of us staying alive. The professor left to sate his interest on the research about the climate areas of interest. Honestly, I'm sure he could care less about any of that; he really wanted some alone time to hatch another mischievous plan. Hah! Good luck with that while I'm with my bestie!

Speaking of him, I shared with Brendan all the remaining snacks from Sycamore's attempts to destroy them. In return, he gave me a bottle of soda to guzzle the junk food down. And while we ate merrily on the waiting room couch, the two of us caught up on what was going on in our lives. Though there was something on my mind that needed to be asked.

"So…'The Birch Squad'…"

"I know huh? It's a pretty cool group name," he replied with a sly grin while leaning back on the couch. No, that sounded like the complete opposite, more like: "Dorky. And very nerdy," My words nearly knocked him out with shock. Wow, did he honestly think that was the most awesomest group name on the face of the planet?

Then he tried to explain that 'brigade' had already been taken. By whom shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was still hard to wrap my head around.

"Wally took the word 'brigade'?"

"Yeah. He calls his team the 'Walnut Brigade' now. It actually has a nice ring to it,"

"You guys calls call yourselves the weirdest things,"

"Look who's talking Miss 'Team Maple'!"

"Hey! That name is cool! I don't see you striking fear into the hearts your enemies with 'The Birch Squad'!"

"Well….Snowcone thinks it's a great name!"

Snowcone? I was confused about knowing who this 'Snowcone' person was. The parents must have hated their child a lot to warrant such an atrocious name.

At the same time, Brendan's ice Pokémon waddled over to him with a bag of sour cherrims. It gave out a shrill and pulled itself onto the couch. It climbed onto his lap. The frozen being briefly turned its body to look at me, and then shrilled again. "See? It doesn't mind one bit,"

"….wait, so you-"

*Nods*

"That is so cruel,"

"Come on May, you need to…CHILL OUT,"

"Okay no. Don't start,"

"You can't give me the COLD SHOULDER already! I thought we were best friends,"

"Not if you wanna keep using those lame puns!"

"Alright, alright. I know when I'm on THIN ICE,"

I was forced to shoot a warning glare at Brendan as a last resort to get him to stop using those unsightly puns. But even though he did so, a smug grin cracked on his face. The son of Professor Birch knew he weaseled in deep enough in our friendship to not receive any real rebukes. He better be grateful about it.

To fully eliminate the topic of puns, I asked Brendan where he got his strange battle partner. As odd-looking as it was, there was still some desire to obtain one. Sadly, it was revealed that Snowcone was the only one of its kind; so to speak. "Sorry May, but the pokédex says that the only regice on this planet is Snowcone. As much as I like you, there's no way I'm letting you seduce it into your wicked ways," He joked while holding the ice golem protectively. The ice-type cooed in its shrilly voice while basking in the affection.

Tempting as it was, guess my chances of completing my pokédex just became zero. Who am I kidding? It was already zero when I didn't capture latias. There's no way Latios would let me. The only option left was to do what other friends do when they want to be cooler; one-up them.

"Oh yeah? Well, that's okay! I got something too!"

I unbuckled my pack and set it on top of my lap for both Brendan and Snowcone to see. My friend gazed at me with curious interest, while his Pokémon's golden dot eyes glowed with excitement.

It was in here somewhere; maybe if I stopped messing up Chirpie's organization of things, I'd find it sooner. You know what? Fuck it! I'm just gonna dump it! So that's what I did. The fact that I was taking so long to rummage through my bag caused my patience to fall flat and ultimately pick up the thing. It was turned upside-down for many items to fall out; including the mega bracelet. Once I had found it, I quickly put it on my wrist and flaunted the thing with an exaggeration of wiggling my fingers that accompanied running my spare hand through my hair.

"Feast your eyes on THIS!" I boasted while holding my 'cool' pose. Brendan had been indeed surprised at seeing the bracelet and took my hand to examine it further. His grip held an admittingly shocking gentleness. It felt calloused from working and training. Very suddenly, heat rushed up to my cheeks. Why was I getting so worked up about Brendan holding my hand? That's what usually happens when Sycamore goes into predator mode and tries to torment me.

"Woah...where did you get this?"

"I...I got it from Steven,"

"Wow...you're finally starting to wear jewelry like a normal girl!"

"Huh?"

"And a guy gave it to you on top of that! Don't tell me you two are dating! Isn't he a little too old for you?"

Aaaaand those good feelings were gone. Angry at the misinterpretation, I snatched my hand back with furious expressions already forming on my face. "I'm NOT dating Steven, and it's not jewelry! It's a mega-bracelet!" Very quickly, I shoved things back into my pack while recovering from the small moment of humiliation. Realizing what was wrong, Brendan awkwardly scratched his head.

"Oh...er...sorry about that. I guess Lisia-chan never rubbed off on you, huh?"

That was debatable.

"Nope! And she'll never get me to be her Contest Spectacular slave. And she won't get the satisfaction!"

*Snickers*

I focused on Brendan with a scowl after the moment of being wrapped up in my declaration. Now, he was trying to hold in a laugh. Snowcone didn't get anything out of the situation, so it got another bag of snacks and tore it open to eat. Meanwhile, I was boring holes into its master.

Brendan at first tried to make a serious look to erase the held in laugh, but that didn't work. He then tried coughing uncontrollably. It only made me glare at him harder. He then tried switching subjects. "So uh, what does your mega-bracelet do?" He asked rather quickly.

Oh, that's right! I never told him how it's supposed to work!

"Mega-bracelets are...well they...actua-"

"Mega-bracelets, dear children, are just one of the many names people give to the objects that megastones are set in. The stones themselves however, are the catalysts for furthering Pokémon beyond their final forms!"

Before the both of us could process it, Professor Augustine Sycamore had already landed on the couch; purposely seated between Brendan and I. A clever arm sat on the head of the couch above me. No doubt he would subtly move it down to have it rest around my shoulders by the end of whatever conversation we would start. Was it not possible for him to willingly leave me alone for ONE day?! There was no end to this suffocation!

With his other arm, he took up my wrist with the mega-bracelet on it. An excited look fell upon his face while he examined the item to authenticate it. "However, not anyone can wield such a thing. One must be an exceptional with a strong will and...other requirements. But it should be no difficult feat for such a powerful trainer as yourself; am I not right Miss Maple?" His ocean blue eyes flicked up from looking at the bracelet to my cerulean pair. Very clearly, I could see the mischievousness that plotted to catch me off guard.

"Yeah, whatever," Was my reply while stealing my arm back. "Now don't you have some nerd things to be doing? Ya know: Stuff that DOESN'T have to do with me?"

While the question was very cold and off-putting, a smile spread across his lips. At the very least, he would be content on belittling my coarseness. "I do, but it would be quite cruel of me to leave without dragging you with me for...further examinatio-UGH!"

In the middle of one his usual long monologues, Sycamore suddenly stopped and I saw a visible shiver creep up to his neck. His eyes widened dramatically along with his smile quickly dropping. That was all thanks to Snowcone being dropped on his lap. The Pokémon wiggled frantically in desperation to be back in it's owner's arms.

"Whoops, sorry professor! This little guy can be slippery sometimes!"

Both Professor Sycamore and I turned our heads to Brendan, who slowly collected his Pokémon from the man's lap. He didn't look the least bit remorseful. "By the way, I was talking with my dad a little while ago, and he says he's gonna be wrapping up his field research pretty soon," He explained while getting another snack and popping it into his mouth.

My face instantly brightened up the second the news left his lips. Of course I'd be excited about that since it meant Professor Birch would resume administrative authority over me; forcing Sycamore to go back into being nothing more than a house guest. Speaking of the kalosian, an innocent smile widened across his face as that arm now around my shoulders almost possessively strangled my neck.

"Is that so? And when does this highly esteemed father of yours come back to grace us all with his presence?"

"Hm, in about three weeks or so. Maybe less if he hurries up. But yeah, you'll be out of those khakis and back in a lab coat in no time. I'm sure you're more than eager to get the terrible May Maple off your hands,"

"HEY!"

I quickly leaned forward to direct a dirty look at my male counterpart. He happily shot me a winning smile. If he thinks I'm not gonna say anything after. Insult, then he's sadly mistaken!

Very swiftly-UGEH!

Oh right, Sycamore's arm was still around my neck. My vision of unpleasantness switched to the troublesome professor, who had no trouble throwing an aipom wrench in my plans for vengeance. "Come now, Mr. Birch, Miss Maple is not quite to coarse as before. In fact, I daresay she has gotten soft since then,"

"I'll say! Especially since she likes to wear hot pi-"

"I'm gonna kill you!"

…..

Hours later, (after I tore myself away from Sycamore's grasp to chase Brendan until we became incredibly exhausted) Brendan and I were playing cards at a previously vacant computer desk. The game was battle, and revenge was mine! Since round one to seven, I dominated Brendan's deck with my advantageously high set of numbers. Like any good sport would do, they encouraged the losing peer for a better game next time. Me on the other hand, laughed maniacally with each delicious victory. Brendan may have looked all cool and composed through it all, but I'm sure he was crying like a baby on the inside! Hah! Even though he shuffled the deck in every round, his set of cards were awful!

Eventually, we abandoned the game to just sit there and finish catching up. Brendan had been doing well by himself, checking on his dad via phone to make sure that he wasn't getting himself into unnecessary trouble. His current Pokémon team consisted of Kippie, Linoone, Masquerain, Pikachu, Flygon and Snowcone. There were a few names I knew about, but didn't get yet. Thankfully, I was assured that they available for capture.

"And by the way, I know I'm kinda an idiot for asking this but, did you wanna hang out again after my dad gets back?"

"Hell yeah! You have NO idea how much I suffered! Believe it or not, you're the only person I've traveled with, that's not weird….aside from Wally. Speaking of Wally, you haven't seen him, have you?"

Bringing up his name brought awkwardness that burdened my chest. I hadn't seen so much as a hint of him since Mt. Chimney. Hopefully, Wally could find it in his heart to forgive me for leaving him; even if it was unwillingly.

"Uh, sorry. It's been a minute since I saw him last. He did talk about going to Meteor Falls while we were at the Contest Spectacular, but we didn't travel together. But you shouldn't worry too much about him. Unlike my dad, Wally can take care of himself pretty well,"

I nearly laughed since Brendan was pretty spot on about his dad's tendencies to attract danger. How he was still in one piece had been beyond me, but I missed that goober. Chirpie probably missed him too. Hmmm…maybe going to see him wouldn't be a bad idea. Well if I did go, I'd hafta deal with one small problem.

"Hey Brendan?" I casually started while habitually messing with my cuticles whenever I wanted something. My friend immediately picked up the cue and perked up. He raised a curious eyebrow that followed with a suspicious "Yeah?" Snowcone by now was snuggled comfortably in his partner's lap.

"I uuuh…I wanted to see if I could go hang out with your dad,"

"Well I don't see why not,"

" I know, but uh, Professor 'high matinence' Sycamore would start making up excuses about going. Seriously, he made us stop at EVERY hotel, Inn and rest stop we could find!"

"Wait, you want me to babysit this guy in your place? I dunno; sounds pretty agonizing. What's in it for me?"

"Seriously?! I'm the one who does the extortion, not you!"

" I'm kidding May. Geez, you should already know that I'd never turn into you. Two May Maple's in existence is something this world couldn't handle,"

"So you'll do it then?"

"Sure. You're gonna let Professor Sycamore know though, right?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure he knows…"

-4A.M.-

I held onto my shoes to each step silent. Putting them on would have undoubtedly made noise against the tile floor. This was shortly after I had folded my blanket and put on the cot I previously slept in. As I performed these tasks, every fiber of my being did everything it could to avoid waking up Brendan.

Anybody with a brain stem knew that I was in the middle of escaping. Thankfully, Brendan and I were granted the resting room with cots while Sycamore had the couch. At first, it was surprising that he didn't put up a fight about our arrangements, but then I remembered he thought I would be all his the next day when Brendan left. Oh well, too bad I forgot to tell him about the change in plans!

When everything was in place and I made sure to cover my tracks, my feet and legs silently carried me across the lab. This was when my heart rate began to shoot up. Not far away from where the entrance was, had been the lobby. This was where the couch and the professor were. Even ONE wrong move would alert him and my escape would fail. So with me nearly holding my breath, I slowly eased to the glass doors, pushed them open and scurried away like a mouse Pokémon.

-Later on that morning in the institute-

Uuuh, my dream is ending. It was a good one too. No imagining myself falling off a cliff or being in Mr. Norman's torture chamber that may or may not be hidden within the basement of his house. This one was abou-GOOD ARCEUS!

My heart nearly punched a hole through my chest when the first thing I saw when my eyes opened was Professor Sycamore's smiling face standing above me. How long has he been next to my cot?! More importantly: Why was he next to my cot?!

The professor in question laughed rather nervously when he noticed that I was awake; like it had been some innocent mistake. Alrighty, not even a few minutes alone with this guy in full consciousness and already he's starting to creep me out. Did May have it this bad? Anyway, once he finished that awkward laugh, Professor Sycamore proceeded to casually divert the weird moment.

"Why good morning Mr. Birch! I trust you had a pleasant night of sleep,"

"…sure…sooo what brings you here into my very personal space?"

"You mean you do not know?! Goodness me! I certainly hope are not, how you children say 'pulling my leg'! There are many things that are beneath my understanding, so speak up, do?"

"I don't really know what you're talking about. Hey May-"

I moved my head over to the side to ask her a question, but stopped when I realized that the cot next to me was empty; save for the folded blanket sitting neatly on top. Oh.

"Uh…" I began again while sitting up this time. "May was supposed to tell you that she was gonna hang out with my dad for a little while and that we're stay together for a bit. Guess she forgot," Although I said it, I'm sure May's intent was less than pure. Though the wasn't exactly book smart, the girl was pretty crafty when she put her mind to it. No doubt I was merely an excuse.

"Really?! She must have quite the soft spot for your old man, how interesting,"

"Actually he's-"

"But enough about that! Get up and prepare yourself, do? It is already so late!"

"Professor, its 6A.M.,"

"And yet your shy friend has already woken up and left! No excuses now! A son of a professor has a reputation to hold up as well!"

Good arceus. Why did I agree to this?

-A long while back-

"Aw man! Everything's so soggy!"

I'm not kidding; from head-to-toe, my whole body was soaking wet. The reason? Shooting a gaze at my precious mudskipper daughter might've tipped off any possible onlookers. She may have been adorable, but chasing a wild magikarp while I was hanging onto her for dear life had been unacceptable! Therefore, discipline had to be enforced.

After being able to land on an island somewhere in RT. 105, I took action. "Bad Kippie! Bad!" I started reprimanding with a wagging finger while on the shore facing her. Kippie looked like she had been surprised by my scolding. "Don't give me that! I told you a million times not to go all crazy while I'm hanging on! No magikarp bites tonight!"

"GWAAAAAH!"

"No excuses! That was really dangerous And now it'll take forever to get dry!"

Kippie whimpered and gave me those puppy dog eyes. UGH! I hate it when she does that! Her methods of cuteness were nearly irresistible! Must gather…will to…repel my…daughter's cuteness!

"Dw..Dw…DWAAAdwaaaa!"

Aaand now my plans for discipline were instantly thrown out the window. It was nice knowing ya. I'll place some flowers next to your grave next t the tombstone of where my once fiery passion for Jane laid. *Sniffles* I think that one left me a horrific scar.

Flustered with myself, I ended up taking put Kippie's ball and pointing it out to put her back in. "Alright missy: I'm letting it slide for now, but we're gonna have a serious talk later on!" With that, she returned to her ball before she could have time to form any more of those manipulating expressions. I bet May didn't have any problems disciplining her team.

In attempting to move on, I decided to explore the cave nearby on the small, desolate island my party was on. The area looked interesting enough, plus there was someone I knew who would go nuts over something like this. My hand reached for a camouflage decorated pokeball on my belt and threw it.

"Alright Pikachu! Come on out!"

On command, it opened up and released a foot-and-a-half long yellow mouse with scarlet cheeks and vibrant dark eyes. Out of everyone on my team, Pikachu was the most adventurous. As he saw me, the little creature squeaked excitedly, ran up to climb on my pant leg and quickly retreated when he realized how soaked I was.

"Sorry buddy, you're goa have to hoof it until I'm dry. But we can go explore that cave over there while we're at it. Whaddya say?"

"*Squeak, squeak!*"

"That's my boy! Let's go!"

And so, my ecstatic battle partner and I made way across the sun scorched sand and entered the small cave for a look around. It's inside was dark and an unusual chill filled the air. Stepping inside a colder area with wet clothes wasn't the greatest idea, but there was something in the back that caught my attention. Squinting my eyes, I managed to see outlines of large stalagmites coming up from the ground. Maybe there might be moon or water stones hidden away in here! Or possibly pearls and stardust! Arceus know I need the money.

Pikachu must have seen the same thing, because he shot right in. "Hey, wait up!" I exclaimed while running after him; performing the action wasn't pleasant though. The air got so cold and I could feel the sogginess of my clothes bother me more than it should.

When I had been able to finally catch up with the electric-type, he sat under a large tablet on the cave wall. There were dots arranged neatly on the large stone. They were in a pattern an-wait a second! Was this braille? Crap! I don't know how to read this! Maybe if I stared at it hard enoug-nope, still not working. Ugh, why didn't I take braille classes last summer! It would have been much better than economics!

Now frustrated even more at my own undoing, my eyes squinted more at the dot patterns while putting my hands on the stone text. Pikachu observed me as I searched my thoughts about solving this strange mystery. Fortunately, my attention span was a lot longer than my currently traveling buddy, May Maple. Should would have been complaining by now at the two minute mark-what was that?

The concentration of staring at the dot text was immediately put on hold when a wall to my left suddenly opened; spilling out copious amounts of freezing air in the room of the cave. My still wet clothes began to glaze over with frost. Okay, now would be a good time to do the smart thing and step outside where it's warmer. Every part of my (and Pikachu's) instinct happily agreed to comply with such a request…until the opened wall to my left suddenly shined q cross figure of golden dots in its darkness.

Suddenly, the whole cave filled with a terrible shrieking shrilling sound. Woah, that's no good. Even my usually bold Pikachu became very anxious. A mighty rumble started shaking the ground; eventually realizing that the odd phenomenon was uncomfortably consistent to footsteps. They didn't stop until the being responsible now towered over us with its great golden spheres staring down at Pikachu and I.

Judging by the appearance of a giant ice block and how fast my clothes were freezing up, I'd say it was an ice-type. This thing overshadowed me by four feet with a width of a snorlax; a full one.

Ya know, I never heard about any Pokémon like this. What if it was a new species? *Gasp* Wait! The old-looking braille text objectively suggests that its ancient! Man dad'll be so stoked when I tell him-"*Squeak, squeak!"

Pikachu's squeaking of alarm grounded me back to reality just in time to witness it raise its arms. Oh boy, that's not good. Fortunately, we had enough sense to practically fly out of the way to avoid getting pounded to pieces.

As both of us gained enough space between the titan, my electric-type stood in front of me to prepare for battle. Logically speaking, Flygon would be a better match because of his fire-based attacks. However, there were a few surprises my yellow mouse had up his sleeve.

"Okay Pikachu! Show em' why The Birch Squad is the best!"

My battle partner squeaked excitedly and ran swiftly towards the large ice golem. His scarlet cheeks emitted bright white electricity while dashing, and he didn't stop until he tackled the beast square in its torso. Alright! A perfect hit! If he kept hitting like that, then we'll-

My Pikachu hit point blank in its chest, but there wasn't any reaction. Even when it was revealed that he left a small crater, no signs of pain or grimace were on its….'features'. Good arceus, that is some thick ice!

I was so busy fixating on the impressive defense, that I wasn't paying attention to the titan raising its arms again. In a flash, it swung and smacked Pikachu with a terrible force against the wall. The crater it left was enormous!

Now I regretted not having Flygon take the stage when I had the chance. If I tried switching now, that thing would definitely stomp, freeze and/or pulverize me to death! For all my battle strategy prowess, it was stupidly drowned by pride! Dad would be all over this mess with what I did wrong; not to mention how I idiotically walking into a freezing cold cave with wet clothes on! I wish I didn't do things that were essentially dumb! If only my Pikachu had some sort of attack that was effective against-wait a minute, he does!

The second my head turned, a set of golden dots along with a chilling aura was now only inches away from me. There were plenty of times I had been in close encounters with wild Pokémon. My since faded scars had instilled me not t directly provoke them. In this case, just stepping into the cave was more than enough to make it mad.

The ice golem raised its arms again to beat me into nothingness. At least, that's what it wanted to do if it wasn't so slow! Very quickly, I dodged the attack to go in-between its legs and-oh no!

While I was performing the action, my arm got stuck on one of its legs in mid roll; quickly stopping me from making my cool escape. So essentially, my body was laid out flat on the cold, icy floor with the top half of my vision seeing the giant looking down at me. Since I was now at its mercy, the only option left was to bargain with it.

Using my free arm, I desperately fished into my pack and pulled out a couple of small berries. Very carefully, they were held out for the golem to see.

"H-here! It's not much, but they're really good! Try some!"

The ice-type looked at them curiously. Okay he's taking them.

"Yeah, see! I have plenty more if you let us go! A lot more!"

It played with the fruits between its stubby fingers. After a minute of toying with them, they suddenly froze in a block of ice and were horribly crushed in its might. I watched with sickening terror as bits of crushed, frozen fruit fell onto the floor. Guess bargaining was out. The creature then reached down to grab me with icy stubs; stubs that could freeze anything it touched.

In this moment, I was pretty sure death had only been a touch away…if its arm didn't suddenly get sliced off and fall to the ground. We were piecing together what had just happened, when a piece of it (specifically the leg I was stuck on) had also gotten cleanly cut off. Of course that didn't sit well with the ice golem as it shrieked angrily, but I was completely with staying alive and ran for safety. Part of its leg was still stuck on my arm, weighing me down. The giant reached out for me, only to have his other arm cut off by Pikachu.

There was no mistaking it. My electric mouse was now out of the large crater on all fours in an offensive position. His tail stood upright and glowed brightly. This was the 'effective' attack I was talking about: Pikachu's iron tail. Since he's vulnerable to rock and ground-types, I thought it would be a smart idea to teach him a steel-type move to defend himself with. My decision paid off in unexpected ways.

With my battle partner up and ready to fight back, I distanced myself away from them to observe the fight. Our wild foe gave out the body language of being furious while trying to reform its limbs. Clearly Pikachu and I weren't gonna sit around and wait for it to finish.

"Alright Pikachu, use your iron tail and cut that thing down to size!"

Now I wasn't suggesting something cold-blooded like murder; more like literally cutting it down to a size where it can't bring us to an instant death. Call it disfigurement, but it's either that or finding a way to send Flygon out and melt the golem into a puddle. I'd prefer not to ruin a good thing.

And so, the fight was on. Pikachu squeaked agreeably before taking off in another mad dash towards the ice giant. With is tail alight, Pikachu swiped his tail against hard, glittering ice. Not surprisingly, a neatly sliced chunk came off to shatter upon hitting the floor. It fought had to land a hit, (despite its recent lack of reach) but since was more faster and on guard, the task was deemed fruitless. I also made sure to avoid monstrous parts of ice debris as it flew in all directions.

Pikachu battled as hard as he could until the ice golem had been reduced by five-and-a-half feet. By now, it looked more adorable than threatening; time to catch it. Getting a pokeball out, I threw it right for the target….only for the object to completely miss. Man that was a terrible try! Alright, no problem. I can use another-WHAT?! AGAIN?! What happened to my aim today?!

My battle partner could only look in confusion while being a spectator of frenzied attempts to capture a weakened Pokémon. One after the other, I threw them like a maniac. Each one kept missing their mark. I could blame my horrible accuracy on the large ice leg still attached to my arm, the cold environment or traumatic near-death experience. I just wasn't ready to admit how much I was sucking that day.

But just as it seemed like capturing it was nothing but a fleeting dream, the ice Pokémon suddenly got pulled into one of the balls I threw. My breath was instantly stuck in my throat. The Pokémon was in; its ball twitching sporadically until-*click*!

It was all over.

"Aaaaaaaaalright! Mission accomplished!"

"*Squeak, squeak!"

We both went towards the ball; scrambling to it like madmen. Pikachu (of course) got to it first. He held it between his paws in fascination while sniffing the object. When I finally caught up, he relieved the ball to me. Oh? This was the great ball May and I got in Petalburg Woods. I always knew it would come in handy someday. Now all that's left to do was give it a name. For such a fight it put up, it deserves one at least.

"Hmmm…how about we name it…Mr. Freeze!"

"*Squeak*!"

"Okay fine! What about Mr. Softee?"

"*Squeeeak, squeak!*"

"Alright already! Geez, you don't hafta get so bent outta shape…..wait, wait! I got it! How about-"

* To be continued in Chapter 29*