Latias: well, here we are at the third chapter of All Through These Times!

Dark Latias: surprise, surprise, gag me

Sunshine: she looks-

Moonlight: -very bored!

Latias: she doesn't like flashbacks all that much, when they don't have much action in them…but that was last chapter…

Florence: …things should start speeding up…

Keith: we don't own Pokémon

Pocha: let's start the fic!

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

Headed for Dilemmas: A Dairy of Hope

As we rejoin May, she has just arrived on the outskirts of Violet City. But just as she was about to enter something flew into her face.

"Ah!" She screamed, startling the scared little Pidgey even more. It started flying around in circles with its eyes closed, screeching loudly.

"Uh, um, please calm down, I'm really sorry!" May tried to pacify it, but to no avail.

The Pidgey suddenly turned and flew right at her again, this time hitting her bag and knocking a pokéball out of it. In its confusion the Pidgey flew right into the pokéball button, in a flash of red light and in a few short shakes, the Pidgey was captured. May walked over and picked up the pokéball, staring at it blankly.

"I guess I caught a Pidgey…that was certainly one of my weirder catches. Well, better let it out to see what's wrong with it."

She let the Pidgey out of its pokéball, and soon after it was let out the little Pidgey collapsed. May quickly picked it up and examined it.

"Oh, you poor little thing, your leg's hurt. Just hold still a second, this should help."

May took a potion and a first aid kit out of her bag and with a "This may sting a bit," she cleaned up the wound, applied some potion, and bandaged the Pidgey's leg. May picked the Pidgey back up and petting its head said,

"I know we aren't far from the city, but your leg looked so bad that I thought it would be best if I tended to it first before continuing on. Knowing me it might take a while to find the Pokémon Center when we get there… Is your leg feeling any better, little Pidgey?"

May asked it as she continued down the path. The Pidgey chirped and nodded its head happily, but then it winced slightly. Seeing this, May sped up a little more.

"I guess it might be a bit worse than I thought, just hold on, okay? …By the way, are you male or female? Chirp twice if you're a female and once if you're a male."

The Pidgey chirped twice.

"A female, huh? …Okay, what do you think of Avianna as your name?"

Avianna chirped and nodded her head, liking the sound of her new name.

"Avianna, after I get you to the Pokémon Center and you're all better, I'll introduce you to the others, okay?"

Avianna chirped again, seeming excited and happy. It was apparent that she liked her new trainer already. Soon, they were in Violet City, and they very were very lost indeed. Every turn May took made her even more lost and confused.

"And the Pokémon Center is supposed to be the easiest place to find…" May whined.

Just as May was turning another corner, she ran into a young man with purple hair (Falkner, the gym leader, but May doesn't know that, and let's assume you don't either)(1).

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm trying to find the Pokémon Center!" May rambled, clearly very upset.

"It's alright, I can show you the way if you want," he replied amiably.

"You would? Thank you!" May said happily, then turning her head down to Avianna, "Avianna, are you okay?"

Avianna chirped, showing May the collision didn't hurt her.

"That's a relief," She sighed, happy that Avianna was okay.

"I'm guessing you just caught that Pidgey," the young man said, starting to lead the way.

"Yeah, but how did you know?"

"Recently, someone's been frightening and hurting the wild bird Pokémon in the area. It isn't uncommon to find Pidgey such as this one, and the attacker hasn't attacked any trainers and their Pokémon." He reached over to pet Avianna, who as soon as his hand got in range, promptly bit him.

"Ouch!"

Avianna started chirping and flapping her wings in agitation.

"Avianna, why did you do that?" May asked her, more out panic than anger.

The young man stared at Avianna for a little while, and then gave a small smile.

"I think I now know the reason why she's mad at me, and also I'm quite impressed."

"Huh? You do? Why?" May asked.

"Now, listen to the way she's chirping. It's the syllables of her name, Av-i-an-na. She's mad because I'm not calling her by her name. I'm sorry Avianna, I didn't mean to insult you," he said, patting her on the head, "And the reason I'm impressed is because the two of you already seem very close. Her response to the name you gave her shows that Avianna really likes and trusts you."

May looked very impressed at his knowledge, then surprised, "Wow, you must know a lot about Pokémon to be able to tell Avianna is female just from a glance. But what does Avianna's response to her name have anything to do with how much she likes me?"

The young man looked a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I love bird Pokémon so much that I started looking into their habits and behaviors. The response to her name, the way she's sitting so comfortably in your arms, and the look Avianna keeps giving you. They are all signs of how much she trusts you. Well, it looks like we're at the Pokémon Center now."

They walked into the Pokémon Center and with a few protests from Avianna, checked her and May's other Pokémon in.

"Thank you so much for helping us- oh, I forgot to ask you what your name was," May said, slightly embarrassed, "I'm May, it's very nice to meet you."

"I'm Falkner, likewise."

"Falkner? Sounds familiar…Oh yeah, Ash mentioned you once when he was talking about his journey through Johto…You're the Violet City Gym Leader and you use Flying Pokémon."

Falkner looked slightly surprised, "Ash? Ash Ketchum who lets his Pikachu stay out of its pokéball and on his shoulder? And who is incredibly stubborn?"

"Yeah, that's Ash alright…," May laughed a little, "I guess he hasn't changed much over his journeys. Ash is as stubborn as ever, maybe even more so…"

Falkner laughed, "Someone like him, I wouldn't expect to change so easily. So, are you here to challenge the Gym? So you'll know, just because you're a friend of Ash, it doesn't mean that I'll go easy on you, May."

May put her hands up in a defensive position, "No, I wouldn't want you to! And besides I'm headed for a Pokémon Contest a few towns over, I'm not interested in Gym Badges."

Just as May finished her statement, Nurse Joy called her up to the counter. And being distracted by that, didn't notice the flicker of interest in Falkner's eyes.

"Miss, your Pokémon are ready."

May went up to the counter and picked up her pokéballs, though Avianna's wasn't there.

"Thanks Nurse Joy, um how's…"

"Your Pidgey is fine and is recovering nicely. She had a bad cut on her leg, but thanks to you she'll be just fine. If it had been left as it was before you caught and tended to it, the cut might have become very infected."

May bowed slightly, "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, but for some reason, it wasn't cooperating well at first."

"She wasn't?" May looked confused for a moment, "Oh! I'm not completely sure why, but she's sensitive about her name, even though I only just caught her. It's Avianna."

"Thank you for informing me. Avianna should be fine in a about an hour or so, so you don't have to worry."

May smiled, "Okay," she then turned to Falkner, "Thanks again for helping us."

"You're welcome," he replied, "What are you planning on doing now?"

"I think I'll wait here for Avianna to recover, introduce her to the other Pokémon, and then go out shopping for supplies I'll need for traveling to the next town."

"I see. Do you mind if I can see your other Pokémon, I'll show you mine as well."

"Okay."

They both let out their Pokémon. Out of Falkner's pokéballs came out a Pidgeot, a Noctowl, and a Dodrio. And May sent out her Blaziken, Beautifly, Eevee, and Squirtle.

"All of your Pokémon look happy and healthy. What are their names? I think it might be safe to assume that they have names, since you gave one to your Pidgey, Avianna."

At the mention of a new Pokémon, May's other Pokémon looked around curiously for their new companion.

"I'm sorry, but right now Avianna is with Nurse Joy, you'll have to wait a little longer before meeting her."

They seemed sad for a moment, but cheered up at the fact it would be soon. Then May remembered that she was about to tell their names to Falkner. Motioning to each of her Pokémon she said,

"My Beautifly's name is Solora. Blaziken is Chaka. This happy little Eevee is Sunny. And Squirtle is Fern."

As May was talking Solora landed on her head. Both Sunny and Fern wanted to be held, but they found the two of them being held at once was too uncomfortable, so they compromised and Sunny got May's shoulder. Chaka just stood were she was, enjoying the antics of them other Pokémon and being with May. Falkner's Pokémon looked a him expectantly, he nodded and they went up to May. Shifting Fern slightly she petted each of them. Falkner closed his eyes and smiled.

"I see, that's part of it…"

May looked at him, confused, "Part of what?"

"People and Pokémon are naturally drawn to those who are kind-hearted. Sometimes it is harder for either a Pokémon or a human to tell, but they will go up to those who are kind. It is very obvious at this moment that you are very caring. Fern and Sunny seem almost like children and you're their mother figure…Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound too…"

"It's alright, I think I understand what you mean," May replied, "I do kind of baby my Pokémon a bit, especially Sunny and Fern because they're younger. I really like Pokémon and I try my best to see the best in others…Though I'm still trying to learn that there are those who aren't so nice and will take advantage of that…"

"Yes, there are people who will take advantage of others, but you're thinking the right way," Falkner replied, "It's hard to do, but trusting too much isn't good, nor is not trusting enough, balance is the key…" Falkner then noticed that May looked like she wanted to say something, "Yes?"

"You look like you've been wanting to ask me something…"

"Oh, that," Falkner looked slightly embarrassed that she noticed, "You mentioned before that you're a coordinator and recently at one of the schools here has been asking people with different professions dealing with Pokémon to show the children how they interact with each other. There was a coordinator that was to show the children about Pokémon coordinating, but he called in sick and they haven't been able to find anyone else. I was wondering if you'd be willing to go there tomorrow and show the children some of the basic points of Pokémon coordinating."

"Sure, it sounds kind of fun. But I truthfully don't really know if I can actually teach them anything…"

Falkner smiled, "I'm sure you'll teach them more than you think. Thank you. I'll call the school and tell them you're coming. I'll come by the Pokémon center around 8 a.m. to show you the way to the school. See you tomorrow, thanks again." With that he returned his Pokémon and left.

May turned to her Pokémon, "I don't if they'll want to see you all or not, but just in case, you be on your best behaviors. Remember, they're just children. So be gentle, even if they're being rough, okay?"

They let her know they understood.

"I'm going to let you guys stay out of your pokéballs while we wait for Avianna. Don't get into trouble."

Just as May finished, Nurse Joy called for her.

"I overheard you talking to Falkner. You said you're name was May?"

May looked at her blankly, "Um, yes, I did…"

Nurse Joy handed her a package wrapped in blue paper with a blue letter and a picture on top, and 'May' was written on them in a handwriting May recognized as Brendan's. The picture was one that she, Brendan, Kohanna, and Wally took while they were together, with the four of them in it.

"I just received this package from a neighboring Pokémon Center, the person who sent this really seemed to want to make sure this got to you."

May smiled, "Thank you, Nurse Joy," then she turns and walks to a bench and sat down to see what it was about. One of the many things she remembered about Brendan that still held true, if he sent a letter it meant that it was very important and he couldn't deliver whatever the contents were in person in the time period that he felt it had to reach the person, usually something he forgot about. She opened the letter first.

Dear May,

I'm such a blockhead!!!! I completely forgot to give your old dairies back!!!!! And you kept telling and telling me when you gave them to me that you wanted me to give them back when we next see each other! SOOOOORRRRYYY!!!! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,--

May skipped the rest of page and about half of the back, until the string of sorrys ended.

--Don't worry, I haven't read them. You made that clear, too. No reading. If you can't remember why you gave them to me, you said you put it in the last entry.

P.S.

Tony was mad that we took pictures without him, so I didn't give him your number.

May smiled at the P.S. 'That explains why out of the numerous calls I've received, none of them were from Tony. Way to go Brendan! I hope that he doesn't ever give Tony my PokéNav number…Though I wish Brendan didn't call as much, especially since he always talks about random pointless things…' May frowned, 'Why would I give Brendan my old dairies?!'

May opened the package, and was slightly surprised to find three medium-sized sketchbooks. Written slightly sloppily across each of the red and blue covers was 'May's, Keep Out', and underneath was 'Year' and the numbers 4, 5, and 6. May decided to open the one with the six and look at the last entry. There was a sketch of her taking the diaries out of a trashcan and underneath written fairly well for a six grader:

Dear Dairy,

Even though there are still several pages left, and many months til my next birthday, this will be my last entry in this dairy. I don't have time to read over what I"v forgotten, Mommy has already tried to throw my dairys out two times, I'm not sure why though (why would she not want me to remember before the accentdent?)………………………I'm going to give them to Brendan for safekeeping…When I get them back, if I've forgotten, I have to head back to Johto, back to Katerina Town…Back to the forest where my dear Shadow is waiting for me………that's what my memory is saying…but I have my shadow…

'My shadow? Wait, it's capital…someone's name? Maybe if I read some more –'

May's thoughts were interrupted. Nurse Joy brought out Avianna, who was all better. May introduced her and the other Pokémon, all happy to meet each other, and then decided to feed them and get something to eat herself. Realizing how late it had gotten and how tired she was, May decided to wait to read the dairies and rest for the next day. She rented a room and let her Pokémon stay out of their pokéballs and sleep wherever they liked in there, a habit she had gotten into ever since leaving Pikachu, Ash, Brock, and Max, she just felt a little lonely. May stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, soon drifting off to sleep…

---The next morning---

May was in a hurry. Not a big one now, it was 7:45; she had woken up 15 minutes before, surprising herself that all she had left to do now was freed her Pokémon and eat breakfast. May finished just in time, for as she was putting the last of her Pokémon's food bowls away, Falkner arrived.

"Good morning, are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go!"

They walked in silence for a few minutes. After a while May noticed that Falkner seemed to be worried about something.

"Is there something wrong?"

Falkner seemed surprised for a moment, "Truthfully, one of the teachers came in after I had talked to the principal, you're going to be teaching with someone else…"

"That's okay, you seem to be upset about something else…"

"That teacher has a tendency to come up with things that frighten the students…and hire people like that as well…"

"Hmmm…if that person is like that, I'll try my best to make things not like that, or something…"

They walked the rest of the way to the school. When they got to the room they were supposed to, they found most of the children backed up against the back end of the room, the teacher seemed oblivious, and right next to the teacher was...

"Now, huns, that's just insulting. You young uns obviously have no taste in style."

Harley.

"Harley?! What in the world are you doing here?!" she shouted when she saw him, still wearing his Cacturne style outfit.

Harley looked at May with surprise.

"May?! Oh, so my dear friend decided to follow me after all." He said, doing some strange motions.

May glared at him, "I'm no friend of yours!"

"Still on the brittle side I see," Harley then looked around, "My, my, did you finally lose the boy toys? I would have thought you would have run straight to Green Hair after such a loss."

"Leave my friends alone!" as May finished her sentence, a light from a pokéball flashed and Avianna can out chirping angrily, "Eh?! Avianna, no!"

Avianna flew up to Harley and started pecking him, circling him and dodging his hands.

"Cacturne, use Bullet Seed on this annoying little Pidgey!"

"Avianna! Look out!"

Avianna quickly dropped her wings in a slightly dramatic fashion and turned and flew back to May, landing on her shoulder. Leaving the Cacturne's Bullet Seed to land on Harley's face. The children found the scene funny and they were relieved that they were no longer alone with their creepy teacher and the scary Cacturne man who could almost pass for a girl, a real scary boyish girl. They crowded around May, making several comments and asking questions.

"Wow, did you see that Pidgey!"

"Are you the other coordinator?"

"Can I pet your Pidgey?"

"Can we see your other Pokémon?"

One girl in the back of crowd with curly blond hair, green eyes, and wearing a red dress studied May silently. Before May was able to ask what was wrong, the teacher spoke up.

"Hello," he said coolly, "I'm Mr. Stein (2), and you are a tad late. Harley here has already taught and showed the students about Pokémon coordinating, you are not needed."

May gave him an annoyed look, "By scaring them half to death?" there was a clamor of agreement from the kids.

Sensing the tension, Falkner decided to ease things a bit, "Now, now, no need to fuss. Why don't we go over what Harley has taught you and May-" the girl from before perked up when she heard May's name, "-can add what she wants to, then we can go outside so they can do some demonstrations. How does that sound?"

The children all seemed to agree, forcing Harley and Mr. Stein to go along with it. Harley summed up what he had taught. May listened carefully and added some things of her own.

"Yes, it is true in Pokémon coordinating that you can make your Pokémon stand out with beautiful moves, but using your Pokémon's moves and traits in unique ways can also score good as well. Harley and his scare tactics are a good example of that."

The children all laughed at this. Harley glared at May and muttered something under his breath.

They preceded to an area outside where May and Harley could demonstrate.

"Cacturne, let's go!" Harley shouted, deciding to go first. He instructed it to use Bullet Seed and Needle Arm, making a very creepy picture of a Cacturne face on the ground. Everyone present, except Mr. Stein, were creeped out. Slightly intimidated by Harley's disturbing performance, May took her turn.

"Solora, take the stage!" Sending out her Beautifly, May told her to use Silver Wind. At first Solora spun around using Silver Wind, then when May told her to use Psychic, she stopped spinning suddenly facing the children and the Silver Wind was quickly changed into the shape of a heart. It was then burst and the air was sparkly. The children loved it. They all came up to May and Beautifly, wanting to see May's other Pokémon and to pet Solora. Angry, Harley stomped up to May.

"You think you're little Miss Perfect don't you!"

"N-no!"

"I want a battle, here and now!" Harley glanced at Avianna, "My Cacturne versus your Pidgey."

At being called a Pidgey, Avianna glared at Harley.

"But I only just caught her yesterday, and Avianna was hurt-"

"I don't care for your lame excuses," it was clear Harley had snapped, and big time, "Or for your suddenly new cutesy nicknames. Any real coordinator would accept any challenge thrown their way. You're more pathetic than that teeny tiny Pidgey of yours, and that's pathetic."

Lame. Pathetic. Teeny. Tiny. Pidgey. Pathetic. Hearing those words, Avianna got even angrier than Harley. She started screeching and flapping her wings really hard, creating a Whirlwind and Harley was swept far away. At first, everyone just stared blankly, then May moved to comfort the upset Pidgey.

"Avianna! It's okay! You blew Harley away, literally!"

Avianna quickly calmed down and slowly landed on the ground. The children gathered around her and gave her all sorts of compliments, being mindful of her name because they were taught to respect the names trainers gave to their Pokémon, and she seemed touchy about it. Bewildered, then angry, Mr. Stein walked up to May.

"How could you just let your Pokémon do that to another trainer?!"

Falkner put a hand on Mr. Stein's shoulder to hold him back.

"It was sudden, she only just caught the Pokémon, and Harley himself wasn't being one of life's better examples."

"What if he's hurt?" Mr. Stein spat back nastily.

May looked in the direction Harley disappeared with disdain.

"I have the feeling that he'll be just fine…and he'll come back with an even bigger grudge against me…well, at least this time it will be a more valid reason that I know of…"

A boy in the crowd of children said, "Don't worry about the scary Cacturne man. He was mean and scary!"

The other children agreed and started asking more questions. At their request May let out her other Pokémon, telling the children what kind of Pokémon they were, their types, and their nicknames. They asked May why she became a coordinator and why her Pokémon have nicknames, among other questions, which she answered all of their questions. After a little while they drifted off to play with May's Pokémon, May , Falkner, and Mr. Stein keeping an eye on them so no one got into trouble. Mr. Stein sighed,

"While I don't like to admit it…the children seem to like you much more than Harley…I try hard to help out with things…but they always come back to me…"

May looked at him with sympathy, "At least your heart was in the right place, and I'm sure that the children appreciate the thought."

The little girl who was studying May earlier came up to them, for she had been eavesdropping.

"She's right, Mr. Stein. Even though he was scary, you took a lot of time looking for someone to replace the person who didn't come. So we still like you, Mr. Stein, you're just too weird sometimes."

There were a few tears in his eyes, "Th-thank you…"

The little girl shuffled her feet, "Um, Miss May? Have you ever been to Katerina Town?"

Falkner and Mr. Stein seemed surprised that she would ask that.

"Huh? What's wrong with Katerina Town? I used to live there when I was younger…Even though I don't remember much, I do remember that it was a great place to live."

Falkner looked worried, "In recent years, a part of the forest surrounding Katerina has been a bit dangerous. People keep hearing a voice that tells them to go back or around, and if they don't, an Umbreon comes out of nowhere and attacks them. After that, they suddenly find themselves in town without any idea of how they got there."

"Though for some reason the Umbreon never attacks young children…"

"An Umbreon? Katerina…" May wasn't sure why, but it seemed familiar…

The girl noticed the look in May's eyes and got a happy look on her face, "Oh, so you're Shadow's friend! You're going back for him, right? He'll be so happy!"

Falkner and Mr. Stein looked confused.

"Who's Shadow?"

"The Umbreon of Katerina Forest…he's been waiting for his friend! Older people caused his friend to get hurt. Older people took her away! That's what he told me…Please hurry and help Shadow. He's not a bad Pokémon, but I heard they were planning to burn down the part where he lives…Please help him!" the little girl started crying at the end, and the other children wondered what was wrong. May kneeled down to her level and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll got and get Shadow. I'll make sure no one hurts him."

The little girl smiled, "Thank you…tell him that Nikina says hi, please?"

"Count on it."

After that everyone just played with the Pokémon, with the students getting May, Falkner, and Mr. Stein to join them, and they also convinced Falkner to let out his Pokémon as well. All too soon it was time for everyone to go. May had enjoyed the time and the children didn't want her to go, nonetheless she had to go. May waved good-bye to everyone and then turned around, taking a detour from her original plans and headed for Katerina. The place she and her friends used to live, a place full of memories, and the place where Shadow was waiting for her…

RGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRG

---Meanwhile with Drew and Zel (in a big hallway just outside of Drew's room)---

"I can't believe it!"

"Now, Drew, calm down," his sister tried to comfort him.

Turning and facing her, "How can I?! Don't Mom and Dad realize that we're busy and just can't take time out for any and every little petty thing that they can think of to do?!"

"I know, I know, but their word is law right now, so we'll just have to deal with it. Now get packed, we'll have to leave soon."

"Yes," Drew said, opening the door, "The sooner we get this part over with the better. Me seeing the place where you work and you watching me in a contest for some "bonding time". They're the ones who really need to do this…" he grumbled.

"I know…though, you could be a little more enthusiastic, or else I won't let have one of the Pokémon eggs there." Zel said, getting up in his face.

Drew looked at her blankly for a moment, and then smirked, "And if you don't calm down a bit, I'll let you get lost in the contest hall and miss my performance."

Zel pushed him playfully, "Come on, let's get ready."

With those words said, they went to their rooms to prepare for their return trip to Johto…

To be Continued…

LCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLC

(1) I don't have any of the Johto episodes…and next to little reference to them, so I'm sorry in advance if I mess up a well known character, since I'm trying to be as loyal as I can to the anime…of course some things will change

(2) Miss Unoriginality, unless I spelled it wrong (either way though)…

Latias: wow, long chapter…yes, I was too lazy to write out exactly what Harley said…

Dark Latias: more like too hard to think about, especially with the way he talks [shudders

Florence: …sorry if the performances of the Pokémon weren't so good…

Crystal: As part of Avianna's personality, if you haven't already noticed, she is overly sensitive of her name

From about 8/13/07 to 9/14/07