What happened last chapter: She stared as the map on her Pokédex went blank and the whole thing shut down. "Crap…" she muttered, hitting the Pokédex slightly. "Turn on, you stupid thing!"

A low growl, a guttural noise met May's ears in the pitch dark blackness, causing a shiver to travel through her bones…

------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 12: The Final Battle, Version Two, Part Two

May's whole body screamed at her to not look up, but she did anyway. Her bright, azure eyes stared into the beast's ones. A creature of the blackest color, covered in grime, dust, and dirt, roared at her, a burst of sound shaking the whole cave.

Its eyes, blood red, eye veins nearly popping and hanging from their sockets, glared at her with the utmost evil nobody could even possibly imagine. Its yellow center moved with its prey's movements, wondering when it would pierce her, immobilize her. It drooled, its dark saliva dripping on the floor in sticky, bubbly lakes. Its pinchers moved dangerously in the darkness, waiting for the right moment to strike. A long spindly tentacle, its suction cups ready, reached out towards its prey.

May ran, depending on her primal instinct, running in a random direction. She would run, as far as she could, just as long as she was far away from the monster. No sensible pokémon attacked May, just in case they would attract the monster's gaze. Every Victory Road pokémon knew when danger was coming, and they knew how to avoid it.

Snarling, the monster pokémon snapped back its tentacle and went after May, its eyes glinting dangerously.

May's legs, even though strained, went on.

But it wasn't enough.

May's fast strides were no match for the monster's long reach and strong grip. Its wrinkled tentacle wrapped around her body, almost gentle. May struggled, but it was of no use. She went limp in its grip.

The tentacle slowly moved towards the creature, who was eyeing its caught prey. Its blood red eyes turned black, with desire and hunger…

-----------

With a final shout of "Ice Beam!", Brendan had defeated the Champion Wallace. "Your pokémon…" said Wallace, his eyes shining. "They are well-trained. They are beautiful and elegant in every way. That is why they have won."

Brendan couldn't believe it. He was the champion! Tears welled up in his shining eyes, but he refused to let them fall. "Thank you," he said. "Come back, Kyogre."

The cameras rolled, videotaping this moment in history. It caught everything. The shine in Brendan's eyes, the smile of the ex-Champion, the battle that made Brendan the Champion.

Kyogre's eyes shined with happiness, too, staring at its master. A burst of red light brought Kyogre back in its pokéball. "You did great." He said, holding Kyogre's pokéball.

"As the new Champion," said ex-Champion Wallace, "your name and your pokémon will be put in the Hall of Fame, along with the rest of the Champions. Follow me."

Willingly, Brendan followed Wallace and registered his pokémon. When he came out of the registering room, he was pelted by anxious and eager reporters. "How does it feel to be the new Champion, Brendan?" one asked.

"Great," replied Brendan.

A female reporter pushed her microphone towards Brendan. "What do you like more – Timer balls or Repeat balls produced by the company Devon? Which do you prefer?"

"I….uh…" replied Brendan dumbly. "Timer balls I guess. They get stronger the more it's put out."

Immediately, reporters burst into millions of questions. "Champion Brendan, what are you going to do now?" one reporter shoved a microphone in his face.

"Kyogre or Groudon?" shouted another.

"How many pokémon have you caught?"

"Err…" said Brendan. "If you don't mind, I really must be going now. Champion business…and stuff."

He didn't really care. As long as he got away from all of these reporters.

And he bolted.

He bolted, running as far as he could away from the stadium. Wallace smiled. "The pressure comes with the fame." He mused, before walking out to the garden of flowers near the Ever Grande Gym.

"Where to go, where to go…" muttered Brendan to himself. Then, he spotted the entrance to Victory Road. He ran into the cave.

Seeing Brendan bolt into Victory Road, where the reporters didn't want to encounter pokémon, the reporters stopped chasing him.

"Darn…" they all muttered, disappointed.

Darkness overcame his sight, as if he had suddenly become blind. Then it hit him:

May…where did she go?

He heard a growl echoing inside Victory Road, along with a scream loud enough to crack glass. He recognized that scream again…May's.

Brendan knew…from his studies, that there was yet another creature in that cave. Despite his father's warnings on his PokéDex, he had gone inside Victory Road. To defeat the Elite Four.

And that creature...even he could not face. What if May was now facing that beast? What if she was in its very clutches right now?

Brendan flipped open his PokéDex, trying to locate the creature. His father had encountered the monster before, and barely got out alive. Brendan didn't know how, seeing how his father was incompetent in battling with pokémon.

And he could hardly believe his father using his bare fists to fight it.

His father had told him the same story over and over again, that the creature lurked in the darkest corner of the cave. Too dead to be alive, but alive. Stronger than any pokémon.

"So is it a pokémon, Dad?" asked 7-year-old Brendan, clutching his worn, soft, hugged-to-shreds pikachu doll.

"No, its not a pokémon. Or at least,it's notclassified as one." sighed a tired Professor Birch.

"But it could be a pokémon, right Daddy?"

"Trust me, my son, it's not a pokémon. It's not like one at all."

Touching his trusty pokéballs at his side, Brendan picked a choice one, the one closest to him. He then ran closer to the screams, towards the creature.

He now knew in his heart that he would always protect May, no matter what.

-----------

May was screaming for her life. Well, she knew she wasn't going to live anyway but she still screamed from fear. Nobody was going to save her…

"Kyogre, Ice Beam!"

The creature let out a cave-shaking roar as Kyogre attacked the much-larger animal before it.

"B-Brendan…" said May, looking at him. Hands shaking, she released the lock on her Ultra Ball and held it in her hand, feeling a last bit of desperate power beat through her awaiting fingers. She threw the pokéball in the air. "Rayquaza, Go!"

With a blinding blood-red light, Rayquaza was released. Brendan's eyes widened. She had Rayquaza, one of the most powerful legendary pokémon? "Rayquaza…" May whispered to her pokémon, hope in her eyes. "Listen to Brendan…"

She slumped in the creature's tight grip with a tired sigh. The creature then attacked Rayquaza with its sharp claws, wounding it deeply. Growling deeply, Rayquaza shot back with Outrage, despite that Brendan never ordered it to do so. Brendan knew it respected its owner deeply and would do anything to defend her, as did he. Brendan plucked another pokéball from his belt and threw it. "Groudon, I choose you!" he shouted. With the three legendaries on their side, the creature was outnumbered.

Rayquaza, Groudon and Kyogre attacked the creature at the same time, Rayquaza with Hyper Beam, Groudon with a Fire Blast, and Kyogre with Hydro Pump. The creature struck back with a swish of its powerful tail, knocking out Rayquaza and Kyogre. Only Groudon was left. The creature was panting now, its stinking breaths like whirlwinds in the dark cave. Groudon growled at the creature, now in a fighting stance, ready to execute its final move.

The creature charged with all its might towards the Groudon, but Groudon dodged, shooting erupting fire at the creature. The fires burned the creature, its skin even blacker and rapidly peeling. With a final desperate attempt, the creature lashed out at Groudon.

The creature now lay on the floor, clinging onto life. Groudon stared dangerously down at it, and with a stomp of its armored feet, killed it.

The creature's life now taken, its claws released May. Her body rolled on the floor, leaving a few scratches, but nothing she wouldn't recover from. Brendan rushed over by May's side, ignoring the wild pokémon who had watched curiously.

Brendan looked at Groudon with true gratefulness in his heart. "You did well, Groudon." With a smile, he summoned all the legendaries in their proper pokéballs and ran to the nearest Pokémon center.

---------

"Oh, dear, what happened!" asked the nurse, seeing an unconscious May in Brendan's arms.

"She's hurt," replied Brendan.

Bringing back a portable bed as fast as lightning, the nurse gently laid May on the cushions and rushed her to the nearest available room. As soon as Brendan and the nurse reached the room, the nurse pushed him away. "Shoo! She needs her rest right now."

"But-"

"No buts! Sit in the waiting room while I take care of the patient." Huffed the nurse and shut the door in his face.

Sighing, Brendan sat in a seat and waited. There was nothing more he could do. Some time later, reporters entered the building, having heard that the Champion Brendan was now at the PokéCenter.

"What are you going to do now since you're the Champion?" pushed a reporter.

"Catch more pokémon and study them, I guess. Like my father." Brendan answered with a sigh, simply tired of the restless reporters.

"What?" asked the female reporter, suprised. "You're not going to be a trainer?"

Brendan shook his head no. "I realized…that's not my dream…even if I love to be with pokémon, I don't want to battle them. I want to be a scientist and a researcher, like my dad."

As he spoke the words, he also knew they were true. He never wanted to be a pokémon trainer in the first place. He only became a trainer to become the Champion. And now, since he was Champion, he had no other wish than to become a pokémon researcher.

He looked up at the reporter determinedly. "In conclusion…I relinquish my title of Champion. I'm giving the title to May Maple."

-----------

As hours passed by, Brendan tried to sleep, but he couldn't. His mind was full of the recent events that happened, a thousand thoughts running through his mind.

"Will she be okay? Oh, god, I hope she'll be alright. It's all my fault if she…if she…"

"Sir?"

Brendan's head shot up. "Yeah?"

"You may see the patient now."

Brendan stood up and walked into the room. He was greeted by a smile on May's face. "Hey Brendan," she said softly. May was dressed in the official Pokécenter clothing, much similar to hospital clothing but pink. She was sitting in a clean bed, pokémon magazines strewn across the bed. "Hi," Brendan replied, matching her tone. He sat by the side of her bed. He noticed that May had a rather large bandage on her cheek and other bandages for the scratches. "Thanks, Brendan…for rescuing me," said May rather shyly. "No problem," said Brendan in a gentle tone. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," May replied. "thanks to you." She gave him another warm smile, but it quickly faded.

"I feel so…useless," May sighed, laying down her magazine. "I couldn't even defend myself. I couldn't even beat the Champion!"

"So?" said Brendan. "Tons of trainers aren't able beat the Champion."

"I wasn't good enough, Brendan, I wasn't good enough!" sniffed May, her gloves clenching the dark, soft fabric of his jacket.

"You were always enough May. Enough for me." said Brendan, letting May rest her head against his shoulder.

May looked up into his ruby eyes. She let out something between a cough and a small laugh. "Brendan…" started May softly. "Yeah?" Brendan asked.

"I…I'd like to apologize to you…for making such false accusations." She looked up at him again, refusing to let her gaze wander. "It was my fault, and my ego, that made all the problems."

"You think everything is about you?" grinned Brendan playfully, but his grin faded to a thin line as he replied, "It was also my fault too…you weren't the only one who made false accusations. I made them first anyway." He sighed.

"Brendan…" said May. "Friends?"

Somehow, his heart didn't feel any lighter, but heavier. "No…" said Brendan.

"No?"

"…May, I want us to be more than friends."

"More?" asked May, puzzled.

"May…there was a reason why I came after you. Not because I'm your friend…because…because I love you." said Brendan nervously.

He had finally let it out. He told his true feelings, and it was up to her to decide whether or not she loved him back.

"Brendan…" whispered May. With a hug that surprised Brendan, she shouted, "You jerk! You don't know how long I wanted you to say that!" Tears flowed freely down her face.

Brendan pulled May closer to him. "…I only wish I could have said it earlier then." He replied.

-----------

Soon after May was released, the couple headed towards Route 103.

"There's another thing I wanted to tell you…" said Brendan, his backpack slung across his shoulder.

"What?" asked May.

"I gave you the title of Champion."

"What! I'm supposed to earn the title, not have someone give it to me!" said May in a slightly raised voice.

"I don't want to be the Champion anymore…" said Brendan softly.

"You idiot," said May. "Even if you say you relinquish the title, you're still the Champion, and since you're still the Champion…"

"I have to take challenges?"

"Yeah."

Brendan grinned. "I know a way to relinquish my title as Champion."

"What?" she asked.

"Wanna have a pokémon battle?"

May was stunned for a moment. Then, a slow smile began to spread across her face. "Alright," she said, laughing. "but you've got to get ready to give it all you've got!"

A/N: Hehe doesn't anyone notice the change between the two parts? Yes, I know, their love conquers all in both. You also notice Brendan steps it up, becomes the Champion, and breaks the ice in Version 2 while May's the damsel-in-distress. May is the tough girl in Version 1 and so becomes the Champion, and Brendan's the jerk who loses. Like in the real ending, Brendan finds his true calling and researches pokémon with his dad (if you play May in Emerald) as you can see in the two endings. As you know, I suck at battle sequences :D.

There is still the epilogue left so don't give up on this story yet :)