Author's Note: Hey everybody! Long time no see! Sorry, I guess it has been a while since I updated, but there've been reasons for that, life's been busy, and this chapter was pretty hard to write coughgetting ready for and playing FR/LG, and beating FRcough. Hey! Who said that! Oh well. Anyways... First off, to all the people who're reading this just for me, THANK YOU! A LOT! You guys rock.

Second off, to all the other people (you know, the fans of pokémon, the ones I don't spend time explaining stuff to), if you like my story then you may like a website I recently discovered, and I tried to put it here, really, but the computer is being stupid, and won't let me, so it's in my profile. This site has everything-a fanfiction created with love and care (and a really unique plot), character bios to go along with it, origional art to entice new readers, a site history, multimedia vaults, fan art, and a really cool authoress. I highly recommend that you check it out, it's awesome.

Okay, time to respond to reviews. First off, Liz, thank you. I do appreciate the comments about my writing style, maybe I do need to step away from it every so often. As to my comment, it's a joke. But I'll be the first to admit it probably wasn't in very good taste, so I apologize. Lunar Sphinx, I don't think I'm really paying attention to the O's I use to divide different sections, but as I might have mentioned a time or twenty, these chapters are all written between 9 PM and 2 AM (although it rarely goes that late), so they're works of will, determination, love, exhaustion, and Mountain D-err, Onix Breeze. As for counting on a college, I wouldn't know seeing as I've only ever been to community college myself. Little Rabbit, I thank you for the encouragement, I'm pretty dang impressed at the fact that you managed to get an entire studio to applaud for me, I only wish I could have been there in person (small man leans over and whispers something in author's ear) Oh, I get it. Well, thanks anyway, I've been thinking and I'll get back to you soon, if I haven't already. Zizzo, I appreciate the honest praise and I'm glad to know what you like about my style of writing-I'll try to keep it up. And as for your suggestion for a bit of backstory... stop reading my to-do list! That story comes later!

Anyway, so far this story has gotten a response that I consider pretty dang good, after all it's not the quantity of something, it's the quality (don't believe me? go out and get a cup of Starbucks and a cup of cafeteria coffee, and then come back and prove me wrong). Anyway, it's been a real trip, I mean treat, for me to write this story. I'm enjoying the process very much, it's like I was born to do this. Read, review, and if you have the time, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own
my character TJ.

Note:
 "Speaking"
Thinking
Pokéspeak
Psychic conversations
Flashbacks
SHOUTING!

Chapter Seven:
A Fork in the Road

May stretched her arms out and listened to her joints crack in response. Shoving her blanket aside she sat up on the couch and yawned, half awake, then stood and began her usual morning stretching routine. She was halfway through her twentieth toe touch when she heard a loud thump.

"OWWW!"

May's eyes flew wide open into full wakefullness. Searching wildly for the source of the noise, her eyes came to rest on TJ, who was rubbing his forehead.

"What are you doing up this early?" she exclaimed.

"Ummm..." TJ's face arranged itself into an embarrassed expression. "It's not really that early. It's like nine thirty in the morning."

May felt her face turning crimson. "What! How could I have slept through your fight?"

TJ's face looked perplexed. "Fight?"

"You know, the fight you have every morning with Torchic!"

"We didn't have one today."

"You told me you always have one!"

"Well, today we didn't"

"Why not!"

"We just didn't. You are a guest, after all."

"Were you in the kitchen while I was stretching?"

Now it was TJ's turn to blush. "Umm, yeah?"

"And did you, uh, watch me?"

TJ cleared his throat several times. "Umm, no. I mean, not, not really, just a little bit. You know, t-t-to make sure you're all healed from the day before last. It's not like I had any interest or anything, I-I was just making sure you were all right, I hate the thought of you getting hurt-I mean-no-uh-I-I-uh-hurt! Pain! Bad! I don't like to see things in pain! It's not like I have any feelings for you, or like you or any-CRAP! I mean, uh, just ignore that last part! I, uh, well, that was just an example! There's nothing in it! No substance! You really shouldn't think about it! I mean, you probably don't even believe in love at first sight anyway! Not that you should! Not that I do! No! Never! That's the craziest thing I ever-"

"TJ!"

"Ahh, what?"

May inhaled angrily. In an icy tone, she said, "did you stare at my butt?"

TJ looked like he had been smacked with a frying pan. "Come again?"

"You heard me!"

"No, I did not stare at your butt. Should I have?"

May sighed, and just like that the tension left the room. "Watch it buddy, I'm in range to slap you," she said. But there was no venom in the words.

"Oh no!" exclaimed TJ. "Anything but that! Not the hand! No torture is worse than receiving a blow from your delicate appendages! Have mercy!"

May giggled. "Ha ha, Romeo. Now, about love at first sight-"

TJ leapt up, turning red. "Uh, y-you should get in the shower. I uh, breakfast! Break will be ready soonfast. I mean, fast will be ready breaksoon! Uh, no, I mean soon will be ready fastbreak! Ah! Just-you-shower-ready-h-hungry-now!"

May sighed. "Relax, I'm going."

And then she trudged up the stairs.

OOOOOOOO

Water gushed out of the shower head and May yelped as it hit her. Slowly it began to warm up and she started scrubbing her hair.

What is going on here? She thought to herself. She just didn't understand it. She reflected on all the things that had happened over the last two days...the feeling she felt every time she looked into TJ's eyes...her uncontrollable urge to flirt shamelessly with him...her assumption that he was an angel...her dream (May turned crimson as she remembered it-how embarrassing! She was glad no one could read her mind and see it.). And then there was this morning. What on Terra was that?

She tried to recall exactly what had bothered her so much. After all, it was fairly obvious that TJ felt some sort of attraction to her, so why would she be upset that he was staring at her while she stretched? Okay, so having someone stare at your butt was way uncomfortable. But so? She'd had no problem with him touching her butt, and anyway she should have known better than to stretch in some stranger's house...

May's stomach twisted as a revelation hit her. She should have known better, and she would have, except she hadn't noticed she was in some stranger's house. Come to think of it, she never slept well in someone else's home, and why had she been so comfortable while she had eaten breakfast with TJ yesterday? Was she upset because she felt like she was home in this house?

No, she realized, it's not that I feel at home in this house, I feel at home around TJ. She shook her head violently, spraying water everywhere. But that's crazy! I've know this guy for what, less than 40 hours? How can I possibly feel like I know him? This is crazy!

Still, she couldn't dismiss the feeling that she was home when she was around him. Something had happened to her when she had first laid eyes on him, a feeling of safety and contentment. It was almost like she was made for him, and vice versa.

She shook her head even more violently. Get ahold of yourself girl! You're losing it!

She had no way of knowing that TJ was having a similar discussion with himself.

OOOOOOOO

May came down the stairs dressed in yet another borrowed outfit. She peeked around the corner and saw TJ sitting at the table with the three pokémon. They all had their backs to her, and they all seemed engrossed in their breakfast. May squirmed uncomfortably, nervous about earlier in the morning.

"Come sit down, we saved you a plate."

May jumped a foot in the air. TJ hadn't even turned around, but he was definitely talking to her. She was caught; nothing for it but to actually sit down and eat. She strode over to the table, but stopped short.

There were seven place settings. Besides TJ, Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip, her Beautifly and Combusken were sitting and eating quietly.

"Guys!" breathed May. Tears filled her eyes. "I'm so happy to see you! You're all right! And all healed! What happened?"

Combusken looked up and inclined his head towards TJ, then went back to eating. Beautifly stared intently at her food. Neither made direct eye contact with her. She sighed uncomfortably.

"Thank you."

TJ shook his head. "They needed it, and I'm not one to refuse a pokémon aid. Thanks are unnecessary." He looked straight into her eyes, and she felt as if he was once again sifting her soul. "You know, they told me about what you're planning. About how you're going to turn them over to Birch. Why would you do something like that?"

May sighed sadly. "TJ, what do you know about my life for the past three and a half years?"

He shrugged. "You traveled with Ash a while ago, I know that much."

At the mention of Ash, May felt a familiar tug at her heart, and before she knew it she was spilling her entire life's story out to this near stranger in front of her.

"...And so I decided that they deserved better than a washout like me, so I'm taking them to Birch," she sobbed. "Don't you see? It's the right thing to do!"

TJ regarded her quietly, his face impassive. She stared at the table, ashamed of herself, ashamed of her complete worthlessness. She was sure that whatever TJ had felt, it was now gone.

"Who are you?"

The question caught May off guard. "What?"

"When you look at yourself in the mirror," said TJ, "What do you see?"

May hung her head again. "I see a washout."

TJ snorted. "Why."

"Because I spent two years ignoring to truth, and pretending that I didn't care about Ash. I ran, TJ! I ruined these guys' lives because I was too scared and too stupid to face the truth!"

"And that truth was..."

"That Ash doesn't love me! Never did, probably never will! There, you happy? I said it!"

TJ looked at her for a bit. "And you finally realized that this was bugging you, influencing your life, and so you're doing the grownup thing for your pokémon by releasing them, huh?"

May sniffled, then nodded.

"You know what May? I don't think you've grown up at all."

May's head shot up. "WHAT!"

"So you fell for some kid, and he didn't feel for you. So what? These things happen. Instead of moving on, you moped and ran around like a chicken with its head cut off for two years. Okay, so it was your first crush slash love. I can understand that. But when you realized how immature you were being, what did you do? Buck up and move on? No! You decided that you were ugly and worthless, and that you were going to have a little pity party, and you even went so far as to include your pokémon in it!"

"You think this is a pity party?" hissed May. "Fine. Let's look at my life achievements."

"Well, what are your goals?"

May growled angrily and clenched her jaw, then sighed. "I don't even know anymore. I guess I wanted to be the best coordinator around for a while, but I lost sight of that when Ash left."

"So? Get out there and coordinate! Be the best!"

May shook her head. "But I've wasted so much time! It's too late for me..."

TJ sat quietly for a long time. "That's what I thought too," he finally said. "And yet, here I am."

May looked up at him despairingly. "But how do I start over, TJ?"

TJ shook his head. "Just go and do it, May. You can do it again-live your dream! Look, just because some shmuck from Kanto left you high and dry, that doesn't mean the sky is falling. You can do this!"

"But what if I'm not strong enough," May whispered.

Suddenly, something encircled her legs. She looked down to see Combusken holding tight to her middle. Beautifly fluttered up and landed on her head. Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip all stood up and latched onto her feet. TJ stood up and looked her straight in the eye.

"We are here for you, May. We all believe in you, and we can give you the strength to do this."

"What if I mess up?"

"Try again."

"But won't you be angry at me for screwing up again?"

"No."

May gazed into TJ's eyes, and saw that he meant it from the bottom of his heart. And at that very moment, she understood why she felt at home around TJ. He saw her as she truly was, all her prides, fears, insecurities, her troubled past, her uncertain future, and her fear of another rejection. He saw her, warts and all, and he accepted her anyway. More, he welcomed her.

May dissolved into tears, but this time they were joyful. She fell to her knees, but TJ prevented her from falling anymore. He held her tight, and all the pokémon got in on some group hug action. Tears flowed all around.

"It's all right," whispered TJ, "you're gonna be okay now."

OOOOOOOO

May skipped along the road happily. She giggled to herself, and dashed ahead only to dash back a moment later. She felt like she had a brand new chance, and she couldn't but help act like the girl she had once been long ago.

TJ trudged along behind her, less than thrilled with the situation. Try as he might, he had been unable to convince her that she was completely safe traveling alone in Littleroot. So he had agreed to accompany her, and now he was about to partake in a tradition as old as time itself. He was going to meet May's parents.

He would have rather gone a few more rounds with Andy.

Buck up buddy, he thought to himself, it's go time.

May skipped over to where he was strolling and started walking by his side. She was so excited he could feel it like it was a physical force. She smiled.

"I was thinking about maybe trying to defeat the Tough contest next," she said. "I've already got the Cute contest wrapped around my little finger, and I want Beautifly to be recognized for her outstanding achievements, not relegated to a has been that wants her fame back. I was thinking about maybe going with my old Delcatty, but she's pretty happy with her family. I wouldn't want to drag her away for something silly like that..."

"Mightyena."

"What?"

"You should try a Mightyena," repeated TJ. "They're naturally tough, and they learn a variety of moves that make them fearsome opponents. And they're readily available, in Poochyena form. You should catch one on your way out of town. And you should discuss names with all three of your pokémon."

May took a moment to digest this information. "Oh, all right. I guess you have a good point there, Mightyena are very powerful. And they're so cute at the same time! But why," she said, "why do you think that I should talk with my pokémon about naming them?"

"Because," said TJ, "well, two reasons. First off, you don't really own those two, at least in my opinion. If one of them didn't want to be with you and travel with you, you would have to force them to do most of the things you want them to. Those two are still here because they're family. They may not have been born of a union between your father and mother, but they're still members of the family and should be treated as such. And second," he continued, "how would you feel if your mother had named you 'Girl'? It seems to me that names distinguish us, and show love, concern, and considerate thought. It says 'hey you! Yeah you! This here is Darling Maple, and that there is Charfist Maple! They're a part of my family!' See what I'm talking about?"

"Charfist? Darling?"

"They were examples! You get the idea."

"Well, yeah, I guess." said May. She thought for a moment. "Hey! What about your guys! Have you thought about names for them?"

"Sure," TJ answered. He pointed to Mudkip, who was running far ahead of them. "That there's Skipper, because he's always out in front, trying to steer us and chart our course." He pointed to Treecko, who was jogging to keep up with Skipper, and managed to catch up in time to prevent him from getting tangled in some vines. "That's Ranger, because he's always looking out for our safety, especially Skipper's safety."

"Why especially Skipper?"

"Skipper gets in more trouble than anyone else."

"Oh." May was silent for a moment. "What about Torchic?"

TJ shrugged. "We haven't decided on one. None of the names I suggested appealed to him, and I don't know enough about his true personality to suggest a better one."

"Well, what names did you suggest?"

"Oh, the usual...Butthead, Horse's Ass, Numbskull, etcetera etcetera."

May laughed. "No, really, what did you suggest?"

TJ looked at her seriously. "I wasn't joking."

May stared at him with a shocked look on her face. She turned to look at Torchic. "He's kidding, right?"

Torchic sniffed in an indignant manner.

May shot an accusing stare at TJ. "How could you suggest such demeaning names! You're horrible!"

TJ shrugged, then sighed. "Well, what do you expect? I named Skipper and Ranger based on aspects of their personalities, but all I've seen of Torchic's personality is his hunger and his temper with me. I literally could not think of something better!"

May opened her mouth to say something cutting, but whatever she would have said was lost to all time when someone shouted, "MAY!"

TJ and May turned to see a dust cloud traveling in their direction. Traveling quickly in their direction. As it neared it cleared up enough for them to see a woman running towards them at full speed. "May!" she yelled again. Then she was there.

"May! You're all right! Oh, you had me so scared! Don't you ever do that again! I love you so much!"

May struggled out of her mother's arms. "Moom," she groaned.

May's mother glanced at TJ and straightened up. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry for that. I didn't mean to cause a scene, but I was so very worried that my emotions overcame my sense." She straightened her rumpled skirt. "You must be TJ. I'm May's mother, Caroline. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

TJ shook Caroline Maple's hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Ma'am."

May felt a little surge of jealousy. TJ was flirting with her mother! Calm down girl, she thought, he's just trying to charm her. It means he's nervous and wants to make a good impression.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" asked Caroline.

May perked up. "Oh, could he come over for dinner mom? Please? Pretty pretty please?"

"Actually," piped up TJ, "I was planning on eating dinner at home and going to bed early. That way we can get an early start."

May felt like her stomach was lined with lead. Don't jump to conclusions, she thought to herself. "Early start on what?"

"My travels! I have a long way to go before I can participate in the league championship!"

May's stomach no longer felt lead lined, it had disappeared completely.

"I was thinking of maybe starting tonight, but I figured it's asking a bit much of the guys to start out at night, in the cold, and the dark," continued TJ. "Besides, why short ourselves on our last chance to sleep in a real bed just so we can shave off a few minutes?"

At this point TJ noticed the look on May's face. She appeared ready to break down and cry. He was concerned. "What's wrong?"

May's lip trembled for a moment, and tears welled up in her eyes. TJ walked over and encircled her shoulders. "Hey, c'mon, you can tell me."

"FINE!" May burst out. She shrugged out of TJ's embrace and ran over to her mother. "FINE, JUST LEAVE! JUST TAKE OFF AND FORGET ABOUT ME!"

TJ was flustered. "What? What are you talking about!"

Tears were now streaming down May's face. "WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? YOU! YOU AND YOUR STUPID PLAN, THAT'S WHAT! JUST TAKING OFF ON ME!"

"But I had it planned already! I would have left two days ago if you hadn't shown up!"

"SO! YOU'RE WALKING OUT NOW! RUNNING AWAY! AND JUST WHEN I WAS MAYBE FALLING IN-" May bit off her sentence and ran down the road crying.

There was awkward silence for a moment. Then TJ turned to Caroline. "I had my journey all planned out...I told her I was going to leave! Why is she so upset? I was already going to leave! What did I do wrong!"

Caroline shook her head. "You'll have to figure that out on your own, dear. I won't run your relationship for you. But I suggest you talk with May about it."

Caroline turned around and headed home. TJ stared after her blankly, then turned to Skipper, Ranger, and Torchic. He shook his head in a confused manner. "What did I do wrong?"

Blank stares answered him.

OOOOOOOO

May lay on her bed. Her face was red from tears, but she had no more to cry. She felt empty inside. How could he do this? Weren't they connecting? Wasn't something starting between them? What was going on!

There was a gentle knock at her bedroom door, and she quickly wiped her face and blew her nose. "Come in."

Caroline walked in and sat down on her bed. "How's my little girl?"

Her tone of voice was tender, but it irritated May all the same. "How the hell do you think I feel? I fell for some kind stranger like an idiot, and now he's leaving and I'm never going to see him again. I feel like crap, mother."

There was awkward silence for a while. Finally Caroline spoke. "How do you know you're never going to see him again?"

"Because he's leaving! Why would he come back?"

"For you?"

"For me! Why would he come back for me? He doesn't care enough to stick around in the first place!"

"You don't know that..."

"Well, why isn't he staying then?"

"Well," said Caroline, "I don't know, but he appeared very confused. And honestly, he has a point, after all he was planning on leaving two days ago."

"But if he really cared about me, he'd stay with me."

"Well, maybe he does care about you."

"Then why won't he stay?"

"Well, maybe he doesn't know you care about him."

May mulled this over for several minutes. "But I've been so obvious! How can he not know?"

Caroline smiled. "Obvious isn't enough sometimes. You need to just come out and tell him."

And with that, she stood up and left the room, leaving May with her thoughts.

OOOOOOOO

TJ picked up his pack and strode across the living room. His parents were due in four hours, the front door was locked. There was nothing left to do.

"Hey," he hollered, "Hurry up! We ain't got all day!"

He walked onto the porch. Outside several Taillow were flitting around in the meadow. He saw a few Wingull floating in the sky. The day was comfortably warm, and the sky was cloudless. It couldn't have been a better day, a more perfect day to leave, and TJ was wondering why he was so depressed despite it.

I just don't get it, he thought. He had meditated multiple times on his conversation with May yesterday, and he still couldn't understand it. I was planning on going, he thought, she knew that! Why is she so upset?

He snorted at himself. "Well, I could always offer to bring her along," he said aloud.

"Is that a genuine offer?"

TJ jumped. Sitting on one of his deck chairs, May was quietly regarding him. "Uh, May! Hi!"

May smiled wanly and stood. She walked over to TJ and wrapped her arms around his neck.

And then she kissed him full on the lips.

It was a long kiss, lasting at least ten minutes. Somewhere between start and finish, TJ stopped caring about his shock and just gave in to it. For ten short minutes, the world held its breath while two teens kissed.

After what seemed entirely too short of a time to TJ, they broke it off. There was awkward silence while TJ and May stared at each other. The silence dragged on. Finally TJ said, "how long would you be willing to spend on the ocean?"

May was understandably taken aback by this question. "What?"

TJ repeated himself.

"Uhhhhmm, I don't know, a week?"

TJ smiled sadly. "A week is Rustboro to Dewford Island. From Lilycove or Slateport, it's about a month, give or take three days or so."

May stared at him. "So?"

"Soooo, I'm going to be at sea for that long. I couldn't possibly ask you to bear with me for that period of time. The offer was genuine, but I have places to go and things to do."

May's face fell. "Why?" she half-sobbed.

TJ sighed. "Because," he said, "because I need to do this. We need to do this! The guys and I, we are half people right now. We need to get out there and follow the yearning of our hearts so that we can earn some peace! Peace of mind!" He shook his head. "Look, May, I would love nothing more than to stay here with you forever. But if I stay, I'll end up in the same dead end position I was in before! I'll be miserable and I'll always wonder if things would have been different if I had gone!" May sniffled. TJ embraced her gently, then held her at arm's length and looked straight into her eyes. "Look, this is something I have to do. I can't be the man you need me to be until I've gone on this trip. Can you understand that?"

May was silent for a very long time. Finally she nodded. "Go," she said, "before I change my mind."

"Chick..."

TJ looked sideways to see the guys standing at the ready. He sighed. "I guess it's time."

He picked up his bag and his bat. Turning to face the mountains, the rising sun to his right, he sighed heavily. "C'mon guys, time to go."

He started walking, the pokémon following him. He made it about twenty yards away, then turned to face May. "I hope I'll see you in Verdanturf!"

May looked up, perplexed. "What's in Verdenturf?" She tried to hide her tears.

TJ laughed. "The Normal Rank Contest house! Remember!"

May felt her stomach shift from her feet to her throat. A little kernel of hope began to glow within her. "You mean, you, you still want to see me?"

"Of course!"

And with that, TJ turned around and started walking again. For a moment May toyed with the idea of running after him, but her practical side won out over the impulse. There was packing to do, goodbyes to say, pokémon to make amends with, Contests to win. She had a lot to do. Already she was listing what to put in her bookbag, and making goals. Maybe she would catch a Poochyena, and conquer the Tough contest. She felt alive like she hadn't in a long time.

Off in the distance, she could just barely make out TJ's silhouette through the rays of the rising sun. She smiled. I may not be able to come with you right now, she thought, but we haven't seen the last of each other. We'll find our happy ending, somewhere. In the meantime...

And with that comforting thought, she went off to pack and get ready.

A/N: Whew! That was the chapter that just wouldn't die! Glad to finally finish that, I bet my loyal fans are too. Hard chappie, but a good one, lots of emotion. Cool. Anyway, next time, first battle, the guys bond, and Torchic gets a name! No, it's not Horse's Ass.