Welcome, dear readers! As promised, here is the 8th chapter of LtL, MtM, on Halloween day!
To celebrate the holiday, this is part of a double update. It's a rather short chapter, the shortest so far, but I wanted to have a particular ending, so I had to cut short. A pity. Anyway, as I was saying, double update. The first chapter is this one, which continues the storyline normally. The second one is a Halloween special!
Thanks for all of you who read and/or reviewed! So, get ready, get set, and read!
Less than Legends, More than Myths
Chapter 8: Wally, Jennifer, and Surprise!
"How's he doing, Doc?" May asked to the man in a white coat standing in front of her.
"He's going to be fine." the man answered. "He just had a light infection on his nose. He needs a few days of rest and some antibiotics, but he'll be as good as new."
"That's very good to hear!" the girl squeaked excitedly, almost dropping the bowl she was carrying on the ground.
"Well, it's okay to talk to him now," The doctor stepped away from the door of room 217, allowing May and Sara to pass. "So just go ahead. I should be back tomorrow at noon to give him some meds, so I'll see you girls then."
"See ya!" May shouted, waving her hand.
"Are you coming with me?" she asked, turning around to face Sara.
"Dunno…" the smaller girl answered, looking at the ground and touching her index fingers with one another. "What if he gets angry and yells at me again?"
"Then I'll stop him. Don't worry!"
Sara smiled. "Thanks, May."
"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" the red-clad girl replied, pushing the door open with her free hand and stepping inside.
The room was rather dark, seeing as the only source of light came from the draped windows. Near a corner, there was a bunk-bed, with someone on the lower bunk. Seeing the entering girls, the boy smiled and greeted them.
"Howdy, girls! Here to see the amazing Brendan?"
"You wish!" May replied with a laugh. "Here, I brought you some soup."
She handed him the plastic bowl and spoon. He took off the lid and sniffed it. "Is this turtle soup? They actually had it?"
"Yep! Weird, humn?"
"Hey, I'm not complaining." He began to play with his spoon. "Come here, little soup! I won't hurt you… yeah, closer… closer… YEAH! GOT YA!"
May shot him a weird glance, while Sara tried to do the same, but ultimately failed.
"You're such a baby!" The older girl finally said.
"Hey, everyone's got their habits, right?" The boy replied. "It's not like you're perfect either. Girl. Hehe."
May rolled her eyes while Sara giggled.
"Yeah! Far from it!" the younger girl said.
At once, everyone turned at her. The girl's eyes grew wide and she blushed wildly before looking at the ground.
"Girls…" Brendan muttered, rolling his eyes. "Hehe."
--XXXXX--
"Ahh, typical Hoennian food. That's the stuff!" the boy spoke to himself as he left the restaurant. "No one can beat that."
He began to slowly walk down the road towards the Pokémon Center. Soon, he passed in front of the Gym, and he realized three things.
First, May still hadn't seen her father, despite being at the city for several hours now.
Second, he really had to get back to the Pokémon Center. He had been away for long enough.
Third, he was lost.
At the current moment, the third realization seemed like the most important one. The boy re-adjusted his trusty cap, reached for his trusty backpack and drew his not-so-trusty map. He focused on the 'Petalburg City' section, glancing at the miniature map they had about the city.
"Huh. Could have used this to find the Pokémon Center." the boy thought, then shrugged. "Well, too late now."
After turning the map around several times, he came an educated guess of his approximate position, and began to move down the road he came from.
--XXXXX--
"So…" May began, looking around the room. "Do you think we should go to the hospital?"
"Last time I checked, I was doing fine." Brendan replied sarcastically. "But hey, I'm sick. What do I know?"
"No, you dumb-o!" May said, rolling her eyes. "I meant to look for Minna and Ray! I wanted to see if they're doing okay…"
"Oh. In that case… yeah right! You just wanna see Ray again, don't you?"
May blushed. "Not at all! I just wanna make sure he's okay, that's all…"
Brendan rolled his eyes. Sara poked May and whispered something to her. The older girl listen, nodded and then turned to the boy, rolling her eyes.
"Sara wants to know if you want to see Minna again." she said.
"W-what!?" Brendan asked, surprised by the question. He blushed and thanked Arceus for the darkness in the room. "Course not! Why would I?"
Contradictorily to what he thought would happen, the girls let the subject drop, although they did look disturbed.
"Does he actually like Minna?" May wondered, then shook her head. "Either way, why do I care? It's just a passing crush, anyway…"
"Brendan likes Minna?" Sara thought, worried and slightly annoyed. "What does she have that I don't? Maybe he likes older girls… but then he'd never fall for me!"
"So, what are you two going to do now?" Brendan asked, trying not to let the two girls finish their thoughts, should it be harmful to him in any way. "I'm pretty much locked inside the Pokémon Center for a few days, but that doesn't mean you can't go anywhere."
"You're right." May said, getting up. "I bet there's something nice to do in this town, like - Holly crap! I completely forgot about Dad!"
"Jeez, May. Remember me never to ask you to do something important for me."
"Haha. Very funny. C'mon Sara! Let's go see my dad!"
Sara's eyes grew wide as May took her hand and pulled her out of the room. When she had recomposed herself enough to act again, she was already outside the Pokémon Center and heading down a street. The younger girl tried to resist May's grasp, but the red-clad girl was a good deal stronger and pulled her all the way to the Gym, which she found without major incidents. When they were there, May let go of Sara's hand and rushed inside, leaving the other girl panting in the middle of the street. Grudgingly, she followed her friend inside, one step at a time.
--XXXXX--
"Oh, come on!" Jake nearly shouted, causing many people to look at him. He toned down his voice. "I've passed this same road four times. Four. Useless map!"
He violently folded his map back and threw it inside his backpack. He then took a deep breath to calm himself, then thought of a way to chose the best way to go. He reached into his pocket for a coin, but found only an old gum, some useless paper and… a piece of tire.
"What the hell?" he wondered. "How do these things keep showing up in my pocket? I don't write, I don't eat gum and I certainly do not carry a piece of tire around!"
Frustrated, he threw the things at the road. Squeezing his eyes for a moment, he took another deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Gym at a distance.
"Well, I guess I could ask for some information there…" he thought, then began to walk that way.
He was about midway through when he was blocked off by a merchant wheel-cart. The salesman, a sickly thin old man with rotten teeth, took a quick good at the boy, then smiled.
"Well, hello there, son!" he said, as if he had known Jake for as his life. "Would you be interested in buying some RavingRanch Poké-Rations for a discount price? Or maybe some Wailord Seals to water each and every one of your plants? Or maybe some Kecleon Gum, guaranteed to make your tongue transparent?"
Each time he offered a product, he pushed the said object into the boy's hands. Soon, Jake's hands were filled with a variety of goods, none of them useful and all of them expensive.
"No, thanks." the boy replied, pushing the stuff back. Then, his eye caught a glint of something shining in the cart. The boy took a closer look, than realized it was a necklace. Not bad, with a gold-painted heart as an embellishment. "Actually, I take that back. How much for the necklace?"
"What necklace?" the salesman asked, taking the stuff back. He glanced at the same necklace Jake had seen, and a evil grin crossed his face. "Well, that, my friend, is on a great sale. Buy it now for only 15,000 PokéDollars! It is worth about 50,000 normally, but you seem like a nice kid. What d'you say?"
"Are you freaking kidding me? 15,000 PokéDollars for this worthless piece of painted metal? Well, go burn in hell, you freaking anemic thief !" shouted the voices inside Jake.
"Still seems a bit too much…" the boy replied thoughtfully, keeping his calm. "But man! She'd really like it…"
"Well, I can always make another haggle…" the merchant said, feeling like he had a chance of a sale. Jake smiled inside. "Let's see… 12,000 PokéDollars."
"12,000, huh? Is there any way to make a trade? Say, a few potions and something of value, plus 5,000 PokéDollars. Would that be okay?"
"Something of value, huh… show me what you've got, kid."
The boy reached inside his backpack and searched around it for a while. Finally, he came out with a golden nugget he had found digging at his farm. It was a small piece of brute ore, but it was still worth something. And it was gold.
The merchant was immediately transfixed by the object. He was actually almost drooling. Jake handed him the nugget, two Potions and the promised 5,000 PokéDollars (which was pretty much all of his savings), took the necklace and left. Turning around, he saw that the merchant was still looking at the nugget like it was solid gold. Which it was, when you think of it.
Fumbling with the necklace in his hands, Jake continued on his way to the Gym. It was his experience that having a last-resort gift was always good. That way, if it was someone's birthday or a great opportunity, he didn't have to go through the bother of not having anything to give. He put the shiny object in his pocket and walked the remaining of the way towards the Gym.
--XXXXX--
"Dad!" May shouted, racing ahead and hugging a very surprised man. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"
"May? Is that you?" the man replied, pleasantly surprised. He hugged his daughter back and spun her around. "I've missed you too!"
At that time, Sara walked in. She saw May hugging a tall man with short black hair and beard, wearing a black-striped orange shirt and black pants, whom she presumed was May's father. She also saw to kids, a bit older than her, who looked very surprised. One was a boy with green hair, with a cloth tied around his nose slightly bloodied, a white shirt and black pants, while the other was a girl with blue hair, a short black skirt and a long black pullover.
"Oh, daddy! How have you been doing?" May asked, still oblivious to the viewers.
"Excellent, May. In every battle here, I learn something new. It's really quite interesting. Reminds me of when I was a little boy." the man said, laughing. He then realized he was not alone. "Ahem. May, meet Wally, Jennifer and…?"
"Sara!" May shouted, answering the question. "Come here meet my dad!"
Blushing, Sara stepped forward. May's father looked her up and down before smiling and offering his hand. "You must be a friend of May's. I'm Norman Maple, May's father."
"Sara. Sara Stonemarch." Sara greeted back, shaking his hand and smiling. "I've only known May for a few day's now, so I wouldn't consider myself her friend…"
"Of course you're my friend!" May interrupted. "Don't talk like that."
"Sorry… thanks, May."
"Humn, Mr. Maple?" the green-haired boy called shyly. "I was wondering if… you k-know, if it wasn't a b-bother or anything… could w-we get-"
"Can you help us catch our Pokémon now!?" the girl nearly shouted. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!"
"Oh yes! I did promise you I would, didn't I?" Norman said thoughtfully. He turned to May and Sara. "Girls, this here are Wally and Jennifer. I promised them I'd help them catch some Pokémon, but seeing as you're here, I was wondering if you could do it for me. I'm sure you'll get along better, and they say that helping others is helping yourself."
"Oh, sure…" May said, sounding somewhat sad. But then she was cheerful again. "C'mon, Sara! Let's go help these guys get their Pokémon!"
"Okay…" Sara agreed slowly, nodding. "If that's what you want…"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing at all."
May shot her a quizzical stare before turning to the others. "So, everyone! In case you haven't heard, my name's May Maple. I'm Norman's daughter!" She squealed in delight. "And this here is Sara. We've been travelling together for a few days now."
"I'm Jennifer!" the girl shouted in excitement, pushing the boy along as well. "And this is Wally! We're gonna get our first Pokémon today! Isn't that great?"
"Sure is…" Sara replied, rolling her eyes. May and Jennifer began to talk in excited, cheerful, painfully high-pitched voices, and led the rest of the group out of the Gym. This was gonna be a long day…
--XXXXX--
Finally, Jake pushed through the doors of the Gym. It had taken longer than it should have because the boy had thought he heard familiar voices down the street and considered chasing after them, but discarded the idea as 'too big a waste of energy'.
Inside, he found a lone man dressed in a striped orange shirt and black pants. Although Jake couldn't see any resemblance whatsoever, he deduced it was May's father, mostly from the fact that he was the only person actually inside the Gym. The boy sighed and walked forward, wondering if he should revel himself as a friend of the man's daughter or not.
"Well, hello there!" the man greeted. "I am Norman Maple, the Petalburg City Gym Leader! And who might you be?"
"The name's Jake." Jake greeted back, shaking Norman's hand. After feeling the strength of the handshake, he made his choice. "I'm just looking for some information on how to get to the Pokémon Center."
"Oh, of course…" Norman replied, rubbing his chin. "Pokémon Center, Pokémon Center… You go down the road, then to the left… or was it up the road? There was a roundabout somewhere… no, it was a U-turn…"
"Argh…" Jake quietly groaned. He then muttered to himself in a whisper, "Like father like daughter."
"Humn? You said something?"
"Nothing at all, sir."
--XXXXX--
"Well, here we are!" May announced as soon as the group had reached the edge of town. "Ready to go Pokémon catching?"
"Yes! More than ready!" Jennifer shouted. "Oh, this is gonna be sooo much fun! Don't you think so, Wally?"
"W-what? Humn, sure…" the green-haired boy replied, grinning his teeth against the pain on his arm. For the entire trip, Jennifer had been attached to it like a leech. "Can you let me go now?"
"Oh yeah! So much fun! What are we waiting for?" the pullover girl continued, ignoring him.
"How is it," Sara asked, leaning in closer to May. "That it takes you two hours to get into town, and ten minutes to get out?"
"Dunno." the senior girl replied, shrugging. "Outsider instinct, I guess."
"Outsider instinct?" Sara asked in disbelief. She was pretty much whispering into the wind, because May had raced ahead with Jennifer and they were back to their painful talk. And so was Wally, dragged by the arm. Sara felt bad for the boy.
"Can you please let me go? Hey, Jenny, are you listening to me? Jennifer! JENNIFER!" Wally shouted.
That finally got the girl's attention. Surprised, she turned around to face the boy. "Jeez, no need to shout! What is it?"
"Could you…" Wally began, but Jennifer ignored him and turned back to May. "Oh, come on!"
Sara sighed. They walked for about thirty minutes into the woods, and all the town Wally kept screaming at Jennifer for letting his arm go. The girl would either ignore him or just plain not hear, so that got the boy nowhere. Finally, not being able to stand the shouting any longer, she decided to do something.
"Enough!" she shouted. Instant silence followed her words, and six eyes were now fixed upon her. The girl did her best to ignore them. "For Arceus' sake, just let him go!"
"Why do you care?" Jennifer shot back, rather aggressively.
"My ears can't take it any longer! Now let go of him!"
"No way! If I want to hold on to Wally, then I hold on to Wally!"
"You're killing the boy!"
"No I'm not! Just leave us alone!"
"Let. Him. GO!" Sara shouted, grabbing Wally's free arm. The boy's eyes went wide. "Now!"
"You let him go!" Jennifer replied, pulling on the arm she had. Sara copied her.
"GIRLS!" Wally shouted. "PLEASE, JUST LET ME GO!"
"C'mon! Won't you end this stupid confl-" May began, but was stopped as an explosion was heard far off and the ground shook. Jennifer let Wally's arm go, and Sara and the boy tumbled down rather awkwardly.
"Could you please get off me?" Sara asked, trying to push Wally off her. The boy blushed and complied, then helped Sara up.
"What was that?" Jennifer asked, scared. "Explosions don't just… explode… for no reason!"
"Oh, really?" May said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Well, thanks for the enlightenment."
"Well, what should we do?" Sara wondered. "I think it would be best if we headed back to town…"
"No way!" disagreed May. "A bomb just went off in the middle of a forest, and you don't even want to know what happened?" Everyone shook their heads no. "Well, too bad for you, wimps! Let's go!"
She turned around and began to walk towards the direction of the sound. Slowly, the rest of the group followed. Wally and Jennifer stuck close to Sara, in case any danger came their way. After a few moments, the boy leaned in towards Sara and whispered in her ear.
"Why are we following her anyway?"
"Believe me, we'll be in more danger if we don't." Sara replied, shrugging. "She broke the nose of a guy we're travelling with. I'm not the one to risk my life and try to stop her."
"…"
"Yeah."
"What are you guys talking about back there!?" May shouted to them. "Hurry up!"
Looking up ahead, the trio realized that she had ran in front of them, and was now standing near a tree seventy feet away. With a sigh, Sara raced forward to meet her, and the other two followed her. When she was about midway through, she stopped suddenly, eyes wide in shock and fear.
"MAY!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "WATCH OUT!"
"What?" May asked, looking around distractedly. It was too late when she finally saw the huge beam of golden energy coming her way. Fast, and deadly.
Yay! Cliff-hanger! Not a great one, but one netherless.
Thanks for all you readers, and get ready for the second part of the double update! The Halloween Special!
Gotta Go With The Flow!
BlackShadowKnight