Author's Note: So far, we have seen Brendan be his teenage self. The same can be said of May. This is what ORAS sort of expects them to be, but because they are 15 and not 10 like the game has them be, I'm going to ramp up the maturity and some masculine factor. Nothing raunchy and definitely no lemons, what I mean is that I want Brendan to be more battle-hardened, as the son of an abusive father would be. In other words, he's going to be more of a man than a squirmy boy. Everything you like about him so far will stay, but I will amplify some of the more noble and courageous virtues for dramatic effect. The first 5 chapters of this story will be connected by plot, but will have totally different forms of execution and development. They're all tests to see what you guys want and don't want. So vote on the polls and leave reviews to mold this story into something you want!

Chapter 54: Escalation

"No, No, NO!" Brendan raged and the romantic tranquility that he and May had built suddenly shattered. He was holding on to sanity by a thread; she must have been joking.

"May, be serious. What are you saying?"

"Brendan, calm down, please; you're scaring me."

"I am calm!" Brendan said, clearly trying to withhold the full extent of his power and rage. This man, Norman, he had tortured his mother and him for many years. But he had been dealt with, for all the damage he had done to them both and countless others. He and May had delivered swift vengeance and cut his ruthless ambitions and carnage as they began to take hold of more lives. The evidence against him was mountainous; Steven himself said that Norman had a trial and was sentenced for life. How could he return? But now a larger question loomed in his mind: "Why didn't you tell me earlier, May? Why? This man wants me dead now. Have I not the right to know that he escaped and is on the prowl?"

May quivered a little; she thought had seen Brendan in his total fury before, but this… this was an entirely different Brendan. "Brendan, you almost died a few hours ago. You fell from Latios after being hit by a Legendary Pokemon. I wanted to make sure you were safe; I wanted to care for you! I know this is important to you; if he hurt you then he hurt me too. But…"

"But what?" Brendan said, a little calmer now that he realized he was terrifying May.

"But I wanted to wait before I told you. Brendan, I wanted to make sure that you were ready and that you wouldn't run from the hospital in your weak condition."

"When did you plan on telling me?"

"I- I don't know. I wanted to tell you as soon as you felt better, but once I slept next to you…" she blushed, "I didn't want to hurt or disturb you."

Brendan sighed. His mind was still reeling from the news. He knew that Norman had connections around Hoenn; he would find them sooner or later. "How did you know May? Who told you this?"

May's eyes became teary and her throat choked as she began to speak: "While I carried you here, I got a transmission on your Pokenav."

Previously

May was swiftly flying Brendan down to the hospital on her Latias. He was barley breathing and his body had become cold and almost lifeless. Occasionally, he would take a heaving breath and he would become limp again for sometime. By the time and Latias ran through the front doors, the few staff who had not evacuated quickly took Brendan in and began trying to keep him from slipping away. May at outside the operation theater, her vision blurred as she pushed any thought of his loss out of the way. "If he dies, it'll be my fault," she thought. "I let him do this. I should have stopped him when I had the chance: but I didn't. He called himself expendable. AND I LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THAT?!" she screamed in her head as she tore herself apart for risking Brendan's life. "He wasn't expendable! I loved him; I needed him... But I let him go!" Before she could berate herself any further, a small buzzing next to her seized her attention. It was Brendan's Pokenav; it had his mother's face and name on the screen. She activated the call and listened. A frantic voice on the other side, Caroline's, buzzed in.

"Brend-May? May! This is Caroline. Listen, d-dear. You don't have much time."

"Is something wrong, did you not make it to the bunker?"

"No, Norman is here, in the bunkers. Someone bailed him out. Another kid is with him. Th-they're searching for me… for Brendan. They've already beat someone here for not telling him where Brendan was. I-I don't have much time. You and Brendan: run. Be ready, once the legendries are gone and these bunkers let out, he'll come for Brendan."

"M-Miss Maple. I-I'll get hel—"

"Don't worry about me, dear. I'll do my best to be there for Brendan, even from the stars. Just take care of my boy, and tell him I loved him more than anything and anyone. Plea—"

"OI! Over there? Who you talkin' to?": a voice roared on the other side of the radio. Static killed the audio. May's fingers tightened over the Pokenav, her heart threatened to leap from her chest.

Present

"Norman's out, then. But he doesn't know where we are and he can't leave the bunkers unless we take care of the legendary beasts. We definitely can't let them rampage Hoenn just to keep Norman at bay."

"Right. It's better for us to let him find us then go to him."

"But… what about mom?" Brendan said, his voice becoming fragile.

"She would never let you risk your life to save hers. It would waste the head-start she gave us. If we want her to be happy, then we have to do what she wants, right?" Brendan nodded. "I suggest we start with the step one: you'll make a full recovery in about an hour according to the doctor."

"We don't have an hour."

"Well, you did when I was kissing you," she said, trying to lighten the intensity of the situation. It didn't work.

"I didn't know I was being hunted then…" he said as his expression faded into sadness. May noticed, and seeing him like this urged her to do something, and she did.

She held his hand in hers, looked deeply into his eyes, and said "Brendan, we can't be brought down by what happened. There was nothing we could do to stop it. The best we can do now is fix what happened, and we are more than capable of doing that. You're not alone; I'll do whatever it takes to help you, because you're more than a boyfriend. You're the person I love most. I owe you that much, right?"

"Yeah, you do," Brendan said as the weight began to remove from the room. "Let's fix this whole mess, starting now, May."

"Now? How? You're too weak! You'll die if you leave the hospital!"

"May, that was an ice-beam not a missile. Besides, you kiss did fire me up a bit." May blushed and tried to hide putting her hands on her cheeks.

"You don't have to hide your blushing. It makes you cuter," he laughed. May's redness just deepened. Brendan held up his hand, cold and pale, it seemed as though it was covered in frost. It was. "B-Bren. Y-Your hand!? HOW on Earth do you plan on battling Groudon and Kyogre again with that?"

"I don't," Brendan said in a gruff, confident voice. He lifted his hand, which was in a coiled, frozen fist, and uncoiled his fingers from pinky to thumb as the sound of shattering ice and cracking bones filled the quiet room. He then rotated his shoulders and twisted his arm, as more of the frost built up on top began to crack and fall off. May watched in awe. This Brendan she had never seen, simply using raw power to break through things. Brendan noticed her gaping as he felt the senses come back to his arm. "I told you your kiss gave me some heat."

"Maybe I should keep doing that. It looks like it also gives you superpowers," she joked. Brendan got up to leave, May held his backpack to him and he slipped it on as he slid into his shoes. He felt ready, but something was missing. He padded his pockets and then checked his bag pockets. Empty.

"Where are my Pokémon?" he said, his voice imbued with concern and fear.

"Don't worry Bren. All of your Pokémon are with the nurse. I healed them while you were out."

"Oh. Thanks," he said as his chest released the built up fear and pressure. May walked out of the room first, followed by Brendan. The nurse at the reception desk watched in awe, this boy was the one hit by the ice-beam, right? His arm was coated in frost. She had seen it herself. But here he was, walking and talking to his girlfriend as though nothing had happened.

"Sir, you have to rest for at least another hour. You arm must heal. We gave you anti-freeze potion so I'm sure you should suffer no damage. But I'm afraid it could be gravely injured if you lea—" Brendan simply raised his hand. It was still pale, but the ice and frost had clearly been broken off.

"Thanks for the potion, I broke the frost without the bite."

The nurse's eyes widened in disbelief. "Uh-I-Uh. Ok. I-uh- need to take your pulse. I need to make sure you can leave."

"Ok, go right ahead."

She removed something from the drawer in front of her and walked around the counter towards Brendan, placing the stethoscope on his chest. She then placed her hands on his wrist and began measuring a pulse while hearing his breathing and beat. "Everything seems in order. Can you make a fist?" Brendan made a fist, cracking his knuckles as his fingers closed. "Can you snap?" Brendan snapped. "Flex your fingers." Brendan moved his fingers around in a wave. "A-Alright. You're good to go then. Y-your P-Pokémon are in the room over that way," she said, pointing towards a room that had double glass doors and metal handles. Brendan and May walked over, opened the doors and looked inside. It was almost like a closet. But it was only filled with boxes, Pokeballs, and names. Brendan and May walked down the isles of boxes, looking for their name.

"Ballen, Bane, Banks, Bannner, Bort… wait a minute. There! Birch! Brendan I got 'em."

"Perfect. Brendan put all of the Pokeballs in his pocket, but he stopped to pick two out again. They shook in his hands, as one popped open right after the other. Sceptile and Gallade looked at Brendan with intense hate. "Uh, guys? It's me Brendan. Come on…" Then they both tackled him, nearly knocking over an entire row of boxes. "OOF!" Brendan exhaled as he hit the floor.
"Bren!" May screamed but before she could move, Gardevoir jumped out of May's pokeball and picked Gallade and Sceptile up with her Psychic powers. Gallade and Sceptile were still wriggling, trying to get at Brendan. Gardevoir set them down, and the other two Pokémon had finally cooled down. May knew what was coming, and she quickly whipped out her pokenav to translate what the Pokémon would say. There was an unexpected silence.

Gallade spoke first. "MASTER BRENDAN, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? WHY WOULD YOU EVER GO TO BATTLE LIKE THAT? YOU HAVE US! WHAT WOULD WE DO IF YOU DIED?" he screamed. Sceptile nodded in firm agreement. "Well, I'm sure May would have taken wonderful care of you," Brendan replied.

"Uh-uh, don't drag me into this Bren, this is between you and the raging green Pokémon now," she said playfully.

"Aw, come on guys. I would have never died abandoning you guys." Sceptile and Gallade looked unperturbed. Brendan sighed, "All right, it'll never happen again, OK?" Sceptile and Gallade relaxed and smiled as both of them ran and hugged the person who was their best friend and had raised them with such kindness and care. Suddenly, Gallade was pulled back by a telekinetic force and landed in Gardevoir's waiting arms. She looked into Gallade's eyes and Gallade looked into hers. Then she dropped him with a resounding THUD. Brendan winced. Gallade quickly got up and dusted himself off.

"Gard, hey. Listen. It's still the same me. I still love you. So what's with the cold shoulder, then?" Gallade said.

"You promised me never to put yourself in danger again. I told you I would Moonblast you if you ever left me like that."

"They were just legendary Pokémon darling. Not more than I could—"

"Just swear you'll never do that again. Swear on me this time."

"What? Hey! That's no fair!"

"See what I mean?" Brendan said to Gallade, who gave him a death-stare in return as if to say "Don't even think about it, buddy."

"No compromises. Swear that you'll never—" She didn't get to finish her sentence as Gallade pulled her into an embrace. Gardevoir had to oblige. She was the Embrace Pokémon, after all. "That counts as a yes, Gallade."

"This is an abusive relationship. Call PETA, Brendan." Gallade joked.

"Where to next, Mistress and Master?" Gardevoir asked.

"Mossdeep City. That's where Steven lives, right?" May answered.

"Right," Brendan replied.

"What if he and the league are still fighting Groudon and Kyogre?" May asked, understanding how the likely situation would play out.

"We'll fly on Latios and Latias. If they're still fighting them, we'll know right away. If they're not, we'll make a stop at Mossdeep and talk to Steven."

"Right. Do we tell Steven about… your mother?"

"No," Brendan said, and then he hesitated. "Maybe. I don't know. It depends on whether or not it will make the situation worse."

"Got it."

"Master Brendan. I'm confused. Why are we going to find Steven and what happened to Mistress Caroline?" Gallade asked.

"I'll explain on the way. For now, we have to move." Gallade nodded and all three Pokémon were returned to their pokeballs. Brendan and May dashed out of the hospital and released Latios and Latias. Latios looked sheepishly at Brendan.

"I'm sorry Master Brendan. I-it was an accident. I didn't mean to let my guard down like that. Please forgive my carelessness."

"You made the same mistake I did. It's fine. And it's not like I was able to protect you from that attack either, so there's no sense in you apologizing to me," Brendan reassuringly replied. He mounted the Eon Pokémon and rubbed it under its neck and chin, earning a happy chirp from the blue dragon. "Alright, we have to get to Sootopolis. Now."

Latios and Latias cooed loudly as they each began to propel from the ground, racing towards to the massive grey crater that loomed in the ocean of Hoenn.

Author's note: Short chapter, I'll admit. But the thing is, I needed to conveniently (and shamelessly) introduce a new plot thread and character line without a lot of effort, so this is the spliced and stitched and somewhat shaky result. I promise that this'll be the last of this stuff: from now on, good 'ol Brendan and May doing good 'ol ORAS things in a super-cool plot. You know what?