These two should never have been released upon an unsuspecting Hoenn.

The road to Petalburg Woods didn't have much, only a few trainers and wild Pokémon. It was just like any other land route in the Hoenn region. Or at least it would have been, if not for the old man and the Wingull by the only house they could see.

"Don't make eye contact," Brendan hissed as May lifted her head, just in case. "We don't need his help."

"Did your dad warn you about this guy?" May asked, her voice barely audible.

"No, but do you want to find out if he should have?" Brendan pulled her along behind him. "Just keep your mouth closed."

May figured he knew best, and followed his advice. She didn't speak again until they were nearly in Petalburg Woods.

"The Wingull was cute," she finally admitted.

"So catch one yourself."

"No. Pelipper loses that cuteness. That doesn't stop me from liking it, but owning one..." Her fingers twitched as she tried to find that perfect word. "I need to read a dictionary or something, words aren't coming to me."

Brendan turned back, meeting his companion's eyes. "I thought you were a writer."

"Why do you think writer's block happens?" May snapped back. "They'll come to me eventually, I just can't think of them right now."

"Excuse me!" a young lady called, getting the attention of both. "Would either of you be interested in a battle?"

Deciding that any excuse to drop the conversation was a good one, Brendan released Adam and left the topic alone.

The first thing Brendan did when they entered Petalburg Woods was leave May behind.

He didn't mean to, he insisted later. He was just attempting to chase down a Pokémon that had crossed his path and jumped into the grass. May didn't believe him, not completely, but when he showed her his new Shroomish she couldn't find evidence otherwise.

So now they each had two Pokémon. Brendan had a Shroomish to help him with the Gym, but Adam was still stubbornly refusing to evolve into Combusken no matter how many Bug Catcher teams he roasted. The new trainer was starting to make a list of pros and cons for catching a Slakoth (the one con being "They're really slow") when they saw the man.

The man wasn't anything interesting. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't short. He wasn't thin, but he wasn't fat. The only remotely interesting thing about him was that he was wearing a business suit in a forest.

They, as young, unsupervised trainers, were much more interesting to him.

"Have you seen a Pokémon called Shroomish anywhere?" the man asked. "I wanted to catch one on my lunch break, but I haven't found one yet."

"Not one that doesn't have a trainer," May said, a technically true fact, as she tried to slip past the man.

"That's too bad. I really like that Pokémon."

"So why don't we make a trade?" a different, rougher voice asked. A young-looking man wearing what seemed to be a pirate costume had popped out of nowhere, and Brendan wondered why he hadn't noticed his arrival. He should have stolen everybody's attention from the second he was within visible range.

"I was going to ambush you when you came back to work," the pirate said, "but waiting for you was taking too long. Now, Devon researcher, hand over the Goods!"

Brendan and May had no clue what the Goods were, or why they had that particular name, but the way the man hid behind them as they watched the exchange told them that they should probably pay more attention.

"You're trainers," the man told them. "Help me, please!"

"This doesn't concern them! This is just you and me!"

"You don't look that scary," May commented. "You're just a guy in a pirate suit."

"I am not just a guy in a pirate suit! I am a member of Team Aqua, and my name is Benjamin!" He reached for a ball. "You'll eat those words, little girl. Poochyena, go!"

May wasn't even concerned as she reached for a ball of her own. "Surskit, take the stage!"

Surskit had a Bug-type move on her, and with the type advantage it didn't take long for the Poochyena to fall. The man (Brendan had forgotten his name already) was out of Pokémon, while May still had Jerry in reserve.

"I'll get you for this!" the man promised, but when Surskit slid toward him he stepped away. "I'm out of Pokémon right now, but we will meet again! Keep your Devon Goods, I'm out of here!"

And, grumbling all the way, he stomped through the rest of Petalburg Woods.

The man looked up from his troubled fetal position. "You saved me," he said, clearly in awe of May's skills as a trainer when, in fact, the man had only had one Poochyena. "Like a young, powerless superhero. I'd like to give you one of these as thanks. It's a Great Ball I planned to use to catch that Shroomish, but I have others."

May took the ball, and put it in her bag. She'd need a better one eventually - already, her notebook and pencils were straining their pocket. But she thanked the man for the gift anyway, and he, too, disappeared into the woods.

That's when Brendan started speaking again. "That was one of the weirder parts of today."

"You're telling me." May returned Surskit to her ball. "Well, I'd say we're about halfway through the forest. My dad always says that running into strange people is the perfect way to tell you're going in the right direction."

"Your dad would know, wouldn't he?" When May didn't look impressed, Brendan started moving ahead. "We've both got training to do for the Gym challenge. I know you want to find inspiration or whatever instead of enter the Hall of Fame, but I'm going to be borrowing your Pokémon and for that, we need to keep them properly active, too."

"Brendan, we can't even trade until you have the first badge."

"That's not a real point, May."

Recognizing that she'd run out of arguments, May let him take the lead again. For a few brief seconds, the two walked in near silence, but when his friend was startled by the cry of a wild Zigzagoon, Brendan had an idea.

"Hey, May?"

She didn't want to answer, but she knew he knew she had heard him. "Yes, Brendan?"

"Do you do horror stories?"

"Not really," she said, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. "I like writing happy endings, not guts and gore. I can do creepy, if I try, but I don't trust myself to scare my nonexistent readers yet. Why?"

"I've got a story for you, that's all." He gestured around the area surrounding them. May saw nothing but grass and trees, but Brendan had another thing on his mind. "The forest gods are pretty peaceful today. Maybe we should change that."

Was he serious? She really didn't know him well enough to tell. "I'm not angering some evil spirits just for something to write about, Brendan. I'll save that for when I do enough research on the paranormal to actually protect myself from their twisted imaginations."

Brendan's mood dropped at once. "So you know the stories of the forest gods, then?"

"I said I don't write horror," May reminded him, and pushed herself forward. "I went through the Littleroot Town library's entire selection of scary kids' books a few years back. Now, Surskit needs a Pokémon Center, and Adam and Shroomish might, too. Let's go and make a strategy for the Gym Leader first, and then we'll set some ground rules for our partnership."

Not liking the sound of that, Brendan slowed his steps to keep up with her.