Benjamin of Team Aqua. Remember the name.
They didn't want to get involved. They were only kids, after all, and they didn't think they could do anything useful with only the four Pokémon they had between them.
That wasn't really an option, though. They seemed to know that even before the man recognized them.
"You're the girl who saved the Devon Goods before!" he said, and May pretended to not understand. "Please, you have to help me! The Team Aqua thief took the Devon Goods, and I don't have Pokémon to stop him!"
"I'd love to help," May started, the 'but' obvious to anyone except this man.
"That's great!" he cut in, oblivious to the coming addition. "Now go after him!"
"But I can't." May gestured to Brendan. "His Pokémon need to be healed after his Gym battle, and we're in it together."
The man had apparently forgotten all about Brendan, and the boy would have preferred it if May hadn't pointed him out. "The Pokémon Center is right there," he said, and Brendan hurried along. "You'll still help, right?"
May watched her friend disappear into the building, then slowly turned back to the man. "That depends. Do you have a boat?"
There was no sign of a Team Aqua thief on Route 116, and since the last Team Aqua member they'd seen had been proudly wearing the pirate costume, they should have been easy to spot.
Instead, they got a few trainers who remembered them from when they were training Adam and Shroomish for the battle, several wild Pokémon attacks, and an old man sobbing at the entrance to what they assumed was Rusturf Tunnel.
"What happened to you?" The question fell from May's mouth before Brendan could process what she was doing. "Did some guy dressed as a pirate steal something from you, too?"
The old man stopped his crying long enough to swallow. "He took her," he said, so quietly that the kids barely heard him. "He took Peeko and now I don't know what he's done to her, and I have no other Pokémon to help me get her back."
"Don't do it, May," Brendan warned, but commanding a Magikarp to use Solarbeam would have gotten more of the desired effect.
"We were already forced into getting the stolen Devon Goods back to the proper place." She paid no attention to Brendan's exasperated facepalm, either. "I'm sure it's the same thief that took your...whatever she was."
"My Peeko."
"Right. Your...Peeko." She was sure that there was no Pokémon called Peeko, but she wasn't sure that she would get a decent answer if she asked what kind of Pokémon Peeko actually was. "Brendan, do you want to go first and be the hero?"
Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time. And May was right behind him, just in case.
Brendan touched the wall of the cave, contemplating what would have to happen before it collapsed with them, the thief, and Peeko inside. He couldn't think of anything in particular. "Before I forget, May, there's something I want to say to you."
"What's that?"
She didn't seem to know where he was going with this. That was a good thing. "I hate you and everything you stand for."
Something told him that she didn't take it seriously. "I'm here for my career, not for your approval."
Yeah, he liked her. She knew a sarcastic comment when she heard one.
It wasn't hard to find the Team Aqua thief once they got inside the cave. It wouldn't have been hard to find him even if he hadn't been in uniform, as he was the one being attacked by a Wingull and using words that even May was pretty sure didn't exist. They'd have to actually read a dictionary cover-to-cover to be positive, of course, but it didn't sound like any language they'd heard of.
They knew what he meant, of course, but he wasn't using the curse words they were familiar with.
"I'll give you a warning," Brendan said, distracting the pirate and his captive from their conflict. "You can either fork over the Goods and let the bird go, or May and I will get involved. And if May and I get involved, there's a good chance you'll be dragged to the middle of the ocean by a Mudkip with way too much time to kill."
May shot him a warning look, telling him to leave Jerry out of it, but kept her mouth shut. The pirate didn't seem to notice.
"You two are the kids from Petalburg Woods, aren't you?"
"You're that same guy?" It was nice for May to know that she could take him, at least. "Huh. I forgot all about you. What was your name again?"
"Daniel?" Brendan suggested.
"No, it was something...it started with a B..."
"Brad? Billy? Blar-Blar?"
"Yeah, I think it's one of those."
The pirate grabbed onto the Wingull and pointed its beak at the pair. "It's Benjamin, you disrespectful brats! Benjamin of Team Aqua! And I'll crush you like insects for even thinking you can disrespect me like this!"
May didn't even flinch, just turned to Brendan. "Do you want to do this, or should I?"
"You did it last time. Let me handle this one."
May stepped aside, but noticeably kept her hand on one of the red and white balls attached to the strap of her bag. Benjamin sent out his Poochyena again, but Brendan had a Combusken with Double Kick.
It barely even qualified as a battle.
"...and that's what happened," May finished as they returned the Wingull, the missing Peeko, to her human. Her narration was impressive, cutting it down only to the important parts. Brendan had expected people of her career path to be hooked on the details.
The old man and the Devon employee thanked them once again, the old man even promising that he could take them to Dewford Town in his boat, which was all they really wanted. But as he went, the employee stopped the kids from following.
"I think you two should speak to the Devon President about this," he said, pushing them ahead, into a tall building. "You saved the Goods twice, and I think he'll want to thank you himself."
"He doesn't need to," Brendan said quickly. "I think you've thanked us for it already." He and May each had a Great Ball to prove it, too.
But the employee was insistent. "Just wait here," he told them, "and I'll come back after I explain everything to the President."
Brendan thought about ditching, but May refused, so they sat together in a few waiting chairs. And they waited. They waited for nearly five minutes before the Devon employee returned, said some stuff about how he'd told the President the story of, well, everything, and forced them into the office, where a gray-haired man in a suit was watching.
"So," the president said, giving the pair a quick study, "I hear that you two saved the Goods twice."
"Once each," May agreed. "Is there something wrong with that, sir?"
"Not wrong at all," the President said, getting up from his desk. "In fact, it's so right that I would like to entrust you and your boyfriend -"
"We're just friends," Brendan corrected. May shot him a warning look, but kept her own mouth tightly shut. She knew how things turned out in stories where characters denied a romance, and even though she admitted Brendan would be someone's definition of cute, she was positive she wouldn't want to date him for long.
The President walked over and handed Brendan a letter and the Goods. "This letter is to Steven Stone, my son. The last time I heard from him, he was in Dewford Town. I thought you might be stopping for the Badge and decided that it would be easier than mailing it myself. He might leave town before that."
"So you're trusting us to be messengers," May summarized.
"And are these for Steven, too?" Brendan asked, holding the package of Goods in one hand.
"No, those are for Captain Stern in Slateport. He's looking forward to those, so don't lose them."
"But why send us when you know where Captain Stern lives?"
"And waste money and time shipping it? No, just take it to his work station."
Before they could point out that the company was successful enough to mail it, the employee led them back to the exit, wished them luck and sent them on their way.
May stared at the door of the building for a little longer than necessary. "I don't know about you, but that sounded like the letter and the Goods were actually important."
"What's the letter going to say?" Brendan challenged. "'Hey, Steven, you know the kids I forced to deliver this to you? They're going to save the world. Good luck playing cryptic mentor! Signed, Dad.' Somehow, I don't think the President could see that happening."
"Yeah, you're right." May turned around and stretched out her back muscles. "Well, the boat is on the other side of Petalburg Woods. Ready to challenge the forest gods to a duel?"