Realizing Fate

Summary: Gasping for air in this world of hate, it was then when I realized my fate.

Alrighty well, this is suppose to be the sequel to one of my stories called May I? but seeing as I'm in no mood to post it (because its not one of my er . . . greatest stories heh), I might as well post the sequel seeing as I like this story better.

Seeing as the summary doesn't explain a lot, I'll just give ya what you need to know to understand this story. Basically, Brendan rescues May from the clutches of Maxie the Team Magma Leader and they become boyfriend and girlfriend but Maxie escapes and is out on revenge on Brendan. But possibly not in the way you think. But yeah, enjoy please! ^_^

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The boy smiled as he laced fingers with the girl. The strong scent of roses filled the air, creating a tranquil and romantic enviornment for the two lovers as they laid down on their backs. Cuddling, the boy and girl felt the warm wind cover them like a blanket. But even with the girl of his dreams in his arms, the boy couldn't help but worry. Worried about what the future about has in store for them, worried for where his life was going and worried mainly for the girl.

Because even with this pretty little picture painted outside, he could feel terror trying to bubble its way out . . .

"Brendan? Brendan are you with us? Speak Bread Head, speak . . ."

Brendan Birch, Pok?mon Champion in the making, snapped out of his daydream and glared at his companion.

"Must you do that?" he snapped, annoyed.

"Sorry, but you were spacing out on me," May Maple replied as she smiled innocently. "Art thou remember thy meeting today?"

"Okay, okay, no need to talk all . . . Shakespear on me," the white-haired trainer groaned. "I don't see why we need to be here, I'm sure Walter can plan a surprise party by himself!"

We find the trainers in the town of Verdanturf on a fine summer's afternoon outside Wally Wood's house. Wally was no where to be found at the moment so the two trainers decided to kick back and relax in the sweet smelling grass for awhile.

"Oh come on Brendan, don't you want to help plan a surprise party for Wanda, Wally's cousin?" May questioned as she sat up and played with Brendan's snowy-white hair.

"Seeing as we don't really know her, why not!" Brendan retorted sarcastically.

"Brendan . . ."

"Okay, fine, I'll help the little pip-squeak out seeing as we're probably the only friends he's got."

"Ha, don't flatter yourself Birch, I have more friends than you can count," a voice from behind them piped up.

"So that's like . . . five?" Brendan sat up and turned his head. "Nice to see ya again Wallace."

"You do know you just made fun of yourself right?" Wally remarked. "Oh, and nice to see you too Brandon. Very nice."

Despite the fact that the two boy trainers helped each other out during the Team Magma fiasco, that doesn't mean that they're still rivals.

"Knock it out you two." May rolled her eyes as the two boys rivarily.

"But we haven't even started arguing yet!" Brendan whined.

"Trust me, if you guys do, I don't think you'll ever stop," May stated dully. "Anyways, about this surprise party for your cousin Wally . . ."

". . . Hmm? Oh! Oh yeah!" Wally cut off the glare contest between him and the white-haired trainer and smiled at May. "As you guys know from the Viv-gram I sent you, Wanda's birthday is coming up. I want to surprise her with a party-"

"Hence the words 'surprise party,' " Brendan interrupted.

"-because she helped me teach me the basic of Pokemon even though she, like my aunt, wouldn't let me go out on a journey," Wally finished as he sat down Indian-style in front of Brendan and May. "So, will you guys help me?"

"We do have to train for the Hoenn League though," Brendan remarked, trying to get out of party planning.

"That's in like a month Brendan," May remarked. "I'll help and if you were my boyfriend B Boy, you would too!" she glared playfully at Brendan.

"Dammit! She got me with that 'if you were my boyfriend' line again!" Brendan groaned, slapping a hand on his forehead. "Okay, fine I'll do it, but not for you Wall Leak, but for my one true love, May!" he reached over and sat May down in his lap.

May giggled and laid her head on Brendan's shoulder.

"Your cuteness disgusts me sometimes," Wally rolled his eyes. "But thanks for helping! I guess . . ." The green-haired trainer pulled out a notebook from his backpack. "Okay, so we're going to need invitations for guests, figure out who Wanda knows so we can give those invitations to them, get party decorations, get a cater or whatever their called, and this whole mess of crap! So. . . who wants to be in charge of any of these? I've got food!"

"I'll get the guest list!" May shouted.

"Then that leaves Brendan with party decorations!" Wally noted, scribbling it down on his notebook. "It'll be easy for him to blow up the balloons since he's already an air head."

"I'm only right here ya know!" Brendan complained.

"Oh, do you want me to say that louder then?"

"Okay, let's get to it then, we only have two weeks!" May jumped out of Brendan's lap. "I'll be going around town so see ya guys later!" and with that, the girl trainer walked up to the nearest house and entered.

"Great, I'm stuck with the loser," Brendan groaned as he stood up. "Let's go to Mauville then that way we can get rid of each other faster."

"For once in my life, I agree with you," Wally stated. "Besides that entire PMS May thing."

"****. Straight."

---

"Okay Birch, we've only got a few hours before we've gotta meet up with May in a few hours before it gets dark," Wally stated, checking the time on his watch. "So when your done with everything, meet at my house alright?"

Brendan nodded, "Okay."

And with that, the two boy trainers took off in different directions.

"Where to get party supplies, where to get party supplies?" Brendan repeated out loud. "Rydel's Bike Shop? No. The Casino? No. The Mauville Gym. I doubt it. Hmm . . ."

The white-haired trainer looked around as he past a secluded part of Mauville. The area was cast with cloud's shadows, creating a dark and haunted look. Worn down, second-rate shops covered mostly the area and old newspapers littered the already dirty ground.

"Hmm, funny, I don't remember ever going into this part of town before," Brendan murmured. "Its like it just . . . reappeared out of no where. That's just freaky . . ."

The boy trainer walked down an alleyway when a movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Curious, Brendan walked down the alleyway, a lump of fear growing in his throat.

"Curse my curiosity!" Brendan muttered to himself. "Wow, that made me sound . . . old. Or something along those lines anyways."

"I've been waiting for you Mr. Birch. . ." a voice muttered from around the corner.

"So?" Brendan replied absentmindedly. He slapped a hand on his mouth soon after.

'Crap, now I'm going to get killed because I was sarcastic!' Brendan thought. 'What a way to end your life . . . ****, even I'm sarcastic in my mind . . .'

The voice though only laughed, surprising Brendan. "Mr. Birch . . . it has been awhile since I've last seen you hasn't it?"

"I wouldn't know seeing as I can't see you myself," Brendan replied cooly.

"How idiotic of me, not letting you see me!" the voice laughed as he stepped out into the shadows. He simpered. "Remember me now Brendan my boy?"

"Maxie!" Brendan growled. "What are you . . . how the hell . . . I'm calling the police!" The boy trainer flicked out his Pok?Nav only to get it knocked out of his hand and stomped on by the former Team Magma Leader.

"You wouldn't dare call the police on your deal pal Maxie would you?" Maxie laughed mockingly.

"Well I can't now seeing as my Pok?Nav is busted!" Brendan retaliated sharply. "What the hell are you doing back here? I thought you would be dead by now! Or at least dirty. . ." he noted, noticing that Maxie was rather clean for being on the run for three months.

"Ha, you underestimate me Brendan, surely you would know that I, leader of the infamous Team Magma, would have several tricks up my sleeves to stay alive and be on the run from those annoying pests called policemen."

"I . . . er . . .hmm . . ."

Maxie only smirked in return. "Now, have you heard of this Wally Wood character? I'm pretty sure you have . . ."

"What about him?" Brendan questioned.

"Now I want you to think back. Back around a few months ago . . . to around the annual Pokemon fair here in Mauville City . . ." Maxie trailed off. "Do you remember Brendan?"

Brendan smiled, remembering the first time he kissed May. "Yeah, yeah I do," he stated, a goofy grin forming on his face.

"Now, can you tell me what happened when you crashed into the building during the fair's formal dance?"

Brendan immediately frowned. "Well, we crashed into the building, I fainted I guess because I remember I was laying down in May's lap and then we went outside and we er . . . we um-"

"Tell me, who battled against me that one fateful night?" Maxie demanded.

Brendan blinked twice. "Wally Wood?" he answered hesitantly.

"Very good Birch!" Maxie spat. "Its good to know you're paying attention. Now, I don't like this kid, probably as worse than you do. And do you know why I hate this kid Birch?"

"Because he . . . defeated you?"

"Exactly! He defeated me! This puny, green-haired trainer defeated me in front of hundreds of people! Do you know how embarrassing that is to be defeated by him?!"

"I wouldn't actually," Brendan replied cooly.

Maxie only growled as he paced back and forth. "No, if it weren't for him, the world could of been at my mercy! But yet, he somehow defeated me with that stupid Gardevoir of his! If only . . . if only-" The former Team Magma Leader stopped walking and smirked at Brendan. "Yes . . . yes, that could work!"

"Do I dare ask what will work?" Brendan inquired.

"How much do you hate this Wally character?"

"Enough to despise him but not enough to kill him."

"Well, that's too bad."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because I want you to kill him for me."

"Ah, we all wish for things that we know are never, EVER going to come true don't we," Brendan, about to walk away, was pinned down by the neck by Maxie.

"You don't get a choice if you want to or not," Maxie glared coldly into the white-haired trainer's eyes.

"And if I refuse?" Brendan retorted, glaring at the former Team Magma Leader.

"If you refuse?" Maxie raised an eyebrow. "The thought hasn't crossed my mind! Surely I would think that you would happily kill your rival."

"You're dead wrong then!" Brendan barked.

"Dead wrong, how ironic!" Maxie laughed.

"Why can't you do it! You're the one that hates the boy with your heart and soul!" Brendan stated. "That is, if you have a heart or soul . . ."

"I don't like getting my hands . . . dirty without having a reason of doing so,"
Maxie retaliated. "Kill Wally for me, you stay alive."

"I'd rather die than kill my someone!"

"Ah, you didn't let me finish," Maxie waved a finger at him. "Kill Wally for me, you stay alive. But if you don't you two both wind up dead. Is that clear enough?"

Brendan growled but stayed silent.

"Good! Now let me make this harder for you. If you don't kill Wally, you die, he dies and a person close to your heart dies as well. Now, who is this person close to your heart you ask?"

Brendan glared daggers at the Magma Leader, his fists clenching together in hatred.

"This person would be your loving girlfriend. That's right! May Maple!"

"You hurt one hair on her head and I swear I will-"

"What?" Maxie interrupted. "Kill me?" He laughed mockingly.

"Evil little bas-"

"I would watch that tongue of yours Mr. Birch, you never know when its going to get you into trouble. Be glad that I'm giving you choices you brat!"

"Well, lucky me then!" Brendan retorted sardonically.

Maxie only smirked and walked into the fog. "Two weeks Mr. Birch, two weeks." And with that, he disappeared yet his words kept repeating in Brendan's ears.

"Somehow," Brendan started, "I don't think those words are going to be leaving me anytime soon . . ."

---

"So how did things go?" May asked as she spotted the two boy trainers down the road.

"Great!" Wally replied cheerfully, showing May two bags filled with food. "Snack stuff, the usual crap at parties. How did things go for you Bread Head?"

"Hmm . . . what?" Brendan was dazed off. "Oh, uh yeah, things went great, I got streamers and I ordered balloons in advance and . . . yeah."

May looked at him worriedly. "Are you okay B Boy, you look kind of tired." She placed a hand on Brendan's forehead, checking for a fever.

"Yeah, its getting pretty late and I've been kinda tired from shopping," Brendan lied, daring not to tell May his little "talk" with Maxie.

"Oh . . . if you're sure then." May took her hand of Brendan's forehead but couldn't help but look at him concernedly still.

"It is getting late," Wally agreed with Brendan, noting the full moon. "Let's go inside, my aunt and uncle must be worried." The green-haired trainer took out his house key and unlocked the door, finding only the kitchen lights on. "Shh everyone," Wally warned. "Okay, I'm going to be sleeping in my room while you two can have the living room. I don't care who gets the couch but no making any . . . gross noises alright?"

"What do you take us for?" May asked, bewildered by what Wally said.

"Hey, you'll never know what I meant by 'gross noises,' " Wally remarked. "It could be perverted or not, its all up to you!" He smirked. "Good night!" Wally entered his room and shut the door behind him.

"I call couch!" May laughed as she ran past the white-haired boy and jumped onto the couch.

"Whatever . . ." Brendan sighed as he walked over and laid his sleeping bag on the floor next to where the girl trainer was sleeping.

"Hmm? We usually argue about who gets the couch or bed or whatever," May pointed out. She eyed her boyfriend worriedly. "What's wrong B Boy?"

"Nothing," Brendan remarked as he got into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure Brendan?" May asked again as she unrolled her sleeping bag on the couch.

"Its NOTHING May, don't worry it," Brendan replied through clenched teeth

"Seriously Brendan," May replied, "are you-"

"I said it was NOTHING!" Brendan snapped, finally losing his cool with the girl trainer.

May stayed quiet and laid down in her sleeping bag. "I love you B Boy . . ." she stated quietly.

Brendan licked his lips and sighed. ". . . I love you too May."

---

The white-haired trainer tossed and turned in his sleep, Maxie's words haunting him in his dreams. Annoyed, he sat up and ran a hair through his hair.

"Latios, what am I going to do?" he whispered to himself.

Pushing his sleeping bag away from him, the boy trainer stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Paranoid, Brendan turned around every few seconds as he pulled out a drawer. Finding nothing but spoons, he slammed it shut, frustrated.

"One of these drawers must have a knife!" Brendan complained, opening another drawer.

Luckily - or unfortunately depending on which side you?re on - Brendan found a knife in the next drawer, its sleek silver blade glinting in the moonlight. Pulling it out, he sighed as he looked at his reflection in the rather sharp kitchen knife. Was he willing to kill his friend in order to save his other friend not to mention girlfriend? How strong was his love for her anyways?

The white-haired trainer turned around and stared at May's sleeping form. It was at that very moment when he realized that he would do anything for her.

Brendan took in a deep breath as he walked over to Wally's room with a knife in hand. Slowly, he placed a hand on the doorknob and turned it . . .

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Aighty, hope ya enjoyed! ^^ Sorry if its short! Aren't cliffhangers great?

LaTeR dAyZ!

CLIFFHANGER. Breezy you cruel author. ;_;

Very, VERY interesting and high in climax at the end. Especially the end, I'm practically dying for the next part. This whole thing was set up nicely, along with the relationship between the R/S characters. The whole 'love' thing between May and Brendon is cute, and I loved the way you expressed how Brendon was thinking. The first part showed how they interacted very well, and when Maxie appeared...the conversation was rather interesting.

The ending part was awesome. However, it would've helped if you added some more descriptions on when I found it the most suspenseful, such as when he first clasped the knife...I would've liked it if I knew what he was thinking of and everything, but this was still good.

Just brilliant plotline Breezy. Honestly, I can't WAIT for the next chapter. Cliffhanger! ^o^

The cliffhanger was well placed at the end. Although I probably would have to read May I for the reason as to why Latios was in his dream... I didn't really catch that part. The social reactions between the trio were well thought out, with B Boy and Bread Head being my favourite titles for Brendan. The emotional side was also portrayed well. You could really tell of Brendan's feelings for May. Well done ^_^

There were a couple of main features that did annoy me quite a bit. The most prominent one being the use of narration. Although you only used it 2 or 3 times, it kinda ruined the atmosphere. Partially because it was in the present tense, and you could easily tell it was apart from the fic, but also, the times you put it in quashed the atmosphere. Especially at the end. The knife-cliffhanger sequence was going along fine, until the narration came in and starting asking questions to the reader. That really didn't work in terms of the type of fic this is... it just didn't work for me :/
The second thing was Maxie's role. Surely he wouldn't have wanted Wally dead just because he defeated him in a battle. Unless he's some sort of psychopathic figure (for which this comment becomes void), no person would have done that. Humility only stretches so far... and it certainly doesn't stretch to that length where murder comes into it.

Apart from that... everything else seems fine. I really want to see what happens to Wally, Bread Boy and May. XD

Not really actually, you'll understand the story without reading May I? as long as you know a few things. Oh yeah, Maxie was quite psychopathic when he was chasing . . .

Now that I think about it, I think it would be better if I did post May I heh. ^^; It would make things clearer anyways . . . I just don't like my style of writing in that one I guess *shrugs*.

I just noticed that I did do that present tense narration thing. =/ I tend to read my fics only to proof read and not actually read it sometimes heh.

Anyways, thanks for reviewing you two! ^_^ Enjoy!

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Chapter 2:​

It felt as if he were captured in between a rock and a hard place. He knew how he got there, he knew what he had to do to get out but why was it so hard to do so? Surely it wouldn't be hard to push the rock over or break the hard place right?

The boy didn't know, he was quite clueless at the moment. Perhaps he was just having a bad day. Perhaps he was just over thinking again. Or perhaps the rock and the hard place was the only thing keeping the boy together in the first place. . .

Brendan poked his head into Wally's room, his ruby-red eyes already adjusting to the darkness. A stream of moonlit shone through the green-haired trainer's room, the only light source in the room besides his alarm clock. This would make things easier to see when Brendan went in for the kill so to speak.

Knife clutched in hand, the boy trainer opened the door a little bit further and trudge his way towards Wally's bedside. Was he willing to risk being a murder in order to save himself? Was he being selfish?

Through the open door, Brendan saw May sleeping peacefully on the couch. No, he wasn't being selfish, he was being rather considerate wasn't he? He was, after all, saving another life even though it meant sacrificing someone else's. Surely if Wally knew what he had to do, he would let him do so right?

Raising the knife high above his head, Brendan swung down . . .

Only to stop a few inches away from Wally's head.

"Latios, I can't do this . . ." Brendan murmured to himself as he brought the knife down closer to himself. "But, I'm going to have to end up doing this so I might as well do it now before its too late!" Again, the boy trainer brought the knife above his head only to bring the knife back down, closer to him then to Wally.

Sighing, the white-haired trainer exited Wally's room, closing the door as quietly as he could. He walked back slowly to the kitchen and placed the knife safely back in its drawer, knowing that the only thing that knife was going to be doing is chopping up vegetables as it should be.

Climbing back into his makeshift bed, Brendan stared at the white plaster ceiling of the house. Two weeks, two choices, no where to turn, no where to run, nothing that he could do to prevent it. Or could he?

---

"Hello operator, can you give me the number to the Verandturf Police Department?" Brendan asked as he spoke on Wally's Viv-phone. "Yeah, I hear you, 9. . . 1. . . 1. Got it. But its not an emergency though, I just need to talk to them. What? I should still call 9-1-1 then? But what happens if someone with a real emergency calls and I'm calling them but they can't get- hello? Hello? Well thank you, I always love talking to the buzz tone after all," Brendan groaned as he hung up the phone. Hitting re-dial, he waited impatiently for the operator to pick up. "Hello? Hi, its me again, you haven't given me the number to the police- Hey! Don't hang up on me! I'm going to call your boss! Now, what's his number? Maybe I should call the operator . . ."

"B Boy, why do you need to talk to the police department anyways?" May questioned after she finished her glass of ice cold milk.

Brendan froze. "Because just in case we need them, I will know their number," he cooly lied, "but seeing as the number is still 9-1-1, I think we're going to be good."

"Um, alright then," May replied unsurely.

"Wouldn't do you much good right now even if you did know the police department's number," Wally stated as he strolled into the room. "Verandturf, Slateport and Mauville Police Stations are away on business. It seems as though they have found a trail to the whereabouts of former Team Magma Leader, Maxie at New Mauville."

'Wow, Maxie really thought this one out didn't he?' Brendan thought in his head.

"Personally, I wish I could go with them," Wally said wistfully, reaching into the fridge for a can of soda. Opening it, he took a drink and gave out a rather loud burp. "I have some unfinished business with him that I want to well, finish."

"That's right, Maxie ran away before you could defeat him in battle," May replied as she got up and washed her breakfast plates in the sink. "I'm sure I would want to finish that battle too if I were in your position."

"Seriously!" Wally agreed with the girl trainer. "I was so close! But he slipped out of my grip or however that stupid saying goes! Now I just want to step on him, pound him, kill- where you heading off to Brendan?"

Brendan, one foot outside Wally's house, turned his head, looking at the green-haired and girl trainer. "Oh, I'm just going to get some air that's all, be right back!" he answered nervously.

"Okay, but were going to discuss Wanda's surprise party soon so be quick about it!" May shouted cheerfully.

"Say it loud enough for her to here it at my mom's house back at Petalburg why don't ya?" Wally retorted sardonically, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever. . ."

Brendan closed the door behind him and sat down on Wally's porch, staring into the light blue hue of the morning sky. What Wally said made him think, about killing Maxie. That way, both Wally, May and himself will still be alive and a criminal would be put to justice.

But he knew he couldn't do that. It was against his ethics, his honor. But he knew he couldn't kill Wally either. Besides, even if he did get through with killing Maxie - if he managed to track him down that is - he knew that somewhere out there, the loyal Team Magma Grunts and Admins were there, ready to strike him if he dared strike their leader first. He knew Maxie was smarter than that.

"If Latios made anyone else's life more confusing than mine, I'm sure they would of had their head blown up by confusion by now," Brendan muttered to himself. "What to do, what to do? Aw, hell with it, I'm going inside!"

And with that, the boy trainer stood back up and open the door only to find Wally and May arm wrestling on the kitchen table.

"We're going with pink, green, and light blue, those are Wanda's favorite colors!" May groaned through clenched teeth.

"No! Those are girly colors!" Wally whined as he pushed May's arm down further on his side.

May only smirked, took her other hand, and pushed Wally's hand down on her side of the table. "Ha, I win!" she said triumphantly, beaming.

"No fair, you cheated!" Wally complained, rubbing his hand with the other.

"Never said I could!" May retorted, sticking out her tongue. "So its settle, the colors for Wanda's party are going to be pink, green and light blue seeing as those are her favorite colors despite the fact that they are 'girly.' "

"Which is true by the way!" Wally exclaimed.

"I'm sure it is Wall Leak," May replied, writing down things on a notepad. "Okay, so we got the theme down pretty much. We still need invitations, food and decorations. Brendan, you need to go back into town and get those color streamers and make sure that the balloon people blow up pink, green and light blue balloons alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure," Brendan said absentmindedly. "I'll go do it right now," and with that, the boy trainer opened the door again and left for Mauville leaving behind two bewildered trainers.

"Is he . . . did you two have a . . . how come he was like . . . what?" Wally questioned, scratching his head.

"Don't ask me, I'm just as clueless as you are which scares me I might add," May replied, staring at the closed door. "He's been out of it ever since yesterday night when we came back from that shopping trip. Do you think something happened to him yesterday Wally?"

The green-haired trainer shrugged. "Its possible May, its possible." He stood up and placed a hand on the doorknob. "But I'm not just going to sit around here and wonder why! I'm going to figure it out for myself!" Wally opened the door and entered the cheery outside world, leaving May alone to plan for the party.

"Okay, that's always cool, leaving a girl alone to plan a party," May stated as she got back to writing down a list of things to do before the party.

---

'Brendan, you idiot, you've got to be smoother than that if you don't want May or Wally to suspect a thing!' Brendan scolded himself from the safety of his mind. 'Okay Birch, from now on, you act the way you should normally act, the way you would be if Maxie didn't threaten you! Okay B Boy? Okay! Rayquaza, I have got to stop talking to myself in my head . . .'

"Brendan, hey wait up!" a voice from behind him shouted.

The white-haired trainer turned around and saw Wally running towards him, one hand waving in the air. Rolling his eyes, he turned back around and walked forwards toward Mauville city.

"You know, its kind of rude when you turn your back on a kid trying to catch up with you," Wally remarked as he caught up to Brendan. He took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air and exhaled. "So, what's up B Boy, it seems as though you have something on your mind . . ."

"What! Nothing's wrong, everything is fine, I wasn't threat-" Brendan clasped a hand over his mouth.

'Idiot Birch! What did I tell you about staying cool? Freakin' a-hole!' Brendan scolded himself again in his head.

"Uh, care to say that again?" Wally asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing! Everything's fine, everything's . . . good," Brendan replied again, this time slowly. "Just kind of . . . nah I'm good, I'm fine."

"I got it the first time you said you were fine but three times later, whoa buddy!" the green-haired trainer laughed. "Something isn't fine though if you keep admitting that you are fine in the first place."

"I said everything is FINE Wallace!" Brendan said through clenched teeth. "So stop asking already!"

"Sheesh, just worried about you pally," Wally retorted cooly. "Your girlfriend is back at my aunt's house, wondering what the heck is wrong with you. So what am I suppose to say to her?"

"What I've said to you like, five times already. Tell her that I'm FINE!" Brendan shouted, annoyed with the green-haired boy.

"Would you like me to put emphasis on 'fine' when I tell her too?" Wally asked sarcastically.

"Whatever, I have to go get supplies for your cousin's party. I'm out!" With that, Brendan left, leaving Wally behind in his dust.

"You realize that I'm going to figure out what's wrong with you right?" Wally shouted down the pathway to Mauville.

Brendan stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head. "That Wallace doesn't cease to surprise me. Go ahead Wally, you try and figure out what the freakin' hell is my problem but when you do, you realize that you were better off not knowing in the first place."

This left the green-haired trainer puzzled as the white-haired trainer left again towards Mauville.

In fact, this kept Wally deep in thought.

So deep that he didn't realize that a figure crept up behind him, dagger in hand. . .

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Alright! More cliffhangers! Sorry if its short! *grins* I love that word, cliffhangers. . .

Anyways LaTeR dAyZ and thanks for reviewing!

Argh another cliffhanger...now I am positively going to die from these cliffhangers...

Very good chapter, filled with suspense and a decent length as well. The only thing I would suggest on are the details. Sure, they are good and all, but I mean by those where all you did was state the facts, nothing more. It would've been great if a bit more descriptions were used in certain areas, yet the other parts were perfectly fine. oO; Maybe it's the fact I'm a tad bit confused...

Ending is once again excellent. Awesome cliffhanger, and keep it up Breezy! The master of cliffhangers...honestly, leaving your readers in torment.

^o^

Ooooooh another cliffhanger. ^_^ Cliffhasngers are always good to end chapters on, as they keep readers (or me and Lily for the moment) hooked. Just... try not to overdo them, as they'll create the opposite reaction of what you want, as we'll all expect a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. But... yeah - to review:

The plot seems to be progressing nice and slow - which is good. We don't want a rushed fic with hardly any details in do we? ^_^ But, yeah. Lots of character description in there as well. That's also very good. A lot of suspense and whatnot as well. Also very good. XD I like saying very good don't I? XD

My main criticism for this chapter is the use, or lack of, description. There were times when you really couldn't picture the areas around the characters. If you added a bit more, you would really be able to build up the atmosphere a whole lot better. Also, there did seem to be a load of speech... it seems a bit too much in my opinion, and some of it isn't really needed. If it is needed, it could have been padded with a bit of description to make it sound more interesting.

Well, as the cliffhangers continue, so does this fic. I wonder what's going to happen next... o_O

I love your fics...not so much the cliffhanger,lol. Really glad to see you here though breeze lol.

Yeah, I'm not very good (if good at all) in the description department. ^^; I'm more of a dialouge writer than a description one and the things that aren't in quotation marks still tend to sound like dialouge no? =P I like creating plots than actually writing them if you can't tell lol. But I'll try more description! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing everyone, I really appreciate it!

Enjoy!

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He guessed that he could explain his choice in an easy logical explanation: that he couldn't. Easy enough. He did wish that picking one side over the other was just as easy though but even with a thousand shooting stars and millions of candles on a birthday cake, he knew that this wish wasn't coming true. Wishes don't come with choices anyways.

He wished they did though. He liked wishing for things. But he knew sometimes wishing wasn't good enough . . .

Wally was confused, wondering why it was so hard for Brendan to admit what was wrong with him. He knew the two weren't the best of friends but they were still close enough; they've talked without starting a fist fight anyways. Wally took that as a good sign from a year or so ago when the mere sight of each other made them go up in heated rage.

Shrugging, the green-haired trainer decided to follow Brendan and took a step forward only to hear someone's breath cut short behind him. Thinking that it was only a Pok?mon, Wally took another step forward only to hear the same noise again. Frowning, the boy turned around quickly only to find . . .

No one there.

"The heck?" Wally asked as he scratched his head. Unknowingly to the green-haired boy, the figure was still behind his back, turning when he turned, walking when he walked. "You're losing it Wood," and with that, Wally turned back around and walked forward only to hear the padded footsteps of someone - or something - behind him once again.

'Okay, I really think I need therapy now,' Wally thought in his head. 'I keep hearing footsteps yet no one is there . . . or is there someone really there?'

Pondering over this too, the green-haired trainer swiped backwards without turning around, seeing if he could grab hold of the thing that was following him. The stranger was quicker than that though and merely side-stepped, moving out of Wally's reach.

'Yup, I'm losing it,' the green-haired trainer admitted inside his head and he began to travel forwards to Mauville City.

The figure took this moment to swipe at Wally with his guard down. Raising her steely-silver blade, she took a swing at Wally's head, trying to swipe it off cleanly.

"Hey, a nickel!" Wally remarked happily as he bent down to pick it up, resulting in the stranger to swing and miss.

"Dammit!" the stranger shouted angrily in a high-pitched voice, forgetting the small fact that Wally was in front of her.

The figure's yell definitely caught Wally's attention this time. He spun around on the ground and spotted the stranger's tennis shoes. Raising his head, Wally's sparkly emerald-green eyes narrowed in disgust.

"You . . . you . . ." Wally trailed off as he got back up and glared into the stranger's own pair of jade-green orbs, ". . . you're so weird Wanda!"

Wanda Wood, Wally's cousin, laughed as she threw her long, chestnut-brown hair over her shoulder. She grinned at her younger cousin as she brushed the creases out of her long, dark green dress. "Good to see you too Wally," she laughed again.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Wally exclaimed, eyeing Wanda's dagger carefully.

Wanda, in response, bent the 'dagger' backwards and thwacked Wally on the forehead with it. "Not intentionally of course," Wanda replied as Wally took a hold of her rubber dagger. "I had to get you back for that stunt you pulled on me last week with trapping me in Rusturf Cave for three hours."

"I thought it was funny," Wally replied as he 'stabbed' himself in the stomach with Wanda's dagger.

"Ha, let us see how you like it being scared that much, all alone in the dark," Wanda replied cooly, taking back her toy dagger and stuffing it in her purse.

"What are you doing back home so early anyways, you're suppose to be at my mom's house for a few more days," Wally asked as the two cousins made their way back to Verandturf Town.

"I know, but there really isn't much to do back at Petalburg so your mom let me go home earlier," Wanda answered as the two entered the serene town of Verandturf. "Besides, I miss being back home with the sweet-smelling grass, the endless blue hue of the sky and the beautiful and enchanting roses," she sighed before adding, "and of course being with my oh-so charming cousin, Wally!"

Wally shook his head and was about to open to door of his aunt's house when the door slammed open for them. There stood May, notebook clutched in hand, a small frown swept over her face.

"Wally," May started, only noticing the green-haired trainer, "we've got a problem with the li-" It was then she noticed that Wanda standing next to Wally, a confused expression on her face. "We've got a problem with the. . . lint! Your washing machine picks up too much lint!" to make a point, May reached into her pocket and pulled out some small balls of cloth. "You need to fix that kid."

"Uh, I will May, thanks for telling me." Wally sweat-dropped, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Why hello May, I didn't know that you were staying over," Wanda remarked cheerfully. "Is Brendan here too?"

May nodded. "Yeah, he's at Mauville, getting repairs on his bike," she lied quickly. "Anyways, I too have to go of town and do some shopping, the Pok?dolls are waiting at Slateport!" The girl trainer grinned and exited Wally's house, "See ya guys!"

"Later May!" Wally called out as May left the small town.

May waved good-bye to the green-haired trainer and his brown-haired cousin before walking down the path towards Mauville City.

---

'Latios, what are you going to do Birch?' Brendan pondered in his head as he leaned against a brick wall in Mauville. 'Even if you do tend to detest Wood now and then, you're still his friend. He, after all, did help you rescue May when she was kidnapped by Maxie a few months ago. If he didn't, its possible that May wouldn't be alive today.'

That would of made things much easier for Brendan, if May died during those past months. He wouldn't be stuck in this sticky predicament, he wouldn't have to kill anyone and Maxie would of let him be.

Brendan hated thinking selfish thoughts; he had no need to think of them now.

Why did Maxie have to drag May into this mess? Why was he hated so much?

Why were things so complicated?

Brendan shook his head and sighed, pushing himself up from the wall. Better get those errands done before Wally and May both have his head. It didn't though stop him from thinking though about what could of happened and would couldn't of happened.

If May was dead, Brendan sure wouldn't be happy- or be happy before last night anyways. He probably wouldn't of had his first kiss, he probably wouldn't of had all eight badges of Hoenn by now. Heck, he'd probably still be working with his dad if May hadn't gracefully stepped into his life.

He wished he could change time and never of met May. That way, no one he cared about would get hurt. Yeah, he liked the thought of that.

"Wishes are for fools," Brendan muttered under his breath. "I don't have time for wishing, I don't have time to do a lot of things. Two weeks isn't enough time to plan a party or to kill someone."

Brendan never realized how precious time was . . .

Until he had to go up against it that is.

Brendan rolled his eyes and walked down past an alley; he would of kept going if a shadow at the end summoned him with a finger. Curious, Brendan walked down the alleyway, a Pok?ball in hand and himself on guard.

"Brendan Birch is it?" the stranger asked as the white-haired trainer swiftly walked down the alleyway.

"Perhaps . . ." Brendan said slowly, raising his Poke=?ball to chin level. "You?"

"Your girlfriend should know who I am," the voice replied cooly.

"But seeing as I am not my girlfriend, but the boyfriend . . ." Brendan replied just as icily. "Now, I am Brendan Birch as you already know, who the hell are you?"

"Call me . . . Archie," the mysterious man answered, stepping out of the shadows. Sure enough, it was Archie, Leader of Team Aqua. Despite the fact that Archie was also on the run like Maxie, he too did not seem filthy but was actually well dressed and in his Team Aqua outfit. Some things haven't changed though for his jet-black beard was still intact.

"Archie, former Team Aqua Leader," Brendan spat in disgust; sure, he wasn't on Team Magma anymore but he, like Maxie, was one of the reasons why he and May got in so many fights on their travels. "What do you want?"

"Ha Brendan, I am not going to cause you any harm unlike Maxie," Archie growled. "Devious mind that Maxie has . . . honestly-"

"Is there a point to this?" Brendan demanded to know.

"I've got a plan for you," Archie quickly answered. "A plan that will get you out of this mess that Maxie created in the first place. But you have got to do everything I say and I mean everything. If you don't, my plan can totally backfire."

"Thanks, but I think I can figure this out for myself. Even though I'm not on Team Magma anymore, I still would never listen to a Team Aqua Member, especially the leader," and with that, the boy trainer turned around and began to walk away.

"Fine, let innocent people be killed because of your foolish pride," Archie remarked cooly.

Brendan stopped dead in his tracks. "You have a plan that will get me out of this?" he asked quietly.

Archie nodded though Brendan couldn't see it. "Yes Birch, I do in fact. It will only work if you do everything I say . . ."

Brendan sighed and walked back towards the Team Aqua Leader. "Fine," he agreed, "I will do everything you say but it better not hurt anyone."

"Ha, making this tricky eh?" Archie stroked his ebony-black beard. "I enjoy challenges . . . fine, I will not hurt anyone, not even Maxie. My hand shan't even touch a hair on someone else's head."

"Good . . . now what is this plan you have for me?"

---

May sat down by the lake's edge, one finger slowly dragging circles in the water. The ripples in the water disorientated her reflection before slowly dying out, once again showing her sparkly-blue eyes in the water's border.

'Something is wrong with B Boy,' she thought sadly in her head. 'I wish I knew what though. . . maybe I could help him. He's helped me plenty of times and I just want to repay him back.'

May sighed and laid flat on her back on the smooth, cold grass. The wind played with her bangs, blowing them upwards then slowly bringing them down to a rest back on her forehead.

This calm, serene mood would of made May fall asleep if a voice from behind her said in an eerie voice,

"I have been looking for you May Maple . . ."

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Hmm . . . having too many cliffhangers will make people expected them . . . Never actually thought about that heh.

But um yeah, thanks for reviewing again guys, you all rock! ^_^

LaTeR dAyZ!

AAAAAAAAAAAGH! I'm not screaming that because of the cliffhanger again, but of the way you continuously used 'of' instead of 'have'. It's really irritating to me at least. You used it several times... such as:

Breezy said:

He probably wouldn't of had his first kiss, he probably wouldn't of had all eight badges of Hoenn by now.

Click to expand...

Both of those should be have. And... you've done it in chapters beforehand which makes it even worse. Sorry if you think I'm nitpicking, but it really agitates me when people make this simple mistake.

As for the other areas of the fic, most seem to be improving. There was a lot more description than last time; the dialogue was toned down a bit, and the plot seems to be coming along fine. ^_^ Keep up the good work.

Shortest chapter of my life but meh. Enjoy and thanks for reviewing!

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Chapter 4:​

The boy shook his head and reached out to hold the girl's hand. Not only was her hand the thing that the boy held onto but it was the only thing that was keeping him from falling off. He didn't say this to her; it would only make her worry really and make her wonder why he felt this way.

He would just have to lie, put on a mask and be two-faced. It would wrong, he knew, but it would keep her from discovering the truth . . . and keep her safe as well.

May felt her heart race when the voice spoke in its eerie and wicked tone. It felt as if sharp, tiny needles were pricking at the bare of her back. Butterflies flew angrily in her stomach as she slowly turned her head to peer into the eyes of the strange. She though, did not see anyone . . .

For it was impossible to see her own self without a reflection of some sort.

May frowned and tried to block out her thoughts but the voice from the back of her head kept haunting her with its words dripping with malice, hatred, and dismal. Some call it a conscience, others may call it the one that thinks twice for you. But what she liked to call it was . . .

Fear.

She didn't like to listen to her fear, it destroyed all hope that she worked so hard on to create in the first place, especially when everything seemed impossible. But fear always tends to find her at the wrong times to torment her. That's what she hated at the most part, when fear struck. Especially now of all times when her boyfriend seemed to be in a trouble of his own.

'Ha, why do you need to look for me when your just a tiny little voice inside the depths of my mind?' May thought in her head as she turned her head to stare at her reflection. Sapphire-blue eyes stared back up at her. 'What do you want? I'm sure that I can figure out what's wrong with Brendan by myself thank you very much.'

'Myself is yourself after all,' the voice retaliated in its own icy cold tone unlike May's regular warm and sweet speech. 'Now, now, no need to go all hostile on me. I am, after all, only trying to help.'

May saw her eyes narrow in the water's reflection. 'When I need a second opinion, I'll be sure to ring you up okay? Now if you excuse me, I have some thinking - no, not to you - to do. So leave! I hate fear . . .'

'Without fear though, there would be no hope, no courage, no bravery. Fear is not a bad thing May, fear can be used for good. Fear can be used to fight your enemies, fear can be used to scare people you dislike. Fear is a wonderful thing that Latios created. Fear is only bad when you're the one going up against it. It is then why hope, bravery, and courage were created, to kill the fear that dare tries to attack you.'

'The fear that I'm talking to right now is up against me.' May dipped her finger into the lake waters and sighed. 'I don't need my fear to tell me what to do, all I need is my love to help Brendan.'

'Ah, but it was your fear for Brendan that called me in the first place wasn't it?'

'I didn't mean to!'

'But you did. Now you're stuck. Brendan now . . . what is he up to? Hmm. . .'

'I'd rather you didn't do that . . .'

'But I am and there is no way that you can stop me!'

'I don't have to listen!'

'But you can still hear me can't you May? I will always be here to haunt you . . .'

'DAMMIT! LEAVE ME ALONE!'

---

Brendan gulped nervously. "A-are you sure about that? It seems kind of risky to me. I mean, I've done a lot of stupid things in the past but this . . . this just goes WAY past the line."

Archie nodded and sighed. "Trust me Mr. Birch, it's the only way to save yourself, May, and Wally. I wish there wasn't but . . ." He sighed again and rubbed his temples. "Are you willing to go through with this?"

Brendan closed his eyes in a thoughtful manner before opening them again. His ruby-red eyes glared into Archie own orbs. "Yeah," he nodded, "yeah, I am. I would do anything to save May. Even if it means. . ." he gulped again. "Are you sure about this Archie?" the white-haired trainer asked for the second time that day.

Archie looked down at the ground, one hand running a hand through his thick, black and tangled beard. "I believe it is. What better than to have Wally dead than to have. . . well, I don't think you want to hear it again do you?"

Brendan shook his head no. "I rather have it repeat inside my head then to hear it outside of it once again, thanks." The boy trainer ran a hand through his snowy-white hair and frowned. "I thought I only had two choices . . . but the third one was right in front of my eyes."

Archie only smiled a sad little smile before walking past Brendan. "I must bid you farewell Mr. Birch. I am sure we will not meet again for the time being. Good luck and good day . . ."

Before Brendan could respond, Archie vanished into thin air as if he teleported.

Archie though, did not do anything of that sort. He instead turned the corner and walked into a run-down building where a certain someone was waiting for him. This certain someone would happen to be . . .

The Team Magma Leader noticed the Team Aqua Leader walk in and quickly demanded, "Did you tell him?"

"Brendan is such an easy fool to trick." Archie smirked as he sat across the Team Magma Leader in his own cushy, black leather chair. He laced his fingers and sighed. "Soon Maxie, we shall have our revenge on both those three pathetic trainers. Are you sure that Birch will not kill Wood though instead?"

"That, Archie, I have no doubt of." Maxie took a sip of his coffee and simpered as well. "Now we wait. Let us wait for Brendan to lose it . . . let us wait for May's fear to kill her own self. . . let us wait for Wally's own foolishness to be his demise. For those three little brats are fearing the wrong thing. "

"And what would that be Maxie?"

"While they're busy fearing us and each other, they really should be fearing their own selves."

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Blah blah chapter. =P Thanks for going all the way and reading it though lol.

LaTeR dAyZ!

^_^ Yet again I forgot about this story . . . but its okay, we'll all happy people anyways lol. So yeah, thanks for reading if ya did and enjoy k?

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Chapter 5:​

The girl looked at the boy curiously as he lead her down a dirt path. It was a gorgeous day with the sky turning from its deep blue color to the beautiful mixed colors of red, purple, orange, and yellow- the colors of a sunset. She smiled at the sight of the colorful and bright flowers that were planted at the edges of the dirt road as the boy grasped her hand and pulled her along.

Slowly, the glorious colors of the sunset faded into a stormy-gray. Lightening flashed in the background and thunder rolled angrily as the sweet-smelling flowers died as they passed them. The girl turned around and felt her stomach lurch in nervousness. Anxiety choked her at the throat.

She felt the boy let go of her hand as she turned to face him. She saw the boy run up the path towards a hill until he was just a black outline. Squinting her eyes so she could see better, she saw the silhouette of a dagger clutched in the boy's hand. From far away, the girl saw the boy turn his head towards her one more time before shoving the dagger through his chest. . .

The girl woke up, startled from her dream only to find the boy next to her, a small yet worried grin on his face. The boy took a damp cloth and wiped the sweat off the girl's forehead, his eyes sparkling with uneasiness. The girl wanted to tell him about her dream but. . . She didn't want him to worry as well.

Wally didn't like to assume the worst. What would happen if what he assumed happened to be wrong? He would just wind up getting worked up over nothing that's what.

The evidence was right in front of him though, Archie walking down a dark alleyway to turn left into a doorway cleverly hidden by a rather tall rusted dumpster. A few minutes before, he saw Brendan enter that same alley, a look of curiosity and interest clearly written on his face.

Wally didn't know what Brendan could be planning with Archie, the Team Aqua Leader. Heck, he didn't even know if Archie was still the leader of the water group. All he knew is that whatever those two were planning must be bad. Archie did, after all, try to drown the world so they could build more "Pok?mon habitations." Of course, Wally always wondered what it would be like to live on a boat. . . I mean, what kid hasn't after all?

Wally rolled his eyes at his own sarcasm.

The green-haired trainer figured that he should of followed Archie into the doorway but with his Pok?mon in the Center and Archie being one of the most powerful trainers in Hoenn despite his evil intentions . . . Well, all he knew was that things wouldn't turn out pretty. He might as well wait for his Pok?mon to heal, its not like the secret hideout was going anywhere anytime soon.

Wally decided to follow Brendan instead. He knew that the other boy trainer wouldn't dare hurt him . . . badly anyways.

Jumping up from his hiding place (which was a couple of trash cans), Wally watched Brendan leave the alleyway, apparently too deep in thought to notice the doorway that Archie walked into. From where he was standing, Wally saw Brendan sigh and run a hand through his snowy-white hair. He finally ended up sitting on a nearby green bench.

"Latios this is boring." Wally covered his yawn with his hand. "Nothing new about Brendan sitting on his arse."

Despite the lack of interest on his face, Wally crept up on Brendan and stood a few feet behind the bench he was sitting on. close enough to hear him but far enough for him not to notice a certain green-haired trainer.

"What to do, what to do . . ." Brendan muttered to himself. He sighed again and placed his head in his hands. "Crap, I can't do what Archie wants me to do!"

Wally gasped quietly to himself. 'He is working with Archie!'

Wally apparently didn't gasp quietly enough for Brendan jerked his head up and quickly turned around. His ruby-red eyes narrowed in disgust and worry.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned angrily.

"Er . . . shopping?" meekly replied Wally.

Brendan looked past the green-haired trainer and blinked twice. "At a lingerie store?" he asked, bewildered.

Wally only shrugged. "Well, I hear it's catching on for guys." He sweat-dropped, clearly nervous for his health. He wrung his hands together as Brendan got up from his seat.

"Did you hear me?" the white-haired trainer demanded to know as he walked around the bench to advance on the quivering green-eyed trainer.

"Uh . . ." Wally backed away frm Brendan and into the store wall.

"Answer me!" the white-haired trainer growled. He pushed Wally into the wall by his shoulder and glared ice cold daggers into his eyes.

Wally finally cracked and answered, "All I heard was that you can't do what Archie wants you to do, honest!" Wally sighed as Brendan's glare began to soften on him. "What does he want you to do anyways?"

"Ha, none of your Beedrill's beeswax." Brendan began to walk away, the green-haired trainer looking at his back.

"Like I said before Birch, I'm going to figure out sooner or later!" Wally shouted as he pushed himself the store wall.

Brendan only shook his head and waved him off, walking farther and farther into the distance.

---

'It's a shame really,' the voice from the back of May's head piped up.

'Please . . . please leave me alone!' May begged back, tears welling up in her deep dark-blue eyes.

'Aw May, don't cry!' the voice laughed mockingly in her head.

'Just leave please!' May wiped the tears from her eyes and stared at her reflection in the water. A gloomy, solemn girl stared back, her now dull blue eyes darting back and forth with worry.

'Ha, Brendan mustn't see you cry otherwise who knows what he'll do. . .'

'Wha. . . what do you mean by that?'

"May!" A shout coming from May's left caught her attention. She smiled at the sight of a white-haired trainer coming her way, his usual charming smile abroad his face. It was a nice change from Brendan's confused look from last night and earlier today.

"Hey . . ." Brendan said breathlessly as he sat down next to the girl trainer. It was apparent that he was trying to get away from something . . .

May didn't notice this though or chose not to question it as she laced fingers with Brendan. "So, where ya been?" she asked, the sparkle in her eye slowly coming back.

"Oh, you know," Brendan stared as he avoided eye contact with his girlfriend, "been out, seeing if Mauville has changed since the last time we've been here."

May leaned her head onto Brendan's chest and closed her eyes thoughtfully. "And has it?" she asked finally.

"Yeah I guess." Brendan couldn't help but grin even wider. "Its been awhile since we've been here hasn't it?"

"Three months," May answered, opening her eyes to reveal sparking blue orbs. "Remember the fair here?"

"Yeah, how can I forget?" he asked.

May giggled. "It was our first date and our first kiss I might add."

Brendan laughed, his cheeks flushing a faint tinge of pink. "Good times, good times . . ."

The two sat in peaceful silence for awhile until May piped up, "Is anything wrong B boy? Please answer me, you're scaring me and well . . ." she trailed off, ending it with a sigh.

Brendan leaned his head on top of May's own and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I don't want to lie to you," he admitted.

"I don't want you to either," the girl trainer replied. "So tell me . . . please."

"You don't need to worry about it May, its none of your concern," Brendan said after a few seconds of tense silence. "I've already figured it out anyways so . . ."

"If you're sure . . ." May really wanted to know what Brendan's problem was but she didn't want to push it any farther. Brendan seemed stressed enough already even with a cheery smile that graced his face. It was kinda of ironic actually how Brendan said he didn't want to lie to her but trying to cover the truth with a fake grin was just as bad. She didn't have the heart though to point that out.

"May?" Brendan's voice once again brought May back to reality.

The girl trainer blinked twice. "Huh? Oh . . . um yeah, I think we can pull off the surprise party, yeah."

"Even with Wally running it?" he laughed.

May smiled. "Yes, even with Wally in charge," she replied. The blue-eyed trainer pushed herself up from Brendan. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her. "Alrighty B Boy, I've gotta go make some more phone calls for the party." She bent back down and gave Brendan a quick peck on the lips. "See ya B Boy!"

"Later," Brendan replied sadly as he laid down on his back. His crimson-red eyes stared up at the light-blue sky covered in puffy white clouds. He wished that May stayed with him, he liked being in her company still after all the long months of traveling.

And while she was there, Brendan lost his train of thought. But now that his brain was back on track, he couldn't help but wonder . . .

Was he really that die-hard to go through with Archie's plan? And if so, what would happen in the long run? Would May still love him? Would Wally still try to beat him? Would anyone care if he died?

And if anyone knew, would they try to stop him from committing suicide?

---

Wally decided not to follow Brendan; he thought he could use some time to think anyways. He couldn't help but suspect what Brendan was planning with Archie though.

"What are Brendan and Archie planning?" he murmured out loud. "And why the hell do I keep repeating that? What? Are YOU going to answer for me?" Wally glared straight ahead.

"No, but perhaps I can," a voice answered from behind Wally.

"Oh great!" Wally stated sarcastically. "I'm so paranoid that I'm hearing voices from the back of my head again! I feel like May . . . or that one Gollum thing from The Lord of the Rings."

"Turn around you fool!" the stranger hissed.

Wally, stupidly, turned around and stared straight into the face of evil. The face of . . .

"Maxie!" Wally shouted as he reached down on his belt for a Pok?ball. Unfortunately, he found none seeing as they were all being healed at the Pok?mon Center. He went for the next best thing, his Pok?Nav, but only found an empty holder.

'That's right, its being repaired right now when Brendan's fat arse sat on it.' Wally mentally slapped his forehead. 'Great, now I'm dead! Thanks Brendan! Thanks for caring pal! I hate sarcasm. . . but then why do I use it? Why do I rant in my mind? Is anyone listening to my ranting? Well of course not, this is my mind after all! Or is it . . .? What if aliens are reading my mind right now? Oh no! Block out everything Wally, they might figure out that you still sleep with a teddy bear! Wait, why would aliens care about me? I'm not anything special . . . Dang, there I go, ranting away when there is the most wanted person right in front of my face! Good job Wall-'

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying?!" Maxie demanded.

Wally snapped out of his thoughts and sweat-dropped. "Its possible," he answered, "but I highly doubt it. What the heck are you doing here? Aren't you afraid of getting caught? And why am I talking very calmly to you like you were a friend?"

"Well for starters," Maxie began, "I'm here because I need to talk to you. For number two, no, I am not, all the policemen in the city have gone down South to search for me but as you can tell they are way off. Besides, there aren't any witnesses here besides you which I know you won't tell otherwise who knows what will happen to you. And you're talking to me like I'm your friend because I believe you lost one too many brain cells."

Wally frowned. "I thought you would be dead by now? Wait . . ." he trailed off, "are you a ghost?" Testing his theory, Wally flicked his fingers at Maxie's forehead, seeing if it would go through. It did not though as Wally ended up flicking rather hard at Maxie's head.

Maxie closed his eyes and re-opened them, already annoyed with the green-haired trainer. "I'm going to pretend you didn't do that," he stated through clenched teeth.

"Well, in that case . . ." Wally smirked and repeatedly smacked the former Team Magma Leader at the forehead with his fingers.

Maxie finally cracked after a few flicks and reached up to grab Wally's hand. Getting a firm grip on it, he twisted it and Wally cried out in pain. Feeling better, Maxie let go of Wally's wrist.

Wally glared at the former Team Magma Leader and rubbed his hand. "And what do you want to do with me? Is one still mad about the fact that I kicked your butt a few months ago and almost got you caught by the police?"

Maxie only snorted. "Ha Wood, you keep that lively spirited for as long as you can for you never know when its going to die out. Or when you die out that is."

Wally raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He was kinda surprised at how calm and collected he was at this moment. If this happened a few months ago, he was sure he would have a heart attack out of shock and surprise. "What's that suppose to mean, that I might die out soon?" he demanded to know.

"Well . . ." Maxie trailed off and shook his head. "Nah, its just a rumor I've heard from my past Admins and I really don't want to get you paranoid."

"Tell me, I'm already paranoid as it is," Wally replied. "Wait . . ."

Maxie simpered. "Well, if you really want to know . . . Archie. Do you know who he is?"

Wally nodded. "Yeah, he was the former leader of Team Aqua. What about him?"

"Well him and that so-called friend of yours, Brendan, are planning something . . ." Maxie laced his fingers together as he tried to read Wally's face.

"I figure that out on my own, thanks." The green-haired trainer was about to walk away when Maxie piped up,

"They want to kill you Wood."

Wally turned around and stared at Maxie, bewildered. "They want to . . . kill me?" he repeated, pointing to himself. "But why? I didn't do anything to them!"

Maxie only shrugged. "Perhaps you have done something long ago that made both Archie and Brendan angry . . . All I know is that they want you dead as soon as possible."

Wally blinked twice and collapsed into the bench Brendan previously sat on. He ran a hand through his hair. "Wh-what do I do?" he asked more to himself then to Maxie.

Maxie sat down next to the quivering green-haired trainer. "Even if we had a rough history together, perhaps I can help you from here on out . . ."

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Er . . . yeah. Thanks for reading once again! ^_^

LaTeR dAyZ!

*hums to herself* Enjoy k? ^^

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Chapter 6:​

The gentle spring rain drizzled upon the head of the boy and the girl as they walked on a muddy pathway in the country side, guided only by the moonlight and the sparkling ocean up ahead. The two were quiet, too deep in thought and too wrapped up in each other's company to utter words. Both were pondering about two different topics that were strangely connected by a thin string . . .

Its funny how when you think you're protecting someone by not telling the truth only makes the cut deeper . . .

"Even if we had a rough history together, perhaps I can help you from here on out . . ."

Wally placed his head between his knees to get rid of the awful queasiness brewing inside of him. "How can you- no, why would you want to help me? After all the crud I did to you? Why would you want to help me even though I practically kicked your behind in front of some of the world's most prestigious trainers, professors, breeders, coordinators and others in the world? Why would you-"

"By stating all the . . . wonderful things you have done for me," Maxie began, rolling his eyes at his sarcasm, "I believe there are more important things out there. Killing others for their profit . . . That Archie sometimes, doing anything it takes for his own benefit. And that Brendan Birch kid, even I'm quite surprised that he would agree to that pirate's plan! So I shall ally up with you, for now of course, so we can defeat those two evil fiends once and for all!"

Wally raised his head up and looked at Maxie, confusion written all over his face. "I . . . what . . . What's your plan?" The green-haired trainer finally caved in; what did he have to lose anyways?

'My life,' he thought, gulping.

---

Gasping for air in this world of hate, it was then when I realized my fate.

May stared at the words in front of her that she wrote in the soft brown dirt. She didn't even remember writing them; it was as if she spaced out and something took over her and wrote down the words in front of her. Wiping the filth from her fingers onto her black biker shorts, she stood back up and used her foot to erase the message in the ground.

'Even if you do erase my message physically, that sentence will keep repeating itself in your head mentally won't it?' the voice at the back of May's head stated eerily.

May chose to ignore the voice and blocked it out by humming a little song to herself. 'Freaked out by my own thoughts,' she thought as she walked along the path towards Mauville. 'That's kinda sad isn't it? Maybe I'm not freaked out by what my inner me is saying . . . Maybe I'm just scared by the fact that what its saying is true . . .' May shook her head and plastered a perky smile on her face. 'Nah, I know our love between Brendan and me will prevail!'

Yet, there was something inside of May that was still doubting her optimism.

She ended up snorting it off as she entered the rather large town of Mauville to catch up on shopping and to invite a few more guests to Wanda's surprise birthday party.

---

"Now this plan of yours . . ." Wally started as he rubbed his chin with the tips of his fingers, "you think it will stop Archie and Brendan? They are, after all, strong-willed and hard-headed. At least Brendan is anyways . . ."

"Trust me Wally, my boy." Maxie clasped a hand on Wally's shoulder and smirked. "This plan is practically flawless. They will never see it coming and what harm will it do to you anyways?"

"Brendan could kill me perhaps?"

Maxie only chuckled and stood up from the bench. Stretching his arms out a bit, he directed his piercing red eyes back towards Wally. "Now, this plan of ours will only work if you do it BEFORE your cousin's birthday. It's quite obvious that the next day, Brendan and May will be back on the road again and it will be too late to proceed with plans. You've got two weeks notice. Are we clear on this detail?"

Wally nodded. "Crystal," he replied. "But what happens if I fail?"

"Ah Mr. Wood, I dare not think of the consequences of that." Maxie turned on the heel of his foot and walked away towards the distance. "Farewell Wally, I am sure that we will meet again someday . . ."

Despite the clear and bright sunny day, Maxie still seemed to fade away in a cloud of gray smoke or fog. It puzzled Wally; how do villains and people like that just fade away like that?

"Latios, I ask the most dumbest questions sometimes." Wally stretched out his arms on the length of the dark-green bench and smirked. "Perhaps that Maxie character isn't so bad after all, helping me out of a sticky situation like that. I just hope his plan is fool-proof like he says . . ."

Reaching for his white, black, and green backpack he earlier placed on the ground, Wally unzipped the big pocket and pulled out his notebook. It was then he began to draw up his plan . . .

He didn't like plotting against friends, even the ones that he fights with the most. But hell, if a friend wanted to kill him then it was time that Wally took action.

So Wally found himself doodling in his notebooks, drawing up plans and writing down figures, dates and numbers. For perhaps if he was one step ahead, he could avoid being mercilessly slaughtered by Archie and Brendan. Perhaps he could save the world again from two evil fiends.

And perhaps this time Wally would turn out the hero instead of Brendan . . .

The green-haired trainer looked down towards where the alley was where Brendan emerged from. This area he knew was were Archie was lurking . . . Perhaps its was time to pay the former Team Aqua Leader a visit.

---

Maxie leaned against the cold thickness of a brick wall in another empty alleyway. He scared off a few stray Oddishs and Zigazagoons out of the alley with a narrow of his eerie, crimson-red eyes. Flicking out his Pok?Nav from his pocket, he dialed his rival's Viv-phone number, also known as the infamous Archie.

The phone rung several times and the Pidgey on the screen flew back and forth on the screen repeatedly until Archie picked up, his ocean-blue eyes dark and cold from the lighting in the room.

"Did you get him?" the Aqua Leader demanded straight away.

"Calm down Admin Archie, the plan is going along smoothly and without hassle," Maxie replied in his usual silky yet icy tone. "That Wally kid has taken the bait and is heading straight towards you right now. I suggest you ready your own lines."

"Ha, not to worry Admin Maxie." Archie ran a hand through his thick black beard. "Those foolish brats don't know what they're getting into." The sound of someone stepping on a dry leaf caught Archie's attention. "That's the little green-haired brat now. Got to go. As you Maxie, I would try and taunt Brendan with your threat again."

Maxie smirked in return. "It will be my pleasure. Good-bye Archie." The former Team Magma Leader disconnected the call and stowed away his Pok?Nav in the safety of his pocket before strolling down the alleyway, a creepy little tune being whistled out of his mouth. He enjoyed his job and life right now . . .

Especially when he was killing more than two birds with one stone. . .

---

May glared at Maxie's turned back as she peeped her head around the corner of the alleyway. So that's what he was doing; he was trying to get Wally into Archie's clutches! If she haven't seen it with her own two eyes, she would of never believe it. It was still bizarre to hear; Maxie working with Archie. Two former enemies working together? What was the world coming to?

"An end?" May muttered quietly to herself. She picked up her shopping bags and followed the shady Magma Leader down the alleyway. She was getting quite confused though as she continued walking down the alley for a few more minutes. Didn't alleys have ending points at sometime? She knew all the stores in Mauville and she knew that not any of them were THIS long.

Still curious though, May continued to walk down the narrow alleyway, transferring her shopping bags to one hand to get an enlarged Pok?ball ready in the other just in case. Surprisingly, the alleyway turned and went down a cramped staircase with barely enough room to squeeze one person through and dark enough so that even a Crobat would have trouble seeing.

Looking at her colorful blue and pink shopping bags, May reluctantly dropped them and hid them behind a garbage can before pulling out her flashlight to guide her way down the staircase. Flicking the switch on her flashlight on, May took in a deep breath and mustered up all her courage before taking the first step down.

'Rayquaza, I've got to be stupid . . .' she thought bitterly in her head as she walked down the staircase. It was obvious that they were going under the lake or at least near it for the air was damp and the walls and floor were moist. The lighting seemed to get darker too as May ventured forward. She didn't seem to notice though, she was only interested in finding Maxie and wherever the heck she would end up at the bottom of the staircase.

Finally, the girl trainer reached the last step (to her relief) and she flicked her flashlight around, exploring the room where she landed. It was dark and moist just like the staircase with the occasional dripping sound of a water droplet plunging into a pool of water. Wherever she was she knew she didn't like it.

'At least Maxie doesn't know I'm here,' she thought in her head.

'And you consider that a good thing? Puh-lease,' the voice thought back brutally in her head.

May rolled her sapphire-blue eyes and wandered around the underground cave, her hands touching the damp wall to guide her. Hearing the sounds of trampling feet behind her, she turned around only to bump into the eyes of what held her fear.

"If you honestly think that I didn't know you were following me, then you are obviously stupider then I thought."

---

With a loud slam of the wooden door behind him, Brendan entered Wally and Wanda's house with an emotionless expression on his face. Truth be told, he was emotionally worn out to even pull a small frown on.

He finally ended up collapsing in a polished wood chair in the kitchen after several minutes of pacing back on forth on Wally's oak plank floors. Staring up at the plaster white ceiling, Brendan sighed, his crimson-red eyes almost beginning to glisten with tears. He knew that this was the only way to escape fate and perhaps save the others as well . . .

Blinking back his tears and lowering his head, Brendan reached out and slowly, yet steadily, opened the kitchen drawer for the second time that week. Time seemed to stand still as his eyes caught the reflection of his dark-red orbs in the kitchen knife. Practically covered in sweat from nervousness and shaking from the butterflies that fluttered aggressively in his stomach, the boy trainer raised the knife up and glared at the reflection of himself. He felt nothing strange enough as he swung the knife back down . . .

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Thanks for reading! ^^

LaTeR dAyZ!

ugh, another cliffhanger.
i hate cliffhangers,but this story ROCKS!

*do i hate cliffhangers?* cliffhangers should be destroyed!!! mwahahaha

GOOD story!!!!!!
waits for more

Yay, thanks for reviewing guys! ^_^ Enjoy k?

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Chapter 7:​

Soon enough though, the light drizzle turned into a fierce downpour of raindrops, beating down upon the heads of the boy and girl. Lightening danced in the sky and thunder roared from the heavens as the boy looked around desperately for shelter. Like a bolt of lightening that struck the ground moments ago, the boy struck luck for he soon found a nearby cave. With great joy, the boy ran as fast as he could.

Wringing out his wet clothes as soon as he entered the small yet dry cave, the boy noticed a warm orange and yellow glow from around the corner. Curious, the boy walked the length of the cave and turned right; immediate horror sprung up to his face. For there was the girl . . .

With another boy.

After getting the his Pok?balls from the Pok?mon center in a dash, Wally practically sprinted to the hideout of Archie, a look of determination plastered all over his face. Not caring who was watching, Wally kicked the dumpster that was concealing the hideout.

'Bad idea!' he thought in his head as he hopped up and down on one foot.

Finally ceasing the pain in his leg, Wally decided to use his brain and push the dumpster away from the door. Pushing it just far enough so he could slip inside, Wally entered the secret room, his emerald-green eyes daring back and forth for any movement. A dim blue light at the end of the hallway guided him down as if the green-haired trainer were enchanted by it. Without realizing it, Wally found himself in the main lobby of the secret room, staring straight ahead at the blue light. Reaching out, Wally poked the small blue orb that produced the light; the orb hissed at him and gave off a crackle before turning into a bright white illumination.

Wally blinked twice and snapped out of his daze. "What the . . .?" he murmured to himself as he rubbed his eyes. Since he was busy trying to clear his eyes from the annoying dots the obscured his vision, Wally didn't notice a shadow sneak up on him and grab him by the neck.

"Listen to me and don't panic otherwise it'll be your life," the voice said in a harsh whisper as he tightened his grip on the green-haired trainer.

"Of course . . . I won't . . . panic if . . . my life . . . is on the . . . line!" Wally managed to choke out in several small gasps.

From in front, Wally could hear the stranger sigh as he loosened his grip on him a bit.. "If I let go," the strange man began, "will you stay put for now?"

"Why, are you lonely?" Wally replied in a sarcastic manner.

"Be serious!"

"Fine, I will be, sheesh. People these days, can't take a joke."

The strange man let go of Wally and immediately, the green-haired trainer turned around. Like a reflex, Wally picked a Pok?ball from his belt and enlarged it; he glared daggers at the man. "Take two steps back and don't move!" he ordered.

"I believe that was my orders for you," Archie replied in a cool voice. In a flash, he reached out and grabbed Wally's Pok?ball from his hand with incredible speed and skill. "If you want this back, you have to listen to me first."

Wally snorted and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Fine," he said reluctantly, disgusted with the fact that he was taking orders from someone who wanted to supposedly kill him.

Archie nodded and walked around Wally towards the sleek metal table. "Now I suppose you have heard some nasty things from that devious rival of mine, Maxie am I right?"

"He told me that Brendan and you wanted to kill me," the green-haired trainer retaliated through clenched teeth. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "And I'm here to make sure that your plan fails!"

"Ah, it is so likely for the mouse to come to the mouse trap isn't it?" Archie remarked as he ran his hand down the coolness of the table. "The mouse always wants the cheese but he ends up getting snapped at am I right?" Wally growled at this part as Archie continued. "Now I suppose you are here to have your questions answers, to have that awful feeling in your stomach to be ceased? To wonder when and where will I strike? That, my dear boy, is not a question I choose to answer . . . but there is one thing you need to know." Archie sat down in his cushy black leather seat and rolled Wally's Pok?ball between his hands. "Would you like to know?"

Wally's eyes followed his Pok?ball carefully. "Depends on what it is . . ." he replied icily.

Archie threw Wally his Pok?ball before answering. "As it turns out, Maxie isn't as trustworthy as you think . . ."

---

"Let me GO!" May squirmed as she tried to break free from the ropes that bound her together. "This isn't very nice to do to a lady . . . or a person younger than you . . . or anyone actually!"

Maxie chose to ignore the whining girl trainer as he dangled her fanny pank in front of her with a sick and twisted grin on his face. "No need to fear Miss Maple," he stated in his usual icy cool tone. "I just need you here to test my . . . experiment if you will."

"I don't take drugs!" May shouted automatically. "And don't you dare shove tubes up my nose!"

"Not that kind of experiment!" Maxie rolled his eyes at May's paranoia. "Now . . ." Snapping his fingers, a bright light shone down upon the girl trainer's head. A click was heard to the side of May; she turned her head and screamed for a loaded gun was pointed straight at her. "If you're smart," Maxie began as he started to walk backwards toward the staircase, "you won't move." He took a remote from his pocket and clicked it; an infra red light turned on at the top of the gun. "Just because I'm not here doesn't meant I'm not watching." And with that, the former Team Magma Leader turned around, leaving behind a scared and trembling girl.

---

Brendan though guessed that he wouldn't feel any pain nor guilt for cutting a Leppa in half not unless he slipped and missed, cutting off his finger somehow.

Placing the kitchen knife on the table and taking the seeds out, Brendan took a slice and bit into it with a satisfying crunch. Still munching away, Brendan turned his attention towards the knife and grimaced; he was getting sick of the ****ed thing. He only shrugged though as he took a final gulp of his first slice. Before starting on his other though, he placed the dirty knife in Wally's kitchen sink with a gratifying clank.

"Latios, I'm bored," Brendan complained as he sat back down on the wooden chair. He picked up the other half of the Leppa and bit into it. Smirking, Brendan began to chew to the theme of Pok?mon Advanced, the Anim?.

An annoying tap on the window broke the rhythm though. Angry with the thing that dared ruin his beat, Brendan put on his nastiest face and glared cold daggers at the perpetrator. This expression though quickly changed to a bewildered one as soon as he saw who was knocking on the window.

"Maxie . . ." he muttered under his breath.

"I'd hate to wake up to that everyday," Maxie chuckled to himself. "Though, I don't think May will have to anymore if you catch my drift . . ." Unlike last time, Maxie was dressed in an overlarge trench coat with a large brown hat that covered his eyes.

Still freaked out by the fact that the most wanted man in the Hoenn Region was out in plain sight knocking on his window, Brendan nevertheless got up from his seat and walked out the door to meet Maxie.

"What are you doing here?" was the first question uttered out of the boy trainer's mouth.

"I believe, Mr. Birch, that there is something I need to tell you . . . About Wally Wood . . . and your girlfriend May."

---

Wally's heart began to race inside his chest as he fled out of the hideout in a hurry, more worried about his friend than his own health at the moment. Skidding across the concrete sidewalk, the green-haired trainer stopped in front of the alley where archie directed him to go. He hesitated for a minute before dashing straight into the alleyway with incredible velocity; he turned right towards the staircase. Wally began to panic and rush as he pulled out his flashlight from his backpack, causing him to fumbling with it beforehand. Turning it on, the emerald-colored boy practically flew down the steps.

"May!" he shouted as he stepped on the last stair. His voice echoed throughout the room. "Are you here?"

". . . Wally?" a meek and hushed voice answered. "Is that you?"

Wally hopped off the last step and slowly walked around the semi-cramped underground room. His jade-green eyes rested on a bright white light from around the corner. With a small shrug from his shoulders, Wally turned the corner and saw May bound by the legs and arms by thick rope. A gun held up by a stand was directed at her head.

"Latios! Are you okay May?!" Wally demanded to know. He rushed right over to the girl trainer and dropped to his knees.

"Can't move, motion sensor, will shoot," May replied through clenched teeth.

It was then Wally saw a blinking red light on top of the gun. "Not a problem," he remarked as he crept over to May's behind. "Alright now . . " With a quick side quick towards the gun, Wally dove on May in case his plan backfired. Luckily it didn't seeing as Wally's kicked pushed the stand holding the gun to its side. The gun gave off a loud bang all the same as it was fired.

Wally sighed in relief as he pulled May away from the smoking gun. "Now are you okay?" he asked softly as he began to untie the ropes at May's hands.

May nodded, still jumpy from the loud gunshot.

"Almost done," Wally remarked as he finished untying the last of the knots at May's feet. With another sigh of relief, Wally threw the ropes behind him as May turned around to face him. He couldn't help but notice the strange look in May's eye. "Uh, May . . . are you alright?"

May didn't seem to hear him as she continued to gaze into his sparkling emerald-green eyes.

Wally was beginning to get nervous as he waved a hand in front of the girl trainer's face. "May . . . is anyone home? Hello . . .?"

After a few restless moments of silent staring, May suddenly jumped on Wally and hugged him. "Oh Wally, thank you for coming and saving me!" she cried as she buried her head into his button-up white t-shirt.

Wally lost his balance and fell backwards, landing on the hard dirt ground. "Ouch . . ." he groaned as May continued to cry on him. "May . . . are you sure you're okay? I mean, all three of us have been in worse predicaments than this and we probably have more worse ones to come after all . . ."

May sighed and pulled herself up. Noticing that Wally was on the ground as well, she pulled him back up by his shirt. "You okay?" she asked worriedly, her sapphire-blue eyes filled with compassion.

"Uh . . . yeah, I'm fine," Wally replied slowly, brushing the dirt off his back. He looked back into May's eyes, confused. "Seriously, you didn't get brain damage or anything? Because you're kind of-"

A pair of warm lips stopped him mid-sentence. The green-haired trainer's eyes widened at this as May pulled back and beamed at him. A small tingle remained on Wally's lips and he pressed a finger there. "What was that-"

Again, Wally was interrupted by the same pair of soft lips that crashed into his own. But this time, they didn't pull back but stayed instead. Now to be truthful, Wally didn't have any feelings for May anymore; she was more of a close friend if anything. But he was always still curious what it was like to kiss her all the same . . .

He figured though that it could of been a better time for it. Especially now when Brendan bellowed,

"You're dead meat Wood!"

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Er, thanks for reading. :)

LaTeR dAyZ!

AWWW not another cliffhanger!

why must you do this you know we all hate cliffhangers why....why....*mumbles and mutters to himself* why....

Had to cut this chapter in two seeing as there's only a 20,000 character limit here. ^_^; It's kind of in a random spot where it cuts off but meh . . .

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The boy's face began to flush with his anger and his eyes were boiling with outrage as he stomped over to the girl and the other boy. He gritted his teeth and dug a heel into the soft dirt ground. It took only those several motions for the other boy to let go of the other girl and stand up to back into the wall.

The boy's ruby-red eyes followed the other boy carefully, alert for any sudden movements. His anger enveloped him and instantly, he found himself staring down at the other boy who slumped down onto the floor, one hand placed on his now swollen red cheek. The boy felt his heart go out to the boy for a second before he regained composure. He didn't need to have pity on himself or this boy for what he has done.

Or would of it been better if he did?

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing!" Brendan demanded in sharp, quick sentences as he advanced on the now quivering green-haired trainer. "Do you have ANY idea how much trouble you are in?!"

"Eep . . . er . . . a lot?" Wally replied meekly as he bumped his back into the hard dirt wall. "I . . . it wasn't . . . you know I would never-" It was then when Wally cast a sideways look towards May. The girl trainer looked quite worried from the glint in her sapphire-blue eyes. He knew that he couldn't tell Brendan that it was she that went all over him. He sighed before stating quietly, "Yeah . . . I-I totally took advantage of May's weak moment and-"

A fist interrupted Wally mid-sentence as it collided with his jaw. He heard a sickening crack as Brendan threw another punch at him. Wally bit his tongue and tried not to let out a stream of curses as he slid down towards the ground. Brendan stood above him, his fists clenched tightly as his sides, his crimson-red eyes narrowing in disgust.

"Brendan . . ." May whispered as she tried to hold back her tears.

"You . . . Son of a . . . Holy crap!" the white-haired trainer spat out in repulsion. "If I ever see you again, it'll be too soon! Go near me or MY girlfriend again and I'll kill-" Brendan hesitated at this part of his rant. "Go near me or my girlfriend again and you'll wish you have never been born! Got it?!"

Wally bit his lip nervously and nodded, glad that Brendan seemed to be done with him. He apparently wasn't though as the white-haired trainer kicked the emerald-eyed boy square in the stomach before storming off, directing May to come with him.

May whimpered as she stood back up and stared at the fallen green-haired trainer. In the dim light of her flashlight, she saw that the area around his left eye was beginning to swell and that blood was slowly dripping out of his mouth like a broken faucet. But what scared her the most was his eyes . . . His jade-green eyes were fierce and full of rage as they slowly met up with May's own orbs. They were the signs of hatred. They were the signs that he hated her.

The girl trainer couldn't do anything else but follow the boy trainer back up the stairs, leaving Wally alone to groan in his agony and pain. She wanted to help him so bad to perhaps cease the hatred fueled within him but Brendan came back the stairs and got a firm grip on May's wrist as he pulled her back up along with him.

'Selfish,' was the word that Wally thought of May now. 'That selfish girl . . . she would rather sacrifice others instead of herself! She would rather have me get bloodied up a bit than getting yelled at by her so-called boyfriend! I thought of you better May Maple, that was one reason I use to like you. But now . . . what do I consider you now?'

Wally rolled onto his back and stared up at the earthy ceiling. A drop of water hit him square on the forehead, bringing him some relief to his swollen left eye. Soon another water drop tricked down onto his head. Followed by another. And another. Soon, a steady stream of water droplets began to dribbled down onto the green-haired trainer's head.

"Weird," he thought out loud as he sat back up and rubbed his forehead dry with his sleeve. "Where exactly are we anyways? Underneath the lake or something?"

---

Meanwhile, Brendan and May finally made it up the long set of staircases. They walked down the alleyway in a tense silence. May began to wonder where Brendan was going as he turned left towards the lake that connected Mauville to the forest area.

"Brendan?" May questioned from behind the boy trainer. "Where are we going? What are you doing? What . . ." she trailed off as Brendan stood inches away where the water could overlap his shoes.

The white-haired boy didn't answer as he picked up a Pok?ball from his belt. Pressing the white button to enlarge it to the size of a grapefruit, he threw it towards the lake. "Come on out Muddy!" he shouted as he released his Pok?mon.

In a flash of bright white light, a rather tall Swampert appeared, his sea-blue tail lashing about in the depths of the water. His mouth took in a gulp of the fresh water to quench himself before directing his golden-orange eyes towards his trainer.

"Muddy . . ." Brendan trailed off before giving orders. "I want you to go underwater and dig a hole in the ground. When you feel the water begin to get suck up in the hole, swim back up. You got it?"

Muddy glanced worriedly at his trainer, his orange whiskers twitching as he wondered why Brendan was giving him such bizarre orders. He treaded water in the same spot and stared back at his trainer, his small grin slowly dying down.

Brendan grew impatient with his Pok?mon. "JUST GO!" he yelled as he pointed his finger towards the lake's depths.

The Swamp Pok?mon shook his head at his furious trainer and felt his heart drop with disappointment but nevertheless, he obeyed and dove underwater, his two front paws outstretched, ready to upturn dirt.

May winced when Brendan yelled at Muddy. Surely it wasn't like him to grow impatient with his Pok?mon, especially his first one. Yet, she watched with curious eyes as she eyed the lake. Bubbles from where Muddy was digging began to rise to the surface. It then dawned upon May on what Brendan was trying to accomplish.

"Brendan Birch, what are you doing?! Stop it!" May screeched as she tried to pull Brendan back. Brendan's feet stayed firmly in the same spot despite May's efforts. Again she pleaded, "Brendan, stop it please!"

"Why should I?" her boyfriend demanded to know. "That arsehole deserves it for what he did to you! He deserves to die in his own misery! He deserves to be killed!" Brendan mentally flinched at these words.

"No!" May cried as she flung herself on Brendan. "I did it okay?! I was the one that kissed Wally first! I was the one that jumped all over him! It was me Brendan! So please stop!"

Brendan only smirked in return as if he were insane. "Ha, the only thing wrong with that statement was that he kissed you back. He could of not done so or pushed you away. He had a lot of choices and he happened to choose the wrong one. Muddy! Keep digging underground this lake!"

"You're crazy!" May screamed as she backed away from Brendan. "What's wrong with you now Brendan?! Ever since yesterday when you came back from shopping for decorations, you've been quiet and to yourself! Now you want to kill one of your friends?! What happened to the boy that I met almost a year ago? Where did he go?!"

"You never knew the real Brendan!" Brendan shouted back, his fists trembling at his sides. "And you never will! You don't know a thing about me May! Because when that Brendan left to save you and sacrificed himself that one fateful fair night, he never came back when he woke up! So who are you to tell me to where I went? Because I know you already know as well!"

May bit her lip and stared at the ground. "Well . . . I wish I did know the real Brendan then . . . The one that I never got to meet supposedly . . . but I know I did, he still lives in you! He's still in there and I want him to wake up! Open your eyes Brendan Birch, open those eyes!" May felt her cheeks flush with anger when all that Brendan did was stare at the water's depths. Perhaps she never did meet the real Brendan Birch . . .

Or was this actually the real Brendan to begin with?

---

The green-haired trainer began to panic as another jet of water blasted its way through the underground cave. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how many times he commanded himself to run for it, he couldn't make his legs move. He was paralyzed with fright.

"Snap out of it Wally!" he shouted, trying to slap himself awake. He winced as his finger lingered over his newly forming black-eye. The pain though seemed to shock Wally though for his legs began to twitch before running for it, almost sprinting ahead of his body like a cartoon. Dashing up the wet concrete steps, he heard the dirt walls of the narrow staircase break behind him from the pressure. The sound of rushing water filled Wally's ears. Tripping on the last step and landing smack on his stomach, Wally glanced up, never any gladder to have rays of sunlight warm up his face.

"What . . . the . . . heck?" was what Wally managed to gasp out in short, shallow breaths. His breath got caught in his throat and he coughed, releasing it to take in fresh air. Wally groggily got back up onto his feet and walked out of the alleyway like a drunk.

'I know that underground path was underneath the lake but it wouldn't just . . . break down all a sudden like that,' Wally thought as he collapsed on a nearby dark-green bench. 'Something, or someone, had to have dove underneath the lake and tried to drill a hole through it!' Wally's jade-green eyes darted towards the left where the lake was. 'And I think I know who too . . .'

Brendan smirked insanely in triumph again as the lake waters began to drain slowly, yet steadily. His ruby-red eyes sparkled in the sunlight but these eyes weren't filled with happiness, but with hatred instead.

"B Boy . . ." May pleaded for the last time as she slid down onto her knees. Her legs were sticky with wet mud and sand as she reached up and clung onto Brendan's right arm. "Please . . . stop," she begged again.

The white-haired trainer rolled his crimson-red eyes down towards his girlfriend; his eyes softened at the sight. As much as he wanted to physically hurt Wally, he knew, deep in his heart, that he couldn't bear to emotionally hurt May.

"That's enough," he remarked with disdain, sighing soon afterwards. Brendan's faithful Swampert rose back up to the surface, his lungs taking in a grateful grasp of air as he struggled to keep afloat in the new lake's current.

Brendan read his Pok?mon's mind. "Yes, you can go refill the hole."

Muddy smiled a goofy little smile before diving back down into the clear crisp depths of the lake. Soon, the draining of the water ceased to a stop as Mudy swam back up towards the surface.

"Thank you," May breathed as the nervous Beautiflies in her stomach stopped fluttering about.

"I hope you're happy," Brendan remarked in a disgusted tone as he pushed May's hands off his right arm. The smirk on his face had long died down and was replaced with a nasty little scowl. He returned Muddy back into his Pok?ball in a beam of red light. "Now if you excuse me, I have some business to take care of . . ."

"Brendan, wait-!" It was too late as Brendan turned around and walked away, leaving behind a teary-eyed, dirty with muddy girl, her biker shorts seeping with water.

Meanwhile, Wally was still sitting on the bench near the town square, one hand holding a damp cloth to his left eye. Ice would of been better but Wally didn't want to see Wanda's face when he got home and then explaining to her that the girl he had a crush on practically mauled him down with higs and kises and then her boyfriend saw and beat him up.

"Dammit Brendan Birch!" he cursed under his breath. His emerald-green eyes spotted the boy march by, his face screwed up into a furious frown, his fists shoved into his pants' pockets. "What has happened to you?" the green-haired trainer boy thought out loud sadly as the white-haired boy scared off a few little kids that were playing in his path. Frustrated that he didn't know the answer, Wally sprang up from his seat and rushed right over to Brendan who was walking along the path back to Verandturf Town.

"What's your problem?!" Wally demanded to know as he jogged alongside the quick-paced white-haired boy, one hand still clutching a damp cloth to his black-eye.

"I suggest you get out of my way not unless you want your right eye to match your left!" Brendan growled through clenched teeth. "Besides, it's none of your business!" He hastened his pace to rid himself of the pesky green-haired trainer.

Wally was one step ahead though as he jumped ahead of the boy trainer, making him stop in his tracks. "Listen you arrogant a-hole! I didn't kiss May! Okay, I did but I didn't kiss her first, I didn't take advantage of her, I didn't do anything except sit there and she sat there and all of sudden, bam! I'm on my back and she's just kissing me-" Wally bit his lip and stopped talking as soon as he saw Brendan's already twisted face twist up more in loathing.

"I'm out of here." Brendan shook his head and walked around the green-eyed trainer.

Wally only turned around and gaped at Brendan's back. Slowly (without noticing), a scowl spread across his face. Throwing the cloth that he covered his black eye to the ground, Wally ran towards the unaware ruby-eyed trainer and jumped on his back, bringing both Brendan and himself down hard on the ground, Brendan on the bottom.

"GET OFF ME WOOD!" Brendan bellowed from the top of his lungs as he tried to swing a punch at Wally from behind.

Wally only dodged it and stood back up, pinning Brendan down by putting a foot on his back. "I'll only let you stand up only if you calm yourself down and believe that I didn't kiss May first. But you can't go and get all pissy on her though either."

" . . . Fine. Now get off!"

Wally rolled his eyes but had to oblige all the same as he took his foot of the white-haired trainer's back. Brendan stood up and brushed the dirt off the front of his clothes. Finally satisfied with cleaning his clothes, he stared straight into Wally's green orbs and took in a deep breath before speaking.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Wally winced and closed his eyes as Brendan shouted these words. Thinking that Brendan was done with his shout, Wally slowly opened one eye and then the other before answering. "Because you wouldn't listen to me! I want to know what the heck is wrong with you! You know as well as I do that something is wrong and that I'm not going to stop bugging you until you tell me." His emerald-green eyes softened. "I also know that you want to tell me too even with what . . . happened. So spit it out and tell me now!"

Brendan was taken aback by Wally's sudden determination. "Listen, this is none of your concern like I said a billion times," he muttered quietly so that Wally had to strain his ears to hear it. "You'll only hurt yourself more if you knew. You just couldn't handle it."

"Try me," the green-haired trainer stated simply. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared straight down at the ground. "I'm listening."

The ruby-eyed trainer looked around Wally and then looked down at the floor as well. He kicked the ground, causing the some dirt to uprise in the process. "I just . . . can't alright? As much as I want you in my personal life," he rolled his eyes at this, "it would . . . kill me to tell you so to speak."

"So? You wanted me dead just today remember?" Wally remarked, his eyes trailing back up to stare at the light blue sky. "You probably would of done so too if May wasn't there."

Brendan scowled when Wally mentioned this as he dug his heel in the dirt. He felt his cheeks heat up with anger as his eyes darted up to meet Wally's own pair of orbs.

"I still don't understand WHY you kissed her . . ."

"For Latios's sake Birch!" Wally slapped his forehead in frustration. "I thought we went over this, I did not, I repeat, DID NOT kiss her first! Do you want to here the story? Well here it is! I saved her from whoever tied her up and we sat there in the dark silence and then she just jumped all over me and-"

Brendan blinked twice. "Hang on, repeat that," he said, interrupting Wally mid-sentence. "Before you . . . before she-"

"Mauled me down?" Wally finished for him. "See, Archie from Team Aqua-"

Brendan's eyes widened as he remembered the "plan" Archie suggested. "Archie? Where did he come from? Care to explain?"

Wally thought for a minute. "Well, I . . . erm, "found" this secret hideout in an alleyway here and Archie was there and he told me that May was in trouble underground in that alleyway so I ran down there and I untied her." Wally intentionally skimmed on details, Brendan didn't need to hear the conversation between Archie and him anyways.

"Tied her?" Brendan asked, blinking twice again. "Who did?"

The green-haired trainer only shrugged in return. "I'm not sure . . . Why is this happening all of a sudden? Who would tie up May? How come Maxie and Archie just reappeared all of a sudden? Why is time going by so fast yet so slow at the same time? What's going on?"

Brendan took in a deep breath and sighed. "I know why," he muttered quietly. "He . . . he wants me to do something . . . something that you shouldn't know. Something that-"

"You know, you keep repeating yourself over and over like a frikkin' parrot!" Wally cut in. When people repeat things they can't tell it means that they do want to tell. So tell, don't show! Or, er, something."

Brendan, again, looked around and nodded his head in agreement. "Fine, I'll tell you but you have to swear that you won't tell a single soul, don't even think it out loud to yourself. And you can't interrupt me until I finish got it?"

"Crystal." Wally walked over to a pair of large gray boulders that sat at the banks of a small lake and planted himself on one, beckoning Brendan to sit on the other.

After sitting down on the boulder, Brendan began his tale. He sighed as he stared into the distance, watching the sky turn from a light blue to a mix of yellow, red, orange and pink. "Well, it all started last night . . . I was shopping for decorations then I found myself in downtown Mauville. He . . . he was there. Maxie I mean." He looked back at Wally who's face screwed up in horror and disgust. "As you know, he dislikes- okay, let's be blunt, he hates you so much that he wants to see you dead. But he doesn't want to be the one with the blood on his hands in the end. He wants me to . . . he wants me . . . he wants me-"

"To kill me?" Wally couldn't help but interrupt. "I thought so, he told me."

"Maxie?"

"No, Archie. Right before he told where May was hidden. But now I know that you don't want to kill me but he does but he doesn't want to. Confusing sentence . . ."

"There's a catch though," Brendan remarked as Wally trailed off. "If I don't . . . er . . . kill you, he'll kill you for me. Along with me. . . and my one true love which is May."

Wally shot up from the boulder and glared towards the distance. "You can't let him do that Brendan! But I don't want to die! But I would if it would save May! But I don't-"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Brendan chuckled despite the seriousness of the subject. He continued his story as Wally calmed down and planted himself back on the rock. "So I don't know what to do. I was told to kill myself by Archie but I couldn't do that and I tried calling the police but Maxie's one step ahead and . . . and I don't know what to do." The white-haired trainer placed his elbows on his knees and ran his hands through his snowy-white hair.

Wally took in a deep breath and stared at the sun that was beginning to hide behind the mountains. "If we had a choice to save May, you wouldn't mind you and me being killed right?"

"I'd do anything to save May but there's no way, there's no other choice but the two I have right now," he sighed.

"But that's where you're wrong." Wally stood back, Brendan following suit. "You said that Maxie would kill you, me and your one true love right?"

"Right . . ."

"Well then, there is a way then . . . there are more then two choices after all."


The cotton candy pink, golden yellow, and bright orange faded into dark purple and then to a midnight black, the sky littered with twinkling stars. A soft wind brushed against the young girl trainer's cheek as she stared up at the waxing, crescent-shaped moon. Her sapphire-blue eyes sparkled as she thought of all the things that happened today. Hatred, falsehood, anger, confusion . . . she thought that it wasn't possible for all those strong emotions to be thrown in less then a few hours.

May felt the long blades of grass tickle her bare feet as she swung her legs back and forth on Wally's porch. Brendan called her out here so they could "talk." Her stomach flip-flopped nervously at those words when he told her a hours ago. Why he wanted to wanted to wait till now, she wasn't sure.

Suddenly, Wally's front door opened, sending out a blast of air from the air-conditioner. There stood Brendan, his hair swaying delicately in the gentle north wind, his ruby-red eyes glowing with an emotion May couldn't place her finger on. Slowly, he closed the wooden door and sat down next to May on the porch. He reached out grabbed her hands, his warm ones against her cold ones thanks to the calm yet freezing zephyrs.

"Listen May, we need to talk . . ." Brendan began as he tightened his grip on May as if he were hanging off the edge of a cliff.

May looked at him confused but nodded all the same.

"Remember the last fair day six long months ago?"

May nodded again, her eyes sparkling with happiness from the fond memory. "I remember it like yesterday. You saved me by protecting me when we crashed landed in the formal dance, Wally battled Maxie, you led me outside to a water fountain and we . . . kissed and danced under the stars . . ." She sighed happily. "It was so magical."

Brendan was already beginning to detest this. "About that May . . ."

"Yes?" she asked, smiling, her dark-blue eyes twinkling more than usual.

The white-haired trainer took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I hated it . . ." he managed to mutter under his breath.

"What?" May asked, confused. She felt her heart drop. "I thought that we had-"

"I HATED IT! You know what, that's not even right! I HATED YOU!" Brendan roared, dropping down May's hands. "You want to know why I kissed you and did all that?! Because people forced me into it! Saying how 'cute' we were together and crap like that! I hated it! I did it so they would get off my dang back! The truth is I hated you from the moment I met you! You were just some ugly, stuck-up prissy who probably only wanted to shop all day instead of going on a Pok?mon adventure! You always are thinking about yourself and your needs aren't you? 'Brendan, I'm tired, can we stop please? Brendan, can I have your food, I'm hungry! Brendan, can you spit on my shoes and clean them for me?' That's all crud in the toilet now! I don't need you anymore, its been fun . . . not! So when Wanda's party is over and we're allowed to go, I'm leaving you . . . for GOOD this time! So good luck at the Pok?mon League, you're going to need it!"

Brendan quickly stood back up, turned around and was about to walk away towards the a distant hill in Verandturf when a hard and powerful kick from behind made him fall face first in the soft grass. He rolled onto his back quickly and pushed himself up back onto his feet. He felt his eyes burn with hot, raging anger, his fists shaking. He couldn't speak though, he was too worried on how May would react.

May reached up and slapped Brendan hard across the face with her white-gloved hand, almost knocking Brendan out. "You son of a *****!" she bellowed, her eyes glaring hot white daggers at the white haired boy. "Don't you ever, EVER come up to me, say we need to talk and then speak to me like that! You're not leaving me, I'm leaving you!" With another slap to Brendan's already rosy face cheeks, she turned around in a huff and marched off, fuming.

Brendan stood there and watched May leave, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping. He placed his formerly warm hands on his heated cheek to soothe the pain. He swallowed a rather large lump in his mouth. He didn't hear the opening of a door behind him and the padded footsteps of someone coming behind him.

"Seems like everyone is getting hurt today," Wally murmured behind the white-haired trainer sadly. He clutched a bag of ice to his left eye as he stared at the back of Brendan's head. "You okay? That was tough . . ."

"I wish there was another way Wally, I really wish there was," Brendan remarked dejectedly as he let go of his cheeks to shove his hands in his pockets. He swallowed another lump that got caught up in his throat. "It was hard enough to say "I hate you" but now I've got to live with the fact that I might just end up dying with May mad at me?"

"It takes a lot of courage to let go Brendan, a whole bunch of courage. It also takes a lot of courage to sacrifice yourself in order to save someone else."

"I know. I just wish . . ."

"Yeah?"

"I just wish I had a real chance to say goodbye . . ."

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This chapter had too many emotional switches which didn't match the previous ones. ::sighs:: Meh, it was either that or . . . something else.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! ^_^

LaTeR dAyZ!

WOW!!!

its finally not a cliffhanger!! ..
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