I took a few liberties with Pokemon towns because they're more constructed for gameplay than they are in reference to the fact that they're towns.

"It might be better to…you know…hide together." Maxie can't stop the small smile from making its way onto his lips.

"And your reasoning would be?" He asks, already knowing that he will tag along with Archie, but wanting to tease him for the sake of it.

"Well, it would be better if—if the police ever found us—they found us together, wouldn't it? It would…" Archie can see Maxie's raised eyebrow and sighs, "Alright, I kind of like you in some completely screwed up way and if I'm going to be on the run I'd rather have some company."

"'On the run'? Really, Archie?"

"Maxie."

"Yes, I'll go with you. Now, let's get out of Sootopolis."

"That will require getting wet, Maxie."

A sigh, "Yes, I know."

Maxie, Archie, and Archie's Sharpedo burst above the surface as soon as they are out of Sootopolis. Archie usually likes to stay underwater longer, but, for Maxie's sake, he decided not to.

The expression on Maxie's face in response to being soaked is kind of priceless, though.

"Alright, Maxie?"

"What do you think?"

Archie laughs and urges his Sharpedo forward.

"Where are we going after we return the orbs?"

"I don't quite know yet."

"I like Lavaridge." Archie doesn't justify the comment with a response.

"I was thinking either Dewford, Slateport, or Lilycove. Because they're on the water, but not in the water."

"Dewford is an island!"

"Yeah, but it's not like…oh whatever. Do you want to pick, your highness? This is my Sharpedo, I could very well take us to Pacifidlog."

"I could steer this Sharpedo," Maxie says just to argue.

"With your dainty, little hands? Yeah, right." Archie makes a point of flashing his calloused hands at Maxie.

"Isn't Slateport where you and the rest of Team Aqua stole all that stuff, though?"

"Good point. A lot of tourists come by Lilycove, so we'd probably look less suspicious there. Though, the Team Aqua base was there, but it's been sealed off, so I think that'll be fine…."

"So, Lilycove?"

"Lilycove for now, I'd say." Archie steers Sharpedo in the direction of Mt. Pyre, keeping their choice of Lilycove in mind.

—

Coming into Lilycove looking considerably ragged and wearing clothing typical of members of Team Aqua and Team Magma is probably really suspicious. Fortunately, it's night by the time Archie and Maxie get there; therefore, there aren't many people wandering around Lilycove. Archie and Maxie give their Crobats a pat on the head and then call them him back into their respective pokeballs.

"We have to do something about our outfits."

"Such as?"

Maxie yanks Archie's bandana off of his head, ignoring the, "Hey!" that he lets out. Before Archie has the chance to protest any further, Maxie takes off his necklace as well.

"There. Now you look…less suspicious."

"And what about you?" Archie asks, still a little annoyed at being manhandled. Maxie takes off his coat and frowns at it.

"You can stuff your bandana and your necklace into your pockets, but I can't exactly do that with my coat…."

"Just turn it inside out and fold it up. I doubt the person working at the register is going to be paying too much attention at this late hour." Looking moderately scandalized, Maxie does.

When Archie and Maxie make it to the Cove Lily Motel, the receptionist is tapping her fingernails against the counter and looks dangerously close to falling asleep. She doesn't even notice that Maxie and Archie came in until Maxie clears his throat. She jerks upwards and stares at Archie and Maxie with wide eyes.

For a moment, Archie and Maxie think she recognizes them, and then, "Oh, I'm so sorry! With the whole Team Aqua and Team Magma business, we haven't been getting…well, any customers, and I work so late, and…."

"It's fine," Archie says, and Maxie briefly side eyes him, "working late is difficult." The receptionist sighs in relief.

"Oh, good. What kind of room would you like, sirs?"

"One with two queen beds would be nice." The girl hands them the keys to the room and they pay her. She does look a little confused at the wet and then dried again money, but she says nothing.

—

"I'm taking a shower first," Maxie says the moment they step into the room, and that's that. Archie sits down on one of the beds and turns on the news. It's 3 AM, but they're showing an earlier news broadcast again. Archie is fairly surprised to see a woman holding a microphone out to May.

"How do you feel about Team Aqua and Team Magma now that they have gone through with their plans and you have helped stop them?"

"I like them, actually. Their plans may have been…extreme, but I never detected any sort of animosity from either of them. They also seemed to be genuinely sorry about everything that happened. And even when I was trying to stop them, I always thought that they were interesting people."

"I see…. So, then, how do you feel about the fact that the police are looking for Archie and Maxie?"

"Well, I mean…I think they've learned their lesson. I understand that they've committed crimes, but I really believe that they won't commit any more. I hope they're alright, wherever they are." May glances toward the camera, and the knowledge that Archie has that May is smart is established once more. He smiles, though, happy that she harbors no ill-will towards himself or Maxie.

The news broadcast continues to talk about Team Aqua, Team Magma, what they had done, and the police's plan on dealing with them. Archie watches with firmly set lips until Maxie comes out of the bathroom.

"Was that May's voice I heard earlier?" He asks, towel on his head. Archie resists the urge to laugh at him.

"Yeah, it was. She's a good kid." Archie gets up to go into the bathroom.

"What did she say?"

"She doesn't hate us. In fact, she likes us. She thinks we're interesting people."

"Well, that's good, I suppose."

"Oh, shut up. You like that girl just as much as I do." Archie leaves no room for Maxie to argue because he walks into the bathroom as soon as he finishes his sentence, but Maxie hadn't been planning on arguing anyway.

—

"We need a plan," Maxie says as he shakes Archie awake.

"What? What…what time 's it?" Archie looks over at the clock and groans when he sees that it's 10 AM. "Less than eight hours of sleep!"

"Shut up, Archie. We need a plan."

"What?"

"We have to get new clothes and," Maxie sighs, "I probably need to do something about my hair too."

"S' long 's you do the talking..." Maxie rolls his eyes.

They buy clothes from the department store. Maxie is decisively uncomfortable wearing blue jeans.

"You are the most uptight person I have ever met," Archie tells him.

"And you are the most infuriating person I have ever met."

"You agreed to come along with me."

"Yes, and you were about two steps away from begging me to."

"Maybe I was." Maxie's face turns red, and Archie snickers. "Now, are you gonna get that hair cut or what?" Maxie sighs.

"I suppose so." They walk from the motel back to the department store again. Archie wanders around the store while Maxie gets his hair cut.

While waiting, Archie wanders into a pokedoll store. He buys a Sharpedo and Camerupt doll; he admits that it's kind of stupid, but it's kind of cute too. Hurried steps come up behind him a few minutes after he leaves the pokedoll store, and he turns to see Maxie coming up toward him, his hair cut extremely short.

"I couldn't exactly call your name in such a public location. Also, why do you have two pokedolls?"

"Um. I liked them. I bought them."

"You are ridiculous."

"Your hair is ridiculous."

"I'll give you that." The two of them walk out of the store without any further conversation. Archie wanders off to the beach, and Maxie follows, looking a little ruffled at the prospect of being so close to the ocean. The beach is warm, though, so Maxie sits down and digs his feet into the sand.

"You're going to get those pokedolls dirty." Archie shrugs, then hands Maxie the Camerupt doll.

"Did you get this for me?"

"No." Maxie smiles and tries to hide it in the doll anyway.

The two of them sit on the beach for a while, watching the waves crash against the shore. Archie nearly falls asleep with his feet in the water and his elbows placed neatly on his knees. This state of almost-sleep is taken away from him when Maxie says, softly, "We really do need a plan, though, Archie."

"Let's just stay on the beach forever. Sharpedo could hang out in the water, Camerupt could sunbathe on the sand, our Crobats could fly around wherever they wanted, and our Mightyenas could play with each other in the sand or in the water, wherever they chose."

"Lovely fantasy, Archie," Maxie says, a twinge of annoyance in his voice, "but I'm afraid life cannot be sustained on just beaches and water alone, as you and the rest of Team Aqua seemed adamant on believing."

"Look at Pacifidlog!"

"Pacifidlog gets constant imports from other parts of Hoenn and hardly anyone is altogether bizarre enough to live there." Archie huffs. "We need a house, for starters; we can't stay at the motel forever. And, then, we also need a plan in case the police come by."

"Flying away on our Crobats?"

"That's actually not a bad idea. Now, about the house…."

"I saw one for rent. I thought it looked nice. I guess we do need a way to make money, though…. I could work by the harbor! I'm sure they need ship cleaners and such."

"I could work at the conest hall." Archie gives him a look. "What? Don't even try to tell me that you don't adore them as well." Archie doesn't respond to that.

"So, do we have the precious plan that you've been bugging me about all day?" Maxie makes an irritated, noncommittal sound.

The little house they rent is close to the beach. Everything is close to the beach in Lilycove, but this house more so than a lot of other things in the town. Maxie dyes his hair (Archie seems a little petulant for a day or two, even though it was his suggestion), Archie shaves his beard (Maxie seems a little petulant for a day or two, even though it was his suggestion), and they both get the jobs that they had talked about.

Maxie will have to admit, too, that he likes their house a lot, even though it is so close to the sea. He would never vocalize that to Archie, though.

Archie and Maxie are finally settling into their house; Maxie thinks that their lives are starting to calm down, when….

"Maxie, come in here!"

"What, Archie?" Maxie asks, though his question is easily answered when he steps into the room. A beaming May is on the screen, being interviewed yet again, though this time it is for a reason entirely different.

"…don't want to sound cocky! I am really happy, though. Gosh, I can't stop smiling!"

"You don't sound cocky at all! You worked hard and now you've beaten the Champion. It must be a great feeling!"

"Oh, it is. When I got my first pokemon, Swampert—at the time Mudkip—, I never ever thought I would end up here. I never even thought about it! I was just happy to be out with my pokemon."

"I think it's safe to say you've gotten pretty far, May. You're an inspiration all around the Hoenn region. Do you feel like anything's changed for you since you got all of this attention?"

"Well, yes! It is a little bit intimidating, having everyone know exactly who you are on sight. But, all of the attention I've gotten so far is mainly very, very positive, and it's…it's flattering! A bit overwhelming, though."

"What did you do when you first left the Pokemon League after defeating the champion?"

"I got on my Swellow and I flew home."

"How did your parents react?"

"My mom gave me the tightest hug you could imagine, and after we called my dad at his gym, he cried and came home early to congratulate me!"

Archie and Maxie are silent for a while. "She beat the champion." A statement.

"I'm proud of her."

"I can't say I'm surprised at all, though. That girl is light years ahead of everyone else in Hoenn in regards to pretty much everything."

"I can't help but to think May has a few surprises still up her sleeve, though."

"The horrible thing, Archie, is that you're probably right."

—

May does have more surprises up her sleeve. She goes through the thought process that Maxie and Archie went through when they were trying to pick a place to stay, and she flies to Lilycove. She really doesn't mind it, anyway; she loves the contest hall. All she has to do now that she's here is go door to door.

Archie and Maxie's house is actually the last one she checks, since she figures Maxie would have objected to being so close to water. At this point, she's second guessing herself and considers not knocking on the door at all. But, she does, which is a good thing.

Archie opens the door, and for a while, he and May just stare at each other, not saying anything. "I, um…I didn't think you'd be so close to the water. Is Maxie even with y—"

"Is that May?" Maxie asks, coming to the door. "Oh. It is May. Hello, May." May laughs a little.

"You know, I came here hoping to see you two and now that I have I don't know what to say."

"Well, why don't you come inside? You'll attract attention to us, anyway. And, Archie, don't be rude, say something to May!" Maxie nudges Archie out of the way and shuts the door behind May. May glances around the house and smiles to herself. It's very fitting for them.

"It's nice to see you, May," Archie says, seeming to have regained control of his voice.

"So, I guess you guys have been doing well." Maxie ushers May over to the couch and sits in one of the chairs across from her. Archie takes the other chair, and their two Mightyenas hop up on the couch beside May. Maxie opens his mouth to say that he can get them off the couch if they bother her, but May starts to scratch at their ears almost immediately, and the words are lost on Maxie's tongue.

"We've been doing about as well as two guys on the run can do. Did our new looks surprise you?" As he says this, Archie rubs at his cheeks.

"A little bit. I don't think I would have for sure known it was you if you hadn't acted so surprised, Archie!" May and Archie laugh.

"It's not every day the current champion and former thwarter of your plans comes to your doorstep, you know?" Maxie says, fiddling with his hands.

"Don't listen to Maxie. He's just upset because he likes you against his will." Maxie sends Archie a look. While this happens, May glances between the two of them and sees something that they don't yet see. A smile twitches at the corners of May's lips.

May leans further back into the couch and asks, "Do you think Shelly, Courtney, Matt, and Tabitha would be scandalized if they knew that you two were living together?" Archie and Maxie look at each other, and, then, together, they say,

"Probably."

Maxie gets up and walks toward the kitchen. "Would you like anything, May?" He asks.

"Um…if I could just have some water, that'd be great."

"How come you didn't ask me if I wanted anything?"

"If you want anything, you can just come in here and get it yourself." Archie grumbles something under his breath. May giggles and takes the water bottle Maxie hands her when he walks back into the room.

May sips on her water for a while in silence, occasionally stopping her petting of the Mightyenas' ears only to start again at an insistent snout pushing against her palm.

"How's that Swampert of yours?" Archie asks.

"He's good!"

"Are you still stopping ne'er-do-wells while surfing the oceans on his back?" May laughs so hard that she screws the cap back onto her water in fear of spilling it.

"No. Though, I'm sure he'd be more ready than ever if we still were." May glances at the clock on the wall and frowns a little. "Oh! I wish I could stay longer, but if I don't leave now I'll be home a bit later than I'd like to be…."

"That's fine, then," Maxie whisks the water bottle away from May, takes it into the kitchen, and then comes back into the living room, "it was…nice to see you, though, May."

"Come back whenever! It was great to see you!" May smiles a little at the contrast between Archie and Maxie's expression of sentiments.

With a few more goodbyes, May walks outside and flies away on her Swellow. Archie hits Maxie on the shoulder.

"I don't see why you have to be like that."

"Like what?"

"All standoffish and Maxieish."

"Maxieish?"

"Yes." Maxie sighs; he learned a very long time ago that Archie and logical reasoning don't tend to go together.