It all started with a bite...

I warned him not to just "see how it goes."

I told him to get it checked. It was serious.

But he didn't listen.

All of this happened quite a few years ago. Well, at least it started a few years ago. On that day, with that one bite.

~Chapter One~

"Brendan! Wait up!"

"You speed up!"

I ran past all the trees and rocks to catch up with him. Brendan always liked to race. Especially now that we had beaten the Elite Four, we had plenty of time for fun. We were right around Fortree City, in Route 120. I guessed we were going to be camping out, Brendan didn't say anything about renting a room. We were eighteen, and had the whole region to ourselves.

"Brendan, come on, it's getting dark out. I can't even see where you're going!" I called out. But I got no answer. "Brendan?" Still, nothing. "BRENDAN!" I screamed. I did not want to spend the night in a dark forest by myself. I stood there, waiting for him to answer me...

Suddenly, I got grabbed around the waist. I screamed and pulled away so quickly I fell to the ground. Then I heard laughter... "Brendan! I can't believe you!"

"Sorry, May! I had to, it was just so easy!" He continued to laugh as he pulled me up.

"We'll see how much you're laughing when I leave you and go home," I threatened.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop. Come on, let's set up camp."

As we were setting up, I kept hearing branches break. I figured it was just a wild pokemon, but usually they left campsites alone... Unless something was wrong... I tried to focus on my fire.

"Okay, I got the bed set up inside. How's the fire coming?"

"Fine... but I think there's something out there."

"Well yeah there's-"

"No, I mean there's something bad out there, not just a pokemon!" I stood up to face him.

"It's okay, May. Calm down," he put his arm around me. It made my stomach do a few flips, which didn't make me feel any better. We were still kind of half way to a relationship. You know, awkwardly not official... But now was no time to think about it.

"Please, let's just go back to town." I begged. "Please!"

"May, it will only make it worse if we have to make our way through this forest at night. It will be better if we just stay here."

It felt like I was going to cry. I was terrified. My pokemon were always with me, but what if they got hurt too? "Can you at least help me with this fire?"

Brendan had a fire going in seconds, thanks to his Blaziken. I sat close to him, I was still very scared. The breaking of branches and the footsteps never stopped.

"I think we should go..." I tired starting again. But Brendan wasn't budging.

"You know what, I'm going to find that thing." He stood up, causing me to release his arm. "I'll be back."

"Brendan! No! Don't!" I tried to go after him but he already disappeared into the tall grass and trees. "Brendan!"

I didn't hear any footsteps for a few minutes. I was shaking violently. The minutes passed so slowly and quietly...

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

"AHHH!" I heard Brendan scream, which caused me to scream even louder.

"BRENDAN?" I shouted out as loud as I could. No answer. The absolute last thing I wanted to do was go in there after him... But I had to...

Or at least I thought. A few seconds later, Brendan came out of the woods, cradling his right hand. "Brendan! Oh my god!" I ran over to him and threw my arms around him , which made him whimper with pain. My arms whipped back to me and I stared at him. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I.. uh..."

"Brendan," I said sternly, "let me see your hand."

A shaking, bloody hand came toward me. I gasped. "Okay, we're going back to town, right now."

I had the camp packed up sloppily in seconds. Then I stomped the fire out. Brendan was quietly wrapping up his wound. "I think I'll be okay," he said.

"It doesn't matter what you think. We're going back."

"But, May I-"

"Shut up, you're going to the pokemon center and getting that looked at. What happened anyway?"

"I don't know. I was looking for the pokemon that was scaring you and it found me first. I didn't see what it was, but it bit me. It's not a big deal. Remember when we were kids and I got bit by that Zigzagoon?"

"It wasn't a Zigzagoon this time, Brendan!" I was getting frantic, so I took a deep breath. "Okay, we're obviously not safe out here. Come on, please. Please, can we get back into town."

"Fine, but I'm not going to a pokemon center."

"Fine. But if it gets any worse, you're going."

We walked back to town in silence. Mainly because I was still terrified of attracting more pokemon. Brendan was just being a baby. When we got back into Fortree town, it was just about midnight. I checked into a room while Brendan hid his hand behind me. I was so extremely annoyed with him that when we got to the room I went to bed instantly.

The next morning I woke up before Brendan. I got up and got dressed. Then I decided to wake Brendan up so we could get out and train a little. We were actually trying to buy a house... Anyway I walked up to Brendan's bed, where he had his wrapped up hand proped up next to his head. I wanted to see if it had gotten better. So, I gently moved the towel he had around it...

Then I screamed at what I saw. Brendan lept out of bed and stared at me as I covered my mouth.

"Brendan! Look at your hand!"

"What? What's wrong with it?" He shouted as he lifted his hand up. But that's the thing, nothing was wrong with it. It was completely healed. "Wow, I told you that it was no big deal."

"Brendan, stop it. You need to get this checked out! This isn't normal. I saw it last night, it was gushing blood, and crushed, and disgusting! Look at the blood on the towel! It isn't normal for it just to heal, Brendan!" I was getting angry at him. He was being so stupid.

"May, don't worry. We'll get home, and I'll talk to my dad. Okay?" He tried to touch my cheek with his hand, his right hand. I ducked away from it.

"Just hurry up," I sighed.