A/N: Hoennshipping~! I wrote this up for Pokanon almost a year ago, though I made sure to changed a few things and made it longer. The prompt was "Cute first date, with holding hands and maybe an awkward first kiss." I hope I managed it :)

"Just what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"I, uh…" Brendan shifted nervously under Norman's severe glare. The way the gym leader was looking at him, he had the feeling that nothing could say would make himself look good. "I… I don't have any intentions towards May."

Norman's nostrils flared and he knew instantly that that was a mistake.

"So what do you expect of this relationship?" Norman's voice was calm, but there was something underneath that seemed menacing. "Do you plan on stinging her along, toying with her feelings? Is that what you plan on doing to my little girl?"

"Actually, I feel v-very lucky that she agreed go out with me. I wouldn't dare toy with her feelings, sir." He said, hoping that he wasn't digging himself deeper.

He held his breath while Norman silently analyzed his words. His glare didn't soften even a little, but the next words that came out of his mouth didn't completely terrify him, at least.

"Decent answer." Norman said.

Mentally, Brendan breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he could come out of this interrogation alive after all.

"I will let her go with you tonight." Norman said. He cracked his knuckles in a way that Brendan knew was meant to intimidate him. It did, definitely. "But there are a few things I want you to know first. Are you listening?"

Brendan gulped. "Y-Yes sir!"

"Number one, at the end of the night I don't want to hear that she had a bad time. If I hear that you treated her badly, or made her upset in any way, I'll have my Spinda follow you home. And it's eager to use dizzy punch. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Brendan said nodding as fast as he could.

"Good. Number two, have her home by eight o'clock." He said. "You cannot be late. If you are even one minute late, I'll have my Vigoroth go out looking for you. It's trained to use slash against anybody who's keeping my daughter away from home. Understand?"

"I do, sir."

"Good. Lastly, number three. If I catch you being anything but a perfect gentleman to her, I'll have my Slaking show you just what we think of non-gentlemen. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly, sir." Brendan said, afraid to even breathe in the same room with May now.

"Good. I'm glad we have an understanding between us." He said, offering his hand. Brendan was nervous about shaking it, and rightfully so. He thought Norman would sever his fingers with the grip he had on his hand.

Norman then turned towards the stairs and quickly lost the intimidating look on his face. "There's my little girl now!"

Brendan turned and felt his face heat up. May was coming down the stairs slowly, a shy smile on her face, dressed in a dark blue skirt and a lighter blue top. Her mother trailed behind her, fussing with her daughter's clothes as they descended the stairs. He and Norman stood up and walked forward to greet the two.

"Sorry I took so long, mom and I were—" Just as she was stepping off the last step, she tripped on her platform sandals. She made a little squeak as she fell, and she would have landed hard if Brendan hadn't caught her at the last second.

"You okay?" He asked, helping her back on her feet.

She smiled at him sweetly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Looks like my mom was right about these shoes…"

"I told you, May." Her mother said, shaking her head even as she was walking back up the stairs. "I'll go get that other pair."

"Thanks mom!" May said, taking off the ones she was currently wearing. She held on to Brendan as she did, and he kept his hand around her waist to support her. Over her head, Norman shot Brendan a warning look. Too close, it said.

Brendan gulped. As soon as the shoes were off, he stepped away from her. May gave him a confused look, but she didn't question him.

"Where are you two headed tonight?" Norman asked, his voice eerily pleasant.

May smiled at her father. "We were thinking of going to that new noodle shop in Oldale Town. You know, the one that just opened up?"

Norman nodded, but he didn't look pleased. "It's a little cheap, don't you think so sweetheart?"

That 'cheap' was directed at him, Brendan knew it. He was about to open his mouth to say something, (what, exactly, he had no idea) when May answered for him.

"Actually, it was my idea to go there." She said. "It's our first date, not a ten year anniversary, so it doesn't have to be extravagant. Right, Brendan?"

"Oh, yeah." He said, a little surprised by her explanation. It had actually been both of them who decided to go to Oldale, but he wasn't about to correct her.

"I see." Norman said, clearly disappointed that he didn't have one more reason to hate him. May didn't seem to notice though, because her mother was coming down the stairs, a pair of flat shoes in her hands.

"Here you are, May." She said.

May hurried over to her and slipped them on. She took a few steps forward, and gave her a wide grin. "That's so much better."

"Well, I guess we should let these two go." Norman said. His smile didn't look warm, exactly, but Brendan could tell that was the look he was going for. "Be back by eight o'clock, May."

"Eight?" May frowned. "That hardly gives us any time to do anything! How about ten, dad?"

"Eight." Norman said, the tone of his voice saying that there would be no room for discussion. May wasn't having any of it though.

"Nine thirty?" She asked, appealing to her mother this time. "Please, mom?"

"Norman, that isn't too late." Her mother said, nudging her husband.

"I'll go as high as eight thirty." Norman said, shooting Brendan a look that said this was as high as he was willing to go. His eyes, the same color as May's, seemed to bore into him.

"I'm okay with that." Brendan said, suppressing a shudder.

"Well, I'm not." May said, crossing her arms over her chest. "How about nine? Just another half hour?"

"I said—" Norman was cut off by his wife putting her hand over his mouth.

"That's fine by us, May. You two go have fun now!" She said, waving them towards the door. She winked at her daughter and May nodded.

"Let's go!" She said, grabbing Brendan's hand and hurrying out the door. Brendan heard Norman and his wife start talking just as the door closed behind them.

Brendan breathed out a sigh of relief. "That was brutal."

May shook her head and smiled up at him. "I can't believe you lasted as long as you did."

"What do you mean?" He asked. They started walking away from the house, their hands still locked together.

"My dad's really mean to any boys I bring home." She said. "I think you were really brave just now. The last guy ran out and refuses to even look at me anymore."

"Who's this other guy?" Brendan asked, a twinge of jealousy going through him.

May giggled. "Just some coordinator guy I thought I liked a couple of years ago. After seeing how much of a coward he was, I kinda stopped liking him. Facing my dad is almost a test now."

"So I guess I passed then?" Brendan asked.

"You sure did." She said. "I'm sorry you had to go through it, though."

"I thought I was going to die in there." He said, laughing. "But I feel fine now he isn't glaring at me."

"You know, I don't think he can see us right now." She looked behind them and saw they were out of sight of the house. "I think I can do it now."

"Do what?" He asked.

"This." She said, standing on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. It was brief, just a gentle press of her lips against his skin, but it still surprised him.

"Wh-What was that for?" He asked, stuttering a bit.

Her face was pink. "It was going to be awkward at the end of the night with my dad glaring at you from the window at the end of the night, so I figured we'd get it out of the way first thing."

"Oh." Brendan said, feeling his own face heat up. Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek, as quickly as she had. He grinned at the wide eyed look she gave him as she pressed her hand to the side of her face. "I should have been the one to do it first, but I guess that's good too."

"C-Come on, we only have until nine." She said. She squeezed his hand and walked forward. He let her lead the way, keeping their hands connected the whole time.

::

"So what do you want to eat?" May asked, looking up at the sign that announced all the various forms of noodles available.

Brendan let his eyes roll over the words, not really paying attention. "I don't know. I'll have whatever you're having, I guess."

She stuck her tongue out at him, teasingly. "But what if you don't like what I'm getting, huh? You should really make your own choice, Mr. Professor in training."

He turned to face her, feeling his heart skip a beat. She looked really pretty right now in her light blue outfit. He felt a little under dressed. He shook his head, willing away the Beautifly in his stomach. It was just a date, right? Nothing to get nervous about. "Okay then, give me a minute. I'm not great at making decisions in the heat of the moment, you know."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled. "Especially on the important things like, oh, picking out your starter."

He felt his face heat up. "I wish my mom had never told you that story."

"Aw, but it's so cute!" She said, grabbing his arm and pressing herself closer to him. "It's okay, I already know what I want, so I'll just go order it while you take half the night choosing something."

He blinked, confused by her words. "Wait, you already know what you want?"

She raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing on her features. "I always know what I want, Brendan. How do you think I got to be the youngest Champion in Hoenn?"

"That's not what I meant." He said, rolling his eyes. She couldn't help but bring that up every time they hung out together, not that he blamed her. It was quite the accomplishment.

She giggled, dropping her haughty expression. "I know, I was just trying to tease you. I'll be waiting at one of the tables while you choose, okay?"

She started to move away from him, but he caught her wrist before she went too far. "Wait, I have to buy your food." He said, feeling his eyes growing wide. He was supposed to be the perfect gentleman to her, right? And gentlemen always bought dinner for their dates.

She tilted her head, puzzled by his expression. "No, it's okay. I brought enough money for myself."

He shook his head, hearing Norman's words echo through his mind. "I'm going to buy you your meal, okay? I want to."

She stared at him for a few seconds, as if wondering what was wrong with him, before shrugging and nodding. "Alright, if you insist. Lead the way, Mr. Birch."

"Please don't call me that." He groaned. "That makes me sound like my dad."

"He's a professor, not a mister." May said, as if that made up for it.

He sighed, but let it drop. It wasn't as if it really mattered to him what she called him. But he didn't want it to be about their parents tonight. He just wanted it to be about the two of them.

The cashier greeted them with a warm smile. "Welcome! May I take your order?"

"Yes, I'd like the number six." May said, smiling back at the cashier. He was a taller guy, and attractive by female standards Brendan guessed. He put in her order, but he didn't take his eyes off of her as he repeated the question to Brendan.

It was all unnerving. He scanned the menu again, and said the first thing that he read. "I'll have the number three, thank you."

The guy put his order in the machine. "Will that be everything, miss?" He asked, directing the question towards May specifically.

"That's it for me." She nodded, and she didn't seem to notice that the guy still had yet to take his eyes off her. "How about you, Brendan?"

"Yeah, that's all." He said, focusing on the marble countertop. He couldn't let her see how uncomfortable he was right now.

He heard the cashier push a few more buttons on his cash register. "Alright, that will be twenty two fifty."

Brendan felt his eyes widen in surprise. He looked up from the counter, too surprised to even care about how much taller this guy was than him. "Did you say twenty two fifty?"

The guy nodded. "Yep, the number six is eight twenty and the number three is twelve thirty."

May titled her head, her eyebrows knitting together. "Didn't you realize that when you picked your order, Brendan?"

"I, uh, I did…" He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. He knew exactly how much he'd brought with him for his date, and he knew that he was going to come up short, but still he opened it and searched through the inside hopefully. "… I only brought a twenty with me though."

"Really?" May asked. She didn't look disappointed at least, but he could tell that she was struggling to hide a smile. "Do you want me to order something cheaper?"

"No." He said, feeling his eyes widen at the thought. "I'll just order something else, don't worry about it."

"Or you could just let me pay the extra." She reached into her purse and held up her hand before he could say anything. "Come on, it's the least I can do." She added when he opened his mouth to protest.

He decided that it would be less embarrassing for him if he just let her pay. The cashier was already grinning at the whole thing and he wordlessly passed over his twenty dollar bill while May passed over three singles. The cashier took their money and handed back the change to May.

"Thank you, your order will be ready in a few minutes." He said, and he gave May a particularly friendly smile. "Have a nice night."

"Thanks, you too." She said, grabbing Brendan's hand and leading him over to one of the empty tables. When they were sitting, she placed the fifty cents in front of him. "Here, you can have the change."

He blinked at the coins and shook his head. "No, that's your change. You keep it."

She raised her eyebrow, a soft smile playing on her features. "Aw, does it feel like your pride's been a little bruised?"

"My pride isn't—" He started, feeling the blood rush to his face. How had she known?

She giggled and cut him off. "I've seen this same situation happen between my mom and my dad. Don't worry, she doesn't think any less of him, and I don't think any less of you either. In fact, it makes me feel like less of a freeloader, so just get over it and take the change, okay?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, wondering how she could say something like that so easily and still make him feel better. He smiled and accepted the change. "You sure you don't mind?"

"Please, you're doing me a favor. I hate carrying change." She said, frowning. "I don't like jingling."

"Why not?" He asked, amused by her expression.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it reminds me of the time I spent five hours running around Mt. Pyre searching for a Chimeco. I kept hearing them jingling somewhere, but I couldn't find a single one!"

"Yeah, I hear they're really hard to find." Brendan said, feeling his mouth curve up. "Of course, I found one the first time I went up there, so I wouldn't know."

"You what?" May asked, the pitch in her voice suddenly going higher. She glanced around the restaurant, embarrassed at all the people who were suddenly staring at her. She made sure her voice was at a much more appropriate level when she addressed him again. "You did not."

He nodded, feeling a little smug. "I did, actually. My dad sent me off to access the distribution rates of the Pokémon on Mt. Pyre a few weeks ago and it just wandered over to me."

"Wandered over to you?" May echoed, disbelief coloring her tone. "You didn't even have to look for it?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

Her mouth popped open. "Lucky! It's just like that time I was looking for a Skitty outside of Rustboro and you walked over with one in your arms! I swear, you and Wally are rare Pokémon magnets!"

"We can't help that we're lucky, May." He replied, enjoying the way she was silently fuming. She was always really cute when she was angry or frustrated with him. He didn't dare mention it though, because the last time he had, it had earned him a really scary glare. Instead he said, "Hey, at least you got to see the weather trio up close!"

It seemed to pacify her a bit. "Well, that's true…"

He grinned at her. "You've got us beat there, Hoenn Champ."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "Don't call me that, it makes me sound so old and professional."

"Hey, I would have thought you liked sounding old and professional." He said, teasing her. She'd done enough of it herself, so he figured that he had the right to get in a few jabs too.

"You're such a dork!" She told him, but the smile she gave him let him know that she didn't mean it in a bad way. She turned her head over to the cashier and craned her neck. "Do you think that cashier guy is going to give us our food? Or are we going to have to go get it ourselves?"

Brendan felt a little defensive suddenly. "Why, do you want him to talk to you again?"

She blinked at his tone. "No. I was just wondering what kind of a restaurant this was like."

"Oh." He said, berating himself internally for his jealousy. "Because I'll go pick up your meal for you if you want to be served. We don't need that guy to come over here."

She looked at him for a few seconds, an amused smile on her face. "Correct me if I'm wrong Brendan, but I think you're a little jealous of him."

"I am not!" He said immediately, keeping his eyes on the napkin dispenser in between them. "I just… saw the way he was looking at you and you're too young for him."

She moved her hand over his and waited until he was looking into her eyes before speaking. "Brendan, I'm not interested in anybody but you got it? You don't have to be so nervous. It may be the first time I've gotten this far in a date with someone, but you don't have to try so hard for me."

He knew that his cheeks were probably as red as a Pikachu's were, but still he tried to say his next words in a cool manner. He had to save some of his dignity. "Who's trying hard? Not me."

She giggled at his act, though not in a mean way. "I'm already having a great time. Just pretend it's like any other time we've eaten together."

He turned his hand underneath hers so that they were clasped together. "Okay, I'll try."

"Thank you. And you're much cooler than that guy anyways." She said. He could tell that she was enjoying the fact that he was jealous over her. "You're just my type."

Just then a loud clear voice called from the front of the restaurant. "Order number six and three ready!"

"Guess it's the pick up your own food kind of place." Brendan said, a pleased smile on his face. He stood up and bowed slightly. "I'll be bringing you your food, Ms. Champion."

She laughed and lightheartedly hit his arm. "Hey, don't call me that either!"

::

"That was the best meal I've ever had!" May sighed, looking up at the streetlights with a dreamy look on her face. "We have to go back there again some time."

Brendan nodded, agreeing with her about the quality of the meal. He definitely did not regret getting the number three now, it had been amazing. "Well, we can always go on our next date."

She grinned up at him coyly. "Oh, are you already thinking about a next time, Brendan? So presumptuous…"

He blushed, realizing how it must have sounded to her. "I meant if you wanted to, of course."

"Of course." She said, twirling in a circle. She seemed to be a little extra happy with her stomach full, not that he was complaining. "I don't know about going to the same place for a second date though, those have to be a little extra special than the first ones."

"They do?" He asked. He hadn't heard about that. Then again, this was just his first date ever, so he WOULDN'T know anything about it. Maybe he should ask his dad's assistant, Joshua. He was older and had a lot more experience with these kinds of things...

She giggled at his nervous expression. "Just teasing."

"Oh." He blinked. He really needed to stop believing everything she said about dating, didn't he?

They walked down the street, close enough so that their shoulders were touching. Brendan wasn't sure if he should wrap his arm around her, so he kept his hands to himself. If she wanted him to move closer or anything, she would tell him, right? He hoped that was the case, because he didn't want to risk putting his arm around her shoulder and have her consider that to be rude or worse, ungentlemanly. She seemed fine, from what he could see out of the corner of his eye.

They were close to the end of Oldale Town when May shivered slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed at her exposed upper arms. "Wow, I didn't realize how cold it had gotten."

Brendan quickly shrugged out of his jacket and held it out to her. "Here, I'm not cold at all."

She blinked at the article of clothing, surprised by his offer. "Are you sure? I wasn't trying to get your jacket or anything—"

"I'm sure." He said, draping it over her shoulders. "Just take it, alright? I don't want you to catch a cold."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, I've been through torrential rains and not even gotten the sniffles! But… thank you for your jacket." She said, giving him a warm smile.

He felt his own lips curving up with hers. "No problem."

He had made sure that they'd gotten out of the restaurant half an hour before they had to get back, giving them plenty of time to get back to Littleroot. He could feel his breath starting to speed up the closer they got, and he started to really worry about what would be waiting to greet them. May was quick to notice the sudden shift in his body language.

"You don't have to be so worried." May said, breaking him out of his reverie. She smiled at the nervous look on his face, reassuring him a bit. "I mean, if my dad was going to do anything, he would have done it by now. But seeing as he didn't come after us in the restaurant, I'm sure that my mom has a good hold on him."

"That's very reassuring." He said, though he didn't sound at all convinced.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed his fingers. "It should be. You gotta trust me on this, he isn't going to do anything. He actually thinks you're a really nice guy, he told me himself."

His mind flashed back to the interrogation that Norman had put him through, highly doubting that was the case. But May looked convinced and he'd always trusted that look in her eyes, even back when they were taking down Team Aqua and Team Magma, and he wasn't about to stop trusting her now. "Okay, but I think he still would rather keep you away from guys."

"Naturally, he's my father." She said, and her laugh was enough to dispel the tension that had been growing at the pit of his stomach.

It came rushing back the minute May's house came into view though. He couldn't see Norman anywhere in the vicinity, but he suspected that he was somewhere nearby, glaring down at the two of them. Or rather, just at him.

He walked May right to her door, like a gentleman he hoped, and stood there awkwardly, wondering what to do next. May seemed to feel just as awkward, shuffling from foot to foot and glancing up at him every few seconds.

"So…" They both started, laughing nervously when they realized it. He motioned for her to go first.

May glanced over from him to the windows. "I'm pretty sure my dad's looking at us from somewhere inside the house. I guess I was right when I said that we wouldn't be able to have a real good night kiss."

"Yeah." He agreed, sneaking a peek at the window she was looking at. He couldn't be sure, but he thought that he might have seen the curtain shift a little. No, he wasn't going to risk getting attacked by one of Norman's Pokémon. He held his hand out to May. "I guess we'll have to settle for a good night handshake instead."

May sighed, clearly disappointed. "Guess so. Good night, Brendan."

She reached out and took his hand, giving him a firm handshake. He started to pull his hand back when her grip on him suddenly tightened. He looked down at their intertwined hands in confusion. "May?"

"Oh, what the hell." She said, giving him a devilish grin. He didn't like that look at all, yet at the same time he really did.

"What are you—?" He started, only to be cut off when she pulled him down to her level, capturing his lips with hers. He felt his eyes widen in shock. Was she really this bold to be kissing him with her father most definitely looked down at them? Yes, of course she was. And he found that he really didn't mind it when her hand came up from him hand to cup his cheek. They stood there for a moment, just enjoying their kiss, until there was a loud crash coming from inside the house followed by heavy footfalls.

May pulled away first, a satisfied smile on her face. Brendan couldn't form a proper response, dazed as he was.

"You better start running." May said as she turned him around and gave him a gentle push in the direction of his house. "He'll be here any second."

He felt his head nod, and it took him a second to actually get his feet moving. When he heard Norman's angry voice from just behind the door, he didn't waste any time and started running as fast as his legs could carry him.

But even if a vicious Vigoroth was barreling towards him, he didn't regret that kiss for an instant.