CHAPTER TWO

May sighs as she zips up the last of her suitcases and hands it to Combusken, who places it with the others at the end of the room.

It's been a week since Norman and Caroline announced that the Maples were in fact heading to Johto this summer, just not their usual spot. Instead of spending the summer in Goldenrod City with their grandparents, they were spending it in Olivine City with a friend of Norman's. A stranger, in May's eyes. Even if he was her dad's close friend, May had never heard about him, never met him, nor did she want to. She had been so excited about seeing her grandparents this year, that the sudden news that it wasn't happening pretty much crushed her. May no longer cares for summer, at least not this year. She already knows it will be her worst summer vacation yet.

"Well, I guess that's it, Combusken," she says and sits on her bed, looking at her fire Pokémon. The fire chicken looks back at her and nods, not knowing exactly what to say. May smiles and grabs her pokeballs from her desk and tosses them all into the air. Four figures pop out from the red and white balls and call out their name at the same time.

Munchlax, Skitty, Beautifly and Bulbasaur all form a line next to Combusken, looking up at their trainer waiting for instructions.

"Alright, guys," May begins, "This year we're going to Olivine City..! Yay..!" She smiles slightly and her Pokémon smile back at her, though they sense the lacking in her voice.

"May!" she hears her brother from the living room, "Come load your bags into the car!" My sighs and grabs one of her suitcases, and walks out the room. Combusken, Munchlax, and Bulbasaur each grab one as well and follow May out the door, with Skitty and Beautifly leading them.

Outside, Norman and Max are loading the last of their bags into the back of the car. Max takes May's bag and loads it as well, while her Pokémon help and start stuffing the last of her things into the car. May sighs and leans against the car, crossing her arms.

"May, stop being such a downer," Norman says as he closes the trunk of the car, "You never know, you might like Olivine City more than Goldenrod!"

"Hah - that's a laugh," May murmurs.

Norman smiles at his daughter. He knows this will be a good summer, and soon so will she.

"Just make sure you get some sleep tonight," he responds, "We have a long trip ahead of us in the morning." With that, Norman, May, Max and the Pokémon head inside the house to prepare for their road trip in the morning.

The trip itself isn't bad at all, aside from the fact that May has to keep all her Pokémon in their poke balls. Occasionally Skitty will pop out and take a nap on May's lap, but the trip is mostly Pokemon-less.

Looking out the window of the car, May knows instantly when they leave Hoenn and enter Johto. Suddenly, there are no more Taillow or Wingull flying around, but instead instead Pidgey and Pidgeotto. Wurmple are scarce and Caterpie and Weedle are abundant. May can hear the howls of Houndour and Growlithe in the background as the car rides through the road winding between the woods.

"Dad, how much longer till we get there?" Max asks, looking up from his PokeNav.

"Not much longer, son," Norman replies, "We're almost entering Goldenrod City."

May's mood rises sharply as she hears the name of the city she loves so much. As if on cue, up ahead the golden skyline of the city is seen at the horizon along with the setting sun from behind the tallest buildings. May smiles and gazes at the city, then falls asleep.

"May, wake up! We're here!"

May sits right up and looks around at her surroundings, which are very unfamiliar to her. Out of her car door she sees the beach, where the dark navy ocean crashes against the shore. The sky is dark and the moon is high above them and where you can see the shadows of flying Pokémon against its bright surface. The night is peacefully quiet, only the sound of the beach can be heard.

"We're here?" May says, getting out of the car. She walks up to her brother, who is stretching from the long car ride.

"Yep!" he answers, "The beach house is over there." He points to a large, white house up on a cliff by the side of the beach. The house is huge, two stories with a balcony. It's gated by a white fence and May can see that there is a large swimming pool next to the house, accompanied by a smaller, also white pool house. May almost gets chills-it's been a while since she's seen such a beautiful building.

One of the windows on the second story shows that the light in that room is on, and May notices the figure of a person leaning on the windowsill and staring out into the ocean. The silhouette seems to be of a male, and May sees him look down to where her and her family are, then disappear from the window. The light goes off.

"Come on, kids," Caroline says before May can mention it to anyone, "Let's go ring the door bell."

The family makes their way up the stairway built into the side of the cliff leading up to the beach house. When they arrive huffing and breathing heavily at the top of the cliff, the porch light of the house goes on. The front door opens and reveals a man about the same age as Norman. He has green hair, slicked back with a few stray hairs resting on his forehead. His eyes are dark brown, but are mostly hidden behind a pair of thick glasses. He wears a cotton, white tank with green pajama bottoms. Behind him is a woman of the same age with long, blonde hair, almost white. She's of fair skin with piercing, emerald eyes. She wears a long, white night-gown.

"Norman!" The green-haired man exclaims, "I thought it was you I heard out here. It's about time!"

"It's been a while, Mark," Norman responds, walking up to the man and shaking his hand.

"It sure has," Mark says.

"Kids!" Norman says, turning to May and Max, "This is Mark Hayden. We were best friends in school."

"Hello!" May and Max say, greeting their father's old friend with a smile.

"It's so nice to see you again," Caroline says, "You, too, Cecilia!"

The blonde woman smiles at Caroline and says, "It's been far too long!"

"Well, come on in!" Mark says, "Let's get you settled"

Finally, all the Maples' belongings are inside the house and in their respective bedrooms, and they sit in the living room for a while, the adults reminiscing of the good old days, while Max and May nod off on the couch.

After a good hour or two, Cecilia finally interrupts the nostalgia with, "You guys should rest. It's been a long trip, we can catch up tomorrow."

"You're right," Norman says and stands up to stretch. He glances over at Max who is fast asleep on the couch. May is well on her way there.

"The kids seem to be on it already," he says with a sense of humor in his voice.

Norman carries Max off to his bedroom, and after being woken by Caroline, May walks up the stairs to her bedroom. She's so sleepy that she doesn't even bother to look up, keeping her tired eyes fixed on her feet. Right before turning into the hallway that leads to the room she's staying in, she feels herself bump into someone coming out of a bathroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry," May says, finally looking up, only to lock eyes with deep, emerald ones staring right back at her. He's a boy about May's age, maybe a year older. He has green hair, much like Mark's, but his is long, and draped over his eyes. The boy is shirtless, only wearing dark blue pajama bottoms. May blushes at the sigh of his sculpted stomach. The boy looks at May for a moment, his eyes wandering from her neck, to her lips to her eyes.

"It's okay," he says simply, and walks down the hallway into a room right across from May's bedroom. May stays in her spot for a while, waiting for her red cheeks to return to their normal color before finally going into her bedroom.

I'm just gonna say right now that if you've read this before, you probably saw it at the Serebii Forums! I posted it there before under the username Shiny_Clefairy and now its here. Enjoy x