They’re my Only Friends, in this World I Must Defend

“Let’s…Let me catch a breather for a second.”

May sat down cross-legged on top of a boulder and cracked open her canteen, taking a hearty swig of now warm water. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her Pokémon gathering around her. Rafeeq stretched his limbs as if he were pausing during a moderate workout and not from a rapid ascent and descent of a mountain, punctuated by intense combat with Team Magma. The Blaziken still impressed her, even on their second journey together.

“What was up with that Maxie guy, huh?” she said to Rafeeq, who chirped back. May imagined it meant “Who knows?” and laughed in response.

May saw Team Magma at just about every stage of her journey, and they too seemed unhappy to see her when she’d rush in and crash whatever nefarious nonsense they were organizing. She couldn’t help herself; no one should leave that sort of stuff unopposed. She was always the sole person squashing Magma’s plans (e.g. forcing a volcanic eruption next to a large human habitat), but at least she had Pokémon by her side. Or in her Gallade’s case, charging in front.

May and Sylvia were two peas in a pod. She was a Ralts befriended on the way to Route 103, where May ignored her father’s wishes and rode her Politoed, Kirby, across the channel towards Slateport City’s contest hall. Seeing Lisia greeting her fans outside the entrance had evoked something powerful in May’s turbulent mind.

She could still remember the enthusiastic expression Lisia had when she first met this runaway child with an affinity for drag alongside her Ralts. It was completely opposite to what Lisia’s face showed when May returned years later with a Gallade and the shortest asymmetrical haircut her butch ass could pull off. May told herself it was no big loss; she didn’t want to be Lisia’s gay boy accessory, anyway.

“I’m surprised you can even walk after all that fighting, Sylvia.” Her response was the usual ethereal speech that all of Ralts’ evolutions used. It sounded just as full of vigor as when they began their ascent. “I know you’re used to long work outs; I’m still impressed, either way.”

May felt like she had just enough strength in her limbs to make it to town and if she didn’t, well, she could have someone create a secret base to camp out in. Teaching everyone on her team Secret Power was one of the many good ideas May had learned from her first time around the region. Making secret bases on command was so useful whenever she felt overstimulated and just needed a quiet space. Or, in one case in Route 111, when she remembered what happened April 12th last year in vivid detail and spent the night crying on the floor of a makeshift cave. May’s wailing attracted Nerissa, who comforted a complete stranger in the middle of the night and stuck with her ever since.

“Ready to head out, Nerissa?” May asked the resting Vibrava while they were prepping to go. “I bet I can beat you to the bottom!”

Nerissa launched herself into the air, hovering at head height and raring to go. May grinned at the sight and sped off downhill, pursued by her partners.


Everyone in Lavaridge Town seemed surprisingly calm considering yesterday they were moments away from volcanic annihilation. Not that she was expecting everyone to be in a panic, but no one at the Pokémon center this morning or elsewhere in town seemed to even know what had happened. The whole place just seemed so isolated.

May skipped the entire valley that Lavaridge occupied her first time around the continent. No contests, nothing else really to do, so she passed it by on her way to Fallabur. This time, it was Fallabur Town and the entire north that she was skipping. She still remembered the feeling of her first ashfall coating her clothes and her beauty contest runner-up medal. No time to revisit it, though. Dad would yell at her if she didn’t sprint through the gym challenge.

Last time May checked, Lavaridge and Petalburg were the only other gyms on this side of the region she hadn’t done yet. She’d been putting off doing Petalburg for a while now, but it’d be a long trek from Sotopolis to Dad’s gym if she kept it for last. May wondered if beating Dad now would convince him to stop asking for photographic evidence that she was properly completing each stage of the league this time around. She pondered this as she entered Lavaridge’s gym.

Every gym in Hoenn had its own gimmick that seemed designed to make the process as annoying as possible. May could tell that this was the gym for fire-types from the way her clothes stuck to her almost immediately. Her clothes were tight fitting already, but the humidity made her small jacket unbearable. She tied it around her waist as she approached the front desk.

“I’m here for the gym battle. My name’s May Maple,” she said to the no-longer-daydreaming secretary.

“Ah, right, uhh lemme just write down your info,” he said as he recorded everything on a pad of paper warping from the environment.

“It seems dumb that you use paper to write everything down when it’s so humid,” commented May.

“…Yeah, haha,” said the secretary. “Your match with be in a little while. Feel free to wait over there.”

The nice thing about waiting rooms in Pokémon gyms was that May could let her Pokémon out and no one could complain. Rafeeq and Sylvia each sat adjacent to her chair, with Nerissa resting in May’s sweaty lap. A water-type like Kirby obviously enjoyed the humidity, as did Portia, who like all Breloom, craved damp environments. Marsha the Mawile was the one outlier, acting like she was going to die if she didn’t return to her ball, a request May granted.

“Alright, how do you want to tackle this gym? Anyone want to fight fire-types?” asked May towards her companions. They seemed to like choosing more than she did. “Kirby?”

The Politoed perked up at his name, and gave a delighted croak.

“Alright! I’ll bring you and…” she said. “…You’d be great in the heat, Rafeeq.”

Rafeeq grunted back because the choice was obvious. “Well, that’s two down. Who wants to be my third?”

Nerissa buzzed her wings gently as she rested in May’s lap, looking up into the trainer’s eyes.

“Nerissa it is then!” she said loudly. She saw the secretary staring, but pretended he wasn’t.

“I think we’ve got a great line up against the…wow, this is our fourth gym already,” said May. “Brendan will never catch us at this rate.”

Portia made a little noise that May classified as “Breloom mouth sounds”.

“You don’t get to fight him much because he’s so slow at beating the gyms,” she said to her Breloom. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Of course I don’t! He’s weird to be around,” responded May to Sylvia’s speaking. “You know what he’s like. Remember when I returned home and suddenly we couldn’t hang out because he’d get flustered all the time? Yeah, I thought so.”

May shook her head, realizing she’d gone off track.

“Anyway, the point is he’s awkward and I don’t want to see him.”

Of the few trainers she knew, the only one who she saw constantly of course was Brendan, not that she had too many other people she wanted to see anyway.

“How far you think Wally’s gotten, Nerissa?” May asked her Vibrava. Nerissa made an ambiguous chittering noise. “Oh, that’s right! You’ve never met him before.”

“He’s a boy I met in Petalburg,” she explained. “He’s very sick, so I helped him catch his first Pokémon.”

May helping Wally catch a Ralts was a nice act on its own, but helping a trainer who her father refused to help sweetened the deal. She could still remember the gentle cough Wally had as he thanked her. She felt like she could relax her guard around him, even if she probably shouldn’t.

“I guess he’s nice? Maybe?” May said to Nerissa, only to have Kirby croak in protest.

“Look he seems nice, but I know what men are like,” qualified May. “He’s too sick right now to do anything anyway, okay?”

May dropped the topic for her own sake. In truth, she knew her friend was getting healthier as he travelled. It scared her. It scared her that that scared her. She outwardly cringed at the thought.

May could feel the secretary staring at her again. His continuous stare caused her to seize up in her seat. She knew what men staring meant. There was only one thing it meant. She looked up at Sylvia, who let May cling to her blade arm. May let out a breath of relief when the secretary resumed working and she remembered why she liked having her Pokémon out all the time.

“May?” said an officially dressed woman, calling out for her. “The gym leader is ready if you are.”

“Ahh, finally! Lemme put everyone back in their balls. Don’t want her to know my team ahead of time, right?” said May as she cleared the waiting room of her companions.

“Of course,” said the woman, nodding along. “Follow me through the double doors here.”

May emerged into the gym’s battlefield, whose atmosphere was somehow more hot and humid than the waiting room’s. A woman with aggressively red hair awaited her at the other side of a league regulation-sized field.

“Welcome!” said the gym leader. “No, wait…”

“Hi! I’m May!”

“I’m Flannery, thanks for coming, I mean, uhhh I am the gym leader here! Don’t underestimate me, but instead prepare to…Have your skills tested!”

“Oh okay!” said May. “So, it’s three on three, right?”

“Oh, yeah, right, I will be facing you with three Pokémon!”

May stared directly at Flannery until the gym leader finally started the battle.

“Uh, show her who’s boss, Slugma!”

“Come out, Nerissa!”

May’s Virbrava stared her molten foe down, both awaiting orders. “Ready…begin!”

“Dragon Breath!”

“Uh, Ember, Slugma!”

Nerissa spray a blue-green flame at Slugma, who retaliated with a flame of her own. The Vibrava’s elemental breath cut through the weak embers and scorched Slugma, who yelped from the strange heat of dragon fire. The paralyzing nature of the attack stunned Slugma.

“Now, hit ‘em with sand tomb,” commanded May. A sand gust whipped up around Slugma who, unable to escape, was covered with waves of abrasive sand until she was completely submerged under a small sand dune. After the attack’s completion, Nerissa swept it away, leaving an unconscious Slugma on the floor.

“I’m just getting warmed up!” said Flannery after recalling Slugma. May was pretty sure that Flannery was already panicking.

“Good job, Nerissa!” said May as her Vibrava returned to her side. “Your Sand Tomb is getting way faster!”

Nerissa cried out in delight from the complement, then resting outside the battleground. May had already selected her next Pokémon.

“Show us what you got, Rafeeq!” Her Blaziken emerged onto the battlefield with his usual bored expression. The Numel that Flannery chose seemed intimidated behind his sleepy eyes.

“Numel, use magnitude!” ordered Flannery. Her Pokémon began shaking the ground with his body, leaving both trainers a little unsteady on their feet.

“Jump into double kick, Rafeeq!” The Blaziken approached Numel from the air, one leg raised with his foot near his head.

“Numel, stop!” was all Flannery could say before Rafeeq landed on one leg and delivered a powerful axe kick to Numel’s head. Rafeeq then quickly reversed his leg’s direction, knocking Numel’s head back up with a second blow to the head.

“Do it!” said May to Blaziken, who quickly shifted into a crouching position and nailed the dazed and exposed Numel with a Sky Uppercut, launching him into the air. With the same motions he’d practiced hundreds of times, Rafeeq charged up a Blaze Kick and struck his midair opponent. The combo finisher sent the ground-type tumbling across the battlefield, completely incapacitated.

“Aww yeah!” May shouted as she met Blaziken halfway and gave him a high-five, jumping to reach her partner’s claw hand. “Good execution! You worked really hard on that one!”

“So, who’s next?” yelled May across to her opponent, distraught at how fast her battle plan was falling apart. Flannery clapped her face a couple times before responding.

“Let’s go, Torkoal!” she said, releasing the shell-encased fire-type. May let out an impressed whistle as she looked Flannery’s team anchor over.

“You wanna take a crack at this one, too?” May asked Rafeeq, who now sat cross-legged next to Nerissa. He let out an indifferent chirp. “Yeah, I should let Kirby handle this one.”

“Here we go, Kirby!” May said as she released her Politoed onto the battlefield. Flannery groaned upon seeing him.

“Torkoal, Smokescreen!”

“Bubblebeam, Kirby!”

Torkoal endured the direct hit on her shell and began emitting a thick black smoke obscuring the battlefield. May made a rising “Hmmm” sound, as she weighed her options. Something clicked in her head.

“Just wait it out, buddy,” advised May. She was confident that Torkoal only had fire attacks. “They can’t attack without revealing their position.”

May thought she heard “Ah, crap!” from across the room, as she and Kirby waited for the room to clear.

“Eruption!”

That command jolted May back to the present.

“Water Pulse, quick!”

Bright magma sprayed from the inky darkness, colliding with Kirby’s hasty water attack. That diverted some of the attack, but not enough to stop the Politoed from being seared by the lava. May winced and clenched her fists hearing Kirby cry out in pain.

“Stay strong, Kirby! Hit her quick with a Hydro Pump!” ordered May, seeing Torkoal still glowing from the magma discharge. Unable to quickly move or attack, Torkoal took the brunt of Kirby’s retaliatory Hydro Pump. Despite Kirby’s weakness, the water jet still had enough force to topple his foe, who collapsed onto the ground.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough!” May could see Flannery waving her arms through the haze. “You win.”

“Hell yeah! Great job, Kirby! You’ve earn some rest,” said May, hugging the worn out Politoed before returning him to his container. Flannery, too, recalled her Pokémon and approached May, prize in hand.

“You trounced me, kid!” she admitted. “I put up a big show and lost bad, huh. I’m new at this, but still, I was surprised.”

“There’s no shame to losing to someone who’s experienced like me.”

“Heh heh.” Flannery scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “Anyway, on behalf of the Pokémon League Association, I hereby confer…I mean, grant you the Heat Badge!”

May took it from Flannery’s hand, giving the prize a look before showing her team. “Great job, everyone! Only four more of these to go.”

Placing all four of her badges aligned on the ground, May whipped out her PokéNav and took a photo. Flannery stood on the sidelines, curious.

“Whew, I’m beat. And I need a shower. Ugh, I feel so gross,” May let out. Flannery took the opportunity to throw an idea out.

“Then, you should come to the hot springs with me. There’s no better way to relax after a rough battle!” she offered with a warm expression.

“I’d rather not,” replied May.

“Are you sure?” followed up Flannery. “If you’re uncomfortable around strangers, around now the springs are totally empty. Except for me, I guess, heh.”

Flannery was trying really hard and May felt her phobias temporarily dissolving in her presence. The sweat and humidity reminded her of her irregular body and yet, May felt almost comfortable in the moment.

“You just look like you could use it,” said Flannery, walking towards the doors. “But I won’t force you.”

Maybe she should enjoy this one opportunity?

“I’ll come with you!” May blurted the whole thing out. “I’ll go to the springs.”


May stiffened up as she walked in the open across the stone tile floor. All her Pokémon were resting back at the center and she only had a towel on to protect her body. May hadn’t been harassed at the springs yet and Flannery said that at this hour, there’d be very few people, but that didn’t stop her nerves from acting up.

The very irregular tiles still fit together perfectly, leading to an in-ground pool of water. The whole area was enclosed by a tall and thick wooden fence, but over it was a striking view of a non-erupting Mt. Chimney. Despite only being a part of a local Pokémon center, the hot springs surprised her with their quality.

“Hey, over here!” Flannery, already in the water, had warm grim on her face as she waved May over. May rushed for the water, hoping to hide her embarrassing body under the surface. She could feel the water scalding her skin as she forewent gradually acclimatizing to it. It hurt, but as the pain dulled, she could feel her body begin to rejuvenate.

“Wow, you just plopped right in, didn’t you? That takes guts,” said Flannery. “But maybe pace yourself next time.”

May stayed submerged at head height, staring silently at Flannery who barely tried to hide her body either by water or by towel.

“Ahh,” said Flannery, untensing and sinking a little into the springs. “I needed this! There’s nothing better than a little R&R at the springs.”

May let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh. This drew Flannery’s attention to the teen, who was doing her best to hide in plain sight.

“Trying your best Kecleon impression?” ribbed Flannery.

“No,” responded May, switching her gaze to the water in front of her. She hope it was the heat that suddenly turned her face red.

Flannery started laughing, which only made May regret coming here even more. But she couldn’t leave the water, not when someone as naturally good looking as Flannery sat close by. May rubbed the undercut side of her asymmetrical haircut and waited in silence. Flannery noticed the silence too and changed her tone.

“You know, I kinda feel better seeing that you can be nervous too,” admitted Flannery to a quietly surprised May. “I just started this job a few months ago. I’m still learning the ropes and getting used to protocol and…”

“You waltzed into my gym and absolutely trounced me.” Flannery gave May a sad sort of smile. “It was impressively flawless, like you’d spent your whole life preparing.”

“I have spent my whole life preparing.” May’s comment caught the woman off-guard.

“Hahahaha, wow,” reacted Flannery. “You got me, kid.”

“No, seriously. My Dad trained me for Pokémon battles, for gym battles, since I was seven. I have spent most of my life preparing for this,” explained May. “There’s no shame in losing. Everyone else lost just as easily.”

“Oof, now that’s a story,” said Flannery. “And I thought I had it bad. So, it’s basically your life at this point?”

“The gym challenge? Yeah.”

“Is that why you took a photo of your badges? To show your dad?” asked Flannery.

“Yeah, I have to,” explained May, now sitting up right with the top of her shoulders exposed. “He doesn’t believe that I’m actually going to the Pokémon gyms otherwise.”

“Seriously?”

“The first time I went on my journey, I didn’t try a single gym. I spent the whole year doing contests and travelling,” said May, fire building up in her voice. “I didn’t do a single thing he asked me. I did what I wanted to do, for once. It was the best fucking year of my life.”

“Hell yeah!” shouted Flannery, perhaps louder than she should have in a public bath. May didn’t shout along, but she could feel a warm grin plastered on her face.

“It’s so cool that you stuck it to your old man like that,” said Flannery. “I was pressured into following my Grandpa’s footsteps and joining the Pokémon league. Like it’s super awesome that you blew off your Dad and did contests instead. I don’t have the balls to do something like that.”

“Well, I do,” said May, hoping only she got the joke she regretted upon speaking.

“Haha, I guess so,” said Flannery. “That said, you’re still doing the gym challenge now. Are you at least enjoying your second trip around Hoenn?”

“My Pokémon make it fun, but I’d rather spent my time doing just about anything else with them.”

“That totally sucks. You’re supposed to have fun on your journey,” empathized Flannery. “Can you at least see your contest friends again?”

“I saw some of them at Slateport and it…I changed too much for them,” recounted May. “Lisia…she wanted me to…Look, I became way too butch for her and she just did not like it.”

Flannery burst out laughing at May’s frank explanation before catching herself.

“I’m sorry, that was rude!” said Flannery still breathing irregularly from the outburst. May looked utterly confused the whole time. “You just surprised me with that! Please, continue.”

“Anyway…Drew and Harley gave me the cold shoulder too; they were my closest rivals, by the way, but now they’re surprisingly hostile,” continued May. “I figured that our time together would make them support me, but…I think I changed too much, even for them.”

“That blows. Do you at least have some other friends?”

“I have my Pokémon,” stated May.

“Your Pokémon don’t count,” retorted Flannery. “I love my Pokémon to bits, but they aren’t the same as my drinking buddies, understand? Any friends from back home?”

May searched the recesses of her brain, but could only come up with two names.

“Well, there’s Wally, I think,” said May. “I helped him out with catching his first Pokémon and I’ve run into him a couple other times. I guess we’re friends? ”

“Do you have anyone else,” clarified Flannery, “like, that you’ve known for more than three days? Someone close for a long time.”

“Just Brendan,” said May, sighing a little at the implications.

“So who’s he?”

“He’s one of my neighbors,” began May, recalling their history off the top of her head. “We met when I moved to Littleroot Town, 5 years ago. We were the only kids in the area, so it was just the two of us most of the time, at least when I wasn’t training.”

“Childhood friends? That’s so sweet,” cooed Flannery. “I haven’t spoken to any of my school friends in years.”

“He’s way more annoying now, though!” vented May. “When I got back from my first journey, he started acting all weird around me.”

“Weird, how?”

“Like, one time he cancelled our plans to study together after school, only call later and ask if I wanted to go out to a restaurant instead,” recalled May. “No, I don’t! I needed to prepare for a biology exam, not get expensive food!

Flannery seemed like she wanted to comment, but May had built up momentum already.

“Ugghh, he just secretly stares whenever we hang out, and now whenever I grab him or something, he slinks away. Brendan’s a strange guy now. Something’s changed.”

“Is he still nice too you?”

“He’s not mean at all,” said May. “If anything he’s annoyingly nice. Last time I talked to him, out of nowhere, he offered up a bunch of great balls he bought. I don’t need more clutter and anyway, I’m not the one who’s terrible at catching Pokémon here.”

May sighed. “I don’t get what happened.”

Flannery’s flat expression morphed into a quivering smirk before May’s eyes.

“Oh May,” began Flannery, trying to hold back her laughter. “I think I understand, hehe.”

“What?”

“He likes you.” May hated how much that explained everything. She noticeably contorted her face and shrank a little into the springs.

“Ooh, that expression says it all,” commented Flannery. “That’s not an expression you make for your friends.”

“No, it’s,” said May, wiping the contortion from her face, “it’s not that. He’s not bad to be around, but…”

“But…?”

May sat in silence for a few moments, cycling through and processing myriad thoughts. She reframed everything he’d done in context, and she did not like it. Everything nice now seemed twisted and all his former kindnesses seemed malicious. Just like everyone else, Brendan had changed because May had changed. She did not return from her first journey as the same person; she returned brave, but also vulnerable, as she learned one afternoon in April. She fell for that feigned kindness too.

“…He shouldn’t like me.”

“I’m not surprised he likes you; just take a look in a mirror!”

“I…I don’t look good at all. What are you talking about? Everyone hates how I look,” lamented May.

“Girl, I had to fill out in my late teens before anyone paid me any attention,” explained Flannery. “You’ve already got such style now! You’ll be a killer in a few years, trust me.”

May knew she wouldn’t. She literally couldn’t. She tried to hide her doubts from Flannery, but it didn’t work.

“Seriously, you’ll be fine, kid,” said Flannery. “You won’t have any problems.”

May mumbled something out rather than fight it. Flannery didn’t know what she was talking about. Thankfully, she changed the topic.

“Well, you’ve gotten my badge now. So what’s next? What’s on the horizon for you?” asked Flannery. May’d rather talk about the future than the past now.

“Now that I have enough badges, I’m going to head to Petalburg and kick Dad’s ass, once and for all,” said May matter-of-factly.

“Petalburg…Wait, your Dad’s Norman? Holy crap! I only met him like once during a big league meeting, but wow,” said Flannery. “He seemed strict, but I didn’t know he was so…Like that.”

“Yeah, he’s like that 24/7. Maybe crushing him in battle will stop it,” wished May.

“If it works,” asked Flannery with a hint of concern in her voice, “are you going to continue the gym challenge?”

May didn’t like the thought of it, but, even worse, she wasn’t sure what would be better.

“I…Don’t know. I want to do contests again, but I don’t feel welcome there anymore,” said May.

Flannery leaned in a little bit before speaking, as if the room were full and she were trying to keep something secret.

“You don’t have to know what you’re doing all the time on your Pokémon journey. You’re a kid; you shouldn’t know what you want anyway,” said Flannery. “When I was your age—Ugh I sound so old—I only did a handful of gyms and spent most of my time goofing off and socializing and exploring. It’s why you go on these journeys to begin with.”

“I think being around my Pokémon all the time makes me happy, no matter what I’m doing,” admitted May.

“See? You’re already figuring it out.”

“Now that I think about it, fighting against Team Magma when they show up feels good,” added May. “Like when they were trying to get Mt. Chimney to erupt yesterday, stopping them with my team felt great—“

“Wait, what!” shouted Flannery “Why did nobody tell me about this!”

“No one seemed to notice in town.” Flannery cupped her face with her hands.

“I swear--,” said Flannery, not swearing at all. “Good thing you were there to stop them. Hell, it’s a great thing for you!”

“It’s better than listening to Dad, that’s for sure.”

“Hahaha, you have a good head on your shoulders!” remarked Flannery, before noticing how late it was.

“Well, on that note, I think I’m going to head out. I’m beginning to look like a raison,” joked Flannery as she looked at her fingertips. She pulled her body out of the water, May trying not to stare at it. “You coming too?”

“In a little bit,” May said, hoping she could leave without anyone getting a solid view of her body.

“Take your time,” said Flannery, heading back inside. Seeing no one else around, May, too pulled herself out of the water, trying to keep her soaked towel as close to her as possible. She carefully walked back, trying not to slip or attract attention.

“By the way--,” said Flannery, poking back into the springs and startling May, who yelped and instinctively covered herself. “Oh, sorry about that. I just wanted to say that I had a good time talking with you. You’re a cool kid, at least when you feel like talking.”

“Thanks,” said May, squatting on the ground to hide her strange body behind her knees. “But please leave.”

“Haha, okay kid,” said Flannery. “I’ll give you your space. You deserve it.”