“Hey Brendan!”

A girl with a red hairband on her head greeted me as I reached Route 112.

“Gee, Route 111 was tough.”

“Really? It didn’t seem that hard to me.”

May looked a little exasperated but quickly bounced back.

“Well, let me heal your Pokémon anyway.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need it. The route was pretty easy and anyway, I stopped at the Old Lady’s Rest Stop a short time ago.”

May looked more exasperated than before but she was still smiling in a way I found unnerving.

“Well, just let me heal your Pokémon.”

“Thanks, but they’re in great shape. No need to waste your potions.”

“Just let me heal them!”

May’s smile cracked and she lunged at me, reaching for my poke balls. I swatted her hand away and jumped backward simultaneously. I’m not going to let a deranged girl get my Pokémon!

May seemed to snap back to herself when I slapped her hand.

“Brendan… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me…

I loosened my body out of the defensive pose I had taken now that she seemed to be back to normal but didn’t say anything. A moment of silence passed.

“Brendan, can I trust you?”

“Sure.”

May took a deep breath and began her story as she exhaled.

“I don’t want to be a Pokémon Researcher. I want to be a Pokémon Nurse. I have wanted to be one since I was a little girl but my Dad wanted me to be a researcher like him. As soon as I got my first Pokémon at the age of five, my Dad talked about it constantly. Soon he brought me along on his expeditions. I tried to tell him that I wanted to study Pokémon Nursing but he always brushed me off. Finally, a few months ago, he sent me out to complete the Pokédex with you Brendan. So, as I’ve been traveling, I’ve been healing all the Pokémon I could find. That’s why I wanted to treat yours Brendan. I know how much you battle.”

Ah, so that’s who it was. As I traveled, I ran into trainers who talked about the girl with the red hairband who healed their Pokémon after a match. I even ran into a few who I had battled previously who talked about the angel with the red bandana healing their Pokémon after I crushed them in battle. It’s not my fault if you suck! If you’re so much weaker, don’t challenge someone with three badges—which I display prominently—and a fully evolved Pokémon team. Even the Ace Trainers were pushovers. I wasn’t sure who they were talking about at first.

“Since you’re such a great trainer and doing a good job at filling the Pokédex, I wanted you to talk to my father. Maybe he would listen to you. He won’t listen to me and I’m not sure what else to do. I’m sure you know what I mean; didn’t that Lisia girl drag you into contests? I know you like to battle and you told me that contests weren’t your thing when you moved to Littleroot.”

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Well, May was half right on that last point. I don’t like contests, but Lisia is hot, so I’m doing them to win her heart. I guess it’s a bit different from her situation. I won several contests, but then Lisia started dating Chaz so I gave up on them. Speaking of, the broken trainers said May was a cute angel. Was May cute? I glace over her figure. I guess so. I more of saw her as a semi-decent trainer who I liked because she didn’t suck like the others. She’s not great but I can’t fight only gym leaders so I relish any chance to fight someone decent. Hm, maybe she’s cute enough to date, but I’d rather date someone hot and closer to my training abilities. My mind quickly runs over the possible candidates. Roxanne’s not all that pretty and she’s only a first level gym leader. Winona’s too old. Flannery is hot. I’ve seen her picture on a poster before. She’s the granddaughter of a retired Elite Four member so she has plenty of available talent and she uses fire-type Pokémon, my favorite type. She’s the next gym leader I have to face. Maybe I can see if she’s hot in person and if she battles well, I can ask her on a date as a prize for my victory.

“Brendan!”

“Huh?”

“Um, were you thinking something weird while staring off into space?”

“No.”

May paused a moment but decided to leave it alone.

“So, will you help me?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“…So, can I heal your Pokémon now?”

“Oh, very well.”

“Yay! I love treating well trained Pokémon!”

After May healed my Pokémon, she set off again on her journey to heal Pokémon and learned more about being a nurse.

By the way, Flannery is hot in person. She battled pretty well and I can see the raw talent, she was just too flustered since I was her first real challenge. I can have that effect on people. She lost and I got the badge and a date. Score!

Oh and the thing with Birch, he didn’t listen until I set my Pokémon to chasing him around his laboratory. He listened then and let May do what she wanted. Since the Joy Family has an in with the Pokémon Association and, thus, a monopoly on Pokémon Nursing, she would have to become a traveling nurse to follow her dream. He figured she could help him with his research by traveling all over and studying the Pokémon she treated.