Gateon Port, for all its undeniable charm, wasn't a lively place. The inhabitants, having spent years watching ships drift lazily in and out of the harbor, had grown accustomed to a laconic lifestyle, and an infectious one at that. Tourists were fairly rare in Orre, but the people that did come enjoyed the languid days that the small port town had to offer, often extending their stay in the region for an extra day or two when they couldn't quite bring themselves to leave. The one exception was the Krabby Club. There wasn't a night that went by where the lively seaside bar wasn't jam-packed with an audience. Men, women, and Pokemon of all ages and sizes lined the tables, each one merrily tapping a foot to the music or applauding Razell and Dazell's latest magic trick. Waitresses scurried hither and thither, attending to the every need of customers who greeted them with easy smiles and twenty-percent tips. It was easy to see why the friendly people of Gateon Port seemed so mellow: they saved all of their energy for enjoyment of the nightlife.
Drew Hayden was one such visitor who'd become a regular at the Club, although he attended more for the food than the people. Orre was still relatively isolated from the rest of the world, but the famous Coordinator was nonetheless far from an unknown. He'd been mobbed by a half-dozen members of his fan club almost before he'd stepped onto the dock two weeks ago. The Krabby Club, though, had enough dark corners where he could enjoy dinner and a show without being bothered too much, especially after the rest of the town had become more acclimated to the presence of a foreign celebrity in their midst.
Today, Drew had come for a late lunch and now sat at one of the few outside tables, the harsh Orre sunlight blocked by a striped umbrella overhead. He was munching lightly on a sandwich as the cool sea breeze rustled his perfectly-coiffed green hair. Gateon's daily newspaper, the Port Reporter, lay beside his plate, held down by a small rock he'd picked up along the walk from his hotel.
"Ribbon Cup Set to Kick Off Soon!", read the headline, and below: "The Orre region's first Ribbon Cup is scheduled to commence in just over a week with the first contest in Mica City. There was quite a buzz when the Cup was announced last year, and after a long wait, it seems the excitement is beginning to pick up once more as it draws near. For those of you unfamiliar with Pokemon Contests, you're in for a real treat!" Here, the article went on to explain the basic rules of Contests, as there was indeed a considerable portion of Orre's population who had never seen one before.
Drew skipped ahead a bit. "Our region, in an effort to generate more interest, has put a bit of a spin on the Cup, however. Orre is somewhat famous for its passion for Double Battling, and the Contests will be no different. Both the Appeal Round and the Battle Rounds will involve two Pokemon for each team. Yes, that's right, 'team.' Each Coordinator will be performing with a partner for the duration of the Ribbon Cup.
"Each team that manages to win five ribbons from the various contests being held all around the region will get the chance to compete in the inaugural Orre Grand Festival, taking place at the world-famous Realgam Tower."
"Many top-tier coordinators have been confirmed to be competing this year. These early favorites include the duo of Zoey Foster, the winner of the most recent Sinnoh Ribbon Cup, and her best friend Dawn Berlitz, the runner-up of the same event. Joining them in competition will be the team of Solidad Hart, a former winner of the Kanto Grand Festival, and Harley Davidsen. And, of course, there's the perennial contenders Drew Hayden and May Maple, two extremely talented and innovative rivals who have driven tabloids crazy with long-standing theories that there may be more to their relationship than meets the eye."
"Tch." Drew stopped reading there and went back to his sandwich, shaking his head between bites. "They really can't help themselves…" He gazed out at the serene waters, the newspaper's words ringing in his head. It was becoming somewhat frustrating to have every publication in the known world grasping at the supposed romance between the two, although he had to admit that it had cut down on the number of fangirls that tried to ask him out. Every cloud had a silver lining.
He finished off the remainder of his sandwich and tossed the paper plate into a nearby trashcan along with the paper. The only item left on the table was a fresh red rose that Roserade had produced for him early that same morning, which he picked up and placed in an inside pocket of his jacket before heading off toward the docks, giving a friendly smile to the occasional passerby who happened to be lazily drifting in the opposite direction.
Drew had no way of knowing when May's ship was arriving at Gateon. The Port's waters were as tranquil as could be, but that wasn't true of the sea a little further out. Storms were frequent but completely unpredictable, and they often snuck up on even the most experienced of sailors. For this reason, seacraft did not operate on any sort of schedule, arriving at Gateon Port at completely random intervals. In addition, Orre's ships, particularly the passenger ships, were built much more sturdily than in the past following the S.S. Libra's disappearance seven years ago, which had the side effect of lowering the speed a bit. Drew, though, was nothing if not prepared. He'd made it a habit to wait on the docks for his partner, partly because he didn't have anything better to do (he'd decided to give his Pokemon some time off before the Ribbon Cup kicked into gear, so training wasn't an option), but also because he really was looking forward to seeing her.
And he always made sure to bring a fresh rose. Just in case.
At the docks, he was greeted by a young man helping to tie off a fishing boat that had just come in from its morning expedition. He was several years older, but Drew had gotten to know him fairly well during his time there. He turned and straightened when he heard Drew approaching, lifting a hand in greeting.
"Afternoon, Drew. Come out to wait for the ghost ship again today?"
"Well, Perr, it's either that or spend the afternoon in the Parts Shop with your granddad again, listening to him talk about his latest invention. Or one of the old ones." Drew paused to give one of his signature hair flicks. "I almost feel like I could build a functioning Robo Kyogre at this point."
Perr chuckled. "I hear ya, and trust me, I feel your pain. Just think, I had to grow up with him." He bent to finish knotting the rope and reached down to help pull the fisherman up, then lifted his red cap to wipe some sweat off his forehead before looking back at Drew. "I haven't heard anything about any passenger liners coming in today, but like I've said before, that doesn't mean a whole lot. As always, you're welcome out here. That is, as long as you, uh..." He paused to wave a hand at the otherwise deserted pier and grinned. "Don't get in anybody's way."
Drew chuckled and thanked him as the lanky older boy loped away. He took his seat on the edge of the dock, leaning his weight back on his hands and looking once more at the sea. It was peaceful as far as he could see. He briefly considered lying down and taking a little nap, but that plan was foiled in its beginning stages by a loud metallic clanking and the sound of laughing children.
He looked over at Gateon's Rotating Bridges, which he knew had become more of a historical marker than anything else in the past few years. Sure enough, there were young kids playing with the arrows that controlled them, spinning the bridges as quickly as they could. Before, they had been the only pathways to certain places in the Port, including its lighthouse and even a few residential homes. The obvious inconvenience had apparently been lost on the founders, and over time it became one of those things that people tolerated simply because they didn't really feel like doing anything about it. That had changed recently, as Perr had told him one day. Most of the residents that had homes on the water were people that rarely had to get to the mainland in the first place, or people that had Water Pokemon to take them across whenever necessary. One of the members of the first category was a crotchety old widower who just wanted to be left alone, which made him a prime target for Gateon Port's adolescence. At some point, a group of bored teenagers had discovered that the old man came over to town every second Sunday to buy groceries, so they made it a point to go out during the middle of the night on the preceding Saturdays and rotate the bridges in such confusing ways that it often took the collective efforts of the town hours to sort out in the morning. Eventually, the victim of these pranks got tired of it and waited up one Saturday night for the would-be pranksters to arrive, then sent his Poochyena after them. One was Tackled into the water. He escaped with nothing more than a bruise on his leg, but the incident, along with the fact that mechanical malfunctions were occurring more and more frequently, was finally enough to spur some action from the Mayor. A series of concrete bridges had been hastily constructed, and the Rotating Bridges were now just a quirky little tourist attraction for people to read about in the Orre region's guidebook, not to mention a source of great fun for the young kids who had little else to occupy their time.
Drew glanced down at his belt where he kept his Poke balls. There were just three. After Johto, he'd given some thought to the possibility that his act was becoming a bit repetitive, so he had chosen to leave a couple of his Pokemon at home and bring only half of a complete team, consisting of Flygon, Absol, and naturally, his trusted Roserade. He hoped to capture one or two new additions to his roster in Orre. He knew, of course, that wild Pokemon were relatively scarce and mostly came from the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions, but they had been popping up more frequently as of late. Anyway, he wasn't particularly worried even if such a search proved fruitless. May would be bringing Pokemon of her own, and there was no shortage of viable combinations for Appeals between the two of them.
He thought about releasing one of his companions just to keep him company, but quickly decided against it. Absol didn't particularly like the sunlight, Flygon would get bored, and Roserade would just tease him for a while about waiting for May so obsessively and then get bored. So he turned his gaze back to the horizon and watched for any indication of an approaching ship but, finding none, he let his mind wander a bit, back to that day in Johto that had led him to this situation in the first place. He remembered it like it was yesterday, although it'd been six months ago.
"And your winner, advancing to the finals, Solidad!"
Drew sighed heavily, recalling his exhausted Absol and giving him a few words of encouragement before heading to center stage to shake the hand of his rival. "You beat me again, Solidad."
The beautiful pink-haired Coordinator smiled at him. "It was a lot closer than the last time, though," she said. "It won't be long before you pass me by. I'd better not let my guard down." She laughed gently. "See you soon, alright?"
Drew nodded. "Good luck in the finals," he said, and turned towards the crowd, giving them one last bow and a flip of his hair before turning and walking solemnly backstage. He lingered for a moment as the roar of the crowd echoed behind him, making sure that he didn't look too downcast since he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who'd be waiting for him when he walked through the doors of the locker room.
Sure enough, the first thing he saw when he pushed open the door was his biggest rival. There was a sad smile on May's normally vibrant face, but she seemed to brighten a bit after seeing that Drew wasn't too crestfallen.
"I really thought you had her this time, Drew!" She said, and then bit her lip, nervously looking away. "You… You looked really good out there today."
Drew blushed lightly; thankfully it went unseen. "Yeah, well… I always look good. This is me we're talking about, remember?"
She looked back at him now, sapphire blue eyes ablaze. "Oh, come on! I try to give you a compliment and that's the response I get?" She got right up in his face, her volume increasing with every syllable. "Well, I just learned my lesson! Just see if that ever happens again! Ugh! I don't know why you always have to be such a-"
She was cut off by the rose that had suddenly appeared under her nose, and she recoiled, hesitatingly accepting it, her face as red as the flower. "Oh, um… Thanks, Drew."
Drew couldn't resist smirking at her sudden change in attitude. Almost before he knew what he was doing, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Good luck out there, May. That Marina's no pushover, but I know you can beat her."
May was obviously surprised by the sudden contact, not to mention the soft words of confidence. He could hardly blame her. It was, he reflected, probably the nicest thing he'd ever said to her, and to the best of his recollection, he'd never touched her before. Certainly not so tenderly. After a time, though, she gave him a sweet smile and nodded. "I'll do my best."
Drew returned the smile and, with a flick of his hair, he removed his hand and started walking toward the exit until he heard May's voice behind him.
"Wait! You're not staying to watch?"
He looked back over his shoulder at her. "Nah. I'm gonna take a little walk. It's a nice night, you know?"
May looked a little disappointed, but she quickly put a smile back on her face. " 'Kay. I'll catch ya later, then. Bye, Drew!"
He raised a hand in goodbye and resumed his walk while the PA system blared overhead. "And now, for our second semifinal match, give it up for May of Littleroot Town and Marina of New Bark Town!" He walked a few more steps and then, satisfied that he'd waited long enough for his rival to stop watching him, turned back around and made his way to one of the TVs in the room. He'd never let May know it, but he wasn't going to miss this match for anything.
The battle was, as he'd expected, exciting. May was using an Altaria that she'd caught as a Swablu early on during the Cup, which quickly became one of her go-to team members. Her opponent, the Pokemon Idol Marina, had chosen a powerful Feraligatr that seemed to have a somewhat strange nickname that he couldn't quite hear over the roaring of the crowd. They fought for the entire five-minute period, but when the smoke cleared, Marina's points were just a tiny bit ahead of May's.
Drew let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and unclenched fists he hadn't realized he had been clenching. He watched the screen for another few moments as May walked over to congratulate her opponent, and then gave the crowd a little grin and wave before descending the steps of the stage.
"There's my cue," he thought, turning on his heel quickly and exiting the building out into the cool night air and brightly lit streets of Goldenrod City. He pulled his jacket a little tighter around his body and began heading in the direction of the Pokemon Center. He didn't get far before he half-turned, staring back at the Contest Hall. Some small part of him was urging him to go back and talk to her, but ultimately, it was just a small part, and he continued on his way.
Nurse Joy was waiting dutifully behind the counter, although she was distracted by the TV showing the final match of the Johto Grand Festival. Drew walked in just in time to see Marina hoisting the Ribbon Cup above her head, smiling warmly at the legion of fans in attendance.
"Wow," Drew said in wonderment as he approached the desk. "Solidad lost, huh?"
Nurse Joy turned around and looked at him, seeming surprised. "Well, yes. You didn't stay to watch?"
"I wanted to, but Absol needed healing after the beating she put on him," he explained. Which was the truth, if maybe not the whole truth.
"Of course, of course," Nurse Joy said as Drew handed her his Poke balls. "I was sorry to see that. I was pulling for you." He didn't answer except with a polite smile, so she went on. "Where are you off to next? Planning to go to Orre?"
He looked at her quizzically. "Orre?"
"Heard of it?"
"Well, yeah, once or twice, but why would I go there? They don't have Contests, do they?"
"They just announced their first Ribbon Cup! Hold on a moment, I think I have a magazine around here someplace." She rooted around under the counter for a minute. "Now, where did I put it…? Ah, here it is." She straightened and handed him a copy of one of the many Contest magazines in circulation. He looked down at it.
"This is dated for earlier this week," he commented.
"Mm-hmm. I guess you were probably focused on preparing for the Festival, huh?"
Drew nodded and opened the magazine to the page indicated on the cover, grimacing as he caught a momentary glimpse of an article speculating on his relationship with May as he flipped through. He skimmed the article on the Orre Ribbon Cup. " 'These Contests will all be conducted under Doubles rules, with a special twist,' " he read. " 'Not only will there be two Pokemon, there will be two Coordinators working as a team-' " He looked up. "Wait, teams? Come on..."
"Is that an issue? We all just assumed you'd ask May," she teased, a hint of a smirk appearing on her face.
He glared at her. "Who's we?"
"The Nurse Joys, of course! As well as pretty much everyone else who follows Contests."
He opened his mouth to retort but then closed it dumbly as he began to consider her words. Why wouldn't he ask May? His list of Coordinator acquaintances was, admittedly, pretty short. He really wanted another rematch with Solidad, so that option was out. There was no way he'd choose Harley the sociopath. There was Brianna, but she could barely speak to him without fainting. There was no telling how she'd respond to actually being onstage with him. And, if he was being honest with himself, he had a lot of respect for May's abilities and he realized that she knew him better than any of the others, which would come in handy when working together. Also, he realized with a bit of a pang that he hadn't seen May as much as he wanted to while he was in Johto.
"I'll think about it, I guess. This Double Contest thing sounds interesting, and it's not like I have any better options," he said finally, trying his best to sound indifferent.
Nurse Joy gave him another knowing smirk, utterly unconvinced. "Glad to hear it. I'll take your Pokemon back now and call you when they're ready, alright?"
"Thanks."
Drew walked over to one of the couches and laid down, hands behind his head. He let out a long breath, suddenly realizing how tired he was.
"Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a minute," he said out loud, but he had no sooner gotten comfortable than the doors opened and May trudged in slowly, clearly disappointed by her earlier loss. She didn't notice him.
He watched as she made her way over to the counter and had a short conversation with Nurse Joy before handing over her Pokemon and turning around, finally seeing him in the corner and, after a moment's hesitation, walking over. She tried to smile, but her heart wasn't in it. She didn't seem to have anything to say, either, so Drew spoke first.
"I take it the Festival didn't turn out the way you were hoping."
She looked down and shook her head wordlessly.
Drew cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uh, listen, May…" He didn't understand why he was so nervous. He was Drew Hayden. He didn't get nervous. But he was about to do something completely out of character, and he was having difficulty forming words. "Um… Have you heard of the Orre region?"
May finally looked up, a little confused but certainly intrigued. "Orre? Yeah. My dad went there once. He told me a little about it. Why?"
Drew cleared his throat again, silently cursing himself for acting this way. "Well… They're holding a Ribbon Cup there and it starts in a few months, but…" He took a breath while May looked on curiously. "The thing is, every Coordinator has to compete with a partner and I was wondering if you wanted to be mine." The last half of that sentence had come out much faster than he'd intended. He knew he was blushing and hoped fervently that she didn't see it.
Apparently it took a moment for his offer to register, because she just looked at him in total disbelief. "You're messing with me, aren't you?"
He frowned. "I'm not that cruel."
The first signs of a smile were beginning to take shape on his rival's face. "Let me pick my jaw up off the floor real quick. The great Drew Hayden wants me to be his partner?"
"Less and less with every word that comes out of your mouth."
She made a big show of turning away, crossing her arms, and closing her eyes, allegedly in deep thought. Drew rolled his eyes, but then she spoke. "Hmm… I dunno. I mean, I'd have to travel with you and everything. I'm not sure I could handle that much Drew…"
Drew groaned and lifted his hands to his face exasperatedly. He was already starting to regret this.
She opened one eye and grinned. "Weeeeeell, I guess so." Drew perked up a bit, somewhat relieved. "Just try not to hold me back too much."
"That's supposed to be my line," he remarked drily, returning the grin. "I think I'm rubbing off on you."
"Oh, Arceus, I hope not…"
Drew saw Nurse Joy motioning to him out of the corner of his eye and stood up. "Well, it's settled, then. I'll be in touch, all right?"
May nodded and gave him a thumbs up. "Deal."
"Heh." He gave her a last hair flick before starting to walk away, still a bit embarrassed. "Good night, May."
"Good night, Drew," came the soft reply.
Thinking back, Drew had to laugh a little when he remembered how her defeated expression had turned so excited when he'd told her about Orre's Contests. It amazed him sometimes just how bipolar she could be.
He had written her a letter a month ago, telling her that he was leaving early because his family was driving him insane, and that she should make sure to arrive with enough time left to make it to the first Contest a few days prior so they could have some time to train with each other. She'd written him back promptly, saying that she had her ticket bought already and assuring him that she'd be there in plenty of time. Drew was relieved to see that her planning-ahead skills had improved, but she'd neglected to mention exactly when she was leaving, which meant that he had even less idea as to when she'd arrive than he normally would have. And, unfortunately, it was beginning to look like today would not be that day.
He heard a commotion behind him, which turned out to be a group of people heading in the direction of the Krabby Club. He glanced at his watch in surprise, not realizing just how late it had gotten (maybe he'd dozed off after all), and stood. Apparently he was assimilating into the lazy Gateon Port lifestyle more than he thought. With a last look at the expansive blue sea, he turned and followed them.
He'd be back tomorrow. And he'd bring a fresh rose.
Just in case.
AN: Hey, ladies, fish, and gentlemen, if you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading!
So, here's the deal: when I originally envisioned this fic in my head, I was hoping to get a good chunk of it written before I started uploading chapters so I wouldn't be one of those people who stops in the middle of the story because other things in life start dominating time and you don't really have a lot of chances to write. Unfortunately, that happened anyway, and I've only got a few done out of a planned 50+.
However, I'm still interested in doing this eventually and so I decided to upload the first chapter regardless and see if any readers even care. If there's not a lot of support behind it, whatever, I won't stress about writing any more of it and it'll just remain as kind of a quirky oneshot. If there is, though, I can make a conscious effort to make time for the story, force my way through writer's block when it comes, and you'll have a completed fic at some point or another. I can't promise it'll be soon, but it'll happen eventually. I'm not going to set a specific review goal or anything like that, it'll just kind of be my feeling. Even just a review of "I like it." will be very helpful.
And, if any of you awesome, interested people could do me a huge favor, I'd really appreciate it. I found a drawing of May on DeviantArt one day with an outfit I really liked, and I want to use it in the story. Problem is, I'm a guy that knows literally nothing about women's clothing and I have no idea what to call the things she's wearing in the picture. So if anyone wants to help out by giving me a description, shoot me a PM and I'll send you the picture and my undying gratitude. Otherwise, Chapter 2 (provided there is a Chapter 2) is just gonna have a really stupid-sounding description and nobody's gonna know what the hell I'm even talking about.
I apologize for the long author's note; I promise it'll never happen again. 'Til next time, y'all.
