Drew's POV
I looked around and frowned. I was at a contest and yet I couldn't see my rival anywhere. I was pretty sure she'd be here; she only had three ribbons after all. Yet that didn't explain the fact that I couldn't see her. I spotted Ash, Max and Brock and my eyes narrowed. They were her friends. If they were here, surely she would be too? I headed in their direction as nonchalantly as I could, trying to see if May was with them.
"Hey, it's Drew!" I heard Ash call. I spun around.
"Oh, it's you," I said, noticing immediately that May was not in their party, "Where's May? Too scared to face her rival before the match?" I saw a noticeable drop in Ash's face.
"We were actually hoping maybe you had seen her," he sighed. I resisted the urge to frown.
"Why would I have seen her, she travels with you," I pointed out. Ash shook his head.
"Actually, she left us. She said she needed a bit of space so she was going to travel alone. We came here to wish her luck," he explained. This time I did frown. Traveling alone could be dangerous.
"And so you let her go, what kind of friend are you?" I hissed, trying not to get too worked up.
"What do you mean? Wouldn't it have been a bad thing not to let her have her space?" he asked, looking extremely confused.
"She's traveling alone," I growled, accentuating the alone part, "Anything could happen."
"You mean she could be in trouble?" asked Max, looking worried. I'd forgotten the other two were there.
"I'm not going to jump to conclusions, she might have skipped this competition, but that doesn't mean that abandoning her was the best thing to do," I scowled. I directed my attention to the oldest member of the group.
"And you should know better," I reprimanded, "than to let a young girl wander alone, why didn't you say something?"
"Actually Brock was in town with Max buying supplies when she left. I thought it would be ok if I let her go," admitted Ash, looking guilty. I opened my mouth, when the MC called all contestants backstage. Lucky Ash, I thought as I stalked away, I could rip that boy's head off.
I frowned as I walked out of the stadium. I had lost in the last round to some new girl I'd never seen before. She had short blonde hair, with a fringe covering one of her green eyes. She wore denim shorts and a light purple top. She also wore a pair of light purple and white sneakers. I had used Roserade (of course) and my Absol and she had whipped out a Vulpix and a Glaceon. She used her advantage of having a fire and ice Pokémon over my grass and dark Pokémon. I sighed. This girl now had four ribbons which frustrated me. I hadn't seen her before, how had she managed to get three before this? She was obviously a good coordinator because she beat me. This was not fair. I went to find Solidad. Surely talking with her would help calm me down. Maybe she could tell me who this new girl was. I spotted Solidad's red hair and called out to her. She spun around and smiled at me. I froze when I saw who she was with. Harley was there, but that wasn't all. There was that girl. I frowned again.
"Hey Drew, I know you two have met on the battlefield already, but I want you to meet my new traveling companion; Lilac," Solidad called.
"You must be Drew," she said in a way that reminded me of May. I nodded my head slightly and gave her my second best scowl. My first was usually reserved for any boy who tried to make a move on May.
"Tough luck out there Drew, losing to Solidad's new companion," grinned Harley, "must be taking it hard?" I didn't respond to Harley.
"Good job Lilac," I said. Congratulations where it was due. I only teased May to rile her up. I shook my head again.
"So Solidad, what do you think of May being a no show?" I asked. Solidad shrugged.
"May Maple?" Lilac questioned. I nodded slightly again.
"Have you seen her?" I asked, trying not to sound too interested. She shrugged.
"Every now and then at a competition," she shrugged, "She wasn't a very good coordinator. Solidad told me that you and her are rivals. She said that you even teased her about being such a terrible coordinator. She said you were joking, but I'm not sure. She certainly didn't seem that good. Maybe it would be a good thing if she disappeared." I frowned again.
"Listen," I almost spat, anger getting the best of me, "don't you go bad-mouthing my rival. She wouldn't be my rival if she weren't half decent." Lilac glared.
"Well, anything else would be lying. Anyway, I'm much better than her, I could be your new rival if you really want a new one that bad," she said coolly. I shook my head. I didn't want a new rival. Calling anyone else my rival didn't seem right, like it would be disloyal to May.
"I'm going out," I called as I started to walk away. I would get to the next contest with plenty of time to look for May.
"See you at the next contest!" called Lilac. I didn't answer.
"Ash," I called to the boy. He turned to see me. He had finally arrived and the next contest was about to start up.
"What's up Drew?" he asked.
"You haven't seen May anywhere?" I asked.
"Is she not here?" asked Ash, looking both worried and guilty.
"No, she's not. I think something bad might have happened to her," I frowned.
"Since when do you care about your rivals?" asked Brock, coming up to us. I rolled my eyes.
"Just because I'm her rival, doesn't mean that I don't want to see her safe," I explained.
"Right," said Brock. He suddenly spotted Nurse Joy. He was gone, Max trailing after him to try to pull him away.
"What should we do?" asked Ash.
"Find her, genius," I said, adding the last bit on sarcastically.
"You're right!" he exclaimed, "and I know where to start. I bet team Rocket took her." I refrained from letting my temper go at the idiot in front of me. I didn't want to cause a scene.
"Did May say anything about where she was going?" I asked. Ash thought for a moment.
"Actually, no she didn't. I just assumed she'd continue with contests," he answered, his eyes growing wide in the process, "what if she stopped coordinating for good?" I was about to knock him back, when the MC again called for all the coordinators to go backstage. Ash was so lucky.
I won the final ribbon I needed to compete in the Grand Festival. This time when I used my Flygon and Absol, Lilac had chosen the Vulpix and a Wartortle, giving me the type advantage. I still won, but it was fairly narrow. Backstage, Lilac came to me, looking mischievous.
"So Drew, where's my rose?" she asked.
"What?" I asked, reeling back.
"Why don't I get a rose," she winked, "Solidad told me that after May loses, you usually console her by giving her a red rose, so where's mine?" I frowned.
"I don't give May roses. I give her Pokémon roses. They usually deserve it after their efforts," I retorted. This girl was too nosey.
"That's not what Solidad told me," she winked again, "but I get it if you can't give anyone except your special 'rival' roses. I mean, that's your form of romance." This girl was definitely too nosey.
"Fine, you want a rose, I'll give you a rose; if only to prove that I'm not romantically connected to May," I growled, taking the rose from my pocket. I had gotten one, just in case I saw May.
"Here's a rose for you," I sneered. I crushed it in my hands and then placed in into her waiting ones.
"What was that for?" she pouted, looking at the crumpled flower in her hands.
"That's for being too nosey for your own good," I responded, glaring at her, "keep to yourself and stay out of my life."
"Solidad!" I called, not really caring that Lilac was with her at that moment.
"Hey Drew, what's going on?" she asked.
"I'm afraid something bad has happened to May, Ash said that she started to travel alone. I'm going to help him look for her. That stupid kid wouldn't know the first place to search," I explained, "I probably won't make it to your next competition."
"Why won't you leave this May girl alone? Just face it, she's gone. She wasn't good enough and now she's gone, I'm a much better rival than her," Lilac said.
"No," I refused, "even if May was a bad coordinator, she's still a person and I need to find her." Lilac turned very pale at this.
"I really think you should give up," she whispered.
"I'm not one to give up, I will find her," I told her, eyeing her suspiciously as she looked away. What caused her sudden confidence lack? Why was she so opposed to me finding May?
I snuck in to watch Lilac's next competition. Something about her didn't sit quite right. I wore a hoodie over my head, hoping it would be less likely for anyone to recognise me that way. I reeled back when I saw the Pokémon she chose. A Beautifly and a Skitty. Was it a coincident that Lilac had four of the same Pokémon as May? I frowned, I had a feeling that Lilac wasn't as innocent as she seemed. Maybe she had something to do with May being missing. I crept backstage and looked into her backpack. I took out her ribbons. I frowned. Three of them were the same of the ones May had won. I remember them. This made me even more convinced that Lilac was involved. A cheer rose and it was announced that Lilac had won, gaining her fifth ribbon. I quickly got out. I would keep an eye on Lilac. I knew the perfect way. I found Solidad.
"Hey Solidad, I was wondering if it would be ok if I travelled with you?" I asked. Solidad looked pleased as she nodded her head. Great, I thought, now this should work out good.
"There's my winning girl!" Called Solidad. I saw Lilac coming towards us, beaming. As soon as she saw me, she stopped.
"What's he doing here?" she asked, ignoring Solidad's questions.
"Oh, Drew's going to be travelling with us. Isn't that great?" Solidad replied. I smirked as she turned pale.
"Ah, I need to go to the bathroom," she said quickly and disappeared.
Travelling with Solidad hadn't resulted in Lilac doing anything suspicious. I was frustrated. She kept avoiding me. At the Grand Festival, I pulled out, too worried about May to actually concentrate. This led to Lilac winning, but that still didn't change anything she did. I was starting to think that I was overreacting and that maybe had simply given up on coordinating, but a quick call home proved that she was still out here somewhere. The next few years were painful. I'd stopped competing, Lilac believing it to be because I was a sore loser. I'd still gone to every contest that Solidad went to, hoping to maybe glimpse May, but that hope was running dry. Solidad was concerned for me, I could tell, but I'd lost the will to compete without my rival. Lilac was trying everything to get me to be her rival. Out of all the people, she wanted to be my rival more than anything. I kept declining. It just wasn't fair. Where was May?
Every time I saw a rose, it would remind me of her. I picked a rose from the bush, brushing it gently across my lips and breathing in the sweet scent. I screwed up my nose, anger filling me. I threw it only the ground. I yelled at it with every stomp of my feet.
"Stupid rose, stupid May, stupid Lilac. You call me self-centered? Ha! Look at yourself. Pulling out like that. Don't you even care what happened to me?" I let the flower have a break. I'd smashed it up, it didn't even resemble a rose now. I looked up. There she was. I was scared if I moved she might disappear. She had her back facing me, but I could tell it was her. I didn't know what to do. I just stared at her. She turned around. She looked pale as she saw me and then she was running. I sprinted after her.
"May!" I called, "May, don't you run away again!" She didn't look back, just kept on running from me like a rabbit would from a fox.
"May, come back!" I yelled.
"Just enter contests again with your new rival Lilac. Forget about me," I heard her call back before I lost sight of her. How did she know about Lilac wanting to be my rival? How did she know that I had stopped competing after all this time she'd been away? Lilac. It ran through my head. Lilac was threatening her or something. I headed back to the Pokécenter. I saw Solidad.
"Where's Lilac," I growled.
"She went out before; she'll be back a little latter," Solidad replied, "why?"
"I need to talk to her," I hissed.
"Drew, you look like you're going to strangle someone, calm down," she soothed. She was right. I needed to be rational. By the time Lilac had come back in, Solidad had gone to bed already. Lilac looked at me and quickly turned away, almost guiltily. At that moment all the calm from my body left and I was full of rage. I lunged at her and pushed her back against the wall, holding her hands securely so she couldn't move. She looked at me scared. It was the same sort of look May had given me that time I had yelled at her when I was worked up.
"Drew?" she squeaked, sounding like May again.
"Where's May?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"What?" she exclaimed, squirming in my grasp, "I don't know what you're talking about?"
"What did you do to her?" I growled, "I know you've done something. You have her Pokémon. You had her ribbons with you 3 years ago, I checked. You own other pieces of her possessions. I've seen the red bandana in your room. Now tell me where she is."
"May decided she was quitting contests," she said, "She let me have her Pokémon because they were already so strong. She also gave me her ribbons when she quit because she wouldn't need them and I did. As for her stuff? May and I are very close friends, she sends me unmarked packages to look after her stuff when she does something dangerous, but they never have an address. I don't know where she is."
"Lies!" I yelled. She cringed.
"Ok fine, I do know where May is," she admitted. This was it. 3 years, I'd not known anything. May would be 17, same as me, and now I was going to find out everything.
"I can't tell you where she is though," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blinked, registering what she had just said, and then I lost it.
"You had better tell me Lilac," I hissed, trying to keep my voice level, but I came out as a very low growl. She flinched and tears appeared in her eyes.
"Ok, I'll get her to meet you in the park tomorrow at 11. I promise," she whispered. I released her.
"You'd better be right. I've waited too long for this."
At exactly 11 I came into the park. I held a red rose in my hand. I was nervous, but Roserade had assured me it would be fine. I looked around for May. I spotted Lilac sitting on a swing and I strode over to her.
"You better have a pretty good explanation why I don't see May anywhere," I said, surprisingly calm.
"She's here," Lilac whispered, "I just wanted to be sure that you really did want to see her, because after you do, it's going to change everything."
"I'm sure as ever," I responded. She looked up, and I suddenly noticed that her eyes were blue.
"I swear your eyes were green," I muttered.
"I wore contacts," she explained, "and that's not the only secret I've been hiding." I tilted my head slightly. I hoped she would just hurry up and bring me to May. My eyes widened as she took off her jacket to reveal a red top with a dark blue ring near the top. She pulled on a pair of blue and white gloves. She shakily reached up and…tugged at her hair? It came off, revealing thick brown strands of hair, tied back with a red bandana. It was May. I dropped the rose in surprise.
"What?" was all could manage to say.
"Hello Drew," she said. Lilac had been May all along! The realization came hard as I realized what I had done to her.
"Oh my goodness May, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that. It's just I really thought you were Lilac and I thought you were gone for good. Then Lilac was being so suspicious about everything and I was desperate to find you. I'm so sorry," I gushed, "I really am, please forgive me."
"It's ok Drew," the way she said my name sent a shiver down my spine, "I really did expect it sooner or later. I actually deserved more than that." May was Lilac. It all made sense now! Well…Almost…
"Why did you leave May?" I asked, "Why did you constantly put yourself down?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to be like that, it's just that I was so tired of you putting me down and I thought you were right, I was bad at coordinating. So I disguised myself and trained for ages and then I kept it that way because you never teased me about being terrible. I was going to stop acting. Honest, I just liked being good at it for once, but then you got too distracted by May and you wouldn't compete with me and I started to miss you. I figured that you wouldn't care that much if May disappeared off the face of the earth, but then you caught me the day that I decided to go out of disguise and I had to run, but then you caught Lilac and I just sort of-" I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers. My way of apologising for everything.
"May, I teased you because I wanted your attention," I breathed, before kissing her again.
"I guess, I'm saying, I love you," I whispered against her lips. I couldn't stop myself from diving in and kissing her one more time before I pulled back completely. I had to stop, but I loved her so much. I peeked at her. Her eyes were wide and she was blushing. Her lips moved.
"I'm sorry what did you say?" I asked, realizing I had completely missed it.
"I love you too," she sighed. I grinned. I finally had her back.
"We better go tell Solidad," I said.
"Not right now," she said, bringing her face close to mine, "I want to stay a little longer."
"If we do that, I'm going to end up kissing you again," I sighed, squeezing my eyes closed, "I can't do that to you."
"Yes you can," she giggled, causing my eyes to snap open, "you're my boyfriend idiot. Of course you can kiss me."
"Isn't someone a little overconfident, I never asked you out," I teased, grinning at the look of horror on her face.
"I'm kidding. The title boyfriend sticks well to me, I suppose we can keep it," I chuckled. I watched her fists clench and her face turn red. Oh she was getting mad now, just like she used to. I smiled. Before she could say anything else, I kissed her again. I smirked into her lips when she kissed me back. She was still short tempered with that said temper not lasting long at all. And I guess I was back to being so called overconfident. I guess some things don't change.