Hello there. Thank you for clicking in.

I was working on another one-shot with a similar beginning to this one when a darker outcome conjured in my mind. I was intrigued by the events and themes intricated into the plot and decided to bring the story to life. I will most definitely publish the more positive alternative one day, but for now, here's a darker story about the blue-eyed coordinator we love living in a world far different from the world we know her from. Different, but somehow, the same.

Enjoy.

May leaned back and examined the sea in front of her. Its waters used to be a beautiful shade of dark blue, but now it was a murky mix of black and red. The skies weren't looking good either, with its lighter colors replaced with purple and yellow. Pollution, May concluded, from the explosions that happened in a battle just an hour before she settled on her spot at the beach. She scanned the area around her once more to make sure no one was in sight, but kept a finger on her gun's trigger in case someone decided to be sneaky. After all, corpses of both people and pokémon were washing up on shore. Said corpses might end up still being alive, or hunters might be around waiting for the right moment to take what remained.

Hunters...hunters like May.

May looked back at the sky and frowned. It was hard to tell what time of day it was, but she could vaguely see the sun hitting the halfway point toward the horizon. The winter season might be ending, but the days were still too short for May to keep waiting. She had to take what she could now while no one was around, or she would have to waste her limited bullets later.

With that decision in mind, May rose from the ground and made her way toward the broken stairs. Her agile feet hopped from one plank to the next, lightly brushing a few rocks to leap from one big gap to another. The brunette hunter then spread her arms before plopping onto the sand. Her movements had to be lighter from now on. Heavy steps could slow or trip her, and that wasn't something she wanted to happen if another hunter showed up.

Fortunately, May's trip was eased as she neared her destination. The sand was denser there, after all, thanks to the dirty water sweeping back and forth. May almost hissed in delight when she arrived at the scene. Almost. There were more corpses than she could count, and a lot of them were humans armed with weapons and supplies. The pokémon corpses could've been useful too, of course. May had fashioned knives and shields out of their teeth, claws, and scales. But guns with bullets hit and kill faster, she discovered a long time ago, and there happened to be a lot of them right now, just within her reach.

May searched the area once again—the ocean, the shore, the cliff she was just sitting at—and then got straight to work. She swiped three supply bags from the soldiers and then filled the one she was carrying with guns and rifles. She also filled her fanny pack with bullets and grenades, and removed a bullet-proof vest much lighter than her own from a female soldier just about her size. The circumstances were just too good to be true, which was why May couldn't stop looking around. The battle at the beach today was huge, so there was no way she was the only one that knew about it. There were bound to be other people who had heard it as well and took the chance she did. So why weren't any of them around? Had they not arrived yet?

May tugged her plaid shirt and bullet-proof vest off and slipped on the vest she just got. She then put her shirt back on, grabbed the bags she stole, and ran. Her eyes never left her surroundings as she made her way back to the cliff. The run was much more difficult now that she had more weight, but that didn't stop her from moving until she was forced to at the stairs. Realization hit her, and she almost dropped her loot. There was no way she could make it back up with the load she was carrying. Even if she did manage to make it up there, her baggage would be a handicap if someone up was waiting for her. No. She had to find another way around. Her hideout, the abandoned hotel overlooking the beach, was at the top of the cliff; and from the sun's proximity to the horizon and the shadows growing around her, May only had about an hour left to make it there.

So she ran.

Fortunately, she had been camping in the area for a while now, so navigating the terrain proved to be of no difficulty. She had returned to the top of the cliff just when the sun was starting to set. She was more than ready to drop her heavy load.

But then she saw someone standing at the railing.

May stilled. Then, one by one, started lowering the supply bags off her shoulders. She removed her pistol from its holster and pointed it forward, narrowing her eyes as she scrutinized the unsuspecting intruder. She could see it was a man that was an inch or two taller than her. He had ruffled green hair, light blue uniform that covered his arms and legs, and white sneakers. May searched him up and down for any sign of weapons, but all she saw that roused her suspicion was the large khaki backpack he carried on his shoulders.

The safety was off.

"Hands up!" May called out, stopping just twenty feet from the stranger.

The man tensed. Then, very slowly, lifted his hands in the air.

"Turn around," May marched forward. "Do anything stupid, and I'll shoot your brains out."

The man did as he was told, but May could see that he was hesitating. She watched him closely, her finger on the trigger, as his front was slowly revealed to her. She was met with fear, as expected. But when the man absorbed her appearance, the fear disappeared. What was left was a sequence of shock, gladness, and then confusion.

"M-May?" the man spoke out. "I-Is that...Is that you?"

That voice, May stiffened. Why did it sound familiar, and how did it know her name?

"Who are you?" May demanded, re-pointing her gun for emphasis. "How do you know my name?"

"So it is you," the man exhaled, albeit shakily. "I thought you were dead."

"WHO ARE YOU?" May demanded, stepping forward until the gun was pointed right at his face. "I'm not gonna ask again!"

"I-It's Drew! " The man answered, stepping back as he did so. "Drew..."

May almost dropped her gun. When the man took a step forward, however, she raised it again.

"How do I know you're not an imposter?" May asked, nearing him with the gun. "How do I know you're not just tricking me to kill me and steal my supplies?"

Drew inched back, his eyes and mouth agape.

"I would never hurt you, May," he said, almost offendedly. "I would never, ever hurt you."

"Are you here to loot the corpses?" May asked, directing at the countless dead bodies covering the shoreline.

"Of course not," Drew answered, aghast. "Why would I do such a thing?" Then he spotted the bags May dropped earlier, and they happened to look like the bags the dead soldiers were carrying at the beach. He widened his eyes.

"Tell me something only Drew would know," May commanded, angry after catching him eying her bags. "If you are who you say you are, then you better have something to say."

"I-I do," Drew stammered, returning his attention back to her. "I can tell you something you know, and then something you don't know."

The gun twitched in May's hold. "I'm listening."

"I saw you for the first time right here on this spot," Drew told her. "You were practicing an appeal for your first contest, a frisbee trick with your beau-"

"Shut up!" May interrupted, her words seething with anger. "Don't you ever mention any of those monsters' names!"

That got Drew to step back. He understood why May would have malice toward the kind of her past companions, but he never thought she would possess something that almost resembled hatred. Despite everything, he thought that May would still love her pokémon—miss them at the very least. She did almost everything to prove it back then. Like on the day he met her, when she prefered him to insult her instead of her pokémon. It was obvious to him that May had changed in more ways than one, but he didn't think her love for her companions would change so drastically. Did her opinion of him change as well, he wondered. Was that why she was pointing a gun at him without hesitation?

"Okay," Drew conceded. "I won't."

But his previous answer allowed memories to enter May's mind. She remembered when she was ten years-old, traveling her home region with her brother and two friends she could barely recall the names of. She didn't remember how exactly she became inspired to enter contests, but she did remember that day when she was training for her first one. She and her group had to move at this exact location because...she couldn't remember, and then she met Drew. He was watching her from the railings before catching her stray disc with his hand. Then he made his way down to the beach, tossed her frisbee back, and insulted her performance.

"Okay, I remember that," May grumbled. "Now tell me something I don't know."

"I became fascinated by you," Drew continued. "It's why I followed you when you and your friends were looking for berries. When you cut our first battle short, right when you started displaying strength I didn't expect, I became sad when I didn't keep your attention. That's when I realized I needed to work harder to be worthy of your time, so I started giving you roses."

May's arm collapsed on itself, throwing the gun it was holding right at the hunter's side.

"Y-You said," May gaped, "those roses were for…" she bit her lip, not continuing that sentence.

"I lied," Drew shrugged, chuckling almost sadly. "What can I say? I was a stupid young boy with a crush. I may have been good at contests, May, but that doesn't mean I was an expert in expressing my feelings."

May stepped back, barely managing to swallow with her dry throat.

"Y-You," she realized, "have a crush on me?"

"Had," Drew corrected, immediately dropping May's spirits, "but when I started seeing you more often, getting to know you more than just a rival, I knew I was spiraling into something deeper, something it took me longer than a few years to figure out."

May inhaled a shaky breath and exhaled. She opened her mouth to ask what, but then she noted the growing shadows around them, and an instinct kicked in.

"I have to go," May said, looking around before jogging to the bags she dropped.

"Wait!" Drew stepped forward, reaching out with an arm. "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it," May answered, slipping the last supply pack over her shoulder.

"There's an army base not far away from here," Drew told her. "I was heading there; you can come with me."

"Go alone," May turned around, "you'd have to kill me first before I can ever be in one of those prison camps."

Drew was surprised at the statement, but didn't take the time to show it. He didn't even take the time to think when his next words escaped out of his mouth.

"Then take me with you."

May froze. Her position was locked for a sprint, but she didn't move. "Why?"

"I've been staying at a shelter throughout the entire war, and was trained to be a medic," Drew told her. "I've been treating soldiers and other patients there, and I could treat you too. This bag," he removed his backpack and turned it to her, "has all the medical supplies I need. If you ever get hurt, I can heal you with them."

May turned around, eying him intently. "Why would you do that?" she asked.

Drew was silent for moment, shocked she would even ask that question. But then he remembered something else he wanted to tell her, and started to speak before an awkward silence could emerge between them.

"I thought you've been dead this whole time, May," Drew said, walking his way toward her. "I've been living in guilt all these years, thinking something bad had happened and I wasn't there to help you. I agreed to be a medic hoping to ease that guilt, but it never went away. I would have given anything for a chance to be there for you, and now that we've met again," he stopped, hugging his backpack in earnest pleading, "I ask you to please, allow me to have that chance."

May's jaws hardened as she looked him in the eye. She had to lift her head to meet his gaze, but the difference in height made no effect on her resolve.

"Many, many bad things have happened to me, Drew," she stated. "If you want to save me from the pain that I was already put through, then you have come far too late."

Drew gulped. Seeing May up close sent a shiver down his spine. No longer were her eyes wide and jubilant, the eyes that he yearned to see again. They were cold, hard, and unmerciful. He could barely recognize her now. What would she look like years later if he allowed her to walk away alone? Would she even be alive by then? Would he?

"I'm sorry," Drew breathed out. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you."

"There was nothing you could've done." May stated.

"Maybe," Drew remarked, "but there is something I could do now."

May narrowed her eyes. "What is that?"

"Be there for you now," Drew answered. "I may not know exactly what you've been through, but I know you probably thought you were alone."

"I was alone," May corrected, "and I still am. It's better this way."

"No, it's not," Drew shook his head. "I may have been sheltered by the horrors of this war, but I've seen the ones who weren't so lucky. They put up a tough front to show everyone how strong they are, but it's only because they've been alone for so long, they forgot how to trust and get strength from other people."

"I've trusted people before," May told him. "It didn't end well."

"Not all people will betray you, May," Drew returned. "Some can be trusted not just to help you, but themselves as well. This war is taking away everything we have, including our hope. We need each other, May. More than food and water. You may be able to survive in this world, but do it alone, and you won't just lose your will to live in it, but the chance that things will get better."

May stepped forward, looking him up and down. "Do you really believe that?" she asked.

Drew blinked. "Believe what?"

"That things will get better," May answered, "that things will go back to the way they were, back when they were normal."

"I don't think things can ever go back to the way they were," Drew told her, "not after everything that happened, that changed."

May stepped back.

"But if things can change once, they can definitely change again. That I know for certain," Drew continued. "Whether things change for the better or worse is up to us. There are so many ways things can go wrong and so little to make things right. I missed one opportunity to do the right thing once. I won't miss another one."

May took another stepped back and exhaled a shaky breath. The sun was officially gone now, and the skies were getting darker. Her time to return safely back to her retreat was limited, and she had to make a choice now.

"I…" May sighed. She looked away to think for a moment, then slowly turned back. "I'm currently setting base at...the abandoned hotel. We have to go there now if we want to avoid other hunters."

Drew's face immediately brightened. His arms twitched in the desire to engulf May into a big hug, just as he wanted to do when he saw her for the first time in years. He restrained himself, however, wisely, and offered something else instead.

"Let me carry some of those bags," he suggested. "We can travel faster that way."

May immediately narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down. Then slowly, very slowly, gave him one of the bags. A hand was free then and reached for her gun.

"Alright," Drew said, slinging the backpack over his shoulder, "let's go."

May hid a look of surprise and relaxed her arm. She slowly turned forward, listening behind her for any sudden movements. When she heard none, she still kept her guard up as she led the way to the hideout. Drew might mean well, and their history might have been...interesting, but she wasn't going to trust him. Not just yet. If she was ever going to trust anyone ever again, she would need time.

Fortunately for her, Drew was willing to wait.

Thank you so much for reading this one-shot. I thought about writing a second part to make it a two-shot, but I'm satisfied with this ending. If you want the second part anyway, however, I'll be more than happy to write it if enough people ask.

Until then, what did you think of the story?