After The Wallace Cup
It was a beautiful afternoon in Olivine City; the sun was shining, there didn't seem to be a single cloud in the sky and the streets were filled with people and it seemed that everyone had something to do. Down at the city port, the group of three consisting of Drew Hayden, Harley and Soledad were all sitting together, as they were waiting for the ship that their partner, May Maple, was on board. May had gone off to Sinnoh to compete in the Wallace Cup and now the three were awaiting her arrival so they could hear all about what she did while she was there. As the three were sitting out at the port together, Harley let out a sigh of boredom as he lay on his back while Drew and Soledad were keeping their focus out on the ocean. "When is the boat going to get here already? I've been waiting out here for two hours." Harley sighed as he was feeling his patience starting to wear thin from having to wait so long for the ship to arrive. As Drew simply shook his head with a sigh of annoyance at Harley's complaining, Soledad simply turned her glance down to him before she stood up from the seat she and Drew were sharing and walking over to him.
"Harley, we said that it was probably going to be a while until May got here. You could have waited at the Pokemon Centre, you know." Soledad commented. Harley turned his glance up to see Soledad looking down at him before he sat up and spun around to face her.
"What? And miss out on getting to see May when she gets here and ask her about how her performance in the Wallace Cup went? I wish." Harley replied, placing both of his hands on his hips before moving one of them in a dismissive motion while Soledad stared at him in surprise. After a few seconds, Harley lowered his hand and before he continued with his reasoning. "Besides, I can't find anything to do at the Pokemon Centre. They do have that lobby area, but it's so big and empty that I would much rather be out here looking out at the ocean." Soledad then raised an eyebrow in puzzlement as something didn't seem to make sense to her.
"But isn't being out here waiting for May the reason you were complaining in the first place?" she asked in response. Harley fell silent with his mouth dropping open, and he quickly raised his finger to give an answer only to realise that he didn't have one, and after a few seconds passed, he quickly crossed his arms with a pout. "Oh, be quiet! You know what I mean…" Harley sighed. Soledad simply showed a smile of amusement at Harley's display of immaturity, while Drew watched the two from where he was sitting before slowly shaking his head and turned his attention back to the ocean.
"While you two are busy arguing over there, I'm going to keep a lookout for May, which was exactly why we came out here to begin with." Drew stated, before reaching up and pushing a few locks of his hair back behind his ear. As Drew kept his attention out at the ocean, he could see what seemed to be a shape out in the distance, and he slowly stood up from the seat and made his way over to the end of the dock to have a better look. "Huh? Is that what I think it is…?" Drew wondered to himself. As he squinted his eyes to try and get a better look, the shape slowly came over into view to reveal that it was a ship, and a bright smile crossed Drew's face as he noticed this, before he turned around and rushed over to Harley and Soledad.
"Guys, come look at this! I think May's ship is coming our way right now!" Drew called. Soledad and Harley showed matching expressions of surprise at this statement, so without a moment to spare, Harley quickly stood up and the two followed Drew towards the edge of the dock to see the ship coming towards the dock where they were. And as the ship was getting closer into view, they could see someone standing on the deck waving to them, and it didn't take long for the three to show matching smiles of excitement as they could recognise who it was now.
"It's May!" Soledad happily commented. Sure enough, standing on the deck waving to the three was the fourteen-year-old brunette, wearing her bright orange dress-like sleeveless t-shirt with a black collar at the front, small black shorts, bright orange sneakers with a green strap around the front and wearing her bright green bandana with a white Pokeball symbol around her dark brown hair. Judging from the big smile on her face, she was eagerly looking forward to sharing her experiences with the others once she got off.
"Hey, guys! It's so great to see you again!" May called. Once the ship arrived at the dock, May was the first of the passengers to get off and she had a big smile on her face to see that the others were here. "Hey, I'm back! I can't believe you guys came out here to wait for me." May commented; she wasn't expecting that the three would be out here to see her arrive, since she figured that they would be at the Pokemon Centre so she could surprise them. But now that they were here, it seemed that those plans had been completely changed.
"Well, we figured that since you were on your way back soon, we'd be there to welcome you back into Johto. Surprised?" Drew asked. May promptly nodded in agreement; while it seemed that her original plans had been changed, it was still a lovely surprise to see that the others had arrived to see her when she arrived back. She was then met with a surprise as Harley jumped up towards the front of the group, much to Drew and Soledad's shock as they were nearly knocked backwards, and May could tell that he had a big smile.
"May-May! You're back! Oh, you have no idea how exciting it is to see you!" Harley cheered, grabbing May's hands in his much to her shock. May could only stare in stunned silence for a few moments before she showed a nervous smile at Harley's excitement. "Uh… it's great to see you too, Harley." May nervously replied. Soledad then made her way over to the two, and Harley quickly let go of May's hands as soon as he noticed her walking over.
"So, May. How was the Wallace Cup? I imagine you probably have a lot to share with us." Soledad commented. May immediately felt her bright smile return to her face as she couldn't wait to share everything with the group, and she nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that's right! You guys are going to love what I have to tell you." May stated. A little later, the group of four were all sitting together at one of the nearby cafes as May was eagerly telling them all about her time at the Wallace Cup, all with a big smile of excitement on her face as she was recalling the memories. "…And they had so many Coordinators competing that it honestly made me feel a bit nervous. But you wouldn't believe how exciting it was when we got to see the results; even Ash made it in!" May explained. As the group were enjoying their respective treats they ordered, they all showed matching expressions of surprise at that last statement.
"Ash competed in the Wallace Cup too?" Soledad asked. May promptly nodded in confirmation. "That's right! He only managed to make it up to the semi-final rounds before getting knocked out, but man, you should have seen him. He and Buizel made an amazing team during their rounds!" May happily commented, with her smile slowly growing brighter as she was talking about Ash's performance; she had another bit of news to share with them concerning Ash, but she had decided that she would save that until she was done talking about the Wallace Cup. Soledad was the first to respond judging from the bright smile after hearing about Ash's performance.
"Well, I have to say that's impressive. Considering that his main source of experience is often in battling, Ash can really be a good Coordinator when he puts his mind to it. And we were watching your rounds as often as we could, too. You really were amazing out there." Soledad commented.
"Thanks! I'm really proud of myself for how far I came too, even though I came up short during the final round." May replied. As Harley was listening to all of this, he then showed an expression of annoyance as there was something about what happened in the final round that really bothered him, before he placed his hands down on the table much to the others' surprise and turned his head to May.
"And while we're talking about the final round, would you mind explaining to me what happened there? You're supposed to be an expert and Dawn looks like she's only getting started, and you still lost to her in spite of that? What was that about?!" Harley snapped. May could only stare in surprise at Harley's outburst, before Drew was the one to speak up as he could tell that things were going to get ugly fast whenever Harley got involved.
"Harley, we already went over this with you. Didn't you even watch the battle? It was close on both ends, but Dawn was the one to come out on top in the end. If anything, I think she deserved that victory; after all, it looked like things hadn't been going well for her before that." Drew commented, keeping his arms across as he was talking. Harley then turned around to face Drew with an expression of irritation as it seemed that battle was still driving him crazy. "But it still makes no sense! How could May even have lost to a novice? If I was in that battle, I would have wiped the floor with her. Maybe then that should teach her a lesson for taking a victory away from someone who rightfully deserved it." Harley stated. May then showed an expression of annoyance as she was listening to this before she stood up from her seat, since it seemed that it was being left to her to set the record straight.
"Well, in case you're not in the know, I'll tell you something. Dawn needed that victory; she had lost in the Appeal Round twice before competing in the Wallace Cup! Can you imagine how much worse it would be for her if she had lost again? She would have given up on being a Coordinator entirely, and she had already been thinking about it beforehand!" May retorted. Harley could only stare in stunned silence at this statement, while Drew and Soledad simply fell into silence for a few moments before Soledad was the first to speak up.
"Really? Things were going that badly for her?" she asked. May turned her head to Soledad and nodded in confirmation. "That's right. And if anything, I'm really proud of Dawn for winning the Wallace Cup; I'd say it's exactly what she needed to get her confidence back. True, it does mean another loss for me, but I think it was worth it if it meant seeing her not give up on her dream." May explained, showing a bright smile as she could remember just how thrilled Dawn was to hear that she had won after her unlucky streak. There was silence for a few moments before Harley slowly sat back in his seat, and he could only remain silent after hearing all of this. There was silence between the group for a bit before Drew spoke.
"May?" Drew asked. May turned her glance to Drew with an expression of surprise. "Yeah? What's up?" she asked, tilting her head as she was wondering what Drew wanted to say. Drew turned his glance to think about how he was going to tell May this; since she was back with them, he felt that now was the perfect chance for him to tell her his feelings for her, and he was going to be completely honest about it with her. He knew that this wouldn't be easy for him, but he knew that he had to say it, that he couldn't hide it anymore. So with this in mind, he turned his glance up to her.
"I… I have something special I want to give you." Drew stated. He then reached into one of his jeans pocket, while May watched him in silence, before he held his hand up to show a red rose. May stared at the rose in surprise; she knew that Drew usually had one in hand when she saw him, so why was he…? However, her thoughts were stopped in their tracks as Drew continued. "I know I've usually given you one of these, but back then I always said they were for one of your Pokemon. But this is a special one… because it's for you." Drew explained, feeling a bright smile slowly showing on her face. May stared at the rose in amazement for a few moments before she slowly reached over and took it to look at it, before she turned her glance up to Drew with a grateful smile.
"Oh… thanks, Drew. It's beautiful." May commented. Drew started to feel his smile grow brighter at this statement; it was as if it was giving him the encouragement he needed to go through with his confession. But before he could have a chance to start, May then snapped her fingers as she seemed to remember something. "Oh, that reminds me! I have something exciting I want to tell you all." May said. The rest of the group quickly showed matching expression of surprise as soon as they heard this.
"What is it?" Soledad asked. May was silent before she started to show a bright smile and she felt her cheeks start to glow red as she was feeling excited to share this with her group. Drew then felt an expression of worry show on his face upon seeing May's face, as he was starting to wonder if this was what he thought he could be. Sure enough, after a few moments of silence passed, May spoke.
"Ash and I got to spend time together during the Wallace Cup when we weren't busy competing in our rounds, and then when we went for a walk together after his final round… he told me about his feelings for me! And I finally got to share my feelings for him!" May explained. The group of three all let out resounding gasps of shock once they heard this, and May let out a giggle of amusement at their reactions. "I know; that was exactly how I reacted when Ash confessed to me. But once I got the initial shock out of my system, you wouldn't believe just how thrilled I was, and I got to tell him the truth as well. And that's not all: we also shared our first kiss on that same night. So that means we're boyfriend and girlfriend now!" May continued. The group of three could only in shocked silence for a few moments before Harley and Soledad showed matching smiles of excitement while Drew was simply left in shocked silence.
"Wow, that's wonderful, May! I'll bet you're looking forward to finishing Johto now so you can travel with Ash again, right?" Soledad asked. May promptly nodded in agreement, since her new relationship with Ash gave her another reason to do her best here in Johto and enter the Grand Festival: she was going to not only do her best to make him proud of her, but she was also awaiting the new journey she and Ash would go on once they were done with their respective goals. As Soledad watched her with a bright smile seeing her excitement, Harley then spoke up much to their surprise.
"Well, all I can say is what took you two so long? The two of you had been travelling together for who knows how long and you never even bothered to tell each other the truth until now? That just sounds like a long time to keep a guy waiting. Now you know you're going to need to get through before meeting up with him again, right?" Harley asked, keeping his arms crossed as he was talking. May stared at him in surprise for a few moments, before she showed a bright smile and promptly nodded in confirmation.
"I know that, Harley. But I'm really glad I told him when I had the chance in Sinnoh. So that way, when we've finished with our goals on our respective adventures, we'll get to start a new adventure together just the way we used to. And when that happens, hopefully it'll just be the two of us." May replied, giving a wink with a smile of excitement at the prospect of just her and Ash travelling together. While this was happening, Drew was keeping his glance down at the table as he was struggling to register what he had heard May say.
'May and Ash got together when she was in Sinnoh, and I never even knew about it until now. And now that I know… my chance to tell her the truth got away from me without me even knowing it…' Drew thought to himself. After a few moments passed, he slowly stood up from his seat before turning around and walking over to the café door while May, Harley and Soledad turned their heads in surprise to notice this.
"Drew? What's wrong?" May asked. "Where are you going?" Soledad added. Drew didn't even give a response as he opened the café door and stepped outside closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, the others turned their heads to each other in surprise.
"What was that about?" May asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as she was starting to wonder what had gotten into Drew. "I'm not sure. I guess there must have been something he heard in your story that must have made him upset." Soledad replied, slowly shaking her head as she had no clue about it herself. Harley simply gave a shrug since he was just as lost as they were.
"Well, whatever it is, I didn't expect him to be so sensitive about it. For someone with a lot of experience, he really has trouble with that kind of thing." Harley commented. As May turned her glance down to think about what could have gotten Drew upset, she noticed the rose in her hand and it suddenly seemed to fall into place: he was upset after hearing that she and Ash had gotten together while she was in Sinnoh. But the question now rooted in her mind was… why? Why was Drew so upset about that in particular? After a few moments to think it over, May gave a nod in confirmation; she had to find this out for herself. So with this, she stood up from her seat and looked up at Harley and Soledad.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to go see if I can talk to Drew." May said. She then turned and made her way over to the café door, opening it and stepping outside before closing it behind her. Once she was outside, May made her way out onto the streets and started to look around. "Drew? Drew, where are you?" May asked, turning her head back and forth as she was wondering where her rival could have gone off to. As she passed the dock, she stopped in her tracks and slowly backed up to notice that standing there was Drew. "What could Drew be doing there?" May wondered to herself. Figuring that it was up to her to find out what had gotten to him, she started to walk over to the dock to meet up with him and ask him about it.
At the dock, Drew didn't even notice that May was walking over there. He was simply standing near the edge and looking out at the ocean with a solemn expression on his face and his arms crossed; he was thinking about what May had just said, expressing her excitement about her and Ash's new relationship, with him having been completely in the dark about it. 'How could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I bother to tell her when I still had the chance before she went off to Sinnoh? I thought I would have a chance to tell her when she got back, but now hearing that news… I guess I never really had a chance to begin with…' Drew had so many thoughts like these spiralling in his head that he wasn't sure where to start making sense of it all. As he let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes, that was when he heard a familiar voice calling out for him.
"Drew?" Drew opened his eyes with an expression of surprise and turned around to see that… it was her. Standing there on the dock with an expression of concern on her face and the rose he had just given her in her hand was May. She stood there for a few moments before she slowly walked over to him. "What are you doing out here?" May then asked.
Drew didn't give a response before he turned his attention back to the view of the ocean, while May stopped to stand just beside him. "May… why did you come looking for me?" Drew asked, turning his glance to her once he realised that she was standing next to him. May showed an expression of surprise at this question, before she figured that maybe she should make it clear to him.
"Well… I noticed that you were upset after what I was telling you and the others back there, so I wanted to make sure that you were okay, and hopefully you could tell me about what you're so upset about." May replied. Drew simply let out a sigh of response, and that was more than enough for May to tell that this was something serious, and she had to be careful with how she approached this, lest she accidently make things worse.
"Well… I thought you would have known what it was." Drew stated. May simply shook her head in response; that was what she was trying to find out. "No, I don't. And that's what I wanted to ask you about. You had something you wanted to say to me, didn't you?" May asked. At first, there was no response from Drew as he kept his arms crossed before he let out a quiet sigh.
"What was your first clue?" he asked. May then lifted the hand she was holding the rose in, something that he quickly turned his head to notice.
"Well, first of all, there was this rose you gave me. You said that this one was special because it was for me, which was something you usually don't do when you give one of them to me." May replied. Drew was silent when he heard this before he turned his attention back to the ocean, while May wasn't ready to give up until she got the truth out of him. "Drew… you wanted to tell me something, right?" she then asked.
That seemed to be the trigger Drew needed, as there was silence for a few moments before he let out a sigh and nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's right. The reason I gave that rose to you is because…" Drew then turned around to face May much to her surprise. "I wanted to tell you about my feelings for you."
May let out a silent gasp of alarm as soon as those words were spoken, and she could only blink a few times before she was able to respond. "Wh… what was that? Did you just say…?" May could only ask in response. Noticing her shocked response, Drew simply nodded in confirmation before he continued.
"Yeah, I did. You see, May… I've actually held feelings for you for a long time, probably as far back as when we first met. But I wasn't sure of how I would be able to tell you, so I acted like a jerk towards you to try and hide it, and why I gave you those roses and said that they were for your Pokemon. But the more times I saw you and the more I got to know about you and show how much better you were becoming as a Coordinator, that was when I started to realise that I wouldn't be able to hide it much longer, and that was when I decided that I wanted to tell you sometime while we were travelling here in Johto." Drew explained. He stopped for a few moments to check if May was still listening, and when he saw her nod of understanding, that was when he continued. "And when I heard you say that you were going to compete in the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh, that was when I decided that I wasn't going to hide it anymore. I was going to tell you the truth when you got back, and I would tell you the whole truth. But then I heard you talk about how you and Ash got together while you were there, and that was when I realised how long I had actually held off telling you. I wanted to wait until the right time came to tell you, but then when I learnt about what happened with you and Ash, that was when I realised that my chance was taken away without me even knowing it." May could only stare in shock having heard all of this, realising that all this time, Drew had feelings for her and she never even knew about it. But now that she did know, she didn't feel certain about what to make of this. While there was a sense of relief that she finally knew the reason for his behaviour around her, there was also some disappointment and regret on her part for never noticing it before.
"Drew… so this is the reason you always acted the way you did around me. All this time, you had feelings for me and I never even realised it… I'm so sorry…" May quietly said, showing an expression of dismay at her own ignorance. Drew stared in surprise as he heard this before he shook his head in response.
"You don't need to apologize, May. It's not surprising that you had no idea. I guess I'm not the best when it comes to being honest about my feelings…" Drew nervously replied, slowly rubbing the back of his head. May showed a small smile of relief as she was glad to hear that Drew didn't have any hard feelings towards her. With that taken care of, Drew turned his glance back up to May. "But I just want to say that… I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you before. And that with you and Ash being together now… I'll do whatever I can to not bother you anymore." Drew stated. May showed an expression of surprise at this statement as she could tell just how serious Drew was about what he was saying. "I mean, you and Ash are happy together now, and I don't feel like it's in my place to get in the way of that happiness. The two of you are clearly meant for each other and I know that it would be wrong for me to stop that. I just hope you understand the reason for the way I've behaved around you…" Drew continued, slowly turning his glance down with an expression of dismay as he wasn't feeling certain about how May would react to what he was telling her now.
May could only stare in silence for a few moments before she turned her glance to think over everything Drew was saying to her; he was aware of her and Ash's new relationship and he was promising that he wouldn't bother her anymore as a result. After a few moments passed, she turned her glance up to him with a gentle smile. "It's alright, Drew. I know exactly what you mean. Even if I might not feel the same way for you that you've felt fir me, I'm glad you told me all of this. And I want to say that even if things have been a bit rocky between us, I hope we can still be great rivals… and maybe even friends in the near future." May replied. Drew showed a bright smile as he heard all of this before he nodded in agreement.
"That sounds great. Thanks, May." Drew replied. May showed a bright smile and promptly nodded; that sounded like a plan to her too. Drew's smile then faded and he turned his glance back to the ocean much to May's surprise as she was wondering why he was still looking upset. "But now with all of this out of the way… I wonder if there'll be another girl out there who will catch my eye the way you did… I don't know if something like that is even possible…" Drew commented, turning his glance down in uncertainty as he was thinking this over. May watched him in surprise before a bright smile came to her face and she walked over to stand beside Drew.
"Well, you want to know what I think about this?" she asked. Drew turned his glance to May in surprise to hear what she had to say. "I'll bet that somewhere out in the world, even if it's in a completely different region, there's someone out there waiting for you. And when you meet them, you'll just know they're the one; it'll just hit you like lighting. After all, that's what happened for me and Ash." May explained. Drew turned his glance down to think this over before looking back at May.
"You really think that could happen?" he asked. May showed a bright smile before she nodded in confirmation. "I know it." she replied.
Drew stared in silence for a few moments before he showed a bright smile and nodded. "Well… I hope you'll be right." he replied. He then turned his glance back to May as he seemed to remember that they still had two people back at the café waiting for them. "I think we should start heading back now. Harley and Soledad are probably still waiting for us." Drew suggested. May promptly nodded in agreement with this idea.
"That sounds good to me." May replied. So with this, the two started to make their way back to the café as they were certain that their partners were waiting for them. As the two were walking, they turned their glances to each other with matching bright smiles; they both felt glad to have had that talk, since it meant that they now had everything cleared up between them, and they knew the truth of everything that hadn't been spoken about beforehand. But now they knew, and that even though that step would never be crossed between them, they would still enjoy all of their adventures together and hopefully take the small step from rivals… to becoming close friends.