Drew chuckled as he heard the bathroom door close and lock.
Drew had shown up precisely at six o' clock at May's room, ready for their date. Unfortunately but not unpredictably, as soon as May had opened the door, she'd turned a bright shade of red and sputtered her story about special training and losing track of time. She'd then yelled that she'd be ready in a bit and had hurried off to the bathroom.
Luckily, Drew had become accustomed to May's lack of punctuality and had actually made reservations for the restaurant at seven, not six. However, he wasn't about to tell May. She'd probably just yell at him about making fun of her, how he hadn't changed, and then proceeded to take forever to get ready just to make her point.
Drew rolled his eyes at that thought. That was just one of the few things that made May May.
Knowing that although her embarrassment would make her prepare faster but still take quite a while, Drew decided to relax and sat down at the edge of May's bed.
The bed was surprisingly soft, considering that it was a Pokemon Center bed. Yeah, he'd be able to wait for her in comfort.
Drew shifted and felt something poking him
….in the butt?
Drew frowned and reached under the mattress. What he took out looked to be some sort of journal.
What Drew found unusual was that instead of a traditional key lock, it had one of those number combination locks with six slots. Drew was puzzled but didn't have to think long for a possible explanation. May would probably lose the key to the lock, and/or Max would manage to find her hiding spot for the key. Drew smiled as he knew that both were very good possibilities.
Drew wondered what was written inside the journal since she had tried her best to keep it hidden albeit unsuccessfully.
Was it May's diary? Was it her list of combinations? List of her recipes for Pokeblocks? Was she writing a book?
Curiosity and guilt were warring inside Drew. Should he open it or put it back and act like he'd never seen it? May would be beyond hurt if he opened it without her permission.
Guilt seemed to prevail as Drew started to put the journal back in its hiding place. However, the victory was short-lived as curiosity won when a small piece of paper slipped out of the journal.
Drew picked up the little piece of paper and looked at its content.
It was some sort of list with six items on it. It dawned on Drew that they were hints to break the lock combination. Why would she run the risk of someone finding it?
Wait…it's May. She did tend to forget important things once in a while.
Well, what do I do now? Drew couldn't help wondering.
I could just have fun figuring out May's combination. I won't necessarily look at what she wrote. Plus, May is going to take a while so I might as well entertain myself just a little bit, and if May catches me, I'll tell her the truth, Drew reasoned with himself.
After justifying his actions, Drew proceeded to read the first combination clue.
1.)"Cheesy act"
Ahhh, those words. Drew grimaced as he remembered that he'd uttered those words about May's first attempt at a contest appeal.
So was the first number one for her first contest? No, Drew reasoned, May would never be quite that obvious.
Drew thought back to how he'd ended up on that private beach that day and why he'd been so cruel to May then.
*Flashback starts*
Drew sighed as he walked through the lobby full of coordinators preparing for the Slateport Contest.
He stopped and smirked at the sight of all the novices. No competition for him here. He'd be adding another ribbon to his case soon.
Drew walked out and headed to the beach. He could afford to relax. He wasn't worried.
However, as he was about to descend the steps onto the beach, he stopped as he heard someone yelling.
"Beautifly, Silver Wind!"
Drew turned and saw a Beautifly use Silver Wind, which came out more like a poor imitation.
Poor Pokemon. Probably has a lousy trainer.
He heard the trainer's friends trying to tell her to not use Silver Wind in the contest. If she had any brains, she'd listen to them.
Drew squinted as he tried to see the Beautifly's trainer but couldn't since she was on the ground whining. That was probably the worst thing you could do in front of your Pokemon. It was glaringly obvious it was her first contest.
"You're right! Okay, Beautifly! One more time from the top!" the trainer yelled as she stood up.
That's when Drew got her first glimpse of her.
His first impression: Hmmm…she looks okay. Won't break a mirror but still a bad trainer.
However, that changed as Drew watched her continue practicing.
"Beautifly, gust again!"
Drew stood enraptured at the girl's energy.
Watching her go through her appeal was breathtaking. She had this aura of energy, grace, and excitement that Drew hadn't seen or felt in quite a long time.
However, that image slipped as he saw that in her overconfidence, she'd missed the third Frisbee
….which was heading straight for him.
This was his opportunity to get a closer look at this girl. Once he calculated exactly where the Frisbee was headed, Drew closed his eyes and waited for his hand to make impact.
He heard a scuttle of footsteps and a muttered "I'm sorry".
Let's see if I can get that spunk back in her.
"Please don't tell me you're planning on entering the Pokemon contest with a cheesy act like that," Drew said as she made his way towards her.
He stood right in front of her. The anger in her eyes made her appeal go up just enough to pique his interest.
"You've got no finesse, no moves" Drew continued his tirade.
That had absolutely brought out her anger, which he quite enjoyed seeing and being the cause. He'd definitely want to get to know this trainer.
Although it'll only be to find out if she was any competition, he told himself.
*End of Flashback*
Drew sighed as he stopped that particular memory. As much as he treasured his first meeting with May, he had no desire to remember in detail how much of a jerk he'd been, even if he'd slightly made up for it by helping May and her friends deal with Team Rocket.
If only he could go back and tell his past self to behave….but maybe things wouldn't be the way they were now.
Drew mentally shook himself.
Back to the clue. "Cheesy act"…of course!
The clue referred to her appeal with the Frisbees! How many had she used again? Three! He should've known. After all, he'd caught the last one.
Drew put in the number in the first slot, confident that he was right.
Okay. What's clue number two?
2.)"Something like that"
As he read the clue, Drew let out a huge laugh, which caused him to quickly clap his hand over his mouth. He might be willing to tell May the truth if he got caught but he didn't necessarily want to get caught.
*Flashback begins*
Drew watched from a distance as May's friends congratulated her on her first win.
While he was disappointed he hadn't gotten a new ribbon, a small part of him was amazed on how much May had improved from the last time he'd seen her.
Of course, she wouldn't have won if he'd battled him and decided he should let her know that. He wouldn't want her to get overconfident after all. Yep, he should definitely go and tell her.
Drew got the rose out of his pocket and walked toward the group.
"Well, you did it, May. Of course, if you can been competing against me in the first round, things might've ended up a whole lot different", Drew told her while throwing the rose to her.
He would've given it to her by getting closer, but well, he remembered her first reaction to his teasing and after this win, she might be confident enough to do bodily harm to him.
May got the rose and to his surprise, said "I suppose this rose is for Beautifly, right?"
"Yeeeaaaahhhh", Drew said and as he slightly stretched out the word, a few thoughts entered his head.
Should he tell her that it's not for Beautifly but for her? Nah, let her think that. Let's see how long it takes her to figure it out.
"…something like that" Drew finished.
*End of Flashback*
"Man, May can be so clueless sometimes", Drew said softly with the affection clear in his voice as he shook his head.
Well, May's reaction was justified in a way, considering his response to her after the first rose.
What was she supposed to think if he gave her a second one?
"Of course. The answer must be two", Drew stated as he slide the number into the appropriate slot.
This is getting pretty interesting, Drew thought. What's next?
3.)Size of a LIECHI berry
Size of a Liechi berry?
That was easy. After all, Drew had studied almost every single book that had to do with contests and berries.
Let's see. In centimeters, it is 11, but in inches, it's four. Since each clue represent one number, it must be four.
Wait a second, Drew thought. What does the size of a Liechi berry have to do with anything?
That's when Drew noticed that the world Liechi was all caps as well as underlined multiple times as if May had wanted to make sure she wouldn't forget the spelling.
That last thought triggered a memory of one of the conversations they'd had the time they got stuck on Mirage Island.
*Flashback begins*
"Hey. I've heard of this place", Drew replied in response to Rodrick's comment.
"Oh…you have? Really?" May responded.
"This place is world famous. It's supposed to be crawling with Liechi berries".
"I've never heard of those".
"They are only supposed to be the best berries for PokeBlock. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to know that".
"Oh yeah! I happen to know about all about Lechi berries".
"Well then, I'm sure you know it's pronounced Liechi".
*End of Flashback*
As he finished recalling the conversation, Drew couldn't help feeling shocked.
He hadn't known just how serious May took all his comments. After all, he'd only be teasing her. She'd gotten flustered, but he assumed that was the end of it.
Drew sat there for a while imagining May taking time to actually look up information on Liechi berries. She didn't just look up how to spell it but also its size, which was such a small detail that almost no one would really pay attention to.
Drew felt even more respect for May than ever. He'd just been given an insight about how hard May really worked.
"Halfway there", Drew stated and looked at the next one on the list.
4.) Princess of Hoenn
Drew felt triumph at knowing that the mysterious fourth number was easy to figure out.
Clue number four obviously meant May's standing in the Hoenn Grand Festival, which had been in the Top 8.
Drew started to wonder exactly where the nickname had come from. He felt a hint of jealousy as he imagined guys drooling over May and deciding that she was princess material.
Shaking his head, Drew distracted himself by thinking about the battle and remembering May's surprise at his newest Pokemon…. new to her anyway.
Drew had been positive that May would make it to the Grand Festival and felt he'd better step up his game if he didn't want to lose to her of all people. He needed a strategy in order to assure his victory against her. In order to do that, Drew had spent hours looking in every single book he could find about Pokemon and their move sets to find the most powerful, elegant, but still contest-worthy Pokemon possible.
He'd finally settled on Flygon but soon found out that only Trapinch were available in the wild. However, that didn't stop his determination. He'd have his Flygon no matter what.
Unfortunately, it had been a nightmare.
First off, the desert was hot, blazing hot.
Second, the only way to be able to see anything through the constant sandstorm on Route 111 was to wear go-goggles, which weren't the most stylish accessory in the world or even the universe.
Third, Trapinch loved to hide in holes, which Drew had learned the hard way. He'd completely read up on Flygon but had failed to read all the details about Trapinch. He had to spend a whole week trying to find one measly Trapinch.
At the end of each day, he'd head back to the Pokemon Center tired, hungry, thirsty, and with so much sand that Nurse Joy would order him to clean off before even thinking of stepping a foot in the Pokemon Center. He'd also had two large circle marks around his eyes from the go-goggles. Needless to say, he wasn't at his best.
The only thing that kept him from giving up was the thought of losing to May. No, he wouldn't lose to her if he had anything about it.
Once he'd finally caught one, he'd had to level it up, which wasn't easy considering that Trapinch's speed wasn't the best stat. However, he would prevail!
He repeat to himself "Don't lose to May. Don't lose to May. Don't lose to May!" whenever he went like giving up.
Drew ran a hand through his hair as he thought about how much he went through due to his rivalry with May.
Of course, he didn't let that show during their battle, and he certainly wasn't planning on telling her either.
Okay, next clue is…
5.) The greatest battle of my life
That clue made him think about his. Out of all the battles and contests he'd participated in, the one he'd enjoyed the most had been the battle he had against May in the Kanto Grand Festival. He'd never felt more alive. The battle had kept him alert and full of energy until the end. Throughout it, May had continued to surprise him with her awesome combinations, power, and energy. All his special training and combinations hadn't been enough to defeat her. Drew had known that May had improved tremendously from the girl he'd met back on the beach. Heck, it'd been the whole reason he'd been a complete and utter jerk to her. Watching her perform had frightened the Pikachu out of him. Up until then, he'd seen their rivalry as him always being a few steps, maybe a few miles, ahead of her while teasing her to catch up. Her performance made it seem like the roles had become reversed and he was the one being left behind. He'd tried to hide his insecurity by hurting her emotionally, which he'd regretted. However, during the battle, they chosen to ignore their argument and just put their heart into their performance. However, when she'd won but refrained from celebrating and actually looked at him to wait for his reaction, he'd known that he'd been forgiven. To say he felt relieved would be an understatement. Smiling, he started putting the number four into the fifth slot since her victory had helped land May in the top four. However, he paused as a new thought occurred to him.
Had their battle been as important to May as it had been to him?
Just because the other clues had referred to encounters between May and himself didn't mean all of them did.
May had been in plenty of battles with other people that weren't him. Maybe the clue referred to another one.
Drew clenched his teeth as jealousy and doubt started to assault him. Drew quickly took a deep breath to try to calm himself down.
Calm down. You're getting yourself worked up. Just move on to the next clue and at the end, you'll find out the truth.
He'd thought that would calm him down, but in fact, the thought had done the opposite. Now, he was anxious to find out whether he was ...what? Important to May back then as well as now?
He wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden, this little game of detective had just turned into something deeper.
The last and final clue, Drew thought as he read it.
6.) Sunset
That image instantly procured up an absolutely beautiful sunset in his mind.
But when was the last time, he'd actually taken the time to enjoy one? It hadn't been anytime recently. After all, he'd been competing almost nonstop in contests and spending time with May.
The combination of May and sunset made a faint memory sound in Drew's mind.
The last time he'd actually seen one had been with May before heading to Johto. The two of them out there alone together had been one of the moments that had confirmed what Drew had already know in his heart: he was falling for his rival.
As the weird romantic that he was, he even remembered what time they'd left to view it since he'd glanced at the clock before going outside with her.
It had been six in the afternoon, but had May actually remember that memory much less the time?
Was it just a normal encounter between rivals for her?
There was only one way to find out.
Drew's heart started beating faster as he put the number six into the final slot.
He took a deep breath and gently pulled on the lock.
His eyes opened wide as the locked opened, much to his amazement. It had really opened!
Drew stopped the dam of emotions threatening to overwhelm him long enough to silently relock the journal and place it once more in its hiding place.
After he'd managed to do that with his hands shaking the whole time, he'd put his arms on his knees and allowed the emotions to flow through him. Relief, reassurance, happiness, and above all, love for May were so strong that tears started to form. He'd meant enough or actually a lot more to her even back then when he'd been a jerk to actually take the time to remember their encounters down to the smallest detail.
Not a minute later after this revelation, May came out of the bathroom.
"Sorry, Drew. Did I make you wait long?" she asked while smiling at him.
Drew managed only to lift his head and stare at May, his precious May.
May's smile drooped a little as concern started to take its place. "Drew, are you okay?"
Drew didn't answer.
He simply walked over to May and grabbed her hand gently. Drew pulled her into his arms and buried his head into her neck.
As he thought back to the six clues and memories, he smiled. He hoped to make many more beautiful memories with May that would give her new material for future clues since she was more than likely going to lose that journal with her luck.