Fated re-encounter: A battle of hearts!
This is a new chapter of Ray's amazing adventures! Today our hero will compete for a ribbon in Rustboro's Contest - it will be his debut as a pokemon coordinator!
"I want to be the Top Coordinator of Hoenn! I won't give up!"
Ray is an energetic boy from Petalburg City. This boy can be described as someone totally clumsy and dramatic - but he's also very caring and friendly. Quite charming, I'd say. He's also the oldest sibling of Norma, Petalburg's local gym leader. Tall and slim figure, fierce blue eyes, red jacket with dark blue hoodie and a stylish bandanna taming his rebel chestnut hair. Ray is a young teenager trying to learn the mysteries and wonders of the Pokemon Universe, a fantastic journey with his two loyal pokemon: Torchic and Beautifly.
"...Ray."
"It is a pretty name, isn't it?"
"I'm not sure if I feel comfortable about that..."
Traveling around the world through Contest battling and Appeal shows seemed to be good idea for a guy like him. Ray was considerably a pacifist kid and a complete rookie dealing with pokemon; the idea of letting them violently fight each other until exhaustion kind of freaked him out. His conscience warned how badly would he do challenging gym leaders and other trainers. He knew that training wasn't that violent - yet still, adrenaline from battling didn't excite him that much.
Besides, the boy really liked the idea of being artsy and compose cool stage presentations with his pokemon. Contests have battles too - but the core of being a regular pokemon trainer is very different from being a pokemon coordinator, Ray's intuition kept telling himself that his creative side would benefit more from competing on stage than in the arena. He just avoided telling anyone the truth because his mother would be slightly disappointed at him, being herself an official gym leader. It was neither on his plans to disappoint his little sister, who was only seven but already obsessed with pokemon trainers and battling.
Of course, another reason he found important to take into account was the stupid misconception that Contest were all about dressing up and girly girl's stuff. On one hand, he knew this nonsense shouldn't affect him, that was an absurd blasphemy; on the other hand, his lack of self-confidence made him too embarrassed to fight against prejudice.
"You know, Pokemon Contests won this year League's prime honor prize for Gender Equality―"
"Oh, that's really lovely!... Either way, that part makes it clearer how Ray is an airhead and a self-proclaimed loser."
"―What?"
Ray shook his head, trying to not think about that... That's not how a soon-to-be hero should think about himself. He headed to the playground area from Rustboro's park, humming a song in an enthusiastic manner.
The newbie coordinator called his Beautifly out of the pokeball and picked few red boomerangs up from his bag. The bug pokemon chirped happily, looping in the air around its trainer.
"Are you ready to rock, buddy?"
After weeks trying to figure out what could be the best plan for today's Contest, Ray finally had an idea: Beautifly could use Gust and String Shot to repel and play with some boomerangs, creating an easy yet very nice looking effect on stage. It wasn't a very complex job - some would call it a cheap trick: however, that should be good enough for their first Contest... After all, Ray tried composing more complicated appeals but those only resulted in mess and chaos.
"Beautifly, Gust!"
Ray quickly threw three boomerangs in the air with excitement. His pokemon was slightly unprepared to catch two objects instead of one but it managed to control the wind with its wings quite gracefully. The first two boomerang returned right to the brunet's hands.
"Great job!" The boy laughed, running to Beautifly and hugging it like a proud overprotective mom. "Hahaha, you're the best!"
The bug pokemon cried in worry, trying to get its wings free from the rookie coordinator.
Ray blinked in confusion, clearly puzzled about that reaction.
"Beautifly? What's wrong?"
It ducked its head as the last boomerang came directly toward them, hitting Ray's head in a loud snap.
"OUCH!"
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Ray collapsed on the ground, watching stars surround his head.
"Ugh... That hurt!" He groaned out loud in pain then sat down on a bench, still a bit dizzy. "Damn, silly me... I'll pay more attention next time, don't worry about me, bro."
Beautifly landed on Ray's head, sighing in relief. Both coordinator and pokemon closed their eyes, resting in silence for a moment.
"Well..." The boy shrugged, crouching on the floor and picking up the scattered boomerangs. "At least I've got my lesson, it won't happen on stage..."
"Oh... Aren't you that guy from Slateport beach?"
"Rose, Roserii!"
Ray raised his head then opened his eyes wide open in surprise. That voice...
"Roselia... Drew? What are you doing here!"
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"U-Uh... Uhhh, is that D―"
Drew is a sassy girl from LaRousse City with big mysterious emerald eyes. Aquamarine miniskirt, stylish purple jacket, black long-sleeved shirt and a purple ribbon adorning her silky ponytail. Not a very common color combination - but trust me, she doesn't look half bad that way. It must be a magic provided by her abrasive personality and her exotic green hair color.
Roselia and Drew got the perfect abilities and chemistry to enchant the public and impress the judges. That young prodigy is so skilled on stage that, even though she is not a singer neither an actress, three different fan clubs across the continent worship her Contest skills!
Drew's trademark is her love for flowers - red roses, more precisely. She admires everything that is beautiful in a subtle and elegant way.
In Ray's honest opinion, like a true picky and bossy princess.
"So we meet again, huh. I'm happy you can remember my name, farm boy."
"...Sassy girl?"
"Yes, it's Drew! In a better shape."
Ray and Drew met for the first time in Slateport City, the most beautiful place in Hoenn's continent. It was Ray's second Appeal training day: he had just messed up an Ember attack with Torchic when Drew arrived at the beach.
To his relief, the slim girl simply jumped away from the attacks in a very graceful manner. Ray immediately threw himself on the floor to apologize, trying to not upset the pretty and elegant stranger - after all, she had to dodge some crazy fireballs and sand blasts from his tiny (but powerful) fire pokemon. That girl oozed an aura of money and power - she was probably going to sue him badly for that misfortune.
Unexpectedly, instead of getting angry at him, the green-haired coordinator grinned. She kept watching him as if the boy was a rare cute pokemon or something like that. Said gesture made Ray's cheeks fluster in discomfort - he wasn't used to that kind of warm approach.
Little did he know that such innocent smile actually had high doses of poison and malice.
Ray discovered the truth in a quite bad scenario: trying to act like a true gentleman, the rookie coordinator offered his help and services to Drew, who happily accepted it - she was carrying a few bags from the PokeMart and an extra hand would be welcome her beauty stroll.
"I am a coordinator too. But I am an expert one, my Appeals are way more complex than yours... Oops, I didn't mean to say you're bad."
"You must be gentle and smart to win the Appeals round. I imagine that it is very hard to a clumsy and graceless boy like you plan something to be selected to the following rounds..."
Drew mercilessly didn't stop criticizing him, not even once.
"I'm staying at that hotel nearby the private beach. I'm glad you're here to help me avoid all these people around, public places are a threat to my patience."
To make it worse, she purposely spoke in a not so sweet and cute voice.
"I appreciate all this effort you do to look more elegant in front me. It doesn't really work but I admire dedication... Though I think lost cause with dedication sounds more like silly stubbornness."
Ray almost shot himself and exploded in annoyance.
Geez, what a pretentious kid! "...Drew, stop."
"Okay, I got it. You're a fantastic coordinator, huh?" Very ironically, instead of arguing with the tiny arrogant princess, Ray challenged her to a battle. "Prove me your skills. I want to fight you once, show me your abilities."
"Ohh... I like that." She smirked, grabbing a pokeball from her belt. "This is going to be interesting."
"Go, Torchic!"
The two young teenagers called their starters: Ray's Torchic and Drew's Roselia stared at each other respectfully, small rivalry sparkles flying between their eyes.
Fire beams, sharp petal roses, headbutts and acrobatics in the air - two small and fast pokemon clashing against each other on the hot sands of Slateport.
"Torchic, dive then attack!" The boy ordered in a hurry, completely focused on the battle. "Now!"
"Roselia, Stun Spore!" She ordered with a fiery voice, getting warmed up with the challenge. "Careful with your back!"
"Protect yourself from the poison!" He shouted, pointing at the ground. "Bury yourself under the sand, go!"
To Drew's surprise, Ray was actually not bad at battling. He definitely lacked some basic knowledge but his guts and intuition were pretty good for a starter trainer.
She smiled. Farm boy was a decent rival, not just another forgettable fan-boy kid.
Ray's heart was jumping out his throat in concentration. Drew was indeed a very skilled trainer - however, he knew that conquering the victory wasn't an impossible task. After all, at least he had some great type advantage. If he kept pressing it, maybe Roselia would slip an opportunity to―
"AHHHH, IT'S DREW!"
"DREW, MARRY ME! PLEASE, LOOK AT ME!"
"Take more pictures, fast! Go, go, go!"
That intense display of incredible powers attracted more attention than they imagined it would do. To Drew's horror, a very vocal fan legion was taking pictures of her face and shouting her name out loud.
"Wow," the brunet coordinator muttered to himself. "You're really popular, huh?"
"Roselia, return."
"Hm?"
Drew ordered her partner to return to the pokeball. She picked up the handbags and walked away, trying to disperse the curious and loud crowd around the two teenagers.
"Ah..." The boy lamented, honestly disappointed with that interruption. "What's wrong?"
"I gotta go, we can finish this another time." The green-haired girl shrugged, pretending to not be bothered by the nosy people after her. "Don't take this as a victory, Ray."
Ray frowned, removing the sweat on his forehead with his arm. "I see..."
Drew tossed him a red rose, making the fan-boys cringe in jealousy.
"Huh?" The boy blinked in confusion. "What?"
"Consider yourself a luck boy," the girl replied with a teasing voice. "I only gift those who are worth it."
Ray stood in silence for a moment then nodded in solemnity. "Thank you."
"This is for Torchic," she answered with a snarky grin on her lips. "Not you. Roses are only for special and beautiful people, Ray."
Drew's departure managed to bother Ray more than he wanted to be affected.
That how the ultimate Grand Festival rivalry was born from a messed up Appeal practice.
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Drew flipped her ponytail in a quirky way, winking devilishly to her future on-stage rival.
"Tsc, tsc... A boomerang on your forehead is not beautiful, mister. If you want to win, you will need more than strength and some good-looking pokemon."
"Beautifly is just fine," he answered shortly, dodging her dangerous teasing eyes. "Go find a problem in another place, gee."
"Uhh, it's not Beautifly's fault." She shrugged. "I'm making a constructive critique... It is your lack of grace and common-sense that makes this appeal suck so much."
Kid was a true pro: she knew how to drive Ray crazy without saying much... Drew was different from most of the girls her age. A wild Mightyena under a docile Mareep's fur. Also, cool and flat-chested. Oh, that lack of curves... The jailbait queen of the old sages from Ecruteak.
"Jailbait Q― AHHH! Is that comment really necessary?!..."
"Panem et circenses, panem et circenses! You don't know how to please the crowd, do you?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about..."
Ray hated to admit, but that kind of cocky attitude somehow fascinated him.
To make it worse, Drew was undeniably a very cute girl... She had the power to provoke something called 'awkward-hormonal-oscillation' inside young men's heart.
"Stop doing that..." Ray shook his head in denial, erasing such misguiding thoughts from his mind. "That's annoying! Why do you bother me so much?!"
However, those charms don't work at all because Ray absolutely hates her! He ultimately dislikes Drew's annoying teasing and peacock's habits.
She doesn't deserve his attention. That girl is... She's just a shallow and proud brat, right?
"Drew... You could be nicer, you know? I'm not a mere stinky bathroom rug."
"Whatever, I don't need to waste my precious time with someone graceless like you."
The boy groaned out loud, feeling clearly offended by that obnoxious girl.
"You should focus more on Beautifly's wings, their colorfully patterned membranes are their most prominent feature. Also... Fire attacks are enhanced in sunny days, it is a stupid idea forcing your Torchic cast Ember in a rainy day like you did few days ago. Beautifly's Morning Sun works better on that weather condition, too."
Ray's unconcious thoughts blinked a note about an unspoken fact: that was the second time they bumped into each other... How did she know everything he had done during the past weeks?
"Wait a second," he muttered in a puzzled voice, furrowing his eyebrows. "How do you know all the tricks I've practiced for Rustboro's Contest?"
Drew shrugged, faking an innocent face with her big and expressive green eyes. "Not my fault you're predictable?"
Was that a convincing argument?
"No way you're not caring if you know all the past three Appeals I've been trying to do with Beautifly and Torchic." Ray blushed in crimson tones, stuttering a bit. "T-too many d-details."
"Well..." The green-haired girl held her flower pokemon in her arms, caressing its pointy head. "You are too loud and indiscreet, it is hard to not notice you when I occasionally see you practicing your crazy ideas on the road or in a city. That's not my fault."
He paused for a long moment before completing his question. "Then y-you're... You are stalking me?"
Roselia snickered behind his coordinator master.
"What?!" For the first time, Drew looked impassive and slightly distressed. "Stop, Roselia!"
The flower pokemon laughed, hiding her face behind her colorful roses.
"No way!" Drew panicked for a moment. She yelped in embarrassment, shaking her head. "Hey, I'm not stalking you!"
How could her loyal partner betray her in front of farm boy! Roselia busted her completely - Drew decided to win the discussion using an aggressive argument.
"Duh, we are both coordinators... Of course we are taking the same routes, I didn't choose that! Silly..."
"Oh?" Ray frowned, slightly puzzled. "Eh, I was right then. You are following me and watching me practise."
"I'm not following you!" Drew hissed, clearly angry and irritated about Ray's (right) accusation. Turning her back to him, she took a long breath and sighed loud dramatically.
Ray was confused - yet no longer mad. After all, apparently he wasn't the only one affected by the laws of awkward attraction and hormones. The brunet boy broke the silence with a warm and friendly smile.
"Hey, thanks! Those were great pieces of advice. Thank you for analyzing my work..."
Drew opened her mouth to speak but didn't know what to do - she ended up not saying a single word. Ray noticed his answer surprised her - he just smiled again, laughing softly.
"How about a treat from me?"
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The two coordinator stopped by an ice cream shop before heading to Rustboro's Contest Center. Drew refused to let Ray pay for the food but accepted the easy-going invitation. She asked him to wait a minute before pulling his wallet out of his bag; she ordered two very generous cup of gelato and tossed few coins to the ice cream man with perfect aim.
Ray licked the tip of his fingerless gloves, holding the melting chocolate ice cream with clumsy hands. Instead of criticism, this time he was attacked by quiet and soft giggling attack. Drew flicked her ponytail, eating the round biscuit on the top of her pink ice cream.
Funny enough, she was able to be a nice girl when she wanted to. Ray found fairly curious how she acted differently when not worried about her enormous ego.
"Drew..." Ray scratched the back of his neck, fighting his urge to chicken out and ran away from the green-haired girl. He resisted it, trying to touch her arm without looking too suspicious. "Can we talk?"
"Talk... In what sense?" Her eyebrows perked up in curiosity. "And why?"
"Well, we will be rivals for real now..."
The chestnut-haired teenager coughed several times, struggling to speak out his mind. It was very complicated to open up some conflicted feelings in front of his rival, with high risks of being misinterpreted and being punished for that.
"Right? We're kind of Contest buddies too, aren't we? Our mutual goal is to win the Grand Festival and become a Top Coordinator..."
"Yea, I suppose." Drew smirked, watching Ray with an ironic look on her face. "Honestly, I don't think we know each other that well to be considered close friends. But I'll let you say you're my acquaintance, how about that?"
"We... Could travel together."
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That answer caught Drew completely unprepared: an intense blood rush made her cheeks go from light pink to flashing crimson. The teenager girl suddenly stopped grinning mischievously, freezing her slender body in a tension.
"H-Huh?" Her confidence mask slipped away from her face for a moment. "...Together?!"
She didn't mean to react with such intensity - but something inside her chest pulsed harder than it should do.
"I-I..." Drew actually didn't know if she wanted to accept or refuse his invitation. A strange battle between pride and curiosity (was it really curiosity?) began inside her body: she was out of her comfort zone now. "I-Is it a joke or a threat?"
"Drew, I..." Ray groaned in a struggle to keep his personal life buried under the ground - but, perhaps, telling the truth would stop that paranoid girl from thinking wrong things. "Why would I threat you, I... Already like another person."
Roselia stopped smiling and lamented with a timid moan.
"Really?" Drew blinked in confusion. She wasn't expecting to hear that from Ray. "You're in love?"
"I think you might know her, she's a famous coordinator too," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Whatever, that's none of your business. Would you like to travel with me or not? C'mon, like rivals."
"It is my business," the green-haired declared more confident than she should, clenching her fists in tension. "Tell me her name... I'm really curious now!"
"...Hailey."
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"I like Hailey." The brunet coordinator flustered, now fidgeting with his fingers in anxiety. "She's an old friend of mine... Feh, it's just an infatuation, it's not like I have a chance with her. She's too good for me."
"...Yea, I know―" Drew smirked in a mocking way then suddenly opened her eyes wide opened in shock. "―What?!"
Hailey was a Top Coordinator even more famous and popular than Drew - her stunning long purple hair and natural beauty were as perfect as her coordinating skills. As fashion as Elesa from Unova, Hailey's favorite costume was a sexy Cacturne-inspired dress.
Drew semi-consciously stomped her feet on the ground, clearly upset about her rival's unexpected confession. "No way!"
Furrowing his eyebrows in a mix of annoyance confusion, Ray scratched his nose in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. "No way what, Drew?"
"T-There's no way you're in love with a woman like that!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Hailey is an awful person! How can you say you're in love with her? Are you dense, that woman is a poisonous Ariados! Everybody knows Hailey just want to play with young naïve hearts!"
"Who are you to preach me about love?" The boy pouted, looking away to not stare directly at those green threatening eyes. "You keep calling me a brute... You have no idea how does a graceless farm boy feel."
Drew froze and silenced in shock, without a proper argument or answer for Ray's perfect question.
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(The end? In the next exciting chapter, Ray will explain Drew why his heart is so torn between the cocky young girl and the sexy witty lady. What does Hailey have that fascinates everybody? Why is she so beautiful and intelligent? Stay tuned! TEH INCOMING DORAMAS, YAYZ! Don't forget to review my story!)
(...)
"So... Did you enjoy it?"
May stared at the thick block of typed pages in her hands, absolutely speechless and terrified.
"My friend gave me this awesome idea and I couldn't hold down my creativity spree! I'm going to upload it to PokefictionDotCom! What do you think about it, Hun?"
Harley was so happy he didn't notice May wasn't answering his feedback request.
"I am not sure if I managed to write Ray in the perfect proper way, you know? I don't want him neither Drew to be out of character..."
Solidad couldn't help but laugh quietly to herself.
"I considered inserting Solomon, the great Top Coordinator, in the end of this chapter! I think he can spice up the crazy romance going on between the main characters..." The purple-haired man grabbed another few extra pages inside his case file. "Take a look, Sol!"
"I'll read it carefully." The peach-haired coordinator nodded to her friend. "I'm sure Solomon is a great character, right?"
May felt a metaphorical Awkwardness Snorlax lying on her head, pressing her fragile body against the floor. After coughing in distress, her 'pain' finally let her comment the masterpiece in her hands.
"This... This is... Why is Ray such a woobie and why can I imagine girly Drew in a skirt looking pretty as always..."
"Are you jealous I didn't put your original characters in my epic saga?" Harley stuck his tongue out in provocation, moving his hips in a hypnotic jiggle. "Bo-Ho-hoo, no Ashley, Brooke or Maxine for Ray, poor boy. No way I'd let him travel with a harem. Too cliché, you know?"
Ashley? Brooke... Maxine? May felt like puking on the floor.
"Harem? What are you talking about?..." Drew joined the table holding a mug of coffee in his hands. "Morning, guys."
Harley's eyes sparkled in excitement, Solidad held a subtle chuckle under her breath and May stared at her rival as if the world was crumbling down to pieces.
"Uh... What." The boy frowned, slightly bothered about the mystery in the air. "What happened?"
"Magic," Harley spoke with a malicious voice. "You're too young to see and understand that, pretty boy."
"Okay, spill the beans. I know you three are hiding something from me... I'm not blind."
"N-No!" May yelped in horror, trying to hide the fanfiction book from Drew. "It's nothing!"
"Sure it's nothing..." The green-haired coordinator sighed then stole one of the pages away from his rival's hand with a quick and inoffensive hand slap. "I see, excuse me."
"Eeek!" She blushed in frustration, hiding her face behind her gloves. "I-I, I..."
Groaning out loud in defeat and shame, May refused to stand this crazy scenario any longer: she immediately left the table and ran back to her room, throwing the rest of the book back at Harley.
"NOOO, COOKIE!" He cried in disappointment, biting his own hat and watching his muse leave them behind. "I wrote it for you, don't hate my homage!"
Drew shrugged, ignoring the sudden odd display of despair by taking a look on the paper in his hands. It was an illustrated chapter opening, featuring a badly drawn picture of a long-haired girl and a bouquet of shining red roses. "Fated re-encounter: A battle of hearts!"
"Geez..." The boy flicked the tip of his hair then took a sip from his drink. "What the?..."
Turning his back to the veteran coordinators, he watched the corridor behind him and nodded his head at the direction May tried to escape. "What's her problem?"
"I think May doesn't like fanfiction," Solidad answered, tapping on the purple-haired man's back. "You should be more subtle next time, Harley..."
Drew had no idea why Harley got so mad neither why Solidad started laughing not so discreetly anymore.
.
.
.
A/N: Kinda silly story, I know. Sorry, it was pretty much a cathartic exercise, I've been in a bad luck streak and my life is a mess atm. Writing random and nonsense stuff makes my head lighter... Either way, I hope you had fun with this! I guess it's nicer as a fanart/doujinshi, I'll probably try doodling that someday... I can only be sure that Hailey would be a **fabulous** diva.