To Missy—Happy birthday!
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon and the picture was drawn by tumblr user glaycia but she gave me permission to use it ^^
-x-
"And here, and here…" May rambled as her hands tightened around the brochure in sheer excitement.
"We're not here for very long, May," Drew reminded, his hands in his pockets as he looked ahead.
May let out a sigh. "I wish we could be. Two days isn't enough," she said in a distraught voice.
"Another time, promise. Until then, prioritize what you want to do," Drew said as he bent the brochure so he can get a better view.
"What do you want to do?"
Drew shrugged. "I don't have a preference. If you want to do anything specific then I'll go with it."
May smiled. "You're the best!" She tilted forward and gave him a small hug. Drew placed his hands on her shoulders and returned the gesture, albeit slightly embarrassed because they were in a public area.
"I know I am," he responded, letting out a small grin afterwards.
"Are you sure—" May asked, trying to assure he was going to enjoy himself in their short amount of time in Kalos.
"I'm sure," Drew said, cutting her off. "We can visit other areas another time. Right now, you can decide."
"Alright," said May gleefully as her lips curved into a smile. She scanned the brochure, her eyes widening as she saw various pictures and activity descriptions.
Drew leaned closer. "Need help?"
May's ears perked up. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement as she pointed towards the store not too far from where they currently were.
He blinked and tugged the piece closer to ensure he was reading correctly. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, an expression she returned with a smile, assuring him that he wasn't incorrect..
She held up a square-shaped piece of paper and waved it in the air. "There's a sale at this famous Kalos boutique!" she squealed.
"How do you know it's famous?" asked Drew as May handed him the piece.
"It said it on the piece of paper!" May explained, to which Drew immediately furrowed his eyebrow at. Anyone could claim to be the best—every ad available claimed titles such as "best" or "most popular."
"If it's clothes that can be found in other regions, why bother spending money here?" Drew asked, shrugging.
"Kalos fashion is different and unique," May argued.
"It's all just clothes to me," Drew answered. "If it can be found anywhere else, why bother spending possibly more money here? Why bother spending your time shopping?"
"We still have a day, it's not like it's our only stop," said May. "I know fashion isn't your thing, but I swear, Kalos fashion is amazing and it has its only style not found anywhere else!"
"Shopping isn't my 'thing' either," said Drew with a sigh as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
He loved May, he really did, but shopping with her was a pain. He had no choice but to accompany her.
-x-
Drew scuffed at a poster displayed on the stores' windows. The model had far too many, in his opinion, layers of tops along with leggings, a skirt, and a bright colored pair of knee socks over the leggings. He couldn't understand why someone would wear that many clothes at the same time unless they were cold. And frankly, Kalos was nothing but warm at the moment.
He didn't care what he wore; as long as he was comfortable, he was content.
"Look at these designs!" May squealed, tugging Drew's arm and pointing towards the mannequins.
"They're just clothes with sequenced fabric and bright colors," Drew reminded as he scratched his head.
"And they're really pretty," May said in a cheerful voice.
His gaze shifted to the opposite side for males' clothing. He couldn't contain himself and let out a dry laugh, the outfits were ridiculous.
"Maybe we can get something for you too," May suggested.
"No thanks," Drew said immediately. "The clothes are so flamboyant it really is ridiculous. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing something as flashy as that."
"You've been wearing that since the start of your journey, hasn't it gotten boring to wear?" asked May.
Drew shrugged. "I don't mind. I like this outfit."
May's face dropped, though Drew was too busy musing to himself about how overpriced the outfits were that he didn't notice.
-x-
He really did love May; but he certainly did not love shopping with her—there was a difference. She could go through racks of clothes and not realize that she had been there for hours. She could buy the entire collection if she had that kind of money. To her dismay, she didn't and the worst part—deciding—seemed to take even longer.
Drew was already carrying four shirts and two pairs of shorts. If May found the article of clothing at least somewhat attractive, chances are she—him in this case—would hold on to it until later to decide. Narrowing down meant sorting through sometimes dozens of different varieties of clothing, anything that caught May's eye was bound to be grouped in.
"It's probably going to be worse today since we're in the "fashion" region of the world," Drew muttered under his breath as he took a seat.
"What do you think of this?" May asked as she held up a pair of blue jeans.
"Wasn't that the pair of pants the mannequin was wearing?" Drew asked, narrowing his eyes.
May nodded.
"The mannequin on the male side was wearing that," Drew stated.
"I know." May flipped the pair of jeans and averted her gaze. "I think this is your size."
Drew nearly fell off his seat. "My size?
"I know you think the outfits are too flashy," May began. "But this one is plain, plainer than your light blue colored ones right now!"
"I still like these," said Drew as he stretched out his legs.
"Why are they a bright color?" May asked. "If you hate flashy colors then…?"
"They're bright, but not flashy," Drew stated. "There's a difference."
"Well…they do stand out when you have green hair," said May with a small shrug.
"Not really," said Drew. "They are okay and I'm comfortable in them. I don't think I can say the same about that," he added, pointing at the jeans.
May placed a finger on her chin and tapped her foot. "I'll keep it in the pile if you change your mind later! I would feel bad knowing I bought so many clothes and you got nothing." May admitted as she tossed the pants to Drew.
He placed them all into a group, knowing very well he wasn't going to end up buying them. "You don't need to feel bad. Really, I don't care about color coating, matching, and all those other actions involved with fashion."
"Maybe a t-shirt? Sweatshirt?" May suggested. "I'm going to the other side to look through the clothes there. Since you don't want anything, I won't look for you." As soon as she finished speaking, the edges of her mouth quirked into a devious yet excited smile, causing her to cover her mouth as she tried to sustain her giggles.
He sighed and shook his head playfully.
"You're horrible at lying," he told her as he grinned.
"I was too excited," May explained.
"Don't waste any time choosing clothes for me, I won't be buying anything. Go ahead and look around for yourself, but keep in mind you can't buy everything and try to be a little more selective when choosing so you don't have to go through two large piles of clothes when you're finished," Drew advised.
May pursed her lip. "You're acting like I take one of everything from the store and have to narrow down from there," said May.
Drew sighed. "That's basically what ends up happening."
May shook her head. "It's a struggle to pick, but I'm sure it's not that bad."
Drew chuckled. "Then let's see how today goes and it'll prove I'm right."
May smirked. "You've got it wrong; today will prove that I'm right."
Drew shook his head. He knew things would work out in his favor. "We'll see about that." The two called a temporary truce to their debate.
"Girlfriend problems?" The man asked.
"I think problem is an overstatement," Drew answered. He wondered why the worker was suddenly talking to him. He did notice him out of the corner of his eye, but the man never started talking until after May left.
"You're right. The only problem is your lack of coordination," he spat.
"My lack of what? I'll have you know, I made the top two during the Hoenn Grande Festival," Drew informed, flipping his hair.
"Oh so you're a coordinator?" he asked, answering Drew's next question before he could say it.
Drew cocked his head to the side. "If you didn't know I was a coordinator, what were you talking about when you said coordinating?"
"Your outfit; I've never seen such an appalling attire in my life," The man stressed, cringing as he stared at Drew's outfit for a few more seconds.
"Mine? Have you seen the outfits this store sells?" Drew retorted.
"Yes and they are made by the most talented designers from all over the world. Your outfit, on the other hand, makes wearing raw meat seem fashionable," he snickered.
"That's a hyperbole. Frankly, I'd rather wear this horrible outfit than whatever raw meat collection your so-called "top designers" can be planning for the future. At least I won't get eaten or infected by wearing this," Drew sneered. His patience was warring. Kalos was a different region, though he was pretty sure he could file a complaint against the nosy employee just the same as if he were in Hoenn.
"The coordinator joke was funny. How do you come up with combinations while considering that outfit to be appealing?" The man questioned. "It doesn't make sense, obviously you're lying."
"My name's Drew Hayden. You can look me up if you're concerned about the truth."
The man clenched his teeth together. "What a smooth sounding name. It's a shame it belongs to a liar with no sense of style or dignity. I'm also considering eyesight because you had to be seeing some other color when you decided that pairing green hair with sea green pants along with a purple shirt was a good idea."
"Aren't you supposed to be working instead of insulting your paying customers? I'm sure the manager would be delighted to know how top of the notch his employees—"Drew paused as he read the label. The rude man he was talking to was the manager.
"I can't decide which is worse: Your outfit or the white-haired guy's entire appearance? Both make me want to throw up." The manager gagged just as the boy turned around.
"What did you say about my hair?" The boy,who seemed to be around the same age as Drew, demanded.
"Some of you don't know how to properly dress yourselves. It's horrifying," The manager then sighed. "Those pants look preposterous by the way."
The boy placed a hand on his hip and frowned. "My outfit is fine!" he exclaimed loudly. Drew's head instinctively fell back; whoever that guy was did startle him to a degree.
"People in Kalos just love to stare and they believe I don't notice they're discussing how my outfit looks. Not just that, insulting my hair—which isn't—"
"With hair like that, there's bound to be some attention," The manager responded.
"With an attitude like that, there's bound to be some negative press that could possibly close your store down," Drew intervened.
"I'm sorry for trying to save you two from embarrassment," The manager said unapologetically.
"On the playground, this is defined as putting us down to make yourself feel better," The other boy responded. "Plus, I would never wear your outfit. It's so flashy."
"Everything in this store is flashy. The section for men is hideous," Drew commented.
"My thoughts exactly! I think my outfit is ten times better than whatever these so-called designers are making," he declared.
The manager fell into a fit of laughter. "You really think that deep tangerine and black shirt along with those long shorts over fitting pants is attractive? You look like a carrot, and dying your hair white doesn't help either."
"Deep tangerine orange?" The other boy snorted. "It's just orange, no need to be so pretentious."
Drew smirked. "Don't know if that's possible, pretentious seems to define most of his personality along with arrogant, rude—"
"Judgmental, no sense of style—"
"No sense of style?!" The manager yelled. "Coming from you two? You both must be blind."
"I think his outfit is fine," said the boy. "I'm assuming how someone dresses is a life threatening problem for you. I'm too busy being a badass trainer to worry what some pretentious man thinks of me."
"Now, now," Drew mocked. "Don't be too harsh, we might be breaking his blood orange heart by insulting him."
"There's a heart under that organic peach tint skin?" The other boy chimed in, chuckling at the end.
"I've had it with both of you!" The manager screeched, waving his hands around historically. He wiped his eyes with a sequenced handkerchief and huffed. "My eyes are tearing up looking at how hideous you both look! Please, get out of the store."
"If I could I would, but my girlfriend wanted to shop here and I had to accompany here," The boy informed as his lips curved into a mischievous grin.
"Please, who would date either of you? I'm sure that girl you were with must be a friend or sister, I would die before dating any of you and your horrible outfit—"
"Someone's love life hasn't been going smoothly," Drew interrupted while crossing his arms.
The man's eye twitched. " . . ," he hissed.
The boy tapped his shoulder and winked. "Nice going, dude."
While some customers did turn to look, the majority focused more on their own business.
"You know, going by your logic, maybe it isn't going well because of how you—"
The manager held both boys by their collars and began to drag them.
"You can let go, we get it, we'll wait outside," Drew complained.
"Someone's quiet, I guess Greeny here hit a soft spot," The boy snorted.
"Greeny? I have a name," Drew informed as both shoved the manager off and walked out the door.
"I'm Brendan, and you are?"
"Drew."
"Where are you from?" Brendan asked.
"LaRousse City in Hoenn," Drew said as he stuffed his hands in his pocket.
"I'm from Hoenn too. My dad's actually the professor there," Brendan stated. "So, your girlfriend forced you to go to this shop too for a sale?"
"I wouldn't say forced. I really didn't have any other choice. If I knew we'd meeting a guy like that here I wouldn't have come; and I doubt she'd be pleased knowing what kind of guy the manager is," said Drew.
"Ahh." Brendan looked back inside. "You know, I don't think he was the manager."
"What makes you say that?" Drew asked.
"While he was dragging us, a note fell from his shirt pocket." Brendan unfolded a piece of notebook paper and handed it to Drew. "He had an ID in there also and I'm assuming he's the son of the owner."
"I was suspicious. He was young and if he treats all the customers he claims have horrible fashion like that then store wouldn't have as high a reputation as it does," said Drew.
"Horrible fashion?" Brendan chuckled. "We're both fine. And even if he is critical of how we dress, there are people who are just as critical of how we dress but don't treat us like that. Not to mention, who cares how people perceive our outfits?"
"You're right," Drew agreed.
"Hilda thinks I look ridiculous but she still loves me," Brendan commented.
A silence fell over them. It was easy to talk when they were joined together to get back at the rude worker. Once they were alone and didn't need to defend themselves, Drew found the feeling to be discomforting. Brendan seemed like a nice guy, but he knew close to nothing about him.
Yet, Brendan still tried to converse with him about anything. Some people would have just given up talking completely and Drew can tell when someone is continuing just to be polite.
"You know, my hair isn't actually white. This is a knit cap, my real hair color is black," Brendan informed.
"I thought something looked off…no offense," Drew commented.
"At least you noticed it may not have been my real hair. It is cotton; does it really look like human hair?" Brendan asked.
"Not at all," Drew said. Sure enough, it really was just a cap.
"So, what do you do?" Brendan asked next.
"I'm a coordinator."
Brendan taped the side of his face as he looked at Drew. He raised his eyebrows, seemingly trying to figure something out.
"Can I help you?" Drew asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
"I've seen you before, on T.V. that is," Brendan confessed. "Oh, right! You made the top two in the Hoenn Grand Festival! You're Drew Hayden, correct?"
Drew nodded.
"It was a great battle; you really did your best. Robert was just something else, I'm sure you'll win next time! Getting into the top two at such a young age is pretty impressive," complimented Brendan.
"I suppose. I think winning at my age would be even more impressive," said Drew.
Brendan chuckled. "The highest I've ever gotten to was top eight. If someone told me top two was impressive at my age, I probably would've done a little bragging."
"That's still impressive. I just wasn't fully satisfied because I didn't end up winning the entire Grand Festival. However, that's all in the past, what's important is what's coming next, the Johto Grand Festival," Drew stated.
"That's a good attitude to have. Maybe I can watch and chee—"
"There you are." A girl with a long, brown ponytail came out from the store with two bags hanging from her wrists.
"Hilda, this is Drew. Drew, that's Hilda, my girlfriend," Brendan said, introducing the two to each other.
"Nice to meet you, Drew," greeted Hilda as she stretched out her arm. Brendan rolled his eyes before sliding one of the bags off her arm.
"Took longer than I thought," Brendan commented.
"I was helping someone else. By the way, mind telling me why you and Drew were outside instead of inside? Brendan, what did you do this time?" Hilda questioned, sighing.
"Why do you always assume it's me?" Brendan asked.
"I've known you long enough to come to that conclusion. So, what did you do?" Hilda asked again.
"Stand up for Drew and I. That guy was insulting how we dress, he wasn't even the manager," Brendan informed.
"I wish I could tell you he's wrong about your ridiculous outfit," Hilda said wishfully before biting her lip back.
"I think I look decent enough. Deep inside, you think so too," Brendan claimed.
"I'm sure that deep inside, my opinion on your outfit remains the same." Hilda then grinned as Brendan slouched in defeat.
"So, now that I've shared my story, it's your turn," Brendan said as he draped an arm around Hilda.
"Well, what happened was—"
"Ha!" May exclaimed as she held her shopping bag in the air.
"That took shorter than I thought," Drew said in a low voice.
"I was helping May narrow down her choices and that's why I took longer," Hilda explained.
"You two know each other?" Drew asked, turning his head both sides.
"Nope, we just met," May answered. "And I was right! It didn't take me as long and I only have one bag."
"The deal was that you didn't need to narrow down the choices from so many items," Drew reminded.
"I didn't. If I did, it would have taken longer. You can ask Hilda!" May claimed, gesturing towards Hilda.
"Really?" asked Drew, knitting his eyebrows together.
Hilda froze. "Well, I saw her carrying a lot of stuff and she fell so I helped her pick everything up. It definitely wasn't most of the items in the store, but it was still a lot."
"There you go," Drew said, shifting his attention back to May.
"I still narrowed everything down quicker, that's important!" said May. "I guess we both win. I was looking for you but I saw you outside talking to that guy and I didn't want to interrupt."
"What a coincidence," said Brendan as his mouth formed a smile. "Long time no see, May."
"Hmm?" May cocked her head to the side.
"You two know each other?" Drew asked.
"Our fathers were friends and we played together sometimes when her family visited," Brendan explained.
"Your father?" May asked, her voice filled with confusion.
"She doesn't remember you," Hilda said to Brendan.
"How can she forget Professor Birch?" Drew asked.
"I didn't forget him! I know he has a son named Brendan, we used to play together sometimes," May said, proud that she answered the question.
"I'm Brendan," said Brendan, sticking his arm out.
May narrowed her eyes. "Brendan had black hair, not white, unless you dyed your hair."
Brendan sighed. "This isn't my real hair color, it's just a hat."
May's eyes lit up with realization. "Ohh. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, I thought the hat was your hair."
"It's alright, you're not the only one who thinks that." Hilda chuckled as she playfully nudged Brendan in the chest, causing the others to laugh.
Missy! Happy Birthday, I hope it went great! I'm sorry this is late and the writing kinda sucks because I may have rushed it too much last night. I'm glad to have met you and everyone really on tumblr! I hope this year is even better than the last.