Whispers
Drew's POV
"Next please," The attendant yelled. Finally. We'd been waiting for ages to get into the costumes room. Apparently there were more people who forgot costumes than we originally thought.
"That's us!" May squealed. She took my hand and Ash's hand and pulled us both into the costumes room.
"Oh wow," she breathed, letting us both go abruptly, "look at all these costumes. How will I be able to just pick one?" She made her way between the clothes racks. I watched Ash head out to the far corner. Brock quickly grabbed his and Max sifted through the middle costumes. Oh well, I guess it was time for me to look through as well.
"Oh my Arceus, Drew you have to wear this!" May giggled. She threw something at me and I only just caught it. It was a…jester's costume?
"Seriously May," I said, raising my eyebrows at her.
"Just kidding," she laughed, "you should actually wear this one." She threw a bundle of grey and black into my arms. She pushed me into the dressing room.
"Oh May," I groaned.
"Please Drew," she pleaded, "I think it would suit you for some reason." I sighed. The things I did. This had better not be some embarrassing costume or something. I unravelled it and looked it over. It didn't look too bad. A black long sleeved top and pants, a grey tunic, grey gloves with a circle of silver on the back, a black cape, grey and black boots, a black satchel that could double as a belt and a black and grey hat. I shrugged and changed, wondering what May was thinking when she picked it. I stepped out to see that Ash, Max and Brock had already changed. Max looked like he was a squire, which looked kind of funny because he was so tall. Brock looked like a monk and Ash looked like a musketeer.
"Where's May?" I asked.
"Changing and for some reason it's taking forever," Max groaned.
"I'm done!" May sang, "What do you think?"
"Wow, are you still my sister?" Max asked.
"Wow May, you look pretty good," Brock complimented. I decided it was about time I turned around and so I did. My eyes widened at her. She was wearing a pink and red full length ball gown. Over her shoulders was a small white cardigan. Her hair was loose, not tied back by a bandana and it hung at her shoulders. She had a tiara resting on her head. She looked pretty good.
"Thanks guys," she said, "Hey Drew, I was right. It does suit you. You'll keep that on won't you?" I rolled my eyes, but nodded.
"So I'm a squire," Max said.
"I'm a monk," Brock put in.
"Obviously a princess," May giggled, pointing to her head.
"And I'm a musketeer!" Ash exclaimed excitedly, "but what on earth are you Drew?"
"I'm a…" I trailed off, frowning as I looked at myself, "I honestly have no idea what I am. May what did you throw at me?"
"I dunno," she shrugged, "it didn't have a label on it." She was looking at a small jester costume similar to the one she had thrown at me, but a baby's size. She picked it out and turned to Pikachu on the window. Pikachu looked confused. May quickly pulled the costume over his head. She put two shoes on his feet and a cap on his head. She smiled in satisfaction.
"He's so cute," she squealed. Pikachu chattered happily, apparently pleased at the compliment.
"Let's go," Ash said, "there's a tournament for who gets to be the guardian of the aura for the night and have a special place at the ball following."
"Presenting her royal majesty," the announcer boomed, "The illustrious ruler of Cameran Palace, Lady Ilene." Cheers and clapping sounded as a pretty woman walked out onto the balcony. She had long thick blonde hair, a crown with green jewels resting lightly on top. Her eyes, from where I could see, were also a vibrant green. She wore an elegant pink and white gown, the sleeves loosely dropping to her elbows as she waved politely at the crowd.
"Just look at her," May sighed, "She's beautiful." That was something I had learnt about May. She never thought of herself as pretty or anything. She had no self confidence in how she looked unless someone told her she was actually gorgeous.
"And now," Lady Ilene called out, "in honour of Sir Aaron and his noble deeds, we will begin our annual Pokémon contest." The crowd cheered again as the first round participants came out in the arena. Coincidently, it happen to have been Ash. He had a very determined look on his face.
"Go Ash!" May yelled.
"Yeah go Ash!" Brock and Max called. The round started and Ash ordered the first attack. Much to May's distress, Pikachu's costume disintegrated when he used thunderbolt.
"I took the time to dress him up all cute and Ash has to go and destroy it," she cried indignantly.
"What? It took you all of about what, 10 seconds to dress him?" I teased.
"Shut up grasshead," she muttered.
"Go Ash!" she yelled out again. It was natural she was cheering for Ash. They were friends, but I had to wonder who May would cheer for if Ash went up to battle me. Would she cheer for Ash? The boy she'd travelled with for years and been friends with for longer. Or me? Her rival and friend of a much more recent time. We were both her friends now, but we had different experience with May. There had been that time where May and I got stuck on Mirage Island, but there had been a time where May had also been stranded out in a park under a pavilion with Ash while it was raining (A/N: Made that up). Sure, my time was more drastic. She'd saved me from almost drowning and in return, I had saved her from Team Rocket, but with Ash she'd gotten more of a chance to talk to him. I wonder if May would have as much trouble choosing between Ash and I as much as I had trouble choosing who to cheer for; Solidad or May? I realized I had been zoning out and missed some of the battles. Out of the 31 battles taking place, I had been thinking for about 26 of them.
"Drew, are you even paying attention?" May asked.
"Yeah, yeah," I lied.
"Then answer me," she demanded.
"What was the questioned?" I asked. She rolled her eyes at me.
"I said, who do you think is that mysterious guy in the suit of armour?" May sighed, "He's going through battles almost as quickly as Ash." No wonder the battle had gone quickly.
"I dunno," I shrugged, "honestly May, how would you expect me to know."
"He, he, he, right," she laughed nervously. I rolled my eyes at her. She was a funny one.
"Weavile is unable to battle," the judge yelled, "Pikachu wins. We have a new guardian for the year, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
"Yay!" May squealed, "Ash did it! He did it, he did it, he did it!" The knight, who May had been talking about walked over to Ash. The audience hushed as they took off their helmet, revealing long brown hair.
"That guy's a girl!" May exclaimed.
"Really May?" I questioned, "It was never said that she was a guy in the first place. You just presumed, again. Shouldn't you have realized by now that assuming things gets you into trouble?"
"Ahh, shut up Mr Rose," she snapped, "How was I supposed to know that the red rose and letter wasn't from you? You ALWAYS give me roses." I blushed slightly at the nickname she had given me a long time ago. She hadn't called me that in ages and I did not intend for her to start again. Being identified by my red roses was embarrassing as it was, but being named after them? Uh-uh.
"I never brought that up May," I said, "You thought of that yourself, but don't you dare call me Mr Rose again ok? I hate it." She grinned.
"Mr Rose, Mr Rose, Mr Rose ooof-" While she had been chanting and dancing around me in circles, she had managed to trip over.
"You did that on purpose," she accused.
"Did it look like I tripped you?" I questioned. She paused for a moment before answering.
"No." I smirked.
"Ahh, shut up Drew."
"Didn't say anything."
We stood, right at the front of the crowd as Ash proudly stood on stage. We were up the front because May wanted the best view, typical move from her. Lady Ilene walked to him, holding a staff in her hands.
"This is the staff of the guardian that once belonged to the great Sir Aaron," she said, "according to our tradition, the winner of the Pokémon contest is named the aura guardian for the year and is presented with this staff. On behalf of my kingdom Ash, it's yours."
"Thanks," Ash said, taking it from her. The audience clapped politely and Ash looked at the staff in wonder.
"This really belonged to Sir Aaron?" he questioned. I saw a sparkle in the jewel of it. Curious I moved a little closer.
Why did you betray me? Huh? I looked around quickly. Who had said that? What was that about betrayal? I never betrayed anyone.
"Did you say something?" I asked, looking back at the group, but I didn't think it was them. The voice was different.
"No," they all said in unison. Lady Ilene moved to the centre again.
"Now will begin the grand ball, honouring Sir Aaron and our new guardian," she announced, "please enjoy yourselves everyone." I saw that everyone was grabbing dance partners. May, Max, Brock and I all went over to the refreshments table. I picked up a little glass filled with some sort of fruit punch and took a sip. I screwed up my nose and put it down again. I didn't like it.
"Hey look, it's Kidd again," Brock exclaimed, pointing to the brown haired girl from before. I guess he'd gone to confront her. May giggled as Brock ran over to her. Max filled a plate with food and went to sit down. That left May and I together. I turned to see that she was dreamily watching the people on the dance floor. So she wanted a dance did she? I could fix that. Before I had a chance though, someone stuck out their hand to her.
"May I have this dance?" he asked. May giggled and nodded. I scowled at the man. He was taller than me and had golden brown hair. His eyes were dark brown and he had glasses on. He was dressed as a prince. How typical. She giggled as he took her hands. He spun her around on the dance floor. I growled and glared even more. I saw Pikachu, dancing with an Aipom. Roserade would like to join them. I let out Roserade, Masquerain and Butterfree. Absol and Flygon were a little bit big to let out in this sort of environment. Ash's Pokémon soon joined in as well. I turned to May. She spotted the Pokémon out and broke away from him. She curtsied politely and ran to where I was.
"Come on out everyone!" she called. She released the Pokémon she had with her; Wartortle, Skitty, Beautifly, Munchlax. She looked at her last Pokéball.
"I think Blaziken is a little too big," she sighed.
"Glad you figured that one out," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Hush Drew," she hissed.
"Aren't you going back to your dance partner," I growled. She sighed and nodded.
"He's cute," she whispered and walked back to him. She curtsied politely again and took his hands again. I scowled. I may not admit this out loud, but I was a very jealous person.
May's partner swirled her around a few more times before they bumped into another couple. Her partner changed from May to another girl with pink hair. May's new partner had purple hair.
"Excuse me," I heard May call as she brushed passed the outside of the dance floor, "have we met somewhere. You look familiar." That's because it's James from Team Rocket you idiot, I felt like shouting, but I kept my mouth shut.
"Oh, I get that all the time," James laughed nervously. He held his face away from her and mindlessly swung May around to keep her from looking at his face. Ok, that's enough. I'm sick of watching. I strolled onto the floor, being careful to avoid any other partner changes. Very smoothly, I took May's loose hand and swung myself in between them.
"Cutting in," I said, taking May's other hand and pushing James away. I placed one of her hands on my shoulder and I put mine on her waist.
"Thanks Drew," she said.
"You looked uncomfortable, so I thought I'd save you," I said.
Sir Aaron! There it was again. I looked around. Where was it coming from? Could anyone else here that?
"Hey Drew!" she exclaimed. She pulled her hand from my shoulder and used it to turn my head back to face her.
"If you're going to cut in, you should at least pay attention," she huffed.
"Sorry, I was distracted for a moment," I apologized. She huffed and put her hand back on my shoulder.
"If everyone could stop dancing please," Lady Ilene called. I sighed, dropping May's hand and stepping back from her. I didn't get much of a dance with her. I knew I should've cut in sooner.
"Thank you," Lady Ilene said when the noise had died down, "Now we will pay one last tribute to sir Aaron."
"Let's get to the front," May whispered. She tugged my sleeve and I jerked forwards to avoid falling over. She pulled me right to the front. Ash looked like he was falling asleep in his chair. I bet when he thought of the special place at the party, he didn't think he'd be sitting down all night.
"Ash wake up," May whispered furiously. Ash jerked his head up and blinked a few times.
"Our new guardian will give the signal to start the fireworks," Lady Ilene announced, gesturing to Ash. He got up quickly. The maid whispered something to him and Ash looked at the picture next to him. He lifted the staff above his head. Outside the bursting of firework could be heard, but I was focusing in the staff.
I believed in you. Curious, I moved a little closer. The jewel on top sparked and started glowing. It started to shake and Ash dropped it in shock. I reached forwards and caught it before it hit the ground.
"Idiot," I muttered to him, "don't you know this thing it antique. You can't just-" I cut off as the staff rattled furiously in my hands.
"What's happening?" The maid exclaimed.
"I don't know," I replied. The staff continued to rattle and shake. It was like it had a mind of its own and I could hardly control it. I glowed brightly and I couldn't see it anymore.
"Drew!" I was thrown back roughly as the staff exploded in bright white light, hitting my head on the ground. A gasp rippled through the crowd. What? What had happened?
A/N: If you haven't guessed already, Ash isn't the hero of this story.
