Chapter 2: May Screwed Up…Again!

Music suddenly echoed across the room—particularly Arabian music. The genie May began dancing to the slow but rhythmic beat of the music. Drew looked around his room to know where the music was coming from. He didn't remember installing surround sound in his small room. The brunette girl's graceful dance was enough to mesmerize Drew for the moment; the green-haired boy's face blushing red in the process. A full minute later, her hands were sparkling with some kind of magic energy. The genie ended her graceful dance by pointing her magical hands at Drew's lap.

First wish (on the house) granted: a small but cute doll of May appeared on top of Drew's lap. Drew grabbed the doll and took a closer look at it.

"Well, it looks realistic. You have a peculiar way of casting magic, May." Drew commented.

"It's what I'm best at, Master." May replied.

Drew looked at the time in his wall clock. It was already two in the afternoon. Time sure flies when having fun with a genie that looks like one of his closest friends.

"May said she's heading for Azalea Town today. Maybe I can catch her performance on TV." Drew said.

"Master, can I ask you a question if you don't mind?" The genie asked.

"You just did. What is it?"

"This May friend of yours…is she your—your…girlfriend?"

Drew never answered that question as much as his conscience wanted to. "Let's go downstairs."

---0---

(Events in Drew's house in normal text; events on TV italicized)

Drew turned on the TV in the living room and scanned the channels for Johto TV on channel 6. He was in luck; the contest was about to start. He and the genie sat down together on the soft couch while watching the big contest.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Azalea Town Pokemon Contest. Today, we get to see thirty coordinators compete in a display of grace and skill of both coordinator and their Pokemon. First off, let's start with Entry Number 1. Please give it up for May!"

"Hey, that girl looks just like me!" The genie exclaimed. "No wonder you mistook me for somebody else, Master."

"Don't push your luck too much, May." Drew sighed.

Drew continued to play with his doll. He even pictured it as a voodoo doll because of the way it was made—straws and buttons altogether. He grabbed something pointy like a wooden splinter and poked it on his friend's rear—which was a really wrong move.

"OW!" May shrieked as soon as she felt something poke her rear. "Who just poked me?"

Drew was completely surprised. He never thought that what he was holding was a real voodoo doll. He wanted to think that he was imagining things but he wanted to make sure so he poked the doll in a different location—particularly the back of her head. As expected, the coordinator reacted to the pain.

"Glaceon, let's start off with—OW!" The coordinator felt pain in her head all of a sudden.

"Glae…?" Her Pokemon stood on the field confused.

"May, I asked for a regular doll; not a voodoo doll!" Drew exclaimed.

"A voodoo doll…?" May took the doll from Drew and tried moving it around. Much to her astonishment, the other (and real) May was beginning to move like a mannequin on strings.

"Whoa! What the—what's happening? Whoa! Whoa!" The coordinator was being tossed around for no reason—no strings attached literally.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that something is wrong with contestant number 1. She seems to be under the influence of a voodoo doll or something."

Meanwhile hundreds of miles away in LaRousse City, the genie felt happy playing with the doll. In short, she was having so much fun; she completely forgot the reason why Drew gave her the doll. She played with the doll as if she was playing house.

"Hey this is really fun! Little May jumped over the brown fence…" The genie said; singing a song. "La, la, la, la, la…"

"H-Hey, stop that." Drew said. "You're going to ruin the contest."

Meanwhile in Johto, the real May was suffering from the consequences of having a voodoo doll made out of her. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Somebody help meeeeeeeeeee!"

"I wish that voodoo doll GONE!" Drew finally snapped and used his very first wish; this time it wasn't on the house.

"Drew's wish is May's command!"

While the magical May was busy making her dance with the Arabian beat, the real May in Johto continued to be tossed around across the stadium. A full minute later, the voodoo doll that brought Drew a lot of trouble in his hands disappeared; breaking the voodoo curse on the brunette coordinator. The real May finally stopped and fell face first on the dirt field.

"Glae…?" Glaceon licked its trainer's cheek in an attempt to remind its trainer that she was still in the middle of a contest.

---0---

Drew was finally able to breathe easy after receiving the news that May won the Azalea Town Pokemon Contest hands down. The last thing he wanted to happen is for his rival to lose because of a mishap created by his magical assistant. One can call it "a close call".

"I'm really sorry, Master." May bowed down before her master. "The thing is…my magic is kind of…premature."

"Premature…? What do you mean?" Drew said. "That your magic sucks?"

"It's as bad as it'll ever be, Master. It happened to my past masters. I screw their wishes up most of the time."

"Yup, you're just like May when she started out as a coordinator."

"But Master, I'm a 5,000-year-old genie."

Drew fell eerily silent again upon hearing a piece of information—that his magical assistant was as old as a mummy. It was living proof that his life was never the same again the moment he picked the rose from his plant box and chanted the magic words.

"May, how many masters have you served?" Drew asked.

"I don't know exactly. I think I've lost count." May replied. "But I've served a lot of masters. Most of them complained about my clumsiness. If possible, they would batter me to death."

"Didn't you try to defend yourself from that kind of abuse? You have every right to—"

"I'm a genie, Master. I have only one purpose and one purpose alone: to serve my master no matter how good or evil he or she is. I have no rights."

"May…"

The sun was finally setting behind the cityscape. Nighttime was drawing near and some of the city lights have been turned on particularly in the darkest corners of the city. The neon lights of the skyline were a view to behold from Drew's window (his house stands tall on top of a tall hill). Eventually, the dark starry sky covered he azure cloudy curtain and the bright yellow ball of gas was replaced by a solid cratered moon. The events today made Drew so weary he went to bed early.

"I'm tired. I think I'm going to call it a day." Drew said; tucking himself in his blanket. "You should get some rest too, May."

"Is that a wish, Master?" May replied.

"No, it's an order from your master. And starting tomorrow, call me Drew. I'm not used in this master stuff."

"As you desire, Master—I mean, Drew. Just say the magic words when you need me. Good night."

May disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. When the smoke cleared, the same full-grown red sparkling rose appeared on where the genie stood. Drew put the rose back in the flower vase full of fresh water before catching some Zs. The cool-headed coordinator took one last look at the rose for the day before going to sleep.

"My boring life just became somewhat interesting." Drew smiled before going to sleep. "Good night, May."

END OF CHAPTER 2