Chapter 4: Past, Present, and Future
"You forgot about me May; you left me pondering on my own about something we might have had. Seeing you now just makes me realize the poor excuse of a friend you are, don´t bother showing up in my life again," the aggravated shadow of a black messy haired boy spoke.
"You can´t do this! Please, I admit I love you! Come back! What about our friendship?" The brunette exclaimed, breaking in to tears.
"Too late for that and you can forget that we ever had a friendship. Now go back to Drew, I don´t want you in my sight," the serious tone of these shadowy figure continued to go on.
"I don´t love Drew! I love you!" cried out the girl with the red bandana.
"Save it for someone who cares," rudely answered this boy and threw out a Poké Ball that revealed a dragon-like fire Pokémon. "Let´s get out of here now. I´m sick of this nonsense," the flying fire type nodded and flew off, leaving the lonely girl behind.
"Ash, come back I need you!" May shouted out to the boy who had disappeared out of her sight. Suddenly, the forest surrounding her lit in to flames and was soon cornering her, where she would share the fate of the entire flora that turned to ashes.
"Ash, help!" May called out, eventually the flames covered the whole image.
"Ash!" May rose from her bed calling out her former traveling companion´s name
May, looked around the area, acknowledging where she was and realized it was only a dream. "Whew what a nightmare, I hope I never have to dream of something like that again," May spoke alone.
She then noticed an irritated ice-type lying on the floor. Glaceon immediately sat up and hissed at her trainer, having fallen off the bed when May had hysterically woken up.
"Oh Glaceon, I´m so sorry for waking you up like that can you forgive me?" pleaded the innocent brunette.
The Pokémon at first appeared unforgiving, but then leaped on to the bed and purred while rubbing herself on May.
"I´ll take as an apology accepted," May giggled.
She looked at Jigglypuff clock and read 8:02 am. "Oh it´s still too early to get up now, well at least I won´t get any complaints from mom and dad about being an early bird today," sighed a displeased May.
The brunette slowly got out of bed to put on something similar to her Johto attire, except her top is red instead of orange. First, she decided to take a shower though, leaving Glaceon behind, who thought it would be best to make up for the lost sleep. She collected her clothes, including the green bandana and headed straight to the bathroom on the second floor.
"No one is even awake yet, but when I´m not awake everyone is," the young girl with the red night-gown stated, obviously annoyed, and continued forward.
Once she was in the bathroom, she got undressed, anticipating the refreshing shower. As she slowly got undressed she noticed how developed her body had become over the course of her journey.
She took note of the fact that she had an hourglass figure, a figure any girl would like to have and a boy would want. Embarrassed, she thought in her mind of how her figure seemed to belong to that of an eighteen year old female, from chest to legs. When she was ten she had already started going through puberty, apparently very fast.
By that age she already had breasts and had to ignore the fact that this was something girls had to go through when they were about twelve or thirteen. Then she recalled a mortifying conversation with her mother on the female anatomy and on how boys would treat her differently.
After, that May, never wanted to learn more, but was aware that this was what her mother had spoken to her about all those years ago, prior to starting her travels. She never noticed boys paying attention to her, except may be Drew, but that was only an assumption and she never considered him that type of guy. Nonetheless, she had no desire of becoming alert on how males saw her.
"Time for a refreshing bath!" the happy female prepared to shower after having fully undressed herself.
As she stepped in, she felt the temperate water flowing on her skin. She let out a pleasant sigh, having missed a good old home shower instead of taking one by a nearby lake. It felt very comforting and soon she started putting body wash all over her skin.
"I wonder what I´m going to do today," May thought to herself. "May be I´ll go shopping or even get to eat at a restaurant! I haven´t eaten in a Petalburg restaurant since forever, I think I would like a plate of Ramen! That sounds like a good plan for today, some shopping and Ramen I can´t wait!" May squealed as the shower kept on pouring down o her.
Next she picked up her toothbrush and toothpaste to brush her teeth. She squeezed on the toothpaste and it sent out some emerald colored toothpaste on to her ruby colored toothbrush. She shoved the toothbrush in her mouth and scrubbed her teeth top and bottom, up and down, left to right, and rubbed the brush against her tongue. Some several times she would get water and rinse with it, and spew out the liquid.
Now having a minty fresh breath, she put aside both items to pick up her shampoo. When she opened its blue cap she pressed on the bottle and squirted out a shampoo that was sapphire colored. She proceeded to rubbing it on her hands and then on her silky brown hair. The shampoo turned in to foam and gave her hair a delightful smell. Once she fully rinsed her hair and body, she turned the knob to finally turn off the shower.
"That was soothing," the coordinator smiled about her pleasant shower.
She grabbed her white towel filled with little gleeful Torchic faces and started drying herself. After that she began putting on her clothes. She put on her clothes quickly, zipping her blouse, tying her sneakers, and tying her green bandana.
"Time for a brand new day," the Pokémon Coordinator joyfully turned the door knob, having been in the bathroom for half an hour.
When she stepped out and walked downstairs she saw her father and mother with her brother eating breakfast, still in their pajamas.
"Morning May, I´m glad to see you're ready for today," Norman happily greeted.
"That´s a first," Max snickered.
"Morning to you too Max," the older sibling sassed.
"Morning sweetie, what would you like to have for breakfast?" Caroline sweetly asked her daughter.
"I think I would like some pancakes!" May said, filled with liveliness.
"Ok, May in a sec," Caroline kind heartedly responded.
May went to take a seat next to her father. He was eating some French toast with a cup of coffee, while Max ate a giant chocolate chip cookie with some milk.
May then took a cup and grabbed a gallon of milk to pour to some milk. Then she took about two spoons of chocolate powder and dropped it in to the cup of milk. She just stirred the milk with her spoon with an absent mind. Afterward she recollected the dream she had earlier.
"What was that about," she mumbled making sure no one heard her. "At least I know the real Ash would never do anything like that to me or anyone in general," May simply assured herself. She was convinced that the figure was not even Ash, just a figure who took the form of her best friend just to torment her.
No one took notice of May speaking to herself, which was something good for her, she did not want to discuss anything dramatic like yesterday's topic.
"Here you go May," Caroline handed May the batch of a dozen pancakes.
"Thank you mom," the daughter said, showing her gratitude.
"So May, what are you going to do today?" questioned Norman turning to his child.
"I was thinking that I might head in to town for some shopping and stop by a restaurant," the child answered .
"That´s no surprise," her father chuckled. "Are you going alone though?" her father asked again.
"Yeah, I suppose dad," May replied.
"Oh ok then," simply said her father
May then poured maple syrup on her pancakes as it flowed down the stack, and she started attacking the plate as if she never tasted it before. In less than ten minutes the brunette was done. Like before, Max was awestruck by his monster of a sister. Norman only sighed at the lack of his daughter´s table manners, but then laughed a bit because this moment contradicted the fact that women have more manners than men.
Caroline just grabbed the plate covered in syrup and tiny pieces of the pancakes. She had the same reaction as Norman did regarding her daughter´s appetite.
All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. "I´ll get it!" Max quickly got off his chair and rushed to the door.
"Wonder who that could be?" Norman wondered, while Caroline questioned the same thing.
May didn´t seem all that interested and just kept drinking her chocolate milk. She could hear two people talking, but she only heard Max say "Oh it´s only you," and "Yeah, you can come in," Max then entered the room, with footsteps following him.
"Who is it?" she asked her younger sibling
Before he could answer her question the mystery person revealed itself.
"Well, if it isn´t May," the voice of a specific green-haired arrogant boy spoke.
"Hello, May´s parents" the boy shook the hands of both her parents.
May just sat there paralyzed, surprised at who was before her eyes. She couldn´t believe he actually showed up.
He then turned to May and gave a sly smile which was followed by a "What´s the matter May, Persian got your tongue?"
It really was him, her rival, one of the people that inspired her to go further, the one she had mixed feelings for. "Hi Drew" was all she could say.
"Looks like there is someone in there after all," Drew smirked.
May´s family could only watch at was going on with her and how Drew continued acting like a wise guy. Max, Norman, and Caroline all had mixed feelings for the boy. From what Max had told them, Drew was arrogant and cunning, but if May considered him a friend they would just drop it.
"What are you doing here?" May´s mouth opened again
"What do you mean? I told you I was gonna visit you after the Johto Grand Festival wasn´t I?" Drew answered May's question.
"Oh right," May responded to her rival.
"Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to hangout for today?" the boy inquired , flicking his hair.
"Ummm sure, just let me get ready," the brunette told Drew as she got up and scurried upstairs.
"Excuse me," Drew told her family before he left to the living room to wait.
He was wearing his usual clothing and was just leaning on the wall in the room. As arrogant as he was, Drew was a decent person and was just pondering through his thoughts. When would he tell her about what he felt? For years now they have been rivals and nothing has changed between them. It was now or never, he had to do what he had to or else he would probably lose her to someone else.
To Drew that someone else was Ash. He was aware that they hadn´t seen each other in a long time, but that just worried him more. The idea of him and May becoming a couple dissatisfied him. Ash could drop by May´s home whenever he wants like he did and after having not seen each other in a while it just made it worse.
It raised the chances of the two meeting again and increased the risk of him losing to Ash. Ever since they met in Hoenn, Ash has always his rival in attaining May´s heart. As dense as he was, it looked like May was interested in him for his encouragement ,which was something Drew didn´t do for May very often, and his caring personality.
Defeating him in Fallarbor Town was an accomplishment in his eyes, showing his superiority over Ash to May when she witnessed the battle made him feel on top. That wasn´t good enough apparently, the relationship between the two was more than the eye could understand. When May had told him about the Terracotta Ribbon she won with Ash back in Kanto, he couldn´t help, but feel jealous.
"I´m such a fool for not telling May about this when we were in Johto," the irritated voice of Drew could be heard as he clenched his fists. "I have to settle this sooner or later or else, because now it's turning in to a win or lose situation." Drew's worries obviously got a slight hold of him.
May was upstairs in her room after having washed the syrup off her face. She was putting on her green fanny pack; she was still shocked that Drew actually came. He kept his word and even though she was surprised at it on the outside, she was glad about it in the inside. She needed to be with a friend and Drew had volunteered. Deep in her heart she felt something else boiling too and realized it was those same feelings she was thinking about towards Drew yesterday.
"It hasn´t even been a week since our travels ended and he has already come to see me…. He is totally different from Ash, he didn´t keep me waiting a long time to see him again. Instead he really came to see me how nice, how sweet…" Drew´s rival blushed after saying that to no one in particular.
"Oh, Drew is still waiting for me I better not keep him waiting," May soon said and ran out of the room. "I wonder if Drew´s definition of hangout is date," the brunette giggled and blushed once more.
She continued to the living room and saw the boy waiting, but he looked a bit intense, especially in his eyes.
She approached him and asked "Drew, you okay?"
Once he noticed her, the intensity in his eyes vanished were replaced with a kind look, one May had never seen him give before. She admired his beautiful, shining green eyes, but quickly turned away so he didn´t see her blush.
Drew looked puzzled, but dropped it and told her "Yeah, I´m fine thanks for asking."
Before the two left, May told her family she would be back later, her parents just told her to be back before dusk, which she understood. Then the two went off and left the house behind.
"So May, what do you want to do first?" her Johto traveling companion questioned.
May started thinking and remembered the plans she had made earlier. "I know, can we go shopping," she told him, hoping for a yes that didn´t seem to hesitate like Ash would have done if he were in Drew´s place.
"Alright May, it is your decision," the green-haired boy simply stated.
May was shocked not only because he agreed without hesitation, but because he seemed different from the Drew she is use to. Drew wasn´t being arrogant or stuck-up like he would be when they went around regions competing in Grand Festivals.
Her assumption of Ash and Drew was also true, they were complete opposites. Ash only focused on training and battling, he was incredibly dense and it would a nightmare for him to go shopping. Drew on the other hand may not have been as kind-hearted as the raven-haired boy, but he wasn´t dense and there was no sign of disagreement with her suggestion.
"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this," Drew reached in to his coat and pulled out something she knew all too well.
"Here´s a rose May," he handed it over to her.
May took it and looked at him, however this time she couldn´t help, but blush and she couldn´t even hide it. Drew only gave his signature cunning smile while flicking his hair, except that inside him he was trying very hard not too blush either and managed to do so.
May snapped out of it and said with joy, "The mall shouldn´t be far from here, come on!"
"Whatever you say," Drew only replied
May wanting to quickly get there, started running and recalled how she was not much of a runner in the past, but Johto really got her in to shape. Drew then told her to wait up and ran ahead.
By running they made it to the mall within fifteen minutes and as soon as they got there May felt the energy of shopping ready to burst.
"Come on May, don´t you wanna shop till you drop again," Drew smiled and laughed
"Very funny Drew," May answered him with a glare, he was obviously teasing her about her shopaholic attitude.
"Well, come one," he ordered and once May got it together they continued.
After a few hours, the brunette had bought more than ten bags of clothing, which Drew carried around. He didn´t hesitate, but didn´t look very pleased either. He wasn´t complaining though, he agreed on going shopping.
Then they stopped by a dress shop that sold dresses for special events such as weddings or fancy dinner parties. They also sold dresses for contests, which provoked May to enter without thinking twice, unfortunately for her there was not enough money left. Not even a gym leader's salary added up enough to buy one of these expensive dresses.
That didn´t stop the eager brunette though. She probably tried on all the store´s dresses in Drew´s opinion. There was one outfit that really caught the coordinator´s attention. It was his favorite, but one of the most expensive dresses he had ever seen, which added up to $500,000, that was half of a million dollars. It fit May perfectly. although it did show some cleavage, but apart from that the dress was perfect, it was the color of May´s sapphire eyes and it felt like she destined for such a dress.
She was without her bandana and her usual hairstyle matched flawlessly with it. The dress resembled one he had seen in a book about a beautiful girl that lived with her evil step-mother and step-sisters, but he couldn´t recall its title. The dress came along with heels of the same color and overall it made May look like a princess.
"Wow, I look so beautiful," May whispered. She had a strong desire for this dress, but knew there was no way she could afford it. It was beyond her reach and she felt a bit saddened at the idea. Drew then became alert of her behavior and approached her.
"Cheer up May, I know you´ll get a dress like this one some day," Drew looked at her with a comforting smile.
She looked slightly assured, but then asked "How?"
"I´ll buy it for you if I ever get the chance," he answered.
"That's thoughtful of you Drew, but how? Not even my own father can afford it, you don´t have that kind of money," May responded back.
"With the money I get when I beat you in the next Grand Festival," Drew replied slyly.
"Oh yeah, I've already beaten you twice, don´t count on winning the next Grand Festival either!" May assured Drew on her victory.
Unexpectedly the words "Grand Festival" brought May to deception. If she had continued her life as a famous and rich Top Coordinator she would have been able to afford this type of clothing. If she had not rejected the opportunity of her life where would she have been right now?
"Let´s go," May suddenly took in a state of sadness and slowly walked out of the shop, leaving the dress in its place.
"May, what´s wrong now?" Drew questioned, feeling like this was getting too repetitive.
"Drew, I could afford that type of clothing if I had accepted the life of a world-renowned top coordinator," she murmured.
"You're still upset about that huh?" Drew stated recollecting the scene where May had denied the offer of every coordinator´s dream in front of an entire crowd of people after just winning against Solidad.
May only nodded, still walking onward aimlessly.
He then grabbed May by the shoulders as he saw straight in to her distressed eyes and only said this "May, you know why you denied that dream and I know you did it for the right reason. You are choosing a different route for your dream that´s all. It doesn't change the way I think about you. You're reckless, but you're still an….excellent coordinator, possibly better than me. If you denied this chance for something that you thought was missing go back for it and then when the chance comes up again go after it like you originally aspired for because by then that piece will be with you."
May was surprised by Drew´s words. He had never spoken in such a deep manner before, let alone saying that she was a better coordinator than him.
Little did he know the reason she turned down this dream was because of Ash, the missing piece. May remembered that she promised to visit Ash eventually and an epiphany struck her with the intention to see Ash. First, she was going to need tickets to get to Pallet Town on a ship and planned to get those today, because she had a gigantic urge to see her long time friend.
The idea of meeting up again and setting things right made her smile. If you denied this chance for something that you thought was missing go back for it and then when the chance comes up again go after it like you originally aspired for now that you have this piece with you, May thought about Drew's words. Then she realized that Drew was right and she needed to go back for this piece that was missing, in the Kanto Region.
Drew smiled once he saw May´s face light up. "Thank you Drew, it really means a lot," May thanked her rival and friend.
"Anytime May," was all he could say.
"Can we still go for some Ramen?" she inquired.
"Of course we can, besides I need to rest, carrying all of these bags is kind of tiring," Drew laughed.
"I know," May laughed as well. "The restaurant where they cook Ramen is just across the mall so follow me!" The female coordinator shouted with joy in her voice, running to the other side of the street, exiting the mall.
When the duo arrived at the restaurant they were immediately attended by a waiter. "Good afternoon madam and sir how may I please you on this day?"
"Table for two please," answered Drew.
"Of course follow me young couple," the waiter ordered, leading them to their table.
The two blushed as red as a Tamato Berry and avoided each other´s gaze, hoping to evade embarrassment. "We aren´t a couple," May told the waiter.
"Oh I apologize for the misunderstanding, but now take your seats and tell me what you would like to order," the waiter stated.
"I´ll take the largest bowl of Ramen you have!" May fist pumped in the air.
"I´ll just take a medium-sized Caesar Salad and one soda for each of us," demanded Drew.
"Will that be all?" The waiter questioned once more and got a nod from both coordinators.
"So May, what is your next step in your never-ending journey?" her rival asked.
"I´m not sure yet, I was thinking of having a little break before starting off so quickly, how about you?" she returned the question.
"Interesting, I thought of doing the same thing, may be start training again and learn some new combinations," Drew answered.
"Oh, that sounds like a good plan, I should work on that too," May replied back to him.
"Afraid you are gonna lose to me?" Drew stated
"No way! I´m gonna beat you and any other coordinator that gets in my way after I´m done with my training and this time I´ll be ready, because by then I´ll have what I need," she retorted at her old rival.
May was referring to Ash; she hoped that when she won the next Grand Festival, if she even had a chance, that Ash would there with her. He would encourage her all the way and help her make the right choice from there she was confident that things would go as planned.
During her journey in Johto, she had missed him too much and now prayed that he would travel with her again, hopefully to a region with both contests and gym battles. He was her closest friend, her best friend, and sometimes she saw him as her guardian because of the many times he rescued her from danger.
"Um May, the food is ready," Drew snapped May out of her train of thoughts.
She hadn't realized that the food was all set for her, but as soon as she saw her plate that was slightly larger than her head, she dug in. Drew just ate his Caesar Salad with no rush.
He wondered to himself how a girl could have such a tremendous appetite. He was amused and somewhat bothered by it sometimes. May told him once that she was able to rival Ash and his eating habits, so he imagined the boy is just as ravenous and ill-mannered as this beautiful girl he had secret emotions for. He may not have eaten as much as Ash, but he liked it that way, he is his own person.
"You don´t eat much do you Drew?" she inquired at him with some noodles hanging from her mouth.
"Not really, I don´t have as large of an appetite as you do," the boy chuckled with May following him.
He found it unbelievable that she had finished her enormous bowl of Ramen before he could even finish his Caesar Salad. After May finished, twenty minutes went by until Drew finished. The two left the money they had to pay on the table and walked out of the restaurant.
"So what now? We still have a little less than two hours before I have to send you home," Drew mentioned to May, who was still fantasizing about that Ramen.
"I was thinking of going to the harbor for a bit," May turned to Drew after snapping out of her fantasy.
Drew became stuck in confusion and asked "What for?"
"I was thinking about getting a ticket to head to Pallet Town and I wanted to know if you would like to accompany me?" she responded to Drew´s question, while giving him one in return.
Drew felt stunned and dropped the bags that were carrying May´s clothes and thought, did she just say Pallet Town?