Part 6: This Is the Worthwhile Fight
This is the worthwhile fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right
These are the hands of fate
You're my Achilles heel
This is the golden age of something
Good and right and real
- State of Grace, Taylor Swift
It had been a month and a week since the Mahogany Town contest. May had arrived in Goldenrod two weeks prior and spent a good deal of time exploring the metropolitan gem and training in various nearby locations, including the National Park. She found the city large and intimidating.
While large, it was packed with coordinators primed for the Grand Festival. May had run into each of her rivals, Drew, Solidad, and Harley at least once. She had also seen and had a practice battle against Lucy. After that battle, Drew appeared almost out of nowhere and May and him went out for coffee again. They were stopped by a reporter from Coordinator's Weekly who asked about their relationship. They both shut the topic down, calling themselves friends out to discuss strategy.
It was the day of opening ceremonies and May was extremely nervous. She was doing some appeal work with Wartortle and her new team member who had melded in nicely with the rest of her team in the morning, but she was too nervous and excited to really focus so she called it quits early on. When she returned to the Pokémon Centre she saw Drew, Harley and Solidad all seated around a table.
"May!" Solidad called out when she spotted the younger coordinator. Harley grinned widely at her too, and Drew twisted in his seat, looking for her. "Come sit with us!" Solidad invited, beckoning to her.
May laughed and made her way over to their table and slid in next to Drew, across from Solidad and Harley. May cast Drew a glance and gave him a small smile. "I never thought I'd see the day you sat willingly with Harley," she said softly to him.
Drew pressed a hand to his lips to hide his smile. "Solidad can make some scary threats," he replied. May raised her eyebrow quizzically. She had no idea what he was talking about. She smothered her laughter and tuned back into the fact that Solidad was trying to ask her a question about her training.
"How was your morning May? Get any training done?"
May laughed nervously. "Actually, not really. I got kind of distracted thinking about the fact that the ceremony is tonight."
Solidad smiled understandingly. "Of course. I think we're all a little anxious."
Harley opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but Drew flashed him a hard green-eyed glare and he shut up. Now May was really confused. What on earth did Drew have over Harley?
"Anyways," Solidad said, coughing to regain the attention, "we should all meet up at the ceremony."
"Yeah we should," Harley grinned excitedly. "It's no fun standing in a crowd of strangers so we might as well do it together, right Sugarplums?"
Drew rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever." He quipped.
May hid a smile again. "I guess if we all have out PokéNavs we can message each other that way."
"Sounds good to me," Solidad said brightly. "Now if you'll excuse us, Harley promised me a practice battle."
The two older coordinators stood up from the booth. Solidad gave May one more smile and flashed Drew a knowing look before she departed. Drew rolled his eyes and May raised an eyebrow at him. He was usually a pretty collected guy with a sharp wit.
"What on earth has Solidad got on you Drew?" May asked, stifling a giggle.
"Nothing of serious importance, it's something I'm dealing with." He replied coolly.
May smirked at her rival. "I totally buy that," she quipped.
Drew smirked back. "Well, I can see you're perceptive as always."
She pouted. "It's called sarcasm."
"I'm well aware May. I was only joking." He said, his tone light.
She glanced down at her hands, cheeks flushing. Since Mahogany Town she had been reading into his actions a lot differently. May consulted Dawn often, dubbing her Sinnoan friend the resident boy expert. Dawn stood by her theory that Drew liked May and used almost every action, even one as insignificant as holding a door open, as proof.
"Care to spoil your first appeal team?" May asked suddenly, feeling the urge to change the subject.
Drew reclined in the chair, a handsome smirk sliding into place. "Only if you do Miss Maple."
Playing coy, May tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled. "I'm afraid that's classified information Mr. Hayden."
Drew nodded, both respectful of her decision and teasing of her protectiveness of the appeal. He stood from the booth and edged out and May followed his example. "I'll be seeing you at the ceremony tonight then," Drew said.
May nodded. "Of course. And then I'll see you in the finals."
Drew tipped his head a little. "I'll hold you to that then."
With that, he turned and walked towards the entrance of the Pokémon Centre, probably off to do some training. May noticed that a group of girls sitting nearby perked up when he walked by, but Drew simply ignored them and left the building. May suppressed a smile.
May slid her foot into the dress shoes and stood up. She was in her room in the Pokémon Centre preparing for the opening ceremonies. She removed her bandana and folded the cloth neatly. She ran a hand through curls that she had painstakingly spent two hours doing. The three burns on her neck were worth it. She enjoyed having curly hair. May had paired a dark emerald green skirt with a white blouse and black shoes. It was simple and dressy, but classy.
She grabbed her bag and triple checked to make sure she had all her Pokémon. Once she was sure, she darted out of the room and down into the lobby. It was fairly empty. Most of the coordinators had already made their way to the contest hall. She ducked out into the city and scurried through busy streets to the contest hall. May slipped backstage amongst the hundred or so coordinators.
They poured out onto the field and looked up at the screen. Mr. Contesta began his welcoming speech and May looked around for her friends. Her PokéNav chimed softly and she glanced at the message. Solidad had told her to look to her left. The salmon-haired coordinator with Harley at her side was edging through the crowd towards her. May grinned and was about to wave when someone placed a gentle hand on her arm. She jumped, and turned to see Drew.
He was wearing a white shirt and black pants. Simple and classic; like herself. She smiled at him and Drew smiled back. "May," he greeted.
Solidad and Harley finally made it to them. "Hey you two," Solidad said happily.
May was about to return the greeting, but Mr. Contesta was now revealing the locations that each of the appeals would be happening and in what order. May saw herself in the east building, Harley in the north, and Solidad and Drew in the west. She turned back to her friends and found their attention fixated on the same thing. The four coordinators exchanged looks briefly.
The flames of the Grand Festival were lit.
May nervously drummed her fingers over her leg. She was waiting her turn to perform her first appeal. Glaceon and Delcatty's Pokéballs were on standby. The tinny voice of the announcer from the locker room's TV called a name she recognized and May watch Drew take his position on the field. She was curious as to which Pokémon he would be using.
The first one he called out made May smile. It was his Absol; a trusty Pokémon that he had debuted in the last Grand Festival. His second Pokémon elicited a couple of gasps from the watching coordinators. It was a Houndoom. The fierce fire type looked powerful and well groomed. Drew's combinations were dazzling and very polished. The two dark type Pokémon worked easily in tandem.
He used a combination that May loved using, fire and water, with Flamethrower and Water Pulse. The whole thing was very haunting, but is pulled off wonderfully. It ended with Absol's Dark Pulse blasting through the intimidating shadow of Houndoom's Scary Face. Houndoom made the last move, a Howl attack that made people shiver. May watched him with pride. He was her rival and she had a lot to live up to. Drew's final score from the appeal was the highest so far.
May heard her name called over the speaker and she made her way onto the field. She called out her Pokémon and started her own appeal. It was light and playful, and showcased the elegance of both her Pokémon. She used Glaceon's Ice Beam and Delcatty's Blizzard to create a winter wonderland and then her Pokémon skated around, building and destroying ice sculptures in bright flashes of colour. Her score ended up being higher than Harley and Lucy, but Solidad, Drew and a girl named Marina all received higher scores.
She returned backstage and found Solidad waiting for her. "May! Your appeal was adorable. I loved your ice rink idea." The older coordinator praised.
May beamed. "Thanks Solidad! I missed your appeal unfortunately, but I'll catch your next one. I'm off to the north building now for my second."
"I'm going aerial for this one, so we'll see if the cameras can keep up." Solidad joked. "You'll probably run into Drew at the north building. His second appeal is there too."
May nodded. Her adrenaline was running high. She did end up meeting with Drew just as he finished his second appeal, scoring high once again, but this time with the seasoned team of Roserade and Flygon. He complimented May on her last performance and wished her luck as her name was called.
May proceeded onto the field again and took a deep breath. "Wartortle! Ampharos! Take the stage!" Her water type and new electric type hit the field in a swirl of bubbles. "Use Water Pulse Wartortle!"
Her turtle Pokémon created orbs of water and sent them up into the sky. At her command, he also used Water Gun while twirling to send streams of water up too. Ampharos then used a Discharge to pop the bubbles with bright streams of electricity. The performance closed out with Wartortle using Aqua Jet. Then, Ampharos used Thunderbolt on the Aqua Jet. Fortunately, Wartortle's timing was impeccable. He leapt free of the Aqua Jet just in time for the whole thing to explode in sparkles.
May hugged both her Pokémon tightly, breathing out in relief. "You guys did wonderful!"
The appeals finished up quickly after that. After the appeal round, Drew was in first, followed by Marina, Solidad, May, a boy named Chris, Lucy, Harley and then another guy named Damien. The first two rounds, Top 32 and Top 16, passed quickly. All of her rivals won their battles without a sweat. May edged out her Top 16 opponent with a little more trouble, but nothing serious.
In the Top 8, Marina was to be against Lucy, Drew against Damien, Harley against Chris, and May against Solidad. May looked to her friend. Solidad was smiling.
"Let's make this a battle to remember, May."
"You're so on." May smiled. She had just the team to take on Solidad.
As they were leaving the contest hall, Drew caught up with her. "Ready to battle Solidad?" He asked her.
May shrugged. "Is anyone ever really ready to face a Top Coordinator?"
Drew chuckled. "I guess not. You used Ampharos and Delcatty last round. Can I assume neither of them will be making an appearance?"
May nodded. "They're getting some well deserved rest. Who are you going to be using?"
"Houndoom and Roserade." Drew said firmly. "I know Damien's going to be using his Meganium and Vaporeon. They're his fallback team. I've battled them before."
"Are you still going to meet me in the finals?"
"Only if you meet me there," Drew said.
May smiled. "Again, we have a deal."
The next day was the beginning of the Top 8. Marina and Lucy were up first. Solidad, Drew, Harley, and May had all gathered backstage to watch the battle. Lucy had taken an early lead, but now Marina was hitting back. The two were apparently familiar with each other since they grew up in the same hometown. Marina quickly gained the upper hand in the second half and knocked out Lucy's Quilava and Linoone with Croconaw and Misdreavus.
Drew was next to the field. True enough to his prediction, Damien went with Vaporeon and Meganium. Houndoom and Roserade worked well together. They pulled off a particularly scary flaming Petal Dance that knocked Meganium out. At the end, Drew had more points and shook the other boy's hand. He returned to the other coordinators and nodded to May and Solidad.
Now May stood across the field from Solidad. It was make or break time. Solidad called out her Pokémon first and May almost cried. Slowbro and Pidgeot took the field before her. It was the team that had beaten her in Kanto. Solidad gauged May's reaction and smiled.
"Let's see how much you've improved since Kanto." She challenged.
The brunette took a deep breath and smiled. "I'm not the same person I was then. I've got my own style and my own strategy. I'm not losing to you again." She drew the Pokéballs she had selected and tossed them forwards. "Beautifly! Glaceon! Take the stage!" Solidad nodded at May's choice. It was very different from the Bulbasaur and Munchlax that had faced her last time.
The battle waged on and both sides were equal. May was a little outmatched in strength, but she made it up for it in speed. As the five minutes was coming to an end, May called a near-desperate combination. She used a Silver Wind from Beautifly and then Glaceon used Mirror Coat. The ice type broke through the Silver Wind, taking damage but colliding strongly with Slowbro. The damage was enough to take out the psychic type.
Unfortunately, Solidad took advantage of May's focus on Glaceon and commanded an Aerial Ace. Pidgeot took out Beautifly with that last hit leaving them both with one Pokémon. At that moment, the clock ticked out. The points were very close, but May's Mirror Coat at the very end was just enough to push her ahead of Solidad. May fell to her knees in relief.
Glaceon rushed at her trainer and practically collapsed into her lap. May embraced her Pokémon thankfully, tears pricking at her eyes. Solidad looked shocked. Sighing, she returned her Pidgeot. It had been a very tough battle and May's win was well earned. She crossed the pitch and the younger trainer stood up.
"Congratulations May. That was an excellent battle. You've improved a lot since Kanto." Solidad said sincerely.
They shook hands and May smiled. "Thank you so much. It was amazing."
With the crowd still roaring, the girls split and headed backstage. May practically collapsed onto the first bench she found, head spinning. She had beaten Solidad. She had beaten a Top Coordinator. She was in the Top 4. While she hated that her victory had to come over a friend, it still felt amazing.
The door of the waiting room opened and Drew walked inside. May glanced at her rival in surprise. His visit was unexpected. She had assumed that he would congratulate both Solidad and herself at the same time. Drew took a seat next to her on the bench.
"You did it." He said softly.
May smiled. "Yeah."
"Solidad is a very tough opponent."
She nodded. "She's a Top Coordinator. She is rightfully strong."
"As are you May." Drew said. The two weren't looking at each other, but there was something in the air between them that May couldn't identify.
"Thank you." She replied bashfully. Drew had been complimenting her more lately. Dawn squealed every time May recited a compliment that she had received. Together the two coordinators left backstage and began making their way towards the stands to watch Harley's battle. May glanced at her rival. "We may end up battling each other next round Drew." She elbowed him lightly. "It'll be a match to remember."
Drew chuckled. "Not yet May. If he wins, which I don't doubt he will, I'm up against Harley next round and you're going against Marina."
May exhaled. She had kind of been dreading facing off against Marina. From what she knew, the New Bark Town girl was Johto born and bred, but she had quite the international following as a coordinator and a Pokémon idol. She had hit Lucy's Pokémon hard and May knew that that kind of strength wasn't to be underestimated. Fighting Solidad or Harley or Drew or even Lucy felt intense, but also routine because they knew each other. But battling Marina was going to be completely new.
"I'm anxious about that. I don't know the first thing about her besides the fact that she has the Croconaw and the Misdreavus she used against Lucy." May admitted.
Drew pulled out his PokéNav and fiddled with it for a moment before showing May the page he'd pulled up. It was Marina's trainer information page. "She has a Croconaw, a Misdreavus, a Jigglypuff, an Arcanine, a Togekiss and a Girafarig."
May took the device out of his hand and scanned over her article. Commonly listed combinations included Blue, the Croconaw, and Little Miss, the Misdreavus; Angel, the Togekiss, and Pink, the Jigglypuff; Archy, the Arcanine, and Raffy, the Girafarig; and Blue and Angel. May nodded slowly.
"Thanks Drew. That's helpful."
Her rival nodded. "I figured it might be."
A loud crash echoed through the stadium and they heard the announcer declare Harley as the winner of his battle. May glanced at Drew. He shrugged. He had predicted correctly. May would be facing Marina and Drew would be against Harley.
"I'm going to head back to the Pokémon Centre now. I'll see you tomorrow Drew." May waved to her rival brightly as she made her way for the exits.
Drew gave her his two-fingered salute and headed into the crowd.
May woke up the next morning to the sound of crashing rain. A glance out her window confirmed the fact that it was absolutely pouring rain. She sighed. So much for using Morning Sun with Beautifly if she wanted to. She hadn't been planning on using the butterfly Pokémon that day because it was still resting from the battle against Solidad.
May tied her bandana securely in her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled confidently. She was going up against Marina today and then whoever won would go to the finals. She was ready. May left the Pokémon Centre quickly to avoid any reporters or fans. As she was arriving at the stadium, she spotted Solidad headed for the stands.
"Solidad!" May called out.
The older coordinator turned, a smile on her face. "May! Are you ready to face Marina?"
May shrugged. "As I'll ever be."
Solidad nodded. "Good. I'll be cheering for you."
"Are you picking a side when Drew and Harley battle?"
The pink-haired girl frowned. "I don't know. Drew is practically my brother, but Harley is one of my oldest friends."
"I'm going to be cheering for Drew," May admitted, "but you should cheer equally. Someone needs to be happy if Harley wins besides Harley."
Solidad giggled. "Alright May, I'll stay a happy neutral. You should get going. They're going to start your battle soon."
May jolted. The Top Coordinator was right; her battle was starting in 10 minutes. "I'll see you around Solidad!"
She turned and darted off, and heard Solidad call out a good luck to her.
May met Marina halfway across the field. The two girls shook hands and Marina smiled. She was very pretty and May collected her confidence and smiled back. Before they split back to their own ends of the field, Marina cast May a sly look.
"Don't disappoint your boyfriend! We'll give him a battle to remember." Marina winked at her and May knew she was joking, but her cheeks flamed anyways.
They took their positions in opposite boxes and Marina took the first move, calling on her Pokémon. Angel and Pink landed on the field gracefully. The Togekiss spread it's wings and soaked in the cheers from the crowd. Despite the closed stadium, there was plenty of room for the Pokémon to fly. May nodded to herself. She called out her Ampharos and Delcatty.
The announcer started the timer and the first semi-final match began.
Author's Note: Well I promised that I'd update this soon and I kind of lied. I was super busy with volunteering lately and had almost no time to write. At this time, I finally found the burst I needed to finish the ending thankfully since I'm leaving on a cruise tomorrow with no wifi and I'm probably not going to bring my computer. After cruising, I then have to go with my family to drop off/move in my sister at her university so that's two weeks of probably no writing. I'm aiming to get the last two chapters done by October, but I'm going to need to focus a bit on my piece for the PJO Big Bang, since that's due soon and I'm over half-way done.
Check me out on Tumblr too, my username is nicolewrites
-Nicole