Chapter 7: I only have eyes for you
"I love cycling! Hahaha, I don't like pink too... But I also rent those girly bikes here in Celadon because Corsola likes watching people walking and shopping around the city! Is Pikachu a good boy inside that basket thing?"
"Pikachu is not only a 'good boy' but a 'great dude'! He's my best poke-pal!"
Something quite unexpected happened during that strange blind date dinner. Ironically enough, Ash and Misty clicked to each other very fast, sharing their stories and laughing out loud together the whole night. The two of them were curiously getting closer to each other - and, actually, both found that feeling not bad at all.
They didn't know exactly why Drew and May were almost falling asleep on the table, though.
The brunette decided to focus on eating the remaining appetizers on the table while the green-haired man watched his glass of water - as if that was the most interesting glass of water in the universe.
"Yeah, Mr Surge's Raichu is so well-groomed! I heard Brock from Pewter gym is the one who always give you guys some neat tips on how to take care of your pokemon, do you think I can ask him to e-mail me those?"
"Oh, Doctor Brock is a very nice guy, I can introduce him to you if you want," Misty spoke with a playful grin on her face. "Hehe, that perverted man will regret you're a fanboy instead of a fangirl, but I'm sure he would love to exchange some ideas with you, Ash."
As soon as the dishes arrived on their table, the intensive chatting quieted down a bit; yet the two pokemon lovers kept speaking to each other in between bites of food.
In fact, it was so fun to chat with a tomboyish girl that Ash didn't bother eating slower to pay more attention to the discussion.
"Hey, let's make a toast!" He raised his glass, grinning enthusiastically. "To our old and new friends!"
Right there in that moment, May officially gave up trying to grab some attention from the League admirer and joined Drew in his magical quest to not run away from the restaurant.
They were a quartet but somehow the two of them felt like a third wheel.
"One second, boys! I gotta buy something before we go!"
Walking down the streets of Celadon City, the girls announced they had to do some last-minute window shopping before going back to home. Meanwhile, the guys sat down on a bench at the Main Square; the two old friends shared a minute of silence - until it dissipated in a quiet and soft laugh.
"Hahaha... Women love buying stuff, huh?" Ash scratched the back of his head. "I don't understand why do they own so many pair of shoes."
The water gym leader pulled her friend by the wrist, walking in large steps until they were far away enough to not be heard by anyone. "Was my excuse too bad?"
"I doubt Drew is going to find it suspicious..." May noticed, watching her redhead partner with worried eyes. "Anyway, I don't think they will follow us. What's wrong?"
"Uhh... Well, the thing is... Do you mind if..." Misty stared at her own feet in a quite embarrassed way. "You know, if Ash asks me out... I mean, if somehow he suddenly decided to go out with me- it's an hypothetical scenario! Anyway, if he asks me out, would you...?"
The two young women stared at each other, speechless for a few seconds.
"Oh." The brunette blinked, tilting her head to the side. She had completely forgotten that Ash was her date, not Misty's. "Go ahead, I really don't mind. I think his denseness will drive you crazy too- well, it's your choice..."
"You don't mind?" Holding her friend's hands, the older girl shook them in relief. "Ahh... Thank you, May! You're the best!"
"Hahaha..." The brunette smiled then scratched her neck in puzzlement. "Ash, huh?... I thought he wasn't your type but you two look cute together-"
"Me, falling for Ash? No!" The redhead grimaced with red glowing cheeks. "Ash seems to be a sweetheart but I'm not thinking about that! He seems to be a good friend and his published works are very interesting, I hope he can go out with us more often... I'm not saying I don't want you two- Well, it's for science!"
"Eh? Don't worry..." May bit her lower lip, unsure about what she should answer at that moment. She had no idea why Misty refused to admit she was completely infatuated with the young man from Pallet Town. "Just be gentle with Drew if you're going to dump him today... I'm more worried about him, not Ash."
"Heh..." The water specialist snorted, rolling her eyes out. "I bet he will thank me for that, trust me."
"Drew, how was the date?"
"Dreadful."
"No jokes, please!" Ash put the PokeDex back inside his jacket and looked up to the sky, thoughtfully. "It's an important question, answer me."
"Honestly?" The young lawyer raised an eyebrow then crossed his arms in disapproval. "It was... Dreadful."
"Because I thought it was awesome! The non-pokemon food was great, May is super nice and Misty is so cool!" The raven-haired boy beamed in excitement. "I had so much fun today, please call me next time you guys want to double date like this!"
Drew sighed in disbelief. "Arceus..."
"You were right, May is a cute girl and Misty knows so much about water pokemon!" The curious researcher waved his arms, trying to cheer up his best friend. "Next time, I'll try to find a good subject to talk with May... But hey, you're a lucky man, Misty is an amazing and interesting woman! I'm sure she's easy to talk to, I wish the best for you two!"
"Uh, Ash? I'm not going after Misty... I think she'll hit me with a mallet if I get closer to her personal bubble or anything nearby itself." Drew answered dryly. "I'm ready to move on and go for another girl. The ocean is big enough for me, I don't need to end up together with a violent Sharpedo."
"Why did you try to touch her leg?" Ash saw his buddy sighing again - so he just kept going on with his ramblings. "I don't know, if I were you I'd ask her out again! She's a gym leader, did you hear that? She loves helping people and pokemon, it's so awesome!"
"Very awesome." The green-haired lawyer answered in a deeply uninterested and bland manner. "Well, why don't you try doing it yourself? I'm the Casanova guy, not the Kamikaze guy. I'm comfortable with my current title."
"That's mean..." Ash pouted, looking at Drew with an annoyed glare. "Why do you think I'm a kamikaze?"
After finishing their private discussion, the girls returned to the Main Square. However, right before reaching the boys, something grabbed Misty's attention - a small shoe store.
"Look, isn't that Dawn's design?" She pointed at a pair of blue human boots matching with tiny Piplup boots. "It looks like hers!"
"Ahh, how cute!" May got closer to the closed shop, watching the featured shoes in the spotlight display. "Yeah, it's definitely her work! Awww, that's amazing!"
"Let's take a picture together and send it to her! Hey, Drew!" The brunette shouted, calling for her friend. "Gimme a hand, take a picture of us here!"
The bored lawyer just ignored the cute pleading request, offering his PokeNav to the distracted guy sitting by his side. "Have fun."
"Huh, me?" Ash took the electronic device from his hands. "Okay..."
The young man happily walked closer to the two friends, adjusting the camera settings from the PokeNav. Misty and May smiled and posed next by Dawn's latest creation - making "V" signs with their hands. "Cheese!"
Meanwhile, Drew watched the sky with random thoughts floating around his mind. He wasn't exactly disappointed about not winning Misty's heart - however, the fact he gave up trying to conquer it so fast kind of worried him a bit.
Misty. Dawn. Lorelei... Beautiful and smart women, interesting people yet he didn't want to go after them because somehow a weird barrier blocked him from trying harder.
Perhaps he should hunt for easier girls... Get back to old days of PokeTech's Drew Hayden, the number one pleasure-seeker heartthrob, as if his guts were telling him to not get tricked and disappointed with intelligent and charismatic women like-
Solidad?
He gulped, frowning his eyebrows in annoyance. Wait, what was that stupid feeling stabbing his ego?
Drew would never admit that to anyone but losing her was his most shameful memory from the past. It was a hard strike right into his chest...
Andrew Hayden, where's your pride?
...Then it was about time to bury it down to the ground, right? Let the proud and self-confident Hayden lead the way. He shouldn't be afraid of starting a new relationship just because of his lost relationship with Sol... After all, even his silly daydreamer friend managed to forget about Brendan Birch-
"Hey!" May interrupted the green-haired lawyer's ramblings, standing right in front of him. "What's up?"
"Oh," Drew muttered drowsily, waking up from his bitter thoughts. "Nothing. Where's Ash and Misty?"
"Not far away from us, probably playing with your PokeNav, I don't know..." The brunette shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "By the way, I think we should talk about them."
"Yes, you probably are going to get a boot from Ash because I kinda allowed him to do so." The cynic man watched his friend open her mouth in awe. "What? Don't tell me that surprises you."
"I-I... I actually was going to tell you that," she whispered while fidgeting and looking at the floor. "Sorry, I think Misty doesn't want to date you either. I'm really sorry about this, Drew..."
"I noticed that before you did." He simply answered, stretching his arms lazily. "Thank Arceus it's over. Gosh, I just want to go home and hit the bed."
The new dating pair came closer to the bench. May discreetly winked to Misty, making the water specialist sigh in relief.
"Well... I'm happy we are in good terms." The redhead grinned with a timid smile. "Uh, I gotta go now... Thanks for the dinner and for the company!"
"Do you want to share a taxi with us?" The brunette asked, tilting her head to the side. "I need to get the Magnet Train in Saffron to get to Johto, then Hoenn..."
"Oh." Misty blinked. "Is that okay?"
Drew shrugged and May nodded happily.
"Well..." The redhead pouted then looked at the spiked-haired man with puppy eyes. "Then I guess it's time to say goodbye to you."
He opened his mouth once but he shut it up to think carefully about something. Then he opened it again, now confident with his new decision.
"Drew, thanks for the tip! I think it's time to try it, it's now or never!" Ash bowed to his old roommate, returned his PokeNav then turned his face to Misty. "Don't worry, I live in Pallet Town! Come with me, Misty!"
"Hm, what do you mean-" The redhead opened her mouth to ask but a loud shout cut off her question.
"TAXI!" The impulsive biologist raised one of his hand with confidence and grabbed Misty's hand with his other hand. "Cerulean City, please!"
"Huh?" The fierce gym leader was caught off-guard but it didn't bother her; surprised or not, she immediately entered the taxi without questioning anything at all. "Bye May, bye Drew!"
The two unlucky partners watched their friends depart and small raindrops announce a quick and unexpected light rain.
"Wow..." Drew slowly raised his arms then put his hands behind his neck. "That was fast."
Watching the taxi fade away in the streets, the young brunette nodded to her friend, also impressed with the end of the tragic blind date night.
Waiting for another taxi, May cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella. She was safe and warm inside Drew's jacket - but she felt bad watching him slowly getting soaked.
He didn't seen to mind it, though.
"Well, Ash was a nice try but I hope you've got more friends for me." The brunette giggled, watching Drew stay by her side in a proud and tough stand - that guy really knew how to look good in any situation, huh? "Or else I'm going to be forever alone in Dawn's New Year party..."
"I didn't know being single bothered you so much."
"Actually..." The clumsy journalist blushed, hiding her face inside the jacket. "You know, you're right. I shouldn't feel bothered about it. Haha, I don't know why I was thinking... That was just a silly tradition I used to follow and-"
Remembering her midnight kisses with Brendan, she sighed in nostalgia. Sometimes she hated being a romantic person... "-Anyway, it's just stupid."
The green-haired man raised an eyebrow, noticing something strange about his friend's confession. "Hmm..."
"Then let's make a promise..." He offered his hand, joking with a smug grin. "Universal rule: if both of us are single during New Year's Eve, we shall spend the end of the world together. How does it sound?"
The brunette frowned, face still covered. "Are you sure?"
"Can't you see I'm giving you a helping hand? Hey, it's the best I can do for you if you want to keep your tradition thing going on. You don't want to be alone, right?" Drew flicked the tip of his wet hair. "I bet you just don't want to feel lonely, I can understand that... Got it, lucky you Andrew Hayden is your male friend."
May unconsciously imagined him in Brendan's shoes...
Bad imagination, bad imagination! She held her head in despair, cheeks burning in embarrassment.
"...Is that a yes or no?"
Either way, he had a point. Instead of freaking out about the past, perhaps she should be glad with her current situation - at least she had a friend to spend the end of the world with.
Besides, her brain refused to correct his theory and tell him what was the actual meaning of her New Year's tradition. "Deal."
"By the way... Uh," May muttered, trying to change the subject. "In a what if scenario, if Misty asked you for a second night, would you actually..."
"I've learnt to not answer this kind of question but if you insist so-" Drew took a long breath, rolling his eyes out. "-probably not. I figured out you don't want me to sleep with your friends because they're all deadly and unstable. Misty? Berlitz? Geez, by their side you really look like the quiet one, hands down... And you're far from being an ideal peaceful and silent maiden."
"Uhh, is that a compliment?" The girl grimaced in a grave scowl. "That didn't sound like one..."
"Am I bugging you?"
Ash watched Misty get silent and shy - did he scare her with his impulsive and reckless personality? Was she bothered or really happy about sharing that taxi together?
"Uh... I'm sorry," the girl said with a low timid voice while dodging Ash's worried eyes. "I'm so not used to be treated like this."
"Oh, heck!" Ash panicked, biting his thumb in tension and regret. "I'm sorry. Drew always blame for my lack of subtleness and common-sense, I didn't mean to-"
"No!" She quickly interrupted the self-depreciating rant. "I'm the one who should be sorry, you don't have to apologize for anything! Hahaha, I'm sorry again. I meant guys usually talk to me in a way too formal manner because of my high stats in the League. It's good to meet people who are nice to you... In an equal way. You know?"
"Well, you're the best friend of my best friend's best girl friend- oh wait, that sounds really confusing..." The raven-haired young man slapped his own head. "Anyway, I think that's a good reason for us to be great friends as well!"
Ash smiled gently. "You seem to be a very nice girl. I've been so busy but I want to spend more time with you! I hope we can be great friends!"
"Would like to watch The Caterpie Dilenma with me? I rented this movie yesterday to watch with Pikachu... I think he still awake waiting for me, how does that sound? Our couch is big and comfortable enough for three!"
"Oh." Misty blushed.
"Uh... Ahhh!" The boy suddenly felt a imaginary blurb flashing over his head; he panicked, remembering Drew's hunting habits during their golden days as roommate buddies. "No!"
"No what?"
"I didn't mean that! Nooo, I'm not like that!" Ash felt his head burning in bad memories. "Ew, I cannot unseen those terrifying memories..."
"Terrifying memories?..." The redhead repeated, getting caught in Ash's confusion. "Huh..."
"Yes! But don't worry about them, I think you're really cool and I don't want to mess up everything..." He lowered his head, panting lightly in despair. "Drew was right, I need to interact better with the girls but I confess I'm just a impulsive nerdy teenager boy, I don't understand what's going on and I need help. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
Misty bit her lower lip trying to figure out why did he say that. Unsure how to react to that confession, she just smiled in sympathy. "Okay. Hey, don't worry... I'm not mad at you, Ash."
A smile? That was a great answer; the young man sighed in relief.
"Let's start it again!" Ash grinned then grabbed the PokeDex in his hoodie's pocket. "You live in Kanto too, right? Can I have your Dex number?"
11h45 pm. She glanced over her clock, a little bit unsure if she should call him or not.
"Hello... Are you asleep?"
May simply gave up and dialed Drew's number.
"Huh, May?... Not yet, I'm trying to fall asleep watching cartoons. Channel twenty one, please."
Turning on the TV, May opened her mouth in awe after spotting certain series being aired on screen.
"Oh Mew!" The girl giggled, hugging one pillow close to her chest. "Is that a Contest episode?"
On screen, a quartet of kids walked around together in a big city. They were heading to a Contest Hall next to the Pokemon Center. The scene was cut by the opening main theme song.
"Don't you feel nostalgic?" The snarky boy laughed quietly, crossing his arms behind his head. "My favorite series when I was a kid. Wow, how I hated the script writers. So much potential wasted, that universe could be so much well-explored but they kept animating the same cliches over and over. Little Hayden used to be so frustrated, feh."
The main characters started to pop up in the screen. The brunette let go a small scream of joy when the only girl in the team appeared battling with her pokemon partners.
"Awww, I loved this character so much!..." May smiled to herself, giggling a bit. "Haru-chan had a Combusken like mine, hahaha... To tell you the truth, I keep my hairstyle since high school like this because I wanted to wear bandannas like Haru-chan. She is so pretty. Advance Generation is my favorite season!"
"Oh, there is Satoshi... And Shuu." Drew watched the two young characters arguing inside a Pokemon Center. "You know, I still remember our discussion from the past. Do you seriously think Shuu wasn't attracted to Haruka? Look at the way he talks to her... All the sexual tension, that aggressive flirting between the two of them. It's so... Strong. It's practically unconscious, they bicker almost like adults sometimes."
"I'd never notice that when I was a kid." May answered while activating the subtitle mode in her TV screen. "I was kinda naive when I was younger, I doubt if someone tried to hit on me like that I'd notice it..."
"Well, as Kasu you would like to end up with Ken instead of Satoshi, right?" Drew smirked. "The whole 'women are practical' speech. It's okay to be dense if you are plain practical and doesn't really care about romantic stuff... It doesn't make any difference to you, right?"
"I've never said that." The brunette arched her eyebrows in surprise. "No way, I'm sure I didn't and I wouldn't think like this!"
"You didn't? Huh, funny..." The green-haired man rolled his eyes out, shrugging his shoulders. "I could swear you disagreed with me on that subject."
"I did?" May blushed. "Oh boy, I can't believe this. I always dreamed about a final season featuring the main characters growing up and dealing with their feelings! I shipped Satokasu so badly!"
"Ship? What the heck is that... Well, perhaps you were being stubborn as always just to try and fail winning a discussion against me-" Drew quickly changed the subject before his friend could pay attention to his cynical observation. "-Anyway, show was cancelled after few more seasons and we never manage to see the real ending... Kasu never confessed her feelings to anyone and Satoshi never won a serious Championship League. How lovely."
"My dream ending actually involved Satoshi returning to Masara Village and a time-skip scene showing him together with Kasumi chan, waving goodbye to their child, some cute kid holding a Pichu in his arms..." The brunette girl pictured the heartwarming moment in her mind. "You know, maybe I can picture her with Kenji if I knew Satoshi never returned to see her again. I think no one deserves to be alone..."
"Everybody deserves to be together with your perfect match..." She sighed, dreamily. "How about yours?"
"I don't know, to be honest I didn't bother about romance since that cartoon was about pokemon and battling..." Drew answered the question in a thoughtful manner. "Though I would totally not mind if Kasumi ended up with Haruka. Kasu was a bit scrawny but wow, Haru-chan was a walking fetish to all boys in our age. That body... She wasn't ten for sure."
"Ugh..." May frowned, thinking about her bandanna collection. "Now you made me sick, I hope all those weird guys that hit on me in the past didn't approach me because they actually wanted to bang a 2d character..."
"Oh, don't worry about it. Bandanna, gloves and nice pair of elegant shoes... Nothing else. It's a perfectly fine combination to drive men crazy, cartoon fan or not."
The young woman giggled, holding the phone tightly to muffle her quiet laughing.
"By the way, guess what..." Drew smiled, stretching his legs in a lazy way. "I started to sleep in the middle of the bed now. No more invisible frontiers. Gosh, this is so good."
"Hahaha, don't tell me!" May laughed a bit louder. "Oh Mew, me too! It's really nice to have a big bed just to yourself, isn't it?"
"Well, by the way... Today sucked. A lot." She added, changing the subject for a second. "I mean, wonderful food but our double date sucked. But I'm glad to see that Misty found herself a new match."
"Hm, yea. I don't think I was meant to date your friend, Misty seems to be a nice woman but I guess she has some issues with me... And I'm not patient enough to stand her crazy temperament. And of course, I'm glad to see that Ash's love feelings goes beyond being Momma's boy, being obsessed with pokemon and being too close to me. I've never seem him so excited about a girl..." He answered in a mocking (but honest) way. "Hope it works... Either way, we should sleep. I'm not sleepy as well but I gotta wake up at six tomorrow."
"I'll sing you a song..." May teased in a sweet voice, coughing dramatically. "It will make you sleep and have great dreams, better than Jigglypuff's Lullaby! Watashi, makenai! Honki moodo zenkai..."
"Awesome random foreign mumbling..." Drew smirked but didn't say any other words, listening to his partner with fixed attention. She was singing the same song that was being displayed on screen.
"Zettai akirame wa shinai-" She hit the higher notes in a small voice yet flawlessly. "- girigiri made... Ashita mitsumete... Waratte itai kara! Tsugi no ichigeki de kimetai! Ribbon wo getto~ Kitto katsu!"
May inhaled deeply to reply to Drew's initial ironic remark. "Hey!"
"It's about not giving up and being confident..." The brunette pouted, blushing in pink shades. "C'mon, don't pretend you don't know the meaning of that ending theme, isn't that supposed to be your favorite cartoon?"
"Hm? I see." Drew yawned, turning off the TV. "Anyway, I'm going off. Thanks for the song."
"Alright... Good night, Drew."
"'Night, May. Makenai."
"Huh, what did you say?" She tilted her head to the side then stared at her PokeNav.
Offline status.
"Oh... Never mind then..." The dreamer girl shrugged then smiled to no one in particular.
A/N: Thank you very much for the reviews and the support while I was away. I'm no longer sick and you guys rock :D
Just a little bit of context to the last bits of this chapter...
EDIT: Since more than one reader asked me, I won't make it tl;dr anymore xD Let me explain with more details haha...
So, May tried to sing the chorus of her original theme song - which is one of the ending songs from the Advance Generation series. It's called "Watashi, makenai! / 私、負けない!" and it is really about her Contests and how she won't lose/ give up. "Makenai/負けない" literally means the negative of lose - Makeru is (to) lose and "nai" is a negative suffix; but that is sometimes used in a sense of "won't give up". In that context Drew is telling her what Haruka says in the theme song - "I won't give up!". Or he might be telling her to not give up...
Next chapter preview: May wants to hold Christmas' party in her new house! Why is Dawn so pissed off with Drew? Is May's mistletoe going to work - or is it going to bring the wrong hearts together? Hint: yes, there will be a kiss in the end of this chapter!
Random ranting: I wish people could respect each other tastes without feeling the urge to impose their believes on others. It scares me the hell how many people take shipping as a cult that should debunk and destroy other ships + gather the most followers possible so it can become true. I'll take that as 1) that shipper in question probably is just a kid or 2) he/she is plain nuts lol. So... To the raging Advancedshipping anon who went "bawww CS not canon May luvs Ash and Drew sucks": uh, I deleted your message because this is a CS story and I'm not a fan of shipping wars. Let's ship for fun! No need to offend the others :)
Random ranting 2: What the heck is going on with this new layout? It want the old one back... /cries
I wonder how come some people sign "Yes, I own this image or have the permission to use this image." using Japanese art they do not own/have the permission to use... Better think twice before uploading these for your fanfiction cover, ff.net recently got more rigorous about rules, they're banning users who are breaking the ToS. Anyway, it's quite disrespectful to claim someone's else art as yours... On the other hand, I really liked those who created their own image feature thing, saw some really nice ideas/cute drawings/good color composition. Either way, I don't see how this new feature improves our reading experience, I'm not too happy about the new changes in the website.. x_x
