Hello again! First of all, I want to thank all my reviewers. Today we reached 30, everyone! (pops open a Coke in place of champagne) Aah. The sweet and bubbly taste of self-satisfaction. Not vanity, just happiness.
But I did get one person who didn't log in, and if you're reading this, Anonymous, I have no plans on committing 'story suicide', and I'm sorry that you did. My advice for next time (assuming you ever have a next time) would be to step back from your fic for a four-day weekend and just stop thinking about it. Then, when you sit back down in front of the computer, the words just flow. Or at least that worked for me... Still, thank you for reviewing; I'm using my muse!

'Kay, second thing: as I mentioned last time, there is a poll on my profile where you can declare yourself to be on Team Brendan or Team Drew. Cool, huh? Well, please do so, especially HoennShippers, because right now it's 5-0 and not in your favor. Unless only ContestShippers read this... But no, that's not true, I know of at least one person who ought to be on Team Brendan (you know who you are...) So, yeah, that's me done with plugging my poll. For now.

Alright, Carp-being-quiet-time starts... now, with the Disclaimer!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon or the song "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", and, like, Valley-Carp would like, like you to know that Pokemon, like, is totally Satoshi Tajiri's brainbaby, and that song, like, belongs with those Irish guys, you know, they're, like, called The Script! And I'm, like, leaving now, because Normal-Carp is being all "You're waaay overdoing it." Oh, and, like, Normal over there would like to mention that she's, like, not a schizophrenic (multiple personality disorder, thinks she's, like, two different people... you get it); this is, like, supposed to be, like, funny! In case you, like, didn't get that! So, like, on with the story!


Chapter Eight: Tuesday: Phone Calls and Friends

May and Brendan ran down their street, still laughing. They stopped in-between their houses. May grinned at her friend. "Thanks for lunch, Brendan. I had a lot of fun with you." She turned to go into her own house, but Brendan called to her.

"H-hey, May?" The older boy's dark eyes looked nervous.

"Yeah?" May replied hesitantly, unsure if she knew or liked where this might be going.

"Uh, could we maybe hang out at the park tomorrow, or are you busy?" Inwardly, May sighed in relief. She was still in safe waters. Brendan was still staring at her, a hint of desperation just visible in his red eyes.

May smiled reassuringly at him. "Sure thing, Brendan. And if it rains, we can just sit around in the house or something."

Brendan's shoulders slumped in apparent relief. May was confused by her friend's body language, but knew better than to ask. "Well, see you then. And thank you!" With that, she hurried inside, waving, as the first few droplets of rain began to plummet from the heavens.

Brendan watched her go inside. He waited until the door was closed, then pumped his fist in the air and practically man-skipped over his lawn to his front door. He fumbled in his pocket for his keys and let himself in. Once he was inside, he ran up to his room, kicked off his shoes, and jumped up and down on his poor bed. The springs groaned in protest, but he was too happy to care. Besides, they'd survived plenty of jumping in the past; no reason for that to change now, right?

Once he had calmed down a bit, he lay back, too happy for words. I did it. I did it! In your face, mysterious 'boyfriend'! All throughout their date (yes, it was a date, in his eyes at least, and maybe in May's), he'd wondered whether she had feelings for the guy who'd driven her to tears two days ago. But now, he was sure that she didn't care. Yes, she'd talked about a bunch of guys, and that would have made others nervous, maybe. But Brendan could tell, just from how she talked about them, that she thought of Ash and Brock as the older brothers she'd never had. He wondered if she used the same tone when talking about him. Sure hope not.

But, then again, why would she? Brendan reflected on all the non-brotherly things that had happened on their little 'outing':

One: He'd bought her lunch. Okay, perhaps someone in an older-brother role could do that, but still…

Two: She'd worn his jacket, and still had it. That was definitely not an older-brother type of action. A brother would have made his sister run faster, or something stupid like that.

Three (his personal favorite): He'd held her hand for about fifteen minutes. Brendan was convinced this was evidence of future seriousness; if her older brother had held her hand for that long, she would have said something about being babied.

So, what did that make him? Not a brother, but not just a friend. A boyfriend? His heart leapt at the thought of attaining his longtime goal, but his head reminded it not to rush things. May would not like that, he decided. So they would spend some time together tomorrow, and he would proceed accordingly. He looked out at the now pouring rain and smiled. Tomorrow will be a great day, I just know it!


May shut the door and meandered into the kitchen. There she found a note from her mother, which told her that her mother was out running errands and would be back to make dinner. May was grateful; no mother meant no 'date interrogation', which she honestly wasn't mentally prepared for. She heated a bowl of salsa con queso, tossed a handful of tortilla chips in with the cheese sauce, and brought her snack with her up to her room. She set her food on her desk, then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and grimaced.

She was still wearing Brendan's jacket, and while it was comfortable, it clashed really badly with her shirt. Even purple would have looked better… She slipped out of Brendan's jacket and hung it on her closet's doorknob. She then sat down at her desk and nibbled a chip or two, thinking that the dark red in the coat hanging near her matched Brendan's eyes perfectly…

May jumped, startled out of her reverie, as the phone began ringing. Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call, phone ca- "Hello?" May said, punching the green TALK button on her wall phone. The screen lit up, displaying three faces crammed into a phone booth. May grinned. It was her friends Ash, Misty, and Dawn, calling from some Pokemon Center who knows where.

"May, how's it going?" Ash grinned back, his hair as messy as ever under his hat.

"Oh, May, it's so great to see you!" Misty looked equally happy, ocean-colored eyes sparkling under a shock of orange hair.

"Hey, you're wearing a green bandana, what's up with that?" Everyone else sweat-dropped. Trust Dawn to catch any fashion changes.

"Yeah, well, I needed a change, I guess," May replied, trying not to sound like there might have been any other reason. Because, obviously, there wasn't any other reason, right? "So, what's up? Or did you just need to chat with an old friend?"

"We're just calling to finalize the Christmas reunion, remember, May? It's your turn to host, so we just wanted to get it all straight, y'know?" May blinked. She'd completely forgotten, but now it all came back with Misty's words.

For the past few years, May and her friends had held a reunion at each other's houses over the holidays. This allowed them to see each other and to catch each other up on what they were doing. So far, they had gone to Ash's, Misty's, and Dawn's homes, so it was May's turn.

"Oh, all right then. So yeah, Mom and Dad are cool with us hanging in the house over the vacation, and you guys are free to sleep here…" May paused. "Wait a sec… Who exactly is coming?"

Ash thought. "Well, Misty and I will definitely be there." He glanced at the bluenette. "Are you coming, Dawn?"

"What? Why wouldn't Dawn come?" May was shocked. Was there some problem she didn't know about? Was Dawn's grandma dying in a hospital or something equally horrible?

"Um, well, see, the thing is…" Dawn looked strangely nervous about something. "Uh, May, while I've been traveling, I, um, suddenlyrealizedthatPaulisagreatguyandI'mkindasortainlove withhimandisitokayifhecomestoo?"

May stared. "Come again?"

Misty snorted. "She's dating Paul. She wants to bring him. Why, in each case, I don't know. But she just wanted to check that you're cool with that before just showing up with him, see?"

"Oh, uh, I guess." May was surprised. "Is Paul there?"

Dawn started. "Yeah, as a matter of fact (move over guys, Paul, c'mere, May needs to talk to you), yeah, here he is." Paul's head came into view, still purple-haired, still apparently grumpy.

"What do you need, Troublesome's friend?" Dawn shocked May by not freaking out at Paul's not knowing her name. Instead, she just rolled her eyes and let it pass.

"Um, hi Paul, I just wanted to say, you know, that you're totally welcome to come, but you don't have to if you don't want to, so, no pressure from me." Paul just raised his eyebrows.

"Pressure from you is not exactly what I'm worried about, friend of Troublesome," Paul sighed. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Paul," Dawn let him wander off to wherever he'd been, and Ash and Misty came back into view.

"I still can't believe you're going out with him," Ash muttered. Dawn twitched, but said nothing. May guessed this was a topic that was frequently brought up.

"And then, let's see… Hey, Misty, do you know if Tracey's going to come?"

The redhead smirked and shook her head. "Nah, Tracey's decided he'd rather stay at the Cerulean Gym this Christmas." Seeing May's nonplussed expression, Misty further explained. "See, it's Daisy's turn to run the Gym, so he's there to 'help out' any way he can." She sighed. "Poor guy. Daisy totally takes advantage of him."

"What, by having him clean the pool?" May asked.

It was Dawn this time who interjected. "Clean the pool? I visited the Gym one time when he was there, May, and it was ridiculous!" She started imitating Misty's eldest sister. "'Like, Tracey, the sun's, like, totally in my eyes! Can you, like, go turn off the sun for me?'" They all started laughing, mostly because Dawn had imitated Daisy so well.

Once they were composed again, May resumed her mental checklist. "Okay, so no Tracey. Oh, yeah, Gary called the other day, he said he can come, but he wants to bring a friend. Now, that's okay with me, is that okay with you guys?"

"Is it a girl?" Dawn queried.

May nodded, grinning. "Yeah, and apparently not just a friend, either. You should have seen his face when he asked whether she could come." She smirked. "It was also kind of sad. He sounded a bit like his old fangirls."

Misty and Dawn looked excited at the prospect of another girl joining their group. "Aw, that's so cute!" Misty squealed, giggling at the thought of Gary Oak being head-over-heels for a girl (after all, it usually went the other way around). "Yeah, her coming is fine by me, what about you, Dawn?"

"Sure, the more the merrier!" Dawn agreed enthusiastically. She then looked over at Ash, who hadn't said anything. "Hey, Ash, what about you?"

The trainer scowled. "I don't see why Gary has to come anyways," he mumbled.

At once, all three girls glared at him. "Oh, get over it!" May said, rolling her eyes. "You guys were rivals, what, six or seven years ago? Let it go!"

"Besides, he's our friend, so you can just deal with that!" Dawn added.

"Or else the mallet will pound you into the ground!" Misty finished, her mallet-swinging hand straying dangerously close to her magical mallet-storage pocket. Ash got the hint and shut up.

"So that's every- whoa, wait, we forgot Kenny and Zoey!" Dawn shouted, embarrassed that she had almost forgotten two of her Coordinator friends. "Who are coming, by the way," she added in a lower voice, realizing that her shout had earned her some weird looks from the other people in the Pokemon Center. There was an awkward silence, finally broken by Ash.

"So, May, are you inviting anyone?" he asked, having noticed that so far, none of her friends from Hoenn or Contests had been mentioned.

"Oh, yeah, well, that's actually sort of like news, I guess. So, here goes." May took a deep breath, and said, "I think I'll probably invite the guy I'm sort-of dati-"

Anything else May might have said was rendered inaudible by the shrieks coming from Misty and Dawn. Poor Ash looked like he had temporary deafness.

"Ohmygosh, I can't believe it took so long!" Misty squealed. "I mean, you've known each other, like, forever!"

"Oh, was it really romantic, how he asked you out? Were there roses? No, wait, he's made those too usual…" Dawn looked ecstatic. "I always thought you two would look so cute together!"

"Wait, wait, wait. I said that we're only sort-of dating. Nothing really official. And besides," May added, looking a little confused, "since when has Brendan given me roses?"

"Well, since al- wait, who now?" Dawn had stopped midsentence, something apparently sinking in.

"Brendan. Brendan Birch. My next-door neighbor," May explained. "Why, who were you thinking of?"

Misty and Dawn exchanged a lightning-fast glance, then looked at Ash, who was opening his mouth. They thought fast and dragged him back away from the camera. May could just hear the hissing of whispers, Ash's slightly louder reply, and then the telltale smack of Misty's infamous mallet. The girls returned to the phone, smiling sweetly. Ash could be seen behind them, apparently seeing stars.

"Oh, no one," they said in unison. May was unconvinced, but she let it go. Maybe she really didn't want to know.

"Okay, wait, where's Brock at?"

The others raised eyebrows, and May sweatdropped. "Flirting with Nurse Joy?"

"Jenny, actually. Nurse Joy already shot him down," Misty explained. "It was kind of disappointing, because me and his Croagunk like to race each other and see who can get to him first, but Joy didn't need our help at all." May smiled fondly as innumerable instances of their friend's failed flirting.

"But, is he coming?"

"Oh, yeah," Dawn said, looking as though she'd just remembered. "Yeah, he said his parents are okay with it, so he'll be there to help cook Christmas dinner."

"Yay!" May grinned. "I haven't tasted Brock's cooking in so long!"

"Neither have I," moaned Ash from his corner, which just earned him another mallet whack from Misty, seeing as Brock had served him lunch not two hours ago.

"So, that's everyone we want there, so no big deal, we've got tons of space," May said, half thinking aloud. "Oh, and Solidad might drop in, so be prepared, because Harley'd probably come with her." They all shuddered at the thought of the man whose two pleasures in life were harassing May and generally creeping the whole wide world out. Although obsession number one, if May had recalled rightly, had lessened as Solidad began to show a faint interest in the Coordinator dressed like a Cacturne… Who knew what Harley's deal was…

"Well, okay then, we have to go, see you really soon, May," Dawn smiled at her, and hung up.


In the Pokemon Center, Dawn's smile faded as the screen went blank. Now she just looked confused. "I don't get it," she muttered, staring at the silent screen.

Misty nodded. "I know, I don't either. I was so sure she was going to say Drew, and then she whips out this Brendan guy…"

Dawn rested her chin on her hand, thinking.

"Well, I think we should stay out of it." Everyone stared at Ash, who had apparently recovered from the mallet blow.

"Whoa, is it just me, or did that mallet knock some sense into you?" Misty was amazed. Since when did Ash offer sensible advice on anything, let alone girls?

"Well, hanging out with you guys all these years has taught me that much," he said, shrugging. "May obviously doesn't want to talk about it, so let her be. She'll work it out for herself, or she'll come to one of you." And with that, Ash left his female companions and headed towards the Center's cafeteria, muttering something about being starved.

Dawn and Misty sat for a while. Misty was the first to speak. "He's right, we should forget about it. We can talk to May at Christmas."

Just then, the door to the Pokemon Center opened, admitting a seriously depressed-looking Brock. Nurse Joy quickly hid behind that day's newspaper. Behind him, Brock's Croagunk pointed a paw at Misty, as if to say, Me one, you zero, has-been.

"Oh, shut up," the red-head muttered as she, Dawn, and Brock headed to the cafeteria, Brock moaning about girls who didn't appreciate him and Croagunk smirking victoriously.


Back in Petalburg, rain was drizzling down. Drew sat leaning against the wall, shielded by the umbrella Jenny had loaned him. Masquerain sat on his lap, reflecting his trainer's emotions in the sad cast of his eyes. Max watched them sit motionless, safe and dry under his own umbrella. He finally mustered his courage and broke the silence.

"Hey, Drew?"

No reaction. Drew just stared out at the rain-washed streets.

"Drew, I-I think that…" The boy paused, almost afraid to say her name. "… that May wasn't as happy today as she was in that picture." Drew remained motionless. His expression was unchanged. Max decided to forge ahead.

"Drew, today she was happy, but it just seemed like ordinary happiness, the kind you expect from people. But, when she was with you, I don't know how to explain it, but her eyes just-"

"Seemed to glow." Drew spoke for the first time in hours. "Thank you, Max. I know you just want to help. But, please. I need time to think." And with that, he returned to his expressionless staring contest with the wall across the street. Max understood, and was silent.


After a while, the rain slackened off. The clouds drifted away, revealing the moon's soft white glow. Masquerain looked up from his master's lap and gazed at the shining orb. Oh, Beautifly, maybe someday I'll tell you how much I care. But do you care for me too?


At the Maple residence, May was already fast asleep. Her Beautifly fluttered near the window, gazing at the moon. She was thinking of a certain Masquerain, one that belonged to a Coordinator with grassy hair. Beautifly sighed. Normally she would have talked to her master about her feelings, but she understood that now was not the time. Something the grass-haired one had upset May, and now she spent her time with another male. This one baffled Beautifly. His hair appeared to be made of spun moonlight, yet she had seen him remove his hair to reveal ordinary, black strands. The butterfly Pokemon could see that her trainer still cared for the grass-head, but she was attempting to distract her thoughts with the black-and-white haired one. If Beautifly mentioned Masquerain, May would only end up thinking about the other male and would get all worked up all over again.

So Beautifly let it go for the moment, and contented herself with staring at the yellow sphere above, wishing for requited love…


"Please, would you just listen to me?" Officer Jenny was seated at her home phone terminal, talking to an irritable Guitarist.

"Why should I, Jen? Hm?" The Guitarist asked, staring with tired eyes at the blue-green-haired woman. "I'm exhausted, in case you didn't notice."

"I know you're tired, but just give me five minutes to explain!" Jenny snarled, annoyed at the man. "Oh, and you should listen to me because one, I'm a police officer, and two, I'm your cousin, so if you don't want jailtime or your baby pictures over the Internet-"

The Guitarist looked horrified. "No, wait, Jen, I'm listening!"

"Good," Jenny replied, smirking slightly. "And don't call me Jen. Now, here's my idea…"


Man, and I thought that was only kind of long in the original draft! And then I got all inspired yesterday and added something like another page to it. Yeah, but I'm very happy with it. And Valley-Carp is just my sad attempt to insert humor into my author notes. Maybe you find that strange, but isn't it technically equally strange to talk to your characters before and after your chapter? Not dissing those of you who do that (especially the ones who do it well), but that's my sad defense for my unfunny funny.

Also, just a quick apology to any and all of you anti-IkariShippers; I think it's unlikely but cute, and it gives Ash an opportunity to whine. As for Gary's SPECIAL someone, well, just guess, if that colossal hint didn't give it away...

So, we add a mysterious Guitarist to our mysterious puddle of a plot! The reason I capitalize "Guitarist" is simply because he's a Guitarist in the sense of the video games. You know, the shirtless guys with the Electric Pokemon? Yeah, just letting you know that that's neither a mistake nor his name. He'd have a name, but according to the Rules, I'm not allowed to say what it is... Ooh, hints if you can connect the dots! Or turn this plot puddle into an ice-sculpture... maybe just if you connect the dots (Wikipedia is your friend...) Ah, but perhaps I've said too much.

You know what to do! Review! (Hey, that rhymed! Intentionally!) And now, add to your to-do list stating which team you're on!

It might take a little bit longer to post Chapter Nine; after all, this was a long chapter. But not long as in weeks; just maybe a couple days, and perhaps not even that much.

Alright, you all have other people's fics to read. Bye now!

The Ordinary Carp