Engagement Troubles
By
Stars of Gold
Chapter 8 - Stage ON!
Drew and I were to stay at his house for four days. We were going to enter a contest on the third day and then spend one more (almost) completely carefree day with his family before leaving. Eloise had wanted us to stay for longer, but Drew refused.
I knew what he meant, though; as Coordinators, we couldn't afford to waste any time in our pursuit of Ribbons. There were a lot of Coordinators, and just because we two were the best in the Hoenn Coordinator world didn't mean that we could afford to slack off and lose Ribbons to a fresh upstart because of carelessness.
Four days was already pushing our schedule, but Drew assured me that his family had two Charizards that knew the way home, so we could fly them to our next destination rather than go on foot.
"May, there's a phone call for you!" Danielle called from the living room.
"Coming!" I yelled back, hopping down the carpeted stairs lightly in my bare feet. "Mom!" I said cheerfully as I saw her face, sat down and picked up the phone. "Hey! How'd you know I'd be here?"
Mom smiled. "Oh, I have my ways."
Max came into the background and snorted, "Yeah, like my common sense. I heard about the contest in La Rousse, so I figured you guys would be headed there, judging by your previous location. I also figured you'd be staying with Drew's family since they're in La Rousse. Then I consulted the Yellow Pages and voila."
"How are you, honey?" Mom asked. Max grinned. "Are you having fun at Drew's?" he asked slyly.
"Max!" Mom and I chorused in horror. Mom smacked his shoulder. "Don't tease your sister, young man!"
"But Mom, you know she likes him!" whined Max.
"However true that may be–"
"Mom!" I protested, mortified.
"–you still can't say things like that about your sister," Mom finished, grinning at me. I groaned and put my face in my free hand.
Mom laughed, then she paused and frowned. "May," she said slowly, and I knew that things were serious now. She never used my real name without any endearments unless there was something serious she had to talk about.
"What is it, Mom?" I asked, immediately concerned.
"There was... a ring on your left hand." She gave me a stern look. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
Inwardly, I swore a very serious swear that no one should ever hear. Outwardly, I held the receiver between my ear and my shoulder and took off my ring out of the camera's view. I transferred the ring to my middle finger while saying, "Oh, that? I just saw it in a shop and it was so pretty! I couldn't afford it, though, so Harley and Solidad got it for me as an early birthday gift."
I held up my left hand again, showing Mom the ring that was now on my middle finger. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Mom smiled and bought the explanation. "Yes, dear, it is. It's almost exactly the same shade of blue as your eyes!"
Max rolled his eyes, but still seemed a bit suspicious. "Girls. I'll see you some other time, sis."
"Okay, bye, Max!" I said cheerfully, waving.
Mom smiled at me. "So how are things going, really?"
"Well... I like Drew's family. They're all very nice."
"That's good. He's a nice boy, that Drew. You sure there's nothing–?"
"No, Mom, there's nothing between us but friendship." Technically it was a lie, since normal friends don't kiss.
Mom sighed. "You can't blame me for hoping. I want grandchildren, you know? But not too early, young lady," she said warningly. "You're 17. Wait until you're at least 21, please?"
I rolled my eyes. "Duh. I'm not stupid, Mom."
"Of course you aren't. Well, I have to go; my cookies are almost done and I want to make sure Max doesn't steal some. Goodbye, May, dear, I love you!"
"Bye Mom!"
The screen went black as she hung up. Releasing a sigh of relief, I put the phone back in its cradle and put my ring back onto my ring finger. "That was way too close," I murmured, standing up and stretching.
"May, catch," Drew said as he tossed me a canned drink. "How was your talk with your mother?"
"Fine," I said, popping open the can and downing a gulp of the grape soda. It was taking a bit more effort to actually look him in the eye because ever since that kiss, I'd been itching to do it again. Of course, if Drew felt the same way, he was hiding it well. "I forgot to take off the ring and she saw. I moved it to my middle finger off-screen and passed it off as a gift from Harley and Solidad."
Drew snorted as he flopped onto the couch. "Nice save. Remember to move it to your middle finger again when we go for the contest later." The contest was going to be held at ten in the morning; at the time of the conversation, it was eight thirty.
I frowned and sat down next to him. "Why not just take it off? It'll cause a huge mess if I wear it in public, what with the rumors going around that we're dating and all."
Drew sighed. "May, May, May. If your mother sees the news in the magazine about you winning the contest in La Rousse –or getting a close second," he added, smiling arrogantly. I snorted, "You wish."
"–and there's no news of you wearing a ring, she'll be suspicious. Why take it off if it means nothing, you know?"
I nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. But then the paparazzi are going to go crazy! They'll never let us have a moment of peace! They'll think the ring is a promise ring or something."
"Let them think what they want to," said Drew, sipping his own drink. "It's not like they matter, and your mother can explain to your father about the ring thing."
I sighed. "I suppose. You know they won't leave us alone when we get back on the road?"
"I know, but we've dealt with that before, right?"
"Right!"
But was it worth lying to my mother to save a friend?
I went with Beautifly for the appeals, and Drew went with Roselia.
I got to do my appeal first, after a girl named Rachel and before a guy called Frank. Somehow, Eloise, Demelza, Diana and Danielle had been allowed backstage with us – probably because Denise, who turned out to be the host of every La Rousse contest, had pulled some strings. Or perhaps because their family was the most influential family on the island.
It was almost time for my appeal, and I did my usual pre-performance routine: I took a deep breath, rubbed my hands together and wiped them on my pants. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this!"
"Aren't you going to give her a kiss for luck, Drew-Drew?" Diana drawled, grinning slyly. I blushed despite myself, and Drew said, "Nah, May's shy about kissing in public. How about... a hug?"
"Oh, come on," Danielle said. "Not like anyone's around anyway. We're in a more secluded part of backstage." We were, because Drew and I liked to stay in secluded corners, away from the rookie Coordinators who liked to ask for our autographs.
I hesitated. "Well..."
"We haven't actually seen you guys kiss since you got here, you know," Demelza said thoughtfully.
"Oh, go on. We won't tell!" Diana urged.
Drew sighed. "Will it get you to shut up?" he asked, annoyed. Diana and Danielle nodded enthusiastically. "It will, just kiss her!"
"And now, I welcome Grand Festival winner May to the stage!" Denise cried from the stage. The crowd went wild.
Drew pulled me into a quick, hard kiss that lingered for barely two moments, then pushed me towards the doorway and called after me, "Don't make this easy for me, May!"
My body acted on its own when I grinned and shouted back, "I won't!" and then ran out onstage.
La Rousse cheered. I grinned, getting into my element and resolving to think about the kiss later. Right then, I had a contest to win.
"Beautifly, take the stage!" I cried, throwing Beautifly's pokeball enthusiastically.
The appeal I did was the one I had practiced on our second day in Grasshead territory. There were only a few minor differences – Beautifly's String Shot was golden and she drew a sun and a moon instead of our names.
The sparkles of gold and silver were still raining down on the audience when Denise called out, "What a beautiful performance by May! Give her a round of applause, folks!"
The audience obliged, and I took a bow before making my way offstage with Beautifly fluttering behind me.
I made my way backstage and grinned at Drew. "Thanks for making the Pokeblock that would make String Shot golden."
Drew nodded in acknowledgement. "No problem. Good job."
"You did great, dear!" Eloise said, squeezing me in a hug. Drew's sisters joined in and hugged me through their mother.
"Aw, you did awesome, May!" "Even little brother will have trouble upstaging that!" "You and Drewbie make such a wonderfully creative pair," they all said simultaneously. I gave Drew a pleading look, a look that he shrugged at but made no move to help.
When they did let go of me, it was to hug Drew instead. It was almost his turn to go up, so they smothered him in 'good luck's and 'you'll be awesome's and so on. It was great that his family was so supportive.
"You do good up there," I said, giving him a hug and ruffling his hair. Drew made a face, rearranged his hair and said, "Yeah, I will."
Then he sauntered out into the sunshine.
"Let's go, Roselia!"
Ah, Roselia. I hadn't seen her in a contest for a while.
"Let's hear it for a fellow La Rousse native!" Denise called out as both Roselia and Drew took a bow. The audience cheered like crazy. "Yeah! Okay, little brother, let's see what you've got!"
Drew saluted Denise, then cried, "Roselia, open with Sweet Scent!"
A... well... sweet scent wafted through the air. I could smell it from backstage and it had a major calming effect.
"Okay, now spin!"
Roselia spun around like a ballerina, gaining speed with every revolution.
"Bullet Seed, then Poison Sting!"
Brown seeds arced gracefully through the air and were soon pierced by sharp needles. The shish-kebab-like result landed, standing, in a circle around Roselia.
"Finish it off with Petal Dance!"
Roselia released pink cherry blossom petals as her spinning slowed and eventually came to a stop. The petals swirled in a beautiful spiral - her hands had been pointed up towards the sky. She posed briefly, then bowed, Drew bowing with her.
The crowd went wild.
"Yeah! Awesome, little brother! As to be expected from a previous Top Coordinator."
Drew flipped his hair, then sauntered backstage, grinning confidently.
His mother and sisters showered him in compliments – "Fantastic job, Drewbie!" "Beautiful!" "You did great up there, kid!" "Magnificent! Truly magnificent!"
I offered him a grin and said, "Nice. You using Roselia for your matches?"
He shook his head. "No. You using Beautifly?"
I shook my head. "Nope. Ooh, they're announcing results!"
Drew's was the first face on the list of coordinators that had made it through to the next round. Mine was the second.
"Yes!" I cheered, pumping a fist in the air. Drew chuckled. "I can't believe you're still so excited about making it through. You've been coordinating for seven years."
I grinned sheepishly. "Well, I don't always make it through, you know."
"I know. Oh, I know."
"Shut up."
The matches had been decided – I'd be going up against a Lola girl and Drew would be going up against Frank. Drew's match was first, and he breezed through it with minor damage with Sandy. Yes, Sandy the Jealous Swellow.
She pecked me when he came backstage and I swear she wouldn't stop glaring at me. I could feel her eyes drilling holes into the back of my head when it was my turn to go on.
I chose an old friend this time – Blaziken. Lola had a Bug-type – Butterfree – so I had an easy enough time when it came to attacks, though I had to watch out for Psychic and status ailments.
Finally, it was time to battle Drew.
"Good luck," I said, grasping his hand in a handshake.
"And the same to you," he replied, his tone serious. Sandy made a noise of indignation and flew over to peck my hand sharply, making me drop Drew's hand and yelp in pain.
Drew snorted. "Wimp," he said to me as Sandy landed on his arm. I stuck my tongue out. "Your Swellow has a grudge against me."
"And now," Denise cried into her microphone. "The match you've all been waiting for – Drew vs. May!"
We looked at each other from opposite sides of the backstage area, nodded, then walked out into the sunshine.
I wasn't going to lose to Drew.
And I definitely wasn't going to lose to Sandy!
"Sandy, Aerial Ace!"
"Blaziken, light a huge fire around yourself!"
Sandy dove at Blaziken at an incredible speed and actually managed to damage Blaziken and get out of there before he managed to get his fire up. My points went down.
Fortunately, the speed of the attack had made it a pretty weak one. Sandy had rushed to get a hit in before the fire came up to protect Blaziken, so it was a lot weaker than a usual Aerial Ace.
"Brave Bird!" I shouted.
"Double Team!" Drew shouted back.
I grinned. Blaziken glowed blue and charged all three Sandys – from the side. Drew's points went down. Sandy was obviously more hurt than Blaziken, barely able to get up and fight.
"Endeavor!" Drew called. I hissed and cried, "Light a fire!"
This time, Blaziken was quick enough to light a fire before Sandy could get to a safe distance away, but not before she'd attacked him with Endeavor.
"Aerial Ace!" roared Drew, knowing that Sandy, while partially on fire, wasn't in that much danger – Pokemon fire isn't nearly as destructive as human fire. It just hurts, it doesn't burn. In all honesty, it was beautiful, Sandy diving at Blaziken at breakneck speed, the fire on her tail glowing orange and leaving a trail of orange behind her.
Blaziken was hit faster than I could issue a command, and with that, Blaziken fainted.
Drew quickly put out the fire on Sandy's tail with a water bottle Denise handed him.
"And the winner of the La Rousse Contest is DREW!" Denise cried. The audience went crazy cheering. I smiled and returned Blaziken to his pokeball.
"Good job, Drew," I called, smiling. "It won't be so easy next time!"
Drew scoffed and flipped his hair, grinning back at me. "We'll see about that," he informed me.
DISCLAIMER: Nah, don't own Pokemon. If I did, I'd totally create the option of choosing your character. Then I'd choose to play as Drew and collect all his Pokemon and pwn Contests and stuff. Also I'd get rid of the need for bloody Poffins and Pokeblock to enhance Pokemon attributes. That's just bullshit.
I know. I know. I know. This chapter took far too long. I know. I know. I know. I know. A couple of people actually PMed me about it. I felt really bad, but I had Writer's Block and marching and a sketch (I wrote the script and directed!) and choir and being choir pianist (not fun).
Sigh. Sorry if it sucks. I'll rewrite it if it does. I just really want to put this chapter up for you guys. I feel really bad. D:
Bloody Fanfiction won't let me do my usual pagebreak so you're stuck with this one.
100th reviewer: loljuhi, I believe. Thanks dude. :D I've never gotten a hundred reviews before.
The age guessing thing is still going on. I'm flattered at the ages you think I am because that's the age I'm aiming to seem, be it younger than I really am or older.
PS: The title, 'Stage ON!' is a phrase that Haruka (May's Japanese counterpart) says before releasing her Pokemon. May uses 'Take the stage!' instead. I thought that Stage ON sounded nicer as a title.
Love
Stars of Gold
