Welcome Home ch10: The petals

"Yeah, I think I can teach Absol that move until the end of day. Or should we try that other plan instead?"

After running the weirdest contest of their lives inside a tiny closet, May and Drew barely exchanged words about anything else besides the Appeals Exhibition plans.

"I kind of like your idea of using my ice pokemon to create some storm and combine it with Absol's Aerial Ace. I think we can create some nice visual effects... If we master both attacks for the show. Can we do it until tomorrow?"

They suddenly became very dedicated in planning strategies for the Appeals Exhibition and testing different fighting techniques - as if both coordinators remembered they were in LaRousse for the CW, not for... Bickering sessions at Drew's house.

"I am going to the Pokemon Center call Mom and get Glaceon back..."

However, it was painfully obvious both were very embarrassed about what happened earlier in that day. That itching issue kept burning into their skin - those strange feelings kept popping up during random thoughts.

"Sure, you can go ahead..." The green-haired boy kept staring at the walls, quietly. "I catch up with you later."

Drew was mildly perturbed. Because of his awkward "accident" with May, he couldn't stop thinking how close they were to each other without any reason at all. The boy had planned to lock themselves in the closet for the sake of fun - but he didn't expect that prank would incite some of his strangest feelings.

Yes, it was quite an accomplishment to make a pretty and quite innocent girl play such malicious game. Yes, that whole tension tango was an interesting fetish fuel for the rest of his life... But no, he wasn't feeling accomplished neither satisfied about that. That was, weirdly enough, quite frustrating.

May would always display her happiness with enthusiasm and strong spirit, though he knew she also had a shy feminine and affectionate side hiding behind her fiery personality. It was something he had seen with close people - Max, Ash and all those friends she made during her journey... But himself.

Where was that other May?... Why did she always refuse to show up for him?

For the first time, the green-haired teenager wished he could let May caress his hair without pretending to be asleep... Perhaps it wouldn't hurt that much being embarrassed when teased about his stalking and crushing rumours - wouldn't that be worth if May got even more embarrassed and troubled to deny any attraction between them? He considered that maybe it would be fine to let her win, only once, some silly discussion just to hear her soft and loving side laugh. But...

Why should he do that! Even if he tried to give it a chance what if she refused to open herself to him anyway? That would be humiliating... His mild curiosity shouldn't be a reason to act like a silly boy and let people laugh at him for nothing!

Drew sighed, slightly confused. Forget it or go for it?

He hated to admit - but all of this confusing issue was really hard to forget about.

Inside the Pokemon Center, May dialed to Petalburg city's gym and was immediately received by her younger brother in the video conference screen. Max smiled in excitement, happy to see his sister. "May!"

"Max! Good to see you!"

"How are you? How is it going there in LaRousse?"

"I'm doing great! LaRousse is awesome, CW is also incredible!" The brunette giggled. "I got loads of papers and other interesting stuff for you, I think you will enjoy reading them later!"

"Wow... Thanks, sis'! You didn't need to do, thank you a lot!"

"It's alright... Max, is Dad there? I need to get Glaceon back for some training, I'm going to present a Tag Appeal! I'm here with Venusaur's pokeball so we can trade them."

"Oh, Dad? Don't worry, I think I can do it myself! I'm learning how to help him here at the gym." Max put a hand on his chest, in a proud and dedicated manner. "I feel so important, taking care of Pokemon is so cool!"

"Haha, yeah! But..." May tilted her head to the side, slightly suspicious. "Are you sure it is fine to do it without asking Dad first?"

"Well..." The little boy snickered, fixing his glasses on his nose. "Sure, I can call Mom if you want. Poor Dad is at home having an overprotective father's delirium... I think Mom have just told him that you're there in grasshead's house. He's sulking harder than Brock used to... Did you know he was that possessive?"

"What!" The brunette blushed, furiously. "Drew's only my rival and partner, nothing else! Why would he-"

"He only knows that Drew is a mysterious name that you are always complaining about, maybe he's afraid of losing you and- Oh, wait a second. Mom!" Max shouted off-screen, holding the phone in his hands. "May's here!"

The young mother quickly appeared behind her son. "May is here?"

"Ah, hello sweetheart!" Caroline smiled at the screen. "How are you, darling?"

"I'm good! Could you help Max trading Glaceon with Venusaur? I'm going to present a Tag Appeal tomorrow in CW!"

"Oh, that sounds so exciting!" Caroline then pointed at something off-screen. "Max, could you please get Glaceon's pokeball and turn on the trading device?"

"Sure, Mom! Be right back, okay?"

The little boy jumped off the chair and ran away to the other room. Meanwhile, the slim woman sat on said chair and started chatting with her daughter. "Tell me the news, are you enjoying the CW? What is this Tag Appeal you're talking about?"

"Yeah, CW is really amazing! Today I saw how the Contests are different in other continents and..." Unconsciously remembering scenes from the closet fiasco, May felt her ears burning; she tried to keep talking as calm as possible. "Ahahahah, yeah! It's very interesting and fun, thank you and Dad for buying me the pass! I'm trying to enjoy it the best I can!"

"About the Tag Appeal..." The girl picked up the red CW passport from her bag and tried to show it closer to the camera. "See, Drew signed us up for this Appeals Exhibition event. We gotta present something really good for the audience next two days!"

"Good, good... I hope you two do your best!" Caroline smiled then slowly shifted her calm expression into a mischievous grin. "And talking about Drew... How are you two doing there in his house? Are you helping him with daily housework? Cleaning, cooking, buying stuff?"

"Uhh..." The young brunette tried to not sound too panicked, though she did sound a little bit nervous. "Ehehehe, sorta? To be honest he rather keep me out the kitchen and I am quite out of money..."

"Wait, how come you're out of money-" Her mother blinked in surprise but quickly changed her expression after figuring out what had happened. Looking at May with shifty eyes, the woman asked the only detail she was missing. "Oh. I think I've got it... So what did you buy? Why did you buy it?"

"Eh..." The daughter scratched the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "I didn't buy anything. I only... Rented something. That's all."

"I rented a dress for our Tag Appeal!" The girl blurted out the truth, frightened by the censoring stare coming from the other side of the screen. "It wasn't that expensive but I had to do it anyway! I mean, sorta. I feel that I should present an awesome show with Glaceon but I don't know, I wanted to look pretty for-"

"Drew? That's cute."

"Yes, also for-" Noticing her own words, May snapped angrily at the camera. "NO! Not that, Mom! It's for the audience, not for Drew!"

Caroline snickered not so discreetly, making her daughter protest again. "Mom!"

"There's nothing wrong about looking pretty for a boy, being him your boyfriend or not... If he likes your dress, I think it's fine then." The caring mother shrugged. "Okay, sweetie. Let's do this, I won't send you money but you can use that extra cash I gave you to come back to Petalburg. Deal?"

May blinked. "But how I am going to travel back to home?"

"The trading machine is on and Glaceon is here!" Max popped up in the corner of the screen, shaking his arms to grab his mother and sister's attention. "We're ready to trade."

May put her pokeball in the trade machine and saw it glow weakly while exchanging its content. The display showed small icons of Glaceon being swapped for Venusaur.

"Good job, that was fast!" Caroline gave a thumbs up to the smart boy. "By the way... Max, would you like to come with me for a quick boat trip in the next few days?"

"Really?" The little boy's eyes got brighter. "We're going to make a short trip? That's awesome, yay!"

May blinked again. Max ran around the room, shouting happily. "Yaaaay, we are going to travel!"

"You're coming to get me here in LaRousse?"

"Well, your father need to go Slateport and deliver few HMs to Winona in Fortree city but he's been a bit busy writing Gym report documents for the League. Dad's at home right now but he will come to the gym in an hour." Caroline winked. "I think I can be Supermom and do this small favor for him, instead of getting tickets for Lilycover I can see if there are ships for LaRousse."

"Oh, I see... And hey! Maaaax, you twerp!" May blushed and pointed a finger at her brother. "Dad's at home because he's busy with his work, not because of... You know!"

Caroline tilted her head to the side exactly the way her daughter always did, slightly curious and confused. "Huh?"

"Drew." Max tried to stiff a laugh. "Hehe. I told her how Dad got all depressive and stuff."

"T-That's not fun!" The two in Petalburg cracked up laughing out loud, making the brunette girl blush harder and yell at her family. "Mom!... Max! Ahh, stop it!"

"Have fun, darling! Hahaha, I hope you two nail it perfectly! Oh, talking about that, I don't want to catch you later and see that you lovebirds transformed the house into a Daycare Center. Control your impulses, will you?"

"Daycare center?..." The brunette faced the screen with a blank stare. "What do you mean with that?"

"Mom!" Max blocked his mother out the video screen, shocked expression. "That's not the moment for that! She's too young to hear about these stuff!"

"Did anyone mention my name?"

"Bye Mom, bye Max! Thanks a lot, see you two later!" Hearing Drew's voice behind her back, May immediately ended the video call placing the phone back to its case. "Nope, they didn't!"

The boy suspiciously raised his eyebrow. His partner shrugged and she showed him the new pokeball in her hands. "See, I've got Glaceon back!"

"Good, let's start practicing." Drew flicked his hair, getting his ID card from his pocket. "I think if we're lucky enough, we still got time to catch a room in the Battle Tower."

The Battle Tower was the tallest building in LaRousse, being one of the most important places of the city. May remembered the day Ash and Tory battled together in a modern and big arena then wondered about the other rooms - were they going to take a whole stage just for them?

She silently watched many trainers walking around the corridors while Drew inserted his ID card into a small white PC.

"Hmm, I think we got only half hour in room 64-A." The green haired boy pointed at the computer screen, blinking dozen of alert messages. "Other facilities are either busy or reserved... Well, let's go."

"I never thought how the Battle Tower could be that interesting for coordinators." Following her partner' steps, May commented in a very curious and interested tone. "Is it common to see non-trainers using it for themselves?"

"Well, not really," Drew spoke to his partner while walking ahead of her. "People come to this town with their minds focused on battling... But I like to use the Battle Tower's hi-tech equipment for Contest practicing."

Using his ID card to open the door, Drew politely waited May enter the room first.

It wasn't like that arena from few years ago; their room was much simpler and smaller, but big enough for their experiments. All the advanced devices from the bigger stage were available there anyway; they automatically started working at the moment May crossed the door.

Feeling excited by the cameras displaying her contagious smile on the panel screens, the brunette girl dramatically jumped to the center of the spotlight, casting the new pokeball out of her belt.

"Glaceon, take the stage!"

The blue fox pokemon appeared in front of its master, delicately sitting on the floor with a majestic pose.

Drew didn't make any exquisite entrance to the stage - he just walked next to the spotlight and called Absol out the pokeball.

"Try doing that again with your red dress." Drew chuckled, making May blush in crimson colors.

"Hmpf..." The girl frowned, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I'll pretend I didn't listen to you... Anyway, check this out. Glaceon, Blizzard!"

The ice pokemon gracefully jumped in the air, creating a blue cold aura around its paws. Glaceon eyes became clearer and it gently blew a icy breath to the stage; reaching the floor, ice shards erupted from that puff, exploding into a large wall made of ice.

The two trainers watched the spiky ice sculpture shimmer and melt slowly under the stage spotlight.

"That's impr- interesting," Drew muttered with attentive eyes. "When did Glaceon learn this high-tier attack?"

"Tadaaah!" May exclaimed in a proud way. "My newest ace card in my Appeals with Glaceon! How do you like it?"

"Very... Rustic." The green-haired coordinator declared, paying attention to the details in the cold sculpture. "It's beautiful but not perfectly elegant. Like always, your partner is great but you fail at ordering the right tasks. It could be more natural..."

"Ehhh, what?" The brunette crossed her arms, surprised with such rigorous critique. "It's natural! What did you expect me to do?"

"How about mixing it with Hail attack?" Drew raised a finger. "Blizzard is a very hard technique and you can see that Glaceon is not fully confident about this attack, did you notice the lowered ears? This is clearly... Not mastered yet. You're clearly not sure about what this attack does either. Were you trying to impress me with blind shots?"

"Uh..." May pouted, feeling her cheeks blush a bit. "That's what make it cooler, there's a risk on Glaceon's appeal."

"Oh well, that's the Ash Ketchum's philosophical school of training, right?" Drew sarcastically noted, crossing his arms to stare at his coordinator partner. "It may work, it might fail..."

"Hey, I'm not like Ash!" May disagreed, putting her hands on her hips. "I-I I mean, he was my mentor once and I do admire him a lot but... You know, I'm not trying to be like him anymore. The one you see in the contests... That's how I am for real!"

Crouching by Glaceon's side, May put a hand on its back and stared at her rival with fiery eyes. "I trust Glaceon's skills and I'll do my best to make them shine on stage!"

"Hey, I'm only teasing." Drew grinned, flicking his hair in a cool move. "I know you're naturally wild and clumsy like a Vigoroth, nobody taught you that. But if you want to impress to judges..."

"Absol." The green-haired trainer stepped forward, pointing a finger at the ice wall. "Swords Dance, now."

The dark-type pokemon roared, moving the sickle on its head in a hypnotic dance. It started to glow in a purple aura, highlighting the sharp blade. Absol focused his obedient gaze at the Blizzard wall in front of the coordinators.

Drew flicked his hair once more then ordered the next attack with an elegant hand wave.

"Night Slash."

Purple sparks slowly changed to deep crimson tones. Absol jumped in the air then moved his head in a violent movement, creating dark sharp blades that collided with the ice sculpture. They hit right at Glaceon's attack but didn't make any loud sounds; suddenly, a subtle slash mark appeared crossing the ice shards and broke up the ice wall in two.

The brunette opened her mouth but didn't say a word, quite impressed with Drew's precise movement.

"Your turn?" The green-haired trainer smiled in vain, confident about his performance. "Critique everything you can. I dare you to."

"Hmm..."

May crossed her arms. She walked closer and examined the impeccable slash that cut the Blizzard wall in two. "Wow. That's pretty scary, Drew."

"I know."

"It's perfect. Absol's movement and appeal are awesome. I really like this, that's incredible but... Uh, we're not doing it right..." The girl frowned, slightly worried. "That's two individual awesome Appeals. Not a Tag Appeal, we didn't work together at all... That's bad."

"Huh?" Drew's confident grin faded out in surprise. "Bad?"

"Our time is out and I can't believe we couldn't think of anything great yet..." May pressed her hands on her head in worry, terrified about their deadline. "We are not exactly working together, not yet."

The two coordinators were traveling back to home in an empty train, voices echoing in the silent corridor.

"We could simply present what we tried to practice today. We just need to entertain the crowd this time, you know." Drew shrugged. "I'm not worried about winning the judges. We don't have judges or score boards this time, I only want to impress our crowd. Glaceon is okay, Absol is just fine."

"So..." Drew looked at May, speaking with confidence. "I'll do my best, you will do your best... That's enough to make a great appeal. Are you still not sure about it?"

She quietly thought about Drew's opinion, unsure if she fully agreed with him or not. "I think I understand your point and I agree it looks good, but..."

"I... I thought we both were able to work together in a finger snap." May frowned, slightly disappointed. "I don't know, I understand that syncing appeals are hard stuff to do in such short deadline but I thought we could do it. For a long time I always wondered how would be if we worked together on stage, now that I've got a chance and sort of failed it... Yeah, it blows. Maybe that's why I am a bit frustrated, I don't know..."

The train arrived at their stop.

The boy watched his partner with curious eyes, feeling his chest warmer by thinking about her last words inside the train. Although she was really distracted by the Block Bots and the automatic streets, it didn't take much time to May notice she was being carefully watched. "Hm? What is it, Drew?"

"Are you still planning going to Sinnoh when the Contests season arrive in a few weeks?"

"Yeah, maybe..." The brunette tilted her head to the side. "You guys are going to compete there, right?"

"You can travel with us again, so this time we can plan carefully one great Tag Appeal..." The boy looked up to the sky pretending to be checking the clouds. "Then I promise we will register together in a Double Contest once and score a ribbon. It will be perfect. Does it sound good for you?"

"Oh." May blinked in surprise. "Well..."

Laughing sweetly, she smiled. "Of course it does. Thanks, Drew."

"Ah-"

Drew's insides abruptly got wracked with some strong sensation. He tried to open his mouth and provoke his rival - but he couldn't find anything to say.

Maybe it was better to not say anything this time.

Arriving at home, May happily took her shoes and her socks away, humming a song together with Roserade.

"Roserade is good at singing!" The coordinator girl patted on the white petals on Roserade's head. "She would be a great pokemon for those Musical contests in Unova!"

"You meant... Roserade is good at everything." The green-haired partner answered as a matter of fact, taking off his shoes as well and putting them next to May's shoes. "By the way, you want to see the flower miracle?"

"The roses?" May raised her eyebrows in curiosity then looked back to the flower pokemon. It smiled with a high-spirited animation, pulling the trainer with her red bouquet hand.

Girl and pokemon walked out the house, watching the day fade out. The lamp posts were already lit and moon was shining with a pale light, though it was still possible to see the last streaks of sunshine on the horizon.

Roserade felt the soil with its hands, trying to find the best spot to lay her roots. The young coordinator sat on the ground, watching the plant pokemon choose her ideal place carefully.

Drew stood by the door holding a small blue sack and quickly glanced over May; the brunette girl was cooing softly, hugging her legs and admiring his pokemon. "Awww... Isn't it so cute?"

"I told you Roserade is good at everything." The green-haired boy grinned. Pointing a finger at some bushes nearby his neighbour's house, he opened his PokeNav and added. "See the flowers? Those are usually raised by Corsola, some of them got Natural Cure as well. But their connection to roses are not as intimate and deep as Roserade's... Now guess whose garden is the best in this street."

Drew pressed the Pokédex button, activating the entry about the coral pokemon. "Habitat: Corsola live in the warm shallow waters of southern seas. Their environment needs to have plenty of clear water in order to thrive. Corsola are known to have great regenerative powers. Unlike real coral, which can take years to grow, if any of their horns are broken, it can grow back in as little as a single night. However, in order for this to function properly, they need clean ocean water. They cannot survive in polluted water."

"Ohh, I see! That's interesting, huh." May came closer to her rival, watching his PokeNav screen display a small Corsola picture. "They've got the same power as Roserade, right? And since LaRousse is a... an... estu-estuary, right? Since it's a good place for sea pokemon, it's easy to find wild Corsola?"

"Exactly." The boy nodded, smirking. "Good to know that even though you were an awful student in the past, my amazing knowledge helps you understand important stuff about the world. I must be a really good teacher, May."

"Meh..." Sticking her tongue out, she groaned. "I hate how your few praising moments sound like an awful kick to the face."

"Rose!"

Roserade waved to Drew, digging small holes in the grass with its feet. The trainer opened the small sack on his hand, picking up seeds and handing them to his pokemon. Roserade gently covered them with soil and sat over them, closing its eyes in a peaceful expression. The tiny pokemon started to glow weakly and small roots started to sprout from its delicate body.

"Wow," the brunette whispered. "This is amazing..."

"I know it, right?" The boy smiled to Roserade, admiring his pokemon. "That's why roses are my favorites..."

"Oh yeah, you're the Mr Rose after all..." May smiled as well - but in a teasing and goofy way. "That's why you love to gift them to my pokemon?"

"Maybe..." Drew's soft smile suddenly turned into a sly grin. "Roses are beautiful and they are best matched with beautiful things. That's why only the pokemon, not their trainer, are gifted with them."

"W-WHAT?" The brunette blushed. "DREWWWW!"

"What can I do, you don't deserve these yet... Not my fault your pokemon are better than- Hey, what's that face?"

All of sudden, something clicked inside May's mind.

"Drew, I've got an idea."

"Huh? What idea?..."

Pulling her partner by his arm, she ran to the pier with strong determination in her eyes.

"Listen to my idea... Ice petal storm!"

The brunette waved her hands with excitement, big blue eyes shining in anxiety.

Drew raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Ice... Petal storm?"

"Glaceon, Hail attack!" May jumped in the air and threw the pokeball, pointing at the water. "Now, go for it!"

Glaceon spun curled up in a ball then stretched out its small body, howling with vitality. The ice pokemon eyes got bright and it started to emit a cold fog from its body, making May's energetic shout form little smoke puffs of heat. "Blizzard, now! Go, Drew! Make it pretty like the roses!"

Drew quickly synced with May's movement, calling Absol out of his ball. "Absol, go! Night Slash, Ice Petals now!"

Absol copied Glaceon's movement, howling its name out loud to the sky. Aiming at the cold breath veil, it dealt multiple blows to the ice beam, shattering it in very small fragments.

Small shards of ice shaped like petal roses started falling form the sky, slowly dissolving on the grass and on the river's shore - making small ripples in the water.

Drew's eyes got wide open.

"It's... Really beautiful."

The two coordinators watched the ice petals fall slowly in front of them. May giggled, dancing under the cold rain; Drew just kept watching it with perplexed eyes.

"Sooo... You still doubt on my instinctive way of training and creating Appeals? You see, THAT's teamwork!" The coordinator girl smiled smugly, watching her new creation with proud feelings. "Okay, I don't feel bad anymore. That's fairly okay for the Princess of Hoenn! What do you think, Prince of Roses? Do I deserve them now?"

A small ice petal fell on May's cheek. She was about to poke it out her face when she felt a warm hand removing it for her.

Then it caressed her cheek in a tender gesture.

"Uhh..." The brunette blushed, feeling embarrassed by such gentle touch. "Drew?"

Drew held his breath. "May, I..."

Ring ring ring, ring ring ring! Phone Call! Phone Call!

The awkward moment was suddenly interrupted by a (even more awkward) PokeNav call alarm. May could have ignored it but something unusual about this situation suffocated her, cutting off her breath; she quickly answered the phone, turning her face away from her rival.

"Ugh..." Drew turned his back to the girl, snapping out from his weird and uncalled slip.

They both returned to the house, dodging confused glances and walking in slow and clumsy steps. Still taking care of the seeds, Roserade watched in surprise both trainers get extremely embarrassed at each other's presence. The flower pokemon then looked at Absol and Glaceon - the dark pokemon snorted but pretended it didn't see anything, May's ice partner wiggled its head playfully. It made the flower creature smile and giggle together with the two other pokemon.

"Oh... Yes. Yes, sure... Yeah, I guess." The brunette nodded. "Hmm... I think I've got their numbers, you want Sid and Brianna to join us then? Sure, why not? Uh, gimme a second, he's here by my side, I can ask him that."

"Drew..." May turned her eyes back to Drew, with a sincere apologizing expression on her face. "Harley is calling everybody to dinner at the Pokemon Center... Shall we go?"

"Harley..." Drew crossed his arms, rubbing his temple with one hand for a couple of seconds.

"Uh. If you wish so, yeah, it's up to you..."

A/N: Hi! Sorry for being afk for so long xD irl stuff, haha~ I'm really thankful for those who read the story/reviewed it while I was away, makes me happy to know that people enjoy it even though it still incomplete. I'll do my best to update the rest of the story asap :)

Wow, this chapter got so big. Hahaha, I like writing pokemon battles and techniques even though I'm not that good describing those...

And I totally think LaRousse is the prettiest city in Hoenn. You know, some stuff about its environment I inserted in this story thinking "hey, it would be cool if we could find x pokemon there" but come to think of it, funny enough they are actually all fairly plausible judging the climate/geography/advanced green culture. I wish we could have more places like this irl, kinda utopic but still, hope one day technology can work together with nature :( /rants

Egh Pokemon Anime has never featured any TM or HM being used on screen... Do they exist at all in that universe? I took some liberty to create my own version of how it would look like in the anime - it's a mix of the games, the TCG and the Dengeki! Pikachu manga's version. So far the anime only presents the idea you can only learn a move inheriting it or practicing it... Personally, I like to think 1) TM do exist but they're rare; 2) trainers can ask for HM to Gym Leaders if they want to, but these are usually skills many pokemon know naturally so it is usually ignored (e.g. Pidgey can fly, Wailord can swim; but then Nidoking may surf if you help him with a HM); 3) Using the machine, pokemon don't learn the skill automatically - the input info helps it understand how to start the technique... (lol Enough theorycraft! xD Let's move on...)

Uh, lol. I think the ringringring thing is an awful and corny ringtone, I have no idea why pokemon characters like it so much hahaha xD

Btw, few days ago I messed up the uploaded files and accidentally edited ch1 into some drafts of another future story, lol! I corrected it now but... For those who saw it by mistake... Yep, it's a AU semi-apocalyptical story featuring Ash and Drew as main characters. /that's all I can tell you for now P: . Also, if you are interested in AU based in our world, try When Drew met May - my new story in this website. It's heavily dialogue-based and will feature other characters from the anime, don't be turned off by that M-rating xD

Next chapter: Dinner time? And some unusual proposal... Stay tuned!