Chapter 10

"Aaaahh… May was right. This is really refreshing," Ash said, floating above the water after he came up from his cannonball dive. "What's taking her so long anyway?"

"Did you really have to jump in like that?" he heard someone ask. He looked on the bank and saw Drew standing there in a pair of green swimming trunks with his arms folded. Ash snickered.

"Nice swim trunks," he said, still snickering.

"That's not what I asked," Drew replied coolly.

"Come on Drew, lighten up and jump in." Ash said to the green haired coordinator. "Have some fun why don't ya?"

"Whatever," Drew replied, stepping in the lake "I don't see what May see's in this guy. He's so immature," he thought before taking a dive, to swim a little deeper into the lake. Close to where Ash was.

--

After about 10mins, May finally came out from behind the tree in her swimsuit. It was a red two-piece swimsuit. (It's the one from the 9th movie. It can be from the 8th movie if you guys like.)

She looked to the lake and saw Ash and Drew swimming around. She was about to join them but was stopped by someone grabbing her by the wrist. She quickly turned around and immediately came face to face with Misty. She was wearing an orange two-piece swimsuit. The brunette was slightly confused as to why the gym leader had grabbed her.

"May… can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked the brunette.

"Um… sure, I guess," May replied, turning fully to face Misty as she finally let go of her hand. "What is it?"

"Well, I… um…" she started, looking at the ground away from the brunette. "Listen May… I like Ash,"

"Yea; I like him too," May replied.

"No," Misty said, shaking her head at May, "I mean I… like… like… him," she said the last word very softly and turned her head away from the brunette once again.

"Oh." May said, finally understanding what the red haired gym leader meant. Although she already knew this since Ash had mentioned it to her. "But… are you sure you like him as you say you do? 'Cause you don't sound like you do,"

"I don't?" Misty asked.

"No." May replied, shaking her head, "Your voice sounds like you have doubts about your feeling for him. I think you've been hanging out with Drew a little too much"

At the sound of Drew's name, Misty's cheeks turned a tint of pink. May notice this.

"Misty…" May said, causing the gym leader to look up at her. "…do you… have feelings, for Drew?"

"What?! No Way!" Misty exclaimed, her face turning a bit redder. "The feelings I have are for Ash! How dare you say I have feelings for your green haired friend!"

"Rival." May corrected.

"Whatever." Misty replied, folding her arm and turning away from the coordinator. "I do NOT have feelings for him."

"Alright then," May said with a smile.

"Ash," she said, causing the gym leader to turn around and look at her a bit confused. Her face seemed to be as normal as ever.

"Drew," she said again. This time Misty had become stiff and her face had turned red. May's smile became wider.

"I've rest my case Misty." May said to her.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked a bit confused.

"You've developed feelings for Drew." May concluded.

"I have not!" Misty exclaimed, her face still red.

"Then why does your face turn red every time I mention his name?" May asked, with a smile on her face.

"I uh… um… well…" Misty stuttered. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Well… it wasn't earlier, but it is now." May answered truthfully.

"I guess I have… somehow… fallen for him." Misty sighed. "I guess spending time with him brought my feelings away from Ash and closer to him,"

"I think its sweet Misty," May said to her.

"I dunno," Misty said unsure. "Our plan was to…" she quickly covered her mouth.

"Plan? What plan?" May asked, now getting curious and suspicious.

Misty uncovered her mouth and sighed.

"I guess it would be ok to mention it to you. I doesn't matter now anyway,"

"What?" May asked again.

Misty took a deep breath and began to explain.

"For the entire day, Drew and I have been trying to separate you and Ash. It was Drew's idea to have Gyarados attack you two earlier and now we wanted to battle you guys to try to win the heart of the one we love."

"So… you mean Drew was going to challenge Ash and you were going to challenge me?" May asked. Misty nodded.

"The plan was that, if I won in my battle against you, then I would – or could – win Ash's heart. And if he beats Ash, then he would win your heart." Misty continued explaining.

May looked at Misty in silence for what seemed like forever. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know if she should be shocked, or disappointed. Then after a minute of silence, she finally spoke up.

"That is the stupidest plan I have ever heard." May said. "You can't win someone's heart Misty; you have to earn it."

"I earned Ash's heart and he earned mine," May continued. "And now Drew has somehow earned your heart. You just need to find out if you've earned his,"

"Yea…" Misty said softly, nodding her head.

"If you still want to have the battle Misty, I'll accept for the sake of your so called plan," May said. "It might help you on letting Drew know how you feel." Misty nodded.

"Common Misty. We've wasted enough time here. Let's join the guys in the lake and have a swim." May urged the gym leader.

"Ok," Misty replied.

--

"(Well it was about time,)" Sceptile said, sitting on a branch of one of the trees above May and Misty; Roselia on a slightly higher branch.

"(Yea… I knew she liked my trainer, but I didn't think it would show so soon,)" Roselia added. Sceptile sat there with his arms folded and said nothing while still looking down at the two humans below.

"(Well… it's less trouble for us now, since May knows. And I'm guessing she's more than willing to help Misty with her feelings toward my trainer,)" Roselia continued after getting no reply from Sceptile.

"(Let's go tell the others,)" Sceptile suggested. Roselia nodded in agreement, and in a swift movement, they disappeared from the spot.

--

May and Misty were just about to head towards the lake when they heard a scream.

"AAAAAAHH!"

"What was that?" May asked, as she and Misty turned towards the direction they heard the scream.

"Sounded like a scream. Someone must be in trouble." Misty replied.

"Let's go see,"

"May wait!"

--

"Aaaaaahh! Go Away!" a girl screamed.

"Eeeveee!" a pokémon cried out in its trainer's arms.

Just then, May and Misty popped their heads out of the bushes in time to see a girl and her Eevee ran past them with a speed quick enough to outrun a Mightyena. But in this case…

"What's she running from?" May asked in wonder. Misty then heard a buzzing sound and turned her head to the direction the girl had run from.

"Beedrill!" she cried out.

… A swarm of Beedrill.

"Beedrill?" May asked as she turned her head as well to see a swarm of Beedrill heading in their direction. A small scream escaped her mouth before Misty put her hand over it and pulled her down to hide from the seemingly angry bee pokémon.

After they heard them pass by, they popped back up from the bushes. They immediately breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the pokémon were gone.

"That was too close," May breathed.

"They looked pretty angry. Wonder why?" Misty pondered.

"The girl!" they both exclaimed, remembering the reason they showed up where they were in the first place.

"Let's go see if she's ok."

"But May, we don't have any of our pokémon with us. How are we supposed to defend ourselves against those Beedrill if they see us? And you know I hate bugs!!"

"They won't." May replied. "We'll stay hidden in the bushes. Now come on!"

--

"I'm getting tired of this!" the girl cried out in fear.

"Eeveeeee!" her Eevee cried out,

"Oh no," she cried out as they came to a dead end. She quickly turned around and saw that the swarm of Beedrill closing in on them.

"Aaahh! I've had enough of this! Flareon and Jolteon, go!" she cried out in a fearful voice, as she released her pokémon.

"Flare"

"Jolt,"

"Flamethrower and thunderbolt quick," she cried out in the same tone.

The pokémon, sensing their trainer's fear, did as they were told and fired their attacks at the oncoming swam of Beedrill. Half were electrocuted and the other was almost burnt to a crisp. The Beedrill got the message, also figuring that they have chased the human far enough, turned around and made their way back to their nest.

"Oh…" the girl groaned and breathed a sigh of relief as she collapsed to her knees, her Eevee still in her arms.

"That was too close," she said as her Flareon and Jolteon walked up to her.

"Eevee," her Eevee sighed in agreement.

"Flare,"

"Jolt,"

"I'm too exhausted to put you two back in your pokéballs. Stay out for a while," she said to her two pokémon. Of course they didn't mind.

"Hey," the girl heard someone say and looked up to see May and Misty coming towards her.

"Are you ok?" Misty asked.

"Yea…" she groaned in reply.

"We saw you running from those Beedrill. Sorry we couldn't help; we didn't have our pokémon with us." May said.

"It's ok." The girl replied. "I could have let mine out sooner. I was just too scared at the moment."

"Well… at least you got rid of them," Misty told her.

"Yea," the girl replied. "My name's Zea,"

"I'm Misty,"

"And I'm May. Nice to meet you,"

"You too," Zea replied.

"Um… why were those Beedrill chasing you anyway?" May asked.

"My little Eve got into a fight with one of their babies," Zea replied.

"Eve?" Misty asked.

"My Eevee," Zea replied.

"Eevee," the pokémon chimed

"Oh,"

"Um… any particular reason you two are in swimsuits?" Zea asked. "There isn't a beach for miles away,"

"Oh, there's a lake where we're camping out, and we were about to go for a swim when we heard your screams," May replied.

"There's a lake around here?!" Zea squealed as she jumped to her feet. "Mind if I join you?"

"I could really use some freshening up after all that running I just did," she said in a normal tone.

"Sure," May replied, as they started walking, "I'm sure the guys won't mind."

"Guys?" Zea asked, tilting her head a little to the side as she followed May and Misty; her Eevee on top of her head, and Flareon and Jolteon closely behind.

--

"Ok, ok Squirtle. Ha ha, cut it out, enough," Ash said to his Squirtle. Squirtle had joined Ash and Drew in the water and was playing with his trainer by spraying water at him. That was, until he had enough.

"Ok Squirtle, you had your fun with me." Ash said to his pokémon. "Now why don't you go play with the others,"

"Squirtle. Squirtle squirt, (Whatever you say Ash. But I will be back,)" Squirtle replied as he left Ash and went over to play with Squirt, who had called him, along with the other pokémon.

"Ha ha. That Squirtle," Ash chuckled after Squirtle had left.

"Now's my chance," Drew thought

"Hey Ash,"

"Yea?" Ash replied, turning to face Drew.

"I'm just gonna get straight to the point Ketchum." Drew said, "I like May,"

"Yea; so do I." Ash replied, being his dense self.

"No you numbskull. I mean I like, like her. As in; I have deep feeling for her," Drew sternly said.

Ash looked at him an 'oh, now I get it' look; but he already new what Drew meant.

"And I challenge you to a battle in order to win her heart," Drew continued.

Ash was a bit surprised at this.

"You want to battle me in order to win May's heart?" Ash asked. Drew nodded in reply.

"Oh Drew…" Ash said shaking his head.

"What!?" Drew exclaimed

"Drew, you can't win someone's heart, you have to earn it." Ash started. "I earned May's heart and she earned mine in return. And there's nothing that you… or even Misty, even if she's my friend, can do to change that."

"Even so. I still want to battle you for her." Drew pressed on. Ash sighed.

"Fine. But I'm telling you; it won't make a difference." Ash replied. "Speaking of May and Misty, what's taking them so long?"

As soon as he asked that, he looked toward the clearing and saw May and Misty, along with another girl coming from behind the trees.

"Who's that?" Ash asked to no-one in particular.

"I dunno," Drew shrugged in reply.

"Hey guys," Misty greeted them as the three made it to the edge of the lake.

"Sorry we took so long," May apologized. "We got a little sidetracked."

Ash and Drew look at the three with confused faces, but more towards the new girl. May and Misty noticed this and immediately realized what the guys were probably thinking. They introduced her and explained to them all the events that happened as to why they took so long to get to the lake and how the met Zea. Zea also added few sayings of her own. The guys understood and more than welcomed Zea to join them.

The five teens spent the rest of the morning swimming and playing with their pokémon. When it was around lunch time, they all got out to get something to eat.

"You guys don't mind if I join you for lunch right?" Zea asked.

"Of course," Misty replied, as the two made their way to the camping area, Drew following closely behind.

Just when they were almost to the camping area, Misty felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to face the person who had tapped her. It was Drew. He mouthed the words 'Can I talk to you,'. Misty nodded and turned towards Zea.

"Hey Zea, can you excuse me for a few minutes?" Misty asked.

"Oh sure. I'll just wait for you guys in the camp area." Zea replied as she continued walking with Eve closely behind.

As soon as Zea was far enough, Misty then turned towards Drew.

"You challenged May to the battle right?" Drew asked right away.

"Yea…" Misty replied, her voice sounding a bit off.

"And…?" Drew pressed on.

"She accepted," Misty replied again. "How'd it go with Ash?"

"I'm gonna burn the field with him," Drew replied, his tone filled with determination.

"Of course. Why did I bother asking. Ash never turns down a battle challenge." Misty said, a little sarcastic like while mentally smacking her forehead as she and Drew continue on their way to the camping ground.

--

"Hey Ash," May said, as the two got out of the water. They were the last to get out.

"Yea May." Ash replied, turning to face her.

"Um… how should I put it?" May pondered, as Ash watched her slightly confused. "I'm just gonna get straight to the point. Misty challenged me to a battle,"

"Really?" he asked, a bit surprised. "Drew challenged me as well,"

"Think it's for the same reason?" May asked.

"Well… if the reason is that, if they win they'd win the heart of either of us, I guess that would be a 'yes'." Ash replied.

"That's exactly the reason." May replied.

"Did you accept?" Ash asked. May nodded.

"Be careful May. She's a Gym Leader, and you know how strong Gym Leaders are." Ash informed her worriedly.

"Don't worry about it," May replied, keeping in mind Misty's developing feelings for Drew. "I'll be fine."

"Just make sure you win your battle with Drew." She added. "Though I wouldn't worry about it knowing how strong you are,"

Ash chuckled. "Which pokémon are you gonna use?"

"I'm going to use Squirtle." May replied.

"Why her?" Ash asked. May giggled and then gave a wink. Ash chuckled after taking a minute to realize her reason.

"Well, I'm gonna use my Squirtle since we haven't battled together for some time." Ash said.

"I was expecting that," May replied, with a soft giggle as she and Ash made their way towards the others.

--

"(I better let the others know,)" said Luvdisc, who had accidentally eavesdropped on the couple.

--

"(I'm sensing something going on in this bunch,)" said Zea's Espeon.

"(It's none of our business Espe. Don't get involved.)" Her partner Umbreon declared.

"(Hey, I can't help it if I'm psychic.)" Espeon replied, turning her head with her nose in the air and eyes closed; like she was just insulted by her mate. "(And I wasn't going to get involved. I was just saying.)"

Really long chapter, I know (well… so far in this story anyway,). You guys might be wondering why I involved my OC character in there huh? Don't worry, she doesn't play a big part in there; I just included her to be the judge of the battles. So in other words – in this story she's just a regular trainer. Nothing to do with her role in my story 'Jealousy Hookup'; but the same concept applied for her pokémon team. All eeveelutions. And I mean ALL. But that's not really important since she's not a main character here.

Please review.