Chapter 14: The fall
"They disappeared from the stage in a blink of an eye!"
Solidad and Haley and immediately had their smiles swapped out for worried looks; the exhibition screens went black without any prior warnings, changing to a promotional ad featuring Marina and a new PokeDex model.
"Wait, what happened?" Solidad raised from her seat.
"May, Mr Drew!" Brianna cried, clutching her hands to her chest. "Somebody help them!"
"Oh my Arceus, my darlings are in danger!" Harley threw away the banner and started panicking, putting his hands on his head. "What should we do?"
"Hold on..." The Top Coordinator gently held her friend's arm, trying to calm him down. "I'll check what happened."
"Mr Harley!" Brianna hugged the Cacturne Man, shaking in concern. "Oh, Mr Harley!..."
"What should we do?!" He hugged the tiny girl back, screaming out loud. "Heeeeelp!"
"Ouch..."
May opened her eyes and saw a broken heel next to her feet. She suddenly realize Drew was actually under her body - the girl immediately called him with a worried voice. "Drew! Drew, are you alright?"
"Ugh..." He groaned and released his arms from his partner, still in shock. "Y-Yeah, don't worry..."
When she slipped on the melting ice, apparently Drew was also dragged to the floor - he tried to pull her body up so she could fall without hurting herself; her face didn't strike the floor but the boy did take all the impact from the accident.
"Ah!" She slapped her forehead then rolled her body to the side, letting him breathe more freely. "There, I'm sorry!"
"Are you two alright?" Vivian and two stage assistants ran next to the two fallen coordinators, crouching next to them. "Did any of you get hurt? Should we call Nurse Joy?"
"I'm alright." Drew raised from the floor in slow movements, trembling lightly due to the cold frozen floor and small minor bruises. "Don't worry about me. May, are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah... The brunette frowned, lamenting her broken shoe. "My bad, I slipped on the ice and I made you fall on the floor..."
"I'm glad nobody got hurt... After the break I'm going to turn the microphone on and tell everybody you two are safe and fine, okay?" Vivian walked closer to the two coordinators then looked at Drew's back. "And... Oh. Mr Drew, I think you got a little problem..."
The boy patted on his pants than turned his head to his own back. "Ugh."
"Drew..." May followed his eyes but then regretted looking at it. She blushed, watching her partner stare back at her with concern and discomfort. "I'm sorry."
Drew cursed quietly to himself. Closing his eyes, he offered his hand to the girl. "We talk about this later. Come, for now I'm glad you're not hurt."
"O-Oh." The brunette felt her cheeks burning hotter than a Magmortar when he helped her lift up from the floor. "Thank you..."
Feeling sympathetic about his situation, she gently opened her umbrella and covered his back. "Here, take this."
He took the umbrella from her hands and muttered some angry words in protest, clearly upset about such awkward moment.
"Why..." Drew complaint in defeat, covering his forehead with one of his hands. "I cannot believe this had to happen today..."
"I'm sorry about your pants, that's my fault... At least it's a pretty black underwear? You've got good taste, it's tidy and stylish! It's not a bad view."
He didn't expect hearing that odd and spontaneous comment from May.
The green-haired coordinator frowned for an instant but then he laughed, mildly amused with the unexpected praise moment. "Are you trying to cheer me up with cheesy lines?"
"Yeah..." She looked away, giggling and trying to hide her embarrassment. "Maybe."
Drew supressed a smile under a cough.
"Either way, I'm really sorry, Drew! I owe you one..."
He just wanted to laugh without being judged and make her look back at him but-
"Oh, no. More guys from PokeMagazine..." May's eyes went wide open in surprise. She whispered in horror, grabbing Drew's arm. "Eh, not now!"
Drew jumped away from his partner after being touched then furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief. Two journalists from a popular magazine were walking to their direction, ready to take dozen of pictures and ask awkward questions about the fall...
"Is that a joke?" He muttered under his breath, openly disgusted with his own bad luck. "What the heck, is the world conspiring against me today?"
"I'm going to distract them," the brunette girl declared to her partner with confidence, walking away from him. "Get out of here!"
"W-Wait!" The green-haired boy scowled at his partner. "What?"
"Don't say a word!" May ordered in a hurried voice. "Go away!"
The brunette coordinator faked the brightest smile and opened her arms to the two curious women in high heels. "Hey! How are you girls, I bet you want to know all the juicy stuff about our Tag Appeal, right?"
"Follow me, you may interview him later, I gotta tell you a secret first..." She playfully shook her broken shoe with a sheepishly smile. "Hahaha, I'll explain what happened!"
Drew watched in silence his rival dragging the attention away from him. He discreetly walked away to the backstage rooms, dialing Solidad's PokeDex number and praying to be answered as soon as possible.
"It was a false alarm," Drew said while taking off his hat and adjusting himself in the corner of the dressing room. "It was a loud snap but nobody got hurt, May got scared and screamed out loud in shock."
He checked his PokeNav and saw Solidad's private message - good, she was almost there fo help. "Just another May's typical mistake."
"We heard from the stage assistants you guys got a bit injured, we were so worried..." Dawn leaned on the door, hugging her fake plastic sword. "I'm glad you two are okay."
"My pants aren't, though." Drew complained, crossing his arms and sinking his back on the wall. "I got a stupidly huge rip on them."
The green-haired boy didn't mind mentioning about the incident at all - after all, nobody else had seen what exactly happened and, in a few minutes, Solidad would bring him a new pair of pants and the discussion would be over.
In older days, Drew would have freaked out and shot himself in shame; however, he was actually so relieved for escaping from a stage failure that all what mattered now was a fresh drink and a comfortable chair to rest...
...And return home and talk to May.
To his surprise, Zoey and Dawn giggled in a friendly way.
"These things happen with the best coordinators," the redhead Top Coordinator said in a reassuring voice. "We all have our share of lame and funny stories."
"Zoey is right!" The blue-haired coordinator shrugged. "Once I tripped on my shoes and I was wearing a miniskirt... Can you imagine the horror it is for a girl?"
"Oh, is Drew inside?"
A third familiar voice joined the conversation on the other side of the door.
"Drew, can I open the door?"
"Oh... May." Drew blinked, blushing a bit. "It's unlocked, come in."
"I've just called Solidad, she's almost here," the brunette said in a tired and hurried voice. "Pfeh! It's over..."
She sat by his side, leaning on him in a timid but gentle way.
May didn't need to say anything; somehow her touch was enough to make the boy understand everything she needed at that exact moment. He knew she wanted to chat about the Appeal and the crowd's positive reactions - but her desire to rest and stay a moment in silence with Drew, only him, won her completely.
He wouldn't deny her wish - that was actually his wish too.
"Uhh... See you two later!" Dawn bit the tip of her lips, feeling the awkwardness in the air... She definitely wasn't as dense as Ash. "Don't forget to call me!"
Before she could leave the corridor with Zoey, a pair of tall journalists with glasses interrupted the awkward farewell.
"Good evening, that was a wonderful show! Mr Drew, do you mind giving us a minute for a short interview?"
"Wait, he's..." The brunette protested in a worried voice, unsure how she should react to that request. "Drew is..."
"It's fine. Let them do their job, May."
Drew answered in a calm voice, shaking his head in annoyance. "No need to freak out, you need to get used to that if you want to be famous."
The brunette coordinator opened her mouth to protest but her partner quickly dismissed her with a soft tapping on her shoulder. "You're the Princess of Hoenn, aren't you?"
"Do you mind...?" One reporter leaded May and the girls to the corridor, splitting the coordinators in two different places.
The young cunning woman who didn't leave the room with the girls smiled, fixing her square glasses on her face. "Great, now we have some privacy."
"Are you sure you're comfortable there?" The journalist watched the boy glue himself to the small and hard chair next to the emergency exit. "We can record the interview on the sofa, I think it might be more comfortable for you..."
"I'm fine here." Drew grinned in a perfect smile, apparently looking relaxed yet feeling a sweat drop drip down his neck. "This is going to be quick, right?"
"So, today was a fantastic presentation even though..." The young lady interrupted herself after noticing how Drew was staring back at her with an enigmatic and cryptic look. "It's okay, mistakes happen! Don't worry. Nobody got hurt, this is what really matters."
"May told us how she fell on the floor and made that huge noise. Don't worry, she's fine and laughing about her clumsiness..." She completed her words with a warm smile and a few questions. "Anyway, was that a preview of what you're going to show us in the next season? That was surely incredible! Where are you going to compete?"
Drew mentally noted to himself that May took the blame to herself and edited him off the messed up story.
"I'm probably heading to Sinnoh, they host a different kind of Contests there..." The boy answered in a veiled voice tone. "I'm not sure yet, though."
"Interesting. Hopefully you will surprise everybody else like you always do!" The journalist fixed her mini recorder on her purse, still paying a lot of attention to Drew's words. He was a smart and polite teenager; however, his expressions were always very hard to read. "By the way, what do you think about your new fan nickname? Do you enjoy being the new prince on stage?"
"Oh... The Prince of Hoenn?" The young coordinator blinked then tried to change the subject, avoiding any discussions about the Princess of Hoenn. "Uh, well... That's an honor, my fans are really supportive and they are very interested about my work. I'll do my best conquer the title of King."
The journalist smiled. The famous prodigy boy always had a sharp answer under his tongue, huh? He was really an interesting kid to interview.
"Okay, last one before I stop bothering you... Now, for our gossip pages! What do you think about May? Do you think your partner will confess about her feelings to her friend from Pallet Town? How do you feel being like an old brother to her?"
Drew froze for a second. "Huh?"
"You see, we interviewed May few minutes ago but she was really fast changing the topic. She talked about today's Appeal, her family, her friends, her contest rivals... You know, we are suspicious that she got special feelings for Ash Ketchum, an old friend who used to travel with her. Well, after seeing you two working together so perfectly... We don't know what's going on."
What's going on?
"Anyway, as it was expected..." The woman chuckled behind her notepad. "Everybody wants to know about May's love life."
The boy raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"We've asked some coordinators' fans about that hot topic and it seems you're the key point of our elusive answer. Do you know what's inside her heart?"
Drew frowned. It was impossible to avoid changing his relaxed expression to an annoyed one. "...That has nothing to do with me."
"Well, we thought that, maybe... Since you're probably her closest friend, you..." The young journalist noticed the radical mood change in the room. She carefully stopped talking for a second before completing her question, twirling a pen in her fingers. "You know, maybe you can tell us more about what happens between you three. Just a small peek? Don't worry, it will be a material for May's interview clip, not yours."
"There's nothing going on between us." He offered an objective and simple answer. "And I don't know Ash Ketchum at all. He is May's close friend, not mine."
"Exactly!" The journalist raised her index finger in the air. "She said exactly the same thing as you! Since there's nothing going on between you two, could you tell us the small little bits you know about Ash and May's relationship? We can source you as an anonymous contributor if that makes you feel more at ease."
The boy felt an urge to hit his head on the wall but held himself to avoid another embarrassing moment. "Pardon me?"
His PokeNav rang once: a new private message. Solidad was finally back to the Convention Center.
Drew finally got up from the chair, revealing the big and large rip in the back of his trousers.
"Please, it's just a small trivia for our-" The woman opened her eyes in surprise. "Oh. Drew?..."
"Ask somebody else, I just don't know." He just walked away, ignoring his exposed underwear and answering the last question in a plain and stoic manner. "May and Ash are close friends. May and I... We are only rivals."
May changed from her formal dress to her regular outdoors clothing. The coordinator sighed in relief when she took off her heels and the tight dress, though she kind of regretted releasing the hair clips... She decided then to keep the fancy hairstyle for later.
Drew said it was just okay but at least he noticed it. Better an 'okay hairstyle' than a 'what, this is just hair'.
She kept dreamily staring at the walls, touching her forehead in embarrassment.
What a crazy day...
"Where's Drew?" The brunette tried to dial her partner but no one was answering her calls. "C'mon, answer me..."
"Right here."
The boy appeared behind her, holding his folded clothes in his arms. "I'm leaving. Feel free to stay here at CW if you want, I'm off."
"Did you shrink?" May giggled, noticing Drew's very long black pants almost covering his shoes. "I thought you were taller, hehe."
"That's the only thing Solidad could buy in fifteen minutes." Drew shook his head negatively. A soft red color appeared from the base of his neck to the top of his head. "Don't start... This is your fault, remember?"
"Oh..." The girl pouted, feeling honestly guilty about the fall. She also noticed the slightly aggressive tone of his voice. "It was my fault, you're right. You don't deserve to have your boxers exposed on the cover of the next PokeMagazine or Coordinator's Weekly, everything happened that way because of me- Ah, forget it, I'm screwing it up again! I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry, Drew..."
"Oh, really." Her rival cringed at such obvious statement. It was an awful irony to see that May's comment was probably going to turn into reality soon. "How great."
"It didn't end that well but at least we did great on stage with our pokemon!" She raised her index finger in an explanation pose. "Sorry, had to use my guts instead of our plans. Exactly like Ash does, but-"
Watching May make the same gesture as the interviewer and mention that name again, Drew snapped.
"This might work in battles but it doesn't work in Contests, May! It's not because he is your friend and ex-teacher that you must follow everything he says, stop worrying about hurting his pride and start coordinating it right!"
She touched his weak point at his limit.
It felt like a huge mirror falling from the wall and shattering into a hundred pieces.
"Could you stop talking about him for a second?" He clenched his fists in annoyance, looking clearly bothered about something. "Stick to the plan unless it's an urgent emergency, what if your cheap trick didn't work? It would have been a mess! We would fail it, badly!"
"Oh." Not expecting such grave comment from her partner, May glared at him with a surprised look on her face. "Wait, what?..."
"Ash Ketchum uses brute force instead of using his brains. Wake up, that guy isn't any genius! He is a good and lucky Pokemon Trainer but he's not a Coordinator! You need to use your brains, not your guts! You're a Coordinator or a Savage? Answer me!"
"I told you, I'm really sorry- Huh, Ash?" Why was Drew insulting him? "Hey... Ash is my friend and I won't let you say rubbish about him, c'mon. What did you say? Who are you to tell me that wasn't solely my mistake, who says that my... Indecision slip happened because of Ash?! He has nothing to do with that, are you crazy?"
"It's so plain and obvious..." Flicking his hair and dodging her disappointed stare, the green-haired coordinator commented in an acid tone. "Your brother, Brianna, your chubby fan, the whole media, yourself... I think you're the only one who doesn't notice how much you miss Ash and how you can't stop talking about him all the time. Ash this, Ash that. Did you count how many times you've said his name since we arrived in LaRousse?"
May's deep sapphire eyes stared at Drew's angry emerald eyes in shock, unsure if she had just heard him say that comment. She blushed, feeling undeniably offended.
"Don't you think it's time to move on, if he really cared he would find a way to convince you to keep traveling with him or at least try to keep in touch with you decently... But of course not, he's too busy in his own personal quest, why should he care about your feelings? Even Harley takes care of you better than Ash does! Isn't that suspicious?"
"Drew, that's sick!... So what, Ash is one of my best friends! So what, he doesn't stalk me or talk to me everyday, I can count on him, he can count on me and that's enough! And I would never, NEVER betray Misty, you don't know a word you're talking about! Why are you so angry about Ash?! Are you jealous of him?"
"Why?" Drew groaned. "Why?! Stop lying to me and tell me the truth! Stop playing with me! Stop playing the fake innocent girl, tell me the truth! May-"
Fake?
"Fake innocent girl?" She hissed in disbelief. "How dare you calling me that! So, you want to listen to the truth, huh? Really, the real truth?"
"Yes, I do!" He shouted back in an aggressive manner. "The real truth!"
"Fine, then listen to me! I hate how you are arrogant with people you THINK that are weaker than you. I hate how you're too harsh with people and pokemon who are trying to do their best!"
Holding back the tears, May closed her fists in anger and started to speak faster and in a high-pitched tone. "I hate how you refuse to listen, you don't hear what you don't want, even Solidad don't talk about Contests with you anymore because you're too stubborn! I hate how nasty you can be, I say something nice about you and I get a slap in answer!"
"Oh great, now you're going to say I'm all the seven deadly sins?!" Drew sighed, evidently irritated. "Not that again..."
"I hate how I can't understand you... And I get so sad, you talk badly about my friends when they've never disrespected you and I simply don't get it. It drives me crazy how I can never be good enough for you. It hurts me I can't get your respect, it's so frustrating!... Guh, why are you so gentle and sweet with Brianna? Why do you give her so many chances?"
"Do you think I am not gent-"
"Stop interrupting, listen to me first!" She cried, clenching her fists in distress. "Then why you didn't help me when Sid bothered me few days ago? Why did you have to mock me in front of Brianna? You mock Ash but he does respect you, why can't you do the same to him! Why can't you trust anyone? Can't you trust me? I want to trust you, Drew! I want you to trust me, I want to know you! Can't you see that?"
"...I told you to not trust anyone that time because you're too gullible!" Drew quickly tried to defend himself, dodging his eyes from that crushed saddened glare. "C'mon, I told you this exact line like, three Grand Festivals ago? When Harley used to catfight you for real? May, you really don't know what you're babbling about... This is really pointless and-"
"That again! See, I'm always the problem for you! You always answer me back instead of accepting the fact you could, maybe, be totally wrong! You do have a golden heart but this arrogance of yours is a huge problem. You know what, Harley was right. You're too stubborn. I don't deserve hearing all of this. I'm going."
The girl walked away in irregular steps. Her head was about to explode.
"Going where?"
"Why should I answer you, you barely listened to- Whatever, I don't care, I am going to the opposite side as you're going." The brunette raised her voice in warning. "Stay away from me."
Running after May, Drew held her arm.
"May... Stop."
She stopped walking away but refused to look at him.
"Are you crazy..." He asked bluntly, eyes burning in confusion. "What are you trying to do?"
"I am not crazy, Drew, YOU drive me crazy. Let me go."
Drew groaned, then lowered his head to calm down himself... Things went completely out of their control.
"Hmpf, okay... Look, I might have pushed you too much these days, I guess there are many misunderstandings going on between us. About Ash, you're right, he can do whatever he wants and that's not my problem. I still think he should take care better of you if he thinks you're his special friend or whatsoever. About Sid, c'mon, you truly don't care about hi-"
"SHUT UP!"
[SLAP!]
A/N: Hang on there, we are almost in the end of this story! Only few chapters left before the final episode! O:
Next chapter, [The break].