A/N: I am so sorry it's taken me a few days to update, I have been busy completing artwork and planning and drafting out a whole new story which has taken alot of my free time that would usually be spent on the computer. Anyway, I'm updating with four, (yes, four) chapters now, because chapter three is extremely short, (like, not even 3,000 words, terrible) and plus I don't know if I'll be able to update until the weekend so that should be okay for now.

Part Two.

Chapter One: The New Judge.

January 3rd.

Location: LaRousse City Stadium: Mr Contestas Office.

"And that is why you should let my client have her own segment in the Grand Festival show"

Thomas Carter, a well-known agent of many "celebrity" coordinators and trainers, had been working his hardest yet at this presentation. For over forty minutes he'd been trying to convince them that their final show would be incomplete without Jessica Simmons, a coordinator who didn't make it past the first round this year.

Jordan Coran had been sitting, listening to this idiot for so long he felt like he'd lost half his brain cells, unfortunately for him Mr Contesta and several other special judges and backstage crew were lapping it all up. When he'd agreed to this job as a judge he thought it could be a little more interesting than constant blood tests and hospital check-ups.

"Are you really all falling for this?" Jordan asked, amused, "Do you really think the Grand Festival wants a talentless coordinator like that having her own segment?"

"Ah, Mr Coran" Thomas looked at him with an unreadable expression, "I should've known you'd be the one to interrupt this presentation. Would it kill you to be patient?"

"Mr. Carter." Jordan replied, using the same tone and facial expressions Thomas used in an effort to mock him, "I've been living my life like I'm going to die tomorrow for nearly seven months, do you believe I'd still want to watch this crap?"

Jordan noticed some of the workers laughing at Thomas. The way Jordan had called him out had brought a slight sense of amusement to this time consuming presentation.

"Jordan" Mr Contesta said sternly, "We promised to give Mr. Carter an hour of our time, once that hour is up you can say what you want but at least listen to what he has to say"

"Thank you, Mr Contesta" Thomas said smarmily, acting like Mr Contesta was some sort of god.

Jordan rolled his eyes and pretended to listen to the rest of the presentation, which mostly was full of charts and graphs talking about how it could boost television ratings. There wasn't anything he found less interesting than hearing some talent agent talk about how his client was going to blow everyone away. If her only 'talent' was being a coordinator then surely she'd be in the final stages of the Grand Festival.

"I found your presentation interesting, but I still fail to see why we should have Miss Simmons in the show" Nurse Joy said, trying her hardest to be constructive, "Perhaps she should try entering the Grand Festival fairly, like all the other contestants"

"I agree" Jordan said, "There's nothing worse than contestants thinking they can get in on unfair terms"

"But this is just a half-time show!" Mr Carter said angrily, "She won't be stealing the other coordinators spotlight. I've worked with the biggest stars, I was Clifford Miles's first agent"

Jordan raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Say, have you heard from him lately?"

Mr Carter shook his head, "No"

"Maybe that's because he's on the run from the law" Jordan said, slightly annoyed, "As far as I'm concerned, this presentation is over"

There was an odd silence in the room as Jordan finished speaking. Some people weren't sure whether to agree with him or to let someone with higher authority speak. They remained in silence until an annoying phone began to ring from somewhere in the room. Everyone looked around to see where the sound was coming from, including Jordan. Until he realized that it was his phone that was ringing. He smiled at everyone, embarrassed, and answered the call.

"I'm kind of busy right now" He said hastily.

"It's me"

"Kaori?" Jordan asked, "I haven't spoken to you in a while"

"I know" Kaori said, "I need to speak to you about something, it's very important"

"Can it wait?" Jordan asked as he was being met with glares from the entire room.

"No, it can't. Please excuse yourself and come back to Sinnoh" Kaori said sternly.

"Why?!" Jordan exclaimed.

"I can't let you know too much" Kaori whispered, "But there's something really strange about the antidote you got given"

"What's strange about it?" Jordan asked, wondering if it could have been another trap.

"There are only a couple that exist in the world, one of them is being used in scientific research and is getting cloned. The other was stolen by someone a few years ago"

"Who stole it?" Jordan asked, very uncomfortable that everyone in the room was watching him.

"Clifford Miles" Kaori said, "And the other antidote is still with the scientific research lab-"

"Okay, I'm coming" Jordan sighed, "Wait a minute while I explain this"

Jordan held the phone away from him and looked around the room, "Something's come up, I'm going to need to go speak to the police in Sinnoh"

Mr. Carter raised an eyebrow, "Why? What did you do?"

"Nice one" Jordan said sarcastically, "I'll send a replacement over tomorrow morning"

Mr Contesta looked at Jordan for a moment, "Is it really that urgent?"

"I think it is, I have to go there to talk about it so I'm guessing it's important" Jordan lied a little, he wasn't going to bore them with the long story.

Mr Contesta sighed, "You're going to need to get a replacement here as soon as possible. Do you have anyone in mind?"

Jordan thought for a moment, the first few people that came to his mind were currently taking part in the Grand Festival. Jordan needed someone with an objective point of view that wasn't taking part in the contest themselves. As Jordan thought a little harder, a smirk worked its way onto his face, an opportunity had arisen in such a perfect way.

"May Maple" Jordan said simply, "Do you remember she was kidnapped at the Grand Festival in Sinnoh last year? She's also an excellent coordinator, with her story and her talent I'd say she's a pretty good choice of judge, right?"

Mr Contesta thought about it for a moment, "You know Jordan. that is a very good idea."

Jordan smirked as Mr Carter begun to glare at him, "Thank you, I'll have to go now, I'll send May over for tomorrow morning"

"I hope things are okay" Mr Contesta said as Jordan walked out of the room.

Jordan put his phone back to his ear but Kaori had hung up already, he wasn't surprised as he'd kept her on hold for a long time. Jordan dialled in May's number and waited a moment.

"You have reached the voicemail of-"

Jordan hung up the phone, sighing. May was either busy or at work, he was going to have to wait until a lot later to phone her. He walked out through the stadium and rung for a taxi on his phone, the trip to Sinnoh would probably take until later in the evening. He'd have to phone her as soon as he reached Kaori.

Location: Petalburg Diner.

May hadn't had good nights sleep in what seemed like forever. She'd been back in Petalburg City for over six months without really contacting anyone; she was trying to raise enough money to start travelling and going to contests again. Being older this meant May wouldn't settle for old, grotty hotels anymore; she wanted the best. She was working for 'the best' in a dingy little diner on the outskirts of her city, very imaginatively titled 'Petalburg Diner'. May wore a terrible bright orange uniform with a frilly white apron, the reason why she wasn't contacting her friends was simple; she wore this uniform for over twelve hours a day, and she went home smelling of the disgusting food the diner cooked up every day and was usually far too tired to shower when she got in.

"So do you live with anyone?" Said a fellow waitress, Katy.

May shook her head, "I live alone, unfortunately"

Katy looked surprised, "You look like the type of girl that'd have someone to go home to"

May laughed, "No, not me"

May walked into one of the small backrooms of the diner and retrieved her small bag that contained a little bit of money and a phone, it was far too small to carry anything else.

"You gonna help me lock up, May?" Katy shouted from the entrance of the diner.

"Yeah, absolutely" May said, rushing through the diner to join her friend.

May had been distracted over the last few weeks, remembering that the Grand Festival in Hoenn was starting now, for a few years now they'd started putting on Grand Festivals in each region for each different season of the year. The season Hoenn's Grand Festival was supposed to start in was winter, this year. May wondered if anyone she knew was taking part; that was a lie, she wondered if Drew was taking part.

Ever since she'd been back in Hoenn, May had tried regularly to contact Drew but to no avail, every time his phone rung for ages until eventually she reached his answer machine. May had even attempted to go to LaRousse City by train just to see if Drew was okay. For some reason, May got the feeling Drew may have been avoiding her.

May and Katy stepped outside the diner, locking all the doors. They were always left to lock up, even though both of them weren't familiar with the place, the Head Chef and other waitresses left before they could be coaxed into locking up.

"I'll see you tomorrow, May" Katy sighed, waving and walking down the road to the small house that she lived in.

May was a little jealous, she'd told her parents she didn't want them to pay for somewhere for her to live and she ended up living at a one-bedroomed flat just outside the city. It was a twenty minute walk in the dark before May saw her building; it wasn't hard to miss, when she told her parents she was living there they said she was contributing to the ugly skyline their city now had. May, in all honesty, didn't see the big deal, it was just where she lived. After trudging up a couple of flights of stairs she reached her home, unlike the rest of the building she'd managed to keep it tidy and clean, it just didn't have much in it because she couldn't afford anything.

May yawned as soon as she walked into the place, she was glad she worked at a diner because she was far too tired to make any food for herself now. This is how her life had been for the last few months, she lay down on her sofa and made herself comfortable. It was already eleven o'clock and she was too tired to bother moving to her bedroom. May closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep where she'd wake up rushing for the shower and to get to work on time, like always.

Tonight was different, just as she was falling asleep, her phone started to ring. May opened her eyes quickly, not too sure what she'd woken up for until she heard the phone ringing. She forced herself to walk over to her bag where her phone was, she eventually found it amongst all the rubbish in her bag.

"Hello?" She asked, yawning.

"Finally you answered, I thought I might have been given the wrong number" Said a familiar voice, May recognized it immediately.

"J-Jordan?" May asked, "You're okay now? I thought they said the antidote would take months?!"

"Yeah" Jordan said, sounding unsure, "I don't know how they got it so fast, I guess I was just lucky"

"That was lucky" May said, "I honestly thought we'd lost you forever"

Jordan laughed at the other end of the phone, "I appreciate the concern but you know that I've never given into anything, especially some stupid poison"

"I can't believe you got the antidote" May sounded relieved, "I'm so happy that you're okay"

Jordan laughed again, he was definitely back to his old self again, "May, I have a favour I need to ask of you"

"Sure, what do you want?" She asked, a little happier at the thought her friend was finally okay.

"You know the Grand Festival is on in LaRousse City?" Jordan asked.

"It's in LaRousse?!" May exclaimed, "But the stadiums so small!"

"They're working on the other stadium, there were technical faults or something" Jordan explained, "Anyway, I'm an honorary guest judge"

"Really? What did you do to get awarded that honour?" May teased.

"Well, I nearly died" Jordan joked, then he realized that May wasn't laughing, "Sorry, that wasn't funny"

"No" May said quietly, "It really wasn't"

"Anyway, the favour I need to ask; I've got to go out of town on some urgent business and I was wondering if you could stand in for me as a judge?" Jordan asked.

"Are you serious?" May wasn't sure if it was another "joke".

"I'm serious, it's not too hard to just sit there and give feedback on performances, but what I need to go out of town for is really urgent" Jordan said, "So will you sit in for me as a judge?"

May thought for a moment, it was so much better than what she was doing at the moment, "I'll sit in for you, when do I need to be there?"

"Tomorrow morning at 9AM sharp" Jordan said.

"What?!" May was shocked, "But that means I have to get packed and get up really early-"

"-I know it's a chore for you" Jordan teased, "But you're the only person who could judge this contest fairly, your passes will be at the front desk in the stadium, just tell them who you are"

"O-Ok" May stuttered, still not quite sure of what was going on.

"I can send a taxi over to drive you here" Jordan suggested.

"That'd be best" May said, "When will it be here?"

"In about twenty minutes" Jordan said, May could tell by the way he said it that he was finding this far too amusing.

May was running this all through her head, if she went to LaRousse, she might be able to see Drew again, "Okay, I'll be ready"

"Good!" Jordan said, "I'll call you tomorrow and see how everything's going"

Location: LaRousse City.

When Drew had decided to rent this apartment, he hadn't bargained on having to look after his adopted brother. The eight-year old moved about with some sort of hyper speed, Drew saw him in one place then suddenly he was half-way across the room.

"Matthew, will you please quit jumping on the sofa?!" Drew exclaimed, "I don't even own this place!"

"Na Na Na Na Naaa, You can't catch me!"

Drew rolled his eyes, "This isn't funny, Matthew!"

"Only stupid grown ups call me 'Matthew'!"

"Okay, Matt, Get down from the furniture, it isn't even mine!" Drew shouted.

Matthew stuck his tongue out at Drew, "Maybe if you stop being mean!"

Drew glared at him, "I'm not being mean…"

"Yes you are!" Matthew exclaimed, "You're a mean brother"

Drew rolled his eyes, "How do you have so much energy? It's nearly midnight"

"Because you're stupid!" Matthew started to laugh at his own joke.

Drew pretended to laugh along with him, "Very funny, can you get down from the sofa now?"

Matthew stepped off the sofa, before Drew could feel relieved Matthew then started running around the sofa. As Drew watched him wreck his apartment, he shrugged his shoulders playfully.

"You didn't say I couldn't play around it!" Matthew laughed.

Drew ran a hand through his hair, "This is getting really old now."

"Maybe [Byou're[/B getting old!" Matthew shrieked, briefly jumping on the sofa before jumping off and running around the room again.

"I did not come home to do this…" Drew sighed, "Come on Matthew, your parents will be back soon!"

"They're your parents too!" Matthew gave Drew a strange look.

"Yeah" Drew said, "You said I'm getting too old so I can't have the same parents as you, because you're young"

Matthew looked shocked, "I'm sorry I said that, Drew! You're not old!"

Drew smirked, this worked every time, "I guess I forgive you"

"Yay!" Matthew cheered.

Drew felt relieved as he heard a knock on the door, Drew rushed over and opened it to find his adoptive parents standing there. Drew had always known they weren't his real family, he had no resemblance to them whatsoever, his hair was green whilst they all had a normal dark brown colour. His "mother", Sandra, hugged him as they entered.

"Matthew hasn't been a bother, has he?" She asked.

Matthew, her real son, ran over to his parents laughing, "Drew couldn't catch me!"

"Maybe you're getting too fast for him, son" Drew's "father", Clive said.

Drew was very grateful to them for everything they did for him up until when Sandra got pregnant with Matthew and Drew became a babysitter every time he came back home. Matthew was the most tiring child he'd ever met, and he had no idea why, his parents weren't exactly live wires.

"I don't understand why you don't just hire someone?" Drew asked, looking at the damage to his apartment.

"Because we trust you" Clive said solemnly.

Drew thought himself quite privileged to have grown up with such great people as parents. Sandra was the most caring and selfless woman he'd ever known, and Clive was extremely wise, always giving people chances to better themselves. It wasn't hard for Drew to figure out they weren't his parents when he was younger, when he'd started his pokemon journey at ten he still harboured some feelings of resentment towards them, but now he'd gotten over his anger issues. After all, those lay with his real parents. Drew followed Sandra, Clive and Matthew into the corridor of the building he lived in. It was strange because as they were leaving, Matthew had begun to calm down.

"Thank you so much for taking care of him" Sandra smiled, "We really needed a night out"

Clive ran a hand through Matthews hair playfully, "After all, he's not too much bother"

Drew sighed, "No, he's very well behaved"

"Such a shy little boy" Sandra commented.

Drew looked at Matthew, who still had that playful look in his eye, "If you say so"

"Are any of your friends coming to watch you in the Grand Festival, Drew?" Clive asked.

Drew shook his head, "No, they aren't"

"What about that girl you told me about?" Sandra asked, "What was her name? Oh, I remember, May!"

Drew blushed a little, "She's not coming"

"You should phone her and ask her to come!" Sandra smiled brightly, "I'm sure she'd love to see you, after all you did speak so highly of her"

"I agree with what your mother says, Drew." Clive smirked, clearly finding it funny, "How about you call her?"

Drew shook his head, "No, It's okay. I-I forgot! She is coming!"

Sandra gave Drew a look, "We'd better see you two together tomorrow, then"

Drew ran a hand through his hair, "I'll be busy so I don't know if I'll see you…"

Clive shook his head, "You shouldn't lie to your parents, Drew"

Drew didn't have the heart to correct him, "Uhhh.."

"RIINGGG! RIIINGGG!"

Drew's phone was so loud he could hear it from the corridor of the building. He smiled triumphantly, whoever it was had just saved the day.

"You'd better get that" Clive said, "We'll see you tomorrow, Drew"

He hastily waved goodbye to Matthew, Sandra and Clive and rushed back to his apartment, feeling relieved.

"Please don't hang up, Please don't hang up…" Drew said under his breath as he stepped into his apartment.

"RIINGG! RIIIINGGG!"

Drew reached the phone in time for the answer machine to kick in. He sighed and lay on the sofa, exhausted from looking after Matthew, waiting to listen to the message.

"It's me" Drew sat up as he heard May's voice, he wanted to go over to the phone and answer it but something stopped him.

"I guess you aren't in" May didn't sound too happy, "I needed to tell you something but I guess I'll just call back later"

Drew sat there for a moment. May, he hadn't stopped thinking about her since he last saw her seven months ago. He'd seen her around since, most notably when he went to visit Jordan in hospital and found her there, he'd run before she'd had chance to see him. He had no reason to act like this, they'd spoken on very good terms and they were getting on as friends better than ever, it was just that deep inside of him he still held onto their childhood rivalry, and that was preventing him from getting any closer. It was pathetic, but true.

Drew walked over to the answer machine and listened to the message once more. May called him quite often, usually two or three times a week. On the rare occasion he'd be in his apartment, he made excuses to get off the phone before May had even said a word to him. It was like he knew the way he was acting was probably upsetting her, but he continued to do it anyway. Drew paused for a moment before deleting the message from the machine.

Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow..Drew thought I've got a battle to win.