Act Three: The Amazing Chase
Dawn cannot let Ash see that she is with Drew.
"(Aw man, this is SO not a blessing!)"
Then again, she cannot let Drew know that Ash is coming. It was the perfect consequence for being so greedy by writing another boy's name when she already had one in the first place. In the end, there would always be regret. By the time anybody has taken notice of its presence behind their backs, it's too late.
"Um, Drew why don't we go for a walk?" Dawn invited him without revealing the true reason.
"Sure…anything for you my blue Dawn." Drew flipped her long cerulean hair. Dawn blushed; taking Drew's free arm for another lap around Pallet Town.
When Ash returned to the hilltop with two cans of juice, his sunny sunshiny Dawn was nowhere to be found. He scratched his head while being lost in thought to wherever Dawn went off to when he clearly told her to stay. Meanwhile having arisen from the depths of the earth, May hurriedly followed Drew's footprints in the dirt; wanting answers…REAL answers.
"I bet Dawn has something to do with all of this." May concluded. "When I find her, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!"
---0---0---0---0---0---
Dawn and Drew ran hurriedly into town where hopefully the sea of people in the nearby marketplace would camouflage them from their pursuers. Drew didn't have any idea of the real reason why he and Dawn were running away franticly. She just told her that they were playing a game—a children's game. Blinded by infatuation, Drew played along Dawn's bluff…at least for now.
Meanwhile Ash's newly-acquired Pokenav, having acquired it from Professor Oak yesterday as a congratulatory gift, began ringing. Somebody was calling on the Pokenav—it was his mother Delia.
"Ash dear, are you outside?" She asked.
"Um yeah…I'm out looking for Dawn." The trainer replied sincerely. "What's up?"
"Well, I'm a bit short on Oran berries for my berry pie. Can you go to the marketplace and buy a kilo for me?"
"Sure…whatever you say, Mom."
"I know I can count on you, Ash. I'll make sure you get the first slice when it's done."
Complying with his mother's instructions, Ash halted his search for Dawn and went to the marketplace—the same crowded marketplace where the one being chased were hiding.
Back at the marketplace, Dawn and Drew lost their way completely and were stuck within endless rows of marketplace stalls selling a variety of wet and dry goods. Pallet Town may be small but the town marketplace was one of the largest and the busiest in the region…with equal number of people going in and out in rush and peak hours. At least now Dawn can take her time looking for an exit to the marketplace maze since she has lost sight of the infatuated trainer. She regretted writing two boy names in the Love Note as a result of her greediness…and now she must face the music…or maybe she doesn't have to.
"Pardon me for asking Dawn but what kind of game are we playing?" Drew wasn't told about that earlier that made him think of the possible answers…and Dawn didn't want him to know.
"Uh…it's the 'Catch that Pikachu' game—yeah, that's it!"
"How do you play that game? It sure sounds like a child's game."
"Well…it's like a game of tag. I got tagged so I'm going after Pikachu…which means the one who tagged me."
"Oh I see…" Drew suddenly lifted Dawn's free arm and used it to tag himself. Then he began to run out into the open. "Okay, I'm it. Come catch me!"
"Drew, wait!"
As soon as Drew tagged himself, Dawn's 20:20 vision caught sight of something untimely—Ash entering the market. She too also made tracks to track down the viridian coordinator. If the trainer ever found her in an inconspicuous place to hang out, she was going to be in big trouble. But between the two boys, one has to stay and the other has to go without seeing the light of truth. For Dawn, making that decision on such short notice was like asking her to win ten contest ribbons in two days.
"(Okay, okay May; you can have Ash back! Just get me out of this crazy situation!)"
---0---0---0---0---0---
Dealing with two infatuated boys, Dawn stopped at a nearby river and took the dreaded Love Note out again—only this time, she didn't take out her Piplup pen or any writing material. She realized that the power she wielded was too great to even exist in the first place. The only way she knew of getting rid of the problem was to throw the notebook into the raging river and let the downstream current carry it to goodness knows where. She had enough of this Love Note mumbo jumbo and just wanted to compete in the race for love like any honorable girl would.
"I hope you find a far better owner than me." Dawn said; then she ran off continuing her search for Drew.
Meanwhile, May stopped to rest at a riverbank after all the running she made just looking for the three. Gasping, she thought that all that running should have made a huge impact on her figure problem. After all, calories can be a girl's worst enemy.
"I should've lost a lot of pounds after that marathon." May said; gasping. "I was never born a runner."
Then, she saw something floating downstream—something red and flat. Upon closer inspection, she perceived it to be a red notebook with the words "Love Note" engraved in silver on the cover. Like any notebook soaked in water, the pages were soggy. May picked it up as soon as it got close enough to the riverbank and opened it to the first page where she saw a list of guidelines in using the red notebook. She memorized the very first guideline which was usually the most important of all.
The person whose name is written on the pages of this notebook will fall in love with the one who has written his/her name in exactly 40 seconds.
"If this is some kind of practical joke, then I'm not falling for it." May didn't believe in it even one bit.
She turned her attention to the first page and saw Ash's name written in huge script font. The handwriting was the least of her worries; what concerned her the most was the fact that Ash's full name was written on the pages of the notebook…but who? She turned the notebook to the next page and saw, to her complete surprise, Drew's full name also written using the same font. Then she turned to the last page of the notebook where she read another list of guidelines. The last one also proved to be as important as the first one.
Only when the writer's name is deformed or destroyed will the spell of infatuation be broken. The erased name can no longer be rewritten afterwards.
That alone can solve May's problem with Ash changing hearts…if she could learn to believe the note for once. But the writing was in black ink—an eraser wouldn't do much against black ink and better yet a dampened page.
"If this is true…" May thought; her face as if she had seen a glimmer of hope. "…then Ash still loves me! I have to get this to him and tell him everything is a big mistake! That Dawn…she'll pay for playing with his feelings!"
May stood back up after a short rest; her burning spirit burning even brighter than before. Then, she heard a cry from behind.
"Out of the way…!" Drew ran past May, accidentally knocking her off which sent her swimming with the Remoraid in the river. The strong current made it impossible for her to swim to safety.
"Oh no, May's in trouble!" Dawn, still running after the Rose of LaRousse, caught sight of the drowning brunette coordinator.
On the other side of the river, Ash walked up the hill crest with a bag of ripe Oran berries on hand. The trainer also caught sight of a damsel in grave distress…and his love chasing after somebody else. The latter sight traumatized him.
"Ash, go and help May! Please…!" Dawn pleaded loudly—loud enough to be heard from several yards away. But the trainer didn't heed her word for the fact that Dawn was with somebody else and not him.
"Ash PLEASE…!" She tried again but to no avail. Ash was completely dazed by the thought that he had been replaced like an old antique clock.
Time was running out. Whitewater rapids and rocks were just ahead of May.
END OF ACT THREE