Hi everyone! So, this is my first ever fan fiction! I decided I wanted it to revolve mainly around my Pokemon otp, May and Drew. I always wished that the anime creators would make a separate series following May's journey through Johto but since it can't happen, I thought I would write my own version of it. I have a few reasons for writing this. First, as you can probably tell by my username, is that Pokemon holds a lot of nostalgia and memories for me and it's something I still love and I think will continue to love later on in life. The Advanced series is the one that I specifically really love because of the incredible storytelling and the character arcs that characters like May got and even side characters like Drew. As someone who enjoys analyzing the many facets of storytelling and writing, what the creators did with May's arc especially, really stood out to me. Hopefully I can do it justice in this story. Second, writing is one of my favourite things to do and it's also something I want to get better at so I think this would be a fun way to do that. Third, I want to spread some positivity and joy with my writing and I really hope I'm able to do that!

I appreciate anyone who decides to give this story a chance!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 1: Friends and Rivals

Water swayed against the hull of the cruise ship in a soothing rhythm of push and pull. May stood on deck, her arms resting on the rail, her eyes unfocused from the gentle lull of the waves below. The sea air was moderately chilly and delicately brushed her hair, causing strands to tickle her face. She was lost in memories and thoughts and feelings of nostalgia and the passage of time. She was beginning something new. A new place and people and Pokemon. She reminisced about her journeys through Hoenn and Kanto. All the things she had learned, the people she had met, all that she had grown to love over that time had lead her here, on a ship to the Johto region. She thought of how far she had come and how far she would go.

She was almost surprised at herself for being so deeply contemplative about life. It was unusual for her to dwell on her life's greater purpose but she knew that her travels with Ash, Brock, and Max had really transformed her and the way she thought about life. True, she was still just as enthusiastic about travelling, probably even more so, than when she had first begun her journey, but now she had a path to follow and a passion to pursue as well.

Feeling refreshed and energized from the crisp sea breeze, May straightened and stretched. She turned from the gleaming face of the water to make her way to the cafeteria for lunch but stopped abruptly. A girl her age stood a few feet away, twirling one foot shyly around the other. She had short curly light blonde hair and ice blue eyes. She looked tentatively at May when she had turned, as though she had been waiting. Then, moving forward a little, she spoke.

"Hi! Um.. you're May Maple?" Her voice was soft and slightly nervous.

"I am," May nodded, smiling brightly.

"Wow, it's such an honour to meet you! You're such a great coordinator!"

"Thank you….. but I'm really not that great." May smiled sheepishly.

"Of course you are! You made it to the semi-finals in the Kanto Grand Festival! I'm Luna by the way," she held out a hand and May shook it.

"Are you a coordinator too?"

"I am," Luna said, a little shy, "But I've never made it that far. I only made it to the quarter finals the second time."

"Oh, you've been in more than one Grand Festival?" May asked, a little surprised at why she was being treated as though she were leagues ahead. Luna nodded. "You must be really good too then!" May said excitedly.

"I'm decent, not anything too amazing, but I'm really hoping to get a lot better this season and maybe even leave with that ribbon cup," Luna said, a little more excited after May's remark.

"That's a great goal to have but you have to know I won't be going easy on you! I plan to win this time!" May said with a determined smile.

"I know and I'm glad!" Luna said enthusiastically, "So I guess you're my first rival ...and friend?" She said, a bit unsure.

"Definitely." May nodded. "The best rivals are usually friends." Luna smiled and May said, "Well I was heading to the cafeteria to eat lunch. Do you want to come?"

"That would be great! I can introduce you to my friends as well!" Luna said excitedly and both her and May walked down the deck together. "So you've had a couple of rivals who are friends?"

"Yeah, actually the first rival I ever had is a friend of mine now. Although we weren't always," May smiled slightly, "If you know me from the Kanto Grand Festival then you'll definitely know him. Drew?" Luna gasped.

"You mean Drew Hayden?" she asked with wide eyes. May nodded, still smiling. "Oh I remember! You beat him in the Grand Festival! He was really incredible. And I've seen so many of his contests too."

"Yeah and I know he's still far ahead of me when it comes to coordinating. I'm still surprised sometimes when I think about the fact that I beat him," May laughed nervously.

"Oh come on, you don't give yourself enough credit. You're really amazing too!" Luna praised and May smiled gratefully. "So where is he now?"

"I know he was going to Johto as well when I last talked to him. I'm sure he's already got his first ribbon by now too," May almost sighed.

"So there's going to be some really tough competition this year, huh?"

"Especially if my friend Solidad will be there too" May voiced suddenly, realizing things would be a lot harder if Solidad was indeed in Johto. Luna gasped again.

"The winner of the Kanto Grand Festival! I guess there's no chance for that Ribbon Cup then," Luna said with a sigh.

"No, there are plenty of unexpected things that can happen! I was told once by a friend and rival in one of my earliest contests that it's not always the coordinator with the most experience that wins. Your opponent has a lot to do with it and the different styles that you might have have a big affect as well. And even luck plays a pretty big role sometimes," May said as she and Luna pushed the doors leading into the cafeteria.

"That's good advice, May. Thanks," Luna gave a bright smile that May returned. "Oh, there are my friends!" She pointed to a spot a few tables away where a girl and boy around their age sat. "Let's grab something to eat and then I'll introduce you."

After May and Luna bought their lunch, they approached the table. Luna sat first and nodded for May to follow. "Hey guys, look who I found!" she trilled and her friends looked from her to May.

"May Maple," the boy acknowledged. He had straight black hair and chocolate brown skin and eyes.

"Am I really that well known?" May said with bashful chuckle as she took her seat.

"Of course, you definitely got a lot of fans after your performance at the Kanto Grand Festival," he said kindly. "I'm Kace." He reached out a hand and May shook it.

"And I'm Cora!" the girl that sat next to him chimed in. She had bright red hair that fell down her back in thick waves.

"It's nice to meet you both! Are you two also coordinators?" May asked as she took a forkful of Ramen.

"No, we're trainers. This is the first time we'll be travelling through Johto though."

"First times all around then!" May smiled. "I have a good friend I met in Hoenn who's also a trainer. You might know him. He's been in the Indigo and Johto leagues before and he was in the Hoenn league last year. His name's Ash."

"Ash Ketchum? Yeah I've seen his battle at the Hoenn League! He made it to the quarter finals! He was totally incredible!" Cora effused.

"Yeah he's really one to look out for," Kace added.

"You know a lot of really talented people, May," Luna said as she bit into her sandwich.

"Yeah, I've been really lucky to meet so many people like that. They've definitely helped me develop my own skills as well," May said through another bite of Ramen. Not long after, May found herself chatting away excitedly with the trio as though she had known them for weeks or months.

After lunch the four of them decided to stroll around the ship for some time before getting a bit of rest in their cabins since they would be arriving in Olivine City within the next two hours. May was glad to have met the three of them because she knew she would have been terribly bored if she had to spend the entire ride with no one to talk to. She had learned soon that Luna and Cora were both from the Kanto region and were friends from childhood and Kace was from Sinnoh.

"We met Kace the first time when Cora and I were going to the Veridian gym so she could get a badge and then we bumped into Kace who was also just about to challenge the gym leader," Luna explained to May as the four of them passed the small Pokemon play area the ship had. "And then you can probably guess what happened. They started fighting about who got there first and it got to the point where they decided to battle to each other to decide. And Kace won so he challenged the gym leader first and then Cora did."

"And that's where I got my first badge!" Cora jumped in, "And to be fair, the only reason Kace beat me is cause he's been a trainer for longer, otherwise I would've beat him easily."

Kace sighed. "You just keep believing that."

"What was that? You know that's true don't deny it!" Cora pointed an accusing finger at him. "Let's battle right now to settle it!"

"Every time you say that and we battle, I win," Kace said simply. "Plus, we can't battle on the ship."

"Okay we'll settle it on land then," she huffed a breath, turning away from him.

"Are those two always like that?" May asked Luna in a low tone.

"Oh don't even ask," Luna sighed exasperatedly.

"What're you two whispering about?" Cora turned on them with narrow eyes.

"Nothing, nothing," May said quickly, raising her hands defensively.

Once May had returned to her cabin she called out Blaziken, Beautifly, Squirtle, and Eevee, the only four Pokemon she had brought with her for this journey. She smiled at the sudden thought that they were her first two and her most recent two Pokemon. Her plan was to get at least two new Pokemon, possibly more, in the Johto region.

"You guys hungry?" May asked the four cheerily and they all made noises of approval as she poured out pokeblock into each of their bowls.

Her phone beeped once and she picked it up to see a message from Max. He had sent a picture of his first badge from the Rustboro gym. May smiled and quickly typed him a message that read: "Got one already?! Good job!" and pressed send.

He replied with: "Thanks! What about you? Did you get a ribbon yet?" May almost rolled her eyes as she typed: "I haven't even got to Olivine City yet Max." He replied with: "Oh. Right. Forgot about that."

After May had carefully packed her things away in her backpack, she headed out of the cabin. The sun had just set and the sky glowed a faint orange just above the horizon where it was reflected in the shimmering water. The ship was slowing as it reached the Olivine city port and May could make out the skyscrapers and city lights that dotted the land. As she made her way off the ship alongside other passengers, she spotted familiar bright red locks of hair and made her way over.

"Hey guys!"

"Hi May!" Cora answered, "Great now we can walk to the Pokemon Center together!" May nodded, smiling brightly. She might have been tired from an entire day of travel but, now that she had reached her destination, she felt there was no time to be exhausted when there was exploring to be done. As she, Luna, Kace, and Cora made their way off the port and into the bustling night city, May looked around excitedly at the shops and restaurants. Part of her wanted to stay and explore every place the city had to offer but another part of her wanted to quickly get started on winning ribbons so she wasn't too far behind in the competition. She decided there would be plenty of time to explore Olivine after the year's Grand Festival when she would take a ferry back home.

May let Beautifly out of her pokeball, deciding that her first contest pokemon should get to see the beginning of a new journey. She flew out, trilling happily, her wings reflecting the city lights. She hovered for a few moments before settling on May's head. May had thought to take Blaziken out as well but then figured some people might be afraid of it because of its size.

"Wow May your Beautifly is even more gorgeous in person!" Luna gushed, slowly petting Beautifly's head. May smiled brightly.

"Thanks Luna!"

"Its wings are so shiny!" Cora said, looking closely, "And its adorable how she sits on your head like that!"

"Yeah," May giggled, "It's her favourite spot." They continued walking in silence for some time, absorbing their surroundings.

"It's strange to finally be here, don't you think?" Luna then said thoughtfully.

"Yeah and really exciting too!" Cora gushed. "Can't wait to get my first badge! I'm getting it before you do Kace!"

"Not a chance. I've been training a lot for this first battle and I'm going to get mine in the next few days."

"Pshh I'm getting mine tomorrow," Cora challenged.

"Really? So soon? We just got here, shouldn't you wait a few days and train a little while," Luna suggested.

"Nah I'll be fine. I trained plenty," Cora replied confidently.

"If you say so," Luna said, smiling at her friend's certainty. May opened the doors to the Pokemon Centre and the four of them entered. It was rather busy considering it was nearly nightfall. May learned why as she approached the front desk. Just behind Nurse Joy was a poster for a pokemon contest but there was no date.

"Hi Nurse Joy! Is there a Pokemon Contest happening here soon?" She now felt more energetic than when she had been walking through the city.

"There is, tomorrow actually. Here in Olivine there's a contest every three weeks."

"Every three weeks?" May repeated, surprised.

"Oh yeah, I've heard that in Johto all towns and cities have multiple contests until the Grand Festival. Is that true Nurse Joy?" Luna asked.

"It is but it's different for all cities. In some there's a contest every three weeks, in other's it's only once a month and places like New Bark Town have only one or two a year. But you can only win one ribbon per city and you can't compete in a city more than two times."

"Wow that's new," May remarked. "But I guess it does mean that more people will get a chance to compete in the Grand Festival."

"Yes, that's right," Nurse Joy nodded, smiling. Then she added, "That's a very healthy looking Beautifly you have there."

"Thank you! I have this special jelly recipe from a friend of mine who's a breeder. Beautifly loves it and it really helps in making her wings shiny." Beautifly trilled again before hovering in the air, happy at being complimented. "So, would it be possible for me to register for the contest?" May asked eagerly.

"Yes of course. Just a moment," Nurse Joy said, crunching away at the keypad in front of her.

"You're going to enter so soon, May?" Luna asked, "Don't you want to settle into the city for a bit and train some more?"

"No, I'm ready to win my first contest!" May said with fierce determination. Luna nodded, smiling at her enthusiasm. "Hey, where'd Beautifly go?" she asked aloud, looking up to find her butterfly pokemon was no longer there.

"It seems she's found a friend," Nurse Joy gestured behind the four of them. May turned quickly and her heart leapt at the sight of him. Standing near the entrance doors, seemingly having just entered the center, Beautifly perched atop his head, was Drew. He was gently stroking her head, a fond smile on his lips. Then he looked up to see May bouncing forward to meet him.

"Drew! You're here? I thought you'd be halfway through Johto by now!"

"I decided to take my time this season," He said, sliding both hands into his pockets, smiling casually. "So, I see you've made it. I didn't think you'd be able to find your way here."

"Yeah right!" May rolled her eyes, though smiled at the same time. "Well anyway, it seems Beautifly's taken a liking to you," she noted. Beautifly trilled as though agreeing to this.

"I suppose," Drew replied, amused.

"It must be from of all the roses," May grinned.

"Must be," He said, trying to sound casual despite the heat rising in his cheeks. "So I heard you're entering the contest tomorrow."

"Yup! And I'm winning it!" she replied confidently.

"Hate to tell you but that won't be possible," he replied, the hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

"Why not?" May asked, then realizing she said quieter,"You're entering?" Drew nodded.

"So, you still want to?" He asked, perking a brow.

"Of course I do!" May said, almost childishly, "It's more fun winning against a rival anyway."

"I agree. I can't say I don't like beating you."

May humphed in response, unable to come up with a better comeback. Luna then cut into the conversation, coming to stand next to May, Cora and Kace just behind.

"You're Drew Hayden!" she exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's so cool to meet you! I've seen so many of your contests! Your appeals are always so gorgeous," she blabbered excitedly. Cora and Kace nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," Drew said politely, then raising a brow, "And you are…."
"Oh that's right, I didn't introduce you!" May said, jumping back into the conversation. "Drew, this is Luna, she's another coordinator, and Cora and Kace, they're trainers. I met them on the ferry here and we became friends." The trio nodded to confirm this.

"So you'll be entering the contest tomorrow?" Drew asked, directing the question to Luna.

"No, I think I might get to know the city a little more and get my pokemon used to the new place so they feel more relaxed and ready."

"Sounds like a good idea" Drew nodded. May returned to the front desk to get registered for the contest and appeared a moment later. Beautifly flew off from Drew's head to land on May's again.

"Are you guys planning to stay at the Pokemon Centre?" she asked her new friends. They all nodded. "Alright let's get our rooms then. What about you, Drew? Are you staying at the centre too?"

"Yeah, I came here to give Nurse Joy my pokemon and then turn in for the night."

After May, Luna, Cora, and Kace had got the keys to their rooms and Drew had given his Pokemon to Nurse Joy, they headed to their rooms as a group, May walking slightly behind the others to catch up more with Drew.

"So how long have you been in Olivine, Drew?" She asked curiously, hands clasped behind her back and a small skip in her step as she walked.

"About three and a half weeks," Drew replied, hands still in his pockets. May hummed for a moment then said, "So you must have entered the contest three weeks ago then, right?"

"I did." Drew said, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"So... that means you lost?"

"How did you figure that out, May?" He said, slightly sarcastically. May ignored him.

"To who?" Drew sighed.

"Soledad."

"Oh so she is here after all!" Drew nodded. "Hm, well I can't lose to her this time around!"

"She's got a lot stronger since the Grand Festival. She'll be tough to beat."

"Well I guess I'll just have to train even harder then!"

"It's good to see you haven't lost your enthusiasm after she beat you."

"Oh you're one to talk after I beat you!"

"Rest assured it won't be happening again."

"We'll see about that when we're standing on that Grand Festival stadium."

"Yeah, then and tomorrow."

"Right," May said slowly, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish grin. "Forgot I registered for the contest tomorrow," Drew smiled at that. May could never cease to amuse him.

May bid good night to Luna, Cora, and Kace as they each went into their rooms, then called to Drew as he walked down the hall to his own room.

"I'm winning, Drew!"

"No chance," He replied coolly, a smile playing on his lips. Then he disappeared into his room. May smiled before doing the same.

And that concludes chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed!

I would really appreciate any constructive feedback or criticism on my work!

I don't know when the next chapter will be up but I have no plans to abandon this story. I plan to write sequels as well that follow their journeys after Johto.

Thanks for reading! I would appreciate reviews so I know people are reading and enjoying my work. See you guys next time!