Drew, groggy-eyed, found himself awake in a cave. He was seeing red, his vision was blurry and yet somehow he felt safe. As his eyes adjusted, and his sense of hearing was regained, he saw a familiar face and a voice crying out his name. Then, he realized the face and the voice belonged to the same person: May. That red bandana he could recognize anywhere and a deeply concerned expression on her face made his stomach churn.
As May realized that her rival had survived the fall and was still alive, her eyes shined misty-eyed as a great smile swept across her face.
"You're alive!"
Drew, groaned, realizing his legs were bruised from the water's impact. He thought he saw tears in her eyes, but shook away the notion and attributed it to his barely conscious mind playing tricks on him.
"May...you saved my life..I- "
She took his hand, causing him to freeze mid sentence, "No, it was the wynaut!"
She giggled, pointing towards the clan of wynaut that - as if they knew they were being cued - began to huddle around the two coordinators.
He grinned softly, "Thanks, everyone."
The wynaut, in affirmation, cried out wynaut! as they headed towards the heart of the cave and began dancing.
It was now wonder that Drew was feeling. Wonder at the mesmerizing dance that he was watching, wonder at the circumstances that led him and May to this cave, and wonder that he was not anxious to leave.
"How long do you think we'll be here?" May asked as she took a seat next to him.
"I...don't know," he confessed.
Those three words tasted rather like the liechi berry did - bitter. Drew had always disliked uncertainty, maybe less so recently after seeing May use metronome so recklessly that his heart must have beat faster than hers as he watched nervously in the audience and had to admit secretly to himself that there was beauty in uncertainty, but... still, the unsettling notion of being stuck on Mirage Island for Hours? Days? Weeks? was beginning to set in.
He murmured, looking at the entrance of the cave, "it doesn't look like the rain will be letting up for a while."
May suddenly turned towards him, filled to the brim with excitement, "then it's time to begin operation MAYDAY"
"Operation...Mayday?"
"It's an acronym. Operation MAY and Drew Assemble to Yell (for help)"
"Sounds like it would be operation MAYDAYFH then," he smiled.
"The 'F' and the 'H' are silent in the pronunciation."
"Well….as good as operation MAYDAYFH sounds, maybe we should just stay put until the rain dies down a little bit."
She pursued her lips, before walking towards the entrance and sticking her hand out towards the rain.
"You know," she began, as she walked back towards where Drew sat, "I think you're right."
Drew resisted the urge to smirk and agree, just to get a rise out of the girl. After all, he was sure that despite her cheerful appearance, May was exhausted.
"So…" She began.
"So…" he said, smiling in return.
"You're my biggest rival, but I feel like I know nothing about you...and that kind of bothers me."
"Well…are rivals supposed to know things about each other?"
"Maybe I'd like to be friends then …" May anticipated a sarcastic remark, only to be pleasantly surprised when Drew responded, "I'd like that too."
Thus began an hour of forced bonding through rapid fire questions.
"Favorite color?"
"Blue," he said. She laughed, motioning to his hair. "Not green?"
"Not green."
"How do you have an infinite supply of roses?"
Drew's cheeks tinged at the question, before composing himself and replying, "Roselia hands me roses."
This continued for quite some time, before May decided to ask something that had bothered her ever so slightly for a while.
"Why were you so rude to me when we first met?" May asked nonchalantly although by the way she sat up straighter when he mused about this, there was clearly nothing nonchalant about this question.
Drew mused and mused, "I think...you reminded me of how I was when I first became a coordinator. And that bothered me a little. Because I hated how my emotions dictated my every move back then. I lost my first contest and I remember breaking down crying even though I kept telling myself that logically speaking it wasn't unusual to lose the very first one."
May edged closer, and wrapped her hands around her knees, "I think it's good that you were emotional. Because it shows that you cared about what you were doing. Who's going to judge you for something like that? Even now, you act kind of cold sometimes, but, " she proclaimed a little too proudly, "you can't hide your emotions. I can take one look at you and understand how you're feeling. Maybe because we go through similar trials...remember when I found you after the Hoenn Grand Festival?"
"Yeah...yeah, I guess you're right."
"The great Drew Hayden has agreed with me," she said with a smirk that she had copied from the prince of Hoenn himself, "it is a true honor."
Drew suddenly smiled. "Well...now it's my turn right? To ask a question?"
"I...that's true," admitted May, "but I was having so much fun grilling you for answers."
"Well..I never expected our friendship to grow this organically," he deadpanned. Drew paused to think for a while, before slowly beginning, "What made you decide to become a coordinator? Because I remember you once told me you used to be afraid of Pokemon."
She hummed, while considering the question.
"Hmmm..it's true. When I first started traveling, traveling was all I wanted to do. I wanted to see the ancient runes in Sootopolis, or visit Johto and see Ecruteak and the burned tower...but then after traveling with Ash and Brock, I could see the bond between their pokemon and them. And I know my dad runs a gym, but seeing someone my age have that kind of bond...it made me kind of jealous. I wanted it too, you know?"
They were both silent, staring at the wynaut who were still dancing, before Drew murmured, "Well, I'm glad I met you," as May - out of hearing distance - ran towards the entrance as the rain had seemed to stop.
"Drew! Let's go!"
She held out her hand, and he took it.
At some later moment in time:
Solidad Saori enters a coffeeshop. She orders the usual: flat white and a banana nut muffin. It's been a while since she's called Drew but as she dials his number she receives a call. 4 pm on Mondays - when they first met during Drew's first contest.
"Sol?"
"Drew? Good to hear from you...I was just about to call you."
"How has everything been?"
"Good, good. The Vermillion City contest went very well, and I bumped into my old friend - Harley. How have you been doing?"
"Yeah...I've been - better? You know, I ended up missing the contest in Pewter because May and I got stuck in Mirage Island."
Solidad frowned, "Stuck? You two? Mirage Island? You've got to give me more details than that, my friend."
As Drew detailed the harrowing adventure, Solidad sat back and sipped her coffee in amazement - both at the story and by the fact that Solidad can't recall the last time Drew mentioned another coordinator besides the cheerful brunette. She can't even recall the last time Drew talked about something other than contests - which aside from the genuine questions they began every call with of how they both were doing -was the only thing the pair discussed. Solidad couldn't wipe the bright smile she had off her face; here was the closest thing she had to a younger sibling and he's already in love.