And here's another chapter! This is probably the quickest I will ever be posting. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 2: Absol-utely Eeveen
May tapped her foot soundlessly on the marble floor. She was in the backstage room where the contestants sat in anticipation, waiting for their name to be called. Drew sat next to her, doing a few last minute touch-ups to his Butterfree, who he would be using for his appeal. After May's tapping became more insistent, he spoke.
"You seem nervous."
She paused. "Well, new place and all, I guess," she let out a long breath before saying, "Plus, I just got the idea for Squirtle's appeal. I haven't tried it before so I don't know if it'll work out or not." Drew didn't say anything for a moment, continuing to clean Butterfree with a spray and cloth. Then, decidedly, he said, "Well it's a risk and now's the time for that. Besides, that seems to be your style."
"You think so?" May turned to look at him. He nodded.
"Improvising and going with the flow seems to come pretty naturally to you." He wanted to add how he admired her for it because he was never capable of it, but decided not to.
"It does but…." May paused, unsure how to convey what she was thinking.
"But what?" he asked, this time turning to look at her.
"You know how back in Kanto we talked about finding our own styles? I felt like I needed to change this part of me in order to find it. The part that's always coming up with stuff last minute and taking risks. So I don't know if me doing a completely new appeal right now is helping me with that new style or if I'm just doing what I've always been doing since the beginning. Maybe I should have waited and entered the next contest like Luna. So I could prepare more." She sighed. Drew stayed quiet for a moment, mulling over her words and considering the best way to respond.
"No, May. I don't think there's anything wrong with you entering the contest today or doing a new appeal. Improvising and taking risks is just one aspect of your battle style, not the whole thing. It's not something you need to change unless you really think you want to. And.. well, the rest comes with experience. The more you develop as a coordinator, the more you'll start to see that you have a distinct style," Drew paused, hesitant about whether he should say what he was thinking. He plucked up the courage to. "And...I think your risk-taking and improvisation is what makes your appeals and battles unique. It keeps everyone on their toes because they don't know what to expect."
"Oh...I guess I never thought of it like that. I just did it like that because, well, like you said, it just sort of came to me," May looked down at her hands in her lap, slightly embarrassed.
"Right. So you should do what comes naturally. That tends to give the best results," Drew concluded, rising to his feet and returning Butterfree to its pokeball just as his name was called.
May looked up abruptly and called a good luck to him as he walked to the door. He raised a hand in acknowledgement of her words before disappearing from the room. May's mind was still reeling from his words but she made sure to pay attention to the screen as he walked out on stage.
"Butterfree! Let's go!" he called throwing his Pokeball in the air. Butterfree emerged, beautiful and elegant, it's wings shinier than May had ever seen them. "Use whirlwind while spinning! And then use psybeam!" Butterfree did as told, creating a mesmerising multi-coloured tornado. "Now quickly soar out of the tornado and use gust facing down!" Butterfree did so and the previously spiraling colours from the pysbeam were pushed toward the ground and burst outward in an explosion of sparkles and colour. May had not seen Drew's Butterfree do an appeal before and she sat there in amazement at its beauty. It was a simple yet gorgeous appeal. The audience was on their feet as Drew gave a small bow and returned Butterfree.
"Great appeal Drew! Now I better see you in the finals!" May told him as he took a seat and the next contestant went on, releasing a Hoppip.
"I'll be there. Just make sure you can make it."
"Don't worry about me!"
"So you're sticking with your new appeal?" Drew inquired.
"Yep! And….thanks for what you said before. I think I get it now. I'm going to do what feels right."
Drew nodded.
Most contestants had gone when May finally stepped out on the stage, everyone's eyes on her. She spotted Luna, Cora, and Kace in the front row. Luna waved to her and she waved back with a bright smile. Drew sat in the backstage room, watching the screen intently.
"Squirtle! Take the stage!" May called throwing her pokeball upwards. "Use ice beam on the ground!" Squirtle followed, creating a large, inward curved structure with the ice. "Now smooth out the edges with a rapid spin!" After Squirtle did so, the whole stage held a shallow ice-made bowl. Drew watched thoughtfully, trying to figure out what May was doing. "Now fill it with water by using water gun and take a swim"
"Incredible!" The host Vivian exclaimed, "Squirtle has made a pool on the stage and is now going for a swim!"
"Now use rapid spin in the middle of the pool!" May was having fun now. She was happy to be on stage again and so far everything was going better than she could have hoped. Squirtle created a whirlpool. "Use ice beam now and freeze the water and then slide around the edges of the pool!" Squirtle did so, still using rapid spin as it moved swiftly around the pool in circles. "Finish it off with bubble beam!" As Squirtle continued its rapid spin around the edges of the ice pool, bubbles surged out from under its shell, filling the pool and slowly moving out into the audience's outstretched arms. "And stop in the middle!" Squirtle slowed its rapid spin right in the centre of the ice pool, popping out of its shell and striking a cute pose that caused the audience to "aww" in perfect synchronization. May bowed to the loudest applause she had heard so far. In the back room, Drew smiled. And when the judges gave their score, he wasn't surprised to see the perfect thirty. She had exceeded him by nearly two points.
"Good performance, May," Drew told her as she sat down, and the second to last contestant went up. He pulled a rose out of thin air and presented it to her. She took it carefully and held it close to her face, breathing in the soft and sweet scent of the flower. She was reminded of the first time he had said those words and given her a rose after her first ever contest appeal. "For Squirtle, of course," he said, flicking his hair, a smile brushing his lips.
"I have a feeling you're trying to win all my pokemon over," May laughed. Then looking back at the rose she said, "Squirtle would like it though, it has a thing for flowers."
Soon after the appeals were done, the screen showed the four contestants that would be moving on to the battle rounds. May, having got a perfect score, appeared first, followed by Drew, then the coordinator with the Hoppip, and last, a coordinator whose name May vaguely thought was Isla. The system randomly paired May against the Hoppip coordinator and Drew against Isla.
May's battle was first and she called her Eevee out. The Hoppip coordinator, whose name she learned was Lucas, called out a Poliwag. After only a few attacks back and forth, May was able to knock Poliwag out with a simple combination of dig and a surprise tackle. She figured Lucas was a beginner in coordinating.
Drew's battle had gone similarly against Isla who was only slightly more competent than Lucas. He used a simple yet graceful combination of water pulse and iron tail from Absol to take Isla's Sandslash out, with two minutes remaining on the timer.
It was time for the final battle. May and Drew both stepped out and looked at each other across the stage with determined smiles.
"Absol, let's go!" Drew called, tossing his pokeball. Absol emerged taking a firm stance. May followed.
"Eevee, take the stage!"
"It looks like both coordinators and their Pokemon are ready! So, let's get this show on the road!" Vivian exclaimed. The timer began and May didn't waste any time.
"Eevee, use shadow ball!"
"Absol, counter with your own shadow ball!" Both shadow balls collided, creating a small explosion and a covering the stage in smoke. Both of their points dipped equally. "Use razor wind to clear the smoke! Then follow up with water pulse!"
"Eevee use dig!" May called out. Drew's points dropped slightly at the missed water pulse.
"Absol stay alert!"
"Eevee tackle now!"
Dodge it and use water pulse down!" Drew called and Absol was quick to follow the instruction, hitting Eevee dead on with water pulse.
"Eevee! No!" May cried as her points fell just below Drew's. Eevee was thrown back but managed to jump up again. "Quick use shadow ball and swift!"
"Absol razor wind and send it back!"
"Use dig!" Both of them lost a few points for dodging the other's attacks. The battle went back and forth, each of them making dents in the other's points.
"Folks we're down to thirty seconds left and it looks like neither of these two coordinators is about to give up!" Vivian announced. May sucked in a breath seeing that Drew was in the lead by an inch. Eevee was underground once again and she knew if she missed her mark with an attack this time there would be no way to get in the lead.
"Eevee now shadow ball from behind!"
"Quick dodge it!" Drew called but this time Absol was a second too late and was pushed forward.
Drew's points fell but he was still in the lead.
"Now Eevee! Tackle!"
"Absol turn around and use flash!" Eevee stopped short, blinded by the sudden light. "Now finish it with water pulse!"
"No! Eevee use shadow ball and swift!" May called desperately but the water pulse just pushed it back hitting Eevee with even more force. May's points plummeted just as the timer went off. She snapped her head up only for her expression to fall upon seeing that it was not her own face that covered the screen, but Drew's. He smiled proudly as he leant next to Absol and stroked its head before returning it to its pokeball. May collected Eevee in her arms and whispered a soft thanks before returning it as well. Their eyes met across te stage and they both nodded.
"And there you have it folks! This time's Olivine City Pokemon Contest winner is Drew!" Vivian called out. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause. May caught Luna's eyes from the front row as she gave her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. May smiled back, not feeling too disheartened about losing her first contest, especially knowing it was against Drew and that she had nearly won.
In the backstage room, as she put her pokeball away in her bag, Drew came up next to her to grab his own.
"You nearly had me," He stated, no hint of mockery in his tone.
"Yeah, nearly," May gave a small smile as she swung the bag on her shoulder. "That Flash caught me off guard though."
"Some things did for me too," he shrugged then gestured toward the exit. May nodded and they left together. "Like that first dig." Her smile brightened. They exited the contest hall to see Luna, Cora, and Kace waiting for them just outside. Cora spotted them first, rushing forward and grabbing May in an excitable hug. May squeaked in surprise.
"That was a great battle you two! It kept going back and forth for so long, I couldn't tell who would win!" she gushed.
"Thanks Cora!" May grinned. Drew nodded with a small smile.
"May, your appeal was incredible!" Luna chimed in, "You totally deserved that perfect score!"
"Thank you, Luna! That means a lot!"
"Your use of dig in the battle was really strategic," Kace added smartly. May giggled bashfully.
"I don't know about strategic…"
"Spontaneous is more like it," Drew said in a low tone so only she could hear. May shot him a look and he only smirked back.
"So Luna, are you excited for your contest?" May asked. They started walking slowly, subconsciously making their way to the Pokemon Centre.
"You bet! I'm glad I didn't enter this contest," she gave a nervous chuckle, "I wouldn't want to get caught between the two of you."
"Well you can't avoid us forever!" May joked. "Speaking of, where are you headed next?"
"Well, we'll be here for another three weeks for the contest and so Cora and Kace can get their badges, then I think we decided we're going to Ecruteak. What about you?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Drew, what's the closest town from here?" She turned to look at him.
"Both Ectruteak and Goldenrod are pretty close," he replied nonchalantly.
"Hmm...okay maybe I'll go to Goldenrod first while you guys are here and then we can meet up on the way to Ecruteak and go there together," May considered, tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Where are you going next, Drew?" she asked suddenly, catching Drew off guard slightly.
"Um, well, I'm headed to Goldenrod…..," He said, trailing off.
"Oh," May voiced.
"Don't worry, I'm not competing, so you have a chance," he teased. May huffed an angry breath.
"I had a chance today too! If the clock ran out just ten seconds earlier, I would've had you!"
"But it didn't," Drew smirked, fully enjoying May's rising annoyance. She humphed, turning away from him to the trio.
"Well, anyway," Luna cut in, wanting to lighten May's mood though in all honesty she found the two's interactions very amusing, "that sounds like a good idea May! It'll be great to see you again so soon."
About an hour later, May was heading to the Pokemon Centre, pondering whether she should set out for Goldenrod that day. She had just had lunch with Luna, Cora, and Kace and parted from them when they said they were going to visit a distant relative of Luna's. Drew had left earlier with the excuse of wanting to train and not being hungry. As she approached the Pokemon Centre, a gust of petals caught her eye from around the corner of the building. Wondering whether it could possibly be Roselia, she made her way around. Sure enough, as she approached the grassy clearing, she saw Drew with Roselia and Butterfree. She guessed he was practicing combinations for the two of them.
"Hey Drew, how's training going?" she asked, coming to stand a few feet away, smiling up at Butterfree who hovered just above.
"Pretty good I suppose," he shrugged, looking at her. "Were you going to do some training too?"
"No... I was thinking about whether I should head out or not," she said slowly, then clarified, "For Goldenrod, I mean." He nodded, understanding. There was a moment's silence then May said, almost shy, "When were you planning to leave?"
"Well...I was thinking about leaving today as well," He paused and an awkward silence took its place once again. Then for the second time that day, he found the courage to add, "We could….go together?" The last part came out as a question. He felt his neck warm slightly and ran a hand through his hair to cover his now pink ears. He was glad she didn't notice.
"Sounds like a good idea!" she replied cheerily, hoping to mask her suddenly flustered demeanor. "I guess we should grab our bags from the centre then!" she quickly turned and hurried away. Drew watched her go then sighed.
"This is going to be a long journey, isn't it?" Roselia nodded, a smug look on her face. He almost rolled his eyes. She really was picking up too many things from him. Sighing again, he returned her and Butterfree to their pokeballs and then followed after May to get his own bag.
And that ends chapter 2! Let me know what you think!
Look forward to what's coming up, I have some exciting stuff planned! Thanks and see you next time!