Hey everyone! Here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 3: Coordinating Counsel

"Aren't you going to let your friends know you're leaving today?" Drew asked as they parted from the city, following the path that would eventually take them to Goldenrod.

"I did, I exchanged numbers with Luna and let her know I'd see her on the way to Ecruteak." May walked with a skip in her step, smiling brightly at the path ahead, ready for a new journey. She hadn't thought she would have Drew for company but she found it interesting to say the least. He was more reserved than May had thought him to be so she was usually the one to start a conversation. She commented on the different types of pokemon they saw and what she knew about them from Max, trying to avoid getting her facts wrong and occasionally pulling out her pokedex. Every time she made a slip up, Drew would catch it and tease her for still being as clueless about pokemon as she always was. She would get riled up and make an angry retort and they would go back and forth until May wouldn't have any better comebacks to throw his way and they would succumb to silence once more. She couldn't say their bickering was entirely pointless though as she found she was learning new things from Drew about the pokemon they saw around every bend of the road.

When their surroundings weren't the topic of conversation, they talked about coordinating.

"So you've seen Soledad, anyone else we know?" May asked, as dusk fell, the sky painted a periwinkle blue. "Wasn't Harley also coming to Johto? Have you seen him?"

"Thankfully, no. I think I could do without seeing him," Drew said wryly.

"I can agree on that." May shuddered at the thought of him. They walked in silence for some time, the sky eventually turning a Heracross blue. The forest they walked through was silent, except for the occasional hoot of a Noctowl.

"Should we… stop for the night?" Drew asked, uncomfortable. He had never travelled with anyone and through the time he had spent on his own journeys, there was a familiar routine he had fallen into. Now, things would have to change at least a little.

"Yeah, I suppose it's pretty dark now…. and this is a good place to stop." May pointed to a small clearing off the path and made her way over. He nodded, following. An awkward silence hung between them as they busied themselves with preparing to sleep. Drew pulled out a small tent from his bag. He set it up rather quickly, clearly experienced in the task. May pulled out a sleeping bag, throwing it down haphazardly just a few feet away. She pulled her green bandanna off and tucked it into her bag, her hair falling loose. Drew chanced a glance at her after tossing his bag into the tent. He was caught off guard slightly to see her without her bandanna. Her hair shone a chocolate milk colour in the moonlight. He turned away quickly, mumbling a quick "goodnight" before stepping into the tent, the flap falling closed behind him. May didn't have a chance to reply and blinked at the tent flap for a few moments before shrugging and settling into her sleeping bag. She laid awake for some time, thinking about how she was already on her way to the second city for her second contest, how she was here without Ash, Brock, or Max, and how of all the people she expected herself to be travelling with, Drew was not one of them.

When morning came, it was with heavy reluctance that May opened her eyes to the brightness of the outside world. She had almost forgotten what it felt like. The sun pierced through the cracks between leaves, falling on the grass around her and causing it to gleam as it reflected off the morning dew. As she blinked sleep away, the sudden remembrance of the previous day hit her. She snapped her head to her other side, bolting upright. She relaxed upon seeing that he was there, sitting on a small square of cloth, a picnic blanket, with a boiling kettle just off to the side and a few sandwiches laid out before him. He turned at her sudden movement, the hint of a smile brushing his lips, before he turned back to the kettle and began pouring tea into two cups.

"Finally awake?" he asked, completing the task and setting the kettle down.

"Mhmm," she mumbled slightly, then jumped out of her sleeping bag and straightened herself out a little. "How long have you been awake? Were you waiting a long time?" she said quickly, slightly worried.

"Relax, I've only been up for two hours. I did some training nearby and then guessed you'd probably be up soon, so I made some breakfast."

"Two hours?! You should have woken me!" May panicked.

"Calm down, May. I usually train before I eat breakfast anyway," Drew replied, rather amused by her reaction.

"Oh." This relieved her slightly and she fumbled around in her bag, somewhat embarrassed.

After quickly washing up for the day, she awkwardly settled onto the picnic sheet in front of him.

"Wow Drew, you really made all of this?" She examined one of the sandwiches. He nodded, placing her cup of tea in front of her, then taking a sip from his own.

"You do drink tea, right?"

"Sure do! Thanks! This is really nice," she took a sip as he watched intently. "It's really good! How did you know how much sugar to add?" she asked, suspicious.

"I figured you liked things sweet," he shrugged, internally sighing with relief. "Help yourself to the sandwiches. I also figured you probably didn't bring food."

"I did!" May said, though her sheepish grin gave her away. "Well, mainly it's just chips and juice….but my mom did give me enough for a few days' lunch!"

"That's good cause we'll need to stock up in a few days." May took a bite from the sandwich and was immediately taken aback by how delicious it tasted.

"You made this?" she repeated with wide eyes. He nodded. She gaped at him for a few moments, food visible in her mouth.

"Don't you know it's bad manners to open your mouth when there's food inside," Drew tried to tease, just hoping she would stop looking at him like that. May quickly shut her mouth closed and chewed slowly, eating in silence for a few moments before deciding to speak.

"This is really good, Drew. I never considered you to be the cooking type," she looked up, smiling.

He shrugged. "Well, when you travel alone you sort of have to know how to do certain things." He felt his neck warm slightly.

"I guess that's true. I was always lucky to have Brock around for that," she remembered fondly, "Then Ash to help me train and become better at battling. And Max to tell me about all the Pokemon we saw. I can't imagine where I'd be without them." Drew was silent for a moment then he said, "Well maybe it wouldn't be in the same way and it would probably have taken a lot longer, but I think you'd eventually end up where you are now."

"You really think so?" May asked, genuinely curious. Drew nodded.

"I think you'd have found a passion for coordinating eventually."

"I suppose." They ate silently for a few moments before May decided to ask Drew something she had wanted to know for a long time. "Did you always know you wanted to be a coordinator?"

Drew was slightly surprised by the question as it was not one he had talked to anyone about.

"Ever since I was seven." He nodded, setting his empty cup down. "I used to watch a bunch of contests on tv and I always liked how they focused more on the beauty of the pokemon compared to regular league battling." He began clearing the dishes from the sheet. "My parents got me a Budew for my eighth birthday. It was my first pokemon and I knew when I began my own journey I would use it in a contest as a Roselia. So I spent two years training it until it evolved, just in time for when I left home."

"Wow, that's why you and Roselia are so close. You've been together for….." May counted on her fingers.

"Almost seven years," Drew finished, then stood. "Do you want to get going?" May nodded, jumping to her feet. They cleared up the dishes and picked their belongings before setting out on the road again.

They walked for nearly three hours until May had complained enough about being tired for Drew to give in and offer that they take a break. After sitting for a few minutes, she had jumped up again and suggested that they have a practice battle. Drew was baffled by her sudden bursts of energy but had agreed to have one all the same. The battle had been long and grueling and now both of their pokemon were ready to give in at any moment.

"Absol use Shadow Ball and then hit them with Iron Tail!" Drew ordered and Absol let out a number of dark purple orbs of crackling energy and then sent each of them flying with Iron Tail directly toward Blaziken.

"Blaziken use Mega Kick!" May called. Blaziken did so, kicking each Shadow Ball and causing them to burst into what looked like purple fireworks.

"Absol, Water Pu-" Drew began but stopped midway when a Chikorita jumped into the clearing, watching the disintegrating Shadow Balls with amazement. It hopped forward happily then used Razor Leaf and followed with a Vine Whip to spin the leaves fast. May was immediately reminded of an appeal she had seen a grass type pokemon do in a contest.

"Chiko!" It said excitedly.

"Hey, wha-" May began but was cut off when a girl ran into the clearing. She wore white shorts and a green T-shirt to match her eyes. She had short black hair and sported a white baseball cap backwards. She appeared to be a few years younger than May.

"Chikorita, where are you go-" She stopped upon seeing May and Drew. Then, realizing what was going on, she began rambling apologies. "Oh I'm so sorry! My Chikorita just ran off randomly! I didn't mean to interrupt your battle!" She quickly picked Chikorita who was frowning now.

"Don't worry about it! We were just finishing up anyway," May said brightly. "Your Chikorita's Razor Leaf and Vine Whip was really good." She walked forward and pet it on the head. Its face lit up immediately from the compliment. "It would look great in a contest appeal."

"A contest appeal?" The girl cocked her head to one side.

"Have you heard of contests?" May asked. Drew recalled Absol then walked forward, coming to stand next to May. The girl tapped her chin.

"It rings a bell but I can't remember."

"They're like these competitions that are about showing the beauty of your pokemon." May explained, smiling. "You show that in the first stage of the contest which is the appeals round then if you score high enough you make it to the second stage which are the battles. The battles are based on a point system where you use the most appealing combinations and attacks against your opponent so they lose points. And then whoever has the most points when the time is up wins."

"Wow, that sounds complicated," The girl said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"It always seems that way when you first hear about something, right Drew?" May turned to him. He nodded.

"When you practice and try it out a couple of times, it gets easier," He said.

"I don't know. I'm not sure if that's my sort of thing." She paused, tilting her head to one side in thought. "I think I'd rather just battle without having to worry about making my pokemon look nice at the same time." Her Chikorita frowned at this, clearly not in agreement. "And speaking of battling, do you think we could have a battle?" She gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry I know that's a bit random but I haven't run into a lot of people who I can have practice battles with. I think I could learn a lot. It would really help when I challenge my first gym."

"Of course, I'd love to!" May said brightly.

"This battle between May and Squirtle and…." Drew began then he looked at the girl, realizing he didn't know her name.

"Chloe," She finished, bouncing on the balls of her feet in nervous excitement.

"Right, this battle between May and Squirtle and Chloe and Chikorita will now begin."

"I'll let you go first Chloe!" May said and Chloe smiled.

"Alright Chikorita use Razor Leaf!"

"Squirtle, Rapid Spin!" The leaves hit Squirtle's shell and bounced off. "Now Water Gun!" Squirtle continued to spin as it let out Water Gun, creating a mesmerizing display as the water sparkled, reflecting the sunlight. Chikorita watched in wonder for a moment before the water was shooting straight toward it.

"Quick dodge it Chikorita!" Chloe called, a little panicked. But it was too slow and the water hit Chikorita with an immense force. It was weakened greatly despite water type attacks not being effective against grass pokemon. "Quick, use Vine Whip to hold Squirtle in place!" Chikorita's Vine Whip flew out toward Squirtle.

"Dodge it!" May called and Squirtle did so rather easily. "Now use Ice beam!" The attack shot toward Chikorita with speed and precision, hitting the grass type hard. It hit a tree and slid to the ground, unconscious.

"Chikorita!" Chloe yelled, running and scooping her starter pokemon into her arms.

"Chikorita is unable to battle. May and Squirtle win," Drew stated then he walked to May and Chloe.

"You were great Chloe!" May said enthusiastically. "Your idea to use Vine Whip to stop Squirte was really smart!"

"Thanks but I don't think I'll ever be as good as you," Chloe said disappointedly as she stood with Chikorita in her arms.

"Of course you will! You just have to keep training," May told her firmly, "You've only just begun your journey, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Drew nodded.

"You did really well for someone who's just starting out," He complimented. Chloe smiled.

"Thank you so much for battling with me, May. I did learn a lot and I think that'll help when I challenge gyms," she said kindly, then sucked in a deep breath, "Wow I've got a lot of training to do. You ready Chikorita?" She looked down at her starter pokemon but Chikorita did not look happy and in response to the question it jumped out of Chloe's arms and ran out of the clearing and into the bushes. "Hey! Chikorita! Where are you going?" She ran to where it disappeared. May and Drew exchanged a look then followed close behind. Upon crossing to the other side of the bushes they were surprised to find it was not there. "Where'd you go Chikorita?" Chloe called, growing worried. "Why'd it run off like that?"

"I'm not sure," May said slowly, looking around, then she turned to Chloe, "But don't worry! We'll help you look for it and figure out what's wrong, right Drew?" she turned to him. He nodded, albeit a little reluctantly.

"Oh thank you so much!" Chloe said gratefully.

"Don't mention it!" May replied, throwing her four pokeballs in the air. Drew did the same with his three.

"Alright guys we need to look for a Chikorita," May told all of her Pokemon. "Beautifly, see if you can find it."

"Butterfree, you too," Drew ordered and the two butterfly pokemon took off.

"I think we'll be able to find it quicker if we split up," May suggested. Just as she said this, Eevee jumped onto Absol's back. May giggled, "It looks like Eevee's made up its mind."

"I can take the two of them," Drew gestured to Absol and Eevee. "And Roselia. And you can take Blaziken and Squirtle and go with Chloe. Let's meet back here in half an hour."

"Sounds good! Let's go guys," May said, gesturing for them to follow her through a mass of bushes while Drew left in the opposite direction with Absol, Eevee, and Roselia.

"Why do you think Chikorita ran off like that?" Chloe asked May, concern masking her features.

"I don't know. Maybe it got upset because it lost the battle. Before that it seemed perfectly happy," May said thoughtfully. "Has it ever acted like this before?"

"Not that I can remember," Chloe tapped her chin. "I only got it a few weeks ago."

"That's strange. I wonder what's wrong," May thought aloud then, seeing Chloe's face, she added, "But don't worry! We'll find your Chikorita in no time! I've been on journeys before where this happened plenty of times and we always ended up finding what we were looking for."

"Really?" Chloe asked hopefully.

"Mhmm!" Chloe's face brightened at this. "Blaziken, Squirtle, do you see anything yet?" May turned to the two of them. They shook their heads.

Drew scanned every patch of land and every bush in sight but there was no Chikorita. Next to him, Absol's eyes were narrowed in concentration as it searched. Eevee was still on its back and tried to mimic Absol, narrowing its eyes as well. Drew couldn't help smiling at the sight; it was adorable. On his left was Roselia, looking rather uninterested with the whole thing.

"Eevee!" The evolution pokemon jumped off of Absol and rushed forward into a clearing. Drew, Absol, and Roselia quickly followed. On the other side was a Chikorita, slumped against a tree and looking rather upset. Drew approached cautiously but as soon as Chikorita saw all of them, it jumped upright, turned and began running.

"Hey wait!" Drew called but it had disappeared. He quickly followed with Absol, Eevee, and Roselia on his heels. He found himself back on the road, and in the distance he could see Chikorita running on it. He was about to order Roselia to use Magical Leaf before it got too far but then he noticed, hovering in the distance, much closer to where Chikorita had made it, was Beautifly.

"Quick Beautifly use String Shot to grab that Chikorita!" he called, continuing to run forward. Beautifly didn't hesitate to follow the instruction and quickly tied Chikorita in place. But then the grass type pokemon used Razor Leaf, breaking free of the binds and running behind a bush just as Drew caught up. He grunted in frustration. He should have seen that coming. "Thanks Beautifly," he said, "Can you let May know the Chikorita is somewhere around here?"

"Beautifly," the butterfly pokemon responded before flying off to look for its trainer. Drew and the three pokemon followed after where the Chikorita had disappeared.

May was beginning to feel hungry now. They hadn't been walking for a very long time but she coild hear her stomach let out a low grumble. She was determined however to not stop until Chloe's Chikorita was found. The girl was gradually becoming more disheartened the longer they walked.

Suddenly Blaziken pointed ahead and rushed forward. They quickly followed him to the edge of a large clearing, at the center of which was Chikorita. It was using Vine Whip to juggle a few Bluk, Pecha, and Pinap berries it had collected from the trees. It juggled them with a speed that caused them to look like a ring of colours blending together. Then it used Razor Leaf to cut them into hundreds of small pieces, allowing them to fall to the ground like colourful confetti.

"Wow, that was Beautiful!" May exclaimed. Chloe just watched, her mouth hanging open slightly. May then noticed Beautifly hovering above the trees in the clearing and was about to tell it to use Psychic to bring Chikorita to them when, suddenly, more than a dozen angry Nuzleaf jumped out and off of trees, surrounding Chikorita. They closed in around it, looking ready to attack.

"No, don't hurt my Chikorita!" Chloe rushed forward before May could stop her and pulled Chikorita into her arms. The Nuzleaf did not seem to be dissuaded to attack from this, instead preparing to use Leaf Blade.

"Blaziken use Flamethrower to push the Nuzleaf back!" May ordered. Blaziken did so with careful precision, keeping the flames away from Chloe and Chikorita. The Nuzleaf cried out and stumbled back, then turned angrily on May, Blaziken, and Squirtle. "Don't attack them! They're not trying to hurt you!" May told the Nuzleaf but they didn't seem to hear her because the leaves on their heads glowed once more, ready to lash out with a second Leaf Blade.

"Absol get to the middle and push them all back with Razor Wind!" Drew ordered. May turned to see him coming up behind her as Absol made a broad leap, landing next to Chloe who was holding Chikorita close to her. Eevee and Roselia were close behind and Butterfree hovered just above. In the few seconds after Absol's razor wind, May and Drew ran forward, standing on either side of Chloe with their pokemon and facing the Nuzleaf who were stumbling back into a fighting stance.

"What happened? Why are they attacking?" Drew asked, his jaw set as he watched the Nuzleaf.

"I don't know. They started attacking Chikorita," May replied, also watching the wily pokemon. Drew looked down over his shoulder at Chloe who was still hugging Chikorita. Then he noticed the pieces of berries that littered the ground around her.

"It's the berries, they think Chikorita stole them," Drew speculated aloud. "Or it's that we're in their territory." May made an 'O' with her mouth as the realization hit her.

"Is that it?" she asked the Nuzleaf. They only bared their teeth in response and then the leaves on their heads glowed once again. May sighed. "I think we'll have to battle our way out of here."

"Are you ready?" Drew asked, still facing the Nuzleaf. "Absol and Eevee first, then Beautifly and Butterfree."

"Right," May replied. "Okay Eevee,"

"Absol," Drew called.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Both Absol and Eevee let out a number of dark purple orbs that formed a ring around them, a few feet above their heads.

"Now Beautifly!"

"Butterfree!"

"Follow with Silver Wind!" The Shadow Balls hit each of the Nuzleaf, pushing them back. But they stumbled back up, not ready to give up. Chloe, still holding Chikorita and crouching on the ground between May and Drew, watched the combination in awe. They had managed to make the attack beautiful and powerful at the same time. In her arms, Chikorita also watched in amazement.

"Roselia Petal Dance!" Drew ordered and Roselia let out a whirlwind of petals.

"Squirtle freeze those petals with Ice Beam and Beautifly use Silver Wind to shoot them toward the Nuzleaf!"

"Butterfree you too!" The attack pattered down on the Nuzleaf like hail. Each shard had a tinge of pink to it from the iced petals beneath. Chloe had never seen such a beautiful combination of attacks. She slowly stood, still holding Chikorita, as the Nuzleaf retreated, jumping back into their trees. "Let's go before they start attacking again," Drew suggested.

"And find a place to sit down for lunch," May groaned, "I'm starving." They left the clearing together, scanning for a place to sit. Chloe followed close behind, utterly lost for words.

"So Chikorita was upset because I said I didn't care about showing the beauty of my pokemon and I just wanted to focus on the battling?" Chloe asked, looking from May to Drew, holding her half-eaten sandwich with both hands. Drew nodded as he stabbed at a piece of lettuce from his salad.

"That would be my guess."

"I think that makes sense," May added, biting into an apple, having already finished her lunch.

Chloe dropped her hands down and looked at Chikorita next to her who had gotten over its bad mood and was quickly gobbling its food down. "I guess it really would make a good contest pokemon then," she concluded.

"But you don't want to be a coordinator, do you?" May asked kindly.

"Actually...," Chloe began slowly, a smile touching her lips as she looked at May and Drew, "Watching you two battle back there with all your pokemon and using all those gorgeous combinations made me want to do that as well."

"Wow, I didn't even realize that we made our combinations look nice." May looked at Drew. "I guess we're so used to battling in contests that even when we're not in them we make our attacks look appealing." Drew nodded.

"So, I've realized that I want to be able to do that with Chikorita," Chloe said quietly, "And I want to give contests a try. I think the reason I didn't before was cause I didn't really know what contests were and I started my journey thinking I would be a trainer. Both of my parents were trainers so that was sort of the only thing I considered." She paused and May and Drew didn't say anything, waiting for her to continue. Then she said, "And I don't think I fully understood what it meant to show the beauty of my pokemon until I saw you guys battle back there." She looked at Chikorita and smiled, "Plus, I don't want to stop Chikorita from doing something it loves." Then looking at May and Drew again she said firmly, "So I've decided I'm going to try coordinating."

"Chloe that's awesome! You'll do amazing, I just know it!" May said happily. "And Chikorita will too!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita exclaimed, jumping into Chloe's lap having finished its food.

"I think you two will go far," Drew complimented, offering a small smile.

"Thanks!" Chloe grinned. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she said, "So I was wondering something about you two."

"Yeah," May smiled. "What is it?"

"How are you rivals at the same time as….you know?"

"At the same time as what?" May perked a brow.

"You know how do you balance being rivals and being together at the same time?"

"Together?" May's face flushed. "What does tha-? What do you me-?"

"Oh I had assumed by the way you guys interacted that you were like, you know, together," she said, slightly embarrassed. May's face turned an even brighter shade of red. "Like I didn't think you were just friends," she giggled upon seeing May's face.

"What? Of course we are! Why would we be anything else?" May raised her hands defensively. Drew busied himself with packing his bag, pretending not to have heard the entire conversation, though his pink ears said otherwise. Chloe just shook her head, still giggling silently.

"I can't thank you both enough!" Chloe beamed.

"Don't mention it! We're glad we could help!" May smiled brightly. Drew nodded. The three of them stood at a fork in the path. Chikorita hopped up and down excitedly next to Chloe.

"Well I'm headed this way so maybe I'll see you again later at a contest or some place. Thanks again for all your help and good luck in your contests!"

"Thanks and good luck with your contests too!" May responded cheerily. Chloe grinned then turned and walked down the narrower of the two paths, Chikorita skipping along next to her. May turned to Drew.

"Let's go! We have a contest to get to."

"Right. But don't forget it's gonna take another two weeks to get there." They started walking, back on the path that would lead them to Goldenrod.

"I know but we'll get there eventually and when we do I'm getting my first ribbon!"

That concludes chapter 3! Hope you enjoyed! Let me know in the reviews if you liked it!

Stay tuned for the next chapter where someone gets a new pokemon! Can you guess who it'll be and which pokemon they'll get?

See you next time!