As they lugged their bags towards the dock, Drew suddenly smirked. Turning to May,he asked, "this is a contest right?"
She grinned, unsure where this was going. "Yeah, and I'm gonna win!"
In one quick motion, Drew yelled out, "Let's go, Flygon!" as the desert spirit pokemon with the radiant eyes leapt out of the pokeball. In one fell swoop, Drew climbed aboard, and winked at the astonished girl before saying, "I'll see ya later then, Maple!" as he quickly shot through the sky towards the registration.
May's mouth gaped open, as she processed what had just happened. Beautifly leapt out of her pokeball and gestured for May to hold on. Unfortunately, this was a short-lived idea as Beautifly frantically fluttered its wings trying to attain lift-off.
May blushed, "I did eat a lot today….thanks though, Beautifly. We just need to find another way to get there." As the crowd slowly dispersed as the passengers of the S.S. Tidal made their way onto dry land, May lit up.
"I know what to do! Blaziken, you're up!"
Without words, Blaziken lifted May onto his shoulders and sprinted towards registration. May could see a green dot far away, which she assumed must be her rival.
Drew leisurely whistled as he strolled around the battle resort area. He had gotten his frontier pass, and had passed the houses by the seaside and neared what appeared to be a small cafe. There was an advertisement near the door that read, Want to learn how to make Galar-style curry? Sign up for a lesson at the Ballonlea Cafe. He paused, remembering how in Goldenrod, May had led him to a cafe that specialized in curry - her pure joy, and the fact that she had consumed five plates of different curry on rice - had never left his mind. Should I…? Suddenly, he heard a shout.
"Drew!"
A flushed May sprinting at full-speed towards him. He gulped.
Out of breath, she exclaimed, "How- could -you just - just leave me?! I spent 20 minutes trying to find you and you - what are you doing?"
Drew had snuck the advertisement into his vest pocket, and had - in a sleight-of-hand that would make any magician proud - pulled out a crimson rose and handed it to her.
"Sorry," he said looking slightly guilty, "but we saved a lot of time huh? You got here pretty quick, April."
The last fuse keeping May with semi-perfect composure burst open with a single word and all of the Battle Frontier must have heard May yell, "for the last time, MY NAME IS MAY!"
After a rather quiet lunch of sandwiches and moo-moo milk, May sighed.
"Okay, Okay, I forgive you, but," she turned to face him, "don't leave me like that again."
He pinky-promised he wouldn't. As the two sat on the picnic blanket May had bought in Johto sharing a brochure, the pair decided they would challenge the Battle Factory first.
"It looks like the Battle Factory is what they recommend people to start with," mused May.
Drew frowned, as he thumbed through the brochure, "Factory Head Noland, huh? The Battle Factory doesn't allow the use of your own pokemon; and it says here, 'each trainer will be given rental pokemon. Before the player begins a battle, they will be told some information about the opponent's team, and may switch one of the Pokémon they have with them with one of the Pokémon used by the Trainer they just defeated.'"
May nodded thoughtfully, "Oh...I remember Ash battled Articuno at the Battle Factory...so anything can happen here."
"Hmm.. So...there's strategy involved in choosing when to switch one of the Pokémon out... But the rental Pokémon are just randomly chosen?
"… I don't like the idea of not being able to battle with my own Pokémon though...I had a couple combinations I was going to use with Beautifly and Glaceon."
Drew smiled, "Maybe it'll be a source of inspiration anyway...also, May, I talked to this man named Scott who runs the entire Frontier, and he said that Noland was out taking a flight for today but that we can begin our challenge 'bright and early tomorrow.'"
Pouting May exclaimed, "then what do you want to do today?"
Drew grinned, "I might have an idea. Let me make a phone call."
They had walked for a good 30 minutes into the heart of the Battle Resort, before May - with her Pokenav up, began to frown, "Drew...I think we might be going the wrong way."
"Impossible. Don't worry, May, we're almost there."
And sure enough they were. As they neared the restaurants of the resort, May smiled, "I didn't know you also believed in the idea of a second lunch, Drew. I'm proud that I've made such an impact on your life."
Drew flicked his hair in his trademark style, "not quite, May...but you're close." As they walked two more blocks, both May and Munchlax - who had somewhere along the way popped out of his pokeball, had a realization.
Sniffing the air, May exclaimed, "Rich, savory, these spices...Drew, we're going to eat curry?!" Her eyes twinkled and she turned and pulled him into a bear hug. They had arrived at the entrance of the Ballonlea Cafe.
He laughed, "May, just wait and see." He smiled giddily with realizing it, happy at seeing the girl beside him radiate joy.
They walked in with high spirits. There were 8 kitchen counters with ingredients at the ready, and what seemed to Drew like 7 lovey-dovey couples in all the counters except the one closest to the two coordinators...hold on, lovey-dovey couples...Drew was sure he had read the advertisement properly. As May looked quizzically at her chartreuse-haired friend, who suddenly looked as if he had choked on a poffin, she looked at the brochure before blushing beet-red. I really need glasses, thought Drew as he read the fine-print in the poster: on Fridays we only hold Couple's Cooking Sessions. Please bring along your special someone and enjoy a lesson at half-price!
Drew gave May a sideways glance and with a nod in response, he walked up to the Chef at the front, and introduced himself, "Hi. My name's Drew Hayden and I registered for the cooking lesson about 30 minutes ago. I'm here with my girlfriend, May Maple."
She blushed as red as the rose she had received earlier, the one now tucked in her hair. How is he saying that so smoothly? May wondered. Drew himself felt surprised by how good, how - natural - that last sentence felt rolling off his tongue, though his heart was beating faster than it did at that last battle of the Grand Festival.
The chef smiled, "My, my, aren't you two an adorable pair? This way, darlings." As she gave the pair aprons, both gulped, a perfect combination of nervousness and excitement simmering.
A/N: Up next: the cooking lesson and ...a phone call from Dawn about DTR? (If you know what I mean) The Battle Factory will be the chapter after next!