Chapter 69

Turning her Xtransceiver back on, May frowned at the barrage of notifications she was receiving, her device chiming more frequently than it had in a long time.

Glancing at the time, May let out a nervous sigh. They were due to check out shortly, but she wanted to make sure that her devices were all charged.

Unfortunately for her, her reaching out to people saying she was fine had worked about as well as she'd expected.

Just as she was about to turn it off again, the device lit up with a name she couldn't reject.

Unplugging her Xtransceiver, she answered, 'hey, I thought I told Steven to tell you that I'm not in the mood to talk right now.'

'Tough shit, princess. I've got more powerful people breathing down my back, and in all honesty, you scare me a lot less than they do,' the familiar voice of Brendan Birch met her ear, sounding about as irritable as she'd heard in longer than she could remember.

'Excuse me?' May said, instinctively smiling at the audacity of her oldest friend.

'You heard me. I can deal with your temper tantrums, but I'm being contacted by far too many league elites for me to know how to handle all of them. Why the fuck do you have so many friends anyway?' Brendan seethed at her, ignoring the disbelieving edge in her voice.

'So, my sweetest, loveliest princess of Hoenn… What. The. Fuck?! When did I become your fucking secretary?' Brendan bristled, and May could picture him reaching for the beanie she secretly loved to yank over his eyes.

Taking in a slow breath to calm her nerves, May tried to keep her anger out of her voice as she said, 'what did you just say?'

'Hmmm, you're pissed. I get it. If they're blowing up my Xtransceiver, yours is probably almost flat, if it isn't already dead because you never charge the thing. What's it like, having to remember that you need to charge your tech regularly?' Brendan teased, and May glared at the cornice above her, wondering if she should stop him from going on another tech rant.

She wasn't nearly as bad with it as she used to be. At least now she updated her devices. That was something, right?

'I told them you'll be fine, but they're acting like this is your first loss. They need to learn that you're not so fragile that one measly loss is going to rattle you,' Brendan continued, and May could hear his starter pokémon calling her name.

'Brendan,' May began, though she stopped, her stomach twisting uncomfortably as she realised just how worried her friends must be.

They were all reaching out to him because they couldn't get to her. They couldn't get to her because she didn't feel like putting up a charade and Brendan was trying to booster her own mood in his own unique way.

Yeah, losing hurt, but she hadn't even lost in a battle. She'd lost in the appeals round, meaning that she'd lost on her ability as a coordinator alone.

She'd failed her pokémon.

'May, don't. I know you, you're tougher than this,' Brendan warned, such conviction in his voice that May tightened her hand, her nails digging painfully in the palm of her hands.

She didn't deserve having such good friends.

'But I couldn't even get to the battle stage,' May whispered, wishing that she had some inclination of what she needed to do.

'So strategise. You've been through this before, back with your other friends. I know you can do this, May. Just remember what gave you that inspiration back then,' Brendan said, his faith in her making her wonder why he was still supporting her.

Trying to smile, May couldn't think of anything she could say.

The one who'd always offered her the inspiration. The one who'd always stood in the shadows, watching out for her, a rose in hand.

He wasn't there any more.

She had to do this alone.

'Bren-Bren, I've got to go,' May whispered, hearing a knock on her door.

That would be Iris, probably wanting to get going.

'Sure, but remember that you're so much better than this. And… if it was Drew that gave you inspiration, just think about why that was. Putting all your eggs in one basket is a bad idea, especially if you want them to hatch. He may be back in your life now, but I don't expect him to stay,' Brendan warned, and May winced at his words.

Before she could say anything, Brendan continued, 'you might have forgotten how heartbroken you were, but I was the one who had to see you like that. Every day you were crying, not eating, not sleeping. You didn't even have the energy to look after your pokémon, May.'

'You're too kind and far too gullible, so I'm sure you've forgiven him already. As for me, I've never seen you like that before and if I see you like that again, I'm making sure no one finds his body,' Brendan said before hanging up.

Looking at the dark screen, May sighed, wishing her friend wasn't quite so overprotective of her.

Balling her hands in a fist, May hesitated. Brendan might not realise it, but she could still remember how hurt she'd been back then. Drew was her first love, a part of her would probably always love him.

Hearing another knock, May called out, 'I'll be there in a bit. I'm ok, honestly.'