Chapter 17: Hero
Drew took a deep breath. "Okay. I…umm.."
May takes Drew's hand. He looks at her. She smiles softly. "Take your time."
He smiles softly. "May…" He frowns, and looks at the fire. "I haven't really talked that much about my Coordinator life when I was first starting out…"
May sits patiently, waiting for Drew to continue. She notices his eyes getting watery.
"You see…I-I…I was not always so confident in Contests…I used to be a wimp."
"I'm sure that's not true."
"There was a time when I was losing Contest after Contest…I felt like giving up so many times…"
May frowned.
"I…I felt like I would never get better. I felt like I'd never be the best. There was a time I even considered being a trainer, battling gyms to enter the Pokémon League…"
"Really?"
Drew nodded. "And…p-people would hate my performances…they'd hate…me. I felt terrible. I had a friend to stop the bullying though."
"Solidad?"
Drew nodded. "She stopped them, and gave me the courage and motivation to continue Coordinating. She's really the reason I got good enough."
"You…were bullied too…I had no idea…"
Drew looks at May in the eyes. "I guess that's part of the reason I was so upset when I saw how miserable you were when you got bullied. I care about you. And I didn't want you to feel the same way I did."
May wipes a few tears off Drew's cheeks. "Thank you for telling me."
Drew sniffled. "You won't make fun of me?"
"Of course not, silly. I'm not that kind of person."
Drew smiled softly. "Thank you for always listening to me."
"Of course."
"I have something for you."
May cocks her head in confusion.
"Come on out now!" Drew called.
May watches as the cute bunny Pokémon walks into the cave. She gasped softly.
The Pokémon walks to May and stares up at her with interest.
"Aww…You're so cute." May said happily. The Pokémon smiles and nuzzles her.
Drew smiled. "May…this Pokémon is interested in traveling with us. I think you should catch it."
"M-me?"
"She's a gift for you."
"Where did you find her?"
"I saved her from falling off a cliff."
"Aww.." May lifts up the Pokémon. "She's adorable…"
"Buneary!" The Pokémon said happily.
May took out her pokédex.
"Buneary, the Rabbit Pokémon. When sensing danger, it extends both ears as an alert, and when cold, it curls up and goes to sleep."
May smiled. "Nice to meet you, Buneary. I'm May." She picks up Buneary. "I'd love to be your friend."
"Buneary!" Buneary said happily.
"You already have six Pokémon with you." Drew reminded. "You should send one back home before catching Buneary."
May nodded. "But which one? Hm…" She ponders it while Buneary goes to Drew.
Drew pets Buneary in between the ears.
May takes out Bayleef's pokéball, staring down at it. "I'm sure that Bayleef would love to check out the greenhouse back home."
"I'm sure she would." Drew agreed.
May nodded and put her pokéball away. "Let's head to a Pokémon Center so I can transfer her."
"We've got a long way to hike. I'll cook lunch first. We'll go after we eat."
"Okay. While you do that, I think I'll go for a walk through the forest."
Drew reaches in his backpack and starts pulling out his cooking equipment. "Be careful."
"Don't worry. I will." May ran out of the cave with Buneary.
Buneary hops next to May with a big smile. "Bun, Buneary!"
They run into the forest and slow down to walk. "Buneary, have you heard of Pokémon Contests?" May asked.
"Buneary?" Buneary questioned.
"They're performances. A Coordinator like me enters the Contest with a Pokémon like you, and performs for a crowd, showing off the Pokémon's unique abilities and powers. And then for the second round, the Pokémon would have to battle against many trainers, but it's still really fun. Are you interested in entering one someday?"
"Buneary!" Buneary hops up and down with excitement.
May giggled. "Then that's what we'll do."
Drew had finished cooking about twenty minutes after May left. He stood up and looked outside the cave. "It looks like it's going to start snowing again. Better find May." He runs out of the cave.
May is pretty far away. She spent the last twenty minutes just talking to Buneary, getting to know each other. Buneary stops and looks up at the sky. May looks at her. "Buneary? Is something wrong?"
"Bun, Buneary…" Buneary said sadly, sensing that it's about to snow.
"Hmm…I think we should head back. He's got to be finished cooking by now." She turned to walk back, but felt the ground beneath her shake and she froze. "Huh? Aah!" She had looked underneath her and noticed that she's at the edge of a cliff!
"Buneary!" Buneary said worriedly.
"I'm okay, Buneary." May carefully took a step forward, feeling the ground shake some more. And then another one…
…and then the cliff breaks with May on top. She screams, falling.
"May!"
A voice was heard from above. She looks up to see Drew…jumping off the cliff?!
Her eyes widened.
Drew dives after May and reaches out for her. He takes her hands in midair.
"Drew, you're crazy!" May yelled.
Drew didn't say anything. He only pulled himself closer to May. He wrapped his arms around her, and it took all of his strength to flip them over.
May gasped, knowing what Drew was doing. He's making it so he'd take the impact of the fall, and she wouldn't. Her eyes get watery. "No, Drew. I…I can't let you do this."
Drew holds May close. "Take care, Princess." He whispers in her ear.
"What? D-Drew-"
Drew groans loudly when they hit the bottom. His head had hit a large rock. Hard. May gasped, falling out of his arms. She rolled on the ground. Drew fell unconscious.
May picked herself up and ran over to Drew, kneeling by his side. "Drew! Drew, talk to me!" When he didn't respond, the tears started to fall out of her eyes. They land on his chest. "Drew…no, Drew…please…wake up."
There's no movement…
"Drew…" May sobs, holding Drew's hand. "You…actually risked your life…to save me. I…y-you're…my hero…"
At this moment, a car pulls up. The driver notices May. "Is everything alright?"
May turns her head. "Nurse Joy?"
Nurse Joy gets out of the car with a first aid kit and rushes to May and Drew. "What happened?" She starts bandaging the cuts on Drew's arms.
"He…h-he risked himself to save me from the fall…"
"Off the mountain?!"
May nodded.
"You must be very important to him."
"I-I guess…"
"Let's get him to the Pokémon Center. Luckily, I always bring a stretcher." Nurse Joy rushes to her car and pulls a stretcher out of the trunk.
May helps Nurse Joy put Drew on the stretcher before they start running towards the Pokémon Center on foot. Thankfully, it's close by. They rush Drew to a hospital room. They carefully move Drew onto the bed.
May sits by the bed while Nurse Joy hooks Drew up to the machine. May stares at Drew with a frown. ("Please be okay…it's my fault you're in this condition…")
The machine starts beeping, indicating Drew's heartbeat.
"His heartbeat is a little slower than it's supposed to be." Nurse Joy said.
"Will he be okay?"
Nurse Joy looks at May. "There's no way to know for sure."
May sniffled and looked at Drew. ("Please…I can't lose you…")
May had ended up falling asleep sitting up with her head on Drew's hospital bed. Nurse Joy did all she could. Now they just wait for Drew to wake up…
It's morning, and May woke up and stretched. She looked at Drew before frowning. "Still not up…" She stood up and left the room to go get food in the cafeteria.
"Hey, May." A female voice said from behind her.
May turned around, still with a frown. "Oh. Hey, Solidad."
"'Oh'?" Solidad repeated. "Is everything okay, May?"
"No, it's just awful!" May said, on the verge of crying. Everyone nearby turns to stare at them.
"Shh…tell me what's wrong."
May puts her plate down on a random table before taking Solidad's hand and dragging her away.
They go to Drew's hospital room. Solidad gasped. "What…happened?"
"H-he risked his life…to save me…" May said.
Solidad smiled softly. "That's so like him…" She walks to Drew. "Hmm…" She frowns. "'If it's for her…I'd do anything…'"
May stares at Solidad in confusion.
"Those words came from Drew. We had talked on the phone a few days ago. The conversation started about you."
May's cheeks tint pink. "He…said that?"
Solidad shows May a small smile. "He cares about you. When he said those words, I didn't believe them. I thought that he wouldn't dare do anything reckless if it's to protect you. But now I've seen it…"
May looks at Drew's face.
"He still loves you, May. He wouldn't do this otherwise."
May took a deep breath to calm her emotions. "I had asked him the other day…what he would do if he saw his girlfriend fall off of a cliff…he said that he doesn't know…when I asked him what he'd do if he saw me fall off a cliff, he said exactly what he did today. He'd dive off after me and take the impact instead. I didn't really believe anyone could be that reckless. Ash is the exception."
Solidad smiled softly down at Drew. "May…do you really believe that Drew is dating Julianna?"
"In Coordinator's Weekly, there are pictures of them holding hands…hugging…even one of them kissing. It says that they are. Would…they actually be faking?"
"When I talked to Drew about it, he seemed nervous all of a sudden. Like he was hiding something. He had told me that the reason he started going out with Julianna is to get over you. His sadness after you two broke up. He just wanted a way to get his mind off of things. Julianna asked him out, so he said yes." She looks at May. "But there's no way that's the truth."
"If It isn't, then…what is?"
"I don't know. But I plan on finding out."
"Why would Drew be faking a relationship? It doesn't make any sense."
Solidad shrugged her shoulders. "For now, you shouldn't worry about that. Just worry about his recovery. I'll look into what could be going on."
"Okay."
"I hope he recovers soon." Solidad left the room.
May looks at Drew. "Me too…"
May sighed, sitting on the bench in front of the Pokémon Center. She had been there for three days already, waiting for Drew to wake up. But no movement occurred at all.
"Why…why…" May repeated to herself. "Why did you have to dive after me?"
"Bun, Buneary!"
May gasped and looked up. "Buneary! You found me!"
Buneary jumps onto the bench and nuzzles May.
"I thought you were gone. After I fell off that cliff, I didn't know where you were."
"Bun, Buneary."
May frowned. "Drew isn't doing so well…"
"Buneary?"
"Since he took the impact of my fall…he hasn't woken up yet."
"Buneary…" Buneary stares at May with worry in her eyes.
Nurse Joy exits the Pokémon Center to talk to May. "May, I have some news…"
May looked up at Nurse Joy. "Is he awake? Please tell me he's awake."
"Um…he's awake…but-"
Before Nurse Joy could finish her sentence, May rushed into the Pokémon Center. She's got to see him.
May gasped when she entered Drew's hospital room. "You're awake…y-you're awake…" Her eyes get watery.
Drew stares at May in confusion.
May walks to the bed. "Drew…I…I was so worried about you…"
"You…were?"
"Of course I was."
"But…why?"
"What do you mean why? You're my hero…"
"But…who are you exactly?"
May laughs softly. "Oh, Drew…don't play around…"
"What do you mean?"
May's smile fades. "Wait…you…really don't remember me?"
"Sorry…I don't."
May gasped, tears threatening to fall out. "No…y-you have to remember me…please…"
"I…" Drew is speechless. This stranger is on the verge of crying and he doesn't know what to do.
Nurse Joy entered the room. "I was going to tell you, May. He seems to have no memory of certain things."
"No…it's not true…I won't believe it." May said.
"Listen…" Drew started. "You seem like a nice girl…but I just…don't have any memory of you. I'm sorry."
May shook her head after a moment, sniffling. "N-no. It's fine." She starts backing up. "I…I just…need some air." She turns and runs out of the room.