DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon or ANY of the songs/song lyrics that appear in this chapter. Got that? NONE OF 'EM ARE MINE. I also did not make up the last names of Wally and May.

Credits to Kamairie (Casmailee) for the title and the idea.

Now… this prologue went through lots of editing. Lots of it, cuz it was so horrible that I just HAD to go and edit it (this was originally written awhile ago, maybe over a year ago, and my writing style has changed since then). It didn't even make sense (May was in Lilycove and Slateport at once). So…

Hope it isn't too bad.

BTW, if you didn't know already, "subete" means "everything" in Japanese, for future reference, if you didn't know that.

- - -

"… When you walk away, you don't hear me say please… oh baby… don't go. Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight… It's hard to let it go…"

Delicate words drifted into the ears of Brendan Birch, the generic seventeen-year-old guy from Littleroot Town. He had soft white hair that was pushed back by a thick, green headband. His clothes consisted of a simple white t-shirt, khakis, and white tennis shoes, the perfect outfit for a cool summer morning in the active port town of Slateport City. He was lying in his bed, his hands behind his head and his crimson eyes closed, listening to the sound of pop star May Maple's voice play from his stereo. The song was written and composed by Wally Wood, a region-wide famous composer who composed for artists that were under the label of LIL' COVE.

"Hold me… Whatever lies beyond this morning is a little later on. Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all… Nothing's like before…"

The music continued playing for about a minute longer, and then it faded away. Then suddenly, it skipped back to the beginning of the song. Brendan had set it so that it would repeat it, to save himself the trouble of pushing the rewind button each time it ended. Images of the beautiful young singer drifted slowly through his mind, accompanied by her calming voice. He smiled silently upon remembering that she was somewhere within his own Slateport City, getting ready for her next big concert that was going to be held in two weeks.

In his opinion, May was the prettiest girl Brendan had ever seen. She had shoulder-length, chestnut brown hair that was split into two equal parts and hung on each side of her face. He didn't know what her casual wear was, since he had never seen her except on TV, but when she was performing, she wore the classiest, most beautiful outfits that a pop star could wear. Her eyes, her best feature, were a deep pool of blue and reminded him of the vast, glittering ocean that stretched beyond the Slateport Beach.

Of course, with eyes like those, he couldn't possibly be the only one who liked May. When they had heard of her expected performance, fanboys from all over Hoenn had rushed into the port city. Business for the Slateport Hotel was booming, but Brendan and many other townspeople's peace and quiet had been destroyed. Hearing screams of "MAY! MAY! MAY!" and feeling his apartment literally shake in the mornings was fairly common in the mornings following the brunette's arrival.

Stupid fanboys. He shut his eyes tighter and tried to focus on the music.

May Maple, if you ever come to this hell of a place again, please make sure you don't tell the world.

- - -

A sixteen-year-old pop star sighed heavily as she picked up a thick packet, slightly crumpled packet that was sitting on her desk. She skimmed over the first page for a few seconds before she slammed the papers down and slumped down in her chair. "Damned lyrics," she murmured, putting some of her chestnut hair behind her ear. "Anca expects me to memorize all these?"

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. Even though she loved singing, she hated memorizing lyrics, and was especially nervous before live performances. Since she spent all her time during breaks drinking as much water as possible, she had no time to look over the words again during concerts and other presentations. Because of this, Anca, her manager, was twice as strict with her before a show.

The brunette sat up in her chair again and tried to focus on memorizing lyrics. She picked up the packet again and began reading. She started to sing the song "Dearest" softly to herself, "Hontou ni, taisetsu na… mono igai, subete, sutete…"

When she finished the song, she put the papers down facedown and tried singing it to herself without looking at the words. "Ah… deatta ano koro wa… sutete ga…"

… No…

Frustrated, she flipped the packet back over and stared at the characters on the page.

"Dammit."

Subete, subete, subete.

She slumped back into her seat and looked around at the bare white walls. She didn't mind the silence, but usually, she was alone in her studio room, trying to relax, and hearing the voices of her staff and manager outside. She felt a sense of loneliness in the big, empty suite. The room was completely opposite of the ocean just outside her window. The deep blue waters extended for miles, but they were full of fish.

Must never get lonely there, huh?

She had actually hated the idea of having a suite half the size of a room in the Lilycove Department Store all to herself, but Anca had insisted.

"May, listen. You're a rising world star; you need some space. You'll appreciate the privacy when you start getting mobbed wherever you go."

May stared at the blank wall in front of her. Already happening. Was privacy not obtainable in a smaller room? She pictured Anca and the rest of the staff, relaxing in the suite two rooms from hers, chatting and laughing. Did her manager think that she wanted to sit alone in a huge, unoccupied room, memorizing lyrics? Or did she just want her to work so that the concert would be successful and LIL' COVE would make more money?

I'm just your money tree, aren't I?

Anca was always extremely concerned for her health and well-being, but was that only because if she became sick, she wouldn't be able to perform, and the company would lose money? Why did she feel that no one truly cared about what happened to her without their concern rooting back to money?

Her conscious decided to answer the question. It's because you don't have friends. You can't pay for friends, so they care about you because you're their friend too.

May's beautiful deep blue eyes grew pale and sad. F… friends?

But… they've… they've all wanted to be around me because of my social status…

She cringed at the thought of her previous "friends", who had all tried to indirectly ask her for expensive things or money to buy those things.

Her pupils lowered. There was… Yuki… though…

Flashback

"May! May! May!"

May whirled around, smiling, for she recognized the familiar high-pitched voice. About six feet away from her was the excited smile of a fifteen-year-old girl with azure blue hair and sparkling green eyes. "May!" she shouted again, waving wildly. She started running towards the pop star, her arms spread out for a friendly hug.

"WAHHHHH!" The teenager practically jumped onto the brunette, squeezing her tightly as May almost choked. She let go and started hopping energetically. "May! May! Hihihihihi!"

May laughed. "Yuki… it's just me. You don't have to be all worked up about it."

"But but but!" Yuki crossed her arms and pouted. "You're a pop star now! It feels sooooo good to finally meet someone famous!" She beamed at her best friend, who had frozen into place at the word "pop star".

"… Y… yeah… I'm… I'm a… pop star… now…" May stuttered, clasping her hands together nervously. She stiffened and her face turned pale. "You… you… came here… for that… ?"

Yuki ignored the last sentence. "Isn't it great? What do pop stars do everyday? We're gonna have a great time! Right?"

"R… right!" The teen tried to sound excited as to not ruin Yuki's excitement. "I'm a… pop star… after all…"

"C'mon! Let's go to the mall!" The hyper girl tried to pull her friend along towards the huge Lilycove Department Store.

"Um… I'll pass." She turned away and stared at the ground, not bearing to look back at her "friend".

"What? You don't wanna go to the mall with me?" She looked slightly hurt.

"No! It's not that… it's just… well…"

She sweatdropped and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, okay, I mean, it's fine! I know pop stars are busy and all."

"T… that's it…" May muttered, kicking some of the dirt that had blown onto the stone back into a patch of grass.

Yuki paused before speaking. "Well then, see ya! If you have time, join me later, okay?"

The singer had already started walking away, not bothering to turn and face her friend.

"May? Do you hear me?" she asked, almost shouting.

"…Y… yeah…" she answered, her sad blue eyes cast downward. "I… I hear you."

She stared at the friendship bracelet that she had always, even when she became famous, worn around her wrist. There were twelve letter beads that made it up: M-A-Y-&-Y-U-K-I--B-F-F.

BFF…

Aren't friends supposed to care about each other because they're friends?

She bit her lip. Who knew that one paper could change everything?

… So… you came for the pop star too.

End Flashback

"… Subete…"

Suddenly, remembering her concert, she frantically began to flip through the packet of lyrics, trying to find the newest song that Wally had written for her. Make a Wish… Make a Wish…

It occurred to her then that she had forgotten to staple it in.

"Shit."

- - -

In case you didn't realize, May said "dammit," because she had sung "sutete" instead of "subete".

I'm kind of referring to BoA on the whole money tree thing. –rolls eyes- God, SM Entertainment and AVEX seriously need to GIVE HER A BREAK.

By the way, Anca and Yuki are just random names I picked from the female name choices in Colosseum because I was desperate to move on… -sweatdrop-

OMFG I'M FINISHED!1111 -jumps up and down-