Chapter Seven: Rubello Town– In which Drew does some research, sees a new side of May, goes for ribbon number four and gets surprised by someone else.
Author's Notes:
- I'm really sorry I'm not updating as frequently. I've been busier on this break that I was during the fall semester.
- Based on the episodes, "A Fan with a Plan!" and "Cruzin' for a Losin'."
- I always felt bad for May in these episodes and everyone I know just thinks she was a spoiled brat. Definitely going to do my best to balance her side of the story somewhat in the next chapter, but it'll stay with Drew's perspective as always.
- (Final)ly done with finals!
It was a great time to be in the Hoenn contest circuit.
Drew knew this, and it excited him more than he actually cared to admit.
With only six months left until the Grand Festival, the local town contests were starting to get more and more serious. Rubello Town's upcoming contest was an example of that. It was the point in the year when Grand Festival rules started being implemented in order to get all of the coordinators properly prepared for the different rule set. Regular contests in the beginning, a few in the middle and the final one at the end of the season were always single-Pokémon contests. A coordinator went through both the appeals and the battle rounds using only one partner, which was not how it was done in the Grand Festival.
No, in the Grand Festival, everything was stepped up. From the two rounds of appeals using different Pokémon to the double battling rounds, a lot of things changed when it came to the ultimate contest of any region. The contest committee had decided that the most special contest deserved the most special rules, and the contest season calendar grew to reflect some of those changes as the season went on. Beginning with R1 contests that started at the halfway point in the season, where coordinators were required to have won a ribbon prior to the start of the contest to enter, and they would work with two different partners: one for their appeals and one for their battles.
Some towns even implemented R2 contests near the end. Though Drew hadn't ever competed in an R2 contest, he'd loved the two or three he'd attended in the previous season. That was when the claws really came out: coordinators with two or more ribbons always seemed a lot more serious in their entries, because they were the ones who took coordinating seriously and they were the ones gunning for the Grand Festival entry.
There were even a few R3 contests in the season, but only two or three of those occurred annually.
Then of course, there was always that final contest of the season, which had no strict rules or anything special. It acted as a regular contest and anyone could enter. Why? Because most of the entries in the last contest had four ribbons, and it was their last shot to get into the Grand Festival…so they had to earn it. They had to prove they were better than everyone else there competing. But with no limits as to who could enter, the contest also saw a lot of talent from all over the coordinator spectrum. People with two ribbons, people with one ribbon, people with no ribbons; they all entered. It gave the contest a certain "there could be a wild card here" feel, and it pumped the energy way up. Drew had been looking forward to the final contest all season, not to compete, but to observe.
But there was still plenty of time between then and now, and now was the Rubello contest, where Drew swore he wasn't going to let anything go wrong. He'd already tried and failed twice to get his fourth ribbon, and third time was the charm. When he came to realize it was the first R1 contest of the season, determination flooded through his body, and he'd rushed to northern Hoenn to get to Rubello Town a week early.
A R1 contest meant better competition: it meant only coordinators skilled enough to have won before would be entering. On top of that, Drew was debuting a brand new Pokémon in the battle rounds at this contest. The odds were stacked against him and after his previous two defeats, he had every intention to show the coordinating world he was still at the top of his game, and that the last two contests – well, the first contest and the second pre-contest battle which prevented him from entering the second contest – weren't setbacks, just minor inconveniences.
When he'd read over the applied Grand Festival rules the contest would feature after he registered, he had to do some rearranging. This contest required two Pokémon, so he couldn't only use Masqurain like he planned. After a first training session that week, he'd decided to go with Roselia during the appeal and Masqurain during the battle rounds. Roselia was a safe bet; she would get him through the first round no problem, because she was his best partner, and at a contest like this, when only four would advance, he needed his best to get him into the second round. After that, he knew his battling skills could carry him through no matter who his partner was.
But the thought of using Roselia again threw him off a bit. He'd been wanting to display something different, and he had yet to find a chance. It was why he'd been so ecstatic to use Masqurain for the first time. But going into a contest where the steaks were much higher made him want to play it safe in every round he could. He didn't know if his new Pokémon could absolutely carry him through to round two when he was facing more intense competition than before. So he ultimately decided to use Roselia for the first round to guarantee his spot, and rely on his skills as a battler to guide Masqurain through the fights.
On his second night there, he called Solidad to get her opinion about appeals and what she saw in Sinnoh. He was looking to change things up a bit with Roselia and couldn't break the habit of spamming magical leaf. One concept that she told him about in-depth was the sticker seals used in super contests. Drew wasn't too enthralled with the concept of having to obtain his own seal and stickers when he knew he could easily recreate the effect on his own. And that served as his main inspiration for his appeal: how his Pokémon were skilled enough to make their own statement during their entrance rather than relying on some form of artificial aid.
The days leading up to the contest flew by, as they always did. Drew was working closely with Masqurain on battling, and with Roselia on her attack-based entrance to the stage. They'd tried magical leaf a few times, but ultimately decided that petal dance was the way to go with what they were trying to do, because it was her flashiest move and Drew felt more comfortable with it. He wasn't a risk-taker, and he figured he never would be.
Masqurain, meanwhile, was nailing it with his combination attacks. Hidden power was quickly becoming Drew's favorite move, although ice beam and bubble were devastatingly beautiful as well. He'd have to work on a way to combine them all together… The prospect of a triple combination was all too exciting.
While Masqurain and Roselia took breaks, he'd work with Vibrava. He knew Vibrava was getting closer to evolution as he was definitely getting stronger, but Drew didn't know how much longer he had to go. He'd desperately wanted to get a Flygon, but he barely had time to work towards that. He had to put the majority of his focus into his two Pokémon who'd be entering the contest. The months leading up to the Grand Festival would be about getting that Flygon.
But this wasn't about one Pokémon. No, it was for his entire team. He just hoped that five and a half months would be enough time to make sure all of his Pokémon were ready before the Grand Festival, because this year, he intended to win it.
Before he knew it, it was the day before the contest.
After a previous long day of training, he'd dropped his Pokémon off with Nurse Joy the night before so they could all get some final check ups before the contest. Drew knew from experience that the day before and of contests made for some insanely packed Pokémon Centers, so he had always opted to train hard throughout the week, heal up his partners two days before, and do some mild and light training the day before so he didn't wear them out. No need to get tangled up in that last-day rush of coordinators who were desperate to get their Pokémon in top shape at the last minute.
The walk from his hotel back to the center the next morning was nice. It was a beautiful day in Rubello Town. The sunshine felt good on him and the fair temperatures were a welcome change. Hoenn was known for its blistering heat and mild winters. There were only a few towns in all of Hoenn that ever saw snow during the winter, and Rubello Town being so far north was one of them. But even in the summer, Rubello settled around the mid 70's temperature-wise. Today it was a lovely 68 degrees, and it was nice to not have to hate the sun during a morning stroll.
The front doors of the Pokémon Center slid open and Drew almost fell flat on his face when he saw the group speaking to Nurse Joy at the desk. Their backs were to him as he stood somewhat awkwardly in the doorway, because he was actually somewhat shocked. This was the same group he'd run into the last two towns he'd stayed in; the same group that May traveled with. None of them turned when he entered.
And there she was, front and center of the group, asking questions while he stood there in the doorway staring at her red bandana like an idiot.
His mind flashed back to his previous conversation about her with Solidad, and how they both wondered if May had any plans on going for the Grand Festival. From what he'd heard, Nurse Joy was explaining how to enter the contest in the town. It didn't surprise him that May didn't know what R1 contests were. But apparently she was here to compete for her third ribbon; maybe she was trying to get the five and secure a spot in the Grand Festival.
Drew even started picturing May sharing the stage with him at the Grand Festival. Her tossing Frisbees to her Pokémon on the appeal stage and shooting silver winds. The image morphed to her and him, facing off against each other in the battle round, Roselia and his future Flygon firing off fatal attacks and wondering how she'd try to counter…
It wasn't until a group of trainers tried to squeeze through the door past him that he snapped out of his completely delusional thinking. This was May; the girl who'd fell down at her first contest. The girl who'd won her last contest on pure luck. Although he'd openly admitted she'd improved a lot since day one, she still was nowhere near Grand Festival ready.
With a stiff shake of his head, he regained the ability to move. And to think.
"Oh, sorry, excuse me…" he muttered quietly, nodding at the two behind him and moving to the center of the lobby behind May and her friends.
"This contest is class R1, so that means every entering contestant must have earned at least one ribbon so far," Nurse Joy explained to May and her friends. "It's the Grand Festival rules which we use in all our contests."
"I haven't heard of the Grand Festival…" May admitted somewhat sheepishly.
He felt his eyes roll on instinct. Of course she hadn't heard of only the biggest contest in the entire coordinating world. And yet somehow she still wanted to be taken seriously as a coordinator.
Suddenly, the need for his presence to be known was all too real; this was just too good an opportunity to pass up, and getting on May's nerves was one of his favorite pass times.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked out loud.
The group turned to face him, looking a little surprised to see him.
"Drew?" May asked, a little disbelieving.
He smirked; hearing her say his name in a confused yet reserved tone was always satisfying.
"That's right," he nodded slightly.
She composed herself as she approached him, a warm smile on her face and optimism strong in her voice. She was almost as disgustingly happy as Solidad could be.
"Are you entering the contest, too?" she inquired.
Wasn't it obvious?
"Yeah," he answered. "It's kinda small time, but I suppose it's pretty good practice for anyone who wants to answer the Grand Festival. Course, I wouldn't expect a certain coordinator who just stumbles from one contest to another to understand…"
A scowl instantly overtook her features, and his smirk grew a little bigger.
"Excuse me, Drew," she said with a twinge of bitterness. "I happen to have won the last two contests that I entered. I'd hardly call that stumbling."
She'd pulled out her ribbon case to show off her two ribbons for emphasis. She practically shoved the tiny box at him, trying to prove her point even more.
Areceus, he loved it when she was mad. He loved the way she got fired up, the need to prove him wrong and win contests. Because in turn, her drive fueled his need to win as well; the way it drove him to want to do even better than she did…it was insane. And all he could do was smirk at this girl, more than happy to keep fueling this fire before him.
"Well if you say so…" he said easily. "I'm just telling you how it looks to me…"
Drew knew he absolutely needed to win this contest. For one, he was already behind on his ribbon count and he refused to get any more off track. Second, he knew that he had won before, and so did she, but May hadn't seen him win in person. She'd only seen his ribbons; the proof that he'd won, but not the actual talent that went into earning those wins. The thought was weird. He'd spent a lot of his time telling her that he was better, and she had yet to see that first hand in the form of an actual victory. It felt like it was all bark and no bite.
Now, he had every reason to win, and pumping May up was only making him want that victory all the more.
May stood in front of him gritting her teeth in frustration. He could tell she was putting all her effort into coming up with the perfect response. Something that she felt would put him in his place. Then she would storm off to train, and he'd go on to do the same thing.
Before she could respond, however, they were both thrown off by the shriek of a group of women. Next thing Drew knew, May was out of sight. He was surrounded by a group of adults with starry eyes and huge smiles. He blinked a few times, confused by the sudden change. He was partially glad May couldn't see him anymore, because his face was one of complete and utter confusion. He never did well with mobs of fans.
To make matters worse, they were all shoving pictures and items of himself in his face. He saw himself as the background image of a cellphone's home screen; that had been weird. He looked to the left and noticed a miniature action figure of himself; he definitely hadn't – and knew he never would – agree to dolls of himself being mass produced, so that was even more unsettling. The printed out pictures of himself weren't as bad, because he knew he'd been photographed before, but seeing so many didn't make him feel any better.
"Oh Drew, I have got to be your biggest fan!" one of the ladies gushed.
"Look at all my Drew keepsakes!" cooed another.
Drew's eyes scanned over all of these women crowding him; they all looked like they were in their later 30's. It wasn't an insulting thought; he was never rude to anyone who didn't deserve it. It was just…it was all extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. He could feel himself sweat a bit out of embarrassment, his face heating up from all of the awkward attention.
"That's…great?" he didn't know what to say.
"Drew, I've always thought of myself as a bit of a talent scout, keeping an eye out for talent like yours!" one of them exclaimed as he turned to face her. "Take a look! I have photographs from every single contest you've been in!"
True to her statement, she held up a stack of photographs. The top one he recognized as his very first contest; a picture of he and Roselia posing for the crowd at the end of their appeal. It had been so long ago, and he couldn't imagine what other pictures lie in the collection. Was that supposed to impress him? It came off as a bit stalkerish. Drew suddenly wanted to be anywhere but there, but this lady clearly wanted a response and at the present moment, he didn't have an escape.
"Oh…" he tried to smile but it felt like a horribly failed attempt that produced a terrible frown. "I'm honored…wow…"
"So, can I have your autograph, please?!" she sounded so desperate.
Drew reached his hand up to his forehead to rid himself of the small layer of sweat that had built there. He dismissed her plea with a flick of his hair, hoping it could relay the message he wasn't exactly as thrilled as they were about the fan club.
"No, I don't do that," he told her honestly.
It was true; he'd never signed a single autograph in his entire coordinating career, and he had no plans to start that day. But his attempt to disarm the ladies backfired as they all swooned.
"HOW COOL," they all chanted. "HE ACTUALLY TURNED HER DOWN!"
This was embarrassing to the highest degree. The fact that May had been there watching this all go down screamed in the back of his mind as he desperately tried to get the women not only to calm down, but to give him a little bit of breathing room. It felt like they were closing in on him, and for the first time in his life, Drew felt claustrophobic.
He was so overwhelmed, he didn't notice when one of them slipped away from the group and approached May.
"You're so incredible, Drew!"
"What Pokémon are you going to use in the contest?!"
"Drew, is it true that your Roselia can create over 10,000 petals per petal dance like it said in Coordinator's Weekly?!"
"Can I get you a coffee, Drew?! I know how much you love coffee!"
They shot question after question at him. Even if he'd wanted to respond to any of them, he couldn't; they weren't giving him the chance to do so. He was racking his brain trying to think of an excuse to leave, but over all of that insane chatter, he couldn't even hear himself think.
But then, a silver lining appeared.
"Hey, you guys, over here!" One voice shouted above the rest, and all the ladies – and Drew – looked over to the booming voice. "I've got Norman's daughter, May!"
Not even a second later, he was left alone, staring at the backs of the women who had just swarmed him. They were all suddenly very interested in May, and he was even more confused than he had been a few moments before. What caused the sudden surge of interest in May? He knew that she'd probably have a few fans somewhere in Hoenn after winning two contests, but there was no way her presence had generated just as much excitement as he had.
Something about what that woman said attracted the rest of them over to her. She'd said, "Norman's daughter." Who was Norman? Clearly someone notable, because they'd all flocked to her without a single second of hesitation. Clearly May and her little brother, whatever his name was again, – Max, maybe? – came from some form of a famous family, but without a last name, Drew wasn't too sure of who they were. And he was suddenly extremely interested in knowing.
He couldn't see May's face behind the circle of ladies now surrounding her, but just incase she was looking, he flicked his hair, smirked and turned to walk away.
He'd pick up his Pokémon a little bit later, when the excitement in the lobby died down and the women left. Now he was heading to the computer lab in the Pokémon Center, determined to find the answer to his question online.
Who was May?
Her name was May Maple.
She was the daughter of Caroline and Norman Maple. Norman was a gym leader for the Hoenn Trainer League. His gym and home were in Petalburg City. He specialized in normal type Pokémon, and trainers who managed to beat him were awarded with a balance badge.
It hadn't been hard to find what he wanted online. All he had to do was search, "Norman" and "Hoenn" to bring up an archive of multiple feature stories and other articles about May's father.
The second or third piece he'd found was a feature article about Norman's life in Petalburg. The article had been dated over four years old, probably back when May was only six or seven. Norman had conceded to an interview about his home life and his family. It was the third part in a series of gym leaders of Hoenn; what their lives were like outside of the gym.
Though slightly dated, the article answered a lot of the questions Drew had. It had been an extremely informative interview, laced with pictures from some professional newspaper photographer throughout the story. It was all divided into organized sections; each member of the family got a little bit of time to speak on behalf of the head of the household. Drew found certain questions from each section more interesting than others.
First and foremost, the article featured Norman, who was the real center of attention.
Q: How do you balance being a full-time gym leader and a full-time father?
"Well, you know, it's an interesting life, if not a hectic one! But I wouldn't trade it for anything; I love what I get to do. I manage things by working the gym in the morning through the afternoon, a little bit past when May and Max get out of school. This isn't like all the other gyms where trainers can set up a battle time and meet with me then for their match. I've got set hours in place, and any trainer is welcome to come within those hours of 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. It's how I make sure I can spend time with my family. I hate to close the gym completely, though; I love battling and I love being the leader, but I also love my kids and I want to spend time with them as they grow up. Heck, I only have about three years before May – my oldest – sets off on her trainer journey! And even with Max only being four right now, he knows it's what he wants to do as well. So I make sure I have time outside of the gym so I can enjoy these years with them while they're young and still here at home, even though most days, Max just wants me to take him back in here and show him my Pokémon. Bottom line is, it's a busy life. Once they leave, I imagine I'll have to keep the gym open full time just to keep myself from getting bored."
At the bottom of his interview was a picture of himself looking cool and confident, arms folded while standing in the center of his gym on the battle floor, a Slaking and a Vigoroth on either side of him.
The next section focused more on his wife; how she and her family moved from the Johto region when she was younger and what she did as a stay-at-home mother of two children.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
"Goodness, spare time? You mean when I'm not keeping the house straight after two my two kids tear through it? You know how children can be, especially siblings; always on each other for something. It reminds me of how I was with my older sister when we were their ages… But to answer your question, there's not a lot of free time, I suppose! I do enjoy going out to the greenhouse where Norman's Pokémon rest during their off time. I have a lovely garden going in there right now, and the Pokémon actually love to help me take care of it. I've grown quite fond of those Pokémon, you know; I consider them a part of our family. They're just so wonderful, really."
The section ended with a picture of Caroline in said greenhouse, happily watering some kind of flowers with perhaps the same Vigoroth next to her, looking equally as joyful.
May and Max's sections in the feature story were relatively short, probably because they were younger and unfamiliar with press coverage. It was surprising that they'd gotten to answer questions at all with them being so young at the time, honestly. Max's questions were all extremely simple, like what he wanted to do what he grew up, to which he responded with a predicted answer of wanting "to do what daddy does!" and other answers you could expect from a four-year-old.
May's questions, although a bit more complex, were still notably plain and easy as were her answers, although a few questions did catch his attention.
Q: Are you going to become a great Pokémon trainer like your father?
"I guess so. I mean that's what everybody always asks me all the time anyway. But Max wants to be a trainer for sure…pretty bad, I think."
It wasn't exactly a direct answer to the question, but a trainer? She wanted to be a trainer? So how did she end up coordinating? The two really weren't totally opposite when you looked at them side by side, but they were different enough to be respected as different professions. Something was missing here.
He read on.
Q: So you plan on taking over the gym when your dad retires?
"Max really, really, really wants to do that."
She dodged the question again. She brought up her brother again. She didn't say anything about Pokémon again. There was a pattern here.
Q: Have you caught any Pokémon yet? If not, have you thought about what you want to choose as your beginner Pokémon?
"I haven't thought about it a lot. Maybe I'll think about it later. I'm sure Max already has his whole team picked out, though."
The family photo at the end of the article only further proved the theory forming in his head. There sat the Maple family, on a couch, all smiling politely for the camera. Norman and Caroline were in the center, while Max sat next to their dad with Slaking and Vigoroth behind them. May sat on the other side of the couch, a Slakoth draped over the arm of the sofa closest to her. She was pressed tightly against her mother, getting as much distance from that Pokémon as possible. Her smile was tense and anxious, like she couldn't wait to move away from where she was.
After that third question, it all clicked for Drew. May obviously hadn't been interested in Pokémon when she was younger. Maybe that's why she was so determined to be a coordinator; to prove she could be talented with them? Maybe to prove to herself that Pokémon could be great. The possibilities were endless. But it still surprised him that coming from such a strong Pokémon family, she struggled to start liking them at all. Obviously she had somewhere down the line, because she was now a growing coordinator. But still…what had changed?
Part of him wanted to know.
When he realized that, he practically convulsed. He had to stop, because he was getting on his own nerves at that point. Sentimentality didn't suit him well. Just over a week before that day, he was practically gushing to Solidad about how well she'd done in her last contest. Now he was looking her up online? What was happening to him? He didn't like it, and it was going to stop right then and there.
This was May; a silly little doe-eyed girl who'd gotten lucky in her two contest wins. He could praise her quick wits and notable family ties to great battling, but at the end of the day, luck was what won her those ribbons. And her luck would definitely run out at this next contest, because the next ribbon was his. He'd spent enough time fooling around that season; it was time to get serious. It was time to stop thinking about May and how she was improving, and time to start working on getting himself ready for his ribbon cup.
The little clock on the computer's desktop told him he'd wasted almost two hours reading articles on May's father, trying to find any details he could about her. With a frustrated grunt, he cleared the browser history on the computer he'd used and stood up a little too quickly. He was quite determined to get out of that center and get back to training.
This girl had unknowingly gotten into his head and thrown him off his game. That wasn't going to happen again.
A peak around the corner revealed an empty lobby to Drew, much to his relief. With no more fan girls crowding the space, he strolled up to the front desk with a tight smile planted on his face. The Nurse Joy looked up from her book and smiled back.
"Drew Hayden," he greeted her. "I dropped off my Roselia, Masqurain and Vibrava here yesterday. I'm here to pick them up."
"Oh, right, of course!" Nurse Joy nodded. "They're all perfect! Let me just go grab them for you."
Good. He wanted perfect. He wasn't going to show off anything less this time around.
The hours blended together.
Drew had been working hard with his Masqurain for hours. He was 100 percent confident in his Roselia's abilities. She would win him big points just as she always had. He was also confident in his Masqurain, but a little extra practice didn't hurt. This was his Pokémon's debut performance, and he wanted to be absolutely sure that the butterfly Pokémon was in top form.
And oh, he was.
Masqurain's quick attack was faster than ever. His hidden power brighter than it had previously been. Ice beam was devastatingly beautiful. Everything was looking grade-A contest ready.
"Good, Masqurain, that's the way!" he complimented his partner after another successful attack.
He didn't notice when the sun had gone down, but he didn't care when he realized it had. Nighttime had proved to be even better for practicing his moves with his new partner; that full moon really adding onto the appeal of the fabulous bubble patterns Masqurain was shooting off.
When Masqurain began spinning like Drew had taught him, it played out exactly how he'd wanted it to: waves of bubbles fitted into the night sky. It was incredible how Masqurain had mastered such control over his bubble attack in their months of training, using them to create an illusion of rings around the full moon. Drew knew that in itself could become a great appeal on its own, and he'd have to eventually catch a Pokémon with the moonlight move and combine the two sometime… Maybe use hidden power as comets or stars…
He was in his element. The only time he felt more of himself was when he was on stage with his team. But he put all his focus on his training and he knew this contest was absolutely his.
His mental images of future combinations and victories were cut short when he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. It had caught him a little off guard, as he hadn't seen another person or Pokémon in hours. And he'd been so wrapped up in what he had been doing, he failed to notice he was being studied. The thought irked him a little until he realized just who was watching him.
"That's beautiful!" May squeaked from her hiding place.
Of course it was her, because she had a habit of showing up and catching him off guard when he least expected it. She had a habit of surprising him.
And he hoped she really did believe that the moves his Pokémon was pulling off were beautiful, because he wanted her to know that he was giving it his all this time around. That she was going to see him come out on top.
The thought of continuing practice without acknowledging her was tempting, but he had to decline. He refused to continue after that, because the rest of his tricks she'd see in actual show. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't rile her up. He absolutely had to go through with that.
"Excuse me," he called out, not turning out even when he heard her half shriek. "If you're studying my moves, you should probably come closer."
There was no witty comeback about how she wasn't impressed. There was no comment about how she was going to win. There was no say on how her Pokémon and her would beat him. No, instead, she approached him, a little shyly at first, but somewhat determined, like she wasn't going to let him get inside her head this time.
"I see you found yourself a new Pokémon," she said, approaching him.
He couldn't help but smile to himself, and he couldn't wait to show her his own silver wind in the contest. He ignored the little voice in his head reminding him that he caught this Pokémon to outdo her specifically, because she was nowhere near his level. He also conveniently left out the part where he'd had this "new" partner for a while.
"You got it; one with style and grace, good endurance and crowd appeal" he said, half directed at her, but also half directed at his Pokémon, just so he could show Masqurain how excellent he thought his Pokémon was doing. "I was looking a long time; I wanted the perfect contest-winning Pokémon and with Masqurain, I have it."
This conversation didn't feel anything like the regular conversations he'd always had with her. He didn't feel the need to tease her, or belittle her skills or anything of the sort. He turned to face her, and looked at her curious smile. She wasn't there to be competition to him in that moment. She just wanted to appreciate his new teammate, coordinator to coordinator. It was that simple.
"And now winning this contest should be a sinch," he added. "I hope you liked catching our little preview."
"Yeah, I did!" she admitted, a wide smile overtaking her whole face. "That last bit, it was really gorgeous."
Her compliment warmed him for some reason. He'd heard her compliment him before; this wasn't a new thing. But the moment they were in, when they weren't trying be better than each other for once…it was nice. And it made him all the more proud of the hard work his Masqurain had put in training for tomorrow's contest.
Almost every part of him wanted to flick his hair and smirk at her and throw off some bit about how she stood no chance, but there wasn't a need for that. The moment was pleasant, and he found that he actually didn't want to ruin it.
"Thanks," he told her. "You've got excellent taste."
Out of nowhere, a tiny Bulbasaur bounded into his view. May didn't seem phased at all, indicating to him that it was her newest Pokémon. Judging from its size, Drew deduced it was still fairly young, perhaps even still a baby itself. But he'd never seen a Bulbasaur in person before, and was impressed she'd captured one. He also made mental notes of her growing team: she now had a Torchic, Beautifly, Skitty and a Bulbasaur. Somehow, they all seemed to match her personality.
"So May, it looks like you've got a new Pokémon as well," he said, intending for it to sound like a positive comment; he wanted her to know that he was interested in her team as well.
"I do!" she answered, chipper as her baby Bulbasaur.
"A Bulbasaur; that's a pretty rare Pokémon in the Hoenn region," he stated, trying to explain just how significant her new partner was incase she didn't already know, which Drew didn't put past her. "So, you gonna enter Bulbasaur?"
He was genuinely curious. It was like he said. Most Kanto Pokémon were rare to Hoenn, and Bulbasaur was extra uncommon to the region. Rare Pokémon often scored better that region-based Pokémon did, because they were different that the usual ones contests saw commonly. If May knew that, it could certainly give him more of a challenge, and more of a reason to look forward to beating her.
"I still haven't decided yet," she admitted.
Of course she hadn't. With less that 24 hours until the start of the contest, of course she hadn't made up her mind about which of her Pokémon she was going to enter with. The fact that she actually had to choose two Pokémon to compete with this time around was even more laughable. Now that was the ditzy girl he'd come to know by then. She was still as clueless as ever, wandering from contest to contest.
Every coordinator had a certain style to them, and Drew was starting to put together an idea of hers. May was clearly a carefree and happy-go-lucky type. She seemed to rely on luck rather than skill, which wouldn't take her all the way to the top if she was going for the title of Top Coordinator. But using assist so many times, waiting until the very last minute to choose what Pokémon to compete with…it was all too risky. Sure, it had paid off for her a few times, but it wouldn't always. Especially now, in the more serious half of the contest season; she'd definitely crash and burn.
"Come on over and say hi," she said to her Bulbasaur.
But the grass type ignored her, happily chirping in its own language to his Masqurain floating above. It was definitely a baby and definitely new to May, because the lack of discipline was overwhelming, and it made Drew want to laugh. He refrained.
After a few seconds, Drew could practically feel the tension rolling off May. Out of the corner of his eye, her easy smile fell into an embarrassed glare, looking down at the Bulbasaur with a slight red tint in her cheeks. Drew could only fight to hold his laughter back harder.
"Hey, you heard me!" she urged. "Come over and say hi!"
"I don't know…" Drew chuckled. "Looks like a discipline problem to me…"
She snapped her glare over to him and huffed. Drew pursed his lips, because it was funny. This was such a reflection of May in her own Pokémon. But he really had meant it as a joke. Their interaction up to that point had been nice, and he hated to see it end. He only spoke his mind, and he meant it to be playful, not insulting.
Still, maybe this was for the best. He couldn't have her thinking he was going soft.
"No way," she stressed. "And I am using Bulbasaur."
She folded her arms and turned away from him then. Drew couldn't tell if that red in her face was still from embarrassment or anger. But still, was she that proud? This Pokémon clearly wasn't ready for contests; Drew doubted she'd had much training time with it. But was her pride that important to her? Would she risk using this inexperienced Pokémon to prove a point?
It didn't seem like her at all; it was a new side to May for sure. Not the risk-taking part. No, he'd seen her take risks since day one. But this new found arrogance and pride. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. All he knew was that the contest was going to be interesting if she really was serious. Maybe even too easy, and Drew didn't like things that were too easy.
Should he try to talk her out of it? Should he tell her to play it safe with Skitty and Beautifly, who had already won her ribbons?
"Sure you can handle it?" he tried.
"Of course I can, thanks," her words were practically dripping with a mix of sarcasm and venom. "I'll see you in the contest, Drew."
With those final remarks, he spun on her heels and walked away. Her Bulbasaur seemed confused for a moment, but rushed off to follow her soon after.
Drew kept the smile on his face as she walked away from him. He even allowed himself a small laugh knowing she could hear him. It wasn't until she turned the corner of the building and was out of sight that his face fell into a frown.
He looked back up at his Masqurain, who was watching him curiously.
"Well," he said. "I guess that's that."
Backstage was as it always was: full of both nervous coordinators shaking with anticipation as well as the seasoned coordinators who were familiar and didn't get anxious before the start of contests.
He had come to expect this type of environment in contest halls, and he fed off this nervous energy. It was more of a push for him to want to do better. And in an R1 contest, everyone here had to have some skill.
Drew hardly noticed those around him as he prepped his Roselia, reassuring her that their appeal was going to be phenomenal, and she nodded back at him, confident in herself. She'd been practicing this routine for about a week now and she was flawless in it by now.
With a final nod, he returned Roselia to her Pokéball, telling her to be ready for the next time she was released.
Vivian was just announcing the beginning of the contest when May and her friend – the older woman – walked in, happily chatting about something trivial, he was sure. He really wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. When they stopped in front of the front stage screen and to pay attention to the introduction, May plopping down on the bench next to them, he turned back away from them.
But for some reason, he found himself listening to their conversation.
"I'm so nervous I can barely remember my own name…" the older woman he recognized from the other day admitted.
"Savannah, you just have to relax!" May reassured her sweetly. "If you're all tense, your Pokémon will know it and they'll be nervous also."
Well, at least she figured that part of it all out. Drew knew May struggled with some self doubt, but there was some tangible proof that she was slowly but surely improving in some areas of the world of coordinating. There was just an extreme emphasis on the slow part, and Drew chuckled to himself at the thought.
"And believe me, I know what I'm talking about; I learned that from experience," May threw in, a little smug.
That tone she used, it threw him off guard a little bit. He wasn't used to her being so cocky, and it didn't seem to fit her. May was acting like she was already a pro; like she was already on some mighty and high level so above this woman before her because she'd won one more ribbon than Savannah had, which when he analyzed it, she'd won out of luck.
Not to say he wasn't arrogant every now and then; he knew he was, but he also knew he had his trail and errors and he never once let that affect himself going into a contest. There were definitely times when he knew he was better than his competition, but he would never let that fact let him underestimate them. He'd learned that the hard way too many times; he knew it was the key to failure.
And there was a part of him that truly didn't want May to fail. He wanted to win the contest for sure, but losing wasn't always a failure. It was just a reason and an inspiration to work harder. A coordinator could never get too overconfident. It would be their downfall.
A frown was painted on his face and he had to close his eyes to tune out those around him. It was slightly aggravating to see her this way. She'd learn today.
Oh, she'd learn.
"I'm lucky to have your expert advice, May," the woman told her.
Now that made him laugh.
May performed before he did.
She was slated at number 12, and left the backstage area with an official when number 10 took center stage to compete. He was all too aware of when she left the room, confident strut and all. As she walked past him, she huffed a little bit and stuck her nose up, as she didn't even spare him a glance. If Drew didn't know her better, he would have thought it rude. Again, arrogance didn't suit her at all, so he just smirked at her.
When she was out of sight, he immediately turned all his attention back to the screen. The girl who took the place of number 11 was being introduced, calling out a Spheal. It was a dull routine with a water gun while the Pokémon rolled around on the stage a bit. Drew didn't really understand just what they were trying to do, and the judges looked just as confused. She was kindly awarded a 16.1 for whatever effort she had displayed.
"And next up is contestant number 12, a two-time winner, May!" Vivian excitedly told the crowd.
The camera swept over May's hard-set face before doing a quick pan of the crowd. Down in the front row were her friends and brother, with a bunch of older women in absolutely ridiculous cheerleader outfits. Drew recognized them as the same mob that swamped him the day prior and he couldn't help but shiver at the memory of the unwanted attention.
Instantly, the camera cut back to May, reaching her arm back to summon her Beautifly. Drew hadn't seen the Pokémon perform in quite a while, and it was just as sparkly as ever. Capitalizing on that fact, May called out for a morning sun, making Beautifly's rainbow-colored wings all the more radiant as it flooded the arena with a serene golden light. A good start, Drew had to admit.
The whole backstage room could hear how the crowd roared for her and her Pokémon as she called for a silver wind follow up. Once her routine was finished, the camera showed the crowd, and focused in on the mothers in the front row performing some kind of cheer for May. It was the most attention she'd ever gotten in a contest before, and Drew could see from the grin on her face it was already going to her head.
May finished up by having Beautifly land on an outstretched arm above her head, showcasing her Pokémon's delicate side. She was smiling and waving with her free arm at the crowd, even throwing a wink paired with a thumb up at the camera before her.
The judges gave her a 26.6; a fair score definitely reflecting the good show she'd put on.
It was a good appeal round performance. Easily the best one Drew had ever seen come from her and the best he'd seen so far in the contest. She'd clearly been working closely with her Beautifly on that morning sun routine. If there was ever a Pokémon made for contests, it was definitely a Beautifly. Still, it wasn't the best he'd ever seen. Just the best from her, and while he'd admit it was a good performance, he knew he would beat it with the things he had planned. A Sinnoh-like entrance in the Hoenn Region? Now that was top notch.
Several coordinators around were whispering about her performance overall, some praising while other criticizing. He noticed Savannah had turned away from the monitor to take a few deep breaths, clearly not having expected May to do as well as she had. And he idly wondered how this woman was going to do. Clearly she was talented if she already had a ribbon, but she was almost hyperventilating from the fact that she herself would have to go up soon. Drew quickly wondered if he should ask her if she was okay.
The man in a suit holding a clipboard who'd appeared to take May earlier approached her then, telling her she'd need to be getting to stage soon. Savannah seemed startled at the appearance of the contest official, and jumped a little when he spoke to her.
"Right, yes, of course!" she quickly filled in, blushing and embarrassed. "Sorry, so sorry! I'm on my way."
She shuffled quickly out of the room heading towards the main stage, keeping her eyes down and her fists balled at her side. In one hand, she had a Pokéball clenched so tightly, her knuckles were turning white. Drew wished her luck under his breath; she looked like she needed it.
When she was out of the doorway, Drew once again faced the TV screen, somewhat eager to see how this older coordinator would handle the appeal with her nerves so frayed.
Two performers went after May, both forgettable. One young kid used a Stantler's leer to make its eyes bigger. Boring, and definitely a few pegs down from the excitement May had created. The other novice presented a Wurmple who spread string shots all over the arena and cut them quickly with colorful poison stings. They'd earned a 16.5 and a 18.2, respectively.
"Now, please welcome a contestant from right here in Rubello Town; your very own Savannah!" Vivian called out to the audience.
May walked back into the room just in time to catch her friend's performance. She paid Drew no attention as she plopped back down onto the bench she was sitting at earlier.
There Savannah stood in the spotlight, upon the stage with her arms politely crossed in front of her and an anxious smile on her face as she nodded in greeting to the crowd. The audience responded by cheering for their home-grown competitor, and she just looked a bit out of place, like she was unsure when to start. Everyone waited; she didn't move.
It was after a few moments of stillness that Vivian went up to her, telling her it was time to start. Savannah jumped slightly, rapidly apologized and retrieved her Pokéball from her waist. The blush on her face was prominent as she took a few steps forward.
Some of the coordinators around him laughed a little at her shaky entrance, but Drew kept his eyes fixed on her in anticipation. He had no idea what to expect. It especially caught him off when all the nerves disappeared on her face, a steely focus overcoming her features. That shut some of the other competitors up as they too tuned into the screen.
He was not expecting a Flareon, nor was he expecting the fire spin–tackle combination to work out as well as it did. Watching that fire Pokémon hop through the hoops of fire it had created gracefully was pleasantly surprising. It only got better when then called for a swift and ember combination, the heat from the fire changing the color of the bright yellow stars to a fiery red. Two solid combinations for sure, and Drew knew without a doubt that she'd advance to the battle rounds. He couldn't wait to see her moves in a battle.
She was awarded a high score and she was back in the waiting room soon after. She ran straight for May, who shot up from her seat upon noticing her arrival. Drew watched the whole exchange.
"You did it!" May told her, grabbing her hands in her own. "I knew you were going to be awesome."
Savannah looked so relived when May told her those words, like she really took May for this high and mighty expert coordinator.
"Thank you, May," Savannah responded, blushing a bit. "Sounds like you had more faith in me than I had in myself. But it's been a while since my last contest and my attacks were still a little rusty…I'm still a long way away from your level, May."
It was getting harder not to burst out into laughter.
"Keep training and you'll get there!" May said. "Experience was what helped me win two ribbons in a row."
"So the second victory is the key?!" Savannah questioned, excited.
Don't say yes, don't say yes, don't say yes…and don't laugh. Arceus, do NOT laugh if she does.
"Yep!" May beamed. "Once you've got a couple of ribbons, winning is pretty easy!"
He couldn't hold it in after that; he tried his best, but that final comment from May forced a chuckle out of him. He was still struggling to hold it in May turned to face him, annoyance all over her face.
Was that really her thought process going into all of this? Did she really think the more ribbons you had, the more likely you were to win easily? Did her Pokémon's hard work mean nothing anymore? It was a horrible mindset for a coordinator to have, and Drew could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Suddenly it seemed like she'd barely grown since that day on the beach when he first met her.
"What; what's so funny, Drew?" she demanded.
He had no response for her. If it wasn't obvious, he wouldn't give her the answer.
"Nothing."
"Look, if you've got something to say to me, than why don't you just say it?" she pushed again, approaching him.
"I don't."
He was hoping she'd take a hint. He was hoping she'd see what he was laying out for her. And he was hoping she'd pick up on it quickly, because beating her in this contest was going to be just as easy as if had been in Slateport if she didn't, and the thought disappointed him.
She took his casual responses the wrong way, though.
"Well what do ya know?" she chided. "It looks like you're worried that you can't beat me. With my third ribbon today, I might make it to the Grand Festival before you do."
Savannah watched the whole exchange from behind them, and she was a bit shocked by May's attitude. She had followed Drew's career with her girlfriends since day one, and she knew how talented he was. She also knew May was good, and getting better, but she didn't think she was near Drew's level of experience yet. So watching this girl she'd been taking advice from talking down to this expert coordinator scared her a little bit. This was a side of May Savannah hadn't realized was there.
Drew meanwhile, couldn't stand this conversation anymore. His turn was coming up, anyway. He rose up from his seat and kept his face forward. If she couldn't figure it out on her own, he'd help her in the best way that he could: he'd give her a few words of wisdom. Whether she chose to listen or not was her decision.
"I'm gonna give you just one little bit of advice," he warned her. "Forget what you've won, May, and concentrate on the future."
It was true; if Drew had May's mindset throughout all of his contests, he wouldn't have ever made it this far. All of his victories in the past didn't ever guarantee him a win; she'd seen him lose before, very well knowing he'd always had more ribbons than she did. How she could become so stuck up in such a short amount of time, he didn't understand. But he hoped like hell she'd get it through her head that was no way to be.
She didn't.
"And what's that supposed to mean?!" she shouted after him.
Drew just shook his head, and made his way past the approaching official to the stage.
Savannah, meanwhile, pursed her lips and watched him leave towards the main stage.
He wasn't used to going last in an appeal round.
Drew knew he wasn't the last person to register for this contest, but it was decided that he would close up the appeal round by the judges early on. He had the most ribbons of any of the competitors going into the contest and he knew that everyone competing knew that as they could all see the stat sheets backstage in the waiting room. Any coordinator who registered for contests had a page printed out of their coordinator history posted on a board along with everyone else.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Savannah's friends – and apparently some of his biggest fans – going crazy, waving and calling out to him. He couldn't completely understand what they were saying over the rest of the cheers, but he swore he heard a, "Drew we love you!" in there somewhere.
Backstage, May noticed that the whole room fell completely silent. She looked around at all the other coordinators who watching the screen wearily. Even Savannah was bouncing next to her with excitement.
Savannah looked down at May briefly and noticed her confusion.
"He's the reason the MFP come to these contests," she told her, turning her attention back to the monitor.
"Wow, he'd more popular than I realized…" May bit her lip a little, unable to turn away from his smirk on screen.
With the spotlight on him, and the crowd roaring with cameras flashing, he knew it was time. He ran his thumb over the top of Roselia's Pokéball, hoping it could somehow convey the message to her that he knew she'd do great. He always believed in her, and she knew that.
"Let's go, Roselia, petal dance," he called to her.
It was perfect. More perfect than he'd originally hoped for or when she'd been practicing with him. More petals than he'd ever seen in his life exploded out of his Pokéball, and he couldn't even spot his partner within the blizzard of pink and sparkles. There were thousands upon thousands of petals raging from somewhere, and only he knew where she was within the craziness, despite having no visual connection with her.
Just like they'd practiced, he'd been counting in his head. When he hit the ten-second mark, he snapped his fingers, signaling for her to stop. She did; Roselia appeared precisely center stage, gracefully posed as he taught her. And just like always when they performed together, Drew felt a rush of pride and emotion for his first Pokémon. She had always exceeded his expectations.
Drew let the viewers appreciate her for a few extra moments, because she had worked so hard on that opening and she deserved to be adored by the hundreds of people watching her.
The admiration kept up, even backstage, where all the contestants were watching, amazed. Some of them recognized the style Drew had chosen, commenting, "It's just like Sinnoh!" and "I didn't know we could use ball seals!" with others correcting that he hadn't used one.
Savannah was praising him highly, more than she had done for May, and it left a bitter taste in May's mouth.
"Drew is absolutely amazing, isn't he, May?!" Savannah cried.
May only grunted in response, a sour look on her face. Savannah looked down at her when she didn't hear a response and chose not to comment when she noticed that the young girl looked so displeased next to her.
After a few more seconds of deafening cheering, they both realized it wasn't going to stop. Drew saw Roselia nod slightly, signaling that she was ready to continue when he was. He laughed and pointed out to her.
"Alright, Roselia, let's follow up with magical leaf!" he shouted, hoping she could hear him over the roar of applause but knowing she knew what to do either way.
She did; with innumerable petals still spraying from the ceiling, Roselia shot off a magical leaf, creating a tornado of glowing leafs to clash against the pink petals. It gathered all of the remaining petals into a vortex of glowing light, and cleaned up the stage almost instantly like a vacuum.
Roselia kept it going, and somehow, the crowd only got louder, much to Drew's delight and May's malice.
It had been about 20 minutes since Drew had retaken his place backstage. He heard whispers about himself as he entered the room but chose to ignore them all.
He and Roselia took a seat at the bench he unofficially assigned as his own and just waited for the announcement of the next round, still high from his 29.7 score. He couldn't stop thanking her for a job well done and she was still too excited from her stellar performance.
Once they both finally calmed down, Drew held out her Pokéball and she nodded, bidding him good luck in the battle rounds. From then on he just sat there, catching a nervous whisper every now and then from some of his fellow coordinators.
"I hope I make it through…"
"Drew's definitely number one; there's not a chance I'll make it to the battle rounds with the score he earned."
"Sunflora, no matter what, you were so great today…"
Aside from the buzz of the nervous chatter, the locker room was pretty much silent; no commentary coming from May or her friend.
At one point he chanced a look over to them, and thanked Arceus they weren't looking back at him like some of the others were.
May had a somewhat angry look on her face as she looked up at the screen displaying the seal of the Pokémon Contest Committee. It was like she was angry it was taking the judges so long to deliberate with the scores, or maybe like she was nervous she might not have actually made it in with all of the other talent they'd seen that day.
Savannah was totally opposite. Her gazed was locked down at her feet. One of her hands was rested on her lap. The other was loosely gripping the ribbon she wore around her neck. She looked as hopelessly nervous as she had all day. It must have been awhile since she had been in the waiting room of her last contest; she didn't seem like a serious coordinator. More of a casual one.
"Time to announce the finalists from the primary round!" Vivain's voice suddenly boomed throughout the waiting room.
Every person in the room's head snapped up, fixated on the TV screen. Drew didn't bother to look; he knew he made it.
"The judges decisions are in and the four who go on will be… Drew, May, Sonny and Savannah! There they are!"
Moans of disappointment and a few sighs of relief filled the room, just as they always did in contests like this. Some of them began shuffling out of the room while others lingered.
Drew wasn't surprised by the results. He knew he, Savannah and May had the best performances of the morning and didn't doubt any of them. Still, he hoped May would tone herself down a bit now that she had battling to focus on. Also in the back of his mind, Drew was trying to remember Sonny's appeal. Who was he and what Pokémon did he use? But he couldn't process too much because of the shrieking going on up front.
"We made it!" May cheered. "Way to go, Savannah!"
"You too, May!" Savannah also sang. "I'm really happy for you!"
"Oh, I was never really too concerned about it…" May assured her.
Nope. Still stuck in her own head.
Drew had never seen May this overconfident before, despite the tough competition she was going to face in the battle rounds. Part of him hoped he would battle her, so he could show her just what he meant when he told her not to be stuck on her previous wins.
"Alright, everyone!" Vivian's voice took over the room again. "The computer will now select the pairings for the second round battles!"
Drew peaked over to the screen, interested in seeing whom he'd face off against. When he saw his face appear in the same bracket as the Sonny kid, he felt a little deflated. But what was more interesting was the fact that May was going to have to fight her friend, and they both seemed a little less than pleased about it.
"Oh, that's not fair…" Savannah had said.
Drew watched as they eyed each other a little bit hesitantly. There was no tension or animosity between them…only a strange form of sadness and regret. Neither of them wanted to walk away the winner, but one of them would have to.
That was why you never made friends in the contest circuit; only rivals.
May was nervous.
It was painfully obvious how nervous she was, and how reluctant she was to admit it.
When the official came back to clear out the waiting room for only those who had made it to the second round, May instantly called out her Bulbasaur as if to remind him that she was in fact a winner in the primaries and allowed to stay where she was.
Savannah stood up a little bit straighter, waved at him awkwardly and called out an impressive looking Lairon.
Drew opted to let Masqurain out of his Pokéball. He knew May already knew about his newest Pokémon, and he figured he'd get him ready for his debut contest battle.
"We're having a brief intermission for the judges, and then your battle will get started," the man read to Drew from his clipboard.
Drew nodded and thanked him, telling him he'd be ready.
He got to work polishing off Masqurain's wings and giving him a few Pokéblocks. Minutes later, May's party and a young girl walked in through the door, congratulating their friends on making it through the first round. The young girl ran up to Savannah, and Drew realized that must have been her daughter.
He wasn't paying attention to the scene until May started yelling. Drew looked up and watched May shouting at her friend Ash, which was amusing in itself. It looked like her companions weren't used to this aggressively assertive May, either. He wasn't really focused on what they were saying – something about gym battles and contest battles – but he was shaking his head at May, who suddenly stormed off.
It was then that May's older friend Brock turned to look at him, hoping for some answers to May's sudden change in mood/behavior.
All Drew could do was shrug.
Drew expected more from his first battle, honestly.
When Sonny called out a Girafarig, Drew was excited. The prospect of pitting his Masqurain against a normal psychic type seemed like it would prove to be a challenge. He had never battled a Girafarig before, and had no idea what move set to expect.
When Sonny called for an opening iron tail attack, Drew felt himself almost stifle a yawn.
"Dodge and use bubble!" Drew ordered quickly.
Masqurain swooped up high into the air, easily evading the attack, and then launched off a set of bubbles towards the ceiling, confusing his opponent and the crowd. Good, he wanted to try out this surprise combination in a battle.
Sonney eyed him carefully from the other side of the field, and Drew only smirked in return.
"Now, use ice beam!" he ordered.
Masqurain froze the bubbles in mid air, just as they'd practiced throughout the week.
"Now hidden power, go!"
White orbs of powerful light shot out towards the bubbles at high speed. They bounced off the frozen spheres ringing with each hit, creating an ominous high-pitched sound before they plummeted towards Girafarig, hitting their marks. Girafarig cried out in pain from the direct hit, and the audience was enraptured by the stunningly powerful triple combination Drew and Masqurain had just pulled off.
Sonny was the most shocked as his Pokémon fell down, one hit enough to knock it out.
The judges displayed X's on their score panels, thus ending the match instantly. It took less than a minute for Masqurain to get the job done, and Drew was ecstatic at how well his newest Pokémon had performed in itself first contest showcase.
"And so with a dazzling display of strength and beauty, Drew advances to the final stage!" Vivian announced.
The other coordinator called his Pokémon back as Drew did for Masqurain, and the two met at the middle ground.
"That's some Masqurain you got there, buddy," Sonny told him with a firm handshake. "You've got this contest wrapped up for sure!"
"Thank you," Drew said.
With that, Drew headed off to the locker room to wait for his next battle. When he past May in the hall, and when she and her Bulbasaur looked straight at him, he paused briefly.
"Well, good luck," he said.
"I don't need any luck from you, Drew," she retorted.
Drew looked down at her Bulbasaur, who seemed more and more confused as to where they were going.
"I think you will," he said.
"I'm counting on you, Lairon!"
"Bulbasaur, let's go!"
Both Pokémon appeared on stage, but something seemed off.
Drew inched closer to the monitor as he observed May's Bulbasaur closely. The camera zoomed in on the tiny grass type, and it honestly looked…frightened. He almost felt bad for May's Pokémon as it looked all over the field, looking horrified from the overwhelming amount of spectators watching it. Had May not warned and/or exposed her Pokémon to a contest hall?
The tiny Pokémon suddenly darted back to its trainer, hiding behind May's leg. It was petrified, completely unfamiliar with being on stage and it was very clear her Pokémon suffered from initial stage fright.
Drew felt bad, not for May, because this is what she deserved for her cockiness, but for her Pokémon, who was practically trembling and had no choice but to fight. May only had the option to forfeit, not switch out her Pokémon, and with the way she had acted all day, there was no way she was going to back down.
But putting her own interests in front of the interest of her Pokémon? That wasn't okay.
Drew watched as the scene only got worse.
May kneeled down next to her Pokémon, clearly chastising it. The camera couldn't pick up what May was saying, but Drew could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't giving it an easy time. After a few moments, the poor Pokémon forced itself to walk out in front of May, barely composed and pretending like it was ready for whatever this fight was going to be.
Savannah took the first queue. She called for a take down attack from her Lairon, who responded all too eagerly to get the battle started. It charged straight for Bulbasaur, but take down was generally an easy dodge. Only, when May called for her Pokémon to move, it stood there, all too frozen. It was a direct hit, and Lairon did a nice little flip at the end of its attack before landing, adding some extra style. May's points suffered.
May's Bulbsaur seemed stunned for a moment, and May desperately called for it to get up. It was a struggle at first, but the tiny Pokémon pushed itself up and took on a whole new expression; one of understanding and readiness. It was like it understood this was a battle, and it knew it had to do better.
A vine whip shot out of Bulbasaur's back at May's call, and Savannah told Lairon to take the hit, surprising even Drew. He watched pensively trying to figure out what angle she was going for with taking a loss of points like that. It became all too clear when Savannah revealed that her Lairon knew shockwave, a brutal attack that only worked when two Pokémon were directly connected. Bulbasaur's vine whip provided Savannah with the perfect opportunity, and she seized it. And while Bulbasaur, as a grass type, wouldn't take too much damage from an electric attack, that wasn't what shockwave did. It was a stun attack, but it was known to paralyze an opponent when there was a physical contact, and it did its job.
Everyone watched as Bulbasaur was shot back towards May, weak, hurt and unable to fully recover, though it refused to give up. It forced itself up, and whether it was out of dedication to its trainer or fear, Drew couldn't guess. He only knew that there wasn't much left May could do, and he'd definitely be going up against that Lairon in the final battle. So he observed any and every one of Savannah's moves.
A direct hit from a metal claw was all it took to finish off Bulbasaur, and the judges gave their X marks. May was defeated, as Bulbasaur was unable to battle. She looked stunned, like she refused to believe that was the case. She was crouched down next to her Pokémon when Vivian announced that the battle was officially over.
"Hey wait, I'm not done fighting!" May declared, shocking almost everyone in the building.
Even Drew blinked a few times up at the screen, appalled. Her Pokémon was hurt. Bulbasaur had taken three direct hits from a Pokémon clearly more powerful than it was, and May was still trying to push it back into battle.
The only person to say anything was a very upset judge Nurse Joy.
"Yes you are!" she practically screamed back, shocking May. "Where's your concern for your Pokémon's health, May?!"
"That is a coordinator's number one priority, not winning" Mr. Contesta agreed, clearly annoyed that he even had to explain this to her.
"By now you should know that," Mr. Sukizo added.
The whole stadium was silent. Drew watched the screen as May looked down at her Pokémon before her, tears threatening to spill from her eyes and trembling slightly. She scoped up her tired Pokémon in her arms, nodded to Savannah, apologized to the judges and walked off stage without another word.
There was no handshake, no show of good sportsmanship between the winner and the loser; only a girl ashamed of herself and leaving without anyone stopping her.
Drew turned and poked his head out the door of the locker room as she walked by without going in to retrieve her stuff. By then she had started crying, tears falling from her cheeks and a few deep breaths trying to compose herself. He opened his mouth, not to insult her or belittle her, but simply to tell her she should have listened, or maybe to ask if Bulbasaur was okay. He didn't know what was going to come out, but he never got the chance to say anything.
"Please don't talk to me," she choked out as she passed him.
When she kept going without bothering to stop, he nodded, and turned to walk back into the waiting room, waiting to be called to the stage for his battle.
In that moment, the image of May crying was forever engrained into his brain.
But he pushed the thoughts down, because he had a contest to win before he could focus on anything else.
He looked for her in the audience.
When he first got back out on stage, he found his eyes searching for her in the hundreds of faces in the audience. He even focused in on her friends and the group of fan girls in the front row, but she was nowhere among them. He idly noticed that Ash was missing, but he chose not to care.
He knew she wasn't backstage. She'd never come back while he was in there, and he doubted she went back in after that, either.
This was not how this contest was supposed to happen. She was supposed to see him win. She wasn't supposed to snap and run away like she had. He had wanted her to watch him accept a ribbon after having fought so hard for it herself. But she would have fallen short to him again, and he would have been deemed the winner.
Now here he stood, trying to pick her out in a sea of nameless faces, and figuring out she wasn't one of them. And it bothered him for some reason.
His attention snapped back in front of him when Vivian announced the battle between himself and the Rubello Town native.
He quickly called out his Masqurain, while her Lairon was still out not having been returned since its first battle.
When the buzzer went off signaling the timer had started, Savannah made the first move, calling for a metal claw. Drew knew he had an in-air advantage, as the Lairon wouldn't be able to get off the ground. Dodging was easy enough, as was getting hits.
Throughout the battle, Masqurain held the lead. Savannah wasn't bleeding points, but she hadn't taken any of Drew's by the time they'd hit the three-minute mark, and Drew didn't think she could. It wasn't until Drew ordered a close range-hidden power that Savannah capitalized on it, calling for a metal sound and take down combination. When the screech hit Masqurain, it stunned it temporarily and allowed for the hit, costing Drew a decent chunk of his score.
He decided to play it safe for the rest of the match, calling for attacks to hit from high in the air and not letting Savannah get a chance again.
During the entire match, Drew hadn't once called out for his Masqurain to use silver wind. He didn't want to use it if May wasn't watching.
"Lairon, metal claw!" Savannah called when she thought Masqurain was low enough.
Drew didn't allow it.
"Use hidden power again!"
The orbs of light hit Lairon directly, draining more of Savannah's points. She was now at a critical level; if she took another hit, she'd lose for sure.
And she got desperate; she called for a shockwave attack, which Drew didn't even have to worry about dodging, because the clock ran out on her. Drew was declared the winner of the contest.
Masqurain landed on his shoulder and he whispered praises to it for a great fought battle while the crowd roared in approval. There was only one thing left to do.
Drew approached Savannah as she patted her Lairon and told him she was proud of him. She looked up at him a bit surprised to see him. Drew only smiled down at her. He wouldn't ever miss the chance to acknowledge a great battle when he could.
"Savannah," he spoke. "That was a great battle."
He extended his hand out to her, and it took her a second to process his words. When she did, a smile spread across her face, and she took his hand in her own and shook it.
"You're very sweet, Drew!" she told him.
He nodded and told her how much he admired her Lairon, thanked her for the fun battle and praised her for her combinations, all to which she blushed furiously.
Moments later, Vivian called for the presentation of the winner's ribbon, and Drew was brought to center stage to face Mr. Contesta. Previous competitors and a few audience members joined him on stage as he was given a ribbon for himself and one to place on Masqurain.
Vivian always made a big deal of the winners, noting their previous accomplishments and how they were doing in the season. He was especially glad when she had pointed out he was one ribbon away from the Grand Festival, because at some point, he'd noticed May had appeared on stage to watch him accept the prize.
But still, he didn't feel like he hoped he would. He was beyond thrilled to be only one ribbon away from the Grand Festival, but it just…it was wrong. Something was wrong, and he had no idea what it was.
Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't gotten to show May his silver wind.
He didn't see May or her friends again.
They'd ditched the hall after everything and left, May and Savannah already having retrieved their things from the locker room.
The room was empty and private as Drew re-entered, releasing his Roselia to show her the ribbon she'd helped him win. She smiled in approval, and spoke up to Masqurain, no doubt congratulating him on a job well done as well.
His back was to his Pokémon as he opened the door on his locker, grabbing his ribbon case and placing the ribbon into the fourth slot. Once he pocketed that, he checked his PokéNav for any new updates. There was only one; an unopened text message from Solidad.
He opened up the short message, which was only about two words long.
Turn around.
Drew furrowed his brows in confusion before his Roselia chirped and skipped away from his side. He turned to face Solidad, leaning casually against the doorframe of the waiting room, smiling super big at him.
He smirked back, excited to see her face to face for the first time in a while.
"Four down, one to go," she spoke. "So, coffee expert, where are we going?"
