Chapter Eight: Cortado– In which Solidad comes to visit, more coffee is had and Drew gets a new perspective.
Author's Notes:
- Hoping to be on a more stable update schedule soon. Thanks for sticking with me!
- Warning: Sherlock is back on right now, and I am a HUGE Sherlock fan. So…I might disappear for a bit longer just because I'm getting my fill of Sherlock while I can. Seriously, we as a fandom wait entirely too long for three episodes…and I'm hoping this series won't be the last. (Also, to answer anyone's questions, I'm team Sherlolly.)
- Does anybody ready these little notes I leave here? Are these relevant? I mean I'm gonna keep writing them regardless of the answer but it'd be cool to know.
- Cortado: espresso coffee mixed with a roughly tiny (on average, one tablespoon) amount of warm milk.
- There will be one additional note at the end.
He was elated to have her in Hoenn; it had been far too long since Drew got to spend some time with Solidad in person.
They kept up with each other so regularly through texts, calls and even watching each other compete, that they didn't need to waste time filling each other in on mundane details about what had been going on in their lives as of late. Drew was going for the Hoenn Ribbon Cup, Solidad was getting back into training to prepare for the next season in Kanto's contest circuit. That was that.
He'd thought about competing in Kanto after the Hoenn season. Their season started just after Hoenn's ended. It would mean only having a few weeks' grace period in between the Grand Festival and the start on an entire new round of contests, but Drew lived for this. He could absolutely see himself doing that, but he'd have to talk to his Pokémon about it first. He'd see if they were up for it before he made any kind of decision; it was only fair to them.
He was surprised to see her, having been given no warning of her coming presence. But still, he was happy to have her there with him, nonetheless.
They'd settled in and placed their orders at quaint little café Drew had recommended. It was right on the outskirts of the city, so it was never overly crowded, but always did well enough to make money and stay in business. They opted to sit outside to enjoy the sunshine for however long it would stay in the sky as the day was ticking away.
"So how long have you been in Hoenn?" Drew asked her.
"Only about 14 hours," Solidad shrugged and relaxed into her seat. "Pidgeot and I flew here late last night. Bit of an adrenaline thing, really."
"Do explain," Drew prodded, interested.
"We'd been working on his feather dance for a few weeks now," Solidad responded. "It just wasn't happening the way we both wanted it to. But after weeks, all of that hard work came to fruition. He nailed it, he really did. I can't wait for you to see us debut it in an appeal. But yeah, like I was saying…
"It'd been a lot of grinding and timing training to get it done, and when it finally all paid off, we were both a little hyper and too excited," Solidad laughed a little at this. "I was thinking about you and how you had the contest today, and about how I haven't been to one of your performances, or in Hoenn at all, for over a year. So then I looked at the clock and it was only 6:50, and I just looked at Pidgeot and said, 'wanna go watch Drew compete tomorrow?' Next thing I knew, we were flying up here, both just so pumped up. I'm really glad we did; you were spectacular today."
"Thank you," Drew beamed, proud of himself and his Pokémon. "Roselia did really well in her appeal, and Masquerain outdid himself in his debut, if I do say so myself. It's all got me so ready to get to the Grand Festival. Where is Pidgeot now? And the rest of your Pokémon?"
"They're all getting some rest at the Pokémon Center," Solidad sipped her iced tea. "They've all been giving it 100 percent to get ready for next season, even though we've still got quite some time to go before then. But I thought a little vacation would do them some good."
It was then that a barista brought their drinks out to them. When the barista turned around quickly to address the other table outside where people were sitting, Solidad leaned forward and reached for the packets of sweeteners and mix-ins in the little glass bowl on their table. She'd grabbed nearly all of the white packets there were. Then, Drew watched in disgusted horror as she poured sugar packet after sugar packer into her cup, mixing it all in. She took small sips after each packet was added, judging if it was drinkable. The ripped packets and stray sugar crystals littered the table as the process continued. Drew stopped counting after the fourth one.
"You don't need to look like you're offended because I'm putting more sugar in my drink than you do," Solidad remarked without looking up at him. "I don't ever get offended by your lack of a soul or whatever."
"You might as well be drinking sugar with a shot of coffee mixed in," Drew said, taking a small sip of his own drink. "Seriously, it's a crime, what you're doing to that poor beverage, and how do you not have diabetes by now?"
"How are we even still friends?" Solidad laughed, discarding her seventh sweetener packet and finally deeming the coffee acceptable.
"Sometimes I wonder," Drew rolled his eyes but chuckled as well.
"Is there anything else I can get for you guys?" the young boy returned to them, his tray tucked beneath his arm as he swept Solidad's pile of packets up to clear the table.
"No, no, we're alright," she spoke, Drew nodding.
Solidad then thanked the boy politely and gave him a tip. He nodded, thanked them in return and told them to call if they needed anything else before returning into the shop.
When he was gone, Drew picked up the conversation.
"You said a vacation?" Drew questioned, stirring his drink a little.
"That's right," Solidad grinned. "Like I said, my Pokémon deserve a break for all their efforts."
"So how long are you staying in Hoenn?" he continued.
"Details, details…" Solidad waved her hand dismissively. "I want to talk about some of those Pokémon we saw today."
The prospect of discussing a contest, Drew's interest shifted almost instantly like Solidad knew it would. She didn't want to ruin the surprise she had for him; not yet, anyway. The perfect distraction? Contests. Drew had just earned his fourth ribbon. He had one more to go before the Grand Festival, but she didn't doubt he'd have his final qualification for entry within the next two weeks.
"How did you feel about that Flaffy's thunderbolt technique in the appeals?" she began, easing into the discussion.
Drew went off excitedly about the appeals he'd seen in this contest. As it had been a class R1 showcase, the appeals were much stronger and much more refined than earlier contests in the season, but that was how contest seasons worked. Solidad knew this. The early competitions saw everything from first-timers to professionals. By this point in the season, the newcomers who hadn't won earlier on in the season were starting to disappear, preparing for the next season as the number of contests they were allowed to compete in without ribbons diminished rapidly.
He noted more than a few Pokémon that had caught his interest in the contest. He spent more than a few minutes picking apart their various routines and explaining what he would have done differently or how he hated the entire thing and would have come up with the same combinations but different approaches. And throughout the whole thing, he held an excitement in his eyes, because they both knew the biggest contest of them all was coming, and he was only one victory away from it.
Contests and competing were who Drew was; Solidad knew this. She'd known since the day she met him. And she was happy he had found and pursued his passion so early on in his life. She didn't know much about Drew's childhood, but she could deduce that it wasn't the happiest experience. And with an absence of constant happiness in his younger days, Solidad was glad he'd found a source of contentment he could love so easily, and friendships with his Pokémon to make sure he was never lonely.
But at the same time, Solidad wanted more for Drew. Of course she wanted to see him succeed; to make it to the top and achieve his dreams of becoming a Top Coordinator. But once he'd done that, then what? Drew was talented; there was no denying that. And she knew because of that talent, he'd become a Top Coordinator early on in his life. An admirable achievement, sure…but at the same time, it left something to be desired. What did he have to look forward to when it all came to fruition?
Sure, he could go on, and try to become a Top Coordinator in all the contest regions: Hoenn, Kanto, Jhoto and Sinnoh. That in itself would give him the true ultimate title in coordinating, Master Coordinator. She was certain he'd go on to try for it, and of course win it after a few years. He had the passion and drive for sure.
Yes, Drew had a bright future ahead of him. She could already tell from the first time she'd ever faced him in a contest battle, her face emerging on the victory board and his, looking down at the ground unable to hold back tears that, this boy would become one of the greatest coordinators in the world.
But he would be alone; that was what worried her.
She would always find a little brother in Drew. She would always be friends with him and stick by his side no mater what, but she couldn't be the only one. Drew needed more people in his life, and she could see that. He was so stuck in his goal, so absorbed in his mission that he never made time for other people to come into his life. And once he'd accomplished everything he'd set out to accomplish, what would he have then? She dreaded the thought.
She'd come to all of these conclusions last season, when they'd met and he told her he wasn't going to enter the Grand Festival. Drew had given her all of his reasons and they made sense; she even agreed with him on a few points he'd made. But she remembered how he told her how great he wanted to be. How perfect was the only standard he could hold himself to when he went for the Ribbon Cup.
With all of Drew's focus in life on contests, what was to happen when there were no more contests?
She'd thought about it a lot more than she cared to admit, and it was starting to become a more consistent train of thought. The thoughts kept her up at night some times. She'd momentarily pause in random training sessions thinking about it. She loved Drew so much, and couldn't stand the thought of him having everything he ever wanted, and then realizing he had nothing at the same time. She thought about it more and more, especially as of late.
Even now, as she sat here and listened to him excitedly go on and on about the appeal one girl had pulled off with her Oddish, and how it was far too unsynchronized and poorly planned and how Arceus only knows she'd won a ribbon before and gotten into a R1 contest, she felt those fears for him.
But she didn't let it show; she never let it show.
Out of all of the things she knew about Drew, she knew that above all, he hated talking about himself. It was not that he wasn't quick to praise his Pokémon when they deserved it, because he always was. He loved his Pokémon beyond measure, but that wasn't the problem. He didn't like discussing personal issues with anyone. Not even Solidad, despite how close they were.
Solidad guessed it was partially because he didn't like talking about that kind of stuff, but mostly because he didn't even realize it was all there.
Just like he didn't realize how important May had become to him in his contest career, and in his life.
Solidad saw it, from the way he first talked about her. From the way he remembered her name. From the way he caught an entirely new Pokémon just to pull off a move better than she could. From the way he studied her, and the way he had failed to notice he was blushing sometimes when they spoke about her in their discussions.
Yet, Solidad noticed that in this particular conversation, she had yet to come up…at all.
"Seriously, though, I was impressed–" Drew had continued speaking. "With that swift and ember combination. I never, ever, thought of changing colors on a swift attack. I'm almost offended I didn't. I seriously need to start working on something like that. I was sort of relieved I didn't have to face that Flareon in the battle rounds. I don't have any Pokémon that know any fire-type attacks. I can't wait to teach my Flygon some."
He finished speaking and took a sip from his cup, looking at her expectantly. Solidad blinked a few times, coming out of her thought process. He was waiting for a response. Unfortunately, Solidad had only caught the last three sentences. Something about fire and his Flygon…
Wait. He didn't have a Flygon yet…did he?
"Vibrava evolved?" she saved herself after only three awkward seconds of silence.
Drew arched an eyebrow. He'd done some real in-depth analysis of some of those appeals, and it was like she'd zoned out. It was weird, but he chose to ignore it if he could.
"Well, not yet," Drew admitted. "But I feel like he's getting close. He'll make an excellent Grand Festival debut, I'm sure."
"Yeah, yeah, no doubt," Solidad said, seeming a little distant.
"Are you alright, Solidad?" Drew asked, confused.
She was sitting right in front of him. She looked perfectly healthy. She had that ever-present soft smile on her face as she listened to him talk, occasionally humming in agreement or shaking her head. But her eyes; her eyes told that her thoughts were miles away, focused on something else…
Before he could press it further, she took a large swallow of her drink, looked him dead in the eyes and blurted out a, "what about May's appeal?"
She watched for his reaction. She wanted to see what he would do.
It caught him off guard for sure. He watched her, a little guarded, as she launched into her own analysis. Her eyes lit up at this; how he instantly changed demeanor the second May finally came up in the conversation. This girl really did have an impact on him.
"It was nice to finally see this famous silver wind I've heard so much about," Solidad relaxed into her speech; talking about contests was anything but foreign to her. "I mean, really, it was as beautiful as I'd imagined it to be from your descriptions. Really, televisions don't do the natural glow of it true justice. I can see why it interested you so much."
"Solidad–"
"I think that opening with morning sun was brilliant, though," she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Really, really gorgeous move. I couldn't believe how much it made her Pokémon sparkle. Did you see the color of its wings? Incredible."
"Solidad–"
"But the real kicker was how she kept both moves going at once," she pushed on, because if he wasn't going to bring her up, she sure was. "I can tell silver wind on its own it phenomenal, but the way that morning sun just made it shine all the harder…wow. I can see why you wanted a Pokémon who could pull it off now, really."
"Solidad."
Her eyebrows raised on their own accord as he called her name in that tone. It was a tone that said, "stop" with finality while holding a bit of hesitation in it at the same time. Clearly he hadn't wanted to talk about May at all for some reason that day, which was odd to her.
"Problem?" she asked. "You don't agree?"
"No, I mean, I don't know–I mean, her appeal was–Yeah, but did you…" he paused repeatedly, trying to figure out what he wanted to say.
A quiet settled over them as he tried to put his feelings on May's performance that day into an accurate train of thought. He kept his eyes down on his cup on the table, chewing his lip. Solidad waited, watching the traces of confusion and with a twinge of unsure plat in his eyes.
She knew why it was hard. She'd been there; she'd seen it all. But she was very interested to see how he took it.
"I'll admit she definitely had the best appeal round she's had so far," Drew lamented, and then paused again.
He stayed quiet for another minute or so, looking intently at his Cortado and not moving. Solidad didn't know if he was waiting for her input or not right then and there, so she stayed quiet and simply nodded just incase. If he wanted her comments at that moment, he'd definitely ask for them. But she knew there was a reason Drew had completely left May out of the conversation.
She just hoped he could see the light so she wouldn't have to explain it, because Drew was hard to get to with talks like these.
"But…that doesn't make up for the rest of her performance."
Boom. There it was.
Solidad knew she was going to have some work to do, because he clearly didn't get it. But she figured she might as well let him vent it all out before she tried to explain her perspective. That way she could tackle all of his points after he'd made them.
"What, you don't agree?" Drew questioned in her silence. "C'mon, Solidad. There's no way you can't say May was out of line and didn't deserve to lose today."
"You're putting words in my mouth, actually," Solidad informed him. "I didn't say anything at all."
"But seriously?" he continued. "How can you not? She was the worst she's ever been, hands down. Even you can see that; you're just too nice to say otherwise."
"I have my criticisms and praises just as you do," she replied. "I won't say she deserved to win, because you're right. Today, you were the better performer. But I will also say I think you're being a little harsh here."
"How so?" he challenged, one eyebrow quirked.
"Tell me how you felt about it, and I'll tell you how I felt."
Drew stopped to ponder this for a moment. There were two things Drew had never beaten Solidad in. One of them was a contest. But in truth, they'd never faced off in a competition after that first day. So was that really valid in this moment? He wasn't sure.
The second was an argument. Solidad knew how to combat things in every single way. She was strategic and calculated when it came to this type of thing. She analyzed every angle presented to her and fought for her side effectively. If she weren't so well suited for coordinating, she'd have made a damn brilliant lawyer.
But there was no way Drew could lose this time. He knew Solidad saw exactly what he had seen: a stuck up girl thinking so highly of herself, that she deserved to win based on her previous victories alone. No skill or Pokémon required. She completely embarrassed herself (which she deserved) and her Pokémon (who didn't deserve it). That was the biggest crime of all.
Or maybe the biggest crime was the possibility that even after all of that mortification, she would still enter contests.
"I don't even understand why I have to explain this to you," he began, a little frustrated as the unpleasant events of the contest flashed back in his memory. "She was completely out of her mind. How dare she call herself a coordinator.
"You want me to compliment her? Fine, I will. Her appeal was good, but you know what? Her Beautifly has always been good. Even in that first contest where she couldn't exactly hit her stride, her Beautifly did the best it could with the lousy trainer it had, as it has always done. But she's been in a few contests now and she knows how this works, so yeah; her appeal was more refined than it had been ever before. Even I can't deny that.
"Everything else afterwards? Horrendous. Oh my Mew, Solidad; if only you could have heard her in the locker room in between rounds. You remember that lady I faced off against in the final match? The one who beat her in the battles?"
Solidad nodded.
"That was Savannah–really nice lady; won a contest last year but didn't have much experience otherwise and the woman was a nervous wreck almost all day," Drew commented, and continued. "Anyway, she was back there coaching Savannah, giving her the worst advice. Things like 'once you win more than once, it's all easy' and 'I've got the experience to know that I'll win this.' It was painful to listen to at some moments, honestly. And I warned her; Solidad, I warned her.
"I straight up told her the way she was acting would get her nowhere. Do you know what she did? She fought me on that, too. And then, when her friends came back stage to congratulate her, one of them tried to give Savannah some advice on battling, and May straight up told off her friends as well. Do you realize she told off her younger brother?
"I feel like I don't have to remind you what happened when she went into the battle round against Savannah, but for good measure, let's review that, too. She completely disregarded the well being of her Pokémon. She pushed her Bulbasaur into a situation it had no desire to be in and wasn't ready for. But she forced it out on that stage, because she felt like she had to prove to me and everybody else that she was as good as she thought she was. All that resulted in was her poor Bulbasaur being beaten. Badly.
"The worst part? Well, you saw it happen. We all did. Even after her Bulbasaur was down and definitely out, she kept screaming, telling everyone she wasn't finished. You know what? She was finished before she even took the stage. Her Pokémon suffered because she couldn't keep it together. Even the judges had to yell to get some sense into her. Honestly, it went farther than it should have."
Solidad watched him throughout his entire speech. The way his eyes blazed with something she couldn't quite name. Was it shame? Was it anger? She couldn't tell. She just knew she didn't like the way he hadn't said May's name once throughout his entire speech, like he just couldn't bring himself to do so.
"She needs to give this up if that's really the way she is," Drew threw out as an after thought.
Internally, Solidad cringed at his statement. He really didn't see how much he needed this girl.
"Alright, alright," Solidad finally said. "I think that's a bit over the top."
"You can't be serious," Drew leaned forward, frowning. "How can you not agree with me?"
"Well, I do agree with you on a few points," Solidad said. "Like for one, she definitely lost her composure today, that's for sure. And her poor Bulbasaur did…go through a lot."
"As the daughter of a gym leader, she should know how to take care of her own Pokémon," Drew added. "Not even as a coordinator; she should have known that a Pokémon's well being is far more important than winning. It's why I didn't enter Roselia back in Verdanturf Town."
That surprised Solidad. She had no idea May came from a family with a Pokémon gym background. In the back of her mind, Solidad wondered how May ended up in contests.
"Wait, how do you know she's a gym leader's daughter?" she asked. "Did she tell you that?"
"No," Drew admitted, his face getting a little pink to Solidad's intrigue. "I heard a group of fan girls point it out. They asked her if she was, 'Norman's daughter' and when I looked it up, I found out. Norman from Petalburg City, the normal-type gym here in Hoenn."
Solidad mentally noted to look into it all later, because she was interested to know where May came from as well, but what really stuck out to her in Drew's admission was the number one thing she needed to present her case and defend May's behavior.
"You said a group of fan girls?" she clarified.
"Huh? Oh yeah, there was this group of older women. I'm sure you saw them at the contest; they were really…loud. They were all dressed in cheerleader outfits. It was Savannah's little contest fan club group. They fussed over me a few times as well."
"And they fussed over May, correct?"
"Well, yeah…" Drew rolled his eyes. "They swarmed her once they realized who she was. Then they stuck with her and Savannah the whole time. I avoided them."
"Well, there's your answer, Drew."
Drew tilted his head a bit as he looked back at Solidad, clearly more confused now.
"My answer to what, exactly?" he tested her, unsure of where she was going.
"Why May acted the way she did today, of course," he responded, taking another sip from her overly sweetened drink.
When Drew didn't respond, Solidad changed positions in her seat to get a little more comfortable. She faced him full on, propping her elbows on the table and looking him straight in the eyes.
"So tell me, when have you ever seen May get any attention like that, ever?" she started.
"I haven't," he answered instantly, set on staying in control of the argument. "She's a new coordinator; barely anyone knows her."
"Mhmm," Solidad smiled a little, making Drew nervous. "And as someone from a somewhat-known family, how do you think she feels to finally have some recognition away from the trainer side of things and to be recognized as a coordinator?"
"That was her choice to become a coordinator?" he tried again, feeling like he was losing his footing.
"Okay," she continued. "Take those two things, and put it on top of the fact that at every contest you've ever competed in, there was a somewhat arrogant coordinator the same age as you telling you that they were better and that you had no chance, even when you've actually won a few times on your own?"
"I–I'm not arrogant," Drew combatted.
Solidad rolled her eyes, and he fell back in his chair just a bit.
"I said somewhat, because you can be," Solidad admitted. "You are a good coordinator, Drew. You know you are, because you've always been good at this. Since day one, you've been a successful coordinator. You had a near-perfect performance in the very first contest you ever entered. You've always had fans. She didn't have the best display at her first show, and hardly anyone, yourself included, took her seriously.
"On top of that, she comes from a family with an extensive Pokémon experience background. Her dad's a gym leader, right? She was probably always expected to become a trainer or take over the gym from early on, and she chose something entirely different. Now, I don't know her situation at home, and I doubt that you do, either, but wouldn't you say that, even if she has the support from her family, there probably were some people who were disappointed in her choice to not pursue that path?
"So now, she's starting out with a self-doubt problem. She feels like she has to prove to others and herself that she can be a good coordinator. Take that, and pair it with a grass-headed coordinator – who's been to literally every contest she's been in so far – who's been telling her that he's better, has much more experience and has tons of fans constantly rooting for him all the time, where as she's always only had her friends.
"And then came today's contest, when she actually had some serious support. She had two ribbons to show for all her struggles in the past, and she was feeling good about those. She finally had a fan club that wasn't just her friends who were screaming her praises to her. And for once, she finally got to be the more experienced coordinator, who got to talk down to someone with less experience than her.
"She's still new at this, Drew. May is still learning all of these things, because she's just starting out. And just because you already learned all of these things and she hasn't yet doesn't make it okay to judge her so harshly for it. Everyone gets a little cocky every now and then. Now she's learned what can happen if she's too cocky and I doubt she'll let that happen again."
His lips were pursed as he continued to stare at the table. Even after she finished talking, he seemed to be weighing her words.
"Still doesn't excuse the way she treated her Bulbasaur," Drew muttered, and Solidad could see it was a last defense.
"No, it doesn't," Solidad actually agreed with him, and there was a spark of hope in his eyes. "But like I said, she was finally getting some notoriety for something she's still so unused to. And to have lost to someone who had even less experience than her? She probably felt worse than horrible. She was in the moment, and she got overemotional. It happens to all of us, maybe not in that particular setting or moment, but when people feel things that strongly, it's hard to truly ignore them."
In a lot of ways, Drew knew Solidad was right. From the times he'd spent observing her, May had proved on more than one occasion to be an emotive person.
"My point is that you've always known you were good at this," Solidad went on. "You've had a lot people telling you how great you were since day one. May finally had that, and is it really so wrong that she wanted to enjoy it? She clearly didn't realize how bad she was acting at the time, but you know, by the end of it all when she got back on stage to watch you accept your ribbon, she seemed happy for you.
"This, of course, is all based on inferences, but Drew, I think you need to maybe look at all of this from her perspective. I don't think she's this bad person you seem to think she was today. I think she's just under a lot more pressure in these contests than you give her credit for."
This was why Drew had become so reliant on Solidad over the years; she had a great perception. She could see things in ways other people couldn't. She took things beyond face value. She saw the whole picture.
She'd changed Drew's mind on things more than a few times over the almost-two years they'd been friends, and he came to appreciate that a lot.
As much as he hated to admit it, Solidad had some fair points, and he could feel his anger at May's behavior slowly fading away.
From the second he'd found out May was the daughter of a gym leader, he expected her to be a natural battler automatically. When she didn't meet that expectation, and she let the pressure of it all go to her head, she messed up. She'd disappointed him, and he wondered just how many other people she might have disappointed as well.
It was a type of pressure he himself never had to feel. He was never coordinating to prove to anyone that he could do it, and that he could do it well. He was a coordinator because it was his passion in life.
And now, he could see he might have been too quick to judge; he might have been wrong.
"Yeah," Drew mumbled to himself. "Yeah."
Solidad smiled and sighed in relief. Drew couldn't understand why it mattered so much, but he didn't exactly want to keep the conversation going. She'd proved her point, and Drew accepted that. Still, the longer he had to acknowledge the fact that he'd jumped the gun was annoying. Drew hated being wrong.
Seeing the discomfort on his face but knowing he at least understood, Solidad changed the subject. She didn't want him in a bad mood, and she figured now was as good a time as any to reveal her surprise.
"Alright, alright, enough with the heavy," she said. "Ribbon number four; where are we going to pick up the fifth?"
Just as she knew he would, he caught her underlying meaning. Instantly.
"We?" he asked looking back up to her, a little dumbfounded.
"Well, I was thinking I'd tag along for a bit with you," she grinned. "I mean, I planned on staying in Hoenn for a little while. Might as well watch you get that final ribbon, right?"
Drew finally relaxed for the first time in a while. He shifted back into his chair easily, flicked his hair and smirked.
"I hope you didn't expect to stay long, then," he told her. "I want to start training for the Grand Festival right away."
"I knew you would," she laughed lightly, reaching for her PokéNav.
Solidad opened the Hoenn Contest Circuit's app to check schedules and times. It was a useful tool the Contest Organization had created to help coordinators figure out everything from top contestant stats to everything they could ever want to know about the cities where contest halls were located.
She knew Drew probably already had his final run already planned out, but she still liked knowing what the options were.
"There's a few contests coming up," Solidad read off the calendar. "One in Lilycove?"
"That one's a bit far away," Drew shook his head. "Not really the direction I want to be heading."
"What about the one in Purika City?" Solidad tried again. "I actually have a friend who's going to be competing in that one."
"I thought about it, but I'd rather enter a contest that's sooner rather than later," Drew said. "I don't want to waste and extra Grand Festival training time."
"So I guess that means that the Pacifidlog one is out as well," Solidad kept scrolling on.
"You think I would wait until the last contest of the season to go for a ribbon?" Drew mocking acted offended. "Seriously, Sol, I'm not a rookie here."
"Big talk for someone with only four," she bit back.
Drew chuckled, then shook his head again, reaching his hand out for her PokéNav.
"I think you're looking at the R1 or lower calendar," he mused, backing out of her search quickly to find what he wanted.
She waited patiently while he browsed the optional schedules until he apparently found the right one. He nodded, pulled up what he was looking for and handed the device back to Solidad. She looked down at the screen, showing the R3 class calendar, the highest-class regular contests went to.
R3 contests were scarcely attended by coordinators but highly attended by audiences. It was where the most skilled coordinators gathered to test themselves before the Grand Festival. Generally throughout a season, most coordinators liked to play it safe and stuck to the general contests to get their five ribbons. R3 contests were for those crazy enough to take on the best of the best outside of the Grand Festival.
"I want to go to Mossdeep City for the last ribbon," he explained with certainty. "It's at the end of next week, and it's a class R3. That seems like pretty good practice for going into the Grand Festival, right?"
The calendar told her the contest also fell on the one date that Solidad had truly come to Hoenn for. It didn't surprise her that he chose that day to compete.
No, what surprised her was that he wasn't playing it safe. He was ready and willing to step away from an almost assured victory and go straight into what would very likely be the hardest contest he'd ever competed in. It was extremely competitive of him to make such a bold move, and she wondered why he'd make that choice. He was not a risk taker in contests.
It couldn't have been to impress her. Solidad had only just told him she'd be traveling with him to watch him compete, and he clearly had this planned out for quite a while.
Come to think of it, Solidad had noticed Drew was a lot more emotional about all the contests he'd entered this year. True, she'd seen him near tears in the first contest he'd been in, but after that, he went through contests with a stony resolve and blank slate of emotions. He'd skipped the Grand Festival without even batting an eye. Now here he was, one ribbon away from it, and clearly higher on life than she'd ever thought possible for him.
He discussed contests more passionately as well this season. He'd been far more critical and observant of how other coordinators not only handled their performances, but also of how they handled themselves and their Pokémon. He didn't throw off-hand comments about people. He really took the time and broke down each of their appeals and battles.
Well, at least for one he did.
Solidad knew it was still way too early for Drew to fully comprehend just how much May was pushing him to be a better coordinator overall. He still didn't believe she could have much of an impact on him at all, but Solidad had been watching Drew for months now. She could see it. And she had every intention of pushing that along.
She wanted Drew to be happy, and even though he didn't know it yet, a ribbon cup wouldn't make him happy. It would for a while, but in the long run, not a shot.
Solidad could see that May was someone who could do that for him.
True, May wasn't the only person that could give Drew the happiness he deserved, but she was an important first step. May could teach Drew a lot about himself and who he wanted to be; up until this point, Drew had failed to see that. May could help him grow in ways Solidad couldn't, if Drew would just learn to openly accept her as a rival and eventually as a friend.
She made him more competitive. She made him see contests in a new light. She made him love coordinating in ways he hadn't before.
The only problem was that May wouldn't be at the Mossdeep City Contest; Solidad knew May didn't qualify for it. Solidad only hoped she could get the last three ribbons she needed to enter the Grand Festival, but somehow, she knew May would.
"Mossdeep it is," she finally agreed.
They began making their travel plans, then. Since they were staying in different hotels for the night, they had to do some early morning scheduling. After a few minutes, they decided to meet at the edge of town early the next day to set out for Slateport, where they would hop the ferry to take them to Mossdeep.
The two of them set out to their hotels, coffee long having been finished and the sun set for the evening.
"So why stick around?" Drew had asked as they walked on the sidewalk towards Solidad's hotel. "You already saw me compete today. What's so special about the next contest?"
"Oh, you know, lots of reasons," Solidad responded, looking down at him from the corner of her eye. "My adopted little brother competing for his fifth ribbon, a chance to explore Hoenn again, birthdays…the list goes on and on."
He tensed, and cursed to himself.
"You would remember…" he sighed, rubbing his temples with two fingers.
Solidad laughed in response.
Author's note:
- I know there's no contest hall in Mossdeep in the R/S/E or ORAS games, but there isn't one in Pacifidlog on there either, and that town had a contest in the anime…so let's just all pretend, alright? Good. No further questions. Until the next chapter, peace out homies.
