Chapter Nine: Mossdeep City– In which Drew and Solidad travel together, Solidad makes a friend and Drew competes in an R3 contest.
Author's notes:
- This chapter isn't based on any episodes of the anime; don't let the title fool you.
- I'm back in school, meaning I'll be so busy but I'll be trying to force out chapters as often as I can. Let's see what happens.
- Mentions of events from the episodes, "Pokéblock, Stock, and Berry," "Lessons in Lilycove" and "A Cacturne for the Worse."
- Fair warning, this chapter is really long. As in, 54 pages (and 23,336 words long) on a Microsoft Word document long.
- I'm not saying you can skip this chapter, because I did take a while to write it, but…if you're here for strict contestshipping, there's little to none in this chapter. It's just a Drew–Solidad adventure. And it's long because I finally got some creative freedom outside of having to follow episodes. Hope you guys like it!
Traveling with a partner was a curveball at first.
Now with Solidad walking next to him, occasionally commenting on one thing or another– well, it took some getting used to. Since he first set out on his journey, Drew had always been alone, and he had every intention of staying solo throughout his travels. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Solidad or her company; it was more of getting used to being mindful of someone else on the way.
It had been three days since they left Rubello Town, and Slateport City was on the horizon. From there, they would jump on the overnight ferry to Mossdeep, where Drew would have just three days to prepare himself for the R3 contest he was going into, and part of him worried whether or not it would help or hurt him to have Solidad there while he practiced.
All things considered, Solidad was a better coordinator than him. She had more grace, experience and talent than he did, and he hoped one day to match that. So the thought of having her watch and critique him during practice was a bit daunting to him. He knew training wasn't supposed to always be perfect, but with her watching him, he felt like he had to be. And then in the real show, he'd feel like he would have to be better than perfect.
So yes; traveling with someone was definitely a different experience. Traveling with Solidad was on an entirely different level.
The first day had been the worst for him; not bad by any means, because traveling with her wasn't bad, but it was the hardest day to adjust to the newness of having a temporary companion.
On the morning when he'd woken up, before the sun had even risen, he packed his bags and made his way to the edge of town with the ever-present feeling that he was forgetting something looming over him. He was just passing the city limits when his PokéNav buzzed, a text from Solidad apologizing and saying she needed five more minutes to dry her hair before she'd be ready to go. He nearly tripped over his own two feet sprinting back to her hotel, and when she'd come out the front door to find him out of breath and panting heavily, he'd told her he just wanted to go for a morning jog with his face as pink as her hair.
It was all too obvious to her what had really happened, but she let it go. The jokes would be too easy to make, and she knew this whole traveling together for a few days thing was going to be a different experience for him. So she asked if they could get coffee on their way out, and Drew nodded all too eagerly, clearly desperate to move on from the embarrassment on his part.
His original intent was that they would barely take any breaks on day one. Drew was clearly someone who didn't make pit stops or delay for any reason when he was on his way somewhere. Meanwhile, Solidad was traversing through parts of the region she'd never seen, even during her time there in the previous contest season in Hoenn, wanting to take pictures and check out unique little shops along the routes. Drew never verbally complained, but out of the corner of her eyes, she could see him pursing his lips and often glancing at his watch or the direction they were going in. She tried making less stops after she'd noticed, but she still pull him off the road at some places. Drew needed to learn how to have fun while traveling.
Still, she didn't want to be totally rude; though some of them were important stops she needed to make, this was Drew's journey, and she could understand his eagerness to get from point A to point B without much distraction. So from that point on, she kept her stops to a minimum and made sure they pertained to contests in someway so Drew could at least be somewhat interested.
Around lunchtime, she's made them stop at an organic berry farm on Route 123. She opted to go inside and meet the couple that ran the place, promising she'd only be a few minutes. Drew nodded and told her to have fun while he tended to their Pokémon, seeing no need to meet the people. He found meeting people was kind of tedious when it was unnecessary, and seeing as he'd never planned to stop at any of these places, it felt really unnecessary. Solidad emerged after only being gone for several minutes, and they were on their way again.
The first night, they stayed in Fortree City much later that Drew had originally predicted, so they swung by a diner and got a light meal before finding a place to sleep. When they'd first checked into the hotel, the receptionist tried checking them into a single room, in which Drew responded by turning a deep crimson and quickly telling her they would need to separate rooms. Solidad jumped in and apologized for the confusion, and laughed a little when she saw how Drew was almost sweating.
"You're seriously bad at traveling with traveling with someone else," Solidad commented as they made their way down the hall towards their separate but neighboring rooms.
"It's different," he admitted. "I'm having a good time with you, don't get me wrong. It's just different."
They stopped in front of their respective doors to bid each other goodnight.
"Well, see you in the morning, kiddo," Solidad reached out and tousled his hair a bit.
"Yeah, yeah, easy," Drew scrunched his face and ducked away a bit before she could totally mess up his hair.
"Oh, and by the way, don't leave without me again," she stuck her head out and winked at him and slipped back through the door before he could respond.
Drew gulped and slipped into his own room.
He collapsed on the bed and was asleep within minutes, the long day finally catching up to him.
Day two was more or less the same.
Solidad had knocked on his door early in the morning, waking him up because he'd forgotten to set an alarm having passed out so early the night before.
Sipping coffee over breakfast at a small local café, Drew looked over the map on his PokéNav. He cringed when he realized how far behind schedule he was; had they not stopped so many times the day prior, they'd only have a few hours trip to make today before arriving in Slateport. With their position, he'd realized they still had a little over a day's walk.
He wanted to say something, but he knew that she knew he wanted to get to Mossdeep as quickly as possible, and they did have a few days.
They walked through small towns and open valleys, making even less stops along the route than they had the day before. Drew had noticed every stop they'd made, Solidad's backpack grew a little bit bigger. He assumed she wouldn't want to stop much anymore because her bag was getting a little too heavy, and he more or less seemed to be correct. He didn't complain; the less stops, the more time they'd save and the quicker he'd get to Mossdeep to start training.
When they'd stopped for the night, they were only about a two-hour walk from Slateport, much to Drew's relief. Once Solidad had chosen a hotel with space available and they'd checked into their rooms, they settled in for dinner at a small local place next door.
Solidad ordered some spicy ramen dish and he ordered a salad, to which Solidad had quipped it matched his hair, and he ignored her, mainly because he had no good response to counter her with. He had other things to worry about.
"So we'll get to Slateport tomorrow morning, the ferry should have us in Mossdeep by tomorrow evening," Solidad commented during the meal when the silence became a bit too boring for her.
"Yeah, good," Drew chewed thoughtfully, his eyes out the window.
They'd gotten their food minutes before, and she was almost half way through her bowl. Meanwhile, Drew had barely even gotten a quarter of the way into his plate.
"What are you thinking about?" Solidad inquired.
"My appeal, who I'll use in which rounds, how I'll handle the R3 contest, the list goes on," he answered, looking back at her, his face a bit blank.
She never knew him to be an emotive person, but she always knew how to read him, and she knew that wasn't the only thing on his mind.
"Are you nervous?" she quirked an eyebrow.
"What?" he seemed surprised. "No, not at all. I just…well–"
"You expected to be in Mossdeep by now, training," she finished, a knowing look passing over her features.
Drew sighed, pursed his lips and nodded a bit.
"Drew, don't feel bad," she told him easily. "I totally shook up your game. I know I did. I just really wanted to travel with you for a bit and be here on your birthday."
"It's contest day," Drew corrected her. "You know I don't do birthday stuff. Ever."
"Well, this year, you're going to," she told him, her tone final.
"Fine," he knew he wouldn't get anywhere in the argument. "Just nothing too big, okay?"
Solidad nodded, taking a sip of her drink.
"Good, because even if you said no, I still have a few small plans; nothing too big," she confirmed. "Anyway, don't worry about me. Once we get to Mossdeep, I'll stay out of your way so you can train. I've never been to Mossdeep and I wanted to explore it a bit with my Pokémon."
Drew seemed to relax a little at her words, and she smiled softly at him. He'd never admit it, but he was nervous, whether he realized it or not. After all, he'd never been in an R3 contest, and he was gambling a whole season on this one. Drew had no intention of competing again until the Grand Festival rolled around, and he was counting on winning. If he lost this one, he'd have to compete in another contest somewhere. She knew it would be tough.
"It's a big island," Drew lamented. "Lots to do and see there. I think the big draw is the space center. They do a lot of research on Pokémon from outer space there. There's a museum and everything. I've never been, but I'm sure it's interesting."
"I'll keep myself entertained, don't worry," she responded, an easy smile still on her face. "I already made reservations for each of us at separate hotels. You won't see me until after the contest, I promise."
He seemed distracted throughout their conversation. Solidad could tell Drew's mind was still miles away as he nodded.
"Thank you," he told he, his eyes locked down on a tomato he was absent-mindedly pushing around with his fork.
She simply shrugged and continued eating, giving him some silence so he could think.
Drew wouldn't admit he was nervous for the contest, because he was convinced that wasn't the truth. If anything, he was excited; it was his first taste of real, tough competition. His first R3 contest; the closest thing he'd ever competed in to the Grand Festival. He had every strategy he planned to use already mapped out in his head, and he knew exactly how he wanted to go into this contest.
He'd use Masquerain in the appeal rounds, and Roselia in the battles. He could rely on Masquerain to get him a flashy enough appeal to advance him, and then he'd fall back on Roselia in the battle rounds. Although Masquerain had more than proved himself in the last contest as a battler, he'd been battling with Roselia longer, and he was more confident in her abilities to take on the undoubtedly strong Pokémon they'd go up against.
Thanks to a glance at the rules a week earlier when he'd decided he wanted to enter the R3, Drew learned he only needed to compete with two Pokémon despite it being an R3 contest. Vibrava was still out of the question; he had already made up his mind that Vibrava would not appear in a contest; only when he was a Flygon would he be ready. He only prays to Arceus that he would have his Flygon before the Grand Festival, because there was only eleven weeks left, and Drew had already invested too much training time not to have this Flygon debut. He, along with Roselia and Masquerain, would win him his first title. The whole season was supposed to go according to this plan.
But it hadn't.
Since day one of this season, Drew had encountered more unexpected roadblocks on his path to his first Grand Festival than he could have ever anticipated. He expected to have all five of his ribbons already, but here he stood at four. He was supposed to be off training in some secluded part of Hoenn by now, but here he sat four days away from competing again to earn ribbon number five. He should have breezed through this season without ever having faced a defeat, like he had in his first season, but he'd faltered.
He'd lost three times that season; the first loss was in the first contest he'd entered. It was unnerving and a bit maddening. There were still nights, all these months later, when he thought about it; his loss to Robert, the powerhouse coordinator who came out of nowhere and threw him off his game. He'd tried several times to convince himself that it was really because he'd met May then, and he'd let himself get too distracted by her to focus entirely on the contest like he should have.
That worked for a few weeks, and he'd won the next few contests he'd been in. He was only one ribbon off count by that point, and things were looking fine. But then he ran into May again, and he faced defeat at the hands of that all too powerful Medicham. And the opponent that had bested him, was in turn bested by May. That threw him for a loop, and he didn't expect it to happen again.
But it did.
May had been there at his second attempt for ribbon number four, and thanks to the Phantom's all too powerful Dusclops, he'd let the victory and the contest slip through his fingers again. It was disarming, to know that had the season gone according to how he had pictured it in the beginning, he'd be somewhere else, settling into his hotel room after a long day of training and just one day closer to the Grand Festival.
It was all supposed to be different; he shouldn't have let himself fall behind in the ways that he had. He could be as excited for the R3 contest and the benefits of practice competing it could bring him, but ultimately, he shouldn't have needed to enter this one.
Drew didn't want to focus so much on his losses that season. He tried to keep his mind off the losses he'd faced more time than he could count. He'd distract himself with training and planning and dreaming of how great it would feel to hold his own ribbon cup in his hands instead of thinking of the times he'd watched his own Pokémon faint, or his points trickle down to zero.
But the thoughts were always present in the back of his head.
Having never lost before the season started, and it seemed the closer he got to the Grand Festival he got, the more common it became. It all started to weigh down on him a bit. Four ribbons was nothing short of impressive for any coordinator, and he knew that. But maybe he wasn't as perfect as he thought he was. Maybe he would face the same coordinators he'd lost to in the Grand Festival. Maybe he'd lose, after he'd been planning on winning for such a long time.
Anything could happen; this season had proved that. He'd been thrown off his game more than once and he couldn't let that happen again. He couldn't let himself get distracted, and he couldn't afford to underestimate anyone anymore. May, a rookie coordinator in her first year, who relied on luck more than anything else and barely knew what she was doing yet, had done better than he had in some contests. That shook him; how could he slip up so much that such a novice could surpass him a few times? Never again; not now, when everything was supposed to be falling into place.
This whole season had been a mess so far, and he didn't like it.
But he was also torn as his mind flashed back to the advice he had given May just a few short days ago.
"Forget what you've won."
Did the same hold true for his losses of the season? Shouldn't he take into account what he did wrong those times and apply it to the next contests? Was that something that could apply to the other piece of his advice?
"Concentrate on the future."
His choice was to remember the losses and use those to push himself to win, or not let that fact bother him and work towards the Grand Festival. But since he hadn't expected to lose at all…how could the fact not bother him? Especially when these were just regular contests, and he was going into an R3 match.
He wasn't used to being this confused; not about contests, and it was throwing him for a loop. Was he really nervous? He couldn't have been…could he?
He sighed, and pushed his plate forward.
"Done already?" Solidad asked, slurping her noodles.
She noticed that he twitched a little, seeming to have forgotten he was with someone, or just stuck inside his own head.
"Not really all that hungry, I guess."
She made a point to push the remainder of her food forward as well, entirely focused on his face. He wasn't looking at her, and his eyes were unfocused on the table as he bit his lip; a trope she'd noticed in him when he was thinking hard about something. But he'd been a little off all trip. Since the first day they'd set out, he'd been more quiet and thoughtful than she'd ever seen him, and she knew it wasn't because she was traveling with him.
"Well, it is late," she said, moving to get out of her side of the booth. "I'd say it's time for bed. We have to be in Slateport by 8 to catch the ferry."
She waited to see if he'd have any reaction to that; to the fact that he'd be training and getting ready for the contest soon enough.
"Right," was all he said.
It wasn't the reaction she had anticipated. Drew pulled his wallet out, threw some money on the table to cover both meals and the tip, and held the door open for her as they exited the restaurant. They entered the lobby of the hotel wordlessly and made their way to their separate rooms in silence.
"Don't forget to set your alarm this time," Solidad quipped as she bid him goodnight.
The ghost of a forced small smile appeared on his lips as he nodded and closed the door softly behind him.
Solidad watched the door for a few minutes, torn between talking to him about whatever was bothering him, or just letting him deal with it himself, the latter she knew he'd prefer. Drew was hard to navigate at times, and she knew he'd always been more of a loner. It couldn't have been the fact that he had to travel with her for a few days that had him so down; although that might have bothered him a bit, it wasn't the main problem. She knew him better than that.
Something about this whole season was throwing him off, and she was fairly confident she knew what it was, but above all of that, she knew one absolute truth: he wasn't as confident in himself as he wanted to be.
Drew needed this win.
It was his turn to wake her up the next morning.
He knocked on her door softly a full 20 minutes before her alarm was set to go off. When she'd pulled open the door, still clad in her pajamas and her long pink hair scattered from sleep, he had been fully dressed and ready to go. He told her to take her time getting ready, as he would be down in the lobby checking out and grabbing some coffee. She could see him bouncing with nervous energy, ready to go. So she laughed and nodded, telling him she'd met him down there shortly.
True to her word, Solidad arrived in the lobby, meeting Drew at the front desk as he held out a go cup of coffee for her. She thanked him as she accepted the cup and made her way to the coffee station.
"I already loaded it down with a sinful amount of sugar," he informed her as he watched her with narrowed eyes.
"A 'sinful amount of sugar' to you is anything over two packets," she joked back, popping off the top and quickly mixing in three more spoonful's of white crystals. "I promise you, you didn't put enough in here."
He rolled his eyes as he turned back to the clerk at the desk and handed him the room keys. Not long after they were on the road, the sun just peaking over the horizon as they marched toward Slateport.
Solidad noticed he was more open to discussion today as long as she kept it contest-oriented. When she'd ask him about how he planned to handle his appeal, he'd gone over – in excruciatingly thorough detail – every possible routine he'd thought of in the last few days before finally settling on one he wouldn't tell her about, but promised she'd like nonetheless. Then, a few minutes later, when she'd asked him if he'd ever been to Mossdeep before, it was a short reply about how he had once or twice but never really did much there. He was in full on competition mode and she knew he would be for the next few days, which was why she planned to stay out of his way once they made it to Mossdeep. She had things planned to keep her entertained, anyway.
A flock of Wingull greeted them as they entered Slateport on the beach side of the town, walking toward the harbor. The sunshine was bright and hot as they walked in silence toward the station so Solidad could get a ticket for the ferry. Drew already had a ferry pass for Hoenn, so he was set, and didn't see the harm in spending a few minutes for Solidad to get herself a ticket. It was a fairly painless process, minus the fact that the old woman at the ticket counter wanted to chat about how nice a day it was to ride the ferry, to which Solidad's polite nature kicked in, and she was humoring the woman. In reality, they only talked for three minutes, four at most. To Drew, it felt like 40 minutes.
Then, finally, a few days later than he'd originally planned, they boarded the ship and were in route to Mossdeep. They would dock on the island a few hours later, and Drew could settle in and get to work with his Pokémon. Thankfully, this ferry was Pokémon friendly, and Drew and Solidad were allowed to release their teams and allow them to wander about the ship. Their Pokémon were more than eager to have a break from their Pokéballs.
After a few minutes of watching them, Solidad asked Drew if he could watch her Pokémon while she went to take a nap in her cabin, telling him he woke up much earlier than regular humans did and she needed to catch up on sleep with the time-zone differences or whatever. He didn't pay all that much attention, and she knew he was still distracted. She didn't take it personally, however; she cracked some joke about him not falling overboard, smiled and shuffled off.
That was how Drew found himself leaning on the railing with Roselia by his side, watching his Masquerain and Vibrava and Solidad's Pidgeot following the ship and basking in the open air as they stretched their wings. Solidad's Lapras was happily following the ship in the ocean below, easily keeping up with the ship's speed; a testament to how powerful the water Pokémon was. Her Slowbro, meanwhile, was riding on Lapras' back and enjoying the occasional spray from the waves and the rays of the sun.
All of their Pokémon were happy and healthy and to see them all playing together was a welcome sight. It calmed Drew down to see how well his Pokémon were, and he found his sense of confidence a bit renewed. While the contest he was going into would be tough, he had to remember that at the heart of coordinating, he had to believe in his Pokémon. They'd never once let him down and they wouldn't start now.
So he breathed in the fresh sea air, and looked down to his Roselia beside him, who in turn looked up to him as well. She looked slightly confused, like she could feel something was off with him. She was his best friend and his first partner; she could always tell what he was thinking.
"Roselia, let's win this thing," he said.
She smirked at him and nodded, saying she agreed with him.
We will.
They'd reached Mossdeep an hour after the sun went down.
Solidad wrapped her coat around herself tightly and Drew shrunk into his jacket as city lights illuminated the dark horizon. The temperature had dropped significantly the closer they drew to the island, and the wind chill didn't help either. Despite the temperature, neither of them moved to go inside; both were too excited to finally arrive at their destination, Drew more so. He wanted to be the first one off the ship.
"I didn't know Hoenn got this chilly," she commented.
"We're farther up north than we were before," Drew explained. "Some parts of this island freeze regularly. There's a cave north of the city that stays icy year round, actually."
"Shoal Cave?" Solidad clarified. "I've read about that. I planned to go explore it with Lapras tomorrow. I hear there's some rare evolutionary properties and Pokémon there. I'm definitely interested."
When they got off the ferry, Solidad handed Drew a piece of paper with an address on it. Drew looked it over and looked back to her.
"That's your hotel," she explained. "Just show up and tell them your name, and they'll bring you to your room. I'm staying at the inn across town."
"Thanks," Drew said, pocketing the note. "You really didn't have to do this, Sol; I don't have a problem staying with you."
"No, no," she shook her head slowly with a sweet smile. "You need to focus on getting ready for the contest. I'm not here to distract you. I'll meet you at the end after you've gotten your ribbon, and we'll go out to dinner to celebrate your victory and your birthday."
He eyed her skeptically at the end, and she laughed.
"Calm down dweeb," she chided him between her giggles. "I promised I would keep it simple. I'd hardly call a birthday dinner a huge celebration."
"Alright, but no surprises," he warned her.
She only laughed at him again.
"Right, of course," she nodded. "Good luck with training. Text me if you're down for a break or even a battle. I'll be around."
With that, she turned and made her way down town, and Drew headed for the Pokémon Center. He wanted to use the practice fields now that the sun was down, because the appeal he planned for required darkness.
Drew had three days to get his team ready for what would be the toughest contest of his career.
This meant both long days and long nights.
During the day, he'd spend hours working with Roselia, fine-tuning her battling and prepping her. She seemed more than eager when Drew told her that she'd be competing in the battle rounds only, and Masquerain would handle their appeal.
Roselia was pushing herself harder than she ever had in training before. The second Drew told her it was an R3 contest, she buckled down and got to work. She knew how the contests worked, and Drew had to explain very little to her the process; it was essentially just like the R1 they'd competed in almost a week before.
Each morning, they found themselves secluded and out in the woods training the second the sun came up to fuel her grass attacks even more. Drew preferred to train alone, so no one could see what he was planning.
He was making sure each petal from her petal dance was astoundingly accurate and devastatingly beautiful. He was confirming that her stun spore attack was potent enough to paralyze even the toughest opponents. He was observing that her magical leaf was at its brightest and best. And he was dead set on guaranteeing that her solar beam would be as fatally powerful as it had ever been before.
Roselia never complained once, pouring everything she had into every attack. Drew knew she could see how much he wanted this win, and he could see how badly she wanted it, too. With so much passion and drive, he knew they could win. They were the perfect pair; they always had been and they always would be.
When the sun went down, and most other coordinators and/or trainers would retreat to their beds for the night, Drew would return Roselia, and out came Masquerain, who was also eager to train, still high on their previous victory at his contest debut in Rubello Town. It was a never-ending cycle of day and night training, with very few breaks in between. Drew only stopped to sleep for few hour intervals and eat light meals. He'd rest after he'd won.
Masquerain's appeal was tricky, and it took a lot of thinking, timing and precision to nail what Drew had pictured in his head for this appeal.
The first night, just minutes after they'd arrived in Mossdeep, they were practicing their combination. At first, it wasn't working out the way he'd anticipated it would, and after hours of trying to repeat the combination he'd been more or less banking on, he decided to scrap it and try a second approach. The first move was a must; the follow up move was tricky.
On the second night, he tried a new technique; one with more promise, but initially, little success. His timing was off, and Masquerain was working hard at controlling these two attacks separately to reproduce what Drew had explained on their first night. During their practice, Masquerain was nailing the first move, and getting better at his follow up, which was slowly starting to match the picture in Drew's head. Drew knew they had found the working combination, but they needed to fine tune it, and it was proving to be more difficult than he'd hoped. He knew it wasn't easy, but if Masquerain could pull it off, it'd definitely get him a high score. He just hoped it would be high enough considering he'd be going up against some of Hoenn's best coordinators.
On the third night, Drew was starting to worry that maybe three days and four nights wasn't going to be enough time to get this appeal mastered. But, after hours of steady progress, Masquerain finally pulled off the combination perfectly. Drew watched as his appeal played out as beautifully as he'd envisioned it, and he showered his Masquerain with praises when he landed on his shoulder chirping happily. A few more trial runs and only two mistakes later, Drew felt more confident than he had all week.
On the third day and fourth night, Drew finally went to bed after a long, drawn out training session, his Pokémon resting in the Pokémon Center next to the contest hall. Masquerain had finally mastered the appeal move set, and Roselia was looking perfectly fit for battle. He planned to pick them up in the morning and check in for the contest.
Just as she'd promised, he hadn't seen Solidad since they'd arrived as Mossdeep. At her request, he texted her every few hours to tell her how he was doing, and as per her request, she checked in with him to confirm she was okay as well. Their texts exchanged weren't long or drawn out, as they never had been. Simple, standard messages were passed between them.
"Don't forget to eat something," she'd reminded him.
"Let me know when you make it back to your hotel," he requested of her at night.
"The space center is awesome; I had a great time on the tour. Have you slept today?"
"Masquerain did it; can't wait to show you our appeal. Make sure you take more than just Lapras into Shoal Cave with you; apparently there's some old guy who hangs out there or whatever. And watch for the rising tide and the ice on the floors in the deeper caverns."
Now, as he'd entered his room from his final pre-contest training session, he checked the messages on his phone to find a new one from Solidad.
"Can't wait to see you tomorrow! Get some rest! And happy early birthday!"
He rolled his eyes at her mother-like texts, but couldn't stop a small smile from gracing his lips. It had been odd, after spending three straight days with her to not have her around at all, but know she was nearby. He wondered if she'd see him practice at any points; it would explain how she knew he wasn't sleeping a lot. Or it could have just been the fact that she really did know him all too well.
Whatever the reason, he sent her a single "okay," assuming she was already asleep and plugged his PokéNav into it's charger on the desk in his room.
Then, Drew went through what he dubbed his "contest eve rituals," taking a shower and blow-drying his hair so he wouldn't have to fool with it in the morning. His clothes were laid out perfectly flat and ready for the morning. He double-checked that his alarm was set on his PokéNav several times before finally settling into bed.
And before he turned out the light, he took a few deep breaths.
It had been a taxing three days and four nights of training. Drew felt like he had never pushed himself or his Pokémon harder, but he knew it would all pay off. He believed in them, and he finally felt more relaxed than he had been in a week.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of town, Solidad was putting the finishing touches on her gift for Drew, tying the last bow on top of the wrapped package. When the knot was secure, she took a step back to examine her work and found she was satisfied with it.
A quick glance at the clock on the table next to her bed told her it was almost midnight. She knew she had to be up early the next morning to get a good spot at the contest hall, and decided to take a shower to save herself the time in the morning.
It had been a lovely three days in Mossdeep City, and she had every intention of returning again some day.
On her first day, she had slept in late to make up for the last few days. She never got her day started too late, but she was a firm believer in waiting for the sun to rise before getting out of bed, whereas Drew liked to get going before the sun even touched the sky. She couldn't force herself to complain about his travel habits, though; it was his journey and she had more or less crashed it. But she didn't realize just how much sleep she'd been missing until she glanced at the clock and saw it was almost noon.
So on day one, she decided to check out the space station. She hadn't planned on it, but when she arrived that first night and saw it shining a top the hill looking over the city, she was instantly interested. And it had proven to be a worthwhile experience. She spent hours in the museum alone, and eventually joined a tour guide as he showed a small group of eager tourists different parts of the space station and explained its day to day operations. She found herself even more intrigued when he started explaining some of their current projects, including intensive research on the legendary Deoxys. They weren't allowed to know much, as apparently the project was top secret until facts could be confirmed or whatever the man said. It was a lot of information to keep track of.
Still, she had fun that first day; especially when the group was permitted to walk on the actual launch pad of the rockets and see it all up close and firsthand. She couldn't believe how large it was in real life, or that she was standing in the presence of something that was going to be in space.
By the time they'd re-entered the museum for the conclusion of the tour, she found herself in the gift shop, spending more money than she really should have been on little trinkets and souvenirs. But she liked to gather little things from the places she went, and how could she pass up that little rocket ship keychain or the Lunatone and Solrock coffee mugs? She was just that sentimental.
She thanked the cashier and exited the center, slightly surprised to see that the sun had started to set on the horizon. Though she couldn't say she was totally shocked, as she had spent a great deal of time there. So she made her way back to the hotel she was staying at and decided a long bubble bath was in order.
Her second day in Mossdeep, she woke up much earlier. She packed her day backpack with extra layers of clothes as she prepared to go with Lapras and explore the depths of Mossdeep's famous Shoal Cave. She dropped her other Pokémon off at the local Pokémon Center for the day, knowing they wouldn't appreciate the cold like Lapras would.
Just before she set off, she shot Drew a text saying she wouldn't have service in the cave and reminding him to take a break every few hours. He replied almost instantly with a "be careful" text telling her he'd heard some strange old man liked to hang out in the cave. Little did he know Solidad already knew about him and was eager to find him.
Prior to learning about him, she already had plans to go into the cave and explore it for herself. She'd read about it online many times; it was a place not commonly visited by anybody. A cavern carved inside of a mountain by the ocean, and it was home so some of Hoenn's few ice types. A rare breed of Pokémon in a typically hot region for sure, so she knew she had to check it out. While seeking information on it from residential people on the island people, they told her of the old man who spent most of his days in the cave for some unknown reason. He was a retired bell maker, famous for making all sorts of ringers in different varieties. But he was most known for making famous Mossdeep shell bells, which he hadn't produced in years apparently.
That was all the information people seemed to have on him, though. So she had every intention of meeting this man if she could find him, and she wasn't worried there would be any trouble. Not when she had her common sense and a Lapras by her side should that common sense ever fail.
True to the words of locals, she saw the man just inside the cave, standing near the entrance. She hopped off her Lapras as her rain boots splashed into the ankle-deep water, and sloshed her way over to him, her Pokémon staying at her side. The man turned and smiled at her warmly.
"Haven't seen anyone come in here for a while," he told her, his voice somewhat frail.
From first glance, Solidad guessed he had to be in his 80's at least. He stood with a slight hunch, making him shorter than her, though she assumed he was her height as well. A thick, white beard hid the lower half of his face while the top half bore soft blue eyes and many wrinkles.
She instantly relaxed when she saw he was no threat, as did her Lapras beside her, and held out her hand to shake his.
"Hello, sir," she smiled back at him. "My name is Solidad; I'm from Kanto."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Solidad," he put his hand on top of hers, and she noticed how thin his skin was and the slight tremor in his grip, reflecting his age. "Your name is lovely; it means, solitude. Did you know that? And my, what a beautiful Lapras you have"
"Yes sir, I did, thank you," she nodded.
She could tell he was genuinely happy to get to see someone, much less speak to someone. His eyes were bright with excitement at having an actual conversation, and she wondered why he chose to spend time alone here.
"My name is Arthur," he told her. "So what brings you to this humble little cave?"
"I'm traveling with a friend through Hoenn for a bit and he's training for the contest in two days right now," she explained. "So I left him to practice and I'm just out exploring."
"Oh, the contest, of course," Arthur seemed to ponder this for a moment. "My wife Elaine and I used to love watching those contests. She was a bit too old to compete by the time they started, but my goodness did we enjoy watching them. She passed about three years ago now. I haven't been to a contest since."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Solidad said quickly. "You must miss her terribly."
"I do," he nodded, a sad smile on his face. "But Elaine was a good woman; lived her life to the fullest. We traveled around a lot in our lives together. Met right here in this very spot so many years ago."
"Did you?" Solidad brightened up. "Would you mind sharing?"
"Oh now, aren't you sweet?" Arthur laughed softly. "Humoring an old man. I don't want to bore you, dear. The tide is high right now so you could explore some of the upper levels of the cave."
"I don't mind," she said genuinely. "I'd love to listen to your story if you'd be willing to share it with me."
His eyes brightened, and a genuine happiness she didn't see in most people lit up his entire face. That was how Solidad got to know Arthur, and how he was once the most famous bell maker in – arguably – all of Hoenn. How when he was young, he would brave the isolation of Shoal Cave to gather ingredients to make his signature Shell Bells, and the one time he got trapped in the cave because of a storm; that was when a beautiful young girl with a Wailmer braves the stormy seas and rescued him. How he and this girl had fallen in love. How they'd gotten married in the cave because it became their special place. How she couldn't have children and he didn't love her any less because of it. How they started and built his bell business together. How they'd traveled the world side by side in their retirement. How she'd gotten ill a few years prior, and eventually succumbed to her sickness. How he couldn't find it in himself to make bells after she died. And how he often returned to the cave just to try to feel her presence.
It was a story that moved Solidad to near tears from the way he told it to the emotions in his eyes.
In return, he'd asked her to tell him about herself. He was intrigued to learn that she was a young and ambitious coordinator, and he swore he had heard her name once or twice before. He asked her how Kanto and Sinnoh were in more recent times, because he hadn't been to either in years. They shared an easy conversation that lasted for hours. They both shared various short stories of their journeys across the world, and it was refreshing for Solidad to discover such a kindred spirit and humbled soul. He was just a lonely old man, reminiscing in the past. She was curious about his life, and he had been about hers.
It wasn't until there was finally a pause in their talk when Solidad had notices the water by her feet had receded.
"My, look at that!" Arthur chirped. "I've been here talking your ear off and now we've got low tide. You should be able to go to the lowest parts of the cave right about now for the next few hours. Absolutely beautiful down there; completely frozen over."
"Thank you for the conversation, Arthur, really," she said. "I truly enjoyed your stories."
"I've enjoyed yours too, Solidad. It's been a pleasure. If you're interested in exploring down below, that tunnel down there will take you down as low as you want to go."
He gestured to a bottom of the room there were in; where the water had once been, there was now a rock solid floor with only a few puddles as evidence that the chamber once held water. She nodded and thanked him, readjusting her pack and asking Lapras is he was ready to go.
"Would you like to come down there with us?" Solidad turned back to face Arthur.
"Oh goodness, how you humor me, young lady!" Arthur laughed, little tears pricking at the corners of his eyes; whether it was from happiness, the laughter or some form of longing, Solidad couldn't tell, but she guessed it was a mixture of all three. "I'm far too old to handle the cold down there. Thank you though, truly."
Solidad nodded, and bid him a polite farewell.
"Do be careful down there," Arthur bid her. "It can be slippery if you're not careful. And Solidad?"
She turned to face him.
"If you can bring me some Shoal Salt and a few Shoal Shells, I'll make you a Shoal Bell," he said.
"I'd love that," she grinned from ear to ear.
He handed her a few small pouches for collecting the salts and shells should she find them. He told her he could make one bell per full pouch, and gave her descriptions of what she was looking for.
The cave itself was glorious. The last place Solidad recalled seeing so many unique rock formations was at Mt. Moon. The way the temperature drastically dropped as she went lower and lower was astounding. It felt like she was on top of a mountain instead of at the bottom of the cave and she found herself wrapping up in increasing layers. Lapras, meanwhile, was basking in the chill of the air. He especially enjoyed the lowest room, where the walls and floors were covered in a thick layer of ice, and Solidad laughed as her water-ice type slid happily across the floor. In the center of the room was a large purple glowing rock, which Solidad had instantly recognized as an ice rock; extremely rare, but there was at least one confirmed in each region. This was the third one she'd found in her travels.
Throughout her walk, she had found multiple Shoal Shells and piles of Shoal Salt, which Arthur had told her to take as more would wash in with the tide. She hadn't even gone that far in when she'd already found she'd been able to fill two bags. She also encountered multiple Pokémon, like hoards of Spheal, Zubats, a Snorunt and even a few Sealo. It was a wonderful experience.
After a few hours of shivering, when water slowly started trickling in and when Lapras seemed satisfied, they made their way back to the entrance on the cave, where Arthur was still sitting patiently.
"I take it you enjoyed your exploration?" he asked her. "You were gone a while, the tide is starting to come back in."
"It's gorgeous in there," Solidad confirmed. "I can see why you love it here so much. Oh, and…"
She fished the two pouches from her backpack and handed them to him. He received the bags in his shaky hands and smiled at Solidad.
"Excellent job, I knew you would find them," he said, weighing the bags in his hands. "I can have two bells ready for you tomorrow if you'd like."
"I'd love that," she agreed. "Shall we meet back here? Same time?"
"I will be here," he responded, most of his focus now directed at the content of one of the bags.
Then, she took her leave, promising to meet him there again the next day. She wanted to get her Lapras rested up to repeat the journey a few hours later. Once she made it back to her hotel and actual phone service, her PokéNav rang a few times to indicate she had several new messages, all of which were from Drew. She laughed as she read over the "Are you back yet?" messages and the "Tell me when you're back" texts. She was sure to text Drew that she was fine, he didn't need to worry so much and that he had to visit the cave sometime. This earned her immediate sarcastic responses of "you do the same thing" and "I'll try," which told her he was deadest in training mode. She was just relieved he only had one more day until the contest; the boy didn't know how to take care of himself properly during the contest season.
The next morning, she was up bright and early again, all too eager to ride the ocean back to Shoal Cave, and her wonderful new friend. Lapras was more than happy to go back, and this time she made sure to bring all of her team. She wanted Arthur to meet all her Pokémon. She released them before they were through the cave's only entrance. Pidgeot fluttered over her head and Slowbro sat beside her on Lapras' back.
She found him sitting in the same spot. He was completely focused on wiping a beautifully crafted bell with another sitting his lap. His hands moved swiftly and smoothly across the bell, polishing it to perfection. All traces of his shaking hands were gone, and Solidad was more or less entranced by watching him so engrossed by his work. She could already tell it had been too long since he'd done this, just as it had probably been too long since he'd done anything other than long for the old days outside of the cave.
"Hello, Arthur," she greeted him.
Lapras also called out from next to her. Her other Pokémon politely introduced themselves as well.
His eyes lit up as they met hers and saw all of her Pokémon, and the biggest smile she'd seen on his yet appeared on his face as he held out the bells for her to examine.
"Oh, Arthur, this is lovely," she said as she took a bell into her hands. "Absolutely beautiful, really."
"I'm glad you like it," he said happily. "How does it sound?"
Solidad tentatively gave the bell a ring. It was so beautiful and looked so delicate, like over using it or ringing it too hard would cause it to shatter in her hand. But she rang it, and it felt strong and study as a alluring sound echoed off the walls of the cave. Lapras and all of her Pokémon seemed to perk up with the sound, and before Solidad could blink twice, dozens of wild Pokémon from inside the cave were surrounding them, attracted to the sounds the bell made.
She blinked, amazed, and Arthur just smiled, closed his eyes and shook his head.
"It's been so long since I've done this," he whispered, more to himself. "It's nice to know I've still got it."
Then he looked up to her.
"Shell Bells made from genuine shoal ingredients having healing properties," he explained. "It's like musical therapy for Pokémon. That was why, when I made them, people wanted them so badly. Now of course, it's no substitute for a Pokémon Center, but it is good for Pokémon."
"It's wonderful, thank you so much, really," Solidad's eyes sparkled as she rang the second bell again. "I have to give you something for these."
He held up his hand to stop her.
"You've already given this old man all he could have asked for, thank you."
"Please, let me make it up to you," she begged. "Come with me to the contest tomorrow, and watch my friend compete."
Arthur's mouth gaped a little, and he seemed a little hesitant.
"Well…" he thought about it for a few moments.
"I think you'd enjoy getting out again," Solidad told him. "I think it's what your wife would have wanted for you; to keep going as if she was still here. To keep making bells and keep going to contests and to just keep living."
There was a silence that took over the room. All of the Pokémon surrounding them watched curiously as Arthur debated with himself. Suddenly the wild Pokémon started calling out, as if to encourage him. He looked around at all of them, and Solidad realized he knew a lot of these wild Pokémon already.
"I think what your friends here are saying, is that it's time to get outside again," she told him softly.
After a moment, he sighed, smiled and silently nodded.
Solidad, as well as all of the Pokémon, were thrilled. She told him what time to meet her outside of the contest hall and where it would begin. He agreed to meet her there and told her he was looking forward to going; that she was right and maybe destiny had played a role in them meeting each other.
After countless thank you's from Solidad and lots of questions about what he should do to prepare from Arthur, the two parted ways again, promising to meet up at Mossdeep's contest hall the next morning.
With the final day before the contest ending and she was settling into bed, Solidad couldn't help but feel proud of the productivity of her trip. And now, with what she as confident was the perfect gift for Drew wrapped and sitting on her desk, she flicked off her light, shot off one final text to Drew, and settled down to get some rest.
Tomorrow was the big day.
Drew was awake before his alarm went off.
In fact, he was walking out of the door of his room, freshly dressed and making his way down to a big cup of coffee in the lobby of the hotel before the alarm even had a chance to ring.
He was both exhausted and wide-awake all at once, just as he was every morning of contests. The thrill of competing did that to him. Knowing Solidad would be watching in the crowd for once instead of on a screen was even more exciting; there was no denying seeing an appeal in person as opposed to on a television was a very different experience. With the amount of work both he and Masquerain had put into this performance, he knew it was going to be a damn good one.
He wasted no time in grabbing a to-go cup, swinging by the Pokémon Center, and picking up his Pokémon and checking in at the contest hall. With his appeal being what it was, he had to make special stage requests, at latest, two hours before the contest started. He was led to meet with several stage crew members, and he walked them through what he wanted for his appeal. When they did a few tests and he confirmed what he wanted, he was told he'd be performing last in the first round, which he had to admit he was a little surprised about. In this serious of a contest, it was surprising to hear no one else had made other special requests for their appeal.
With everything taken care of, he went to the locker room backstage and called out his two Pokémon who'd be performing. He, Masquerain and Roselia were all having a small team meeting, where he was telling them he knew they'd be absolutely perfect, and they were reassuring him that they would give it their all.
Slowly, other coordinators started filtering in. He was watching them intently, and examining their Pokémon just as they were doing to him. He didn't recognize a single one of them, but he knew that most of them knew who he was. He could hear it in the occasional whispers sounding in the room.
"Shit. That's Drew Hayden."
"His Roselia is unbelievably strong."
"You know, he's lost a few contests this season. He's not as good as he thinks he is and I bet we can take him."
"I can't believe Drew Hayden's here today. We're screwed."
"Look at his Masquerain. It's bigger than I thought it would be."
"We're not losing to him."
In truth, this was something that happened a lot to Drew at contests. He could always hear the hushed chatter about him at contests, and generally, he ignored it. This time was different. This wasn't just an ordinary contest with below average coordinators.
He was only distracted when he PokéNav buzzed beside him. He picked it up and read the message from Solidad informing him that "we" had arrived, and were sitting in the front row, close to center stage but slightly to the left. He was confused by the "we," but chose to not care. He had a contest to win, and he was in a room full of some of Hoenn's best coordinators.
And from the sounds of it, all of them were out to get him.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Mossdeep's Pokémon Contest!" the announcer's voice boomed throughout the waiting room, catching the attention of all the waiting coordinators. "My name is Lilian Meridian, from the Kanto Contest Circuit! You probably know my sister, Vivian, who usually calls the contests here in Hoenn. But today she's in Lilycove, getting things started in their contest! So I'm honored to be your stand-in MC today! Now let's meet our lovely panel of judges for today!"
As Lilian progressed through the opening remarks, Drew took one last time to talk to Masquerain, who seemed to be slightly nervous.
"Listen, Masquerain," Drew whispered down to him. "You're going to be awesome. You've worked so hard and now you're going to pull off our appeal perfectly. I believe in you."
Masquerain nodded, and Drew called him back into his Pokéball, turning back to the monitor on the wall.
"Now this is our second and final R3 contest before the Grand Festival, so you can bet we're going to see some spectacular coordinators and Pokémon today!" Lilian continued. "Please turn your attention to the monitor to see a clip from the previous R3 contest and its winner, Robert!"
Drew winced. He hadn't seen or heard of Robert since he'd lost to him in Slateport, and there he was on the screen, smiling and waving a few months prior to the day and receiving the Mossdeep Ribbon.
"That victory was Robert's fifth ribbon, and he's on his way to the Grand Festival, which will be held in Slateport City in just 11 short weeks! I hope you're all excited as we on the contest committee are, but we've got a few more contests lined up until then, starting with this one! So, without further delay, let's get busy!"
He'd never focused on watching appeals so much in his life.
He always watched every appeal of every contest, but never with this much intensity. He analyzed every move that every coordinator was making. Some appeals he was impressed with. Others, he'd expected more. But none of the appeals totally disappointed.
One appeal that particularly impressed him was one girl – Amber was her name – whose Golduck used a bubble beam and flash combination to fill the stadium with refracted light and rainbows painting the walls. It was a spectacular appeal, and the crowd was absolutely going insane.
Another appeal that caught his eye was from a Luxray. It summoned a thunder attack – the most powerful Drew had ever seen – onto itself and withstood as if it took no damage at all. Lilian announced how her hair was standing up on its ends just from being in the presence of such a devastating display, and the judges agreed.
There were some showcases that did little to impress, like a Jumpluff spreading spores with no good follow up, or the Shuckle using rapid spin to jet around the stage. But still, he paid attention to every detail, picking out who would be the toughest to beat and who didn't have a chance of making it to round two.
Then, all too quickly, he was up next.
"Our final appeal of round one comes from a coordinator I'm sure we all know, it's Drew!" Lilian's voice was completely washed out as the crowd roared.
Drew waited until all was set to take the stage.
"I'm being told now that this appeal calls for a total blackout of our stage, so ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats as we dim all the lights!"
Surrounded by darkness, the audience fell silent, anxious and confused to see such a non-typical approach to an appeal. Drew carefully made his way to center stage and quietly released his Masquerain, who perched himself on Drew's outstretched left arm, waiting. Suddenly, a single spotlight illuminated them and only them; the rest of the indoor arena remained in darkness. At the sight of Drew and Masquerain, the crowd went insane again, and though he couldn't really see them, Drew could tell this crowd was massive, more so than he originally thought.
"Alright, Masquerain, it's all you…" he whispered, than yelled out, "Let's go! Hidden power!"
Masquerain fluttered straight above Drew's head, charging up its hidden power attack and firing it off towards the ceiling. In less than 10 seconds, there were hundreds upon hundreds of glowing white orbs floating in the darkness, like hundreds of stars dotting the sky. Some twinkled, some were bigger than others, but all of them were doing exactly what Drew and Masquerain had worked on; floating there idly and awaiting the follow up attack to complete the combination.
"Now, Masquerain, spin and use ice beam!" Drew commanded, pointing his finger upward.
When Drew had first thought of this combination, he'd tried following hidden power with bubble, which ended up failing miserably no matter how many times and ways he went for it. When he changed his mind entirely and used ice beam as the secondary move, he saw what he wanted, just as he saw right there.
Brilliant blue streaks of Masquerain's ice beam shot out from the antenna on top of his head, effectively and accurately striking each and every white orb floating around the bug Pokémon. The result was a series of glorious explosions, giving off the appearance of sparkling blue fireworks. The sparks rained down around Drew and Masquerain, paired with a few spare icy fragments from the ice beam attack. It all contrasted perfectly with the darkness, and Drew couldn't have asked for the final result of all Masquerain's hard work to look any better.
There was a moment of dead silence in the contest hall as everyone watched in stunned amazement. The fireworks Drew and his Masquerain had created effectively captivated every pair of eyes in that room.
Masquerain gently drifted down surrounded by the shimmering lights, and Drew raised a fist over his head for his Pokémon to perch on. The two finished in that pose, still being surrounded by the sparks and sparkles they'd worked so hard to create. The reward was deafening cheers from the crowds and awestruck judges.
The audience wouldn't stop cheering for Drew. He could feel their screams vibrating through his chest. The lights were slowly coming back on in the arena and he was starting to see just how many people had seen his performance. It was a full two minutes before the monitors above displayed a "quiet please" sign that the excitement finally started to die down, and Drew and Masquerain were awarded their 29.8 score.
"Wow, a near-perfect score!" Lilian announced. "Drew's 29.8 surpasses our previous high score record for the Mossdeep Contest, held by our last winner, Robert, who scored a 29.6 in his own appeal! Let's hear it one more time for Drew and his wonderful Masquerain!"
Given permission, the crowd went insane again, and the rest of the lights in the stadium finally turned back on. Drew finally scanned through the front row to see Solidad smirking and looking straight at him while leaning over and saying something to an elderly man next to her. She pointed back at Drew, and the old man in turn smiled as well and kept applauding, as did the whole audience. And when their eyes locked, he could tell she was so proud of him. Drew then smirked back at Solidad, and turned to walk off stage and back to the locker rooms.
"Masquerain, thank you," Drew stopped for a moment when he was alone with his Pokémon in the hall. "You really outdid yourself."
Masquerain was bouncing in the air with excitement and content, singing its name out to convey its feelings of happiness.
Drew laughed to himself as he watched his Pokémon dance around. He had a good feeling about this contest. Winning wasn't going to be easy, but he knew with how great his Pokémon were, he could get there.
No one was surprised to see Drew in first place.
After a brief intermission for the judges to finish their debates, the crowd' excitement reignited instantly when the top four faces who would advance to the battle rounds lit up on the big screen, Lilian calling out their names.
"Your friend is as talented as you said he would be," Arthur pronounced to Solidad over cheers of the rest of the crowd.
"Yeah, he is," Solidad hadn't stopped smiling since his appeal. "Drew was born to be in contests; his appeals always blow me away. I met him at his first contest and I thought he had been at it for years. Even since day one, he's been a natural."
"It shows. It truly does."
It had been a contest to remember, not because of the spectacular levels of talent they had watched, but because of the joy it had brought Arthur to be there.
Solidad marveled at his knowledge as they'd watched the appeals together, Arthur exchanging criticisms and praises about each coordinator with her throughout the entire round. He nitpicked and gave fair comments just as any professional contest judge would. He'd even accurately predicted a few of the scores before they were awarded. It was truly evident just how much of a long-time fan of contests he really was.
Earlier in the morning, Solidad had treated Arthur to coffee before the contest, and she asked him to tell her how he and his wife had grown to be such contest fanatics. He told her that his wife, Elaine, had always believed in the natural beauty Pokémon were capable of creating, and by their later years, when contests had been invented, Elaine was instantly enamored by the sheer prospect of the coordinating world. She had always wanted to compete, but she felt she lacked a Pokémon that would fit into a contest. So she settled on staying in the audience, and Arthur loved to attend every contest held in Mossdeep City with her.
"I always encouraged her to try to compete," Arthur had recalled. "She never did have the nerve, but my goodness, she sure loved it."
In return, Arthur asked Solidad to explain to him how she'd gotten into contests and how she faired with them. Of course she was too humble to admit she was as good as she was, which Arthur suspected, and he demanded she show him her ribbons over a fit of disbelieving laughter. Solidad blushed a little when she pulled out her two ribbon cases; one from her first season in Hoenn, the other from her recent adventures in Sinnoh.
She explained to him she'd wanted to take a bit of time off, come up with some new approaches and get back to serious competing in Kanto's upcoming season.
"See, when Hoenn's circuit for the year ends, Kanto's begins a few short weeks later," Solidad explained. "I went to Sinnoh and competed looking for a bit of inspiration, and I think I found it. I've been having a lot of fun with my Pokémon getting ready for next season after the Grand Festival, and they've all been working so hard, so we decided to come into town and come watch Drew compete in this contest."
This prompted Arthur to ask about Drew; who he was and how they came to be friends, to which Solidad relayed the story.
"You two sound quite close," Arthur commented as he finished off the last of his coffee. "Could he perhaps be someone special?"
"Oh gosh, no," Solidad laughed lightly. "He's like my little brother. Before this season, I don't think he even realized other girls existed. He's always been all about contests and competing. There is one girl who's managed to steal some of his attention, but I'm just sitting from the sidelines trying to let him figure out his feelings for her at the moment. If he doesn't make a move soon, though, I'll definitely have to intervene and help him out!"
"Regardless, he's a lucky young man to have someone so caring looking out for him," Arthur said.
Next thing they knew, they were commentating on the contest from the first row in the audience. And when Drew's turn for his appeal came, Solidad informed him this was her friend they had come to watch, and that he wouldn't be disappointed.
She was right.
Arthur couldn't find a single thing to talk down throughout Drew's performance like he had all the others. Drew had been more impressive than Solidad had said, and Arthur had to hold back tears as he wondered how his wife would have felt about the performance as well. He felt new life born in him; the excitement of his old days returning in ways that they hadn't ever inside of that cave. He knew that some how, some way, Elaine had wanted this; that his life didn't need to end when hers did, and that she wanted him to feel this happiness and excitement again even after she was gone.
The gentle and kind spirit from Kanto had taught him that, and he didn't know how to repay her; only that he absolutely had to.
The first battle couldn't have been anymore in his favor.
Drew was matched up against a boy named Chris, who had registered a Golem as his battle Pokémon. According to the official rules, no Pokémon could be switched out once it had been officially registered, and because of that, Drew and his grass type had a major advantage against the rock-ground type.
Chris seemed to realize this as well.
The battle had been an easy one: much easier than Drew had anticipated. It was clear that Chris had been nervous to face Drew, but even more so when the odds were stacked so high against him from the beginning. The boy couldn't have predicted that he'd face Drew's signature Pokémon in the battle rounds, as Drew was known to pair himself with Roselia in appeals. Now, thanks to an unexpected risk on Drew's part, Chris' points were plummeting by the second.
Not to say Drew wasn't losing a few points of his own, but compared to his opponent, he had almost double of the score remaining. But still, he could tell he and Roselia had Chris on the ropes.
Roselia was in front of Drew, arms extended and slightly panting after firing off yet another magical leaf attack.
"Keep it up, Roselia, you're doing great!" Drew encouraged, waiting to see what his opponent was going to do.
"Alright, Golem, use earthquake, and combine it with tackle!" Chris exclaimed, a little panic evident in his voice.
Golem set his feet firmly and the stage began to shake violently. Roselia swayed, unable to gain solid balance, and her opponent slammed into her, a direct hit. Drew's points lowered to about 75 percent.
Drew bit the inside of his cheek; with just over a minute of the battle remaining, he wanted to get this knockout before he lost anymore points, and he had an idea.
"Roselia, use petal dance, full power, let's go!" he ordered.
She instantly knew what Drew was planning, and just like that, Roselia began spinning and flooding the air with pink petals and sweet scents. Soon after, she vanished among the shower of beautiful petals. Both Chris and his Golem jumped back, shocked to have lost sight of the Pokémon that had been before them mere seconds prior.
"And here's Drew's signature petal dance!" Lilian announced eagerly. "I don't know about you folks, but I can't spot Roselia anymore! What a gorgeous vanishing act Drew and his Pokémon have put on!"
"Go–Golem! Stay alert! Keep looking for her and be careful!" Chris was squinting, trying desperately to find the hidden Pokémon in the hurricane of flowers.
Not even Drew himself could see her amidst the flurry of petals, but he knew that she knew what to do. When he counted to five in his head, his hand shot out before him.
"Combine it with magical leaf!"
Just as Drew knew she would, Roselia appeared behind Golem, her arms aimed directly at him.
She shouted as she launched a furious assault of glowing leafs, which seemed to attract the petals showering down around them. The combination hit Golem before he could even turn around, and he landed on the ground unable to stand back up.
The judge displayed X-marks on their score screens, and the timer stopped with 28 seconds remaining. The crowd screamed in exhilaration.
Drew let out a small breath, the battle finally over, and smirked to his Roselia as she skipped back towards him clearly pleased with her performance and still high on the adrenaline of victory.
"Perfect as always," Drew told her, kneeling before her and patting her on the head while avoiding her poison barb.
She seemed delighted, and nodded in thanks.
"Golem, return," he heard Chris call from the opposite side of the battlefield.
In good sportsmanship, they met halfway and shook hands. Chris wouldn't meet his eyes, but muttered something about it being a "great match" and "good luck in the next battle." That's what Drew assumed, though. He couldn't really be sure.
"And that's that; our first battle is done! Drew is heading for the final stage, but now we're gonna keep the heat turned up with our next battle between Amber and Tucker! Let's give them a warm welcome as they come on out!"
Drew found Solidad in the crowd one more time before he turned to walk back to the locker room.
She threw him a thumbs up, and he nodded, Roselia pulling him along.
It came down to Drew against Amber in the final round.
She had proved to be a worthy and clever opponent in her match. Her Rapidash's – who she apparently referred to as just "Dash" – strength seemed to be matched by its blinding speed, and Drew knew he and Roselia were going up against a fierce opponent.
The tables had seemed to turn on him as well. Where he held the advantage in the first battle, he was now facing the exact opposite situation. And it made him a little uneasy, but he decided to ignore it. His Roselia could handle herself against anything. He just had to be sure to handle himself.
Meanwhile, Solidad and Arthur were up in the stands discussing Drew's opponent just as intently.
"She's raised her Pokémon very well," Arthur observed. "I wonder how your friend will handle this match. His first battle, his opponent was heavy and slow, and he had a clear upper hand in regards to type matching. Now it's completely reversed: he has to account for the speed and type-weakness he's facing."
"Mhmm," Solidad hummed studied Amber as her and her Rapidash waved to the crowd, smiling as Tucker and his Seviper exited.
"You don't seem all that worried about your friend?" Arthur looked at her, puzzled.
She just turned and looked back at him, confidence burning in her eyes. She had watched the same battle Arthur had, and she knew that Drew could work his way around almost any obstacle in a contest when he was 100 percent focused. She'd never seen him lose when he wasn't 100 percent invested; his only losses came from contests where his thoughts were preoccupied.
This time around, Solidad knew there was nothing – or rather, no one – there to take Drew's concentration off of the contest. There wasn't anyone there he was unknowingly trying to impress. There was only one fact that was on Drew's mind this time around.
There was only one coordinator standing between Drew and what he wanted most in that moment: that final ribbon to bring him to the Grand Festival.
"He's going to win," she said, totally sure.
"We've got five minutes set on the timer and now it's time so let's get busy!"
Lilian had to shout into her headset microphone so her voice could be heard over the crowd. With the performance Amber had given in her battle, and the fame Drew already held to his name, the match was stirring hysteria in the crowd. Lilian couldn't remember the last time she'd seen this much energy outside of a Grand Festival. The Hoenn Contest Circuit was truly something special.
The clock ticked from five minutes to 4:59, and the battle had begun.
"This is it, Dash; stage time!"
"Roselia, let's go!"
A mighty burst of red glow and heat exploded from Amber's Pokéball, and the sweet smell of roses surrounded by sparkles burst out from Drew's. The two Pokémon stared each other down for a few moments while Drew and Amber locked eyes as well. The tension in the room was high and for just one split moment, everything else seemed to fade away for Drew.
This was it; this was where his tough season had led him. This was the last hurdle he had to jump over to get to his dream. This skilled coordinator and her mighty Rapidash stood between him and his Grand Festival.
And Drew's need to win burned in his chest hotter than the flames coming off the Rapidash before him.
He looked down to his Roselia, who in turn looked back to face him as well, and she nodded, feeling just as strongly as he did, because she wanted this too. It was a stern nod, as if she was conveying a message to him; one that, thanks to the bond he shared with his starter Pokémon, he understood completely.
Let's win this.
Amber made the first move.
"Dash, use quick attack!" Amber called. "Circle that Roselia!"
Drew had seen this Pokémon's speed on the monitor back stage while watching her first battle. Seeing it firsthand was a completely different experience.
The fire horse's speed was utterly terrifying. Drew had never seen a Pokémon who could move that quickly. Roselia's head looked back and forth trying to get a good visual lock on her opponent, but couldn't seem to see him. She held her ground, awaiting her orders.
"Follow up with flamethrower!"
Before Drew could blink, a massive tornado of flames had surrounded his Roselia. He dad to cover his face with his arms to block out the heat, and could hear her calling out in pain from the inside the inferno. His points fell.
"Roselia, break up that combination with magical leaf!" Drew hastily ordered. "Shoot your leaves counterclockwise against the fire!"
The tornado was slowly torn apart as bits of glowing leaves could be seen breaking up and through the fire. Roselia was revealed in the middle, spinning rapidly and shooting off the glowing leaves, which began to turn orange and red from the heat around them. It reminded Drew of Savannah's swift and ember combination, and it gave him a quick idea.
"Keep it up, Roselia, don't stop!"
She kept going, shooting off more and more leaves until the spiral of fire was totally broken up. The leaves she had shot off began to burst into flames and rained down all around Roselia, effectively striking and slowing down Rapidash. When she ceased spinning, Roselia posed herself gracefully, a hard glare on her face and a few visible scratches. How she'd escaped with such little damage saved Drew a lot of points, while Amber's fell just above his own.
"Dash, keep running!" Amber wasted no time in continuing. "Build your speed back up with agility and a drill run attack!"
"Roselia, try to do–"
Drew wasn't fast enough in his counter call, and Roselia took a nasty hit from the charging fire horse. Roselia rolled across the stage and skidded to a stop before him, struggling to stand back up.
He knew if he was going to have any chance of winning this battle, he was going to have to seriously slow down that Rapidash.
"Roselia, stun spore!" Drew called out.
Orange paralysis powder spread through the air, and Drew watched how Amber would try to counter.
"Just keep running, Dash!" she called, a knowing look on her features which disarmed Drew a bit.
She seemed totally at ease with the possibility of her Pokémon facing paralysis, which would seriously stunt her almost instantly, unless…unless she'd dealt with this before.
To Drew's amazement, Dash's speed allowed him to pass right through the stun spore virtually unaffected. The wind from the speed dispersing the spray and Drew had to come up with a better strategy, as he was bleeding points and was almost to the halfway mark, where as Amber still held a tight lead.
Roselia was bouncing on stage before him, keeping her eyes on the trotting powerhouse of fire and speed. She waited to see what Drew could come up with and focused on staying clear of any attacks.
Drew knew that solar beam was his most powerful attack, and though it would have little effect on the fire-type damage-wise, he knew it was a very appealing move that could help even out the point scale. The problem was, if he stopped to let Roselia try to charge up her ultimate move, that Rapidash would take him out.
"Let's go with magical leaf again!" Drew tried, getting a bit desperate to buy himself some time to think.
Magical leaf was usually a safe bet in most situations; it was an attack that was extremely difficult to dodge, no matter how fast the target was. Drew knew if he kept Amber busy with dodging, he would lose fewer points than taking direct hits. On top of that, he knew Roselia couldn't take too many more direct hits. Not from a fire-type. A quick glance at the scoreboard told him he only had three minutes left to turn this match around.
"Just outrun those leaves, Dash!" Amber commanded, just as Drew thought she would. "Let him cost himself the points if that's what he wants."
She knew she had the upper hand; Drew could practically feel her overconfidence rolling off of her. She stood opposite of him, relaxed with her hands clasped behind her head.
The speed of her Pokémon was incredible. Even now, well into the battle, he still couldn't get over it. Amber had obviously raised her Pokémon very well and trained hard with him to achieve the speed stats he was seeing. Rapidash glided across the stage, outrunning Roselia's most accurate attack, and Drew could see his Pokémon getting increasingly frustrated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his points had just hit under the halfway mark while Amber's stayed solid in the 75 percent range.
In the crowd, Arthur glanced at Solidad, who didn't seem phased by the current state of the battle at all. She could feel his stare on her and addressed him.
"Don't worry," she said without facing him. "He'll figure it out. Watch."
Drew observed the Rapdiash as it wouldn't let up, his thoughts felt like they were sifting through possibility after possibility for combinations that could possibly stop his opponent as fast as his opponent was running.
Running.
Running!
"Roselia!" Drew called, a new air of confident surging through him and his usual smirk appearing on his face. "Magical leaf one more time–"
"You can't be serious!" Amber laughed from the other side of the stage.
"–at the ground, go!"
"Wait, what?"
It was a call that seemed to confuse everyone in the contest hall except for three individuals.
First, Drew seemed to instantly relax right after he made the order. Second, Solidad leaned forward, a huge smile on her face as she knew this was the turn in the battle she'd been expecting. Third, Roselia seemed to understand Drew's new strategy as she launched a new wave of her leaf assault towards Rapidash's legs.
Within five seconds, the entire scale of power in the battle shifted. It took one second for Roselia to know where to aim her attack. Another second to fire it off. The third second, Rapidash was struck in the legs and tripped over itself, landing on the ground with a hard blow. The fourth second, both Amber's face and her points fell harshly. The fifth second, Drew was already calling for another attack.
"Our turn," he breathed, then shouted "Alright, let's try stun spore again, and mix it with petal dance!"
It was Roselia's time to showcase her own speed. She shot off stun spore quickly, mixing in petal dance; a combination which held a dual purpose. One, mixing the two attacks would help spread the toxin spores more quickly and two, it would also cause damage where as stun spore on its own could not hurt the opponent.
"Drew fights back with a devastating and potent combination!" Lilian jumped up and down, just as invested in this battle as everyone else in the arena.
The orange mist reached Rapidash before he could fully stand to gallop out of the way, and the fire horse's legs buckled under him as shook on the ground, unable to move.
"No way!" Amber cried in disbelief. "Dash, c'mon, you gotta get up!"
Even with as much powder as Roselia had spread, Rapidash managed to stand up on extremely shaky legs. Amber's points stopped just under Drew's. For the first time in the battle, he held the lead, but just barley.
There was no time left to do anything but his one final attack.
"Roselia, start charging up," he spoke only loud enough for her to hear.
She nodded and extended her arms, pulling in as much energy from the artificial light as quickly she could. At the same time, Drew looked over to Amber. All signs of her previous relaxation were gone, and she was now hunched over with clenched fists, speaking rapidly and probably motivationally to her struggling Rapidash.
"Dash, I just need you to pull out one more attack for me! One more hit and you can win this!"
"Roselia, it's all up to you now. I know you can do it!"
"There's only 10 seconds left in this match!" Lilian called out, eager to see what would happen in these final moments that would determine the outcome.
Both Amber and Drew extended their fingers out, pointing at the other's Pokémon.
"Dash–"
"Roselia–"
"Fire blast! Give it everything you've got!"
"Solar beam! Full power!"
The two opposite and enormous blasts of power collided into each other, neither able to outdo the other and staying perfectly even in the center of the stage. The light coming off of the two attacks was blinding, and everyone had either shielded their eyes or looked away.
"Push, Dash, push!"
"Don't let up, Roselia!"
Roselia screamed at the top of her lungs putting all of her energy into her final attack. Rapidash did the same, breathing out more fire than Amber had ever seen him produce in any attack, ever. When the power became too much, the middle of the stage was engulfed in a huge explosion. Smoke billowed up and filled the stage. Drew couldn't see his Pokémon, and Amber couldn't find Dash either.
Through the smoke, the loud sound of the buzzer rang out, signaling the official end of the match. Drew wasted one second trying to see the screen, but couldn't make it out, and decided he needed to find his Roselia.
"Roselia!" he called out, taking careful steps and feeling his way through the blinding smoke.
He could head Amber calling out for her Pokémon as well.
"My oh my, folks, now that was some serious power!" Lilian could be heard over the speakers, though she was just as invisible to the crowd as everyone on stage was. "Don't be alarmed though; we've got everything under control! Please give us a moment as our wonderful stage maintenance assistants will be here momentarily to help clear the air, literally!"
Seconds later, the smoke was being blown away as stage crew members entered the room with Swellows, using gust attacks to clear away the smoke.
There, on the ground before him, was his Roselia, knocked out from the powerful blast. Across the way, he could see the same thing had happened to Rapidash.
"Roselia!" he said, scooping her up into his arms. "Are you okay?"
Her eyes fluttered open a bit and she smiled weakly, acknowledging him and trying to tell him she was okay when she so clearly was not. Amber had fallen onto her knees in front of Dash, lifting his head gently into her lap. He, too, grunted and nuzzled into her lap a little. Both Pokemon were wiped out and exhausted.
"Wow, it looks like we have a double knockout!" Lilian announced, looking back and forth between Drew and Amber. "It's up to the judges now to determine the winner of the contest!"
The multiple Swellow, having cleared all the fog from the stage, flew up towards the ceiling to clear away the remaining smoke from the big screen.
The entire audience gasped collectively when Drew's face lit up the board. Amber's mouth fell wide open and she glared hard at the video screen before looking down at Drew himself. She did several double takes, as if she was expecting to turn away and see her face appear instead. But no; just by a slim margin, Drew's points were higher than her own. She had lost, and she couldn't believe it.
Drew didn't blame her entirely; he was struggling to believe it as well.
"Well there you have it!" Lilian said, walking over to Drew and raising his free arm while the other held Roselia against his chest. "The winner of the Mossdeep R3 Contest is…Drew Hayden of LaRousse City!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Amber yelled from the floor. "How?!"
"Your Pokémon are both in excellent shape…" Mossdeep's Nurse Joy smiled sadly down at the angry girl, who looked like she was ready to either cry or strangle someone.
"But when it came down to it, the fact that Drew's Roselia was able to output such an impressive solar beam with absolutely no assistance from the sun…" Mr. Ribona, the contest committee's vice president and stand-in judge for Mr. Contesta supplied. "That was a true showcase of elegance and power mixed."
"No way!" Amber shrieked. "No way, no way, no way!"
Amber clearly wasn't someone who took losses well. She hastily pulled out Rapidash's Pokéball, returned her injured Pokémon, and took a second to look Drew in the eye.
In that moment, Drew knew that if looks could kill, they'd be scraping his corpse off the main stage.
She never made any advance to the center of the stage. She simply stormed away, refusing to shake Drew's hand in the end. Drew wasn't too offended by it; it was a tough fought battle and definitely a hard loss for her. Plus, if he was being honest, he didn't want to get too close to her in those moments for fear of his own personal safety.
Lilian seemed momentarily stunned at the lack of manners. She watched as Amber disappeared down the hallway without so much as a goodbye, and turned back to Drew. He only shrugged, and looked down at his Roselia. She was looking back up at his with tired, curious eyes; eyes that asked a huge question.
Why aren't you excited?
And in that moment, it hit him.
All of it hit him, like tidal waves washing over a beach in a hurricane. Every emotion came crashing into him at once: happiness, pride, anxiety, elation, excitement, exhilaration, delight, and realization.
"You did it," Drew could barely force out a whisper; he felt like he was suffocating. "Roselia, we're going to the Grand Festival because of you."
Lilian must have noticed the change in his attitude, and deemed it the perfect moment to announce Mossdeep's Contest champion.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for today's winner, Drew! Our lovely judges will now present him and his Pokémon with the Mossdeep R3 Ribbon!"
Drew had never heard so much noise in his life; he thought his head was going to explode with how loud the crowd became. He could feel their screams vibrating through his limbs.
Drew blinked a few times and reached into his pocket for Masquerain's Pokéball. He released his first round partner as Mr. Ribona approached him, congratulated him, and placed the ribbon into his hands.
"Congratulations, and good luck at the Grand Festival, you three," Mr. Ribona smiled and nodded to them, backing away to give them space as a spotlight overtook Drew and his Pokémon.
Confetti began to rain down on them, then. Masquerain landed on Drew's shoulder, and Drew placed the ribbon on Roselia as she lay in his arms smiling.
"As many of you probably already know, this is Drew's fifth and final ribbon of the season!" Lilian announced. "This incredible young man is officially on his way to compete in the Hoenn Grand Festival!"
Drew finally looked up and looked all around at the thousands of people screaming for him. He had never felt more humbled and determined in his life. There was no stopping him now; he was going to the Grand Festival, and he was going to win it. With a smile taking over his face, he raised his free arm and waved to the crowd.
Eventually, his eyes fell on Solidad as she, just like everyone else, was standing and applauding.
Drew could help but roll his eyes when he noticed she was screaming just as loudly as the rest of them.
"I have something I want to give you."
Solidad looked down to Arthur curiously as they sat outside the contest hall, waiting for Drew to exit. The sun was starting to lower in the sky as the day grew later and later. The contest had ended over an hour ago, but she knew Drew was getting his Roselia looked over by the Nurse Joy inside. That was the real reason Nurse Joy's were asked to judge at these contests; so they could inspect the Pokémon's health after particularly grueling contest battles.
It was a process that shouldn't have taken this long, but she knew that on top of that, Drew was also trapped inside the hall trying to avoid any and all media, from reporters to photographers. Drew hated attention from the press.
"You've already given me more than enough with the bells and agreeing to come to the contest with me," Solidad told him sweetly.
"No, no, this is something entirely different," he said, standing up to fish for something in his pockets. "This is something far more important."
Solidad seemed confused and waited. He finally found what he was looking for, pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket and held it out to her. She didn't understand what he was offering to her, so she slowly reached out and let him drop the capsule into her palm.
"I've decided I want you to raise my Butterfree for me," he told her. "Take her on your travels and enter her in contests."
"Oh, Arthur, no, I couldn't accept this," Solidad started to protest, but Arthur held up his hand to stop her.
"Before my wife passed away, I had caught this Pokémon for her so that she might one day fulfill her dream of entering a contest," he explained. "I want you to take this Pokémon now and fulfill my wife's dream for me."
She pursed her lips, so torn. Solidad was usually so sure of herself in everything that she did. Now here she stood, unsure of whether or not she could accept something so meaningful.
"I spoke to Butterfree last night about this," he told her. "She's ready to go, she wants to go. Living with an old man isn't the life this Pokémon deserves, and aside from my wife, I've never met anyone as caring of a person as you are. You and this Pokémon deserve each other, and I won't take no for an answer."
Seeing that there was no way to talk him out of it, Solidad squeezed the Pokéball and looked at it for a few moments before nodding to Arthur.
"I promise I will do my best in raising this Pokémon, for both you and Elaine," she told him.
"I know you will," he smiled.
She stuck the Pokéball in her side pocket with all of her other Pokémon and felt her smile stretch across her face before she leaned in and hugged Arthur, who in turn hugged her back. They stayed like that for a few moments before they pulled apart.
She was still smiling when Drew finally walked up to their bench, mumbling to himself about how he hated cameras when he noticed her.
"Why are you smiling that way?" he asked her, his brows furrowed.
"Let's just say I have a new goal of pulling off a better silver wind than yours. Oh, and happy birthday, kiddo."
Drew blinked a few times, Solidad laughed, and Arthur shook his head, remembering his younger days.
As per Drew's request, Solidad kept his birthday plans extremely simple.
There were a few days when she considered going all out despite his request, because everyone deserved to go all out and be celebrated on their birthday, but after seeing how distracted he had been the days leading up to the contest and how relieved he was that he'd won, she thought better of it. He deserved a laid back birthday, because it was what he wanted.
Two days ago, when she'd gotten back from her from first expedition of Shoal Cave, she'd made a request at the front desk in the lobby of Drew's hotel to reserve one of the hotel's four conference lounges. They were large, spacious rooms, generally reserved for business meetings when major conferences were held in town. The rooms featured large televisions for presentations, multiple chairs and tables for people to work at and numerous comfortable sofas for relaxing and taking breaks. There were even private bathrooms. It was private and it was perfect; exactly what Drew would have wanted.
She also made reservations for food to be delivered to the room before they'd gotten there, so they could avoid going out in public as much as possible, because as she theorized, Drew would be even more of a local celebrity after winning the contest. She'd experienced the same thing in many towns where she'd competed in the past.
Her prediction came true. Even walking through the streets, people kept noticing him, and attempting to talk to him. Many asked for pictures and autographs; others just wanted to say hello to Mossdeep's hottest coordinator. She could tell he hated the attention, but kept his manners and politely answered as many questions as he could handle and respectfully declined signing or posing for anything.
At one point on their walk back to his hotel, just after making through another small wave of his fans, she informed Drew that she'd moved to stay at his hotel on this last night, and they were going to celebrate his birthday there so he could keep out of the public eye for a while.
Originally, she'd invited Arthur to tag along, as she figured Drew wouldn't mind, but he declined the offer. He'd told her he had a bit of time to meet Drew and congratulate him with her outside of the contest hall, but then he had to get home to take care of his waiting Pokémon, and that he was 'too old' to party with the young people. When she explained it wasn't going to be much of a party, he insisted they spend the time together without him anyway, as she was leaving for Kanto in the next morning and they hadn't seen each other in three days.
Drew was a bit confused at first to meet the old man Solidad had befriended, but was polite and cordial as ever when he did. Arthur told him his performance was top notch, that he looked forward to seeing him compete in the Grand Festival and that he was lucky to have Solidad as a friend; the first two of which Drew thanked him for, and the last bit Drew agreed with. And with that, Arthur took his leave, Solidad promising she'd stay in touch with him, and him promising he would watch her compete on television, and hopefully one day make it to Kanto to see her in person.
"I still can't believe he gave you his Butterfree," Drew had said as they walked, their hotel finally in view after what had been the longest and most frequently interrupted walk of his life. "I can't wait to see what you'll come up with in contests for it."
"I've never had a bug Pokémon before," Solidad confessed. "After the way you and Masquerain performed today, I can't wait to try out some combinations."
They stopped at the front desk upon entering the hotel. Solidad had to check in, and neither of them were surprised when the receptionist congratulated Drew on winning contest. News in this town spread quickly, apparently. What surprised Drew was that the man behind the desk also wished him a happy birthday, handed another card key – one that wasn't for a typical room – over to Solidad, and Drew side-eyed her suspiciously.
"It's just going to be us, I promise," Solidad laughed at his expression. "Lighten up and learn to like you own birthday. You're 12 now, time to be a big boy."
"I am a 'big boy,'" Drew whined mockingly, to which Solidad just shook her head and accepted the keys.
They made their way over to the last door down the hall. When Solidad opened the door and Drew shuffled in before her, the smell of chicken alfredo and other delicious foods instantly greeting his nose. His stomach churned and he realized how hungry he was, which Solidad had expected. He never took proper care of himself when he was in contest mode.
She guided him over to a large sofa placed in front of a huge television screen hanging on the wall, a buffet of foods spread all across the table before the couch and a few cupcakes on a cake stand as the centerpiece. Each cupcakes looked like a rose, and Drew would have snorted at the pun had he not been so hungry in those moments.
Solidad then took out her Pokéballs and released her team – even Lapras, because the conference room was big enough – with all of them happily greeting Drew. He took the hint and released Roselia, Masquerain and Vibrava as well.
Solidad's new Butterfree took a few moments to hover away from everyone around her, trying to process the change in scenery. True to his word, Arthur had extensively discussed with his Pokémon that he wanted her to go with Solidad, and the Butterfree in question had agreed that she wanted to go. Now, she found herself a bit overwhelmed surrounded by multiple new faces all at once. She strayed a few feet away, trying to absorb it all.
"I figured you and your Pokémon could appreciate a dinner with all your favorite foods and some privacy after having all the attention on you for a whole day," she explained, taking a seat on the sofa; Drew parroted her actions.
Solidad's new Butterfree eventually fluttered down to rest on Solidad's lap, still clearly unused to all its new company. She patted her head a little, telling her it was okay and that Butterfree should get to know her new friends. The Butterfree looked up at its new trainer, and crawled over to rest of Drew's lap. He seemed a bit surprised at first, but patted the Pokémon down regardless and greeted her gently.
"Yeah, definitely," Drew smiled. "I don't like admitting it, but I do love chicken alfredo."
"Well this is all here for you. Everybody, help yourselves."
Solidad and Drew tended to their Pokémon, fixing them all huge plates of food as there was plenty to go around. The Pokémon, especially Drew's Masquerain and Roselia, happily tucked into their dinners, tired after a long week of training and what felt like an even longer day of competing. Solidad took a moment to praise them both in their performance, and they thanked her in their own language.
When everyone was set and Drew and Solidad had their own plates organized, they both plopped back down on the sofa, and she held out a remote control for the television bringing up a menu on the screen. She was scrolling through the options, all with different labels.
Proposal for new tax cuts in Fortree.
Instructions on how to invest in time-shares.
Business merger: Pokéfossils Research of Fallarbor Town LLC and the Devon Corporation.
Drew watched and ate as Solidad scrolled through the preset business presentation titles and videos from the business meetings that had obviously been hosted in this room. He wondered what she was searching for while he chewed his food and read over the options. The food was delicious; some of the best chicken alfredo he'd ever eaten in his life, and he'd eaten quite a bit of it, because it was his favorite food. She knew him too well, and he took a bite of a garlic knot.
"I asked the staff to record something for us to watch," she answered without looking at him, as if she could read his mind.
Eventually she came down to the last option on the menu: a video recording with her name as the title. She clicked the play button and an aerial shot of what he recognized as Lilycove City. His eyes lit up instantly, because it had been too long since they'd done this together.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to the world famous Lilycove Coordinator Contest here in beautiful Lilycove City!" Vivian's familiar voice played over the sky view of the beach town.
The camera switched then to a shot of inside the hall, and a close up shot of Vivian with a banner reading "live" displayed across the bottom of the recording. Vivian was going through the typical introduction process, introducing the judges and explaining the rules of the contest.
"It's been a long while since we watched a contest together and critiqued it," Solidad told him, settling back into the sofa and twisting some noodles around her fork. "This contest was earlier today at the same time are yours was, so I had it recorded so we could watch together."
"You nailed it," Drew smirked over at her. "Really, Sol, thanks. Best birthday ever."
"There's a bit more to come," she admitted. "But for now, let's do what we do best and watch this contest."
Drew nodded, turning his attention back to the screen and stuffing his mouth with more noodles.
"Okay, let's jump right into the opening round competition!" Vivian exclaimed. "Introducing coordinator number one; it's May!"
Drew nearly choked on his food.
He coughed a few times to clear his throat, and Solidad quirked an eyebrow at him before he waved his hands dismissively claiming he was alright. He didn't take his attention off the screen; his eyes were both curious and skeptical, looking over May and absorbing as much detail from the video as he could.
There she was, clad in her usual red and standing on stage looking fiercely determined. He hadn't seen her since her meltdown in Rubello Town, and almost couldn't believe she was there to compete. But there was something different about her stance, and the way she smiled and held her Pokéball before she started her act.
Both Roselia and Masquerain approached. Roselia took a seat next to Drew on the sofa and Masquerain landed on the back of it, both Pokémon intent on watching the performance. Each of them recognized this coordinator, and they knew Drew was always extremely interested in her performances.
Out of the corner of her eye, Solidad noticed Drew unconsciously leaning forward ever so slightly. In truth, she hadn't expected to see May in the contest either, much less going first in the appeal round. It was a happy coincidence to say the least. She looked back to the screen, eager to see May's appeal for herself.
"Well look who it is," Solidad thought aloud.
Drew only hummed in response.
"May is well established as a coordinator, with two ribbons already to her credit," Vivian finished up her introduction. "All eyes are on coordinator number one, as she begins!"
With a nod from Vivian, May knew it was time to start.
The camera panned back to May as she called out her Pokémon.
"Combusken, let's give 'em a show!"
Her Pokémon flipped in the air before landing in a premeditated pose; it was a perfect entrance so far, and her Combusken looked ready to start.
It really did look like an impressive Pokémon. Drew had known she had a Torchic, but it seemed like just a baby, easily scared and confused and always getting into trouble, so she had never competed with him. Now, here that same Pokémon stood, evolved and having captured the stage with its powerful and slightly daunting appearance alone in its first ever appearance in a contest.
"Way to go, Combusken!" May cheered, which was refreshing to see after her last performance. "Now, follow with fire spin!"
Combusken sprang high into the air and unleashed a mass of flames, swirling them into a vortex of a beautifully cultivated twister.
At least, that's what it started out as.
In mere fractions of seconds, it became very obvious just how powerful May's Combusken was, and how much energy it clearly had stored up and was releasing in the attack. The flames, though still retaining their cone shape, grew larger and larger until they were too big, and Combusken's control was slipping. But it couldn't stop itself; this energy and this power couldn't be contained.
Solidad and Drew were both silent as they leaned forward and watched. Solidad was too shocked and scared to speak and Drew's face had gone utterly pale. Not even their Pokémon could move as they all watched this massive firestorm grow.
The camera panned to May, who was advancing towards the fire much to Drew and Solidad's growing horror. Her face was clearly panic-stricken as she held out her arms and shouted, "Combusken, that's too much!"
This clearly hadn't been her plan from the start, because her expression was so horrified and unsure of what to do, a sharp contrast to her expression when she'd first taken the stage.
A flame extended to the right of May, and she tripped over her own feet trying to avoid being hit. When she fell to her knees, some members of the audience screamed. Vivian's gasp could be heard over the loud speaker and the judges all shot to their feet, unsure of what to do. The fire was heading directly for May.
Solidad held her breath with wide eyes and Drew gritted his teeth glaring at the screen.
Move, May! You gotta move! Now!
Then suddenly, everything turned around.
Combusken was somehow able to stop itself, and was jumped in front of its trainer, arms outstretched protectively. May's face was shocked for less than a second before she called for Combusken to use peck. The Pokémon wasted no time in diving straight for the oncoming flames, hitting them head on and dispersing them with its powerful beak. The fire broke apart into small slivers and safely rained down all around the stage.
May seemed to fall back into a comfortable stance, and tried to recover her appeal.
"Don't stop, use your fire spin to gather up all those flames!" she ordered, much to everyone's shock.
But Drew could see the look on her face and in her eyes; she was confident in her partner. She knew he could control himself this time. She believed in her Pokémon.
Combusken held the ball of flames in his hand before May ordered for him to break it apart with a sky uppercut. The flames died away slowly as they showered around her Pokémon, making him shine. It was completely different ending than expected. It was hard to tell that the performance started out so disastrously.
"What a wonderful contest opening as May and Combusken turn out a beautiful performance!" Vivian said, clearly relieved to have the situation resolved.
Solidad finally exhaled and fell back into the seat with a thud. The performance had ended and she couldn't even believe the amount of relief that had flooded through her knowing that May was safe.
The judges awarded her decent scores, except for Mr. Contesta, who gave her a 7.1. He had explained that letting her Pokémon lose control of its attack showed a lack of connection between May and her Combusken, even though the rest of her performance went well and was mostly articulated.
Solidad was empathetic. As she could tell, this was Combusken's debut performance, and it was extremely new for him and May to work together like that.
May had scored a 23.6 overall; her worst score in a contest appeal round ever. She looked completely deflated and understanding all at once, and nodded.
Vivian also confirmed to the audience that in accordance with standard contest safety regulations, May and Combusken would be examined backstage by on stage medical experts to make sure there were no injuries acquired and that they were both healthy and able to compete should she advance to the next round.
"Well that was something to see," Solidad said. "That Combusken of hers sure is powerful. It's a relief that no one got hurt."
Her comment was met with silence. Solidad turned over to look at Drew. He was still leaning forward with his back muscles clearly tense, his lips pursed in a tight light and a sharp, piercing glare aimed at the screen as May bowed and left the stage. She looked at him for a moment to read his emotions, and try to figure out why he seemed so mad all of the sudden.
But Solidad realized that wasn't anger in Drew's eyes.
It was fear; it was concern and shock and hurt and trepidation for what he had just seen. It was alarm for having almost witnessed this girl get severely hurt.
It wasn't until a few moments later when the next contestant came on to compete that Drew wordlessly leaned back into his seat, picked up his fork and placed a few noodles in his mouth, eyes still somewhat dark and focused on the screen.
They didn't speak again for the rest of the appeals round.
Not even when the ridiculous trainer with the Chimecho showcased the oddest appeal Solidad had ever seen, and some how ended up with a perfect score. Not even Solidad had ever pulled a perfect score in a contest before.
With the unusual ending to an unusual appeal round, May had managed to squeeze into the last spot in the battle round.
Lilycove had certainly proved it would be an interesting contest for sure.
It had certainly shut Drew up.
May truly was an aggressive battler.
She more or less sailed through to the final battle of the contest without much trouble, as it seemed the coordinators she faced weren't very accustomed to such powerful and dominating moves.
Solidad felt like she was watching this girl grow into the coordinating girl at her own pace, and she was still learning how to handle everything, including battling. Drew had revealed to Solidad that May came from a gym-oriented family here in Hoenn, and it didn't surprise her to see how much of what she had probably learned from watching her father battle, as well as traveling with someone who was competing in the Hoenn league really impacted how May fought and came up with strategies.
At the same time, she was also creative, and was good at coming up with ideas and combinations on the spot. When things didn't work for her, she thought up a solution and worked around her competition, using unexpected attacks to turn the tide in her favor.
Having a powerhouse of a Pokémon also helped as she and her Combusken took the contest with blazing hot fury and determination.
May wanted and needed this ribbon, just as much as Drew had wanted and needed the Mossdeep one.
Drew had eventually warmed up and began speaking again. Solidad had noticed this was only after May reappeared on stage for her first battle round, Vivian more than happy to announce that May had cleared her medical examinations perfectly and had sustained no injuries from the rough start of her Combusken's appeal.
"She really likes to stick to physical attacks as opposed to flashy ones," Solidad noted during May's battle with the Chimecho that had earned a perfect score in round one.
"She's always been like that in every contest I've seen her in," Drew agreed. "She has a constant plan of getting in close and hitting hard. I think she's more interested in getting the knockout rather than forcing the points. But she'll win this match."
Solidad looked to him to see if his comment was a compliment or just a statement of fact.
"I've seen this coordinator she'd battling before," he clarified. "She's just in it to mess with May and her friends."
Solidad nodded, and they continued to watch as the battled progressed. True to his prediction, May won easily and advanced to face the girl named Kelly in the final battle.
At first it was a struggle. May successfully countered a few of the opposing Grumpig's attacks, even calling for her Combusken to catch and block a direct iron tail. Things started to get shaky when Kelly fell back on Grumpig's psychic attacks, though, forcing May to rethink and change her strategy.
And change it she did.
May called for a clever use of her Pokémon's fire spin. By aiming at the ceiling, she forced the flames to scatter and rain down on her opponent, much like they had in her appeal performance. With the flames distracting Grumpig, the psychic lock was broken, and both Pokémon were falling to the floor. Grumpig was worn out from holding its attack for so long while trying to withstand Combusken's flames, and was unable to land safely.
That was when May showed her true colors and ordered for Combusken to assist their opponent. Using fire spin to soften blow, Combusken lowered himself and Grumpig onto the floor, causing Kelly's points to dissipate. They landed on the floor just as the timer ran out.
Solidad smiled at the screen while Drew watched, a bit amazed by the events.
It was clear May had done a lot of regrouping since her loss in Rubello Town. In the last contest, May had wanted to do anything to win, including push her own Pokémon past its limits. Now here she was, helping her opponent out in the very end of it.
It was the mark of a great coordinator, and Drew admitted that she deserved that win.
Not because of dumb luck or pure chance. No, May had fought long and hard and earned her victory as any professional coordinator would have done. She looked and acted nothing like the girl he'd seen over a week ago.
He was impressed to say the least.
Solidad and he took some time to discuss the other coordinators they'd seen throughout. They talked about combinations they hated and ones they liked; how they'd change them and what they would have done differently. Ultimately, they both agreed May deserved the win, which somewhat surprised Solidad that she didn't have to fight him on that.
The clock on the wall rang 11 times, meaning it was getting to be late at night, and now with full stomachs after a long day, exhaustion was bound to rear its head any minute.
Shortly after they finished talking, Solidad passed out cupcakes to every one in the room, and all of the Pokémon joined her in singing "happy birthday" to him as he blew out the candle, more than anything just to humor Solidad.
"I have a gift for you," she said as she stood up from the sofa and retrieved a giant package that was wrapped messily, but a neat bow tied on top of it.
Drew raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to comment before Solidad quickly dropped the gift of the sofa next to him.
"I'm not good at wrapping," she agreed before he could speak. "Just open it."
Drew laughed and tore away at the paper slowly. Inside was a basket, filled with numerous items. He looked through each of them slowly and pulling them out one by one.
The first item was a brand new ribbon case with his name engraved on the outside. The case was green and opened outwards at the push of a button. He opened it as saw the empty slots for ribbons; a complete opposite of his second and now fully-filled Hoenn case.
"We both know that even if you win this Grand Festival, you'll be competing in another region as soon as you can," Solidad told him. "There's a ribbon case for your next adventure."
The second item Drew pulled from the basket was a small satchel. Upon untying the top, he saw it contained all sorts of berries, filled up to the top.
"Those I bought for you at the berry farm we stopped at on Route 123," she said.
He looked down below back into the basket and found a small book that had been hidden underneath the sack of berries.
"And that is a guide to making hundreds of different types of Pokéblock," she continued as he flipped through some of the pages quickly.
The next thing he found was a unique little bell, made from seashells and unlike any he'd ever seen before.
"That is an original Mossdeep Shoal Bell," she encouraged him to ring it. "Arthur made it himself; it's got special healing properties for Pokémon in its ring. Obviously this would be banned from use in a contest, but it'll be nice to have around for your Pokémon while you guys train."
Drew didn't think it would ever stop. The basket was filled to the brim with little objects and trinkets all pertaining to contests. He found everything from a new Pokéblock case to special herbal lotions for his Pokémon to increase their shine. It was all so wonderful, and it was the most thoughtful gift he'd ever received.
"So basically," Solidad concluded when he'd finally reached the end. "This is like your Grand Festival readiness kit. It's got everything you'll need to get you and your Pokémon ready to compete in 11 weeks."
"Yeah, 11 weeks," he repeated, still surprised at how it felt to know he was really going for the ribbon cup.
"So lay out the plan for me," Solidad urged. "Tell me what you're going to be doing starting tomorrow."
"I wanted to leave early," he responded. "Get back to the mainland and go do a bit more traveling and working on routines, maybe catch a few contests here or there. This is that time in the season where all the coordinators are going to be getting their last ribbons."
"Right," she agreed. "I assume you'll want to leave much earlier than I'll want to wake up, though."
He pursed his lips again, unsure of how to answer. He loved Solidad and traveling with her had been fun; he'd never want her to believe otherwise. She was his best friend and someone he trusted his life with. He just didn't want to put off his training any longer. If he really was going to win this Grand Festival, he was going to have to be perfect, and perfection called for training to start tomorrow.
Solidad knew that. Of course she did.
"You really worry about offending me too much," she laughed at his silence. "Drew, this is a big deal. This is your first Grand Festival. I get it; I've been there. You want to train and get ready for it as soon as you can.
"I'm heading back to Kanto tomorrow anyway; Pidgeot and I will be flying straight from here. We have different plans and that's okay. You leave as early as you want to, don't worry about me. Really, don't."
Drew looked for any signs of hesitation or something similar to it in her face, but all he found was encouragement.
"Will you be back for the Grand Festival?" he asked her.
She shook her head sadly, much to his dismay.
"The dates don't work for me," she said somewhat sadly. "I'll be in Johto that week. The Kanto Contest Committee asked me and a few other coordinators from Kanto to represent our region at some big contest convention. We're all going to participate in a presentation of what region should host the next Wallace Cup."
"Wow," Drew blurted out. "That's pretty big."
"Not as big as the Grand Festival, but I can't get out of it."
"I understand."
A calm quiet settled over them for a few moments as the reality settled in that this was going to be the last time they'd see each other for a while. It was a sad reality for both of them, but they took comfort in the fact that it wasn't going to be forever.
"This isn't goodbye," she told him, a sincere smile on her face.
"It's see you later," he replied.
They stood up then, and shook hands firmly, because Solidad knew Drew wasn't really a hugger. Their Pokémon also exchanged farewells with each other, and with the coordinators.
After a few moments, Drew and Solidad recalled their Pokémon, Drew picked up his basket, and the two exited the conference room, Solidad stopping at the front desk to drop off the key.
Drew bid Solidad goodnight in the elevator, as his floor was lower than hers was. He turned to look at her one last time before he stepped out.
"Go out there and win this thing," she told him.
"Of course," he smirked to her. "Stay in touch."
"Of course."
With that, he stepped out and watched as the elevator doors slid shut, and heard the beeps as it continued up to the ninth floor without him.
He placed his gifts on the desk once he'd locked the door in his room, and pulled out his backpack to determine how repack everything into his bag so he could leave the next morning. It took a few minutes of creative thinking, but he got to a stopping point where he deemed himself satisfied, so he progressed with his nightly rituals of showering and brushing his teeth and so on.
It was 11:53 p.m. by the time he finally plugged his PokéNav into its charger and collapsed into bed.
There were a few minutes of him lying awake and starring at the ceiling, processing the incredibly long day's events.
Most notably, he'd competed in his first R3 contest, and won against some of the strongest coordinators of Hoenn, especially Amber and her Rapidash. That victory Roselia managed to pull was still beyond words for him, and Masquerain's appeal coming together as well as it did... It was a proud day for him and for his Pokémon. They'd all more than proved they deserved that spot they'd earned in the Grand Festival.
Then there was Solidad's little birthday surprise for him. It was absolutely perfect for him; not too big and what he loved. He got to watch a contest with Solidad instead of discussing one hours later, which was a nice change. The lack of coffee was a little different, but it was still nice just to be together.
May's disastrous beginning to her appeal in Lilycove had definitely stunned him. He was somewhat angry that she could have made such a slipup, and endangered herself because she hadn't calculated just how much firepower her Combusken could generate. But also marveled at just how well she had raised it for it to have been so strong at all. She now had three ribbons, and she wanted to see the Grand Festival, she had less than 11 weeks to get the last two she needed.
But he had to tell himself that didn't matter. From here on out, for 11 weeks, it was all about him and his Pokémon, and getting ready to take home that Top Coordinator title.
And around 11:59, he finally closed his eyes, ready to get some sleep so he could start early the next day, but he was thankful for everything that had brought him there; from his Pokémon to the people. This was the eve of his road to the Ribbon Cup.
It was the best birthday he ever had.
It had been two weeks since he'd left Mossdeep to begin his training.
Solidad had texted him a few times, once saying she was officially registered to compete in Kanto's contest circuit, and to ask how his training had been going and where he was now.
Drew had spent the last few days in Lavaridge Town; a tiny hot springs town known for its mineral thanks to being at the base of the volcano. It had been a good few days of exercise for his Pokémon. Roselia loved the enriched soil found there, Vibrava loved the heat and Masquerain loved the moisture in the air from the steam. All of his Pokémon felt happy and were more than content to get to work in such a lovely environment.
It was only 3 p.m. when they'd stopped for the day. The next morning, they were set to travel onward to Rinshin Town to continue their progress. But the real reason they'd stopped was because he wanted to watch the Purika City contest, which was set to start broadcasting live any minute.
By the time he and his Pokémon settled into their room and flipped on the TV, the to see the opening ceremonies commencing.
The first 16 contestants failed to truly impress him. It was when number 17 came out that his interest was truly piqued.
"Bulbasaur, come on out and take the stage!"
He hadn't seen May's Bulbasaur since the contest in Rubello Town, when she more or less pushed him way too hard. But this time when Bulbasaur took his place center stage, he seemed completely relaxed and ready to start. May had obviously been working with him since that day and the two had buried whatever negative feelings may have festered during that contest, had any festered at all.
The combination of razor leaf and vine whip worked far better than he had anticipated it would. Because Bulbasaur was able to target every single one of its leaves, the combination showed how truly fast and accurate her Pokémon was, and how creative May was in turning two seemingly ordinary moves into something that entertaining to watch.
Drew's PokéNav buzzed beside him.
Bulbasaur looks much better.
He shot off a quick agreement to Solidad, and continued watching the rest of the appeals, knowing fully well that he could soon be facing any one of these coordinators on the main stage of the Grand Festival.
When a crazy looking purple-haired Cacturne-clad coordinator took the stage, Drew watched closely. And then when another text from Solidad told him this was her friend, Harley, he snorted a little. This guy looked like no one Solidad would associate with, but he assumed he had to be a powerful coordinator, and probably just as creepy as the vibe he was giving off.
He was right, on both accounts.
Harley's bullet seed offensive proved to be one of the most disturbing appeals Drew had ever seen, if not the most disturbing. The Cactunre had painted a skull and crossbones across the stage with his bullet seed, and the audience seemed a bit torn between cheering and leaving. Drew would have gone with the latter.
It only took a minute into watching Harley's first battle that Drew realized he didn't like Solidad's friend very much. He wasn't a traditional coordinator by any means. Throughout his battle, Harley was ruthless, and it became very clear very quickly that Harley wanted all those who were watching to know he showed no mercy. His attacks, obviously intended to inflict harm as opposed to showcase Cacturne's appeal.
It wasn't shocking when he won, nor was it surprising when May would face him in the finals, because she had come such a long way since that first day in Slateport, and that horrible day in Rubello. She struggled in her battle at first against the opposing Surskit's speed, but got herself together with a cleverly aimed vine whip.
Drew approved of the move, and was shocked when she called for a petal dance. The Bulbasaur launched a gorgeous storm of flowers and sparkles, much like Roselia's.
His phone buzzed beside him with a simple group of exclamation points from Solidad. Drew ignored it.
May pushed through to win the match and went on to face Harley in the finals.
There was such a strong difference in her and Harley's battling. She deserved to win this ribbon, because her heart was in this for her Pokémon. Harley just wanted to win.
They met on the field with hard stares and a lot of animosity. Drew could deduce that May had probably had some kind of disagreement with her opponent, and it didn't surprise him.
What surprised him was when Harley tried to cheat.
The match was progressing in May's favor. She was fighting hard while putting her everything into her attacks, and her Bulbasaur was responding to it well. They looked to be in perfect sync, not missing a beat and dominating the field. Drew couldn't even imagine how hard these two had trained together to put on such a prolific show in this contest.
Then, Harley decided he wasn't having it.
It was hard to understand everything on the TV, but it was very obvious someone had tampered with the stage controls and played a recorded message. He couldn't make out every word, but from the look on May's face, she was mortified.
There was a pan shot of the audience, the whole audience was roaring with laughter. By the way the camera was shaking as well, Drew knew the camera operator was also laughing. And it made him sick, to know Harley didn't respect coordinating enough to play fair, because by that smug look on his face, it was obvious he was behind it.
But what was worse was the look on May's face as she shrunk a bit into herself. As the recording, her face was a red as her bandana, and she was clearly holding back tears. Drew felt a hallow feeling spread through his chest as he watched May, who looked so confident moments ago, shatter beneath the scorn of those watching her and bury her face in her hands.
Then, she surprised him. She snapped back up, her embarrassment replaced with a fire burning in her tear-filled eyes.
Harley was openly mocking her, trying to tear her down more than he already had, but she wasn't taking it anymore. But before she could retaliate in any way, Harley's Cacturne snuck in a powerful, direct hit.
It was borderline sinful, and part of Drew wondered how they didn't stop the contest right then and there. But part of him was relieved, because he wanted to watch May destroy this loser where he stood.
There were pros and cons to any coordinator getting emotionally invested in a battle. On the positive side, emotions, when channeled correctly, could work as the best motivator. On the flip side, if a person let their feelings get the better of their judgment, they could make bad calls and lost their composure. The latter seemed to be happening to May.
"C'mon, May, calm it down," Drew breathed more invested in seeing May come out on top than he ever expected to be.
As if she could hear him, May took a breath and refocused in the midst of an oncoming feint attack. Her Bulbasaur managed to grab the incoming Cacturne and toss him high into the air with a powerful vine whip. Then, May gave Harley a taste of his own medicine. Just as ruthless as Harley had been all contest long, May rebounded with a beautiful razor leaf and petal dance combination.
Seeing the petal dance come from May shook Drew a little more than he wanted to admit. Seeing May pull off his signature move…it was just like him using her silver wind.
The combination hit its marks, and Cacturne fell to the ground, unable to continue the fight. Even though he had more points, Harley was X-ed out of the match. May had won.
May had won.
Her Bulbasaur rushed to her, and she embraced the tiny grass type, hugging him and no doubt praising his efforts.
She was four ribbons into the season, and there were about four contests left in which she could compete in to earn her spot in the Grand Festival.
And for the first time since he met her, he somehow knew that he was going to face her in Hoenn's top competiton. With how she'd competed in the last two contests he'd watched her in, it was like she'd finally hit her stride as a coordinator; like she was born again and finally able to channel her talents effectively. There was absolutely no doubt that they'd face off there, and he felt more pressure to be the best he could be when that battle would come.
He watched as she accepted her ribbon. Although he didn't care where the creep went, Drew couldn't help but notice Harley was nowhere to be seen at the winner's presentation. But May's smiling face lit up his television screen, and he looked back to his Pokémon as they too watched the girl they were used to seeing win again. Roselia seemed to be the only one aware of Drew's stare, as she turned to face him, nodding. She already knew what he was thinking.
A quick glance at the clock on the wall told him it was just past 6 p.m.
"Hey guys?" he called out.
Vibrava and Masquerain turned to look at him, seeming to understand just as Roselia had.
"It's still early. Let's get back to training."
