Chapter Nine: I've Got You (Mirage Island)– In which things change in big ways.
Author's notes:
- Based on the episode, "Who, What, When, Where, Wynaut."
- I firmly believe that this was the episode in which Drew realized that he had feelings for May, but more on that later.
- From this point on, I'll be using more explicative words. Not many, of course; just in appropriate situations I feel the characters would actually use them. This episode, for example, had quite a few life or death situations, and I think I can safely assume that a few swear words would definitely occur in real life. You'll see what I mean, but this is where the story starts to earn its T-rating. Basically, this is a strong language warning.
- I've been dying to do this chapter, because this is just about every contestshipper's favorite episode. I actually started working on it when I was in the middle of writing chapter five.
- I will state every canonical moment we saw in this episode, and on top of that, I'll be adding moments that happened off screen; the stuff we didn't see. Of course, that stuff will be fictional, but I mean…we'll just pretend, okay? I will at least.
- Another super long chapter at 56 pages on Microsoft Word and 24,401 words. But this is "THE EPISODE," and my favorite one for sure as well. It demanded the respect of being long.
- This chapter took A LOT, so...please review and leave me some feedback! Really hope you guys like it, this has been my favorite one to write.
There were only six weeks to go.
In six short weeks, Drew Hayden would enter his first Grand Festival. It was a fact that excited him beyond measure, not that he'd let anyone know that of course. He liked to convince people he didn't do the whole, 'human emotion' thing. But it was finally coming, and even he couldn't lie to himself and say he wasn't absolutely brimming with anticipation. He'd get to showcase his Pokémon in the ultimate contest; the one every coordinator dreamed of entering but only mere dozens actually got to compete in.
And he was one of those dozens this year.
Now that it was so close, it seemed all the more real. With his five ribbons in his case, and the knowledge that he'd recently entered a class R3 contest and managed to beat some of Hoenn's best coordinators, he was feeling better than ever; more excited than he'd ever been in his life.
True, he had qualified to enter the season prior, but he had opted out. It was difficult for him to walk away from the opportunity, but he knew he wasn't ready to win last year. The Grand Festival was go big or go home, and he knew he'd enter when he was ready.
This was that year; this was his season. Drew knew with total certainty he would win the Hoenn Grand Festival.
That meant six weeks of hard work, training and preparations of all kinds, including studying his competition fiercely. Never one to take interest in tabloid publications, he'd found himself flipping through issues of Coordinator's Weekly, reading every article containing information about the upcoming festival. From rules and regulations to feature stories of past winners, he'd read more articles than he could keep count of. But there was one section in every weekly issue leading up to the Grand Festival that he was really after.
The projected winners; "Top Picks for Top Coordinator," the series headline read for each issue.
Throughout the year, reporters for the magazine attended any and every contest, making note of all the winners of the individual contests and keeping tabs on everything about them from their ribbon count to their Pokémon and move sets throughout the season.
When he opened the latest issue and saw a full four-page spread about himself, he felt a plethora of different emotions. He was both absolutely pumped and annoyed that he'd received the recognition. He hated media attention, but was honored that he was selected as one of the favorites to win. And win he would. Still, it bothered him that any one of his competitors could pick up the magazine and know instantly who his Pokémon were. They'd even noted his Vibrava, whom he'd never debuted at a contest. That was a sign he'd been stalked, even in the remote places he'd chosen to train. Damn paparazzi.
The next issue he saw projected Robert, the coordinator he'd lost to in the Slateport Contest. That made him a little uneasy, but he had reminded himself constantly that he and his Pokémon had only gotten stronger since that loss, and they were ready for a rematch. And seeing the exact same stats and information on Robert that he'd seen in his own spread made him feel somewhat more prepared. Knowing he had a Claydol and a few others helped him gain a sense of direction to take in his training. He knew without a doubt that he would face Robert again, and it would be in the Grand Festival.
A few of the following issues named a few coordinators he didn't know. Some he could vaguely recall seeing at contests he'd attended to compete or observe. Others he doubted he'd ever even see or have to worry about.
The latest issue he'd picked up that morning caught his attention for entirely different reasons. On the front cover, the side story headline tease of "Road to the Grand Festival: The Last Chance for These 25 Coordinators!" was screaming to be read. Drew didn't hesitate to grab the issue and take it with him while he searched for a good training spot, his Masquerain fluttering above him. He flipped to page 15 for the story.
The article itself talked all about the final Pacifidlog Town Contest, which was arguably the most important contest of the season every year in Hoenn. It was always the final contest of the regular season, meaning for every coordinator with four ribbons, it was make it or break it. There was no in between; all or nothing odds.
Just as promised, the article featured the 25 contestant profile pictures – the ones taken for contest passes – of those who would be going for their final ribbon, paired with one or two sentences below each explaining who they were, their four ribbons, and the odds of them winning.
And just like he figured, the girl with the red bandana was #16 on the list.
He couldn't help but laugh a little at the prospect; May had always come off as an unorganized coordinator. He'd realized very early on that he couldn't predict where she was going to compete next. She just stumbled from contest to contest, taking risks and occasionally relying on luck.
Now, it was time to see how far her luck could take her, because if she didn't win in Pacifidlog, she wasn't going to enter the Grand Festival.
But there wasn't a reason to focus on that; especially not now, when he himself was getting ready for said event.
The magazine found itself in a recycling bin after he'd finished reading it, and Drew and Masquerain found themselves on a cliff overlooking the seemingly-endless ocean.
That day, as well as the next few weeks would be all about training with his team's power. Pulling off beautiful appeals was such a second nature to Drew at that point, he didn't need to worry about his Pokémon's moves looking good. He knew he'd make it through the appeal rounds no problem; he'd never failed to make it past an appeal round in a contest, after all. The battle rounds were his main focus, especially after reading up about some of the competition he'd face. He already knew Robert was a threat, and a few of Coordinator Weekly's other projected winners had certainly caught his eye.
There were infinite possibilities for techniques Drew could use to calculate his Masquerain's power, and only a handful of them he was willing to use. He knew the more he put his heart into training, the more results he'd see. That was how he found himself there, staring down a massive tidal wave heading straight towards him. Should he or Masquerain make a mistake, Drew would be instantly overtaken by that wave's power, and he could be swept out to sea to die, or be tossed over the cliff and onto the rocks at the bottom to break his neck. Ah, the possibilities were endless.
Despite the risks, Drew wasn't nervous at all. He had an unshakable sense of faith in all his Pokémon, and he knew Masquerain wouldn't fail him. So he called for a silver wind, completely unfazed by the promise of injury and/or fatality right in front of him. Masquerain fired off a beautiful ripple of glowing silver rays, pushed forward by a powerful gust, completely dispersing the water. Not a single drop touched Drew or his Pokémon. A shower of shimmering water droplets rained down before him, and he smirked with admiration.
"Masquerain, awesome job," he complimented. "You keep that up and the Ribbon Cup is ours."
Masquerain chirped happily, and he was set to continue on with more moves, but there was the matter of Drew being aware someone was watching him. Before that silver wind, he could faintly hear someone shouting a warning – "Hey, look out!" – in his general direction. As if he hadn't been aware of the massive tidal wave about to hit him… But he turned and looked below to see a group of people watching him from the beach.
He almost burst into laughter, because it could not have been any more perfect to run into her here, before her upcoming contest; her upcoming final chance to compete against him in the Grand Festival. He wanted to remind her of that…and maybe show off a little, because that's what he did best; rile her up.
And, though he wouldn't admit it out loud, a part of him had thought it was weird not seeing her for a while, because he had gotten used to seeing her at contests. Her absence seemed unnatural somehow.
Ash was the first to approach him and Masquerain, running while May and the other two were more slow in there approach. May seemed almost hesitant, but she had a soft smile planted on her face while he greeted them with Ash praising his Masquerain's silver wind.
"That's just one of the many awesome attacks I'll be using over at the Grand Festival," he flicked his hair, because it was his trademark sign of, 'I'm-about-to-show-you-up.'
"That's where you and I will face off!" May declared, taking a step forward to show him her determination.
"So that means you've earned all five of your contest ribbons, May?" he dared her.
Of course he knew the answer. He'd seen it not even an hour before running into them. But he doubted she read Coordinator's Weekly, or knew she'd been featured in it. More so, he doubted that she even knew the amount of pressure she faced to get this final ribbon. There were projected to be over 50 people entering that contest, 25 of whom were going to be putting everything they had into getting that final ribbon.
She surprised him by laughing somewhat nervously, whipping out her ribbon case to show off her four ribbons. He couldn't say he wasn't impressed that she'd made it this far…but she still wasn't there yet, and from the way she was forcing herself to sound more confident than he knew she really was, he knew she needed to feel pressured to get that drive she needed. After all, he did want to face her in the Grand Festival, just to prove the point that he was and always would be better than her. Not that there was any doubt, of course.
"Just one more and I'll be able to enter the Grand Festival, see!" she chimed.
"Isn't that nice?" he said easily. "Look."
It all flowed in order: his eyes were closed, a smile planted on his face, he heard the click of his ribbon case opening, and the collective chorus of gasps from May's party.
"The Grand Festival is in six weeks," he explained to them. "There's only one more contest before that, May."
"Only one more?!" Max questioned.
Drew didn't wonder why May got along with this group so well. They seemed just as clueless as she was. He couldn't imagine spending more than a few minutes with them collectively. Sometimes it was exhausting having to fill them in on things.
"You know what that means…" May said slowly, her face falling further with every word.
"Yes," Drew said. "It means you win the Pacifidlog Contest, or it's over, end of story, finite."
The look on her face was one of a girl who just had her dreams shattered. Drew hadn't meant to hurt her feelings in anyway; he was just an honest person warning her that if she really wanted this like she'd been hell-bent on proving she was, she had to work harder than she ever had, and she couldn't rely on luck to get her there.
She was quick to compose her features into a nervous smile and a laugh to complement it.
"Right, I knew that!"
Drew locked his ribbon case and placed it back in his jacket pocket, unconvinced and smirking with his eyes closed so they wouldn't see him roll his eyes in amusement.
"Still as totally clueless and happy-go-lucky as ever," he replied.
Just like always, May was quick to take offense to his statements. She jumped forward, right up in his face. Her eyes renewed with a spark of determination; the minor depression she'd displayed moments before was gone without ever having left a trace.
"Yeah?" She challenged him. "Well how about a practice battle right here and now, Mr. Know-It-All?"
Now that was a tempting offer. He hadn't faced her in a battle in quite some time, and though he'd seen her show minor improvements each and every time he watched her compete, he was dying to see it in person and experience it first hand or himself. Drew could see how nervous he made May, even though she constantly tried to hide it. He wanted to know how she would handle her nerves against him now that she was a somewhat more experienced coordinator.
"Well I suppose Masquerain and I could use a little warm up," he responded.
"It'll be more than a warm up!" she exclaimed, marching across the sand to stand a few yards away from him.
She muttered something to Ash, and he nodded at her, smiling and telling her something encouraging, Drew was sure. He understood the exchange when Ash moved to the center of the space, announcing the battle between them and declaring himself the referee like she'd asked him to.
"Beautifly, take the stage!" she shouted what he'd come to know as her catchphrase, lobbing her Pokéball into the air.
He was always happy to see her Beautifly. Drew could say whatever he wanted about her skills as a coordinator, but she was undeniably good at raising her Pokémon. Beautifly's wings seemed more and more sparkly and colorful every time he saw her.
"You ready for this, Masquerain?" he looked up to his Pokémon.
Masquerain nodded in an affirmative, floating just a few inches in front of him.
"Now, begin!" Ash signaled.
Drew flickers his hair, confident in his Masquerain's strength. He knew he could win this match quickly and easily, so he thought he'd be a gentleman.
"After you, May," he offered with a flick of his hair.
Just as he knew she would, May ordered a silver wind from her Beautifly. A giant pillar of light and silver flashes formed, coming straight for his Pokémon. And just like he dealt with the tidal wave earlier, he was completely focused and trusting of his Masquerain's ability to handle the attack. He called for him to sail through Bautifly's silver wind by spinning through it. A masterful dodge he'd perfected, and a sure way to earn him some points in the real approaching festival.
Masquerain quickly broke apart the vortex Beautifly had created, prompting May to grit her teeth and clench her fists a little. Her friends seemed to notice her anxiety.
"You're doing just fine, May!" her brother called out to her.
She nodded at him in response, keeping her eyes locked on Masquerain with Beautifly anticipating the next move.
Drew decided it was the perfect chance to show off his own silver wind. Just when it looked like a guaranteed hit, May called for a dodge with a somersault, something he didn't think of nor expected from her. Beautifly responded instantly, flying through the air with precision and grace, as if it was well rehearsed in quick and appealing dodges like this. Were it a real contest, he would have lost major points for missing such a sure-fired attack. Drew smiled a bit; May truly was improving, and if she could think on her feet that quickly, he was starting to think the battle might get interesting…
That's when everything went to hell.
The ground shook as what Drew assumed to be the world's biggest Magikarp smashed onto the beach, throwing them all a bit off balance. His mouth hung agape in surprise and suddenly, the Magikarp started…speaking?
What in the hell?
But he knew that voice; Drew swore he knew that voice from somewhere. And when the second voice appeared, it clicked him his brain almost instantly. That annoying Team Rocket group with their talking Meowth, who seemed to be constantly chasing after May and her friends appeared, rising out of the top of what he now realized was a submarine. Each time he'd seen them, they always had different reasons for being there: stealing berries, entering contests, selling fake contest merchandise, it was never the same gimmick with these losers. But Drew had figured out early on that their true main goal was to steal Pokémon, and they had a particular interest in Ash's Pikachu. That, he understood; every time he'd seen that little mouse fire off an attack, it had always been beyond powerful.
Team Rocket didn't get far in their speech before declaring that they were once again there to take Pokémon for themselves and blah blah blah… he'd seen this act a few times already, and he knew they'd resolve whatever scheme they'd come up with easily enough like they did every time.
But this time was different, and suddenly he, May and the others were all holding on to whatever they could, trying not to get sucked into the submarine by a massive powerful vacuum. He watched in horror as Masquerain, Beautifly and Pikachu all disappeared inside of the mouth of that ugly sub. Next thing Drew knew, they were all flying through the air, being pulled in just like their Pokémon had been as well. This was not how he expected to spend his training day.
They slammed into what felt like a wall, and under all their weight, the thing sheet of metal collapsed. The group found themselves all piled uncomfortably on top of each other. Drew hit the ground with a thud, part of his body slamming up against someone else – Ash. Everyone collectively moaned, trying to adjust to the impact and get past the pain of being thrown and crash-landing; they knew they'd be sore tomorrow.
Without warning, a Wobbuffet screeched out its unwanted presence, and Max jumped up, completely taken off guard and freaking out. He was clearly still processing what happened, and the jump scare didn't help him at all. The young boy hopped to his feet, instantly losing balance and shuffling awkwardly before slamming into the wall furthest away from the dog-pile of people. There was a clicking noise, and Max looked panicked.
"I think I hit something!" he announced.
The Meowth, screamed in alarm, and Drew knew that whatever Max had hit meant trouble for them.
Not good.
"YOU PUSHED THE HYPER ENGINE TURBO SWITCH!"
The submarine shifted, and everyone was thrown back down again as it took off an unimaginable speed, jetting through the water out of control.
Definitely not good.
Everyone in the sub was holding on for dear life, while Drew worked to regain his balance with one goal in mind: protect his Masquerain. He struggled immensely against gravity and the g-forces of the plummeting sub as he fought to gain some sense of balance, which felt next to impossible. It felt like trying to move a mountain, and he was trying as hard as he could. But he wouldn't give up; he couldn't risk his Masquerain getting hurt, because he'd never be able to get past it if something bad happened to one of his Pokémon and he could have potentially stopped it.
To his surprise, he saw May next to him, fighting the same battle as he was: the struggle to stand up. He could see it in her eyes, the same thing he felt: save her Beautifly. She was completely unworried about herself; she just wanted her Pokémon safe. Drew had known she loved her Pokémon, but to know she felt the same level of devotion to them as he did to his own was…well, he couldn't figure it out right then and there. He didn't have time to spare.
"Masquerain–"
"Beautifly–"
"Return!"
Two streaks of red light flashed and their bug Pokémon were safely back inside their Pokéballs. Drew took a split second to breathe out in relief before he quickly backed into the corner and hugged the wall behind him. May had done the same on the opposite side of him.
"Where are we going?!" the pink-haired girl shrieked, voicing the question they were all too shocked to ask out loud.
As the only one in the entire party who wasn't screaming, Drew heard a creaking noise above him. His eyes shot up to see one part of the metal hall bend inwards and unnaturally. He instantly deduced that the increasing pressure as they sunk further and further at top speed was beginning to become too much. The sub clearly wasn't made to handle this depth. Then, a similar, larger dent appeared on the ceiling opposite from where he was standing, and he seemed to be the only one to notice the problem.
Fuck. Oh fuck.
Typically a person who was always calm, Drew found himself panicking. The situation could not get any worse. Then, in the front of the sub, he could hear the start of a shrill, high pitched whining noise, almost like a teakettle whistling to alert someone it was done boiling. That noise in front of them was steadily and very quickly growing louder, and Drew knew it was from whatever kind of electric engine was powering the submarine. He also knew he only had a few seconds to act in some way before they'd get hit with some kind of explosion.
He never knew why he did it; in that moment, Drew Hayden could not understood for the life of him what possessed him to take the action he took in those last few moments before the sub exploded. He blamed it on his body acting on pure adrenaline. But it felt like it was the natural thing to do; like it was the one and only course of action he could have ever taken in those final, fatal milliseconds.
When that screech became so deafeningly loud, and everyone began to notice it, Drew pushed himself off of the wall he was holding onto and launched over to where May was hanging on. And he caught a brief glimpse of her face before he was steady enough to move again. She looked absolutely petrified as her eyes sparkled with unshed tears; she appeared more frightened than any person had ever been in the history of the human race. Her expression told him that she believed she was absolutely going to die in those moments. It was all too much for her, and she was genuinely afraid: the walls crumbling in around them and sprays of water beginning to flood the ship through the cracks in the hall, all on top of the screeching sound from the ninth circle of hell, which she may or may not have realized by that point was literally a ticking time bomb.
Drew didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second. With his back to the front of the sub, he wrapped his arms around her shaking frame, shielding every inch of her body that he could with his own.
"Get down, May!" he hissed directly in her ear, pulling them both to the floor and making them as small as possible.
The noise was impossibly loud now; he didn't know whether she actually heard his command or not. But she complied either way. She curled herself into him, burying her head behind his chest while holding her ears. All he wanted to do was cover his own ears as well to stop himself from going deaf. He couldn't see what anyone else was doing; whether they knew the blast was coming and they were prepping themselves or not, he didn't have time to check or care. All that mattered was himself and this tiny, trembling girl in his arms.
And then suddenly, there was an explosion.
Even though he'd been anticipating it, the impact was far greater than he predicted. It stunned him, in every possible way, and as he was shot upward, he vaguely realized that he'd lost his grip on May. The blast sent a shockwave through his body, almost like an unnaturally large pulsation; he felt like he was paralyzed and couldn't feel anything. It was louder than he'd thought possible, and for a few seconds, the only thing he could hear was the ringing in his ears. He had to blink a few times, the confusion and shock had completely overwhelmed him.
A few seconds later, he realized he was flying.
Every single person in the sub had been mercilessly launched higher in the air than Drew had ever wanted to be in his life when he wasn't on a plane or riding a flying Pokémon. Out of every single person in the same position as he was, May was the closest, her screaming prominent as she flailed out of control. Everyone else was much farther ahead of them in the air, as they'd absorbed more of the force from the blast being closer than Drew and May had been when it detonated. For a moment, he swung his arms and legs a bit, letting out a scream of his own for a moment.
That was the extent of the panic he'd allowed himself to feel.
By swinging his limbs freely around, he realized that miraculously, he was basically uninjured, save for maybe two or three spots he knew he would have bruises on. And if something was seriously wrong with him, the adrenaline coursing through every vein in his body prevented him from feeling anything. May seemed just as fortunate. But injured or not, he was more than capable of trying something, – anything – and Drew knew if he did absolutely nothing, he and May were most definitely going to die.
They were heading towards a mysterious island, and gravity began working against them, finally pushing them downward. Drew knew they wouldn't make it all the way onto the island, thank Arceus, meaning they would land in the ocean, and had a chance to survive this free fall. He did a quick guess-timation of where in the water he and May would land, and had a pretty good idea. He just hoped the water was deep enough.
"MAY!" he screamed as loud as he could over the woosh of the air and chunks of debris from the submarine flying past them.
"DREW!" she screamed back, looking back and realizing he was there with her.
She still looked panicked, but he faced her with strong, stern eyes, conveying to her he was there with her and she absolutely could not afford to freak out. This was life or death, and he was there with her no matter what would happen. There was a small sense of relief that washed over her face as she realized she wasn't alone in those moments.
After seeing her brother and friends separate from her, she didn't know what to do. But having Drew there, it made the situation – somehow – feel a little less dark. Like if she was absolutely going to die, it wouldn't be alone after all. But even more so, she saw Drew's collected nature, and she dared to hope that if he thought they would be okay, she could try to believe it, too.
"MAY, GRAB ONTO ME!" Drew instructed, performing swimming-like motions in the air to push himself closer to her.
She nodded, replicating his actions, and when she was within reach, he grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her close and looked at her straight in the eyes. He knew he had less than five seconds before they'd plunge into the ocean, and there was only one way to handle this if they wanted the slightest chance of surviving this free fall.
"FEET FIRST!" was all he screamed to her, getting himself into a pencil-dive position, hoping she could understand him. "I'M GONNA LET GO!"
Sure enough, she did understand. When Drew released her wrist, he stretched his arms above his head to make himself into as straight a line as he possibly could. May in turn mimicked his pose and stuck her feet straight down with her arms and hands straight up, and sucked in a large breath in preparation of the coming impact.
'Please let this water be fucking deep enough!' was Drew's last thought before his body crashed through the surface of the blue.
May followed suit, and the two were pushed deep down below the surface thanks to the force of their impact. They never did hit the bottom, though, much to both of their relief, and as Drew kicked and paddled his way to air, he thanked Arceus that he'd somehow, against all odds and logic, survived that dive and was able to swim afterwards.
He broke the surface of the water, greedily sucking in oxygen like he'd never taken a breath before in his life. He hadn't been submerged for very long, but his heart rate was still sky rocketing and he needed to breathe to keep himself from having a panic attack. The air burned going down his windpipe, but he couldn't find it in himself to care for the moment. His eyes searched all around, frantic when he realized May had not surfaced as he had. He was about to dive back down when she finally bobbed up atop the water, breathing just as hard and heavy as he was.
Her eyes were the size of the moon while she processed the same thoughts he was.
'I made it. I'm okay. I'm alive.'
"May!" Drew called to her again, swimming over to meet her.
"Oh my Mew, now what do we do?!" she asked him, kicking hard in the water to stay afloat as the waves crashed into them.
"We have to swim to that island," Drew told her, lifting an arm out of the water and pointing. "Conserve your energy, ride the waves and let them push you to shore."
"Okay," she nodded, following him towards the only bit of salvation she could see.
They swam conservatively, Drew doing everything in his power to make sure he wasn't tiring himself out. It was sheer dumb, incredible, stupid, wonderful, impossible, amazing luck that they'd landed so close to that island, so they for sure wouldn't drown. But once they got there, figuring out there next move would be another challenge.
There were tons of whirlpools around them in the water. Drew noticed them all, and worked hard to steer himself and May out of their reach. Yet another miracle of the day: they'd managed to avoid all the churning waters of death.
Neither May nor Drew knew where they were or what they were slowly swimming to. Drew couldn't guess what kind of wild and potentially dangerous Pokémon could be waiting for them ashore. May didn't know what had happened to her friends or worse, her baby brother; she had no idea whether they were alive or not. Once she'd lost sight of them, in the air, she couldn't stop the horrible thoughts going through her head. On top of that, there was the daunting fact that neither of them knew what they were about to face once they made it to the mysterious island.
Still, in the luck department, they had bested some pretty good odds so far; they'd survived that insane explosion followed by a surely, deadly fall, and there had been probably a one in a billion chance for all of that to happen in the same day.
Things could only get better from there, right?
Both of them crawled onto shore slowly, collapsing into the sand while flipping on their backs and catching their breath as their situation slowly dawned upon them.
Their adrenaline was finally wearing off and leaving them to pant in the sand beside each other. They didn't know how long they'd been lying in that spot, trying to regulate their heart rates and thinking of a good first move, but neither of them said anything for a good while.
At one point, he turned his head over to study her face. Despite her being soaking wet, clear tear tracks ran down the sides of her face, and her eyes were locked straight up at the sky. He hadn't realized she'd been crying, because she'd been so quiet. As she lay there, she was unmoving, and he knew she was in shock.
Drew wasn't by any means a survivalist, because he'd never had to be one before. He'd camped out a few nights here and there, but he'd never experienced a truly dangerous situation out in the wild. No, he was not a survivalist, but he knew that's exactly what their situation called for.
He was smart enough to figure this out on his own, and he knew the first basic rule of survival was to remain calm. Lose your head; lose your life. And there they lay, May silently going through an anxiety attack and not moving an inch.
He quickly determined that keeping May calm was going to be step one. Getting May comfortable and determined to make it through this would be step two.
Drew recalled how she seemed to collect herself as they were falling together, when she had seen how calm he was. Normality was key. He had to make her feel like this was just another day of them bumping into each other.
He dragged himself up to sit, then stand while he brushed the sand off of himself as best he could. She seemed startled by his actions, her eyes shooting up to him from the ground as she blinked.
"Get up, May, c'mon," he urged her, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Don't be lazy like I'm sure you normally are."
His fingers traced along the Pokéballs in his pocket making sure his team all was present and accounted for. He felt Roselia's first, which brought him a deep sense of peace. Roselia was his rock when he was stressed or angry or anything of the sort. To know he hadn't lost her gave him a whole new outlook on their situation. Masquerain and Vibrava were also there with him, and he just knew it was a good sign for him. If they had that much luck up until that point, they could keep the streak going. They had to.
May was just standing up when she wobbled a bit. Drew watched her curiously and realized her legs and hands were still shaking. May backed into a large rock and leaned on it for support, not saying anything. She was a nervous wreck, no doubt still absorbing the events and worrying over her brother and friends. It gave Drew an idea.
While on the sub, he'd realized May also shared the same close connection and bond he had with his Pokémon with her own. He assumed that knowing she had her Pokémon with her could probably help her as well.
"Do you have all of your Pokémon?"
Her eyes went wide, and she whipped her fanny pack around from behind her, tearing through its contents as she silently counted to herself. Drew wasn't worried, though; if his Pokéballs had made it in his open pockets, hers would have been safe inside her zipped-up pack. So he watched and waited for her reaction. Once she'd concluded everyone was with her, she visibly relaxed, just as he knew she would. Her legs even stopped shaking. It was a great sign.
Drew sighed as he looked out over the ocean, knowing they were far away from any inhabited islands and even farther away from Hoenn's mainland. In the back of his head, he couldn't help but think of Vibrava, and how nice it would have been for him to have evolved into a Flygon. That way he and May could have gotten off the island, or at least done a search for her traveling companions.
May hopped up on the rock, taking a seat and looking around. Something in her eyes changed; like her brain had finally caught up and fully processed the situation they were in and she knew she had to come to terms with it. Drew kept on his, 'make-her-feel-normal' mission with the confirmation.
"Ugh," he moaned. "How'd I end up stuck here with you?"
"I'm not exactly thrilled, either," she shot back, but her voice still seemed sad.
Still, it was a retort, no matter how weak. He needed that, and he needed it to be stronger.
That was her fire; her strong will that had made her stand out to him in contests so many times before. That was the May he was looking for, and he had gotten the first taste of is in one small dose.
Ah, sweet progress.
They'd both need that progress if they were going to figure out a way to get off the island. Looking out, Drew noticed the island had been surrounded with fog, and he could make out the countless strong currents and whirlpools all around. How they'd managed to avoid those swimming to sure, he didn't know. But they had, and it was done; no need to dwell on it.
"I wonder where the rest of them landed…" Drew spoke carefully, testing her.
"We should go try and find out," she offered.
Then, their lucky streak continued.
At first, he didn't believe it was real. At first, he thought he'd hit his head on something and was hallucinating. At first, he figured he was just going insane when he saw an old man riding on a boat towards them, expertly surpassing and gliding around the whirlpools surrounding the shore.
But as the boat got closer, and May acknowledged it too, Drew realized it was completely real.
"Is that a man…?" she wondered aloud, her voice shrouded in disbelief.
Minutes later, the man in question had tied off his boat, and they were both recounting the story of how they'd got there. The man listened curiously, and casually explained the nature of the island when May asked him about it. But something about this old man's explanation of this place seemed familiar to Drew, and he racked his brain for a few seconds before he realized that he had heard of this Mirage Island before.
Then, it clicked.
He'd read about it in the Pokéblock book Solidad had given him for his birthday all those weeks ago. The guidebook had boasted several rare berries that could only be found in certain parts of Hoenn, but gave a full five pages to the Lychee berries of Mirage Island. It was a mystical place that was almost impossible to get to. Only a handful of people had reported ever actually getting there. Lychee berries were completely exclusive to this place and impossible to get at any market. So Drew knew the second he saw some, he'd get them. What better way to get his Pokémon ready for the Grand Festival than with the best Pokéblock in the world?
"This place is world famous!" he explained to May when she seemed confused. "It's supposed to be crawling Lychee berries, too."
"I've never heard of those…" May admitted.
Now that they'd more or less been saved, the whole situation seemed completely fine to him. They still had to find May's friends before they could leave, but they had a guide now. They had someone experienced and knowledgeable about this island who could safely help them find their way, and then bring them back to Hoeen's mainland on his boat. The hopelessness of it all seemed faded, almost instantly. The danger was past them, and Drew could relax. And it seemed like it'd be a waste to not slam May for not knowing that Lychee berries were literally the best ingredients for Pokéblock a coordinator could get…
"Of course I wouldn't expect you to know that…" he gave her a pointed look.
May steamed with embarrassment from his comment, in front of a stranger no less. She had no intention of letting Drew get the best of her ever, but especially not here.
"Oh yeah?! I happen to know all about lechee berries!"
"Well then I'm sure you know it's pronounced, 'Lychee.'" Drew rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide his amusement at all.
She grunted in frustration and turned away from him. He was such an arrogant piece of work that it made her crazy.
The old man just laughed at the pair and offered to guide them through the forest to find May's companions. After a quick formal introduction of name sharing, the three set off. May was worried about finding her friends, Drew about spotting Lychee berries and Rodrick chuckling to himself as May and Drew silently bickered to each other behind him.
Ah, to be young and in love again…
"May's expedition into the mysterious woods begins…"
She'd been narrating things since they'd left the beach. First it was, "May finds herself on a legendary island only few have ever seen," with an intermission of, "Who knows what wondrous things await us on today's adventure with May's expedition," and also a, "Only time will tell if May will make it through this uncharted paradise where anything can happen…" thrown in, too.
All paired with a fake camera frame she'd shaped with her fingers, it was cheap, corny and over dramatic. It was completely 100 percent something he could see May doing all the time. He found it hysterical, but he couldn't let her know that, because it would just diminish his reputation of 'I'm-too-cool-for-you,' and she'd probably either stop or –Arceus forbid – ask him to participate.
"You don't get out much, do you?" Drew casually tossed over his shoulder, careful not to let her see his smile.
"Of course I do; you just don't know how to have fun," she retorted.
He broke out into a bigger grin. She was a lot wittier than he realized before, and she was smart and funny, too.
This was the most time Drew had spent with May…ever. And it was odd to see the array of things he'd seen from her that day. She was so much different outside of coordinating than he imagined.
He was coming to see a lot of sides to her personality. She clearly liked adventure, which made sense considering all the traveling she did with her friends for coordinating. She could handle a joke, and wasn't afraid to bite back when she was handed a sarcastic remark or two. She was a very caring person, concerned for her friends and mostly her brother's safety as they searched the island nonstop to find them. She was emotional, but not in a bad way, and capable of switching back and forth between emotions when the time needed her to. She was perceptive, active and adaptive, never once complaining again that they were stuck on the island and tackling this insane hike that they'd been on for almost an hour now without slowing down. She was curious and inquisitive, always seeking to learn about new things and asking questions to find answers until she could come up with more things she wanted to know.
She was all of those things and more, and Drew couldn't rack his brain hard enough to find a single word to describe all of the things May was proving to be.
She was of her own breed.
She was just… May.
She was May.
Rodrick had stopped walking in front of them, and Drew barely had time to stop himself from crashing into the seaman.
"Do you know if your friends would have any idea what to do in the event that they got lost in the forest?" he turned and asked May.
She pondered for a few seconds, mulling it over. And then her eyes lit up.
"Brock would know!" she confirmed. "He's really good at stuff like that."
Her friend Brock would know? Really?
Drew wasn't seeking praise or recognition by any means, but considering he was more or less the reason they'd survived up until the point when Rodrick found them, it stung his pride a little for her to instantly assume he wouldn't know anything. He felt himself frowning at the idea, maybe even a little envious…
He killed the thought in his mind the second it formed. For one, Rodrick had asked if May's friends, who were not with them would know what to do, not if he would know. Second, May was just a coordinator he happened to fall into a bad situation with; this wasn't about being better at anything, but about finding her friends and getting out of there. Third, he would never, ever let himself have a thought like that again, because he didn't do feelings of any kind. His life was dedicated to coordinating, and no girl – especially not this girl – would ever change that.
So Drew planted a tight smile on his face when Rodrick suggested they find and follow the river back to the beach, and chose not to dwell on the fact that he'd even had the treacherous thought in the first place. The only thing he allowed himself to take from the moment was the survival lesson.
The roar of the river below the cliff they were standing on was insanely loud.
The rapids of the water flowing impossible fast were a bit overwhelming. He couldn't imagine wanting to get as close to the edge as Rodrick was.
"We made it," May said. "Here we are at the river and we didn't get lost once."
It really was impressive when Drew took a second to think about it. They were on an island that few people not just in Hoenn, but in the entire world, had ever successfully made it to and explored. The forest was as dense and confusing as Rodrick had warned them it would be, but he never led them down a wrong turn once.
"So how'd you get to know so much about this island in the first place, Rodrick?" he questioned.
The old man recalled the tale of his first trip to the island; how he'd ended up stranded here and left to die when a storm capsized his boat. Both Drew and May were surprised to learn that he was a fellow coordinator, but it made sense considering he'd come to the island in search of Lychee berries to help made his Pokémon stronger.
He was vague about who had rescued him from certain death, but he explained that whoever inhabited this island was the reason he survived, and had given him the fabled Lychee berries Drew was growing increasingly more interested in. So far, in the few hours they'd been on the island, he hadn't seen any, and having the confirmation that they truly did exist made him want to find them all the more.
"That's a pretty cool story," Drew admitted, his eyes searching around.
"Yeah, but who's cave were you talking about?" May asked.
Before Rodrick could answer May's question, Drew's vision lined up with the most beautiful sight in the world next to the ribbon cup, perhaps.
There, growing off the side the cliff they were standing near, was a bushel he'd recognized from his book. And his excitement spiked.
"Look!" he pointed out, forgetting all reserves about standing so close to the violently rushing river and running towards the edge.
"What is it, Drew?" May called after him, a bit startled.
He could hear her footsteps behind him; just another confirmation that she was a naturally curious person. She planted herself right beside him, and his heart picked up a little bit. Although, that wasn't her doing; couldn't have been. No, of course not; that was the discovery of the fruit he'd sought after.
"Check it out!" Drew pointed down for her to see. "Lychee berries!"
"Are you sure?!" she asked, excited.
Her mind was clearly in the same place his was; if they could get those Lychee berries, they could make excellent Pokéblock. She was more than eager to use any and every advantage to help her in her upcoming contest, because if she didn't win, she wouldn't be competing in the Grand Festival.
He in turn was thinking about using them to aid him and his Pokémon in said competition as well. True, Solidad had given his a pouch filled with exotic and rare berries a few weeks ago, and he had every intention of using them…but according to the book she had also gifted him with, nothing could compare to Lychee berries.
That was when Drew Hayden did the first stupid thing he'd ever done in his life.
He started to lean down, attempting to reach them.
The sound of Rodrck's sudden scream was far louder than that river ever had been.
"LOOK OUT!" he yelled. "THAT CLIFF–"
Rodrick never finished his sentence. The cliff gave way beneath him. If Drew had been given more than a second to think about his actions, he probably could have rationalized that, because a fully healthy plant was able to grow there, that part of the cliff must have been more soil than solid rock.
Soil wasn't intended to support the full weight of a human, much less two of them.
He desperately tried to reach for the edge as both he and May had tumbled downward, but nothing he could get his hand on was solid.
It was all happening so quickly; Drew could barely register anything but the fact that he was falling towards an uncontrollable river. He couldn't tell if he'd really heard Rodrick call out for something to use vine whip or not, but sure enough, May had been able to grab something, and she overstretched her arm trying to grab onto him.
"Drew!"
Somehow, she was successful, and for a fraction of a second when their hands connected and clasped together, Drew tried to believe that they'd be okay.
They never stopped falling, though.
The vine had slipped through May's hands, and they both crashed into the surprisingly cold water of the river.
Drew had never fought so hard in his life. He kicked and paddled and pushed against the current as it tossed him all around, pushing him under water and pulling him back up at insane intervals.
His lungs were filling up with water and he tried desperately to find May, who he knew was in the same situation as he was, because he was a fucking idiot who was going to drown because he thought he could stand onside of a cliff and nothing bad would happen.
It was a painful cycle of in and out of the water. For every second of air he was allowed to breathe, he suffered through five seconds of no breathing, then six, then seven, then eight…
Over the chaos, two things happened. One, he finally found May, and he grabbed what he assumed was her arm and refused to let go. Second, he managed to hear Rodrick call out to them, begging them to try to swim to the shore of the river.
"THERE'S A WATERFALL DEAD AHEAD!"
Yep, he was definitely a fucking idiot. And they were definitely going to die.
Drew kicked in whatever direction he could, but if he made any progress, the rapids just pushed him back. There was no overpowering them, and they were going over the fall no matter what.
He had about four seconds of clarity when he and May were thrown over the waterfall, hurdling towards the river below again. They were both screaming, because this time around, Drew couldn't find one single thing to calm himself down. But he looked over at May right before they hit the water, and he saw that she was trying to straighten herself out again to brace for the impact. It was process he should have parroted but he realized it too late.
He was definitely a fucking idiot.
That was the last thing he realized before he hit the hard surface of the water and everything went black.
It felt like an eternity before she had resurfaced above the water, but in all actuality, it had only been a few seconds.
May was using all of her strength to keep her head above the water so she could breathe and she was only barely succeeding. What would happen when she couldn't keep kicking? She had never been so terrified in her life…
Until she saw Drew, her only companion in the entire ordeal with his face lying down in the water, the currents carrying his body along next to her.
He wasn't moving, and she felt like all of the blood in her body turned to ice.
Impossibly, she managed to push herself over to him, and she twisted her arms underneath his own and wrapped them upwards and around his shoulders. She pulled him on top of her chest in an attempt to keep his head above the surface. She couldn't tell if he was dead or alive, and the thought hit her like she'd fallen off 20 waterfalls instead of just the one.
One was already far too many for a lifetime.
"Don't worry, Drew," she told him, praying to Arecues he could hear her. "I've got you!"
Drew was all she had with her in those moments…and he could leave her. Not now, not like this. He had to stay with her, because she couldn't imagine having made it through the last few hours without him. Had he not been there with her, reassuring her that they would make it since the beginning of when everything went to hell in that submarine, she would have been dead. She knew she would have.
Drew had saved her life, and she couldn't ever fathom the thought of not being able to save his.
So she did what she had to do to keep his head above the water.
When the river pushed and pulled her around bends and under currents, she used her arms to push him up just high enough while she was thrown around underneath. The river never let up, either. Her legs clashed and banged painfully against rocks and things unknown that were beneath her. She was sure her legs were going to be every shade of black, purple and blue should she manage to get out of this alive. But despite the pain, she fought with everything she had to keep Drew exposed to the air, and relished in the precious milliseconds she could get her head above water just long enough to take air into her own lungs.
At one point, she could feel her body start failing her, and she knew that unless she didn't have to support his full weight, they were definitely going to die. Maybe in the river, or maybe they'd get dragged out to sea and get caught in one of the whirlpools surrounding the island. She didn't know what sounded worse.
But she did know she absolutely did not want to die.
"Drew, you've gotta wake up," she begged. "I don't think I have the strength to pull us out of this current."
There was a response to her frantic request, but it hadn't come from Drew.
May could barely lift her head enough to notice the mysterious bouncing Pokémon following then from the shore of the river, racing along having already spotted the two of them in the rapids.
"What are those things?" May questioned. "Are they Pokémon?"
She was dunked under the water again and pushed Drew up as hard as she could. She hadn't had any time to suck in some air before she was submerged, and she had two options. She could keep holding on and stay underwater until either the current pushed her back up, or she could let Drew go.
The latter she would never consider as she suffered slowly under the raging water, her lungs burning in protest.
Back above and without any hesitation, one by one, the Wynauts leapt over the edge of the cliff, connected to each other by their arms and trying to reach May and Drew in the water. May managed to poke her head above just in time to see the Wynaut trying to reach them.
"What are they doing…?" She was confused, mostly due to the lack of oxygen her brain had been denied.
When one of the Wynaut finally managed to take her hand, she finally understood. With one last burst of adrenaline, she tightened her grip on Drew's shoulders and let the Wynaut reach down to wrap around her waist. The hoard of the Wynaut then pulled them to the side of the river, and one by one, rolled themselves up, securing a hold on May and Drew and listing them up the sides of the cliff until they were back on the solid ground.
Drew was rolled onto his side by the one of the creatures while another was patting his back with its black arms, trying to force an unconscious Drew to heave up any water that might be blocking his lungs.
May, meanwhile, was shakily trying to stay balanced on all fours. She was panting and coughing up water, and she felt dizzy and heavy. She wanted to scream and throw up and sleep all at once.
She could barely hold her head up to look at the group of little blue Pokémon who had saved her life. But those feelings of heaviness kept pushing her down, and she found it harder and harder to stay conscious with black creeping into the corner of her vision.
To her side, she thought she could hear Drew coughing violently, to the point of vomiting. Was he expelling the water from his lungs? Was she imagining it? She didn't know, and she didn't have the strength to turn and check.
In fact, she didn't have the strength to do anything anymore.
"Thank…you…" she choked out.
And then she gave into the darkness, falling unconscious beside Drew as well.
May felt something poking her face.
At first she assumed it was her brother, and lazily swatted at the annoying little touches.
"Max, cut it out…" she mumbled, rolling onto her side.
She realized a few things when she moved.
One: she was sore. Too sore, and her body sent waves of pain through her muscles as they went through the arduous motions. She stopped herself from moving instantly and moaned as she willed the pain to subside. She felt like she'd been hit by a bus, but then again, getting hit by a bus probably would have felt better than this.
Two: she was not in a bed. She was also not in her sleeping bag. She was on the ground. The cold, hard, semi damp ground. And there was something itchy underneath her head; leaves? Why was she sleeping on the ground?
Three: that was not her brother's hand poking her. Or Ash's, or Brock's, or Pikachu's, or anyone's.
Her eyes snapped open and she found herself surrounded by little blue Pokémon, one of which was uncomfortably close to her face. Its eyes stared intently at hers, and it tilted its head to the side curiously when it saw she had woken up.
She blinked a few times, completely lost.
"Oh, um…hello?" May croaked, her voice a bit horse.
The verbal confirmation seemed to send a shockwave through the Pokémon, and they all danced happily and celebrated her regaining consciousness.
With great effort, May was able to sit up and did her best to ignore the aching in her ribs and legs. She looked around slowly, not recognizing her surroundings at all. They were in a cave of some sorts, and very near the mouth of it. The sun was still high in the sky and the world bright outside. Light was flooding the cave and May guessed it was still somewhat early in the day.
Her hand stretched out next to her on the floor and she took a deep breath to try to calm herself. It helped tremendously when she felt the top of her familiar old fanny pack, still zipped up tightly. Some of the items inside of it were waterlogged and ruined, like the watch her mother had given her on her 11th birthday, or the note she'd scribble down to remind herself of something, but she counted all of her Pokémon inside. They were all that mattered. The fact that her ribbon case and all four of her ribbons were okay too seemed like an added bonus.
She clipped and readjusted her fanny to its usual place on her hip; feeling her Pokémon so close to her was helping her cope with all of the uncertainty surrounding her.
Speaking of Pokémon…she turned her attention back to the ones in her company. She didn't know much about her situation at the moment, but these little happy Pokémon around her seemed familiar. The memories of the earlier events slowly came back to her: the island, the cliff, the river, the waterfall, Drew…
Drew!
She found him lying on his back a few feet away from her, his eyes still closed. His head was resting on a bed of leaves like hers had been, and there was a few of the Pokémon – the Wynaut – surrounding him as well.
May crawled over to him, and settled on her knees beside him.
"Drew?" she tried calling his name in her rough voice, but earned no response from him, and cleared her through and tried again. "Hey, Drew?"
"Wynaut!" One of the little Pokémon chirped up from next to him.
She looked to the Pokémon then, and a thought occurred to her.
"Is Drew alive…?" she asked slowly, though she was scared of the answer.
The Wynaut bobbed its head up and down, and May's eyes went wide.
Her eyes fell to Drew's face again, and then back to the Wynaut once more.
"Is he okay?" she also questioned.
Once again, the Wynaut affirmed her and signaled yes, and May let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in.
She continued to look down to the boy beneath her as she settled on her knees in an attempt to get comfortable. Much to her relief, she could see his chest rising and falling with his breathing now that she was focused on him.
He was okay.
He was alive.
Despite all the aches and pains of her body, she felt had never felt more content in her entire life.
The danger was behind her, and May felt like she could relax somewhat. True, she was still stranded on a deadly island and had no idea where Max or Rodrick or her friends were, but Drew was with her, and he was more or less okay. For now, that was enough.
Next to Drew's sleeping form was a set of three Pokéballs and his own ribbon case as well. Roselia, Masquerain and whatever other Pokémon Drew possessed was there with him. She was curious as to what other kind of Pokémon Drew would have, as she had only ever seen two of them, but turned her attention to his own ribbon case. May clicked it open to check that everything was present and accounted for, and only took a spare second to marvel at his five ribbons from the season.
With everything in order, she set the case back down and waited for him to come back to the waking world.
According to the Wynaut, Drew was okay, but if he was truly okay, why wasn't he waking up?
The first hour felt like the longest. She kept all of her focus on his face, willing his eyes to open and for him to acknowledge that he was, in fact, truly uninjured. Had the Wynaut actually checked to see if he was hurt? Did he maybe hit his head when they fell? Why was it taking so long for him to wake up? She had woken up fairly quickly, so why couldn't he do the same?
The second hour, she felt like she wasn't doing enough. Just sitting there was watching him breathe in and out was maddening. She tried to think of something that might help him wake up, but she was drawing blanks. So she did odd little things like take the pile of leaves the Wynaut had given her and stuffed them under Drew's, trying to elevate his head a bit more. Or when she would count his breaths per minute, just to make sure he was being consistent. She did stupid little gestures like that every few minutes, because what else could she do?
The third hour, May could feel herself getting paranoid. Drew remained asleep, much to her relentlessly rising anxiety. At one point, she removed one of her gloves and put her hand on his forehead to feel if he had a temperature, but she didn't feel one. He was as perfect as always, so she moved about to feeling his head softly to see if she could find any bumps on it, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there either. So she fixed his hair as best she could, knowing he'd probably be appalled that someone had touched it, settled back down and tried even harder to be patient as the Wynaut siting beside her were.
The fourth hour, she heavily debated leaving and going to try to find help. She knew that her brother, her friends and Rodrick were still out there somewhere, hopefully still looking for her and Drew. But she felt utterly useless just sitting there, watching and waiting for him to wake up. At one point, she voiced her concerns aloud to the Wynaut, and one of them came and put its hand over hers, trying to reassure her that everything was okay and the best course of action was to stay put, or so she figured. And she begrudgingly agreed. If she were to try to navigate the forest on her own, she would surely get lost. That wouldn't be good for either of them.
By the fifth hour, she had become desperate. The sun had started to set in the sky, and May was going crazy. She couldn't stand the silence any longer. She started talking to him again, trying to rouse him from the sleep he'd been in for far too long. She was careful not to touch him, because if he was as sore as she was, she didn't want to cause him any additional discomfort.
But she spoke to him, for minutes on end. More words spilled from her mouth in the span of 20 minutes than she felt she had ever said in her life.
She told him he needed to wake up. She told him she was sorry she couldn't have helped him more. She told him she regretted running up next to him and causing that cliff to crumble beneath them. She told him he needed to tell her something stupid and rude and pointless, only to turn around and then give her a rose to confuse her by telling her it was for her Beautifly.
She told him he needed to come back to her.
"Drew, are you okay?" she asked him, feeling like she was on the verge of tears.
She wanted to cry, because she was scared and confused and lost and alone. Even with all of these wonderful little Pokémon surrounding her, the only thing in the world that she wanted was for this boy to respond to her.
This arrogant, sometimes sweet, overly cocky, occasionally charming, annoying and wonderfully talented boy, who had – on more than several occasions– made her think she hated him.
There were days when she took Drew's comments so personally that she swore she never wanted to see him or his stupid grass head again. There were times when he did so well in contests that she tried to nitpick the tiniest details out of his appeals and argue that he wasn't as great as he thought he was. And there were moments when he seemed so unimpressed with her that she promised herself one day she'd prove him wrong.
She thought she couldn't stand him. She thought she absolutely hated this boy.
Now she realized she didn't; not at all.
All of those insults, all of those snide comments and all of those jerky remarks had pushed her to be better. This whole time, she realized, she had been fighting for him to acknowledge her. To look at her and say that she had done a good job and that he was impressed. He inspired her to want to do better in contests.
Up until that point in their…acquaintance, she'd only seen him in contest halls, and she'd always judged him based on how he was in the competition. But now, there were no halls here. No stadiums or arenas or battle fields where they were out to prove that they were better than each other. There was only the boy who had given her roses, and the girl who tried to understand them.
The boy who had saved her life and the girl who was trying to save his.
If someone had told May 24 hours prior to that moment that she would have ended up stranded and alone on an island with just Drew, and that she'd be begging for him to wake up, she would have laughed at them and told them they were crazy. Now here she was, her heartbeat drumming in her ears because she was on the verge of having an anxiety attack over him not being able to talk to her, even if it was just an insult or two.
She would have given anything for him to insult her then.
He knew how to push her buttons, and he'd often exploited that fact when they were together, but she had realized over the last few hours that there was so much to this boy that she didn't realize before.
This boy who she thought had been harassing her since day one. This boy who had turned around at the instant their lives were in danger and shielded her body with his own when the sub was going to explode. This boy who instructed her how to survive both free falls they had experienced that day. This boy who had saved her life, twice, and she was hoping with every cell in her body that she could turn around and save his.
This boy who she still had so little of an understanding of. He'd more than proved to her that he was more than roses and ribbons.
Maybe it was the fear that she felt when she thought he might never wake up, but in those moments, May realized she wanted to know him more.
And she needed him to wake up so she could have the chance.
"Say something, please…" she begged, her voice cracking.
Someone was talking to him.
It was a girl's voice – that much he could tell. But he couldn't make out the words all that well, because it all sounded muffled, like he had headphones on his ears, or he was listening from the other side of a closed door, or like he was underwater.
The voice was soft and somehow comforting, though. Was it Solidad's?
No, because why would she be there?
And where exactly was 'there?'
He could tell he was lying down, but the surface he rested on was hard and unappealing to him. It was solid and cold; definitely the ground.
Why would he be on the ground?
Everything was cloudy for him, and he could tell he was coming out of what must have been an extremely deep sleep, because he was slowly regaining the feelings of his limbs and they were sore.
He didn't move at all, and he could already feel throbbing in some of the parts of his body, like his arms and legs. Had he been training for the Grand Festival that hard? Or had he been run over by a train? He couldn't tell.
Things slowly started to take form in his head and his brain slowly rebooted itself. He struggled to remember what had happened to him earlier, but one by one, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
How he's set out that day to work with his Masquerain on his silver wind's power. How he got sucked onto a submarine that had exploded and stranded him on Mirage Island. How he got carelessly close to the edge of a cliff and had fallen into a river and over a waterfall. How he'd almost killed May in the process.
May.
The voice speaking to him was May's; the girl he'd ended up stranded with on the island. Not the girl he sometimes competed against in contests, because those didn't matter. Maybe they wouldn't ever matter again.
He'd blacked out after they'd fallen over that waterfall together, and he had no idea what her state of being was. But he was definitely hearing her voice, right? Or was he dreaming, because he couldn't open his eyes just yet. There was still a fog over him.
So he focused all of his energy on trying to understand what May was saying, as her voice was becoming more and more clear with the more concentration he put into hearing it.
"Drew, are you okay?" the voice asked.
Was he okay? He couldn't tell just yet. He definitely knew there was pain. It wasn't anything completely unbearable, but he was definitely stiff and the option of not moving for a little while longer was definitely preferable.
But Drew could hear an urgency in May's voice; one that told him she was scared, perhaps for him, and that it would have been selfish for him not to try to acknowledge her.
He needed to open his eyes; to figure out where he was and see if May was really there.
"Say something, please…" her voice called to him, pleaded of him.
And he tried, so damn hard.
He clenched his eyes shut hard to confirm if he had the ability to even do so. Then he tensed his back muscles and let the soreness pulse through his body. He was definitely waking up.
So he opened his eyes slowly, and everything was out of focus. So he blinked a few times, trying to see clearly.
The first thing he registered was the color blue.
May has blue eyes.
May's large, blue eyes shined as he stared straight into them. They were pools of the deepest, most beautiful shade of blue he had ever seen in his life. There was so much to read in them: fear, sadness, hurt, terror, apprehension, worry… And then, they morphed with new emotions flooding into them when she realized he was finally awake, mostly relief, joy, comfort, elation, and solace. He'd never encountered someone whose eyes were so expressive, and so damn blue.
Those eyes that help so much emotion, directed at and completely for him.
They were the perfect shade of blue to contrast against her red bandana.
Wait, what?
"Oh thank goodness," she breathed. "You're waking up…"
He didn't feel like he was waking up, though, because everything was getting weird. He had to be dreaming. There was no way that any of this was real.
He blinked a few times, trying to snap himself out of the slowly dawning realization that this was, in fact, very, very real. And for some reason, his heart felt like it was beating just a little bit faster.
The second thing he registered was a thought that he swore he'd never have in his life.
May is fucking beautiful.
For whatever reason, he couldn't stop staring at her. It was like he was really seeing her face for the first time, which was stupid, because he'd seen her so many times before. But it was like he was finally and actually looking at her.
And he couldn't stop trying to memorize the details of her face.
The way her eyebrows shot up and were so naturally slim. The shape of her lips, thin but not overly so. Her nose was tiny and round. Her cheekbones were sharp and perfectly aligned with the shape of her face. And the way her smile lit up the entirety of her expression.
Drew's heart thudded uncomfortable in his chest when he realized how close she was, and how it was setting his brain on fire.
He decided then that he had to move, because he being so close was suddenly very suffocating and he assumed that he must have hit his head to even entertain the thoughts that were running rampant in his head.
With great effort, he pushed himself up and ignored the pain in his back and legs and tried to remember how he could have possibly gotten to where he was – a cave, obviously, filled with a bunch of tiny blue Pokémon and even more of May.
"Did you…save me?" he asked, already knowing the answer to his question and trying not to let it shake him up as much as she already was.
But how could he not guess that May had saved him? There was no way he could have stayed above the water while unconscious. By all accounts, Drew knew with 100 percent confidence that May had to have held onto him after he was knocked out.
She had saved his life, and it was the most amazing thing anyone had ever done for him, even when he was the one who had put her in such a perilous situation in the first place.
His heart felt like it dropped out of his chest when he realized that.
Much to his surprise, May shook her head slightly, a somewhat shy smile gracing her lips as she looked away and gestured back to the Pokémon.
"It was all of these Pokémon," she told him. "They did it, look."
It took him a second to look away from her, and that fact caused him to shiver.
What the fuck is going on?
There were dozens of what he instantly recognized as Wynaut in front of them. He'd seen this Pokémon in contests. But here, looking at this hoard of them in front of them, he knew they couldn't have saved them on his own. For one, the Wynaut weren't anywhere near them when they went over the falls; that, he knew for sure.
Maybe the Wynaut helped her, but Drew knew May was the one who had ultimately saved him, and he realized she was probably way too humble to admit that.
May fished out her PokéDex to learn more about them.
Because she's always curious–
No, stop. Stop noticing things.
But he couldn't stop, because now that he'd opened the gates, the waters started flooding in, and he couldn't close them. Now that he was in such close proximity to her, all of the little features he had previously missed started to stick out.
He watched her out of the corner of his eye, taking note of how fascinated by the information of the screen of her Pokémon catalogue was. She was smiling as she took in the new information, and the smile reached her eyes.
No, stop. Find something else to focus on.
A little Wynaut approached, and he turned to face it as it held out two Lychee berries before them.
"Lychee berries!" Drew said with a little too much enthusiasm, making it obvious he was trying to hide the rapidly growing conflict in his head.
Luckily for him, May was easily distracted by the scene in front of her.
"Are those berries for us?" she asked, not wanting to risk taking them without permission, because she had always so polite and courteous and considerate to others…
No, stop. Just eat the damn berry.
The berry was incredible; it was just the perfect balance of sweet and tart with a hint of something he couldn't name, and Drew couldn't remember the last time he'd ever eaten something so… spicy. His taste buds instantly shifted to recognize the burning sensation overtaking his palate, and he squinted his eyes to see May as she shook her head and tried to withstand the fiery taste as well. She was twitching and shaking trying so hard not to spit it out and looked so adorable while she–
NO, STOP. FOCUS ON SOMETHING – LITERALLY ANYTHING – ELSE.
"Wow, they got a really powerful aftertaste," he commented, because he felt like he had to say something or the thoughts in his head that he couldn't silence were going to eat him alive.
"But they sure make you feel strong!" May offered.
It was true, though. Drew could already feel some of the aches of his muscles fading slightly, and he assumed the Lychee berries had some medicinal elements to them. So he rationalized it was better to eat the entire thing and endure the bitter spice that lingered after swallowing it than not to.
The Wynaut all started cheering, and May was watching them while Drew was watching her, the most odd sensations rippling through his chest, and for some reason, it felt nice. He had no idea what was happening to him or why; he only knew he had to keep smiling like nothing was wrong and World War III hadn't just begin in his head.
"The combination of those berries and Wynaut makes me happy!" she giggled, her voice more soft than he'd ever noticed before.
"I know what you mean," Drew was barely able to squeak out.
They fell into an anything-but-comfortable-silence afterwards.
Well, maybe it was comfortable for May, because she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to be in a much better mood knowing he was awake and unharmed. Drew on the other hand was a bit torn up.
The Wynaut took it upon themselves to stay busy while the pair of coordinators stood to the side. May was watching the Pokémon, and Drew watched her. If she would turn to face him, he would look away before she could notice.
After a few awkwardly silence minutes, mostly on Drew's part, he followed May to one side of the cave and they sat on a rock together to watch the Wynaut play.
"Those Wynaut sure know how to have a good time," May offered.
It was her fourth attempt at conversation in the last 10 minutes.
"Yeah," was about the only coherent response Drew could manage.
It was his fourth failed attempt at conversation in the last 10 minutes.
It wasn't him being rude or not wanting to talk to her; it was him not being able to form a coherent thought. He hated whatever was happening. Drew wasn't used to being so flustered, but he also wasn't used to the possibility of being…attracted to someone.
It was all new to him, and he didn't like it. He didn't understand why he was feeling so confused and decided he needed to focus on anything but her until he could figure it out.
One of the Wynaut left the group and bounced over to stand in front of them, extending its arms out to both of them. Drew stared at the tiny creature, confused.
"I bet you're asking us to join you, right?" May tried, perking up even more.
The Pokémon nodded once for her, and May excitedly hopped up from her seat, all her Pokéballs in hand.
"Awesome!" she exclaimed. "Come on out, everybody!"
May's full team appeared. Drew looked over all of the Pokémon to see if any of them would notice he was there. Beautifly was the only one who spared him a glance for more than a second, and looked pleased to see him there for whatever reason. He nodded to her shyly.
May practically skipped over to her Pokémon.
"We've all been invited to a little party with the Wynaut!" she told them.
They wasted no time in bounding over to the group of Pokémon and joining in on their fun. Beneath him, the little Wynaut looked back up to Drew expectedly, and offered for him to join again.
"Uh, no thanks," Drew respectfully declined, putting his hand up. "I think I'll take a pass this time."
He had too much to sort through and right now, what he needed most was some distance from the beautiful girl in the red bandana who had unknowingly just turned Drew's entire brain into mush.
Distance helped.
When the Wynaut retreated, and she had her back turned, he let out a long sigh, and looked down at his feet for a moment.
Logic. He needed logic.
He was always a person who followed his head and not his heart. It was a mindset that had served him well over the last few years. He had been successful and happy and healthy because he never had been a person who jumped into things without knowing what it entailed. He wasn't a risk-taker, and he had no intention of becoming one.
Just look at where standing too close to a cliff had gotten him.
So he began trying to break down this girl in front of him, and everything else.
All things considered, Drew had gone through a lot of stresses that day. He'd almost been killed three times: first, an explosion, then a free fall and finally, almost drowning in a river to top it all off. Any one of those things could definitely be considered traumatic, to say the least, and trauma could make people do or think some crazy things.
And he was definitely thinking some crazy things about the girl in front of him.
May Maple, daughter of a gym leader, maybe a somewhat-advanced-rookie-coordinator at best.
That was who he had always known her to be. The girl who occasionally showed up at contests he was competing in and the girl he'd recognized a few times because of her quick wits and Beautifly's silver wind.
But none of that mattered in those moments, did it?
It hadn't mattered for hours.
Not once had Drew seen this girl in the light of competition since they'd landed on Mirage Island. No, he had come to see that there was an entirely different girl beyond the contests and the competing.
May was one of the most genuine human beings he had ever met. From the way she put 100 percent of her heart in everything that she did, to the love and commitment she displayed for her Pokémon, to being humble and kind beyond measure, to everything in between, he realized that she was incredible.
Even now, as he watched her and her Pokémon play with the Wynaut, being completely happy and content despite their circumstances. She was incredible.
And if he'd missed all of these things before, what else had he missed? What other mysteries did her personality hide? Which of her emotions had he not yet discovered?
He found himself wanting to know, because he realized he had always noticed her.
Since day one, he had been drawn to her.
Since that first day she'd stumbled into his life by tossing a Frisbee towards him on a beach – he'd been following her and watching her grow into the coordinator– no, the person that she was. He'd made excuses to talk to her before, during and after contests because he wanted to see what she would say. He'd given her roses with no proper reason why other than the explanation that they were for her Beautifly, who couldn't possibly have any use for them.
And his cocky attitude was him wanting her to notice him back.
He'd strived to impress her, not to outdo her, because he had always been better than she was, and they both knew it. But he wanted that to mean something. Despite being told all the time how incredible he was from his fans, he had wanted to hear it from her.
Her acknowledgement had meant more to him than anyone else's, all season long.
And suddenly, all of those little hints Solidad had been dropping, meaning she probably already knew all of these things, made his face burn.
Lucky for him, May wasn't paying attention.
He looked up to her and her Pokémon dancing and playing with the Wynaut. She seemed so careless and joyful, like there were no troubles in the world she had to worry about. She lived in the moment, and she enjoyed every second. Life came easy to her, where as for Drew, it has always been about competition. She was a genuinely lighthearted person, and he admired that about her.
There were so many things he admired about her, and probably so many other things he could as well.
So many other things he admitted to himself that he wanted to know, whether it was the direness of their situation or not, he'd figure it out later. For now, he was just content to watch her, sitting there more beautiful than he'd ever thought possible and radiating with happiness.
He was smiling as he looked at her, and he couldn't have stopped even if he had wanted to.
Lucky for him, May wasn't paying attention.
If she had looked up at him, she'd no doubt be confused as to why he was looking at her like that. And that would in turn initiate a conversation between them that he didn't know how or wasn't ready to have.
They stayed like that for a while. How long exactly, Drew wasn't, but the sun had definitely set and he couldn't find it in himself to care. She was having fun and he was slowly coming to terms with a lot of the things going through his head.
He thought he could hear something far away; a weird sound, something like a tornado, but the sky was clear and with all the other insanity that had been running through his mind, he assumed it was nothing. But as time passed, that sound grew increasingly louder, and it gradually became harder to ignore.
Then, when he heard what sounded like a tree snapping outside and the landscape being ripped apart, he knew he couldn't ignore it anymore. May looked up startled as well.
She was quicker to respond than he was. Sensing there could be danger, she recalled all her Pokémon in the blink of an eye and bolted from the cave to find the source of that horrendous noise.
May is fast.
He added it to the expanding mental list of things he was learning about her and chased after her, the Wynaut right behind him as well.
To their horror, there was a raging windstorm outside of the cave. The winds were so unbelievably powerful, they were ripping the Lychee berries – the Wynaut's food supply – off all the trees around the cave. Drew and May looked all around, utterly at a loss of words for what was occurring.
"The Lychee berries!" he yelled over the wind.
It wasn't until Drew's line of sight followed one of the berries that he noticed the giant Wobbuffet-shaped balloon floating above them, some kind of massive vacuum strapped to the bottom of it causing the chaos.
May noticed it too.
"Stop it!" she commanded, furious. "You're stealing their berries!"
It didn't entirely surprise Drew to see that it was the same people who seemed to stir up trouble wherever they followed May and her friends behind it. Team Rocket, or whatever their dumb name was. With all that had happened, he'd actually forgotten about their presence on the island. Clearly that was a mistake, as he and May watched the crooks stealing all of the rare berries.
Drew knew two things in that moment: Team Rocket needed to be stopped, because they'd caused enough trouble for an entire lifetime in the span of one single day, and two, the Wynaut of this island had shown him and May nothing but kindness and acceptance, and didn't deserve to be the victims of these insane evil team. The fact that they'd disrespected contests and coordinating by pulling as many stunts as they had in the past was even more of an incentive, but that wasn't the point at the moment.
"You twerps can sure tell it like it is!" the girl laughed down at them, not showing any intention of ceasing.
"Those Lychee berries belong to the Wynaut!" May didn't bat an eye, or shy away from fighting right back.
Drew glanced at her out of the corners of his eyes. Despite the disarray swirling around them, she held her ground. She stood strong and glared up at Team Rocket with more fire in her eyes than he'd ever seen before. She wanted to stop them just as much as she did, and from the way she wasn't backing down, he could see just how brave she was.
May is fearless.
He turned his attention back to the balloon and was just reaching for Masquerain's Pokéball when he heard May scream.
Drew knew she was a tiny girl, but he hadn't anticipated just how light she was until the vacuum was pointed towards them, and she was lifted into the air as if she was a feather.
He drew his hand back out of his pocket not holding any Pokémon, and his arms shot out in a futile attempt to catch her and pull her back. But he was too late.
He missed, and his blood ran cold.
"Oh no!" he shouted, mostly to himself.
He could only watch in shock as she disappeared from sight.
"I don't think folks will pay through the nose for a twerp…" the boy in the balloon commented, much to Drew's disgust.
He was somewhat relieved when he was able to spot her again. She was dumped into the chamber holding all of the stolen fruits, and Drew could see her getting pelted by the incoming berries as more were sucked in. She raised her arms to shield her head from the oncoming assault. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
The situation was slowly getting worse. He wracked his brain for an idea on how to get May back. If he used any of his Pokémon to take down that balloon, it was guaranteed that May would get hurt in the process. At the same time, if he did absolutely nothing, she was trapped. He couldn't win.
But what use for May would Team Rocket have? They seemed disgruntled by the fact that they even had her at all. It clearly hadn't been their intention. So what were they planning to do with her, knowing she'd fight them back the first chance she got?
"Not a problem," the girl who'd faked her way through contests replied to her teammate. "We'll just sift her out at the end and throw her away with the pits."
Fuck.
There was no clear definition on what that could have meant, but Drew's imagination ran with it, and he didn't like the thoughts of these people disposing of May in any way they meant. And there was no way in hell that Drew was going to let anything like that happen.
But as far as coming up with how to get her back, Drew was at a loss. And he felt as if there was a huge block of ice settled in the pit of his stomach at the very realization of that fact.
The suction suddenly stopped, and the air returned to a stand still. The members of Team Rocket were still laughing at how well their plan was going, and how they knew Drew was in a bind as of how to stop them. Their laughter was infuriating to say the least, but at least the temporary pause meant May wasn't getting hit by flying berries.
To his horror, Team Rocket apparently decided they were ready to move on, having collected all there was from the area and clearly intent on stealing more berries from other parts of the forest.
"May!" he screamed when the balloon started to drift away; it was the only thing he could think to do at the moment.
"You gotta do something to stop Team Rocket!" she yelled back as they drifted away.
That's what she was concerned about? Not her own safety, but the well being of the Wynaut? Did it not occur to her that her life was, once again, in danger? Maybe she was desensitized to life-threatening situations having gone through so many in such a short period of time? He couldn't narrow it down, but he was absolutely certain that she cared more about those little Pokémon than she did herself.
May is selfless.
No, stop. Now isn't the time for this. I have to save her.
"Okay!" he promised her.
Next thing he knew, Drew was chasing after them.
He didn't have a plan to get May back yet; he just knew he couldn't let them take her out of his sight. That was how he came to stand atop a massive cliff, much higher than the one he'd fallen off earlier that day. He skidded to a halt and watched as the balloon drifted further and further away.
"Great, now what do I do?" he asked no one but himself.
He knew his flying Pokémon couldn't help him; neither Maquerain nor Vibrava were big enough to carry him. For the second time that day, he cursed himself for not working harder with Vibrava to achieve an evolution and get himself a Flygon. That could have made this rescue attempt easier.
The Wynaut suddenly swooshed past him, diving over the edge and connecting themselves together one by one to form the longest chain of connected Pokémon he'd ever seen. It was amazing how quickly and well they worked together. They extended all the way to the bottom of the cliff.
And they were encouraging him to slide down.
Had he had a second to spare, Drew would have stopped to think about how weird this entire situation was. How absurd and utterly stupid and completely moronic it was that he was about to jump off a cliff and hope riding down a bunch of Pokémon would be a safe thing to do.
But with that balloon getting too far away, he couldn't stop to really ponder anything other than chasing it.
"Okay!" he told them so they knew he understood.
He jumped on top of the Wynaut and did his best to keep his balance as he jetted down the makeshift slide. To his perturbation, he completely lost sight of the balloon just over a hilltop as he got closer to the end of the slide.
Fuck.
His feet hit the ground and he kept running, not sure at all on which direction he had to go. He was only certain he couldn't stop. The Wynaut caught up with him and were running beside him, some bouncing.
"Is there another big patch of Lychee berries they might go to next?" he asked them as they all sprinted.
They all affirmed him, and took the lead in the chase, guiding him to where he hoped the balloon and Team Rocket would be.
Where he hoped with everything he had that May would be.
May was having a tremendously bad day.
All things considered, it might have even been the worst day of her life.
She hadn't thought it could get any worse, until she found herself inside a massive cage filled with stolen berries flying in and hitting her from all sides.
Earlier that day, she thought she was going to die from an explosion. Then it was the sky dive into the ocean. Followed by falling over a waterfall and almost drowning in a river. Now here she was, being slowly engulfed by exotic fruits, inching closer and closer to the point of suffocation.
So that was how the final episode of May's Expedition was going to end? Death by Lychee berries? Well, at least it was unexpected twist ending.
The light that was filtering through the glass window of the chamber was growing dimmer by the second as Team Rocket filled their pod up with more and more berries. The weight on top of her was becoming almost too much and she felt like she was being crushed. All she could do an that point was lie there and let her mind wander.
May thought of the kind old man Rodrick who had showed up to help her earlier that day. She thought of his story and how the Wynaut had helped him so long ago, and had helped her in the same ways. She only wished she had thanked both of them more while she was with them.
She thought of her friends, Ash and Brock. How Brock had been such a sweet and gentle spirit. He'd felt like a loving older brother to her, always giving her advice and cooking delicious meals for her and helping her raise her Pokémon to be as healthy and amazing as they could be. And how Ash was the most determined person she had ever met, forever striding to win the Pokémon league and become a Pokémon master. How no setback was ever too great for him to overcome, and how he'd shown her just how wonderful Pokémon could be.
She thought of her baby brother Max. She remembered every argument they'd had and every laugh they'd shared. She recalled everything from the times when they couldn't stop slapping each other to opening presents together on Christmas mornings. How he was the most annoying little boy in existence, but also the most caring, loving, sweetest and biggest support system she'd ever had. And how she considered being his big sister the greatest episode of May's Expedition she'd ever had.
Then she thought of Drew.
The boy who had gone from someone she couldn't stand to someone who mattered so much. She couldn't exactly pinpoint just how she felt about him, as the life was being crushed out of her body by berries, but she did know that when he was unconscious, she would have sold her soul for him to wake up and speak to her. And when he did, she felt more peace and relief than she ever had in her life. She'd been so ready to burst with the happiness that she felt, that when the Wynaut had asked her to play, she couldn't turn down the offer. If she'd sat still she would have exploded.
While she was playing with the Wynaut, she'd seen him for a few seconds, when he didn't think she was looking. And he looked to be in a genuinely good mood as well, which was surprising to her. Maybe he was happy that he was alive. Maybe he had counted all his ribbons and was glad to know they were still there. All she knew was that when she saw him, he looked like he was truly content for the first time in his life, and it had warmed her to see him in such a state when she'd come to know him as such a guarded person. For a few short moments, she felt like she got to see the real Drew, and it was a big deal to her.
Part of her wondered where he was at that moment. Would he be able to stop Team Rocket and get the Wynaut their berries back? Was he worried about her just like she had worried about him? Would she ever see him again? She didn't know.
She had just given up hope when an arm reached down and yanked her roughly by the shoulder out of the pit of berries.
It took her a few seconds to process not having hundreds of pounds of fruit crushing her limbs, and she had to take a few deep breaths to steady herself and she shaky legs. There were parts of her face, torso and arms that had been hit particularly hard by some of the berries, but she ignored the dull throbbing, made peace with the fact that she would have a few bruises and recollected herself to glare up at the members of Team Rocket and their Meowth who were grinning down at her.
She made a move to reach for one of her Pokéballs when said Meowth jumped in her face and grabbed her by the collar, holding out his other arm and extending his claws as if to attack her with fury swipes. Her eyes went wide for a moment, and she gritted her teeth and froze.
"Ah, ah, ah," Meowth smirked.
"Don't even think about playing hero, twerp," the purple-haired one told her.
"Are you letting me go?" May demanded.
"Yes and no…" James admitted.
"We thought about leaving you in there," the girl May recognized as Jessica and Jesslana from previous contests. "But if by some chance we were do get arrested someday, we'd rather not have 'twerp murder' on our rap sheets."
"We also don't want ya takin' up space in our berry container," Meowth added. "So we came up with a solution for all our problems."
That was when she noticed the rope in James' hands and that the balloon was getting closer to the treetops.
May was even more tempted than before to grab her Combusken or Bulbasaur from her pack, but with Meowth's claws right in front of her face, she had to bit her tongue.
Less than three minutes later, she found herself effectively bound at her hands and around her arms while dangling from the first tree they had lazily picked. Once they'd drifted away from her, Team Rocket had resumed stealing all of the berries in the area, and May was absolutely powerless to stop them.
Great…
Drew had never run faster in his life.
The second he could make out the sound of that vacuum in the distance again, he knew he and the Wynaut were on the right track. He also knew that, given the basic principles of science, that container would eventually fill all the way up, and May would either be crushed or suffocated if she was left in that container. He also wouldn't put it past Team Rocket to let that happen given all the times she and her friends had thwarted their plans.
Even though his lungs burned in protest and his heart felt like it was going to explode and his legs begged him to stop for just one single second, time was not a luxury he could afford. So he pushed himself beyond his limits, because he had to.
She would have done the same for him. He knew she would have.
"STOP, OR ELSE YOU'RE REALLY GONNA BE SORRY!"
May's voice echoed through the forest around him and he knew he was close to her. The tree branches and bushes all began to rustle around him and the wind picked up incredible speed.
That was when he noticed a berry fly past him, and another, and another. Soon hundreds of Lychee berries were zooming by, and the forest opened up into a small clearing. Team Rock's balloon was in the center, sucking up all of the Wynaut's food and laughing at May, who was tied up and at the tallest tree across the way.
He ran through trees to get to her, the faithful Wynaut beside him.
"Yeah," Meowth mocked her. "Sorry we didn't think of this sooner!"
She'd had enough of that talking Pokémon. And of being tied up. And of Team Rocket. And of not being able to do anything.
Drew got to her side and looked up at her, inspecting every inch he could see. She had a few red blotches and scratches here and there, no doubt from being trapped with and attacked by numerous Lychee berries, but she seemed okay beyond that. She was a tough girl; she could handle a few small scrapes.
She began to wrestle against her restraints, fighting to reach her Pokéballs and failing. Her face fell when she had given up hope for a moment, and Drew shook his head. He wasn't ready to see her give up in the situation; especially not when things just got a whole lot easier.
Was Team Rocket truly that dumb? Did they not think he would come for her? They'd given up their only bargaining chip when they got her out of their grasp and stuck her in a tree. He assumed that it was for some moronic reason, like they wanted the extra space for more berries. Or maybe May had talked them to death, which was definitely a possibility. Whatever the reason, it didn't really matter.
The point was, now that May was out of danger, he had absolutely no reserves about giving them the best he and his Pokémon could offer. But first thing was first…
"Hey May!" he called up to her, unable to hide the smile that was on his face; he was too happy that she was okay.
When she turned down to face him, her face morphed from shock to appreciation rapidly.
Yep, she's definitely expressive.
"We've come to help you out," he told her, the Wynaut cheering behind him.
"Thank you," she smiled down at all of them, but was looking in his eyes as if to convey just how glad she was to see him and that she knew he'd be there. "Just in time."
They held each other's eyes for a few moments in silence, but the silence had never been louder. Drew felt like he could finally breathe again knowing she was unharmed, and knowing that in a few moments he could get her down and she would be safe again. May just looked so much calmer and more confident than she had been since before she was taken.
Drew couldn't recall a moment in his life when he'd felt better than he did at that moment.
But then that sweet moment between them ended far too quickly.
"She's right," Jessie made her unwanted presence all too known and their balloon lowered itself behind May and into Drew's line of sight. "You are just in time…"
Just as quickly as it had momentarily disappeared, Drew's rage came back in full force. He was so sick of seeing this people, and after what they had done to the Wynaut of this island and May, he was determined to show them they were not welcome around him, these Pokémon, or this girl ever again.
He glared up at them for a few moments, thinking of how to handle this situation. May was between them. If he were to try any attack, May would absolutely have to be out of the way. He knew they would do whatever it took to keep May a factor in this.
Jessie struck first.
She called our her Seviper, and called for a poison tail. But it wasn't going for him or the Wynaut; it was going for May.
Though Drew was extremely aware of May's position, he couldn't not summon his Roselia and call for a magical leaf to defend with. He trusted his Pokémon to understand and to aim accurately. Roselia wouldn't hurt her.
The Seviper was stronger than he'd anticipated, though, as it managed to not only block Roselia's attack, but also kept up in its charge. Just when it looked to be getting close to hitting May, who was totally oblivious and fighting against her binds again, one of the Wynaut began to glow orange and jumped in the way. Much to Drew's relief and amusement, Seviper's poison tail was not only blocked, but sent right back at it as well.
The Wynaut landed in front of him, and Drew quirked an eyebrow, impressed with the tiny Pokémon's quick use of counter, much to the dismay of his opponents.
He looked back up to May then, who was still squirming against the tight knots and getting absolutely nowhere. It occurred to Drew that as long as she was up there, out in the open and completely venerable to attacks, he couldn't attack with the ferocity he needed to, and May would be in danger until she was able to get to her own Pokémon.
Roselia looked back to him awaiting his next order, and he nodded his head up to the restrained girl in the tree. His starter Pokémon looked back and forth between the two of them twice, and nodded.
"Roselia, use petal dance!"
Petal dance was a much safer alternative to magical leaf when considering he was calling for the attack to head for May. He couldn't trust the sharp and brutal cuts magical leaf could produce, but petal dance was a much more refined and softer attack. Not to say it wasn't lethal when it needed to be, but he trusted it more.
Roselia shot her petal dance a bit away from May with the intent of the attack losing some of its velocity before getting to May and cutting the ropes. She was more sure of herself that way; in the case that any one of her petals did actually harm the girl, it wouldn't be devastating as the attack could be had she fired it directly at her.
At first, Team Rocket didn't understand, and laughed at his Pokémon for having a "lame aim," as they'd called it. Drew only laughed at how naive they were, and gave them a flick of his hair.
"You'll see," he warned them, stuffing his hands in his pockets to highlight just how confident he was things were turning in his favor.
Roselia had done exactly what she needed to do. Her mastery of her petal dance attack and its accuracy was astonishing as it sailed through and around the trees, eventually reaching May. The ropes disintegrated from around her small frame, and Drew watched as May gracefully dropped down next to him.
"Hey, thanks, Drew!" she told him earnestly before turning to face Team Rocket. "You, too."
Roselia landed a few feet in front of them, acknowledging May's praise while landing in a perfect pose, just as she always did. Roselia had always liked May; he could see that.
But that wasn't important that the moment. What was important was showing these psychos that they were going to atone for what they had done. And now the fight was fair.
He relished in the angered cries of their opponents from above when May reached the ground.
In the midst of Jessie calling for another poison tail, a massive surge of electricity came from behind them and jolted the snake Pokémon.
"We're coming, May!" voices shouted from behind.
The coordinators wheeled around to find May's friends and Rodrick barreling towards them.
"Don't worry!" her brother screamed.
Drew and May were both elated to see the group all happy and safe. It was the first time they'd seen May's companions since the explosion, and the first time they'd seen Rodrick since they'd fallen in the river. It all felt like a lifetime ago.
"Hey guys!" May beamed, more than thrilled to see them all.
"Is everybody here okay?" Rodrick asked when they'd all met up.
The pair affirmed, as did the Wynaut, and for a moment, everything seemed right with the world again, but Drew was all too aware of the unwelcome presence still behind them. They both turned back around to face down their enemies, but now the odds were stacked incredibly high in their favor. There was no doubt they were going to set this straight.
"Those aren't your berries!" Ash shouted.
Jessie summoned her Dustox in response, and James called out a Cacnea. After a moment of confusion on Team Rocket's part, when that Cacnea turned and hugged his trainer before launching an attack, Drew and May found themselves in the line of fire from poison sting attack. Drew barely saw the threat, though.
And with May standing at his side, he found himself drawing some inspiration from her.
"Masquerain, silver wind, let's go!" he summoned.
Masquerain appeared and launched a beautiful ripple of silver rays, completely thwarting the poison sting attack.
"Cacnea, pin missile!" James tried again.
This time his Pokémon seemed happy to comply. And this time, Meowth decided he'd contribute as well. The cat Pokémon held up some kind gun and shot off volts of some strange electricity. The blue lightning combined with the incoming pin missiles, and it was charging them at an unbelievable amount of speed. Not even Drew had time to react.
But the Wynaut did.
They all jumped on top of one another, and formed a glowing green pyramid to protect the reunited group of people. A safe guard, Drew recognized, which was confirmed by Max a second later.
"Okay, Pikachu," Ash started. "Now, give 'em thunder!"
The little tiny mouse charged up an enormous amount of energy instantly, and launched a beam of light at the opposition. The light was almost blinding, and Drew could easily understand why Team Rocket seemed to always be after May's friends and this tiny powerhouse of an electric type.
With electricity overrunning the balloon, the capsule containing all of the stolen Lychee berries detached and crashed only the ground below.
With the stolen property back on their turf, Drew couldn't see anymore of a reason why Team Rocket needed to be there.
He didn't know when May had called out her Beauitfly, but the two shared a quick look and nodded at each other, both smirking.
"Masquerain–"
"Beautifly–"
"USE SILVER WIND!"
What were originally two opposing attacks joined together in perfect harmony. The result was more beautiful than anyone could have ever imagined or accurately explained. Drew watched in awe as the pulsing beams of light from May's Beautifly met and paired up with the rippling waves of his Masquerain's.
No one there could take their eyes off of the sheer incredibleness of the combination.
The original reason Drew had caught this Masquerain and trained it for a silver wind attack was to outdo the girl next to him. He had always wanted to create the perfect version of this attack that worked best for him. Now he could see the absolute best he and his silver wind could be was if they were combined with May and her own.
Their dual silver winds formed a powerful vortex of wind and light that Team Rocket found themselves trapped inside. They were lifted higher and higher until the two attacks eventually exploded in midair. The bad guys and their Pokémon were sent flying through the sky as a result, and disappeared so much farther than they could see, much to Drew's elation.
The fragmented sparkles of the silver winds rained down all around them as the sun had just begun to peak up into the sky to start the new day. Drew and May looked all around them, too amazed to find the words to describe what had just occurred.
It suddenly dawned on May that it was all finally over; that the Wynaut and their berries were safe, that she and her friends were back together and that Rodrick could finally guide them all back home. It was overwhelming, and she couldn't stop herself from cheering. The Wynaut all joined in with her.
Everyone was silent as May and the Wynaut celebrated their victories together. Ash, Brock, Max and Pikachu watched the Wynaut. Drew was watching May.
Rodrick looked back and forth between the two of them; between this sweet young girl who was so happy, and this guarded boy who was so happy watching her be happy. He didn't know what had occurred between them after he'd been separated from the young coordinators, but he could very easily see the new light in Drew's eyes. The recognition his green orbs held, and Rodrick knew exactly what he meant.
"The most amazing double silver wind I've ever seen," he commented.
May looked over at the container of berries, then back towards Masquerain and Beautifly, before her eyes finally found Drew. Both of them shared a smile.
It was finally all over.
It took them fairly little time to get back to Rodrick's boat.
The clearing they'd defeated Team Rocket in was thankfully close to the beach, much to the delight of Ash, Brock, Max, Pikachu and May. They'd all been exhausted from the long day of searching the island, only to lead into the long chase and battle that had lasted through the night.
Drew, having spent so much of the previous day unconscious, wasn't as drained as the rest of them seemed to be, but he knew the second he got the chance, he'd be in a real bed, resting up so he could resume his schedule. Training, training and more training…
Once on board, Rodrick relayed the story of how he'd discovered Mirage Island and it's Wynaut to the rest of the group. He even passed around a picture of him from his younger days. May struggled to believe the younger man in the picture actually was the same man as the ship captain with them now.
Rodrick expertly glided the boat through and around the whirlpools as they made their way back to Hoenn's mainland. The danger was completely behind them as they looked forward on the horizon, eager to see land and put the last 24 hours behind them all.
"Back then, they used to call me 'Rodrick the Wrong-doer,'" he laughed. "But thanks to these Wynaut, I'm now known as 'Rodrick the kindly gentleman.'"
"Yeah," May squeaked. "Wynaut made me kinder too."
Drew smirked. He couldn't stop himself from replying with one of his own. Any excuse to keep talking to her.
"We'll see about that next time I beat you…" he teased.
"What did you say?" she snapped at him.
He shrugged. Her ability to change moods was so entertaining to him, especially now with all of the new things he'd learned about her. And about himself.
He especially loved the fire she had inside her, and how easy it was to force it out if he wanted to.
"But still, Wynaut are pretty cool Pokémon, huh?" he asked, willing her to understand he was only kidding.
She looked at him for a second before her face softened, and she smiled a little as Rodrick began speaking again.
"Almost forgot," Rodrick reached over to his side.
The group all watched him curiously as he pulled up a basket of Lychee berries and held it out towards May. She looked a bit taken back.
"For you, May," he confirmed with a smile. "A little present from me."
She lit up and stared at the berries in awe.
Drew eyed the berries a little hard. He recalled how almost 24 hours ago, he'd wanted some of those berries for himself horribly. That desire led to falling into a river and almost drowning. They were a grim reminder for him of what could have happened, to both him and May.
Contests and Pokéblocks be damned, he never wanted to see a Lychee berry again. But May deserved them. She deserved the world.
"You should be able to make wonderful Pokéblock with these," Rodrick told her when she took the basket.
She bowed humbly before him as she accepted his gift and turned back to look Drew straight in the eyes. Drew stared right back.
"This should help me at the Grand Festival, right Drew?" she prodded him, showing that she was used to his game by then and could play it just as well.
Never one to be outdone, Drew simply shrugged.
"You seem to be forgetting that you have to win the Pacifidlog Contest first," he reminded her.
But it wasn't an insult; he was actually reminding her that she needed that last ribbon, because he wanted to see her there. He wanted her to make it to the Grand Festival.
"I know," she responded, not looking at him. "And I also know that I'm gonna do it, too!"
And he knew she would. He was absolutely sure that she was more than capable of winning this last contest and getting herself to the Grand Festival.
She was looking out at the ocean in front of her, adrenaline coursing through her for her upcoming contest. Her eyes shown with her desire to win brighter than ever before, and he absolutely couldn't wait to see what she was going to come up with.
"Hey, look!" Max suddenly jumped from his spot. "I can see the beach, we're almost back!"
Drew looked away from May and over his shoulder to discover that Max was indeed right; they were quickly approaching Hoenn. Something about that made the pit of Drew's stomach churn.
"You're right, Max!" Ash cheered. "I can't wait to get back and eat something!"
"I think I'll whip up something special for all of us when we get to land," Brock said.
Reluctantly, Drew looked back over to May who was now focused on the horizon, sharing in her friends' enthusiasm as they were finally almost back.
True, Drew had wanted to get back to Hoenn. There was no denying that, and there was a part of him deep down that was extremely glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or rather the sand at the edge of the ocean? The other part of him looked at this girl, who had awakened so many things in him within such a short time, and though he believed he would see her at the Grand Festival, he also knew that there was a possibility she might not actually make it.
There was a chance she could lose the Pacifidlog Town Contest, and he didn't know when he would see her again.
He felt his throat constrict at the thought.
Back on Mirage Island, Drew had rationalized that all of the thoughts he'd been having about May might have been triggered from the immense amount of danger they had been in. He tried to believe that once they got back to Hoenn and they separated, things could go back to normal.
Now here he sat, mere minutes away from the shore, most definitely out of danger, and he was still having the exact same thoughts.
May looked just as beautiful as she had in that cave when he'd first woken up. Her eyes were still the most brilliant shade of blue. Her smile was still a beacon of inspiration. She was still brave and smart and strong and funny and capable and just…
She was May.
He couldn't lie to himself and say he could just walk away from her anymore without knowing all of those things.
The girl in question was completely unaware of his inner turmoil, as she wasn't even looking at him. Her and Max were sifting through the Lychee berries in the basket, organizing them by sizes while May was telling Max how good they tasted for five seconds before they set someone's mouth on fire. She playfully dared him to eat one and pushed a berry towards his mouth while he squirmed and avoided lip contact. But they were laughing and it was clear they had a strong sibling bond.
Before he knew it, Drew was hopping off the boat and onto the beach with the rest of May and her friends. Brock had invited Rodrick to stick around for a meal to thank him, but Rodrick insisted he needed to get back to Mirage Island and make sure the Wynaut were doing alright with all of the damage to their Lychee berry trees.
Drew and May stepped closer to him for a moment and each thanked him for all he had done for them, and Rodrick told them that he needed to thank them for helping stop Team Rocket from stealing the Lychee berries from the Wynaut.
"Good luck in yer contest, May," he said "I know you'll do well, and I'll be watchin' from my television and cheerin' for ya."
"I'll do my absolute best, Rodrick, thank you," she assured him with a respectful bow.
Then he turned to Drew.
"And to you, Mr. Drew…good luck in the Grand Festival," he spoke, reaching out to shake Drew's hand. "And with everything else as well."
Drew swallowed hard and nodded.
"Thanks, Rodrick."
It didn't surprise him that this old man could see what May couldn't. If she wasn't paying attention, May missed a lot. But Rodrick clearly missed very little. It was probably the reason he'd grown so familiar with Mirage Island in the first place.
All too quickly, Rodrick was disappearing over the horizon. Drew and May stood side by side in the sand, watching him go until he was just a little speck on the ocean, almost out of sight. May continued waving until they could no longer see him, and the pair turned around to see Brock had set up a small fire, a pot hanging over it and cooking something delicious smelling inside while Ash and Max sat around and watched him work.
The two approached the small group.
"Will you be joining us for lunch, Drew?" Brock asked, stirring the pot's contents. "I'm making plenty enough for everyone."
"Unless Ash tries to eat it all," Max quipped, prompting Ash to stick his tongue out at the boy.
"I can't help that I'm a growing boy who needs to eat," Ash responded, his eyes fixed on the food in front of him.
"Anyway…" Brock shook his head smiling before turning to look back up at him and May. "I think you should really eat something after all that. And you deserve a good meal after taking care of and looking out for May."
Drew almost scoffed. May had done just as much for Drew as he had done for her. Maybe even more, considering one of the reasons they'd almost gotten killed was because of him.
The group in front of him was waiting for an answer. May had turned to face him.
"What do ya say, Drew?" she asked politely. "Would you like to have lunch with us?"
Did he want to have lunch with them? In all honesty, he felt that he really didn't know them that well. He only felt any form of closeness to May, and even that in itself was still brand new. While he definitely wanted to get to know her, but he had more than stepped well outside of his comfort zone within the last day, and he needed a break from all of the newness, because even all those hours after he first realized so many new things, it still felt overwhelming to him.
"I'm gonna have to pass this time," he raised his hands and smiled a bit awkwardly. "I think I'm just ready to get back to my hotel and rest a little bit after all of…that."
He wasn't surprised to see Ash and Max not seem affected by him declining. Nor was he shocked to see Brock nod in understanding and turn back to his cooking.
What surprised him was seeing May look a bit deflated at his rejection, and he felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.
In that moment, he found that he wanted to stay with her, because after having been so close for so long and having her by his side through all of the life-changing events, the thought of her not being there next to him seemed unnatural. But at the same time, he needed the time to really be alone and process everything for a while. He was a loner; he always had been. After spending such an extended period of time with this group and her in particular, he just wanted to hear himself think. Certainly she could understand that? Even if she couldn't understand the thoughts he was having; he barely understood them himself.
Still, he couldn't just leave her there. He could not tell her in some way that he was truly grateful for what she had done for him. He had to find a way to thank her.
May moved to set the basket of berries down on the ground next to her brother when she turned back to face him. There was – what he assumed to be – a sad but empathetic smile on her face. Did she feel the same way about him leaving?
He pursed his lips.
"I guess I'll just see you at the Grand Festival, then?" she tried.
"I'm sure…" Drew started, the paused. "Actually, May, can I talk to you for a minute?"
All eyes were instantly on him, and he fought with everything he had to keep the color out of his face.
He'd preformed in so many contests, with countless pairs of eyes on him and judging his every move, and never once had he felt awkward or out of place because of it. Now, there he stood, with four pairs of eyes on him and he felt like he had shrunk to the size of a grain of sand, being analyzed by a microscope.
May's eyes were especially curious, but she nodded and put herself back at his side, which felt oddly natural, like he had regrown a limb or something crazy like that.
"Uh," he cleared his throat, not really sure how to proceed with three pairs of unwanted eyes and ears analyzing his every move. "Walk with me?"
She nodded, and then the two were off, leaving behind footprints in the sand as they made their way down the beach.
"Should we let them go off on their own like that?" Max questioned, looking in the direction of his sister and Drew.
"Yeah, that seemed a little weird," Ash agreed.
"Let them be," Brock said. "I think they need a minute after everything that happened. Anyway, stew's ready."
That instantly grabbed the attention of the two hungry boys in front of him, and as Brock ladled stew into their bowls, he took a glance down the beach in the direction May and Drew had gone, because being a "love expert" himself, he had always known what those roses meant. Even before Drew seemed to.
Good luck, buddy.
They'd walked a good bit away.
Drew had remained totally silent as they advanced along the beach in the general direction of Drew's hotel. He hadn't really meant to go this far, but he wasn't really sure of what he was going to say, and he definitely wanted to be out of anyone's hearing range when he figured it out.
May didn't complain through the duration of their walk. She just stayed by his side, wordlessly following him and not knowing why. Initially, when they'd landed back on that beach and he'd declined the offer to spend a little more time with them, she found that her chest had grown tight. They had been through so much together in the last 24 hours, and May had seen so many new sides of Drew she'd never seen before.
And it had been nice.
Now, that time was seemingly drawing to a close, and May didn't know if she could handle the fact that once they saw each other again, it would probably be at a contest, and he'd slip back into his old habits and mock her for not being as good as he was. She didn't know how she could handle that if it were to happen, because she now knew he wasn't always like that.
She now knew there was so much more to him than what she had seen in contests past. Would he go back to that? Or would he acknowledge that maybe, there was a common bond between them now. Maybe they could be friends? Maybe they could…
Drew decided that was the moment he could stop walking, and brought May's thoughts to an abrupt halt.
They weren't near anything or anyone. They were just alone, on the deserted beach, with her friends barely visible behind her. She failed to understand what his intentions were, but waited patiently for him to explain.
He turned to face her, his face and eyes dead serious. More serious than she'd ever seen him before, even in contests.
Then, he finally opened his mouth, and she waited.
"I wanted to thank you for saving my life."
Out of all the things she was expecting, that was not one of them. And it caught her off guard, to see him say something so genuine and look so serious and focused and an array of things swirling in his green eyes.
It had disarmed her completely, and it made her blush.
"I really didn't do all that much," she said, looking down at her shoes in the sand because she couldn't take staring into his smoldering eyes anymore. "Really, Drew, it was all the Wynaut who–"
"The Wynaut were nowhere near us when we fell over that waterfall, and I'm sure they took some time getting to use in the rapids when I was unconscious," he said. "That leads me to believe that you kept me from drowning, especially when we were in those rapids. Am I correct?"
May was still not able to make eye contact, but nodded her head sheepishly.
"It was nothing, really," she tried.
"May, look at me."
She was slow to raise her gaze to meet his. His eyes were softer than she'd ever seen them. He looked so sincere and unguarded and warm in those moments, and May didn't know why it was making her heart beat faster or her palms sweaty or her throat dry or why for the love of Arceus she could no longer form a proper sentence. So she decided to let him talk while he stared at her.
"You saved my life," he repeated.
"Yeah, but you saved mine, too," she blurted out, suddenly all too aware of how close they were standing to each other.
"Hardly," he said. "You didn't put me in any of those situations. But I was definitely the reason we almost drowned."
"But then you saved me when Team Rocket was there," she tried again. "You didn't have to do that."
"You're right, I didn't," he admitted. "But I wanted to. I needed to."
He needed to?
May's heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest the moment he said it. She couldn't think of anything to reply with, and she just waited to see what he was going to say next hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt.
"And now I need to say thank you," he shrugged, but still kept his eyes locked on hers.
Much to the anxiety and anticipation in May's already skyrocketing heart rate, Drew took another step closer to her. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him, realizing there could have only an inch of space separating them when he finally stopped.
"I don't have a rose to give you," he admitted.
"I don't–I don't need one," she stuttered.
"I don't think it would be enough," he breathed.
Drew looked at this girl. This beautiful, smart, amazing, humble and wonderful, trembling girl before him. This girl who had unknowingly and completely uprooted everything he thought he was, and was now burning with her face as red as the signature bandana she wore on her head.
He'd gotten good at reading her eyes, and he could see so many things inside of them in that moment. Fear, anticipation, nervousness, confusion, wonder.
And beneath it all, he swore he could see excitement.
He didn't have a rose to give her, as he hadn't asked Roselia to give him one. One rose wouldn't be enough. Nor would a dozen, or two.
She deserved more than all the roses he would ever give her, because he knew there would be more.
But there, in that moment and on that beach, he didn't have any roses. He only had himself, and the erratic heart beat hammering in his chest as he moved in even closer.
He earnestly pressed his lips to her cheek for a few seconds, and felt her shiver beneath him.
"Thank you, May, for saving my life," he whispered in her ear.
Everything inside of him felt like he was on fire. It felt like the world had stopped completely and he was lost in a timeless oblivion when he pulled back from her face. She was staring at him like he wasn't real.
He smiled softly at her then, and stepped back to give her some space He needed it as well. But she looked like she was having trouble breathing. And unbeknown to him in those seconds, she was.
"I'll see you at the Grand Festival in six weeks," he spoke softly.
"Okay," she managed to squeak out.
He nodded, and turned to take him leave while shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way back to his hotel.
"Goodbye, May," he said over his shoulder, a little surprised to see she hadn't moved from where he left her. "Good luck in Pacifidlog."
Her hands were clasped and she was holding them to her chest, like she was trying to hold her heart in place because it was going crazy. He knew the feeling; it was happening to him as well.
Drew walked on and on, completely alone. His thoughts and heartbeat had finally slowed down after some time and some distance had passed, but he couldn't stop thinking about how soft her cheek was, or how stunned she looked when he pulled away from her.
It had only been a simple kiss on the cheek, just for him to hopefully convey to her just how thankful he truly was for the things she had done for him. But that one little gesture had morphed into something he never could have imagined.
That little kiss on the cheek was like opening a door that had always been locked, and throwing the key away in to the middle of the ocean, never to be seen again.
That little kiss had sealed his fate, and Drew's hand went up to touch his lips as he finally admitted to himself what he hadn't before. The one little truth that complicated everything so damn much.
Drew Hayden had feelings for May Maple.
