Chapter 36: May's Birthday

"Princess, over here!"

"I love you, Princess May!"

"Happy early birthday, Princess!"

May found herself surrounded by people at all sides of her. She sighed. It's been a week since she revealed her identity to the school and they still swarm over her.

The gang wasn't too far away from the large group of people.

"Hey...what's going on over there?" Dawn pointed out.

"I don't know…" Misty said. "I can't see what's happening from here."

The gang are squints to see what the people are crowding. Or who they're crowding. They all see May in the center of the crowd.

"It's May!" Dawn said.

"And she doesn't seem to like the attention at all…" Gary said.

Drew's hands clenched. He started walking towards the large crowd.

"Looks like they made him upset." Gary said.

"Listen everyone, thank you for the early birthday wishes, but I should really get going to my friends." May said.

"But I'll be your friend!"

"Let me be your friend!"

"Can I be your boyfriend?!"

"Umm...I…" May said.

Drew got to the crowd and started squeezing through them.

"Everyone, I can't just say yes to dating some random person." May said.

"Of course you can!"

"Go out with me, Princess!"

"Guys, umm…" May said.

Drew got through the crowd and he walked up to May. He took her hand.

"Drew?" May asked.

Without saying anything, Drew started leading May through the crowd. Thankfully, the people moved out of the way when May and Drew approached them. They all just watched them in confusion as to why they're holding hands.

Drew and May got through the crowd and started walking to the gang.

"Hey Drew!" May called, walking faster to catch up to Drew.

They slowed down the walk and Drew let go of May's hand.

"Thank you for getting me out of there." May said.

"No problem." Drew said.

"Is there a reason why you did that?"

"No. I just saw that you weren't enjoying the attention and I...went to get you out of there."

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" May asked.

Drew sighed. "Fine. The real reason is that I can't have you falling in love with other guys."

May smirked. "So...someone's jealous…"

"N-no. I'm not jealous." Drew said. "I mean...why would I, right? We're not together, so there's no way I'd be jealous. I just...saw that you needed help and I went."

May looked down sadly. "Oh. Okay then."

Drew looked at May. ("Why is she…?") He thought. Drew took May's hand again.

May looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

"Cheering you up." Drew answered. "Not sure why you're sad, but hopefully this makes you feel better." He tightened his grip on May's hand.

May blushed and smiled. "Yes it does."

Drew smiled. They stop at the gang.

"So...holding hands…" Gary said.

Drew and May quickly release each other's hand and blush.

"So, what happened between you two?" Dawn asked.

"Nothing!" May said quickly.

"Okay then…" Misty said. "Anyway, are you okay May? You got surrounded by fans again."

"Yeah...I'm okay." May said. "The boys at this school just won't quit though. Shouldn't they know that the Princess can't be with a commoner?"

"Maybe they don't care about that." Gary said. "They just care about your beauty."

May sighed. "That's the thing...can't they care about something else?"

"So, tomorrow's your birthday." Drew said.

"Mm hm." May hummed yes.

May and Drew are in theater class.

"Is there going to be like a big party at the castle?" Drew asked.

"I don't think so." May said. "We don't really have huge parties at the castle for birthdays. We don't even have parties at all. My parents just give me my presents in my room and that's basically it."

"Wow. Really? No party?"

"Nope. But I don't really mind. I just love opening presents." She added, smiling.

Drew chuckled. "Of course. Who doesn't?"

"Speaking of presents...are you going to give me a present?"

"Maybe."

"Why maybe?"

"If I were to give you a present, I'd want it to be a surprise."

"Right…well, hopefully I can see you tomorrow so you can give me that present." May said.

Drew smiled. "Don't worry. You'll see me tomorrow."

It's May's birthday now. She already received several birthday wishes from the guards. And from Dahlia, Norman, and Caroline. Now she's in the backyard, watching her Pokémon run around and play with each other. Drew's Ninetales is visiting too.

From where May is sitting, she can see the two Ninetales together. May's Ninetales nuzzled her head against Drew's Ninetales' neck.

"What?" May muttered.

"What's wrong?" Dahlia asked.

They both stood up. May started walking towards the two Ninetales, Dahlia following.

They stopped at the Ninetales. "How did this happen?" May asked.

"Nine~!" May's Ninetales said. She then nuzzled her head against Drew's Ninetales' neck again.

"Is there a problem May?" Dahlia asked.

"No. No problem at all." May answered, smiling. "Because I think these two Ninetales are in love."

Both Ninetales blushed slightly.

"I think you're right." Dahlia agreed.

May sat down on the ground. "So tell me, how'd you two fall in love?"

"Nine, nine, nine." Drew's Ninetales said.

"Since you first met?" May questioned.

Both Ninetales nodded.

"How have I not known that?" May asked.

May's Ninetales explained to May.

"So...you two fell in love the first time I saw Drew with you." May said, pointing to Drew's Ninetales. His Ninetales nodded. "And that's the reason why you started sneaking out of Drew's mansion. You wanted to see my Ninetales, but not just as a friend...as more?"

"Nine~!" May's Ninetales said happily, nuzzling Drew's Ninetales.

"Aww...you two are adorable." May said. She stood up. "Well, I'm really happy that you two are together like this." Her smile faded. "It makes me wonder if me and Drew could be like that someday."

"May…" Dahlia said.

Drew's Ninetales walked to May and nuzzled his head against her leg. May looked at him. She then bent down again.

Ninetales spoke his language to May.

"You're saying that I'm meant to be with Drew?" May questioned. Drew's Ninetales nodded. "I know, but…"

The male Ninetales spoke again.

May smiled. "You really believe that we can be together?" Drew's Ninetales nodded. "Thank you Ninetales." May pet him on the head. "Drew has a good friend in you."

"Nine~!" Drew's Ninetales said happily.

May stood up. "Well, I think I'll go inside now. Have fun you two lovebirds."

Both Ninetales blushed slightly. May smiled. May and Dahlia walked back to the castle.

May exhaled. "Love at first sight…" she muttered.

"Is it done?" Drew asked.

"Yes. And it came out better than expected." An employee said.

Drew is at a shop where professional spray painting happens. He brought a guitar to this shop and told them to spray paint it last month. He's now seeing the finishing results, and right on time for May's birthday.

The employee handed Drew the guitar.

"Wow…" Drew breathed, gently touching the area that was spray painted.

"Well, what do you think?" The employee asked.

Drew looked up at the person. "It's perfect. She'll love it."

"I'm sure she will. This spray paint order I put before everything else, knowing that it's for the Princess."

"Well, thank you for doing this. Here, a tip." Drew said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something. He handed the employee a 20 Pokédollar bill.

"Are you sure I deserve a big tip like this?"

"The guitar came out better than I expected, so of course." Drew said.

"Well, thank you."

Drew is at his house. He's preparing May's birthday present. He places the newly spray painted guitar inside of a black hard guitar case.

Drew exhaled and gently touched the bottom of the guitar. "Hopefully she'll love her present." He muttered.

"Roselia!" Roselia said happily, walking into Drew's room, holding some sort of bow. Drew sent him to get a bow from another room in the mansion and he just returned with one, pink and green in color.

Drew looked at Roselia. "Thanks Roselia." He said as Roselia handed him the bow. "It's perfect."

Drew put a footstool, a pink guitar strap with a rose pattern, and a pink guitar pick in the pockets inside of the guitar case. He then closed the case, sealing the latches. He attached the bow on the upper portion of the case.

"Okay. Now, let's go location scouting." Drew said.

"Roselia!" Roselia agreed.

"Okay Flygon. Let's fly." Drew said. Flygon took off. Drew is holding onto May's present as he flies on Flygon.

They fly towards Petalburg City. Drew has May's entire birthday surprise all planned out. And here's the first part of it…

("A date…") Drew thought. ("Hopefully she'll say yes to going on our first date.")

That's why right now he's searching for the perfect date location near Petalburg City. His plan is to take May on a romantic picnic date. He'll give May her second gift which will be the customized guitar. The guitar is a rose pink color with some glitter in the spray paint they used. Drew knows that May mentioned that she loves to play the guitar and he also knows that she doesn't have one, so why not give her one that's her favorite color? And of course Drew also bought a guitar pick, footstool, strap, and case for May as well. This is one expensive birthday present. Now he's just hoping that she'll say yes to going on a date with him even though they aren't together.

Drew gasped at the sight below them. "Flygon, down there." He pointed.

Flygon started flying Drew down to a secluded spot of a forest. He landed on the ground and Drew climbed off of him.

They looked around where they are right now. They're in a gazebo. Flowers at all edges of it. And it's on a little island with a grass path that leads to an entrance back into the forest. Around the island is water, making this a small pond. The water is coming from a waterfall at a corner of the pond. Everywhere around the pond is trees.

"Wow…" Drew breathed. "How does a gazebo even get here?" He walked to the edge of that island and bent down, looking at the water. He dipped his fingers in the water. "It's not too cold, but it's not warm."

"Fly~!" Flygon agreed.

Drew stood up and faced Flygon. "I think this is the place." He walked to the middle of the gazebo. "We'll set up a picnic right here and I guess I'll hide the guitar from her over there." He pointed to a pillar, holding up the gazebo. "I'll just hide it behind the pillar until it's time to show her." He faced Flygon again. "Come on out!" He said as he tossed a Pokéball in the air.

The Thorn Pokémon materialized on the ground. "Roselia!"

"Roselia, I need you to watch this, okay?" Drew said as he placed the guitar case on the ground in the middle of the gazebo.

"Rose~!" Roselia said.

"Thanks. I'm going to go with Flygon in search of roses, okay?"

Roselia cocked her head in confusion as if asking, "Why do you need to find roses when you can pull one out randomly from your pocket?"

"Fresh roses." Drew added, answering Roselia's question. "I want to see if I can get her some fresh ones."

Roselia nodded. Drew climbed on Flygon.

"I'll see you in a bit." Drew said. He then flew away on Flygon.