"May?" Kai's confused voice shakes her from her thoughts as she quickly recalls Beautifly and grabs Kai to run back inside the house.
Slamming the door shut, May leans against it with her eyes closed tightly as she pants. She made it inside in time, right? He couldn't have been here? He couldn't have seen her. Why did she even run? It's not like they aren't friends anymore due to a falling out. It was only because they lost communication. However, why did she run away? Whenever her old friends would call her up, May would be ecstatic to catch up. But for some reason, she panicked at the thought of possibly seeing him again. Why?
Knocking on the front door causes her to open her eyes where she sees Kai curiously walk towards the living room. Quickly standing up, May grabs the boy. Since she normally doesn't touch Kai, he is surprised by her sudden actions of hugging him, like she had done outside to bring him in. "May?" he shyly asks her again.
"Shhh." May's gaze is worriedly on the front door as the knocking continues. As soon as it stops for a few minutes, she finally lets out a relieved breath.
"Can you let me go?"
The boy's voice causes her to take in her surroundings, and she quickly releases him. "I'm sorry, Kai!"
Since he is still shy around May, Kai chooses not to ask her any questions about her weird behavior. Even though she has been very nice to him, he fears she will take him back to the orphanage, which is why he's always on his best behavior. Despite not knowing May, Kai prefers her over the sad orphanage where the staff were too busy to give each child enough attention. "It's okay." He quietly tells her. Nervously looking at the living room, he asks, "Can I go watch TV?"
"Yes!" exclaims the flustered brunette, though she is glad Kai isn't asking her about her suspicious behavior. Once Kai walks off to the living room, May decides to make dinner where her thoughts float back to the encounter outside.
How could she forget that he is here? He's been here for years, and she even heard about it on the news recently! However, with Cianwood basically recovered from the hurricane, a part of her expected he'd be elsewhere, like Olivine City which took a lot of damage. Why did she agree to come to Johto? Kanto at least has Ash and Misty, or Sinnoh has Dawn, Kenny, and Zoey. Nevertheless, May chose Johto when she knew full well that he is here.
Too deep in thought, May cuts her finger with the knife, causing her to yelp in pain. She rushes off to the bathroom where the first aid kit is, and Kai shyly follows. Once in the doorway, he looks at her with concern because she's flushing the wound under the sink. "May?"
Giving him a reassuring smile, May replies, "I'm fine! Just a scratch!"
The doorbell ringing saves her from further embarrassment. "Can you get that?"
He nods before leaving back down the hall and into the living room where he opens the door. Standing outside is a green haired man with the Masquerain from earlier on his head. Not knowing what to say, Kai just shyly greets him. "Hi."
"Are your parents home?" The man asks. Shaking his head, Kai notices there's a box in the man's arms. Sighing, the man sets the box on the ground. "I'm delivering food to the city today. No one answered earlier, but I decided to check back on my way out." He gives Kai a smile. "I'm glad I was able to give these to you."
"Thank you." Kai quietly says and he drags the box inside the house.
However, the man won't leave just yet. He now asks, "Are you home alone?"
Kai's blue eyes meet the man's green ones as Kai answers, "No."
Letting out a relieved breath, the man ruffles Kai's hair. "Good. I don't want someone as young as you to be alone."
Sensing the tears about to fall, Kai averts his gaze. "Good bye, sir." He closes the door before the man can respond, and Kai quickly wipes at his eyes. He's been feeling very alone once his father left. Even with May in his life now, Kai still feels very lonely. That man is right when he says Kai shouldn't be alone at such a young age because Kai isn't prepared for this kind of life. He needs to rely on someone, though he wishes he was more independent.
Eventually, May comes out, and Kai is glad he's kept his tears at bay. "Who was it?" She asks with her gaze still on her bandaged finger.
Shrugging, Kai replies, "A man dropped off food."
She walks over to the box by his feet to see the non-perishables. Nodding, May realizes this must be supplies from the city and region for helping the affected areas. Nevertheless, she just moved here and has adequate enough finances. Sighing, May picks up the box. "That's nice." She then heads off to the kitchen to put the food away as well as finish with dinner. This time, though, she manages to not cut herself again.
Outside
Drew was surprised when Masquerain came out of his pokeball to fly off. Drew's Pokemon never do that, and they never run away from him. He had followed Masquerain to this house where he ended up knocking on the door to see if he could enter the backyard for his pokemon. However, when no one answered the door and Masquerain eventually returned, Drew left to finish his rounds of deliveries.
Out of curiosity, he decided to try his luck with this house again on his way back. Spotting a young boy he's never seen before, only confused Drew more about why his Pokemon had flown off. Nevertheless, Drew doubts a child can answer his questions, so he left it at that. He is glad that the boy isn't home alone because no child should be left alone during these times.
Sighing, Drew looks up at Masquerain flying above him. The man never expected to be in Johto this long. He's missed Hoenn, but with him being a great coordinator, he hasn't lost yet. Now, with this hurricane, he's been busy trying to help this region. It's not just because he's a public figure and it's his responsibility, but it's because this region has done a lot for him. He feels like it's his second home. Therefore, Drew can't leave until he's sure it'll be thriving again once everyone is back on their feet.
His pokenav ringing gets his attention, so Drew looks to see that the caller is the Johto Champion, Leaf Green. Being the Johto Top Coordinator, he and the Johto Champion communicate often and are always involved with the region's disasters. "Hey, Leaf."
"I'm gonna need more help with Olivine tomorrow, Drew."
He ignores the fact that she didn't greet him since he knows they're both busy trying to help the city. Drew is done with Cianwood today anyway because he knows the authorities can handle the situation. Olivine City, though, had taken a lot of damage from the hurricane. It's still flooded with many people waiting to be rescued. "Brianna and I will be there." Drew's girlfriend follows him everywhere, which he finds annoying, but over time, Drew's gotten used to her. Why did he even agree to date her in the beginning?
Flashback
With the sunlight peeking through the blinds, Drew groans in pain. His head is killing him. Gosh, this is the last time he gets tricked into drinking by Leaf and Gary. Those two are perfect for each other with all their scheming and flirting. No wonder why they're married, although Drew hopes they have a child soon so that they quit teasing him at Johto events.
Shielding his eyes from the intense sunlight, Drew tries to recall last night. He had attended Elite Four Silver Sakaki's wedding with the Goldenrod City gym leader Whitney. Living in Goldenrod City, Drew has worked closely with Whitney over the years; thus, he was invited to the wedding. However, Drew didn't expect to get tricked into drinking an insane amount of alcohol, and now he regrets it as his head is pounding.
Movement beside him makes him open his eyes in shock. It better be Absol wanting to lay in bed, but when Drew feels skin, he knows it's definitely not Absol. Looking over, he spots salmon hair. "Please don't be Solidad." he mentally groans since she's the only salmon colored haired woman he knows, but she is married to Harley.
Last he heard, Solidad was in Hoenn, and he doesn't recall seeing her in Johto. Drew calls her every now and then to catch up, although he's been avoiding these calls lately. She constantly brings up an old rival of his who he's lost contact with. It's just too annoying hearing Solidad talk about her, so he opts to just keep communication with Solidad at a minimum.
Hoenn rival. Why do these words sound so familiar though? With an ache of pain in his head, Drew winces as he recalls some more memories from last night. A woman had approached him saying she's a coordinator from Hoenn who sees him as a rival. She also admitted to admiring him and having a crush on him. However, drunk Drew must've only registered: Hoenn coordinator rival because those words put together remind him of her.
That girl who always wears a bandana and never gives up. Her blind naivety and huge heart for not only her pokemon but those around her, regardless of what maliciousness they've shown to her, are reasons that attracted Drew to her in the first place. It's why he avoids talking to Solidad because she always brings her up. And drunk Drew must've finally given in to his desires for his childhood crush last night, else he normally doesn't sleep around like this. At least not to someone he doesn't know and not while he's drunk.
Sighing, he gets up to put his clothes on. Obviously, he's in his Goldenrod City house since the wedding was at the Goldenrod City gym yesterday. Therefore, he can't escape from this terrible morning he really wishes he can rewind from. Groudon, what is he doing? When he heard that she lost her title after two short years, she completely disappeared from the contest scene. Why isn't she competing again? Why hasn't she contacted him ro visited him now that she's not tied down to Hoenn? Why does his heart still ache just as strongly for her after all of this time apart?
"Drew?" the groggy voice of the woman on his bed gets his attention as he sees she is definitely not Solidad. However, he has no idea who she is. Dang it! What if she's a creepy fangirl? Drew is mentally cursing himself for the situation he's put himself in.
"Hey." He gives her an awkward smile because he doesn't want her to know he doesn't know her name. Well, he doesn't know who she is at all.
Blushing, the woman shyly returns the smile. "Last night was-"
"Want breakfast?" Drew really doesn't want to be reminded of last night, so he cuts her off. However, now he's mad at himself for offering to spend more time with this woman. Drew Hayden never loses his cool, but when he does, it leads to him doing stupid things like this.
Eventually, Drew is informed by the Contest Committee of the news catching wind about him and Brianna, which leads to him finally knowing this woman's name. However, due to this news, the Contest Committee suggests that Drew get in a relationship with Brianna to avoid bad publicity. Reluctantly agreeing because he has no one else to give his heart to, Drew and Brianna started dating.
Flashback Over
Although Drew hasn't slept with Brianna since, she is still head over heels for him. He's figured out how to get his alone time when he wants space from her, but she still manages to include herself into every aspect of Drew's life. This has caused him to stop speaking with Solidad because of Brianna's jealousy, though Drew didn't like speaking with Solidad anymore anyways.
Now that Drew is with Brianna, being reminded of her will just hurt him more. He's already getting over her by making his heart cold towards Brianna, which is why he hasn't broken up with her yet. Brianna being his girlfriend has just been convenient so far, and breaking up would lead to annoying publicity. Besides, Drew has learned how to live with Brianna so that he isn't as annoyed by her. The two have been making their relationship work in their own ways.
"Good because Gary's about to make me go insane." Leaf's voice brings Drew back to reality. She and Gary are expecting their first child in a few months, but with the hurricane, she's been stressfully working around the clock in the region. Obviously, this worried Gary who has been helping her and Johto too.
Chuckling, Drew looks up at Masquerain flying in front of the Cianwood hotel. "You should rest, though, Leaf."
"I can't rest when my region needs me." She sighs, and he can hear how tired she is just from that. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya, Leaf." Drew then puts his pokenav away before taking out a pokeball. "Return, Masquerain." He sees a disappointed look on the pokemon, and then it's gone as a red beam retracts Masquerain into his pokeball. Letting out a long breath, Drew heads inside the hotel. Despite everything going on right now to preoccupy his mind, he still has that empty feeling in his life, like something is missing. It grows stronger over time, no matter how much he tries to suppress it or distract it.
Once in his hotel room, he's relieved to hear the shower running, meaning Brianna won't bombard him with affection and questions just yet. He looks out the window where he sees the sun setting over the city full of heavy construction. Yes, Cianwood is coming along rather nicely, so he should start helping Olivine City again. Drew is looking forward to his departure tomorrow because that'll mean he will be with his friends again, which is a great distraction from Brianna.