Equanimity, Chapter 3

Drew circled the train station, watching in all directions. Somewhere in the bustling crowd, there was a brunette waiting for him, that he couldn't see. He watched for her signature red bandanna, but in a sea of brunettes and neutral tones, the only person that stuck out was his own radiant, green mop.

Honestly, that girl was never one time...

Drew snapped a glance at his wrist and exhaled in frustration. Thirty minutes he had been standing here, waiting. They were supposed to meet here, and of course, she wasn't answering her phone! Maybe he was a bit nervous because they had only been dating for... oh, he wasn't sure.. less than three weeks?

Temporarily, he was forced to leave May to talk about some new shows that they were planning to bring to the Hoenn Region, that needed to be verified with officials in Johto—how Drew ended up as a specialist in this situation still stunned him. Since earning the title of Top-coordinator, he mostly followed May around and made plans to be a judge. Unlike champions, thousands of people could carry the title of "top-coordinator" and only the most persuasive actually did anything once they earned the title. Typically, the chart stopped there; with top-coordinators entering in high-ranking matches to be dubbed the 'coordinating champion' but it was mostly a self-proclaimed title at this point. Many trainers typically dropped battling to run shows and hold contests—Drew thought of it several times, but something about battling was near and dear to his heart. He wasn't ready to give up his life as a trainer, there was so much more to learn. Drew wanted to change the entire system, to make contests more enjoyable for all walks of life—and maybe, just maybe, reach the same adoration as battle tournaments received.

First, he would need to find his MIA girlfriend!

Inhaling, Drew wrapped his fingers around the belt loops of his tan pants as his black, polo-shirt shifted in the wind. Even standing at the center of the train station, he couldn't see here—which, for all reasons, probably meant that she forgot entirely about their meeting. Scoffing, Drew hoped down from the bench, and started his pursuit of the exit doors.

May was never the best at remembering events; often time, he would find her sitting in a cafe or watching contests, trying to find a new way to compete with new rivals. She seemed to struggle the most during new seasons. She was skilled, but she always fell short somehow, somewhere, her battling was simply not fluid enough. Drew grit his teeth, unimpressed by the crowds of people nearly knocking him over—once again reminding him that Top-Coordinators were truly second par to anything battle related, because the swarm of people drawing from the gates of the train station were after one specific thing—an article that outlined the new Kalos champion and his love affairs.

Oh, Ash, he couldn't keep his name out of the damn news media for longer than a day, could he? Apparently, from what he heard over the train from squealing or enraged fans, was that Ash was caught with Misty in the most 'romantic' spot in the Kalos region: The Prism Tower. The image of the two caught kissing flooded his every screen and magazine.

Ash basically turned into a celebrity over night—suddenly recognized for all of his good deeds and heroism. He amassed quite the fan base... and with that fan base...

"Watch it!" One girl screamed as she ran away with a magazine that had the face of Serena and Ash on it, with a giant, red "X" down the center.

...came the crazy people who viewed 'shipping' above all else. People were on the side of Misty Waterflower, the 'mistress' or the 'innocent and lovable' ex, Serena Yvonne. There was apparently no middle ground. All of Ash's feats, pushed aside to talk about his love-life. Petty, and sad.

People, truly, had lost their damn minds.

Squeezing out of the train station, Drew exhaled dramatically and slapped his knees, hunched over. Luckily, he did not have to gnaw off his own arm to get away. For once, he didn't blame May for not showing up at the train station—with that crowd, he would have forgotten it, too.

As he suspected, May had done exactly that; she was sitting motionless on the concrete bench across from the train station with a magazine folded over her eyes to block the sun. Sleeping, just like a snorlax.

Looking both ways, Drew dashed across the road. With a shifty grin and a mischievous spark in his eye, he approached her and smacked his lips. He'd show her for leaving him in the train station! Squatting beside her, he carefully brushed his fingers along her neckline.

"Hmmm." She stirred. "Go away, I'm trying to sleep."

He did it again, faster this time so she scratched her neck with the hand that had been over her stomach, grumbling about the wind, dirt, and bugs. The he did it again and she finally shot up like a bolt of lightning.

"Drew!" She yelled, nearly kicking him in the head as she jumped up to face the train station.

In her panic, Drew shifted behind her so she couldn't see him while she fumbled to gather her balance.

May swore under her breath at the train station he neglected before, placing her hands on her hips and exhaling.

"Man, was there a fire or something?" She then tugged on her brown hair, and pulled out her pokegear to call him. "I hope he hasn't left yet."

Seeing this as his chance, he took out his phone, then held the ringer up to the unsuspecting May...then watched her scream as she circled around, and fell into the dirt with a start. Her pokegear hit the concrete with a sharp crack, and she threw her arms up, preparing to throw a pokeball at him as he chuckled sincerely at her reaction, once again stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Arecus damn it, Drew!" She screamed, having realized who it was. She immediately fell backwards, covering her face with her hands.

"Jumpy, much?" he asked snidely, earning a nasty glare in return. She stomped to her feet.

."You jerk! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"You were asleep on a park bench in the middle of the day. For all you knew, you could have gotten a ticket for loitering."

"Oh it's not loitering."

"...It kind of is." He argued with a sweet smile that made her skin crawl with frustration—then curl into a kiddish shiver as his presence finally clicked.

"...Drew!" She yelped, the anger replaced with immediate happiness as she flung herself forward, hugging him. "I'm so glad you're back! How was the meeting?"

Still caught in his arms, he placed a chaste peck against her lips, watching her face beam.

"Boring, as ever. Wasn't really a meeting. I went as a specialist and they asked some opinions...I doubt they will do anything with them."

"Oh..." May smacked her lips, pinching his cheek mockingly. "You always have good opinions. I'm sure they will use something."

Drew winced slightly, pulling away from her hand as she wrapped it back up, then around his neck. "But if you ever scare me like that again, I will rat you out to your mom that you were in Johto, and you didn't stop by to see her."

"Rude." Drew hissed jokingly into her ear, and then went down to kiss her again. "I was only gone for a few days."

"A few days too much." She whined, practically hanging off of him—not that she or Drew minded, of course.

As they seemed to be enjoying the moment, caught in their own lovely embrace with the sun haloing over their heads, another frothing at the mouth fan ran by, screeching, and Drew cracked a sardonic smile.

"Did you hear the news? Ash has a new girlfriend."

"Oh those kids, when will they ever learn?" May grumbled playfully, breaking away to pick up the pokegear phone that she dropped, as well as her magazine. Examining the phone quickly for cracks, she was glad it was made to last before packing it away into her pocket.

"Yeah, I heard. I don't know why anyone in Hoenn would care though."

"Because, everyone loooves Ash Ketchum."

May stopped for a minute, glaring at him from the side. A hint of... disdain? She thought it would be better to change the subject, so she opened the magazine to the page that was open on her face, and showed it to Drew.

"You came back at the perfect time. I'm entering a contest!"

"Oh, nice. The Mauville City Contest. Very nice..." Drew glanced at his watch briefly. "...that's... today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, in a few hours."

As they walked, their fingers laced together simultaneously as May swung their hands back and forth. Drew seemed thoughtful, rolling over the correct way to phrase his next question.

"Have... Have you practiced?"
"No, not yet. I thought I'd try to wing it. You know, like the good 'ol days."

"...When exactly was that?"

To which May responded by gently shoving Drew as she laughed.

"I've had plenty, thank you!"

"I'm just kidding, you'll do great." Drew smacked his lips thoughtfully. "Any rivals you know participating?"

"Dawn." May replied immediately, going a bit stiff, a notion that didn't go over Drew's head. He smiled softly at her.

"It's fine. Don't worry."

"...Yeah..."

Awkward silences. Drew hated them, but they were unavoidable. May hadn't been the same in the last few weeks emotionally, and her contest game hadn't been great since her defeat at the Wallace Cup by Dawn three years ago. Apparently, discovering that the guy she was pinning over truly was beside her all along, and that her brother was now ready and able to move on with his own pokemon journey, while she seemed to be slowing down...she was taking it to heart.

May hoped that by participating in the Hoenn region, she could fix her mistakes, yet lately, she seemed to choke. She'd made it as far as the semi-finals, then would flunk out of the appeal section. May's ego was taking hits she had never imagined that it would. At least, when they were traveling with Max, she could remove the pressure of participating by helping him prepare for his gym matches. Then, when she and Drew first started traveling together, they were still competing against each other as rivals until he finally captured the title of top-coordinator, and no longer needed to participate in every grand festival.

Again, reminding her of her own shortcomings, thought his support was unyielding. Doing as she always had, May grinned through her anxious thoughts, burying her doubts under the veil of happiness.

"I'll definitely win this time!" She suggested confidently, pumping her fist up into the air.

XOX

Needless to say, May didn't have to worry about facing Dawn; she lost in the preliminary rounds. A deafening loss—she called beautifly to use sleep powder rather than stun spore on an electrical type, and she was out in, quite literally, a flash. Yes, she was a competent battler, arguably one of the best; when she was off the field she did wonderfully in training... but, there was something missing during her contests preformances. Something simply wasn't right.

Today was no different, and she choked.

May wasn't one to cry after defeats, in fact, she was beginning to feel numb to the sensation. Losing in Grand Festivals was one event, losing to a twelve year old who started training a few months ago, was another.

Inwardly, she counted her victories in her head since the Wallace Cup, because the number was far less than her losses. If she counted her losses, she'd never leave the locker room, and she had to press the lips on her face before she self—otherwise, people might worry. Worry that she can't see the finish line anymore. Drew was already worried about her, her never directly said anything to her, but his 'tips' for her performances were a gesture of good faith that May was screwing up.

Maybe her heart wasn't in it anymore. She entered this stupid contest because of a text that Dawn sent her earlier that morning. Otherwise, she might have skipped it. Lately, all May could think of was traveling. That was when life was simple—everything was dictated by the next adventure, and she played a support role in someone Ash's journey, and then her brother's. Now that she was taking the reigns and expected to craft her own experiences into a fleshed out adventure...

Was cold feet the proper term? May simply couldn't be bothered. Her heart wasn't in it... but she couldn't bare to tell anyone that; all the disappointed faces.

"May..." Drew called as she walked out of the locker room, rubbing the back of her neck. A pang pulsated through her, and she offered a genuine smile upon seeing him.

"Guess I'll have to try again later." She laughed, brushing off the loss as she did the others before. It was easier to laugh about them, than it was to get upset...plus, she wasn't really upset, if she had to be honest.

She simply didn't care.

Then, Drew held out a single rose. The scent wafted into her nostrils, bringing a red blush to her cheeks as she plucked it from his fingers.

"Aww, Drew. You didn't have to." Cooing, she leaned forward to hug him with one arm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."
"You're not going to tell me it's for beautifly again, are you?" whispering into his ear, she bit her lip as she tugged away from him, and he blinked his nonchalance away while May grinned—though, before her lips touched his, he held up his hand top prevent her.

"Are you alright, May?"

Blinking she seemed surprised that their moment was interrupted. "Yes, I'm fine, why?"

Drew's brows lowered cautiously. "...You're sure?"

"I think I would know if I wasn't."

"You just seem..." His eyes flicked her her lips, reminding her how much control she had over this moment, and how lucky she was that his concern for her feelings outweighed his lust. "...distant."

May opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but then quickly closed it.

"I don't know what you mean? Am I supposed to be upset that I've lost? I'm a little old to be upset."

"No, I guess not... It just seems that..." Drew paused, looking for the correct words. "You don't seem to be trying as hard... It seemed like you intentionally threw that match."

Now, May was on the defense, she took a step back from him, licked her lips, and crossed her arms. "Intentionally threw the match? Why on earth would I do that?"

Realizing he had overstepped, Drew shrugged. Apparently, she wasn't ready to talk about it, and there was no bulldozer that could get her to speak before she was ready.

"Never mind, I was probably reading too much into it."

"I'd say." May shrugged, then hooked her arm around his with a bright smile. "Why don't we forget all about this, and go get a bite to eat while we wait for Dawn to finish up?"

"Sounds like a plan." Drew smiled, deciding the questions would be better saved another time, when she wasn't so close, with her arm wrapped around his; and he hadn't been away from her for half a week. Arceus, he missed her touch. He could always swindle the truth out of her in other ways, later.

XOX

If Drew wanted to guess something was bothering her, it always directly correlated to her eating patterns. Right now, she hadn't touched her fries, and barely munched on the burger she ordered. Now, she hardly sipped her milkshake, and Drew was finished with his entire meal ten minutes ago.

"Not hungry?"

"No, I'm starved!" She said, taking another fry, but then quickly returning to staring at the reruns of the latest contest playing on the screen across from their table.

Drew sighed, following her gaze, then looked back at her. He wished she would open up more often...but it looked like he was going to have to do this the direct way.

While her eyes were glued to the screen, his hands snaked across the table, and took hers. Squeezing them between his thumbs, and massaging the sides of them. Her gaze returned to his very slowly, but it met his with concern, and dullness that didn't fit her deep blue eyes.

"May... ever since Ash's celebration party, you've been really..." Unsure of what to classify her behavior as, he simply stopped, then said: "If there's something wrong, please tell me."

May swallowed, glanced at their intertwined hands, then back up to his green eyes, then shifted a bit in her seat to look at the screen, then back at him once more. She both hated and loved when he was so direct with her. Often, she found herself running in circles, so having him to keep her grounded proved an floundering foundation the last few years. She squeezed his hands again.

"I'm..."

Though as the words started out of her mouth, the restaurant door opened, and blue hair rushed in without restraint, followed by a small, blue and white penguin and the scent of oranges.

"May, what happened!?"

Before the brunette could answer, Dawn Matthews interrupted without a second thought, prying their hands apart with an invisible force, as if they had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, leaving Drew blowing a strand of hair out of his face, glaring up at her.

"Dawn..." The couple replied in unison, though Drew was much less pleased to see Dawn.

"That was the first round, girl! What on earth happened?" Without asking, piplup jumped up onto the table, helping himself to whatever was leftover from May's food, and Dawn took a seat across from Drew, and beside May in the booth. She took both of May's hands, and blinked worriedly at the girl.

"I...I..." May stammered, then forced a smile, she glanced at Drew for help, but realized he could do nothing to save her from this moment. May met Dawn's gaze and smiled. "Forget me, girl. You won! Congratulations!"

"Thank you, I honestly didn't think I was going to pull it off in the end there..." Dawn stared thoughtfully into the distance, but then retraced her steps and came right back to the conversation.

"Are you having an off day or something?"

"Yeah, big off day. I mean, Drew just got back from Johto and..."

"Ah! I see it's all those hormones." Dawn's eyebrows wiggled, but May shook her head no, while Drew covered his face with his hands. This was going to make for a lovely conversation.

"No... no it's not." May inched away from Dawn, and tapped her hands on the table and smiled earnestly at Dawn while trying to look around the small restaurant.

"Uhm... I thought you were... traveling with Paul?"

Dawn's jaw locked at that, and she smacked her lips. Apparently, they hit a sore spot. When they left Ash's celebration party, Dawn was on the heels of Paul Shinji, who was heading to the Hoenn region to win his first championship. They had a weird 'friendship', but May thought they were on good terms. Apparently, she'd been wrong.

"Was." Dawn answered, titled her head and licking her top lip. Piplup grumbled something incoherently while his trainer rolled her shoulders.

"So, how long have you two been in town? I just sent May a text this morning that I was competing in this contest and she happened to be in the same area. Weird, right?"

"Right." Drew grumbled, sipping his drink. May seemed more intrigued, but Drew still couldn't get over the woman's bad timing.

"Uhm, I've been here since this morning, Drew arrived only a few hours ago. He was out as a specialist for a contest on Johto."

"Oh... so you two are traveling around Hoenn again?"
"Yeah, I figured I could maybe retrace my steps." said May, smiling.

"Well, if we're all going to the same places... would you mind having a plus one?" Dawn's brows wiggled again, and both Drew and May shared an apprehensive look, but it was May who accepted the idea with open arms.

"We'd love to have you. Right Drew?"

If only looks could kill in that moment, because the ever patient Drew glared at May who shrugged as Dawn gleefully hugged her; mouthing 'sorry'.

Guess Drew would have to pry May's secrets from her another day. Hopefully, she didn't use Dawn as another scapegoat.

Author's Note: edited 2018-11-25

I did make a few big changes. All of Drew and May's interactions were redone so they wouldn't feel so stilted. Week tracker was removed, and Dawn's introduction was changed up. Originally she was intoxicated in the story, but because it played no role other than 'surprise!' I took it out. Rather than participating in this particular contest, I had May choke during the contest, to fit the story better later on.

I edited it mostly for plot/consistency. The grammar could probably have another once over, but meh.

NINT