Equanimity, Chapter 13: Week ten

Today was the day, the unofficial tag-team contest that May and Drew had been practicing for the last four weeks. An entire month, for one contest.

May toyed with the idea of entering a contest or two on her own time while they traveled around Hoenn but at each contest she was reminded of her conflicted feelings, and walked away from signing up. She did not have a single ribbon in the Hoenn Region; Dawn had left for Johto four weeks ago and was probably already prepared for the Grand Festival there—yet, here May was. Again. Behind.

It wasn't that May didn't enjoy contests; a large part of her did—what she didn't enjoy was losing. For the last eight years, she lost contest festival after festival; really, it started at the Wallace Cup, when Dawn defeated her. Defeated May, who had the stronger team, better experience, and the proper mindset and determination.

May didn't hold that defeat over Dawn, mostly because May wasn't a spiteful person; but a part of her, deep down felt that was when her ambition started to fall.

Now she was standing at the finals of a duo-contest tournament; against twins who had been battling together for the last ten years. Drew and May, with four months of battle practice, against a war-torn duo that decimated their former matches. Unlike Sinnoh, dressing up for contests in Hoenn was not mandatory, but that didn't stop the two of them. Drew was shoved into a tightly-fit tuxedo coat, and May was forced into a blue, wrap dress. For a group about to battle, they looked ready to preform in a dance competition, not a battle.

Tugging on his collar, Drew approached May who had been collecting her breath and thoughts and then clapped her on her bare shoulder.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked, and May, who finally made it to the final round for the first time in months—mostly because she was hanging onto Drew's coattails—even though he told her other wise. Be more confident he told her a million times. It wasn't like may to be so negative.

"As ready as I'm going to be." She responded.

Her hair was tied back into a pony tail; the lose strands usually framing her face were tucked behind her ears and clipped back to keep her vision clear. The tag-team contest was a large celebration, and the winner was not only taking home a trophy, they would also win a cash settlement, May believed she wanted to look her part to the best of her ability, especially standing beside a top-coordinator.

May's face scrunched up at the thought while she cracked her neck in her best attempt to pump herself up. Her nerves after the last few battles were stretched thin, and she had to shake her limbs loose. They would win. Seeing her agitation, Drew scoffed, then with the skill of a hair dresser, and the calming nature of some kind of prince, Drew nudged May, twirling her to face him before he plucked her bangs out of their clip. They fell in lose strands around her face and she scrunched her nose in disagreement.

"What did you do that for? My hair took an hour." She grunted but was both silenced, and amazed when Drew touched her cheeks gently, and pecked her on the nose.

"Just relax, there's no pressure to win." He told her, contrary to what he had before in the past. The words punched May in the stomach and she released the breath she had been holding since that morning when the contest began.

"Alright. Then let's go lose then." May joked, tone alleviated when he took her hand, and they took the stage.

XOXs

When the battle—that's right battle, not contest; the gruesome, tactical adversaries were far from the usual contest- hit the fourth quarter, both teams were at their ropes. This was no longer just a presentation of the pokemon's inner and outer beauty anymore—or thier trainers appearance; May and Drew were a mess. The battle had been going for just under thirty minutes and the crowd was still cheering madly when one blast was countered by another, and they fell into a nearly blow by blow battle. Where the twins were better performers—possibly the best May had ever seen—Drew and May had a better battle strategy. What they lost in points for roughness, they earned back by knocking out the opponents pokemon.

In a rare case, the battle was a three on three—or in this case, and six on six. After thirty minutes, the battle had trickled into slyveon and swampert, versus May's blaziken and Drew's absol. The perfect duo, had the clear type advantage, but even so, May and Drew skimmed the roof; battle wise, they were winning from brute strength alone, contest rules-wise; they weren't being very beautiful while doing it.

"Absol, tackle slyveon!"

"Blaziken, give him cover!"

Drew's lips tightened when the pokemon moved to their trainers command; blaziken twisted his long legs into the dirt battle ground, then blew fire upward that drew smoke into the area—wining them two points back, when absol ducked into the smoke to prepare his attack. He glanced at May for a brief second; the problem with a tag-team battle was while they were expected to work together; they had no time to actually formulate a plot.

..worst of all, there seemed to be a miscommunication; where May and Drew were understanding in most occasions; there was a fog blocking their silence communiation.

Unlike normal tag-team battles in tournaments, when a partners pokemon fainted in a dual-contest, the match was over. So, Drew and May made a mental agreement to target the weakest pokemon in the group—which was slyveon.

"Swampert, clear the area by spinning with hydro pump."

"Oh no." May cursed, knowing that blaziken wouldn't be able to effectively counter it.

"Absol dodge it and then use swift!" Drew shouted out though May hurtfully hesitated. Her heart raced, then her mouth opened. Hydro pump would clear the smoke...but spinning would effectively destroy any power behind the attack. Her heart leaped and she inhaled.

"Blaziken!" She shouted, earning the pokemon's attention. "Cut through it with flare blitz!" May shouted, her tone drastic enough to jar Drew's attention right out of the battle.

"He hasn't practiced it enough and you're at the type disadvantage!" Drew yelped quickly, earning a close-up on the large screen and a comment from the news reporter about 'trouble in paradise' along with 'could this risky move be it for the duo?'

Though, May knew what she was doing; and she was right to trust her instincts. Through the smoke laden path created a move prior, past absol who watched in awe, then directly through the spinning hydro pump. Its feathers damp, its eyes on fire, blaziken ripped through the hydro pump with a fire around its entire body that crushed the opposition and landed a critical hit on swampert, who was thrust backwards, past his trainer, and directly into the concrete wall.

"Now shake it off and finish this with a high jump kick!" May's hand extended forward, deafened by the height of near-victory. She stole the show when the formerly flame-engulfed monster shrieked, and dashed after swampert before it could recover, and knocked it into the concrete wall once more with a devastating kick to the upper jaw.

When the smoke cleared, slyveon remained standing, with absol a few feet away watching blaziken as it brushed itself off and moved away from the swamp water pokemon. Its body was mangled into the wall, and one of the opposing trainers squealed before returning him. May rose with confidence, her shoulders held high when the familiar, faulty sound of dismal ringing fell over her ears.

"It...appears the match is over." the announcer barked, checking the score sheet automatically given to him by the judges... he coughed and cracked his neck, his anxiousness showing through his voice. "The winners are The Twins from Twinleaf Town!"

May's stomach lurched when she looked up at the contest judges, where her scoreboard had been marked into the red—her 'appeal' points were squashed with the opponents only winning by a millimeter, at best. Her last attack...it was hidden by the smoke screen. Anger surged through her.

"What do you mean!? I knocked out their pokemon!" She shouted but Drew tried to calm her before she made a scene. One of the judges breathed into the microphone.

"The brutality and strength of your pokemon was not displayed in a magnificent manner. While you may have won the match, you left your partner wide open for a counter attack and disregarded proper safety and beautification processes that could have led your pokemon and your partners pokemon to destruction. Besides, because of your lack of foresight, the final blow was lost in the smoke."

"But why does that matter?! His pokemon is fine!" She shouted back, and she could only see them shrug in response.

"I'm sorry, but you were the loser. Please exit the stage."

May's mouth opened, then closed when she returned blaziken with a huff, then stormed away from the platform without waiting for Drew. He followed after her, not-returning absol who followed in disregard. Outside, the crowd burst into cheers, and the duo they battled won with smug expressions. For a brief moment, Drew wondered if that was what he looked like when he was preforming years ago. Winning mostly by luck, then playing it off on experience.

Drew chased after May, cursing the horrible dress shoes he wedged himself into when she slammed open the changing room door, then all but tore off the neat, pristine dress she hated wearing.

"Jesus-!" Drew gasped, covering his eyes and turning away from her. He heaved a heavy sigh when she tore open her locker and started to dress back into her normal attire, all the while, swearing.

"I can't believe them! Brutality! Are they joking? We won the match!" May growled, ripped her earrings out, pulled her shirt and tights over her underwear, and slipped on a pair of white shorts before smoothing the outfit out. Trying to forget what ever image he had witnessed, and attempting to nurse the ill-situation, he turned at her when she sat on the bench at the middle of the room, and started to tie on her sneakers.

She faced away from him, but he didn't need to see her face to know the immense distress and frustration crossed over there. When her shoulders fell, she hissed once more, her voice cracking.

"We had them by the ropes! Swampert ruined his entire hydro pump and lowered his defenses by spinning! His entire body was out if alignment. I knew blaziken could land the attack! I wasn't being reckless—or brutal!"

"May-"

"No!" She shouted, standing up with an eternal, passionate flame in her eyes. "Remember when contests were about winning battles but preforming tricks that worked with your pokemon?" She gestured to Drew's attire. "When we didn't need to dress up because we were more concerned about putting our pokemon's unique abilities on display for the world? Flare blitz is an amazing attack and the fact that blaizken knows it at all should have been points for something! Instead, using a powerful attack cost us the frickin' match! It's infuriating! They didn't deduct points when that stupid trainer told his swampert to spin and use hydropump! What a wasted attack; he could have even hit slyveon!"

Drew felt sweat pour down his neck. He had only ever seen May this angry on a few occasions; actually, he had never seen her so angry. It was an experience he would never forget. She pulled on a set of white and black gloves that she traditionally wore since her time as a beginning trainer, and he could feel the rage boiling from every pore on her body when he approached her from behind, and placed his hands on her shoulders delicately.

"Calm down..." He tried, but she rocketed away from him and swat his hands.

"Don't tell me to calm down! That was bull shit!" She yelled with a loud huff followed by the scuffle of pulling on her satchel over her waist. She stomped her feet a second later, and Drew blinked in her direction.

"Where are you going?"

"Out for a walk!" May replied, "I need to clear my head!"

"I'll go with-"

"-Alone!" She snapped, slamming the door for effect. In the locker room where her performance clothes were still strewn about as if he had tore them off himself; he slowly gathered them into his arms with a reoccurring sigh, and packed them away with his items once he started to disrobe.

It was unfair that May lost them the match, but that was how contests worked. Unlike normal battling, they required not only winning on most occasions, but also showing a pokemon's true skills and abilities; their talents, ability to work with the trainer, and unfortunately their beauty. They weren't battles, winning wasn't the only goal in a contest. They required planning, and tactics, and strategic moves; relying everything into one final attack that had too many unresolved consequences was none of those—blaziken never learned the move properly before the match. May was taking a high risk, and in the end, it led little reward. Her anger, however, was understandable. They were finally going to win, and she got cocky. She went for the kill, when she should have gone for the knock out.

Sighing, Drew pulled on his gray slacks, black t-shirt, and then closed his locker and shouldered the rest of his pack after tying on his shoes. There was no point in sticking around; semi-finalist weren't given an award, and he wanted to beat the press.

XOXs

Nearly an hour after the match was over, Drew found May sitting on the swing set outside of the pokemon center. Clutching her poke-gear phone, and pressing buttons to most likely text her brother, Max, who still hadn't called her since heading to Kalos for his own journey. Inside of the pokemon center at the service desk, Drew saw the familiar set of pokeballs on the petistool, indicating that she was waiting to pick them up. More than likely, she was waiting on Drew, who took a small detour before returning to see her.

"May." He spoke in a hushed tone slipping two arms around her stomach, right below her breast to hug her gently. May winced when he brushed his lips against her cheeks, then pulled away to sit in the swing beside her; leaving a rose dusting on her lap.

Looking down affectionately, she exhaled. "Thanks Drew." She hummed, scooping the rose between her fingers before she kicked her feet back and forth against the air. She pumped once then twice, the insistent squeak above them whistling loudly while she swung back and forth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Drew finally asked her, watching her fly beside him like a pendulum.

"Not really." May replied quickly, her hair blowing into her face as she flew backwards. She pumped forward, and flew high above the ground with each swing, while Drew dusted his feet into the sand.

A few minutes passed before May came to a slowing stop, then jumped from her seat.

"When I was upset about losing when I was a kid; Ash would always tell me not to give up!" May declared breathlessly, shooting her fist upward toward the sky. A pang of resentment shot through Drew's nerves, and he looked away shamefully—the thought hadn't occurred to him to tell her not to give up. She was an adult, he respected her wishes enough to let her think on her own. People were allowed to feel down.

"Four years ago when I started a journey on my own, Max used to tell me to stop being a big baby." She added, her fist dropping. It opened when it hit her waste and she looked forward into the sunset.

"Since I was a kid, I've always had people telling me to get better—to do better; to try harder." May inhaled. "And I've tried, but nothing I do seems good enough."

"May, you're doing fine." Drew offered finally. "Everyone hits a low point sometimes—you preformed amazingly at the contest today, the judges were just.."

"Doing their job?" May asked, in an uncouth tone as she turned at him. Hands on her hips, she swerved back into her swing—pressing the sole of her foot into the plastic seat. "I messed up. I acted rashly instead of acting like a performer! I know that. It's not like I don't understand or anything—it's just unfair. Contests have changed so much in ten years under the influence of showcases and battling; we're trying too hard to be different that we've forgotten what we were in the beginning. Coordinators aren't supposed to play dress up—we're supposed to show how amazing our pokemon are."

Drew pursed his lips, eyes turned away. He didn't disagree with her, but contests had been this way for a long time.

"Things change?"

"I know." May replied then hopped off the swing. "I'm sorry we lost." She explained sullenly, clearly more upset that she brought him down with her, than that they lost in general. Because in her mind, they didn't lose, the judges called it unfairly.

Drew scoffed. "I'm not upset that we lost."

"Oooh my, you two are here." The shrill of a man's voice echoed loudly behind the duo, who's backs both stiffened upon the familiar, masculine, feminine voice. They turned in unison, like a creaky door when their eyes fell on green—so much green—and purple hair.

"Harley." Drew muttered when lanky arms grabbed them both into an overly friendly hug. May chuckled but Drew groaned. When Harely finally separated he clapped his hands and shrieked.

"My two lovelies, that was an amazing display of power from the both of you today." He placed a hand over his heart and inhaled. "I'm so impressed by your growth."

"Thanks Harley." May offered with a sly smile, though Drew was less than impressed.

"What do you want, Harley? Are you still up to your old tricks?" Drew grunted with frustration. The other man shrugged then winked at Drew.

"Heavens, no! I wanted to see my two favorite rivals—oh, and question what in the heck you were doing here, silly goose?" he pointed to Drew. "Aren't there advanced competitions in Johto right now. You're eligible for those as a top-coordinator, you know."

As if Harley had signed his death sentence, Drew's face paled and he calmly placed his hand over his face.

"What?" May asked, blinking.

"Yeah, apparently he went to the Johto region to resign from the position he was offered—I never thought it would be to come back to Hoenn." Harley gasped, not realizing the damage he was creating while Drew stared on at him, glaring daggers and death. Shut up he swore at Harley mentally.

"I was so depressed when I heard you pulled out of the contest—I was expecting to see great things from you—now I have to watch all these other minor characters battle . Hmmm" Harley crossed his arms, then May turned to Drew, furious.

"You said you weren't accepted into that program!"

Drew went to reply, but she cut him off.

"And that you went to Johto to see your parents!" She added hotly, and Harley reeled backwards, realizing what mayhem he had started. "Why would you lie to me!?"

"I didn't lie to you, I did go to Johto to see my parents!" He tried, but May threw up her arms, and then spun away from him; leaving the boys in a silent huff. Harley covered his mouth and glared down at Drew.

"Did you do something to hurt my little Hoenn Princess?" He gasped in disaffection, and Drew groaned before racing after May and disregarding Harley's presence. She was in their shared room when Drew walked in slowly and then shut the door.

"Are you mad?" He asked calmly—though it was clear in the way she packed things around the room.

"I'm furious!" She exclaimed, throwing together her things; upon closer realization, he noted that they weren't her things; they were his things. She took his blazer from the back of the chair; his clothes he tossed off that morning and didn't bother to put away, and shoved them into his back pack. His heart lurched.

"May—what are you doing?" He asked awkwardly, albeit, terrified. Slowly, she looked to him with wavy, dark blue eyes and swallowed hard before thrusting his full backpack against his chest.

He grabbed her hands instead, letting his bag fall to the floor and held onto her tightly, forcing her gaze to remain—nearly begging for an answer. Midst the gaze, she bit down on her lip, then slowly looked away and released he released her.

"I don't want to be the reason you don't follow you dreams, Drew." She sounded so sad, disappointed in herself and her actions, when Drew leaned forward to kiss her forehead gently; his few inches he held over her seeming like mountains now.

"You're not." He tried to reassure her, but she sighed and shove herself away from him.

"Obviously I am, the Johto advanced contests are a huge deal; you have to be sent a letter—you don't just apply for them. They invite you." May expressed with a sad sigh, her shoulders drooped and Drew ruffled his hair before sitting beside her.

"Yeah...but that was before everything with you." He tried, but that didn't make her feel any better.

"Drew; you were planning on leaving before that incident at Ash's party—weren't you?"

"I...Might have." He said quietly, mulling over his thoughts in his mind. "Then you seemed so bothered when I tried to leave that I-"

"That's because you bolted." She interrupted him with a sigh. "Leaving on good terms and running away are completely different. I can't believe I have to be the one to tell you that." May whispered, puckering her lips. Drew laughed nervously before looking at her; shamefully his eyes downcast to the floor and she bumped his shoulder.

"I guess I didn't want to then." he said honestly, looking away from her. They weren't good at talking about this stuff, especially not Drew. They always tried to hide their emotions behind hormones, or the shade of night; usually, their issues were so small, they could sleep them away or find a solution; never had it actually been...

"I guess I found something more important to me than pokemon contests." Drew blushed biting the inside of his cheek when May gushed at him.

"Aww, Drew." She said sweetly, wrapping a tender arm around his shoulders and leaning her head onto his arm. "I love you, too." She murmured, and Drew's face turned three shades darker at the lumbering, belittling voice that she carried. He pinched the bridge of her nose when she sniffled—mocking him quietly.

When the moment passed, she looked up at him through her eyelashes and blinked several times.

"I want you to do this." She said. "I know that if I was in your shoes—even if I didn't mind it at first, I would resent it later." May smiled and rested her chin on his shoulder. He looked beaten when his green eyes fell on hers—absolutely defeated. She might have struggled in contests, but she always beat him.

He sighed. "How can I tell you no with those eyes?" He muttered and May stuck her tongue out at him before he continued. "Will you come with me?"

That was the tricky part; the hard question. May bit her thumb through her glove and then shook her head very, very slowly, effectively crushing Drew.

"Honestly, I think I need some time to clear my head—maybe go home for a little while." May offered, though Drew looked down thoughtfully.

"Oh."

"It would only be for a little while. I just have to figure out what's going on with me, first. I'm not going to be much help if I'm constantly throwing fits in contests, am I?" May asked, brushing her hair from her face. Drew smiled at her, leaned in close, then with little to no warning, he kissed her lips and wrapped his arms up around her waist. Where she was slender, she was also well endowed when he pressed her assets against him, drawing a long, frustrated sigh from her.

"You know I think you're amazing." He muttered, sliding his hands down to her hips, then back up again.

She giggled gleefully and wiggled beneath him. "Not always; you were pretty uptight when we were younger."

Drew rolled his eyes recalling their interactions when May was a new trainer.

"Yes always." He argued jokingly, then kissed her again, parting her lips with his own before nimbly slipping his tongue inside, allotting for a strangled moan, and a sensation that made her weak in the knees.

XOXs

Goodbyes were hard, but they were easier when they had a happy ending; and while May wasn't fruitful in her current expeditions; she was optimistic about their relationship, at the very least. When Drew moved to shoulder his neat, and well packed bag, he kissed May on the cheek and they walked to the airport together. Harley was going to fly back with Drew to Johto, after everything was said and done the night prior, they met up with him again at the pokemon center cafe, and decided the sooner Drew returned, the higher his chances were to be admitted back into the program.

May didn't think he would be leaving so soon, but she wouldn't let her own selfishness keep him from his own journey; and maybe, if she could get past her road block, she could join him in Johto.

So, goodbyes were hard, but when he hugged her at the airport, squeezed her tightly and whispered into her ear that he would miss her, and he will see her soon; and that she will figure this out, she knew it wouldn't be too bad. And, if she changed her mind, he was only an island away. Or a phone call away...

May stayed at the airport until his train took off, it wasn't likely he could see her standing at the large, glass windows, but it made her feel better, hopeful, that she was still there when the plan took off. A long distant relationship wouldn't be horrible, would it? After all, Ash and Misty made it work, and they were close to three thousand miles apart. Drew and May would only be a few hundred, and the time change would only be a couple of hours.

May lowered her hand from the window, then turned around and inhaled. For the first time since she was ten, she was on her own.

XOXs

Petalburg City was a train ride away, and had May been anyone else; she would have taken it. However, the new bounding freedom that came with the solo-accomplishment drove her to walk the thirty one miles to Petalburg City, through the forest, exploring.

Without a map, she was able to jump at every waterfall, without a guide, she could follow moss on the edge of trees; without a companion, she could wander all night, and sleep all day. For the first time in years, she beat to her drum, and her drum alone.

It was refreshing, if not liberating, to be her own person. Not that she wasn't already, Drew never complained when they would take detours, but he often didn't share in her endless reach of freedom, either. Knowing that he was indifferent, she would intentionally avoid harrowing detours, tempting rock slides, and the path less traveled.

On her way to Petalburg, May finally took a path less traveled, which resulted in a rock slide, an injured calf, and thirteen bandages—but she had fun.

Stumbling into the dark gym at the break of dawn, she felt more tired than excited, and her body ached where she fell against large rocks, and trees a day prior. Holding her head, she peeled off her headband, and flicked it onto the ground, following her shoes, socks, then eventually her satchel after releasing all of her pokemon currently with her: venusaur, blaziken, beautifly, wortortle, and glaceon. The moment they emerged from their small imprisonment, they beamed happily, finding comfort in the yard outside of the gym in their own environments.

While the brunette was never in favor of being dirty, she didn't mind the light coat of dust over her clothes when she stepped into the kitchen, where her mother, Caroline hummed a joyous, upbeat tone, while preparing this mornings meal. She didn't even hear May when she walked in.

"Mom!" May bellowed, outstretching her arms, and hugging the woman. The mother made a startled noise that resulted in a twist from her, and then she blinked.

"May! Oh my gosh! What are you doing home?" the woman asked, a smile dancing on her face.

"I decided to stop in and visit for awhile; catch up with my family, see the gym—you know, fun stuff!" May expressed, twirling to her seat where she picked off her band-aids one at a time.

"Really?" Her mother asked, forever the skeptic. "And it had nothing to do with that boy you entered your most recent contest with?"

May had just taken a bite out of her mother's extravagant, delicious breakfast rolls when she peeked over her shoulder at Caroline. Her cheeks were full of delicious subsistence, and she didn't think to stop eating, to give a fitting reply.

"Max told us you two are dating; when were you going to tell us?" Her mother asked painfully.

"Max called you?!" May jumped, choking down her food. "How is he doing in Kalos?"

"He hasn't called you?"

"No! The little jerk never calls!" May barked, holding her fists up in offense. Her mother quirked her eyebrow, and smacked her lips.

"That doesn't change my question." She hissed in that sweet, motherly warning. "Are you dating that green-haired boy, Drew, was it?"

"Oh..." May hummed, looking up at the corner of the room. "..Yeah, I am."

Caroline's voice screeched. "And you didn't tell us?"
"It's not a big deal mom!" May shouted, lowering her hands to the table. "I was going to tell you...soon."

"How soon? When can we meet him? You know your father isn't happy about it!"

"Give me a break!" May sighed, rubbing her hand against her face; this is why she didn't want to tell her parents! Stupid Max and his stupid big mouth! "I don't know, he went to Johto recently to compete in the Advanced Contests there."

"He's a trainer like you? Oh May, why couldn't you pick a doctor or..."

"Mother!" May hissed, shooting from her chair. "Can we not have this discussion right now? I didn't come home to talk about my relationships!"

"Then why did you come home?" Caroline snapped knowingly, with a sweet, motherly smile. The sudden shock of the question weighed heavy on May's shoulders, and she sat back very slowly, and took a seat at the table thoughtfully.

"...I don't know. It just seemed like the place to be right now."

"...Oh, May." Caroline cooed, taking her daughter into a sweet embrace. "You will work through whatever is bothering you, I promise."

"How did you know something was bothering me?" May questioned, eyebrows lowered and knit together with a dashing, innocent smile. Caroline pat May's hair, and left a sweet kiss on her temple before returning to her meal plans—knowing May was home, she would need to change the whole set up.

"A mother always knows." Caroline determined, flicking together the potatoes she was carving, expecting May to run off to play outside like she always did when she was a kid, when the young adult popped beside her aging mother, and gathering some potatoes to help peel.

"Thanks, mom." May smiled, fumbling over her hands. Her mother chuckled.

"You're welcome." A pause. "But don't think you're getting out of introducing that boy of yours."

"Mom..." May groaned, dropping her chin to her chest.

Maybe coming home wasn't always the best option. It's no wonder Ash avoided Delia in times of depression; while they were always warm, they were also... pressuring. May had no doubt that Caroline and Delia would have been best friends if they lived a little closer together. They were both nosy, good intention mothers.

Author's Note:

MAN. No one is having a fun time right now, are they? -laughs nervously-

Okay, so, pay attention to the 'parallels' between contestshipping and pokeshipping. I had a whole explanation following this, but it was a little long so I omitted it. Just pay attention. XD In my brain, I tried to make contests sound a little more appealing; because in reality they're just like battles; but...pretty? Least that's what I understand. I have great plans for May! -dances happily-
Any who, see you all next chapter; which is about Ash! (I know lots of you just wanted that one, but sorry this came first D:)