Equanimity chapter 18:
Drew always made sure that May was sent a text in the morning—something small, sometimes something big, sometimes, if he was feeling really lonesome, he would send her a voicemail, because they were never one without the other; and they made her feel better.
If only a little.
Today's 'good morning text' read: "Hey, if you hear from Dawn, tell her I'm sorry for my outburst the other day. My most recent contest has just been getting under my skin. Good morning, May."
Rolling over in her satin sheets to squint at the screen, she wasn't sure she was seeing his words right. The typical text was anywhere along the lines of "Good morning, babe. I miss you." or "I love you, have a good day." Or some other emotionally cheesy and uplifting response to keep her chin up and head in the game.
Today though, well, that was weird.
"What happened?" May replied instantly, though the message was sent over an hour ago and Drew, who ran a pretty tight training regime since separating from May, often did not reply until late in the after noon.
May hadn't spoke with Dawn since she left on her journey of self-discovery in the Johto region where she planned to find what her true calling was. Long before May temporarily split from her longest rival and now-boyfriend Drew, to figure out her own self-worth. To do so, she came home, spent time with her mother and father, played with her pokemon she left behind there, and mostly
...she sulked.
A lot.
Misty, when she spoke with the woman briefly to talk about why her mudkip was getting moss on the underside of his tongue, implied that she was brooding. Not sulking. May had a couple of rough words to share with her, but given the poor redhead's current circumstances of clawing her way out of media hell, May refrained from her coarse language. She was only being feisty and inconsiderate, after all. Self-projecting her own frustrations into the rest of the world, when she should have been relaxing and focusing on getting better herself.
Yet, here she was, surrounded by empty snack wrappers, disheveled bedding, and the sincere lack of clothing in the very epitome of her dark bedroom, glaring at her poke-phone and groaning into her pillow.
It's puberty, dear. Her mother insisted to her father under her breath while peeking in to stare in at her. Forget that May was seventeen! She went through puberty earlier than most kids her age—if her assets were any indication; so she wasn't the tallest of the group, but puberty? Now? Her mom had to live under a rock.
I still think it's that boy. Norman tossed out ruthlessly and May had to stop herself from screaming. On top of her own miserable nature; they thought it was fun to torment the idea of Drew, especially knowing his reputation as a bit of a 'snotty competitor'. Not to mention May had yet to mention to Drew that her parents wanted to meet him. She wasn't sure he was mentally prepared to undergo that situation, let alone Drew, who was dealing with his own issues as of late.
May glanced at her phone again, recalling Drew's behavior. Sometimes, the boy was too good for her. He messaged her without complaint everyday, reminded her to keep training, and kept her in the loop about her—their-rivals on most occasions. He was everything sweet, and kind, and May adored his absolute cheese laden behavior; but her inner frustrations didn't start with Drew, but with herself.
What did May want? She asked herself a million times during her hundredth stroll around Pedalburg city until finally landing herself in her bed for the last three days. She told her parents that she was sick, but they came to their own conclusions. May wasn't depressed, May didn't get depressed. She was permanently optimistic and full of radiating joy and wit. May was an older sister with overwhelming charm, and embarrassing traits—and most importantly, she was fun. She was the fun one. Max was supposed to be the one that went through downs and huddled in bed for weeks at a time in a fit of depression. Not May! May was a go getter, a fighter, a woman of action.
And right now, she felt like a piece of drift wood in the middle of the ocean.
What did May want? To be a top coordinator! Came to mind instantly, but the more she thought about her dream, the more it lined up with being better than her rivals, always taking one foot forward, and improving inwardly. Unlike Ash, May didn't like pokemon originally, she didn't want to be a trainer, she wanted to see the world; and perhaps a small part of her never grew out of that. When everyone around her celebrating pokemon like the second coming, how could she not fall in line with that way of thinking? Especially when everyone around her had these huge goals and dreams to obtain, simply stating: "I want to be better than I was yesterday" didn't quite fit the bill.
So May traveled, and she trained, and she competed and she won and she lost—but nothing ever bit back the feeling of inadequacy in her chest. Dawn defeated her multiple times because may didn't want it enough. This is how she justified her losing. May wanted to win, to be better, but she never really cared about the title at the end. At least not as much as Dawn, or Drew, or Briana, or...
Groaning, May twisted inside of her sheets, getting a headache from the constant pool of thoughts in her head. Couldn't they stop for three seconds so she could get some sleep!?
Ring.
Her phone sung beside her, to which she groaned in hope who ever was calling would stop.
Riiiiiing
It chirped once more and she shifted to stare down at the blue screen with narrowed eyes in the barely-lit room. Drew never called her at this-
"Max!" She snapped forward, snatching the phone off her bed, clicking the answer call button and holding it to her face while she practically screamed into the phone.
"Why don't you call!?" She addressed immediately as any worried older sister would, and Max coughed embarrassingly on the other side.
"Well, first of all, because long distance calls cost a lot of money. Second of all, I'm busy, and you need to not worry so much, and third of all, hi, sis, how's it going?"
May withheld her comments and grind her teeth instead. "Oh, you know, I'm doing great. Been working really hard, how about you?"
"Me? Oh, I'm doing wonderful in Kalos! I've won a couple of badges, and I'm entering a tournament in the next couple of days and..." he stopped, knowing he was getting a head of himself. It was good to hear that he was so excited, though, she knew that Max spent years living in her shadow and having his own accomplishments hidden by her own, so she smiled happily for him.
"But that's not why I'm calling. Mom sent a...well, worrisome voicemail a few days ago. Are you really back in Petalburg?"
May wasn't sure how to reply.
"What about Drew? Is he there with you? Mom said he left to Johto—because you know-"
"Drew is fine." May snapped instantly before Max could play the 'good brother' card where he sent out minor insults to her boyfriend of choice for misbehaving, not that Drew ever really did.
"And I'm...well, I just needed some time to think."
"Time to think? Oh, man that's scary." Max twisted, sounding very strained and worried while May inhaled.
"Max... don't make me come up there an.."
"That's not a bad idea!" Max chirped, interrupting what might have been a layered insult.
"What?"
"Come visit Kalos region! That would be a good break from brooding!" There was that word again, May huffed.
"I don't know." She paused. "would you want your big sister around cramping your style?"
"Aww, you don't cramp my style, May, you embarrass me. It's two different things completely."
Silence fell between them for a good second before May snapped back to reality. "...who have you been hanging around?" because that kind of comment from Max was far too straight-forward.
"Bonnie has rubbed off a little, maybe." Max admitted weakly. "but I mean it, you should come here if you're not busy. I'm entering that tournament soon, and it would be awesome if you could be here since, well, you know. No one else really roots for the weird kid."
Ah, there's the understanding. May snickered, a toothy grin pulling at her cheeks. "And what about your new friends?"
"Well, Bonnie is entering too, which means that without a doubt Serena and Clemont are going to be rooting for her, even if they say they'll root for the both of us, plus, Ash has to be indifferent, if he even shows up."
"Aww, Max, you're breaking my heart, you little weirdo."
"Don't call me weird."
"You just called yourself weird!"
"Shut up, May."
"Love you too, little brother!"
"I'm hanging up now."
"Aww, am I embarrassing you too much?"
"Goodbye May."
"goooodbbyee-" she heard him hang up, and chuckled to herself quietly while Max text her the details of the tournament with a loaded amount of angry smiley faces that only had her laughing harder.
Siblings! She couldn't live with them, but she most definitely couldn't live without them. And she missed him. May sighed, shaking her head. Max didn't have to assure her, or vocalize his concerns, his call was enough; the invitation went without saying that he was worried, and May nodded quietly.
She could be down in the dumps, but she needed to actively keep looking for a way out. Maybe her answer would be in Kalos? Because it certainly wasn't here with her parents breathing down her neck.
"Mom, I'm going to Kalos to visit Max!" May called while jumping from her bed, and grabbing her supplies from the chair that she never bothered to unpack. With great confidence, she marched from her dark room into the bright light of the hallway connected to the kitchen where her mother let out a terrifying scream.
"Not in your underwear you're not!"
May looked down at herself, clearly undressed, and pursed her lips while a scarlet brush spread over her cheeks and she ducked back into her room to die quietly in her own embarrassment.
Okay, so she had a few set backs to address.
XOX
May had to tell herself it was no wonder Misty hated visiting so much—according to Ash. The flight was horrible. Leaving from Hoenn, the tropic area, they flew through a number of storms within the twelve hour flight, and May learned something new about herself: She hated flying. Or at least, she hated flying in large, metal milk cartons next to a guy who smelled like bourbon and body odor with the rest of the passengers an overwhelming number of 30-somethings who watched May skeptically.
Pokemon trainers were troubling enough, but when clumsy May introduced herself to the rest of the passengers by falling into a loading dock and setting the flight time back by an hour, well, she had the feeling she was the most hated person on the flight.
Regardless, she landed safely with her head on her shoulders and limbs attached. And the need for a shower. The man sitting beside her left a drool stain on her sleeve before she was able to slide out of the airplane and adjust her fanny-pack and bandanna. Unlike the rest of the passengers, May only had a change of clothes and her gear, without any need for all the extra stuff they had to wait in line for.
Immediately, May realized the error of her ways. Kalos was gorgeous, and represented the undying jealousy that they didn't hold contests within their borders, because they would have been majestic with their displays.
Again, her mindset fell on contests, and she groaned quietly to herself. She was supposed to be on vacation, but each new tower, glowing street with well-rounded technological buildings and a combination of old-fashion, french themed architecture took her breath away. Prism tower lumbered over the city bright and proud, representing after the great battle a symbol of strength and power that was now maintained by Clemont and Bonnie, who still traveled around occasionally with their friends.
More importantly, Ash Ketchum's face decorated the walls of nearly every street corner, whether by television, magazine, or poster. He was not only renown, he was famous. Hailed as a hero and the rightful champion after Alain stepped down for a rematch. It was no wonder people found it so easy to live in a wonder-world up here. Ash was the champion hero they needed. Protector of the region, and motivator of their children.
And May felt really bad for him. It couldn't have been easy to hold the title of league champion, still taking orders from the regional champion and the Elite Four, and the lumps thrown in by the heartless media. For once, May was glad she wasn't famous, if fame ruined so many relationships.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, reminding her that she had it turned into airplane mode for the flight, and she turned it on to see who messaged her.
Not surprisingly, it was Drew.
"Dawn wanted to join advanced competitions without being a Top Coordinator, I got a little upset. How was your day? Anything new happened?"
May looked around once more, staring up at the bright, noon sky and grimaced down at her phone. How should she go about saying yes, without delivering that blow to her lover's ego? She went to Kalos instead of Johto; Drew might be offended.
Taking her chances though, because she wasn't going to lie to him about it, she snapped a picture of the Prism Tower, and sent it to Drew with the label: "Hahaha, Max invited me to watch a tournament he's going to be in. Kind of a last minute decision. Wish me luck?"
May sent the message with the belief that Drew wouldn't return it for awhile, since he was generally pretty busy.
But then...
"You're in Kalos?" he replied and May could feel his short temper.
"Yes." May replied immediately, gnawing on her bottom lip and only half-watching where she was going while she walked the streets to find the location Max and company agreed to meet her at.
Drew didn't respond, and that bothered her more than it should have.
"I just needed some time away, you know? Time to reflect and Max needs someone to root for him right now and I wasn't busy so.." she found herself explaining desperately, her thumbs clicking away at her phone while she no longer looked at the path ahead of her.
"Time away from me, you mean?" So he got that message? It's a shame he read too much into it.
With a sigh, May craned her neck forward, raised her shoulders, and tapped furiously on the keys before he could think further.
"Of course not! I miss you like crazy. How about I stop by on my way home and we'll call it square?" feeling rather confident in her solution, she could hear the frustrated sigh that followed his flustered expression.
"Don't worry about it, May. Tell Max that we're cheering for him." She obviously over looked the 'we're' in his statement before typing again, this time, with an impish grin.
"Okay, don't sound so butthurt or anything." She imagined that Drew choked up a little, scoffed at the response to his easily injured ego, and was met with the exact reaction she suspected.
"Don't forget to take pictures on your 'expedition'." he text her promptly, followed immediately with: "I'm a little upset you went to Kalos without me, if I didn't have a contest coming up I would be there, too."
May gathered looks from people around her, while she threw her head back in laughter. Radiating the sudden living embodiment of glee, she went to reply again knowing he was at least chuckling himself—and reminded herself this was what it was supposed to feel like. Not sulking in her room but the greedy need of an adrenaline enticing adventure that forced excitement into her veins, and an unbridled joy into her chest.
"I-" she went to message him, but fell backwards upon contact with another body, thus her phone flew, then cracked into a million pieces upon landing. May watched it helplessly, noting in her head that of course it wouldn't last, before pulling herself to her elbows and looking at the perpetrator.
She who had not been seen in weeks sat opposite her, staring up from her elbows with slanted eyes.
"Serena?" May mouthed while the blonde pulled herself together, and May looked up at the building the blonde walked out of in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?" May asked, standing up quickly and offering a helping hand to the more dainty woman. Serena took it quickly, pulling herself up to her heels and dusting off her dress with a loud sigh. May in her tights and white shorts and red athletic tank top didn't seem to notice the dirt on her while she looked up once more, with a bit of a chuckle.
"Seems like I made it to the pokemon center pretty quickly!" May gasped, pointing up to the building where she saw Max, Bonnie, and Clemont inside at the counter while Serena seemed quick to flee—May might have thought the girl was trying to run with the force she bumped into her with.
"May! It's wonderful to see you again!" Serena forced while squeezing May's hand. "How was your flight?"
May recalled the drool dried on her shoulder and shuddered while collecting her broken phone. She would have to call Drew later to explain.
"Pretty long. Really long." She added with a groan.
"What are you in such a hurry for?" May asked, looking to Serena who shrunk back, eyes shifting to the center once more, where May quirked an eyebrow and followed her attention.
She missed him at first because he was incognito. Disguised in a black hoodie with bright green glasses and baggy clothes, was champion Ash Ketchum, hiding from his rapid fan girls and May chuckled, in spite of herself.
"Hey, at least he's not dressed like a girl for once?" May offered with a wide grin that only horrified Serena further as her thin eyebrows narrowed. Okay, so apparently that wasn't funny.
In fact, Serena almost seemed kiddish, prepared to bolt on any notion pertaining to the raven-haired man.
"Are you okay?" May asked once, blinking dark blue eyes at Serena, who straightened at the question. Her pixie cut danced in the sunlight, and followed a shrug.
"I'm fine." Serena noted, but even May noticed right away that she was lying, but knew better than to poke and prod. After all, they weren't exactly friends, and given May's better relationship with Misty, she wasn't in the field of offering advice to the heart broken Serena who had to watch Ash pretend that nothing ever happened between them to save face with the rest of his companions.
May couldn't imagine being in that situation.
"May...you've been in Hoenn lately, haven't you?" Serena's question broke the silence.
Snapped from her thoughts, May looked at Serena with a new found optimism. "Yes, I have been. Why?"
"Oh, no reason." Serena mumbled, then flicked her hand up to wave a goodbye. "Anyways, I was on my way to meet with Miette, so we'll have to catch up tonight!" Her tone was laced with so much enthusiasm that May nodded happily in return. Maybe Serena wasn't feeling down after all! Or maybe that hint of naivety May carried that gave everyone the benefit of the doubt was blaring too loud in her head. Today had to go well, a brief meeting with Serena couldn't ruin her mood.
"I'll see you then!" May shouted back, waving as the blonde while she took off, and the brunette entered the pokemon center.
At first, she wasn't sure they would notice her from their group she was currently isolated from. It was so strange watching them from the outside. Ash was clearly giving pointers to Bonnie about storing and healing her pokemon; the same topic of conversation he gave to May when she first started. Clemont busied himself by talking with Nurse Joy, and Max held a sort of irritated expression he tried to hide beneath his glasses. Jealousy was a virtue Max never grew out of, and considering how much the teenager admired Ash, watching him give pointers to the newer trainer had to be tough. May chuckled at his expression.
Then, Max's head snapped up at her, his glasses gleaming temporarily in the light when he heard her very distinct voice, and a smile crawled onto his lips, unknown to the rest of the group.
"May!" Max cheered, startling the group when he rushed over to his sister at the entrance.
"Hey little brother!" May called back, capturing him in a not-so-awkward hug, but it kind of was because Max was a few inches taller than she remembered, and was standing nearly at her height.
May wasn't tall, but Max was short the last time she saw him!
"Max, you're like my height now!" She gasped and the younger brother wiped his nose, then blinked around her.
"I thought you would bring Drew?"
"He has a contest coming up soon." May threw out quickly while Bonnie pranced over to her.
"May~" She announced, practically shoving Max away—quick to frustrate him. "It's great to see you." She sung, then her tone change immediately.
"Let's have a battle!"
"Calm down, Bonnie, let her breath. She just got here." Clemont urged, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her away. Beside them, Ash was left chuckling with a wide grin.
"You're here early." Ash announced, tugging down his sunglasses to see his old friend. May noted that he looked older, or tired, she wasn't sure which when she smiled and shrugged gently.
"I didn't have much else to do, plus I can make sure Max is in top shape!"
"Please, we all know I'm a better trainer than you, May." Max groaned, spinning away from her to fold his arms, but an icy chuckle fluttered around the room at his observation. No one felt like challenging that statement, and instead, May redirected her attention to Ash.
"I thought I would come see the scenery, maybe catch a few pokemon. Hang out for a little while." May addressed, planning to use the extra time she had in the Kalos region to improve herself slowly. Only, now, she had to find a new phone first; but she didn't tell them that. Whereas each of them reacted differently, it was Ash who rolled his eyes and scoffed—though not because of May. She might have heard him mutter something about Misty, but Bonnie's squeal pulled her back in.
"That's great, because Clemont is reopening the gym tonight to the public! We're going to have a big celebration-" Bonnie's voice fell a few notches while gesturing to the older man beside her. "That's why Ash is here, he is going to be attending the party but didn't want people to see him right now."
That went without saying, but still, May froze. "You're opening the gym again?"
The older blonde smiled while Bonnie separated from him proudly. "He's taking back over as gym leader!" She announced proudly and May nodded quickly.
"I see." May looked skeptically at Bonnie and Max. "Does that mean you two will be traveling together; alone?" She swooned and while Clemont panicked immediately alongside Max whose face turned bright red, Bonnie perked up and balled her fists.
"No way! I'm going to Kanto to take on the trainers there!" Bonnie announcing daringly. "Max already entered the league here, but I've already seen what they can do thanks to watching Ash for a whole year, so I'm starting else where!"
Her words struck a chord with May, who watched in awe. Was May so out of the loop she missed this? Especially the wounded expression Max had, who explicitly joined the team in Kalos so he would have someone to travel with on his own time. Now they were separating...it was kind of sad.
"Oh, so you'll be fighting against Misty then?" May glanced coyly at Ash, who winced at the aforementioned girlfriend, but the brunette hardly noticed her attempt to keep the mood light slowly making it worse.
"And I'm gonna win!" Bonnie cheered, sending out a feisty grin that May followed with a minor chuckle.
"When did you guys decide all of this?"
"Ahh, somewhere between then and now. It's just talk right now." Clemont replied neatly while May partially glared.
"...But aren't you worried about Bonnie?" Bonnie's ears perked up at her name, demanding that she was standing right here!
"Bonnie?" Clemont laughed from his belly and shook his head. "No way, she's probably more suited to survive than I ever have been!" He chirped to which the elated blonde smiled and tackled her brother into a tight embrace. Turning away from them, May looked to the disgruntled Ash, and her disappointed brother who drifted off to the side to avoid the chastising gaze of his sister.
Clemont had so much faith in Bonnie.
Must have been nice.
Because May didn't have much for Max.
How could she, though? He was scrawny from the time they were kids, constantly bullied and picked on—even the simple tasks he took on ended up blowing up in his face. Big sister May always had to bail him out of a tricky situation, and he read that on her face like a loaded gun.
"I don't need your help, May!" Max snapped, and the cheerful masquerade suddenly vanished when he stormed out of the pokemon center, leaving the four of them watching with muted expressions.
"Well, that escalated quickly." Bonnie whispered cutely behind them, and laughed it off courtesy of Clemont.
May didn't feel like laughing, and neither did Ash while they watched Max hurry down the street with his shoulders slumped and face drawn into a scowl.
"What did I say?" May asked herself while folding her arms. He invited her, after all! Now he was running off? She didn't even do anything!
XOX
Max did not come back that night, though, May did not expect him to, he was always a bit easy to anger, and it only got worse now that he was older and reaching puberty. Oddly enough, Ash was missing when Serena came back, and the entire atmosphere changed. Clemont, Bonnie and Serena felt like a natural group of friends during the gym opening. One, she realized, hadn't accepted Max as a welded piece of the group, and now they were all changing directions. Very soon, Max was going to be on his own for the first time ever, and she assumed part of his reaction was because of that.
Like sister like brother.
May kept her distance unintentionally, keeping to the far end of group conversations, and using the last of daylight to get a new phone. It wasn't that she didn't feel welcome, she only had different things to occupy her time. Such as her self, and wondering where Max ran off to.
Trying to keep her mind occupied during her stroll, May tapped in the familiar numbers and she took a seat on a bench facing the lower portion of Lumoise City and kept the speaker to her ear, and her lips pursed.
"...Hello?" His groggy voice answered, and May looked up to the barely-fading light, and then grinned sheepishly. Of course, time change.
"Hey, Drew. How's it going?"
"Not going. Sleepy. What do you want?"
"Oh, c'mon, don't be so short, I know you're over-joyed to hear from me."
"Always. But it's 3:00am, what do you want?"
May snorted, then giggled at her boyfriend's misfortune and kicked her feet out, and ignoring his question.
"This is kinda fun, isn't it?" She questioned with a lighthearted sigh. She heard Drew groan, roll over, and double check the time.
"What is? Waking me up super early?"
"No, long distance."
There was a very long, borderline uncomfortable pause that passed between the two of them before Drew pondered if he heard her right.
"Excuse me?"
"It's just, it clears some things up." she started and Drew sighed.
"Did Max lose?"
"No, his tournament isn't for another few days!" She exclaimed with an exhale. "But I... I know what's going on with me."
Curious now, Drew perked up with a fervent pitch in his tone."Do you?"
"Don't sound so unconvinced." May snorted, earning a chuckle. "I know I've been all over the place lately but..." She paused, rolling her eyes to the left of her and smiling.
"It's a secret! I'll tell you when I'll see you again."
"C'mon, May..." Drew groaned, he didn't like the distance as much as she did, apparently. "You could tell me now and save us the trouble."
"But there's no fun in that, Drew!" May exclaimed, as giddy as a school girl. "I'll see you soon."
"Okay." he confirmed, too tired to argue with her.
Another pause.
"What time is it there?"
May glanced up, then down to her phone; "8:00pm."
"Okay, thanks." He replied, shuffling back into his bed and burying his head into his pillow. "I love you, see you soon."
From one corner of her mouth to the next, a branching grin pulled at her cheeks and she nodded to no one in particular. "I love you, too!"
Then the conversation was over. No heartache filled her chest, the confusion pressing at the back of her mind lessened, and she knew that the best cure to any May inflicted emotional damage was to get back out there—try new things, embrace a new way of life. Her hands shot forward while she leaned back on her bench, framing the scene of the tower she so eagerly enjoyed looking at—and swore she would get to the top of it as some point.
"May's expedition: where will she go next?" She announced happily, surprised when someone answered her.
"You're not sticking around after?" She looked up to see Ash walking over to her with his hands stuffed into his black slacks pockets, and a cheerful pikachu bouncing on his shoulder. Compared to his disguise from earlier, he was dressed prominent, almost how she viewed any champion would look.
"Pika!" The mouse squeaked, popping from Ash's shoulder and running affectionately up to May where he took a seat on her lap while the young woman scratched his ears.
"Hey, Ash! What are you doing here?"
"Taking a stroll?" He expressed, though he looked haggard.
"I just got out of a meeting." He gestured to his poorly put together clothes. Slacks with an ill-fitted black blazer and a blue button up shirt.
"Mmm, you're not taking fashion advice from Drew, are you?" Her nose scrunched up and Ash chuckled and shook his head while taking a seat beside her, and slouching into the night air.
Most importantly, he appeared defeated, and that was most definitely new.
"It's good to see that." Ash announced, looking grim.
"See what?" May asked while watching Ash thumb the phone in his pocket.
"Someone happy."
What? She almost didn't hear him, it didn't sound right coming from his lips, and while she had no idea the events leading up until now, if the solid mirth in his expression didn't accent every notable feature on his body, he might have gone unnoticed.
"...Who's not happy?"
"Misty?" Ash said immediately, then nodded honestly to himself. "Me?"
"You, too?" May chuckled and Ash's brows furrowed.
"What do you have to be upset about?"
"Ahh, outside of my parents wanting to meet Drew and Max borderline hating my guts but being too good to admit it? Nothing."
Ash nodded, titling his head in confirmation that he had her beat, and knowing well the neither had forgotten the last conversation they had.
"What's up with Misty? You two make up yet?" May inquired and Ash shrugged.
"I don't know. She won't tell me."
"She does strike me as the stubborn type."
"Only stubborn?" Ash mouthed off, rolling his eyes with a tempered scoff.
"C'mon, give her a break, she is dealing with a lot right now; you know, with the attacks on the gym and-"
"The what?" He asked, eyes wide while he looked at May who immediately shut her mouth.
"...oh." She cleared her throat. "You didn't know?"
He looked wild, eyes wide and furious. "She was attacked?"
"Well not literally!" May tried, sitting forward with her best smile. "Someone threw a few bricks at the gym, you know, mean, immature girls—and the media sometimes calls her bad names..." May trailed off with a flinch. "I thought you knew?"
He was on his feet, hands thrown up and head spinning.
"I should have known it was something like this! You know, that's the problem? She doesn't tell me anything! She thinks I can't handle it—well I can! If I had known that someone was..." he paused, bubbling and brimming with such an intense rage he couldn't think straight. "I would have.. I don't know what I could have done, but I could have done something!"
"Maybe she didn't want you to worry?" May asked, knowing at least that feeling all too well.
"That's not a good reason!" He shouted, unintentionally yelling at May, and upon seeing the discrepant shock in her face, Ash settled down and leaned against the metal railing and tried to calm his nerves again.
"Well, haven't you watched the news? You two are everywhere."
"I know that." He tossed, "I just thought...well I didn't know that anything personal was happening. I just thought the news was being the news. Making stories up and having a hay day ripping up my personal life."
"I'm sorry." May offered in lack of anything better to say. She wasn't like Dawn or Misty who had great advice in horrible situations, and her optimism was busy mending her own problems to spare any of that.
"You know I haven't even called my mom since coming back here?" Ash muttered with a sigh, and a collapse back into the seat beside May.
"Well," May started, put in an awkward position, she heard Brock in the back of her head. "You two will make it, you always do. Whatever is happening, I'm sure it will blow over when you see each other next—that's what happened last time, am I right?"
Ash glanced over his shoulder at May, ignoring the small voice yelling in the back of his head.
"I guess."
"Then you don't need to worry—when are you seeing her next?"
"For Max's tournament." Ash sighed quietly.
"Then, there you go! You have until then to plan something you. Maybe create a big apology—plus, her birthday is coming up pretty soon, isn't it? Maybe you could do something for that!"
Ash blinked up at May with large brown eyes and pikachu stared at the two of them.
"You think so?"
"Yeah, Misty loves that kind of stuff! Maybe you could plan something romantic or, or, I don't know, maybe take her on a real date after the tournament or something—Oh, there's that really nice hotel beside the Prism tower with the huge swimming pool and hot tub suites!"
Ash face scrunched up at her impressive knowledge. "How in the world do you know all of this?" May's face flushed nervously while she fidgeted under Ash's gaze.
"Drew and I talked about coming here every once in awhile, but because there aren't contests to enter, we didn't really have a reason."
Then it finally clicked in Ash's head that the former rival was indeed missing from May's side, and he blinked and looked around—May twitched catching his ignorance so late.
"He's still not with you?"
Now it was May's turn to fumble, she faced the stream again, staring down at her phone with the faintest hint of a blush and crossed her ankles.
"He's in Johto." she cleared her throat, not realizing the immediate knot in her throat.
"Oh..." Ash muttered. "I'm sorry. Long distance sucks."
"It's not so bad."
Ash looked appalled, down right mortified at her devote expression; then, he looked suddenly very suspicious while May poked out her tongue, then started to explain.
"I haven't seen him in a few weeks now, you know. But the thought of seeing him again fills me with motivation to be better than I was before!" She pumped out a fist, then let it fall gently onto Pikachu's head.
"Plus I know that he's trying just as hard as I am to keep moving forward, and I know that even though I'm not decided right now, he's still getting better; so the distance is worth it—for awhile." She added at the end, sitting back and staring up at the clear, starry sky above them.
Ash waited a few beats before crossing his arms and knees and chuckling. "I guess I never thought of it that way."
"Well, you and Misty are two extremes." May rambled off another observation from Brock while looking away from her former companion. "You two would find a penny and fight over the correct way to pick it up if someone wasn't around to stop you."
"H-hey!" Ash mused, a blush over his cheeks while May stood up and smiled to Ash.
"I should really go talk with Max. He's pretty upset about me showing up even though he asked me to be here." She hummed, pressing her fingers against her lips. "I'd say he's as complicated as you two."
"We're not..." Ash tried, but had no great deflection for May's words. She was right, he was wrong.
"You'll figure it out—just don't lose your cool." Then as she turned to walk away, she suddenly stopped, and glanced back at him. Pikachu sat beside him, patting Ash's knee while he leaned back quietly and stared off into the distance. His face, which looked impossibly tired and restless only seconds before, however, now looked confident and assertive—and cherry red from whatever thoughts crossed his mind, and May grinned.
It would be okay. Ash would be okay, she would be okay. They were all going to be okay.
XOX
Max was trying to I'm mad at you, but I'm not going to say it method of approaching his sister for the next few hours after his return from where ever he ran off to. His sudden, and unrecognized return only reminded May further that Max, who looked to his three companions for any semblance of a welcome back, only to find that there wasn't one, stormed off to his room where he locked himself away from the rest of them. It was no wonder he didn't call her.
Apparently, they had more in common than either one of them thought, so May took the room beside him, and hoped tomorrow would be better. That once the four of them split up, he would find his own footing without worry of trying to impress a girl. In that regard, he was too much like Brock. Perhaps traveling with so many people so soon left him torn emotionally... Or maybe she was so focused on helping Max because it made her own issues seem far less important.
May would make it her goal of the day to help Max through his current turmoil, and then turn her focus to her immediate goals that started with returning to the Johto region, and facing Dawn. Somewhere on her path she got lost, and it started with the Wallace Cup. But that would have to wait until the tournament was over; Max needed the support, whether he would admit it or not—otherwise, he would have never invited May here. Where she needed redemption, he needed encouragement.
Caught up in her thoughts, May almost missed her phone beeping while she tied her hair back.
People would message her, rivals, old friends—but no one messaged her at nine on the dot except for... She turned over to see Drew's number reflected on the front screen to continue his tradition and she smiled. So that's why he asked about the time. Typically, May rolled back over, fought the urge to pass out again for hours, but today was different, she grabbed the device, hauled it out of bed with her and while rushing off to the washroom to clean up; for the first time since they parted ways,
She replied.
and the world got a little bit brighter that day.
Author's Note:
I am opening paragraph May right now. -surrounds self with blankets and food-
See how I sneaked the ending of XY in there? We're just going to say this was the remixed edition. Going back to what I said in the last chapter, May is someone who always had a 'goal' but her goals were never as fleshed out as say Ash or Dawn's. She wanted to be a top coordinator, but more important than that (Like she said while leaving to johto) She wanted to compete against her rivals. As she's realizing that, things are changing. I also used her revolving door relationship with Max to tie in some other situations, and give us some timeline. (Gary and Dawn are off somewhere far, far away) Bit more of a transitioning chapter than anything else, but, hey, I updated?
Drew and May are relationship goals. We should all aspire to be just like them.
NINT
