May squinted through the dappled sunlight at a small wooden sign. "Hey, would you look at that? Only eight more miles to go!"

"Glaa!" her glaceon agreed, rubbing her neck against May's ankle. The coordinator couldn't help but smile at this. It had been a week since the poison scare, but Glaceon padded along quite easily beside her trainer. The Nurse Joy in Azalea had purged the poison from the ice pokemon with ease, though she had insisted on keeping her under observation for the night as per protocol. She sent May and Glaceon away the next day with a warning to treat poisons right away to prevent a repeat incident. May had felt embarrassed, both for panicking in a dangerous situation and for… well.

She could feel her cheeks burn slightly as she thought back to the conversation in the waiting room. She still couldn't fathom what had upset him so much. Surely it wasn't just the fact that she had wanted to beat him. No, there had to be something else… May shook her head, trying to put thoughts of their encounter out of her mind. No matter how long she dwelled on the matter, she could never come up with a satisfactory answer. She realized the smile had slipped from her face and quickly hitched it back into place, looking down at her glaceon once more.

"How are you holding up?" she asked brightly. "If you're getting tired, just let me know. I think we're going to take a break once the trees thin out like they're supposed to, and then maybe some battle practice, how does that sound?" Glaceon let out an affirmative noise that made her trainer's smile a little more genuine. "Yeah, that's what I thought!"

They walked on for some time down the path, undisturbed by trainers or pokemon. May enjoyed the respite. The past few days' travel through Ilex Forest had not been nearly so peaceful - in part because of the oppressive darkness, and also because of the many trainers who were ordering their larger pokemon to ram themselves into the trees. This, she'd learned, was done in order to bring down pineco, who were in peak season. May, having traveled with Ash Ketchum, could understand their enthusiasm. Still, she had been sure to keep Blaziken out, both to see and to be seen by the rampaging trainers, and she had made a point of moving more quickly, covering the distance in two days when she might have taken three or four to admire the scenery. It had been a massive relief for both of them once the trees began to thin out after two days, allowing May to resume her normal pace.

Every day since then, May would wake up as early as possible, break camp, and continue north toward Goldenrod. She had taken to keeping at least one of her pokemon out with her as she walked from town to town, being careful not to overtire any of them. She told herself that it was to help her bond more with her pokemon, which it did, but the change also helped to keep her from missing traveling in a group, kept her from missing her friends. When the sun began to shine straight down, sending shafts of light through the tree branches, May would halt their progress for lunch, then took time to practice certain appeal moves with her team, ensuring that no one fell behind in training. After that, they would press onward for a few more hours, with May making sure to stop and set up camp before it was too dark to see.

It was a comfortable rhythm, May thought, squinting through the trees ahead. It kept the days from feeling too long. Beside her, Glaceon yawned widely. May glanced down, but her ice pokemon merely swished her tail and continued padding along. "Are you sure you don't need a break, Glaceon?" May asked. The pokemon shook her head, ears flapping. Her master smiled, amused. "How did you get to be so stubborn?" May cooed down at the glaceon.

"Oh, I'm sure her master had something to do with it." May stopped in her tracks, an involuntary squeak of alarm escaping her. She sensed Glaceon tensing at her right. Drew had appeared from behind a tree a few yards ahead of her, as if he had melted out of the woods. He raised his eyebrows. "Startled, I see. You should really pay better attention to your surroundings, May."

She was too surprised to know how to react, something which only added to Drew's amusement. He stepped over a protruding root and onto the path, moving towards her with calm confidence. Glaceon let out a warning growl. Drew paused, looking down at the small pokemon. May looked too and was surprised to see the glaceon's hackles raised; she stood as if ready for a fight. She glanced at Drew, who, though his eyebrows were still raised, looked rather apprehensive.

She sighed and knelt next to Glaceon. "It's okay," she murmured soothingly, stroking her pokemon's head. "He's okay, he just surprised me." Slowly, Glaceon's shoulders relaxed, and May turned to Drew. "It's fine."

Drew rolled his eyes. "Of course it is," he said, though his expression had relaxed as well. He moved closer, crouching beside Glaceon as well. "You really shouldn't overdo it," he murmured, reaching out to pet her head. Glaceon glanced at May, who nodded slightly. The pokemon stepped forward, pushing her head into Drew's hand. The boy smiled as he stroked the fur on the crown of her head. May watched, both amused and annoyed, as her rival proceeded to scratch behind the glaceon's ears, continuing to speak to her in a soft, friendly voice. "You were just injured, weren't you? If you're tired, you should rest. Nobody will think less of you, because you're such a good girl, yes? Yes, you are…"

May let this go on for a few more moments before clearing her throat. Glaceon immediately turned to her trainer, ears perked, alert. Drew scowled but pulled his hand away and straightened. May smiled slightly. "See? It's not just me who thinks you're tired. How about a rest?" Glaceon nodded, and May recalled her. Drew snorted as she got to her feet. "What?" May asked, exasperated.

"Nothing, nothing." He tilted his head slightly as he looked at her. "So, you're heading to Goldenrod, I assume?" May nodded, and Drew gave a tight smile. "Good. I'll walk with you."

May stared at him. There was something about his expression and his tone that seemed too stiff. "Why?" she asked, suspicion bubbling in the back of her mind.

Drew scowled. "Do I need a reason?" When she continued to stare at him, he sighed. "Okay, yeah, there is something, but let's walk. It's another five miles to Goldenrod." He turned and started off down the path. After a moment's hesitation, May hurried after him.

Despite his initial sense of urgency, Drew remained quiet for a few minutes. They walked together up the path at a comfortable pace. May stole a few glances at him, wondering if she should speak first. Each time, the words died in her throat as she saw his expression. It was hard to read, between the patchy sunlight and the brevity of her glances, but she could tell that what he had to say was important. At last, when she felt ready to burst from the building tension, Drew cleared his throat.

"So, May, I'm assuming you haven't heard about the latest changes?" May shook her head, bewildered. He seemed to sense this, as he added, "To the contests, I mean." When May continued to shake her head, Drew sighed. "I figured as much, since you've probably been traveling this whole time." May understood "this whole time" to mean "since Glaceon was poisoned", but this only confused her further.

"Wait, how do you know anything about it, then?" she asked. "Haven't you been traveling 'this whole time' too?"

Drew shook his head. "Nope. I took Flygon, got there in a couple hours." He smirked and flicked his hair out of his eyes; May found the familiarity of the gesture oddly comforting. "It really does pay, having a flier on the team."

May rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're incredible, everyone knows."

"Of course," Drew said, grinning. "But, anyways. So, yeah, they made an announcement a couple days after I got to Goldenrod, and it's got everyone shaken up." He paused, frowning.

"Even you?" May asked, surprised in spite of herself. She had the sense that she was going to understand Drew's strange expression soon enough.

"Yeah, even me." Drew's face had hardened. "Because they're complete idiots, you realize. The ones running the contests, I mean. It's not like I didn't know that, but this…"

May was feeling exasperated again. "Okay, seriously, spit it out, what's up?"

Drew stared at her. "They're resetting everything. Our ribbons don't count anymore."

May stopped walking, thunderstruck. Drew stopped as well, facing her. His eyes were full of understanding. "There's more, too."

"More? How can there be more?" May demanded, alarmed to hear her voice sounding half-strangled. "No, this is - this is -"

"I know," Drew said simply. He shoved a hand into his pocket, pulling out his ribbon case and opening it. "I only had one more to go."

May could only nod as she stared blankly at his case, at the empty indent waiting for a fifth ribbon. Her case was just the same, just missing one ribbon, just one away from entrance to the Johto Grand Festival. All that work, all that time spent trying - gone. Pointless. She felt like screaming, but resisted the impulse. For one thing, Drew was standing right in front of her. Still, a lump was forming in her throat.

Drew closed his ribbon case with a snap, thrusting it back into his pocket. "They aren't really saying why they have to reset, so there's a lot of theories," he continued, beginning to walk onward. May followed. "Some think they can't decide where to have the Festival, others feel like there was something about not enough contests being held, stuff like that." He slowed his pace so that May could catch up to him and glanced at her face. "You okay?" he asked, and May was surprised to hear a note of concern in his voice.

She swallowed, forcing the lump in her throat away for the time being. "Um, yeah, just… It's frustrating, y'know?"

Drew sighed. "Yeah. You could say that." He took a deep breath, then continued. "But, see, the thing is, I don't think those are it. The reasons, I mean. No, I think it's to do with the location thing."

May blinked. "What, the fact that we use local gyms instead of contest halls?"

"Yeah. See, I think there's been a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes for a while, between Lillian Meridian and the gym leaders. It doesn't help that she's just waiting for that brother of hers, that Damian guy, to take over, so she's not super invested in any of this, she just wants to get back to Kanto, and I guess I don't blame her." Drew was talking quickly now, and his face was becoming flushed as he spoke. "Still, you'd think she'd try and keep things at least somewhat reasonable around here, just out of respect for us coordinators."

"Why, what's up?" May asked, concerned. Drew had said there was more to it than merely resetting the contests…

"Well, like I said, there's been some sort of, I dunno, power struggle, I guess you could call it, between Lillian and the leaders, and it seems, it seems like, um, like..." Drew was starting to pant; he had unconsciously upped his pace to a stride. May had to jog slightly to keep up. He glanced at her, realizing what had happened. "Urgh, sorry, I'm just really stressed about this."

He began to slow down, but May sped up. "It looks like there's a clearing up ahead," she called back to him, hurrying toward a particularly bright patch of sunlight further up the path.

"Yeah, there is, can you slow down, though?"

"Are you kidding? I'm starving! I'm setting up lunch for myself," May declared, breaking into a run towards the clearing. Unfortunately, she failed to notice a tree root rearing up from the path. Her foot hooked into it as she ran over it, sending her flying facefirst into the dirt with a muted thud. Wincing, she rolled over to see Drew hurrying toward her, his panting mingled with laughter.

"Are, heh, are you okay?" Drew asked, still laughing as he held out a hand to her.

May scowled. "Yeah, I'm fine, not bleeding. Still hungry, though." She pointedly ignored his outstretched hand as she stood and dusted herself off. Drew curtailed his laughter as they walked, blinking, into the grassy clearing. May sat down almost at once, unzipping her pack and fishing around for her food supply, listening for the telltale rustling noises of plastic wrappers. She couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she remembered how good the food had been back when she traveled with Brock. It had been warm, for one thing, she thought, staring mournfully at the protein bars she held. It was a choice between soy and… well, differently flavored soy.

"Is that seriously what you eat on the road?" May's head jerked upward. Drew was standing beside her, arms full of something red and white. "Move over."

May scooted out of the way, and Drew flung the red-and-white thing out expertly, allowing it to settle on the ground. He knelt and smoothed a couple folds out of the cloth before sitting down. May raised her eyebrows. "You carry a picnic blanket with you?"

"Why not?" Drew replied, lying back and staring at the sky above. "You seem to forget that I don't do that whole traveling-on-foot business." He rolled onto his side and grabbed his knapsack, pulling out, to May's astonishment, a large sandwich. "I'm already set up in Goldenrod, left my stuff in my room, so I can afford to carry what I like." He bit down, and May winced at the sound of fresh lettuce crunching.

Mouth full, Drew gestured to the space next to him on the blanket. May frowned, but crawled over to the blanket and sat down next to him while still leaving what she thought to be sufficient space for… rivals? Acquaintances? Her stomach growled, cutting her train of thought short. May cast another glance at Drew's sandwich and sighed inwardly. Her lunch had somehow become even less appetizing. "Leave it to you to do the impossible," she muttered, unwrapping her protein bar.

"Eh?" Drew asked through a mouthful of food. May blinked; she had always assumed Drew would eat with a little more dignity. She rolled her eyes, then deliberately took a delicate bite of her bar. It tasted like someone had meant it to be chocolate, but only had soybeans. As she carefully chewed her food, something about the situation struck her. Swallowing, she turned to Drew, who was about to take another bite out of his sandwich.

"Why are you here?" May asked. The words came out more bluntly than she had intended. Drew's eyes widened, and he put down the sandwich.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

May frowned. "You said you got to Goldenrod days ago. Why are you all the way out here, then?" She stared hard at Drew, who was staring at his sandwich. From what she could see, the hardened expression had returned to his face.

"I was getting to that, before this whole lunch divergence thing," Drew said, still not looking at her as he returned his sandwich to his knapsack. "Finish your food. I'll explain."

May nodded, already in the middle of swallowing another bite of food; her hunger was outweighing her dislike of soy. "You were talking about some sort of power struggle?" she offered.

"Yeah, that," Drew said. "There's been something up between Meridian and the leaders, and I don't know if it's because she's lazy or sick of Johto or what, but she's let them win. The announcement said she's left for Kanto. That Damian guy is going to come here at some point to take over for her."

"Why is that such a big deal, though?" May wondered. "I mean, he'll be new at this, but -"

"That's not why." Drew's voice was flat. "The gym leaders are going to be the ones in charge now, and they want to make changes."

May blinked. "Changes?"

Drew sighed. "Changes. You know how they've all got themes in their gyms, things that relate to their specialty? Like, snow in ice-type gyms, electrical stuff- you get it?" May nodded. "Yeah, well. They've decided that contests should be themed too."

May's eyes widened. "What, like, type-themed to go with their gyms? That's crazy, I don't have enough pokemon or enough variety, and to train them for appeals like that, and battling the same type, certain moves have advantages -"

"No, not that," Drew interrupted her, and she stared at him. He was facing her now, and she realized with a jolt that she understood his expression. It reflected her feelings back at her, the sense that the world had been tilted, the idea that everything she had learned was irrelevant, somehow. "If it were that easy, I wouldn't be here," he continued. "No, they each think they know what'll be interesting, what'll make for a good show, what'll be cute." He practically spat the last word.

May felt her eyebrows furrowing. She was losing patience. "Drew, just tell me why you're here!" she snapped.

"All right, all right," Drew said, and May was alarmed that he did not snap back at her. "The reason I'm here, well, it has to do with the contest in Goldenrod. Well, um, first of all, it's been pushed back a month." May's eyes widened; the Goldenrod contest had been scheduled to happen in two weeks. "And, more importantly, it's the first one with a gym leader's influence. So…" Drew seemed to be steeling himself to say something, and May began to feel apprehensive. "So…" Drew began again, "May, will you be my partner?"

Thanks to everyone who's read, and an especial thanks to my delightful reviewers; I hope I answered your questions satisfactorily. If I didn't, well, it's probably a detail that'll be revealed in the fic proper, so hang in there!

If you have any comments, queries, critiques, or concerns, please feel free to share them! I love knowing what readers think about the story, and it might just help me improve it.

Until next time,

Carp