"Your what?" May stared at him. Drew blinked, his face blank. He seemed to be just as astonished as she was at what he had said. She was suddenly very aware of how close they were sitting, just her and Drew. She could feel herself leaning back a little. Drew frowned, and May realized how she must look to him, like she was recoiling. Well, she was, wasn't she? At the same time, the very word seemed too harsh. You recoiled from things out of fear or disgust, or so she believed.

At the same moment, both coordinators seemed to grasp how awkward the protracted silence had become. Drew cleared his throat, looking pale. "Um… I didn't mean to blurt it out like that," he began. May felt her shoulders shrug, but it was as if another person had moved them. She didn't quite know what to think. Drew, seeing this, took it as a sign of encouragement and continued. "Okay, so what I was going to say, I think, was that Whitney's done some travelling and thinks that double battles are really…" He paused, making a face.

"Cute?" May guessed.

Drew nodded, the hint of a smile forming at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. Cute. Well, you can see where this is going, right? I don't need to spell it out for you?" The last sentence was a loaded one, a challenge.

May rolled her eyes. "Two coordinators perform together. Pretty obvious, Drew."

"Yeah, well, just making sure my partner's not a complete idiot," he replied, smirking slightly.

May folded her arms. "Oh? Who said I'm your partner, hmm?"

The smirk disappeared. "What do you mean?" Drew asked.

"When did I agree to be your partner?" May demanded. "Pretty presumptuous there, Drew." She made a point of saying his name with a certain inflection that indicated nothing short of disdain, glaring at him. "Maybe I want to work with Solidad, or -"

"You can't."

"Sorry?"

"You can't be her partner, May, and, yeah, maybe get those listening skills checked up on, while you're at it, hmm?"

"Oh, yeah, insulting me will totally make me want to work with you. Great idea, Drew! You're just full of them, aren't you, and they're all -"

"Will you let me explain? Please?" May halted her tirade, arrested by the single word. Drew was not the sort of person who asked for things, much less said please. She took a moment to actually look at the boy and was startled to see a pleading look in his eyes. She nodded.

"Not that arguing isn't fun, and all," Drew added, and May scowled. It was so like him to sneak in the last word. "Still, we do have bigger problems right now. The reason why, well, actually, there's two reasons." He held up two fingers to illustrate. May's scowl deepened; did he think she was a toddler? Drew noticed and, glancing between her glare and his fingers, actually cringed. "Oh, um, I talk with my hands. Sorry." May, feeling mollified, shook her head and waved at him to continue, sticking to gestures lest she say something to reignite their argument. Drew nodded. "So, reason number one is that you're a girl."

"So?" May asked, unable to stop herself.

Drew frowned, but May got the sense that someone other than herself was irritating him at that particular moment. "No, it's a good question. Remember what I said about cute? One of the rules is that you have to work with the opposite gender." Drew looked disgusted, a sentiment May shared. "Like, she has a sort of valid explanation for why," he went on, "but you get the sense that the primary reason is because she thinks it's cute." May was impressed; she had not realized the word could be said with such venom.

"What's her reason, then?" May ventured to ask.

Drew shook his head, waving the hand with two extended fingers. "No, no, one question at a time. Reason number two for why you can't partner with Solidad is, well." Drew looked, if possible, even more disgusted than he had before. "She's already got a partner."

"Who?" May asked, though just based on Drew's expression, she had a feeling she knew the answer.

Drew sighed. "Harley."

May paled. "No, you must be joking."

"I wish I was," Drew said with a sigh. "Yeah, she's taking one for the team, really. Harley's thrilled, by the way." May shot him a puzzled glance, and he elaborated. "Well, yeah, he's excited that he gets to work with a Top Coordinator, she'll probably help him win, but I meant more like, in general, he's just really psyched about the changes. Last time I saw him, he was going on about how he's hoping they'll do the Sinnoh thing and expect us to wear formal clothes, bleh." He made a face to illustrate his point. May giggled, and he glared at her. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, still chuckling. "Just, like, what, were you that kid who hated getting dressed up?"

Drew's eyebrows creased. "When your parents drag you to social functions and you're, like, five, and they make you wear -" He stopped, shaking his head. "Yeah. Basically."

May bit her lip. She seemed to be on a roll with accidentally bringing up things that bothered Drew. "So, um, back to my other question," she said, trying to steer the conversation back on track. "What's Whitney's, uh, justification, or whatever you want to call it, for all of this?"

For a moment, May thought Drew looked grateful. Then he shrugged, rolling his eyes, making her wonder if she had imagined it. "Oh, it's something about how coordinators should prove that they can work with each other, coordinate with each other, as it were. Her words, not mine," he added sourly. "According to her, it's more of a challenge for guys and girls to work together, but you already know what I think of that."

May grinned at him. "Total trubbish?"

"Pretty much," Drew agreed, smirking. "But, what must be done, and all that." He flicked his hair out of his eyes, still smirking. "And at least you have a partner who can make you look half-decent out on the stage."

May felt the grin slide off her face. "I still haven't agreed to that," she reminded him testily, feeling a shred of satisfaction as his smirk shifted to an annoyed frown. "Besides, you still haven't answered one of my questions."

Drew's brows knitted together. "What are you talking about? I answered everything you asked, and you asked a lot, May."

The brunette, however, was shaking her head. "Actually, you sort of missed the very first one." She examined her rival's face; he seemed genuinely confused. May sighed. "What I asked was, well, why are you here? Like, I mean, here specifically?" She pointed at the ground with both hands for emphasis.

Drew blinked. "Oh, um, yeah, guess I didn't say." He clasped his hands together, resting them on his knees and staring intently at his thumbs. May watched him, intrigued. It was almost as if Drew was embarrassed, though that would have, of course, been silly. "Well, like I said," he continued, speaking to his thumbs, "this all was announced a couple days after, uh, well, you know." He loosened a hand to gesture vaguely, but May knew what he meant. "I went to look for Solidad, but she'd partnered with Harley almost immediately, and this was even before they'd mentioned the thing about who you could pair with." He turned to look at May, his expression serious. "You owe her, by the way."

This startled her. "Me? Why?"

"Why? Because Harley was hoping to partner with you, that's why." May's eyes widened, and Drew nodded. "Yep, he was all set to make it seem like everyone else was partnered up, that way you'd pretty much have no choice but to work with him to compete. He told me over dinner a couple nights ago."

"Why -"

"He was with Solidad, I was technically eating with her!" Drew interjected, turning a little pink. When he saw May's nonplussed expression, his cheeks darkened. "Oh. Um, I guess that wasn't your question? Sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," May said, biting her lip to hide an amused smile. "No, it's just, why isn't that still his plan?"

"Oh, well, because Solidad asked him," Drew said. "He was saying something about how having a better chance of winning was worth more than, um, than screwing you over." He was still blushing, although, May supposed, it could have been residual from moments before. She didn't have enough experience with Drew's emotions to know things like that, she supposed. "His words, not mine," Drew added, clasping his hands and staring at them again.

"He said that in front of Solidad?" she asked, astonished.

"No, she was up getting more napkins or something, though I don't think it would have mattered," Drew said. "I think they both know why they're partnering, at any rate. So, yeah, like I said, thank her."

"I will," May said, nodding. There was a pause, in which she looked expectantly at Drew. He glanced at her, puzzled. "So, go on," she said. "You still haven't said why you're here."

"Oh, right, yeah," Drew muttered, returning his focus to his hands. "Well, I mean, Solidad wasn't an option, Harley… well, obviously I wasn't going to partner with him, plus he was taken. Then they announced the bit about the gender restriction trubbish, so options went down quite a bit." He sighed, and May got the sense that he was, once again, steeling himself to say something as he stared down at his interlocked fingers. "So, really, the only person to even consider asking was, well, you, really."

May was taken aback. She had not expected him to say that, not at all. Even though she had felt the conversation leading towards such a thing, even though it made sense in context, she still was genuinely stunned that Drew was actually… complimenting her, in a way. "R-really?" she squeaked, blushing at how ridiculous she sounded.

Drew whipped his head towards her, then clapped a hand to his neck. "Agh, cricked it," he muttered before focusing on her. He looked rather fierce. "May, this really shouldn't be news. Didn't I say I thought you were good last week? Or have you forgotten how you beat me that one time, hmm?"

"N-no, just, um, well, uh…" May trailed off, drawing her legs up to her chest. "I dunno," she mumbled to her knees.

Drew sighed as he rubbed his neck. "Well, whatever, let's just leave it at that. So, anyway," he continued, speaking quickly now, "I knew you'd be traveling on foot and had a pretty decent guess of what path you'd take, so I figured I'd wait for you." May lifted her head to look at him. At this point, it seemed that both of them were going to blush perpetually, though Drew was making a valiant effort to ignore his embarrassment. "So, yeah, I've been flying out here every day since then." He flicked his hair, every inch his normal, confident self if you ignored how his face was becoming positively luminescent.

"Every day?" May repeated, amazed.

"Yeah," Drew said, almost aggressively. "And, let me be the first to say, you take forever to get from one place to another. How many times did you get lost, May?"

"Not once!" she huffed. "And let me remind you, Drew, that I don't have a flying pokemon on my team, plus I had to practically bushwhack through Ilex Forest, in the dark, I might add!"

"Okay, okay, look, I'm sorry," Drew said hurriedly, turning his whole body towards her as he raised his hands. "Really."

May narrowed her eyes at him, but she could see that he meant what he said. Loosening her arms, she turned slightly towards him too. "It's fine," she said, attempting a bright smile. "Just, yeah."

"Yeah," he echoed, lowering his hands. "So, May," he began, his voice serious and modulate, his face calm. May could feel her own cheeks cooling as she nodded at him to continue. Drew adopted a serious expression before speaking once more.

"May Maple," he intoned, and she suppressed a snort at his exaggerated formality. "I would be honored, truly honored, if you would consent to partnering with me for this upcoming contest in the fair city of Goldenrod?" May quirked her eyebrows at him. Drew's seriousness melted away as he let out a short bark of laughter. "Not at you!" he hastened to point out.

"I know that," May replied, smiling. Then, adopting a similarly serious tone, she said, "Why, Master Drew, I would, of course, consider it the highest honor, the most delightful of delights, to accept your offer." She nodded primly before dropping all pretense and grinning, clenching her fists. "Let's crush the competition!"

Drew seemed to relax entirely for the first time that day. "Well, obviously," he replied, smirking. "So, if we're done here, let's pack up and head out." May obligingly rolled off the picnic blanket and grabbed the two corners nearest her. Drew took hold of the other two. They stood, bringing the corners together in the middle of the space they had occupied. "Oh, and May?" Drew added, his words drawing her eyes to his face. She was momentarily startled by how close they stood, at arm's length, really, the blanket between them. "Thank you," he said softly.

"Oh, um, it's no problem," May replied, bewildered. "You don't have to thank me."

Drew smiled slightly. "Yeah, but I can." He paused, then added, "I'll take it from here, thanks." His fingers brushed against hers as he took the blanket from her, folding it in half, then in thirds. She stood, watching as Drew finished folding the blanket and tucked it back into his knapsack before turning back to her. "Shall we go, then?" he asked.

"Oh, sure," May said, nodding. She moved toward the path but halted at the sound of Drew's laughter behind her. "What?" she demanded, turning back toward him.

"Haven't I said? I don't travel by foot, May," Drew said, his words laced with amusement. He raised his right hand. In it was an expanded pokeball. "Flygon, come on out!" he said, releasing his pokemon. The flygon made a great show of stretching its wings. "Oh, don't give me that," Drew said, rolling his eyes. "We're leaving much earlier than usual, in case you haven't noticed." He walked over to his pokemon, carrying his knapsack in one hand. Deftly, he strapped it to Flygon, who stood still, staring at May curiously. Finished, Drew stroked Flygon's nose, then turned to May. "Shall we?"

"Um," May began, staring apprehensively at the pokemon. "Are you sure he can carry us both? It, uh, it is a he, isn't it?"

Drew nodded. "Yes to both. Or, at least, it will be immediately obvious if he can't, in which case we walk, I suppose." He looked at the large flier, who was idly flapping his wings as he watched the pair converse. "Isn't that right, Flygon?"

"Flyyy."

"See? Nothing to worry about. Now, come on, get on."

"Um, where?" May asked nervously, looking from Drew to the flygon.

Drew smirked. "On his back, naturally. Haven't you flown on something Flygon's size before?" His expression softened when May shook her head. "Ah, okay. Well, what'll make you more comfortable?" He strode over to Flygon, climbing onto his back. "I've got some minor steering to do, but if you'd like, you can sit in front of me. I can hold onto you, if it'll make you feel better." He circled his arms around thin air to illustrate. "Or," he went on, "you can sit behind me and cling to me for dear life." May paled, and Drew, noticing, added hastily, "Not that you'd literally need to, Flygon's a smooth flier, just an expression, May. So, what'll it be? Shall you cling, or be clung to?"

May thought for a moment. "I'll sit in back," she decided, stepping closer to the pair.

"That's the spirit, May," Drew declared. "Just, try not to break my ribs or anything, okay?"

"Har har," May muttered, throwing a leg over the flygon and pulling herself astride him, sitting in front of the pokemon's haunches. Gingerly, she wrapped her arms around Drew's torso, leaving his arms free to steer. She noticed almost at once that sitting behind Drew gave her a second advantage: it blocked most of the view in front. So long as she stared straight ahead -

Drew flinched, his head bumping into her nose. "Agh, don't breathe down my neck," he scolded, turning just far enough to see her out of the corner of his eye.

"Sorry, sorry," May mumbled, bending her head so that her nose was beneath Drew's collar.

He shrugged. "It's fine. Oh, and you may want to take off your bandana. Wind, and all."

"Good point," she said, removing an arm from around him and pulling off her bandana. She tucked it into her pack and made sure that all the compartments were zipped shut before returning her arm to Drew's waist. She tightened her grasp slightly. "Ready."

He chuckled, and his laughter made May's arms tingle. "Okay, let's go!" Flygon's wings spread, and May only had a moment to appreciate just how wide his wingspan was before he reared on his haunches and launched them into the sky.

So, as it happens, today marks my third anniversary of being on this site. It's been a good three years, and you readers have contributed hugely to those good times. Thank you all.

So, thoughts?

Until next time,

Carp