I apologize for the short length of the last couple of chapters; these next chaps will be much longer. I guess you could call the first two chapters the exposition (for all you literary-minded peeps), or a prologue. Anyway, this is where the fun really begins, at least from my standpoint. So LET'S GO!

~Pika

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"…Misty, I really don't think there's much point." May ran a hand through her hair in a distressed manner. Suddenly her blue eyes became slits. "I mean, going to all this trouble just to see an iPod…what are you really up to -"

"Shh!" Misty hissed back. To the uniformed attendant at the front desk she asked sweetly, "Excuse me, sir. Could you possibly tell us where Drew Hayden is staying?"

The attendant, clad in a smart chartreuse suit and dark glasses, eyed her warily. "The Pokemon Coordinators participating in the Contest are under protection that includes the Non-Obtrusive Act, stating that -"

"But you see," Misty replied, bowling him over with words, "I'm Drew's friend Misty Waterflower, and this" – she shoved her brunette friend forward – "is May Maple, another Coordinator in the Contest. She knows him even better than I do."

The man in uniform rubbed his chin, hemming and hawing for a moment before answering, "Do you have identification?" He looked doubtful.

Misty elbowed May, who grudgingly dug through her pack before extracting a rather worn Contest Pass. A much younger picture of May was printed on it, although the two looked virtually the same.

"Hmm…" The attendant took the pass and gazed from May to her younger counterpart on the photo and back again. "Are you sure that this is really you -"

"For Pete's sake, hurry up, it looks exactly like her!" yelled Misty, her temper and impatience getting the better of her. She paled as May clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oops," she whispered through May's fingers.

Apparently oblivious to the impatient girl, the man in green examined May and her photographic counterpart a few more times before reluctantly handing the Pass back to May. "I suppose you are certified," he sighed.

Misty began to edge away, her face frozen in a smile. She appeared to be petrified, to May's amusement. "I suppose we'll just be going now…" the redhead mumbled, her lips barely moving. "Bye…"

"Don't you want to know Mr. Hayden's room number?" the attendant asked, one eyebrow quirked suspiciously. He cast a cold eye on Misty; it appeared he hadn't missed her snub, after all.

May replied evenly. "Of course we do." At least, one of us does. At this point, though, I don't quite know which one. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at her redheaded friend, usually so brave but now cowering as if the man were a Caterpie.

"His number is 379." The man bowed briefly; the motion was unmistakably a signal for them to leave. "Have a nice day."

"T-Thanks," May managed to stutter as a terrified Misty yanked her away from the counter. The Coordinator noted that her friend's pale hand was streaked with sweat.

"Aw, c'mon, Misty," she said bracingly, "You weren't really that scared, were you?"

Misty turned her blue eyes, wide with unexplainable terror, towards May. "I guess I'll take that as a yes," The brunette said dryly.

Taken aback, the redhead attempted to defend herself after a moment, slowing down a little so that they were now only power-walking (instead of sprinting) down the hall. "I had good reason to be. That guy was just…creepy!" she said, her voice rising.

"No, he wasn't, you were rude to him. He probably thinks you're a psychopath now," May admonished. "And you're still on pins and needles. Calm down!"

"Yeah, whatever, I'm not on pins and – AAAAAAAACK!" Someone had stepped out in front of them, and Misty (contrary to her word) leaped a foot in the air, screeching like a chimpanzee.

Caught totally caught off-guard, Ash stumbled back as Misty screamed. When he realized who it was that he had walked out into, he caught her by the shoulders and shook her, trying not to laugh. His laughter proved to be short-lived, however.

"Misty! It's only me! Hey, Misty -"

"-AAAAAA-"

"Um, Misty -"

"-AAAAAAA-"

"EARTH TO MISTY!" Ash roared over the girl's relentless screams of terror. "DO YOU READ?!"

May gave the pair one wide-eyed, disbelieving look, then began to smack her forehead repeatedly against the wall. This is not happening in a public place, she told herself. This is NOT happening in a public place –

"What kind of morons would scream at each other in a public place?" a familiar voice quipped.

"These morons." May looked up long enough from her "head-banging" to give Drew a half-disgusted, half-humorous glance. She wasn't surprised to see him here, though she didn't quite know why. Perhaps it was because they often met up in unexpected places…

He leaned suddenly closer to her, and May found that it took an effort to meet his emerald eyes with her cobalt ones…Drew held them for a moment before replying, his voice rough. "On the other hand, what kind of idiot would just stand there in front of them, banging her head against the wall?"

The brunette Coordinator shoved her rival away. "This idiot," she said, her voice a higher pitch than she had intended. She jerked a thumb to her chest with her best attempt at a bland, careless look. But it was hard to do when the guy you had a crush on was inches away, smiling amusedly at you…actually, it was very hard…

The two were drawn back into the situation at hand rather suddenly by a shout from Misty, who seemed to have turned the scream-fest in a different direction. "I WASN'T SCARED!" Misty was now hollering at Ash, who stood with fists clenched at his sides. It appeared that the dynamic duo had slipped back into their arguing mode smoothly and easily…maybe a little too easily, May observed…

"Oh, yeah!?" Ash shot back. "Then how come as soon as I walked out in front of you, you started SCREAMING and HOLLERING-"

"Beautifly," May cried as she released the Pokeball, "use Stun Spore!" She could barely be heard over the bickering, but her Pokemon's attack didn't need to be heard to be effective. A shower of light gold dust settled down on the Trainers. At first their words grew slurred, and then they stopped shaking fists and waving arms. In less than a minute they were both silently slumped over on the floor, twitching.

Triumphantly, May called her Pokemon back. "Nice work, Beautifly." Then she rounded on her two best friends. "That's what you get for almost getting us kicked out by security."

Ash and Misty could only gaze up at her dolefully, with the occasional (not to mention slightly disturbing) twitch of an eye or a limb.

Drew was leaning against the wall a few feet away from the scene (as was his habit), his eyes dancing with laughter. "As far as your attack, May…practical, but not very creative."

May's cool eyes suddenly blazed fire. "WHY, YOU LITTLE -!"

Drew stepped coolly backward. "Hey, watch it, princess," he mocked. "Don't knock your crown crooked."

"Take it back!"

"Will not!"

"You'd better -!"

Drew changed tacks at the speed of light, gesturing toward the twitching Trainers still on their backs. "Let them go, May. I think you taught them their lesson," he smirked.

May grinned back at the prospect, the previous argument at least temporarily forgotten. "I can't. It takes about ten minutes for this stuff to wear off."

Her rival barked a laugh. "So be it." He motioned toward the floor near their incapacitated friends. "Shall we?"

And so they settled themselves a few feet away from the temporarily paralyzed duo. At first content to maintain a comfortable silence, they soon began to discuss the last Pokemon Contests they had entered and who they'd need to watch out for in the Appeal Round.

Now this is the life, May smiled as she watched Drew's animated face, giving her an in-depth description of his latest match. Of course, what he's telling me is pretty boring, but just being with him…is enough.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Drew leaned back, closing his eyes as May recounted her last Contest, which she'd won. He pictured her Beautifly using the old standby, Silver Wind, combined with its Psychic to make a mass of swirling purple radiance that shimmered throughout the stadium. Then, without even trying, he pictured his rival's face as she bowed to the roaring crowd and the judges, her eyes alight with joy and gratitude as she stroked her Beautifly and gazed out at the thousands of people cheering…for her…

The boy opened his green eyes, expecting to snap out of his reverie, but instead saw that May's face was a radiant as he'd been envisioning, as if she'd won all over again. Suddenly he looked away, afraid that he looked weird just staring at her. What is going on with me? For goodness' sake…I do need a vacation…

"D-Drew? Are you okay?"

Drew met those bright blue eyes again. "Yup, I'm fine. Say," he said as if an idea had come to mind, drawing a black case out of his pants pocket, "have I showed you my new iPod?"

May shot a devious grin at Misty, who growled under her breath. Though it had already been twenty minutes, Misty and Ash were only just beginning to recover the use of their body parts. Fortunately for May, the redhead was still unable to reach her. Otherwise, she'd have strangled me by now, May thought, grinning.

Drew caught his rival's gaze. "Looks like your Stun Spore was more powerful that you thought," he said, mildly impressed.

"Yeah, I guess. But Drew," said the brunette, crossing her arms, "I thought you just got yourself a black Classic, what – three, four months ago?"

"Nine, silly," he replied. "But this one's gonna be my all-around one. The Classic's just for keeping the songs I don't listen to much, and videos and stuff."

"So no songs on the touch?" May asked.

Drew narrowed his eyes as if to say, How'd you know it was a touch? "Some. My favorites," he said shortly.

"So, lemme see it!" May responded in kind.

"Weeeell," said Drew, fingering the black case, "I dunno…you haven't exactly been polite about it…"

"C'MON, LEMME SEE IT!"

"Alright, alright." Drew opened the case with a flick of the wrist. "There it is. Happy?"

Catching her breath, May snatched the case from Drew's hand, eliciting a cry of "Hey!" from her fellow Coordinator but not really caring. "It's…neat," she breathed, pressing a button at random and discovering that she needed a password to continue.

Drew sighed. "Hand it over." As she reluctantly passed it to him, Drew typed in the numbers at breakneck speed, presumably so that May couldn't figure out the code. "There."

The screen flickered to life, and May flicked through the pages with mesmerized eyes. "How much did this thing cost?"

"Not telling, Your Rudeness." Drew shook his head as if she were a lost cause. "But honestly, who counts?"

"Those of us who actually have to save up their money to get something like this," May quipped.

Drew rolled his eyes. "The prize money given to the winner of the Premiere would be more than enough to buy it," he said, gesturing to the little device.

"What are you saying?"

Drew avoided May's squinty eyes. "Nothing." I'm saying that you're capable of winning this if you try – but I'm not going to tell you that aloud! It's too much fun ridiculing you.

"Well…" May trailed off, driven by a glare from Misty, who was inching closer using her legs. "D'you think I could…maybe borrow it for a while?"

The little machine was snatched back out of her hands before she could say "Whodunit". "No, you may not!" Drew snapped.

"Well, excuse me for asking, mister -" Suddenly the brunette was struck by an idea, as surely as lightning strikes a tree. She leaned over and, with one eye trained on Misty, began to whisper in her rival's ear.

The green-haired boy's eyes grew wide, and then he smiled. It was perfect, her plan. Definitely worth letting her borrow the iPod. Although, he didn't know if he'd let anyone else –

"So," said May breathlessly, sitting back on her heels, "Can I borrow it? Please?"

Playing the ruthless businessman, Drew furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. It is so much fun to tease her.

May locked eyes with him for a moment, as long as she could without embarrassing herself. Just when she was about to look away, he relented, thrusting the player into her gloved hand. A glimmer of a smile could be seen in his eyes. "It's a deal."

"Great! But, Drew" – May pressed the Home button and grimaced – "You'll need to give me the password."

He laughed. "I may need another brilliant idea from you to let you have that."

She blushed. "Sorry, I'm fresh out."

"Then let me write it down. A tiny brain like yours could hardly hold such a complex password as mine."

"Those were conflicting sentences…first I'm brilliant, then I have a tiny brain?" May grinned mischeviously, her eyes sparkling. "You're terrible at insults."

My feelings for you are conflicted, too…should I tell you how I feel? Or keep acting like you're inferior to me, without risk to either of our feelings? Aloud, Drew returned the smile and said, "Sorry, genius. Here's the password."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Who knew Misty was freaked out by hotel service guys? She's not scared of much, but everybody has something kinda weird…so hers is…yeah.

Hope you liked this chapter! If you did, REVIEW! If you didn't, REVIEW! If you feel any other sort of emotion toward this story, then…you know what to do. Next chapter hopefully updated soon. This story is moving along (in my brain, at least), so look for Chapter Four soon!

Force be with you,

Pika