"Well here we are!" Drew announced as they reached the entrance to the town where the Grand festival was being held.
May stood next to him, eyed the Contest Stadium some distance ahead, and gave a small nervous smile. "Yeah, here we are."
"May? Is everything ok?" Drew asked worryingly
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't believe how fast time flies. In another week, we're going to be competing against each other." May said "And…HE is going to be here…" May said looking down.
Drew knew exactly who May was talking about. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry so much. What have we've been doing all this time? We certainly haven't been screwing around (that much lol) and doing nothing. We've trained hard and prepared for this. You've grown so much stronger, so calm down. You are more prepared for this than ever. And you will kick everyone's butt! Drew said and leaning in to kiss her.
But before his lips could touch May, she placed her hand on his chest to stop him. He looked at her with surprise. "May?"
"Look!" May said pointing to the Pikachu that just ran across their path. The Pikachu noticed them too.
"Pika!"
"Could this be?" May thought at she stared at the oddly familiar Pikachu. But she didn't' have time to finish her thoughts as the Pikachu's trainer came into view. Indeed this was the Pikachu.
"Ash! Brock!" May called out as soon as she saw her old traveling partners. She ran up to them, Drew followed close behind.
May practically jumped into Brock's arms and gave him a hug before letting go and giving Ash one as well. It was nice to see her old friends again.
"May! Long time no see! How are you?" Ash said hugging her back.
Drew watched as May reunited with her friends. He couldn't help but notice that Ash held onto that hug a tad bit longer than he needed. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, but chose to ignore it, thinking it might just be his mind playing with him.
"Oh I'm fine. So what are you guys doing here?" May asked
"I came here for a gym battle." Ash said excitedly
"Really? How did it go?" May asked
"Check it out!" Ash said flashing his badge case, where a shiny new badge sat. "Two more to go and I can compete in the league!"
"Wow, congratulations! Me and Drew are here for the Grand Festival." May said
"Yeah, we heard that was being held here." Brock said then looked at Drew.
It was only now that Ash realized May wasn't alone. "Oh hey Drew! Didn't see you there, how's it going man?" Ash gave Drew a hug, which is politely accepted
"I'm doing great. I've been traveling and training with May lately. So we've been busy." Drew replied with a slight smirk
"Well it's great to see you two again. You guys just got into town, so I assume you guys must be hungry. Why don't we all go grab some lunch and catch up?" Brock suggested. He noticed Drew's smirk and couldn't help but think there was more than one meaning to Drew's previous statement. "If there's something going one between them, I'll find out" he thought.
"Sure! That's sounds like a great idea. You ok with that, Drew?" May asked
"Yeah sounds good to me." Drew replied, he didn't really mind Ash and Brock, he's met them many times in the past and they were important to May.
"Great, there's a great café nearby." Brock said leading the way.
On the walk there, Drew couldn't help but notice Ash's behavior towards May. He kept trying to talk to May and trying to get closer to her. This made Drew slightly uneasy.
When they got to the Café, they decided to sit outside. Ash beat Drew to the seat next to May. He didn't protest, knowing that they are close and want to catch up, so he quietly took the seat across from her.
The group had an enjoyable meal, traded stories about their travel and adventures, and talked about their plans for the near future. Ash and Brock decided that they could use a break after the latest gym battle and told the couple that they will stay in town cheer them on during the festival.
"So why are you guys traveling together?" Ash asked May
May looked at Drew before answering. "Well, after winning my 5th ribbon I ran into Drew after the contest. And I've been thinking that traveling alone was kind of lonely, and since we were both going to the same place, we figured why not? Plus it's nice to have someone to train with along the way." Well this was kind of true. May figured they didn't need to know about the incident that really brought them together.
"Oh I see." Ash replied before going back to his food
Nearing the end of their meal, May excused herself to the bathroom and walked inside the building. Ash excused himself not long after and followed May in.
Drew stared at Ash as he walked in May's direction.
"Looks like you got competition." Brock said, bringing Drew's attention back to the table.
"What?" Drew questioned.
Brock replied by holding up a magazine with the cover story of them. "Too bed he doesn't know you already won." Brock said putting the magazine back in his backpack. "He still thinks he has a chance with her."
"So…you know about us?" Drew asked
"I didn't want to believe a tabloid story because they get things wrong all the time. But after seeing the way you reacted to Ash moving in on May; I can tell. As a guy who's been rejected so many times, l learned to notice things like this." Brock explained
Drew blushes and turns his head back to where May and Ash had gone.
"Don't worry about Ash. He's obviously oblivious to the whole thing. And if you and May truly care about each other, there is no way Ash can win her over." Brock said, putting Drew's mind a little bit at ease.
"Yeah." Drew answered. He was doing everything he could to stop himself from running inside to check on them.
Meanwhile, Ash is waiting outside the bathroom for May to reappear…
That's all for now! And yay, now the rest of the gang are in the story. Don't really know what else to say, so I guess I'll see you guys in the next update!