Well, I'm sure none of my readers are happy that it took so long to update, but I have not been able to get on a computer. First I wrote, like, fifty stories to post. I made shortcuts for the story, then deleted the original because I had thought that the shortcuts I made were actual files. So those were gone forever and wouldn't open. Then my Dad's computer wouldn't work because of the programs he downloaded, so I couldn't update when I still had the stories. After that, my family came. They kept coming and trying to read my laptop going "hey, what's that? Can we read it?" I don't enjoy that. At all. So I couldn't work on it anymore. So we got a new computer and my dad hogged it for forever so now I'm finally able to write. Wheeee! Oh, and by the way, I'M A PUBLISHED AUTHOR IN A LEGITIMATE WRITING CONTEST!!!!!! I WON! TAKE THAT NONSUPPORTIVE TEACHER! YOUR LITTLE PET LOST TO ME!!! All right, I'm done. Surprising, though, isn't it? I'm bad with fanfiction, but good with my characters! Okay, here you go. Have fun. And this may seem weird, but this fic is written from a very special point of view…May and Drew's, alternating.
"I hate Ash Ketchum! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!" Misty collapsed onto her bed with a sigh that tilted into a whimper. I guess I can sympathize with her. I felt bad after Drew left, but Ash was pretty hard on her. Sure, Drew didn't invite me to come along. I can't blame him either, I mean we're rivals after all, but still. Ash was pretty cruel. I don't think he was acting that mean on purpose, but…maybe you should just hear for yourself.
I had just come around the corner to what I guessed at one time had been a pleasant conversation. There they were, Ash and Misty, standing stiff in a full fledged argument. They were practically on fire with anger, sending Pikachu and Togatic crawling under the table. Ash had just gotten back from Sinnoh, placing fourth overall in the competition. Of course most of the people he had met more than once along the way were there, like Casey and Drew and Misty and even Togatic had left that Magic Kingdom to congratulate him. Max kept saying that Drew only came because he knew I'd be there. He's currently locked in a closet somewhere…sorry, I'll get back to the story.
"What do you mean I can't come?" Misty snarled. "I can go wherever I want! You don't own me!"
"You can't come! I mean, really, Mist-" He began in a slow kind voice. I couldn't help but think he sounded like an adult talking a child out of having a cookie before dinner.
"Don't you call me that! You think that being all sweet and caring is going to make it better? Think again Ketchum, what's wrong with you? You let Brock come, you let Tracey come. I'm sure you'd let Max join you on your stupid journey! Oh, and there's no doubt that you'd let Dawn or May go on your little trip around the world! I don't get it! My sisters have finally said, go ahead Misty, take a year off. It'll be fun. We'll take care of the gym. And now you're saying I can't go with you?"
"Exactly! You should just stay at the gym, where you're needed," He encouraged.
"No, Ash! I'll just follow you then, like I did at the beginning. I want to travel again, and I don't want to go alone. I'm sick of the gym. It's boring! I want to see new people again, see new towns, different pokémon, go on adventures-"
"No!" He said a bit too hurriedly. "If you follow me, I'll make sure I loose you. I'll wake up early and leave the campsite, just stay home, Mist."
"But why? What, because I'm scrawny? Or maybe because I'm just not pretty like the other girls you hang out with," her voice cracked and her eyes started filling up with tears. "Or maybe I'm just not good enough for you? After all, the great Ash Ketchum doesn't give a damn about looks. He cares about what's on the inside, and I'm just not up to your standards, am I?" She took a deep raspy breath in and turned away.
"Mist," Ash sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. She slapped it away and spun to face him again.
"Don't, Ash, just…just don't." She took a few steps backwards as she spoke, then ran up to Mrs. Ketchum's room, temporarily Misty's, breaking down into hard sobs. I walked out to where Ash could see me, starting to follow the girl up the stairs.
"Nice Ash," I glared at him. "All she wanted was to come along with you, and you just had to be a jerk about it. Real nice."
And that brings us here. Misty's crying and I'm trying to console her, even Natty's trying to help. We're a good team, actually. I boost Misty's confidence while Natty chips away at all the good and bad qualities Ash has, and boy oh boy is she chipping away.
"It's okay, Misty. You're the one who's too good for him."
"No I'm not," She cried.
"Yes you are, I mean, think about him. He's stupid. You traveled with him, you know how much of an idiot he is. Besides, you can't even compare yourself to him. Everybody's stronger, faster, smarter, taller-"
"No, he had a growth spurt," Misty debated.
"That doesn't matter. Misty, you're one of the sensational sisters! You're one of the pretties girls I know."
"I'm flat and you obviously haven't met my sisters or looked in a mirror."
"Ash obviously hasn't looked in a mirror either. I mean his hair is all messed up, he's not all that cute, and his clothes don't match," Natty declared proudly. The last comment actually did help Misty a bit. Her tears stopped flowing and she looked at Natty, trying not to giggle.
"Uh, Natty, they kinda do. Your clothes are the ones that don't match today," She looked at the girl.
"What's wrong with purple and yellow striped pants with a pink top with an eevee on it?" Natty asked, looking at her clothes with surprise. Misty and I started giggling, and before long laughing of loud. "I don't get it. How come whenever I try to cheer someone up, it always involves laughing at me?" All three of us were laughing, and it wasn't really that funny. But I guess when you're sad, you look for any kind of cheer to brighten up the situation. I was really hoping for Misty and Ash to get together though, I'm sure they're still in love, so why would Ash do that? I wondered if Drew might know…
"Hey," Natty said lightly with a glint in her eyes, "I want to get my friend some roses for her graduation, I can't remember what the colors mean though. Wanna look it up?"
"No, let's do that later," I said hurriedly.
"This isn't about Drew, is it? May, I hate to stereotype, but all pokémon coordinators are gay," Misty giggled. I don't know if I can blame her, she may just be trying to keep cheerful. I would too if the guy I liked told me to leave him alone.
"That's not true! I'm sure that"
"Not all pokémon coordinators are gay," I thought. Gary, Ash and I are talking about relationships. Every five minutes I keep whispering 'not all pokémon coordinators are gay' under my breath, but all those slash stories they write about celebrities…I'm starting to wonder about my sexual orientation here. Well, there was this big argument between Ash and Misty something bigger than their usual stuff. Now Misty's crying and Ash, who should be bouncing up and down like his psycho corphish (sp? Big time!) because of his high stakes win is banging his head against the wall repeatedly. Oh, I'm out of cake too. So I can't just push it around in circles and give the false impression that I'm paying attention. I have to listen now. Actually, Ash isn't talking, at least not in a straight line. He's talking is circles so he doesn't have to answer the question.
"Come on, Ash. Why can't she travel with you?"
"I told, she thinks that-"
"For the last time, Ashy boy," –Not All Pokémon Coordinators Are Gay– Gary rolled his eyes as he put his feet up on the table and leaned onto the back to legs of his chair. "We know what your little girlfriend thinks, but why won't you tell us the real reason?"
"She's not my girlfriend," He muttered.
"All right, so we now we know that Ash is still in denial. Which means the reason he wants Misty to stay at the gym has to do with his little crush on her and that's why he won't tell us," Gary said, more dictating the situation then instructing me.
"I don't like her like that!" Ash snapped.
"Can I go? I have to go do something," I said, getting up and starting to walk away.
"You leave and I'll tell May exactly what red roses mean," Gary said with a sneer. I froze, my shoulders stiffening. Now I know why Ash thinks this guy it so bad that he puts a 'that' in front of his name. Manipulative b-----d.
"A red rose can mean congratulations!"
"No, red roses can mean congratulations. A single red rose means I love you, you know that, don't you?" He smirked.
"Well, yeah…but she'll never believe you. Nobody likes you."
"I can show her a website."
"But…"
"I'll also share the fact that yellow roses mean friendship but you didn't give her those, did you? Oh, and if you want to pull the whole 'I didn't know what they meant' stunt," Gary pulled out a tape recorder.
"I hate you," I muttered. I really do. He's become completely psychotic once he started dating that Natty girl.
"I was rooting for you, Drew," Ash said from his wall, not quitting the relentless banging. "Sorry."
"Well, if you're still rooting for me why don't you just hurry up and tell us what's wrong." I tried to scrape some icing from my plate.
"Alright, you really want to know?" Ash sighed. He came and sat down with us. "I'm going to this new place, right? But it's for training like I've told everyone. It's for a Chosen One thing. There's a new prophecy." Ash swallowed and started blushing now. "The last few times this stuff has happened it always seems like the girl I'm with gets hurt. When I think of it happening with Dawn or May, I mean, the worry's there. I don't want them to get hurt, but, I don't know. It just seems like taking Misty is putting her in real danger and I really, really don't want her to get hurt."
Oh, sure. Gary pretty much proved that I have a crush on May and you're over here going, I don't mind that much if May gets blown up. I hate him. You know what, I think I just hate people in general. Yeah, you know what? People suck. And I just stabbed my fork on my plastic plate causing it to break. I looked up innocently. "Oops," I said nonchalantly. Then, a thought occurred to me. How could I get out of this situation? Simple! Common sense. "Ash, why don't you go tell her?"
"She's got guards," Ash mumbled. "May and Natty are both really mad at me. They'll probably get mad the second I knock on the door."
"I'll take care of Natty and I'm sure Drew can convince May to step outside for a minute, right?" Gary smiled.
"Sh-sure," I stuttered. Wait, I stuttered? Me? I don't stutter. Man, have I got it bad. I stalked up the stairs to bring down May. Though I could've sworn I heard Ash behind me as I left…
"…Gary, there's no cassette in that recorder."
"I know, Ash. That's the intelligence of my plan and my understanding of human nature."
"I don't understand. By the way, the roses? Does a single red one really mean"
"I love you? It couldn't mean that," I murmured as I stared at the computer screen. It was nice that we had gotten Misty's (why does my spell check say that that's wrong?) mind off her boy problems, but this was just raising my own troubles. I don't get it. If Drew was able to come out enough that he'd give me a rose that says "I love you" why wouldn't he say it? It makes no sense!
"Uh, M-may. Cuh-could w-we tuh-talk?" I knew that was Drew's voice, but he doesn't stutter.
"Well that was an unexpected side effect," I heard Natty beside me.
"Huh?"
"Oh, uh, I'll be the tie and you be the hat."
"What are you saying?" I tried to figure out the weird code she was speaking in.
"Haven't you ever heard that joke before? You go ahead and I'll hang around," Natty scoffed. "And everyone thinks I'm stupid just because my clothes just match and I have imaginary friends. She can't even figure out a pun."
I rolled my eyes I walked out into Drew. Within seconds, Gary came up and pulled out Natty. After that, Ash was coming up the stairs. "Oh no he doesn't," I said. Drew grabbed hand and started pulling me the other way.
"It's not what you think," He said. "He'll explain. Come on."
"So this was all just a plot to get me out of the way?"
"No, May. It's not that," he swallowed. "Okay, it was that. But I do have something to tell you."
"Okay, what? You better make it fast," I huffed. My heart started beating faster in my chest. It shouldn't have. I knew it wouldn't be anything near what I was expecting. Wait, what was I expecting? A heartfelt confession of undying love? The roses weren't a fluke? And, in case I hadn't already guessed, the roses were for me, not my pokémon? Maybe I'd been drinking too much punch. It wasn't alcoholic, I hope.
"I don't supposed you know what red roses mean?" He asked. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened. He looked at me and smirked. "Apparently you do. They mean congratulations." My expectations just shattered. I looked at the floor and tried to hold back tears. "But I didn't give you red roses. I gave you a single red rose," he lifted my chin to show off a teasing grin. "And that means I love you."
"Really?" I asked with hope.
"Yeah. May, I really, really," he began, trying to keep a straight face, but burst out laughing, "love your beautifly."
"I can't tell if you're joking or serious! That's not funny!" I shouted, stomping my foot uselessly. How old was I, two? "Cut it out! It's not funny!"
"Yes it is. You just didn't see your face," Drew laughed. He calmed himself down. "The roses were for you," He smiled. "May, could I maybe," Drew turned bashful. "Could I kiss you?"
"You're asking permission? If this was a story those psycho fangirls would say you're acting very OOC, mind telling me why?"
"OOC?"
"Out of character," I giggled. Maybe I read a few too many May/Drew fics on those celebrity worshipping websites, but it was so cute, I couldn't help it. "You're not one to joke, Drew. That's more of Ash's styles."
"My jokes are funny. And you never answered my question."
"You never answered mine," I retorted.
"We're all fools in love. My inner fool apparently makes mean jokes and acts like an idiot."
"Then my inner fool says yes, you can kiss me, Drew," I smiled. And I won't go into detail here, but there were fireworks, huge fireworks. Once that was done, Drew and I witnessed a very cute scene unfold before us.
"So, you were just overprotective?" Misty asked, sniffling with a small handkerchief in her hand. "It's not that you don't like me, it's that you like me too much?" She looked at him with the sweetest, cutest face I'd ever seen. The two of them looked like playground lovers.
"Mmm-hmm," Ash nodded, looking at his shoes. "I just wanted you safe."
"You don't have to worry about me, Ash. I can take care of myself. I wandered around for a few days in the wild before finding you. Besides, I've heard that you take control whenever I'm not there. Somebody has to keep you in line. Might as well be the scrawny runt, right?" she gave a slightly sad smile.
"I don't think that they're prettier than you, or that you're scrawny or ugly or anything. I like you just the way you are. And I especially like who you are on the inside. Even if you are a little bipolar."
"Like-like me? Or just like me?" Misty asked, blushing. So red faced Ash leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Both," He laughed. He ran down the stairs, leaving a confused but happy Misty to follow him a few seconds later.
"Aw, how cute! It's like two little five year olds."
"They're sixteen," Drew snickered. "And that was a pretty bad love confession. At least mine was entertaining."
"Don't ruin it!" I huffed. "Besides, I think it went"
"Beautifully," I smirked at Gary. "Now, tell me, who's the most wonderful powerful elaborate planning matchmaker in the entire world?" He sighed and rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, I know you had a part, but who planned it? Moi! Now say it."
"You are."
"Say all of it."
"You're the most wonderful powerful elaborate planning matchmaker in the entire world."
"And?"
"And you should get reviews for this, even if has been forever."
"Good boy," I kissed his nose. "Now, all you pe-op-pol-lees, peoples for the slowbros, I really am terribly sorry, and I hope this makes it up to you. It's more contestshipping then pokeshipping, but I tried a bit a seriousness in there and I was playing with different POV's, though I KNOW they're all horrible. Good reading, and press the button!"