Chapter 2

Ash was terrified at this revelation. He watched them walk down the plank onto the docks, hand in hand the entire time. As she approached him, she saw his arms and looked disgusted. Drew smirked in satisfaction. "Umm… Ash. This is Drew, as you know. We're dating." Deep in his mind, Ash wanted to retch.

"I noticed. So how did that come along?" Ash asked as politely as he could. He looked at Drew and saw that his clothes expressed his newly toned muscles. His eye twitched his displeasure at the sight.

"Well, we had been traveling for a while, and he stopped with the childish treatment. That really opened a new world for us. He asked me out on a pier in Johto." May explained. At the sound of pier, Drew appeared to have cringed slightly. They looked at each other and smiled. Drew lightly kissed her on the lips. Ash desperately wanted to tear those lips right off Drew's face.

"That's great." Ash lied. "Let's get back to the Pokémon Center so we can pack up and head out of town." They trotted off towards the Center. Ash looked in the corner of his eye as people glanced at him. He wasn't worried with them so much as he wanted to know what May and Drew were doing behind him.

They arrived at the Center and walked in. Ash picked up his bag and put on his hoodie. The warm heat generated and held within the hoodie began to make his arms feel better. Iris and Cilan walked in and they greeted each other. Iris and Cilan seemed to be watching Drew, seeing the hideous bruise and cast. Iris asked, "So… what happened to you Drew?"

Drew answered swiftly, "I fell on the ship." No one questioned his answer.

May later asked, "What did you do to your arms Ash?" Everyone stopped as if they all wondered too.

"Well… I had accidentally rubbed my arms against the metal railing during the night." He stated nonchalantly.

They ventured outside and started out of town. As we approached the wilderness, we arranged into a line. From left to right, it was Cilan, Iris, May, Drew, and Ash. Drew seemed to be keeping Ash away from her. He also kept nudging me away from him.

One time, he nudged me into a tree and May said, "Come on Ash; get up. We don't have time to play around." Ash grumbled under his voice and stood up. I nudged Drew and he yelped like he had been hurt. "What's wrong with you?" May asked him. Ash looked down as he cursed under his breath. Drew looked directly at Ash and smirked.

They approached a new Pokémon they hadn't ever seen. It was a Chandelure. "Guys, get away from that!" They looked at me as if they didn't believe me. It started to lift Drew up. He looked amazed at the mental strength. Pikachu watched in fear as Ash ran towards the scene. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and covered his eyes. Ash charged the group, and rammed his way through the group. The Chandelure freaked and dropped Drew on his bad leg.

"Ow! Shit!" Drew said as he clutched his cast. Ash turned around and commanded Pikachu to thunder bolt the Chandelure. The signature yellow bolt shot through the air, crackling like popcorn. It struck the Chandelure as May was down on the ground with Drew who was pulling out his Pokédex. His eyes darted back and forth as he read the entry, then widened when he finished. May seemed to look in fright, comparing the picture with the unconscious creature before them.

The entry stated the basic facts of the creature. It would normally appear after death, then capture and burn the soul to fuel itself before leaving the remains to wander the earth forever. They looked at me in unison, with a new respect. Iris and Cilan came out from behind a bush.

They looked at each other before deciding to just get down the road and they continued. They saw more Pokémon and the couple happily listened to the words of the other three. As they approached the next city, May seemed more distant from Drew. Drew had noticed it as well, and was pissed at his backfiring plan.

After they entered the city, the group decided to get a room in the Pokémon Center and stay so they could beat the gym and take part in the contest. Ash was psyched at his chance to show off his new skills to May and Drew. May had walked out of the room to shop with Iris and Cilan went to help with the feeding time of injured Pokémon. That had left Drew and Ash in the room, staring coldly at each other.

Drew spoke out first, saying "You aren't getting her from me. She was mine first, and mine for good."

"Look at yourself, you've nearly gone crazy with some idea. You're probably just going to chase her off without trying." Ash said. Drew shoved his crutch at the ground, slamming it into Ash's foot. May and Iris were walking down the hallway to the room. Ash flipped out then and punched Drew's cast. He yelped out like a child. He was facing the door and Ash had his back to it. Drew swung his crutch wide and struck Ash's right leg. He fell to one knee, rubbing the other one with his knees. He then stood up and grabbed Drew's crutches. Using momentum, he shoved the crutches into the air, sending Drew back. May walked in the room to see Drew flying across the room and Ash standing over him.

"Ash!" May screeched from behind him. He turned to see May staring wide-eyed. "What have you done? I just don't want to be around you right now." She ran off behind the door, stopping after just exiting the room. Iris had stopped her to try and comfort her. Ash looked towards the door in disbelief. Drew was stumbling up, laughing his head off loudly.

"See, all I had to do was push you, and you did my job for me!" He said loudly. Then, May and Iris walked back in front of the door. May was giving Drew a death stare. Iris looked disapprovingly at Drew. He shrunk back into the corner, trying to pretend he didn't say anything.

"So you set this up?" May screamed. Drew knew he was caught and nodded slightly. "I should have expected that from you. Ash wouldn't have acted like that on his own. Someone had to be instigating his actions." May appeared steamed. I looked her directly in the eyes while Drew was staring around in the distance, trying to keep from breaking down like his plan did. "I don't want to be around either of you." She said plainly before she walked out.

"Wait May!" Ash said.

May called back, "No! I need time to think about you children. You've been fighting over me like 8 year olds." Iris looked at us like we were children that deserved a good beating.

"May, I'm coming with you." Iris said as she left the area. Something suddenly struck a chord in Ash's mind. What Drew was doing was wrong, but him deciding to react to it like that was just as bad. Drew had been acting like a child hiding his favorite toy, and Ash had reacted like a child by trying to return the same anger instead of doing something responsible. Had he learned nothing from this?

All he could do now was let these thoughts bubble and hope that Drew had learned something as well, because what they learned might just decide her next boyfriend.

OOOOO

Meanwhile, all Drew could think about was the utter failure of his plans. He knew how he screwed up. He had let his pride consume him with his victory. He blurted out is plans. He was sure that Ash already knew his intentions, but he couldn't hold in his pride any longer. Plus, he practically had to restart when Ash had saved his life, because that had made her respect Ash almost instantly. His pure hate for Ash Ketchum consumed his mind, keeping him from learning anything of value from the experience.

OOOOO

Iris had caught up with May in the lobby. She couldn't believe the way that Drew had been sliding behind their backs. She had also known Ash long enough to know he would react that way. He hadn't really done any maturing. He acted like a child around her, so that was how she treated him.

She saw the displeasure in May's eyes. A twinkle of hate shone in the pupil of her eyes. Iris saw everything May had felt without even saying a word. She was steaming in her thoughts. Iris couldn't understand what would have caused the behavior from either. Ash understood that Drew was May's boyfriend. Drew should've known that Ash wouldn't have tried something with him dating May. She was just so curious. Iris could barely control herself from asking May what she was going to do.

May just looked at her, trapped in deep thought. Iris was getting up when May grabbed her arm. She said, "I've made my decision." They got up and walked back into the room. Ash looked at her with deep, worried eyes. Drew just seemed unemotionally cool, like normal.