Chapter 9- Fight

Drew's POV

"Ok, Beautifly," May yelled, "Silver wind one more time!" The Pokémon obeyed her.

"Oh good job!" she cried, patting her Pokémon on the head.

"We should go get lunch," I told her as she returned Beautifly, "We've done enough practise for today." She came up to me as I returned my Butterfree.

"You think we're ready for this?" she asked, "Do you think our routine is perfect yet?"

"Definitely," I answered.

"What about our second routine, shouldn't we practise that one more time?" she questioned.

"May, you need to stop worrying," I sighed, "We'll be great. You've worked really hard and I think we can do this. Trust me." She nodded and we walked out. The Pokémon stadium was empty now, but tomorrow was the Grand Festival. Solidad and Harley had won their last two ribbons shortly after we did. We'd had a quiet night in to celebrate. Without mentioning it, we all felt too nervous about last time to go out again. May took my hand as we walked along. I smiled, looking down at our entwined fingers. She didn't say anything about it, but she had become more affectionate with me since the accident. She stayed close to me; almost never leaving my side, held my hand and had insisted we exchange our two bedrooms for a single one with multiple beds. Brock, Ash and Max didn't have to sleep on the ground anymore. She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder, looking up at me.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, after ordering a sandwich.

"Just about our routine," I replied, lying; but I wasn't about to tell her I what I was really thinking of.

"What about it? Is it not good enough? Should we practise again? Which bit is bad? What do I have to do?" she continued to pelt me with questions, jerking her head up again and staring at me with wide eyes. I gently put two fingers over her lips, hushing her.

"I was more thinking of the judges' reactions to our performance," I lied again, slowly bringing her head back down to its resting position, "you don't need to worry about it."

"If you say so," she sighed.

May's POV

I tossed and turned in my bed. The Grand Festival was tomorrow and I was nervous. Drew's routine was an amazing idea, but the thought of getting it wrong on the day horrified me. I sighed and rolled over again, scrunching my eyes closed.

"Hey." A voice whispered to me, touching my shoulder. My eyes shot open and I tried to scream, but my mouth was covered by a hand.

"Calm down May, it's just me." I knew that voice. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as my eyes met with green ones.

"Are you calm now?" he asked. I couldn't see his face very well, but I could imagine him raising an eyebrow at me. I nodded and he brought his hand away.

"What are doing, apart from scaring me half to death?" I hissed, not wanting to wake anyone else. Not that it was a problem. Ash could sleep through a thunderstorm, Brock sleep like a log and my own brother was just as bad.

"I saw you couldn't get to sleep," he replied, "I thought maybe you might want some company seeing as I can't sleep either."

"Why can't you sleep?" I asked.

"Too much to think about," he answered with a deep sigh.

"Like what?"

"Things like hoping my dad might show up for once, things like how my sister is doing, just the usual," he shrugged, "how about we take a walk. We wouldn't want to wake anyone up."

"Pfft, I don't think so," I snorted, "those three would still be asleep if the room was on fire and the smoke alarms were blaring in their ears."

"I wasn't worried about them," he chuckled lowly, "remember Solidad is next door. She's a really light sleeper. I mean you-can-wake-her-up-by-just-tiptoeing-past-her light." I giggled and swung my legs out of bed. I looked down at my attire; a red cotton tank top and matching pants. I shivered.

"Maybe I should get something else on," I said.

"Don't bother getting dressed, just get a jumper or you'll freeze," he shrugged. I looked up. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light I could see him clearly. He only had on a pair of shorts, his chest exposed.

"You might want to get something else on," I suggested, blushing. He looked down, as if he only just remembered his own outfit.

"What's wrong with this?" he asked, a teasing grin on his face, "you know you like it."

"I do not!" I hissed, but I blushed again. I got up and turned to go to my closet. I pulled out a thin jumper. Why didn't I have anything more suitable for cold weather? I sighed and pulled it over my head. When I turned around again, he had put a t-shirt and jacket on.

"Alright, I'm ready," I said, relieved that he decided to put something over his bare skin. He eyed me, but then shrugged and held the door open for me. He gently closed it behind me, leaving the rest of our sleeping members behind as we walked out of the centre.

The cool night air pinched at my skin and I gritted my teeth, determined not to show how cold I was.

"So Drew, are you nervous?" I asked.

"I would normally say no, why would I be, but if you want my honest answer; I'm terrified," he said.

"Wow!" I exhaled.

"What?"

"You're being brutally honest with me. That's a change from the Drew I know," I said.

"And what would the Drew you know be doing?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Well the Drew I know, would be smirking confidently and flipping his hair and telling me that I should be the one to be nervous because he was going to beat me," I answered.

"Well, I can smirk confidently and flip my hair if you want," he chuckled, "but I can't exactly say I'm going to beat you can I? Have you forgotten we're a team already? How am I going to deal with you?" He smirked and flipped his hair in an exaggerated way.

"No, I haven't forgotten," I gigged, "but I'm just telling you what you usually do."

"May!" yelled a voice that I dreaded.

"Drew," I said, jumping behind him, "protect me from my obsessed fan boy."

"I'll do my best, but remember, you said I was no prince charming," he chuckled.

"I don't need prince charming," I giggled back at his teasing, "I need a knight in shining armour."

"Suppose I could try multiple rolls," he shrugged.

"May, what are you doing out here tonight?" Craig asked, trying to peer behind Drew.

"She's walking with me," growled Drew, his voice changing as he spoke.

"I wasn't talking to you," Craig scowled at Drew, turning to me he continued, "May you wanna ditch this guy and walk with me."

"Back off," growled Drew, pushing Craig back as he advanced, "I asked her first."

"Oh all tough guy are we," sneered Craig, looking him over as if sizing him up, "if you're so tough why don't you fight me for her?" He smacked his palms against his chest and jerked forwards. I saw Drew's hands curl up into fists. I tugged on him arm.

"Drew, let's go," I pleaded, "It's not worth it."

"Yeah, listen to the girl," jeered Craig again, "go run off and be a coward." Drew shrugged me off and swung at Craig. There was a sickening crunch as his fist connected with the side of Craig's head. Craig stumbled back, but didn't fall. He was pretty sturdy for his age I couldn't help thinking.

"May, step back," Drew warned, "you don't want to get hurt." Craig rubbed his face and glared at Drew, pure hatred in his eyes. I scrambled backwards as Craig lurched at Drew.

I bit my lip nervously. I was hiding behind a tree as I watched the fighting ensue. They'd been throwing punches at each other for a while now. Craig had taken a lot more than Drew, but he was still standing. The boy had endurance. Drew reeled back as Craig's fist connected with his face, on his jaw. Drew turned and spat and I was horrified to see it come out red. As romantic as it seemed to have two boys fight over me, it was just horrible. Drew's teeth clenched as he swung an uppercut at Craig. It connected and the younger boy was sent sprawling back. He got back up and ran at Drew again. He was then elbowed in the ribs and kicked back.

"Stop!" I screamed. I'd had enough. Both boys turned to me as I stood, feet spread apart and hands on my hips. Blood dripped off both of them from different cuts.

"Haven't you forgotten the Grand Festival tomorrow? What will the judges say when they see you like that?" Drew bowed his head in shame, but Craig just glared. He was obviously annoyed that I had stopped him from trying to land a hit on Drew again.

"But May I just-" Craig started.

"I know what you wanted," I yelled, cutting him off, "you wanted to prove that you were good enough for me. Well stop! I've had enough. I think I can choose for myself who I'd like to spend my time with without you boys ripping into each other."

"Who would you like to spend your time with?" asked Craig, not seeming to care. I walked over and gently took Drew's hand, leading him away.

"Thank you for interrupting and beating up the person I was clearly spending my time with," I said sarcastically over my shoulder as I left, "but you've done enough damage. I'd rather not see you again Craig. Goodbye." As soon as he was out of sight, Drew stopped me.

"I'm sorry May," he apologised, whimpering slightly and looking like a scolded puppy, "he just, I couldn't stand it. I'm really sorry. I just let my head take over. I didn't think about the contest." I softened. I was going to scold him for being so proud, but he looked at me in a way that made my heart melt.

"It's alright," I said softly, "I'm not mad at you. You were only sticking up for me." He gave me a grateful smile and winced. I reached out to wipe his face, but he turned away.

"Here let me see," I commanded, taking his face gently in my hands. He had bruises all over his skin. He had a cut on his forehead and his bottom lip had been split. Blood was leaking out of both cuts and slowly dripping down his face. He looked so hurt.

"Let's head back so I can fix those," I said, shivering; not just from the cold, but from the fact that he would get into a fight for me.

"Hold still," I mumbled, holding a damp cloth in my hands. I gently dabbed at his face. He was sitting on his bed while I was trying to clean up the mess he'd made of himself. I shivered again, this time from the cold room I was in. He looked at me in concern.

"That jumper isn't doing much is it?" he asked.

"Not really," I admitted, "I wasn't prepared to go out for a walk in the cold."

"Here." He slipped his jacket off and gently put it over my shoulders. I shrugged into the jacket easily, zipping the front up; accepting the warmth it gave me. It was rather big on me. It hung down over my hips and the sleeves covered my hands. He smiled and flipped the hood up and over my face. I pushed it back.

"Stop trying to get out of this," I giggled quietly, "distracting me isn't helping." He clicked his fingers in mock disappointment.

"You figured it out," he teased, "that was my only plan." I giggled again and wiped the cloth over the trail of dried blood down his cheek.

"You need to take your top off so I can see the rest of your wounds," I told him. He obeyed, slipping it painfully over his head. I eyed him. The damage wasn't too bad. He had several bruises on his stomach, arms and chest. One, just below his rib cage had been split. I winced as I noticed a bite mark on his upper arm.

"What kind of an animal is that boy," I grimaced, pointing to the spot.

"I dunno, but he has a decent bite," he shrugged. I ran the cloth over the spot carefully. It was a kind of purple and red mixture. I cleaned the rest of his chest quickly, not wanting him to get cold. I stuck a band aid over the cut.

"You're lucky he didn't split your dart wound again," I commented as he put his shirt back on. He shrugged again and I continued on his face. I placed a band aid on his head, before moving down lower. I brushed past some dirty bruises on his lower chin and jaw. Finally I came to his split lip. I had left it until last on purpose. I wanted to be calm and collected before thinking about his lip. I couldn't just put of band aid over it, like all the other cuts; I had to be really gently. I put some anti-inflammatory disinfectant liquid on a fresh cloth.

"Hold still," I commanded again. I carefully brushed it over his mouth. He winced, but didn't turn away. I did it again, this time my thumb brushing his lip by accident. I shivered. I looked into his eyes. Big mistake. They were dark and shining with affection and care. I froze, my hand still at his mouth, his breath warming the very tips of my fingers. I wanted to place my mouth over his lips and kiss away his pain. I was almost sure I would've if I didn't tear my eyes from his.

"You're done," I said quickly taking my hand back. The tips of my fingers were still tingling.

"Thanks May," he whispered quietly, his voice sounding low and raspy.

"You'll be sore tomorrow," I explained, tucking myself into my own bed, "and you'll definitely have trouble smiling and moving around, but you'll survive. I just hope that those bruises won't show too much. I put some cream on them to help, but the rest is up to how fast you heal." I rolled over, refusing to let myself look at him. If I did, I would be drawn back to his side.

"Thank you May," he repeated. I heard him shuffle under his covers, "goodnight."

"Night Drew," I murmured, soon lulled to sleep by the steady breathing that filled the silence.

Drew's POV

I woke up, feeling stiff and groggy. I groaned and painfully pushed myself up into a sitting position. May was right. I was sore.

"Afternoon Drew," called Brock. I looked at him. He, Ash and Max were sitting at the table. My eyes narrowed.

"Afternoon?" I questioned.

"Yeah, it's 12:23," he replied, "you and May have been sleeping for ages. She's still sleeping." I looked at her and smiled affectionately. I swung myself out of bed and went to join them at the table.

"Hey Drew, we woke up this morning and you are covered in bruises. What exactly happened?" asked Ash, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Neither May or I could sleep last night so we went for a walk," I explained, "I got into a fight. May stopped it after a while. Then we came back and she took care of my injuries."

"You got into a fight?" questioned Max, "with whom? Why?"

"You know May's obsessive fan boy Craig," I answered, "he came up and demanded May spend time with him. May didn't want to and when I refused him, he challenged me to fight him."

"Wow!" exclaimed Max, "that takes guts. Are you alright?"

"Better than he is," I snarled, "As I said, May took care of my wounds, very professionally I might add. You've done a good job teaching her Brock." He nodded.

"Morning guys," yawned a sleepy May, slowly padding her way to us while rubbing her eyes. She looked so cute, still wrapped up in my oversized jumper.

"May, why are you wearing Drew's jumper?" asked Brock, turning his attention to the brunette.

"I was cold last night and Drew gave it to me," she yawned again, "it was so warm that I guess I just fell asleep in it."

"Morning May," I smiled softly, "You hungry?"

"Mm," she mumbled, still half asleep. Mew she was so cute when she was sleepy.

"Sit down," I told her, moving out of my chair so she could take my place, "I'll find you something to eat." She flopped down in my chair and I quickly headed into the kitchen. I searched through the cupboards for something that I could use to make something nice for her.

May's POV

After I had eaten what Drew had made for me, I got ready. I pulled on my costume for the first round of the appeals, stuffing the second in a bag. I wore the same silver dress as I did when Solidad, Harley, Drew and I had gone out for dinner when we had come a draw and all gotten a ribbon (A/N: If you're unsure then go back to chapter 5. The description is in there). Of course this time, I hadn't had Solidad's help and I didn't curl my hair. I looked in the mirror as I carefully applied some mascara to my eyelashes. I had again only used silvery eye shadow and mascara. Solidad had told me that I didn't need any more than that because my skin was naturally clear. I had left my hair down, brushing it until I couldn't feel any knots at all. I spun around, taking one last look in the mirror before I walked out. My room was empty. Max, Brock and Ash had left early to get good seats. I walked out to meet Drew in the hallway. He had his eyes closed. I cast my eyes over his outfit. He wore dark jeans and a clean, pure white t-shirt. He had removed the band aid from his head, the small cut hidden by his fringe. His bruises had faded considerably and were hardly noticeable. The only real evidence from his fight last night was the dark red line across his bottom lip. He held a red rose in his fingers.

"Not bad," I commented, causing his eyes to snap open. He glanced at me cheekily.

"Not bad?" he repeating raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," I shrugged, "you clean up pretty good."

"Well, you don't look half bad yourself," he snorted in reply.

"I guess that's the closest I'm going to get to a compliment today," I teased, "oh well." He stepped forwards and tucked the rose behind my ear, like he did the first time.

"Better," he said, grinning, "you look nice now."

"I was wrong," I giggled, "C'mon, let's go." I took his hand in mine and started outside.

We had walked into the Pokémon stadium, still hand in hand. Solidad and Harley spotted up immediately and rushed over.

"May!" Solidad called, "Drew!"

"It's been a while since we've seen you," Harley added. I noticed, with relief, that he didn't have a rose.

"Yes, we've been practising in secret," Drew explained, "We can't have anyone finding out about our top secret routine."

"Oh May, you look gorgeous," Solidad sighed.

"Thanks," I giggled, "It's my first costume."

"First?" Harley questioned.

"Yeah, for the first round of the appeals," I explained, "I have a different one for the second round."

"Why couldn't we have been that organised," pondered Solidad, looking down at her outfit. She wore jeans and a peach top.

"Don't worry about it," I assured, "You look nice. I just needed the costumes for special effects."

"Ooh," they both cooed.

"I can't wait to see you on stage," said Harley, "I recon you could go straight through based on looks alone."

"Don't be silly," I giggled, noticing how Drew tensed up, "it's Drew's amazing routine that'll shoot us through for sure."

"May!" someone called. I realized that Drew had been tensing because he had spotted the boy that now ran towards me. He looked horrible and I recoiled in disgust at not only him, but his appearance as well. He had suffered many more bruises and cuts than Drew; all of them very dark purple and noticeable. His cuts hadn't been cleaned properly and dried blood was crusted around the jagged wounds. He bore a black eye around his left eye. He grinned as he stopped in front of me and I noticed that one of his teeth had been chipped. Drew had really not held back. His torso was completely covered in a long sleeved top, so I couldn't see the extent of damage done to his upper body.

"May," he panted, "I've been looking for you all morning." Drew scowled and made a low growling noise. He stepped forwards a bit. I gently put a hand on his arm.

"What do you want?" I asked sharply.

"I wanted to apologise for last night. What I did was out of line and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" he asked, reaching for my hand. I withdrew it away and glared.

"It's a bit too late for that," I snapped coldly, "I already told you I never wanted to see you and I meant it. Get out of my sight."

"But May I-"

"Now!" I yelled loudly. He quickly scampered away, making a croaky whimpering noise.

"What exactly happened?" asked Solidad, turning to me. I explained quickly and her mouth dropped.

"That jerk!" she exclaimed when I had finished. She turned to Drew.

"Wow Drew," she commented, "He looked terrible. I didn't know you could get that angry." Drew shrugged and we headed to the stage door. Our names had been called.

Drew's POV

"Now use Silver wind one more time!" we both yelled in unison to Butterfree and Beautifly. Both Pokémon had the same move sets and so I had come up with a synchronised attacks routine. Both Pokémon fired the silver wind upwards and it hit the sun. Sparkles burst out and covered the stadium and cheering audience. I looked at May, her dress shimmering beautifully like I had hoped. She was the real star, to me at least. She nodded to me and I bowed as she curtsied, our respective Pokémon landing on our heads.

"Wow!" Lillian called through the microphone, "that was a beautiful synchronised routine from both May and Drew. What do you, the audience, say to that." I smiled as the cheers grew louder. I heard the stomping of feet on the ground.

"Seems you enjoyed it," Lillian continued, "but let's see what the judges think." I stood up straight again and heard the screamed of fan girls at the front.

"Spectacular," the first said, "you wouldn't be able to tell that there is usually fierce competition between these two." I smiled again.

"Absolutely beautiful, I loved the way May's dress just sparkled with the moves," added the second.

"I have to agree, the clothing choice was magnificent," agreed the other female judge.

"Certainly was an amazing display of coordination and hard work between the two coordinators," commented the last one, "Most definitely a praiseworthy start."

"Now let's see the points," Lillian said, drawing my attention to the screen where numbers were rolling across the screen. It stopped with a beep. I grinned with satisfaction.

"98 points!" Lillian cried, "That'll be some tough competition to beat. Drew and May have set the standards high with the first performance of the day. Give them a clap as they head off stage again." The audience roared and I almost had to cover my ears.

"We did it!" May squealed as soon as we were passed the door. She bounced around and grabbed my hands. She spun in circles, laughing.

"We did it!" she squealed again.

"Yes, we did great," I agreed, laughing at her excitement, "I told you we would be good."

"May, Drew!" I heard Solidad yell. May stopped spinning and let go of my hands, squealing again as she embraced the older girl.

"Did you see us?" she asked, "did you see it? I didn't mess up!"

"Yes, I saw May," Solidad answered, struggling out of May's grip, "you did well, we came to congratulate you."

"Yeah, well done," agreed Harley.

"May!" yelled Brock. May was tackled to the ground by her younger brother.

"May you did so well," he said.

"Yeah May, you looked really good out there, especially when your dress shimmered in the light," Brock approved.

"Well done May, we're proud of you," added Ash, helping both May and Max off the ground.

"It was all Drew's idea," she giggled, "even my costume choice."

"Good job Drew," said Solidad, "that was an amazing performance. You were right. That would've taken forever to perfect, but it was so worth it." I nodded at the praise, feeling proud. May grinned. I loved it when she was so happy.

"Just you wait til our next routine," I said mysteriously, "anyway, sounds like you're up. Good luck Solidad, Harley." They nodded and headed up on stage.

May's POV

"And now, we'll see who goes through to the next round," announced Lillian. I held my breath, unsure of why I was so nervous. We had gotten a really good score; we were bound to go through. The screen turned black. Beeping sounded and photos of partners appeared on the screen. Our picture came up first. First!

"We're first!" I screamed.

"We did well," Drew chuckled, "look Solidad and Harley are in third."

"Good job guys," I said, turning to the pair next to us.

"We weren't quite as good as you, but we did alright," Solidad said, but her grin showed that she was really happy.

"Third place is really good," I encouraged, "your routine was great, and I can't wait to see your next one."

"So these pairs will be going through to the next appeals in an hour," Lillian was saying, "so hold on and we'll be back shortly."

"Hang on guys, I have to go make a special requirement for our next round," Drew said, winking at me.

"What's he doing?" asked Ash, coming up to us.

"Just something, you'll see in the next round," I giggled. I knew exactly what he was doing. It made me tingle with excitement. Brock shrugged.

"Good job on getting first by the way," Max said, looking at me.

"When Drew gets back, we should go get something to snack on," suggested Ash, "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," groaned Brock.

"That's ok," Solidad said, "Harley and I didn't eat lunch because we were so nervous."

"Drew and I slept through breakfast because we were up late last night worrying," I added. Drew came jogging back.

"All set," he said, winking at me again. I giggled again. I couldn't wait.