Whaaaaat? Another update? And I didn't even take months to post it? I'm on a roll!

… Okay, actually, maybe I'm not. I originally had this chapter and the previous one as one story, but then I realized I focus on two very different topics, so I divided it into two. So this chapter takes place on the same day as the previous one, except with a point of view change. So with that said, let's get to it!

This chapter was based on a suggestion from IcyRhapsody. Okie dokie, here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Pokemon Coordinating

Grade One

May (6), Drew (6), Paul (6), Ash (6), Gary (6)

There were a lot of things that May liked. She liked adventuring, and playing games, and her bandana, and her friends, and her little brother, and the list went on and on and on – she was sure she would never be able to think of everything.

But there were some things she didn't quite like as much.

Like Pokemon.

It wasn't that she hated Pokemon. They were okay, maybe, but she wasn't sure she needed them in her life all the time.

Which was unfortunate, because Pokemon were everywhere: her father was a Pokemon gym leader; the school she went to, which included all grades, specialized in training students for futures that heavily involved Pokemon (her father was convinced she would take his place one day and wanted her to be ready for it); and, even though she loved her friends very much, some of them were obsessed with the idea of becoming a trainer.

"No, I'm going to pick Squirtle," said Gary to whatever Ash had said (May hadn't been paying attention to their conversation).

"But I want Squirtle too," Ash whined. His eyes brightened. "Hey, maybe we can both choose Squirtle."

"Nuh-uh," said Gary. "There'll be only one Squirtle, and I'll pick it first, so you'll get no Pokemon."

"You're dumb," said Paul. "If you tell him what you're gonna pick, he'll pick a Pokemon that's stronger than yours. Like the grass type starter."

"Yeah," said Ash enthusiastically. "There'll be two others, so I'll pick one of those."

Gary crossed his arms. "But other people will pick those and you'll be too late!"

May huffed. When were they going to stop talking about Pokemon? Ash always talked about becoming the greatest Pokemon master, and that often got Gary talking about it too. And, recently, Paul was joining in too. She wished Drew would hurry up and come to school already. Then she'd have someone to talk to. He didn't prattle on and on about Pokemon as much as the others.

"Guys," she interrupted, "you have to stop talking and get ready for class. The teacher's gonna get mad at you."

"But class hasn't even started," Ash said.

"But it's gonna, so you have to be quiet now," she snapped.

"There's still…" He looked hard at the clock. "There's still a lotta minutes."

Nevertheless, they returned to their seats, as they weren't entirely sure how accurate May was about class starting soon.

The door opened, and in came Drew, his knitted hat powdered with snow. He put away his outdoor wear, and sat in his seat behind May. She whipped around to great him.

"Hi," she chirped. "You took a long time to come."

"There's a lot of snow," he said. "The cars were moving very slowly."

"It's good that you're here, though. Or else I wouldn't have had anyone to talk to."

Drew frowned. "Gary and Paul and Ash are here."

May rolled her eyes. "All they talk about is Pokemon and Pokemon trainers. They never wanna talk about anything else." She stared at him intently. "Do you like Pokemon, Drew?"

He shrugged. "They're okay. I like playing with some at my house."

"Are you gonna be a trainer?"

"I don't know. Everyone else is, and it's kinda cool."

"Well you don't have to," May declared. "Then we both can do stuff without Pokemon, and do cool stuff too."

"Hey, isn't class gonna start?" said Ash, frowning at them. "You gotta be quiet now."

"There's still a lotta minutes," May said dismissively. And she continued to chat with Drew until those "lotta minutes" passed.

Drew was concerned.

It was lunchtime now, and he and his friends were gathered at Gary's table. The conversation had finally shifted away from Pokemon, so May was busy explaining to them the importance of putting the right amount of icing on a cupcake. But Drew wasn't really listening. His eyes were fixed on Paul.

Paul wasn't eating his lunch. Drew wasn't sure why, but his friend, for the longest time, did nothing but stare at the inside of his lunchbox. Finally, Drew's concern pushed his question from his mouth.

"Paul, what's wrong? Is there a bug in your lunch?"

Paul turned to him solemnly. "There's no orange juice."

Drew leaned over to have a look. Sure enough, there was no juice box present.

"It's okay. You can have my apple juice," Drew offered.

Paul furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't want your apple juice. I want orange."

He stood with such abruptness that everyone else looked at him too.

"Where are you going?" asked May.

"To my brother. I'm gonna take his orange juice instead."

"What if he doesn't have any either?" said Drew.

Paul crossed his arms. "I'll make him buy me some."

"From where?"

Paul rolled his eyes as if it were a dumb question. But he didn't answer. Instead, he marched straight to the door.

"Shouldn't you ask the teacher first?" Ash said, glancing at Mrs. Thomas. She didn't appear to be paying attention at the moment.

"I can go myself."

Drew looked at May and Ash, who were watching Paul both a little admiringly and anxiously. Even Drew had to admit: he looked pretty independent and fearless. It was always Paul or Gary who were willing to do something daring, and even Ash sometimes didn't back down from a challenge.

Now that he thought about it, Drew acted "too good", as Paul and Gary put it. They made fun of him for it, but he wasn't sure why, because how could being good be bad? But it made him feel a little embarrassed. Maybe he could do something right now that wasn't bad, but bold all the same.

"Wait," he said, standing up.

"What?"

"I'm coming too."

"Why?"

"'Cause I've been in the big kids' hallway before, and I know where to go." Drew proudly flipped his hair. "I'll show you where to find your brother."

May's and Ash's eyes glowed with admiration, and Drew stood straighter, puffing out his chest.

"It's not a big deal," Gary said. "I have a big sister, so I go to the big kids' place lots of times too."

"So do I," said Paul. "I don't need you."

"I should still go," Drew insisted. "Just in case you get lost."

"That wouldn't be good," said Ash.

"Yeah," said May. "You should let him go with you. 'Cause once Drew got lost, remember? And then he would have been lost forever, except that girl with the pink hair found him and brought him back."

"That won't happen to me," said Paul, looking annoyed. He looked like he wanted to argue when Drew began following him anyways, but, in the end, he didn't say anything. Drew sped up to walk in front of him.

"It's this way," he said, pointing up ahead.

"I know," said Paul, his eye twitching. "That's where I was going."

"It's very confusing, because the hallways go this way and that way and sometimes the big kids come, and…" Drew stopped in place. They had finally reached the junior high hallway, except… it was crowded.

Very crowded.

The snowfall from that morning had transformed into a snowstorm, so all the students had indoor recess. Drew knew this, of course, but he'd forgotten that that included the upper grades as well. And he definitely had not been expecting them to spend break in the hallways.

But there they were, setting up a ping pong table, playing cards or board games at set up folding tables, or standing around, chatting. They were all so tall, and since it was nearly impossible to clearly see his surroundings, Drew found himself at a loss. He couldn't figure out which way to turn.

"Did you forget where to go?" said Paul smugly from behind him.

"No," Drew lied, stepping into the chaotic crowd. "It's, um, this way."

"No it's not."

Drew could feel his neck heating up. He went deeper into the crowd, looking for anyone familiar. He even peeked into open classrooms. But there was no way he could find anyone. Sighing, and burning with embarrassment, he finally swallowed his pride and turned around to ask Paul for directions.

Except his friend was not behind him anymore. In fact…

Paul had completely vanished.

"Paul?" he said in a quiet voice. But no one could hear him over the noisiness. No one could even notice him. What was he supposed to do now?

"Hello, Drew. Need a hand?"

He whipped around. And standing right there was a familiar teenage girl with long pink hair and a warm smile.

"I know you," said Drew, his eyes brightening. "Your name is S… So…" It started with an S; he was sure of that. He blushed a little when she laughed.

"Solidad," she reminded him. She winked. "Need directions?"

Lunch break was close to ending when, to May's relief, Paul finally returned. Her friends had been taking such a long time, she'd thought they'd gotten lost. She waited for her green-haired friend to come in too.

"Told you it wasn't a big deal," muttered Gary as Paul sat down.

"You got your orange juice?" said Ash.

Paul held out not a juice box, but an orange. "He didn't have any, so I got this instead."

"But you're not even gonna have time to eat it," said Gary. He pointed at the clock. "Lunch is almost over. Mrs. Thomas said so."

Paul shrugged. He pushed Drew's lunchbox to the side as he started to eat. May looked at the door, but Drew still didn't come in. He and Paul had gone together; it shouldn't take him this long to come back. Besides, Paul wouldn't be so calm if Drew were lost.

"Hey," she said nervously. "Where's Drew?"

Paul stared at her. He looked around too, and his eyes widened a fraction. "Whoops," he muttered.

"Where's Drew, Paul?" May said, panicking a little.

"I don't know." He calmly went back to eating. "I forgot about him."

"You forgot about Drew?"

"It wasn't very nice to leave me, Paul."

May looked up at the new voice, and let out a sigh of relief. It was Drew.

"You're back!" she cheered. "You came back all by yourself?"

"Bye, Drew," came a voice from the door. "I need to get to class." May looked at the one standing in the doorway, and her face broke into a big grin.

"It's the pink-hair girl," said May excitedly. "Bye pink-hair girl!" She waved at her as she disappeared.

"I knew you'd get lost," said Gary, smirking. Drew looked a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, she dropped something," said Ash suddenly. He ran over to the door, picked it up, and looked outside. He frowned, and came back to his friends. "She left already."

"What'd she drop?" asked May.

Ash held out a sphere that was half red and half white. There was no doubt about it; it was a pokeball.

"She bumped into the door and it fell out of her pocket," he said.

"But I thought Pokemon weren't allowed at school," said Drew, frowning.

"They are for the big kids," Gary piped up. "My sister says some of the bigger grades let you bring your Pokemon for some classes after you're ten, like for battling."

Ash's eyes lit up. "You can have Pokemon battles in the bigger grades?"

"Yeah," said Paul, a gleam in his eye. "My brother does all the time. He's one of the best."

May groaned. They were going to start talking about Pokemon again, weren't they? She turned to Drew, hoping he'd want to talk about something else, but his eyes were fixed on the pokeball.

"I have to return it," he said suddenly, taking the pokeball from Ash.

"But class is gonna start," said May.

"And you'll get lost again," Gary added.

Drew shook his head. "Not this time. I'll show you." He stood up and went to the door.

But May wasn't so sure. "Paul?" she said. "Can you go with him and not forget him so he doesn't get lost?"

"No."

"Gary? Can you?"

"I don't wanna."

"Ash?"

"I don't even know the way."

May hesitated. Then, without a second thought, she got up and bolted after her friend.

"Wait, Drew, I'm coming too!"

He paused in the middle of the hallway to let her catch up. "I can go myself."

"But maybe it'll be faster if we both go."

"Um, yeah. Okay."

They walked in silence for a while. At one point, they were startled by the ringing of the bell. They were going to be late for class, but they still needed to return the pokeball.

Finally, they reached the junior high hallway. May had never been there before. There weren't many people there, other than a few who were folding tables and stacking chairs.

"Actually," said Drew suddenly, "I don't know where to go." He cast a nervous glance at May.

"I don't either," May admitted.

They stood there, at a loss at what to do. Then May held up her hands to her face, like a camera.

"It's time," she said, grinning, "for May's ex-dishuns!"

She grabbed Drew's arm and pulled him along as she mustered up her courage and went down the hallway.

"Today," she said, "we gotta find the pink-hair girl—"

"Solidad, I think," corrected Drew.

"Yes, Solidad," said May. "We gotta find Solidad and give her her pokeball, and—"

"Solidad?" One of the teenage boys cleaning up stopped and looked at them, grinning slyly. "You two sugar-plums are looking for Solidad?"

"Yeah," said May. "Do you know where she is?"

"Sure do, Honey-bun." His eyes lit up as he walked up to them. Hey, I know you." He pointed at May. "You were at that bake sale, weren't you? The one we had last month? You had one of my Cacturne cookies."

May tilted her head. "Really? I don't remember you."

One of the other guys cleaning up snorted. The one talking to them glared at him.

"Anyways," he said, still smiling, even though his eyebrow was twitching a bit, "Harley's my name. Solidad's in my class."

"That's good," said Drew, holding up the pokeball. "'Cause she dropped this, and I gotta give it back."

"I can do that for you." He reached out to take it, but Drew, didn't let him.

"Actually," he said a little timidly. "I wanna give it back myself."

"Huh." Harley considered the both of them, then grinned. "All righty, then, follow me. We're supposed to be having Pokemon coordinating class right now, so she's probably in the coordinating gym."

"Pokemon cord-nating?" May knew about cords, of course (her mother always told her not to go behind the television set or else she'd get tangled in them) but she had a hunch he meant something else.

Harley winked. "You'll see in a minute, Pumpkin Pie."

He led them through a set of doors to what looked like a stadium. A set of stairs led down to seats that encircled the gym where other students sat. May and Drew hurried up ahead to look through the railing of the balcony in front of them. Down below was a stage resembling the ones Pokemon trainers used to battle. And on the stage, facing off against another student, was none other than…

"That's her! That's Solidad!" Drew exclaimed.

"And it looks like you're just in time," said Harely. Solidad was frowning as she searched her pockets.

"Hi, Solidad," Drew called.

"Hello pink-hair girl!" May called too.

"Drew?" Solidad looked up at them with eyes of surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"This is yours," Drew said, holding out her pokeball. She was too far away to pass to.

"Hey, I was looking for that! Did I drop it?"

"Looks like it," Harley called, taking the pokeball from Drew (to Drew's dismay). "Catch!"

He threw the ball through the air and she caught it expertly. "Thanks, Harley! And Drew and his friend too, of course."

"I wonder what Pokemon's in it," Drew wondered aloud.

"You'll see in a minute," said Harley.

They watched Solidad call out her Pokemon, and out came a dazzling bug-type. Normally, May would back away in discomfort, but it was far away enough, and besides, it was beautiful.

"It's a Butterfree," said Drew, his eyes shining.

"It's so pretty," said May.

"Of course," said Harley. "The whole point of Pokemon coordinating is to make your Pokemon look the best they can, unlike Pokemon battles where you just have to beat the other's Pokemon."

"Are there cord-nating gyms?" asked May.

"You could say that," said Harley, winking. "Coordinators like us have Pokemon contests. We get ribbons for winning them."

"Ribbons?" Contest ribbons sounded much nicer than gym badges.

"I wanna get a Butterfree and do contests," said Drew, his eyes fixed on Solidad and her Pokemon.

Suddenly, a voice went off on the intercom.

"Can May Maple and Andrew Hayden please report to the office? If you are lost, please ask someone for help. Once again, May Maple and Andrew Hayden."

"I'm guessing you're May Maple and Andrew Hayden," said Harley, grinning.

"Oh yeah," said May, her eyes widening. "We hafta go to class."

"Don't worry, I've got you," said Harley. He waved to his teacher, who was acting as the referee. "I'm just going to take these kids to class and be back in a minute, okay?"

"We have to hurry," said Drew anxiously. "Our teacher might get mad."

Mrs. Thomas wasn't mad, but thoroughly nettled, nevertheless, and both Drew and May earned an earful about going off on their own. Drew nearly told her that Paul had gone out by himself too, but realized that if he did, his friend would get in trouble.

See? he thought a little smugly, glancing at Paul. Being "too good" isn't a bad thing, because I'm gonna be good and not get you in trouble.

Fortunately, Mrs. Thomas didn't punish either him nor May, and just told them to take their seats. But throughout class, Drew couldn't concentrate. His mind was bright with Butterfree and contests and ribbons.

One day, I'll do cord-nating too…

And this chapter hath been completed! It was pretty fun connecting it to the previous chapter.

As always, reviews are always appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed!

Bye bye for now. Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)