A/N: Hello again, here's a new chapter! Thank you all for the support :D Now, let us see how Drew is doing…

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day with unexpected company

Drew

Monday, December 16th

Too expensive, too expensive… too far away… Drew shook his head slightly as he scrolled through a site with apartments. With a sigh he leaned back in his standard issue Pokémon Center chair, his neck cracking from having been in the same position for so long.

Maybe his expectations were too high. It wasn't like he would actually spend a lot of time in his new apartment. He was perfectly fine with Poké Centers, hotels, motels and pensions. He wasn't in a hurry, anyway. The Tournament would be in less than a month and his belongings were safely stowed away at his parents' house.

Still, it would be nice to have a new place before the holidays, if only to avoid his parents obligatory offer to stay with them. But he had put off looking for apartments for a while, because it reminded him-

Drew frowned and pointedly looked back at the screen.

He simply hadn't had time, that was it. The Tournament was coming up and he had been busy preparing. He had been on the road for most of the time, too, battling Trainers and Coordinators and figuring out which Gyms he would challenge for practice. After all, he would need the experience.

Yes, he was keeping busy, even busier than before, now that- now that May was no longer holding him back. He had all the time in the world and practically no responsibilities, except taking care of himself and his Pokémon. And he had been doing that for years already.

"So, you planning on challenging the Gym?"

Drew looked up from his laptop at the brown-haired man who had spoken. He had a strong chin and a confident look in his eyes. Without waiting for Drew's response, he continued, "A Coordinator, boy, aren't you?"

Drew raised his eyebrow coldly, before looking back at his screen.

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean anything by it," the man said, sitting down opposite Drew. He stuck out his hand and grinned. "I'm Anthony."

Drew looked at him warily, deliberating for a moment, before shortly shaking his hand. "Drew."

"Anyway, what brings you to Rustboro?" Anthony asked.

Seeing that this stranger was seemingly oblivious to his nonverbal hints to leave him alone, Drew closed his laptop with a sigh. It wasn't like he had been doing something very useful before, anyway.

"The Gym. And I'm a Coordinator-"

"I knew it!" Anthony said. "I recognized you! I saw you on TV!"

Drew's frown at being interrupted eased somewhat at the man's comment.

"So you're going for that Sinnoh Tournament-thing?" He only allowed Drew a nod before continuing. "Roxanne is a tough one, so you better be prepared. I beat her on the first try, though!" He laughed and wiped a few strands of hair from his forehead, though they immediately fell back into place.

Arceus, this seemed to be the stereotypical Pokémon League Trainer.

"But don't let that stop you, boy," Anthony continued, and Drew's frown returned at being called a boy. The man could be at most fifteen years his senior. "You're a good Coordinator, otherwise you wouldn't be on TV. And I know I may look like all that-" he flexed his muscles and Drew suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, "-but you would be surprised to hear that I participated in a Contest once and lost."

"Really," Drew said dryly. The man was as sophisticated as an Ursaring, he would have been surprised if he had managed to win a Contest.

"Yup, nothing for me. I'll pass up on the Tournament and focus on my training for the Hoenn League."

"To each their own," Drew said with a shrug, while mentally trying to find a way to end this conversation politely. "Contests aren't for everyone."

"It's a good idea, though, to try to bring competitive battlers and Coordinators closer. There's a lot of stereotyping and feeling superior going around in the circuit," Anthony said. "Well, in the battling circuit, anyway, no offense meant."

"None taken," Drew said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair as he realized that his own thoughts had been going in that direction as well. After a moment hesitation, he added, "Anthony, what do you say about a battle?"

The other man beamed. "Great idea! But…" He glanced at the window, where they saw only darkness. "But not today, I'd think. I've been on the road all day and my Pokémon have to rest. But tomorrow, sure thing!"

"Alright." Drew nodded. "Cool."

There was some silence, Anthony staring out of the window with a smile.

"So… what kind of Pokémon do you have?" Drew finally asked, and Anthony looked at him with a wide grin.

"Oh, I've got a Pelipper, she's just the strongest Pokémon ever-" He cut himself off with a sheepish laugh. "-one of the strongest, anyway…"

For quite some time Anthony and Drew chatted about their Pokémon, their goals and their travels (apparently Anthony had a well-balanced team which he was very confident in, had he at one point run an unofficial Gym and was it his dream to one day run an official one) and Drew found that Anthony was surprisingly good company.

"-never got further than the Appeal round." Anthony shrugged as he finished his tale about his sole Contest experience.

"Well, it does sound like-"

"Sorry, a moment, my phone-" Anthony interrupted him, pulling the vibrating device from his pocket at the same time as a happy ringtone started to sound.

"Hey, babe," the man happily picked up the phone and Drew could hear a distinctly female voice on the other end responding in kind. "No, no, that's fine, I'm in Rustboro still… Yeah, Poké Center, but I… I know, but I was just talking to Drew here, a Coordinator guy, let me finish it up… Yeah, sure, just a moment…"

Anthony covered up the speaker and turned to Drew with an apologetic expression on his face. "It's the girlfriend. Sorry to be such a spoilsport, it was fun talking to you, but I kind of have to take this, you know how it goes, heh…"

There was an embarrassed flush on his face and he laughed sheepishly. Drew quickly forced a smirk on his face.

"No problem, I'll see you tomorrow for the battle," he said, flipping his hair nonchalantly.

"Great, thanks, see you tomorrow!" Anthony then turned his attention back to his phone. "Hey, sweetie, I'm back again…" He turned to leave and gave Drew a quick wave before continuing on to the part of the Center that held the bedrooms.

Drew stared in the distance for a while, his stomach churning uncomfortably. Sleep, he needed sleep, that's what he needed-

Abruptly he got up and quickly stalked off in the same direction Anthony had gone, as if walking quicker could help him escape his thoughts. He had already prepared his room when he had arrived here in the late afternoon, and now he hurried through his nightly rituals, before getting into bed. He liked the Pokémon Center beds, he thought consciously, closing his eyes. They always smelled clean and they were a welcome change after nights in a sleeping bag. Yes, he liked them...

That line of thought slowly exhausted, he tried to think of the rest of the day. Training and travelling had gone well. Anthony had been unexpected but welcome company, it was a shame he had to cut it off so early because of- because of his girlfriend calling.

Girlfriend. Anthony's girlfriend, yes. Well, good for Anthony. Great. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and the woman seemed to have a good grip on him. But at least he didn't have that anymore. No one would be calling him late at night and demand an update, no, he could go nicely to sleep and be well-rested for tomorrow's battle while Anthony would be exhausted. Yes, he was definitely better off.

After all, it had only been a relationship of five years and a friendship of even longer. And she had all thrown it all away for-

Arceus damn it all. Drew pushed his head into the pillow and tried to calm himself, but it was no use. It was always like this. He needed to be exhausted, or else his thoughts would wander and… He needed to sleep. Sleep. Yes.

He still didn't know how she could have done it.

No. He knew. She had done it because she had her own plans for the future, because she had been thinking about herself, what she wanted, how she had wanted things to be. Pushing their relationship further, pushing for moving in together, pushing for marriage-

It was what everyone did, she would say whenever they got into discussions about those topics. It was what all couples did, and they loved each other, so why shouldn't they move in together?

Had she loved him? Well, yes. Probably. When they were younger. Maybe still, but not him, not really him, just who she had wanted him to be.

And did he love her?

Treacherous tears pricked in his eyes and he sat up in bed with a frustrated groan. These thoughts went nowhere. He rubbed his eyes and then punched his pillow. They had been together for so long, friends for even longer, she had been such a big part of his life...

But he had been fine before he had known her and he would be fine now. Yes, he would be fine. With determination he lay his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes.

Still, sleep eluded Drew for a long time that evening.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know it's not very exciting, but I have to show what Drew is now doing with his life and how he's handling things. It was a bit difficult writing his thoughts, but I hope I got the message across. Let me know what you thought about it! Oh, and brownie points to whoever knows who Anthony is :P

Thank you!

Recommendation:

Harry Potter: The Right Hand Path by Sophiax. FFN. While I doubt this multi-chaptered story is ever going to be finished, it's still a really good read about an AU in which Merope Gaunt lives to take care of her son Tom Riddle.

Recommendations are welcome!