A/N: Thank you for the support! Here's another chapter!

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

Days

The day of New Year's Eve

Drew

Tuesday, December 31st

"Nice party, isn't it?" Solidad asked, pulling Drew out of his thoughts.

He managed to swallow an unintelligent "Huh?" and instead replied, "It is. Mister Contesta outdid himself once again."

"As he does every year," Solidad said dryly. Her eyes were watching him closely, though, and he knew his slip-up had been noticed.

This year, the biggest New Year's Eve party of the Contest scene (and really, of the whole region) was held in Lilycove City. It was visited mostly by Coordinators and their sponsors, and it had a separate area where the Pokémon had their own party.

While in the beginning of his career Drew had been a frequent visitor to Mr. Contesta's parties, in the later years May had preferred to spend this evening with just the two of them or her family. Which was all the more reason to be here now.

"There are quite some new faces," Drew said, trying to make it seem as if he hadn't been daydreaming.

"Oh, absolutely," Solidad said, nodding and looking around. "Hm, there aren't many kids, but they're probably with their families… But look, there's June, she's quite promising…"

Drew almost winced at the painful coincidence with the girl's name, though she looked nothing like May. She was talking with some older children, and Solidad told him of her battles against them. While he had known of them, had even battled against some of them, he realized that he didn't really know them.

"We should go talk to them," Drew said when Solidad finished, and she nodded in surprise.

"Sure, I'll introduce you," she said, and Drew followed Solidad to the three young Coordinators. He was a Top Coordinator, and he needed to know his rivals.

After some short introductions, the conversation flowed surprisingly well, varying in topics from Pokémon to family to hobbies. As they talked, Drew found out that June was eleven and had grown up on the outskirts of Lilycove, that Tsunekazu had started off as a competitive battler like his older sisters, and that Chris had a surprisingly good sense of humor for a thirteen years old boy.

Sometime later, Solidad and he retreated back to the snack table and Drew found he was quite enjoying himself. But of course he was, Drew thought to himself, there was no reason not to be having fun. He was in his element.

And it probably helped that his conversation partners had been too young to have known May from the Contest scene and thus hadn't had asked any questions about her, but Drew tried not to think too much about that topic.

He handed Solidad her drink and she took it with a grateful smile.

"Harley is still enjoying himself, I'd think," she said conversationally. They had lost Harley sometime in the beginning of the party, though Drew couldn't say he was too sorry about that.

"Let him be, he'll be fine," Drew said, halfheartedly looking at the crowd to try and spot the familiar purple hair.

Instead he saw dark pink hair, green eyes and a big smile.

"Drew, Solidad!" Brianna waved them over, and with an easy smile on his face and a drink in his hand Drew sauntered over to her, Solidad right behind him. Brianna stood together with Timmy and Chaz, both whom Drew had known since the beginning of his career.

"Hey Drew, it's been ages since you've been to a party!" Chaz said after the initial greetings, while Timmy and Brianna involved Solidad in a conversation about her Lapras.

"Things have been busy, you know how it goes," he responded with a casual shrug. During these past few weeks, he had become an expert at giving vague answers to personal questions.

"Oh yeah, it's difficult combining being a Coordinator and an adult, right?" Chaz said with a grin. "At least Janet seems to think so, with how she's always complaining about my time-management skills."

Drew laughed along when Chaz laughed loudly at his own joke, though he was only vaguely able to recall the man's girlfriend. "Is she here? Is she still a Coordinator?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Chaz said. "Still a great rival, too. It's really part of our relationship, adds the passion and stuff."

He laughed again and Drew tried to join in.

"Oh, Drew, isn't May at the party? I haven't seen her in ages!" Brianna joined their conversation.

Drew felt the smile slip off his face and he quickly forced it back on his face. He could feel Solidad watching him. "She's never been much for these kind of parties, really."

Which was the truth. May loved people, but she preferred small parties with her friends than big things like these. And the fame that came with being a Coordinator had never been her thing, either, since she always talked too much and the media had the tendency to twist her words.

Drew, however, was pretty good with words, and had so far managed to prevent any mention of their break-up in public without outright lying. The longer he could keep the media from knowing about the break-up, the better. He was surprised it had been silent on that front for so long, but then again, he supposed it helped that May and he had never appeared together in public much since May had quit.

With that in mind, Drew smoothly brought up another topic. "Say, Brianna, are you participating in the Wayland Tournament in Sinnoh?"

That topic brought enthusiastic responses, and he learned that everyone was competing, and that only Timmy still needed to get the required Badge. Drew tried to immerse himself in the atmosphere again, but found it difficult to focus on his friends' words.

"Which Gym Badge did you get, Drew?" Timmy asked, pulling him back to the conversation again.

"Oh, I battled Wattson in Mauville City just after Christmas," Drew said. "But I've watched him battle before and trained with some of the Trainers there before I took him on."

"Might not be a bad tactic, yeah," Timmy said. "I mean, my Pokémon are strong, but we can't underestimate those League-Trainers!"

"I wonder who is going to win the Tournament," Solidad mused with a smile. "A Trainer or a Coordinator…"

"I'm going to say Coordinator," Timmy said, and Chaz nodded enthusiastically. Drew agreed with him as well.

"But those competitively-trained Pokémon are really strong!" Brianna opposed.

"Yeah, but our Pokémon are strong, too," Chaz said. "And those Trainers have no clue how Contests work."

"While competitive battling really isn't so difficult," Timmy said.

"Hm," Drew hummed, thinking back on his battles with Anthony. "I wouldn't underestimate them, but I do think a Coordinator is going to win."

"I'm going to wait and see who's going to compete before placing my bets," Solidad said with a laugh.

The conversation flowed on, discussing who else would compete and which Coordinators had the biggest chance of making it far. Privately, Drew thought that out of the five of them, Solidad or he himself had the biggest chance of making it, considering the other three had never made Top Coordinator.

"Oh, it's just half an hour!" Brianna said during a lull in the conversation and a glance at his watch confirmed that it was indeed twenty-seven minutes until midnight and the new year.

"I'm going to get some food, I'm feeling a bit peckish," Solidad said. "Do you guys want something?"

The three others all politely denied, but Drew nodded. "I'll come along."

He had finished his drink not too long ago and if he was going to drink champagne later tonight he'd need something to eat if he wanted to keep his wits.

He followed Solidad to the snack table, but before either of them could get anything, they were interrupted by the appearance of something green-and-purple.

"Solidad, Drew-y!" Harley burst from the crowd and enthusiastically hugged both of them.

"Harley, we saw you at the beginning of the evening." Drew pushed the man off him while Solidad only laughed.

"Don't be so moody, Drew!" Harley chuckled – which sounded more like cackling – and his brightly colored drink swirled in his glass. Drew didn't have to smell the alcohol on Harley's breath to know the older man was smashed.

"You're drunk, Harley," Solidad admonished, but she was smiling. "It's not even midnight yet."

"I'm not drunk! Drew is just moody!" he exclaimed, grabbing Drew's shoulder. "He needs a girlfriend! Maybe that Nurse Joy he met! Or Brianna!"

Drew roughly shoved Harley away. "Leave me the hell alone, Harley!"

Right away Drew knew that he had overreacted, even if Harley took it in stride with a pout on his face.

"You're mean!" With that, the purple-haired man was off, skipping towards Brianna, Timmy and Chaz in the distance.

"That was a bit harsh," Solidad said to him. "You know he's drunk."

Yes, he knew that, but said, "He should still behave, and he shouldn't be shouting that around. The press still hasn't found out, and I'd like it to stay that way."

Solidad looked at him, suddenly looking completely serious. "They're going to find out at some point, and you know that."

Drew shoved his hands in his pockets, knowing she was right but not wanting to say that.

Solidad sighed and looked at him with her lips tightly pressed together and disappointment in her eyes. "Look, Drew, it's been weeks. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but…"

She trailed off and shook her head. "You know what to do," she finally said. She grabbed a snack from the table, gave him a short nod, and then walked off to join Harley.

Drew remained at the table, looking at the partying people.

He knew what to do. Yes. With a frustrated growl he strode off, weaving his way to the exit, to get away from everything.

It was absolutely freezing cold – way too cold for a Hoenn winter – and snow crunched under his dress shoes. Almost immediately Drew regretted the decision to go outside, feeling the cold creep through his suit.

Still, it cooled his rage quite effectively, and it hadn't been very fiery to begin with. It was difficult to be angry when rationally, he knew that the other person had a point.

It had been for a reason that he had chosen to tell only Solidad the whole tale of his break-up, because he had known she would support him, that she wouldn't tell him what to do-

And she hadn't, but she was still right.

Drew sighed, his breath appearing in a puff of smoke.

He knew he had to talk to May. He didn't want to, but it was necessary. The press had to be addressed, and the other situation as well…

His teeth started chattering and he decided that he had spent enough time cooling down. He knew what to do, and it was not something that could be done tonight. He gladly went back inside, and as he entered, a glass of champagne was handed to him. Almost midnight, then.

He found Solidad where he had last left her, standing with Harley and the others. She caught his eye and he inclined his head, silently apologizing. She smiled at him and took a few steps away from the group, and he moved next to her.

Solidad leaned closer and spoke so quietly only he could hear. "Sorry that I brought that up now."

"It's alright," he said. Solidad had been May's friend, too, after all. "And well, it's New Year's Eve, the time for new beginnings and resolutions, isn't it?"

He flipped his hair and the smile on his face was only half-forced. Solidad smiled back at him, warmth in her blue eyes.

"To new beginnings, and to old and new friends," she said, tipping her glass in his direction. He mimicked her, his smile turning genuine.

"To old and new friends, and that this year may bring us many good things," Drew agreed with her.

"Hey, you two, there's one minute left!" Harley suddenly appeared between him and Solidad and slung an arm around each of them. "C'mon, it's time for the countdown!"

He pulled them back to the group, and even though Harley hung heavy at him, Drew couldn't help but grin. Brianna had turned beet red at something Timmy had said, while Chaz was howling with laughter. A woman Drew recognized as Janet greeted Solidad with a hug, and Harley released him in favor of trying to hug both Solidad and Janet.

Old and new friends, indeed. This year would be a good one, for certain.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I'm really not sure what to think of this chapter, I don't really like it, but I'm not sure how to make it better, either… Drew is by far the hardest character to write right now, but hey, we're making progress with him. Oh, and the young Coordinators are my own creations, but the others mentioned are canon characters. Please review!

Thank you!

Recommendation:

Harry Potter: Magical Relations by evansentranced. FFN. A very fun and interesting multi-chaptered story about the idea that Dudley is also a wizard. Which changes things, a lot. Sadly still unfinished, but still a great read!

Recommendations are welcome!