A/N: Thank you all for the warm welcome back! If I haven't replied to your review yet, apologies, I will do so. And look, here's a new chapter! Pretty fast, if I do say so myself haha. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).
Days
The day with a battle cry
Drew
Saturday, February 1st
Drew adjusted his dark blue jacket, the silvery stripes on the sleeves catching the light of the dressing room. He looked at his reflection in the full-length mirror, and resisted the urge to flick his hair.
He looked good. He looked ready. He was ready.
The tv screen on the wall showed the crowded Stadium full-screen, and in a smaller window in the right corner, the match-ups for the next round.
Drew already knew what he would see there. There were only sixteen people left, so the chance had been steadily growing bigger, but still...
He supposed that he should have seen it coming, fate and karma and his bad luck and all that. She had already turned up here, so why not make it worse and have them actually face each other?
Drew ran a hand through his hair before mentally cursing and turning back to the mirror to redo his hair, again.
It had been years since he had faced May in a real competition battle. She should be rusty, but from what he had seen of her so far, he would be stupid to underestimate her.
Top Sixteen was a respectable position, he supposed, but that was no way to think. He straightened confidently and nodded to himself in the mirror.
"We can do this," Drew said, his hand feeling the familiar Pokéballs on his white belt. "We've beaten her before and we will do it again. We're going to win."
A knock at the door sounded and an assistant came to usher him out. The man was saying some encouraging words but Drew barely heard him. He was experienced, he knew what to expect.
With confident steps Drew walked into the arena, waving and smiling at the audience in the stands. The Stadium's roof was finally properly fixed, and the steady drizzle outside wouldn't impede the battle. Shame, really, since he was pretty sure that May was going to use her Blaziken and a bit of rain was always useful.
On the other side of the sandy battlefield May took her place, dressed in a loose-fitting yellow-and-red dress. The realization that the model of the dress was chosen purposefully to hide her pregnancy was an unwanted one and Drew pushed it away.
He smirked in confidence.
"Alright folks, let's welcome our two contestants, Drew Hayden and May Maple!" the voice of the commentator boomed loudly through the Stadium. "This is a double battle, Contest style, and with two Top Coordinators facing off this is promising to be an exciting battle! Not to mention that this power couple knows each other inside-out, so folks, prepare for fireworks!"
The crowd cheered loudly, and Drew easily smiled and held up his hand in thanks to the audience. He could have done without the mention of their relationship status, but it was something to be expected. He was certainly not going to correct that now, he could do without the media on his back.
The commentator was busy introducing the members of the jury and Drew studied May without being too conspicuous about it. She looked determined and fired-up, just as he remembered from their teenage years.
She never should have given up on Coordinating.
"Are the contestants ready?" the referee called, and Drew's attention was pulled away from that stray thought. He nodded and May did the same. The referee held up her arms, paused for a moment, before dropping them to her sides. "Then begin!"
"Alright, let's go!" May did a twirl, her dress billowing around her, and then released her Glaceon and Blaziken in bright flashes.
Not unexpected. They knew each other well.
Drew smirked, showing a confidence he didn't feel completely, and released his two Pokémon. Flygon let out a challenging roar, and Roserade did a twirl before facing the opposing team.
May had the type advantage, but he had the experience.
"Stun Spore!" he called out, not giving May time to react.
The attack was beautiful performed by Roserade, and while both May's Pokémon managed to evade it, Glaceon did so rather ungracefully. Drew smirked when he saw May's points decrease.
Blaziken fired a Fire attack in Roserade's direction while Ice Shards came flying in Flygon's direction.
His Pokémon dodged out of the way of the long-ranged attacks without his command. They cringed when some embers and small ice shards hit them anyway.
Still, their evasions had been graceful, and it didn't hit their points too hard.
Drew flicked his left hand, a gesture he had developed for focusing on the opponent on their left, and called out, "Steel Wing, Giga Drain!"
Glaceon managed to avoid Roserade's Giga Drain, but the Steel Wing was just too fast and it hit the Ice Type hard.
Drew smiled victoriously, which cost him a precious moment.
"Shadow Ball with extra power, Blaziken! To Flygon!" May called out.
"Dive out of the way, Flygon!"
Glaceon fired a Shadow Ball, and Blaziken gave it extra power with a Sky Uppercut.
Flygon tried to somersault out of the way, but was too slow.
Damn it. That had been a good combination, and his points dropped hard. They were lower than May's points now.
A Blaze Kick came in Roserade's direction which the Grass/Poison Type only just managed to evade.
He had to do something fast.
"Sandstorm!" he called out to Flygon. "Roserade, Flygon, you know what to do!" He made a slight upwards gesture with his right hand.
Roserade nodded in acknowledgement, then had to jump out of the way of another Blaze Kick.
Uninspired, but perhaps May was hoping to end this fast.
Flygon let out a cry as he was hit by a few Ice Shards while trying to kick up the Sandstorm. Within moments, sand started blowing around on the field, and Blaziken's Sky Uppercut missed Flygon completely.
The Sandstorm bought them a bit some more time, and his Pokémon knew what they had to do now.
He couldn't see it, but Flygon was flying around in the storm, trying to distract the two opponents and buying them some precious more time.
Time for Roserade to prepare a Solar Beam.
Flygon's cries sounded through the dust cloud and Drew could see some stray Flamethrowers.
Just a little more…
"Rose!" his Pokémon cried out, letting him know she was ready.
"Dragon Sun combination!" he commanded.
Roserade released her Solar Beam and Flygon let out a Dragon Breath. Two beams of light shot through the sandy cloud, combining into one larger beam.
The powerful attack blew away most of the sand, and Drew had to blink spots out of his vision to see what had happened to the Pokémon.
Roserade was standing proudly but breathing heavily, and Flygon was flying low but determined. On the other side of the field, Blaziken and Glaceon were…
…still standing. Damn.
A glance at the score board showed a huge dent in May's score and that brought up his mood again.
Now, he-
"Mirror Coat!" May called out.
A trembling Glaceon followed through with the command and Drew's eyes widened.
Roserade, still recovering from using the Solar Beam, stumbled back hard when she was hit by the rebound effect of the Mirror Coat.
She stumbled, she fell… and she didn't get up.
"Roserade is unable to battle!" the referee called.
No!
"Steel Wing, Flygon!" Drew yelled, gesturing with his left hand.
"Finish it off with Overheat, Blaziken!"
Flygon shot through the sky, his wings glowing as he prepared the Steel Wing. He managed a meager somersault to avoid the Overheat attack and then hit the exhausted Glaceon full on with the Steel Wing.
Glaceon fell and appeared fainted.
"Glaceon is unable to battle!" the referee announced after a short moment of deliberation.
"Use-"
The bell rang, and May's words were cut off.
The match was over.
Roserade was down, but so was Glaceon.
A tie.
Drew's gaze flew to the scoreboard, to the yellow bars below their pictures.
May's score… was just a bit lower than his.
A relieved grin broke out on his face. They had done it!
"And oh my, people, what an exciting battle!" The commentator's voice finally patched through to Drew, his concentration on the battle having drowned out all other sounds. Loud cheers sounded from the audience as the commentator announced Drew as the winner.
It had been ages since he had felt so alive after a battle, but Drew toned down his excitement to a cool victorious smile. Overly excited didn't fit his image, after all.
He walked onto the battlefield to thank an exhausted Roserade before recalling her for her well-deserved rest. Flygon flew at him enthusiastically, and he hugged the Pokémon shortly, before recalling him as well.
Drew waved coolly at the audience, smugly smiling and flipping his hair. It didn't quite convey the rush of happiness and excitement he was feeling, but it had to do.
Then his eyes fell on May, who was kneeling next to her fallen Glaceon on the sandy field. Blaziken stood with her, glaring at him with a distaste that brought him down from the airy happiness he was feeling.
When May looked up from hugging her Glaceon, she looked straight at him, and the tears in her eyes were unmistakable. It felt like a punch in his gut. Their short eye contact was abruptly broken when May looked away sharply.
The commentator was oblivious to what was happening, as he continued to regale about the amazing battle. "What a power, what awesome combinations- But we hadn't expected anything else from this thoroughly thrilling battle between boyfriend and girlfriend who have-"
"He's not my boyfriend!" May interrupted the commentator, her voice electronically enhanced sounding through the whole Stadium.
That left the commentator silent for a moment, and Drew was at a loss for words, too.
Then he steeled himself. So this was how she took her loss? His earlier victorious feeling was replaced by a bitter taste, and he had to work to keep his face blank. Anger and fear were warring within him – how dare she, yet if she told the press about the pregnancy, it would be disastrous for his reputation.
So Drew did what he did best. He squared his shoulders, flipped his hair confidently and held up his hand in a short goodbye to the audience-
And he left.
His heart beat loudly in his ears, and the buzz of the audience and the commentator were barely audible.
Yet Blaziken's battle cry was crystal clear to him.
He continued walking.
A/N: Thank you for reading! This was a really exciting chapter to write, and I'm super curious to hear what you thought about it. Good, bad, happy, sad? Please let me know in a review!
Thank you!
Recommendation:
Divergent: i pick my poison by fuckup. AO3. A dark, multi-chaptered story about the idea of getting your soulmates etched into your skin. It sadly hasn't been updated in a while, but I remember being very intrigued by it. Tris/Peter.
Recommendations are welcome!