A/N: Thanks for the support! Here's another chapter :D

To Duvarishka: Thank you very much for your kind review! I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed the chapter so much :D

Days

The day with questions

Drew

Monday, February 17th

The screen in the main hall of the Grand Festival Stadium showed a widely beaming, celebrating May, her Venusaur happily stomping alongside her. Drew watched the scene of May shaking the hand of her opponent; she had just won the Quarter Finals and had passed on to the Semifinals. After another moment, Drew gave his head a short shake and turned away.

With hurried steps, Drew left the main hall towards the training halls. There were only four inside battlefields in this building, but considering that many competitors were already eliminated, he had been able to reserve a spot there.

After all, he had to train for the Semifinals.

Drew released his Pokémon and commanded Masquerain and Butterfree, and Swinub and Absol to spar with each other. He tried to concentrate on the Bubble attack from Masquerain, on Swinub's Icy Wind counterattack, but his mind kept wandering back to May.

The odds of facing her in this Grand Festival were growing steadily larger. And he knew who was the public's favorite.

"Alright, Swinub, try to add a little jump when you attack, to give it a bit more swirl," Drew told his Pokémon. They had to be on top of their game if they were going have to beat May.

All teenage girls loved her. And not just teenagers, actually. With how the media was treating their break-up story, May had come out as a strong, independent woman, and he-

Well.

"Yes, that's it, Swinub," he encouraged his Pokémon.

Absol made a run towards Butterfree, his horn glowing white as he prepared a Razor Wind. Butterfree screeched and elegantly ducked away.

"Good work, both of you," Drew complimented, continuing his walk around the battlefield, inspecting his Pokémon.

He had to win.

May had not become the public's favorite just by being pretty and having a tragic backstory, after all. She was good. She had always been good, but having seen her in the Wayland Tournament and now in the Grand Festival… He would be a shortsighted idiot if he let his personal feelings cloud his judgement of her accomplishments.

She would be a true challenge. And he had to be ready.

"Keep it up, Absol!" he called. Absol grunted and continued forming Razor Winds.

The training passed uneventful but satisfactory. His Pokémon were in good shape; if Drew was really honest with himself, the only thing that worried him was his own tendency to get distracted by his thoughts.

Around dinnertime, he recalled his Pokémon and then walked towards the small cafeteria of the Stadium that was specifically reserved for competitors, to get a bite to eat. He passed through a hallway that held several small offices for the event officials, and halted in surprise when a door opened and May stepped out.

She looked rather pale and Drew frowned. "May?"

She practically jumped and turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"May? Are you alright?"

"Drew! Oh, uh, I didn't see you there, heh." Her smile was entirely unconvincing.

Drew stepped towards her, reaching out automatically. "You don't look well, May. What's going on?"

May took several deep breaths, running her hands over her face and through her hair, her eyes closed for a moment as she tried to gather herself.

"C'mon," Drew said, not waiting for her answer. He gently took her by the elbow to guide her towards the cafeteria and into one of the private booths. "C'mon, sit down, take a breath. It'll be okay, it'll be fine. That's right, good."

He sat down next to her and watched her carefully as she seemed to recollect herself. After some more breaths, May turned to look at him and gave him a weak smile.

"Alright," Drew said. "Tell me what's going on."

"I…" May took another deep breath. "I don't actually know if I'm allowed to talk about it…" She looked around them, and while there were more people milling about in the cafeteria, no one seemed to be paying them any particular attention. "They didn't say I couldn't," she said, seemingly more to himself than to him.

Drew was quiet, waiting patiently. May directed her gaze back to him.

"I was… Well, remember when we met the other night?"

"When you went out in the middle of the night? Yeah, of course," Drew said, nodding with her.

"Apparently, well, I don't know actually if it happened then, I think they don't know either…" May trailed off and Drew nodded again, encouraging her to go on.

"Someone has been found dead in the city," May whispered, and Drew raised his eyebrows. "They think... They think it's not from natural causes."

"A murder," Drew concluded, lowering his voice as well.

May nodded. "Yes, and apparently… Apparently I was caught on video when I walked past there that night. So just now Officer Jenny came up to me, and she asked me all kind of questions-" May took a shuddering breath. "It was like they suspected me!"

Drew placed a calming hand on her forearm and May took another few breaths.

"I'm sure it'll be okay, May," he said. "It's just procedure."

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "Just procedure." Her shoulders relaxed and sagged a bit in her seat. "You're probably right. It's not like they locked me up, or something, heh."

Drew smiled wryly. "Exactly. You're fine, May. They just wanted to talk to a possible witness, that's all."

May's smile seemed a bit more convincing now and she nodded.

The silence stretched on and Drew's gaze wandered across the tabletop, wondering what to say as the moment slowly grew awkward.

"Do you want something to eat?" he offered.

"Yes!" She flushed a bit when she heard how enthusiastic she sounded.

"I'll get you something," Drew said, already getting up. May smiled uncertainly but gratefully.

Fortunately, there was only a short line. Drew got them both the standard dinner that was served tonight – noodles with vegetables – though he bought an extra chocolate bar for May.

May was fidgeting in her seat when he brought her the tray and sat down in front of her with his own.

"Thanks," she said, looking uncertain.

Drew was confused for a moment, before he realized that it was no longer normal for them to sit together like this. Apparently, May had forgotten it as well up until just now, too distracted by what else she had been going through. He felt himself freeze, recalling how familiar he had been with her just minutes ago, and almost immediately got up from the table, stiffly grabbing his tray.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have-"

"No, no," May interrupted him quickly. "You- you helped me, and that was good, so, thank you."

"Right." Drew nodded shortly. His fingers were digging into the cool metal of the tray. "I know we… we aren't on the best of terms right now, May, but that doesn't mean I want to see you hurt."

"I know," she said, her blue eyes softening. "I hope we can be friend- well, at least be civil to each other, in the future."

Drew tried to relax his stance, nodding slowly. He wanted to avert his gaze, but found he couldn't. "I know there are… a lot of emotions on both of our sides," he said, carefully choosing his words. "But I hope so, too."

May's smile was small, but hopeful. It felt like his heart was breaking all over again. How could she do this to him? How could she ask him to be around her, to talk to her, to act like nothing had happened?

Drew deliberately loosened his strong hold on his tray, pushing those thoughts away. Those were his emotions talking.

"And… we are rivals, too, after all," May said. Her light tone sounded forced.

But Drew could play along. The confident smirk came easy.

"Yeah. I'll see you again when I beat you in the Final Round." He gave her a short nod in goodbye and then turned to leave.

"H-hey!" May protested as he walked away. "Not if- not if I beat you first!"

May had never been very good with witty comebacks.

Unconsciously, a smile made its way on Drew's face.

A/N: Thank you for reading! So, this chapter turned out completely different than what I originally intended, but I'm quite happy with it. Initially, it mostly consisted of Drew's thoughts on May, his training and a slight mention of May's questioning. But apparently May wanted a larger role in the chapter because it just flowed naturally from there. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and please leave me a review!