We have another May focused chapter right here, because there's a few things with her that I need to go over. Something that I didn't do enough when she travelled with Max and Bonnie. I also want to develop her and Drew's relationship a bit more, which is why this chapter is happening. Look I'm rambling here because I don't know what to put in these opening notes anymore. Just enjoy the chapter I guess.
Chapter 25:
Drew's Mistake
May had hoped that by going her separate ways with Max and Bonnie, she would be able to focus more on her training with Blaziken, now that she doesn't have to keep an eye on her brother. But she was wrong. It has now been half a week since they separated, and she's been training to make her punches and kicks go on fire almost every second she can. But no matter how hard she tries, she can't get it right. After yet another day of training, she lets out a cry of anger and punches a tree. All this does is cause her hand to start bleeding. Drew notices and pulls out a bandage, then helps her wrap her hand with it. At the touch of his hands upon hers, both of them start blushing. Once Drew is finished wrapping her hand, they separate quickly, and go back to doing what they were doing.
As May trains her abilities as a Blaziken Mask, Drew can't help but continue to admire her. Not only how she looks with all the sweat pouring down her and the way she looks with her shirt cropped like that, although he'd never admit that out loud, but also her dedication to learning how to do this properly, even when it seems like she'll never be able to. After another few minutes of this, May screams in frustration and kicks at the ground. Before she can go and destroy her hand again, he grabs her arm. "Maybe don't go destroying your other hand" he tells her. May sighs and pulls her hand away. "Sorry," she says. "But I'm just so frustrated. I managed it once before, why can't I do it again!?" Drew looks at her. "How did you do it last time?" he asks. "What were you feeling?" May thinks about this. "Anger," she replies, "and fear. Fear that Team Terra were going to hurt you. I guess Blaziken felt the same way, so we were able to punch in perfect sync. I think it helped that he was punching one of their pokémon." Drew nods thoughtfully. "So, why not try thinking back to that day?" he asks. "Draw on those emotions you felt then, and then channel it into your bond with Blaziken."
May stares at him. "Did you just mansplain my power to me?" she asks. Drew goes very red and tries to backtrack, but May just laughs. "I'm sorry, I was only kidding," she tells him, patting his shoulder. "I'll try that, thanks." Drew smiles, blushing a little bit, then he goes back to training for his first contest, while May goes into her mind. She thinks back to the moment where Sarah and Sam were attacking her and Drew, and Sarah had her arms around Drew's neck. She thinks about that anger and fear, and the desperation to save him, and feeds those feelings to Blaziken. Then, the two concentrate, feel for their connection with each other. Then, they punch out at the same time. For just a second, May's fist ignites, and she strikes the tree in front of her. She cheers with delight and hugs Blaziken tightly, ignoring how warm he feels. "WE DID IT!" she exclaims. "DREW WE DID IT!" Drew applauds her. "Great job May!" he says. "Keep trying!" May smiles at this, feeling her face heat up.
She turns back to the tree, and channels that emotion into her punch again. Unfortunately, this time it doesn't work. So, she tries again. And again. And again. And again. But it doesn't work again. The more she tries, the more her frustration returns. Eventually, she takes off the mask she's been wearing and throws it to the ground, before storming off and sitting down on a fallen log. Drew watches her do this, then picks up the mask and goes to sit next to her. The two of them sit in silence for a while, whilst Blaziken and Roserade watch them. Then at last, May speaks. "I just can't do it," she complains. "No matter how hard I try, I can't do it!" Drew puts an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in a bit. "Hey, you've managed to do it twice so far," he points out. "And you've only started learning this like 3 months ago nearly. It's impressive that you've been able to get it at all during that time, nevermind twice. Remember what Ash likes to say?" May nods, laughing a bit. "Don't give up until it's over" she says. Drew nods encouragingly.
He hands the mask back to May, and the two continue to sit on that log for a while. As they sit there, Roserade walks up to him and starts nudging him. At first, Drew is confused by this, but then he realises what Roserade is trying to convince him to do. He goes red at the thought, and subtly starts shaking his head. But Roserade only continues to insist upon it. Meanwhile, Blaziken is doing the same with May, much to her own embarrassment. The two humans continue to ignore their pokémon's attempts to get them to ask each other out, and instead look in different directions, Drew at the ground and May at the sky. As she does, she notices something flying overhead. "Hey Drew," she says, tapping him on the shoulder to get him to look up. "What's that?" Drew looks up and sees the flying object in the sky. The two of them stand up to get a better look, and notice that it's a plane. It is then that Drew also spots the big green T on the side of the plane.
"May, we need to run," he says. "Now!" "What? Why?" May asks. Drew points up at the plane. "That plane has Team Terra's logo on it," Drew pints out. "We need to go before they spot us." But it's too late for that. The plane nose dives towards them, then opens fire. May and Drew start to panic and take off running into the trees, hoping to stay clear of those bullets. But, two flying type pokémon come out of the plane and start using gust to clear the branches of the trees, allowing for the plane to fly lower towards them. As they run, May turns to get a look at who's in the cockpit. She growls with anger. "It's Debbie and Cooper," she says. "The bastards who shot my brother." Then she stops running and turns to face the plane. "What do you want!" she yells at them. "My brother isn't here, but a big can of ass kicking is, so unless you want some, I suggest you bugger off!" Debbie and Cooper laugh at this. "Oh, we're well aware that your brother isn't here," says Cooper. "We tangled with him a few days ago, but he beat us unfairly." "So, we've got a bit of revenge planned," Debbie continues. "One that involves his sister!" And with that, they dive towards them.
May and Drew dive out of the way as more bullets come flying at them. "If you kill me, you won't be able to get Max's help." she shouts at them. "Oh, these won't kill you, just stun you," says Debbie. "Long enough for us to be able to use you as bait!" Then, the bullets fly faster. May runs under the cover of the trees, and Drew follows her. But that cover is blown away by Debbie's Pelliper and Cooper's Altaria. So, with little other choice, they have to keep running and dodging. May pulls out her mask again, with the feeling that she may be able to stop them with her abilities. But before she can don the mask, Drew stops her. "If you put the mask on now, even if you do fail, you won't have your secret identity for when you're able to properly control you power," he points out. "I reckon we only need to get somewhere where there are other people. With other people, they may be less likely to attack us." May nods in agreement with that plan, and they increase their speed.
But they never make it in time. Team Terra must've realised the same thing as Drew had, because they stop the bullets and start launching ropes at them. These ropes snare around trees and pull the branches off of them, before pulling them inside the plane and letting them back out immediately after. In other words, getting caught by one of those would be a very bad idea. But they could only outrun them for so long. Eventually, May trips on a tree root, and falls to the ground. She tries to get back up, but one of the ropes flies towards her. Before it can ensnare her, Drew jumps in front of it, getting him caught instead. May can only watch as he's pulled away from her into the air. Rage fills her at this, and she turns to Blaziken. "Let's get after them!" she says, before picking up Roserade and turning her attention back to the plane. She's so angry with Team Terra that she forgets about her frustration at not being able to do use her powers. She just feels her and Blaziken's mutual hatred of Team Terra, bends her knees, and jumps.
Fire covers her legs and feet as she does so, so that when she leaves the ground, the force of the kicks sends her flying. Blaziken leaps right next to her, and uses flames to propel himself further. May grabs onto him so that Team Terra don't realise that she made that jump herself. Drew saw it though, and feels proud of her, despite the situation he's in. Before he can be pulled into the plane, May manages to reach him. She lets Roserade off her shoulder, then orders Blaziken to knock the plane out of the sky. Blaziken leaps upwards towards the plane, while Roserade cuts Drew free. Then, May holds on to him as they three of them start to fall, while above them, fire erupts from one of the plane's engines. "Oh come on!" Cooper complains. "We just fixed this!" Then, the two humans watch as the plane falls out of sight.
Right before they hit the ground, Blaziken falls first and catches May, before setting her down. She stands there in the forest, panting heavily while holding Drew bridal style. The two of them are quite flustered by this, and she puts him down. They stare at each other for a few seconds, before, in a moment of pure impulse, Drew allows his intrusive thoughts to take over, and he kisses her. May is so stunned by this that she doesn't do anything. She simply freezes. Unfortunately for her, Drew takes this the wrong way and steps back. "I-I'm sorry," he stammers. "I don't know what came over me." Still May doesn't say anything. Drew stops talking and turns away from her so she doesn't see him crying. "I'm just gonna... go." Then without another word, he runs off. Only then does May's brain restart, and she realises her mistake in not saying anything. "Drew wait!" she calls, but he's already to far away from her. She feels tears prick her eyes at this, as her anger rebuilds, only this time towards herself. She screams with rage and punches another tree, snapping the trunk without engulfing her fist in flame. Then, she falls to her knees, and weeps.
So, I was just thinking that there wasn't enough angst in this fic, so I added this in. Also, because I have a plan for how Contestshipping will finally happen, and I needed this understanding in order to make it work. Also, I hope you found Debbie and Cooper's plane accidents funny, because that's going to be a running joke in the series. But anyway, see you on Thursday when we re-join Max and Bonnie.