Yes, I am continuing May's part of the story here, and yes, all May focused chapters will have some sort of fire pun in the title, amn't I very funny? I was originally going to return to Max and Bonnie for a bit, but I only have an idea for one chapter with them, and I have 2 to write in order to catch up to where I'm supposed to be if I hadn't taken that break. So, I decided to use one of them for the May chapter, and the other for that Max and Bonnie chapter. After tomorrow, I'll be going back to my regular schedule to the best of my ability. Anyway, on with the show.

Chapter 66:

Flames of Love

When May wakes up, she's surprised that she does. Then, she realised that her mask is off her face, and she sits up very quickly. She feels her face, and realises that her skin hasn't been cut in any way. It had been delicately removed, as opposed to forced off. She looked down at her side, to find that it had been bandaged properly. Her t-shirt had been cropped back up so that the bandages could be properly put on. She looks around and finds herself int the same forest that she was in when she collapsed, the sun has started to rise, so she can tell that it's a different part of the woods. Looking down again, she notices that she's in a sleeping bag, next to a campfire that has long since gone out. She begins to try to get up, but suddenly feels very lightheaded. As she falls back down, she feels a pair of arms catch her. "Woah, easy there," says a very familiar voice. "You lost a lot of blood. You're in no shape to be moving right now!"

May turns around, and sees Drew standing behind her, holding her up. He delicately lays her back down in the sleeping bag, and sits next to her. "I'll be honest, you gave me quite the scare there," he says. "When I found you lying on the ground, covered in your own blood, barely conscious, I was so scared. I didn't know what to do." As he talks, May notices him tearing up a bit. So, she hugs him, ignoring the stabbing pain coming from her side. "You saved me," she says to him. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up!" Drew blushes a bit at this. "I didn't do much," he admits. "I just bandaged that wound. We still need to get you to a hospital, or a Pokémon Centre at least. If you move too much, it will open again." May nods, then looks back down at her side where the bullet had struck her. "How are we going to explain this to the doctors though?" she asks. "I already thought of that," Drew replies. "A failed mugging. Some guy tried to rob us, we resisted, he tried to shoot me, you took the bullet for me."

May can't help but blush a bit at that. "You're making me out to be some hero," she says. "Well, you've got superpowers, a costume, a secret identity, and a love interest who always needs his behind saved," Drew points out. "I think you fit the bill of hero quite nicely." May laughs at this. "You don't always need to be saved," she points out. Drew joins in on her laughter, then lets out a big yawn. May looks at him with concern. "How long have you slept?" she asks. Drew looks bashful at this. "I, uh, haven't slept since yesterday," he admits. "I found you at about 10 o'clock last night." May stares at him, then picks up her phone. It's 6:30 in the morning. "You stayed up all night!?" she asks. "What was I supposed to do?" Drew replies. "You were unconscious and bleeding out! I was worried sick! I could hardly sleep without knowing you were ok!" May puts a hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate you looking after me," she tells him. "But now it's my turn. You need sleep." Drew tries to protest, but May pulls him down so that his head rests on her lap. Then, she begins to stroke his hair. At this, his eyes begin to droop.

"By the way," May asks as Drew begins to fall asleep, "where did you get the bandages?" "Bought them after that scare with Max on Dewford," Drew mumbles sleepily. In case I ever got into a similar situation." May smiles down at him, but doesn't say anything else. Soon enough, the sounds of Drew's snoring fills the woods. May stops stroking her boyfriend's hair and reaches over to her bag, pulling out Blaziken's Ball. She releases him and orders him to keep watch, as she still feels tired. Probably because of the lack of blood in her system. Blaziken nods and stands guard. While he does that, May carefully lies back down, making sure not to jostle Drew from her lap. Then, she closes her eyes and falls back asleep.

The couple wake up at the same time, a few hours later. Drew is a bit flustered after having slept on May's lap, which makes May giggle. He stands up and begins to put together some food for them. May stands up to help him, but Drew puts a hand on her shoulder and gently pushes her back down to a sitting position. "No, you need to stay put," he tells her. "I'm fine Drew," she says. Drew shakes his head. "I don't want that wound to reopen," he tells her. "You were deathly pale when I found you. You've only started gaining some colour back to your face. If you move too much, you could reopen that wound." Drew's voice quivers at this, as though the thought of seeing May bleeding that much is the scariest thing to him. May smiles and agrees to stay put. While she watches Drew make food, she tells him all about what she learned in the base. As she describes the plot with Ammon, she pulls out her phone and shows him the pictures. Drew smiles at this. "That's my girl," he says. "So, we still have time to show this to Ammon and stop him from reporting the wrong guy." May nods. "It seems we do."

May continues her story as Drew finishes making food. He hands her a noticeably bigger portion, and when she comments on it, he simply replies, "It's to help you recover your blood." May finishes her explanation and wolfs down her food, having not been aware of how hungry she was until that moment. Drew watches her eat with an amused expression, before tucking into his own food. As he eats, May asks, "How did you find me?" Drew looks up. "I followed the sounds of fighting," he explains. I watched form the shadows as Team Terra walked through the woods trying to find you. I was about to sneak off after them, when I saw you fall out of the tree behind them. They turned around to see what the noise was, so I used Roserade to block off the path with plants. I picked you up and carried you all the way here. I'm sorry I couldn't get you all the way to a hospital, but you'd lost so much blood that carrying you any further could've killed you!"

Drew begins to hyperventilate at this. May crawls over to him and hugs him as tight as she can without opening the wound on her side. "Hey, don't worry, we're safe now," she tells him. "You saved my life Drew, don't forget that." Drew nods and hugs her back. They remain like this for a while, before Drew gets to his feet. "We should get going," he tells her. "We need to get you to a hospital, or Pokémon Centre at the very least." May nods and gets to her feet. Drew tries to protest, but she insists that she help pack their stuff away. Drew hadn't pitched a tent, so all they need to do is pack away the sleeping bag, Drew's food and cooking utensils, and May's Blaziken Mask costume. Once they return their pokémon to their ball and the balls to their belts, they set off back to Fortree.

People stare as they stagger into town. It must be quite the sight, seeing the Too Coordinator of Hoenn walking down the street clutching her side, with bandages sticking out from under her t-shirt, and hanging on to one of the Coordinators going after her title for support. But, neither of them pay anyone any mind. They instead focus on getting her to the Pokémon Centre, as it's the nearest place with any doctors at all. "This would be so much easier if we had Brock with us," May complains. Drew half walks, half carries her into the Centre, as all the walking caused the wound to reopen. "My girlfriend needs help!" he cries as they walk in. "She's been shot!" There's a flurry of movement as people run over to help May into a hospital room, while someone calls the police to tell them what happened. Despite this being a Pokémon Centre, they have a human doctor on hand for extreme emergencies such as this one. May is quickly rushed into another room, so that the doctor can help her.

While this happens, Drew is bombarded with questions as to what happened to May, who did it to her, and whether or not it's true that he's dating her. Drew tries to answer them all, but is quickly overwhelmed and begins to hyperventilate again. Nurse Joy manages to get everyone to give him some space, and to allow him to calm down. "You're ok sir," she tells him. "You're just in shock. We'll take care of Ms. Maple, and then you can explain what happened." Drew nods. Now that he's no longer trying to keep her alive, the true shock of what had happened finally set in for him, leaving him barely able to do anything other than shake. He sits there for what feels like hours, until the doctor comes out of the room and informs him that May is alright, and that her wound has been stitched up. Drew practically runs over to the room May is in. As he does, the doctor tells him, "I'm impressed with your bandaging," Drew nods in thanks, not paying too much attention to what he's saying.

May is lying in a bed, awake after the surgery to remove the bullet from her body, and stitch her back up. She sees Drew come into the room cautiously, as if making sure she's awake. She holds her arms out to him, offering a hug. Drew smiles at this and comes over to her, carefully hugging her to avoid hurting her anymore. As they sit there together, Officer Jenny comes into the room. "Hello you two," she says. "I just want to ask you some questions about what happened to Ms. Maple here, then I'll leave you be." Both of them nod, and undergo the questions. They try to make it out like they were being mugged, and when it failed, the assailant tried to shoot Drew, but May took the bullet for him. When Jenny needs them to describe their attacker, May is able to give a vague description of the man who shot her, but she can't fully remember what he looked like. Fortunately, it seems Jenny knows who that is. "He's a current member of Team Terra," she explains. "You must've gotten too close to their base, so he tried to scare you away. But when that failed, he pulled the trigger and fled." May and Drew just nod, not wanting to give away that May had been running through that base two days prior.

After Officer Jenny left them be, the two don't speak for a bit. May can see that Drew is worried bout where this conversation is going next. "You know I have to keep going, don't you?" she asks. Drew nods, not looking at her. "I want to try and stop you," he admits. "But I've seen enough movies to know what'll happen if I do." May laughs at that, despite the situation. "Don't worry, I won't be shot again," she tells him. "I'll be more careful, I promise." "How can you be sure?" he asks her. "Well for one, I'll keep my phone on silent," she jokes. Despite himself, Drew laughs. "For another, I won't try to fight anymore. Instead, I'll keep myself out of sight as much as possible, and if I'm spotted, I'll just flee. I won't engage them anymore." Drew looks relieved to hear this, but at the same time guilty. "But that's not what you want to do," he says. It isn't a question. "He knows me too well," she sighs to herself. "No, it's not," she admits out loud. "I like fighting with my fire powers, but at the same time I don't want to worry you."

Drew sighs. "So, how about this," he says. "You keep using your powers. Keep fighting them all as much as you like. Keep stopping their plans. But, let me come with you." He takes her hand at this. "I don't even have to go in to the bases, I can wait outside, I don't care! Just, let me come, so that I can be waiting outside should you need backup or to be treated. How does that sound?" May thinks about this. On one hand, it'll mean that Drew will be in dangerous situations, and she may not be able to save him in time. On the other, she can travel with him, and him alone, as a couple. Not to mention, it was nice being treated by him. "But, what about your ribbons?" she asks. "What about the Contest?" "Screw those!" he says, without hesitation. "I can always use the two ribbons I have next year. You are far more important to me than them." May gets teary-eyed at this and kisses him. "I love you," she says without thinking. She panics slightly, but Drew only smiles. "I love you too," he replies.

I was going to stick a joke at the end, all about people reacting to May and Drew dating, but I felt that that ending was too cute, so I dropped it. But, just in case you couldn't tell, Contestshipping is one of my OTPs, so I indulged myself a bit with that one. I hope you enjoyed a nice romantic moment between the two, as a break from all the dancing Max and Bonnie are doing. I'm honestly tempted to push those two together and demand they kiss, and I'm the fricking writer! But, I have a plan for their confession, and I don't want to abandon it just because I'm impatient. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, and I'll see you tomorrow for the final chapter of my daily uploads.