Slue's notes: Max is auspiciously missing from this story. He was kidnapped by the author during a full moon. Otherwise, enjoy.

"Man, I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry, Ash."

"Says you."

Drew lifted his head at the sound of bickering. He had been feeding his Absol pokeblock after a tough training session, hoping to soothe the exhausted Pokemon. Drew guiltily felt he had overdone it with the training this time, but after losing the last contest he'd been in, he was feeling the pressure. Of course, he wouldn't ever admit that to anyone, but it was definitely in the back of his mind.

His eyes lit up when May and her friends came into view. He smirked, and stood to full height. There she was – little miss May. She had fire in her blue eyes, and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest.

"At least I don't shove my face!" May said indignantly to Ash.

"Last time I checked, you certainly do," Brock chimed in.

May flushed red, and pouted. "Brock, stay out of this."

They continued to argue amongst themselves – clearly tired and hungry – and Drew waited patiently to be noticed. After a moment, May finally turned her attention from Brock and Ash to the path in front of her. She froze.

Drew grinned.

"Drew," she breathed.

He loved how she got tense the moment she saw him. Then she relaxed, and ran up to him. "Hi, Drew," she said sunnily.

"Hello, May," he said. He flipped his hair. "Wasting your time, I see. I'm not surprised."

"Wasting time?" She said. "I was just taking a break."

"A break?" He arched a brow. "How many ribbons do you have?"

"Three," she said.

He smirked. "Well, it's better than I expected of you."

"What'd you expect?"

"Zero. One when I'm feeling optimistic."

He turned around and began to walk away, knowing she was positively seething behind him. He could practically see the fumes coming from her eyes, and the fire in her breath. She was angry as hell, and he loved it.

"Wait!" she demanded.

He stopped – a knowing smile on his face – and turned around. "What?"

"A battle," she said. "So I can show you that I'm way better than your lousy expectations."

He pretended to think – but in that moment, he zeroed in on something he hadn't noticed before. He didn't know why he hadn't seen it before, but he'd been so occupied with making May flustered that he hadn't paid attention to what May was holding. It was a big stuffed pink Skitty which May had her arms cradled around.

"What's that?" he asked in distaste.

Her anger simmered down. A smile bloomed on her face. "This is Skitty! Ash got it for me."

He paled. Ash got it for her? He shot a look at the raven-haired trainer, who seemed oblivious.

"Oh, yeah, I won it at a festival we stopped at, but it was pink," he said. "And May had a Skitty, so I decided to give it to her." He furrowed his brow. "Besides, if I'd kept it, I wouldn't have been able to hold that extra large caramel popcorn in my hand at the same time."

"Tragic," Drew said sarcastically.

"It would have been." Ash looked horrified.

Drew huffed, and looked back at May, who now had her cheek nuzzled up against the Skitty plush. He wasn't the jealous type – or, at least, he didn't think he was – but he certainly didn't like the sight of May cherishing and hugging something Ash gave her. Wasn't that what boyfriends did? Give their girlfriends stuffed Pokemon?

"So, the battle?" May said brightly.

"No." He was slightly pissed. "I'm training my Pokemon."

She looked crestfallen. "But Drew," she tried to provoke. "You must be scared of losing then, huh?"

He ignored her, and bent down, scratching Absol behind the ear. Even though he had just trained the hell out of his Pokemon, he needed to put up a façade. "Just a little more," he murmured. "Light training."

His Pokemon whined, but agreed. As Drew trained Absol's sword dance, he kept the corner of his eye on May. She was still holding the stuffed Skitty close to her chest protectively, her chin resting on the head of the Pokemon plush.

Drew grit his teeth.

"Absol, Will-o-wisp!"

Who needed May, anyway?

For some damned reason, May and her crew kept hanging around, watching him train. He wanted to say that they were admiring his fine and artful contest skills, but they mostly just seemed bored. Ash was throwing pebbles at Brock, who was trying to read a cooking manual, while May stared at the clouds with her stuffed Skitty

The stuffed kitty she was nuzzling.

From Ash.

There was a slow simmer in his stomach, slowly seeping into his intestines and making him sick. He knew Ash was thick as a block of ice, but… didn't boyfriends give their girlfriends stuffed toys at carnivals? With the way May was admiringly holding the stuffed Skitty, it almost seemed like Ash was her boyfriend.

It was unacceptable.

Not that Drew, you know, liked her or anything.

But when he gave her red roses, she didn't cherish them like that. She merely smiled and said thank you.

It just didn't make sense. Drew was handsome, smart, charming and utterly irresistible. He knew this for a fact. He had his own fangirls. Yet here May was, acting like a stuffed Skitty was more precious than a rose from Drew freaking Hayden.

It was a blow to his pride.

"Oh Ash," May said cheerfully, her voice filled with color. "Thanks so much for this stuffed Skitty again. It's so cute!"

Ash blinked at the sudden change, then grinned widely. "No problem, May!"

Sickening. They were sickening.

Drew's face darkened, and he returned his attention to his Absol, who looked on the verge of collapsing. They had almost been at the end of their training session, but now he was sort of stuck. About to say that he was heading off to a different training ground, he turned around, but noticed that Ash was running off into the woods.

"Wait, Ash!" Brock cried. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"What's going on?" Drew asked.

May huffed. "Ash thought he saw a Ninjask in the woods, but with our luck, it's probably a Beedrill!"

From deep in the woods, Ash's voice echoed, "I'm going to catch that Ninjask!"

Groaning, May said, "Can you watch our stuff? I better go just in case."

He felt another pang of annoyance. Irritated, he muttered, "Go ahead."

She didn't hear him, and instead raced into the woods, her dark brown hair shimmering behind her. Drew watched her, and his heart squeezed in an odd, painfully constricting way. She was beautiful, and he hated himself for thinking that. I don't like her, he reassured himself. It's just a case of… friendly affection.

Pushing away his thoughts, he was about to retrieve his Absol when he noticed… she had left her Skitty behind.

He stared at the pink blob of fur.

He stared some more.

It was really, really bugging him.

"Absol," he murmured. "Come here for a second."

He hated that Skitty.

Absolutely unfailingly abhorred it.

It was nearly dusk when the three straggled back.

May's hair was tangled with leaves, and Ash was moaning about lost opportunities. Brock was wisely staying quiet. As they neared their temporary campsite, May couldn't help but feel a flutter in her chest. She always got that flutter when she was getting closer to Drew. Maybe they were angry flutters because he made her hot-headed, but… her stomach always went fuzzy when she was around him.

It wasn't a silly crush or anything. It was probably just... rival butterflies. Yes, that sounded about right.

As they shuffled over, May self-consciously smoothed out her hair.

"Drew left," Brock noted.

May gawked. "What?" she fumed. "I told him to stay there and watch our stuff!"

"To be fair," Brock said. "We were gone for almost three hours. I don't blame him."

"Well, I do," May said. "And I blame Ash too."

"I'm innocent!" Ash cried.

"It's your fault we left in the first place!"

"It was a Pokemon!"

Sighing, Brock started to set out their tent, leaving May to internally rage. She ignored the small part of her that was disappointed that Drew hadn't hung around. Crossing her arms, she looked around for her pink Skitty for comfort. Her face morphed into one of confusion. "Hey, guys," she said slowly, "Have you guys seen my Skitty?"

"You lost your Pokemon?" Brock said incredulously.

"No, no, my stuffed Skitty."

Brock frowned and got to his feet. "Where did you leave it?"

"Right there," May said, pointing. "In the grass somewhere."

"In the grass? I don't see it anywhere."

"I swear I left it somewhere around here."

They looked around for a bit, but as the sky started to darken, it was obvious the Skitty was gone. May sat in front of the fireplace, feeling a strange burn in her stomach. This day sucked. Her Skitty stuffed teddy had gotten stolen, her hair had leaves in it, and Drew still made her pine uselessly for nothing.

She threw a stick into the fire, and watched it crackle. Brock passed a bowl of warm beans into her hand, and she pressed it flush into her palms for warmth.

"Thanks," she said.

Brock nodded curtly. Ash dozed on the ground next to her, Pikachu curled to his stomach.

"I wouldn't worry about the Skitty," Brock said.

May nodded mutely.

"We can buy another one from the mall, probably."

She nodded again. As she took a small bite of her beans, she noticed something in the grass in the light of the campfire. She narrowed her eyes.

"Some Pokemon are scavengers," Brock went on. "They probably took it. I don't know what human would steal a stuffed toy while leaving our other belongings untouched."

May blinked, still squinting at the grass, before shaking her head. "Yeah, Brock, you're probably right."

She ate the rest of the meal in silence. As May rolled out her sleeping back, she looked back at the grass. There it was. She once more caught a glimpse of a dark, gorgeous red petal.

Brock was right.

Some Pokemon were scavengers.

She just didn't know any that left behind a rose in return.