Rainbow chance

In which the torrential rain season offers two young coordinators an opportunity to reach each other.

Day 1

Sunny and clear mornings, high level of humidity in the air and warm temperatures: that's how the typical weather around most areas of the subtropical lands of Hoenn is, all year long. There is a particularly abundance of water - sea routes are important paths to travel across the continent, most trainers exploring the region rather carry at least one water pokemon for surfing.

Combining those two main traits, it is not a big surprise that Alola's number one competitor in coastal tourism and resort market are the beautiful islands and shores of Hoenn.

Meanwhile, in the mythical lands of Johto, local people may easily describe the beginning of summer days with the following situation: the weather getting fiercely and increasingly hot, while young pokemon trainers eagerly empty the market shop aisles of cold beverages, cooling products and ice cream servings.

Still, around the region of millennial history, old traditions and myths, summer has different and extra unique flavors. Besides the large influx of tourists to Olivine and Cianwood areas, the summertime in Johto is remarkable for the blooming season of rich hydrangeas, the migration of bird pokemon from Sinnoh, traditional local festivals with street food and firework shows… and, of course, the Johto Grand Festival season.

For the coordinator native from LaRousse City, that meant it was the time to work even harder and, also, temporarily retire his jacket and long-sleeved shirt - after all, May was a warm month and June would become even more humid and hotter, right?

What Drew couldn't have imagined was that summer in those lands had one more striking quirk…

"...Beautiful afternoon, isn't it?"

A loud cheerful voice broke the song rhythm of the falling rain. With a teasing grin plastered on her face, May twirled her huge red umbrella with Magikarp scale patterns over her head, splashing water all around her thick yellow boots.

The skies were dark and eerie; the torrential storm was washing away the colorful scenario, soaking all the plants and trees, making groups of pokemon cover themselves inside the caves and hide under hidden paths.

Watching her rival stuck under the roof of a closed convenience store was, honestly speaking, wickedly fun - after all, May was usually the one who would get in trouble in front of Drew, not the other way.

Previously on that week, Drew had mocked May's excessive packing at their last Pokemon Center stop - the unstoppable Princess of Hoenn had gone into a shopping spree and bought a new raincoat, a pair of long waterproof boots and a large Magikarp Jump umbrella. She insisted carrying those new items in her bag, even though the skies were still as blue as a flock of baby Swablu.

Hiding his head pathetically under his soaked jacket, the prodigy coordinator watched his properly-equipped rival enjoy herself with a merry dance, not worried at all with the bothersome weather. She seemed to be very excited and radiant, apparently ready to enjoy the harsh rainy season of Johto as much as she would if standing in a sunny resort beach in their homeland.

"Yes," Drew shouted back in a plain tone, trying to show how the attempts to phase him were not working at all, "I got caught by the rain, I didn't imagine it would get much worse so quickly."

"It's the plum rain season…" May giggled in a playful and sweet manner, then shared with her rival a tiny yet amicable smile. "...Johto's small blessings, you know?"

"What?" Unable to hear his rival, the boy from Larousse City furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Season what?"

"Plum. Plum rain." The girl repeated her answer, pronouncing each word in an exaggerated fashion, making the tip of her hair sway back and forth. She walked closer to help him listen to her words. "Plum. Rain. Season!"

"Oh." Trying to not sound too curious, Drew tried to find out more about it by tossing a bait on the topic and waiting for the catch. "I see. I wonder why everything you like is always food-related..."

"Tsuyu. That's the name we call it here in the local dialect, I didn't make up that." The cheerful girl certainly didn't mind pulling the bait. She shrugged in a brisk movement, making raindrops bounce off her shoulders. "Blame the ancient legends for choosing that name. Maybe the plums from Johton ripen in this season, dunno, I should ask Mom later."

Drew crooked a doubtful eyebrow at his rival, who did react to the provocation with an unexpected surprised face.

"Huh? Wait, you didn't know that?" Watching the coordinator shrug as a negative answer, May tilted her head to one side, and after that, to the other. "Okay, now you do. My family is from Johto. I used to live here before I moved to Littleroot Town, then Petalburg City!"

Drew had never heard May talking about herself - of course they would often chat about pokemon, coordinating life, some old travel friends and rivals; still, her very personal life was something like an unknown world to him.

They had been traveling around the world for some time, bumping into each other around Contest and Pokemon Centers, but for some reason they ended up never talking about certain topics. Not that personal matters were a taboo, it's just that... They respected each other so much that some kind of unspoken established rules stated that crossing the line was... maybe too much.

After all, they were still only friendly rivals, not close friends.

"So... Rain specialist," the soaked teenager spoke loudly in a playful banter tone, looking at the Magikarp girl with a smug grin on his face, "tell me how long this is going to last."

Perhaps such distance was something that could be easily changed. Drew realized that rivals aside, who knows, May could be a nice friend too. He really enjoyed her company anyway.

"What? You mean... The whole rainy season or just today's rain?"

In order to avoid unnecessary shouting, she joined Drew by fitting herself in his spot under the roof, guarding him under her umbrella.

It was big enough for one, just enough for two.

"Your call." He lowered his jacket, thankful for being protected by a more reliable cover. "Give me your best weather forecast."

It was hard to not notice how fascinated the girl born Johto was with Drew's dripping and messy green hair. Her eyes were not even trying to make eye contact, staring directly at the shiny spots on his poor drenched head.

He smirked in an inconspicuous manner, enjoying her total lack of awareness of the situation.

The delayed answer took some time to come up, but then it was finally announced when she promptly looked away in embarassment.

"Ahhh... The season usually... lasts for, lemme see, two weeks?"

The sound of rain toned down considerably, as if helping the two teenagers to keep up with their chatting. They looked up to the sky from time to time and watched the environment become a little less duller.

On ground level, a group of Oddish came out of a tree hole nearby, relieved with the calmer weather. Few resting Metapod were no longer with their eyes closed, waking up from the short rainy nap.

The pouring rain was slowly turning into into a soothing drizzle.

"Two weeks..." Drew crossed his arms in a thoughtful pose. His mind went back to full Coordinator mode. "Then I guess we gotta prepare ourselves to Goldenrod's Contest under the rain, huh. They have an open-ceiling hall, I'll use a more suitable strategy for that."

"Maybe..." May started mindlessly playing with her raincoat's yellow strings. "I don't know, it's hard to tell when exactly it will start or stop raining, so..."

"Yeah, I'll practice my backup plan instead. Not worth abusing from sunlight during Appeal rounds..."

Possibly without a knowing intention, Drew casually flicked the tip of his hair in his usual mannerism - that left his hair bangs up in an unusual style, exposing a bit of his forehead out.

May's eyebrows went higher in attention. She wanted really badly to take a photograph of that moment.

"Well... maybe you can practice some appeals with your pokemon later at night, today." She made it sure to not act weirdly now, focusing her gaze again on the strings instead of getting lost in the alluring damp hair strands. "The rain might stop anytime, you know.."

"I'm not going to lie, this is a bit annoying." Drew rolled his eyes out. He finally noticed how his hair was looking different, tapping and fixing it back to the regular shape. "Anyway, at least Masquerain will love getting out of its pokeball... "

"Hahaha, see, daily forecasts are chaotic in summer. The rain comes and goes away as it pleases... Take it as a challenge!" May tried to offer some consolation to her coordinator partner. "Everyone's going through this, only the best will survive! I know you'll find a way and come up with something witty and gorgeous for the next Contest, Drew!"

The teen from LaRousse City grinned in satisfaction. Hearing these unconscious flattering ramblings from May was always a pleasant experience for his ego. "Only the best will survive, huh? You should be careful, don't forget your own words..."

The offended girl just huffed out loud then stuck her tongue out in a childish way. He took the insult with a low-key smirk.

Checking out the clearer sky, May walked away from her rival, raising one leg and pointing that feet to the route ahead. "We're really close to the next city! Just need to follow that road and we can have some rest inside a dry place. Wanna a ride to the next Pokemon Center?"

Drew raised one eyebrow. "You brought your bike?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant... I mean, this." She shook the umbrella lightly, making it look like a splashing Magikarp. "Come here, we can share it."

That was definitely a very simple and spontaneous invitation - although whatever went through Drew's mind, it made him find that quite inconvenient, since he decided to politely refuse the offer.

"It's okay, almost not raining anymore," he spoke with a more hushed and less sarcastic voice, leaving his place under the closed store's roof. "I should be fine now."

"But that rain might come back out of sudden..."

With an indignant look on her eyes, the girl fully-prepared for a flood watched her rival trying to run away. What was his problem? Shaking her head in disappointment, she didn't hesitate giving him a warning.

"I'm telling you..."

Ignoring the threat, Drew just waved goodbye and started walking slowly, avoiding the huge puddles of water around their feet.

"Wait, are you sure you want to risk your life?"

"I'll survive. See you at the Pokemon Center."

Offering again a place under her umbrella, this time May reinforced her offer by reaching out her rival with an open hand.

"Gee, you are so stubborn... C'mon, just get under the umbrella and let's go!"

Instead of refusing her last chance on spot, Drew actually pondered for a moment... After drying his hands on his shirt, he gracefully accepted the invitation with a gentle grip.

"...Since you insist."

"Yay, very good! Let's go!"

May was thrilled - Drew was back, she had just won their mini discussion! Pulling his hand in a bossy and playful attitude, she celebrated the victory with a joyful song, humming a tune in such radiant way that even Drew couldn't help but hold a tiny cordial smile on his lips...

...Although after finally realizing that they were sharing an umbrella while holding hands, in a spetacular turnabout, May just went mute and almost fell down from legs going petrified in mortification.

(...)

A/N: Yeah, I really really really like writing CS in Johto...

It's a multichaptered story but I guess it can be easily enjoyed as an one-shot... Dedicated to everybody who has been reading my other Contestshipping stories - it's a small gratitude fic and also an apology for the yearly slow updates!