My dear, loyal readers: I give you the final chapter of Love Beats Everything. I gotta say this: it's been a pleasure writing this, and I hope you all enjoy the last installment of my beloved story.

Drew stared into the mirror and frowned. "Gary," he called, still peering at his reflection, "on a scale of one to ten, how girly does my hair look?"

Gary glanced over from where he was staring out the window and blinked. "Eight," he answered.

Drew turned. "Eight?" he groaned.

"And a half."

Drew returned to the mirror and anxiously flicked his hair. "Oh man. Maybe I should get it cut. I don't want to look like the goddamned bride in all the photos."

Gary looked away from the window. "Relax, I was kidding!" he exclaimed. He fiddled with his tie and laughed nervously. "I can't believe I'm telling you to relax, as if you're the one getting married in five hours' time."

"Stop staring out the window, you're just freaking yourself out some more," sighed Drew. He stood up and pulled Gary away from the window. He started to lead him towards the door. "Look, let's go downstairs and wait with the others, hm?"

"Fine," grumbled Gary. He loosened his tie and left the room. Drew lingered for a moment, and looked around the room.

It looked exactly like it did when he stayed there eight years ago. The green wallpaper still hung on the walls, and the extra bed where May had slept beside him all those years ago was still against the wall. Even the garden outside the window was the same as ever, with its rosebushes and the stone bench where he and May once spent an entire night together.

When Gary first got engaged, he decided he wanted to get married not in a church, but outside. Drew didn't blame him – for Coordinators and Trainers, it felt so much more natural to be outside with Pokemon rather than inside. It was natural instinct for them. When Ally found out about the engagement, she immediately suggested that they used her sprawling gardens and fields as the location for their wedding. And so, ten months later, here they all were.

Drew closed the door behind him and hurried to catch up with Gary, who was obsessively playing around with his scarlet velvet tie as he walked downstairs. Drew went ahead to open the door that led to the living room, and as he pushed it open, he was greeted by a flying pink slipper slapping into his face.

"Out!" screeched a voice. "This room is occupied by the bride and her bridal army! No men allowed!"

The door was slammed shut, leaving an even more nervous Gary and a very disgruntled Drew standing in the hallway.

"I see Ally is having fun being the maid of honour," grumbled Drew as they made their way to the kitchen. He wiped his face with his sleeve. "That slipper smelt like Miltank poo."

"Did you see her?" asked Gary eagerly.

"I was a bit preoccupied with having a slipper being catapulted into my face, Gary, to notice what your future wife was wearing."

They walked into the kitchen and were very surprised to find Charlie sitting by the table, drinking coffee with another person that Drew only very vaguely recognised.

"Charlie!" exclaimed Gary, rushing forward to shake his hand. "I had no idea you'd already arrived! Man, I haven't seen you for months!"

Charlie laughed and stood up. He looked the same as ever; his long red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and he wore a black leather jacket over his formal suit. "I just got here half an hour ago," he explained. "My brothers are outside helping with the decorations. I wanted to help, but, well!" He waved his arm and grinned. "It's still stiff, but it's cool, huh?"

His sleeve fell down and revealed the prosthetic hand and arm connected to Charlie's shoulder. It was incredibly life-like, save for the metal bolts that pierced through the wrist, elbow and knuckles. As the arm moved sideways, it emitted a mechanical noise not too dissimilar to that of a robot.

"Impressive!" noted Drew. "When you said you were amputating your arm, I was worried, but that arm is pretty sweet, I'll admit."

"It was pointless, really, to keep an arm that I couldn't use," said Charlie with a shrug. "It took me a few years to pluck up the courage, but I'm glad I went ahead with the amputation."

Charlie's white-haired companion stood up and smirked. "My father made sure he got the very best prosthetic arm in the entire world," he said airily. He turned to Gary and held out a hand. "Winter de Sirene. Charlie's partner. Congratulations on the wedding."

"Stop being so arrogant, Winter," sighed Charlie, rolling his eyes. He lowered his coffee to the table and added, "You remember Winter, right, Drew? You met him just before you left Johto after that contest in Goldenrod, didn't you?"

"Yes, I vaguely remember him," said Drew. "So when you say partner, do you mean financially, or...?"

"Romantically, yes," said Winter, wrapping his white hair around his finger. He frowned. "Problem?"

"Winter, if you keep being so rude, I'll send you back to Goldenrod," grumbled Charlie. He gave Gary an apologetic smile. "Sorry about him. So, when's the rest of the gang arriving?"

Eerily enough, the doorbell rang just as he said that. Gary gulped. "I'll go get that," he said. "It's probably Gramps, and Ash and his mom." He peered through the window and his face grew paler. "And Brock. And Dawn. And Misty. And Iris. And Tracey. And Ritchie. And about fifty other people. Oh God, why did I invite so many people?"

"Because you like to pretend you're popular," answered Drew smoothly. "Now, go answer the door. I'll go outside and help out."

"I'll join you," said Charlie, as Gary disappeared through the door. "My arm needs some stretching, anyway. Winter, you coming?"

Winter shook his head. "Too cold out there," he muttered. "I wish I was back in my holiday home at Slateport."

"You baby," laughed Charlie. He and Drew left through the back door and stepped into the garden. It was bustling with guests and workers alike, chattering with old friends and setting up the marquee and endless tables. Drew spotted a familiar shock of black hair pitching a food tent, his shaggy mane pulled back with a hair tie as he worked.

"Jay!"

Jay straightened up and looked around, before catching sight of Drew and grinning. He hurried over immediately. As he approached, Drew saw that he was still as short as ever – then again, Drew had sprouted quite a few inches over the past few years, so everyone was short to him these days.

"How's it going?" Jay bumped his fist against Drew's and laughed. "I haven't seen you for a year, man! How's life in Hoenn?"

"Pretty good," answered Drew. "I've become the Champion Coordinator four times in a row now. They're running out of awards to give me. You?"

"I won the Kanto Grand Festival last week!" Jay pointed to the ribbon pinned to his tuxedo's lapel and grinned. "Great, huh? Oh, hey, is May coming?"

Drew hesitated. "She can't make it," he said quietly. "She's really busy in Unova. When she first got there, there was no such thing as Coordinating in Unova, so May held the very first contest there. Since then she's become an important judge and Champion in Unova."

"Bummer," said Jay, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, it's great she's a success over there and all, but still. So, you two still...?"

"I don't know," shrugged Drew. "We phone each other every day and visit as much as possible – now that we're both Champions, it's easily-affordable."

"It's a real shame she isn't coming," sighed Jay. He shook his hair from his hair tie and straightened it with his fingers. "Real shame."

Drew shrugged again and said nothing for a while. Suddenly, something hit him. "Wait," he said slowly, "when Charlie said 'my brothers are outside', did he mean...?"

"DREW, HUN!"

Someone very tall and very strong suddenly lifted Drew from the ground and hugged him tight.

"Harley!" exclaimed Drew, choking slightly from how tightly he was being embraced. He was dropped to the ground, and he turned to find himself facing a slender man with curly purple hair in a green tuxedo.

"The one and only, darling," grinned Harley. Thankfully, his Cacturne hat was absent from his outlandish outfit. "I was released from jail two years ago, and I have now become a FABULOUS and BETTER person!"

"That's good!" said Drew, backing away slightly. "...I guess." He turned to Jay and cocked an eyebrow. "So, you two've reconciled?"

"We're getting counselling," muttered Jay as Harley started to braid his hair. "A lot of it."

"Drew?"

Drew turned around and felt his jaw drop. "Annabelle?"

The little French girl he had met eight years ago was gone. Her hair was now much shorter and choppier, and the girly dresses her mother dressed her up in were replaced with a plummeting violet dress that showed quite a bit of her cleavage.

"It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed, shaking Drew by the hand. "I haven't seen you since you were at my mother's contest! Well, I've seen you on television... but wow, you've grown!"

"I didn't know you'd be coming today, Annabelle!" said Drew, raising his eyebrows. "You look... good!"

"I'm a bridesmaid, actually," grinned Annabelle. "I just got off the train now. I need to get changed – d'you know where the rest of the bridesmaids are?"

"In the living room," answered Drew. He froze. "Is Madame Marie here?"

"God, no!" laughed Annabelle. "When she found out that you were Gary Oak's best man, she refused to come. She'll never forgive you and May for running out of her contest – but man, that was just hilarious."

She waved Drew goodbye and hurried up to the house, where she disappeared into the kitchen. Drew turned back to Jay only to find him being harassed by Harley, who was exclaiming that Jay really needed to sort out his nails and was brandishing his nail filer at him. Drew slowly backed away from the two and hurried back into the house.

Winter was no longer in the kitchen, and the room was empty. Drew heard voices coming from the hallway, and went over to the doorway to see who was there.

"DREW!"

Ash, Brock and Max pounced on him, and the four collapsed to the floor in a flurry of excitement.

"Oi, oi, get off my best man!" Gary pulled the others off Drew and helped him back to his feet.

"Best man, huh?" exclaimed Max. Now eighteen years old, he, too, had grown to be very tall. He had finally ditched his old glasses for a pair of fashionable black-rimmed ones, and his hair was cropped shorter. "So you're the one who stole Ash's title as Gary's best man, eh?"

"Give over!" laughed Drew, pushing Max away.

"I felt so betrayed when I found out," said Ash, sighing dramatically. "To think that my childhood friend has disowned me in favour of this green-haired basta-"

"Enough on the melodrama, Ashy-boy!" exclaimed Gary. "Childhood friend? We hated each other's guts, bro! But nah, it was a tough decision between you and Drew. But at least I made you an usher."

"It's not special enough!" said Ash, but he laughed. "I'm just kidding. It's an honour to be in your wedding party, man!"

"Ugh, enough of the bromance, guys," muttered someone from behind the four. They turned to see Misty, Dawn and a girl who Drew presumed to be Iris walking towards them. The three looked strikingly beautiful, especially Misty with her vibrant red hair dancing around her shoulders as she slinked her arm around Ash's.

"Still a killjoy, eh, Misty?" teased Gary, before narrowly dodging a slap from Misty.

"Just 'cause it's your wedding day doesn't mean I'm not going to hit you, Gary," she said darkly, but she soon grinned and added, "It's great to see you again."

"You too," replied Gary. He suddenly narrowed his eyes. "So what's this I hear about you and Ash getting engaged?"

Both Misty and Ash's faces flushed red.

"N-nothing!" exclaimed Ash. "Nothing at all! Who told you that?"

"Max did," said Gary with a devilish grin. "So those rings on your fingers are purely coincidental and have nothing to do with any engagement between you two?"

"Shut up, Gary!"

Ash and Misty quickly scarpered from the room, leaving the others laughing in their wake.

"Man, I don't know when those two are ever gonna be confident with their relationship in public," chuckled Brock. He glanced down at his watch and raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, the wedding's starting in an hour, guys. We better go outside and help with the preperations." Brock rolled up his sleeves, revealing his toned arms. Over the past few years, he had broadened quite a bit and now had a very muscular physique, due to his time spent on his ranch back at Kanto rearing and breeding Pokemon.

"We'll join you," said Dawn. She wobbled slightly in her heels and added, "If I don't fall over, that is."

"That'd be hilarious," grinned Iris, as they moved towards the door.

"Hey, don't be mean to my girlfriend!" scowled Max, scurrying after them. He suddenly paused, and turned to Drew. "Shit, where's Paul?"

"Who?" said Drew, cocking his head.

Max smacked his forehead. "He's a friend of ours. He travels around with Ash sometimes, when they're not too busy being Champions. I swear to God he came inside with us, but I have a feeling he's –"

Someone suddenly screeched from the living room, followed by several other high-pitched screams.

"GET OUT!"

The door crashed open and a young man with silver hair casually walked out with a completely straight expression on his calm face. The door slammed behind him with a deafening bang, but he didn't seem at all bothered. In fact, he seemed quite proud of himself.

"Paul, did you just sneak into the room where the bridesmaids are changing?" groaned Max, hurrying up to his side.

"Yes."

Paul brushed past the boys and disappeared after the others.

"Did he just peek on my bride?" demanded Gary, fuming. "I didn't even invite him!"

"He invited himself," sighed Max. "I'm sorry about this, guys. He's always acting like a complete jerk, just to annoy me, mainly. He still hasn't forgiven me for dating Dawn."

"We'll get him back later," said Drew. "Now, I need to go and finish my best man's speech, so I'll catch you later."

"You mean you haven't finished it?" snapped Gary. "Drew, the reception is in like two hours, man!"

"Finished?" repeated Drew. He laughed, and did something he hadn't done since he was a teenager – he flicked his hair out of his eyes in one swift motion. "I haven't even started it."

He dodged Gary's fist and threw himself upstairs, hearing Max laugh uproariously as Gary screeched obscenities after Drew's disappearing figure. Once upstairs, Drew made his way to his temporary bedroom and closed the door behind him. He sighed and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. Glancing down at it, he saw it was still as blank as ever.

"Better get started," he murmured, crossing the room towards the bedside table that stood beside his bed. As he walked, he glimpsed himself in the mirror, and paused. He hadn't noticed how much he had grown until last week, when Gary forced him to buy a brand new suit because people could see his ankles peeking through his old one. When he first became a Coordinator, he was exactly five feet in height. Now, eleven years later, he was twenty-one years old and just over six feet tall. His hair was a bit longer than he kept it as a child, and his trademark bangs still hung over his face. He had stopped his silly hair-flicking years ago, but couldn't resist doing it again today. He smiled to himself, and sat down on the bed. He always flicked his hair to annoy people – mostly May. When he was with May, he did it non-stop.

Drew picked up a biro and started working on the speech, chewing his lip as he stared down at the paper.

This is a speech about my best friend, Gary Oak, who likes me more than he likes Ash.

No, no, that would get him killed by Ash. Try again, he thought.

When Gary first met his wife, she was pregnant with the child of a crazy man who has been in jail until two years ago. Oh, and she was sixteen years old.

No. That would get him absolutely murdered by pretty much everyone in the wedding.

"Uncle Drew?"

Drew glanced up from the paper and was surprised to see a little girl standing in the doorway, wearing a soft white dress embroidered with red roses and bows. Her long violet hair was braided with a strand of red ribbon, and she looked up at Drew with her wide green eyes.

"What is it, Luna?" Drew held out his hand and the little girl slowly walked forwards and clasped it with her own tiny hand. "Shouldn't you be downstairs with the rest of the bridesmaids?"

Luna scowled. "I'm not a bridesmaid!" she protested. "I'm Mommy's flower girl!"

Drew smiled. "Of course, I'm sorry. Why are you up here, though?"

Luna shuffled her feet and wringed her hands. "Mommy told me to go talk to you." She sat down beside Drew, still holding his hand. She looked up at him again, and then down. "Uncle Drew, why d'you look so sad today?"

"Sad?"

"Yeah," murmured Luna. "I saw you downstairs with everyone. They had their family and girlfriends and boyfriends with them. But you just looked really sad, and lonely."

Drew gently squeezed Luna's hand. "You've known your Uncle Drew for seven years now, so you should know that I absolutely never get sad. Didn't you know that grown-ups are never sad?"

"That's not true!" exclaimed Luna. "Mommy looked sad today!"

"Your mother?" repeated Drew, frowning a bit. "What was the matter?"

"I don't know," mumbled Luna. "She introduced me to this tall man with long purple hair, and said that he was our new friend. She was smiling, and so was the purple man, but their eyes seemed really sad."

Drew froze. On the day of Luna's birth, Harley was released from jail for one day to meet his new daughter. On that day, he and Solidad decided it was best to keep the fact that Gary wasn't her father until she was old enough. Harley was never to be introduced as his daughter's father.

"Did you like him? The purple man?" asked Drew.

Luna nodded. "He's funny! But he got really sad after a little while. He started crying. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, he's just a bit silly, that's all," said Drew airily. He picked Luna up from the bed and set her back on the floor. "Let's go find your mother, yeah? The wedding's starting soon."

Luna wrapped her arm around Drew's and smiled up at him. "Okay!"

Drew looked down at her and saw that she truly was the spitting image of her mother, with her bright eyes and beaming smile. But her hair – she had her father's hair. Drew couldn't imagine how much it killed Harley to know that his daughter was being brought up by another man.

"Let's go." They left the room hand-in-hand, leaving Drew's unwritten speech on the table behind them, forgotten.

...

...

...

Drew was looking down at the little black box that held a very special ring when a hush fell over the wedding guests like heavy snowfall. He pocketed the box and turned around to see little Luna walking through the gates that led to where the wedding was taking place. She held a small basket of rose petals in her hands.

The wedding march began to play on a harp played by Ally's grandmother, and everyone stood up as Luna started to walk down the aisle, scattering petals behind her as she went. Everyone was so enthralled by her sheer adorableness that they didn't notice Solidad walk in at first. Drew turned away from Luna for a second to look at Gary, whose face had lit up. Drew turned around again and found himself staring at Solidad.

Her gently-curled red hair tumbled over her shoulders, clashing beautifully with her ivory skin. Her dress clung to her chest and hips before spreading like an angel's wings to the floor, hiding her feet from sight. She wasn't wearing a veil – she had told everyone from the start that she didn't want to wear one. "Veils are for girls who have something to hide," she had told Drew. "I have nothing to hide."

'You look beautiful, Solidad,' Drew thought to himself now. Solidad wore a small silver tiara embroidered with red rubies in her hair, and clutched a bouquet of scarlet roses in her white lace-gloved hands. She glided down the aisle, looking at no one but Gary. As she approached the front, the gates opened again and the bridesmaid came streaming through like a river of beauty. First came Ally, the maid of honour, wearing a scarlet dress embroidered with silver. She held a single red rose in her gloved hands.

Next came two girls in similar dresses. Drew didn't recognise them, but assumed that they were Solidad's cousins or childhood friends. They, too, looked beautiful.

The fourth and final bridesmaid was Annabelle. She wore the same dress as the other three, but her choppy hair and heavy eyeliner gave her such a wilder appearance. Madame Marie would have a heart attack if she could see her daughter now.

Annabelle followed the other three down the aisle, but the gate behind her didn't close. Drew frowned – the gate was supposed to close after the last bridesmaid came in. Why wasn't it closing? He turned to Gary for an explanation, and saw a devilish grin form on the groom's face.

Turning back around again, Drew saw someone else pass through the gates. Her chestnut hair cascaded down her back, and her sapphire eyes stared straight at Drew as she stepped along the aisle. As she came closer, Drew saw that what he had taken as a fascinator in her hair was actually a red bandana. A red bandana with a white Pokeball on it.

Drew wanted to leap onto his feet and pull May into his arms, but was too dumbstruck to do so. He sat in his seat with his mouth wide open in surprise instead.

'They knew!' he thought numbly to himself. 'They all knew she was coming!'

He slowly turned to Gary, wanting to hug him and punch him at the same time, but the vows had already started. He stared blankly ahead for a few minutes, before suddenly realising that everyone was staring at him. He jumped to his feet and quickly handed Gary his and Solidad's rings. Everyone laughed at his delay, and Drew sat down with his face flushed red.

For the rest of the vows, Drew didn't look up from his feet. He daren't look at May. He couldn't, or else he'd end up leaping up and making a mad fool of himself, thus ruining the wedding.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Gary, still bearing the devilish grin, pulled Solidad into his arms and passionately kissed her, with everyone standing on their feet to cheer. Drew slowly stood up but was still too shocked to clap. He watched as the wedding party left – Gary and his new wife, then Ally, then the two other girls, then Annabelle, and finally May. She didn't look at Drew as she slipped through the gates in a cascade of confetti.

The moment they were gone, the wedding was over. Drew tore through the crowd and confetti and was the first through the gates. The newly-married couple had already disappeared somewhere, but the bridesmaids all stood in a cluster in the pasture where the reception was to be held. They saw Drew staring at them, and scuttled away, leaving May alone in the pasture with Drew.

"Surprise," she said coyly, looking up at Drew. "Didn't expect that, did you? D'you like the bandana? I couldn't resist wearing it."

"I can't believe everyone knew but me," said Drew, shaking his head. "Everyone knew you'd be here but me!"

"That's what makes it a surprise," said May airily. She looked down. "Do... Do I look alright? I'm not too keen on the shape of this dress, but Solidad insisted that I –"

Drew kissed her before she could finish her sentence. May dropped her rose to the floor and wrapped her arms around Drew's neck.

"You look beautiful," breathed Drew, breaking away. "You. Solidad. Everything... Everything is so beautiful!"

"Calm down!" laughed May. "It's only been a few months since we last saw each other!"

"I was planning on visiting you tomorrow, actually," admitted Drew. He paused. "But I suppose I might as well do it now."

May frowned. "Do what? Kiss me? You've already done that, Drew. Are you becoming senile in your old age?"

Drew smirked at this. He flicked his hair before swiftly fell onto one knee. He pulled out the black box he had been looking at before the wedding started, and opened it.

May stared at the glittering sapphire ring that Drew held. "Oh," she said. Her eyes widened. "OH!"

"I think the ring makes it kinda obvious, but I'll ask anyway. May, will you marry me?"

There was a silence.

"Of course I will, you green-haired idiot."

Drew's face broke into a beam, and May started to laugh, although there were tears of happiness in her eyes. In his excitement, Drew dropped the ring to the ground, but neither he nor May cared. He pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I love you," he whispered. "So much." He pushed her away for a moment and held her at arm's length. "But if you call me a green-haired idiot one more time, we're getting a divorce. I don't care if love beats everything, or whatever. I do not enjoy hair-colour discrimination."

"Shut up, you green-haired idiot."

They stared at each other for a moment, and then laughed. May slipped her hand into his and held it tight, and it was at that moment they both knew that they would never let go again.

The End.