A/N: Did you forget I existed? Bet ya did. But I finally updated. Aren't you all so proud? I'm really sorry this took me so long, but my life's been busy and full of a bunch of problems so I didn't have time to work on this for a long time. (And being obsessed with the new White version may have had a few things to do with this as well…)
Note to J1hbk: (Yes. I have been told not to specifically answer to people in the author notes. This is the one time that I am.)
I love Dawn, trust me. I was just trying to come up with what Drew's opinion of her would be. No Dawn bashing intended.
"Ladies and gentleman! Welcome to the annual Hearthome City Poké mon Contest. I'm glad that all of you could join us here today in order to see a wonderful set of displays that show off the beauty of poké mon!" The MC announced into her microphone.
Hundreds of people sat in the stadium seats, waiting for the contest to begin.
May raced into the contest hall and ran straight to a dressing room, where she quickly changed into her contest outfit. She was really late, and Harley was already in the stands.
She dodged around people who were walking through the hallway as she made her way towards the coordinators' lounge.
She might have been late, but there wasn't a reason for her to be rushing. She was at the very end of the appeal list; she had lots of time.
As she rounded the corner, she was glad to see that all of the other coordinators were still crowded around the small television. She was not glad, however, that Drew was nowhere to be seen.
Her heart fell as she approached the others.
"How is he not here?" She muttered to herself as she came to a halt behind a few other people.
"Hm?" Someone turned around and gave her a questioning look.
"Oh, uh not you. Sorry." May apologized. The person shrugged and turned back around. May's shoulders sagged, disappointment taking over. He simply wasn't there. She walked over to a bench and sat down feeling totally discouraged.
Some of her interest towards the contest disappeared. All she wanted to do was go back to Petalburg. May called out her Beautifly.
"I shouldn't have listened to all of those rumors and I shouldn't have ever come to Sinnoh, huh Beautifly?" The small butterfly poké mon tried to offer its trainer some comfort by landing on her head.
"Haha…thanks." May smiled solemnly. She turned her attention towards the television screen. The MC was about to announce the first coordinator.
"A coordinator with high caliber and grace, winner of several Grand Festivals, and a huge Top Coordinator! Today, I am proud to introduce to you…Drew Hayden of LaRousse City, Hoenn!" The entire Contest Hall erupted into a tumult of applause.
May shot up out of her seat with a look of shock on her face. Her immediate thought was that she was dreaming. She didn't expect anyone to come out of the large entryway into the performance area of the stadium. She expected there to be darkness, like in so many of the dreams she had had.
But it wasn't a dream.
Drew emerged from the entryway with a large smile plastered on his face and two poké balls in hand.
May stood back in the coordinator lounge with a huge grin on her own face. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest. He was in Sinnoh.
She waited anxiously for him to begin his appeal.
He quickly called out his Lumineon and his Roserade, to which the crowd let out another tumult of applause. He and his poké mon went through their appeal flawlessly, and Drew's face had a small smirk on it all the while.
At the end of his appeal May was laughing and clapping a bit over zealously. The other coordinators were applauding as well, but not quite as enthusiastically.
Everyone in the lounge quieted down as Drew entered. Many of the other coordinators congratulated him on a great first round performance, but he shrugged it off with an, "It could've gone better."
May was about to approach him, but a sudden, panicky feeling overtook her. What's wrong with me, she thought. All I have to do is walk up to him and start talking. Ah yeah right. I wouldn't have any idea what to say! Oh no…he's coming this way. I hope he hasn't seen me.
She turned around and ran for the dressing room.
Originally, Drew hadn't seen her, but taking off down the hallway with a Beautifly flying close behind her had drawn a lot of attention.
He sighed as he watched her disappear down the hallway. But then, the confused frown that had settled on his face lifted into a grin. He wouldn't have known what to say to her had they ended up talking anyway, so in an odd way she had just saved them both from a very awkward conversation.
"That was a fabulous performance."
Drew turned around to see Harley walking towards him.
"It could've gone better." He said with a flick of his hair.
"Hm you always say that. But anyways, have you seen May?"
In the dressing room May was breathing hard and chugging down a bottle of water. She was feeling nervous.
Harley entered the room, "And what exactly do you think you're doing? Drew is out in the lounge, not in here. Go talk to him!" He grabbed her hand and tried pulling her towards the door.
"No! Harley I don't want to. I'm way too nervous." She pulled her hand away and stood with her arms crossed against her chest.
"But you're sooo close to seeing him again. This is your best friend for crying out loud!"
"I only actually knew him for a month, and we were, like, six years old. I am NOT leaving this room." She said defiantly.
"How are you going to compete in the contest then?"
"Easy. I'll just drop out." Her stubborn side was taking over, and Harley knew that he had to do something quickly. If he didn't, she'd get her way.
"Fine. I'll just go outside and announce to everyone that you're too scared to participate." He started for the door.
"Don't you dare! I don't want them thinking that I'm a weakling or anything."
"Nerves get the best of us." Harley was still walking away.
"Harley! Please don't…" She whined.
He opened the door, "Are you going to come out and participate?"
"…"
Harley sighed and walked out the door. May stood there, staring out into the hallway.
Come on, May. It's not that bad.
She swallowed and took a deep breath before racing out of the room after Harley.
She saw him rounding the corner, "Harley!"
He turned around and smiled, "Change your mind?" She only stuck her tongue out at him while passing.
Back in the lounge, May nervously glanced around. Drew was nowhere to be seen. She sighed in relief and crashed on the couch. It was strange; at first she had been disappointed when she didn't see him around, but now she was glad that he wasn't there.
She settled back and watched the other coordinators. Watching the others compete calmed her, and soon she was completely involved with each of their appeals.
A certain Dawn Hikari's performance impressed her quite a bit, and she made a mental note to compliment her whenever she had the chance.
Soon enough, it was May's turn. She stood up and took one last glance around the room. Drew still wasn't around, and that was probably a good thing. Had he been there, May's level of nervousness would have skyrocketed. Harley helped to ease the nervousness as he flashed May a quick grin while she approached the entrance to the stadium.
With in a few seconds, the doors were opening, and she was stepping out into the light.
"Next up, a Top Coordinator all the way from Petalburg City, Hoenn, May Maple!"
The crowd cheered as May called out her Glaceon and her Beautifly.
"Just like we practiced you two." She said as she quickly ran the appeal sequence through her head one more time.
Everything went wonderfully, and May smiled at her overall score. Calling back her two poké mon, she walked back to the lounge with a wide grin spread across her face.
Harley was waiting for her, and he hugged her enthusiastically.
"Augh! Harley, relax. I haven't won yet, you know." May laughed as he let her go.
Suddenly, another voice came from behind May.
"That looked like it went well, for a semi-top coordinator that is." The voice was smooth, and it had the hint of a condescending tone. May spun around and came face to face with none other than Drew Hayden. He was a bit taller than her, and she had to look up in order to talk to him. Or rather, in order to attempt to talk to him.
She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but no words came out.
"Going to say something? Or are you just going to stand there with your mouth open?" He smirked.
May closed her mouth and cleared her throat, "I was, uh, just surprised. I mean, you're you." She stammered over her words a bit, and her face grew a bit red.
"That didn't sound fan girlish at all." Harley said.
"Shut it Harley." May snapped as her face grew even redder. There was quite an awkward feeling in the air.
"She meant that we just haven't seen each other in forever, right May?" Drew said.
She nodded, "Yeah. That's what I meant."
The rest of the coordinator lounge fell silent, and everyone's attention was turned towards the television screen. The faces of the people who had made it to the second round came onto the screen. Both Drew and May had made it, and they both smiled.
The names were then shuffled, and the second round battle opponents were displayed. Both May and Drew were up against people that they didn't know. Neither of them were in the first battle though, so they decided to sit on one of the couches in order to watch.
Dawn walked past them on her way to the arena, and May wished her good luck. Drew, on the other hand, stayed silent.
The two of them sat and watched Dawn's match. Every once and a while Drew would comment on a certain move or decision, and May soon joined in. They agreed on a few things, but most of their comments led to tiny little arguments. They weren't serious arguments, of course, and May was just glad that most of the initial awkwardness had disappeared.
As the battle came to a close, however, Dawn ended up losing.
"She should've won that." Drew mumbled.
May defended her, "Well, she did her best. That's winning in my book."
"You sound like a little kid." He laughed.
"Takes one to know one." A short moment of silence followed. But then, "Speaking of little kids, what the heck happened to you? After that one letter…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her hands in her lap.
"What do you mean? I sent that one letter and never heard back from you. When someone writes you a letter, it's custom to send one back." He flicked his hair out of his eyes.
"I know that! I'm not stupid you now," she replied. "I did send a letter back."
"Well I never got one."
"Oh." May said softly. She was somewhat relieved with the truth, for him not receiving the letter was far better than him just not bothering to reply.
As their short conversation ended, Dawn came back with a sad look on her face.
"Hey, Dawn. It's ok! We all win some; we all lose some." May got up and hugged her.
"Thanks. I messed up a lot though. I guess my head just wasn't in it."
May looked at Drew, and when he didn't say anything her look turned into a glare.
He rolled his eyes, "Everyone has off days now and then." Dawn shot him a smile before saying that she should probably head over to a Poké mon Center to tell her mom. Soon she was gone, and May had sat back down to watch the next round.
"That's all you could come up with?" She was a bit annoyed.
"Hey I wasn't really thinking about it, kay? I probably should've said something a bit more…comforting, but nothing came to mind. What I was wondering is how come you were so willing to comfort her? I mean, today's the first time that you've met her, right?"
May thought for a few seconds, "Well yeah, but I guess she reminds me of myself a tiny bit. Just starting out, full of potential."
Drew laughed at the last remark, "Yeah, because you were so full of potential."
"Hush! If I had a pillow, I'd beat you with it."
As they were semi-conversing, semi-arguing, the other battle was going on, and it was nearing the end. There was only about a minute left when Harley danced over to them.
"And what have we here? Ah it just makes my heart sing I tell you. Two lovers who've come together to reignite the passionate flame that once burned bright. A childhood bud of romance that is ready to finally bloom into a beautiful rose." He plopped down onto the couch in between them.
"Wha-?" At first, May blushed and looked away, but after a snigger from Drew, she suddenly became angry, "Shut up Harley. That's not funny."
Harley replied, "Oh, I think it's hilarious, yet it's also touching. Think about it. Not many people get to reunite with their childhood devotee." His voice was sweet and May grew more annoyed.
"Harley, we were six and seven year old friends." She made sure to emphasize the 'friend' part of it. Harley opened his mouth to say more, but he was interrupted by Drew.
"I think I'm going to go get a drink of water. My throat feels a bit dry, and my nerves are acting up a bit." He stood up then and walked off towards the dressing rooms.
Harley's brow furrowed, "How odd. He's never nervous when it comes to contests." May said nothing. She was very glad though, that when Drew came back Harley had decided to stay quiet.
At that point in time, it was May's turn. She stood up, took a deep breath, and started forward.
She was stopped abruptly, though, when someone grabbed her arm. She turned around to see that it was Drew.
"May, be sure to win this. I'm looking forward to battling you in the finals." A small grin came onto his face. May's heart fluttered, and all she could do was nod in response.
She then went on to her match. Knowing that thoughts of Drew would distract her, she pushed him out of her head. Though she did make sure to remember the one last thing that he had said to her.
With soaring confidence, May easily defeated her opponent. And with style and grace too. There was no 'brute force' in her battle.
She met Drew in the hallway as he was going to compete for his right to move on.
"Good luck." She said with a smile.
"Pfft. This'll only take a minute."
In the end, he was right. It only took his opponent a minute to beat him.
He came back out mumbling to himself about the different things that he messed up on.
"Well, it only took a minute…" May said quietly.
"It's like I told Dawn; everyone has their good and their bad days. But, I think I'm going to go plan on how to make this day better. I'll see you later." He then turned around and left.
"Uh, bye." May said. Drew gave a quick wave over his shoulder. Although it was silly, May couldn't help but wonder about his quick good-bye. Had it just been a quick "see you later" that held no actual meaning? Or was he actually expecting to see her later?
May laughed at herself for thinking such things. She then turned her attention back to the television screen to watch one of the semi-final matches.
The winner of the match, some guy named Sean, was good. Really good. And after she beat her semi-final opponent, she'd be up against him.
With all of her worries set on the finals, she won the semi-final round with ease.
To think that I'm having such luck, she thought. Drew must really be off today.
Things were also looking good for her in the final round. Her poké mon were in great shape, and her confidence level was higher than it had probably ever been before. But being May, that level was still pretty low.
So, as she met Harley one last time before the final battle, she was both excited and nervous at the same time.
"Good luck, May! You're obviously going to win with all of that fabulosity of yours." He winked at her. Normally, May wouldn't think anything of it. Harley was Harley, and he did stuff like that all the time. But at that particular moment, something was different. She couldn't tell if it had been in his tone of voice or in his facial expression, but she wondered if he was up to something more than his usual antics.
She couldn't think of it for very long though. That Sean kid was waiting, and she couldn't afford to be distracted.
"Here I go, Harley. I've got a contest to win!"
A/N: This is long…oops. Well sorry about the length if you didn't like it, but I had to fit everything in since the next chapter will almost definitely be the last. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I didn't make you wait forever for nothing…