Care For Her

A/N: First "romance". This is truly what I believe in. Of course, Hoennshipping for always, but Contestshipping if Brendan is just not available for May. And I mean like dead, unavailable. Not like dating someone else unavailable. Admit it, they're perfect for each other.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, Hoennshipping, or Contestshipping. Crysella is my own little "character" that I made up for this story, though.

The first round of the contest went splendid, just as Brock had predicted, just as May'd hoped, just as Combusken had dreamed. May was standing outside of the Contest Hall in Lilycove, practicing with her Combusken and Skitty.

"Combusken, Double Kick! Okay, twirl… and Fire Spin!"

"Com…buu!" Combusken did as its trainer asked, performing the appeal excellently.

"Good job, Combusken!" May cried happily.

Max sat behind her, kicking his feet as he looked over his PokeNav. "So after this, we can head to Mossdeep, for Ash's next badge. Okay? We head out tomorrow?" he asked. He liked having a plan; it made him feel like he was in control.

"Sure, sure, why not. Let me concentrate, Max!" May cried.

Max replied by rudely sticking his tongue out at his sister.

Practicing didn't last much longer. May returned her pokemon and collapsed, exhausted. "Well, I'd like to say that this contest is as good as ours, but as long as Harley and Drew are here, we'll have to fight to win! But we can do it!" she declared to no one.

"What's that about me?"

May sat straight up at the voice of her favorite rival. "Drew! What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Drew raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head. He released his Masquerain and Roselia. "What does it look like?" he asked snottily. "This is the perfect training place!" he turned away, but not quick enough to hide the faint blush coloring his cheeks.

"Ha! Joke's on you, Drew, 'cause I found it first!" May taunted.

Drew merely shook his head again. "Ah, maybe today, but I found this place last night." He replied.

May's eyes flared. She opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it again. A few seconds later, she declared, "well I'm still not moving!"

"I didn't ask you to."

May stomped her foot and went to sit besides her brother. She set her hands on her knees. "So… did you see him?"

Max glanced up at his sister and shook his head. "No. I looked everywhere, even afterwards. I thought that he'd come to congratulate you." He admitted softly.

Ash, sitting beside Brock and munching away on an apple, cocked his head to the side curiously. "Who?" he asked around a mouthful of the delicious fruit.

May and Max, however, ignored him, so he grunted and turned to watch Drew practice.

May huffed in irritation. "Well last night he said that he'd be here to watch. He promised!" she decided. She set her elbows on her knees and placed her chin on her hands.

"Yeah, and as long as he's in that silly white hat, he can't be that hard to spot. He never takes the dumb thing off!" Max agreed.

"It's not dumb! It's a cute hat!"

"It is not! It's ugly and you know it, May!" Max declared.

"Nuh uh! I bought it for him!"

"Exactly my point!"

"Oh, and since when did you become some fashion expert, huh Max? It's a good hat for him!"

"Sure it is, May…" Max sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes.

May pouted and flopped forward, practically laying across her own legs. "I'm worried. He doesn't make promises that he can't keep. And he always tries to keep the promises that he makes. Normally he'd at least call ahead of time to say that he can't make it and wish me luck." She puffed. "Jerk."

Max snorted. "Wow. You could at least be nice."

"Not if he won't be!" May stood and stormed off toward the Contest Hall, most likely going to look for whomever they had been talking about.

Brock watched with his eyebrows raised. "What was that all about?" he asked Max.

Max turned his head to the side with a scoff. "Pssh, Brendan skipped out on May's contest. Well, not skipped out… but he's not here, and he said that he'd be."

"Brendan?"

"Who's Brendan?"

"Pi pikachu?"

Drew paused in thought for a second, tapping his chin, a little further away from them. "Wait… like the Brendan, as in last year's Hoenn Champion Brendan? How does May know him?" he asked, walking to them. Roselia and Masquerain followed without orders.

"Yeah, that's Brendan." Max nodded. He sighed. "He's May's childhood friend; we were next door neighbors. He's a year older than May so he left a year before she did. He got Mudkip from his dad… er, Professor Birch. Soon enough he was conquering gyms and stopping bad people from hurting pokemon and pulling up scandals and what not… needless to say, he was the one that everyone really wanted to win in the tournament. His final battle lasted for hours; both he and that Champion were exhausted by the time that it was done. It must have been past midnight when he took down Crysella's Milotic with his Swampert, but May stayed up and watched the whole thing. The whole neighborhood heard her cheering." Max chuckled. "She's just a little hurt, I guess."

"Oh…"

May stormed inside the Contest Hall and plopped down into a booth. She started kicking the other chair, pretending that Brendan was in it and deserved every kick that he got. "Lying jerk! Probably was never going to come in the first place!" she snapped.

"Well, hello darling, what are we complaining about this fine afternoon? You did well enough in the first round, did you not?"

May turned around in a hurry to face the voice. There stood Harley, hands on his hips. His lips were pursed together in concentration.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It's not that." May quickly said, blushing that the awkward man above her had heard her.

Harley slid into the booth opposite her and set his chin in his hands, his elbows resting on the table. "Well? Then what is it? Those minimal scores compared to mine can't be what's depressing you." He said.

May's eyes narrowed. "Thanks, Harley…" she muttered sarcastically. Then, she sighed. "It's my friend from back home. He promised that he'd be here today, but he's not, and I don't know where he is. He didn't even call to say that he wouldn't be here! I was so looking forward to seeing him, too…" she whispered.

Harley took her hand and rubbed his thumbs across it, his eyes closed. "Ah… ah yes, I see. Boyfriend?"

"What? No! Best friend!" May quickly denied, blushing deeply.

"That's not what your heart says…" Harley chimed.

May growled at him and snatched her hand back. "No, not boyfriend. I mean… I guess technically." She blushed again and waved her hands in exasperation. "It's not like that!"

Harley sat back in his chair, crossing his legs and his arms. "Really. Well, fine. Good luck later, honey. 'Cause you're gonna need it." He stood and waved, his green-colored figure soon fading into the crowd.

May snarled and sighed. 'Hmph. Two jerks.' She thought, resting her chin in her hand. Then she sighed. "How did he know?" she wondered to herself, feeling amazed that it'd actually helped her by getting it off of her chest like that. Especially when talking to him.

"Hey, check this out! Ooh, that looks bad…"

"Ouch…" a hush came over the crowd as a news report came on, showing a picture of a car crash scene. What was that bit of white in the corner?

"Just three hours ago, a car crash, in Rustboro City! It looks terrible, and they say that the victims are looking even worse. There's a Swampert, dead on the road, apparently having tried to stop the delivery truck that must have hit its trainer. The driver of the truck was drunken out of his ears and careened around a corner too quickly, surprising a boy and his Swampert. The Swampert tried to stop the truck but was sent flying, and the truck hit the boy. The boy is still unnamed and is currently in the emergency room. We don't know of his outcome. We will bring you the news as soon as we learn more."

A few people in the crowd turned away at the sight of the bloody truck, road, and Swampert.

And then, everything clicked.

Swampert… Swampert! May had thought that she'd recognized that poor Swampert! She'd hoped that she hadn't, but how could she forget her best friend's most trusted partner? And in the corner of the screen… that white thing… she'd bought it! She stood up, crying, "Brendan!" and tore out of the building, running to her brother to snatch his PokeNav.

Max's head whipped up when he heard his name. Ash and Drew glanced over his way, and Brock looked toward the voice. May came toward them desperately, trying to find them apparently. "Max! Max, let me see your PokeNav! Please!" she cried.

Max stood and cupped his machine. "No! You think that it's stupid!"

"Please Max, it's really important! I have to call the professor!" May pleaded, her eyes wide.

Max glanced back at her, and noticed that she was not faking the fear that had been in her voice. He sighed, and his arms dropped. "Fine. But don't drop it!" he gave it to her.

"Thank you Max! As soon as this is done, I'll buy you something, promise!" May exclaimed, going to the contacts and streaming through them.

Max's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Something must really be bothering her, for her to exclaim something like that.

"Professor? Professor Birch? Hi, it's me, May. Yeah, it's kind of important. Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bother you! But… have you spoken with Brendan recently? No reason, but he said he'd be at my contest today and he's not, so I'm wondering when you spoke to him last. Nnn… yeah I know, I worry too. Thanks anyway, professor. Yeah, I'll call when I see him. Bye." May sighed, frowning deeply. "The professor doesn't know where he is, either." She whined.

"What's with the change of attitude? Just a few minutes ago you were so angry with him." Max said, confusion in his eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just something that I saw on TV. Guess I'm just worried about it." May flipped through the contacts again, found her father's number, and held it to her ear. "Don't worry about it too much. Hi Dad! It's May! Yeah, actually, I've been wondering if you've seen Brendan around? He said that he'd come to my contest today but he isn't here and I'm worried. You… you have? That's wonderful! Could you call him and tell him to get his butt over here?" she asked, a smile forming. Then, slowly, it started dropping… "What? Wha—no, I didn't hear. I mean, unless it was that… oh no… is… is he okay? Where is he? Yeah, yeah, I'll go down. Max, Ash, Brock, and Drew are coming, is that alright? Good… Watch him till we get there? Bye-bye…" She hung up the call again, and turned to her friends. Tears started gathering in her eyes. "M-Max?" she asked.

"What is it May? Is something wrong?" Max asked, going to her side quickly.

The PokeNav fell as her hand relaxed. It crashed against the ground but didn't seem to break. Instead, it bounced and skittered away. May collapsed to her knees soon afterward, hitting the ground with enough force to jolt several tears from her eyes. Or, that's what Max told himself. Then, May lifted her hands, pressed them against her eyes… and wailed. She wailed loudly enough to scare the Wingull off of the Contest Hall and to cause a few passersby to glance her way.

"May!" Ash and Drew swiftly found their way to her side, Brock right behind them. Ash crouched on May's other side and started rubbing her back softly. "May, what the heck is going on?" he demanded as Drew sank down in front of her.

May sniffed and gasped in pain. She launched herself into Drew's arms suddenly, screaming, "Brendan, no!"

"Wha—" Drew rested his hands on her back, feeling her tears start coating his shirt. "May, get off." He snarled.

May didn't even seem to hear him, curling against him and not ceasing her endless tears.

"Drew, leave it." Ash snapped protectively. Drew looked at him with surprise and confusion. "Something's upset her, she needs comfort. And if she wants you to comfort her, then you'd better comfort her!" he continued.

Drew growled, but shifted so that both he and she were more comfortable. "May… May, what happened?" he breathed in her ear.

May sobbed and pulled away from him. She clenched her fist, swallowed, and sat back. "Sorry, Drew… Um… Max? I know why Brendan isn't here…" she whimpered.

"What? Why not?" Max asked, moving so that she could look at him.

"Um… Dad said that… that he left yesterday to come here, but he was gonna stop in Rustboro to visit Roxanne and maybe bring her with… he was walking along with Swampert… a truck came… Swampert couldn't stop it… he… he's in the ER right now… Dad's with him, he says that he doesn't look good. It could go either way, and I…" she suddenly gasped and tucked away from all of her friends. Ash's arm slid around her shoulder. "May, settle down, getting worked up won't help him… you said that we were going to visit him?" he said.

May glanced at him and offered a wet, sheepish smile. "If you don't mind. He's… my boy—er, best friend. Losing him… well, I can't. Certainly not without saying goodbye." She whined.

"Not at all. I'd like to meet him." Ash quickly decided. He helped her stand and turned to the other two in their group. "Guess we'd better go, then. You don't mind skipping the contest, May?"

"No. I don't care if I have to drop out. I wanna see him." May decided.

Max and Brock turned to Drew. "Are you coming or are you going to do the contest?" Max asked.

Drew blinked. Why were they offering for him to come with? He glanced down at Roselia and Masquerain. Both nodded firmly and pointed toward May. Ah, yes, they seemed to know of his rather well-concealed crush. "I'm… coming with. The contest can go on without us." He said. He went forward to help Ash with May. Roselia hopped after its trainer happily. Masquerain fluttered along behind.

After a small amount of debate, they all managed to find a boat that would take them all of the way to Petalburg Docking, after which they could trek through Petalburg Forest to Rustboro. The boat ride took only half a day, but May was acting as though it took half a month. Fidgeting in between Drew and Ash, turning down to look at Max's PokeNav, shining her pokeballs but never taking out the pokemon themselves.

It was almost midnight when Ash finally demanded that they all stop and rest. May attempted to keep going, but Max held her back and promised that they'd head out first thing in the morning. So they lit a fire, laid out their sleeping bags, and fell asleep among the trees of Petalburg forest.

By the time that everyone else was up, May was all ready to go. She was wiping her eyes and her hair was a mess, but besides that, she was ready to go. And she made sure that everyone else was really fast.

About noontime was when May broke out of the forest and into Rustboro City. She breathed in a deep sigh of relief and rushed forward into the city and toward the hospital. Her friends followed closely behind.

The doors of the hospital opened automatically when May stepped on the mat and, despite knowing that they were automatic doors, she felt as though they'd only opened like that for her, because they knew that she was frightened.

In the waiting room, her father sat, head in his hands, practically fast asleep. "Dad! Is everything okay how's Brendan please tell me he's okay!" she cried, running up to him, ignoring the several, "ssshhhhh," that came her way.

Norman glanced up at her and offered a smile. "May. You're here. My, you didn't take your time, did you?" he asked, stalling.

"Dad!"

Norman held up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright… he's awake. But they don't know if he'll make it either way. He… he keeps asking for his Swampert…" he said.

May creased her eyebrows and plopped into the chair next to him. She moaned in defeat. "Oh… Poor Brendan…" she whimpered.

Finally, her friends dropped into the seats beside her. Max sat a seat away from her, and Ash beside him, with Brock beside him. Drew glared at all three at their obvious intentions, but he took the seat beside May nonetheless. May turned against him, practically falling asleep against his shoulder. No one commented.

They sat in silence for the longest time before someone came out to greet them. A kind nurse, who went by the name of Lydia, bowed in front of them, asking, "Here for Mr. Brendan Birch, are we?"

May sat up. "Yes. How is he?"

"The same as before. Actually, he's asking for someone besides Swampert. Um… Drew?"

Drew jolted in surprise. He sat up, shoving May away from him gently, confused. "How does he know who I am?"

Norman turned to him. "I told the nurses who all would be coming. They probably told him." He replied.

May crossed her arms. "But what about me? How does he even know who you are? I mean, you're just some guy who came to visit? What about me?" she demanded, sniffing. She whined as her father drew his arm around her shoulders.

"We don't know. Sorry, miss, but he's asking for Mr. Drew. Drew, if you would please follow me?"

"I… yes. See you later, May." He stood and waved, following the nurse to Brendan's room.

The nurse lead him down a hallway and several doors from the waiting room. She pushed the door open and smiled at him. "He's coherent but… be careful. If something goes wrong, contact one of the nurses." She said.

Drew nodded and stepped in. Behind him, the door closed almost eerily. He looked to the bed and found a boy with black hair and bright red eyes smiling at him. "You're Drew?"

"…Yeah. That's me. You must be Brendan."

"In the flesh. How goes it?"

"Um… well, besides the current situation, pretty good, I think." Drew replied, confused.

"Yeah, I can see how you'd think that…" Brendan's face screwed up in concentration. "Hmm… wonder where Swamp—oh. Nevermind. Um… Castform?" he asked, turning to look at Drew seriously.

Drew was stunned. "Probably in its pokeball…" he murmured.

"Probably. Good thinking."

Brendan started attempting to sit up, wincing in pain as he did it. Drew gaped in surprise, before going to help. "Here, let me help you!"

Brendan immediately waved hi off. "No, no, no! If I can get the chance to do one damn thing in this place by myself, it's going to be sitting up!" he exclaimed, making Drew back off. He eventually got himself firmly situated, and he offered a grin up at the younger boy once he was settled. "See? Knew I could do it!"

Drew's jaw dropped when he spotted a large scar running from his left temple all of the way through his left eye to his right cheek. He noticed Brendan shift under the stare.

"Stop looking at it! It's where the truck hit me, that's all…" he whined childishly.

"Er, sorry. Just saw it, is all…" Drew amended, turning away.

"Good. So… how's May?"

"What? Oh, um… she's good, I guess. Scared and worried and a little upset that you didn't show yesterday, but good. She's a good coordinator."

"Hmm, not surprised. I was… er… on my way…"

"So May said."

They sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds, Brendan searching the room that he was in, Drew scanning over everything that he might have done that would warrant the Champion talking to him first, rather than May. Finally, after much thought and still not coming up with anything, Drew asked, "why did you want to talk to me?"

"I did?" Brendan seemed truly surprised, "Wait… yeah. Yeah, I remember… Just let me think for a second…" he took a few extra seconds to gather his bearings, and said, "you will take care of her, won't you?"

"Take care of… what dya mean?" Drew's eyes widened in surprise.

Brendan sighed. He set his hands in his lap. "Well… you heard what the doctors are saying? They don't think that I'm going to make it. Hell, I don't think that I'm going to make it. Honestly, without Swampert…" he sighed suddenly, scrubbing his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I must sound pathetic… he was my starter and my best friend. He was my last pokemon in the Championship, and I doubt that I would have won it without him." He admitted softly.

As he was speaking, Drew started trying to imagine life without Roselia. It frightened him that he couldn't. "I know what you mean." He said softly.

Brendan smiled at him, leaned over a little, and squeezed his shoulder. "See? Anyway, I've been… doing a little research. You know, gotta make sure that May and Max are making friends with the right people and stuff. So I know about you, Ash, Brock, Harley… and all of her other friends around the region. And so far as I can tell, you're the only one that could really take care of her." He said.

"Me? But what about, like, Ash or something? I mean, they're together all of the time!"

"Well yeah, but he doesn't like her. Of that, I am certain. And she's like a sister to him, isn't she? And you are the one that likes her, aren't you?" Brendan's eyebrows waggled knowingly.

Drew blushed deeply and turned away from the boy. "Well… I… that's besides the point!"

After a brief chuckle, Brendan sighed. "Do you know how long May and I've known each other? Eleven years. We used to be next-door neighbors, but her Dad moved them out to Petalburg so that they could be closer to his gym. We still kept in touch and everything. We were still best friends." He said.

"Why are you—" Drew fell silent as Brendan held up a hand for it.

"You know something else? We were… arranged. You know. Our parents arranged for us to be married kind of thing. Both of us know that and accept that, and I do love her… but…"

"But what?"

"I told you. I don't think that I'll make it. So, the last thing that I can do is make sure that she has someone to take care of her. You will, won't you?"

Somehow, Drew couldn't imagine that the childlike innocence in the preteen's voice could ever belong to a Champion, but there was no one else to utter those words. He licked his lips. "Um…"

Brendan shook his head. "Sorry. That's a lot for you to answer at once. You don't have to answer me now. You don't have to answer me at all. Just, she needs someone to take care of her." He said.

Drew stood, suddenly feeling awkward. "um… if you don't mind…"

"Not at all, not at all. Sorry for freaking you out. Would you mind sending May in? I have to talk to her. You know, apologies and all that."

Drew nodded and left the room, going to sit out in the lobby. May immediately jumped up and rushed to Brendan's room when he told her that the black-haired boy had wanted to see her. He slid into a seat and released Roselia on his lap, suddenly hugging it tightly, expertly avoiding the thorns. At first Roselia stiffened, stunned, but it slowly relaxed and hugged him back.

May stayed in there for what felt like hours. Eventually, Ash and Brock started talking to each other, and Drew went over to talk with them, carrying Roselia in his arms.

Then, something must have happened, because nurses started rushing down the hallway and turning into Brendan's room. They could barely hear, "Brendan! Brendan, come back! Please, stay with me! No, no, no! Brendan! I love you!"

Just minutes later, May was forced out of the room. She rushed back into the waiting room and practically threw herself into Drew's arms, sobbing, "Something happened! I don't know what, but I called the nurses and then his heart stopped and they're trying to revive him and what if they can't? Oh god, please let him be okay…" she sobbed into his shoulder.

On the floor, Roselia huffed at being pushed off of its trainer's lap, but sighed nonetheless. It started doing circles around Drew's legs.

Drew simply pet May's back, not even noticing that he was doing exactly as Brendan had asked. He didn't register Max start crying, or Ash and Brock offering to take her. He just held her.

Ten anxious minutes later, all of the nurses that had rushed into his room left. One in particular came up to their group and shook her head. She started explaining what had happened, but Drew didn't hear. He did, however, notice a tiny Castform wail and fling itself out of the hospital. Seconds later, heavy rains started outside. He sat and rubbed May's back, hearing her deep sobs and cries of, "No, Brendan! No-o-o…"

Silently, he looked up to the heavens and promised, 'Brendan, I will. I promise. I'll take good care of her. …Thanks.'

Well... did it turn out well? I hope so. I liked it. I feel like I didn't do Brendan justice, and I'm not satisfied with the ending, but it's still good, I think. :) Thanks everyone for reading! Now then... who wants to review~ :)

~YAJJ