I promised myself I'd get this out before March was over and look! I did it! Of course, if you find any blatant spelling errors and such, do comment on them. I only looked it over once, to be honest. There aren't any new Pokemon, just references to some that we've met already.
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Episode 40 – Arrival in Orchida! Let it Begin and End!
Rating PG
Orchida is the last stop for any coordinator traveling through the Contesta region. It is a city of bright lights, culture, and the capital of coordinating. At its heart, where the fresh cobble stone roads meet in a giant circle, stands Contesta’s Grand Festival stage, a large dome of glass and painted metal that seems to imitate a castle. Being the root of all coordinating, the city is shaped like a circle, as if the buildings revolve around the dome like planets do for their sun. Outside, the grass is freshly cut and water fountains are placed symmetrically around it, boasting its superiority to any other Grand Festival in the world. Only those who collect five ribbon points within Contesta may partake in these almost sacred contests.
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“What’s up with you?” asked Drew as he and May stood just outside the Orchida Contest Hall where the Grand Festival would soon commence.
May stood still and didn’t answer right away. She looked up at the glass dome, surrounded by metal towers that gave it the appearance of a castle. May stared at the building with awe, delight and fear, like a servant to a king. But, that’s just what she was. For this king of all Grand Festivals, she was the jester, performing, hoping to be the one that won the king’s prize – the highest honor of any coordinator, the Orchida Trophy. They say it’s only downhill from there, since it is the top.
“I’m fine!” May said finally. “Let’s go in and register!”
Taking a few nervous strides, May advanced inside beside Drew, who seemed confident on the outside. No matter how great Drew thought he was, May figured, there was no way there was not an ounce of anxiety within him. After all, there was a very high percentage for their losses here.
Drew walked up to the registration desk first, and addressed the receptionist, who was delighted to help.
“We’d both like to enter the Orchida Grand Festival, please,” he said for both he and May.
“Thought so,” said the young, brown-haired woman behind the desk. “I’ll just need to see your ribbons and see if you have enough points for the main events.”
“Hm?” May thought aloud.
Though she knew it was of no concern to her, since May knew she had the correct amount of points, she was still curious as to what the receptionist meant. Seeing her curious face, the woman answered.
“Ya see,” she said, as she took the ribbon case Drew handed her. She began to scan the ribbons as she continued. “If someone ends up not having enough points, they are put into some remedial contests that are judged very harshly. Obviously, they are meant to compensate for the missing points. The more points you miss, the harder the judging is and the more you’ll have to do.”
“Wait, so hold on,” Drew interrupted. “You mean, I could skip traveling all over the place and just come here and get in that way?”
“Oh, heaven’s no!” the woman said, laughing at the misunderstanding.
She returned Drew’s case and said, almost apologetically, “If you don’t have any ribbons at all, there is absolutely no admittance. We just get so many people trying for this cup that anyone who might have missed one point can do so here. But it’s really difficult. There are times when no one from the remedial contests get in – the judges are harsh!”
“Oh, I see now,” May said and handed the woman her own case.
“You’re on, by the way,” she told Drew and began to scan May’s ribbons.
“And these are good to go as well. Didn’t think you had enough?”
“Ehh, maybe,” May said, bashful.
“This is a two step process,” the receptionist explained. “Now that you’re in the system, you are free to wander and use the facilities to your heart’s content using these passes.”
She handed both May and Drew plastic cards with their IDs on them.
“You’ll need to sign on the back. It’s kinda like a member pass or credit card. Anything within the city is free to you. So that includes housing and three square meals. But, it’s only if you present this card.”
“Cool!” May exclaimed.
“Also, as I’ve said, a two step process,” she then handed both May and Drew their own blue and yellow handbook where on the cover the title Orchida Grand Festival: Events, Rules, and More was printed. “You’ll need to read through it and tell us by the day before the festival starts what events you’ll be participating in.” she continued. “Every coordinator can participate in four events which are also based off a point and elimination set up. Based on the judges, you’ll be ranked in all different ways. After your four events they’ll judge if you can move on to more challenging battles and events. However, there are plenty of ways to gain points other than main events.”
“And what are those?” Drew asked, extremely interested. It appeared to him that the Orchida Grand Festival was more like a convention than anything else.
“There are plenty of panels going on that you can enter only with that card, and obtain half points to boost your score should you fall behind. However, only one person wins each, so never take anything here to be easy,” she finished. “For anything else, consult the book. It really gives in-depth information.”
“All right,” Drew answered. “Thanks for all your help!”
…
Upon exiting the building, May and Drew immediately began to tour the premises. On their way through the city towards the hall, they observed that the city was made strictly for the coordinator and his spectators. The city was adorned with many restaurants, hotels, and shops for any necessity. Now going back into the city, they looked more closely. Places to buy clothes for Pokémon, Poke Block-making shops, and even a full grocery of every type of berry May and Drew had and had never seen was amongst the different resources at their fingertips. And people were all around, going about their business, crowding the streets as the festival approached. Orchida was the city of coordinators. May was becoming excited, yet sad at the same time. How she wished there were more hours in her day to do all of things there were to do here! Even Drew, she saw, felt the same.
“I’m having as much fun as you are exploring, but I think we should go back and really decide on what we’re going to do for this competition,” he said, laying it on her gently, for even he was reluctant to snap back into reality.
May agreed, and they abruptly turned around back towards the Orchida dome.
As they made their way back to the dome, a detail they had missed came into their perspective. Beyond the dome was a wide field where coordinators and their Pokémon could be seen practicing appeals and new moves for the upcoming competition. This green field was enclosed by silver gates in which, as May and Drew approached, were locked, with a tiny box attached to the gate where one could slide a card to access the park. Obviously, it was a retreat specially designed for the coordinators participating, and so Drew slipped his card through. With a click, the gate opened and allowed the coordinators to go through. The courtyard was massive, and stretched down a hill, where a small lake could be seen. The gate May and Drew had entered surrounded this park, and enclosed it from the rest of the city that lay beyond its silver bars.
May and Drew found their own spot close to the dome, away from those actually practicing. Their area was a small plot of grass, shaded by a small tree. Beside the tree was a bench elegantly placed next to it. It was a wooden seat with spiraling, painted white metal as its frame. The richness and prosperity of even the small details was enough to make May and Drew want to stay forever. Sitting down on the bench, Drew began to do the leg work, and opened his booklet as May stood in front of him, reaching into her fanny pack.
“Come on out everyone!” she shouted as she threw her Pokeballs into the air.
One by one her Pokemon appeared. Combusken, Skitty, Beautifly, Bulbasaur, Munchlax, Macapeng, Hatling, Scrouse, and Mara all appeared and gave their own small cheer. Even they were aware they were in Orchida, their goal. Drew smirked, and joined in on this.
“Come out, everyone!” he said and tossed his own Pokeballs into the crowd.
Roselia, Masquerain, Flygon, Sawbura, Epostal, Flareitten, Hatling, Eagawk, and Houndour appeared in the same manner. With this reunion, all of the Pokemon greeted each other and then swiftly turned to the newcomer, Mara, who stared blankly back at them.
With her telepathic powers, Mara said sheepishly, “Um…hello. I am your new team mate!”
“Guys, this is Mara. She’s a Mardeca and is going to help us out here in Orchida,” May explained to them.
With that, the Pokemon approached Mara, each giving a hello, and a nod of approval. As the Pokemon became better acquainted, Drew went back to his booklet. The thick manual not only explained all of the main contests, but also featured lists of what Orchida had to offer and how to properly take advantage of their coordinator cards. Upon flipping through it some more, he found a whole schedule of the events the receptionist had explained earlier that day.
“So, what’s it say?” May asked, sticking her face so close to Drew’s that he had to back up to see her.
Of course he did this in a frightened way, causing May to giggle.
“Why don’t you open your own book and see for yourself? Don’t think I’ll do all the work for you,” he suggested, flipping his hair.
May huffed, with no comeback. She whipped out her own manual and opened it, only to become dizzy from the walls of text suddenly thrust upon her.
Drew, making believe he was an expert, said calmly, “It says here we’re allowed four main contests and then any number of events after we receive our schedules.”
May turned to him, slowly tearing her eyes from the page about restaurants in Orchida that allowed free anything’s for participating coordinators. Seeing that title, Drew narrowed his eyes, and roughly flipped through her book to put them on the same page.
“Can’t you be serious with this, or is food all you understand?” Drew asked, smirking.
“Don’t make fun of me…I…just…opened to that!” May spat, becoming increasingly angry with his remarks; hook, line and sinker.
“This page lists all of the contests we can take part in,” Drew began, becoming serious and laying off on the remarks. “There are a lot of partner contests we can do together, but of course they count towards both of our four.”
“We can do one though, right?” May asked, diffidently.
Drew paused, and then simpering, asked, “What’s wrong, May? Can’t win one on your own?”
“No!”
“Then what is it?” he asked, still with that smile.
“I…I just want to…you obviously know why, so shut up!” May said, her face a tint of red.
She had folded her arms and looked away from him. Drew could only guess that perhaps May figured a contest won here in Orchida could only draw them closer. It was then that he felt overjoyed, though he did not express it. Turning back to the booklet, he looked through the partner events and then turned back to May, pointing at the event he wanted to do. May looked, and saw that it was a traditional partner battle, where each of them would choose a Pokemon to defeat another team with.
“Looks good to me,” she said, recovered.
It was then time to be on her own, and May took up her manual seriously and dug her nose into its binding. As they each searched for suitable categories, the Pokemon played amongst each other and never strayed too far from the herd.
“Okay, I’ve got it!” May announced, excited, after almost an hour of silence between them.
Drew looked at her with narrow eyes and replied, “Congrats. It needed to be announced?”
“Yes,” May answered and turned her book toward him.
She had circled her choices in red, and went on to explain to him what she had in mind. “Of course the partner battle is one of mine, but then I also want to participate in the Specialized Appeal! And then a Double Battle, and finally a Normal Appeal! It’s all balanced – two battles and two appeals.”
“You know that the specialized appeal will be chosen, for you, right?”
“I’m fully prepared! If there’s a Cool appeal, I’ll use Combusken, if it’s Beauty, I’ll use Beautifly, and-”
Drew cute her off with a wave of his hand. “I don’t need to know all the details, May.”
“Okay, then what did you choose?” she asked, curious as usual.
“Unlike you, I’m thinking outside the box. I’m doing a Double Appeal, a Single Battle, the Partner Battle, of course, and a Spontaneous Multi-Appeal,” Drew answered, proud of himself for choosing more challenging events.
May sat confused, though. “What’s that last one?”
“It’s when the judge asks for specific appeals and you need to be on the ball. Only three Pokemon are allowed to be with you and you must fulfill the judge’s wishes, whatever they may be. I’m guessing they’ll be general, loose wishes to make room for creativity, but who knows?”
“Okay, then we have what we want down! Let’s go claim our spots!” May said, aflame.
Drew nodded, getting up. As they both returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs, Drew admitted he felt the same. If only he could use all of his Pokemon for the events!
Back inside the dome, the receptionist from before was still on shift, and greeted them with a familiar smile.
“Guess you two have chosen your contests already?” she asked.
May and Drew nodded, though May stepped up and asked frantically, “Do other coordinators take longer? Should it take longer?”
“May, calm down,” Drew scolded under his breath.
The receptionist smiled as she turned back to her computer with both of their lists. As she typed she began to explain.
“Not at all. Some coordinators are what the staff here like to call “veterans.” They’re people who have competed here every year trying to reach the top and many of them take a long while to choose their events based on previous experiences.”
“Wait…so we’re up against people like that?” May exclaimed, her eyes becoming wide with worry about her own well-being in this competition.
At this point, her chances of getting to the top had all but faded completely away. May said nothing else, and Drew did nothing to change her mind otherwise. The receptionist returned their booklets and printed out something for each of them. Still warm, the papers they received were simple schedules, detailing when each of their events would be held.
“Thank you,” they both waved goodbye as the receptionist wished them a silent good luck.
…
“What was that back there?” Drew asked when they had finally found a suitable place to sit down.
The pressure of getting into the competition and claiming spots in the events they wanted was over now. The dome would not open for at least two more days, and so they both found it that they were deserving of some rest and relaxation.
Sitting in an open café, free to coordinators, May quietly sipped her orange drink as a response to Drew’s initial question. He sat across from her. As the day slowly shifted into the afternoon, the sun hid its face behind the establishment they had attended, and its shadow lay over them.
“I’m just nervous, is all,” May finally answered.
“May, every contest we’ve been in has had coordinators that were better than us,” Drew compromised, seeing that May was genuinely upset, even if the matter was imaginary. “Remember the Kaygress girls? They were a hell of a lot better than we were…so much better. But we came out on top and that’s what we’ll do here. It’s a world competition…you had to have expected it.”
“Well, I guess I’ll beat you to it,” May said, a sigh in her voice, “I guess I was so excited my head was in the clouds.” She made fun of herself for him.
Drew shook his head, but at least now the newfound pressure had been extinguished. Only one moment of silence drifted past them before the next conversation arrived. From right beside them, in a flash, came a familiar, young woman’s voice.
“I knew it! Told you it was them!” said Melissa.
“Speak of the devil,” Drew murmured.
She was bent down, enabling her to look straight at May and Drew at eye level. It was apparent her style in clothing had not changed, as she sported a white, long-sleeve blouse and blue jeans that flared slightly at her white, braided sandals. She was happy to see them, and this kind, familiar face calmed May and Drew down from the initial shock of her voice.
Alyssa came up right behind her, hands on her hips, impressed and proud to see them. As usual, she was very differently dressed than Melissa, and was arrayed in a black shirt with purple rings on the long sleeves. Her pants were wide and sported chains and locks.
“I knew you guys would make it. I would feel kind of dumb if you didn’t,” she said, more saying it to Drew as May was preoccupied with girl talk that Melissa had engaged.
“Why? Because we beat you?” he asked slyly.
Alyssa nodded, seeing no problem with it. “Absolutely. We knew it was only a matter of time.”
“Why are you guys here?” Drew asked, becoming more serious.
“We’re here for the competition. We’re one of the random leaders for the leader challenge events and also for people who get perfect or near-perfect scores later on, after all of the main challenges are over. It’s all complicated, but since Orchida is starting up, most of the contest halls are closing for the season.”
Drew’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Despite all the friends they had made along the way, Drew was under the impression that they would not see anyone there. After all, most of their friends were not coordinators.
“Yes, it’s that big a deal,” she added.
“You guys should come inside!” Melissa said, breaking away from May, standing up, and making the announcement. “Anashi and Cecilia are here too! Come with us!”
Upon hearing his name, May and Drew got up and quickly followed the Kaygress Twins inside. Towards the back of the small café sat the round man in the garb they remembered him in. Again he seemed like a tourist: floral t-shirt, camera strapped around his neck, plain sandals, and jean shorts. He was sitting with his daughter enjoying an orange drink as Cecilia paid attention to a laptop. Her messy blonde hair was in a ponytail, as always, and she wore a light purple shirt and jean capris.
Anashi was blithe to see them and opened his thick arms and began to laugh joyously. “My stars, my stars!”
With this excitement, Cecilia turned around curiously, and then also gave her own warm smile. Both of them had not been seen or heard of since May and Drew had last encountered them. By chance, that instance had been the most dangerous and exciting part of their trip. In retrospect, both May and Drew believed that their toils with Team Gem and Akata’s Day Gem would still prove to be the most exciting part of their trip, even after the Orchida Grand Festival was over.
Someone else sat with them, a little man in what appeared to be professional attire; suit jacket, red tie to stand out against said suit jacket, and journalist’s taupe hat. This hat sat upon a bed of messy, dark brown hair. Drew recognized him instantly as the young man turned to face them and revealed he was no older than Drew himself.
“Ryu’s here too?” he asked, shocked to see the inspiring journalist or coordinator critic, or whatever he wanted to be, sitting next to people he considered friends.
“Why are you so surprised to see me? Wouldn’t you expect the YCA to ask that I come here and possibly get the chance to interview coordinators?” he asked, as if this was all common knowledge.
“So, are you competing too?” Drew asked, actually looking forward to facing Ryu’s secret weapon, his Serpell, once again.
“No, sadly,” the news fell flat from Ryu’s mouth. “I haven’t gotten around much enough to collect all the ribbon points needed. Like Anashi, I’m here with a Press pass. I’m allowed to go anywhere anytime, just as you, and badger coordinators for answers to sizzling questions and gossip.”
“You really have issues,” Drew muttered under his breath.
Anashi spoke next, intrigued that Drew, May and Ryu had actually met before. “How did you all meet?”
Ryu answered this one, his leg folded over the other nonchalantly. “May and Drew had stopped by Cedar Village and entered the town and official contests, in which they both won. And I’ll admit Drew got the better of me and Serpell.”
Drew smirked. It felt good to hear an arrogant jerk admit his loses to another.
“For the record, May and Drew, I met Anashi long before you. He had also stumbled into Cedar Village for a contest with his Quotall.”
“He beat me. What can I say?” Anashi added, shrugging, as if his loss to Ryu was to be expected.
The small group laughed. It was nice to be surrounded by friends, and finally both May and Drew felt at home. Contesta seemed to be a place of wonder, and yet, where they belonged.
They stayed for many hours, telling stories of their journeys, accomplishments, and embarrassing events. As to be expected, Ryu demanded all of the details surrounding the rest of the group’s plight with Team Gem, from Anashi’s employment with them, until the fight in the Footstep Islands. Only for a second did Ryu appear jealous that they had all seen the legendary days, and that May had seen Juegune. It was there Ryu admitted he was in pursuit of the computer bug.
“Damn! So…where is the Day Gem now?” Ryu inquired.
Drew snatched this one. “Inside Oarilla. He swallowed it with Frey. Apparently, now Oarilla’s intestines control the weather.”
The group laughed loudly for that and Anashi added, “Well, we can’t complain. He’s giving us great weather!”
Another bout of laughter arose from the small party, and it would continue into the night.
…
May and Drew had checked in to their hotel room late that night and instantly went to bed. Both, upon waking that next morning, realized that they had not even removed their shoes or unpacked at all. The room they had been assigned to was small, despite the size of the hotel as a whole. Upon walking in the only entrance, one could find the bathroom to the right, shortly after the two, mirror closets that lined the mini hallway. From the bathroom, two beds leaned against the opposite wall. A desk and a small dresser were supplied against the same wall the bathroom door was on and the heater/AC machine sat at the very end of the room under the window that looked out seven stories above the lobby doors. The floor was carpeted in a maroon color that matched the plain tan walls and wooden furniture.
May and Drew had little to unpack, and merely placed their toothbrushes in a cup next to the bathroom sink.
After that, they headed downstairs into the lobby. It would be another day before the actual festival started, and so they made plans to venture out more and see if they could find any other familiar faces. Indeed they did. Upon reaching the lobby, a grand foyer with marble floors, May saw her family. Both her mother and father were present, as well as her brother, all of which were looking around for her, she assumed. May also spotted Ash, Misty, and Brock, who were scattered among the other people also in the receiving hall, but still noticeable. Overjoyed, May dashed towards them.
“May! There you are!” her mother was the first to see her, and opened her arms for a nostalgic hug.
After releasing her embrace, May said bashfully, “I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner. I’ve been…excited and stuff.”
“We understand. Besides, there’s a lot of planning involved,” her mother said, relieving May of that responsibility.
“Actually,” her father cut in, “Once you told us you were going to Contesta, we immediately looked up the dates for their grand festival. We knew you’d make it. I closed the gym and everything.”
“Thank you guys so much!” May said, ecstatic.
As May became surrounded by friends and family, Drew slinked away. Feeling the pangs of missing family, he averted his gaze towards the café the hotel provided. There Drew decided to take part in the continental breakfast the establishment had prepared. Free to him, of course, he walked in, cool and unnoticed. He sat his bag at a lonely, two-seater table and then went up to get breakfast. They had made quite a palette, including bagels with all sorts of toppings, many varieties of cheese, fruit, and cereals, as well as hot eggs and French toast. Loading his plate in unconscious depression, he turned when finished, and sat at his table, his bag acting as his company.
Facing the entrance way, Drew did not notice, through all his thoughts, the man approaching him from behind.
“Drew, is that you?” asked a familiar voice and Drew turned to see his uncle, Jack.
Drew repressed his split second of childish regression upon seeing a sliver of family. On the outside, he viewed his uncle with a nonchalant gaze, inviting, but not impressed or surprised to see him. After seeing Jack in Norbrown, Drew was convinced he would see his uncle again sometime or another. However, he had not hoped for it. Jack, though completely unintentionally, posed a threat for he was not under the assumption Greg, Drew’s father, was the cause of Drew’s mother’s death. In fact, like everyone else, he believed she was sickly, which was true to a degree, and that she died of those kinds of natural causes. And Jack was also not aware of his father’s views on coordinators or his brother’s abusiveness. Drew remembered all of those details in a dream-like state, but he was aware they had really happened. However, recounting them to a serious adult was out of the question, especially one so content now with his sibling’s death. So, now, when Jack relayed his news, Drew was not surprised, but no less irked.
“I’m glad to see you and I hope your father will too, when he gets here.”
Even though he had seen it coming like a brightly colored predator, Drew felt his stomach turn into one big knot. However, Jack did not seem as clueless about the situation Drew knew of as the child had originally thought. In fact, Jack’s gaze was grim and apologetic.
“I need your utmost attention, Drew,” the man said, running his hands through his jet black hair nervously. “I admit…I did not know your father very well in the past. I also admit…that after seeing you healthy, alive, and well in Norbrown, I had contacted your father, as he had told me he was looking for you. His plans were not known to me prior, and I had taken him as a worried-sick parent looking for his child after such a tragedy as his wife’s death.”
The man was shaken, as if the words he had not yet spoken were threatening him.
“What did he say?”
“Well, at first he was glad to hear that you were well, which is what I expected…but as the conversation commenced, I noticed that it was a selfish-like glad. He then went on to say I was useless to him now and thanked me for my ignorance. He further went on to say that he had big plans for the future.”
Drew’s eyes widened in a frightened curiosity. Whatever his father was planning, it would not be good for all of society and he guessed what it could be.
“I was unsure of exactly what he was talking about. Something about your status helping him. The feeling that came across was distaste for the coordinating community.”
Drew knew it. It had to be something to do with a rivalry between coordinators and trainers. At the moment, Drew felt as though he were the first to have felt this tension. His father never liked coordinating, but of course, he never knew what his father did otherwise, so it flew by him like a harmless insect. But now Drew knew this insect had a deadly stinger. One false move, and it could sting something. What it could be, he had no idea, but he and May had already witnessed it’s effects on their way to Sesameling. He knew now that the small conflict between trainers and coordinators was growing outside of his father’s head, and the thought that he might be even slightly a part of it made him sigh a very long sigh. It was the kind of sigh when something rides on one’s shoulders so heavily that there is no means of escape.
Drew knew this and said to his uncle, “Then I’ll see what it’s about when he gets here. I really don’t want to deal with him or Skeet.”
“I do apologize for my ignorance,” Jack said in a glum way, not making eye contact.
Drew shook his head, “It’s not your fault. If anything, I should have made it known to you…I just didn’t think this would escalate like it did.”
There was nothing more to talk about after that. Seeing as there was no way he could mend it, Jack left Drew, patting him on the shoulder in a way that Drew felt he had an ally, should he need him. It was comforting.
Picking up his fork, he realized he was not very hungry anymore.
May came back shortly after Jack had left the area. Clueless as always, May had no idea of the news, and her happy self skipped towards him. Unaccompanied by her friends or family, she removed Drew’s bag from the seat and sat down with him. She smiled at him, showing she had not forgotten about him. Drew managed to give a half smile back, and with this, May immediately knew something was wrong.
“I was gone for…five minutes. What’s up?” she asked, fully concerned and ready to hear the long tale and its details in full.
Drew now gave a full smile. It was these little things that, even if May never said it, he knew she cared about him. And it was also these things, as well as many more, that made him love her. He had already admitted to himself a while back. Truly.
“I’ll tell you later.”
…
That night was quieter than any other night. Though the rest of the day had been spent much like the one before, Drew felt fright and anguish well up in his body. His father was…not someone he had ever dreamt of seeing again. He didn’t miss him or his brother. The only person he truly did miss was his mother, the first victim of his father’s plans, whatever they were.
He heard May, in the other bed sit up in the blue darkness of their room. The shadows cast, as mentioned, were blue in the light of the moon that shone through the drawn curtains. She looked over at Drew and sighed.
When ready, she spoke softly, “I don’t want to pry or anything, but you did say you’d tell me what’s been up all day.”
Drew sighed, “You remember my uncle Jack from the PokeBlock contest in Norbrown?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he’s here in Orchida.”
“That’s great!”
“Not really,” Drew trailed here.
“So, that’s not the news.”
“No.”
“Then what is?” May asked, starting to get annoyed at the cliffhangers.
“My father’s coming…thanks to Jack letting him know where I was.”
May blinked, her eyes getting wide for fear of Drew’s safety. She exclaimed, “What is wrong with him?”
“It’s not his fault. To be completely honest, none of our family knew about it. I also can’t make any claims on what he did or didn’t do to my mother. All I can say is that I’m pretty sure of his motives…but I can’t be entirely sure until he gets here and tells me himself. Since he’s been after me, I know, almost for certain, that I’m part of it.”
May’s face contorted into a slew of questions. “Whatever he wants, why would you agree to any of it?”
“He has ways of forcing me, I’m sure of it.”
Silhouetted against the moon’s shine, May could see Drew was not looking her in the face, but peering down into space as his mouth moved and his voice worked. She got up at seeing this, and sat next to him supportively. She did not touch him though, feeling that, even though he was dreading the inevitable encounter with his father, she knew he was trying to be strong, and take responsibility for it. It seemed as though Drew believed he was the only one who could fix this.
“If I can help in any way,” May murmured after a long, thoughtful pause, “You can count on me…for anything.”
…
The next day was only the opening ceremony, but it was symbolic to the start of a closing, opportunity, and impending dread, as it seemed. It was held in the day, when every face of the crowd could be seen from the center stage where May and Drew stood with hundreds of other worthy opponents. Every MC and important judge May and Drew had run into during their travels was there to help introduce the greatest coordinating event in the world and all of the coordinators that were to take part in the occasion. All of the coordinators stood close together in neat lines, while the judges, top coordinators, event supervisors, and MCs stood around the border, highly outnumbered.
However, the MC to make the opening was non-other than Mr. Contesta, a judge May had seen in her contests prior to Contesta. He looked the same, in his bright red tux and graying hair. Holding the microphone to his lips, he made a quick blow into it, to quiet down the audience excited in the bleachers. Both May and Drew, upon this request for silence, could make out May’s supportive group and Anashi who was vigorously taking pictures as a staff member of the press.
“It is with great honor,” Mr. Contesta began, “To introduce you all to this wondrous event known around the world as the Orchida Grand Festival!”
The crowd cheered and clapped at this. Their roar of applause shook up the competition as a wall of their voices came down over them.
Drew looked into the excited crowd filled with people standing, shouting, and waving to loved ones down below participating. He saw May’s family and friends again, giving their support to the two of them. Shifting his gaze around as Mr. Contesta boasted about his foundation in the region, caught eyes with Jack, who nodded to him with a smile. Drew watched him as he looked away, his smile fading. Drew looked in his direction, only to meet eyes with the only two people not standing or cheering.
Straight into his father’s face, high on the bleachers, almost completely overcastted by no-name spectators; Drew gulped. Suddenly, the Orchida Grand Festival would be more than a coordinating competition.
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Glad this is out. I'm going to say I'm gonna try REALLY hard to get at least all of Orchida done by the end of August and then only have the Epilogue to take care of during my first semester in Stony Brook (I am so happy, finally going to the school I wanted!!!). I didn't want this to be a burden during it, so wish me luck on getting these episodes out. ;;
Next time: Orchida Grand Festival! Round 1 of 4
The competition has finally started and things are already heating up. Between his father making nice to May's family, his brother's rude comments, and his single battle event coming up, Drew can't concentrate on what needs to be done. On the other side, May is having trouble deciding who the soloist for her Normal Appeal will be. Not as big a problem as Drew, huh? See ya there!
