Love Is a Many Blundered Thing
Contestshippy (=MayxDrew)
Rated PG (though I think G would be fine too)
I was so planning on never typing/posting this. Which is probably why I ended up posting it after all. That always happens to me ^^;. Eheh... yeah, that was a thing only two of my friends would understand. Next!
This fic... I started writing it about two years ago? It was originally Dutch, non-Pokémon and... well, weird (unfortunally I wasn't able to change the last one). The storyline is awfully weak -_- But I decided to use it anyway
Now, some things about the plot. First of all, this doesn't actually follow the Pokémon storyline- aka it's AU (Alternate Universe- thanks a lot for that Jo-Jo!). I made up a new plot, simply cause I have less rules to stick to while writing. I hope it's not too unclear... Just tell me when it is, so I can see if it is supposed to be like that or not.
Note: I suck at English spelling and grammar, so please correct me I made some kind of foolish mistake (it wouldn't be the first time). Thanks!
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Chapter 1
With a loud dong, the church bells rang. Their chimes echoed through the nearly empty streets of the city. Those who were awake already didn’t bother to pay attention, but those who just woke up because of the bells groaned loudly while opening their windows. However, no one seemed to be irritated by this sudden awakening: Everyone rushed downstairs or disappeared into their bathrooms to be ready as soon as possible.
Today would be the big opening of the yearly Pokémon Festival. Pokémon trainers, co-ordinators, and many fans came from all over the world to participate or just watch and enjoy this tournament. Being invited to this festival was a great honour: Only the very best trainers and co-ordinators received an invitation with the question to ‘please participate at the Festival’. Gym leaders also showed up at the Festival, but only to be the judges during contests or be the referee during battles. Like every year, the Festival’s main goal was to show your skills to other trainers and learn as much as possible from others. In both categories, there were prizes for the most outstanding trainers.
The bells rang again, and the streets started to fill up.
In the centre of the city, in one of the hotels, a hand appeared on the bedside table. It lay motionless for a while, but then started searching for the alarm clock – Which wasn’t there. The hand pulled back and its owner groaned. Then the owner sat up and a girl in yellow pyjamas glanced around the room. Her brown hair jutted out to all possible sides and her sky-blue eyes were drowsy. She yawned. Slowly, her drowsy expression changed to an annoyed one. “Why?” She groaned. She crawled out of her bed with her pillow still in her arms. She threw a glance at the empty bed on the other side of the room and then staggered to the door. “Max!”
Angrily, the brown-haired girl walked around a small table in the restaurant. “It’s Sunday, eight o’clock in the morning, we’re on vacation and I’m out of my bed.” She stopped her walking. “Which of those four is not supposed to be in the line?”
A younger boy with black hair and glasses shrugged. “You asked me to wake you up at eight AM, so I woke you up at eight AM. What’s your problem, May?”
“What my problem is?” May started to breath heavier. “Good question, Max! I’ll tell you what my problem is!”
Max raised his eyebrow, but May ignored him.
“When I asked you to wake me up at eight, I meant: ‘Ask me nicely if I want to wake up at eight in case that when eight comes, I feel like getting up already.’ And, in case you didn’t notice, I did not feel like getting up already!” May took a short break to get back to breath and decided to herself she would never ask her little brother to do something like this again.
“I put all the windows open to make sure you’d hear the morning bell at eight,” Max said, taking a nip of his tea. “If that was not what you wanted, you should’ve told me.” His indifference annoyed May to no end.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she cried out. “First you make me come to this stupid Festival and now you wake me up like this… What have I done to you?”
Max put down his cup. “It’s not all my fault,” he said. “Mum and dad asked you to go to the Festival because they couldn’t come. Don’t blame me for that.”
May opened her mouth, but then shut it again and glared at Max.
“Anyway, May?” Max nodded at May’s pillow and pyjamas. “Are you going to stay like that?”
“What?” May looked down at herself. “Oh… yeah…” she said embarrassed. “But don’t think you’re out of trouble now, mister! You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”
Max gazed after his sister as she walked up the stairs. “Not exactly a morning person.”
“Unbelievable,” May grumbled as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror in the bathroom. “How could I get stuck here, at a festival? With Pokémon!”
“Well, it’s a Pokémon Festival, so it makes sense,” Max pointed out as he entered the bathroom.
May scowled. “Can’t you knock before you come in?” she said angrily.
Max shrugged. “You’ve been in here for over an hour, so I just figured you’d be dressed by now.”
“And what if I wasn’t?”
“I would have suffered some sleepless nights because of that awful picture,” Max said airy. He picked up his toothbrush. “But I’m in a rush. I want to register for the Festival before ten, which means I only have fifteen minutes left.”
“Fine, fine,” May mumbled. She wrapped a red handkerchief around her head. “Don’t let your sister hold you back from winning the stupid Festival.”
Max quickly spit out the toothpaste. “I won’t,” he promised. “Anyway, are you going to hurry or what?”
“Hurry?” May looked up. “Why would I? I don’t have to register or anything.”
Max frowned. “Funny. I really thought I read that gym leaders or their replacements had to register, too. But if you know any better-“
“Oh, just shut up!” May snarled. If he wasn’t her brother, she would have strangled him by now. “You just go and I’ll be there later.”
Max grinned. “I’ll see you at the opening ceremony tonight, then.” He said. He left the room.
“Sure, see you there.” May sighed, checked herself in the mirror and then left the room to eat.
After finishing breakfast, May headed for the Pokémon center. She had never actually been in one since she never had any business there, but she thought she remembered Max mentioning the registering was done at the Pokémon center. At the first, she was afraid she wouldn’t find it, but that fear faded as she saw the words ‘Pokémon Center’ in huge size above the corner. Still half asleep, she entered the Pokémon center and walked to the reception.
“Good morning!” said the pink-haired nurse behind the reception.
“Good morning, nurse…” May yawned and flashed her eyes. “Joy, right?”
Nurse Joy smiled. “Yes, that’s me,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“Not sure,” May said doubtfully. “Is this where I register for the Pokémon Festival?”
“It is,” nurse Joy said. “I take it you want to register?”
“I’ll have to,” May said grumpy. “I’ll have to replace my father as gym leader.”
“I see.” Nurse Joy entered something in her computer and looked back at May again. “Then you must be miss May Maple from the Petalburg gym?”
“That’s me,” May said. She yawned again.
Nurse Joy smiled friendly. “You haven’t slept well, have you?” she asked.
May shook her head. “The bells woke me up,” she said disgruntled.
“I understand what you mean,” nurse Joy said sympathetically. “They are a little too loud at times…” She sounded like she was no fonder of it than May was. “Anyway, here you go!” She handed May a card with ‘May Maple – Petalburg city gym leader’ on it. “The Festival opening is at eight PM today. Tomorrow, gym leaders have to sign in at nine AM at the same stage as the opening ceremony, which is also where the Pokémon Contests will take place. There will be decided when and where you’ll be the referee or judge. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
“No,” May said. “Thank you very much!” She turned to walk away, but then turned back and asked: “Did Max sign in already?”
Nurse Joy thought for a while. “I don’t know,” she said. “I registered several people called Max already. Is he a relative of yours?”
“He’s my little brother,” May said. “I just wondered if he said anything about what he was going to do today…”
“I remember registering a boy called Max Maple,” Nurse Joy said slowly. “He mentioned something about having something to do at the carnival.”
“A carnival?” May asked surprised. “Is there a carnival?” She was sure Max hadn’t told her anything about that…
“Yes, not far from here.” Nurse Joy pointed to the left. “The street around the corner. It’s pretty difficult to miss.”
“Thank you!” May said. “I think I’ll go there, too.” She intentionally forgot to mention she would kill Max for not telling her about the fun things. She turned around again. “Thanks for everything!”
Nurse Joy waved. “Have a nice day!”
May looked around. There was no doubt this carnival was a part of the Pokémon Festival; everywhere you looked were Pokémon or things that had something to do with them. The attractions were decorated with Pokémon-faces, boots sold all kinds of Pokémon merchandise and most trainers dragged their Pokémon around with them outside their Pokéballs. May took deep breath and nodded to herself. The fact that everything on this carnival had something to do with Pokémon and that there was a guy in a big Pikachu-suit who looked suspiciously much like Max had to be forgotten; for once, Pokémon would not take away the fun for her.
May had hated Pokémon ever since a bunch of Tentacool attacked her, when she was still little. Her parents had tried everything to get her over this hate and fear, even quasi-accidentally pushing her off a cliff and having a Gyarados save her (which was, May found, the stupidest idea ever because it made everything worse).
Although her family ran the Petalburg gym, May didn’t help out very often. Her father was the gym leader, her mother helped at the administration and her little brother traveled around the world as a Pokémon trainer. For May, there wasn’t much to do. But because both her father and mother weren’t able to come and Max received an invitation of his own, May was sent to take her father’s place at the Festival. May couldn’t help but think it was another try to make her overcome her hate for Pokémon. Yet she had been happy to finally leave the gym for a while and do something she really liked: Traveling.
May walked forward and raised her hands before her face, making a small square with her fingers. “Welcome to this special edition of May’s Expeditions! Today, we’re at the residence of the Pokémon Festival, which will open tonight.” She turned a little, bringing a big sign with the words ‘Pokémon Festival: Special carnival’ into the picture. “Right in front of us lays the carnival, also a part of the Pokémon Festival. Ladies and gentleman, look at all those colors! No wonder there are so many people, it looks wonderful!” She slowly started walking, her ‘camera’ still in front of her face. “And not only that! All the attractions, all the excitement! And all those wonderful little booths! There are so many, I can’t even count them!” She put her hands down for a while and looked around. Then she put them back up again and walked straight to a booth that caught her eye. “We are going to take a look at this little ice cream shop, which seems to have a lot of customers. Oh, there is a line… Let’s interview some customers while we wait for our turn!” She tapped the man in front of her on his shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, what do you think of this little booth?”
The man looked a little surprised. “What?” he asked, confused by the girl with an imaginary film-camera in front of her face.
“I asked you about your opinion about this booth,” May said. She kept strictly to her role as presenter.
“Eh…” The man flashed his eyes. “I… think I like it…”
“Thank you!” May said. She turned to the woman behind her. “Miss, what do you think of this shop?”
“Why do you ask?” The woman asked. She tried to see who was behind the ‘camera’.
“It’s for May’s Expeditions,” May answered.
The woman groaned and rolled her eyes. “Grow up!”
“Thanks for your advice,” May said politely.
“Who’s next?” The man behind the counter asked.
May put her hands down and stepped forward. “That’d be me,” she said. She thought for a little while. “I’d like-“
“Two cones, one with two bowls of strawberry and one bowl of chocolate, and the other one with one lemon, one vanilla and one pistachio,” a voice behind her said and the man walked away to get it.
A little shocked, May turned around and looked into the face of a green-haired guy from around her age. His emerald-green eyes shone amused and to May, he looked kind of arrogant.
“Excuse me, but I think it was my turn,” she said nervously.
The guy shrugged and flicked his hair. “I thought you were here for your ‘show’,” he said. “What’s it called again? Mary’s Expeditions?”
May turned faintly pink. “It’s ‘May’s Expeditions’,” she said, “and actually, I did want an ice cream.”
“Then I suppose you have to wait a little longer,” the guy said plainly.
“But it was my turn!” May said, a little impatient. “The least you could do is apologize to me.”
“I told you I didn’t know you wanted any,” the guy said. He clearly enjoyed the conversation a lot more than May did.
“I was already ordering!”
“I suggest you talk louder next time.”
Though May tried to stay calm, she felt her face burning up. “I talk loud enough,” she said, gritting her teeth.
The guy grinned. “Mind me for not taking little girls playing games serious.”
“Who are you calling a little girl?”
The guy sighed sarcastically. “Little and slow,” he corrected himself. “Naturally, I was talking about you, Mary.”
“I knew that!” May snapped. “Don’t call me a little girl, because I’m not- I’m 17! Not little! Or slow! And I’m not Mary!”
The guy didn’t even pay attention to her. He paid the shopkeeper and took the ice creams he ordered.
This made May even angrier. She didn’t even feel embarrassed for yelling at a complete stranger in public. Was it really possible for someone to be this rude? “I wasn’t done yet!” she shouted. “Are you even-“
“Here.” Without looking at her, the guy shoved the strawberry-chocolate flavored ice cream in her hands. “My treat.”
May’s anger disappeared like snow in the sun. “For-for me?” she stammered.
“Sure.”
“Why?” May asked, thinking this all was rather suspicious. “And how could you know what I wanted?” Though she loved nearly all flavors, strawberry and chocolate were her favorites.
“You’re a girl,” the guy replied. “All girls like strawberry and chocolate.”
“They don’t,” May said as they walked away together. Her mother hated strawberry more than anything. She hesitated for a second, but then added stiffly: “Thanks for the ice-cream.”
“All the girls I know like strawberry and chocolate,” the guy said carelessly. “And you’re welcome.”
“Then you obviously don’t know a lot of girls,” May replied.
“I’ve met tons of them,” the guy said, “and each one of them loved strawberry and chocolate.”
May couldn’t come up with anything to say and decided it was best to just shut up. The fact she had been arguing with a guy she didn’t know in public had just gotten through to her and she felt rather embarrassed. The fact he also bought her an ice cream was maybe even more embarrassing.
The guy looked at her and grinned. “So, you always play you’re presenting that so-called show of yours?”
“Not always,” May said. She swallowed a big bite of ice and felt her brain freeze. “It’s a habit. I used to play when I was little… I wouldn’t know why I’m telling you, though. I don’t even know you!”
The guy frowned. “You don’t?” he asked. Then he shrugged. “Well, from you, I was sort of expecting that.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” May huffed.
The guy pointed at the card on her chest. “You’re from the Petalburg gym,” he said. “Plus, you just are the kind of person with no knowledge of anything going on in the world.”
May gritted her teeth. “Petalburg gym happens to be great!” she snapped. “We get very many challengers! And if you’re so confident about me not knowing anything anyway, why don’t you just tell me?”
“Fine, I’ll tell you.” The guy grinned and flicked his hair. “I’m Drew. Assuming that doesn’t clear anything for you, I’m a Pokémon co-ordinator and five-times in a row winner of the Grand Festival.”
May took a while to think about that. “I’ve heard the name somewhere,” she said, ”but I’ve never seen a face with it.”
Drew grinned. “At least you know something,” he said. “That’s a start.”
“It’s not my fault I don’t care for those kinds of things,” May mumbled. “I hate the whole Pokémon happening, anyway.”
Drew’s looked at her stunned. He seemed to be unable to come up with anything to say. “You don’t like Pokémon?” he asked after a while.
May shook her head. “No.”
“Unbelievable!” Drew jeered. “Your weirdness has no limits!”
“I’m not weird!” May said insulted. She already felt sorry for telling Drew about her dislike for Pokémon.
“I’ve never heard of someone who doesn’t like Pokémon,” Drew said. His facial expression was still surprised. Then he closed his eyes and smirked. “But it’s only good luck for the Pokémon, I guess. I can’t imagine a self-respecting Pokémon would want you as its trainer.”
“I think you should get to know someone a little better before you say such offensive things!” May snapped. She didn’t bother to keep her voice down.
Drew laughed. “Why would I want to know you better?” He taunted. “I can’t come up with a good reason.”
“Whew, I’m saved!” May sneered back. Drew didn’t reply and May felt slightly satisfied. But just when she opened her mouth to say more, a voice interrupted her.
“Drew!”
Drew stiffened.
“Who’s that?” May asked curiously.
“No idea,” Drew said, but his sudden pale face gave away he was lying. He dropped his half-eaten ice cream in the closest dustbin. “See you later, Mary!”
“IT’S MAY!” May shouted as he ran away. She sighed, closed her eyes and opened them just in time to see a small, red spot coming her way. She quickly raised her hand to catch it. When she felt the thorns pricking in her fingers, she realized it was a red rose. A few meters ahead of her, Drew grinned and ran into a small side street. May looked after him puzzled. What was this all about?
“Hey! You there!”
May turned around. A girl with long, black hair stood right behind her, looking at her with a curious gleam in her dark brown eyes.
“Wha- What’s it?” May stammered.
“Excuse me, but were you just talking to a guy named Drew?” The black-haired girl asked.
May nodded. “I believe I was,” she said. “Why?”
“Let’s just say he’s a very good friend of mine,” the girl said. She smiled proudly. “And I’m also his number-one fan! I was looking for him, but…” She looked around. “I believe he just disappeared. Anyway, my name’s Ayumi!” She talked pretty fast, and it took May a while before she completely got what Ayumi had been saying.
“I’m… May…” She smiled a little unsure.
Ayumi smiled back. “Are you also a fan of Drew?” she asked interested.
“No,” said May, shaking her head heavily, “no, absolutely not.”
“Then how come you were talking?”
“We accidentally bumped into each other.” May didn’t feel like telling the truth, as Ayumi might make a big deal out of it.
Ayumi’s smile faded. “You’re lying,” she said reproachfully.
May blanched. “What?” she squeaked.
“I’ve seen you talking for a while,” Ayumi said impatiently. “Just bumping into each other and talking are different things. You can just tell me the truth, whatever it is.”
May was taken aback for a while. Then she said: “All we did was talk for a little while. He insulted me, I shouted at him and he ran off.” It was not the whole story, but it was close enough.
Ayumi looked at her with piercing eyes, but then smiled again. “Did he give you the rose?” she asked, pointing at the red rose in May’s hand.
May nodded stiffly. “Yes.”
Ayumi beamed. “Roses are really his sign!” she rattled enthusiastically. “Isn’t he sweet? Roses are the most romantic flowers. They suit him so well!”
May decided to refrain from comment, but followed Drew’s example and dropped her ice cream in the dustbin behind her before Ayumi could say anything about it.
“Did you see where he went?” Ayumi asked, and May was glad she changed the subject.
“He went around the corner of that small side street,” she said. “He can’t be far yet.” She knew Drew ran away because he wanted to avoid Ayumi, but she didn’t feel enough sympathy for him to help him out. Whatever Ayumi wanted, she hoped it would annoy Drew terribly.
Ayumi hopped into the direction May had pointed out for her. “Thank you!” she said. “It’s been nice meeting you!”
“Nice meeting you, too,” May said absent-mindedly. She formed a camera with her hands again and walked into a different direction. “Welcome back to May’s Expeditions! As you see, we’re still at the carnival…”
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Don't be afraid to give me any criticism, as long as you consider it helpful. :
Contestshippy (=MayxDrew)
Rated PG (though I think G would be fine too)
I was so planning on never typing/posting this. Which is probably why I ended up posting it after all. That always happens to me ^^;. Eheh... yeah, that was a thing only two of my friends would understand. Next!
This fic... I started writing it about two years ago? It was originally Dutch, non-Pokémon and... well, weird (unfortunally I wasn't able to change the last one). The storyline is awfully weak -_- But I decided to use it anyway
Now, some things about the plot. First of all, this doesn't actually follow the Pokémon storyline- aka it's AU (Alternate Universe- thanks a lot for that Jo-Jo!). I made up a new plot, simply cause I have less rules to stick to while writing. I hope it's not too unclear... Just tell me when it is, so I can see if it is supposed to be like that or not.
Note: I suck at English spelling and grammar, so please correct me I made some kind of foolish mistake (it wouldn't be the first time). Thanks!
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Chapter 1
With a loud dong, the church bells rang. Their chimes echoed through the nearly empty streets of the city. Those who were awake already didn’t bother to pay attention, but those who just woke up because of the bells groaned loudly while opening their windows. However, no one seemed to be irritated by this sudden awakening: Everyone rushed downstairs or disappeared into their bathrooms to be ready as soon as possible.
Today would be the big opening of the yearly Pokémon Festival. Pokémon trainers, co-ordinators, and many fans came from all over the world to participate or just watch and enjoy this tournament. Being invited to this festival was a great honour: Only the very best trainers and co-ordinators received an invitation with the question to ‘please participate at the Festival’. Gym leaders also showed up at the Festival, but only to be the judges during contests or be the referee during battles. Like every year, the Festival’s main goal was to show your skills to other trainers and learn as much as possible from others. In both categories, there were prizes for the most outstanding trainers.
The bells rang again, and the streets started to fill up.
In the centre of the city, in one of the hotels, a hand appeared on the bedside table. It lay motionless for a while, but then started searching for the alarm clock – Which wasn’t there. The hand pulled back and its owner groaned. Then the owner sat up and a girl in yellow pyjamas glanced around the room. Her brown hair jutted out to all possible sides and her sky-blue eyes were drowsy. She yawned. Slowly, her drowsy expression changed to an annoyed one. “Why?” She groaned. She crawled out of her bed with her pillow still in her arms. She threw a glance at the empty bed on the other side of the room and then staggered to the door. “Max!”
Angrily, the brown-haired girl walked around a small table in the restaurant. “It’s Sunday, eight o’clock in the morning, we’re on vacation and I’m out of my bed.” She stopped her walking. “Which of those four is not supposed to be in the line?”
A younger boy with black hair and glasses shrugged. “You asked me to wake you up at eight AM, so I woke you up at eight AM. What’s your problem, May?”
“What my problem is?” May started to breath heavier. “Good question, Max! I’ll tell you what my problem is!”
Max raised his eyebrow, but May ignored him.
“When I asked you to wake me up at eight, I meant: ‘Ask me nicely if I want to wake up at eight in case that when eight comes, I feel like getting up already.’ And, in case you didn’t notice, I did not feel like getting up already!” May took a short break to get back to breath and decided to herself she would never ask her little brother to do something like this again.
“I put all the windows open to make sure you’d hear the morning bell at eight,” Max said, taking a nip of his tea. “If that was not what you wanted, you should’ve told me.” His indifference annoyed May to no end.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she cried out. “First you make me come to this stupid Festival and now you wake me up like this… What have I done to you?”
Max put down his cup. “It’s not all my fault,” he said. “Mum and dad asked you to go to the Festival because they couldn’t come. Don’t blame me for that.”
May opened her mouth, but then shut it again and glared at Max.
“Anyway, May?” Max nodded at May’s pillow and pyjamas. “Are you going to stay like that?”
“What?” May looked down at herself. “Oh… yeah…” she said embarrassed. “But don’t think you’re out of trouble now, mister! You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”
Max gazed after his sister as she walked up the stairs. “Not exactly a morning person.”
“Unbelievable,” May grumbled as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror in the bathroom. “How could I get stuck here, at a festival? With Pokémon!”
“Well, it’s a Pokémon Festival, so it makes sense,” Max pointed out as he entered the bathroom.
May scowled. “Can’t you knock before you come in?” she said angrily.
Max shrugged. “You’ve been in here for over an hour, so I just figured you’d be dressed by now.”
“And what if I wasn’t?”
“I would have suffered some sleepless nights because of that awful picture,” Max said airy. He picked up his toothbrush. “But I’m in a rush. I want to register for the Festival before ten, which means I only have fifteen minutes left.”
“Fine, fine,” May mumbled. She wrapped a red handkerchief around her head. “Don’t let your sister hold you back from winning the stupid Festival.”
Max quickly spit out the toothpaste. “I won’t,” he promised. “Anyway, are you going to hurry or what?”
“Hurry?” May looked up. “Why would I? I don’t have to register or anything.”
Max frowned. “Funny. I really thought I read that gym leaders or their replacements had to register, too. But if you know any better-“
“Oh, just shut up!” May snarled. If he wasn’t her brother, she would have strangled him by now. “You just go and I’ll be there later.”
Max grinned. “I’ll see you at the opening ceremony tonight, then.” He said. He left the room.
“Sure, see you there.” May sighed, checked herself in the mirror and then left the room to eat.
After finishing breakfast, May headed for the Pokémon center. She had never actually been in one since she never had any business there, but she thought she remembered Max mentioning the registering was done at the Pokémon center. At the first, she was afraid she wouldn’t find it, but that fear faded as she saw the words ‘Pokémon Center’ in huge size above the corner. Still half asleep, she entered the Pokémon center and walked to the reception.
“Good morning!” said the pink-haired nurse behind the reception.
“Good morning, nurse…” May yawned and flashed her eyes. “Joy, right?”
Nurse Joy smiled. “Yes, that’s me,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“Not sure,” May said doubtfully. “Is this where I register for the Pokémon Festival?”
“It is,” nurse Joy said. “I take it you want to register?”
“I’ll have to,” May said grumpy. “I’ll have to replace my father as gym leader.”
“I see.” Nurse Joy entered something in her computer and looked back at May again. “Then you must be miss May Maple from the Petalburg gym?”
“That’s me,” May said. She yawned again.
Nurse Joy smiled friendly. “You haven’t slept well, have you?” she asked.
May shook her head. “The bells woke me up,” she said disgruntled.
“I understand what you mean,” nurse Joy said sympathetically. “They are a little too loud at times…” She sounded like she was no fonder of it than May was. “Anyway, here you go!” She handed May a card with ‘May Maple – Petalburg city gym leader’ on it. “The Festival opening is at eight PM today. Tomorrow, gym leaders have to sign in at nine AM at the same stage as the opening ceremony, which is also where the Pokémon Contests will take place. There will be decided when and where you’ll be the referee or judge. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
“No,” May said. “Thank you very much!” She turned to walk away, but then turned back and asked: “Did Max sign in already?”
Nurse Joy thought for a while. “I don’t know,” she said. “I registered several people called Max already. Is he a relative of yours?”
“He’s my little brother,” May said. “I just wondered if he said anything about what he was going to do today…”
“I remember registering a boy called Max Maple,” Nurse Joy said slowly. “He mentioned something about having something to do at the carnival.”
“A carnival?” May asked surprised. “Is there a carnival?” She was sure Max hadn’t told her anything about that…
“Yes, not far from here.” Nurse Joy pointed to the left. “The street around the corner. It’s pretty difficult to miss.”
“Thank you!” May said. “I think I’ll go there, too.” She intentionally forgot to mention she would kill Max for not telling her about the fun things. She turned around again. “Thanks for everything!”
Nurse Joy waved. “Have a nice day!”
May looked around. There was no doubt this carnival was a part of the Pokémon Festival; everywhere you looked were Pokémon or things that had something to do with them. The attractions were decorated with Pokémon-faces, boots sold all kinds of Pokémon merchandise and most trainers dragged their Pokémon around with them outside their Pokéballs. May took deep breath and nodded to herself. The fact that everything on this carnival had something to do with Pokémon and that there was a guy in a big Pikachu-suit who looked suspiciously much like Max had to be forgotten; for once, Pokémon would not take away the fun for her.
May had hated Pokémon ever since a bunch of Tentacool attacked her, when she was still little. Her parents had tried everything to get her over this hate and fear, even quasi-accidentally pushing her off a cliff and having a Gyarados save her (which was, May found, the stupidest idea ever because it made everything worse).
Although her family ran the Petalburg gym, May didn’t help out very often. Her father was the gym leader, her mother helped at the administration and her little brother traveled around the world as a Pokémon trainer. For May, there wasn’t much to do. But because both her father and mother weren’t able to come and Max received an invitation of his own, May was sent to take her father’s place at the Festival. May couldn’t help but think it was another try to make her overcome her hate for Pokémon. Yet she had been happy to finally leave the gym for a while and do something she really liked: Traveling.
May walked forward and raised her hands before her face, making a small square with her fingers. “Welcome to this special edition of May’s Expeditions! Today, we’re at the residence of the Pokémon Festival, which will open tonight.” She turned a little, bringing a big sign with the words ‘Pokémon Festival: Special carnival’ into the picture. “Right in front of us lays the carnival, also a part of the Pokémon Festival. Ladies and gentleman, look at all those colors! No wonder there are so many people, it looks wonderful!” She slowly started walking, her ‘camera’ still in front of her face. “And not only that! All the attractions, all the excitement! And all those wonderful little booths! There are so many, I can’t even count them!” She put her hands down for a while and looked around. Then she put them back up again and walked straight to a booth that caught her eye. “We are going to take a look at this little ice cream shop, which seems to have a lot of customers. Oh, there is a line… Let’s interview some customers while we wait for our turn!” She tapped the man in front of her on his shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, what do you think of this little booth?”
The man looked a little surprised. “What?” he asked, confused by the girl with an imaginary film-camera in front of her face.
“I asked you about your opinion about this booth,” May said. She kept strictly to her role as presenter.
“Eh…” The man flashed his eyes. “I… think I like it…”
“Thank you!” May said. She turned to the woman behind her. “Miss, what do you think of this shop?”
“Why do you ask?” The woman asked. She tried to see who was behind the ‘camera’.
“It’s for May’s Expeditions,” May answered.
The woman groaned and rolled her eyes. “Grow up!”
“Thanks for your advice,” May said politely.
“Who’s next?” The man behind the counter asked.
May put her hands down and stepped forward. “That’d be me,” she said. She thought for a little while. “I’d like-“
“Two cones, one with two bowls of strawberry and one bowl of chocolate, and the other one with one lemon, one vanilla and one pistachio,” a voice behind her said and the man walked away to get it.
A little shocked, May turned around and looked into the face of a green-haired guy from around her age. His emerald-green eyes shone amused and to May, he looked kind of arrogant.
“Excuse me, but I think it was my turn,” she said nervously.
The guy shrugged and flicked his hair. “I thought you were here for your ‘show’,” he said. “What’s it called again? Mary’s Expeditions?”
May turned faintly pink. “It’s ‘May’s Expeditions’,” she said, “and actually, I did want an ice cream.”
“Then I suppose you have to wait a little longer,” the guy said plainly.
“But it was my turn!” May said, a little impatient. “The least you could do is apologize to me.”
“I told you I didn’t know you wanted any,” the guy said. He clearly enjoyed the conversation a lot more than May did.
“I was already ordering!”
“I suggest you talk louder next time.”
Though May tried to stay calm, she felt her face burning up. “I talk loud enough,” she said, gritting her teeth.
The guy grinned. “Mind me for not taking little girls playing games serious.”
“Who are you calling a little girl?”
The guy sighed sarcastically. “Little and slow,” he corrected himself. “Naturally, I was talking about you, Mary.”
“I knew that!” May snapped. “Don’t call me a little girl, because I’m not- I’m 17! Not little! Or slow! And I’m not Mary!”
The guy didn’t even pay attention to her. He paid the shopkeeper and took the ice creams he ordered.
This made May even angrier. She didn’t even feel embarrassed for yelling at a complete stranger in public. Was it really possible for someone to be this rude? “I wasn’t done yet!” she shouted. “Are you even-“
“Here.” Without looking at her, the guy shoved the strawberry-chocolate flavored ice cream in her hands. “My treat.”
May’s anger disappeared like snow in the sun. “For-for me?” she stammered.
“Sure.”
“Why?” May asked, thinking this all was rather suspicious. “And how could you know what I wanted?” Though she loved nearly all flavors, strawberry and chocolate were her favorites.
“You’re a girl,” the guy replied. “All girls like strawberry and chocolate.”
“They don’t,” May said as they walked away together. Her mother hated strawberry more than anything. She hesitated for a second, but then added stiffly: “Thanks for the ice-cream.”
“All the girls I know like strawberry and chocolate,” the guy said carelessly. “And you’re welcome.”
“Then you obviously don’t know a lot of girls,” May replied.
“I’ve met tons of them,” the guy said, “and each one of them loved strawberry and chocolate.”
May couldn’t come up with anything to say and decided it was best to just shut up. The fact she had been arguing with a guy she didn’t know in public had just gotten through to her and she felt rather embarrassed. The fact he also bought her an ice cream was maybe even more embarrassing.
The guy looked at her and grinned. “So, you always play you’re presenting that so-called show of yours?”
“Not always,” May said. She swallowed a big bite of ice and felt her brain freeze. “It’s a habit. I used to play when I was little… I wouldn’t know why I’m telling you, though. I don’t even know you!”
The guy frowned. “You don’t?” he asked. Then he shrugged. “Well, from you, I was sort of expecting that.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” May huffed.
The guy pointed at the card on her chest. “You’re from the Petalburg gym,” he said. “Plus, you just are the kind of person with no knowledge of anything going on in the world.”
May gritted her teeth. “Petalburg gym happens to be great!” she snapped. “We get very many challengers! And if you’re so confident about me not knowing anything anyway, why don’t you just tell me?”
“Fine, I’ll tell you.” The guy grinned and flicked his hair. “I’m Drew. Assuming that doesn’t clear anything for you, I’m a Pokémon co-ordinator and five-times in a row winner of the Grand Festival.”
May took a while to think about that. “I’ve heard the name somewhere,” she said, ”but I’ve never seen a face with it.”
Drew grinned. “At least you know something,” he said. “That’s a start.”
“It’s not my fault I don’t care for those kinds of things,” May mumbled. “I hate the whole Pokémon happening, anyway.”
Drew’s looked at her stunned. He seemed to be unable to come up with anything to say. “You don’t like Pokémon?” he asked after a while.
May shook her head. “No.”
“Unbelievable!” Drew jeered. “Your weirdness has no limits!”
“I’m not weird!” May said insulted. She already felt sorry for telling Drew about her dislike for Pokémon.
“I’ve never heard of someone who doesn’t like Pokémon,” Drew said. His facial expression was still surprised. Then he closed his eyes and smirked. “But it’s only good luck for the Pokémon, I guess. I can’t imagine a self-respecting Pokémon would want you as its trainer.”
“I think you should get to know someone a little better before you say such offensive things!” May snapped. She didn’t bother to keep her voice down.
Drew laughed. “Why would I want to know you better?” He taunted. “I can’t come up with a good reason.”
“Whew, I’m saved!” May sneered back. Drew didn’t reply and May felt slightly satisfied. But just when she opened her mouth to say more, a voice interrupted her.
“Drew!”
Drew stiffened.
“Who’s that?” May asked curiously.
“No idea,” Drew said, but his sudden pale face gave away he was lying. He dropped his half-eaten ice cream in the closest dustbin. “See you later, Mary!”
“IT’S MAY!” May shouted as he ran away. She sighed, closed her eyes and opened them just in time to see a small, red spot coming her way. She quickly raised her hand to catch it. When she felt the thorns pricking in her fingers, she realized it was a red rose. A few meters ahead of her, Drew grinned and ran into a small side street. May looked after him puzzled. What was this all about?
“Hey! You there!”
May turned around. A girl with long, black hair stood right behind her, looking at her with a curious gleam in her dark brown eyes.
“Wha- What’s it?” May stammered.
“Excuse me, but were you just talking to a guy named Drew?” The black-haired girl asked.
May nodded. “I believe I was,” she said. “Why?”
“Let’s just say he’s a very good friend of mine,” the girl said. She smiled proudly. “And I’m also his number-one fan! I was looking for him, but…” She looked around. “I believe he just disappeared. Anyway, my name’s Ayumi!” She talked pretty fast, and it took May a while before she completely got what Ayumi had been saying.
“I’m… May…” She smiled a little unsure.
Ayumi smiled back. “Are you also a fan of Drew?” she asked interested.
“No,” said May, shaking her head heavily, “no, absolutely not.”
“Then how come you were talking?”
“We accidentally bumped into each other.” May didn’t feel like telling the truth, as Ayumi might make a big deal out of it.
Ayumi’s smile faded. “You’re lying,” she said reproachfully.
May blanched. “What?” she squeaked.
“I’ve seen you talking for a while,” Ayumi said impatiently. “Just bumping into each other and talking are different things. You can just tell me the truth, whatever it is.”
May was taken aback for a while. Then she said: “All we did was talk for a little while. He insulted me, I shouted at him and he ran off.” It was not the whole story, but it was close enough.
Ayumi looked at her with piercing eyes, but then smiled again. “Did he give you the rose?” she asked, pointing at the red rose in May’s hand.
May nodded stiffly. “Yes.”
Ayumi beamed. “Roses are really his sign!” she rattled enthusiastically. “Isn’t he sweet? Roses are the most romantic flowers. They suit him so well!”
May decided to refrain from comment, but followed Drew’s example and dropped her ice cream in the dustbin behind her before Ayumi could say anything about it.
“Did you see where he went?” Ayumi asked, and May was glad she changed the subject.
“He went around the corner of that small side street,” she said. “He can’t be far yet.” She knew Drew ran away because he wanted to avoid Ayumi, but she didn’t feel enough sympathy for him to help him out. Whatever Ayumi wanted, she hoped it would annoy Drew terribly.
Ayumi hopped into the direction May had pointed out for her. “Thank you!” she said. “It’s been nice meeting you!”
“Nice meeting you, too,” May said absent-mindedly. She formed a camera with her hands again and walked into a different direction. “Welcome back to May’s Expeditions! As you see, we’re still at the carnival…”
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Don't be afraid to give me any criticism, as long as you consider it helpful. :
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