::MAY::

Ugh. Our portion of the rehearsal was terrible. I tripped and stumbled over my own feet more times than I could count and somehow I always ended up in an awkward position while I was falling. To make things worse, Drew always caught me… in the awkward position so we pretty much spent the entire rehearsal in near-kissing positions.

Now it was Chloe's turn, dressed up in full wedding garb, complete with self-satisfying smile and everything. The pool opened up for her and she stepped up to the platform and pulled out two Pokeballs. The announcer introduced her and then let her start.

"Introducing the magical wonders and splendors of," she started, while twirling around. Then she threw the Pokeballs in the air and two white fish-like silhouettes appeared in the mist of a cascade of sparkles, "Magikarp and Feebas!" she finished proudly.

We all sweatdropped backstage. Seriously, I think we were all expecting something a bit more… spectacular, like her highly trained and very powerful Eevees and their evolutions or her dragon type Pokemon or something along those lines.

She smirked as her Pokemon dived straight into the pool from the air.

"Now Feebas Water Pulse! Magikarp! Spin and use Tackle!"

First Feebas unleashed a powerful Water Pulse from its mouth before Magikarp came barreling down while spinning rapidly. Magikarp's Tackle collided with the Water Pulse and the rapid spinning of the Tackle turned the Water Pulse into spinning tendrils of water around Magikarp. Magikarp kept going though until it hit the water and the combined force of the Water Pulse and Tackle created a large ring of water splashing up.

"Now Magikarp! Use Splash! Feebas! Spin and use Mist!"

Magikarp started jumping around in the water creating water arches. Meanwhile, Feebas, who was still suspended in mid-air, started unleashing clouds of sparkly white mist around the stage in a spiraling formation. The Mist attack also lightly froze the water, giving it a semi-frozen quality to it. The semi-frozen water reflected the sun's powerful rays and made Feebas sparkle and shimmer.

"Let's do this Magikarp! Use Bounce followed with a full power spin-Tackle!"

Magikarp jumped out of the water before turning around and heading at full speed back to the water while spinning. The spinning motion drew in the surrounding water from the previous setup and created a horizontally spiraling pattern around Magikarp. Chloe started spinning too and because Magikarp was going down in a downwards spiral, the force of the Tackle caught onto the outer layer of Chloe's dress and drew it in too, giving Magikarp a tail-like accessory and also revealing Chloe's dress to be purple. Magikarp soon hit the water creating another ring of water. Only this time, Feebas didn't freeze it.

"She's doing a really good job of showing off her Pokemon," Zoey said. "Just look at how beautiful Feebas looks and how strong Magikarp is. They've probably both been ready for evolution for quite some time now but just probably don't want to evolve," she concluded.

"Now Feebas! Use Hypnosis!"

Feebas's eyes glowed red then the water also glowed red and froze in its tracks.

"Now use Dive!"

Feebas then headed straight down in a nosedive and with the Hypnosis still in effect, glowing tendrils of water started going down with Feebas. When it started to spin, the water began to spin too, making it look like Feebas was spiraling down with glowing streamers of water next to it.

When Feebas hit the water, Chloe then called out another attack. "Feebas! Use Whirlpool!"

Feebas summoned up a large whirlpool right in the middle of the pool.

"Now Magikarp use Tackle full power! Feebas! Start prepping up a Light Screen!"

Magikarp immediately started zooming in at high speeds towards the Whirlpool and started cutting it down into shape. The top of it now looked like a weird upside down skirt and the bottom looked like… well, like a thick line.

"Now Magikarp! Tackle on the light screen!"

"What's she doing?" Zoey asked frantically. "Is she trying to hurt Feebas?"

"Knowing Chloe she's probably got something up her sleeve. She's like Solidad as far as her coordinating genius goes, only nuttier," Drew said.

Magikarp was now barreling straight at Feebas but then the minute it hit the Light Screen, it turned up and the flow of water led the shattered pieces of light energy towards the line part of the whirlpool where it was drawn in and gave that part a green-ish glow.

"It's the same color as your hair Drew," I said semi-consciously.

Drew smirked at me. "Do you really pay that much attention to my hair?" he asked arrogantly before doing that cute, I-MEAN-ANNOYING, hair-flip of his.

"WHAT? Of course not!" I said defensively. I could feel a deep red blush creep up onto my face.

Drew smirked and reached towards my head. He picked up a lock of my hair and twirled it around in his fingers. I couldn't help but blush. As annoying as Drew was, he was actually pretty charming sometimes.

What are you thinking? You should be immune to those annoyingly cute hair-flips, and those prismatic emerald green eyes, and… AGH! STOP IT MAY!

I tried my best to ignore Drew but it was hard so I tried to focus all my attention on whatever Chloe was doing onstage. At the moment, her Feebas was glowing pink and fearlessly riding the top part of the whirlpool, spreading around the pink-y glow.

"Let's finish this! Magikarp! Use Tackle!"

Magikarp dove down into the water than came surging back up, lifting itself and Feebas up into the air before they came landing back down gracefully beside the pink-y red whirlpool creating a shower of sparkles, which rained down upon the whirlpool giving it some definition. From here, it looked like a rose.

Chloe bowed before taking the mike away from the host and saying, "I'd like to dedicate this performance and this rose to Drew and May! A couple days ago before I met them, I was troubled and drunk but they helped me see the light. But not only that, they showed me how to truly love again. Thank you," she finished with a small bow before returning her Pokemon and walking backstage.

Everyone else backstage was touched by Chloe's kind words to us but I knew, and I'm pretty sure Drew knew as well, that there was a hidden message in her loving words.

When Chloe arrived backstage, she immediately spotted us and walked over. "I really can't thank you enough for showing me how to love again," she said, putting emphasis on the word "showing."

"Uhhh, no problem," Drew said semi-cautiously.

Chloe smiled sweetly before walking off to talk to Zoey and Dawn.

"I can see why she and Harley are like best friends," Drew muttered. Then he turned to me and asked, "Do you want to —"

Was he going to ask me out? Arceus! What do I do if he does? I have a boyfriend already! But I'll admit, he is kind of hot. What am I saying? I HAVE BRENDAN!

"— go train our Pokemon a little bit?" he finished.

I put on a fake smile but needless to say, I was a little bit crestfallen. For what though? It was just Drew! My rival! My friend! My partner! Right?

"Sure," I said.

"But how do you know what you need to train if you don't see how you're doing?"

We both turned around and saw Chloe standing there with an innocent smile on her face. "So before you train, why don't you watch your performance today and see how you can improve it? I'll help!"

Then she marched over to us and grabbed our wrists before dragging us into a small room. She pressed a couple of buttons in rapid-fire mode and soon a video of our performance came up on the screen.

Right off the bat, I was seen tripping over the hem of my dress and Drew immediately caught me and teased me about my clumsiness.

I could see Chloe giggle before quickly recomposing herself. I decided to brush that off.

Next we called out our Pokemon and that went fairly well… until I tripped over the hem of my dress and once again went tumbling into Drew's arms. On the monitor I could see him sigh in mock disappointment before hoisting me back up. I saw I had a deep red blush on my face; that just made me blush even harder now.

We continued watching the video. I had a blush on my face the entire time. Drew merely looked amused and Chloe was doing her best not to burst with laughter. I rolled my eyes at the latter. It's not like she hasn't tripped up before.

When the video finally ended, Chloe flicked on the lights and excused herself for a moment. A second or two later, we heard loud, rolling laughs coming from down the hall. These went on for a couple of minutes before Chloe finally let out all of her laughs. I merely rolled my eyes and this made Drew even more amused.

Chloe came sauntering back in with a pleased smile on her face. "So," she said. "Now do you know what you need to work on?" She giggled a little bit before straightening herself once again and smiling.

Drew smirked and replied, "I don't need to work on anything." He finished with a hair flick and a charming smile that usually works on any female that's not a lesbian. It had absolutely no effect on Chloe though… mostly because she was scanning through the video to prove Drew wrong.

Drew scowled and I laughed. He looked so cute when he was mad, which was rare to see from Drew.

"Here," Chloe said, pointing to the screen. "You do see how Beautifly is spinning in place while Masquerain is sort of spinning while flying around in a small circle? It's not much but having Masquerain fly like Beautifly will make it look much tighter and neater."

Drew looked dumbfounded but quickly recomposed himself. "I guess you learn something new everyday," he said with a smirk.

"Well I'll leave you two to your training," Chloe said in a calm voice. "I need to mix up some more Poffins and Pokeblock for my Pokemon. Toodles!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Drew cock an eyebrow at Chloe's Harley-like walk. Fortunately, she was subtler than Harley about his… unique style of walking.

I giggled a little bit and Drew smirked. Then silently, as if we read each other's mind, we both walked out onto the training field and called out our Pokemon. We both decided to work with our other Pokemon for the random battles that were going to be part of the show tomorrow.

"Rapidash! Take the stage!"

"Arcanine! It's your turn!"

::DREW::

We called out our Pokemon at the same time and they appeared with grace and elegance before getting serious for battle. I internally smiled a little bit. May's Rapidash looked seriously powerful and beautiful.

Just like May. When I realized what I just said mentally, I felt confused. Do I really like her as more than just a friend? No… I think… I have Brianna as my girlfriend… but I almost want May. No. Correction. I need May. As a girlfriend or a rival or a friend is still confusing me. All I know is that I need her.

Then it hit me. Memories from the past came flooding back to me from the very first day I met her in Slateport City…

I was walking along, minding my own business. It was a couple of days before the Slateport City Contest. I was planning on going to the private beach to let my Pokemon out to play. Unfortunately, when I got there, it seems that someone beat me to the beach.

I was captivated the moment I saw her, not that I would let it show. I couldn't put my finger on what it was about her that made me so intrigued but she just caught my attention and apparently, I caught hers — and her Frisbee.

When we started talking, I just naturally started being arrogant and jerky, which I always do with girls but afterwards, I felt kind of guilty about insulting her. She was actually pretty good. But it was more than that. She was different. I made a promise to myself that if I were ever to meet another rookie coordinator again, I would be nice to them, and hopefully May would see I could be nice.

I couldn't wait to see May again.

"Rapidash! Quick Attack into Flame Wheel!" May commanded, snapping me out of my trance.

Rapidash wasted no time in running as fast as it could before starting up Flame Wheel.

"Arcanine! Use ExtremeSpeed!" I said, refocusing on the battle.

It was the perfect counter. ExtremeSpeed would negate the effects of Quick Attack and inflict more damage on Rapidash than that Flame Wheel because of types. But May had a smile on her face. There was more to her attack.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she called out the next part of her plan. "Now use Stomp!" she commanded.

At that point, Rapidash was so really close to Arcanine and came out of the Flame Wheel, flickering fragments of the flames surrounding it still floating around eerily, before rearing up onto its hind legs and bringing the front ones down hard on Arcanine, stopping the ExtremeSpeed attack dead in its tracks.

I smirked. She has gotten better, by a lot. I wonder what else has changed.

"Not bad May," I said suavely. "I can honestly say I didn't see that coming." Then with a flick of my hair, I pulled out a rose and threw it to her. It landed gently in her hands and she blushed.

I gave her my most charming smirk and then prepared to call for a Thunder Fang but was abruptly interrupted by clapping. We both averted our attention from the battle for a moment to see Chloe, Dawn, Zoey, Ash, Misty, and Paul standing there behind us. Chloe was the only one clapping though.

"Bravo my fellow coordinators!" she said cheerily. "Especially you May," she said with a smile. "Carry on!" she said happily. Then she flounced over to the sidelines and smiled.

May took this time to regain her composure and order an attack while I was distracted with whatever Chloe was up to. "Rapidash! Use the Bounce-Poison Jab combination!"

"ExtremeSpeed into Thunder Fang!" I commanded, fully absorbed back into the battle.

But May only smirked. Then she mumbled something quietly. I tried to make it out but I just couldn't hear what she said. I tried to focus on reading her petal-soft lips but to no avail.

Then the Thunder Fang hit, energized by the ExtremeSpeed but May did nothing to dodge it. Something was going on. A thick cloud of smoke billowed out from the contact point clouding our view but even through the smoke, I could see a smirk on May's face.

"Rapidash! Use SolarBeam!" she commanded.

Out of nowhere, Rapidash came tumbling out of the sky, its horn glowing white as it gathered up solar energy. Then it shot the powerful beam of solar energy right at Arcanine.

"Dodge it!" I commanded frantically.

Arcanine tried to spin out of the way but the SolarBeam still hit his back legs causing him to go off-balance when he landed.

"Poison Jab!" May said enthusiastically.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded right back.

"You can take it Rapidash!"

Then Rapidash dived right into the flames. This was not looking good for Arcanine. The flames only motivated Rapidash even more as it stored up the poisonous energy in its horn, which was now growing larger and even more eerie in the blazing flames.

"Use Hyper Beam Arcanine!" I commanded. Yes it was a risky move but I wasn't going to let May win this. She may be my friend but she was still my rival, and I will never forget that.

Arcanine unleashed the powerful beam of energy at Rapidash and hit it head on, throwing it backwards. I could see the horror in May's eyes, a look I knew very well. I've seen it time after time in our battles, she would gain the upper hand but I would always turn the tables. That's what made our battles so amazing.

"Get up!" she said frantically.

Rapidash struggled to get up but eventually did and May smiled brightly. Then she flashed me a look that said, "This battle isn't over Drew. Just wait." And I flashed her a confident look that said, "Give up already, you know you can't win against me."

She gave me a competitive glare. "You want to bet?"

"I don't need to. I know I'm going to win."

"I've got three Ribbon Cups!"

"Same here! Got anything else?"

"I beat you in the Sinnoh Grand Festival!"

"That was four years ago!"

"A win is a win."

"You're still just as immature as you were four years ago, you know that?"

"And you're just as arrogant as you were four year ago! Mr. Rose!"

I felt a blush creep up onto my face. The last time she called me that was when we were just meeting Brianna for the first time. I quickly regained my composure though. She wasn't going to win this. "You are going down."

"Bring it."

"Ummm," Dawn asked cautiously. "Are you two going to battle or just stare at each other all day?"

We snapped out of our mental-verbal war and looked at each other with confused expressions. Then I felt my insides soften. May looked so darn cute when she was blushing! Is it just me, or did her blush just deepen? Arceus she was cute.

"Well," a different voice piped up. "I suppose we could go and take a rest. The two Pokemon must be exhausted."

We turned to see Chloe standing up from the crowd. "How about we all get some lunch?"

Personally, I wasn't all that hungry but May eagerly jumped onto Chloe's offer, so did Ash. Chloe took us all to this local noodle place and treated us to lunch.

"Isn't this great?" May asked happily. She just finished slurping up a noodle and had a small, really cute dribble of soup on her chin. On anyone else it would've looked messy. On her, it looked adorable.

For Mesprit's sake what am I saying? Why are you so interested in May? You have Brianna! Arceus Drew! You always say you're not a player no matter what the tabloids say so stop acting like one!

But despite my mental rant, I smirked, grabbed a napkin, leaned in, and wiped that tiny dribble off her face. I could see her blushing furiously. That's when I realized how close we were, close enough that I could see each and every individual, long, sweeping eyelash.

"Ummmm…" Ash said uncomfortably, "can I get the soy sauce?"

I reluctantly withdrew myself so he could get his dumb soy sauce and rolled my eyes.

The rest of the table continued to go on like nothing really happened. Zoey and Chloe were talking about Leafeons or something like that. Dawn was trying to talk to the extremely anti-social Paul without blowing up in his face. Ash and Misty were just being Ash and Misty. Only May and I sat there in utter silence.

"Soooo," I said uncomfortably. I didn't get it. I could keep my cool remarkably well in a crowd of screaming fan girls or on the world's biggest stage but if May was anywhere near me, I felt my heart beat speed up just a tiny bit. Every minute I'm with her, I was constantly fighting off a blush. It didn't make sense. She was my friend, my rival, my partner. She was not my girlfriend. In the name of Mew, why do girls have to be so complicated?

"Ready for the performance tomorrow?" she asked sweetly.

I nodded. "I just hope Mr. Contesta made sure Chloe wasn't going to enter the battle rounds."

"Little Drew is worried?" May asked teasingly.

"Shut up," I muttered. "Like you wouldn't be worried too."

She shrugged. "Point taken. But Chloe HAS been defeated before." Then she took a sip of her drink. "Chloe told me earlier that a special friend was coming over tomorrow for the kick off performance."

"It better not be Harley," I groaned. Just thinking of that purple-haired wacko made me shiver from the inside out.

May laughed and I listened to her laugh and only her laugh. It was a sweet, melodic laugh, as innocent as she was. It was something that sounded almost like a baby Pokemon's laugh. Sweet, soft, twinkling.

"Well who knows who Chloe invited over. She's connected to just about every important figure there is in the Pokemon world," May reasoned.

I smiled. Not a smirk, a smile. A May-induced smile.

::CHLOE::

Everything was going amazingly. While Zoey and I were talking about all things Leafeon, Dawn and Paul were having another argument/chat, as were Ash and Misty. The couple that really intrigued me the most was May and Drew. They were laughing and smiling and exchanging jokes related to me. It was all so organic.

The hardest part about matchmaking is letting go and letting the lovebirds do their stuff without meddling. So far, there were only two instances which were purely theirs, the rehearsal today, and now. Things were looking up.

"I say it's time to go back for some more training," I said, standing up. Then I waved for the waiter to come over with our bill and quickly paid before we all hightailed it out of there.

By the time we got back, it was about four o'clock and general rehearsals were over. We decided to do some makeshift performances in the training lot behind the hall.

After some performances by Zoey, Dawn, May, and Drew, we all went back to the Pokemon Center to get some dinner and heal our Pokemon before heading to the hotel. Ash went to the Cerulean Gym to crash over at Misty's place and Paul stayed at the Pokemon Center. Dawn and Zoey soon got off at the eighteenth floor of the hotel leaving just Drew, May, and me in the elevator alone. They eventually got off at the second highest floor, floor thirty-three. I had to wait just a little bit longer for this thing to take me up to the penthouse.

Once I was in, I drew up a bath with extra bath salts and bubbles. All I could do now was just wait for tomorrow and hope that my good friend would help out my case here.

A/N: Heyy! Sorry if you found this chapter a little bit disappointing. Next chapter will be the big first day with a special guest appearance brought to you by popular demand! I have the next couple of chapters planned out in my head… I just need to write them. =P

A little interesting tidbit about this chapter: May and Drew's floor is the number of the first episode they met (from the AG series. Not the show entirely. AG033. Look it up on Bulbapedia.)

School's been keeping me busy but I'm trying to work on this for at least an hour or two each day (I love writing this story so much).  Anyways, I'll stop mindlessly blabbering now.

Comments are appreciated, blah, blah, blah, {the usual stuff people put down here.}

Bye for now! =)

~Hay ♡