::DREW::

Maybe it was her smile. No, not maybe, it was definitely her smile. When I saw her smile, I knew everything was going to be okay. And yes, yes we are going to kick butt.

"As always," I replied. I stood up and walked alongside her to the board that Chloe has laid out with where to go and who we were facing off against.

"We're going up against Dawn and Paul first," I said with an edge of fear. I knew Paul was really good, and absolutely ruthless while Dawn was a coordinator who focused more or less on the beauty of her Pokemon. This battle could either be the hardest battle we've had in a while or the easiest, depending on how Dawn and Paul work together.

"We're going to the pool for our first battle," May said. Then out of nowhere, she grabbed my hand and we started running off. A jolt of energy radiated throughout my hand. Adrenaline ran through my body and all of a sudden, I felt like I was in one of those movies where they grab each other's hand and giddily run off to go make out. I could see May shaking with happiness and excitement. I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

We kept running, not knowing where we were going. We seemed to be able to find every room in the mansion except for the pool. When we finally got to the pool, Gary, who was the referee for the match; Dawn; Paul; and Leaf, who was watching the match from beside Gary, were all waiting for us.

"What the hell took you so long?" Gary inquired, an edge of impatience creeping into his voice.

"Sorry," May said, looking down.

"Never mind," Gary said impatiently. "Get to your spot." Then he walked over to the referee's stand with Leaf standing sweetly beside him. "This battle will be a tag battle between Drew Hayden and May Maple on one side and Dawn Hikari and Paul Shinji on the other!" Gary announced. "Battle begin!"

"Go Buneary!" Dawn said happily.

"Pathetic," Paul commented snidely. "Ursaring, standby for battle."

Buneary bounced onto the battlefield happily while Ursaring appeared beside it.

A rush of panic overwhelmed me. I had no idea what Pokemon May was going to use. The same thought must've crossed May's mind because she looked at me quickly with a worried look. I took a deep breath and knew all we could do now was wing it. I motioned gently for her to call out her Pokemon first.

"Glaceon! Take the stage!" she cried as she threw Glaceon's Pokeball into the air.

I sighed a sigh of relief. At least I had some idea of Glaceon's attacks. I pulled out a Pokeball and hoped this would work. "It's your turn, Flygon!" I called out.

Flygon and Glaceon appeared on the stage in their normal grandeur with Flygon arcing over the pool and Glaceon.

"Glaceon! Ice Shard!"

With all of the grace she had, Glaceon jumped, flipped, and then let out a stream of razor-sharp ice crystals. They were zooming right at Ursaring and Buneary and they were doing nothing to stop it. I felt confidence surge through my veins. If they just stood around like that, we would absolutely win. At the last minute though, I saw a smirk creep onto Paul's face.

"Ursaring! Focus Blast!"

Ursaring put its huge paws close together and formed a glowing blue-white ball of sheer energy. Almost as if time were slowing down, the ball slowly grew bigger, until it nearly touched Ursaring's paws. Then in a single, swift, motion, Ursaring pulled its paws back then flung the glowing ball into the incoming shower of icy shards, shattering them all and sending the fragments back to Glaceon... and May.

"May! Watch out!" I dove off my stand and onto May's, knocking her over into the water before the icy shards could hit her. A split second later, the attack hit the wall of the pool hard and punctured the wall as we freefell into the water.

"Drew!" she sputtered once we surfaced.

"Sorry... I was only trying to protect you."

She smiled and I felt my face heat up.

"Will you two lovebirds get out of the water and continue the battle?" Paul sneered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see May blush furiously as she swam to the platform.

The rest of the battle carried on in a ferocious back and forth manner until it was only Ursaring and Flygon left. Glaceon knocked out Buneary earlier and it was two against one for a while until Glaceon went in for a close range attack and got pounded by Ursaring.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded.

"Hyperbeam!" Paul countered.

Ursaring began generating a hyperbeam in between its giant paws. "Now's your chance!" May yelled from the platform. She looked up at me with doe-like eyes.

I nodded. "Get in close Flygon then get out of there!" Flygon swooped in quickly, released a blaze of flame, then sped back out. Ursaring's groans echoed over the pool as it stumbled around, attempting to extinguish the flames. Then in a quick moment, Ursaring stumbled over the platform and into the water. Paul gasped as Ursaring tried desperately to swim but ultimately failed.

"Finish with a rock smash!" I said proudly.

Flygon dove in low and smashed his tail into Ursaring's head, shoving him underwater. A few moments later, Ursaring surfaced, unconscious. Gary raised his arm in our direction and called the match in our favor.

"Drew, you did it!" May squealed. Then she leaped up to hug me. Her sweet scent of strawberries wafted up to my nose. I felt like I was going to pass out from her proximity. Then without warning, she turned her face and kissed me... and I kissed back. It took us a while to realize what we were doing before we both awkwardly pulled away.

The next five minutes of waiting for the other battle to finish was pure awkward agony. We tried exchanging small talk but nothing was right. All I could think about was that kiss... and I'm pretty sure that's on her mind too. The moment when Chloe walked in just made our awkwardness even more awkward. She looked at us with a confused expression but walked on. Then Harley and Solidad came In. Harley winked at us, and Solidad laughed. I heard May attempt a thin chuckle but it came out more like a choking sound. The final moment was a moment of relief. When Ash and Misty walked in, we got up and walked in separate directions to the platform. No more waiting around awkwardly trying to stir up small talk. We were there to do what we do best. Battle.

::MAY::

I called out my Pokemon. He called out his. I called an attack. He called an attack. They didn't quite fit together; neither did we. Ash and Misty were pulling off an easy win. Chloe, our referee, was glaring at us the entire time, as if she expected another passionate act of... what were we doing anyways? Another passionate act of teenage hormones? Another passionate act of insanity? Another passionate act of... love?

"Solarbeam!" we both call out.

Misty smirked. "You both just made a bad mistake," she said giddily. "Lumineon! Ice beam!"

"Pikachu! Thunder!"

The two attacks formed a deadly beam that twisted and swirled around Beautifly and Roserade. Beautifly looked startled, to the point where it begins bumping into Roserade, threatening to push it into the dangerous barrier.

"Idiot!" Drew mutters.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" I ask, shoving him.

"YOU!"

"Better than being a conceited jerk-face!" I retort.

We begin shoving each other on the platform, threatening us with going overboard while Misty and Ash close in on our Pokemon, who have now lost all the solar charge they were building up.

"Jerk!" I yell.

"Idiot!"

"Look who's talking!"

"Yeah. Ugly-face!"

"You take that back!"

We continue shoving and yelling until Chloe finally has to call the whistle on us. "Chill out you two!" she shouts. "What has gotten into you?" She glares at us before continuing. "Seriously! One minute you're hugging and kissing, the next minute you're trying to kill each other!"

We look at each other quickly. The first thought that flashes in my mind is, "Who told her we did some kissing and hugging?" The second thought that flashes through is, "It's so complicated..."

Drew has the same expression on his face when he's caught off guard. It's my favorite expression. He looks so innocent with it on. It's the side of Drew we rarely see. Not the cocky, arrogant side that charms the heck out of everyone, it's the confused, sweet side of him, the side that brings out the little boy in him. I almost want to go over and comfort him... almost. It was so tempting... but I withheld. I know it would only freak him out more... and that was only the beginning.

"Well, say something!" Chloe insisted.

"I-I-I," I stutter.

"I'm not going to battle two people that can't communicate without something weird happening that totally screws them up!" Misty complains. "I want a battle, not a soap opera!"

"I agree," Ash said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"You don't sound or look like you do," Misty said.

"We're not doing anything for the time being so why not relax?"

"You're so lazy!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING ABOUT NOT WANTING A SOAP OPERA!" I burst. "I'm done with this drama! Chloe! Stop meddling! Misty! Ash! Just make out already! We all know you like each other!" Misty and Ash looked shocked while Chloe just shrugged.

"And you," I said, whirling around to face Drew. "You're the bane of my existence yet somehow I know if you died right here, right now, I wouldn't be able to live. You make life so freakishly complicated for me but I can't live without you. You make me want to scream and laugh at the same time. And damn we have to stop randomly kissing each other! We're awkward enough without it! But it feels so good! It feels so right while being so wrong at the same time! Damn it! You have a girlfriend! I have a boyfriend who I don't even like! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Then I do some platform hopping before running out of the room crying.

A/n
This story will probably be coming to an end in 3-4 parts. I already know how I'm gonna end it and stuff to put in the middle so I hope you enjoy this part. Also I'm finally on break yayayay so a lot more time to write
~Hailey