I blinked with disbelief as I stared at the card in his hand and then my eyes narrowed and I glared at him suspiciously. Drew was giving me a gloating grin and I slowly folded my arms.

"How could YOU endorse me? I mean, you're not even from the Galar region," I pointed out with a hefty dose of skepticism. Drew grinned at me with a glimmer in his green eyes and flicked his fringe in a self-important pose.

"Poor Sayuri doesn't even know how endorsements work," Drew said with a shake of his head. I rolled my eyes at his overdramatic antics and turned to walk away.

"I know enough not to trust a cocky coordinator to endorse me for a gym challenge," I said over my shoulder. Drew quickly jogged over and stood in front of me, blocking my path and waggling the official-looking card that sported his name on it.

"Au contraire, my feisty girl. Anyone who makes a supportive donation to the Galar League can earn an endorsement card. Of course, if you're actually a member of the league you get to endorse whoever you want for free, but anyone can endorse someone as long as they make a donation," Drew said with a grin and I frowned slightly.

"Wait. You paid money to be able to give me an endorsement? Why would you do that?" I asked, feeling awkward that this guy I barely even knew would have gone that far to help me. Drew let out a small huff and turned away, making it difficult for me to see his expression.

"Don't be so self-centered. I made my donation forever ago after I watched a challenger go up against the water gym leader, Nessa. I just haven't found anyone I wanted to endorse yet," Drew said with another flick of his fringe.

I studied him with narrowed eyes, wondering if that was really the truth, but my eyes widened when I felt something soft brush against my leg and I looked down to see Drew's Roselia looking up at me with a sweet smile. My heart melted at her adorable expression. I felt my eyes flitting over to the card that Drew still held tantalizingly in his fingers.

"You don't even know if I'm good, though. Why would you give your endorsement to me?" I asked, still not convinced that I was ready to accept the consequences of being endorsed by a guy like Drew.

"If you felt so guilty about squashing a Wooloo's dreams by beating it with your pokemon that seems like a pretty good indicator that you're good," Drew said with a sly grin. I felt myself blushing once again and turned away, but I was met by Roselia's darling face and I finally felt my walls breaking down.

"Ugh, fine. But this doesn't mean we're friends," I said, holding out my hand for the card. Drew pulled it away though and I glowered at him as he wagged a finger in front of my face.

"What kind of stipulation is that? Most people have to battle someone to get an endorsement you know, you're being pretty ungrateful," Drew said with a mocking stern expression.

"Well then battle me," I said immediately, jumping at this opportunity. Drew blinked in shock and looked down at me with obvious surprise.

"What?" he responded as I jogged a few steps away and pulled one of my Pokeballs from my belt.

"I'd rather earn my endorsement anyways, so a battle will be perfect. Then I don't have to worry about owing you for giving it to me," I said with a grin. Drew let out a surprised laugh and shook his head.

"You do realize that I am a Master Coordinator in four regions," Drew said as I rolled my shoulders to loosen up.

"I may not have a fancy title, but I was a Pokemon performer for three years, I was a coordinator for two, I spent two years as a breeder's assistant, and I qualified for the Unova League. Don't count me out just yet," I said with a happy grin. Drew blinked but then a small grin spread across his lips and he flicked his fringe.

"Alright then miss No Title. Let's see how you do against my Roselia," he said and Roselia gracefully leaped out in front of him, obviously ready for a battle.

"Bring it on!" I said with glee, throwing out my Pokeball with gusto. "Simisear, let's do this!"

I grinned upon seeing one of my favorite pokemon from Unova. I had almost left him behind since I had so many memories associated with my ex when it came to Simisear, but his bounciness and class-clown personality were just too endearing for me to leave him behind with the other pokemon I had caught in Unova. He looked like a less intimidating version of Infernape with big ears, a poofy tail, and red fur that stood on end and looked reminiscent to flames.

"A type advantage, huh? That won't help you much against my Roselia. Use Sleep Powder!" Drew said without a hint of concern in his voice.

"Dodge it by using Dig!" I said immediately in response. Simisear leaped into the air and dove into the ground as easily as if it was water, leaving Roselia's shimmering powder drifting in the air where he had just been. Seconds later the ground rumbled underneath Roselia and I was shocked when she jumped delicately to the side before Simisear could land his hit on her.

"Petal Blizzard, Roselia," Roselia shook her bouquet hands towards Simisear, and the biggest and most powerful whirlwind of pink petals I had ever seen whooshed from her and headed straight for Simisear.

"Use Heat Wave and beat them back!" I called out.

Simisear did his signature double fist pump before he unleashed a wall of superheated air that snapped and sizzled with flames dancing within it. As the beautiful petals clashed with Simisear's Heat Wave they shriveled and lost their momentum as they became charred bits of ash. Roselia kept her stream of petals going until both moves had wiped each other out and Simisear and Roselia regarded each other with interest.

"Let's end this with Stun Spore, Roselia," Drew said.

"Hah, don't underestimate us. Use Attract, Simisear!" I called out with a grin.

Simisear did a silly backflip and blinked his eyes overdramatically, releasing shimmering pink hearts that glided through Roselia's stun spore. He couldn't avoid the paralyzing spray, but Roselia couldn't avoid all the hearts either. Soon her little irises turned into hearts and she began spinning around, looking at Simisear dreamily.

"What?! Come on, Roselia, have some pride! There's no way you could fall for that hideous thing," Drew called out, sounding personally offended, and I gasped.

"Excuse you? Simisear is super handsome, thank you very much!" I yelled back at him and Drew snorted.

"You're kidding. That's a face only a mother could love," Drew said while running his hands through his bangs in a gesture of disgust, but I could see the mirth hiding in his green eyes and I couldn't help but grin.

"Hah! You're just jealous of his chiseled features. Simisear, use Fire Blast!" I said.

Simisear was heavily under the effect of the paralytic spores, but he managed to get out a weak spurt of what looked like molten lava. It splashed down in front of Roselia and spewed out lamely, but Roselia avoided the hot mess while spinning languidly towards my paralyzed Simisear with hearts still in her eyes.

Drew and I looked at each other across the ridiculous scene and I wasn't sure who started it, but soon we were both laughing wildly. I laughed so hard tears began leaking from my eyes and, recognizing that it would be almost useless to keep the battle going, I began walking over to my paralyzed pokemon. Drew met me halfway, scooping up Roselia and holding her firmly even as she tried to wiggle her way out to get to Simisear.

"That was an interesting battle," I said through a chuckle, and Drew grinned at me.

"I totally would've won if we were in a contest."

I blew a raspberry at him to show what I thought of that comment and he laughed again.

"Well, the battle didn't last very long, but your Simisear is powerful, no doubt. I'd be happy to give you my endorsement," Drew said with a grin, although he scowled when Roselia smacked his cheek in her struggling to try to get to Simisear. I chuckled as I kissed Simisear on the cheek in thanks before returning him to his Pokeball and Drew returned Roselia as well.

"Thank you, Drew. This really means a lot to me," I said with a smile, holding out my hand and smiling again when he actually placed his card in my palm.

"Have you got a Wishing Star and Dynamaxing band yet?" Drew asked me and I held up my wrist to show off my new accessory.

"Done and done. I'm going to go heal Simisear and then take on the Turffield gym," I said with excitement, turning to leave but halting when I saw the damaged fence behind me.

"I guess I should find the owner and apologize for the damage first though," I said with a guilty wince.

"I can take care of it," Drew said, and I frowned over at him.

"No, it was my fault, I should take responsibility..." I tried to argue but Drew held up a Pokeball and shook it back and forth a few times.

"Wooloo is MY pokemon now, so the responsibility is mine. Go get Simisear healed, I'll figure out the fence issue," Drew said with a charismatic smile.

Choice A: Let Drew take responsibility

Choice B: Insist that you(Sayuri) will take the blame

A/N How are you liking it so far? I hope I'm not making Drew too OOC, but this is essentially going to be the length of a one-shot so the romance will be moving a little faster paced than my normal fics :P Again, same thing. Choice A is the next chapter, choice B you skip to the one after :D Good luck choosing the right path!