Previously...

"I'm joking," he grinned. "Come on, we need to get going. It's a few more days to Violet City and the contest is exactly a week from now. Once we get there, we can really focus on our combinations and appeal routines before the contest," he said thoughtfully.

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After a few more days of traveling, May finally saw the blinking of streetlights in the distance against the evening sky. As they got closer, she smiled seeing the purple color of the poles. She was excited to be back in the city she spent most of her childhood. Still, as they walked into the city, she felt a tug in her chest. She did miss her parents, and Max.

"You okay?" Drew asked her, probably noticing her change in demeanor. She smiled it off.

"I'm feeling great!" She said cheerfully. "It's good to be back!" She said as she stretched her arms up before folding them behind her head.

"Right, I forgot, you said you're from here aren't you?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am! It's nice, but it does make me miss my family," she said a little sadly.

"I see," he said, his eyes glazed over and he looked lost in thought.

"You're from LaRousse City right?" He stiffened at the mention of it.

"Yeah," he said curtly. She could tell she struck a nerve.

"Do you miss it much?" She asked curiously.

"No, and I never want to go back," he said bitterly.

"Oh, sorry I mentioned it then," she said quietly.

"It's not your fault. We were on the topic," he shrugged. She still frowned though. She wondered what happened to make him never want to go back. When she was there, it seemed like such a cool place. They had crazy technology there that took her breath away. But she had upset him so many times that she refused to ask anything more in fear she'd make him mad again.

The two made their way to the Pokemon Center to check in for the night. May noticed that when they were in the main room, people started whispering to each other and they were looking at her and Drew. He wasn't paying any attention as he was reserving a room with Nurse Joy. When she turned away to give them a room key, May tugged on Drew's sleeve a little shyly. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Everyone's staring at us and whispering," she said quietly. He shrugged with a small smile.

"I'm used to it, don't worry about it, it's probably just the usual for me anyways," he said reassuringly. Suddenly, the whispers seemed to increase. She let go of his sleeve as he turned back to collect the room keys for them. He passed her one and they went up. People were staring at them as they walked towards the stairs. They found their room and went inside to set their stuff down.

"Hey, I want to go talk to my mom, I'll be back in a little," she told him.

"Okay, see you when you get back," he said, keeping his attention on his bag. She made her way back downstairs to the rooms with the video phones. She punched in the numbers and waited. After a few seconds, the screen turned on to reveal her mom.

"May!" She said happily.

"Hey Mom, I promised that I would check in frequently. I just got to Violet City. I'm sorry I didn't call when we got to Cherrygrove. It was really crazy! Some Team Rocket grunts stole a Cyndaquil from Professor Elm, and Drew and I helped Officer Jenny track them down to get it back. Then, to everyone's surprise, Cyndaquil wanted to tag along with us, but more specifically, Drew. Oh! Also! I got a new outfit!" She said, giving a twirl at the end.

"That's great honey. Did you say Team Rocket?" Her mom asked, her brows knit with worry.

"Yeah, I've dealt with them before. There were two of them always after Ash's Pikachu, but they were a joke. They're just a bunch of clueless thugs so don't worry about us, we're fine," May said reassuringly. Well she hoped it was reassuring but the concerned look just wasn't going away.

"Please be careful Honey," she said nervously.

"I'll be fine, I'm perfectly capable, and so is Drew," May said confidently.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Her mom asked curiously.

"Oh! He's upstairs in the room," she said.

"You two are sharing?" Her mom looked surprised and upset.

"Yeah, it's fine, there's separate beds," May didn't get what the big deal was.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's appropriate, especially at your age," her mom scolded.

"Mom, I shared a room with Ash, Max, and Brock, that's three boys," she said, not understanding where her mom was coming from.

"Yes, but you were younger and your brother was there to make sure nothing happened," her mom tried to explain.

"What do you mean by nothing happening?" May asked.

"Well, you're getting to the age where dating and things like that happen, and you being alone with a boy, especially one I don't know that well, it's just not proper," she said nervously.

"MOM! We aren't like that at all!" She exclaimed, her cheeks burning. "Drew and I argue all the time! It's been a few weeks and we've just gotten on good terms! Besides! You were the one who said I could go to Johto only if I traveled with him!" May said, turning the tables.

"You're right. I did say that. I'm just nervous is all. You're so far from home, traveling alone with a boy..." she trailed off. May sighed.

"I really don't want to talk about this anymore," May said. Her mom frowned.

"For now, but you need to let me know if things change in your relationship with Drew," she said finally.

"Okay, I will. The Violet City contest is in a few days, I'll let you know how the contest went," May said with an annoyed tone.

"Okay, I love you Sweetie, and be careful. Good luck at your contest," she said.

"Thanks, love you too Mom, bye," May said before shutting the video off. She leaned back and let out a sigh. She finally got up and went back to their room. When she opened the door, she saw Drew laying on the bed he chose. Cyndaquil was causally curled up on his chest but it seemed he was past the point of caring about it or trying to fight it. He was wearing the blue sweatshirt that she forced him to buy in Slateport. She frowned.

"You still haven't really worn it yet! I made you get that to replace that stupid purple vest!" She exclaimed at him as she shut the door behind her.

"It's not really my style, plus, I only put it on because it's a little cold in here. It's too hot to wear it during the day," he reasoned.

"Okay, whatever," She said before flopping down on her bed.

"You okay?" He asked. She folded her arms over her eyes and forehead.

"Yeah, my mom was just being annoying. She was upset that even though I'm traveling with you, we're in too close quarters because we're in the same room," she said bitterly.

"Didn't you share a room with your brother, Brock and Ash?" He asked.

"Yeah, but apparently it's different because Max was there to make sure that 'nothing happened' but I was also younger then and I'm older now, where apparently stuff happens," she said, her face getting red again at the thought of what her mom said.

"But I'm just one person, and you and I barely get along enough as it stands," he said. At least he was on her side.

"See! That's what I'm saying! But I guess that's not good enough, even though she only let me come to Johto because I'd be traveling with you," May let out a laugh. It was just ridiculous. "I'm glad you're on my side about this," she said.

"Yeah, she's being confusing," he said.

"Anyways, I'm going to get ready for bed. Then tomorrow, we sleep in, and I get to show you around the city! No ifs, ands, or buts! Then we can work on our appeal routine and our battle combos!" May said as she grabbed her pajamas and other toiletries.

"Sure, as long as we get to practice. I'm trying to be more laid back, so I guess you can show me around, but if you get carried away, we might have to start practicing earlier," he warned. She sighed.

"Okay sure, that's fine I guess. Be prepared for the best tour ever tomorrow!" She said excitedly as she shut the bathroom door behind her.

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-A/N-

My original idea for this chapter is now the next chapter. I decided to split it up because so exciting stuff is going to happen next and I want it to have its own chapter. Anyways, I took inspiration from my mom to make Caroline's concerns XD. I tried to make them make sense but also have May's argument make sense as well. So anyways, I hope this chapter will be satisfactory until the next chapter which will for sure be worth the wait. I'm actually feeling in a writing mood, so hopefully it sticks XD. Anyways, until next time,

YouDontKnowShipping

Also, P.S. my original thought for this story was that it was going to be like 30 chapters. At the rate I'm going now, it might end up a lot longer than that which is super surprising for me because I typically work through the plot super quick so it's been interesting trying to restrain myself from just letting go, but it's 17 chapters in and only a few weeks have passed so they obviously can't get together at this point XD. Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up closer to 50 chapters. I'm hoping to be under that because fanfiction with a lot of chapters can be super overwhelming to read, at least for me. We are already at almost 30,000 words, but that includes the authors notes and the previously sections, but that's still the most I've ever written for a single story. But anyways, I'm super serious about this work. I will say the plot I have in mind isn't the best, but you guys are here for the contestshipping, not my unsatisfactory plot XD. Anyways, that's my tangent! Bye!