Previously...

"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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He really regretted agreeing to let her give him a tour. The one time she decided to wake up early. She had her hands laced under his elbow and she was trying to pull him out of his bed. Sure, he was an earlier riser, but it took him a while to actually fully wake up, May apparently was too excited to sleep in later, therefore attempting to drag him out of bed before he was fully awake.

"Geez! Why are you so heavy!?" She exclaimed after pulling him several times.

"You're just weak," he said as he tried to roll over, but her grip on his arm prevented him from rolling all the way. "Let go, May," he grumbled.

"Who's weak now? Come on! There's so much to show you! And we need to get registered and practice!" She said animatedly.

"Yes, I know, but give me a few minutes to wake up," he said exasperatedly.

"Hmph, guess you're not really a morning person after all," May laughed. He frowned.

"I'm more of one than you," he shot back.

"Then get up and prove it!" She growled as she pulled harder. She managed to pull him towards her just a little, until he decided that he had enough and pulled back. May didn't expect it though and she was pulled forward, her head landing on his chest. After a second, she immediately let go of his arm and fell back to the floor. He could feel his face heating up as he looked away from her. He peeled his covers off of him and grabbed his bag.

"I'm getting changed," he said quietly as he walked past her to go into the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face. Maybe it would cool down his blush. That was embarrassing. Why did he pull back, he should have known that would have happened. He was so stupid. He opened his bag and pulled out his day clothes. As he took his sweatshirt off, he looked at it for a moment. May had picked it out, and forced him to get it. He wasn't sure how that made him feel. He shoved it in his bag and put on his black long sleeved shirt and his purple short sleeved jacket that May claimed "needed a rest." He finished getting ready and went back into the main room. May had since moved back to sit on her bed.

"Well? You ready to go? Are we eating here or getting something out?" He asked as he slung his backpack over one shoulder.

"I know this great breakfast place! It's called Violet Morning! I just adore the purple theme in this city. Anyways, we used to go there when I was younger," May said excitedly.

"Alright, that sounds good," he said, holding the door open for her.

"So begins the grand tour!" She exclaimed.

"After breakfast," he reminded her.

"After breakfast!" She repeated. They headed out of the Pokemon Center. Roselia was happily walking alongside him. That was until Cyndaquil once again burst out uninvited and chased Roselia hyperly in between Drew's legs.

"Cyndaquil! Stop it now!" He said. Roselia cried out in distress and May was being no help laughing at him. Sighing, he picked up the fiery Pokemon. Cyndaquil let out a sound similar to a laugh before crawling out of his grip and onto his arm to settle on his head.

Cyndaquil: 50 Drew: 0

May said random facts as they headed to the breakfast joint.

"Did you know Violet City is called The City of Nostalgic Scents?" He shook his head. "Well it certainly does feel nostalgic being back here," she grinned. "Oh! And Violet City is practically in the middle of the Johto region! It's not the biggest city here, but it's the geographical heart!"

"I can tell you love it," he laughed.

"Yeah! Don't get me wrong, I love Petalburg," she said as she directed him into a small restaurant. "But I grew up here, it will always be the place of my childhood and it will always feel like home,"

"Hello! Let me get you seated," the hostess said kindly.

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After a delicious breakfast and coffee that Drew desperately needed, it was time for the tour to officially begin.

"We already passed where I used to live when we came into the city, but that's not important. Oh! Let's go this way!" She turned down a street. He had to jog to catch up to her. "Back there was the trainer's school! But we're heading towards the gym!" She finally stopped in front of it.

"This is the flying type gym! It's led by Falkner. I remember having a crush on him when I was little," she giggled. "If you can beat him, you get the Zephyr badge," if we keep going this way, it will lead us to the contest hall! We will be going there anyways so let's go somewhere else!" She turned them around and they walked back the way they came until May stopped in front of a bridge.

"Sprout Tower's this way! Come on!" She exclaimed. He followed her across this long bridge. There was a massive lake that it was built over. There was an abundance of lily pads and water Pokemon filling up the lake. As he caught up to her at the base of the tower a boy wearing a white beanie came running out of the tower with a Mudkip in front of him. He saw May and his face lit up in surprise.

"Oh my gosh! May! What are you doing here?" He said happily. Giving her a hug. She threw her arms around him.

"Brendan! Hey! I came to Johto to participate in the contests here!" She said. Drew hung back, feeling uncomfortable.

"That's awesome! Dad finally turned me loose from the research. Mudkip and I have the chance to challenge the league this year! We just took on the tower and now we're about to go face Falkner! You should come watch!" He said, brushing his pants off. "Wait, you said, you're doing the contests here?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah! I'm really excited!" She said giddily.

"Well, you need a partner for the contests," he said, as if she didn't know.

"Oh! Yeah, I know that," she said, not understanding. Drew felt a pinch in his chest. He didn't know why, but he didn't like Brendan for some reason. He leaned against the railing on the bridge with a sigh. Cyndaquil squeaked in curiosity. Drew ignored him.

"Well, I'm going to be traveling around, contests aren't really my thing, but I could learn! We could be partners and travel around together! It would be really fun!" He offered. He had a hopeful expression on his face that Drew wanted to wipe off for some reason. Maybe it was because he was annoying.

"Oh, that's nice Brendan, but I already have a partner," she said guiltily.

"Oh, where is she?" Brendan asked, looking around for a girl. Drew smirked smugly to himself.

"Not she!" May giggled. "He!" She corrected, thinking it was a joke. He could see the dummy's face fall. She looked behind her, at him and she glared at him before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him over. He had been about 10 feet away from them before she pulled him over.

"Why didn't you just come over here to begin with?" She asked him with an annoyed expression.

"I didn't want to interrupt your conversation, besides, with your attention span, I didn't think it would take that long," he teased and poked her forehead. She pouted at him.

"Hey! Don't be a jerk!" She frowned.

"You just didn't have a good comeback," he smirked. She huffed before reaching up and pulling his hair.

"Ow! Hey!" He yelled in pain.

"Shut up, Grasshead," She said smugly before letting go of his hair. Cyndaquil and Roselia laughed at him as he nursed his head before flicking it back into place.

"This is Drew," May introduced him.

"I'm Brendan Birch," he said, holding up a hand. Drew shook it and the two performed a sizing up. He could tell by the look of his face, that Brendan wasn't sure this guy with a Cyndaquil on his head was a threat or not.

"So you're May's partner?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"I'm May's childhood friend, we've known each other our whole lives. How do you and May know each other," he asked, but speaking as if he was showing off and pulling the I've known her longer card.

"We've been rivals for the past couple years. We decided to travel together before we even knew that Johto contests were partner contests because her mom didn't want her traveling by herself," Drew said. Brendan looked shocked at his statement.

"Her mom let her travel alone with a boy?" He asked, skeptical.

"Yeah, she was acting really weird before it though. She refused to let me go until Drew talked to her, she finally let me go. All the competition is here! I can't just stay at home and fall behind!" May exclaimed.

"I see, and how'd your dad react to that?" He asked.

"Not well," May shuddered.

"He hasn't done anything? Has he?" he heard Brendan whisper to her. May burst out laughing.

"What? No way! He's annoying!" She said.

"Not as annoying as you! You were relentless this morning!" He retorted.

"Well, it's as you said yesterday! We also have to practice for the contest! We've been working so hard on working in sync! It's so hard to match you sometimes!" May argued.

"True, but if you'd given me 5 more minutes it would've been fine! And you think it's hard to match me!? Matching you is harder! You just choose your moves with your heart instead of your head! You don't think about each move's possible outcome!" He fought back. The rivalry spark formed between them. Until Roselia snickered below them. They both looked down in shock between them. Then they started laughing along.

"Are you two always like this?" Brendan asked, concerned.

"Most of the time! We actually hated each other when we first met! We're getting along really well now! Arguing is how we solve our problems. This is nothing compared to the way the insult wars were in Hoenn," May laughed.

"Back then was so much easier, less weird instances," he trailed off.

"Yeah, it was easier for you because you weren't scared I was going to beat you," she smirked. "But hey, you're tolerable now,"

"I put up with so much, but, I'm stuck with you at this point," he laughed lightly and looked back at Brendan. He could tell the poor guy was confused and wasn't sure what he should feel. Threatened is what he should feel. Why? Drew didn't know, but he just thought he should.

"Yeah, I do make things awkward sometimes," she said guiltily. "Sorry,"

"It's whatever, just don't mention it," he said, thinking about that time on the boat she just shouted at him to give him her clothes randomly. Then she had to clarify she wanted to wash the clothes. Then this morning, he guessed it was his fault, but she fell on top of him.

"Right," she blushed in embarrassment.

"Never a dull moment with you two I guess," Brendan said.

"No way!" May laughed.

"Well anyways, I'm going to challenge the gym, my offer still stands if you'd like to come and watch," he said hopefully.

"I don't know Brendan. Drew and I seriously need to practice, we've been having some troubles," May said sadly.

"Right, it's okay. I'm sure we'll run into each other again, you can watch another time," he said, looking away.

"I promise at some point I'll watch one of your battles!" May said.

"I'll hold you to that," he smiled. He turned to Drew. "It was nice to meet you," he glared. Drew smirked down at him. Drew was a proud couple inches taller.

"You too," he said before May tugged his arm back towards the main part of the city.

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-A/N-

Whew! Wrote this all on Wednesday! It's a fat chapter! Hopefully you all liked it! Also! I meant to say this a while ago and not sure if I have. Thank you all for 1k+ reads!!! I know at this point it's already over halfway to 2k but it still means a lot regardless. Anyways, we finally have Brendan introduced! I've had the barest of concepts of this scene since I came up with the idea of the story! Did I know that it would be chapter 18 of the story? No XD. I thought it would be an earlier chapter. But technically with how many chapters it may have, I guess this would be an earlier chapter XD. I've finally broken over 30,000 words, but that includes the author's notes and the previously sections.

I hope that this chapter didn't feel out of place. I wanted Drew to feel jealous towards Brendan because he and May are starting to get along better and he's not sure what he's feeling towards her. Hence why it's called Platonic and is a slow burn romance because they will agonizingly deny their feelings. Anyways, the next chapter is the contest! I've been forcing myself to cut back because I can't do every single day like I had been doing for a while.

I have two new characters I'm introducing in the next chapter! I'm super excited for them! I came up with their concept when my best friend at the time and I were trying to write Johto Journeys which was a complete 1 chapter flop I deleted XD. We came up with a bunch of rival characters and two horrible characters that were in love with Drew and May respectively and were those awful caricatures of the popular mean girl and overconfident jerk jock tropes you see in a lot of fanfiction. Anyways, they aren't involved. But we thought of these two characters I knew I wanted to bring back. I don't remember their names but I can come up with new ones. I also wanted to keep their original function intact.

Sorry this Author's Note is so long! Fun fact! For those who don't know, this used to be a shared account with my friend and I. She even wrote her own story called the Black Rose that she never finished so I unpublished it. You can find traces of that time around and it's awful and embarrassing XD. Anyways, we aren't really friends anymore which sucks. I've tried to keep the friendship but she always flakes out on me. So much has changed in the 5 and a half years I've had this account. I'm glad where I've come though and I'm thankful for everyone who has read my stories and encouraged me! Anyways, that's enough of my eternal rambling! Until next time!

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