Platonic

Chapter 17: Mothers will be Mothers

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.