DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon or its characters.

Screen Couple, Part I

Not a day has gone by in Canalave City, Sinnoh that has been misfortune for Pokémon Coordinator, May. Why? Take a look at socialite magazines, lifestyle and/or entertainment sections of newspapers. "It's like there's nothing else for them to cover. They should really find somebody else to annoy!"

May was expressing her frustration to her confidant, the Nurse Joy of the Pokémon Center. She has been in the city for a while now (for various reasons, first and foremost that the city has been the site of the most recent Sinnoh Grand Festival that May participated in) that she had gotten to know the nurse on a personal basis.

"That's the pressure of being a World-Famous Coordinator, I'll bet," the nurse guessed. "What's the old saying again? Stardom is overrated?"

This got a small laugh from the girl. "I'm not sure if you got the words right, but I guess the meaning stayed the same." And then her expression turned sour again. "It's bad enough about all that celebrity thing going on, but then the press just had to add THIS!" She shoved a tabloid inches from Nurse Joy's face, enough for the latter to read the article May was pointing to. Joy cleared her throat, and began to read the heading:

Love Blooms in the Appeals Stage

Up and coming stars in the Coordinator scene, May of Petalburg City and Drew of LaRousse City, both hailing from Hoenn, seem to have

Nurse Joy didn't get to read the rest of the article, since May rolled up the paper and started brandishing it around the room like a stick. "I think there's some attempt at wordplay on the article's heading, May," Joy said, trying to lighten up the mood (she only read part of the first paragraph, but the title's already enough to tell her what's troubling her friend). "And I-"

"I told you already, didn't I?" May cut her off. "It's like that's the only thing the papers have to report about these past few days!" She showed another, different tabloid. Again, Nurse Joy wasn't able to read the full article May wanted to show her (not even the heading this time), just a small passage:

with rumors of the male half of our favorite screen couple accepting a TV and movie deal with a famous studio, the world is sure to know about their budding relationship. And the

The tabloid wasn't rolled up this time, May just crumpled it into a ball, and threw it offhand to a wastebasket; the distance would put three-point shooters to shame. "I thought that these things would always fabricate the truth just to make juicier news, but this is just taking things too far!"

"I'm guessing that this couple bit is what's driving you up the wall?" Joy asked coyly. "You're going to need some fresh air, May. Why don't you go outside and refresh yourself? The sea breeze at this time of year is sure to clear your head."

"How can I? As soon as I step outside, paparazzi would be sure to find me and swarm me like a hive of Combee and I was coated in their honey or something."

A few minutes later, May looked at her reflection in the hall mirror, at Nurse Joy's handiwork: a thick pair of round opaque sunglasses, a raven-hair wig, and a blue beret to replace her bandanna, "Well, now I know how Team Rocket feels like, wearing disguises to conceal themselves," May muttered with a sigh, pushing the glasses further up her nose bridge with her pointer finger. "Hopefully this will make me more conspicuous. Wearing these glasses at night...really?"

From behind, Nurse Joy adjusted the wig she lent her young friend. "This Team Rocket...I remember you telling me that no matter how little the effort they put into their disguises, you and your friends will always be fooled. How would you compare my masterpiece to that?"

"Oh. So this is your 'masterpiece', huh?" May replied, giving Joy a doubting, yet hilariously-looking, stare through the mirror.

"So much for appreciation. Go on, get out of here," Nurse Joy said, pretending to look offended, and then she pushed May to get her on her way. "Use the service entrance at the side. I know I disguised you so well, but it's better to play it safe, right?"

The service entrance led to a back street bordered by one of the city's many canals. Joy assured her that the street is seldom used, even by the staff of the Center, but May took her friend's words to heart. She opened the door only partway, peering through the opening first. Once she's sure the coast is clear, May sighed in relief, and went around the Pokémon Center to the main street.

Back in the Center, Nurse Joy braced herself for the evening's wave of Pokémon trainers going in to ask for the services of her facility. As she sends her Chansey to fetch a cart for the first trainer's Pokéballs, she thought to herself, 'That girl. She just wouldn't admit her real reason for hating those articles...'

Canalave City is pretty beautiful at night. But, because of the Grand Festival and the harassment she's been experiencing, May wasn't able to appreciate it until tonight. This is the reason why May stayed behind in the city a couple of days after the Festival has long since concluded and everyone else has already left. It's also why Nurse Joy was adamant that May go out and see the sights, since she's the one who sold the idea of staying in in the first place.

Strolling through the town, and crossing bridges over the network of various canals, May took in the sights, descriptions of which were written by the nurse herself. "So that's the Canalave Gym," she pondered to herself when a domed concrete building slipped into her view, the description of which was on Nurse Joy's paper. She didn't stop in front of the gym, only giving it a quick half-glance, before heading on her way.

At the back of the gym, May saw another tall structure. She didn't need to read the paper to see that this was the Canalave City library. She's actually been there before, trying to read into some of the Sinnoh-based Pokémon that she believed she might face in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. And May promised herself never to go back there again.

Doubling back and passing the gym, May crossed the drawbridge, and, in a couple of minutes, found herself close to her starting point, the Pokémon Center, already. Rolling up Nurse Joy's list and throwing it into a waste bin, May froze when she saw several paparrazi strolling straight toward her.

'Oh, no,' she thought, getting frantic, 'was my cover blown?'

It came as a relief to her when the camera fiends just passed right through her, completely uninterested in the "inconspicuous" girl. 'I don't believe it,' she thought, half-amused, half in disbelief, 'Nurse Joy's disguise actually works.'

Nearby, a little boy with his mother were strolling by, the young one playing with an Igglybuff-based balloon. The moment the mother turned her back on her child, the boy accidentally lost his grip on his toy. and, decided to go after it.

It was the mother's shout that alerted May of what was happening, but by then it was already too late. The balloon hit May in the face, disorienting her, and it was followed by the boy accidentally bowling her over.

After recovering, May immediately grabbed the balloon before it could get away, and then stooped down to help the child to his feet as his mother made her way to them. "Next time, you should watch where you're going, kay?" she told him, in a light scolding manner.

The mother was not exactly as lenient. "Oh, Luke, you really shouldn't have run off like that!" She turned to May just as the latter was straightening herself back up. "Oh, miss, I'm really, really sorry for what happened, Did Luke hu-" Something must have gotten in her throat, because she stopped herself short of saying something.

May didn't need to be told what made the other woman freeze like that. Because, the confusion made her realize too late that the collision caused her glasses to go askew.

"There she is!"

'Oh,' May said, completely deadpan despite the dire situation she was in, 'NOW my cover's blown.'

Before she could turn tail, however, the paparazzi and reporters have swarmed on her in mere moments. She wasn't kidding about what she said earlier: they really were like Combee attracted to honey (in this case, obviously her). You'd be impressed at how many questions were fired at her in the span of a single minute.

"Where have you been? All the networks are looking all over for you to get an exclusive!"

"Have you been staying here in Canalave City? The Grand Festival has already ended three days ago. Why didn't you leave like the rest of the Coordinators?"

"Are you planning to turn Canalave City into your own personal vacation home? Is that why you stayed behind?"

"You still haven't told us; what's your way of culling Drew's horde of female fans? Are you the jealous type or something?"

That one was the last straw; May would have given polite answers to all of the other questions, but the last question made her look like she was just about to explode. She kept her temper in check, however, and decided to just waive all the queries off. "Sorry, but there's some place I have to go to. Bye!"

Forcefully weaving through the sea of reporters, May couldn't see where she was going, just in the general direction of her safe haven, the Pokémon Center. Suddenly, the sound of banging metal can be heard from a small distance away. This turned out to be her salvation, as the noise distracted the paparazzi to divert their attention in that direction.

"Hey, hey! How about giving the girl some peace? I'll certainly give you a piece of my mind if you don't! Wouldn't you want to know WHY she stays here in this city? It's that she can't get out because you're all sniping at her!"

'Thanks, Nurse Joy,' May thought, recognizing the voice of her savior.

But, as a surprise for everyone, Nurse Joy and May included, was that the nurse wasn't the only one who came to May's rescue. Still blinded by the flash of several cameras, May made her way around the Pokémon Center, passing a narrow alleyway between the Center and an old warehouse. Suddenly, a hand grabbed May and pulled her into the alley, at the exact same moment that the paparazzi have finally realized that their quarry was gone.

"Hey!" "Where'd she go?" "I don't believe this, I lost sight of her again!"

The paparazzi, disgusted at each other for "scaring May off", split up to try to find May again.

In the confusion, Nurse Joy also decided to make a retreat, before the heat is on her. She saw what happened to her friend, and who took her; the problem for Joy was that she didn't recognize who it was. "Here's hoping that he's not the criminal sort," she muttered in prayer. "Because if he is, taking her down an alleyway like that is bad news. Where have I seen him before?"

CONTINUED