Disclaimer: Nope. I definitely don't own this.

A/N: Because, despite it all, the Pokemon protagonists are, indeed, kids.

Of Bubbles and Aliens

Pop.

Boys were strange. It was an undeniable fact.

Really. They were. People thought pokemon were shrouded in mystery?

Nope. They were nothing compared to the male gender.

Nope, nope, nope.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Sure, maybe she wasn't an award-winning, world-renowned professor...

A picture of herself in a dirty, old lab coat flashed through her mind. She shivered.

... But still! She was pretty sure. After all, pokemon were generally friendly, honest creatures. Who cared about where they came from? It didn't matter to her if they really did descend onto the planet from a meteor!

... Or whatever other strange theories the professors were coming up with nowadays...

Pop. Pop.

In fact, if it were the case, she would proudly proclaim to the world that, yes, indeed, some of her best friends were aliens!

Not that it mattered, right? It was the mysteries of the male mind she was trying to unravel. She needed to concentrate. Concentrate...

Pop. Pop.

Oh! What if it was really boys that came from outer space? She thought about the ones she knew. Indeed, she couldn't even think of one that could be considered 'normal' by any stretch of the imagination.

Ash... Brock... Max... Harley... Dr—

She stopped that thought right there.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

So... Yes. As anyone with half of a mind could see, the possibility of them being from another planet was extremely high. Surely, she was on the verge of uncovering a conspiracy!

It would all explain why certain green haired, rose-giving coordinators were so confusing...

Oh, wait! No! She wasn't going to think abo—

"What are you doing, May?"

Speak of the devil...

"Ah!" The brunette in question shrieked, almost falling off of her bench in shock, "D-Drew! What are you...?"

The green eyed boy flipped his hair. "I'm here for the contest tomorrow, of course. Hah. For your sake, I hope you're not planning on competing, too. Beating you all of the time is almost starting to get boring." He sat down next to her, not bothering to ask or wait for her to invite him.

"What the... Hey! I am not going to loose!" May declared, directing a glare her rival's way, "Besides, I think you're forgetting just who won during the Kanto Grand Festival!"

Drew had to hold back his laughter. She looked about as ferocious as a newborn eevee.

"You didn't answer my question," He commented, leaning back into the bench. Noticing May's confused looked, he explained, "What were you doing? Right before I came over, I mean. Were you...?"

"Oh! Um, yeah. Just... blowing bubbles." She said lamely. She held up the small bottle of bubble soap to show him. She wasn't going to tell him that she had also been considering the very real possibility that he might be an alien. She figured it would be better not to clue him in on the fact that she knew. "My family sent it to me, along with some other stuff. So I figured, 'why not?'"

Drew scoffed. "Blowing bubbles? Right before a contest? Shouldn't you be training?"

May blushed lightly. "I was just taking a break," She defended weakly, "B-Besides! You're not exactly immersed in an all-out training session yourself!"

He smirked. "I don't need to be," He bragged, "Roserade and I have just perfected a new routine. Of course, we'll go over it again before tomorrow, but... Heh. I almost feel sorry for you. You're going to get creamed."

"Hmph." She replied, doing her best to look indignant, but not mad. She wouldn't get mad. She was much too mature for that. Obviously.

She looked determinedly away from Drew, deciding to convey her... annoyance with her rival by ignoring him. After delicately dipping the blower into the bubble soap, she held it up and lightly exhaled. This time, instead of a bunch of small bubbles, she was going to make a huge one.

Just to annoy her, Drew reached out to poke the bubble just as it was starting to get big.

Pop.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" May demanded, rounding on him.

The green haired boy smiled. "Oh? You're not ignoring me anymore?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"You...!"

"Me?"

"Stupid!"

"'Stupid'?"

"Yes!"

"You're so cruel, May."

"M-Me?" She sputtered, "But you...! You...!"

"Me?"

"No! Don't start that again!"

Drew laughed. "Geeze, May. Calm down." She was just so fun to tease.

May resisted the urge to pout. Stupid Drew. She would 'calm down' when she felt like it. Before she could stop herself, she heard herself blurting out, "Want to know what? I think you're just saying all of this because I've figured out your secret and you somehow know that! You're trying to distract me so I'll forget!"

"My... secret?" Drew repeated slowly, honestly confused. What was she going on about now?

"Yes!" She said, momentarily faltering. She suddenly had the feeling that she was only making a fool out of herself, but her mouth seemed to have a mind of it's own.

"What secret are we talking about, again?"

"You have more than one?" She asked, confused.

Drew smirked.

May huffed, but continued on, "The secret..." Her voice suddenly lowered, and she allowed a moment's pause for dramatic effect, "... that you're an alien!"

There was a long silence. Not even the crickets chirped.

Suddenly, Drew burst out laughing, clutching his sides in mirth. May's face turned a deep red.

"B... Be quiet! You know it's true! Don't try to deny it!"

"May," He somehow gasped through his laugher, obviously having trouble talking, "I can honestly say..." another laugh burst through his words, "... that I have no idea... what you're talking about! It's... not even... original...!"

"You're trying to distract me again!" May accused. This made Drew laugh harder, if that was even possible.

Abruptly, May stood up, sticking her nose in the air and placing her hands on her hips. The jerk...! If he wanted to laugh, then fine! She'd just go somewhere else. She flounced away, all the while sending the green haired boy some of her best death glares. Unfortunately, they just bounced right off of him, if the way his laughter continued was any indication.

When she was finally out of sight, something seemed to hit her. Wait a second... She had forgotten her bubble soap! She knew that she could probably go to any ol' store and buy more, but... It was her bubble soap. She didn't want stupid, alien Drew to have it.

May quickly spun on her heels and headed back, a decidedly angry and pronounced stomp in her step.

When she got closer to her destination, the first thing the brunette noticed was the lack of laughter. For a moment, she felt a flicker of hope. Could it be that maybe... just maybe... Drew had calmed down and was sorry? Maybe, when she walked around the corner, there he would be—a remorseful smile on his face and an apology at the ready. Then, he would confess that, yes, indeed, he was an alien and he couldn't continue hiding it from her. Of course, he would admit that this was because he felt that she was someone close to him... Someone special... and that she... that she...

Unfortunately, May's mini-fantasy was brought to an abrupt halt when she caught sight of the green-haired man who had played the leading role in it. Unfortunately, he was not looking the least bit remorseful. Nor did he look like he was about to offer up a slew of apologies and confessions. Instead, he looked decidedly mischievous, like he was about to play the world's greatest prank on her.

And there, twirling innocently in his hands, was her bottle of bubble soap.

"Back so soon, May?" Drew smirked.

"Hey!" May whined, "That's mine!" She pointed at the bottle in the green-haired boy's hands.

"Is it?"

She must have been having a temporary moment of insanity earlier, thinking Drew would do something nice. She had the sudden urge to bang her head against something, but resisted.

"Yes," May stressed, "It is. Now, if you'd be so kind, I'll just be taking it," she began to reach for the bottle, "and leav—" She was cut off when he suddenly jerked the bottle out of her reach, making her stumble slightly.

Somehow, despite the fact that they were almost the same height, Drew managed to keep the bubble soap just out of May's reach when she wordlessly glared at him and lunged for it once more. Again and again this continued, until May seemed to snap. She promptly proceeded to tackle him.

Poor Drew didn't know what hit him.

"What the—May? You crazy woman! Are you trying to kill me?" He demanded, slightly disoriented.

"Aha!" The brunette declared happily from her sitting position on Drew's stomach, seemingly ignoring him. She proudly held up the small bottle of bubble soap in her hands. "In your face, alien."

For a moment, Drew wondered if he had finally driven the girl off of the deep end. Alas, she had once been such a nice, sane girl, too.

Oh, well. If she was already insane anyway, what harm could more teasing do? Besides, she was suddenly looking kind of cute, and there was something he wanted to do.

He abruptly sat up, knocking May off of his stomach and on to the dirt just as she was reopening her soap. Before the stunned girl could react, Drew reached over and gave her a small, quick kiss on the cheek.

Wide-eyed, May's whole face immediately turned a violent shade of red. Drew casually got back on to his feet, sparing only a moment to dust off his pants before turning on his heels and unconcernedly walking away.

"See you at the contest tomorrow, May." He said, sending her a small wave.

"Huh—What—Drew! What was that? Drew! Drew!" She called, sitting up on her knees. Her blush hadn't faded even a bit.

"I wonder," He said vaguely. May couldn't quite tell if the look he sent her was a smile or a smirk.

Before she could reply to this, Drew was gone, having turned a corner.

May put her hand to her cheek, gently touching the spot where she had been kissed, as if the action would magically cure her of her embarrassment. It didn't. If anything, she turned even redder.

Stupid, confusing aliens, she thought to herself. She'd have to kick his butt at the contest tomorrow.

That was when she noticed something wet on the ground.

"Hey! He made me spill my bubble soap...!"

That was so much fun to write. x3