DISCLAIMER: Just doing this out of habit, but, yeah, I don't own the Pokemon franchise. Sad, I know.

Charm

"Quick, Cacturne, use Poison Sting!"

"Dodge them, Glaceon!" May shouted as the pokemon charged up a string of purple thorns.

The ice pokemon leapt to the side, but both coordinator and pokemon had hesitated for a fraction of a second too long. May flinched as the needles embedded themselves in Glaceon's right flank, the thuds accompanied by the telltale sounds of May's point gauge dropping. The pokemon's leg shook, and she staggered, almost about to collapse. May's eyes flicked frantically from her pokemon to the scoreboard. Only seven seconds left, and he had just enough points...

"Glaceon, use Ice Beam!" she called desperately, but it was too late. Glaceon's back arched suddenly, and she toppled over, leg jittering with sudden spasms. May stared, horrified, at her pokemon, barely conscious of the beeping as her remaining points dropped to zero.

"Glaceon is unable to battle," the announcer declared. "Cacturne wins!"

On the other side of the arena, May could hear Harley cheering. He would probably start jeering next, but May didn't care. All she knew was that her pokemon was still lying on the ground, leg still jerking about unnaturally. She ran over to Glaceon, paling as she saw at least half a dozen stings embedded in her pokemon's shoulder. More stings studded her chest and side, and one had shot into her cheek.

May's head began to pound, the sounds in the room fading as fear took over. Glaceon had almost always avoided getting stung in battle before, only picking up one or two stings at a time until now. An antidote had dissolved the stings and healed her poisoned pokemon before, but would it cover this? She couldn't be certain.

"Glaaaaa…" A piteous moan escaped the ice pokemon's muzzle, and May froze. Glaceon's eyes had a distant cast that sent fear coursing through the pit of her master's stomach. May stared at her pokemon and the wounds, but her brain was already on autopilot. She reached down and scooped up the glaceon, carefully cradling the injured pokemon so as to not hurt her further. Turning away from the arena, barely seeing Harley gloating, she ran toward the exit, blinking tears out of her eyes.

"It's going to be okay," she said as she ran down the hall as quickly as she could without jostling Glaceon, trying to soothe her pokemon yet choking on the words. "I'll get you out into the fresh air, and you'll be okay." May's eyes were full of tears, but she fought to keep them from falling onto her pokemon. "Everything's going to be okay."

May hurried down the hallway. The tears in her eyes were smudging everything into colored blurs, but that didn't matter; the Azalea Gym's exit was at the end of the corridor. As she ran past the coordinators' waiting room, half-sobbing out encouragement to her pokemon, a boy with green hair stepped outside. She did not notice this, nor that he watched, frowning, as she flew through the automatic doors and into the growing shadows of evening beyond them.

May stopped, panting slightly, beneath a flickering streetlamp just outside the gym doors. She knelt and lifted her pokemon down to the asphalt as gently as she could manage while so out of breath. Glaceon moaned again, this time even more quietly. If anything, this frightened May most of all, and she seized her yellow pack from around her waist, unzipping it hurriedly. She paled; her bag was a disorganized mess. Panic was filling her up, making her hands shake as she scrabbled around in her pack, searching for an antidote.

As she searched, Glaceon began to make strange, uneven panting noises, as if her throat was closing up on her. This was too much for May, and the tears fell fast and freely as she searched frantically, squinting, trying to find the antidote and save her pokemon, the one who had hatched for her, her baby, her friend, her dear friend who was gasping for breath on the ground in front of her, and the gasps were farther and farther apart...

Now sobbing, May upended her bag onto the ground, dumping everything out into a jumbled heap. Her fingers combed through the mess, spreading it out, but she could not find an antidote. She grabbed her pack and clawed around inside of it, searching through pockets, nooks, and crannies, but finding nothing that could help Glaceon. May's heart felt like it was trying to escape from her body as it seemed to pound against her ribcage. Panic and terror and fear and anguish paralyzed her, and she sat, legs splayed, staring at Glaceon, unable to move or do or say anything.

A shadow darker than the shades of early evening fell over the pair, and May's head jerked up. Her eyes widened, but Drew stepped past her to kneel with his back to her at Glaceon's side, a small bottle in his right hand. May could only stare as he sprayed the antidote over her pokemon's wounds, using the entire bottle. The stings began to dissolve, and the pokemon's breathing eased slightly, but suddenly stopped, still protruding about half an inch out of Glaceon's skin. Drew's hand clenched on the bottle, jamming down the trigger, but he had used the entire dose. He turned sharply to May.

"Recall her," he ordered, voice flat.

May stared at him. "Recall…?" she asked, still dazed.

Drew scowled. "As in, put her in her pokeball, like any normal idiot would have, and take her to the Pokemon Center."

"But, the stings, they're still -"

"I used an entire dose, but the poison's had too long to get into her bloodstream, and we really don't have time for this!" Drew was shouting at her now. "Put her in her pokeball and take her to the Center, May! Or do you want her to -"

"St-stop it!" May sobbed. She grabbed for Glaceon's pokeball, hands still shaking. "Gl-gl-glaceon, return!" The glaceon glowed, then disappeared into the pokeball. May clutched at the pokeball, but her eyes were drawn to the mess of her possessions strewn on the asphalt.

Drew noticed her pause. "I'll get this, just go!"

His words had done the trick. May pulled herself upright, then stumbled into a run towards the Center, Glaceon's pokeball clenched tightly in her hand.

The fluorescent lights made everything about the waiting room harsh. May tried looking at the wall in front of her, but it was painted a shade of white that would have brought tears to her eyes even if they hadn't already been trickling out. She glanced down at the floor, but it simply reflected the bars of light back at her. May turned her gaze to the door, but shuddered and turned back to the ground, burying her face in her hands. The sign over the intensive care unit still glowed a dull red, the distorted shape of a hypodermic needle wavering as she blinked.

May could feel her lungs trembling against her ribs as she sobbed as silently as she could. Nurse Joy had been expressionless as May had dashed into the lobby with tears running down her face and a pokeball in hand. She had only waited for May to choke out the word "poison" before whisking the capsule out of her hand and walking quickly to the emergency room, flanked by chansey. Now, she could only wait and hope.

A whirring of gears made her look up. Drew strode through the automatic doors and hurried toward her, carrying her pack in his arms. He sat down next to her on the bench, close enough to talk, yet far enough that he was still somewhat remote. It was the way, May supposed, that acquaintances sat.

"I asked, at the front desk," Drew began, panting slightly, and May noticed that his face shone with sweat. "They said you were here, so, I'm here." He raised a hand to wipe his face, still breathing hard.

"D-did you run all the way here?" May asked, hiccupping slightly.

Drew nodded. "I took too long, I was sorting your bag, all your stuff fell out." Drew's face, already ruddy from exertion, seemed to darken a shade. He pushed the yellow pack across the space between them. "Um, I think I put everything in the right place, except for this one thing, I, uh wasn't sure what it was or where you wanted it." May stared as he dug into a pocket, pulling out -

"Oh, my wishmaker!" May blinked in surprise as he held out the pendant.

"Is that what this thing is?" Drew asked, puzzled. "I thought it was some sort of, I dunno, dream-catcher thing."

May nodded, happy for anything to distract her from her anxiety. "Yeah, it kinda looks that way, doesn't it? But, no, it's this thing for, um, well, remember when the Millenium Comet was in the sky a couple years back?" Drew nodded. "Well, that was back when I was traveling with the others, so we went to this carnival to celebrate. There was this one stall where they were selling these, these wishmakers, so I bought one."

Drew rolled his eyes. "You would."

May scowled, but otherwise ignored his jibe. "The idea was, you'd make a wish on the comet every day it was in the sky, and you'd fold down a flap each day. It had to be the same wish, though."

"Why's this flap still up, then?" Drew asked, pointing at the one with seven stars.

May bit her lip. "Oh, um, well, a lot was going on, and I forgot. It's kind of hard to explain."

"Uh-huh." Drew snorted. "So, what did you wish for, anyway?" May flinched, and her eyes were inexplicably drawn to the ground. Drew blinked. "What?" he asked, annoyed.

"Um, n-nothing," May murmured to the linoleum floor.

The boy sighed. "If it's nothing, then why's it such a big deal?" When no answer from May was forthcoming, he sighed. "Meh, whatever. So, d'you know if -"

"To win against you."

Silence swelled between them. May could feel Drew's gaze, but she couldn't bring herself to return it. There was something so wonderfully, beautifully… abstract, about the white linoleum, speckled with grey specks, so utilitarian, so simple, so postmodern, so easy to clean -

"What did you say?" The question made her flinch again. There was something almost strained in the sound of Drew's voice. Cautiously, she raised her face and turned it towards his. He was staring at her in utter bewilderment.

"I, um, I wished that I could win against you. In a contest." Drew's eyes widened, and she stared back at him, trying to make sense of his reaction.

"But… why would you wish that?" Drew asked, sounding as confused as he looked.

Now May was confused as well. "Why? What do you mean, why? You're, you're Drew! You win everything! You won all the time! I could never -"

"May, you beat me in the Kanto Grand Festival, do you realize how ridiculous you sound?" Drew demanded.

"Yes, but, just, I hadn't back then!" May retorted, voice raising in both volume and pitch. "And, well, I guess I just thought, well, it's like, good luck -"

"First of all, lower your voice," Drew hissed. "Don't you remember where we are?" May's cheeks flushed, and her eyes flicked toward the still-glowing sign above the emergency room doors before returning to Drew's face. She almost wished she hadn't; his expression was livid. "Secondly, relying on crap like that is just going to get you hurt someday. You've already proved you can do it, you can beat me, so why are you keeping that around?"

Drew stood abruptly, hands clenched into fists, glaring down at the brunette. His nostrils flared as he took several deep breaths, still staring at May, who stared back, perplexed and a little afraid. She had no idea what could possibly have set him off about such a simple, silly keepsake, but the damage had clearly been done. The boy's mouth tightened, but then his shoulders relaxed as he let his hand fall to his sides. He shook his head, a short, sharp motion that sent his green bangs falling across equally green eyes. He made no move to flick them aside, something which confused May even more.

"Whatever," he said, breaking the silence. May started and saw that Drew also looked surprised, perhaps at himself. He thrust his hands deep into his pockets, turning away from her. "I really don't have time to spend on idiots like you." With that, he walked out of the waiting room without sparing May so much as a second glance, leaving her alone once more.

Well, goodness, it's been a long time since I was here. The site layout is rather different, but such is life, I suppose. In any case, it's good to be back!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this fic, as well as any constructive criticism you would like to share, so feel free to review!

Until next time,

Carp