You Shine Brighter

New Horizons

A/N: For once, this story isn't based on a song lol. It's actually pretty personal to me. It'll be a little spiritual later on, as usual. If you don't dig spiritual stuff, sorry. That's just how I write.

For anyone who doesn't know, Fiore is the region from the first Pokemon Ranger game.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything else referenced in this story.

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"Wow. Who would've thought he'd actually pull it off..."

Harley had just won the Johto Grand Festival. May was disappointed by her own loss, but deep down she was happy for her rival. There he was, up on that stage, eating up all of the attention and praises being thrown at him. It was the proudest moment of his life.

Drew on the other hand, was not so happy. Harley had defeated him in the final round; otherwise, he would have been the one standing up there in all the glory. He didn't necessarily hate Harley anymore, as he had gotten much better over the years as a person. Rather, he was feeling immeasurably discouraged.

"Eight years," he thought. "EIGHT YEARS since I started competing. Why can't I win? When will my time EVER come?"

But of course, he kept all of that hidden inside. After all, he had a reputation to keep up. He walked up to May, who was congratulating Harley.

"Don't worry, dollface. Now losing to me won't be an issue for you, because I think I'll take some time off. Me and my lovely, shiny ribbon cup here. It's just gorgeous, isn't it?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled. Good old Harley. He's a character, that's for sure.

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"So, what's next for you?" Drew asked. He and May were out on Cianwood's beach that night. They always hung out at night after a contest ended. Their travels together in Johto had made them the best of friends, whether they liked to admit it or not.

"Um... well, I, uh..."

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Well, I haven't heard about any other competitions taking place..."

"So out of the loop, as usual." He flipped his hair and pulled up a map on his PokeNav. He searched for "Ringtown" and handed her the device.

"It's called the Fiore region. It's famous for its Pokemon rangers and their practices, but just recently they've started having contests over there. And it's only open to advanced coordinators who have competed in at least one Grand Festival."

"Is that where you're going?"

"Duh. It's where ALL the highly trained coordinators are going. Come on, May, where did you think I'd be going?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes, starting to walk away. After a moment of thought, she stopped and turned around. "Drew, I know you're just joking around and all, but I really think I'd like to go with you there. It's, um... it's been nice traveling with you here in Johto. I mean, it gets less lonely, you know?"

He smirked and looked at her with his dazzling emerald eyes. "I agree. It's been fun. You were really something else out there, taking Robert down like that."

He tossed her a rose per usual. "Meet me by the dock on Sunday at noon, and we'll take the ferry over to Fiore. It'll be a long trip, so I hope you're not one to get seasick."

With one final hair flip, he was off.

A new journey.

Here we go.

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Sunday came. May and Drew were on their long voyage to the new region, along with all of the other top-notch coordinators.

Drew was reading the instruction booklet that they were all given. "So, we'll get off at Fall City, take a train over to Ringtown, and that's where orientation is."

"We have orientation?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yes, May. You'd know this if you would've read the instructions. Contests are different in Fiore."

"Hey, you two!"

They turned around to find a tall, pink-haired woman walking up to them.

"Solidad! It's so good to see you!" May excitedly ran up for an embrace. Drew remained calm and waved.

"Are you gonna compete in Fiore?" May asked.

"Actually, no. I'm going to visit a relative. I'd love to, but I feel that my Pokemon and I need a rest. We've been competing nonstop for 10 years with no leisure. But I'm glad you two are keeping up. I hear it's pretty intense over there in Fiore, but I know you both will be incredible. You know I'll be supporting you all the way!"

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After many hours, the large group of coordinators arrived in Ringtown. They were waiting inside the town's team base, when in due time a green-haired man started talking into a microphone.

"Good afternoon, coordinators! My name is Spenser and I'm the leader of Ringtown, and I speak for all of Fiore when I say that we are honored to be your hosts. Contests are still fairly new to our region, but we are excited and privileged to have such a skilled and talented group to show us what we've been missing all these years!"

There was applause from the crowd.

"So, let's just get right down to it. Here's how it's gonna work: we have several ongoing contests in various locations all across Fiore, but only limited entries are permitted for each one. So we are going to assign you all to different contest halls by random selection, once we get your information into our system. You will receive a message on your PokeNav no less than one week before each contest, informing you which location you've been assigned. You will need to check in at your assigned hall at least four days prior to the contest.

"Also, there are MANDATORY training sessions at each contest hall. You must attend the training sessions with your designated Pokemon for that contest in order to be eligible to compete in said contest. You will be assigned different time slots for the sessions, and you will be given a time card to clock in and out of your session. You must train for six hours each day for the required four days. You can do the straight six hours, or split the shift in half, with an hour break in between. At the end of the four days, you will turn your time card in to the hall's supervisor."

May was beginning to feel intimidated. "Wow... I wasn't expecting such strict rules. Solidad wasn't kidding when she said it was going to be intense..."

"There's a reason why they only accept advanced coordinators here," Drew said.

Spenser continued. "Fiore used to only have contests and events at our four main cities, but this past year, we've expanded and are now hosting contests in all of the connecting routes throughout the entire region."

He wrapped up the speech. "This may all sound overwhelming right now, but once you get into the swing of things, it'll all fall into place. We believe that since you've all made it this far, you'll excel in these contests. Are you ready to show Fiore what you've got?!"

The crowd cheered loudly and was super fired up. They all proceeded to the front desk where they registered their information to be assigned their first locations.

The madness slowly settled down with time as the others were leaving the base. Drew and May went to the Pokemon Center they were lodging at and hung out in the lobby, anxiously awaiting their messages to see where they'd be sent first.

Eventually, their PokeNavs buzzed. May was staying in Ringtown. Drew was being sent to Olive Jungle. This was going to be the first time since their early Johto days that they wouldn't be competing at the same contest or traveling together.

"Well... guess this is it," May said. She couldn't help but feel sad inside that she and Drew were going to be separated.

Drew felt that too, but with a hair flip and snarky tone, he simply said, "Heh, better train hard, then. 'Cause when we meet again, you know I'm taking you down."