Pokémon RP

Valentine's Day

(Date: February 14th)

Taking his sweet time, Leon made his way over to his neighbor's house. It's Valentine's day and under the guise of keeping themselves occupied while the girls hung out for a bit the Luxray was on his way to pick up Silver so they could actually begin the V-day preparations. It was almost sad really despite having nearly two weeks to prepare neither Pokémon had really been able to decide what they would get for their significant other.

And now they would have to make a mad dash in order to be ready by the time Jenna got off work because both girls would be coming back by then. Or rather, Silver would have to make a mad dash seeing as it was practically impossible for Leon to do such a think considering his lax nature. Either way though he planned to help his friend, who still hadn't managed to remember which Pokémon lived where, to get to the resident florist's house.

Knocking on the front door Leon waited patiently for it to open.

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The door opened right away, and Silver was standing with Drina wrapped around his neck. "Oh, thank goodness you're here. I almost thought you wouldn't come."

He moved aside to let Leon in the house. Leon stepped in as if there was no trouble at all, but as soon as Silver slammed the door shut he ran about the house worrying. "Oh, what am I to do? What am I to do? How am I to top last year?"

Within his worry Drina slid off of him and slithered over to her opened cage. She'd rather sit in a nice quiet place with straw as a floor rather than hanging around a worried Lucario.

"Sarah warned me about this," Silver continued as Leon took a seat on the couch. "She suggested that we prepare early – she and I, but I was too adamant and stubborn to care. Now, I'm in for it!" He ran about the house with heavy footsteps. He wasn't stamping his feet on purpose; since he's half steel he's a bit on the heavy side despite his lean look.

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Raising an eyebrow at his friend's frantic behavior Leon spoke up, "Wait, then what were you talking to Buck about when I brought you to visit him the other week? I though that's where we were going today. You mean to tell me you didn't commission him to grow you any rare flowers?"

Reclining into the back of the couch he waved at Drina nonchalantly as she peeked out of her cage and over at him.

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"Oh, no. I definitely did that," Silver said as he stopped pacing around the house. He began to calm down a bit and Drina was relived to not feel his booming steps slightly shaking her cage. "It's just that…is that all I'm going to do? Will the flowers be enough? Should we still visit Yuki too? Maybe I can make dinner for her too…but I can't cook…maybe I can take her out instead…oh, wait, I don't have enough money for that." He began to panic again.

Silver started pacing the room again, and Drina's eyes widened every time her cage slightly shook.

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"You could still take her to Yuki's. We both know she'd enjoy it and it's been pretty hard keeping it a secret from her considering how often the thought of ice cream comes to her. Besides that you've been having a hard time resisting too. But we can talk about this on our way to Buck's, we should really get going, he has things to do today too you know."

Standing from the couch Leon headed to the door before pausing for a second, "Are you bringing Drina with us?"

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From the cage, Drina vigorously shook her head at the Luxray while Silver's back was turned.

"That's a great idea," he said.

Drina instantly tried hiding under some straw in a corner as he opened her cage. She was smart enough to not want to deal with a worried Lucario outside of the house – Heaven knows she's had enough of that in one day. She also had plans to relax in the pool while he was away with Leon.

"Okay, Drina, let's go for a walk." He held up a maroon colored leash.

She squealed while shaking her head.

"It'll be fun. We're going to pick up a few things for –"

She slithered out of the cage when he tried grabbing her and went out into the backyard through a little door.

"Alright, fine!" he called after her, knowing that he didn't have all day to chase his pet around the house.

He put the leash on the table – he would put it in its usual spot later – and went to open the front door while facing Leon. "Shall we go?"

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"Yeah, let's get going." Walking out the door he waited a moment for the Lucario to lock up before they headed out. As they passed the lighthouse Leon narrowed his eyes against the sunlight as he looked up to see if he could catch a glimpse of the girls at the top. Crossing the bridge brought his attention back down to their path, just as well he hadn't been able to see them anyway.

In just a few minutes they were at Buck's door and Leon stepped up on the stoop and knocked before returning to the side of his jittery friend. The door opened after only a few seconds and a kindly Sawsbuck in a sweater vest greeted them with a smile, "Hello gentlemen, I assume you've come for the flowers you've requested."

As he moved to step out a grey blur whizzed past before floating excitedly about the visitors.

"Ah, excuse Cloudy's behavior. He always gets excited when visitors come, though I'm sure you remember that from last time. Come, I'll show you to the flowers." Leading the two blue and black Pokémon around to the side of the house they came to a table amongst a small garden dedicated to growing flowers for customers.

"Here we are. Now take your pick. I wasn't sure if you wanted them cut or potted so I've left them planted. Choose the ones you like best and I'll prepare them." Gesturing down to the flowers Buck awaited the selection.

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Silver surveyed the whole garden and his selections that Buck grew for him. He eyed two kinds of particular flowers, a blue one and a black one. He thought of the two flowers resembling him and his friend; black and blue side by side in the wind. The flowers swayed with the cool February breeze, and he took a moment to inhale the crisp air and scent of roses.

He glanced at Cloudy – the Castform – that was still hovering around him and Leon. He automatically thought of Drina. She would have liked to play with Cloudy since all of his forms wouldn't hurt her except for his ice form. She didn't come along with them last time and he regretted not mentioning Cloudy when he tried to get her out of her cage or else she would have agreed to come along.

From just one more inhale of the air, Silver felt relaxed from all the stress he felt earlier that day with the Valentine preparations. He thought he could just sit at the table – or maybe even a bench or something – and enjoy the garden for the rest of the afternoon, or at least until the breeze died down.

A grunt and a nudge from Leon woke Silver from his trance and the Lucario snapped back into reality. Slowly, the stress from earlier that day started to come back. He knew he couldn't stay there all day or even for the next second. They both had to get their stuff and get out.

Silver pondered over the flowers, but he didn't ponder for very long. He made his decision quickly. "I'll take the black roses, and I'd like to have them potted, please. My girlfriend prefers them to not die quickly in a bouquet."

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"Of course and I'm happy to hear that. Not too many Pokémon actually think about the flower's well being." Kneeling on the ground the Sawsbuck took no notice of the soil dirtying his knees. Using a small gardening shovel Buck unearthed three black roses, careful not to damage the roots, before standing to deposit the plants in a small pot on the table.

"As long as you take good care of them you will be able to transfer them at any time to an outside garden. Black roses tend to be pretty resilient but they should be watered at least every other day. Though once daily is highly advised." He packed extra soil gently in around the edges of the pot as he spoke. "Also try to keep them near a window as they will need the sunlight. Cloudy, if you please?"

Gesturing to his pet to come over the little weather Pokémon zoomed to his side before it's form shifted, its head encased in a large raindrop as the remainder of its body expanded slightly and darkened like a rain cloud. Performing a Rain Dance the transformed Pokémon drizzled lightly over the potted plant in an obviously well practiced move.

"And here you go. That'll be 500 bells." Holding out the roses to the Lucario, Buck, smiled kindly at him again. "I usually wouldn't charge so much but due to the rush job I had to neglect a few other things so… I'm sure you understand?"

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"Oh, yes, of course. I'm in a rush myself." He felt around himself and couldn't feel the bulge of his wallet. He reached into his shirt pocket and couldn't find anything either. He patted his short pants again and looked worriedly at the Sawsbuck who only stared back and kept holding the roses out to him.

"One moment, please," he told Buck and dragged Leon away with him to a small flower bed where they couldn't be heard. Cloudy was floating beside Buck – still in his rain form – with a curious look on his face.

Silver whispered to Leon even though both Pokémon where out of earshot. "Dude, do you have my wallet?"

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Shaking his head the Luxray answered, "No, ah… you forgot your wallet? You really were nervous. Look we're not that far from the house you could run back and get it or I could just spot you and you can pay me back when we get there right..."

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Silver thought it over with an apprehensive gaze as he watched the flowers. Of course he knew that it would be quicker to let Leon pay for the flowers now and he would just have to pay him back later, but at the same time he didn't want to feel like a bad neighbor – considering that the two just met less than a month ago – especially on a day like Valentine's Day. That was an even worse thing to consider. He thought about not being able to pay for his own girlfriend's gifts, and this time was certainly the first. He always bought her gifts ahead of time, but with the moving and the unpacking and all, he just didn't have time to think about what to get on Valentine's Day. But he thought that those were just excuses. He acknowledged that it was his fault for forgetting about a gift in the first place and he was going to take full responsibility of the blame.

He sighed and held his paw up to Leon. "That's nice, but it's my fault for forgetting it." He put down his paw and his arm fell limp at his side. "I'm a pretty fast runner, so I'll be back in no time." He started towards the bridge in a steady jog and called out to Leon before breaking into a run. "Hold the fort for me!" Then he disappeared beyond the bridge.

On the way back to the house Silver passed by a lot of Pokémon who were friendly enough to say hello, seeming to want to chat. He had to give them a quick rejection for conversation as he continued to dash. Some gave him confusing looks, others understood that he might have been busy, but he didn't care, he just wanted to get back to the house as soon as possible.

When he approached the lighthouse, Sarah spotted him. Since she was at the top floor of the lighthouse with Jenna she saw him and the rest of the town in all its splendor. She smiled and waved down at him. "Pretty fast for a simple jog! Are you trying to learn Extremespeed?"

But he didn't hear her. He was too focused on his wallet and getting back on time. No matter how close the shop was to the house it still irked him that this day was starting off wrong. He took out his key and slid it in the door. He barged in the house and Drina looked up from her nap on the couch. She had a few berries surrounding her.

So, that's what you do when I'm away, he thought as he looked at his pet, but he didn't have time to mess around with Drina. He had a wallet to find.

He searched frantically and Drina's gaze followed him wherever he went, eyes bulging with wonder. She was still startled that he suddenly came home earlier than expected.

After looking around the closet and under the bar in the kitchen and in any boxes still unpacked, he couldn't find it anywhere. Drina made a noise and pointed her tail at the table. Silver looked at her then at the table, following where she was pointing. He smacked his head with his paw as if he was using Force Palm on himself.

"Right under my nose!"

He took the wallet and dashed out of the house after quickly thanking and saying a small goodbye to Drina. He didn't even think about wanting to bring her so she could meet Cloudy. She yawned, took a bite of a berry, and went back to sleep.

Silver ran back to the shop and again ignored or politely told off the rest of the Pokémon he passed. Once again, Sarah tried to get his attention from the top of the lighthouse, but he didn't hear her. As he kept on running he thought it was a good thing that he wasn't too tired – he's done much more vigorous exercises before – and eventually saw the bridge and the flower shop in the distance.

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Watching his friend run off into the distance Leon shook his head at the other Pokémon's stubbornness. But it couldn't be helped so he'd wait here and 'hold down the fort'. Though that reminded him of a question he'd wanted to ask Buck in a roundabout way. "Hey'a Buck, you getting anything for Whitney today, got any special flowers for her?" A slow grin spread across his lips as the Sawsbuck blushed lightly and averted his gaze.

"I...I don't know what you mean.." giving the Luxray a quick glance his gaze returned to the ground just as quickly as he gave a resigned sigh, "I- yes I've bred some special flowers for her. Though it has been difficult since she's so dedicated to feng-shui. I've settled on some beautiful orange roses to suit her decor. Their meaning just so happens to fit appropriately as well."

"Their... meaning?"

As he entered his garden-expert mode he forgot his embarrassment and his blush faded, "Hm? Oh, yes, I'm sure you've heard of the language of flowers before?"

At a vague nod of agreement from the younger male he continued, "Well certain flowers have certain meanings, red roses representing passion and romance while yellow roses symbolize friendship and happiness. So, orange roses, being a hybrid of the two, can be used to indicate a desire to move a friendship into a more romantic relationship." As he finished his explanation his blush returned and deepened further as Cloudy snickered at him and Leon gave him a sly leer.

"Well, look at you, Casanova."

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"Did ya miss me?" Silver said while tapping Leon hard on the shoulder. "How much will that be again?" he asked Buck as Leon rubbed his shoulder.

When Buck repeated the price, Silver opened his wallet and fished out the money, only to have his paw turn up empty. He looked at his empty paw and noticed that he was a bit shaky and forgot to grab the money. He reached again in his black wallet with its golden emblem and pulled out the money. It was a bit more than Buck asked for, but he didn't notice that. "Sorry about that."

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"Yeah, so much." The sarcasm was obvious as the Luxray tended to his sore shoulder; steel-types were pretty heavy handed.

Swapping the flowers for the bells, Buck carefully counted out the right amount before returning the change. "It's no problem. I hope she likes the roses." And with that Buck gave the two Pokémon a polite nod before returning to his house.

"Well, all in all that went smoothly. Oh and before I forget, you remember that Ninetails I told you about? Yeah, Buck's gonna give 'er some orange roses, which apparently stand for wanting to take a friendship to the next level."

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"Whitney? Oh, yeah," Silver said as the two began to walk away from the shop. "I remember. That sounds about right. Buck shouldn't get her mad or else he'd burn up." He did a small laugh and stopped when the other Pokémon didn't join in. "I'd sure like to see what'll happen when he gives her those flowers."

Silver looked down at the pot in his paws. "Oh, Poké balls! I forgot to ask Buck what black roses mean. Oh, well. I'm sure Sarah will still like them. She loves the color. Where to next?" he said while turning to Leon. "Anything you need to do for Jenna?"

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"I'm sure Whitney will love the roses. Apparently she's into feng-shui and those'll fit well with that, he's put a lot of thought into this. Oh, and we could stop at my place so you can stash those," he gestured towards the potted plants for emphasis before continuing, "just in case Sarah comes home before we get back."

"As for Jenna... I think I'm gonna cook dinner for her and we've got all the ingredients I need for that so I'm good there. We could go visit Yuki if you haven't made reservations yet... well I guess you wouldn't need reservations since it's only a cart. But you might want to make sure she has the flavor you want."

As they continued on their way Leon began to question his plans before deciding to just ask for a second opinion, "Do you think that's enough? For Jenna I mean. It's rare that I do... well anything, so I want to be sure that everything that I do shows her how much I appreciate her, right..."

His shoulders began to slump along with his ears as he stuffed his paws in his pockets, self-doubt setting in.

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"I think you still do some things," he said. "You came out here with me to get the flowers, and I thank you for that. Considering you yourself said that you don't do anything…I think cooking for Jenna is a really, really big step. I'm sure she'll notice how much hard work you're going to put into the meal and she should be really proud of you. Even though I don't cook, I could try to lend you a hand if you need help."

They took a slight turn in their walking. "And I think going to your house to hide these would be a good idea," he said, gesturing to the flowers. "We could head over to Yuki's later, or maybe I could just take Sarah over there myself." He thought it over for a while and there was silence for a time until another thought crossed his mind.

"You mentioned Whitney liking feng-shui. Remind me again what that is."

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"Huh? Oh, feng-shui is... uh how to explain this? I don't know much about it but I think it's basically how you organize the stuff in your house to bring good luck or money. Whitney does it for a living as an interior designer." As they crossed the bridge Leon tried to think of a better explanation but couldn't think of one so with a shrug of his shoulder he said, "That's all I got."

"And thanks man. I really appreciate the offer but I wanna do the actual cooking myself though you can still help with the prep work. You can even bring Drina over if you don't wanna leave her alone anymore." His mood seemed to have lifted some until he remembered why he'd doubted himself in the first place.

"But seriously, I really do appreciate it, Fay came over for a visit the other day and of course all she had to say to me was how useless I am. She complains to Jenna about me too. And when she's talking I get so mad I swear I could just-" he's interrupted as a large spark jumps across the spikes of his mane but the moment passes quickly and he deflates into himself again, "but after she's gone everything she says just stays with me. And even when Jenna tries to cheer me up an' tell me none of it is true; it's just kinda hard to believe her. I know I don't deserve someone like her."

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Silver jumped out of the way when a stray spark leaped from Leon's mane and passed by his feet, but he didn't say anything about it since he knew how upset his friend can be at the mention of Fay. "Well, maybe if Jenna tells her sister that you made the meal all by yourself, perhaps Fay will realize that you are good enough for Jenna. She can't be like this for the rest of her life."

As both Pokémon approached the house, Silver stopped when he remembered his pet. "Wait a minute," he said while stopping Leon from opening his door. He shifted the flower pot to one paw and used the other to pull out his key. He walked to his front door and opened it to see Drina sleeping – or what he thought to be sleeping – in her cage. The berries on the couch were gone, and there were some patches of grass sticking out in the backyard. He approached her cage and opened it. She jerked awake, and he wasn't surprised that she didn't even seem half-asleep.

"So, you think you can take the berries and bury the remains out back, huh?" he said. By this time, Leon walked through the opened front door, but Sliver didn't notice.

Drina gulped and was prepared to slither out of the cage when her owner blocked her way with a swift paw. "Next time…" he began as Drina slid to the back of her cage and tried to curl up while shaking. "Next time…let me know when you're taking the berries so that I can have some too."

Drina stopped shaking and looked up at him, confused.

"Your secret's safe with me as long as you share," he said while pointing to the backyard. "And you bury things poorly." He extended his arm to her. She squealed happily, complying, and crawled over his arm. She draped herself over his neck and became like the ruffled fur of a rich coat. She was unusually smaller than the average Dratini and could manage to do things like that.

He closed her cage and looked at Leon. "It'd be a great idea to bring Drina," he told him when he really just wanted her out of the house so that he can have all the berries to himself. "When are you going to start cooking?"

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Shaking his head in amusement at the scene between master and pet the Luxray responded, "We can start setting up right now. And I'll start dinner in about an hour or so, that way it'll be ready when Jenna gets home."

They move towards the door as Leon returns to their previous conversation, "As far as I can tell Fay's always been protective of Jenna cuz they're closest in age to each other... actually I think they're twins. So it's probably not just me, Fay seems like the type that would think 'no one's good enough for my sister' but she especially doesn't like me because Jenna's doing the real work."

Leon waits a moment for Silver to lock up as they step out of the house before continuing, "So Jenna tellin' her about dinner wouldn't make much of a difference. Don't get me wrong, Jenna always stands up for me it's just never enough for Fay. I'm never good enough... I just hope the rest of their family isn't the same way when I finally meet them."

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Silver was about to say something else that related to Fay, but stopped himself, figuring that they'd just be going in a circle again on how Fay was set on thinking that Leon wasn't good enough for Jenna. He wanted to change the subject, but didn't want to seem like he didn't care. Of course he cared. He decided to do both, but didn't know if the words he spoke were relevant. He just wanted to cheer up his friend. "Well, if they are twins like you said, then do they share that supernatural twin power? I mean, if Fay is going around telling her own sister that no one is good enough for her then she might get the same thing back – kind of like karma. She might think that no one is good enough for herself." At this point, Silver arched his back a bit more and spoke in a voice that was higher and more proper than his own, "I'm Fay the Flareon, and I'm so snooty and bossy that no Pokémon is good enough for me! And I think that goes for the rest of my family too!"

Drina giggled.

Silver returned to his regular, gruff voice. "But seriously, it's not that I have anything against her. It's just that…I don't think the problem is you it's her, and if I'm right on that, then you shouldn't have a problem about the other family members – unless of course she's spreading some foolish gossip about you and they're foolishly believing her."

They both started up Leon's steps. "Besides, how can she not see the strapping young lad that you are who cares for Jenna?" He stopped himself before fixing that last sentence. "And I say that with all possible heterosexually." He turned away, embarrassed and thought of Sarah. For a moment, he almost forgot it was Valentine's Day.

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Chuckling, the electric-type shook his head again while opening the front door.

"Dude, seriously? Did you really just pull a no homo? But yeah, I get what you're saying. It's not like you've ever met her or anything. And even if Fay's been telling them stuff about me so has Jenna and from what she's told me some of them are really looking forward to meeting me. I think Fay just harps on me so much because Jenna's job is paying for my house when she has the option of living in the lighthouse since it includes housing for one. I don't think she'd like me all that much either way but this can't be helping my case."

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Silver shrugged his shoulders, not knowing if he wanted to say any more. "Oh, well. I guess we'll have to see what happens, huh?"

Drina slid off his shoulder when they all got into Leon's house. She slithered to a corner and curled up to sleep, but she really wanted the other two Pokémon to only think she was asleep. She really wanted to watch them and see what they'd do next.

"Where should I put these?" Silver asked while holding up the potted roses. "If we hide them in a place with no sunlight…I just hope they don't wither by the time I give them to Sarah."

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"I think they'll be alright it's not like they'll be here for the whole day, either way though you can just sit them on a window sill if you like." As Leon said this he watched Drina slithered off with his head tilted curiously.

He couldn't help but to wonder why the little Pokémon wasn't excitedly exploring the new environment but he let it slide as he moved to prepare for dinner.

The Lucario placed the flower pot on the nearest window sill. He nodded in approval when he saw the sunlight flooding through the window and covering the flowers. He glanced over his shoulder at Drina and also wondered why she wasn't exploring. Normally, she would be curious about a new atmosphere, but figured she was probably just tired after eating all the berries.

"So," he began as he followed Leon to the kitchen area and away from Drina. "You said you won't start cooking dinner until an hour from now. What are you going to do until then?"

As the two male Pokémon walked away, Drina peeked at them with one eye before slithering away quietly to explore around Leon's house. She wanted to look around without them noticing so that if she broke something – on accident – she didn't want to be blamed. If something were to break, she thought she could just slither back in the corner on time before the two Pokémon turned around to see what had happened. She just wanted to look. She didn't want to break anything, hence the plan to pretend to sleep.

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"Well… usually I would take a nap. But since you're here we could just hang out for a while, talk. Or whatever." Shrugging his shoulders, the Luxray turned to his friend.

"It's whatever you want basically. I don't really have any ideas."

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The Lucario scratched behind his ear, thinking. "Well, in my spare time I usually battle or play music. But I can let you rest for later tonight."

As they talked, Drina saw the flower pot on the sill. She admired the flowers greatly and her eyes glimmered in the sunlight. She wanted to climb up to take a better look at them. She surveyed her surroundings to find objects to climb on, but her attention was quickly changed when something else caught her eye.

"I can head over to Yuki's and see what she's got while you sleep," he continued. "I can come back afterwards if you still need help."

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"Nah, you don't have to leave. What kind of friend would I be if I took a nap while you were visiting? And this is even the first time you've been over my house, besides I had a nap earlier..." shuffling around a bit and running his fingers through his mane, Leon considered their other options.

"I'm not really one for battling, though I would be awesome at it," he muttered the second half under his breath as he shoved his paws in his pockets.

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Aside from his large ears giving him keen hearing, the house was quiet enough for Silver to hear Leon's final words. He smirked, crossed his arms, and chuckled softly at the possibility of a challenge. "Yeah, you would be pretty awesome at it. You look strong enough. When's the last time you've done it?"

Drina managed to find a chair she could use for climbing, but there was an object on it that was hindering her from pushing the chair over to the window. She scratched her head with the tip of her tail, thinking as she looked around. She sighted both familiar and unfamiliar contraptions, but wasn't sure if they were what she needed.

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"When was the last time I battled? Man, it's been forever. But don't think that's left me out of practice. Training was like the one think I actually did growing up. Mainly on accuracy and precision, but that much training kinda translates over to other stats too." Shrugging his shoulders, as if to nonchalantly brush off his biggest achievement, Leon let his eyes wander before they landed on Drina.

She seemed to finally be comfortable enough to have a look around so he figured he'd leave her be for now.

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Silver followed Leon's gaze and noticed Drina entertained. He smiled at her before turning back to his friend. For a moment he thought of Leon's battle style and what it would be like. Since he'd been training and battling different types of Pokémon he'd been studying different natures too. Since Leon had a lax nature his defense would be high, and combined with his good accuracy and precision, it would certainly be a good challenge against Silver's high attack. He also thought of the disadvantage of a lax nature and thought of Leon's lowered special defense, which wouldn't benefit Silver too much since his only special attack move was Aura Sphere. He smiled and thought he might learn a thing or two from Leon.

He stopped calculating his battling options before the pause took too long between them. "Sarah had a childhood friend whose boyfriend – a Zoroark – trained with a human. He said it wasn't that bad. Never considered it for myself though, I trained with a Meinshao before he – " Silver stopped himself before he had to tell a story he was reluctant to tell. He hadn't even given Sarah the full details about it and it made him worry if that would hurt their relationship. He just hoped that she wouldn't find out today out of all days.

"Well, I am interested in battling you," he continued. "But I don't think now or today would be a very good time, considering the possibility of taking too long and missing out on the dinner. Plus, we don't want to look beaten up for our dates." He chuckled.

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Leon took notice of the cut off sentence but chose not to mention it. Instead he joined in the laughter for a moment before smirking, "Yeah, that's true. I doubt Sarah would be all that happy if you turned up with singed fur and a serious case of static cling."

He waved his paw playfully as if to brush aside the previous topic, "But… yeah, maybe someday we actually can have a battle… man that feels weird to say. It's so… active. You're being a bad influence on me, getting me to do all this proactive stuff, what would my parents say!"

He snickered at his own joke but inwardly wondered what his parents really would think before quickly dismissing it. But then the thought of his sister's reaction came to mind and a battle began to seem like a pretty good idea, she'd definitely be proud of him.

At the enquiring sound from his friend the Luxray noticed that he must have said the last part out loud by accident.

"Oh, uh. I was just thinking about what Lexi would think, of me battling. I bet she'd be proud, 'specially since she knows how hard I worked when I was training. Now that I think of it, if I started battling at the gym then I could make money … that would make things easier for Jenna too. Maybe I'll mention it to her, maybe even invite Lexi to come watch me… I don't know I kinda just jumped all over there huh? I'm getting ahead of myself aren't I? What do you think?" scratching the back of his head he gave a self-depreciating laugh.

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"That would be very interesting," Silver said. "You would make a great opponent at the gym. Maybe you and I could even do tag battles, and we could let the girls watch." He paused for a moment, thinking about something important. "Of course they'll have to come on a day when we'll know we'll win the fight. We don't want to humiliate ourselves."

He turned his head, trying to look for Drina, but kept his feet rooted in the same spot. "By the way, do you have any special abilities that will benefit you in battle? I have Steadfast, but there can be some downsides to it once in a while."

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"I can see what you mean and yeah, I have a special ability. It's Rivalry. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I never had any motivation to compete with my sister. If Lexi'd been a guy who knows how I'd've turned out. Maybe my parents would have got the son they wanted... though if they'd of had a boy first maybe they would have stopped there. Though with their luck they probably would have just ended up with me anyway." Though he had wondered into rather sad territory for a moment there he moved on from it without taking any notice.

"Besides that, I bet we'd make a great team. And we could invite the girls to all our matches cuz there's no way we'd lose!" A wide grin spread across the Luxray's lips as he thought about it, this idea had put him in a great mood.

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Silver thought of his battle with Leon being slightly more challenging now that he knew his ability. He would be tough to beat with Rivalry, and that Silver liked. "Of course no one will beat us, although, we'll have to be careful with ground types. To avoid that, you and I have to train, and what better way to train than have a battle? But I'm jumping back into the subject of battling," he stopped himself. He couldn't help but bring up the battling again.

He began to look around the place. "Speaking of battling, do you think I should let Drina battle too? The thought crossed my mind, but since she's smaller than a normal Dratini I don't know if they'll pick on her or underestimate her. I've trained her myself, and she's actually pretty good."

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Shrugging nonchalantly, the electric-type answered, "Well, as long as she can handle herself it doesn't matter what the other pets think or how they'll treat her. She'll earn their respect. But that's a pretty good idea, battling with Drina, especially for those times between your own battles when you need a little extra cash."

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"You're right," Silver said, agreeing with Leon's words. "I'll give it a try next time I head over to the gym." Silver also felt as if it was growing late and looked around for the time. "Should we get started on that meal?"

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Ears perking at the mention of the time, Leon realized that they'd been talking for quite a while. "Huh, oh, yeah. Sure we can start now."

Moving over to the kitchen area he waved the Lucario over and began to explain what he would need help with

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"It's not going to be too complicated is it? What do you and Jenna like to eat?" He paused and corrected himself. "Well, what does Jenna like to eat considering you're cooking for her?"

Silver didn't notice Drina slither by his feet to watch. The little dragon Pokémon went back and forth between exploring the place and watching them. Although, her curiosity was more toward their preparing since there wasn't much of the place to begin with.

"What would you have me to do? Should I set the table or something?" he said.

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"Yeah, setting the table would be good." Handing a set of plates and silverware over, Leon returned to the stove. "I'm making boiled Crawdaunt with butter sauce. And I picked up some Sitrus Oran berry swirl ice cream the other day for dessert. It's kinda funny to think about cuz I had forbidden Jenna to go in the fridge of freezer. So, I had to get anything she needed for her."

Chuckling, the Luxray set a pot to boil as he removed the Crawdaunt tail from the fridge and began preparing it.

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"Crawdaunt, huh?" he said as he saw Leon turn the heat on the stove. "I personally prefer Kingler. I think Crawdaunt have too much dark meat." He took the silverware and went to the counter to get some napkins before moving to the table. He placed the napkins down and mumbled to himself, "Now, is it knife on the right and fork on the left?"

Drina slapped her forehead with her tail, embarrassed that her master would be concerned with such a small detail. She knew that her other master wouldn't think twice about where the silverware would go on the table or if different foods touched each other on the same plate. "The silverware is used for eating. It doesn't matter where you put it on the table…why does it matter if your food is touching? It's all going in your stomach," she could remember her saying.

Silver stopped mumbling to himself and walked over to get the plates. "Sarah never lets me eat butter sauce," he complained. "She always uses olive oil or Cloyster sauce or something like that. Can I lick the spoon when you're done?" he joked.

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Snorting in amusement at his friend's joke, Leon answered, "Sure, you can even try it on the Crawdaunt if you want, there's enough for that. Just don't go telling anyone I gave it to you. Last thing I want is Sarah mad at me for corrupting your diet or something."

Glancing around till his eyes landed on the dragon-type, he addressed her as well, "And if you can keep a secret you can try some too, Drina."

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"I wouldn't tell her," he said wile drawing an X on his chest above his spike. "I wouldn't want Sarah mad at me either, especially today."

Drina nodded at Leon and made a squeal, promising that she'll keep quiet about it too.

The Lucario looked down at his pet. "And she can keep a secret too," he said while pointing a paw at her, remembering her issue with the berries. "She's good at not telling people about things, and I just recently found that out." He placed his paw down and looked around for the plates.

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"Good to know... and for the record I've…never made this before. But Lexi taught me how so it should turn out fine." As the water came to a boil he put in the sectioned pieces of Crawdaunt tail and put a smaller pot beside it for melting the butter.

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"Well then, I guess I'll be your first taste-tester then," he said jokingly as he finally found the plates and went to put them on the table. He looked at his work and felt it to be too simple. There were napkins with the silverware on them, and the plates were on top of the placemats, facing across from each other. "Something's missing," he mumbled. He looked around and saw his flower pot on the window sill. He went to take it off and place it in the middle of the table between the plates. "That's not enough." He then looked around again, but since he was unfamiliar with the place he didn't know where to look. Besides, he didn't want to start roaming where he shouldn't at a friend's house. "Leon, do you plan on using any candlelight's while you guys eat?"

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Only able to pay half attention to his friend while he carefully watched over dinner, Leon, answered absentmindedly, "Hmm? Oh uh... no. I'm just gonna dim the lights..."

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Silver paused. "That sounds like a good idea. It's more romantic that way. I should do that whenever Sarah and I don't want to go out or cook." He took his potted plant and went to put it back on the window sill, stepping over Drina who stretched herself out on the floor in attempt to trip him. He put the flower back and called over to the lion-like Pokémon. "Hey, Leon, are you interested in double dating one day; you and Jenna with Sarah and me?"

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"Huh? Oh, yeah sure. That sounds cool, I'd have to check with Jenna first to see when we could, but it sounds fine to me."

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The Lucario clapped his paws together and they made a soft thud. "Cool." He walked back over to the kitchen after he finished setting the table. "Is it almost ready?" he said, referring to the food.

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"Yup, in fact..." pausing for a moment the electric-type began removing the Crawdaunt tails from the heat, he cut off two pieces for his guests to try, "you guys can try it now. Here." Dunking both pieces in butter Leon skewered them on forks, handing one to his friend he bend down to hold the other out to Drina.

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Silver took one of the forks and tried a piece. "Hm, not bad. This is pretty good," he said while finishing up his piece.

Likewise, Drina crawled up to the fork that was offered to her and started eating right out of Leon's hands. She squealed happily in between bites, letting both Pokémon know that she too enjoyed the snack.

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Grinning at the praise, Leon stood after giving Drina an appreciative pat on the head.

"Thanks you two. I'm really starting to get excited about this. I can't wait till Jenna tries it."

His grin looked as if nothing could wipe it away, even a visit from Fay couldn't bring him down right now.

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The Lucario finished off his small piece quickly and mentioned Fay as if he read Leon's mind even though he didn't mention her. "I'm sure Jenna will love it! Maybe Fay will think of you to be better now."

Drina, knowing that there was some sort of tension between Leon and this Pokémon called Fay, looked at her owner with a face that said, "Why did you mention that" as she finished her piece.

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"If I'm lucky. But I'll be happy as long as Jenna likes it. And the fact that Lexi'll be proud of me for doing so well."

The Luxray's grin looked like it would begin to be painful if he kept it up much longer as he started to set the food out.

"I'm almost done, could you get the drink from the fridge?"

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"Sure," he said while opening the fridge, but he wasn't sure which drink to get. He grabbed the drinks that looked suitable enough for a Valentine's Day dinner and closed the fridge with his hip. "Are we almost done here?"

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"Yyyuuup. That about does it. I'll take that, thanks." Grabbing the bottle from his friend's right paw he poured the drink after he finished up setting the food on the table.

"There we go. Here, I'll put these away." He took the other drink container and returned them to the fridge.

"Thanks by the way, for everything. I really appreciate the help and the encouragement." Chuckling nervously he scratched the back of his head, "Lexi's only ever done that before. Sooo... yeah."

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Grabbing his flower pot and scooping up Drina, Silver made his way to the door. "I'm glad I could help. Well, I guess I should be going. Maybe the girls will be out soon and I think I should meet up with them."

"Sure thing, but unless you plan to give those to her when you meet up with them you might want to stash the flowers before you go. Either way, I'll go with you to meet them. That way, I won't be sitting here with nothing to distract me while I wait for Jenna."

With that Leon moved to follow the steel-type out the door.

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"Oh, so I'm a distraction now, huh?" he laughed as he stepped out the door while pulling Drina onto his shoulders. "I could give these to her now," he said while holding up the potted plant to see the setting sun shine on them. "But then it would be better if I surprised her."

He took his keys out. "I'll be just a moment, Leon." He stepped over to his house as the other Pokémon followed. They both stepped inside with the door still open as Silver placed the flowers on the table. He looked at it one last time then slammed a fist into his other paw. "Oh, I almost forgot something!" He quickly went to the bed and pulled out a Valentine's Day card from under it. He went to the table and started writing. He stopped when Drina gave him a look.

"I know, I know," he told the little dragon type. "I won't write a novel this time."

He quickly finished up with the card and placed it beside the flowers. He reminded himself that there was a box of chocolate in the fridge. He didn't want to bring it out because Sarah liked her chocolate cold. He went back to Leon when he was done, led him out the door, and locked up the house. "Ready to go?"

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"Yup, and I meant you were a good kind of distraction. In fact, considering my tendency for laziness and procrastination, distractions are usually good things. So really, you should take that as a compliment." Giving his friend a grin the lion Pokémon shoved his paws into his pockets and followed.

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"Well, I'm glad I could be of service," he said while walking alongside his friend and looking up ahead. "The lighthouse doesn't look that far away. Isn't it nice for Jenna to work close to home?"

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"Yeah, it makes things way easier when she needs to take a break. I'm really lucky actually. If she hadn't taken that job we might have never ended up together. I guess you could say that's the real perk of her working so close to my house… "

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"Oh! How perfect for you two!" He glanced up and covered his face with his paw from the sunlight in the west. "I can't tell if they're up there waving at us or if there coming down to greet us."

Drina tried to look up at the lighthouse, but the same result was for her as well.

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"Jenna's pretty good at keeping time... unless she gets really wrapped up in her work. But with someone else with her it'll be easier for her to keep track. So basically, yeah they should be down soon."
Squinting up at the observatory the Luxray's eyes were able to cut right through the light and walls to scan the upper floors.
"Yeah, they're about... there. They must be taking the stairs."
He pointed at a spot midway down the building for the benefit of the other Pokémon who couldn't see through walls.
"I can't remember, did we ever mention that Jenna originally lived in the lighthouse when she moved here?"

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"I think you did say something like that. That she lived in the lighthouse and you two moved in together at your place?" He stopped walking. "Should we go in or wait out here?"

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"We can just wait they're just about down."

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Drina slithered down from her owners shoulders and squealed on the ground.

Silver waved when the two girls came out of the lighthouse. "Hi, Sarah! Hi, Jenna!"

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"Hey guys." Waving them over Leon smiled a blush of anticipation coloring his cheeks.

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"I think Leon has a fever," Sarah said.

"No, honey. He's just blushing," he said while blushing too.

Sarah perked up and placed her paw on his forehead. "You have a fever, too. Happy Valentine's Day!" She hugged him.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you, too," he said.

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"Happy Valentine's Day, Jenna."

"You too, Leon." Grinning, the Jolteon stepped over and hugged her boyfriend.

"Just wait till you see what I have waiting for you." Grinning he gave a quick squeeze back before taking hold of her hand.

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"Yeah, he has a surprise for you." He told Jenna before talking to Sarah again. "And I have a surprise for you too, my darling."

"Don't call me that in front of them." She playfully pushed him away. "I have stuff for you too. I hope it's enough."

"It will be." He kissed her forehead and stepped over to Leon. "I had a nice time today, but it looks like you'll be going now?"

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"Yeah, see you guys later. C'mon Jenna let's get going, right..." offering his arm, she took it and beamed back at him.

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Drina squealed and followed the electric couple to their house until Silver called to her. "Drina, no. He's not going to feed you again." He scooped her up and took her on his shoulders.

"Bye, Jenna! Bye, Leon!" Sarah waved as she stepped closer to her house with her boyfriend.

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The electric couple waved back over their shoulders as they headed home for a nice Valentine's dinner.