A/N: I wonder if the DPPt chapter of the manga is well-known enough for anyone to like both it and Azumanga Daioh, and I really doubt that anyone will agree with this little crossover pairing I thought up. But I made it anyway, so here it is! (Oh, and also, I'm uploading all four chapters at once, heh heh…)
I walk through the crowded shopping mall, wondering where my friends went. This doesn't look like the Pokèmart that Pearl, Lady, and I walked into half an hour ago. In fact, it looks totally different. Maybe I'm just in a different part of the mall?
At least there's a food court here, I think as I take a bite out of the sub sandwich that cost me almost ten dollars. A tad expensive, though.
According to a helpful sign on the wall, second floor is designer clothing. Lady will probably be there. I step onto an escalator, noticing a high school girl with a pink uniform and dark brown hair standing a few steps above me.
"Um, hey," I say tentatively, hoping she's nice. "I'm looking for my friends. Have you seen a blond boy and a girl with fancy clothes?"
I get no reaction. I wait patiently for a few seconds while I finish my sandwich before trying again.
"Hello, my name is Diamond. I'm a Pokémon trainer. What's your name?"
She slowly turns her head. Her eyes are the same colour as her hair, wide and deep, like they're staring right through me. She has her mouth open in a vacant smile.
"This is one of them escalators..."
I blink. She's kind of pretty, in a strange way. I wonder if she likes Proteam Omega.
"Yep," I agree, for lack of anything else to say, "it sure is."
"Y'see, sometimes Ah get 'em all confuzzled," she continues. "...hey, where'd Chiyo-chan go?"
"Who?"
"We was goin' shoppin' for bathing suits for our trip to her summer house," she explains. "Now Ah don't know where she is."
"Ohh." I think for a moment. "Then I guess we're both looking for someone."
"Oh, well, ain't that somethin'!" She grins. "Let's look together!"
"Wait, you still haven't told me your name." In case she didn't hear me the first time, I repeat, "My name is Diamond. Pearl calls me Dia sometimes."
"Ah'm Osaka." She blinks slowly, then shakes her head. "Ah mean, mah name is Ayumu Kasuga."
"Wow, that's a nice name."
I glance down at the floor, suddenly realizing that we had long stepped off the escalator and had been walking along the top floor for almost a full minute now without even noticing.
"Um, you said you were looking for bathing suits?" I say. "There's a display of them over there. How much money do you have on you?"
"Oh, Ah've got plenty."
"Great! Why don't you go-"
"...But Chiyo's carryin' all of it."
I think to myself that having a friend carry her money is probably a good idea. Then I remember...
"Wait a minute," I say. "She isn't here, is she? And that basically means that you don't have money."
"But Ah just said Ah had some..."
Sighing, I decide I'd like to get to know her a little better. Maybe she's on a Pokémon journey, too.
"Do you want to go back down, and maybe I can get you something from the food court?" I suggest. "Oh, and there's a little coffee shop just down the road, if you wanted-"
But her gaze is fixed on a young girl staring at a jewelry rack. Without saying anything, she starts to sort of drift towards her.
"Um, goodbye?" Somehow I doubt that the girl is actually her friend, but I'll let her figure that out for herself. "I'll see you later, okay, Osaka?"
"Bye, Dia-chan!" She waves at me quickly before ducking behind a clothing rack.
Well, I think, she was certainly an interesting girl. I'd like to talk to her again as soon as possible.
Shrugging, I head back downstairs. Maybe there's a sale on potions or something.
