It was like any other average day, I was out early before sunrise training my Buneary and Piplup.

"Piplup, use bubblebeam!" I cry and Piplup releases dozens of bubbles of all sizes from its mouth, and finishes with a cartwheel. "Pip!"

I laugh and pick my little penguin Pokemon up into my arms. "You did amazing! I just know you'll ace the contest in Hearthome City this afternoon!"

"Bun..." I hear a low murmur coming from my rabbit Pokemon, and as I turn, Buneary is crossing her arms and looks quite jealous, like whenever I give any of my other Pokemon attention. I kneel next to Buneary and pat its head. "Come on, don't be like that. You want Piplup to do good later at the contest, don't you?" All I get as a reply is a snooty-sounding "Bun!"

I roll my eyes and decide that it's time to keep going. "Alright Piplup, use brine!"

"Piiiip..." Piplup chirps quietly, not obeying its orders.

"Huh? What's wrong? Tired already?" Piplup nods wearily in response.

I sigh. "Okay, I guess we've had enough training for now... How about we go to this new cafe in Sunnyshore City? I heard it has the best pancakes!" My two little Pokemon cheer in reply.

As we walk inside the cafe, a warm, toasty gust greets us with smell of maple syrup and freshly made pancakes. "Mm, it smells delicious~" I say, Buneary on my shoulder and Piplup in my arms.

I walk up to the the counter and ask for a seat, and the waitress says I can sit up here in one of the tall stools. I do so and set each of my Pokemon on a stool. Just as I was about to open the menu I hear a young man-possibly in his early twenties- argue with someone behind me.

"Look Volkner, I'm not allowing you to close your gym!" It appears to be two men, one with electric-yellow hair and wearing a blue leather jacket and next to him a man with a red afro in a goldish-yellow shirt. It seems to look like the one in blue is Volkner, the city's gym leader. But why on earth would he want to close the gym?

Volkner sighs. "Look man, I haven't made up my mind yet. But I really have put some thought into it and I think I'd be making the right choice." He yawns after his sentence. The red-haired man's brow furrows and he walks away without saying a single goodbye. He sits beside me on a stool, anger ablazed in his eyes. "One chocolate malt, please." He says to the waitress. She turns to me after scribbling down his order and asks, "And what would you like young lady?" I scramble out my words unintentionally fast. "U-um one strawberry malt and a plate of pancakes, please!" She writes it down and nods; scurrying back to the kitchen to give the list to the workers.

I try to sit still but my eyes keep wanting to check out and see who this guy really is. I very slightly turn my head to get at a better angle, and then I realize: Oh my God, it's Flint the Elite Four member! I almost fall out of my chair, and as I try to reposition my body as it was before, Flint glances at me. At that moment I swear I could feel the heat develope in my cheeks.

The waitress comes out with two malts and a plate of pancakes. "Here you two go." She says, placing the two full glasses in front of Flint and I. It's weird, doesn't she care that she is serving to one of the most famous guys in Sinnoh? I thank her and take a bite of my pancake. Mm, warm and fluffy, just the way I like them.

"Bunnearry..."

"Pip..."

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry guys, I didn't mean to forget you two like that..." I quickly dig in my messenger bag and take out two containers of poffins and set it in front of them. "Well, dig in!" I say, but all I can think of is that fellow sitting next to me, sipping his malt and eyeing me with a nonchalant smile.