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Falkner

The invitation had said eight, so Falkner had come at eight. He was already starting to wish he hadn't. There were only a handful of people at the party, and he didn't recognize any of them. This was definitely one of those things where nobody was actually supposed to show up on time. He should have realized. Or asked his dad. Or something.

He didn't usually go to stuff like this. Well, honestly, he never went to stuff like this. But this was one of the perks of being a Gym Leader, he figured. A year ago, he'd been a nobody, and now, having taken over the Violet City Gym, he was a VIP at the biggest Pokémon event of the year. Maybe even the decade.

After years of keeping the Master Ball under wraps and refusing to let anyone who wasn't a top Pokémon researcher try it out, Silph Co. was finally going public with it. It was going on sale the next day. Anyone would be able to buy a Master Ball… if they could afford it, that was. Everybody was talking about the implications this had for the Pokémon world. And Silph Co. wouldn't be the hugely successful company it was if it didn't make the most of this kind of excitement, so they were throwing a massive launch party. Anyone who was anyone had been invited, including all of the Gym Leaders. He didn't see any of them now, though. He looked around uncomfortably. He sure didn't feel like much of a VIP, standing there by himself.

He glanced at the entrance for something like the tenth time, and a security guard gave him the once-over. The security at this party was ridiculous, probably because of that rumor going around that Giovanni was planning on making an appearance. It was never going to happen, if you asked him, but he guessed after what had gone down in Goldenrod with Team Rocket not too long ago, they weren't going to take any chances.

He checked the time on his Pokégear and frowned. Still only eight-fifteen. He put it back in his pocket and reminded himself exactly why he was there. He'd come for three reasons. First, because he'd have to be crazy to miss out on a party like this. Silph Co. had really gone all out. He couldn't walk ten feet without being offered an hors d'oeuvre or a glass of champagne, and the lobby had been completely transformed. An office building had sounded like a pretty weird place to throw a party at first, but if he hadn't known any better, he'd have sworn he wasn't even at Silph Co.

Second, for the free Master Ball. They were giving them away in the gift bags on the way out. From what he'd heard, most of the other leaders were more excited about this than the actual party. Even though Master Balls were going on sale soon, they were still incredibly expensive, and Silph Co. wasn't planning on making too many of them—he'd read that there was already a mile-long waitlist. So this party was pretty much the only way anyone was going to get their hands on a Master Ball for a while.

And the third, most important reason—well, she wasn't there yet. Which was why he couldn't stop looking at the door.

He'd promised himself that tonight was the night he'd finally man up and ask Janine out. He'd been meaning to do it for ages. He'd had a couple of chances already. But it wasn't that simple. What if he ruined everything? He didn't want to screw things up. She was practically his best friend.

He and Janine were so much alike that he'd ended up hanging out with her more than any of the other Gym Leaders, even though she lived all the way over in Kanto. She was nothing like the Johto girls, which (no offense to them) was kind of a good thing. Whitney liked to talk his ear off and Jasmine hardly talked at all, and Clair—well, he was kind of scared to talk to Clair. But he and Janine could just, well, talk. Being new to the whole gym thing could get pretty tough sometimes, and he was glad to have a friend in the same situation.

Only, the more he got to know her, the more he realized he wanted to be more than just friends. He just wasn't sure if she wanted the same thing.

"This is nothing compared to the Ultra Ball launch," Blaine complained. "Now that was a party."

Falkner looked on incredulously. Ultra Balls had been around since before he was born. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten himself into this conversation, but he couldn't wait to get out. He'd only meant to say a quick hi to Pryce, one of the few party guests he actually recognized, but as more people had arrived and come over to chat, he'd somehow found himself stuck in the middle of a gathering of the Pokémon League's oldest, talking about stuff that had happened decades ago.

Pryce just laughed. "Ultra Ball launch? I remember back when we didn't even have Great Balls. And if you couldn't catch your Pokémon with a good old Poké Ball, that was just too bad for you."

"And there was none of that newfangled PC business," Agatha added. "As many Pokémon as you could carry, that was all you got. Trainers these days are soft."

They all turned to look at Falkner. He suddenly felt very young and very, very uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat," he mumbled. He walked away and didn't look back. Then he saw that Janine had come in, and he immediately forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

She was with her dad. Well, of course she was. There was no way he wasn't going to come tonight with a free Master Ball at stake. Falkner couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. How had he managed to overlook that? With Koga there, getting a date was out of the question. He'd be lucky if he even got to talk to her.

Janine's dad, Koga, was a member of the Elite Four. He was tough, threatening, and always getting in Falkner's way. He didn't know why—he'd never done anything to upset the guy, as far as he could tell—but Koga had never seemed to like him all that much. Falkner figured he was just really, really protective.

Koga also happened to be a ninja. Falkner wasn't too sure exactly what that entailed, but he'd learned enough from Janine to know it was definitely something to be worried about. So he tried to keep his distance when Koga was around. Big time.

Tonight, he didn't think he'd have much of a choice. Janine had left her dad, and she was heading his way. As she approached him, he couldn't help but gape at her. She normally looked pretty good, but tonight was something else.

"Wow," he said. "You look…"

She looked amazing. Unbelievable. Just… wow.

Janine stared at him expectantly.

"Good," he finished lamely. He didn't have the nerve to say much more than that.

"Thanks."

He smiled at her, but inside, he was kicking himself. Was he that much of a loser that all he could say was good? "I mean… really good."

Right. Because that was so much better.

"Um, thanks. You look pretty good yourself." She was blushing a little, he noticed. That had to be a good sign, didn't it?

"Thanks." Falkner looked down self-consciously. He never wore this kind of stuff. He was only half sure that his tie matched his suit, and he was even less sure that it was tied right.

He didn't know why he felt so awkward all of a sudden. It wasn't usually like this with Janine. He'd always felt like he could just be himself around her. He never really had to think about it. But something had changed. Maybe it was the party. Maybe he was just putting way too much pressure on himself. Or maybe it was the way Koga kept looking at him like he was about to kill him.

"So… how's your dad?" he asked. It was pretty much the only thing he could think of with Koga staring at him like that.

"Good. He's over there." Janine pointed at Koga, as if he could've somehow not noticed. "Is your dad here, too?"

"Nah. Still traveling. You know how it is." Falkner hadn't seen him in ages. His dad had taken off to travel the world the moment he'd given up control of the gym. He wasn't even entirely sure where his dad was anymore. Janine was pretty lucky to have her dad around, he thought, ignoring the selfish little voice in his head telling him that things would be a heck of a lot easier for him if her dad would disappear to some random corner of the world, too.

"When's he coming back?"

"Don't know." He shrugged.

Suddenly, the room got quieter, and it seemed like everyone was looking at the door. They turned to see what all the fuss was about. The Hoenn Champion had just walked in. Or former Champion, maybe. He wasn't too sure. It was some guy named Steven, anyway. From what Falkner understood, he was pretty famous. Not that it mattered to him much.

In the commotion, he flagged down a passing waiter with a tray of champagne. He took two glasses and handed one to Janine. It was the sort of thing a gentleman would do. Finally, he felt like he'd gotten something right.

"I can't," Janine whispered. "My dad's watching." She apologized and gave him back the glass. Falkner winced as Koga shot him a venomous glare.

Great. Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't just stand there double fisting champagne while he talked to her. So he went up to the first two people he saw. Lance and Clair, unfortunately. Not exactly the most approachable people ever. Well, Lance was nice, but he was the freaking Pokémon League Champion. That automatically made him a bit intimidating.

"Here." Falkner thrust the glasses at them. "I thought you guys might like some champagne."

The two cousins looked confused, but they took the drinks and thanked him.

"Uh… no problem." He walked away, completely mortified, and went back to Janine. She was laughing at him.

He was really, totally blowing this.

Up next: A mysterious stranger saves Jasmine from the most uncomfortable moment of her life.