AN: Well here goes nothing! My first fanfic on here...Not really much to say except I hope you like it thanks in advance for reading!
Platina stands in her room back in her mansion, staring at her bag as she better organizes the contents for her upcoming travel. Her mind, however, is clouded with a replay of the events of the day before.
"I hope Diamond does not feel too bad about what happened…" Platina looked solemnly at Pearl from her hotel room, "I tried to reassure him that having fallen while exercising with him was just an accident and—" she was interrupted as the familiar ring of her cellphone went off. She looked back inside with a confused look, "Who..?" She quickly went to answer it.
Pearl looked on as she wandered to her room to answer the phone; eavesdropping was inevitable.
"Hello? Ah, yes it's me... No, I'm not doing anything terribly important; why did you call? Is something wrong?" The girl paused for a bit, then nodded. "Okay. Well, no I- No. Yes, I'm certain... Yes, we're almost there actually... Diamond and Pearl are with me." Another nod then a small smile, "Positive. I'll be sure to ask."
"...Ask...?"
"All right, I'll try my best to be there." A slight laugh, "Okay, goodbye." Platina hung up before letting out a tiny sigh.
Pearl blinked and walked inside as soon as she finished her conversation, "What was that all about, Missy? Was it your butler or something calling to check up as always?"
Platina shook her head. "No... I thought it was going to be him, but it was Father." She turned around to face him. "He wants to know if I'm going to be home soon or if I'm close by; this is the first time he's actually called which is why I was really surprised." She shrugged slightly, "He wants me to be home because he wants to give me something before he leaves with Professor Rowan elsewhere... He's home for once, he said and might not see me for a month or two. It depends on how their research goes. But please, do pack up now, we'll go out to dinner and then we'll leave right away." She gave him an apologetic smile before adding, "I'll make it up to you two, I promise...Unless you'd rather not and it's too much of a bother."
"Well okay, that's fine with me! I'll make sure everything's all set and packed!" Pearl's expression turned into a serious one, "No, no, no! We're your bodyguards and that's just what we'll do! Guard! There's no need for you to make it up to us. You just take it easy Missy and we'll see you in the morning."
"Of course. Sleep well, Pearl."
Platina shook her head and focused back to the task at hand. "Perhaps Father forgot?" she mused to herself then walks over to the mirror with her hat to put it on. Platina stared at her reflection for a while, thinking of all the possibilities before something crossed her mind. "...Or maybe he only called to have me come back home and nothing else." The girl frowned at this; surely her father couldn't be so rash, could he? "Then again…" She looks at her elbows and knees and her expression softened somewhat. "He was really worried and then somewhat furious after seeing me last night."
Platina sighs and sits on the stool in front of the mirror for a moment, "he may not have said it or acted like it, but I could sense it in his eyes... I really hope that isn't the case; I told Diamond and Pearl to come later. Later as in twenty minutes..." She looks down at her pokétch to double check her estimation, "this is no good, I'll have to explain to him that I have plans." With this final decision, Platina got up and rushed out of the room. "Father?" She stops at the doorway entrance to the living room and hears voices, one very foreign to her. "Who is that...?" She whispers before pressing her ear to the door in sheer curiosity. It could be a colleague of her father's, but the voice sounded much too young.
"I appreciate you coming nice and early! I wasn't expecting you to do such a thing, but I appreciate it nonetheless," said the unmistakable voice of her father.
"Of course, Mister Berlitz! I was very surprised when you chose me for the job! I should be thanking YOU," replied the stranger.
"Ah, yes well, I'm going to be out of town and I just wanted to make sure of my daughter's safety..." he took on a serious tone, "she came home mysteriously wounded and refused to tell me the cause."
"I see...Where is the Lady?"
"She should be in her room, but it's nearing noon so she should be coming to eat her lunch. Sebastian will be arriving from running errands in about an hour. I want you to please protect my daughter."
"I will! You can count on me, Sir."
At that point, Platina had opened the door and looked straight at them, "Father, I need to speak to you…"
"Ah, Platina," Mister Berlitz smiles and motions to the young man next to him. "I want you to meet your new bodyguard, Dalton."
"Lady Platina!" He exclaimed as he rushes to her side. "It's so nice to meet you!" Dalton grabs her hand, plants a kiss on it and kneels before her, "I will do my best to uphold your father's wishes." He told her with a smile.
Platina's first instinct was to study this new bodyguard: green hair and an overeager attitude, perhaps a bit zealous; characteristic of an ace trainer. He also seemed to be not much older than her, maybe about a year or two. How odd. "Err...I'm…It's nice to meet you too..." she trailed off with a smile of uneasiness before turning to Mister Berlitz. "Father…" She began again and took her hand back from Dalton before taking a few steps towards father, "I need to tell you...I have plans to continue my journey with Diamond and Pearl in a few minutes, I can't stay here."
"No, I didn't intend for you to do so; I know you're busy but I just thought you'd need some..." He pauses, looking for the simplest way to put it, "better protection, so I hired Dalton, but now I must leave." The man smiled as he picked up his suitcases, "I love you, Platina...Please take care; you too, Dalton."
Dalton nodded, "of course, Sir."
Platina watched as her father closed the doors behind him, "Goodbye, Father..." she utters with a slight shoulder slump. 'Well at least it wasn't what I originally thought would happen...' she thought then glances at Dalton. "This...Really isn't necessary..." the girl began and held her hands up defensively, "My Father just worries a lot; I'm completely fine on my own!"
"Nonsense! Are you leaving right this second?"
"I…Plan to but I'm—"
"I'll get your luggage for you! Which direction is your room?"
"…" She merely pointed.
" Excuse me, Miss." With that, the boy disappeared as he hurried down the corridor.
" No, wait! It's—" but it was too late. Platina let out a sigh of defeat, "I guess I have no choice..." She took a second before calling after him "I'll be outside...!" Hoping he heard it, she went out the front door and sat on the front step waiting for the duo to stop by like she hoped they would.
.0.0.0.
"When you think of Pokémon!"
"When you think of Pokémon~"
"You think of Missy's large estate!"
"You don't saaaaay~"
"Yes, yes, it's quite large compared to ours wouldn't you say?"
"Hmmmnnn. How big is it exactly?"
"Probably about 4 acres!"
"Ah, mine's bigger!~"
"What? No, it isn't!"
"My yard's the size of at least 10 bakers!" Diamond said as he accentuated by spreading his arms out wide.
"ACRES not BAKERS, you ninny!" promptly retorted the blonde with a whack over Diamond's head. He laughs shortly after, "I think that was pretty good, Dia! Still a little rusty, though!" Pearl rubs his own nose and continues walking. "We're almost there!"
"Ahhh~ Good... We're right on time! There she is right outside the door! MISSYYY!~"
Pearl just rolls his eyes at Diamond's enthusiasm; he laughs a little and waves a bit calmer in comparison to Dia's arm flailing.
"What am I going to tell them?" Platina said aloud while drumming her fingers on her knee in thought, "so many things being tossed at me left and right, none of them in my control nonetheless." She rubs her temples, "I really hope they won't be insulted...Especially after hearing how determined Pearl was last night."
"We're your bodyguards! And that's just what we'll do! Guard!"
Platina is swiftly snapped out of it when she hears their voices, "Hmmn?" She looks straight ahead and immediately cheers up. "Good afternoon!" the girl stands up, waves back and makes her way over to them. "Did you find a good place to stay and did you sleep well?" She asks and glances at one boy then the other, "oh and what's the plan for the day? Are we taking off right away or are there errands to attend to before our departure?"
Pearl turns his nose up in a prideful manner, "well, I'm ready! I woke up early and made sure I had everythi—" He's interrupted by Diamond who suddenly looks tired, "breakfaaaaaaast..."
"Yeah I had breakfast Dia I me—"
"No, I mean, I need breakfaaaassssssst!" He whines and slumps on Pearl.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU GET ANYTHING ON THE WAY HERE?" exclaims the blonde and hits him.
Diamond frowns and shoves him lightly in response, "you kept dragging me!"
"Well SOOORRRRRYYYY! I wanted to get here on time and not an hour late!" another hit.
"I don't take that long!" another shove.
"When we go out to eat you always order everything on the menu!" again.
"It's 'cause I'm indecisive!" this time a pout.
Pearl sighs. "Right, right…" then pats his back, "Of course."
Platina looks on and is surprised at their display of violence, not because she's not used to it, but because she wasn't expecting it. "Well I could get you something since we're still near my mansion..." She offers and points behind her, "then we can leave right away...Here I'll go fetch you something to eat!" She quickly goes to the front door and bumps into Dalton. "Excu—Uh. Oh...Hello."
"Ah, Lady Platina, I brought your stuff. Is this really all you're going to carry with you?" asks Dalton.
" Yes...I don't need much especially since we'll be traveling I'd rather not have terribly too much."
"If you're sure..." He looks behind her and spots the boy. "Lady, there are some boys behind you..." he whispers, "Who are they? Intruders?"
"N-no...They're my friends. I need to get something for them, I'll be right back..." Platina walks past him, "I'll introduce you afterwards."
"...Okay."
Pearl takes one look at Diamond then whispers, "I wonder who he is...He seems really uptight and snooty; new butler maybe?"
His glutton friend only shrugs, "Seems like it~ I mean, who else would call Missy 'Lady Platina'? I only hear the professor and Sebastian call her that..."
"Yeah yeah. That's it. Must be. He's a bit young though, isn't he...? Our age maybe a little older?" Pearl asks him.
"Eh?" Diamond glances at him, "So...? No one really questioned us being Missy's bodyguards..."
"Except for Missy, herself."
"...True."
Meanwhile, Platina grabs a bit of everything her kitchen has stocked in the pantries: muffins, granola-bars, cereal and other small packaged goods then stuffs them in a small bag. "That should be good enough." She says with a smile then makes her way back out the door. The ace trainer swiftly lifts her bag and follows behind her.
"Here." Platina hands the bag to Dia, "Hopefully that'll be enough to fill you for a little while."
"Oh!" Diamond blushes slightly, "Thank you, Missy! You…You didn't have to!"
"It was no problem at all." She looks beside her, "Right. Diamond, Pearl, this is Dalton. Dalton, Diamond and Pearl," she says and gestures to them accordingly.
"Nice to meet you both! Any friends of Lady Platina's are friends of mine!"
The boy with the beret looks at Dalton and waves to him, "hiii!~ If Diamond's too much of a mouthful you can just call me Dia~"
"Hiya! Pleasure to meet you, Dalton!" Chimes in Pearl and shakes Dalton's hand.
Dalton lets out a hearty laugh and returns his handshake, "Likewise, Pearl!" He looks at Platina, "well?"
" Well? Oh...Yes, we're going to be leaving now..."
"Shouldn't you explain first before it gets awkward or should I?"
"...Uh...W-well...I...Please...Dalton, I really don't think—"
"Say no more, Lady. I'll tell them, since it is my business after all. I will be escorting the Lady whenever it is you're going; I'm her new bodyguard!" Platina cringes while facing away from Dalton and looks downward. "Mhmm..."
Diamond stares at them slightly wide eyed, "nehw...Bohdyguhahrd?" he asks, mouth half full of muffin.
"What?" Pearl blinks, "new bodyguard...? A... Are we not good enough?" He looks over at Platina, surprised. "Are we still bodyguards or are we…like relieved or what, Missy?"
"Well…"
Diamond pales up a bit, "I'llberightback" he blurts out then turns to leave Pearl grabs him by the backpack before he can, "No, Dia, stay... You'll wander off."
Platina gasps; she feared they would react badly. "Ah! Wait! No! ...No. It's not that..."she puts her hands up in a 'calm down' motion. "…" She looks over at Dalton who looks really confused. "Pardon, but can you please give us some privacy...I need to talk to them alone for a few minutes...Please." Platina asks with a serious face.
"Y-yes. Of course Lady." Dalton nods slightly and goes back to wait inside the mansion.
Platina sighs heavily and turns back to the boys, "I'm really sorry...This wasn't my doing. My Father...He felt that perhaps I needed another person to really be a 'professional' bodyguard because of how I showed up last night...He overreacted and hired Dalton." She bites her lip, "and as for that other question... I guess...It's really up to you whether or not you two want to be my bodyguards still." Platina looks at both of them. "I'm not going to relieve you of that title if you don't want. If it were up to me, I'd still want you two to be, but that's not my choice is it? Ultimately it's your decision...So what will it be?"
"Well of course we're going to contin—"
"Aaaaah! S-So It's my fault!" cries Diamond.
"Huh? Dia what're you talking about?" exclaimed his best friend.
"I-It's my fault Dalton's around. Aaahhhh! I'm the one that let Missy go home scraped up! AAAAHH! All my faaaauulllttt!"
"Dia that was NOT your fault." Pearl frowns and puts his hands on his hips.
Diamond tears up and looks up at Pearl, "it's my fault I had to train thoouuugh"
Pearl rolls his eyes "No. It wasn't. I'm the one that got angry." He pats his head, "just relax. You got a bean cake in or two in your bag, right?"
The other boy nods slowly "Y..Yeah."
Pearl unzips Dia's bag and sets a cake in Dia's hand before zipping it back up. "Just snack on that and relax. One lousy posh bodyguard kid isn't gonna keep us from being Missy's friends and original bodyguards, right?" He looks at her.
"Of course...I still want you two to accompany me. If I really didn't, I would have told you to leave right this second." Platina replies then takes one glance back at the mansion, "and please don't worry, Diamond...I said I was alright and I'm alright. You helped bandage my scrapes when I didn't ask you to; please don't be so hard on yourself." She pats his shoulder, but frowns a bit at how insensitive that probably sounded. Quickly takes his arm and Pearl's with the other, "We'll be best friends no matter what! Besides…" She looks at one boy then the other. "We are a bit closer than other people, right? Because of our experience with the Lake Guardians and that journey?" The girl smiles in attempts to cheer them up.
" R-Right!" Diamond replies a bit flustered from Platina's sudden closeness, but tries and keeps his blush to a minimum.
"Exactly, Missy!" Chimes in Pearl, "So let's just keep on doing what we usually do! It'll just be a small change! Like when we had our pokémon evolve during the first part of our adventure! We only came all the way down here to report Missy back to her home so we can head off to...The other side of Sinnoh...! A-again…" He says with a slightly overwhelmed expression but tries to ignore it and keep positive. "BUT! We'll make it just fine since we know what routes to take now! Heck, we know Sinnoh like the back of our hands from all this chaos!"
Platina pulls them close for a second then lets them go, and fortunately for Dia, she wasn't able to his face, "Good then it's settled."
Diamond laughs and waves his hand, "Well, what if the back of our hand wasn't what we thought it was?~"
"Ohhhhh no, don't you even try to make a pun out of this one, Dia!"
"Awww~ But cmonnn..."
"Nope!"
Dalton, a bit impatient, watched the trio's conversation. Briefly, he goes back to pacing back and forth and waiting for Platina to come and get him. He goes back to looking again. This wasn't wrong; it's his job to protect her, right? 'Besides, she only wanted privacy to talk...' He narrowed his eyes a bit.
"A pun?" Platina blinks and looks at them, trying to think of how there could possibly be a pun there. She tries to think of what it could be and after not being able to think of anything, turns expectantly towards Diamond.
"Anyway~ I guess we should get going." Diamond glances over towards the mansion and freezes for a moment, breaking into a small sweat seeing Dalton looking at them. "Umm…" He looks back at Platina then at the mansion again.
"Yeah! So get Mr. Fancy Pants McSeaweedHead out here so we can go!" Pearl says then laughs to himself.
"Ah, right. I'll be back." Platina turns on her heel and heads back and opens the door, a bit disappointed at not being able to hear the pun. "I'm sorry that took so long...Are you ok? We're done talking now..."
Dalton was waiting a bit from the door, "Yeah? Alrighty! Yes, I'm fine. Whatever you need, Lady, you know I'm at your service." He walks over to her side and links her arm with his. "Now then if you're ready I will escort you."
"I...Yes, we are. Thank you..." The girl says with a forced smile and walks out then makes her way back to the boys. "Let's go!" Platina pauses at being unable to reach into her bag. "Erm...I need my arm..." She meekly emphasizes by tugging her arm that Dalton has a hold of.
"Oh! Sorry 'bout that..."
"It's quite alright..." She summons Rapidash, "If we're pressed for time I suppose we will be taking the quickest way there?" Platina looks at Pearl and gently pets the horse. "Unless we're not and are able to take the scenic routes..." She smiles and readies herself to mount the pokémon but is suddenly lifted into the air, "H-hey! What are you—?" Platina cries and instinctively about to smack the perpetrator in the face only to see Dalton. "I'm sorry! I thought you might need a boost and ensure you don't fall off!"
Platina's cheeks flush with embarrassment, "W-well...Thank you." She dusts off her skirt, 'but that wasn't necessary.'
The ace trainer smiles, taking that blush as a sign of flattery and bows, "No worries, I'll ask next time." Platina nods and tries to focus, "Anyway, onwards...To Jubilife City."