Her ears perked at the sound of her piplup's demanding chirp. She turned to the little penguin with a smile and picked her up to sit on her hip. Anyone walking by could swear she looked just like a mother. "Hey there, Pearly."

"Hikari," a male voice teased, "you're going to spoil her if you keep doing that. Just wait until she evolves into a prinplup. Then you'll regret doing that all the time."

Hikari pouted at her companion but understood the underlying request in his words and gently let the pokémon back down to the ground.

"Well, since I went with your demands, maybe you'll listen to mine, Kouki?"

He arched an eyebrow but nodded anyway.

"Put that chimchar down right now," she ordered, her arms crossed irritably. "You've been giving him more attention than me lately." Kouki seemed to consider her words and also put his pokémon down with a sigh.

"It feels like we're parents," he joked. "Not to mention –" Kouki had to stop there because Hikari's face flushed bright red at the implication. The two teens stood a ways away from each other in awkward silence.

But really, that's how the two started their journey together. Over time, the two were bound to become much closer and more comfortable with one another, however, there were other obstacles in their path. Ahead of them were gym battles, contests, the league, and the greatest challenge of them all: raising pokémon.

01

"Pearly!" the feminine voice sobbed into her friend's chest. Kouki awkwardly wrapped his arms around the girl's petite form and patted her back reassuringly. The two were sitting in the Pokémon Center, waiting for their pokémon to be healed, but the tension just made the wait worse for the two.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine," he cooed into her hair. "It was probably a bad berry or something…"

Those were the completely wrong words to say.

Hikari's sobs only grew louder from his suggestion. The poor boy gave nervous glances around him and saw everyone's bewildered stares. Desperately, he pulled her out of the chair and right into his tight embrace. Her bawling was quickly replaced with muffled protests and plenty of struggling.

"I think it's time to take you out for a treat," he suggested softly, loosening his grip on her. She tilted her head at his proposition and tried to find the reasoning on his face. "We'll be back in a bit!" Kouki called to the jolly nurse and dragged his partner out the automatic door.

The pair walked down the bustling street in silence, still tense from the previous encounter. Hikari's Pearly had gotten injured on the way to town, so the two decided to give her a berry to tide her over. Once they had gotten to town, however, Pearly had begun showing signs of being sick and no medicine they had would help her condition.

They stopped at a nearby vendor when Kouki noticed Hikari's slowing steps and lingering gaze on its confectionaries. He secretively smiled at her before moving to the counter. He held two fingers up and pulled out his wallet. "Two ice cream cones please. One chocolate and one vanilla."

The man grinned at the sight of the two before leaning in to whisper in the boy's ear. "On a date with your girlfriend?" Kouki blushed and quickly shook his head, futilely defending his position with stutters and frantic hand motions. After all, he couldn't imagine her being okay with that kind of relationship! The girl in question just watched the exchange from afar with curious eyes.

A moment later, the boy self-consciously rejoined her, cones in hand, and the two made their way back to the Center. Hikari gratefully took the chocolate one and glanced at her friend. "What were you two talking about?"

Kouki sputtered in mid-lick and hesitantly returned her gaze. His face burned in remembrance. "N-nothing much," he lied. She clicked her tongue at him, appalled he had the guts to outright lie to her.

"Liar," she said simply. The accusation immediately had the effect she had hoped for. His face darkened even more, and his face dropped to the ground between them.

"He thought we were on a date," he mumbled. Hikari crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes slightly. She hadn't caught a word he had said.

"Could you repeat that one more time?" she asked and added, "Clearly."

He ducked his head even lower.

"He thought we were a couple on a date!" he hissed through his teeth uncomfortably. Kouki shook his head dejectedly, already expecting her to laugh in disbelief and quickened his pace. He didn't want to see her wave it off like she would with her best friend Jun.

"Kouki."

There was no hint of humor in her tone, so he instinctively whirled around to meet her innocent yet somber face.

"So it wasn't a date?" she asked gloomily. Hikari's eyes seemed to glitter with the hope that she was somehow wrong while expectantly awaiting his answer. Kouki's eyes widened with realization.

Well, two could play this game.

"Hikari," he called firmly. She jolted at the sound of her name and shuddered at the way it rolled off his tongue. He closed the distance between them and pulled her against his chest again, this time resting his chin on the top on her head. "You mean to tell me that you wanted this to be a date? With your piplup sick at the Pokémon Center?"

Hikari twitched and buried her face deeper into his vest.

"Th-that's – I mean –"

Her stammering was interrupted by Kouki's chuckles.

"Hikari, don't worry." He held the back of his hand up to his mouth to muffle his laughter. "I'm sorry, but I just had to tease you."

"Kouki! You –"

"Let's get back to the Center. We have to check up on Pearly, right?" Kouki started walking again, prompting Hikari to jog to catch up with him.

His hand took hold of hers.

"Kouki?"

"Hmm?"

"You do realize that you knocked our ice creams on the ground, right?"

There was a sigh and a near-silent curse.

---

"Your pokémon are all healed now!"

"Ah, really?" She gave a sigh of relief. "By the way, did you find out what was wrong with my piplup?"

The nurse stifled a giggle.

"Must've just been a bad berry or something. With a little rest and medicine, she was as good as new!"

The girl became deathly quiet while Kouki gave her an all-knowing look.

"Shut up."

"Didn't say a word, my dear."

---

A/N: Older Hikari/Dawn and Kouki/Lucas. I really wish you could travel with a buddy in the games! That'd be freaking sweet.