I'm sure you all are groaning – not another new fic! Well it isn't really much; just my response to A Rose for me–A Rose for you's alphabet challenge. Every chapter's going to have a different pairing, whether it be het, yaoi, yuri, PokexPoke, whatever. Yeah, I'm going all out with pairings, even trying a few new ones here and there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and never will. Though I guess I do own my spur-of-the-moment OC, Clover.

Theme: Almond
Pairing: MossShipping (Roark x Gardenia)
Warnings: Rushed; poor pacing. Pure fluff.

Almond

"Fire! It's on fire!"

Eterna City's resident Grass type expert Gardenia danced around the kitchen, holding a flaming pan out at arm's length. The billowing smoke from the dish set off the screeching fire alarm.

"Clover help me!" The Gym Leader exclaimed, calling for her assistant. A young green haired girl calmly walked into the kitchen and doused the pan with water, extinguishing the flames.

Gardenia let out a sigh before slumping down to the ground, staring forlornly at the charred remains in the pan. "My almond chicken… Ruined again."

"Oh cheer up Gardenia," Clover replied, plopping down next to her. "Just try again. You know what they say – the third time's the charm."

The Gym Leader's prime Pokemon, Roserade, came out of hiding once it realized it was safe and gazed at its Trainer with concern.

"Roark will be here soon and I don't have anything prepared! Maybe I should just cancel…" Gardenia frowned deeply.

It was becoming well known throughout Sinnoh that the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City, Roark and the Leader of Eterna, Gardenia has what some would call a "thing" going on. This would be their first official date for them though – a dinner date prepared by Gardenia. Unfortunately, the woman was a horrid cook. And being as stubborn as she was, Gardenia refused help from anyone, even her own assistant, whose cooking prowess rivaled Brock's.

"Please don't cancel Miss Gardenia," Clover said. "I really want this to go over well – just let me help."

As Gardenia looked hesitant, Roserade came to her side, a reassuring look in its eyes. The Gym Leader gave a defeated sigh. "All right… Let's do this!"

"Now that's the Gardenia I know!" Clover said, jumping to her feet and heading to the refrigerator. Fully expecting something like this to happen (she did have faith in her mentor, mind you, just not when it came to cooking), Clover bought extra ingredients. It was a good thing she did so too.

"All right!" Gardenia exclaimed, standing at the stove and rolling up her sleeves. "Let almond chicken, attempt three commence!"

***

"My son finally has a date!" Byron exclaimed, clapping Roark hard on the back. The young miner faltered, blushing, before straightening up and adjusting his hard hat. "I'm so proud!" Byron feigned tears.

"Dad…" Roark groaned, his face turning a darker shade of red. "I really don't need this now…"

"C'mon son, buck up!" Byron said, laughing boisterously. "Be a man! Make this woman yours!" He brandished his shovel dangerously, Roark groaning again. This was just too embarrassing, even if there wasn't anyone around to witness it.

"But really son," the gruff man continued, "a Grass type Trainer? Or all the types, you had to choose Grass?"

"I didn't choose Dad, I chose Gardenia, who I happen to like quite a lot." Sure Byron was glad his son had found a girl, but couldn't help but have his reservations. Roark knew his father's feelings about Grass type Trainers and would defend Gardenia, but only to a certain extent. He didn't want to get on his father's by side, especially not when he had that shovel glinting dangerously in his hand. …Not even a hard hat could protect Roark from that.

Speaking of hard hats…

"You might want to leave this at home," Byron said, removing the crimson helmet from his son's head. "There, much better." He stepped back to admire his son, grinning. "Now you don't want to be late!" Spinning Roark around, Byron shoved him toward the door. The young Gym Leader stumbled before smiling back at his dad and heading out the door.

This date just had to go well. Roark wouldn't let his dad down.

***

"Oh no, he's late!" Gardenia exclaimed, pacing at the front door. "He's probably not gonna show! He probably hates me and thinks this is all a joke! He probably –" The panicked Gym Leader was cut off as Clover stuck a hand in her face.

"Gardenia. Calm down please. He'll show up, I promise." Clover's words were sincere, but part of her was worried that her mentor was stood up. Roark just didn't seem like that kind of person though…

At that moment, there was a knock on the Gym's front door and Gardenia flung it open, expecting to see her date. Instead, a young over-eager Trainer stood there, looking confident.

"Yo! Are you the Gym Leader here? I've come to challenge you to a battle – and win!"

Gardenia only blinked. "Gym's closed!" she then yelled, slamming the door in his face. Ah, the pains of being a Gym Leader…

As Gardenia began to recover from the shock, she heard another knock. Just as before, she flew to the door, flinging it open with gusto. To her immense relief, Roark was standing in the doorway, looking sheepish.

"Roark!" Gardenia exclaimed, dragging him inside by the hand. "I'm so glad you made it! I was getting worried…"

"Yeah sorry I'm late," he replied, scratching the back of his head. "It's because I wanted to get you this." From behind his back, Roark produced a makeshift bouquet of flowers, all handpicked. He blushed as Gardenia's orange eyes lit up in pure delight.

"Oh Roark!" she gushed, throwing her arms around him, almost crushing the flowers in the process. "They're beautiful!" She took the flowers from him and placed them in a vase of water. Gardenia then took Roark by the hand once more and led him to the dining area, where a table for two was set. Like any romantic dinner, the lights were dim and a candle was flickering in the center of the round table.

Taking the initiative, Roark stepped forward and pulled out a chair for Gardenia.

"Aww, that's sweet, but I actually have to go to the kitchen first."

Roark's face fell as Gardenia disappeared through another door. So much for that attempt at being polite… Sighing, he took his own seat.

In the kitchen, Gardenia made sure all the dishes were in order before addressing Clover. "Okay, do it just as we rehearsed."

"Do I have to?" her young assistant complained.

"Yes," Gardenia hissed. "You want this date to go over as well as I want it to, don't you?" Clover nodded meekly. "Then you'll do it." She smiled sweetly before heading back to her seat across from Roark.

As soon as they got comfortable, Clover appeared, dressed in a skirt and nice blouse, looking alarmingly like a…

"Hi, my name's Clover, and I'll be your waitress this evening. Can I get you something to drink?" As pleasant as she attempted to appear, Clover's annoyance seeped through her visage.

"Just water," Roark said.

Clover turned to Gardenia. "I'll take the same."

When she disappeared into the back, Roark let out the laugh he had been stifling the entire time. "Was that your…Gym assistant?!" he asked in disbelief.

"Uh…yes? …Do you think I'm being cruel?!"

"No, no," Roark replied, holding up his hands to reassure the frantic Gardenia. "I think it's…cute that you did all this for me." The Grass type Leader turned the faintest shade of pink.

It was then Clover returned with two glasses of water. "Your food will be out in a moment," she said, setting the glasses on the table.

"Wow, quick service," the miner joked. "But seriously, you didn't have to do all this. Cooking the meal, then setting this up…" He gestured to their restaurant-esque surroundings.

"Well Clover helped me with a lot of it…" Gardenia admitted bashfully. "I wanted to do it though, for you." She placed a hand over Roark's, smiling warmly. She quickly recoiled though as the door to the kitchen opened and Clover appeared, carrying two plates of food.

"For you…and for you," she said, placing the steaming plates in front of them. Bowing slightly, Clover retreated into the kitchen with a brief, "enjoy".

"Shall we dig in?"

Gardenia nodded and the two began to eat.

"Mmm! This is really good!" Roark exclaimed, swallowing a mouthful, ignoring the burning sensation in his throat. "My compliments to the chef!" He winked.

"Thanks!" Gardenia replied. "But…are you feeling okay? You look a bit…red in the face."

"Do I?" Roark scratched the side of his face uncomfortably before letting out a wheezing laugh. "Maybe it's just hot in here?"

They continued to eat, Gardenia eyeing her date nervously. He was not looking well at all.

"Hey, what kind of chicken is this anyway?" he asked.

"Almond chicken."

"Did you say…almond?" Roark stopped in mid-chew.

"Yes… Is there something wrong?!" Gardenia's voice hit a high note as she abruptly stood up.

"I'm…allergic to almonds," was all Roark managed to choke out as his silverware clattered to the ground.

***

Gardenia sat with a worried look etched on her face by a hospital bed, Byron standing above her. Roark's hand was clasped in her own. Slowly, he began to come to, blinking open his bleary eyes.

"Oh thank Arceus!" Gardenia cried, throwing herself at him. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

Roark smiled weakly. "It's okay…"

"We're just lucky she got you here as soon as she did," Byron said, staring intently at the wall behind Roark's bed. "Or things could've been a lot worse…"

"Aww man," the Grass type Leader moaned, burying her face in her hands. "I ruined our night!"

"No you didn't," Roark reassured her. "I still had a good time otherwise!"

"So you would be willing to do this again?" Gardenia asked, tone hopeful.

"Of course! Just next time…hold the almonds."

/Headdesk/ …I've written better.

Meh, I'm doing this challenge just for fun anyway. Though I do like the next chapters a lot more than this one…

Updates will be sporadic, as I'm writing them in order of preference.

Though since the next few are already written, hopefully I will update this pretty quickly. ...Review?