She had no idea why he had asked to meet her that night.
The user of the vivid plant Pokemon looked at herself in the mirror, examining the clothing she usually wore for gym challenges or battles, not expecting anything more from the leader of the Sunnyshore gym. She had to make sure she looked presentable though. After all, Volkner of Sunnyshore was a rather handsome man, and was sure to have high standards for company.
Gardenia arrived at the meeting point early, but Volkner was already there, tending to his Luxray. He was dressed in a navy blue shirt and a black jacket, as well as brown pants... a variation of what he normally wore. When she neared him, he looked up, and smiled very slightly. "Hello, Gardenia. You're earlier than I thought you'd be."
"Same to you." She smiled in return, and sat next to him, offering the Luxray a tentative pat. The Pokemon growled, although it didn't seem offended.
Recalling the electric Pokemon into its Pokeball, Volkner asked, "Have you had dinner?"
She shook her head, and with a thoughtful countenance, replied, "No, I thought maybe we could go for dinner together after we battle."
At this though, the electric trainer looked confused. "Battle?"
"We're... not going to be battling?" Her turn to join in the confusion.
"No? I figured asking you out to a lakeside dinner and perhaps some after-dinner activities would suffice. You want to battle tonight?" He looked as if she had just thrown his entire schedule off course, which she probably had.
Gardenia shrugged. "Not really, no. I was originally hoping that we could just relax the evening away, but I thought a powerful trainer like you would have liked to battle."
"... Definitely not. I'm a relaxed kind of guy and I like taking it easy most of the time. So, lets stick to my schedule." He stood, and offered her his hand. "Your hand, please."
- - -
Even as the two of them sat by the lakeside, watching the starry skies and being lazy to move after the delicious picnic dinner Volkner had prepared, Gardenia felt more relaxed than she had been in quite a while. "You know, Volkner, I feel a sense of ease when I'm with you, that I usually never feel with the other gym leaders."
The Sunnyshore gym leader turned his attention to her, and he smiled a little, asking, "Oh? And why? What about me is so special?"
"I honestly don't know... but you just exude a kind of warmth that I feel comfortable being around."
They sat in silence for a while, until Volkner broke it by requesting, "May we dance?" He opened a Pokeball, and a Chatot appeared, and with a happy chirp, began to sing a tune it had heard before.
"What?" Gardenia was usually graceful, calm and composed, controlling the flow of the conversation. But Volkner was throwing off her rhythm. She had never experienced another person taking hold of the reins in the conversation before, and this was making her somewhat nervous.
"Relax... just move to the music." Volkner gently steered her around the grassy area, with Chatot singing in the background. Gardenia relaxed, hearing his voice and experiencing first-hand its calming effect.
- - -
"Thank you for this evening, I had a great time." Gardenia admitted, even as Volkner sent her to her doorstep, with the help of an Altaria.
"The pleasure was all mine." Volkner bowed, like a true gentleman.
"But... if you don't mind me asking, where did you get the Chatot and the Altaria from? I know you don't train them."
He smiled. "I borrowed them from two friends of mine... you know, Nova, gym leader of Mauville in Hoenn and Kien, one of the Elite Four here in Sinnoh?"
Gardenia flushed, his friends certainly were influential and renown. He had certainly put in a lot of effort to prepare. "You didn't need to go to such lengths to- "
"It was nothing. However, I have a request..." He chuckled, nervous for the first time that night. "Could we do this again sometime?"
Gardenia blushed, "As a date?"
"If you so wish."
"I'd love to."
With a satisfied smile, Volkner climbed onto the Altaria. "I'll see you tomorrow at the gym leader meeting. Good night, Gardenia." With a little wave and a charming smile from its rider, the Altaria soared into the sky and vanished from her sight quickly.
-- -- -- -- -- --
Author's Note: Well, like I said before, I took one look at the cover of the Diamond/Pearl guidebook, and went 'OMG those two at the left look really compatible.' So this fic appeared in my mind. Well, I got convinced by wyldfae into writing a sequel for this…