So preliminary data analysis indicates that the cheerfulness of DE is a big plus. Fine. I'll retract the doom hammer I've been holding. The lightness shall continue! … For now. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Advertisement: SA2 is live. Go to my Tumblr blog to find the links to SA2 and its creator. It's very good! So go and see for yourself. Trust me, the creator of SA. It's. Good. This ad will appear in every story.

Speaking of which, current vote results are very BAD. Very, VERY BAD. Only three (of the current voters) follow me on Tumblr? Seriously? Fine, 4 more of you check frequently or relatively frequently. But 5 of you had no idea I had one, even though I mentioned it at least 3 times in every story. Though this is bound to change as more people vote, preliminary results suggest: 25% follow me, 33.33% check relatively frequently, and 41.67% of you have no idea I even had a Tumblr blog, which I had since last December, and the information was on my profile since then. Spectacular… So I also assume over 40% of you have no idea that there's someone else out there who has knowledge on all of S-EARLY+?

So is there any method of delivering news and recent happenings (such as SA2) so that most will see it without having me repeat the news in every story? (Ideas, anyone?)

Primary: X & Y.

Isolation:

X stretched his arms and legs from on top of his bed. Another beautiful day outside. Eh, he didn't care. Lately, Viola and Alexa have been spotted frequently around Vaniville, so he didn't want to go outside. Why Viola was constantly appearing in Vaniville when she had her own Gym to run in Santalune, he'd never know.

He checked the clock. It was time for a routine occurrence. A certain girl dropping from the skies to try to drag him outside with violence.

X yawned and focused on his hearing. He could hear something approaching… He looked over at the windows and saw the silhouette of a girl landing on the balcony/roof.

"Good morning, X!" came a cheerful female voice from the silhouette, belonging to Y. "Are you awake?"

X didn't say anything. He wanted to see what Y would do. Y pressed herself against the windows and tried to hear what was going on inside.

"… I know you're awake!" she said. "I can hear you breathing, but not regularly enough for sleeping!"

Damn. "… What is it this time?"

"There's somewhere we should go," Y said. "I've been there for a few minutes, and it's amazing! I think you'll really like it!"

"I doubt that," X replied. "If it's not in here, I'm not going."

"Come on, X!" Y said as she started to kick the window frame. How did that frame take such a beating every day without breaking? … People should make vehicles out of whatever material those window frames were made. "You can't stay in there forever!"

"Yes I can."

Y sighed. Disappointing? Nope. Expected? Yep. Time for plan B then. "Fine, you win," she said in defeat. Or feigned defeat. She hopped off of the balcony and went back home. Oh, she'll bring X out into the world again. Her solution? Make him come to her.

Back at home, Y stared at the calendar. She was always over at X's house in the morning. Every day. So, perhaps it was time for her to start doing other things. Go outside and start traveling. Of course, tell Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno to not tell X of her whereabouts at all, even if he asked. Then, things would go smoothly…

…

Next day, 9 am…

…

Y stretched her limbs. Normally, she'd go on a practice flight and then try to get X out by 10. But this time, she wasn't going to do that. Instead, she'd go out jogging for a couple of hours. Away from Vaniville, so she wouldn't be spotted by those she sees regularly. If she heard another one of those "Are you worried about getting too heavy to fly?" comments…

After the jog? Perhaps a long hot bath. It's been a while since she had one of those. Then… perhaps a visit to Lumiose City's super fancy boutique. After that? Who knows.

While Y went on with her schedule, X waited in his room for the girl to come bashing into the windows. … But she wasn't coming.

X checked the clock. 10:01 am. … Y was late. Eh, bound to happen.

…

Okay, what the hell. X checked the clock again. 10:45 am. Still no Y. Did she forget? Of course not. This was a daily event. No one ever forgets a daily routine. Was she busy? Probably not. Y doesn't really do anything outside practice flights. A shame, really. A girl her age should be doing a lot more than just practice and try to drag him outside. Though the latter was his fault. … Maybe he should go outside every now and then for her sake.

A moot point until she arrived. Whenever that was going to be…

…

Next day, 10:35 am…

…

Okay, seriously. X paced around his room, waiting to see his childhood friend's slim silhouette through the windows. But she wasn't there, again. So he checked his clocks again and again, in case their batteries have died and he was looking at the wrong time. Nope. The clocks were running just fine. So… maybe Y was just really busy? … Perhaps Shauna or the others knew.

First, he called Y's holocaster directly. No answer. Damn. He then tried Shauna and got no critical information. Apparently the girl last saw Y a couple of days ago and hadn't heard from her since. Tierno and Trevor offered no additional information. So… what the hell!

X decided to wait one more day before making a conclusion. There was no way something bad could've happened to her…

…

Next day, 10:50 am…

…

X got off of his bed. That's it. He couldn't take it anymore. Something definitely must've happened. Maybe there's been an accident. Y did practice flying a lot. She could've been caught in a strong wind of sort and couldn't recover fast enough. Or maybe she was in a battle with another Sky Trainer and her suit got damaged from a Pokémon attack, which would be near fatal in such heights. Or maybe she was kidnapped and…

X shuddered and shook away the thoughts of his closest friend getting raped and murdered. That was probably just him worrying too much. … Though… Lumiose City had some dark alleys where no laws could reach…

He shook his head again. He would find her, even if he had to search all around Kalos and be spotted by all sorts of camera wielding parasites. He quickly got dressed (into the clothes that Y had bought for him) and prepared for a possibly long trip. He locked the doors to his house and immediately ran towards Y's house. It wasn't that far.

But he had no way to getting inside. So all he could do was peek through the windows, trying to catch a glimpse of her. He didn't even need to see her, technically. All he needed was to see lights on. That meant someone was inside, which meant Y was home and safe.

But he didn't see her or any hints of her presence. He looked through the girl's bedroom windows in case she was taking a nap. Nope. The door to the bathroom was open and it was obvious that it was unoccupied. He then checked the living room. No one was in sight. The television was off. No one was in the kitchen either.

So Y wasn't home. Great. X let out a sigh and charged towards the first town in the long list of locations he had to search in Kalos.

… Unfortunately for him, Y was home. She was just taking a nap on the couch… which was facing away from the windows. Therefore, when X peeked through them, he couldn't see her, as she was hidden behind the back of the couch.

…

3 days later, 2 pm…

…

Y stretched her arms as she continued to walk. The weather was… quite nice, overall. Though kind of windy. But it was still enjoyable. Her Sylveon thought so too, as it looked quite happy to be on a stroll with its trainer. It stayed pretty close to her legs as if it didn't want to wander off too far. Y smiled and petted it every now and then. She was happy to know that it was so close to her now. Before evolution, it wasn't this close to her. And it wasn't as cute. Of course, she'd never say that.

A strong gust of wind hit the ground, forcing the Sylveon to crouch a little and Y to hold onto her hat. A good thing she wasn't wearing a skirt anymore. In her previous trip to Lumiose, she had purchased a cute set of clothes for herself… at the expense of 70% of her wallet's contents. Instead of that one-piece dress, she had opted out for a pair of shorts and a striped sleeveless shirt. The pink hat didn't match the color scheme, so she got a brimmed black hat instead. And now, since it was getting close to the windy and rainy season, she changed into boots.

"The winds are sure getting strong, huh, Veevee?"

The Sylveon simply shook away the effects of the strong wind. All of its ribbons… things were out of place… Y smiled as she crouched down in front of it so that she may help in sorting things out. The Sylveon purred in happiness and patiently waited for its trainer to finish.

Y finished and gave it a quick hug. She then slowly resumed walking, and the Sylveon followed. Soon, they came across X's house and Y cast a glance at it. How long does it take for him to start looking for her? … Was he still in there, or what? Y frowned as she kept walking. She could peek inside to see if X was there. But if he was… No. That was too risky. One, it would be embarrassing and her pride didn't allow it. And two, it would be too painful, as it would mean that he didn't care about her. She already had enough doubts of his care for her as is.

Several minutes later, Y reached her home. She was getting tired from all of the day's activities. Even though the activities involved getting a massage, eating from the Restaurant Le-Wow in Lumiose, and checking out more clothes catalogues from various boutiques. She was tired from all the rest and relaxation, if that made any sense. So it was time to take a short nap.

Y lifted Sylveon onto her arms and headed upstairs towards her bedroom. She put her hat on the hook and set the Sylveon on her bed before she crawled onto the bed next to it.

The girl stretched her apparently-tired limbs before she made herself comfortable on her side. The Sylveon curled up right in front of her and purred lightly as it started to sleep. Y smiled and petted it again.

"Aww… you're so cute… Well, let's rest up for the rest of the day." She let out a yawn and closed her eyes so that she may take a nap.

A couple of hours later, X arrived in Vaniville as well, having heard a hint from someone (Viola) that Y was spotted back in Vaniville. X immediately charged towards Y's house and began to peek through the windows once more. No one in the kitchen, the living room…

X reached around for the windows of Y's bedroom. With the support of his Kangaskhan (which he was technically standing on so that he could reach the second floor), X peeked through the windows. He froze when he saw the girl sleeping on her bed. Finally! He found her!

X almost lost balance thanks to being way too excited, but got down to his feet without incident. Now, in an ironic change of roles, he was going to knock on Y's door until the girl came out.

Y woke up from her sleep when she heard the doorbell ringing and the loud knocks on the front door. She stretched her limbs and carefully got off her bed so that she wouldn't wake up her Sylveon. After letting out a yawn, the girl straightened out her clothes, fixed her hair, and then went downstairs to answer the door.

She almost jumped in surprise when she spotted X in the doorway.

"Oh? X? … What are you…"

X stepped forward towards her and simply hugged her tight. Y jumped in surprise but her arms slowly rose up to hug him back.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" X said as he refused to release the girl from his embrace.

Y pretended to push him away, but actually held him in place. She rather enjoyed this feeling. And she didn't want him to see her blushing, as that'd be embarrassing. So she focused on calming herself down and coming up with what to say.

"You were? … What for?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"You weren't there, Y!" X said as he released his embrace. "You weren't trying to drag me outside with your brute force. You were doing that every day, but for the past few days, you were just missing. Do you have any idea how much I was worried?"

Y feigned a frown even though she was delighted inside. "… Worried? Why were you worried?"

X let out a shudder and went to sit down on the couch of the living room. Y grinned as she followed, but feigned that frown when X turned to look at her.

"I thought you were in an accident or something," X said. "I thought you were hurt somewhere out of contact and that was why you weren't kicking my window frames."

Y crossed her arms and turned away from him defiantly. "Hmph. As if you ever cared for me."

She felt tears threatening to well in her eyes as she thought about her past with X. During that whole Team Flare thing, every time she was in danger, he never helped her. All he ever said was that she could take care of herself. Back then, she chose to believe that he had that much faith in her. But recently, she came to the conclusion that he just didn't care. So she had tried extra hard to just… spend time with him. Be friends again, and maybe get him to care. Her efforts have gone to waste, and she had concluded that he just didn't care. A sad conclusion that she didn't like thinking about. So this was her test.

X blinked, as he had no idea where that came from. "… Of course I care about you. You're my closest friend!" Y still had her back turned to him, so he tried a different approach. "Y, come on. Why would you think that? You're my oldest friend! … As in you've been my friend the longest. Not age wise."

Y bit her lower lip so that she wouldn't cry. All those thoughts were coming back. All those memories. All those instances where she tried to spend time with him, but he told her to leave him alone. Sure, he probably meant that he didn't want her to try to convince him to come outside. But he sounded so cold and uncaring.

But perhaps a few tears could get her plan rolling once more. So she didn't try to completely stop crying as she listed all those moments that came to her mind and the conclusion she came to. Every time she was in danger, he was never there. Even the day when her Eevee evolved. She was ambushed by Team Flare's Sliggoo and was in a critical situation. And X, though he was watching the whole thing, did absolutely nothing. Which then forced the Eevee to act and evolve into Sylveon.

And all those times she tried to take him somewhere nice. Somewhere that he'd enjoy with her. He always refused those offers and told her to leave him alone. She could only be rejected so much before feeling unwanted.

While listing all those moments, Y couldn't resist and let her tears fall. On one hand, she felt good, finally getting those pent up feelings out. On the other, she felt angry at X for making her become like this. So she let him have it emotionally.

"I – I wasted 7 years on you," she said through clenched teeth, trying to sound as hurt and angry as she could manage. "7 years of trying to get you out of your home, trying to get you to see nice places so that you could change your views of the world. And that got me nothing. Thanks to you, in those 7 years, I never went anywhere nice, I never went sightseeing, or did anything enjoyable. All thanks to you."

X remained silent. And his lack of a response made Y nervous. Damn it, she had to know his reactions so that she'd know how to react. If he looked really guilty, then she'd steer her words so that he could do something to make her feel better. If he looked really confused, then she'd continue trying to make him feel guilty. … She had to see his expression. After one more try.

"… For the past few days, I just… did what I wanted to do with you. I went places. I did things. All by myself, because you didn't want to do anything with me. … For the past 7 years, I did all I could to cheer you up. But you never did the same for me."

She took a shuddering breath. It's now or never. She put on the most hurt expression she could manage and forced a few more tears to fall from her eyes before she turned to face X. But she still mixed in anger as well, and it was a delicate balance.

"Do you know how I felt for the past 7 years? Do you know how sad you made me feel? I tried to overcome it, but you're just a-"

X suddenly reached over and gave her a warm, gentle embrace. She was shocked at first, but quickly relaxed as he patted her on the back. It felt so much different than that tight embrace from just a while ago. This one felt so much better.

"Y, I'm sorry. I always felt guilty about what I was doing to you," he said quietly. "I was always sorry that you wasted so much time every day on me instead of doing other things. And I know that you had a lot of things on your mind that you wanted to do, and I'm sorry for not allowing you those opportunities. And you're wrong if you think that I don't care about you. Because I do. More than you'd think."

Y nervously gulped. She had him right where she wanted. Now to pressure the attack until he gave up. … Damn it, now's not the time to be tongue-tied!

"… How do I believe you?" she managed to say without her voice shaking too much. She still had to sound angry. But it was hard because she was so… pleased. "You never said anything nice to-"

X suddenly pulled his head back enough so that he could kiss her on the lips, much to her surprise and joy. As much as she wanted to let it last, she had an act to maintain. She pretended to be way too stunned and a little uncomfortable.

"How's that for a proof?" X asked with a kind and caring smile.

That smile alone was enough. Y found it harder and harder to stay mad. "… Y – You're not just doing this because I'm angry at you… right?"

X shook his head. "I really care about you. If you want additional proof, how about we go and do the things that you wanted to do with me? You can call it a date, a tour, sightseeing, whatever you want. Because I think it's time you start enjoying yourself. And I think it's time I enjoy your company too. What do you think?"

'Great! Now I just have to play hard-to-get and this is in the bag!' Y pretended to think for a long while. "… I… I guess… It's worth a try. … If you really do care about me…"

"Of course I do. And I'll prove it to you tomorrow." X gave her another friendly hug and rose to his feet. Y quickly followed him, as she wanted him to stay with her a little longer. But again, she had an act to maintain. "Just come visit me whenever you want to leave," X said in the doorway.

"O – Okay… Thanks."

Y watched X return to his house before she closed the door. She then grinned in satisfaction as she sat down on the couch. Now, everything was great. Her pent up feelings were gone, and all the bad memories and thoughts were starting to fade. She managed to drag X out of his house, and at the same time, got proof that he really cared for her. And she even had her first kiss! Also she had her official first date with him tomorrow. Things couldn't be better.

But then a thought occurred and Y smacked a hand on her forehead.

"Oh… I should not have done everything I wanted all by myself. Now all those things are going to be boring… Great. … X better have some good ideas, or that date is going to be really boring…"

Next up: Diamond & Platinum. It shall be my demonstration that DE's Platinum is very different than S-EARLY's. She still may act a little giddy and maybe childish around Diamond, but with no seniors around to overshadow her, she'll be in more light than ever. … Of course, that's literally what happens when nothing overshadows.