Love or hatred must constantly increase between two persons who are always together; every moment fresh reasons are found for loving or hating better."

~ Honore de Balzac

The evening had long descended upon Virbank City and the darkness of the night skies above was competing with the flickering city lights that filled the streets and windows all around, casting shadows. The shadows, though clear to see, were soft and not the least bit frightening to the pedestrians roaming about, heading to their homes after a long and heated day at work, for they were too tired to mind them. Neither were they frightening to the joyful two brunettes, who, along with several others, were directing their steps towards a certain goal located near the harbor. The street lights were slightly orange-shaded in color, very fitting to the soon to end season that still lingered in the region and to the warm excitement that filled the bellies of many of those travelers. Had the city folk not known the event bringing all those people on the streets around this time, they would have probably been surprised - the way they group stuck together made them seem an awful lot like a tourist group. But what tourist group would roam the streets this late? The cheerful and excited chattering was telling a tale that something great was about to happen. Luckily the town's people knew what that was and were not confused by it the least bit, rather happy and proud instead.

Kyohei was nearly skipping on the asphalt as he walked, his chocolate eyes filled with glitter of child-like happiness. His fellow traveler wasn't quite as excited. Unlike the younger brunette, Touya was wearing his coat in fear of colder weather catching them off-guard and hiding under his cap from the curious glances they were getting from a couple other people. He still hadn't gotten over the figure he thought he had recognized back at Pokestar Studios, nor the attack of the reporters and fans. In his mind he was actually feeling really uncomfortable about the situation he was in, having to walk along with this many people and soon to spend time in a crowded rock club. He had never liked to be the center of attention to begin with, so you can guess what his reaction to him first winning the title of the champion of Unova. As a responsible young man Touya didn't refuse the glory right there and then, instead serving his time as the true champion for a month or so and actually tending to his duties. People all around the region had seen him as a happy champion. The truth was all but that, of course, for in reality he hated being the best Pokemon trainer in all of Unova.

It wasn't the title he hated as much as it was the way he had earned that title. After all, the very day he had gaines the thing most trainers aimed for, he had lost two things that he had cared for more than anything.

As much as Touya's need for hiding was understandable, Kyohei still seemed to fail to see the reason to it. He was way too excited to finally see one of his favorite bands play live to care about the other boy's feelings. Of course he did care. More than just a little, in fact, but he also knew that he couldn't possibly affect Touya's feelings about the situation. At least not by mentioning about it and making the young man feel guilty for having ruined his fun. Instead Kyohei figured it would be best if he simply enjoyed the evening and wished for his enjoyment to infect his friend as well. He wasn't really sure if the worried frown could ever be completely washed away, but by Arceus, he would try and try hard. Besides, he was certain that Touya's childhood friends would appreciate it a bunch as well.

The sea glimmered in the distance as the group of people approached the harbor area. Kyohei looked around the town with great curiosity and couldn't help but grin. This city, though not much bigger than Aspertia, felt so much different from his home town. Despite the streets being almost empty, it still held it's mysterious, busy film-making town -feeling. You could smell the sweat of all the hard-working people in the air mixed with delicious, ocean-scented breezes and the benzene used to fuel the boats. It was a fascinating mixture to a boy like Kyohei who had hardly ever visited a town other than Aspertia, a smell that made him feel pumped up and ready for adventure. This was exactly what he had waiting for - to get on his own epic pokemon journey and quest for self-discovery, to experience and try brand new things he couldn't have even imagined doing back at home under the guarding eye of her mother. It wasn't like her mom was over-protective. Just a little possessive over her only son and only child in general. Not that you could blame her after having watched her husband just walk out the door and never come back.

Not quite as happy to be there as her caretaker was, eevee was grumpily kicking at the contents of Kyohei's bag as she tried to get into a more comfortable position sitting on top of a bunch of pokeballs and potions. Before leaving the Pokemon Center the messy haired brunette had tried to make the normal-type feel more comfortable by placing some spare clothes of his on top of the potions and other necessities and even taking some out completely to leave back at the Center. He had actually even considered leaving the annoyingly sour-faced little creature there as well, but Touya had assured him that it would be better if they kept an eye on her. She was a fickle nature, after all, so they could never be sure if she didn't just jump out of a window or some other way manage to escape the room they had gotten for the night. Kyohei, of course, had bitterly murmured that he didn't care if the eevee did just that and left. Touya had had to remind the boy that the normal-type was still in need for treatment for her injuries though and that she would eventually stop being the fickle thing she was if the trainer just showed her he was worthy of her trust and company. It wasn't like Kyohei was having second touch on his decision to care for the pokemon, not at all. It was just that the silver ball of fur wasn't making liking her any easier for him by destroying the boy's stash of emergency sweets he had packed in his bag back at home. Either way, eevee was about just as displeased with the situation as Touya, yet taking the older trainer's example of staying silent and letting her frown speak for itself.

As he was looking around the street, Kyohei quickly spotted Bianca a little further, leaning to a brick wall near a old-looking, flickering neon sign. The girl was not dressed as she usually was. Her large, green hat was gone, letting her short hair circle her face and make it look charmingly round and child-like. She was wearing a short, orange dress with scotch checkers as the pattern and a pure with bolero that graced over her arms and shoulders. It was clear that behind the red-framed glasses she had on her nose, she was wearing some make-up. It was just a lightest touch of some blush, mascara and a teensy weensy bit of eyeliner, all of which complimented her beauty. The blonde noticed the boys just as soon as they spotted her and happily waved a hand at them, skipping closer with the heels of her boots clopping against the asphalt.

"I'm very happy to see you both here!" Bianca greeted, beaming at her new companions with her eyes shining. She granted Touya a quick, slightly timid glance before turning towards Kyohei. "Well, how do you like traveling with your pokemon, Kyo?"

"It's nice, I even caught a new pokemon just yesterday!" the chocolate-eyed trainer replied, digging a pokeball from his bag. His eevee grunted and nearly bit the boy's hand as a protest, but Kyohei had already withdrawn his hand and showed the ball to Bianca. "It's a sewaddle. He's still weak and quite a glutton, but I like him."

"I'm sure he likes you back", the girl hummed in response. "You should show him to me properly sometime. I'm not one to brag, but I'm pretty good when it comes to evaluating a relationship between a pokemon and its trainer. Speaking of which…"

The emerald eyes lowered to stare into the blue eyes that now looked up from Kyohei's bag. Bianca's brows knitted a little and she frowned at the sight of the silver ball of fur before returning her gaze back to its caretaker.

"How is she?"

Kyohei sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

"She's healing nicely, but her paw is still sore. That's why I'm mainly carrying her around."

"She doesn't look really happy…"

An uncomfortable silence filled the air around the three. People near them were already starting to flow inside from the door located right under the purple neon sign, into the shaggy, brick walled building. Kyohei bit his lip and glanced at Touya, who calmly looked at Bianca and replied in his stead:

"They're both taking each other a bit too seriously. Once they start actually getting each others' sense of humor I'm sure they'll get along a lot better."

The words were instantly rewarded by a punch on the arm and a pouty look from Kyohei. The messy haired boy huffed to himself and rolled his eyes at his friend, folding his arms.

"Claiming I don't have a sense of humor?"

Touya grinned faintly, some mischief on his features, like a challenge.

"I'm not saying you don't have one. I'm saying it might need some development. That eevee is mostly playing tricks on you to get your attention, not to piss you off."

"She's the one who needs a better sense of humor, then", Kyohei muttered and shoved his sewaddle's pokeball back in his bag. Bianca eyed both the young men for a moment with some curiosity, not really knowing what the tension between them was about, then smiling and patting Kyohei's arm.

"Let's get inside. It's getting quite chilly here and I think the concert is about to start."

It was soon proven that Bianca's idea of using the concert as a reason to gather up and exchange information was not really the best idea possible. The atmosphere was so full of enthusiastic and excited adrenaline that none of the three could sit completely still and just talk. Instead both the boys and Bianca ended up cheering for the band as they stepped on stage and started cheering for the crowd in return. Everyone there was beaming with joy and screaming Roxie's name as the girl grabbed her microphone with the widest grin and greeted:

"YO, VIRBANK!"

Kyohei seemed the most excited of our three friends. He was jumping up and down with a playful glint in his eyes, screaming "YO" right back at the white-haired singer together with the rest of the people there. Touya shook his head lightly in amusement as he followed the boy from the corner of his eye. Little did either one of the brunettes know just how well Kyohei's plan to cheer his older companion up was working out; the former champion had already relaxed quite a lot.

"ARE YOU READY TO BE INTOXICATED?!"

The crowd echoed a loud "yeah" and Roxie lifted her fist up in the air as a sign of some sort of victory.

"THEN LET ME HEAR SOME NOISE!"

A/N: Okay lovelies, time for some explaining then...

Fist of all, I know I haven't been updating for a really long time. Thing is, a lot of things have been happening lately. November was pure hell and December wasn't any better and now I no longer have a laptop. I've been coming to IT-class in my school regularly but seems like I'm having a bit of a writer's block with this fic. Ya know, shit happens.

So this chapter ended a little short and it hasn't been proofread, so there ought to be a bunch of mistakes. I just figured I should send this raw version here for all those lovely people who've been patiently waiting for me to update (+since I haven't contacted my Beta Reader for a while, I'm feeling a bit nervous... might send this to them soon, depends on whether I decide to add stuff in it first).

Sorry I'm not at my best right now and sorry that updates take a lot of time. Please do keep in mind that I'm having my matriculation examinations soon along with entrance exams for a couple universities, so it's a busy life... ;_;

On happier news, I now own a 3DS and a copy of Pokemon Y. Loving it so far.

Anyways, I hope you're all doing well and stuff. :D