disclamation: I still do not own even this plotline. I am just adapting it into a more family-oriented version.

The clock hanging from the wall in the lobby of my resort hotel from behind me sang out a very tacky song, indicating it had struck eleven at night. How such a nice hotel could have something so gaudy and garish, I supposed I would never know.

I just rolled my eyes as I took a seat right in front of one of the main lobby's video phones. Even if I would have preferred to call my friend on my PokéNav, I did not want to disturb my pokémon while they rested up.

I set my coffee down, inserted my credit card into the video phone's pay slot, and quickly punched in the only number I had ever memorized. It was about five in the evening where this friend of mine was. She was currently competing in the Sinnoh Region's contest circuit. Five in the evening was the very earliest my friend would be available to answer even one of my video phone calls.

Coffee at eleven at night was never the best idea, but there was this timeless tradition which I had kept with Soledad. I thought back to the first contest I had ever entered.

flashback

After that first loss, Soledad had approached me with an easy smile and a pat on the back.

Soledad: Drew, right?

My lip trembled, and I did my best to hold back the tears and keep them from falling. I had done so well in my first contest ever up until the final round of the secondaries. The loss I had endured from my final battling round opponent was absolutely heartbreaking. My pokémon had worked so hard to get me to that point, and I had let my poor partner, Roselia, down with such bad timing and horrible judgement in my commands. My opponent in the final battle round, this Soledad, was just too good for words.

Yours Truly: Yeah, that's me.

I confirmed my name to her, but it was barely heard by Soledad. I also just could not meet her eyes.

Sure, I knew there was a tradition of the two participants of the final match to shake hands after their battle, but I was far too depressed about my loss against my final opponent. It stung my pride so much. I had not expected to lose that hard. I had failed to realize in time that I had a lot to learn about all of it before I ever could get to the skill level matching the coordinator in front of me.

Soledad: Listen, you shouldn't beat yourself up over a simple loss. You put up one hey of a battle, and I believe that Vivian said that this was your first contest ever. I've never seen any coordinator make it this far on their first try.

The praise from my opponent in the final battle round caught me slightly off-guard. How could someone so strong with such powerful pokémon be so nice? I had to admit that I half-expected my opponent to take pride in her victory. Just who was this girl with pink hair to tell me not to be ashamed of my loss against her?

Yours Truly: Yeah, I guess. But, your pokémon were beyond awesome… uh, Soledad?

Soledad: That's right. Still, some of the combinations from you and your Roselia left me breathless. I'd like to talk to you about it a little more, maybe even clear the air a bit after that battle of ours. Are you free to go get a coffee or maybe a light dinner after the contest is over?

I furrowed my eyebrows as though I were looking for a sign of anything at all on her face. The only thing I could find, however, was a warm smile and trusting, friendly eyes. It scared me a bit since I had never made the effort to get close to people. I had known before from my past experiences that people were awful. I was better off alone, and I had always been better off alone.

Yours Truly: Are you asking me on a date?

I knew I was a good-looking boy. I had met plenty of girls who had swooned over me at the flick of my hair and adored my Roselia to the point of obsession. It was a little too much to bear at certain times. I tried to avoid it whenever I could.

Soledad: Hmm, what?

Soledad blinked a few times. But, then she composed herself and laughed lightly.

Soledad: No, no, I think I'm a little too old for you.

Granted that I would occasionally capture the interest of older women, but at least this one, this Soledad, seemed to actually know she was too old for me and that it would never work out. Ironic as it always sounded to others, my only real taste in women was within either the type who respected my feelings or Roselia. Unless they were a pokémon I could catch and train for contests, looks alone did not do it for me in girls.

Soledad: I'm just interested in getting to know you is all. I've never met anyone with so little experience who could easily perform like a professional. I just wanted to talk to you, coordinator to coordinator, about the contest if you will.

Soledad only gave me another reassuring smile, and an idea formed in my head. This girl before me, this Soledad who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen at eldest by my guess, was clearly someone who had been doing this for a while. She had insight and expertise she could share with me if I were to prod for it. This opportunity was far too good to pass up.

Yours Truly: The place next to the Starview Hotel. There's a café right there on the corner. They make the best espresso in all of Hoenn. I'll be there at seven-thirty tonight.

I finally reached out my hand to shake hers. She shook my hand and nodded. Then, I turned to leave the stage so as to let Raoul Contesta award Soledad with her ribbon as proof that she had won. Truthfully, I did not expect a lot from their conversation: just a few minutes of getting a few coordinators' tips here and there was all that he really wanted.

It was a little awkward when Soledad had first entered the café and took a seat in the booth across from me. I had to remind myself not to dwell on the fact that I had just suffered a loss to this girl in the contest just this afternoon, and they were now having a coffee together. It was weird, but I refused to let it show. I was, after all, a master at masking his emotions.

The waitress soon arrived at their table and took their orders first thing. I ordered a small cup of espresso, while Soledad ordered a hazelnut brew. We did not speak to one another at all until our drinks were placed in front of us. Soledad covered the whole bill for the both of them and the tip, too. I protested at first, but she just would not relent. At least after that, it all made sense to me.

Clearly, Soledad felt obligated to treating me to coffee because she thought I was sad about my loss to her. I had to admit I was a little sad about it, but it was not like I was wanting to dwell on it. I had to fix this and make it clear that I was more than perfectly capable of paying for my own drink and taking care of myself.

Yours Truly: You didn't have to pay for mine, too. I lost to you fair and square, and I don't need your pity.

A knowing smile graced Soledad's facial features.

Soledad: It's nothing like that, I was just being nice. Weren't you ever nice to your friends?

I took a sip of my drink and informed her of the whole situation.

Yours Truly: I don't really do the whole friendship thing.

Soledad: Well then, where does that leave us?

Soledad certainly knew how to remain polite in the face of rudeness. I had almost choked on my drink mid-sip. This girl, this Soledad, invited me out because she considered me a friend? How did that even work to begin with? How did she even come to that conclusion? We had only been on the battlefield mere hours before now. All we were to one another was competitors; nothing more, nothing less.

Yours Truly: I, er, well_

I was suddenly at a loss for words to say to Soledad. She just smiled sweetly at me before taking a sip of her own coffee. Then, she set it down.

Soledad: Your Roselia was simply gorgeous today.

Upon hearing this, I had suddenly recovered from my initial shock. Aw, talk of contests, such sweet common ground.

Yours Truly: Same to you and your Lapras. I didn't think it was even possible to pull off such an incredible appeal with such a large pokémon. That blizzard he pulled off was just unreal. The appeal stage practically belonged to you.

Soledad: Why thank you. But truthfully, the contest stage belongs to everyone.

I asked her a new question for a follow-up.

Yours Truly: How long have you been competing in contests, anyway?

Soledad: Almost three years now. I knew I wasn't cut out for the trainer's lifestyle, so when I heard of coordinating and contests, I hopped on a ferry from Kanto to here and have been competing in contests ever since.

We both fell into an easy conversation since then. It started to feel just like an interview as each one of us took turns asking the other a question, listening to responses from the other person and sharing our lives' stories. Soledad asked me about my pokémon, while I asked Soledad about her previous contest experience and all of the contests she had ever been in. I had learnt more about this girl before me than I had ever learnt about any other human being on the planet in such a short time.

I normally did not go for other people even in those days, but Soledad was just so intriguing; the places she had been, the people she had met, the things she had seen… all of it was so interesting to me. I just could not get enough of it.

What really surprised me, though, was just how well Soledad and I got along with one another. We both had similar interests, opinions and tastes, which was pretty odd to me to say the least. I had never really gotten along with anyone as well as this before or at all.

We stayed in the booth and spoke to one another for hours, even after our coffees were long since finished. After that point, they were completely forgotten.

Soledad: My first year ever was all about trial and error than anything else really. I didn't really focus on winning so much as I had on trying the whole thing out. Seeing what worked and what didn't work, and learning how other people handled themselves. It was a big help, but even now I'm still learning. Today was a good example of that; I learned a lot just by watching you and your Roselia's performance.

I gasped.

Yours Truly: You're kidding! How could someone as talented as you possibly have anything to learn from a new comer like me? You beat me!

Soledad just shook her head.

Soledad: Coordinators never stop learning, Drew. If one ever thinks that they know all there is to know about anything, they're gonna fall behind. I remember that in my first contest, I didn't even make it through the second round of the battling stage.

Yours Truly: No way!

Soledad: Way!

Soledad then laughed at my look of surprise.

Soledad: You reminded me a lot of my younger self today. I was just as determined to win the ribbon as you were today. I wanted so much to win from the beginning and never stop winning. But my loss that day really humbled me, and it's why this year will be first ever year going at the Grand Festival. I've spent so much time these last few years developing bonds between my pokémon and I. I saw that same bond in you and your Roselia today.

Yours Truly: Yeah, Roselia was my first pokémon. I found her in a park in my hometown one day. I looked for her trainer, but she didn't have one. I knew I couldn't take her home because of my parents… well, my dad anyway. The man hated pokémon. But, I, on the other hand, grew to love Roselia so much that whenever I could, I would sneak out all the time to see her. We became best friends and the day I turned ten, I told my father goodbye, found Roselia, asked her if she wanted to come with me, and the rest is history.

Soledad: Hmm. That seems just about right. You can really tell how much the two of you care about one another from the way you two work together. I must say, you two work so well as a team.

It was true, and it always felt good for someone else other than me to praise Roselia.

Yours Truly: Yeah.

I was just about ready to ask Soledad another question when the waitress from earlier awkwardly approached the two of us.

Café Waitress: I'm terribly sorry to interrupt the riveting conversation between the two of you, but we do close in five minutes, and I only wanted to give you two a quick heads up. We hate kicking customers out, but_

The waitress pointed around the rest of the café and before we knew it, Soledad and I finally noticed that we were the only two customers left in the whole place. Then, we both looked at the clock, which read ten minutes to midnight. We had been in the café longer than either one of us realized.

I hunched over, completely disappointed. I still had so much that I wanted to ask Soledad. We had barely even spoken of the contest that day. We had also not spoken of what she had thought of the other competitors we were both faced up against. But, she was still polite enough to the waitress to acknowledge that it was time to leave.

Soledad: No need to explain. We understand, and we're very sorry if we were ever a burden.

Then, the waitress waved her arms in the air nervously as she apologized back.

Café Waitress: OH, no, no, no! You two and your patronage were no trouble, at all. Staying as long as you did just meant that you enjoyed our coffee. We sincerely appreciate your business and hope to see you come in again.

Soledad nodded at the waitress, slid out of the booth and rose up to stand, and waited most likely for me to do the same.

Yours Truly: Thank you again for the coffees. They really were quite enjoyable.

With that, the two of us both walked out the door. Once outside with the night air surrounding us, I looked back up at Soledad and thanked her.

Yours Truly: Well, thanks for all that happened tonight, Soledad. It was great, really.

Soledad: Thank you for recommending the place. You were right. Best coffee I've had all over Hoenn, hands down.

Yours Truly: Where are you heading now?

I had plans to walk her to her hotel since I was staying in the hotel just next to the café. I knew that walking her home was technically the gentlemanly thing to do, but it also gave me the excuse to keep our conversation going without having to worry about being a burden on anyone in their workplace like with the waitress when she had to close up the café. I was completely fascinated by Soledad as much as I was fascinated by me, of all people, wanting to continue a conversation with anyone, at all. I had never before felt this much energy towards anyone in my life.

My thoughts: It's true. Other than Roselia, I'd never felt like I had a real friend in my life before.

Soledad: Probably to the park downtown to do a bit more training with my pokémon just before we go back to the Pokémon Center where we're all staying.

Then, Soledad laughed sheepishly like she were a bit embarrassed about something.

Soledad: The coffee's gotten me a little bit hyper.

Yours Truly: But, why? You just won today. What need do you have for any training?

I did not expect to hear that she was simply staying at the Pokémon Center, nor did I expect to hear that she was planning on training her pokémon to work off her coffee energy. She just smirked at me.

Soledad: Like I said earlier; coordinators never stop learning. They always have to keep on trying to improve themselves to stay ahead of everyone else.

I pondered Soledad's words for a second or two, then I nodded. After my loss today, I could see what she was saying to be the truth. If Soledad trained that much, it was no wonder why she was so good at what she. With that in mind, I could see that I would clearly have a lot more training ahead of me if I wanted to reach the top.

Just then, Soledad reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her PokéNav.

Soledad: I'll tell you what, Drew. Let's make these meetings a regular thing. Whenever we compete against one another or are in the same area, we'll just get together and talk.

I smiled up at her.

Yours Truly: Sounds good to me.

We exchanged our PokéNav numbers and went our separate ways for the night. I walked up to the Starview Hotel I was staying at next to the café at which the two of us met for our conversation, while Soledad went on her way to the park across town.

I had experienced a lot of firsts that day; from my contest to my first loss in a contest along with making my first human friend to name a few.

Sure, the day might not have gone the way I had originally hoped it would have, and yet here I was at the end of the day, and I did not care one bit that it did not go according to plan. At the very least, I now knew what I wanted to do with myself in these contests; I wanted to get myself onto Soledad's level of skills in appeals and in battle. The first step towards all of that would be the very same thing that she had done at her beginning.

I was going to spend my first contest circuit year focusing solely on training my pokémon for such a purpose. I was going to spend every second of my time from now on to build a hardworking, respectable team of pokémon for the sake of battling in contests and learn exactly what it means to compete in pokémon contests before I had truly started.

end of flashback