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- The Dance -

March 15th, 2038. Night. Nimbasa City, Unova.

"If I see one more couple sneaking into that back room to make out, I'm gonna barf."

Briar cast an amused look at his friend as he sipped the drink in his hand. Skye was watching with disgust as a giggly boy and girl pushed their way through the sea of coordinators, slipping through an open doorway on the other side of the room before vanishing out of sight.

He snickered, taking another sip of his drink. "I think you're just jealous."

"Very funny," Skye scoffed, leaning back in her seat with crossed arms. "Love is gross. I have more decency than that."

Wartortle, who was sitting in the chair beside his trainer, gave her a doubtful look as he stole one of the cookies from off of the table, shoving it into his mouth.

"All right, Skye," Briar conceded with a chuckle, and she glowered at him. His focus shifted back to the doorway the happy couple had previously gone through. The door was closed, and Briar could only assume Skye was probably right about the whole making out thing.

That was when Briar noticed a flash of burgundy hair moving its way through the crowd of teenagers. He inwardly groaned when he noticed said burgundy-haired woman furiously scribbling away on a notepad she held in one hand.

"I don't think you're the only one keeping an eye on those couples, though," Briar noted, thumbing toward the woman who was now whipping out her cellphone—likely to snap some pictures.

Skye raised a brow, her gaze following Briar's thumb. "Oh." She blinked. "She's that journalist who writes for Coordinating Insider, isn't she?" Skye mused, glancing up in thought. "Alyssa something."

Briar snorted, leaning back in his seat with a slouch. "Yeah, journalist—if you can call her that," he grumbled. "But, yeah, Alyssa Gillen."

Likely sensing the bitterness in his voice, Skye smirked. "Ah, right. She's the one who wrote that article about your—"

Briar's cheeks flushed and he sat up again, alert. "Yes," he snapped, "that's the one."

Briar's memories flashed with a particularly embarrassing photo involving a pair of Hoenn Ranger boxer briefs plastered all over the front page of the tabloid a few months prior. A photo that Skye and Kierra refused to remove as their phone lock screens for the weeks following

"She must be having a field day here, then," Skye noted, drawing Briar's attention back in. "Lots of… juicy content, I guess." She sounded disgusted by her own choice of words.

"Yeah," Briar agreed with a sigh, "these post-Grand Festival events are always like a breeding ground for tabloids to get their hands dirty."

"Can't wait to see what type of scandal you and your boxers have gotten yourselves into tomorrow, then."

"Ha ha."

"You guys!" Kierra's voice called out to them. Briar turned his head to see their blonde friend running toward them. She slammed her hands down on the table, scaring Wartortle into dropping his cookie to the ground. "They have…" Kierra started, catching her breath, "an ice cream bar."

Snivy trailed behind his trainer, looking nothing short of exhausted. Briar assumed he had probably been spending the night keeping her out of trouble. The poor Pokemon looked like it could use a break.

Briar looked at her quizzically. "Kierra, don't you think you've had enough sweets tonight…?"

Kierra's jaw dropped, aghast. "What are you implying?"

Quickly realizing his mistake, Briar held up his hands in defeat. "Nothing," he stated. "Just keep in mind that I'm not gonna be the one cleaning up your puke tomorrow morning."

Kierra puffed her cheeks at him and Skye snickered. "Anyways," she continued, her voice a little more snippy than before, "are you guys in or not?"

"I'll pass," Briar said with a wave of his hand. "Can't say I've got much of an appetite for sweets tonight."

Kierra stuck her tongue out. "You're no fun." She turned her attention to their other friend instead. "Skye? What about you?"

Skye glanced between the two, then closing her eyes and offering a shrug. "...Yeah, sure. Why not?" She pushed herself away from the table rising to her feet.

Kierra squealed excitedly and made a beeline for the ice cream bar. Snivy let out a sound that sounded like a mix of disbelief and distress as he dashed after his trainer.

Skye laughed, putting a hand on Briar's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said lowly. "I'll take care of puke duty this time." Briar rolled his eyes and Skye gave his arm a pat before looking to her Pokemon. "Come on, Wartortle."

Wartortle looked between his trainer and the half-eaten plate of cookies on the table. As Skye began to make her way toward Kierra, Wartortle slid out of the chair he had been occupying all night. However, he ended up coming back less than a minute later to sneak the cookie platter away for himself before vanishing into the crowd alongside Skye.

Briar stretched, taking a look around the large room. The dances that the APC put on following the Grand Festivals every year were supposed to encourage coordinators and their Pokemon to intermingle following the competition. Everyone took the opportunity to dress to the nines, and he had to admit, even Skye, Kierra, and himself managed to clean up pretty nicely for the occasion.

From scanning the crowd, Briar was able to pick out a few familiar faces. On the middle of the dancefloor, Cade McGonnigal was aggressively grinding against his boyfriend, Sorrel Griffth. Sorrel looked like he was attempting to protest, his face painted with a mix of anger and embarrassment, but Cade took no mind to him. He was sure Cade was going to get hell for it later.

On another section of the dancefloor, Briar noticed a very red Emilie Liscio dancing alongside a very enthusiastic looking Nick Hayden. Emilie's brother, Louvel, stood off to the side, recording the whole thing on his phone. Briar was almost certain Emilie's soul must have up and left her body the second Nick asked her to dance. Though, the Zigzagoon wearing a bowtie that was sitting on top of Nick's head was a bit of a mood-killer. He wondered if Emilie thought the same.

Off of the dancefloor, Briar saw that Kierra and Skye were now making small talk with Amber Birch over the ice cream bar—Kierra stuffing her face in a way that made him cringe. But his brows furrowed upon seeing Amber by herself. Upon scanning the crowd a little more he finally managed to spot Amber's missing half.

Allie Hayden sat alone at a table near the back of the room. Her half-lidded eyes were glued to the screen of her phone as she mindlessly swiped up and down. Briar could only assume she must have been reading her barrage of Flitter notifications that followed her Grand Festival performance. She had done well, making it all the way to the finals after defeating Briar himself in the semi-finals. However, her opponent had been stronger, leaving Allie in second place.

Letting out a breath, Briar rose from his seat, striding over to where Allie sat. She didn't notice him approach, so he cleared his throat, saying, "What's with the long face?"

The glazed look that hung over Allie's eyes vanished, and she quickly looked up at Briar. For a moment, she said nothing, but then huffed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Briar shrugged. "Well, it's just kind of unlike you to be sitting by yourself in the corner of a room while everyone else is off having fun."

Allie deadpanned. "Can I help you with something?"

"Not really," Briar said, pulling out a chair from the table and taking a seat. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

Allie let out a breath, averting her gaze. "Well, I'm fine," she assured. "Just thinking, that's all."

"Well, you'd better watch out. I saw Alyssa Gillen lurking around," Briar warned. "If you sulk too much you may just end up with your pout plastered on the cover of Coordinating Insider." Allie rolled her eyes as Briar thoughtfully put a hand to his chin. "I can see it now: Allie Hayden mopes after devastating loss at Unova Grand Festival."

Allie's cheeks flushed. "I'm not moping!" she snapped, and Briar smirked. Collecting her composure, Allie huffed and turned her head away. "And my loss wasn't devastating."

"So then this is about your loss."

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to."

Allie's cheeks puffed a bit in frustration. But when Briar raised a brow at her, she let out a long exhale. "It's just…" she started, leaning back in her seat, "a little frustrating, I guess. We were so close this time. I wanted my Pokemon to shine but… I messed up."

Briar watched as Allie twirled the ends of her hair around one of her fingers and cracked a smile. "...Yeah." Allie was quick to shoot him a dangerous glare, and Briar quickly realized his mistake, his cheeks flushing. "Don't go taking that the wrong way, though. I didn't mean it like that," he explained through nervous laughter. "From one loser to another, I just get how you're feeling, that's all."

Allie's eyes narrowed, unimpressed. "You know, you're not very good at this kind of thing."

"Yeah, maybe…" Briar chuckled lightly. "But, I think what I'm trying to say is, I get how it feels to think you've messed up and to feel like you've let your Pokemon down." He shrugged. "I mean, you really threw my team for a loop yesterday."

The thought of Ria's Dazzling Gleam sending his Charizard crashing to the ground caused an uneasy feeling to begin bubbling in Briar's stomach. It had been a great battle, but the end left a bitter taste in his mouth that he hadn't been able to shake off.

Allie's eyes flicked toward him, and there was a beat of silence before she finally said, "You put up a good fight."

Briar looked at Allie. Her eyes were genuine, and the sour bubbling in his stomach began to simmer away. He smiled. "And so did you—not just against me, but in the finals, too," he said, and Allie looked away, her eyes dull.

Briar sighed, leaning toward her a bit more. "Honestly, it doesn't really matter that you lost. Your goal is to make your Pokemon shine, right? Well, with the way you, Ria, and the others gave it your all out there, I'd say all of you were shining as bright as the stars." Allie looked at him, a small glimmer in her eyes, and Briar offered her a wink and salute. "Ranger's promise."

Allie inhaled through her nose, a light shade of pink dusting her cheeks as she averted her gaze. "You're such a dork," she scoffed, but then glanced at him, cracking a small smile. "But thanks, seriously."

He wasn't sure how much his words had actually helped. Perhaps for the moment they had alleviated some of the shadows he was sure were hanging over her. He knew that the only way either of them would be able to fully move on from their losses would be by training alongside their Pokemon to become stronger. But if he could make her smile even a little bit tonight, then that was something.

Briar grinned. "It's what I'm here for," he said, thumbing to himself. "Just be prepared to do a lot more losing in the future—I'm not gonna let you beat me like that again!"

Allie laughed lightly. "I'll stay on my toes, then," she responded, then wagging a finger at him. "I don't think I'll have to worry too much, though with the amount of time you spend watching cartoons instead of training."

Briar scowled. "Funny."

Allie giggled, her focus then shifting onto the dancefloor. After a beat, her face lit up, and she looked to Briar. "Hey, wanna dance?"

Briar paused, taking a moment to process what she had just said. Once it had fully settled in he could feel his face begin to heat up. "What? Me?" he asked, pointing to himself as he looked around the room cluelessly.

"No. Cade," Allie huffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yes, you!"

Briar gritted his teeth, shifting nervously. "Uh… well," he stammered. The thought of dancing with someone like Allie sent his head for a loop. He was sure his face must have been as red as the Crimson Ranger's suit by now. "I'm not a very good dancer."

"I can teach you."

"Alyssa Gillen is watching!" Briar reasoned, pointing to where the columnist was watching a couple of coordinators like a Pyroar stalking its prey. "What if she writes an article?!"

"Let her. I'm not scared of tabloids," Allie said bluntly, rising from her seat. "So do you want to dance?" she asked, holding out a hand to him. She then cracked a smirk. "Or is Pallet Jade too scared to dance with a pretty girl?"

Briar inhaled sharply through his nostrils, his heart pounding in his head. A rival had challenged him, and he couldn't refuse that. Standing up, he placed his hand on top of hers. "Pallet Jade isn't scared of anything!"

Allie giggled, tightening her grip on his hand. "That's what I thought."

End.