Chapter 2: Contested Heart
Sandgem Town, Sinnoh, 4 pm…
Platinum let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on her comfortable chair in the Berlitz Mansion library.
After returning home from having lunch with Pearl, Platinum had to deal with the undesirable task of admonishing some of the servants and maids for their failures. She didn't want to, but sometimes, their "stuffy" tendencies really got to her.
And now, having finished lecturing those who needed to be lectured, she was free to sit down in her private room in the library and resume reading.
Platinum closed her eyes for a bit as she leaned into her comfortable chair. Her Glaceon hopped onto her lap and lightly purred as its trainer's hands gently stroke its back.
Nearing footsteps snapped Platinum out of her thoughts. She glanced over and saw a maid standing in the doorway, holding a tray that had a new pot of tea, a teacup, some snacks, a book, and the recently purchased snacks for the Glaceon.
The maid set the tray's contents on the table and gave the heiress a polite bow before leaving. Platinum looked at the book and noticed that it was the final book of the 10-book series that had been omitted from her daily reading list.
Platinum nodded in approval and set the book on the bottom of the stack of books already on the table. She poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip before giving her Glaceon its snack.
For a few minutes, Platinum simply stared out through the windows while sipping her tea. She was going to resume reading, but right now, she was busy thinking about the time she had just spent with Pearl. It was unexpected, but had really lightened her mood. She had really enjoyed spending time with him, and wanted to spend more.
She had asked Pearl to visit her in a couple of days, so that they could spend the day together. Hmm… what could they do together?
Well, she did have an idea. The next time she went to Unova, she was going to try out the Pokémon Musical. And the next time she went to Hoenn, she was going to try challenging the Pokémon Contests. Both of those required her to coordinate her movements with her Pokémon while matching musical beats, like dancing. But it was an impossibly difficult task if she was incapable of dancing in the first place. And as she remembered, it just happened that Pearl was a very good dancer… Maybe he could teach her.
Platinum figured that it would be best if he taught her in a proper environment, so she would have to either reserve a ballroom in Hearthome City, or vacate the smaller ballroom here in her mansion. She would have to check the availability, though. And see if Pearl was willing to teach her how to dance.
She took out her Pokégear and sent him a message.
"I have an idea for what we can do the day after tomorrow. I wish to learn how to dance. Would you be willing to teach me?"
She then sent a message to one of her servants, asking him to check the reservation availability for Hearthome City's ballroom. The servant sent the acknowledgement immediately.
Pearl didn't respond quickly, however. Platinum figured that he was either on the move, or busy so he wasn't checking his Pokégear at the moment. He'd probably respond after he returned home.
Platinum set her Pokégear on the table to the side and picked up the top book from the stack. She didn't know when Pearl would respond, but staring at her Pokégear just waiting for the response seemed silly. So for now, she would resume her reading session.
…
Half an hour later, Platinum snapped out of her thoughts when her Pokégear chimed. She took a brief moment to escape her immersion into her book and reached for her device. She had expected Pearl to respond, but to her surprise, it wasn't Pearl, but Diamond.
"Hi, Lady. I just wanted to check if you were still available for tomorrow."
Platinum smiled brightly as she read the message. A few days ago, Diamond had asked her if she wanted to do something sometime this week. And having been rather lonely all by herself in the mansion, she had accepted. And tomorrow, Diamond would take her to Floaroma Town. She briefly wondered what he had in store for her, but regardless of what he had planned, she knew it was going to be a very happy and relaxing event. She took another sip of tea before sending her response.
"Of course, Diamond. I have been greatly looking forward to it. At what time will you be arriving?"
Platinum stared at her Pokégear until Diamond responded a few seconds later.
"What time works best for you? I can go to your place whenever you're available."
Platinum briefly thought about her schedule for tomorrow. Since she had been looking forward to spending time with her friend, she had frequently notified everyone within the mansion, thus she was completely free all day.
"I am available for the whole day. If you wish, you may even visit early enough and enjoy breakfast with me before we leave for Floaroma Town. In fact, I do wish to treat you to breakfast. Can you visit around 7 am? Or is that too early?"
"If you're okay with that, then sure. I'll make sure to be there at 7 am. I'll see you then!"
"Thank you. I look forward to seeing you."
Platinum smiled happily at the thought of spending a whole day with her close friend and sent a message to her butler Sebastian that Diamond would be coming over at 7 am and that she was going to be treating him to breakfast, so the chefs on breakfast duty should be properly prepared.
Once she got the acknowledgement message, she contently set her Pokégear down and resumed reading. She occasionally glanced over, surprised that Pearl hadn't replied to her yet, but figured that he was busy doing something and let it slide.
…
Next day, 7 am…
…
Platinum leaned on the railing of the balcony of her bedroom, breathing in the fresh, cool morning air as she waited for Diamond to arrive. From the balcony, she could look in the direction of Twinleaf Town, so she scanned the skies in that direction for Diamond and his new aerial transport Pokémon.
Before long, a tiny speck in the distance grew larger, as the object came closer and closer. Platinum adjusted her glasses and shielded her eyes from the sunlight as she stared at the object, and soon recognized it as Diamond and his new Skarmory. Platinum smiled brightly and waved at him to catch his attention. Diamond saw the motion and upon spotting her, began to wave with both hands.
Diamond's Skarmory began to land in front of the main gate of the Berlitz Mansion as Platinum proceeded to head downstairs. The two guards in front of the gate had already been told by Platinum to expect him, so Diamond was allowed to enter without hassle.
Once he reached the front door, the door opened before he could knock and Platinum appeared in the doorway.
"Good morning, Diamond," she said with a bright smile. "I am so glad to see you again."
"Good morning, Lady," Diamond said with a smile of his own. "And likewise."
Platinum stepped aside to let Diamond enter. "I apologize for asking you to come here so early. You usually wake up much later, no?"
Diamond chuckled. "Yeah. I usually wake up at 9 or 10. What about you, Lady? When do you usually wake up?"
"Ordinarily, I will wake up at 8. But today, I woke up early and asked you to come so early so that we may enjoy a leisurely breakfast together and still be able to spend all day in Floaroma Town."
"The weather should be cooperating today, so we should have no problems."
Platinum led Diamond towards the large feasting hall. "So what will we be doing in Floaroma Town?"
"I think we should start off with some strawberry picking," Diamond suggested. "I know how much you like strawberries, and the berries should be perfectly ripe nowadays."
Platinum clasped her hands together. "Oh, that sounds wonderful!"
"And after that, we'll eat lunch in the flower fields of Floaroma Meadow. We'll then cool off in the stream in Route 205 and after that, we'll go to a really delicious restaurant in Jubilife before returning home."
Platinum smiled happily. "You have certainly thought this through! I cannot wait!" She soon reached the feasting hall and approached the table for two, which happened to be the smallest table. It was still large enough that if she and Diamond sat down on the opposite sides, they could not physically reach each other no matter how hard they tried.
Diamond seemed to have noticed that as well, as he opted to sit just around the corner of the table from Platinum, instead of on the opposite side. A servant soon approached the two Dex Holders while pushing a small trolley that had several plates full of food.
"I hope you enjoy your meal, Diamond," Platinum said with a smile. "I have notified the chefs to be extra diligent in preparation for your arrival."
Diamond watched in awe at the delicacies being set on the table. For breakfast, no less. "Wow, all these look amazing! Thank you for the meal!"
Platinum watched anxiously as Diamond took a bite. "How is it?" she asked, while examining his expression.
"This is delicious!" Diamond exclaimed. "Wow, I guess that's the skill it takes to work in the Berlitz Mansion as a chef, huh?" He took another bite and savored the taste. "I'm going to have to try so much harder to even come close this level! I mean, if all of your meals are of this quality, then the stuff I make for you must be disappointing!"
Platinum's eyes widened in surprise and she frantically shook her head. "N – No, that is not…" she stammered out, horrified that she had just inadvertently offended her friend and caused him to doubt his skills. She quickly tried to think of something to say, but failed. "I – I am so sorry," she blurted out, unable to say anything else.
Diamond looked over at her in surprise. "Huh?" He then realized how he had worded his phrase and nodded. "Oh. No worries, Lady," he said with a bright smile. "After all, the guys who work here are highly trained chefs who probably spent their whole lives honing their skills. Maybe one day I'll become like them, but right now, of course the food they make are going to be better than what I make."
Platinum let out the breath she had been holding, as she was greatly relieved that her friend was not offended. "Thank you, Diamond," she said, returning his smile. "And no, I was never disappointed by what you made for me over the years. I greatly enjoyed them all. You are an excellent cook, Diamond. I have no doubt that you will be hired as a chef if you chose to work here."
"Thank you, Lady. But I know I still have a long way to go. I'll keep working on it, of course, and give you the best that I can make, if you'll accept them."
"I will never turn down your efforts, Diamond. Thank you so much." Platinum let out another sigh of relief and began to eat her own breakfast while Diamond received a second plate of food.
For a while, the two Dex Holders enjoyed the breakfast and chatted. While talking, Diamond noticed that Platinum seemed unusually hasty, as she was very excited to go to Floaroma Town. The heiress had finished her breakfast and waited for him to finish, her impatience showing thanks to her constantly shifting her weight in her seat. Diamond simply smiled at her enthusiasm. He had never really seen her this excited and impatient. He was certainly glad that he was able to make her this happy. And for the time being, all he could do was keep doing what he had been doing to keep her happy at all times.
Once the servant left with the empty plates, Platinum quickly rose to her feet.
"Well then, Diamond, shall we head to Floaroma Town? I am very eager to begin our day."
"Certainly. Let's get going!"
…
Floaroma Town, 10:30 am…
…
Platinum closely followed Diamond in between the rows of strawberry plants. She already had a berry-bucket full of deliciously ripe strawberries. And now, the two Dex Holders were going to fill up Diamond's berry-bucket.
Diamond reached down towards a strawberry plant and examined a berry. Oh, this one looked absolutely flawless. It was pretty big, looking deliciously red and ripe, and it was even shaped perfectly too.
He reached over to grab the berry, but fearing that his fingers may harm the fruit, he grabbed the stem and severed it. He held the perfect strawberry in front of him, swirling it around slowly to see if it had any flaws anywhere that was initially hidden. … Nope. It was still flawless.
He carefully set the berry-bucket down and took out his water bottle. He lightly doused the berry in water to rinse it a bit, and satisfied with how the berry looked, he rose to his feet to face Platinum.
"Lady, look at this. Isn't this just perfect?"
Platinum gasped as she saw the flawless strawberry dangling in front of her. "It is absolutely perfect! That is incredible!"
"Now say ahh…"
"A – Are you sure?" Platinum asked. "It is your berry…"
"And I want to give it to you!" Diamond said with a grin.
Platinum nodded and sheepishly opened her mouth. Diamond put the strawberry in her mouth and held it in place for her to take a bite. As her mouth closed, her soft lips brushed his finger, making him shudder slightly. Platinum let out a breath as she savored the strong strawberry flavor. She swallowed the berry and opened her mouth again and received the rest of the berry.
"Mm… it was so delicious," she said happily with a bright smile on her lips.
"I'm glad you liked it!"
"Now I must return the favor," Platinum said, looking through the berries in her berry-bucket. She soon found the most tasty looking one and rinsed it with water. "Here. Open your mouth, please."
Diamond blushed a little but did as told. He opened his mouth and waited as Platinum put the strawberry in his mouth. He bit down on the berry and as he did so, his lips made brief contact with the girl's delicate fingers. The strawberry was certainly good, but since he didn't absolutely love them like Platinum did, he didn't feel nearly as ecstatic. But he pretended to be for her benefit.
Platinum giggled at his reaction, clearly unaware of the intimate action that she had just shared with him. She simply giggled at his comedic reaction, happy to know that he had enjoyed the strawberry.
…
Several hours later, Route 205, 4 pm…
…
Platinum watched as Diamond once again set up the picnic mat on the grass right in front of the small river. The river wasn't that wide or deep, so if the two Dex Holders had brought along their swimsuit, they could easily jump in.
"Too bad we didn't bring a swimsuit, or a spare set of clothes," Diamond said. "But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the cool refreshing water." He sat down on the picnic mat and took off his shoes and socks. He then pulled his pant legs up and dipped his feet up to his calves in the cool river. "Ah, there we go. Come on, Lady. The water's perfect!"
Platinum smiled and took off her pink boots before stepping onto the picnic mat and then removed her black stockings. She carefully stepped towards the edge of the mat and sat down and dipped her feet into the cold water.
"Yes, this feels wonderful," she said happily.
"What better way to cool off on a hot summer day, huh?"
Platinum smiled jokingly. "Please. You do know who I am, right?" She reached into her bag and took out a Pokéball. She held it in her hand until it opened and her Glaceon popped out. "I do not require a cold stream to cool off on a hot summer day."
Diamond laughed as the Glaceon began to emit its usual chill. "Right, right. How could I have forgotten. With your Glaceon and Ninetales, you can experience the coldness of winter whenever you want! … Oh, that's right. I have something for your Glaceon!"
"Oh? Thank you very much, Diamond," Platinum said as she gently pet the Glaceon on her lap. The Glaceon pretended to ignore Diamond while occasionally glancing in his direction to see what he was going to give it.
Diamond pulled out a small container from his bag and opened it. "I got a nice frosted snack for the frosty Glaceon!"
Diamond handed the container to Platinum, who picked up a small piece of frosted snack and held it in front of the Glaceon. The Glaceon glanced at the snack, pretended to hesitate before eating it, and then waited patiently for its trainer to give it more.
"Glaceon seems to really like it," Platinum said as she fed it more. "Thank you very much."
"I tried to keep it frosty by grating ice on top of it," Diamond began jokingly. "But then it all melted in the fridge! So I had to resort to using bakery frosting. I have to stay frosty with the frosting, you know?"
Platinum held back a giggle and looked over at Diamond. She found it a bit surprising that he made a joke when Pearl wasn't around, as usually, the two boys would practice comedy acts or jokes only when the other was also around. Platinum briefly contemplated on how she should react. … But seeing how Pearl wasn't here, maybe it was time for her to do what she always wanted to try… She reached over and gave Diamond a soft whack on the head, on top of his hat to lessen the impact. Just like how Pearl would've done in the usual comedy act, just a lot lighter since she didn't want to hurt him.
Diamond seemed very surprised at the sudden strike, as he wasn't expecting it. Platinum had a jovial expression that quickly changed as she realized that her action didn't get the right response out of him.
"I – I apologize if I hit you too hard," she said quickly.
Diamond rubbed his head where he was struck (which didn't hurt at all), and started to laugh. "Oh, Lady, that timing was great! For a second, I thought Pearl was here! And don't worry, it didn't hurt at all. After all, Pearl hits me a lot harder, and has for many, many years!"
Platinum let out a sigh of relief and began to giggle as Diamond burst out into laughter again. She steadily stopped when she heard her Pokégear ringing all of a sudden. She reached into her bag to take out her Pokégear and noticed that it was Pearl calling.
"Oh? Speaking of Pearl, he is calling me," she said before answering the call.
Diamond was momentarily surprised that Pearl had called Platinum, which was something he never did usually. He fell silent to avoid interrupting Platinum's call, and proceeded to take out a snack for himself and began munching.
"Hello? Miss Lady?" came Pearl's voice from the Pokégear.
"Oh hello, Pearl. I am glad you called," Platinum answered brightly.
"I'm so sorry I didn't respond to your message last night," Pearl said apologetically. "I saw it this morning and I sent you a response. You didn't respond so I figured you were busy, but…"
"Oh? You sent me a message this morning?" she asked in surprise. "I am so sorry. I was occupied for the whole day. I did not see it yet. … In that case, you can tell me now. Will you be able to teach me how to dance tomorrow?"
Diamond almost choked on his snack and quickly looked over at Platinum. … Pearl was going to teach her how to dance? … Alone? … Huh…
"Absolutely," Pearl answered quickly. "But how are we going to do this?"
"Unfortunately, the ballroom in Hearthome City is unavailable for reservation, so we will have to use the small ballroom in my mansion. Do not worry. The ballroom will be vacated for us. We will be alone. And do not worry about wearing the proper attire. We will have a large selection available for us."
"Oh. That's great! So when do you want me to visit you?"
"How about at noon? That way, we will have plenty of time. And I would surmise that learning to dance is not something that can be done quickly. So after tomorrow, we will have to arrange for another lesson at a later date."
"Sure thing, Miss Lady. I'll see you at noon tomorrow!"
"Thank you very much, Pearl. I look forward to seeing you."
Diamond winced as he realized how painfully similar Platinum's response to Pearl was to her response to him. … It meant that she still viewed him as a normal friend, just like how she viewed Pearl. And by the sounds of it, it appeared that Pearl was going to be spending a lot of time with Platinum all alone too. … And maybe even had already.
He started to get worried. … Was Pearl in love with Platinum as well? … Would Pearl have better luck with her than he did?
Diamond shook his head. … There was nothing to gain from a premature conclusion. … All he had to do was go to Pearl and talk to him. He was in love with Platinum. Surely Pearl would know that by now. And he was not going to give that up, ever. However, he was also not going to jeopardize the friendship he had with both of them. If Pearl agreed on that as well, then perhaps they could work things out. If not… … He'd rather not think about it.
"Oh, Diamond, is something wrong?" Platinum asked sweetly from the side.
Diamond quickly fixed his expression. "Huh? No, no. It's nothing." He cleared his throat and changed the topic. "So, Lady, you want to learn how to dance?"
Platinum nodded. "Yes. It is something I wished to learn for a while now. And Pearl is a good dancer, as we have seen. I believe it is better to ask a friend instead of hiring some professional."
"True. But what made you want to learn how to dance? If you don't mind me asking, of course."
Platinum appeared a little embarrassed. "Well… One day, I wish to try out White's Pokémon Musical. And the Pokémon Contests in Hoenn. And both require the trainer and the Pokémon to have mastered a certain rhythm, like dancing. However, I am not experienced in dancing, so I will face difficulties. I would like to learn to overcome those and be better prepared for the Contest and the Musical."
"I'm sure you'll do great, Lady," Diamond said with a bright smile. "And when you do try out the Musical and the Hoenn Contests, could you let me know ahead of time? I would like to go with you and watch you so I can support you."
"Of course, Diamond. It would help me immensely if you and Pearl were supporting me from the crowd," Platinum said. "And just like the Contest in Hearthome City all those years ago, we will win together."
'Not quite what I had in mind…' "That we will." Diamond glanced at his own Pokégear. "It's starting to get close to dinner time. So let's head to Jubilife City. There's an amazing restaurant there that you just have to try!"
"Oh, I cannot wait! Let us go right away then!"
…
Several hours later, Twinleaf Town, 8 pm…
…
Diamond hopped off of his Skarmory in front of Pearl's house. Having accompanied Platinum back to her mansion and saying goodnight, he had to come here and talk to Pearl about his position with Platinum.
He knocked on the door and waited until Pearl appeared in the doorway.
"Hey, Dia. What's up?" he asked, obviously surprised to see his best friend visit him in this hour.
"Hey, Pearl. Let me ask you something," Diamond said, not really sure how to begin, or how his tone should be.
"Sure. What's wrong?"
Diamond let out a sigh. "I… heard that you were going to teach the Lady how to dance tomorrow."
Pearl's eyes widened a bit. "Where'd you hear that?"
"I was right next to her when you called her," Diamond answered. "She was with me the whole day."
Pearl held his breath. 'All day… like a date? … Wait… of course. Dia loves Miss Lady too…' "… Whole day, huh…"
Diamond studied his friend's expression and knew that his suspicion was correct. … Pearl was in love with Platinum too…
"… You like her, don't you?" Diamond asked calmly. "… You're in love with her too."
Pearl grimaced at the question, but knew it was inevitable. "… Yeah… I came to realize it yesterday when we were together in the mall in Jubilife."
"And you know that I've loved her ever since I first saw her all those years ago," Diamond said, still staying calm. "… So… what's going to happen now? I came here because we have to discuss this before things get any further. The Lady doesn't seem to like one of us more than the other. I don't think she's aware that we love her too."
Pearl let out a sigh. "That's… a relief… I guess… If Miss Lady doesn't know of this and has no preferences, then I think this becomes pretty clear. You love her. And I love her. So we're just going to have to see which of us Miss Lady loves in return."
"… And what happens then?" Diamond asked, as if worried about the answer.
Pearl quickly caught on. "Look, Dia… no, Diamond. I've known Miss Lady for… what, 7 years now? But we've been best buddies for as long as I can remember. And I think we both share the same feelings about this situation. While I love Miss Lady, I won't let this ruin us. We've been best friends since forever, and damn it, we'll stay that way forever."
Diamond's expression brightened significantly. "Good… I've been thinking the exact same thing, Pearl. We may both love the Lady and she will eventually choose one of us, but we can't let this ruin our friendship. Also, can you imagine how much this would hurt the Lady if she found out that our friendship was ruined because of our crush on her? … I think we both love her far too much to let that happen."
"Yeah. That we do. So for her sake and ours, we can't let this change our friendship. And once Miss Lady makes her decision… whoever she didn't choose will just have to accept it and congratulate the other." Pearl's expression turned rigid and he stared at his best friend. "But until then… I'll be trying my absolute hardest. And I can only assume the same for you too."
Diamond nodded with a firm expression of his own. He held out his hand. "We'll try our absolute best. But we won't interfere in each other. We won't fight, and certainly not give the Lady the impression that we're competing. Once the Lady makes her decision, we will respect her choice and accept it. Deal?"
Pearl shook his best friend's hand. "Deal."
"Thanks, Pearl. … And hey, good luck tomorrow," Diamond said as he pulled his hand back. "The Lady's been looking forward to it."
"Thanks, Dia. And good luck with you too."
Diamond nodded and soon turned away so that he could go home. The situation with Pearl was good. They both cared about Platinum and about each other too much to ruin their friendship, and had agreed to respect Platinum's decision, whoever she may choose. And they even made the gentleman's agreement to not interfere or sabotage in each other's moments with her. So now all that was left was for the two boys to try their best.
… Speaking of which, since Platinum would be busy spending time with Pearl tomorrow, Diamond had to come up with a plan to spend all day with her again on the following day.