Chapter 4: Unclaimed Heart

Next day, Eterna City, 11 am…

Platinum sighed in relief and got off of her Altaria next to the Pokémon Center. She gave it a gentle pet to thank it for the transporting her, and then returned it to its Pokéball. She briefly looked around, but didn't see anyone she recognized, so she took out her Pokégear and sent Moon a message.

"I am in front of the Pokémon Center. Where are you?"

The response came a minute later.

"I'll be there shortly. I'm currently in the store."

Platinum put her Pokégear away and proceeded to walk towards the Pokémon Mart. Today, she was here in Eterna City to assist Moon with her research. The younger girl was researching the traits of a certain type of flora found exclusively in the Eterna Forest, and there were far too many specimens to observe for just one person.

This would take quite a lot of time, and would likely end up being rather… frustrating. But Platinum didn't mind, as she would be spending some time with a junior Dex Holder. And besides, she was in quite the good mood these days, and nothing could ruin it.

She began to lightly hum one of the music tracks from the Pokémon Musical that she liked so much during the dance with Pearl yesterday. She recalled the dance session with Pearl, and remembered the particular motions during the track she was currently humming. She momentarily paused in her steps and mimicked the dance motion with her legs, and giggled as she recalled just how much fun she had yesterday. She wondered how she would incorporate the experience into her future Contest/Musical performance, but… she had plenty of time to figure that out.

"Lady!" came a familiar voice from ahead.

Platinum looked up and saw Moon running over. The heiress smiled brightly and stepped towards her. "Good morning, Moon," she said once her junior was close enough. She looked up at the sky and tilted her head. "… Perhaps it is a bit too late to be morning, but oh well."

Moon momentarily hesitated as she wondered how she would greet her senior. She soon bowed to her politely. "Good… morning to you too, Lady. And I am so sorry for requesting your assistance over something like this."

Platinum lightly chuckled. "I do not mind. After all, I do enjoy spending time with my friends and juniors. Oh, speaking of which, White and Y will be stopping over here in Sinnoh tomorrow before their trip to Kanto. I would like you to be there with us for lunch and dinner."

"… Me too?"

"Yes. I believe it would be more meaningful if you are there with us. And it would be more fun too."

Moon slowly nodded. "Yes, Lady. I understand."

Platinum clasped her hands together. "Splendid! I am sure you will have a wonderful time!" She glanced towards the direction of Eterna Forest. "Now then, shall we start?"

Moon watched her senior's bright expression, noticing that the heiress seemed quite happy today. Usually, the heiress would smile and try to look bright and cheerful, but there would always be a slight hint of coldness somewhere in her complexion, as if she was forcing the cheerfulness. But this time, the heiress seemed to be genuinely happy.

Platinum proceeded to walk towards Eterna Forest, and Moon could hear her lightly humming a cheerful tune, which is something she never did before. And the heiress had even done a slight dance before meeting up with her. Moon tilted her head, wondering what had happened that made Platinum this happy. She soon shook her head and smiled. It didn't really matter why the heiress was so happy. Just knowing that she was so happy was enough.

…

Next day, Canalave City, 10 am…

…

Platinum lightly hummed to herself as she took a sip of her favorite iced tea while sitting at a patio chair at a café near the Canalave City harbor. Moon sat on another chair on the other side of the small table, quietly staring at her cup of iced tea, occasionally glancing at her senior. The heiress still seemed to be really happy, even happier than yesterday. Perhaps this was because White and Y were set to arrive soon, and Platinum always got along well with those two, and thus was happy to see them again. But Moon didn't recall seeing Platinum looking this happy before, so… that didn't seem to be the case.

"Ah, that must be the ship from Unova," Platinum said abruptly, watching a ship slowly docking by the Canalave harbor. She checked her Pokétch and nodded. "It is right on time. Wonderful."

Platinum and Moon finished their cups of iced tea and prepared to leave. As Platinum slowly walked towards the harbor, Moon opened up the parasol she had been carrying and rushed to stand next to her senior, shielding the heiress and herself from the strong sunlight.

Several minutes later, as the ship from Kalos appeared in the distance, White stepped out of the harbor. Upon spotting Platinum and Moon under the parasol, White gave them a wave and quickly made her way towards them.

"Hello, White," Platinum greeted with a warm smile. "Good morning. Did you have a pleasant trip from Unova?"

White gave her a quick polite bow. "Good morning, Lady Platinum. And that I did. Unlike someone, I don't get seasick all the time! Oh, what did you think of the Pokémon Musical tracks I sent?"

"They were wonderful selections," Platinum said with a bright smile. "I loved them, and I am looking forward to doing a Musical trial in the near future. But I am not certain when that will be."

"I'd love to help you with the trial. I guess it'd have to be after I return from Kanto?" White suggested. "I'm returning home in 5 days, so if you could come to Unova, we could do it then. I should have a day or two of free time before I get bogged down by business stuff."

Platinum slightly shook her head. "I will most likely be in the Resort Area with Diamond for a week, so we will have to schedule the Musical trial for later, when you are available again."

White raised an eyebrow. "Resort Area? Oh, you mean your villa? And with Diamond? For a week?"

"Yes. He has suggested that we go stay at the villa for a few days by ourselves. It will be like camping. We will also have to purchase and prepare our own food as well, and it will certainly be a new experience!" Platinum giggled a bit and clapped her hands together. "Oh, I cannot wait!"

"What will you be doing there, though? Purchasing food and preparing meals wouldn't take all day," Moon said.

Platinum briefly thought about what she had in her villa. "There is a swimming pool that we can certainly put to good use. There is also a hot tub for the much cooler nights. We can watch the sunset and sunrise if the weather cooperates. There is also a stargazing telescope that I had installed that we can use if the weather cooperates once again. We can train Pokémon together in the field, go tour around the Battle Zone, watch a movie on the widescreen television… there are so many activities!"

"All that with just you and Diamond, huh?" White asked, slightly narrowing her eyes teasingly while grinning widely. "When do you leave for the Resort Area?"

"I will be heading there tomorrow," Platinum answered.

"It certainly sounds… very fun," Moon said with a nod, as she finally understood why Platinum was looking so happy lately.

"Would you like to join us?" Platinum asked. "It would be more fun with more people!"

Moon slowly shook her head. "No, Lady. That is okay."

"Yeah, we can't be interfering you know," White said with a short laugh.

"What do you mean, interfering?" Platinum asked, unaware of her junior's implications.

"Oh, nothing," White said teasingly. She glanced towards the harbor and saw the ship from Kalos docked. She let out a gasp and quickly turned to face Moon with a serious expression. "Oh, Moon, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Hm? … Okay. What is it?" Moon asked, surprised by the sudden shift in expression and tone.

"Listen, Y is going to arrive in a bit, and she's most likely going to be seasick. I want you to check on her condition and give her something to treat that sickness, but also tell her that she's not allowed to eat anything for a few hours. That way, she'll be forced to miss out on the undoubtedly amazing lunch in that restaurant Lady Platinum is going to take us."

Moon looked over at Platinum, as if asking for permission. Platinum didn't have any particular expression on her face, as she was wondering what White had meant by "interfering", and was also distracted by the list of things she wanted to do with her friend at her villa.

"Why do you want me to do this, though?" Moon asked, looking at White again.

"I need my revenge. Y made fun of me so much in that practice battle against Lady Platinum a few weeks ago. Now today, I will be the one to mock her."

Moon sighed but slowly nodded. "Very well, then."

"… I do not condone this action," Platinum said slowly. "But I will not stop you. I suppose this will make me an accomplice by inaction." She smiled a little. "But I admit that this will be interesting…"

Now that she had permission, Moon reached for her bag so that she could start mixing up the appropriate medicine.

Before too long, Y stepped out of the harbor, looking sick and tired as usual after taking a ferry. She spotted Platinum and the others pretty quickly, and with a forced bright expression, ran up towards them.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she came close.

"Good morning, Y," Platinum said with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Miss Platinum," Y said with a bow. "Hi, White, and Moon."

White forced to suppress the grin that kept trying to surface and waved at her junior. "Hey, Y."

"You look rather pale. Were you seasick again?" Platinum asked calmly.

Y dropped the façade. "… Yeah… I got real sick again. I'll spare the details, but it wasn't pretty."

Moon leaned in close to Y, as if deeply studying her expression. Y backed away a bit from the sudden proximity, until Moon pulled back.

"You look like you're still affected," she said, rummaging through her bag. "At this rate, you'll be feeling nauseous until tonight. I have something that'll help you, though."

"Really? Thanks!" Y said with a happy smile.

Moon soon pulled out a small bottle of sorts and unscrewed the cap. "Here. Drink up. It's grape flavored."

"Cool!" Y took the bottle and chugged its contents. The potion was a bit bitter, but did have a strong grape flavor to counter that bitterness.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Moon said casually. "After drinking that potion, you can't eat any food for at least 4 hours. If you do consume any food in that time, the potion will react negatively, and you will feel quite sick for the rest of the day."

Y's eyes opened wide in shock and horror. "Wait, what?! But… Miss Platinum is going to take us all to lunch right now! And I'm… starving…"

"Oh, that's a shame," White said, trying real hard to stifle her laughter. "But I guess it's for your better health, you know? Eating lunch while you're still seasick might make you feel worse for an even longer amount of time!"

Platinum let out a short sigh. "I suppose it cannot be helped. But come along, let us head to the restaurant."

"… Me too?" Y asked in disbelief of the situation. "… Why am I even…"

"Surely you do not intend to stay alone while the rest of us are eating lunch? Please join us so that we may at least stay together and converse," Platinum said. "Now come along."

…

The four girls followed the waiter as he led them towards the reserved table. White, Y, and Moon glanced around in awe at the sheer fanciness of the place. It seemed that Platinum had deliberately reserved the most expensive table at the most expensive and exquisite restaurant in Canalave City. … And Y could not believe that she had to skip lunch in such a fancy place.

Platinum sat at one of the seats at the reserved table and the other three followed suit. White deliberately chose to sit next to Y, leaving Moon to sit next to Platinum. Platinum casually scanned through the provided menus while the other three gawked once again at the prices of the available options.

"Are you sure we can order anything, Lady?" Moon asked.

"Of course," Platinum answered with a smile. "You may order whatever you wish, as many as you wish."

"Oh, I have a thought," White began. "… The guys aren't here right now. So why don't we just… let go, you know? Let's eat to our absolute hearts' content! Since it's just us, we don't have to worry about any sort of reputation or whatever!"

"An interesting proposition," Platinum said, looking amused. "Very well, then." She pressed the button on the table to call the waiter, and soon made her orders. "We will start with these three appetizers, and follow up with these three main courses. And we will also like these four side dishes as well. We will decide on the dessert later. And we will hold onto the menu for now, in the event that we will need to order something else."

"Very well, miss. And what would you like to drink?" the waiter asked politely.

Platinum ordered a pot of tea, while White and Moon ordered some soda. The waiter wrote down the orders and soon looked at Y expectantly.

Y cursed under her breath and forced a smile. "I… I'll just… have some water…"

The waiter acknowledged the orders and walked away. Y let out a long groan as White began to silently snicker.

"You made the right choice," White said between snickers. "I heard the water here is very good. One of the best in the world!"

Y glared at her with twitching eyes, but didn't say anything. … She had a feeling that today was going to suck hard…

…

The ordered main courses soon arrived. The waiter retrieved the empty plates of the appetizers consisting of various salads and set down the main course plates.

Y's mouth dropped open as she saw the sheer amount of delicious looking food. One of the plates was filled with fried meat that was tossed in sweet and spicy sauce that smelled absolutely delightful. She scent soon assailed her nostrils and she never felt so hungry before in her life.

"Oh my, everything looks amazing!" White said, looking at the plates laid out on the table.

"Then let us begin," Platinum said with a happy smile. As per etiquette, the others waited for her to start eating first.

Once Platinum had taken her first bite, White dug into her food. She quickly picked up a piece of the fried meat in the sweet and spicy sauce and bit into the piece.

She immediately gasped and let out an exaggerated moan of delight. "Ohhh… That is soooo good!" she squealed out, deliberately leaning and bumping into Y.

Y simply blinked and stared blankly at the plate. She swallowed the saliva gathering in her mouth in a loud gulp just as her stomach started to growl. Her hand automatically grabbed the chopsticks and slowly reached for a piece.

"Y," Platinum began calmly. "Do you intend on disobeying the doctor's orders?"

"… She's no doctor though," Y argued, a look of pain flashing across her face.

"She is the only one among us medically trained," Platinum said. "She is the closest to a doctor among us. So you should listen to her suggestion."

Y let out a long pained groan but soon set her chopsticks down on the table. She grabbed her cup of water and chugged it down. "… I guess I'll just fill up on water…" she said almost in a sob. "… This is good water though… nice and cold…"

"Isn't this great?" White asked happily as she enjoyed her food. "Look at us. We're all gathered here, enjoying a wonderful meal together, and…" she trailed off as she glanced at Y. "Oh that's right. Never mind."

Y's eyes twitched as she almost snarled at her senior. "You are a monster," she growled out.

White simply giggled and stuck her tongue out at her and resumed enjoying her meal. Y soon got a refill for her water and chugged it again. She crunched on the ice, at least trying to pretend that she was eating something, before refilling her cup with the pitcher of water.

Within a few minutes, the bowl of the fried meat had just one piece left. Moon grabbed it with her chopsticks just as White grabbed it with hers. Instantly, their eyes met, neither willing to back down.

"… Let. Go," Moon said darkly, narrowing her eyes.

White winced at the tone, but remembering that she was the senior and the older one, steeled herself. She wasn't going to back down to a junior! "H – Hey, you already ate 9 pieces! I only had 7!"

White tried to pull the piece towards her plate and Moon momentarily lost grip. She quickly reached for it again, however, her chopsticks making clanging noises with White's, as if they were dueling for the piece of fried meat. Y looked at the frenetic movements of the chopsticks, wishing that Moon would win.

The duel continued for a few seconds before their chopsticks locked in a stalemate. The two girls pulled back at the same time, and their chopsticks clashing in the process sent the piece of fried meat straight up into the air. White and Moon tracked the piece as it fell back down… and another pair of chopsticks snatched it midair. They gasped in horror and their eyes followed the piece as it went into an open mouth before quickly disappearing behind closed lips.

The two girls blinked and realized that they were looking at Platinum as she calmly chewed her food. With a groan, they both backed down.

"Please do not make a scene," Platinum said calmly, despite looking amused, after swallowing her food.

"Lady Platinum, you had like 14 pieces," White grumbled out.

Platinum smiled slyly. "Oh? Have I, now? Perhaps you need to be faster, White."

White sighed, but soon grinned. "But at least I had some, you know? Better than nothing!" She nudged Y with her elbow. "Isn't that right?"

Y's eyes twitched some more. "Why bring me into this? … Just leave me alone…" She poured herself another cup of water but simply stared at it. She already had like 6 cups of water, and now her body was rejecting it. With a groan, she fished out a chunk of ice with a spoon and began to munch on it.

White grinned some more as she relished her junior's miserable expression. Oh, this revenge was going well. But it wasn't enough. No.

"Oh, Lady Platinum, can we order another plate of this?" she asked, pointing at the empty plate of the fried meat.

"If you wish, certainly!" Platinum said with a nod.

Y groaned at the thought of seeing more of the tasty dish without being able to taste it. … Better to focus on something else… She looked up from the table and at Platinum, once again noticing her extraordinarily bright expression.

"So… Miss Platinum… you seem particularly happy today. Did something good happen recently?"

"I suppose you could say that," Platinum said with a smile. "I have had a lot of fun with Pearl and Diamond on consecutive days, and starting tomorrow, Diamond and I will be staying in my villa in Resort Area together for a few days, most likely at least for a week."

"Oh, I see," Y said with a nod. She began to grin teasingly and snickered a bit. "On a week-long date, huh? I – Ow!" she yelped as both White and Moon promptly kicked her underneath the table. "What?!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" White whispered into her ear. "She thinks it's just a friendly hangout!"

Platinum looked confused at Y's remark, and slightly tilted her head. "… A date?" A new thought briefly flashed across her mind, but she didn't really focus on it. "Do not be silly, Y," she said with a slight chuckle. "This will merely be a friendly trip!"

Y frowned a bit at her senior's obliviousness, but Platinum didn't notice as she simply resumed eating. Y rubbed her leg where she got kicked and nudged White. "Should we… help out?" she whispered quietly.

White gave her a slight nod. "Yeah. Let's see what we can do later today, and see if there's anything we can do after this friendly trip ends," she whispered back.

Moon narrowed her eyes and promptly kicked both White and Y under the table at the same time, as she guessed what the two had just whispered about.

Platinum briefly looked over at White and Y, wondering why the two suddenly winced, but let it slide. 'A date?' she thought as she focused on her food. She put another spoonful of rice into her mouth and contemplated on the concept as she chewed. '… But a date is between two lovers, not friends! … How silly. Diamond does not think of me that way!' She smiled as she found Y's misled beliefs to be rather amusing. 'Diamond and I are simply friends! Same with Pearl, too. And I do not think of either of them in that way… … …'

…

Many more dishes later, the lunch finished and Platinum led her three juniors towards Jubilife City.

"So now that we're in Jubilife… we should go shopping!" White suggested, looking at the mall in the distance.

"I suppose we'll need some stuff for our trip to Kanto," Y said with a nod. "And I think buying some souvenir clothes wouldn't be too bad."

"Well if you two wish," Platinum said as she turned towards the mall. "I suppose we never went shopping together either. Not with all four of us, anyways."

The group soon arrived at the mall and White and Y charged inside. Platinum took a brief moment to look at the mall's exterior, having been reminded of the time she met Pearl inside while shopping for Glaceon's snack. She briefly wondered if she was going to get lost again, but figured that it would be okay with White and Y there with her… though those two have just charged in…

Platinum snapped out of her thoughts and hastily entered the mall before she could lose sight of White and Y. Moon followed from behind, staying close to keep her company, and also keeping an eye out for her.

The two visiting Dex Holders were staring at a digital map of the mall, scanning the list of shops in each floor, thinking of which stores to visit first.

"Hmm… I'm not familiar with any of these shop names," White said, scratching at her cheek.

"Yeah. I can't tell which one is the better clothing store," Y said as well with a sigh. "Do you know, Miss Platinum?"

Platinum looked at the list of stores and shook her head. Of course, she had never gone clothes shopping on her own. And certainly not in a mall. The only clothing store she was familiar with was the exclusive one in Hearthome City that was only accessible to those who have made prior reservation for the perfect fit.

Moon looked at the list as well, and shook her head too. … She had never really cared that much about clothes in the first place. As long as what she was wearing wasn't damaged or too… uncomfortable for her preferences, she was fine, so she had never gone clothes shopping…

"Well then, this will be a new experience for all of us," Platinum said, making her decision. She pointed at the closest store. "We will head there and see what awaits us!"

"… What do you intend on buying?" Moon asked with a frown.

"I… do not know. We will find out!" Platinum answered, as she began to walk towards the store.

"That's the spirit!" White said as she followed. "… As long as my wallet says yes, anyways…"

"Let's do it! But save some money for Kanto!" Y said as she excitedly ran after her two seniors.

Moon let out a long sigh. "… Seems like a waste, but… okay…"

"And we should take a look at swimsuits while we're here," White suggested. "Lady Platinum, you'll be going to a swimming pool and a hot tub, after all!"

"… I suppose?"

"Yeah! Let's get you a nice bikini instead of the usual swimsuit!" Y suggested with a laugh. "You need a new swimwear, after all!"

"I… do?"

Moon sighed again and glared at White and Y. … So it seemed that this was what they had whispered about in the restaurant. They were going to indirectly interfere with Platinum's romance issue. The heiress herself was unfortunately clueless to the problem, and so White and Y were going to try to get the situation rolling from the other side. They'd prompt Platinum to accentuate her natural attractiveness, and probably even tell her what to do together with Diamond to try to get him to initiate it. Platinum was already quite fond of him, so if she was to spend several days with him doing almost everything together, and even reacting a certain way, Diamond might be willing to initiate the conversation about a relationship…

Moon briefly considered in telling Platinum what was happening, but decided not to. With the heiress remaining oblivious to the situation, Moon would not accomplish much in trying to hint what White and Y were up to, and directly telling her everything would be far too embarrassing for everyone involved. And besides, this friendly little trip to the Resort Area was only with Diamond, and he wasn't the type to really… react to such a prompt. He'd simply enjoy the time spent with Platinum, and make her really happy as usual. So nothing would be immediately happening as a result of White and Y's scheme. So for now, Moon would simply stand back and watch what happens. This wasn't her problem, and so she would not intervene unless Platinum herself asks for her opinion or assistance.

…

Meanwhile, Twinleaf Town…

…

Pearl picked up his Pokégear as it received a call from his dad. For a while, he listened to what his father had to say, and soon gave the acknowledgement and hung up.

Well, it seemed that his dear old dad had forgotten one of the binders full of documents for the Battle Tower that he was supposed to take with him when he returned to the Battle Frontier yesterday. And so now he had tasked Pearl to deliver him that binder as soon as possible.

Pearl put the Pokégear away and looked at the binder in his hands. … It worked as planned. His dad did not notice the missing binder until he had arrived at the Battle Frontier. And now Pearl had a perfectly valid excuse to go all the way to the Battle Zone tomorrow, and a viable excuse to knock on the door to Platinum's villa. Diamond and Platinum would be going there tomorrow, so all he had to do was visit them shortly after they arrive, in a convenient coincidence that allowed him to stay with them for the duration of their trip. Diamond would not be having Platinum all to himself for the whole trip. No. That would be cheating.

Pearl opened his bag and put the stolen binder inside so he wouldn't forget. And then he proceeded to pack his bag full of things he'd need for the extended trip to the Battle Zone. He'd leave for the Battle Frontier early in the morning, so he'd get to bed early. … And he could not wait to leave. A chance to stay with Platinum very closely in the Resort Area? He could not afford to miss this opportunity.

Sorry for the filler chapter, folks. But since Heart is supposed to be all about friendly interactions and happiness, I had to put this chapter in, which is mostly friendly chitchat and hanging out.

But the next one is going to be mighty important for the story. The week-long "date" begins!