A rose for love and a drop kick for passion

When one thinks of friendship, happiness and mutual tastes and understanding come to mind. When one thinks of romance, flowers and hand holding, and kissing come to mind. Those two took all that shoved dynamite right in its face and blew it to kingdom come. With them, the majority of their friendship was arguing and lots of it. So much that they were banned from five different stores and prohibited from entering certain places without the consent of the manager himself. Their acolytes wondered why they even bothered to stay in the same room as each other and the gym leaders (the ones who cared anyway) suspected something to the arguing which the two would vehemently deny. When romance was involved the closest thing they achieved was her pinning him to the wall with throwing stars and him calling her a stubborn, dad-obsessed nutcase. Sometimes gym leaders played mediators when they attended the Leader conferences held every few years; Bugsy of Azalea Town and Brock of Pewter City were veteran referees to their disputes. Sometimes it escalated to the point where even their Pokemon would come out of their PokeBalls and settle the argument if there was no third party present. However, despite the inevitable shit storms that came, they were also birds of a feather when it involved family affairs, both had an almost unhealthy amount of pride, and their personalities nearly mirrorred each other. One could almost say they were made for each other; not that they would admit it.

The arguing was finally put on temporary hold when an acolyte on both party's sides suggested a get together of the non-volatile persuasion. In short, both students said, "How about you two just try to get along and give us a break? Ask him/her out on a date." Needless to say both leaders quashed that idea as soon as it was out of their students mouths. "Why?" the students replied, normally they would've been subjected to their teachers chosen form of punishment which would've been anything from running laps to expulsion, but not today. Frankly, if they could get the two to remove the pointed instruments that were lodged up their asses, the two might actually find to enjoy the other's company without constant bickering and perhaps finally give their students a break from the tirades of the opposite person's character. "It's just a date, the only difference from a date and what you guys do is the lack of yelling."

"What do you think?" Falkner asked sitting back in his chair. As a gym leader he was well aware of his current position as well as what it entitled him to and what he must do to maintain the image of both his person and his gym. He was proud (which is what normally led to the arguments to begin with) but not stupid, and once assured of the fact that he would be unable to escape her presence and after a long and serious chain of thoughts (some that could've been considered illegal) he came to the conclusion that the best way to end the hostility was with a friendly overture; after all he had a reputation to keep and he'll be damned if that brat ruined it. "I think that your students know you better than you," was Morty's response and Bugsy nodded in agreement. Falkner scowled, "You can't be serious." Morty shook his head, "Normally, no, but if you guys get into another argument one more time all of us are going to have problems," he leaned forward with a light expression, "Besides give her a chance, she's a pretty sweet kid." Bugsy took the opportunity to say, "She's pretty knowledgeable about Pokemon too, you guys would find a lot to discuss. At least she'll give intelligent conversation." Falkner bowed his head to Bugsy's logic. Nine times out of ten his dates would be preppy, ditzy fan girls that would do nothing more than babble incoherently about little mundane things they found cute. The other one out of ten? They would be snobs, girls that were trying too hard to prove themselves and, only that one time, Whitney of Goldenrod. Either way he soon learned that it was smart to avoid females like that. "Fine, but how do I ask her? You know as soon as it comes out of my mouth she'll either reject me or lose her temper and go ninja and honestly I prefer my body in one piece."

Morty and Bugsy thought for a bit. "Well," Bugsy began, "we could always ask Jasmine, she's pretty close with her and I'm sure she won't gossip to the others." Morty added input, "Or you Bugsy, you two get along pretty well, you could be Falkner's wingman," he smiled at the pun. The kid shook his head, "Nuh-uh, I agree with Falkner, I prefer my body in one piece. What about you? You get along with her just as fine." Morty flinched slightly, "Er...Never mind, Jasmine it is then."

It took three weeks for a response (mainly gym leader duties and League Federation file work) and when Falkner got his reply back from Jasmine, who didn't look too happy to be his messenger bird, he was caught between two conflicting sentiments; the urge to get onto the back of the first flier that came out of his Pokeball, run away and start a new life and the need to screw all dignity and jump up and down like a Hoothoot set on fire. Instead he said, "Time and place?" Jasmine responded with a quiet, "She'll call you." Indeed she did, but not on PokeGear like a normal human being and Falkner had the pleasure of tending to a rather affectionate Crobat as he read the response tied to its leg: I'm free Friday and Sunday night. Place is your choice. Please respond via Crobat. So, with a heavy feeling in his stomach he answered with Sunday night and for her to meet him at Sprout Tower before tying it to the Crobat (who gave an affectionate bite which thankfully didn't break skin) and watched as it soared off the roof and out of sight.

"Remember don't argue," Morty said as Falkner put on a rather nice navy-colored shirt.

"Be polite." Bugsy added handing Falkner a comb in hopes of flattening his normally windswept hair. There was a knock at the door and Jasmine entered with a black-haired, kimono clad girl wearing a gentle look on her face. "Oh, Erika, Jasmine," Morty greeted, raising a hand, "Good to see you." Erika responded with "You as well" before turning to Falkner with a rare expression of sternness, "I hope you don't plan to cause trouble tonight," she said. "I know she can be a bit pugnacious but, be kind." Falkner raised a brow and Erika continued, "You and her, both of you need to be a little less vindictive and a little more patient, you could easily get along with her if you gave her a chance." Falkner felt slightly annoyed. "I would if she would quit being so infuriating," he said, "I don't think I can stand to hear about her dad one more time." Erika smiled slightly and replied, "Before I came to see you I talked to Miss Janine and she said the exact same thing."

Perhaps in the eyes of some the date went rather well regardless of the very end. He met up with his date and presented her with a few roses, courtesy of Erika who said that that was the gentlemanly thing to do, and complimented her (And she didn't look bad at all he thought). Falkner had suggested Violet City for a few reasons; he knew every street corner and back road just in case he needed an escape, his gym was only a hop, skip, and jump away, and he was actually looking forward to showing her his hometown. They had walked for the better part of two hours, they talked and she asked questions about the various buildings and landmarks and he would answer with an almost scholarly knowledge leaving her a bit impressed. Dinner had come and gone and the late afternoon went from bright blue to shocking red-orange and finally to a star-strewn deep navy and both had miraculously avoided any mention of their parents. Both also had a rather radiant aura around them. The lanterns had burned for two hours until finally Janine had prepared to hit the road that led to Goldenrod so she could catch a Magnet Train home and (as if he were possessed by the whimsy fairy) Falkner asked, "Could I have the honor of escorting you?"

Janine raised a brow as she fished out her Train Pass, "Beg pardon?" Falkner repeated, "Can I escort you? To the train station I mean." The ninja girl smiled, "I can take care of myself you know. I am armed." As is to emphasize her point she flicked her wrist and a thin dagger appeared in her hand. Falkner refused to be intimidated, "I know I just want to..."To what really? "I just want to." he finished rather lamely. He watched as she thinned her mouth and gave a thoughtful look before breaking into a grin and saying "Why not?" They were almost out of town, talking rather animatedly about gym mechanics, when his escort plan was unceremoniously cut short.

When people visited Violet City the main tourist attractions were Sprout Tower, the old buildings and the Violet City gym. However, for those that took the path leading towards Ecruteak and the National Park there was one more attraction that forced people's attention. At the gate leading out of town was a cleverly disguised hole that almost everyone and their brother had stepped in at one point or another. This little indent in the road had led to several fond memories of people landing on their butts or catching their falls and, as far as anyone knew, had been there since Falkner's father was still running the gym. Residents knew how to avoid it; out-of-towners weren't as lucky and with all the excitement of the evening Falkner completely forgot.

It seemed that the hole was just the punch line in the grand joke made for the universe and fate to have a good chuckle. The two neared the rest stop leading out towards the path, both unaware of the environment. Falkner reflexively stepped over the hole, Janine wasn't so blessed and it happened in the blink of an eye. Falkner saw her stumble and he reached forward at the same time her training reflexes kicked in and she performed a neat little somersault, unaware that Falkner's position had left his entire head and face vulnerable to her foot's arc of descent. With that he was knocked out stone cold by his date's left shoe and promptly dropped like a rock. So, instead of having the honor of escorting his date to the station he had the pleasure of waking up on his gym floor with a bump the size of a Voltorb on his head, a nasty shiner on the right side of his face and him wondering what the hell happened last night.

XXX

Author's Note: Uploaded (wah-hoo) after a rather long time. The ending seems a bit rushed and I am sorry about that but it was difficult trying to get a believable ending. When I first started out with this it was going to be more of a slapstick, funny romance kinda' thing but then again it is a ONE-shot and that would've taken a lot longer. At the end Falkner was supposed to hit on Janine and she would've gotten mad and punched him but then it would've killed his personality and I always thought he was a bit of an uptight, honor-bound serious guy.