-1

First off, I would have to say that I wrote an entire chapter, mentioning Flint three times but never making fun of his hair, and I am somewhat proud of that, because I really do like him. On the other hand, I have a lot of fun poking fun at the afro(but doesn't everybody?)

Previously in the story, Volkner found out about Candice. Now, Byron, out of concern for his son's sanity, is going to explain to Gardenia! Be warned, he has, like, no lines at all. I couldn't figure out what he was supposed to say. Um, this is another Volkner-centric chapter, but Gardenia is in it. I swear, I'll write some Roark and Candice bits soon! I just have a hard time writing what they're going through. I'm not too proud of the ending, but I've started the part when things turn out for the best.

WARNING: Gardenia/Volkner like I have never written before!

Anyway…

Volkner had returned from wherever he went to get over the shock, and now he was talking to himself as he wandered the streets of Sunyshore, too amazed at his own stupidity to notice the confused looks people gave him. Approaching the gym, he saw Darcy and Mightyena had gone. Not that he cared about that, but it did tick him off when he found the note she had taped to the circuit box:

In case you haven't gotten it yet, Candice was in love with you, and you, obviously, fell for Gardenia. According to Jasmine, Candice's taking care of her broken heart very well. Off to the Pokemon League to annoy Flint, so if you still don't get it after such a simple explanation, you know where to find me to drill it through your abnormally thick skull. You know me, I won't hesitate to yell again. By the way, you owe me a battle.

He didn't mind the insults: she always insulted those who knew her well enough to not take it seriously, though Flint got bashed the most. And of course he knew what had happened, he wasn't so stupid as to forget Candice already. There was, though, still a reason for him to get mad at the Dark trainer.

"And she chooses to use the simple explanation after I understand it," he growled, ripping it off, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it aside, where it hit Raichu and woke the Pokemon from his nap. Volkner failed to notice that, as well. For a moment, Raichu thought about shocking the human. Then, he decided it would probably be better for both of them if he snapped his trainer out of his trance in a less painful way.

"I need to talk to Gardenia," Volkner mumbled. Unfortunately, the rest of his one-sided conversation was useless, disconnected words, most of them not very pleasant anyway.

(a few days later, Gym Leader/Elite conference)

After Cynthia ended the conference, Gardenia was cornered by Byron, who proceeded to tell her all he knew about Roark's problem.

"I never thought…" Gardenia said, then made a slight choking sound. "I didn't know that this would bother him. I should have…"

She rambled on for a few minutes, talking more to herself than to the Steel trainer, more to Roark than herself, but neither one was within hearing range, so she was talking to herself completely.

"Good to see I'm not the only one who's been talking to myself."

Gardenia spun around, seeing Volkner leaning casually against the wall.

"Oh…you heard that?"

"I saw your lips moving." Volker looked more depressed than Gardenia could remember seeing him - which she had thought was nearly impossible. "Would I want to know what you were saying, or should I back away and give you your space?"

Damn. Wrong thing to say. The slight distraction he had given her simply by appearing had worn off, and she looked like she was about to cry over something.

"Forget I mentioned it."

Gardenia shook her head and brushed the tears away. She never cried, so why was she now? It was how Byron had put it, she decided. That, and the fact that she hadn't meant to hurt anyone.

"Just heard something…well, sad, is all," she said, realizing that the harder she fought to keep from breaking down into sobs right there, the harder the…unnamed emotion fought back to make her. She sat down on the floor and rested her chin on her knees. "No one died, though…and he's recovering…"

What she didn't know.

Volkner may be dumber than a bag of Poffins at times, but even he could tell that Gardenia needed alone time just as much as he had. So, giving her time to think, he left in search of Candice. For odd reasons, he wanted to get back on her good side, romantic intentions or not.

Turns out, Candice(and Roark, though Volkner didn't know about Roark's problem) had left as soon as the meeting had ended, and Byron soon after he ended his conversation with Gardenia, so Volkner decided to ask Fantina if she had heard about Candice's trouble. Darcy was a convincing liar, after all, and he wouldn't put it past her to make something like this up. Fantina, on the other hand, never lied(as far as her fellow Gym Leaders could tell) but Fantina confirmed that Candice had been acting very much unlike her usual warm and friendly self, though she had never given a reason, causing Volkner to, once again, start talking to himself.

"Roark's gone," Gardenia said.

Volkner swore at the top of his voice and spun around to face the woman who had brought him out of his thinking space. "Don't sneak up on me like that! You're nearly as bad as Flint!"

"Sorry," said Gardenia. "But Roark and Candice…"

Wait, Roark? Oh, yeah, he was the Oreburgh Gym Leader, wasn't he? One of Volkner's recent challengers had mentioned he talked to rocks, and Volkner hadn't actually paid attention to the rest of said challenger's sentence.

"They left, didn't they?"

She never took her eyes off her feet. "Do you think that…it's possible to die of a broken heart?"

Volkner tried to think, and it made his brain hurt. And still, the best answer he could come up with was, "You should ask someone else about that. Why?"

Gardenia sighed and leaned against him. "The sad story, Volkner."

And no matter how much she tried to pull herself together, she couldn't help but wish it was Roark that she was leaning on, her head resting on his shoulder. Mentally screaming at herself, she was also thankful that Volkner couldn't hear her. She was just as unaware that the Electric expert had other thoughts, too, that he was grateful he was able to hide from her…