7 years later

"Infernape, Flame Wheel!"

The large ape Pokemon charged, and then rolled into a ball of flame and sped toward its victim. The destructive ball of flame knocked the Tauros flying, and when it landed it didn't get back up. The referee raised two flags.

"Tauros is unable to battle! Infernape is the winner! The victory goes to Jun!"

"Yahoo!"

The blonde jumped up and down with joy, pumping his fist wildly. His Infernape walked over to him, smiling brightly.

"Good job, pal! Take a rest!" He took out a Pokeball and with a flash of red light it was gone. He then walked over to the trainer he just defeated, who had already returned his Pokemon. Jun held out a hand. "That was a great battle! Let's do it again sometime!"

The trainer didn't shake his hand. "No way. I don't make friends with liars."

"Liars?"

"That's right! I bet you don't even know the Champion. You're probably just going around saying that to give yourself a good name!"

Jun stepped back, slightly shocked. "Why would I-"

"Come on. Let's go." The other trainer walked away with his friend (who was the referee for the match). Jun stood in the middle of the road for a moment before he regained his senses. He yelled after them. "How dare you call me a liar?! I'm going to fine you for that!" A few bird Pokemon flew from the trees, but the two trainers kept walking toward Sandgem Town. Jun huffed with annoyance, spun around and started toward Twinleaf Town.

Ever since his best friend won against the old Champion 2 years ago, the once peaceful Twinleaf Town had been flooded with trainers and news crews, all trying to get a glimpse of the new Champion. At one point, she left Twinleaf Town just to get away from them all. She hadn't been seen since. Jun was the second best Trainer in town (although, as he insisted, not by much) and he had taken over the responsibility of defeating the trainers that still frequented the town. The trainer he had just fought refused to fight him, saying that he wanted to fight the Champion only. So to get rid of him, Jun told the truth and said that he was best friends with the Champion.

Though whenever he told someone this, he was often called a liar or a wannabe.

'As if you even know.' Jun thought angrily. He and Hikari had been inseparable since they were little, but now he barely heard from her. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he missed her. He had grown stronger feelings for her over the years. He wondered what she felt about him…

Jun's face turned bright red. 'What am I thinking about?! That is sooo against the rules!' He shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts. Hikari was his best friend. He couldn't think of her like that! Jun looked up and realized he had reached his house. 'Phew. Maybe if I take a nap I can forget about it for now.' He opened the front door.

BAM!

"Ow!"

Jun recognized that voice. He could recognize it from anywhere. He slowly looked around the door to see the person who plagued his thoughts for so long.

Hikari was sitting on the floor, rubbing her forehead. Her long black hair swept across her face, partially screening it from view. She had obviously just been inside the door. Jun had a bad habit of bursting through doors extremely fast, and Hikari always seemed to be outside them. He had lost count of all the times he had accidently hit her by opening a door.

Hikari looked up at her friend, glaring with her piercing blue eyes. "Jun! Most people say 'Hi!' when they see a friend that they haven't met in a while, not hit them with a door!"

Jun temporarily forgot the thoughts he had beforehand. "Well it's your own fault for standing behind them!"

Hikari got up, and looked Jun straight in the eye (quite a feat, since he had 5 solid inches on her). She sighed and without warning, hugged him tightly.

"You are lucky you're so cute. If you weren't, I would be sooo mad right now."

Jun felt his face get hot again, and for the first time in his life was glad Hikari wasn't looking at him. She released him to turn to his mother.

"I'm going to steal him for a bit, OK?"

Say no, say no, say no!

"Sure! Don't stay out too late.

Traitor!

Jun found himself being forcibly dragged out of the sanctuary of his house and back outside, Hikari clutching his hand in a vice grip. He tried to focus his mind on other things besides the electrical current running through his nerves, without much success.

I wonder if she can feel it too?

"OK! We're here!"

Jun snapped out of the fog he was in and looked up for the first time. They were near the lake, on a dusty dirt road with rocks sticking up here and there. This place seemed slightly familiar, but Jun couldn't pinpoint the memory.

Hikari released his hand (to Jun's relief) and turned to face her friend. "Soo. Remember this place?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"That is sooo like you." She walked a few feet away and pointed to a spot on the ground. "That's where we first met." She pointed to a boulder a mile away. "And that's where we placed our bet."

Jun grimaced as the memory returned to him. He remembered the moment of insanity that caused him to accept that bet like it was yesterday.

He only wished that she didn't.

"O-Oh yeah! What was that bet again? To see who could race from the lake to our houses? Cuz I think I won that."

"Don't play dumb! Oh wait. You're not playing, are you?" She snickered. "The bet was to see who could become Champion first. And let's see…who's the Champion now?"

Jun was now debating whether to run or not. He could defiantly out run her….

"And the deal was that I get to do whatever I want with you, correct?"

He could probably get to his room and lock the door before she could reach him…

"And so…I choose to do this." She walked the two steps difference between them and lightly kissed him on the lips.

Jun was pretty sure he wanted to run at that point. But his legs refused to move. Neither would his arms. The only part of his body he could still move was his eyelids, and he was blinking them wildly.

Hikari stepped back, blushing slightly. She walked around him, and started home. "I gotta go home now. See ya tomorrow!"

And for the second time in his life, Jun stood there, not sure what had just happened.