Slateport City seemed so alive in the morning.

Pedestrians of all sorts – business people; Pokemon trainers; families, even – walked down the busy streets of the town, eyes wide open in full awareness of the aging dawn, the sun peaking over the skyscrapers that traced the outer borderline of the city and shining over the cobblestone and concrete landscape with bright hues of energy. In its golden glint against the enlightened sky, impregnating, with warmth, the saltwater-smothered atmosphere that hung over the seaside location like a guarding veil, both humans and Pokemon made their way through the crowded jungle that consisted of a variety of buildings – from towering apartments and organizations, to the small yet easily-noticeable bookstores, restaurants, and other shops that paved the grounds below. Even if night had broken away only hours ago, the mere vastness of the city announced the busy day to come as if already prophesized through its high population of inhabitants.

Soledad quirked her eyebrow slightly as she leaned forward to look out the window, gazing upon the passing streets below with a somewhat-curious glance dominating the depths of her verdigris irises. The train she was on, which hovered over the crowded pavements underneath and around the buildings that marked the city's existence, shook slightly as it moved to the direction of the metallic railings it drove upon. The joints of the vehicle squeaked as it rumbled with another swift turn, gliding past another train that was headed the opposite direction upon its own support. The female coordinator paid no heed to this, though, as she was too preoccupied with watching the world whiz by outside.

She and Harley had gotten up early that day, choosing to use the train as their transportation to the beaches that decked the outside rims of the city. Since the said amethyst-haired man lived in the middle of the conjunction of manmade structures, the previous strategy of walking to their destination obviously would've made the day of supposed relaxation a lot more tedious. Harley didn't seem to mind, as he had been the one to suggest the use of the aforementioned vehicle, implying that he was familiar to the squeaks of the train's moving carts and the rumbles that vibrated throughout its cheap-matted flooring due to his constant use of the service whenever he needed to cross large extremities of the city. This explained why he rested his darkened gaze on his hand, his brows slightly furrowed to show an emotionless, mellow expression of what could be interpreted as boredom as he filed his nails against the soft fabric of his black shirt that was nearly concealed away by a matching jacket. It was the same outfit he had worn yesterday, needless to say, and as Soledad shot him a bright glance, she couldn't help but purse her lips at how 'gangster' it made him look.

Meanwhile, his Cacturne, having been released from his Pokeball before they boarded the train, was as spunky as ever. With his yellow eyes gazing at the people that also occupied the humid semblance of their train cart, in which some were on their way to work, hanging onto the overhead handles in preparation to leave the vehicle as soon as the doors opened, while others sat on the cushioned seats, reading the newspapers that hid their scrutinizing faces, the scarecrow cactus couldn't help but make his way to the window and watch the city pass by. It was obvious the mere view of the manmade town excited the Pokemon to no end, although the case that the beach was only a few minutes away was most likely the reason why he was ricocheting off of his seat like an adolescent child fueled up on soda.

Soledad, watching the scene the Pokemon was creating in front of the passengers of the cart, slightly chuckled at the sight, while Harley only grunted, his eyebrows coming together to add a look of annoyance among his metallic blue-green eyes. Usually he would've been the type to get up almost immediately and dance alongside his loyal Pokemon; however, now he simply rolled his eyes at the scarecrowlike being, which brought Soledad to wonder if such an intolerance towards childish acts was one of the new commandments he had forged for whatever personality served him now. Then again, it was early in the morning – about two hours before the usual time Harley awoke – and therefore Soledad quickly dismissed the thought, as she was quite needy for a few more hours of sleep as well. Although, according to her amethyst-haired escort, if they wanted to hit all of the spots she was hoping to visit that day, then they needed to get started as early as possibly in order to avoid getting smothered for when the large groups of fellow visitors decided to begin their sightseeing.

"Chill," Harley suddenly muttered, the word sliding out with depthness, and although it was directed towards Cacturne, Soledad couldn't help but feel a flash of cold crawl up her spine. She hid this by leaning back into her seat, watching Cacturne rub the back of his pyramidlike head out of bashfulness, his green face succumbing to a faint blush of embarrassment. Harley rolled his eyes again as his Pokemon then took a seat beside him, legs swinging forwards and backwards as if implying that leftover urges to dance around still lingered within his veins. Soledad chuckled slightly as Harley then began to massage the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "I am not a morning person," he muttered, his dragging voice helping in amplifying his claim.

"We didn't have to go this early, you know?" Soledad replied, crossing her arms, aware of the reason why they had chose to do so, but yet still pointing it out anyway.

Harley rose his eyes to her, although he soon scoffed the topic away as he turned to look out the window with an unimpressed semblance hovering around his gaze. "I know, but this place is a tourist trap, I swear it. I've seen people I thought I would never see again randomly appear here…" He switched his sight to her as if on cue, but, without her noticing it at all since she was gazing at the crowd within the train, returned his eyes to his hand to continue filing his nails against his shirt. "This place becomes even more populated…I'm gonna suffocate soon…"

Soledad arched her eyebrow at his words, but shrugged it off, understanding what he meant; not to mention seeing him filing his nails was distracting her with mental flashbacks of their coordinating journeys – back when he was…different. She refused to let her mind worry about that right now when it was a time to relax, though, and therefore she only allowed her gaze to wander back to the crowd of people towards the front of the train cart that were conversing with one another. She was about to turn away to look out the window when something among the group of people caught her eyes.

She swore she saw a flash of green – and a familiar hue of green at that.

The female coordinator shook her face slightly at the thought. She was probably just imagining things – it was still early in the day and therefore still in the time range of her eyes to deceive her. Because of this, her face of confusion disappeared as fast as it had formed.

Of course, that didn't stop Harley from noticing it.

"Soledad?"

Soledad blinked turning her gaze to Harley, who was staring at her with slight hues of concern dancing around in his still-darkened eyes. "You okay?" he then muttered, his voice a little louder than before, which brought Cacturne to stare at her as well.

"Fine. I'm fine," she assured, bringing her hand up as if to cease whatever worries plagued the amethyst-haired man's mind. She couldn't help but dart her eyes towards the direction in which she had seen the flash of green, but with failing to spot it again amongst the crowd of people, it wasn't long before she shrugged the theory of its existence away from her mind and returned to staring out the window. What would he be doing here, she then wondered? She brought her eyes to Harley, who she noticed had returned to filing his nails against his shirt, looking mellow as always. In that short second a tinge of worry sprouted from within her. She hoped her need to see the city wasn't a burden to him…

The train soon stopped with a sudden jolt. As if on cue, Soledad turned to look out the window and verify that they were where they wanted to be, which proved itself to be true as a long line of beaches was in direct view from beyond the station's platform. Past the people who were waiting on the outside benches to board the train, the ocean was visible, blue like the sky above, as well as calm and slowly crawling up the almost-orange sand that stood before it. The female coordinator could see various families of all sort: young children with their baby Pokemon playing in the water, while others – the teens and adults – were either preoccupied with surfing the medium-sized waves farther into the ocean, or battling their own Pokemon, using the vast pieces of sand as their battlefield and, as their audience, the other people who gathered around them to watch the match out of interest.

Soledad hadn't really come to the beach for the intention of swimming or relaxing. In fact, she was hoping just to catch a faint glimpse of it and allow her Lapras to receive her much-needed exercise in the clear water. She had already planned to return later in the week for the act of resting, or maybe even see the sun set behind the horizon as Harley suggested doing towards the end of the day.

The doors to the train slid open, the beings inside each compartment flushing out onto the platform, exchanging their seats with those who were just boarding. Harley turned his eyes to his Cacturne, who was already nearly out the door, waving by it to signify for his master to catch up. The amethyst-haired coordinator rolled his eyes, but nonetheless got up and held out his hand to help Soledad to her feet, in which they both then left the train, ignoring how the doors slid shut behind them and the vehicle zoomed off down the railing as if in a rush.

Soledad, enjoying the view, the purring ocean, the warm yet comfortable air, and the emphasis scent of seawater, soon found her expression contorting into one of confusion once again when, in the crowd leaving for the sandy borderline that broke off the train station with the beach, the flash of green from before reappeared again. This time, she didn't dismiss it so easily, instead staring for a while as the people dispersed so she could hunt for the source of the glimpse of chartreuse, and, because of this, Harley, who was beside her, noticed it and asked if she was alright in the exact same tone he did before – perhaps, this time, with a little more concern added to the structure of his words.

The female coordinator turned her head to face him, realizing how close they were and immediately blushing upon being able to define the metallic blue-green hues of his eyes more clearly in response. Of course, she shook it away before he could notice. "Yeah, I'm fine," she quickly assured once again, although Harley didn't seem so convinced as easily as before.

"You sure?"

She nodded, slightly embarrassed as his concerned gaze bore into hers, the blush from before slowly returning.

He stared at her, despite that he eventually shrugged with casualness. "Alright…" He turned his eyes to Cacturne, who was already making his way to the water, arms above his head as if he was a passenger on a high-velocity roller coaster. Harley grunted in annoyance, eyebrows slightly furrowing, and he soon brought his hand towards his mouth to help in allowing the distant Pokemon to hear his voice. "Don't get eaten by a Sharpedo, you hear?"

The faint call of his name was the only response; and it had sounded trancelike, as if the Pokemon wasn't really paying attention to the wise, yet sarcastic warning.

Harley rolled his eyes. "That anthropomorphic weed's gonna be the death of me…"

Soledad couldn't help but chuckle slightly, although she stopped when Harley glared at her. Of course, his frown soon cracked into a smile and he broke out into laughter as well, in which the female coordinator couldn't help but admire how warm his voice sounded when he laughed. His girly tone from the past wasn't even recognizable then, instead leaving a firm hue to take its place.

"Come on," he suddenly urged, snapping her away from her thoughts, "you said you wanted to give Lapras some exercise before we head into town, right?"

Soledad slowly nodded, following Harley as he led her down onto the sand, where they made their way around young children, as well as older people who were battling their Pokemon, the said creatures' cries of their names shooting through the already-loud air. As the two coordinators got closer to the water, Cacturne visible through how he was swimming happily in the general area, Soledad reached into her pocket for Lapras' Pokeball, soon releasing the said plesiosauruslike creature into the warm waves, where her bright eyes gazed at the new surroundings with slight bewilderment. After catching sight of her trainer's face, though, as well as Harley and his Cacturne's, the Pokemon smiled in glee and already began the process of stretching out her large fins.

"So…how long have you had Lapras?"

The sudden question tore Soledad away from her thoughts, bringing her eyes to Harley, who was standing beside her, watching his Cacturne swim up to Lapras and emit his name in a happy manner. Soledad didn't find the question random or weird, actually surprised that they had never talked about such a thing in the past. "Ever since the start of my coordinating days," she replied, voice casual, Harley grunting to show he was listening. "My father gave her to me – said it was my mother's back when she used to coordinate."

"So…she was your first Pokemon?"

Soledad nodded. "Yup." She turned her head to him. "What about you and Cacturne?"

Harley scratched his chin, as if somewhat anxious to tell the story of how he had met his beloved scarecrowlike ally. It was quiet for a while, the conversing people already on the beach, as well as the calls of nearby Wingulls and Pelippers along with the purring ocean, being the only things to fill the awkward gap of silence. Nonetheless, he soon answered, "A while ago…when I was five…ish. He was only a Cacnea then, and, well…let's just say I wasn't the 'social' type during my childhood." At the sight of Soledad's bewildered eyes, he added, "Well, I tried to be social, but no one really bothered to hear me out because I was…" His voice trailed off, as if just realizing what he was about to say and was mentally trying to cease the admittance of it.

Soledad frowned out of sadness, aware of what his words were leading to. She remembered overhearing him mentioning his girlish ways even during his childhood, and therefore such a thing would obviously be spat on among whatever strict people he lived around.

With a sigh, Harley continued. "Anyway, I met Cacnea on the outskirts of town. He was really the only one who listened to what I had to say. You'd be amazed because, despite that I was only five, I had a lot to say." He smiled as his metallic blue-green eyes rested on Cacturne, who was playfully splashing water at Lapras. "He listened to every word, though, and when I showed an interest in coordinating, he was the first to volunteer to be my Pokemon. Link that together with the capture of my other Pokemon, my role in contests, how I met you and the others, and you got the story so far."

Soledad gazed at Harley, slight compassion darkening her sight. Harley was different, even when he was younger, and the whole thought of him being an outcast, only finding a friend in Cacnea, was something that caused a small, stinging lump to form in her throat. She swallowed it, though, as Harley, despite how much depression was implied within the tale he told, was taking it quite well, showing no emotion as he spoke it. Had he grown used to such a lifestyle, perhaps; being seen as an exile when compared to the daily ways of 'normal' people? She wouldn't be surprised if he did – such a way of life required the ability to lack emotion, so nothing, regardless of how sad or offensive, would ever bother the recipient.

A sudden laugh from Harley broke Soledad away from her trancelike thinking state. She turned to him with a quirked eyebrow, watching as he covered his mouth with the palm of his hand in order to help suppress the outburst. "I'm sorry," he managed to choke out between chuckles. "It's just that I sound so…" – his eyebrow arched as he searched his mind for the right word – "…emo." He turned to her as she rolled her eyes playfully. "It's still morning and I'm already treating you like a psychiatrist." He grinned.

Soledad, slightly chuckling at the situation as well, found it quite surprising that he had grown so happy in a short matter of seconds after emitting a depressing tale. But, nonetheless, remembering it all, she replied, "It's alright." She showed her own small grin. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Harley blinked, eyeing her, and it looked as if he was ready to repeat the term 'friends' with surprise and skepticism buried in his voice. It was obvious he wasn't used to hearing the word being referred to him apart from through the language of his trusty Pokemon, but he kept it in nonetheless, turning his head away so he could watch his Cacturne wave from atop the stonelike shell that covered Lapras' back. He opened his mouth slightly when Soledad placed her hand on his shoulder in a supportive manner, as if to add emphasis on her earlier claim. She could feel him tense up from beneath her touch, but he relaxed just as quickly, turning to her to flash a warm smile–

"FLYGON!"

Both Harley and Soledad nearly stumbled back in shock when a member of the said species of desert dragon flew up out of nowhere after calling out its name. It flew towards Lapras, hovering right by her face, and put on an expression of pure glee in which Lapras and Cacturne stared bewilderedly at; although, after looking at each other for a few more seconds, the two Pokemon broke out into pure joy upon recognizing the familiar male Flygon.

Meanwhile, Harley frowned, wondering where the Flygon had come from and why he seemed friendly to his and Soledad's Pokemon; while the said female coordinator nearly widened her eyes as she soon caught the subliminal message behind the random reunion. It was at that direct moment when she prepared herself to hear a tone of suavity come from behind.

And needless to say, it arrived as predicted a few seconds after:

"Flygon, what are you doing? Come back!"

Harley and Soledad turned around, their eyes coming across the sixteen-year-old countenance of none other than their fellow coordinating rival – Andrew "Drew" Trandafir. The said chartreuse-haired teen, emerald eyes narrowed into a gaze of annoyance, was running towards the edge of the sand, stopping right by the water so he could watch his loyal Flygon socialize with the Lapras and Cacturne that were already there. He knew that his desert dragon Pokemon tended to get overexcited at times, and therefore, after seeing old friends once again, the dragon and ground type couldn't help himself in the act of reuniting on the spot.

Drew didn't seem to notice Harley nor Soledad, while the said two coordinators only stared in bewildered awe at the sudden and random appearance of his figure, in which Soledad had last heard he was supposed to be vacationing in his hometown of La'Rousse. The chartreuse-haired teen's frown deepened, and he eventually gave up on luring his Pokemon back when he knew doing so was futile – Flygon was obviously engorged in talking with Cacturne and Lapras, too distracted to heed his words or even notice he was calling out to him.

Of course, seeing as how Harley was probably never going to do it, Soledad decided to be the one to step forward and announce their presence. "Drew?"

The chartreuse-haired teen's expression lightened slightly upon hearing the familiar voice, and he turned to face Soledad with a look of confusion, apparently having never noticed that they were right beside him during his whole attempt at calling Flygon. "Soledad?" he muttered, sounding startled. "What are you doing here?"

Soledad crossed her arms, wanting to ask the same question, but nonetheless answered, "I'm on vacation. What about you?"

Before Drew could answer, the call of his name by another familiar voice came from the far side. This voice belonged to a female, though, and, as if it was a cued clue, a female Blaziken ended her long run right by the chartreuse-haired teen, stopping to notice that Harley and Soledad were there, as well as pinpointing Flygon by the Lapras and Cacturne in the water. Following this, her owner, a brown-haired fifteen-year-old, appeared by Drew's side, sounding out of breath since it was obvious that she had been also chasing Flygon when the dragon took off. Drew rolled his eyes out of obvious annoyance, but allowed his gaze to meet her sapphire one when she looked up to give an embarrassed chuckle.

"May?" Soledad questioned, convincing the younger coordinator to finally realize who she was standing right in front of. For a second she displayed surprise, but it quickly broke out into a face of joy.

"Hey, Soledad!" Maybelle "May" Maple greeted, spunkiness riding her tone, although Soledad didn't expect anything less. The brunette didn't show any interest into why the pink-red-haired woman was there, but instead allowed her eyes to wander over to the side of her, where Harley was standing, eyeing them with confusion and remaining silent like he had been doing during the whole meet-and-greet. Quickly the female teen stumbled back, as if suddenly frightened, her face contorting into one of anxiousness. "H-Harley?"

The said amethyst-haired man shrugged, not jumping for joy upon seeing his other two rivals like he would've done before. "Yo."

May quirked her eyebrow, Drew doing the same, and after exchanging looks, Soledad could tell that they were wondering what was with Harley's sudden character change from schemer into…this. However, they either didn't find it a topic worth dwelling into, or perhaps not at the top of their priority lists for things to think about at the moment, because it wasn't long before Drew answered Soledad's earlier question: "We're here for the contest that's coming up to take place in town…"

Soledad frowned. "Contest? What contest?"

"Well, at the end of the month. It's open to everyone, and May called me when I was in La'Rousse to see if I wanted to attend. Apparently she thinks that my Pokemon will get rusty if I spend all of my vacation time doing no contest appeals at all…" His last sentence had been emitted with a slight scoff, which brought May to pout.

"They will!" she then retorted, earning another eye roll from Drew.

"Don't you think Pokemon deserve a break also?"

May crossed her arms. "Of course, but only if they want a break." She turned her gaze to her Blaziken, eyes filled with determination and assurance. "You're ready to win another contest, aren't ya?"

Her Blaziken smiled, nodding her head. "Blaze!" she replied happily, her voice deep and coarse, flexing her arms as if to show she was prepared for anything. May laughed in response, patting the avian Pokemon on the shoulder, obviously proud for her high spirits. Drew grunted, but after seeing Blaziken's excited reaction to her words, he couldn't help but feel slightly more ready for the contest as well. Then again, the contest was the reason why he had come with May to Slateport instead of staying in his nice…five-star…luxurious…oversized spa-carrying…paradiselike hotel…

His eyebrow began to twitch. If this contest wasn't worth it, May owed him…big time

May turned her gaze to Soledad and Harley. "Are you guys going to enter?"

The two adult coordinators exchanged looks. Soledad had gone off to Slateport to escape the stress brought onto her by constant contest attendance. Going to the special event that was happening at Slateport would break her entire reason for vacation; but, then again, it was at the end of the month, which was a week and a half away – plenty of time to sightsee and relax for a few days before allowing her Pokemon to get back into shape for future contest cooperation. She didn't even notice amongst pondering if she was willing to go that her Lapras had swam onto shore, Cacturne stepping off of her back while Flygon finally returned to Drew's side. The woman turned her verdigris gaze to her plesiosauruslike Pokemon, in which she seemed to had overheard everything, because she was slowly nodding her head as if signifying that she was willing to enter into another contest if Soledad wanted to.

She turned her attention to Harley, who was standing right beside her, silent. Meeting her gaze, he mentally caught the note that she was curious if he showed any interest in entering, and therefore bought himself to emit, "It wouldn't hurt to enter. I mean, my Pokemon could use some exercise."

As his non-girly voice sprang from his lips, Drew's eyebrows furrowed. It was obvious he didn't trust the amethyst-haired coordinator, despite the apparent changes of his figure and character, in which Drew failed to remain convinced. Usually, whenever Harley had schemed May back during the coordinating days, Drew was the one to save her, and then keep a close eye on Harley to make sure he wasn't planning anything even more devious to cheat his way to victory. He never liked the man, even when he first met him. He had always been able to tell from the semblance that haunted him that he was never up to any good, nor would he ever be. Harley's metallic blue-green eyes, his expression mellow as before, slowly slid in to meet Drew's. Immediately Drew tensed up, although his gaze showed no signs of surprise and instead narrowed into slits, giving them a reptilianlike façade as his irises glowed bright.

He eventually broke away from the gaze lock, in which Harley's expression hadn't changed an inch during. Drew could tell that the amethyst-haired man could already predict what he was thinking, but showing no emotion towards it only added more eeriness to the moment. The chartreuse-haired teen didn't display bewilderment or anxiousness, or even curiosity, but instead kept a veil of suspiciousness over his gaze as he turned to face Soledad. "Eh, Soledad?" he began, voice quiet. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Soledad, who had been conversing with May and saying hello to her Pokemon, brought her attention to Drew as he flickered another annoyed look towards Harley, who had shrugged the prior gaze lock between them as nothing of importance and was instead patting his loyal Cacturne on the base of his pyramidlike head. Soledad turned to look at Harley as well, but returned her gaze to Drew when he began to lead her away from the amethyst-haired coordinator so he could whisper to her without the risk of anyone overhearing. "What are you doing with Harley?" the teen then questioned, eyes still narrowed.

Ever since the start of his journey as a coordinator, Soledad had been the one to watch out for Drew; she was the one he talked with most of the time about coordinating topics. Their bond had grown into the sort of relationship one would see between a mother and her obedient son, which explained his obvious worry to know what she was doing with his 'mortal enemy'. Previously Drew hadn't really cared that Soledad and Harley had known each other before all of this, holding a small friendship before the start of the Johto journeys, but when Harley was included into their traveling group, Drew's constant overhearing of the man's vows to get 'revenge' on May every time she beat him at a contest finally brought him to snap; now every time Harley was around, Drew couldn't help but instantly begin to wonder if he was up to anything.

Soledad simply blinked, oblivious to the suspiciousness that Drew was currently holding towards Harley. "I, uh…I'm staying with him," she answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm here for vacation, and he's offered to show me 'round town. To make things easier, I'm bunking with him in his apartment."

Drew's eyes widened. "What?" he growled, and anyone could've easily interpreted the gesture to be one of anger. "What do you mean you're staying with him? Soledad, don't you know the hell he's put May through over the past year during contests?"

"Yes, but-"

"Don't you know how many times he's nearly hurt her? What if he tries to hurt you?"

"Drew, I honestly think you're being too judgmental," she was able to add in, tone calm, understanding why he was so skeptic and panicky. She was indeed aware of Harley's dark side, but still… "I mean, he's never tried to hurt me before."

"Oh?" Drew said, snorting, eyes seeming to be glued into their narrowed position. "Things change, Soledad. You've seen how jealous and envious he's gotten towards May - and the things he tends to do because of it. What if he's envious of all of us now? Why do you think he won't change his mind about the rest of us and try something?"

Soledad sighed, already able to predict that Drew wasn't going to agree with her. "Because…he's different now."

The chartreuse-haired teen pulled away, his gaze drenched in disbelief, anxiousness, anger, and a tinge of fear. It was as Soledad prophesized – even as he looked at Harley's new countenance, the way his voice sounded and eyes were no longer bright and filled with joy, but instead dark and somewhat gothic, Drew didn't believe that the man had changed. He was nowhere near to believing. "It's probably just another scheme, Soledad," he said. "He's trying to get close to you…and…and…hurt you somehow, so it's one less for future competitions."

Despite the matureness of his statement, Soledad couldn't help but chuckle slightly as if he was a mere child explaining a preposterous fantasy. "Drew, I think you're exaggerating a bit…"

"He's like the definition of 'backstabbing' for crying out loud!" Drew hissed. "You can't honestly trust him now! I mean, I remember one contest where three Team Rocket goons helped him trap me and that Ash guy - May's friend - in a hole to keep us away!"

"'Ash and I'."

"Yeah – wait…wha?"

"You should've said 'Ash and I'."

Drew's frown deepened. "This is a possible life and death situation, and you're correcting my grammar?"

Soledad grinned. It was obvious she wasn't taking him seriously because she found his exaggeration towards Harley being a possible serial killer humorous. Nonetheless, though, she was suspicious of Harley herself because of his past acts, but in only a few hours of being with him she had seen a side to him she never knew existed. And, if the said personality was just another evil scheme, then he must've been rehearsing it twenty-four and seven, because it seemed as if it was who he had really been his whole life.

She knew that Drew was just looking out for her, though, which explained why she soon replied in a soft tone, "Thank you for caring about me, Drew, but I think I can look out for myself."

"But-"

A chuckle from her ceased his words, as well as how she suddenly pulled him into a hug. "Just worry about the contest," she suggested. "If Harley attempts anything" – implying such a thing hurt her for some reason, but she held it in – "then I'll make sure whatever plan he has fails."

She could feel Drew finally sigh in acceptance against her jacket. When he pulled away, his usual grumpy expression was on his face, eyes focused on the sandy ground below. "Just…be careful…okay?" he mumbled.

Soledad smiled, placing her hand on top of the teenager's head and ruffling up his hair, which brought him to pull away with an expression of annoyance and stumble to tidy his chartreuse locks again. Soledad let out a laugh at his desperation to maintain a perfect entrance, and patted the young adult on the shoulder before making her way back to Harley and May.

When her gaze met Harley's, Drew's early words suddenly came back to her with much more meaning than they carried before. What if what he was doing really was a scheme in the works? What if he really was just trying to get close to her so he could…get rid of her? She eventually shook the absurd thoughts away from her head. Now she was exaggerating! Somehow, she felt as if what Drew had said was inaccurate – that Harley really had changed. As she looked him in the eyes, she found herself growing confused, as well as more needy to know the truth of whom he really was.

She shook that thought away, too, not wanting to dwell into it. As Drew and May stated that they were on the beach in the act of practicing for the contest (which, Soledad noticed, explained their lack of beachlike attire), Soledad came up with an idea – a perfect way to see how everyone's Pokemon were doing, and also to get some battle time done simultaneously. Drew and May agreed with determined eyes, their Flygon and Blaziken already by their side, prepared for battle. Soledad exchanged looks with Harley, catching the hint that the battle would be interesting if it was a two-on-two, and therefore, with May and Drew already partnered up, Soledad quickly gestured for Harley to prepare his Cacturne while her Lapras got into position.

Of course, in the middle of warming up for the match, Harley turned to Soledad, eyes showing slight skepticism. "Um…don't you think it's kinda early to fight?"

Soledad placed a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner, and then replied, "Nope."

As she began to lead Harley to the opposite side of the sandy battlefield, their Pokemon already in their battle-stances, the amethyst-haired man piped up again. "Don't I have a say in this?"

Soledad repeated her previous pose, and as she gazed at Drew, who was glaring at Harley with narrowed eyes, a smirk formed on her face at the thought of Harley actually beating Drew for once, which was why she emitted her one-word response in a devious tone whilst dragging Harley to their own spots among the makeshift battlefield:

"Nope."