Segment: Diamond & Platinum.

Chapter 4: Predicament

April 21, Sandgem Town, 9:40 pm…

'All the times Dia saved Miss Lady, she doesn't notice anything, but like the one time I save her, she falls in love? That's crap,' Pearl grumbled in his mind as he looked at Platinum starting to blush.

"Pearl, I cannot thank you enough for saving me," the heiress said sheepishly.

'Oh, yes you can.' "Oh, it was nothing," Pearl said as he thought of a plan.

Platinum appeared a little suspicious. "But Pearl, what are you doing here in Sandgem? I thought you were home in Twinleaf."

'Yes, opportunity!' Pearl thought excitedly as he formulated a plan to try to steer Platinum's heart towards Diamond.

"Were you… worried about me?" the heiress asked nervously as she blushed again.

'Crap, crap, crap! If I say yes, Dia's done for. If I say no, Miss Lady will be hurt!' "Uh… yes," Pearl answered reluctantly. "But Dia's even more worried. He was the one who wanted me to check up on you and make sure you were doing okay."

Platinum appeared slightly annoyed. "So… Diamond sent you here to spy on me?"

"No, no, no," Pearl said hastily. "He just wanted to make sure that you weren't in any danger. And seeing how you were in danger, I'd say that he had very good insight."

But unfortunately, the heiress appeared even more upset. "So he expected me to encounter trouble, as if I am some sort of a trouble magnet." Pearl mentally slapped a hand onto his face. Platinum ignored his silence and continued. "So Diamond expected me to fall into danger, but yet he did not come here himself and sent you instead. Does he not care about me at all?"

Pearl silently groaned. He decided to try something different. All of his attempts to let Platinum know that Diamond really cared for her have backfired. So… if he was to do the exact opposite, theoretically, Platinum would start liking Diamond! … Right?

"Well, he doesn't care about you that much," Pearl said sarcastically.

Unfortunately, the reverse effect didn't seem to occur and Platinum appeared rather hurt. "Oh… I see…"

'Sh*t… Oh, come on! Can't you see that Dia really likes you, you stupid unbelievably smart girl?!' Pearl thought rather angrily. "I was being sarcastic!" he said hastily. "Dia really cares about you. He only sent me here because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to make the best choices."

Platinum nodded, but didn't seem fully convinced. "At any rate, you were the one who saved me tonight. And as such, I must reward you properly. I would highly appreciate it if you stayed the night in my home. I would not be thanking you if I let you return home all alone this late at night."

Realizing that he could not win the argument against the (somewhat stubborn) oblivious brilliant girl, Pearl gave in to her request. As long as he wasn't forced to share a room with her, there wouldn't be any problems whatsoever. And seeing how the Berlitz Mansion was massive, there would be absolutely no chance of him being forced to share a room with her (after all, Platinum herself had like… 7 rooms).

20 minutes later, in the massive Berlitz Mansion, Pearl stood with a slightly embarrassed look as the butler of the Berlitz family overly thanked him for saving Platinum. The heiress's parents seemed very relieved and happy as well. Pearl showed as much modesty as he could so that he doesn't look like a jerk to his friend's parents. Platinum seemed to like him even more, which was a bad thing. He didn't really like her in that sense, and wanted to keep her as a close friend, nothing more, nothing less.

On the plus side, Pearl had front-row seats as he watched Sir Berlitz yell at the father of his daughter's date (via picture phone), for the heir's spineless act that almost seriously harmed Platinum. The exchange was hilarious in Pearl's perspective and got even better when Platinum's date appeared on screen and received a hell of a scolding from all the adults. The heir tried to say something to Platinum but the heiress turned away from him and hugged Pearl (to his surprise). The rest of the phone call wasn't interesting. The father of the heir agreed to send Platinum a gift as compensation, and that was it.

Later that night, Pearl simply lied on his bed in one of the massive guest rooms, wondering how the hell he was going to tell Diamond what happened. He couldn't not tell him either, as Diamond was probably waiting to hear the results. With a long sigh, Pearl took his Pokégear and called Diamond.

"Pearl? What happened?" came Diamond's anxious voice after the phone ringed exactly once.

"Uh… Dia, listen," Pearl started nervously. "The date sabotage didn't go as planned. At all. That heir guy was actually quite a gentleman during the date." Diamond didn't say anything, so he quickly added. "But Miss Lady hates him since he kind of… ditched her when they got mugged by 3 drunken guys after the date."

"What?" came Diamond's extremely worried voice. "So what happened to the Lady? Is she okay?"

"Yeah. She's fine. I managed to save her just in time."

Diamond sighed in relief. "Oh, okay. That's good… thanks, Pearl. So where are you?"

"Uh… at Miss Lady's mansion. She said that she won't let me go home all by myself this late at night. She wants to thank me for saving her and her prize is forcing me to stay at her place for the night."

"Oh. Okay," Diamond said. He didn't sound suspicious at all.

"So… Miss Lady and I will wait for you tomorrow near the Pokémon Center, alright? Miss Lady will probably call you in the morning to let you know when you should come. She's making reservations on a ship right now."

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow."

…

Next day, April 22, 7 am…

…

Platinum picked up her Pokégear and called Diamond. She didn't call him the previous night as she believed that he would be very sleepy. She wasn't sure whether he was awake at the moment, but decided to give him a call anyways. If he wasn't awake, then surely he would wake up from his Pokégear ringing.

"Hello?" came Diamond's tired voice a couple of rings later.

"Hello, Diamond," Platinum said cheerfully. "Good morning! I apologize for calling so early."

"No, that's alright," Diamond answered, sounding wide awake. "Lady, I heard what happened yesterday from Pearl. Are you alright?" he asked, his voice showing clear evidence of genuine concern.

Platinum smiled, happy that her friend cared for her. She accepted that Pearl's comment the previous night was indeed sarcasm and decided to forget about it. "Yes, I am doing perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern. Diamond, I am calling to let you know that the ship for Johto leaves Canalave City today at 1. And as such, I would appreciate it if you would come over as soon as possible. I wish to serve you breakfast today. After breakfast, we will slowly head over to Canalave on a carriage."

"Oh. Okay then. I'll leave right now. And you said that you'll be making the breakfast today? Would you want some help?"

"No, Diamond. I believe I am ready to make a full meal on my own. You have helped me so much but I do not think I am learning anything if you are there to continuously lead me. I think it would be a great experience for me to make breakfast on my own."

"Alright. I'll see you in a short while, Lady," Diamond said rather happily before hanging up.

Platinum put away her Pokégear and sat by a large table in the living room, staring at the calendar and a map of Kanto/Johto. She was going to try to figure out a schedule for the vacation/adventure. The servants of the Berlitz Mansion had gotten her the complete tourist's guide for Kanto and Johto, named Walking in Kanto and Walking in Johto. The two must've been a part of a series along with her currently owned Walking in Sinnoh.

The heiress had finished reading the two new guides already and had memorized all of the important locations. There were a few things she didn't really understand about Kanto and Johto, namely… why there was no Gym Leader listed for the Mahogany Gym. Platinum simply figured that she would find out upon arriving at Johto.

As she glanced back and forth between the calendar and the map, Pearl came into view as he descended the stairs. Platinum gave him a very bright smile and ran over to him happily.

"Good morning, Pearl!" she greeted jovially.

"Uh… yeah. Good morning, Miss Lady," Pearl returned her greet. "You're awake early. Normally, you wake up half an hour after I do."

"I am excited for today," Platinum said happily. "The ship leaves Canalave City at 1 today. Once Diamond arrives, we will leave for the harbor on a carriage."

"A carriage?" Pearl muttered. 'Isn't that… small? Only two seats and each seat can carry exactly two people… oh… She wants to sit beside me, huh? Ah, crap… But maybe I can come up with some excuse to make her sit next to Dia. But… that's going to be awkward as hell…' "Uh… Miss Lady, did you call Dia yet?"

Platinum nodded. "Yes, I have. He is on his way here. I am a little surprised that he was awake to answer my call, but I suspect that he is also excited about our new journey. Once he arrives, we will all have breakfast and then head for Canalave City." The heiress started to blush again as her eyes met Pearl's. "Pearl, I hope you enjoy the breakfast, as I will be making them personally. Diamond has taught me a lot about cooking and I am confident that I will be able to make delicious meals."

Pearl groaned inwardly. If he doesn't compliment Platinum's cooking, her feelings would probably get hurt. But if he does compliment her, then she'd probably like him even more.

'How the hell did I get in this mess?! And how do I get out?!' the hasty Dex Holder thought to himself as he fought the urge to sigh.

Feeling the need to escape the awkward situation, he simply nodded at Platinum and headed towards the exit, claiming that he needed some fresh air. The heiress let him leave without any suspicion. She didn't follow him as she still needed to completely plan the schedule for the trip.

Pearl figured that being alone with Platinum in the mansion (well, apart from the unimportant people in this love matter) wouldn't be beneficial at all to Diamond. So until the relaxed Dex Holder could arrive, Pearl decided that he needed to avoid the heiress. Maybe he'd go to the nearest store and stock up on some supplies. He'll need his own compass and a map of Kanto/Johto, as he intended on leaving Diamond and Platinum alone upon arriving at the foreign region.

…

30 minutes later…

…

Diamond stepped off the bus in front of the station. He let out a long tired yawn, as he wasn't used to waking up so early in the morning. And he was starving too. But Platinum had told him that she would be serving him breakfast at her mansion, so he avoided eating anything (for once). And he couldn't handle starvation very well.

Upon leaving the bus station, he headed straight towards Platinum's home. He knew the streets to the mansion as well as the back of his hand. There was no way that he could miss it, even if he had his eyes closed. After all, he had been to the mansion countless times.

Once he arrived at the mansion's front gates, Diamond was led by the guards to the front door where a servant took over the escorting duties. Diamond followed the servant to the guest room, where Platinum was waiting.

"Hi, Lady," Diamond said with a warm smile, glad to see Platinum again.

The heiress appeared to be very happy to see him as well. Seeing her happy and bright smile made him equally happy. Platinum ran over to him and clasped his hands. Diamond started to blush and he began to believe that everything would turn out great.

"Diamond, I am so glad that you are here," Platinum said excitedly.

"Lady, you seem awfully happy," Diamond commented. "Did something good happen recently?"

Platinum nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. But Diamond, listen. There is something very important I must tell you," she started nervously.

"What is it?" Diamond asked.

"It is… um… not easy for me to say," Platinum stammered out as she started to blush. "But it is a secret of mine…"

'Confession!' Diamond thought as he perked up. 'It's finally happening!'

His heart started to beat faster and faster and he felt as if his world (which had been metaphorically taped up after its initial shattering and destruction when Platinum accepted that date) was slowing down considerably, making Platinum's announcement seemingly unbearably slow. He didn't mind though, as he was way too excited to care.

But… the girl's actual announcement made him feel as if his held-together-with-tape world had been blown to hell by a magnetic accelerator cannon fired from a station in geosynchronous orbit.

"I… I think I am in love with Pearl…"

This chapter's kind of short… Blame the storyline, as I had to stop at this point, or lose the best possible end-point.

Making a story that focuses on all 15 Dex Holders (perhaps soon to be 16, but I'll ignore that one until the BW2 arc progresses far enough) is quite hard. Either majority of them are shoved into the background while a few of them are put into main focus, or everyone gets equal yet insufficient focus/screen time. Already, SL has quite a few questions that need answering seeing how it only focuses on a small group of Dex Holders at a time. How's White doing in Nuvema Town, what are Ruby and Sapphire doing in Unova, how will Diamond handle Platinum's confession, what's a magnetic accelerator cannon, when will the Sinnoh and Johto storylines converge, when will the Kanto Dex Holders appear, etc.

You'll have to wait for the answer to the third question (though it's kind of obvious given the description), as SL #005 will be the start of another storyline. Is this sadistic? Kind of. You now have to wait approximately 8 chapters (if no faithful reviewers make a request) before you can find out what Diamond's reaction is. Similarly, you have to wait approximately 6 chapters before finding out how White's doing in Nuvema Town.