Later that day at the next island over called Melemele island, Lana sits at one of the tables of her good friends family restaurant and angrily eats a burger. Mallow walks over to her while taking off her apron and saying, "okay I'm on my break now so why are you in such a bad mood?"
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With mallow now sitting across from her, Lana puts down her half eaten burger and wipes the mustard from her chin while replying, "it all started with this guy I caught off of Hano Beach."
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Confused by the statement she asks, "what do you mean by caught?"
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Lana replies, "I was fishing for Pokémon, and I ended up hooking him instead."
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still confused Mallow asks, "oh? so he was swimming when you hooked him?"
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Shaking her head Lana replies, "it was weird? I hooked his backpack but when me and Primarina hauled him up, he was fully clothed and it seemed like all his personal belongings where in his backpack. He even had some weirdly painted poke ball's."
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Thinking for a moment Mallow ask, "oh? so he's a trainer. Is he a new trial goer?"
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Shaking her head again Lana replies, "I don't think so. For starters the next trial goer isn't scheduled to arrive on the island till tomorrow and the Pokémon he used to get back to shore was weird to. It was some kind of water Pokémon but nothing I'd ever seen before."
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Scratching her chin, Mallow asks, "so he's a trainer from a different region?"
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Nodding her head, Lana replies, "yeah. He did also say something about Hoenn but didn't say if he was from there or not."
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After a few thoughts, Mallow looks at her with confusion while asking, "so what did he do to make you so angry?"
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Hearing the question causes her to chomp the fry she was eating in half out of anger as she snaps, "because he was a jerk!!!"
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Sitting back in her chair with her hands held up in surrender while saying, "easy Lana. It was just a question."
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Breathing heavily, Lana starts breath deeply to calm herself then responds, "sorry."
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Taking a sip of her soda she looks back at Mallow while saying, "so for starters he drenched me not once but twice during the whole meeting and did not even say thank you once for saving his life!"
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Slamming her fists on the table in anger she snaps, "and he kept on making such stupid comments!"
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She breathes heavily while Mallow carefully thinks of what to say next but before she can say anything Lana continues her rant, "and to top it all off he scared all the Pokémon out of the area when he left!!!"
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Lana continues to breath heavily while stewing over what had happened but is thrown off by the sound of laughter. Looking up she sees to her confusion, Mallow trying to stifle her laughter which causes her to ask, "what's so funny?"
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She stops her laughter but continues to smile while saying, "it's just so funny. Your usually so calm but just meeting this guy has turned you into the opposite!"
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Annoyed Lana responds, "its because its you. I am able to talk this way with you unlike with others."
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Shaking her head, Mallow responds, "but I've never seen you get this emotional, especially when it involves a person."
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Putting her elbows on the table with her fingers intertwined, she rests her chin on her fingers while looking back at Lana with a mischievous look and says, "especially a boy."
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Thrown off by the comment, Lana looks back at her with confusion while asking, "what's that supposed to mean?"
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Still smiling at her, Mallow replies, "you know what that means. I know for a fact that everything you've just described has happened to you before but it has never once effected you."
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Lana sinks into her chair under the pressure from Mallows now suspicious gaze as she asks, "so what did he do?"
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Lana mutters back, "he didn't do anything…."
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Unfazed, Mallow asks, "then what did he say?"
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The question makes her think about the different things he called/ said to her which causes her face to turn bright red while stuttering, "nu-nothing?"
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Getting the answer she wanted, Mallow leans back in her chair while laughing at a now very embarrassed Lana who fidgets in her chair while asking, "will you stop it?"
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Calming herself, Mallow leans forward but continues to smile while saying, "oh come on. Your a healthy 18 year old girl. Its only natural for you to be interested."
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Agitated Lana glares back at her while saying, "I didn't say anything about being interested in him!"
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Still smiling Mallow responds, "oh please. It's so obvious that at the very least he threw you off."
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Putting a finger to her chin to think she continues, "and this hasn't happened since-…."
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She gets cut off by Lana snapping, "I keep telling you that you all had the wrong idea about that!!! We were just friends and nothing more!"
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Mallow starts looking at her with a sly grin while saying, "yes I know you two where just friends…. but this guy is having a way bigger effect on you in such a short amount of time."
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Hearing this forces Lana to calm down and looks away while eating her fries while calmly saying, "I don't know what your talking about."
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Looking back at her with haste Lana says, "besides! My duties as a trial captain takes priority over anything else!"
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Mallow looks back at her with a raised eyebrow while saying, "but there's no rule against trial captains dating?"
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Lana silently glares at her while grinding her teeth as Mallow continues, "plus you can only be a trial captain till your twenty?"
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Finally had enough of her excuse being ripped to shreds, Lana says in an annoyed tone, "will you give it a rest already?"
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Mallow starts to grin while saying, "if you say so."
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Thinking about something causes Mallow to asks, "so what does this guy look like anyways?"
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Lana puts down a fry and thinks for a moment then replies, "well the most defining feature I can think of is his ruby red eyes."
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To Lana's surprise, Mallow appears to be taken aback by the description which causes her to ask, "what is it?"
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Mallow looks back at her confused while asking, "do you mean Ruby?"
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Surprised by the response she asks, "who's that?"
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Mallow replies, "its this guy who just randomly showed up here a little while ago."
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She starts looking around the room until fixating on a table at the far end of the restaurant which she points at while saying, "he's still here actually."
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Lana follows her hand to a table filled with a combination of full and empty plates with a guy at the head chomping on a burger. Her eye starts to twitch with anger as she says, "that's him!"
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Coming to a sudden realization she looks back at Mallow while asking, "wait a minute? Why do you know his name?"
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Shrugging her shoulders she replies, "I asked him when I was taking his order."
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Still looking at her confused Lana is about to say something when Mallow stands up while saying, "well my break is over."
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Motioning over to the table with a grin she continues, "you should go say hi. He does seem nice."
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She looks up at Mallow with a mix of annoyance and confusion until finally looking back at her burger while saying, "humph! if you hadn't noticed I still got a burger to eat."
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Mallow laughs while leaving then says, "don't be such a downer."
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Ignoring the last comment, Lana continues to look at her burger, but for reasons unclear to herself, she keeps on stealing side glances at the guy stuffing his face at an almost unbelievable rate. The sight of which makes the burger in front of her look far less appetizing then it did before being aware of his presence which causes her to sigh in disappointment then thinking to herself, "he just can't stop wrecking things can he?"
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Now mad and with a new found resolve, she stands up and storms over to him while thinking, "that's it! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!!!"
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Stopping in front of him she takes a deep breath in then says firmly, "excuse me."
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Either ignoring her or simply being to focused on the food he doesn't respond to her, but thinking she was being ignored, her eye starts to twitch while slamming her fist on his table while snapping, "I said excuse me!!!"
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With the now empty plates in front of him rattling around, he looks up at her with confusion but after studying the fuming blue haired woman in front of him, he smiles innocently back at her while saying, "oh? if it isn't the angel Lana."
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Hearing the new nickname catches her off guard causing her to go beet red in embarrassment while being not quite sure how she feels about it when she hears him ask in a concerned tone, "you okay? You look really red."
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Hearing this snaps her back to reality which makes her shake her head to calm herself then looks back at him while saying in an embarrassed tone, "I-I'm fine."
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Remembering why she was there causes her to blurt out, "wait a minute! I came here for a reason!"
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Surprised by the out burst, Ruby looks at her curiously while asking, "oh? so why did you?"
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Taking a deep breath, she glares at him while crossing her arms and saying firmly, "you where really rude to me today so you owe me an apology."
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Looking at her confused he asks, "I was rude?"
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Staying calm she replies firmly, "yes you were. You drenched me when you left, and scared off all the Pokémon in the area so I had to stop fishing early."
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Pointing in his face she proclaims, "and you said a lot of embarrassing things!!!"
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He blinks a few times in response to her last outburst until finally sighing disheartedly then saying, "I'm sorry. I never meant to do any of that."
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Satisfied with his apology she crosses her arms while nodding with a cheeky grin until he asks, "I'm confused though? What embarrassing things did I say?"
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Hearing the question causes her to stare at him blankly then as her cheeks start to turn red she mutter, "uh-uh well you called me an angel…. And you said my name was cute."
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His head tilts to the side while looking back at her with confusion while saying, "oh? I didn't think those were embarrassing things to say."
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Annoyed by the response she mutters back, "well…. I thought it was?"
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Still looking at her with confusion he tilts his head back then shrugs his shoulders while saying, "oh? sorry about that. I wont do it again."
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Hearing his response causes a strange feeling of conflict to fill her mind while she thinks, "shouldn't I be glad he isn't going to call me an angel again? Why do I feel disappointed?"
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Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Lana looks over and is annoyed to see Mallow smiling innocently at her from behind the bar. Lana glares at her which causes them to have an intense staring contest until Lana finally relents and looks back at a very confused Ruby while saying, "actually…."
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She starts tapping her fingers together and with her eyes looking back and forth with a red hue filling her cheeks she says, "you can still call me angel Lana if you want…."
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Surprised by the statement but before he can respond she points at him while scrambling to blurt out, "but don't get the wrong idea! Its just cause I like how unique it is and nothing more!"
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He blinks a few times in confusion then says with an innocent smile, "okay angel Lana."
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Hearing this causes her to turn even redder while a mix of feelings build within her but the strangest feeling of all of them is the fluttering in her heart that those words seem to have been responsible for but realizing where they are, she frantically looks around to see if anyone, especially Mallow, heard that then realizing there alone she looks back at him and while in an embarrassed tone, "actually... can you only call me that when its just the two of us?"
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He looks at her with a raised eyebrow while asking, "so you wanna hangout? Just the two of us?"
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She goes wide eyed when she realizes that that was exactly what it sounded like so she blurts out, "that's not what I meant! Its just embarrassing to be called that in public!"
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Being amused by the outburst, Ruby attempts to stifle his laughter to the annoyance of Lana who mutters under her breath, "why do you have to be so annoying."
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Stopping his laughter he looks at her with a smile while saying, "sorry."
Putting one hand over his heart and raising the other he proclaims, "I swear I will stop making you embarrassed for the rest of the day."
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Relieved by his response she looks at him with a smug look while crossing her arms and saying, "that's what I like to hear."
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Ruby looks down at his watch then sighs disheartedly while saying, "well it looks like I need to get going. I still need to find somewhere to stay for the night."
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Lana pits a finger to her chin to think for a moment then suggests, "oh? well there's a hotel here in Hau'oli City."
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His expression lightens up while saying, "really? Well that's convenient."
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Putting some money on the table, Ruby stands up and takes a deep stretch while saying, "well I guess ill be going."
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He starts walking away while saying with a smile, "see you around."
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Realizing her time with him was now up, she looks over at him and without thinking blurting out, "wait!"
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He pauses in his tracks and looks back at her with intrigue while asking, "yes?"
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Realizing she didn't actually have anything to say she stumbles over her words saying, "well uh you see uh."
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While she attempted to think of what to say and with Ruby patiently waiting for her to finish, Mallow walks by to clear off the table and seeing the situation in front of her, she steps next to her while asking Ruby, "where are you heading off to?"
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With Lana going quiet and Ruby not thinking about the question he replies, "I'm heading off to the hotel Lana just told me about."
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Intrigued she asks, "oh? do you know where it is?"
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Shaking her head he replies, "no but I'm sure I can find it."
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Putting a finger to her chin, she thinks out loud, "I'd show you where it is but I'm still working."
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Looking over at a still embarrassed Lana, a thought comes to her mind and while holding up a finger she proclaims, "I know!"
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She reaches around and grabs Lana's shoulder and pulls her in while saying, "why don't you have Lana show you!"
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Finding herself at the center of attention now, she stays quiet but looks up at Ruby with strange anticipation as he responds, "if she wants to?"
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With both of them now waiting for her reply she looks over and sees a grinning Mallow wink back at her as if she's giving her the go ahead which causes her to look back at a still waiting Ruby while nodding her head and replying, "yes."
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After a moments pause he smiles at her while saying, "alright then."
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With that, Mallow lets go over of her friend but the sudden loss of the person keeping her balanced causes her to stumble forward but before she can try to catch herself, she feels herself fall face first into something hard but covered in a soft fabric. Confused as to what happened and only seeing black, she stays like this and tries to think of what she hit when she hears a voice coming from right above her head saying, "uh you okay?"
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Recognizing the voice and putting together what had just happened, she slowly looks up and finds Ruby mere inches away looking back at her. She finds herself frozen in time while her cheeks turn a shade of red yet to be seen before but as her mind goes into over drive trying to figure out what to do she gets distracted by the strange sight in front of her, up until this moment she was under the impression that Ruby was someone that wasn't easily embarrassed which was all contradicted by the sight of his cheeks turning a reddish hue.
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For some strange reason neither of them are able to move form this situation until they both here a giddy voice form behind Lana stifling a laugh while saying, "maybe you two should find a better place then a family restaurant for this?"
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Realizing that they where basically embracing each other in the middle of a restaurant, he frantically helps her regain her balance while blurting out, "sorry."
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Getting her footing back, Lana takes a step away from him while blurting back, "don't be!"
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She's able to calm herself down enough to look back at him while saying with an awkward smile, "you stopped me from falling so I should be thanking you."
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Scratching his still red cheek he says back with an equally as awkward smile, "uh don't mention it."
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An awkward silence fills the room between them with neither of them knowing what to do until they both hear Mallow laughing which causes them to both look over at her while a still embarrassed Lana snaps, "will you stop that!!!"
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Barely able to stifle her laughter she responds, "I'm sorry but your both too funny!!!"
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As she starts to laugh again, Lana's shoulders and head drop in defeat while muttering to Ruby, "can we go?"
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Nodding his head hectically he replies, "I think we should."
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With both of them now leaving the restaurant together, Mallow waves them off while saying, "have fun with your alone time!"
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