With the sun now setting, Lana and Ruby leave out the front of Mallow's family restaurant while Lana sighs disheartedly then says, "she's my best friend but she can be really annoying sometimes."
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They start walking down the road while Ruby chuckles a bit then says, "I can tell she cares about you. Plus it is funny watching you get teased."
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Glaring at him through her peripheral vision, she snaps back, "well it isn't funny being teased."
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Looking back at her disheartedly he responds, "really? But the faces you where making were cute."
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Turning beet red, her head snaps over at him while blurting out, "really! I just said It isn't fun being teased!"
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Looking back at her with confusion he responds, "I wasn't teasing you. I was being honest."
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Realizing he was genuinely calling her cute causes her to turn even redder as her head slowly cranes back to the road ahead while muttering, "oh…."
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Looking in the opposite direction towards the open ocean with nothing but the setting sun in the background in an effort to hid her growing smile while continuing, "thank you."
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Seeing her looking at the water makes him join her while asking, "you love the ocean don't you."
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Calming herself down she looks back at him but continues to smile while saying, "your correct. My fathers a fisherman so I've been around the ocean more or less my whole life."
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They both stop walking and she looks back at the ocean while continuing, "and it helps that no matter what island your on, the ocean always looks so beautiful."
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She looks back at him with her eyes closed and smiling while asking, "wouldn't you agree?"
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The question causes his focus to change from the ocean to her, but the sight of her smiling with the setting sun and ocean behind her like a painted portrait for some reason stops him in his tracks, for some strange reason this sight before him leaves him speechless. Hearing silence she opens her eyes to see Ruby looking back at her wide eyed and mouth hanging open. Now confused she tilts her head to the side while asking, "Ruby?"
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Hearing this causes him to shake his head back to reality and mutters, "uh yeah."
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He looks back at her with the setting sun still as her back drop and starts to smile while answering her first question, "it really is beautiful."
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Not thinking anything of the reply, she starts smiling once more while responding, "I'm glad you agree."
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They stop walking again but with the ocean still on her mind she looks over at him while asking, "can you see the ocean from where your from?"
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Surprised by the question he looks back at her while replying, "yeah you could say that."
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Thinking for a moment she says, "if I remember correctly Hoenn is basically a big island with a few smaller ones around it."
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He looks at her wide eyed while asking, "hang on? I never said I was from Hoenn?"
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Grinning cheekily, Lana replies, "It was pretty easy to find out actually?"
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Now intrigued he asks, "oh? and how is that?"
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Still grinning she puts a finger up while stating, "well for starters, one of the first things you asked me was about Hoenn."
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She points at the poke ball's adorning his belt while continuing, "and I didn't recognize the Pokémon you rode off on so I did a little digging. I learned that it's called Swampert, a Pokémon that evolves from a Marshtomp, which evolves from Mudkip. An exceptionally rare water Pokémon only found in Hoenn."
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Now pointing directly into his face and with a smug look she finishes her argument, "therefore I have concluded that you must be from Hoenn."
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Surprised by her argument, he grins at her while saying, "very good miss detective. You are correct."
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Feeling smug she smiles gleefully while saying, "of course I am."
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Stopping in his tracks and crossing his arms he asks, "so what else do you know?"
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She stops and looks back at him while asking with a raised eyebrow, "you really wanna know?"
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With a grin he replies, "yes I do."
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She puts a finger to her chin to think then looks back at him while saying, "you're a trainer from Hoenn that's here on vacation but you fell off the boat that you travelled here on, that's why I found you in the water."
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He continues to smile at her cheekily as she eagerly awaits his response but to her dismay he shakes his head while saying, "unfortunately your wrong."
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He thinks for a moment then says, "but you almost got it. I was a trainer but now I'm retired."
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He looks back out over the water while continuing, "and I'm not here on vacation."
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Studying his response with a raised eyebrow, she asks, "wait, so if your not here on vacation then why are you here?"
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He looks back at her with a smile then starts walking down the sidewalk while replying, "you're the detective. Why don't you tell me?"
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She stares at him with confusion while he starts walking away once more with a grin which causes her to follow while asking, "so your not going to tell me?"
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Without looking back he replies, "meh. I don't feel like it."
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Catching up to him, she grabs his arm which causes him to stop and looks back at her with confusion while asking, "something…."
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He gets caught off guard by the puppy dog eyes looking back at him while she whimpers, "pwease?"
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He stares at her with a blank expression while she holds her puppy dog pose until he finally cracks up and bursts out laughing which she joins in. After a few moments of hardy laughing, they are both able to recompose themselves and while he wipes away a lone tear he says, "I'm still not telling you."
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Nodding while smiling she replies, "I had a feeling."
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She now sports a sly mischievous grin while continuing, "but I will find out."
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He chuckles a bit then responds, "you can try."
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While still smiling she looks back at the beach and with an idea coming to mind she proclaims, "oh I know!"
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She points at the beach while continuing, "let's have a battle!"
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She looks back at him with an eager smile but finds herself thrown off by the look of unease dotting his innocent smile while saying, "eh, It's been a long day so I'd rather not if that's alright with you?"
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She can tell that something was off but also senses that whatever it is, it was best to not Pursue it at this time while saying with a fake smile, "that makes sense, you did clear out most of Mallows inventory."
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His smile turns to a more natural one as he responds, "well I did more or less swim here so it did give me an appetite."
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She giggles a bit then says, "just consider that the traditional Alolan way of travelling between the islands."
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He chuckles while walking down the road and saying, "well I plan on taking the more commercial route from now on."
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She follows behind causing him to not see the look of confusion on her face while she thinks, "strange. It's fine that he doesn't want to battle but it felt like he had a reason other than being tired."
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She puts a hand to her chin to think when a thought comes to mind, "he said he was a retired trainer…. Maybe he's worried that he'll beat me easily?"
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Feeling a bit annoyed she slightly glares at the back of his head while thinking, "does he think he's better then me? I know he has an evolved water starter but he has something coming to him if he underestimates me!"
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Ruby pauses when he feels a pair of eyes burning holes in the back of his head but when he looks back he sees Lana smiling at him innocently. Confused he looks around the area thinking to himself, "was there someone else here staring at me?"
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He looks back at Lana with a raised eyebrow while thinking, "was it…."
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He shakes the thought away then thinks, "no…. She seems too nice to glare at me like that, especially with who else has stared at me like….. no that's in the past."
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He looks back at the setting sun then look back at her while saying, "it's getting late. We should get going."
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She nods while responding, "yeah. Let's go."
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They continue walking down the road until they find themselves in front of a large, relatively new looking hotel while Lana says, "I think this should work for you."
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He looks at the building then back at her with a smile while saying, "yeah it should. Thanks a lot."
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She continues to smile at him while he walks into the building but for some reason, she didn't feel happy for helping him, she honestly felt sad….. as If she didn't want him to leave, as if she enjoyed his company too much to just watch him go. She sighs disheartedly as she starts walking home and muttering to herself, "why do I feel this way? I just met him but I already wanna see him again?"
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She sighs in annoyance while saying, "well this is just annoying."
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Suddenly she hears footsteps running towards her and when she looks back, is surprised to see Ruby running towards her while shouting, "hey! Wait up!"
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She stops just as he gets to her and she looks at him confused while asking, "uh? did you forget something?"
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He grins back at her while replying, "actually I have a favour to ask."
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Now intrigued she looks at him with a raised eyebrow while asking, "oh? And what might that be?"
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He asks while scratching the back of his head, "are you free tomorrow?"
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All she was able to do was blink at him in response then with her head tilted to the side asks, "huh?"
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He replies, "well since I'm still new to the islands, I was wondering if you could show me around?"
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She continues to blink at him while only able to say, "huh?"
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With a bad feeling starting to grow within him, he sheepishly responds, "I mean if your busy tomorrow then I don't mind looking around by myself."
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Realizing that she actually had an opportunity here she quickly blurts out, "I'll do it!"
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Caught off guard by her response, it was now his turn to ask, "huh?"
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Becoming embarrassed by her outburst, her cheeks start to turn a rosy red as she looks away to hide then after calming down she looks back at him with a smile while saying, "I meant, yeah. I'll happily show you around tomorrow."
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Hearing this causes him to smile while saying, "great!"
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He starts walking back to his hotel while saying, "alright, let's meet in front of the hotel tomorrow morning. See you tomorrow."
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She smiles back at him while waving at him and saying, "sounds good! See you then."
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As he disappears into the hotel, she continues to smile while walking back home and saying, "I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow."
