Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

A Week After Masaru and Kokoro Became a Couple

Kokoro sat on her bed, leaning against the wall while Yukina was curled up next to her while she was in the middle of a video call. "I dunno, dude. The fact that the Triforce of Power can easily corrupt someone… I dunno, I see you more with the Triforce of Courage."

"Aww, you're no fun! Besides, I think I can pummel the corruptiveness of the Triforce of Power!"

"I've heard that in another universe that not even Chiaki is immune to it and, if it can corrupt her, I don't see you winning that battle."

On the other side of the video call…

"Aaaah… that's because she did it wrong." Masaru grinned as he was sitting on his bed. "If anything, she got curious about it and had a little taste of power. Next thing you know, she falls into that rabbit hole and never got herself out. Me? Ha! I'll climb my way out and throttle it by the neck, claim that I'm in charge of it!"

"You are such a dork, ya know that?"

Masaru grinned. "Well, you know how it is!" He chuckled, hearing Kokoro giggle. "I see you with the Triforce of Courage honestly."

"Really? I feel like I'd be more Triforce of Wisdom…"

"Hmmm… a mixture of both?"

"Okay, yeah, that makes sense!"

Masaru chuckled as an idea came over him. Hmm… should I…? He wondered as he clenched his fist. "So um, do you wanna hang out with me tomorrow in Vale?" He asked, looking a bit flustered. Shoot, that's not how I meant to ask my new girlfriend! He thought as he looked at Kokoro's flustered face behind the screen. Oh, way to go, bonehead.

"Did… did you ask me out on a date?"

"Uuuuh… maybe?"

"Because I totally will hang out with you tomorrow!"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah!" Kokoro smiled.

"Al-alright…! Uh… see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, of course. See ya!"

"See you tomorrow!"

Both of them hung up as reality struck Masaru over the head. "Holy shit… I just asked her out."

He leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling with an amused chuckle.

"Stupid little girls with no wieners are total cowards…?" He recited to himself before laughing. "Yeah right, only bratty idiots would think of something as shitty as that."

He smiled. "This new relationship… I'm looking forward to how this plays out."

As for Kokoro…

"Mmmm! Aaaah!" Kokoro giggled uncontrollably, tossing and turning in the bed, kicking her legs excitedly to the point where Yukina tilted her head with a slight hint of concern in her eyes. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! He totally asked me out! Aaaah!" She quietly fangirled to herself.

"Mrow…" Yukina sweatdropped with concern.

"Kokoron, dinner's ready!" Yor called out.

"Coming!" Kokoro said. "Okay, okay, play it cool…"

A few minutes later…

Out at the dinner table, with their Pokemon also enjoying dinner, Chelsea immediately took notice of Kokoro's dreamy and lovestruck state. Ooooh, someone's in looove~! She thought. "Sooooo, how's Masaru~?"

"Huh?" Kokoro snapped out of her lovestruck state.

"How is he? Is he doing well? Were you talking to him? Are you thinking about him~?"

"I-I… I have no idea what you're talking about, sis…"

"If I had to guess, you just got into a relationship with him, didn't you?"

Steam came out of her ocelot ears. "Um… muh-maybe…"

Yor gasped. "You and Masaru…?!"

"Yes."

Yor's eyes sparkled. OH MY GOSH, BOTH OF MY DAUGHTERS ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! "That's wonderful~!"

"Yeah, way to go~!" Chelsea smiled, playfully elbowing her as Kokoro shyly giggled. "You're definitely growing way too fast on us!"

"So um… you have any… dating tips? Because uh… he just asked me out via video call…"

Chelsea grinned. "Well, first of all, don't worry about messing anything up on a first date. Awkwardness is pretty common so if you mess up on something, don't worry about it. First times are always awkward… but over time, you can have a blast. Anywho, what you oughta do-"

Meanwhile…

"Hmm…" Cardin rubbed his chin as he noticed that Masaru couldn't stop smiling while they were also having dinner. "Judging by that dorky smile on your face, you confessed to Kokoron and you asked her out, didn't you?"

Masaru blushed in embarrassment. "That easy, huh?"

"Yup!"

"Oh! That's wonderful, honey!" Nesta smiled.

"I wondered when you'd ask her out." Laura chuckled. "Though I wonder if you guys will have your first kiss on the date."

"Actually, we kissed during that dinner party we had." Masaru chuckled a bit.

"Atta booooy!" Cardin playfully nudged him.

"There's just one problem… I asked if we can hang out in Vale, yet I have no idea where to take her."

Cardin smiled. "Well, I can give you a recommendation on where you two can go."

"Really?"

"Cafe Cirrostratus. It's a popular pancake and matcha cafe in Toad Town."

"Oh cool… why that place?"

"Well, a couple of reasons… one, Kokoron's a big fan of sweets and she'll love the pancakes there. And two, Cafe Cittostratus is also where I had my first date with Chelsea."

"Ah, sentimental reasons."

Cardin chuckled. "Pretty much. Now, let me give you some advice on the whole dating thing."

The next day…

BGM: Toad Town (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story plus Bowser Jr's Journey)

Masaru sat down at a bench in Toad Park, looking over his text messages with Kokoro.

"So uh, change of plans. You wanna meet up at Toad Town?"

"Oh, sure! Where are we meeting up?"

"How about Toad Park, near the water fountain?"

"I'm game!"

Masaru smiled, then looked over his outfit. A white T-Shirt underneath a pastel red denim jacket, a pair of dark blue jeans with a brown leather belt wrapped around his waist and a pair of black high top converse shoes.

"Mmm… hope I'm not totally overdressed…"

Unbeknownst to him, a small Charcadet peeked behind a few shrubs, seeing Masaru in front of him. "Charca…?"

The small Pokemon slowly started to come out of the shrubs.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late!" Kokoro called out to him. "I needed some help from Chelsea in picking out my clothes."

"Ah, it's okay, Kokoron!" He turned to look at her. "You didn't keep me waiting that… loooong… whoa…"

She wore a yellow long sleeved hoodie, where the sleeves were open around her upper arms to reveal X shaped laces around her exposed skin as she also wore a black miniskirt that had yellow ribbon attached to the sides along with some plaid cloth. Two straps rose up from her skirt and went over her shoulders. She also wore black stockings black leather ankle boots with yellow stitching. Her hair was let down to her shoulder blades, as her newsboy cap wasn't on her, letting her ocelot ears flick freely. Her nails were also painted pastel yellow.

"H-how do I look?" She asked, shyly placing her hands behind her back while lightly blushing.

Masaru stared in awe, completely speechless at what he was looking at. Sure, he's seen some girls that he considered cute or pretty back in Hope's Peak Elementary, but this time it was different. It was as if he was staring at an adorable angel, where he could've sworn he was hearing "Hallelujah!" a few times.

"Y-you look beautiful…" He replied, looking away slightly as his face was a darker shade of red.

Kokoro blushed deeply at his compliment, causing her to slightly giggle. "Ehehe~ Thanks… you look pretty handsome yourself too."

"So um… you wanna head out now?"

"Of course!" Kokoro smiled, taking his hand as they both walked off together, both unaware of the Charcadet secretly following them.

"I've booked a reservation at Cafe Cirrostratus before I left the house."

"Cafe Cirrostratus?! Oh my, I've always wanted to try out their pancakes!"

Masaru smiled. "Well, good thing we're going there!" He chuckled as they made their way to the cafe.

"Hi, welcome to Cafe Cirrostratus!" A female Lakitu greeted them once they walked in.

"Hi, I reserved a table for the two of us."

"Ah! You must be Masaru. Right this way!" She said as she guided them to a table. "A waiter will be right with you with your orders." She told them as she floated off.

"Let's see, what do I want- huh…?" Kokoro blinked, tilting her head.

"What is it?"

"Um… look at this name right here. Upper right."

"Let's see… eh? The Valkyrie Supreme Special?" Masaru tilted his head.

"Hello, you two!" A male Lakitu greeted them. "What would you like to drink?"

"I'll take a mocha frappucino." Kokoro said..

"Matcha latte."

"Sounds good. And what would you like?"

"I'll have some mixed berry souffle pancakes." The Faunus said.

"I'll have… buttermilk blueberry pancakes."

"Perfect!"

"Quick question, what's with this… Valkyrie Supreme Special?"

"Hmm? Oh! That one… believe it or not, we made that one specifically for Nora Valkyrie herself. Basically, it's a twenty five pancake tower drenched in syrup and whipped cream, along with another twenty five pancake tower for her Tinkaton. Heck, last time she was here, she ordered one for her Thor friend! The girls typically devour it within thirty seconds. Thor ate them all in a minute and a half."

Masaru and Kokoro jawdropped.

"...I think I just got sick just hearing that…" Masaru said.

"Agreed…" Kokoro grimaced.

"I'll be back with your orders." He said as he floated off as the couple looked at each other.

"We can agree that Nora's not human, right?" Masaru asked.

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised." Kokoro giggled as she glanced over at a sign. "Hmm?"

BANNED FROM THE CAFE:

Kirby

Yuyuko Saigyouji

The Wario Bros

Aqua

Kokoro sweatdropped. I don't wanna know…

Why's Aqua on there? Masaru wondered.

A few pancakes served later…

"Want some of mine?" Masaru asked between bites.

"Sure." Kokoro smiled. "Want some of mine while you're at it?"

Masaru nodded, both of them taking their forks, lifting up a piece of their pancake and shared it with the other.

"Mmm!"

"Mmm, that's good…" Kokoro said with a soft smile.

"So, what's it like being a Warrior of Hope?" Masaru asked.

"Well, it honestly… feels about the same." Kokoro admitted. "Granted, I'm still honored and it feels great to be with people around my age, but… eh, yeah, it… feels about the same. Uh… no offense."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Masaru waved it off. "At least you're with good folk!"

"Yeah, and one of them is a major goober." Kokoro winked, causing Masaru to chuckle.

"Who, me?" Masaru asked, causing both of them to softly laugh.

"So, anyway, Sea5ons is actually collabing with Ink Fresh."

"No way, really?"

"Well, we're planning on it, but we're about to have fun with it. In fact, if memory serves, I think Sayaka pitched the idea to us, or was it Whitley…? Either way, we're gonna have fun!"

"Oh, I'm looking forward to that." Masaru chuckled before he got up. "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom for a bit."

"Alright." Kokoro nodded as Masaru walked off. Kokoro hummed as she pulled out her scroll, seeing a text from Chelsea.

"How's it going?"

"Pretty good!"

"Awesome!"

"Kokoron?"

"Ah!" Kokoro yelped as she looked up, seeing Sayaka in front of her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I almost didn't recognize you with your hair down."

"No no, it's fine." Kokoro giggled. "You're here too?"

"Yeah, I'm with the guys for brunch." She said, pointing her thumb over to Leon, Mondo and Chihiro, all three of them waving at her. She waved back.

"That's nice. I'm here with Masaru."

"Masaru? Oh, that's cute! You're on a date~!" Sayaka giggled. "You two would make a cute couple!"

"Y-you really think so?"

"Absolutely!" Sayaka smiled. "Anyway, have fun on your date! I'm looking forward to that collab later!"

"So am I!" Kokoro smiled as Masaru returned.

"Oh hey, was that Sayaka? Nice." He said as he sat down right as the Lakitu waiter came back.

"Would you like any more or are you finished?"

"Send the bill if you can." He said.

"Will do!" He nodded, picking up the plates and flew off, then came back with the bill where Masaru took a look.

Forty coins? Not bad. He thought, placing down the exact change on the bill as he got up with Kokoro. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Kokoro nodded as the two of them walked out together, both of them waving at Sayaka's group before they walked out, then Kokoro yanked Masaru forward.

"Whoa!"

"Come on, I know where we can head off to next!"

"Where are we headed?"

"Paratroopa Karaoke!"

"Ooooh, I know you like to hang around there sometimes."

"Yeah!" Kokoro nodded. "...Have I ever told you this is where I met Chelsea?"

"You met Chelsea here?"

"Yeah, she was with ATMC when she overheard my singing and she praised me for how beautiful I sang. However… I was too embarrassed and ran away. Looking back at it now, she didn't mean any harm… aaaah, life of an introvert is so struggling sometimes."

"You? An introvert? …Actually, yeah, I can see it. Though with you in a band, I'd think otherwise."

Kokoro giggled. "Yeah, kinda funny, huh?" She smiled. "If it wasn't for that chance meeting, I don't think I'd ever have gotten out of my shell."

"And you wouldn't have met us… how sad."

"Yeah, totally… but hey, it's not too bad. I made a lot of friends after meeting Chelsea, so it's good!" Kokoro smiled.

"Soooo, with you being all confident, what would you say to your past self?"

"What would I say to my past self?"

Inside Kokoro's imagination…

"Hey, there's no need to be so scared."

"Eeeek! I'm interacting with my conscience! Please go away, I don't wanna hear it!"

"...Conscience?"

Back in reality…

Kokoro sweatdropped. "Well… uh…"

"It'd be a trainwreck?"

"I don't think the train would leave the station."

Masaru grimaced. "That bad, huh?"

"Probably… oh well, what's in the past stays in the past. We all gotta learn from it somehow." Kokoro shrugged.

"True… veeeery true." Masaru nodded as they walked into the karaoke room.

"Excuse me! We'd like to rent a room together."

"Here you go, Kokoro!" The Paratroopa handed them a room key as they walked off.

"Wow, you're definitely a regular, aren't you?" Masaru teased.

Kokoro giggled. "I didn't even notice…" She said as she opened up a door as they walked in together. "Alright, what do we wanna sing together?"

A few songs later…

"-Sonna hero ni naru uta~ Saraba kakagero peace sign~ Korogotte iku story wo!"

"Wow…" Kokoro said in awe as Masaru finished the song. "That was amazing!"

Masaru smiled. "Aw, thanks. It was my first time singing that song too. I'm amazed I was able to keep up with it."

"You have an amazing singing voice…"

"I do? Eh, I'm not that impressed with it… you think it's amazing?"

"Don't sell yourself short." Kokoro winked, causing Masaru to blush.

"Oh… wow… I didn't think I was that good…" Masaru rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, how about that…"

"So, what else do we wanna si-"

Ding!

"Oh, already?" Kokoro asked before giggling. "Guess we got too caught up in it."

"It happens." Masaru chuckled as they walked out together, Kokoro handing the Paratroopa back the key as they walked out.

"I had an amazing time together today. Thanks for taking me out."

"Ah, you're welcome." Masaru smiled before both of them embraced one another, both of them sharing a kiss before pulling away.

"See you later…" Kokoro said softly, walking away.

"You too." Masaru waved as he then walked back home.

That was a heck/hell of a first date! Kokoro and Masaru thought at once with dorky smiles on their faces as Masaru went back into a warp pipe and hopped out at Vale, walking back home with a small whistle.

End BGM

He got up to his house before stopping. "Don't think I don't know you were following me all day. There's no point in hiding" He said as he turned around to look at the Charcadet. "I had a feeling someone was tagging along."

"Charca…"

"Seriously, were you trying to get a good read on us? Going to rob us blind or… something? Come on, why would you even stalk us like that? I could have easily punted you away without realizing who was stalking us."

The Charcadet looked down in shame. "Cadet Det…" It mumbled as it tried to walk away.

Masaru knelt down. "Where are you going? If you wanted to tag along, you could've just asked, little guy!"

Charcadet turned around with his eyes sparkling. "Charca…!"

"C'mere, little guy!" He smiled, extending his hand out as the Charcadet happily ran over and hugged his hand before climbing up and sitting on top of his shoulder. "Hmm, how does Touya sound?"

"Charca ca!"

"That's a yes." Masaru chuckled as he walked into his home.

BGM: News (Pokemon Colosseum)

"I'm ho-"

"Breaking news!"

"Hmm?" Masaru walked into the living room, and gasped when he saw a picture of Atlas falling. "What the?!"

"As everyone had tuned in, we have just received a terroristic threat by none other than Dr. Eggman himself! Atlas is about to make contact with Mantle… I am not sure what Eggman is planning, but unlike most apocalyptic threats we've faced… I feel as if this one will be permanent. We will stay on this broadcast for as long as we possibly can before doomsday happens. This is Lisa Lavender reporting… for possibly the final time."

"Holy crap…" Cardin could only say while Levy looked on with her hands over her mouth.

"The hell is he accomplishing with this?" Gajeel wondered.

Nesta immediately started calling Ironwood. "Come on, James… pick up, pick up… come on!" She pleaded. "James! James, come on…"

A pit came over her stomach as she started to call Esdeath. "Esdeath… come on, if he's not answering, then maybe you will…"

"Hello? Logue? Please tell me you and your family aren't in Atlas right now!" Laura called on her scroll.

"...What the hell is going on?" Masaru wondered, watching Atlas slam into Mantle.

"Atlas has made contact with Mantle! I repeat, Atlas has made contact with Mantle! ...I feel as if this is just the beginning of the end..."

Deadpool: Aw, what a lovely date! ...Aaaaaand bad things happen!

Ibuki: Ibuki was waiting for the other shoe to drop. *giggle*

Speaking of Masaru getting a Pokemon, Poltchageist is cute... if not totally creepy given that backstory! But anyway, a shout out to DarkRebellion for this Gaiden idea!