Markus and Miriam sat at the table, transfixed as Amara and Larry battled on the pitch below their feet. "Yeah, that girl's got every bit of her dad's talent." Markus muttered as Larry sent out his third Pokémon. He looked back up to Miriam. "So, lunch date was a good one?" Miriam chuckled. "You act like we haven't been having good dates for over a month now, Markus. You're not too bad at this whole romance thing." Markus gave a smirk, then looked back down at Amara.
"She really applied everything they learned in my class last term. I'm actually a little impressed." Markus watched Amara's Armarouge effortlessly dispatch Larry's Persian, then Miriam hooked her feet around the hem of Markus's jeans. "You're pretty good at the teaching thing too, Mr. Vaughn. I don't know if you've noticed."
Markus pulled himself away from the battle and looked back to Miriam. "Is me making commentary on my student's Pokémon battle getting you somewhere?" Miriam shook her head. "It's not that, Markus, it's the competence on display. You trained her well, and watching you get excited for her success makes me feel like you could eventually be dad material."
Markus froze. Miriam noticed and tapped his hand. "Markus, Markus, come back to me." Markus shook his head and sighed. "There's only been one other woman who called me dad material, Mirri. It caught me off-guard. I'm sorry."
Miriam wrapped her hands around Markus's, "I'm sorry, baby, I didn't think about that before I said it." Markus gave Miriam a sad smile, and the two turned to watch Amara's gym battle come to a close. As the floor closed up and Amara and Larry stepped back onto the main floor, Markus waved the two of them over.
"Good battle, everyone. Amara, what's your system's Pokédex progress?" Markus asked. His eyes went wide when Amara noted that they'd caught two hundred and ten kinds, but then he smiled and pulled a Friend Ball out of his bag. "Congratulations, everyone." He handed them the ball and bid them on their way, then he turned to Larry. "How much did you tell her?"
"Not much. I hear your office finally brought Ari in. How's that going?" Larry muttered under his breath. "Do they need me to testify?" Markus pulled out a manilla envelope and handed it to Larry.
"That's your copy of the documents and the directions. We'll send an officer by to record your testimony. Thanks for doing this, Larry. I know how hard it can be." Larry stood from the table and cracked a half-smile.
"Yeah, it's really hard, but I know it'll bring me some form of closure, so I'll do it. Thanks again for getting me out of Johto, Vaughn."
"Your brother sends his regards, by the way, alongside this." Markus pulled out a Level Ball carved in minimalist style, so the yellow Apricorn base was still visible. "He said it was sentimental, and that he's sorry it took so long."
Larry took the ball and thanked Markus again before making his way out of the restaurant. Markus turned back to Miriam and smiled. "Anyway, Lopunny's Secret?" Markus asked. Miriam smiled and pulled Markus out of the booth and into the square.