At the end of the day, Bede had arrived back at his apartment. It was a small space, but he wasn't complaining. After a deep breath, he flopped down on his bed. It had been a long day.
Turning his head, he saw his rotom phone had slipped out of his pocket and was now lying beside him. He grabbed it and sat up, opening his contacts. Only five, including Gloria. Once again, he found himself staring at Gloria's name. He clicked on her info.

He began to imagine speaking to her. His face reddening at the idea.

Unfortunately for him, his hands were trembling so bad he accidentally hit the call button. When he realized what was happening, he went into panic mode and tried to cancel the call to no avail.

Then the call connected.

"H…Hello?" Gloria's voice came over the speaker.

Bede immediately hung up. After being like a statue for a few seconds he started panicking. He hopped to his feet and paced back and forth, heart pounding. His forehead showing sweat.

"Ugh, how did I mess that up!? What will I do to fix this!? UUUGGGH! How irritating!"

His phone ringing penetrated the terror-filled air in the room. He stopped and did his best to calm himself before going to answer it. Looking at the caller ID, he could see it was Gloria.

He flinched, "Okay… I can fix this." He clicked the accept button.

Gloria's voice answered, "Hello? Bede?"

Bede opened his mouth to say something but found his voice had locked up. He silently berated himself for becoming so rattled, trying to think of something to recover quickly.

"I guess… you called me by accident huh?" Gloria spoke hesitantly, "It's okay though! I wasn't busy or anything. I called back because I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She picked up on the lack of response, "Um… Bede? Are you there?"

Bede finally managed to speak, "S-Sorry… I called the wrong number."

"O-Oh! Is that so?" Gloria replied, "Ha… don't worry about it!"

Meanwhile, on Gloria's end, she was wondering why Bede sounded so fearful. She thought to herself, "What's with him?"

Choosing to ignore it, she spoke, "I guess I'll… see you later then!"

Bede felt a rush. Even though he didn't intentionally call her. He felt like he had to take a chance to make the most out of this silly error. Because after all, what kind of refined gym leader would he be if he couldn't do something so simple?

He cleared his throat, "Um Gloria?"

"Y-Yes?"

He hesitated before saying, "Tomorrow evening… I don't have anything on my schedule. If you're free, we should grab coffee together."

Sitting on her bed, Gloria's eyes widened, and her heart began beating a million beats per second. Her mind was racing, "Aaah! Is Bede… Is Bede asking me out on a date!? Oh my gosh!"

His voice grabbed her attention again, "If… if you're interested, of course."

Her heart was about to leap out of her chest. She responded, "I… I would love to! That sounds great!"

Bede felt a surge of joy, but he managed to keep himself polished, "Wonderful. How about… tomorrow at seven o'clock?"

"Yeah, cool! Great!" Gloria agreed.

"Meet me at the café in Hammerlocke. The one next to the boutique."

Gloria recapped, "Okay Bede. Seven o'clock tomorrow at the café in Hammerlocke.

"That's correct."

She smiled, "Okay, I'll see you then! Bye!"

"Bye."

When she disconnected the call, Gloria stared at the phone. It took her a few minutes to register that yes, that indeed did just happen. Once it settled in, she yanked her pillow up to her face and squealed really loud into it. Alcremie and Flareon, who had been relaxing on the bed, jumped in fright. Thea had rushed to her daughter's closed door and knocked, "Dear!? Are you all right!?"

At Bede's place he fell backwards on his bed, feeling like an entire weight he didn't know was there had been lifted off his shoulders. At the same time, he had an explosive mixture of emotions from both completing a phone call and asking a girl out on a date.

His Hatterene had snuck out of her pokeball and approached her trainer slowly. She was getting a bit of sensory overload at the emotions she was picking up from him. He noticed this and calmed himself, "Ah Hatterene, my apologies. I know you feel quite stressed from certain emotions."

He saw her looking at him with an impish grin, he became embarrassed, "Not that I'm admitting anything, mind you!"
She snickered in response. He turned away, "I'm just meeting with Gloria. There's nothing to it!"

Hatterene made a face like she was shrugging and saying, 'Whatever you say.'

That's when Bede found himself a bit more worried about his appearance. He went over to his closet to look over the options he had in terms of attire. He didn't have much, but that allowed him to make a choice quickly. He grabbed black dress pants and a dark magenta button-up to hang them on the door. He also picked out a black pair of dress shoes and put those to the side. Aware of how cold it would be tomorrow evening, he added a dark grey flannel shirt jacket.

"Okay, this will go well." He used a hand to sweep a stray strand of hair to the side. That's when his mind began to wander.

"I wonder what she'll look like. I truly hope she looks her best…"

He shook his head, "What am I thinking!?"
Hatterene was giggling in the background. Bede whirled around, "Hatterene! It's not what you think!" The Pokémon bust out laughing, much to his chagrin.

At Gloria's house, she was practically turning her wardrobe upside down trying to figure out what she wanted to wear. Her mother Thea was present, as Gloria had invited her in after telling her she had a date.

Thea chuckled, "Calm down dear! Don't get your clothes dirty!"

"I'm sorry Mum!" Gloria apologized, "I've just… never been on a date before! I want to look good…"

Thea smiled understandably and walked over to her frantic daughter.

"Just relax dear. You'll be just fine! You'll be meeting him at seven, right?"

Gloria nodded. Thea advised, "Make sure you bundle up, it's going to be cold tomorrow night.

"Okay mum."

Thea grabbed Gloria's white fuzzy parka, "Why don't you find something that goes with this? You'll need this anyway."

Gloria chuckled, "It'll be that cold huh?"

"5 degrees Celsius Gloria, with a northern wind."

"Oh my! That's a bit chilly." Gloria responded before turning to her clothes, "Okay, let's see…"

Her eyes fell upon a pink pleated dress that she had bought, once again on impulse. She took it and held it in front of herself, looking in the mirror.

"Oh, that's cute." Thea admired.

"I think so too mum."

After deciding on the dress, Gloria picked out thigh-high black socks, then turned to her shoe collection that she had accumulated over her gym challenge. She glanced over it for a bit before selecting her fur-lined maroon boots.

"Excellent choices you've made Gloria!" Thea praised, "I think that will look amazing!" She stood up and walked out of the room, "You should try it on to make sure that's what you want to wear."

Gloria smiled and nodded before her mother closed the door to leave her alone in the room. Gloria looked at her reflection once more, before changing.

She almost couldn't recognize herself looking into the mirror once she had changed. The parka was just the right length for her dress, and the socks and boots combined with them wonderfully. She smoothed her hair down and brushed her bangs into place.

"Mum?" She called.

Her mother stepped in, "Yes?" She gasped, "Oh my goodness dear, you look so lovely!"

Gloria smiled, "Thanks mum. I know for sure it's what I want to wear now."

Thea gave an approving nod, "Absolutely! Now go right ahead and hang that up and keep it safe! That way you don't forget." She winked.

"I got it mum."

A long clang startled the women. Connell's voice hollered from the kitchen, "Ack! I didn't mean to do that I swear!"

Thea whirled around, "Oh my, I think your father is having trouble in the kitchen again!" She rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Gloria took in the moment before giggling to herself. She then changed into her loungewear, putting the date clothes safely to the side.

She couldn't wait for tomorrow evening.

With the sun now beneath the horizon, Hop waited silently in the Stony Wilderness. He remained hidden behind sizeable rock, his eyes locked on the confrontation between a Boltund and a Thievul. The two Pokémon were natural enemies. If they were to lock eyes, a battle was guaranteed to take place.

And that is what Hop was watching with pure fascination, using his rotom phone to record a video.

The dueling Pokémon did nothing but glare and snarl at one another for several minutes. The Boltund decided to make the first move, cloaking itself in electricity before charging and tackling the Thievul. Hop thought to himself, "Whoa, Boltund used spark!"

Thievul got up quickly and retaliated by slashing Boltund with claws of darkness, moving quick and nimble. Hop knew that move too, "That was night slash! This is amazing!"

The two got into another stare down, making growling noises and snapping at one another. That was until a loud stomping noise stopped them in their tracks. They simultaneously turned into the direction of the stomps, before quickly scattering in different directions. Hop, stunned by this turn of events, kept his eyes to where the noise was coming from.

A Rhydon had tromped into view, surveying its territory. Hop's eyes widened, he whispered, "Whoa there, that's a Rhydon! This is getting mad!"

The Rhydon looked back and forth. Hop ducked to hide himself completely behind the rock and held his breath. Upon seeing nothing around, the Rhydon snorted and turned around. Slowly returning from where it came from.

Once Hop couldn't hear the steps anymore, he exhaled.

"Wow, that was close." He whispered. He stopped the video on his phone and said, "All right, that's enough for now. I better get back to Postwick before I push my luck too far."

He called a taxi and was quickly whisked away to his home. He thought to himself, "I can't wait to show Sonia this video! This is incredible! I better show Gloria too, she'd freak out!"

But for now, he was just going to go home and go to bed. He placed a hand over his chest, "Sheesh, my heart is still pounding. Heheh…."

Author's Note: Wheeeeeee! *claps hands excidedly* The date is going to be the next chapter! I can't wait!

See you all next time!