Pacing back and forth right in front of the now destroyed monument of Loyalty Plaza, Florian kept pondering the thoughts that had led him to this exact moment.

"Maybe I shouldn't have send her that message?" he thought.

But unfortunately it was too little to late for such regrets. He had already send out the message and she was already on her way to meet him here. The place their mission as the Mask Retrieval Squad had begun, and where he felt he had started to see the real Carmine.

Not this abrasive and self-centered young woman who didn't like outsiders and was, admittedly more then a little rude. But instead he got to know the selfless and determined woman who wanted to do right by Ogerpon, do right by the people around her, was willing to let go of her past prejudices and become more open.

Florian blushed as he thought back to fighting the now newly titled "Lousy Three" with her. And even far before then when he first saw Carmine show up in her kimono before the festival, how it brought out the beauty of her skin and made him feel almost twisty inside.

And even before that when they first met, when she refused to let him enter the city without battling her. Even then he had to admit he was kind of into her, just like how he had sort of been into Nemoma earlier. Maybe he just had a thing for strong women? Who knows.

And all that culminated to this point. Where he stood there waiting for her to arrive.

Maybe what she wanted to tell him. And he was ready to hear it until that dang phone call interrupted them.

He kept on pacing. The entire Loyalty Plaza was empty, it was the early afternoon and there where often more people but almost as if by design it was completely empty.

That was until the silhouette of someone familiar graced his view of vision.

Carmine. She had arrived.

She ran his way immediately and stopped right in front of him, panting and slightly out of breath.

"You okay?" Florian asked "you seem like you run quite fast."

Immediately Carmine's head popped up and she shook it heavily "no way I didn't run at all! Why would you think that" she said in full denial.

The two shared a glance and blushed at the same time, averting their gaze from one another as to not show it to each other, the bright red tint in their face.

"So uhm…why did you want to meet me here?" Carmine asked.

"Well…" Florian started "I have decided, and I had to fight back the school quite a bit but since I'm a champion they eventually relented…I've decided to stay in Kitakami a little longer."

Carmine's heart skipped a beat upon hearing that particular phrase. She tried to hold her composure and not burst out into cheers.

"Really?"

Florian nodded "yes. You see Ogerpon would really like to discover what happened to her missing friend so long ago. I don't know if I can discover it all by myself and hence why I called you. I was hoping maybe…maybe you would be willing to help me discover it…"

It was a sloppy reason at best. While it was technically true and he was sure it would help Ogerpon gain a bit of peace, he was using it mostly as a way to spend time with Carmine.

"Oh…" Carmine replied averting her gaze once more. Her heart sank a little bit as she expected him to reveal something else. But regardless she took a breath and said "of course I will help you. After all I'm the leader of the Mask Retrieval Squad and what leader wouldn't embark on this mission."

Florian smiled to himself. He was glad she agreed, and seeing her boast a little, it just made her all the more adorable in his eyes.

"So…where do we get started?" he wondered.

Carmine thought for a little bit before snapping her fingers "I got it! Tonight is another festival. Bring Ogerpon and let's go together!"

He liked that idea, he liked that idea a lot.

"Alright that sounds like a great idea!" Florian replied.

Carmine smiled proudly to herself "yup I'm just full of those. So it's a date then!"

She didn't realize until a few seconds later what she said and tried to say "I mean as in we go there together to investigate you know as in a date to investigate and all that. You get me right…"

Again she looked away, her eyes turned to the ground as Florian struggled to form his own sentence. He took a deep breath and thought before he spoke.

"Yeah I understand. So then…see you tonight?"

"Yup absolutely! See you there, don't arrive to late, it's rude to keep a pretty girl like me waiting," Carmine said with a proud grin all the while her face was red as a beet "well….see you to night!"

And with that she turned heel and ran away as fast as she could, leaving a flustered and equally blushing Florian behind.