- 4 -

On Drayton and (Not) Dating

Lacey's always found it relaxing, an Academy out at sea.

But it gets a bit much, as exams draw ever closer, staring past page after page of notes day after day out empty classroom windows at an expanse of endless blue.

Sometimes she's in her biome, looking up at the same fake sky, and it's peaceful and it's paradise but none of it's real. And when she leans back against Granbull to see that great glass barrier looming above, she knows it's not real.

She's just so tired.

So she drifts off toward a restless sleep, gazing up into that grin…

"Naptime, huh?" Drayton's standing overhead. "I might join, if that's cool."

Lacey's startled wide awake. "Y-you want to nap? With… me?"

It is not cool. What's he going to do, just lie down beside her? In the Terarium? Where the whole school comes to train? Definitely not cool.

She's never done anything like this before. Never even had a boyfriend. Never had a boy-anything, because Daddy says get near his daughter and he's got a hundred-ton rotary rig, and most boys don't know what that is.

"C'mon, bud." Drayton calls out his Dragonite. "Let's catch some Z's."

Dragonite's cuddly enough, as far as dragons go, and actually rather cute when not threatening to sweep her team with Extreme Speed. They settle into a grassy spot several feet over, same as she and Granbull do, Drayton's head on Dragonite's stomach.

Oh. He wasn't going to—

Something's not right with her. Just not right. Not.

Lacey's normally one to fall asleep in seconds, but she tosses and turns against Granbull's fur, shifting with thoughts of things still to be done. That paper due in Special Attacks II, which should earn an A after some final revisions. Her Offensive Tactics instructor likes to test the class with surprise field tasks, so she's got to stay on top of the readings. Director Cyrano asked for her help in the office again…

Her eyes blink open. Drayton's watching with a frown she doesn't find on him often.

"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, really. I tend to roll in my sleep a little."

"Something's up," he insists. "I can see the stress coming off you from here."

"Do you ever feel… stuck?" Lacey longs to take the words back as soon as they slip out. Of course Drayton doesn't. He'd lie around League Club the rest of his life if his grandpa allowed it. "I mean…"

There's a momentary lapse, and she dares to hope he wasn't listening.

"Well, you know what I think. You work too hard. You do too much. You have, like, negative chill," he says, teasing, before his face turns serious. "You're gonna crash if you keep at it. You're gonna go all Kieran on us, only school."

"I will not!" She sits up abruptly, and Granbull paws at her to calm down.

Drayton thinks all work is working too hard. Drayton thinks any work is working too hard. Drayton thinks standing up is working too hard. She heard him say as much in the clubroom once.

"Yeah, it's a whole lot of nothing, acing the toughest classes and doing most of the clubwork on top of the study program and half of Cyrano's job…"

"Some of which is entirely your fault," she snaps—but Drayton doesn't fight back.

"Let's go somewhere," he says instead, dragging himself to his feet. "You won't last one more minute holed up here, I can tell."

Lacey smiles faintly, her mind racing with nervous anticipation. "Aren't you all about that sweet school life?"

"Sure, but you gotta get out of school now and then."

Lacey leaves her Rotom in her dorm, just in case Daddy has his ways of knowing where it's been. She did get some curious questions after that night at the movies.

It's not like they're doing anything wrong. It's not that she's not allowed. It's just she'd rather not explain why she's out on a school night—or who she's out with above all else.

Drayton meets her at the Academy entrance. He tosses a Poké Ball into the air and out comes a Cyclizar nothing like she's seen in Dragon Types I through III or any of the optional readings.

"A little parting gift from our Paldean friend." He hops on and motions for her to join him. "Ready to fly on out?"

"Drayton, Cyclizar don't fly!" She shakes her head absolutely not. "Did you even go to Technical Machines?"

"Well, this one does."

Now that he mentions it, it's taken on a different shape, and its arms are rather winglike. She stares at Drayton, half impressed, half appalled. "You talked Amarys into giving you flying supplements?"

"Didn't have to. She left them lying around the clubroom when Kieran came in for help with that assignment." He laughs. "Not like her, huh?"

"That's… unexpectedly adorable." Lacey giggles, then thinks again. "Does she have any idea?"

"Hey, she will when you tell her."

She doesn't have to do this. She could walk away now and leave Drayton to it. She could call Daddy and have a helicopter here tomorrow to transport her home for the weekend. She shouldn't do this.

"You can't seriously think I'm getting on that thing," she whispers in Drayton's ear, so Cyclizar won't hear. "It's experimental. It's irresponsible. It's—"

"Just not right?" he suggests, turning his head close enough to tempt her. "Not in the course materials?"

"Shall we ask your Dragon Types instructor for her opinion?"

"You're safe with Cyclizar," he says, stroking the Pokémon's shoulder, and she can almost believe him. "We'll take Dragonite if you want. But if you're gonna beat me you gotta know—you won't learn everything in school."

And her competitive streak wins out. "Let's go."

At first, it's terrifying. Her hold on Drayton's waist tenses as they speed away from the Academy in a blur above the ocean and she thinks of how this supplement's in the developmental stages and Skarmory carry taxis for a reason and flying on dragons is for people who still use scrolls.

He glances back with a grin. "Having fun yet?"

She squeezes her eyes shut as they cut across Castelia down alleyways and between skyscrapers and tries not to think about how she's going somewhere Daddy doesn't know and nobody knows with her hands and arms and knees wrapped around a boy who thinks she's cute.

"See?" he says, steering them straight into Central Plaza. "No sweat."

She doesn't even have a phone. Which is fine. Kieran went to Area Zero without a phone, and he's still alive. Though he wasn't quite the same afterward, was he? She won't think about that, either.

But then they clear the city in the wake of the Royal Unova and she sees the Luvdisc leaping and Swanna gliding along the skyline. She breathes in and breathes out and realizes she's not falling anywhere and Cyclizar's trained not to let her and the sun's on her face and the wind's at her back and Drayton's in front and it's so far from ugh and this is dangerously close to a crush she can't help chasing.

"Not Nimbasa," she warns, as its colorful streets pass underneath.

"Yeah, how 'bout a bit further from home?"

She's still reassuring herself Daddy's in Mistralton on business today and there's no conceivable way he'll look up from their balcony to find her on a Cyclizar five hundred feet up with the boy he's told her to stay away from when Drayton takes them through the spokes of the Ferris wheel as it stops.

"Stuck at the top," he says, waving. "Buncha suckers."

"Speak for yourself. I think it's sweet."

Lacey leans into him closer, wraps her knees around him tighter, and stretches her arms out to the sky—not that glass Terarium barrier it's sometimes hard to see past, but the real sky, with no boundaries or limits to hold her back—and feels light and free and more vulnerable than she'd like to be.

"No hands, huh? Wait'll I tell the club about your wild side."

"You'll tell no one anything!"

"Our little secret," he says. "Got it."

And it shouldn't make her grin like Drayton, but it does.

"Hey, it matches your hairclips," he jokes, when they fly over Driftveil with its roofs of gemstone green. "Is there anything around here your dad doesn't own?" As they circle the summit of Twist Mountain in an upward spiral, he adds, "This thing, maybe."

"Actually, there's a mine through that tunnel…"

"No kidding." He laughs and leads them into a dive. "Better hang on to your emeralds."

They make a sharp right as Opelucid comes into view, plunge beneath the Village Bridge so low they skim the water's surface, weave between the pillars of the Pokémon League for no apparent reason other than mischief, and land on a beach lined with palm trees and holiday villas.

Drayton helps her down onto the sand. "How's this for a getaway?"

There's something that reminds her of the Coastal Biome about the sea-salt air and the late spring sun lighting the shores.

"It's not your type of place," she says, still slightly windswept.

"Thought it looked a lot like yours."

She's been to Undella, but never like this.

It's the start of high season and Lacey's conspicuous in her uniform among crowds of vacationers sipping the sort of drinks she's too young for in the sort of swimsuits she's not allowed to wear till she's twenty and staring at her like she's lost or skipping school.

Drayton doesn't get the same glances, because he acts like he belongs anywhere, blending into the laid-back atmosphere with an ease she couldn't emulate if she tried, and whatever counts as a uniform to him barely passes for one anyway.

As they reach the main street, she hears her name and wants to hide.

"If it isn't Lacey! What brings you out here?"

But it's only Daddy's colleague Caitlin, and it could be worse.

Caitlin's a member of the actual Elite Four, and she claims to understand what it's like for Lacey on account of her once-sheltered life. She was even forbidden to fight her own battles for a time—with good reason, Lacey's been told, not that she'd ever say so.

"Just a short break from studying," she explains at last.

"Not to worry." Caitlin leans forward and lowers her parasol. "I won't say a word about you and your…" Her eyes come to rest on Drayton's cape. "Oh! Aren't you Drayden's—"

He lets out a laugh that's almost a sigh. "Yeah, I'm the one you've heard about."

"And if you could please not mention that to Daddy, either…"

"Of course," says Caitlin. "My lips are sealed."

Caitlin's always been charming, the odd incident aside. She asks after their club and lets them in on the latest League gossip—Shauntal's found someone from Sinnoh who shares in her love of books, and it's all rather romantic—and offers them the use of her villa.

Lacey feels herself blush a little at that. Drayton grins and asks what's in the fridge.

"Try not to look so guilty," he tells her afterwards. "It's not like we're cutting class."

"I'm supposed to be studying! And I'm not supposed to be…" She trails off and feigns interest in a flock of Wingull in the distance. What are they doing?

But he's already dropped the subject. "You hungry?"

They get ice cream cones too big to finish—well, Drayton manages his, because it's nothing on the Academy Special—and head past the Marine Tube—they've seen more than enough of underwater at school—to the beach.

Undella Bay is a serene, gleaming blue, with waves that break softly on the sand. Lacey prefers to be aware of all the particulars in advance, so there are no surprises and she's always prepared, and she hasn't planned for this.

"But I didn't bring…" She glares at Drayton before he even starts. "I'd ask what you expect me to wear, but don't answer that."

He shrugs and points to a boutique across the street. "Lacey, you're loaded. Just buy stuff."

It's more fun than she's willing to admit.

It's a kind of escape, to wear what she chooses, something her, something cute, without considering the rules, and maybe while she's campaigning for League Club credit it wouldn't hurt to get student council on every Academy girl's favorite complaint of why can't they just have skirts.

Lacey changes in the dressing room, double-knots the halter on her swimsuit top, gets a sundress and some sandals while she's at it because why not, and pays for everything in cash.

"Not Daddy's credit card?" Drayton teases, leaning on the counter.

"What's Daddy going to say when he sees a charge for a beach shop in Undella?" She takes off her emerald barrettes and tucks them away, conscious of his eyes on her all the while.

"Always thinking ten steps ahead, huh?"

He's in some sort of swim trunks he must've picked up, Lacey notices and she's not going to look because that's seriously embarrassing and can she seriously stop and it's seriously bad but she seriously can't. She feels suddenly shy, crossing her arms and longing for her coat.

Drayton's not shy, and it shows. "All right," he says, grinning. "That's more like it."

As they venture out into the waves, she starts to believe she might belong in Undella after all. The spray of the sea is a calming mist against her skin, those exams and assignments and that essay on EVs are a mere memory in her mind, and—

She flinches as the water hits.

"Cold?"

Lacey inhales sharply. "A little."

Too cold for her liking, but Drayton dives in like it's nothing, disappearing beneath the surf and coming up looking refreshed, water running in rivulets down his chest as she wills herself to step in to her waist.

And she should've known, because it's early evening and late springtime and this is Drayton who hangs out in the Polar Biome with his jacket undone and she would've thought twice if she'd thought this through.

Lacey's always one to think too much, like why didn't she check the weather and what if the owners of these villas on the bay are acquainted with Daddy and aren't there supposed to be Jellicent around here somewhere?

But she's not thinking, not when Drayton's swimming forward—

"Hey, you'll thank me for this."

He sends a wall of water rushing toward her.

"Drayton!"

"Better?"

She shakes her wet hair from her face and splashes him back and forgets all of it. The studying she hasn't done, self-consciously checking the ties on her swimsuit, trying not to stare at Drayton too long with those swim trunks slung so carelessly low, and he catches her eye and flashes a smile and she knows she's in trouble.

"I'm gonna guess that's a yes."

Lacey splashes him harder.

She's definitely not thinking, not now. Her heart's pounding fast and her breath's coming short as she gives in to this undercurrent she's fought to ignore and her shoulders tremble with the cold but she doesn't care.

"You're freezing," he says, and takes her in his arms. "Relax, I got you."

He's so close anything could happen and her cheeks are probably pink as her lips are probably blue and maybe he'll shrug it off as some cold-induced ailment and this is so much more of a crush than she knew.

"You good?" Drayton asks, when she doesn't say a word.

"F-fine!" She's lost and confused and more alive than ever and it's easier to lie when his skin's not on hers and he can't feel her heartbeat betray her so badly.

"C'mon, let's get you to shore." He leads her out of the water, a hand on her back, and she's breathless and dazed with exhilaration.

Of course he hasn't thought of towels.

She could've gotten them herself, back in the shop, but she's not thinking either, not tonight, and Caitlin's villa proves useful when they drop in to borrow some from her butler Darach, who gladly obliges and asks after her tea collection and advises them on popular date spots.

Are they on a date? She could ask Amarys, who'd say, "Define 'date,'" or Carmine, who'd say, "With that bozo?" or Crispin, who might facepalm into his frying pan and that's not something she wants to see.

She'd never ask Drayton. Drayton's chill. He probably hasn't thought of that, either.

Only he's a little less chill around her lately.

They're sitting on a ledge overlooking the bay and he's stretched out beside her, towel slung over his bare shoulders, hair swept back by the wind, not smiling or laughing or teasing or even talking, almost suspiciously quiet, contemplative maybe, eyes wandering to hers and away again like he wants to speak and then he doesn't.

The beach's crowded down below and airplanes whir by overhead as clouds of smog from the cities to the west obscure the sunset on the horizon and it's hectic and it's far from perfect but it's real.

"Thanks, Drayton," she says, "for bringing me out here."

"No prob." He stares intently, as though studying her face. "What're buds for?"

It hits like a Terastal heart shattering in millions of shards the moment he beats her in battle—again.

"Oh, man, I had a feeling. More than buds, huh?"

Drayton has all the audacity to grin, and suddenly she hates him for it. She pulls her towel tight around her chest and shivers and regrets everything.

"Hey, it's cool."

"It's not right, is what it is!"

It's not even fair, the way he knocks her off balance and breaks her composure, makes her reveal too much of herself, secrets she keeps locked away, and how is she so easy to read?

He takes her hands before they form an X. Closes his own over hers. Gives her that serious look, the one she can't handle. "Sure feels right to me, Lacey."

It does not feel right for her breath to catch like that. For her hopes to rise and fall and then rise again. For her skin to flush under the heat of his touch as her defenses melt away.

"C'mon, now. You think I bring all my buds on beach dates?"

"…Dates?"

"It's not that big a deal."

"I haven't done much dating," she says, feeling like she's drifting out of her depth. "Boys have this way of running when they find out who Daddy is."

"I know who your dad is and you know it." Drayton loosens his hold but doesn't let go. "He'd probably flip his shit if he knew where you were. Anything happens, he's got a pickaxe and an Excadrill and he's not afraid to use them."

It's getting obvious where he's going with this, and she's growing more nervous excited restless by the second. She's on a date with a boy who thinks she's cute and he's looking at her like he might kiss her.

"Running's not my thing," he says. "Too tiring."

She tilts her head upward and he bends his downward and she can't escape the feeling he's done this before and she doesn't know what to do and she hopes he can't tell.

Lacey lets her eyes flutter shut, leans in so their lips touch, takes a shaky breath and draws shyly away. And in another heartbeat, more recklessly, with all the confidence she's come to expect from Drayton and none of the attitude, his fingertips guiding her face, her senses awakened and worries fading into silence and every nerve alight, he's kissing her back.

Up next: This won't stay their little secret forever…