Lisia walked out of her room in the Slateport City Hotel and walked down the hall to the room she had paid for May. It was a top notch room with furnishings and a hot tub. Lisia knocked on the door and May answered.

"May!"

"Lisia"

The two hugged each other and then pulled apart.

"Ready for tomorrow?" Lisia asked excitedly.

"I sure am!" May exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Super! I just came by to see if you wanted to go for a walk or hang out," Lisia said with a bright smile.

"Of course!" May answered. "Let me get my shoes, give me one sec!"

Brendan stood on the outskirts of Mauville training his team for the next badge. Sandslash squared off against Grovyle to be able to better guard against Grass-types. Leaf Blade and X-Scissor clashed as the two met, causing a standoff before they broke apart.

Skarmory duked it out with Poochyena and Growlithe with Poochyena using mainly his Thunder Fang. The more electric attacks that were used, the more she would know, and in turn, learn how to deal with them.

"Looking good you guys, keep it up!" Brendan coached. "Watch your six Skarmory, Flamethrower incoming! Grovyle, Sandslash, keep that speed going!"

His Pokémon followed his instruction without question. After a while, the spars were stopped and they all took a break to be healed.

"I think that's it for today. We've been at this since noon and I'm hungry. And I know you guys are too. So why don't we call it a day and head back and eat?" Brendan suggested.

All of them were in agreement. Brendan returned his team and headed back to the Pokémon Center to grab a little snack before treating himself to Crooner's Café. He needed to shower and get ready first however. He had been in the desert and trained nonstop. After he fed his team and returned them, he headed to the room to get ready.

Courtney slipped out of the shower and walked into her room, dropping the towel with no shame whatsoever. The door was locked so she wasn't worried. She slid into her evening attire she'd picked for herself. It was a black dress with thin, vertical lavender stripes that paused a bit above the knee. She slid her legs into black stockings that rose to the knee, leaving some of her cream colored skin exposed. She loosened a few buttons to let her chest breathe a bit.

She slipped on her lavender boots and placed a matching black fedora with a lilac stripe across its front on her head. With that out of the way, she grabbed her purse and team, placing them in her purse, and headed to the café.

Brendan stepped into the Crooner's Café and heaved a sigh. He had completed the day's training and had a few hours to kill before heading back to Slateport. He made a mental note not to get sidetracked this time. Even if Steven himself wanted a battle, he would keep moving.

Oh who the hell was he kidding? He would take Steven on. He'd probably lose but it would be fun. That was an opportunity that he would find hard to pass up. It was rather busy that night, considering there were only a few seats available. Brendan made his way to the cashier and looked up at the menu.

"Dude, welcome back!" The counter guy exclaimed.

"Thanks," Brendan paused, looking at the name tag since he didn't do that last time, "Mike."

"So, what's it gonna be? We've got some killer steaks tonight. You could have some fries with it too!" Mike recommend.

"That actually sounds good, make mine a medium rare steak with an extra mound of fries. I'm super hungry. Oh and a Razz Berry Pop," Brendan chuckled.

"Okay, your number is right here, number 86, Brendan. It'll be a little while so why don't you have a seat?" Mike said as he took the payment that Brendan was handing him and printed a receipt.

"That sounds good. Thanks," Brendan replied as he took the receipt and headed to a table that had two booths. It was the only one open by the window.

Courtney pushed the door open to the Crooner's Café and was greeted by the sound of wonderful soothing music. She smiled faintly for a moment before assuming her usual uninterested look. She made her way to the cashier who was a girl this time as Mike was helping out in the back.

"Welcome to Crooner's Café! What can I get you?" The peppy counter girl asked cheerfully.

She's almost too excited to work here.

"I'll take the special with a side salad. Also, a Razz Berry Pop please," she added, taking out her card to pay for the order.

"Okay! Coming right up!" The girl beamed, causing Courtney to raise a brow.

She shrugged as the girl turned away, only to nearly trip over herself as she saw Brendan again. She blinked, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She wasn't. Great. She noticed where he sat and then looked around the dining room. Remembering their last meeting, she smirked and sauntered to his table.

Brendan looked out the window of the café and stared at the sunset. It was beautiful to say the least.

"Is this seat taken?" Came a familiar voice. Shivers ran down Brendan's spine.

Crap.

Brendan looked up to see Courtney looking down at him, her half smiling and half awake face greeting him.

"N-no it's fine. You can sit there," Brendan replied, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Thank you, it's crowded in here. This spot seemed pretty removed from it all," Courtney pointed out.

"Yeah, it is" Brendan fumbled for more words. "So, we meet again huh? I honestly wasn't sure when we would."

"Oh? So you were hoping to see me again huh?" Courtney replied, crossing one leg over the other, bouncing it as she talked.

"Well I-" he was interrupted as a waiter came by with their drinks and food.

"Razz Berry Pop huh? I take it that's your favorite?" Courtney asked as she took up a fork and dug into the salad.

Brendan took a swig for a moment. It was mostly to get rid of the nervous feeling he was experiencing.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He asked in reply.

Courtney giggled. Arceus it was cute!

"It's been shown in several studies that people order their favorite drinks around 95 percent of the time when they go out. Great choice if I may add," Courtney added, indicating to the meal and drink.

"Thanks," Brendan replied, cutting into his steak and taking the first bite. It was quite possibly the juiciest steak he'd ever tasted. The only thing that beat it was his mother's. Call him biased, but she was a bomb cook.

"Enjoying it I see?" Courtney said as she sipped her drink.

"Y-yeah, I was just really hungry," Brendan stated, taking another mouthful.

This is either really coincidental or I just came at the right time. Either way, I have to keep my cool. Focus Brendan, focus!

"So, last time we met, you said you would tell me your name if we saw each other again," Brendan reminded.

Courtney paused. She did say that didn't she? There was no harm in telling him, she supposed.

"True, I did say that. I wasn't expecting to see you here again so soon, but why not?" She stated, reaching her hand across the table, I'm Courtney."

Brendan, though still fighting his nerves, took her hand and gave his best, confident smile.

"Nice to finally know your name," Brendan replied.

Analyzing, processing...

He appears to have been wondering what my name was since I left him here.

Interesting...

"Well it is only fair. I knew your name, and now you know mine," she said with a faint smile, her dreamy lilac eyes boring into him.

Arceus, was she trying to kill him!? Brendan did his best to not lose himself into her hypnotic half shut gaze. He distracted himself with his food and continued to converse with her.

"So, you beat Wattson. I saw the match. You were brilliant," she praised him, causing him to smile.

"Thanks. It was a hard-fought battle, but we came out on top," Brendan replied with a smirk.

As will I, Brendan, as will I...

"I saw. Your Pokémon did a superb job. It was enjoyable to watch. Your family must be proud," Courtney pointed out.

"Yep! They called me afterwards. Mom was so stoked she could hardly contain herself. Dad was happy too," Brendan laughed in reply.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Courtney questioned.

"Well, I am heading out soon to go back to Slateport. May is in a contest there and I'm going to root for her," Brendan replied with casual excitement.

"I see, girlfriend?" Courtney asked curiously, feigning interest.

Brendan did his best not to spit out his drink. He swallowed what he had and chuckled. "Actually no. Just friends. We only met at the beginning of the week and I honestly think of her as more of a sister. Why did you ask?"

Results...satisfactory. Wait...why am I concerned?

"No reason," she lied. "Just curious. Isn't it standard protical to swap information amongst friends?"

Brendan shrugged and nodded. "I guess you're right. It is pretty standard," Brendan replied with a smile.

Courtney smiled back and continued to eat. The duo continued to chat.

May slipped into her sleepwear and crawled into bed. She had a lot of fun with Lisia. They swapped contest ideas and Lisia even gave her pointers for the competition. It was a wonderful day.

Tomorrow's the big day. Mom and dad are gonna be there. Brendan will too! And Lisia will be in the front row! I can't wait! May thought excitedly, a huge smile on her face as she pulled the covers over herself.

Okay May, get it together. You're way too excited. Just calm down and go to sleep.

May slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to dreamland.

Brendan and Courtney stood outside of the Crooner's Café, their eyes cast towards the sky.

"That was fun, Brendan. We'll have to do it again sometime," Courtney said with a faint smile.

"If I can find you again," Brendan teased.

"Oh trust me Brendan, we're bound to meet again," she said with a smirk.

The wind howled by, carrying secrets untold aloft the skies to the moon above. Only the grass and trees knew what those secrets were. Brendan sighed and reached for Skarmory's ball.

"Well, I'd better go. I want to make it there so I can have enough time to sleep," Brendan said as he released Skarmory.

"Have a safe flight then..." Courtney replied with a slight smile.

Brendan was about to get on Skarmory when he felt her get a bit closer. Without warning she pressed her lips to his cheek and pulled back.

"See you..." She began. "And thanks for the fun conversation..." Courtney turned to walk away, glancing back with a wink as she observed her handiwork.

Brendan took a monent to register what had just happened. He blinked and fumbled mentally for words. A trickle of sweat dripped down the side of his face. He wasn't certain how to react. It then occurred to him that he should really get going.

"Y-yeah..see you later. It was fun," Brendan replied nervously before getting on Skarmory and taking to the skies.

And Courtney makes the first move. Albeit a small one, it was her way to show gratitude for a fun night. That and she's just good at this. I mean, she came onto Ruby/Brendan in the manga for Arceus sake! Anyway, that's twenty one parts in the books with more to come! Next stop is the contest!