Erika knows how people describe her: quiet, reserved, composed. She is always proper and polite, even to Surge. Erika, the Nature-Loving Princess, who always maintains her elegant form even when battling, or perhaps, shines in elegance when battling.

What they don't realize is that everything is a force of habit, elegance and tradition forced into her from the moment she could comprehend her own actions. Her family trained her to be the perfect lady and she played the role flawlessly, until she left to become a pokemon trainer.

What she learned from her family, she uses as her weapons. Her smiles are always polite, unassuming to the point of obliviousness, disarming. Because of her smiles, people trust her far too easily than they should. Erika cannot say she can do the same for them. Her family had instilled the notion that everyone only wanted her for her family power far too deeply for her to completely forget. All she has are her pokemon.

It only takes one person.

Sabrina is a complete enigma.

Sabrina, who is both her colleague, who makes it known that she is not here to make friends but is courteous enough, who keeps the same blank look, who has beautiful long hair, who looks at her with those red eyes, who can read her mind, and who does not indulge in any of Erika's attempts at pleasant conversation.

Erika knows how to read people almost as easily as she can arrange flowers. It's a little cheesy to say Sabrina is a rose with its thorns intact but the thought makes Erika laugh.

Even as Erika smiles what she knows to be her most inviting smile, Sabrina still only looks at her with disinterest, eyes narrowed in distrust. Erika is smart enough to know when to run away from losing battles but for some reason, something about Sabrina makes her persistent. It's uncharacteristic of her to act so... foolhardy, she realizes in hindsight.

After all, Sabrina is a psychic and can read her mind, find out what Erika really hides deep down and use it against her if she so wished. However much Erika can twist and manipulate words, they are still no match to the hidden truths Sabrina would be privy to. It should make Erika scared to talk to her, scared that there is someone who can see within the hidden meanings of her sweet words just by looking into her thoughts, but perhaps it is this... danger to herself that spurs her forward in this foolish quest.

When they have League meetings, Erika often flits around the room, chatting to anyone who wants her attention. She has her fair share of admirers even among her fellow gym leaders. She isn't unaware of Brock's and Jasmine's constant glances on her.

But her attention is always caught by Sabrina, who does not join in the pleasantries with everyone, silently brooding in a corner of room instead. Everyone is too intimidated to approach her. Erika thinks it's probably a combination of Sabrina's general demeanor and the fact that she is a psychic. No one wants to talk to someone who can read their mind. All except Erika, it seems.

She tries to ask about Sabrina, get her opinion on things such as being a gym leader, how she raises her Pokemon, generic starters. Each time, Sabrina only gives her short answers and drops the subject before Erika is allowed to pursue it.

Once though, Erika starts off with her usual topics: is her gym is running fine, how are her pokemon, how ridiculous Lance's cape looks today. She pointedly ignores Sabrina's glares, trying her hardest to maintain her polite smile. Erika really feels her patience coming to an end as Sabrina continues to look at her blankly. She only stops speaking when Sabrina raises a hand, looking into her eyes. Despite how stoic Sabrina is, her eyes are the most vibrant shade of red Erika has seen, much more brilliant than any of her flowers if Erika really wanted to say. If not for Sabrina's usual dark demeanor, Erika could never tire of looking at her.

"Why do you keep talking about things you do not care about?" She asks. Erika blinks, the question catching her off-guard. Or really, the fact that Sabrina says it with no derision, only questioningly. "If you do not have anything meaningful to say, I would prefer you not talking at all." Sabrina gets up, leaving Erika stunned. But she does glance at Erika, a hint of a smirk on her mouth. "But I will agree that Lance's cape is ridiculous."

Erika is left speechless for the whole day.

At the next League meeting, Sabrina is by herself, as always. She only glances up when Erika takes a seat next to her. For some reason, she does not have her usual glower on today, having a more neutral look. They sit in silence, the both of them enjoying their drinks.

Erika eyes Sabrina out of the corner of her eye. As usual, Sabrina does not start the conversation, only keeping her gaze on her drink. Erika wants to say something but her mind, for the first time in her life, is truly blank. There are many things she can say about Sabrina, but all of it are her speculations, and after the last meeting, she does not know what to think about her anymore. She does not know what to make of Sabrina, who does not follow the normal rules of what Erika has known.

"Sabrina." Erika does not even realize she's said her name aloud, blinking as Sabrina turns to look at her. "I..." Somehow, Sabrina's stare makes Erika feel small, as if she is insignificant, even if Sabrina still has the same blank stare she always has. Erika feels like everything she has learned is nothing under that stare, but something else rises inside of her instead. She looks up, staring back at those red eyes.

"My name is Erika. I am the Celadon gym leader. I train grass Pokemon and practice the art of flower arrangement." Sabrina's stare seems to push her forward. She takes a deep breath. "To be frank, I do not care much about the matters of people. I only want to work with flowers. Flowers are much easier to understand than people." Erika lets out a shaky breath. It is already hard enough to admit it to herself, but to say that in front of someone else, especially Sabrina...

When Erika finally chances looking up, she is caught off guard by Sabrina's full attention on her, staring intently as if she is seeing something for the first time. A strange feeling also rises in Erika, something she's never felt before. "To be honest, I do not understand flowers, nor the need to make them beautiful." Sabrina's words are not what Erika expects her to say. It takes her a moment to comprehend before she narrows her eyes in anger.

"Precisely because flowers are beautiful in their short life that we must make them much more beautiful to reach their full potential!" Erika retorts, her normally soft voice now full of passion, glaring at Sabrina to say otherwise. She blinks upon realizing that she inadvertently stood up, catching everyone's attention and the room is silent. She quickly sits back down, her face red in embarrassment. Sabrina's chuckle makes her look up. She expects to see a demeaning smile but instead, Sabrina has something like a curious look.

"Didn't that feel nice to say?" Erika opens her mouth to say no, but she closes it, widening her eyes as she looks at Sabrina with realization because she cannot deny her words. This woman... Sabrina swirls the drink in her hands a few times. "Tell me. Tell me about flowers." Erika stares at her, gapes at this woman – no, Sabrina.

For once, Erika doesn't mind that she has no words to say. So she laughs instead, leaning forward on her arms, her manners forgotten. "Are you sure you want me to talk to you about flowers?" Erika challenges, the barest hint of a smirk on her face.

Sabrina only stares back with her own smirk.

"What is this?" Sabrina asks as she looks all around. Erika spreads her arms out, smiling.

"I thought it better to show you." All around them is a giant backdrop of green, plants of all shapes and sizes surrounding them like their own miniature forest. It's not the right season yet though so most of her plants have no flowers, which Erika regrets. They would have looked beautiful to show off. There are oddish hiding here and there, along with bellsprout and tangela running around.

"My personal garden." She hopes Sabrina can see all the hours she's spent in here, weeding everything, meticulously arranging her flowers, making her orchards, everything in this garden. This is her life's work, all in this garden. It's not fully complete though, but it only makes her excited to think how beautiful everything will look once she's done.

She bends down to pick up an oddish that's been wiggling his leaves on her leg, petting him softly. This one always makes sure to greet her whenever she comes.

Although Sabrina doesn't openly gawk, she does look impressed and awed as she looks all around her. Erika watches her reach out to a leaf – they jostle abruptly, the exeggutor turning around, shaking his heads at her. He huffs for a moment before walking away.

"Hm..." Sabrina watches him go and turns to Erika with a sideways glance. "He told me to be nice."

"That one, he's territorial. I catch him chasing new tangela around sometimes." Erika chuckles. "I thought what would happen if I brought someone in here but maybe he ignored you since you're psychic?" Sabrina just hums thoughtfully.

It's taken Erika a while, but she's learned that Sabrina prefers to speak when necessary, almost to the point of absolute necessity. It's a little strange, but she supposes it's because of her psychic abilities. After all, words are only a way to communicate and Sabrina can do that just fine with only her mind.

She doesn't realize she's been staring at Sabrina for a few minutes. Only when the other woman is in front of her, peering down at her with a strange expression does Erika realize. Sabrina is taller than her, not much so, but with her face this close, Erika has to move her head slightly to look up. Her eyes slowly trail up Sabrina's face, unconsciously licking her lips, and she suddenly realizes their close proximity. Too close, too close –

"Would you... ah... like to see the rest of the garden?" Erika mumbles as she turns around abruptly, hiding her face behind the leaves of the oddish as she hurriedly walks away. She doesn't see Sabrina cover her face with her own hand, blinking as she looks away from Erika with a confused expression.

It takes several hours, but Erika manages to give Sabrina a tour of her garden. Sabrina is an attentive listener so Erika's enthusiasm is never curbed. There are several moments where she goes too in-depth about details that are no doubt boring to Sabrina and has to remember herself. She always feels sheepish and apologizes each time although Sabrina doesn't say anything, only giving her a wry smile instead. Finally, when it's done, they sit in the middle of the garden where Erika spreads out a large blanket.

"I love coming in here to sleep sometimes," Erika confesses shyly, looking away from the other woman.

"It certainly is a wonderful place." Sabrina murmurs, looking all around her. She regards Erika with a small tilt of her head, a hint of a smile. "I would not mind coming back here again."

Erika looks away bashfully, the rest of her words dying in her throat.

"The bellsprout I was telling you the other day, they all evolved into weepinbell! You should have seen the looks of everyone when a horde of weepinbell suddenly... what is the word? Bounced? Yes, they bounced through the gym, and when they went outside into the sunlight, they became much more energetic!" Erika is the only one laughing to herself. "I fear if they had wings, they would have all flown away. It was a good thing they weren't our hoppip."

"You didn't bother rounding them up?" To anyone else, Sabrina looks bored, even disinterested in what Erika has to say, but her red eyes remain fixed on Erika's beaming face. Erika won't lie to herself that she likes having Sabrina's attention on her, especially when the psychic seems to concentrate only on her.

"Ah, no. I didn't want to. They looked so free and happy in the sunlight. I wanted to join them, dancing out there," Erika confesses in a soft tone, her face softening as she looks at her cup of tea. Sabrina gives no response, only watching her. A presence next to their table makes them look up.

"Um... have... you found everything t- to your liking?" The waitress squeaks out, feeling intimidated when Sabrina turns her glance on her. With the angle of Sabrina's face and her naturally narrowed eyes, she looks as if she is glaring at the waitress, although Erika has long learned that this is simply how Sabrinia looks. Erika coughs politely to gather the waitress' attention and easily puts on a friendly smile.

"Yes, everything is fine, thank you. Although, could we get more refills on our tea, if you please?" Erika asks softly, her face relaxed in contrast to Sabrina's. The waitress looks at her and relaxes as well, nodding and smiling.

"Right away!" Their eyes follow her until Erika can't hold it in anymore. She brings up her hand to laugh behind her sleeve.

"... did you find that funny?" Sabrina asks with a frown.

"Sabrina, it doesn't hurt to at least look like you're not going to bite heads off." Erika manages to say between her giggles. Sabrina narrows her eyes and is about to retort when the waitress comes back, setting the tea down. With the way Sabrina's eyes have narrowed even further and her slight scowl, Sabrina looks furious. The waitress quickly flees. Erika can't help it – she giggles again. Sabrina frowns and sighs resignedly.

"What nonsense." They lapse into another silence afterward. Erika looks up from her tea, eying Sabrina, tracing the path of her hair as it falls over her shoulder.

"You have beautiful hair, you know." Erika remarks, almost offhandedly. Sabrina looks up abruptly, giving her an incredulous look.

"... don't say such unnecessary things," Sabrina mutters as she takes a sip of her tea. Erika can't help but stare at Sabrina's face. Red really is such a nice color on her.

"Have you ever imagined yourself with short hair?" she says instead, to distract herself. It doesn't help.

"Erika." Sabrina says her name in that exasperated tone she's been doing much more lately. Erika only smiles and drinks most of her tea in one go.

Lance is once again making some long-winded speech. She long forgot what it was about, along with everyone else in the room she bets. Erika knows how to make herself look attentive and be secretly dozing off inside. With the rumors she hears in her gym though, maybe she isn't as perfect at it as she thinks she is. Still, everyone else here is fooled or kind enough to not say anything. Except one person.

"Wake up." Years of training have taught Erika to not jump, but she does open her eyes, blinking rapidly. Misty, sitting across from her, gives her a strange look. Erika smiles, which Misty returns but turns her attention elsewhere, just as bored. Erika glances over at Sabrina, who is sitting with her arms crossed, fingers tapping against her arm. "If I must endure this, then you will too."

Erika has never wanted to break composure to groan aloud until now.

"Welcome to the Saffron Gym." A man at the door greets Erika, nodding to her. "If you wish to challenge Sabrina, take the teleporter – " he stops speaking when Erika waves her arms.

"No, no, I am not a challenger. I was wondering... if Sabrina is here?" The man blinks, not expecting her to ask directly for Sabrina.

"Wait here a moment please." He steps onto a different teleporter than the one he pointed her toward.

Offhandedly, Erika wonders if she should feel insulted that he doesn't recognize her. She woke up today and simply didn't feel like spending the time to get into the elaborate kimono she's known for, so she's wearing something casual today, only a simple skirt and blouse. Not wearing her kimono makes her feel much lighter, like she'll fly away as well if she weren't paying attention.

She looks around the gym, wondering how different Sabrina's is from her's. It is more correct to describe Erika's gym as more of a greenhouse, if anything. Sabrina's gym looks... much too advanced for Erika to be comfortable in here. Perhaps that was the challenge of the gym itself? To be able to navigate the teleporters in the gym? Were there more than one? She wonders how it feels like to go through them. Does Sabrina feel the same thing when she teleports?

Sabrina takes this moment to appear, her red eyes roaming slightly until they settle on Erika. She blinks again, looking over Erika for a moment before she coughs politely into her hand. Erika pointedly ignores how hot her cheeks have become.

An espeon rests on her shoulder, mewling, before it jumps off and bounds to Erika, sniffing her. The espeon mewls again. Erika leans down to scratch... it? It jumps into her arms, settling itself comfortably within them. Sabrina sighs, shaking her head.

"... his name is Eifie." she says when Erika looks at her questioningly. Erika smiles, scratching his chin, enjoying his purr and how he rubs his head against her. An idea strikes Erika.

"Would you like to have a battle?"

"Hm?" Erika knows Sabrina has heard her, by the way those red eyes are too focused on her. "Now?"

"When else, silly?" Erika answers with a sweet tone. Sabrina regards at her for a moment before she shrugs, gesturing for Erika to follow after her.

She's led into a stadium, presumably where challengers battle Sabrina. The trainers in the gym get up to see what the commotion is, whispering excitedly to themselves when Sabrina teleports herself to one end and Erika stands at another.

It's been a long time since Erika ever felt excitement from a pokemon battle. The only thing she can see in front of her right now is Sabrina.

They're down to their last Pokemon, Victreebel and Alakazam. Erika's panting, feeling sweat sticking to her forehead and elsewhere, trying to hold herself up. It feels too hot in this room, no thanks to a Sunny Day being in play. It feels gross, the dirtiest she's ever been, even when out gardening. She expects to get dirty when she's out in the garden, not battling. Never when battling. If only her trainers could see her now, how far she looks from the picture of elegance and poise she's known for. Her reputation would be sullied!

She's never felt better in her whole life.

Sabrina is also breathing heavily, a hand to her forehead, a gesture that Erika recognizes as her tiring.

"Leaf Blade!" Erika commands, eyes narrowed in determination as she looks at Sabrina. The psychic happens to look at her in that same instant, red eyes focused entirely on her. Erika doesn't know what exactly happens, but she's struck by something odd in that moment, a strange feeling in her chest. It makes her think that this is her chance and if she doesn't take it now, she might never have the courage to do so ever again. She wants to be the one to catch Sabrina off guard this time. She looks back into those red eyes and with a huge grin, cups her hands to her mouth.

"I'm in love with you!" Erika screams across the stadium, completely forgoing all her training in etiquette and manners. Both Sabrina and Alakazam freeze simultaneously. Victreebel swings her Leaf Blade into Alakazam in that moment, knocking him out.

Erika's breathing hard, bent over slightly, a hand on her chest to steady her heart that feels like it's going to burst out of her. Her face is red from either exertion or embarrassment, she doesn't know and frankly she does not care. Victreebel gives a shriek of victory and that's when it really hits Erika.

Sabrina is still frozen, openly gaping at her. It's the most emotion Erika's ever seen on her face.

Erika just raises her arms in triumph, laughing wildly.