Hands Down 2: Electric Boogaloo

	“Hey, Rosa. Wake up, sleepyhead.”
	“Wh-wha…?”
	 Rosa opened her eyes slowly and groggily. Roxie was sitting facing Rosa, lightly shoving Rosa’s shoulder.
	“Come on, today’s training day. You’ll never become the Champion if you sleep all day.” Roxie giggled softly.
	Rosa slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, then yawned.
	“I- An extra hour of sleep isn’t going to hurt...”
	Pouting, Roxie stared dead into Rosa’s eyes.
	“Those aren’t the words of a future Champion!”
	“A-ah!”
	In a swift, connected motion Roxie pushed herself back, turned and got off the bed, then did a quick hop with her hands at her hips while staring down at Rosa menacingly, like a little girl attempting to imitate a Navy Seal drill instructor.
	“Up and at ‘em Rosa! You don’t have time to waste! I’m going to make you the very best, like no one else before!”
	Rosa couldn’t help but laugh at how silly Roxie was sounding. Roxie didn’t appreciate that, however, and leaned forward, angrily staring right into Rosa’s eyes, still caught up in her act.
	“Did I say something funny?! Do you think this is a game?!” Roxie said, barely able to conceal that she was also on the verge of laughing, “For real though, get up. I’m making breakfast.”
	The promise of food was enough for to motivate Rosa out of bed. She slid herself forward, forcing Roxie to step backward. Roxie had an unimpressed look in her eye as she turned, and beckoned Rosa to follow her to the kitchen.
-	-	-	-	-
	After having breakfast, the two girls got dressed, then headed over to the Virbank Industrial Complex, which— according to Roxie— was where Rosa’s training was going to take place. By the time they had got there it was almost noon, and there were already some other people training. The first thing on Roxie’s to-do list for Rosa was to catch some more Pokémon. After Rosa caught a few Pokémon (A Growlithe, an Elekid, and a Koffing) and battled a few of the other trainers in the Complex Roxie decided that the two should break for lunch. They decided to go to a diner that was nearby. A little behind the bustle of the lunch rush, they didn’t have to wait that long for a table, and before long they had their orders placed and had nothing left to do but wait.
	“You’re doing good so far, Rosa. How about after we go for round two of training we stop at the Pokémon Center for a bit to heal up your Pokémon, then stop over at the Gym, so our battle will be legit.”
	“S-sounds good!”
	“And if you beat me and get your badge tonight, then that leaves tomorrow completely free for our trip to Castelia.”
	The mention of their trip made Rosa perk up. They had talked about it a lot yesterday, and though she was really excited for it, Rosa had actually forgotten about it due to being focused on her training.
	“Right...”
	“And while we’re there you can challenge Burgh, and I can cheer you on!” The two laughed.
	“And then after we could-” Rosa stopped herself.
	She realized that Roxie wouldn’t be able follow her around forever, and after their trip to Castelia Roxie would have to go back to Virbank, while Rosa would continue on her journey. She let her head droop. Roxie picked up on Rosa’s sudden mood shift, and asked,
	“Rosa? What’s wrong?”
	“I... I just realized, after Castelia, we’re going to have to say goodbye, aren’t we?”
	Roxie frowned.
	“Yeah, I guess so.” Roxie looked like she wanted to say something more, but couldn’t think of what.
	The two sat in gloomy silence, not even speaking after their food arrived. They ate quickly, paid, and left the diner, eager to get back to focusing on Rosa’s training. As they walked out of the diner a girl ran up to Roxie. They looked upset.
	“Roxie! It’s Team Plasma! They attacked some trainers, and took their Pokémon!”
	“What, where?! We have to hurry!”
	“By the Pokémon Center!”
	Without another word, Roxie grabbed Rosa by the wrist, and the two ran to the Pokémon Center. It didn’t take long to get there, and there was a group of trainers standing together, consoling each other— Rosa recognized a few as trainers from the Virbank Industrial Complex earlier. The sound of the two girls’ footsteps alerted the trainers to their approach.
	“You’re the ones who were attacked by Team Plasma? Where did they go?!” She exuded such a commanding aura that if it wasn’t for the gravity of the current situation Rosa wouldn’t be able to help but laugh at her.
	One of the older trainers trainer looked up, with tears in their eyes, before pointing towards the gate out to Route 20.
	“Again…?” Roxie muttered to herself.
	Rosa gave Roxie a questioning look, but before she could ask what Roxie had meant she had already began running off, so Rosa took off after her.
-	-	-	-	-
	Once on Route 20 they spotted a trio of Plasma grunts almost immediately— unfortunately the grunts saw them as well, and ran off. Rosa and Roxie kept pursuit.
	“Hey, Roxie!” Rosa said, as they ran.
	“Yeah?”
	“Before, what did you mean by ‘again’? Team Plasma broke up two years ago, didn’t they?”
	“It’s kind of a long story. I can’t really explain it right now. I did just have run-in with them recently though.”
	Rosa, now starting to pant, realized it was better to wait until later to learn more about Team Plasma. The grunts they were following turned, continuing down the path.
	“They’re headed into Flocessy Town!”
	The girls followed them around the bend to see two of the grunts stop and turn around, while the last one veered off the path into the woods. Without a word the two grunts tossed out a Pokéball each, sending out a Krokorok and a Scrafty. Rosa and Roxie stopped, staring down the two grunts in front of them. Roxie sent out her Scolipede. Rosa, however, was unsure of whom to send out. She figured that Riolu would probably be the safest choice, and after their training earlier she felt that he should be able to handle himself better. Still, she felt uncertain about sending him out against evolved Pokémon. Despite her concerns, she removed his Pokéball from her waist and sent him out.
	Roxie, not wanting to waste time, had already ordered her Scolipede to use Megahorn on the Scrafty. The Scolipede rammed the other Pokémon with its head, sending the smaller Pokémon flying backward; the Scrafty hit the ground and struggled to get back up, but failed— falling back to the ground, defeated. The first grunt recalled her Pokémon. Angered at how quickly his partner’s Pokémon was defeated the other grunt commanded his Krokorok to use Crunch on Roxie’s Scolipede. The crocodile Pokémon hurried over to Roxie’s Scolipede and clamped its powerful jaws around the other Pokémon’s throat. The Scolipede let out a roar of pain, and shook the Krokorok off of itself. The Krokorok was knocked off balance, and Rosa saw a chance for a powerful attack.
	“Riolu, use Force Palm!”
	Her Riolu rushed toward the Krokorok, and thrust his open paws into its side. The attack hit the Krokorok hard, but wasn’t enough to take it out. Without waiting for input from her trainer, Roxie’s Scolipede rammed its head into the other Pokémon, knocking it out. The grunt recalled his Pokémon.
	“Dammit, these Pokémon are useless!”
	Now with no way to stop the girls from continuing, the two grunts turned and ran into the woods. Roxie took off after them, and Rosa followed.
-	-	-	-	-
	It wasn’t too much longer before they found themselves within sight of the small camp set up by Team Plasma. The two stopped far enough away so that they wouldn’t get spotted, and began to plot what they were going to do next.
	“There aren’t any more here,” Roxie said, “so the ones we saw must be the only Plasma members in the area.”
	Indeed, there were only three people in the camp. Roxie scanned the area, to make sure there weren’t other members hiding out in the woods.
	“Most likely those are the two we just beat and the leader of their group, so hopefully we only have one battle ahead of us. I’ll handle it— if he’s the one in charge he might be a bit too tough for you at your level.”
	Rosa just nodded silently.
	Roxie stepped out from behind the tree, holding one of her Pokéballs out in front of her. It the same commanding voice as earlier, she said,
	“Members of Team Plasma, I’m the leader of the Virbank Gym, Roxie! I heard about you stealing Pokémon from trainers, and I’m here to make sure you return them!”
	“Dammit, I thought you idiots lost her! Ugh, I guess I’ll just deal with this myself.”
	The grunt grabbed a Pokéball from his belt and tossed it out in front of him, revealing his first Pokémon, a Zweilous. Roxie responded by throwing down the Pokéball in her hand, sending out her Garbodor. The two trainers shouted their commands simultaneously,
	“All right Garbodor, start off with Focus Blast!”
	“Zweilous, Dragon Rush!”
	The Zweilous ran at Roxie’s Garbodor, ramming it with both of its heads. Though it did decent damage, the attack did not faze the Garbodor, who launched a blast of energy at the other Pokémon. The dragon tumbled backward, but got back up quickly.
	“Again!” The Plasma grunt commanded
	“Garbodor, this time use Sludge Bomb!”
	This time, anticipating the other Pokémon’s movements, the Garbodor shot out its globs of poisonous ooze before the Zweilous could reach it. The dragon Pokémon cried out, and tumbled to the ground— the second attack being enough to defeat it. Cursing, the grunt recalled the fainted Pokémon, then quickly sent out his next, Krookodile. Not wasting time, he ordered it,
	“Use Earthquake, Krookodile!”
	“Okay Garbodor, Focus Blast again!”
	The Krookodile was faster than Roxie’s Garbodor, and its powerful attack was enough to take the Garbodor out before it could even counterattack. Roxie recalled her Garbodor.
	“Crap…”
	Roxie studied her next Pokéball. Her Scolipede was already weakened, but would hopefully be able to take out the grunt’s Krookodile, or at least weaken it sufficiently. With only one other Pokémon left, she didn’t have too many options anyway.
	“Go, Scolipede!”
	Despite being weakened, the Scolipede let out a roar after being release from its Pokéball, as if perfectly fit for battle.
	“Scolipede, use Megahorn!”
	“This time, Crunch!”
	Roxie’s Scolipede reared, while the Krookodile braced itself for the incoming attack. Scolipede charged at the other Pokémon, tossing it back and to the ground. It struggled, but slowly stood back up— it was weakened, and likely wouldn’t last much longer. It lunged at Scolipede and sunk its teeth into its neck. Scolipede let out a weak roar and fell forward. It collapsed onto the Krookodile and the two Pokémon fainted at once. The trainers recalled their Pokémon. Roxie was worried now— she was down to her last Pokémon, and if she lost and Rosa stepped in to back her up she might not be strong enough to stand up to the grunt. She clenched her last Pokéball tightly, as if to infuse it with her desire to win, then tossed it forward, revealing her final Pokémon, a Toxicroak. The grunt sent out his next Pokémon as well, a Bisharp. Neither trainer made a command right away, as though they were both carefully plotting out their next move. Roxie was the first to break the silence,
	“Drain Punch, Toxicroak!”
	Obeying its command, Toxicroak ran at the grunt’s Bisharp.
	“Double Team!”
	Suddenly, Roxie’s Toxicroak found itself rushing at one of three Bisharp, with no idea as to which was the real one. Regardless, it picked a target and swung its fist at one of the Bisharp. It chose poorly— the mirror image it had attacked faded, leaving the Toxicroak wide open to a counterattack.
	“Iron Head!”
	The Bisharp rammed his head into the Toxicroak’s back. The Toxicroak fell to the ground, before quickly rolling out of the Bisharp’s reach and hopping to its feet.
	“Bisharp, use Iron Head again!”
	“Use Protect, Toxicroak!”
	The Bisharp ran up to head butt the Toxicroak again, but Toxicroak raised its arms up, and blocked the attack, then hopped backward.
	“Try Drain Punch again!”
	“Another Double Team!”
	Roxie’s Toxicroak once again found itself having to pick one of several targets, with no way to tell which was the real one. It took a random guess, swung, and once again chose the wrong target. This time however, it anticipated the Bisharp’s counterattack, and quickly dashed away after its failed attack. The two Pokémon were staring each other down once more, the Bisharp still completely healthy, while the Toxicroak was starting to show a little wear, from the earlier attack and the exertion of all its dodging.
	Roxie was unsure as to what her next move should be. So long as the Bisharp could keep using Double Team her Toxicroak’s ability to hit it is completely based on luck, and Toxicroak was also starting to get worn out— it probably would be unable to survive even one more attack. Roxie began to run through possible strategies in her head. Noticing her hesitation, however, the grunt took advantage, and ordered his Pokémon to attack again. Roxie shouted to her Toxicroak to protect itself again, to buy her more time to figure out what to do. The Bisharp attacked once, then twice, but her Toxicroak successfully defended against both blows. Roxie was desperate now— the Bisharp’s next attack would most likely be the decisive blow. As it rushed to close the distance between itself and Roxie’s Pokémon, Roxie realized she had no more time to think, and needed to act immediately.
	“Toxicroak! Drain Punch, one more time!”
	The Toxicroak let loose one last punch. This time, being in the middle of an attack of its own, the grunt’s Bisharp was unable to dodge and took the blow right to its head. It was knocked backward, and fell to the ground— that one attack was enough. The grunt recalled his Pokémon, and when he didn’t send out another one, Roxie felt her entire body relax.
	“Crap, I’m out of Pokémon. Hurry you two! Leave everything, retreat!”
	The three grunts bolted off. When Roxie didn’t chase after them, Rosa rushed up to see what was wrong.
	“Roxie, shouldn’t we chase after them? She asked.
	“We should… But my Pokémon are too tired to fight them, and if they lead us to another grunt like that one we wouldn’t be able to handle them.” Roxie scanned the camp. “They left all their stuff; the Pokémon they took might still be here too. Let’s look around.”
	It didn’t take long at all to find the stolen Pokémon, the Pokéballs being in a rather obvious place— tossed in a crate of supplies, just barely covered. The girls didn’t know how many Pokémon had been stolen, but they had no reason to think any more were missing. Regardless, they kept looking around for a little longer, although they didn’t find anything else of interest. After deciding that they had nothing else to find, the girls decided to head back to Virbank.
-	-	-	-	-
	The trainers were still at the Pokémon Center when Rosa and Roxie returned. They handed out the Pokéball they had retrieved to their rightful owners, before leaving their own Pokémon to rest up. After refusing to take anything other than simple words for thanks, the two girls left to go and celebrate their small victory on their own.
	“So, Rosa, where do you want to go?” Roxie asked.
	“Um, I dunno.”
	“Hmm… Well how about… Ice cream?”
	Rosa liked that idea.
	“Ooh, yeah!”
	“Just follow me then.” Roxie said, with a playful smile and a girlish giggle.
	It was more than a bit out-of-character for her, which took Rosa by surprise. Rosa decided to take a bit of revenge for catching her off guard like that; wrapping her arm around Roxie’s, then gently taking hold of her hand and giving it a quick squeeze. Roxie’s face turned bright red as she tried and failed to stammer out a protest. Rosa, enjoying watching Roxie squirm, kept at it— tightly pressing herself into Roxie’s arm. That was the last straw for Roxie, though, and she pulled away from Rosa before sputtering out,
	“A-aren’twesupposedtobegettingicecreamcomeon!”
	She took Rosa by the wrist, and began quickly walking, deliberately avoiding looking back at Rosa, although Rosa could easily see that the color of her face had yet to fade back to normal. Rosa giggled to herself, and allowed herself to be tugged along.
-	-	-	-	-
	They arrived at a small Italian ice parlor after a few minutes of walking. Rosa recognized the red and white stripes on the building— it was part of a chain, and there was a similar one back in Aspertia too. The line wasn’t too long, but it still took them about five minutes to get their order. After getting their ice cream the girls chose a bench underneath the shade of a large tree to sit and enjoy their ice cream. It was then that Rosa realized it hadn’t been since lunch that the two had really had a chance to talk.
	“Roxie,” she paused for a moment, not actually sure what she was going to say, “your Pokémon were really cool earlier!”
	Roxie smiled.
	“You think so? Thanks.”
	“I guess you have to be so strong though, right? You’re a Gym Leader!”
	“Ha ha. I mean, yeah, I guess. I’m not that strong though, really.”
	“You were though! Especially your Toxicroak! Watching it against that Bisharp was so intense! Like, it seemed like you might have lost for a little bit, but Toxicroak pulled through! It actually made me want to train one too!”
	A mischievous grin grew on Roxie’s face.
	“Really? Well, I have a Croagunk that was left with me by a trainer that couldn’t really keep him under control. He’s kind of ornery, and might be a bit hard to take care of, but I think you should be able to handle it. If you want him he’s yours.”
	Rosa’s mind immediately drifted away from her ice cream as she contemplated whether or not to take the Pokémon. She was worried about not being able to train the Croagunk— she wouldn’t be able to face Roxie if she had to give it up. Roxie, noticing the troubled look on Rosa’s face, said,
	“Oh, it’s not as bad as I’m making it seem. You could definitely handle it.”
	“O-okay then.”
	Roxie laughed.
	“All right then, well, if you can beat me later, he’s yours.”
	Rosa had completely forgotten about their upcoming battle in the commotion earlier. They lost out on practice time, and since Roxie did most of the battling Rosa and her Pokémon lost out on valuable experience. She didn’t if she had gotten enough— it would be quite a shame to lose again.
	“A-are you sure I’m ready? I didn’t get as much practice as I was supposed to. Maybe we should wait another day.”
	“Nah, you’re going to be fine— I believe in you! If you want we can go back to the Complex and practice a bit more, though.”
	“Y-yeah, let’s do that.”
	“All right! Well, actually we should wait until we finish our ice cream first.”
	They did so— taking their time to enjoy themselves— before leaving. They were on the other side of the town as the Virbank Complex, so it took some time for them to get back to it. By the time they got to the Complex it was starting to get late. There was still enough time for them to get a decent amount practice in before heading back to the Pokémon Center one last time for the day.
	“After your Pokémon are healed up we’ll head over to the gym— y’know, so it’ll be official.” Roxie told Rosa as they waited.
	“Okay.”
	It was only a few minutes before the two girls were back out wandering the streets of Virbank, and only a few more before they found themselves walking down the steps into the Virbank Gym. The main room of the venue was mostly empty, there were some people sitting at the bar in the corner, and on the stage was a few people setting up some equipment— Roxie explained to Rosa that there was going to be a DJ duo performing later. The unexpected presence of the Virbank Gym Leader drew the attention of everyone in the room, and everyone turned to watch them as the two girls made their way to the center of the room. Nicky, one of the people setting up on the stage, came down to them, and said to Roxie,
	“Hey, what’s up?”
	“We’re just gonna have our rematch. We won’t be long; I promise.”
	“Well whatever, I guess. Doors aren’t gonna open for the show for a while, so you should be fine. Are you two gonna stick around after?”
	“I dunno; I’m pretty beat. I don’t care much for Sugar and Spice either. Do you want to see them Rosa?”
	“Um, I don’t really mind either way.”
	“All right then, whatever.” Nicky said, as he turned to walk back over to the stage. He stopped, however, and turned back to Roxie. “Damian’s going to make a guest appearance tonight, still not interested?”
	“Why would I care about that jackass? Nah, we’re beat anyway; Team Plasma was causing trouble again earlier, and we had to deal with them.”
	Nicky just shrugged wordlessly, and headed back to the stage. Roxie turned on her heel and took a few steps backward to make some space between her and Rosa.
	“I’m going to use the same team as our last battle, so you know who I’m going to use. No pressure; you can do it.” She said, throwing down her first Pokéball, revealing her Koffing. Rosa, in return, sent out her Growlithe.
	“Growlithe, start off with Fire Fang!”
	“Use Smog, Koffing!”
	Rosa’s Pokémon ran at Roxie’s Koffing, flames already licking out of its mouth. It leaped into the air, and chomped its teeth down on the Koffing. The Koffing countered, however, by expelling a noxious gas. Rosa’s Growlithe recoiled back— the attack had caught it off guard, and it inhaled almost all of the gas. It was weakened, poisoned by the Koffing’s attack.
	“Oh no, already... Come on, Growlithe, you can do it! Use Fire Fang again!”
	“Use Venoshock, Koffing!”
	Growlithe, shaking off its weakness temporarily, lunged at Roxie’s Koffing. It sunk its teeth in, then quickly let go to avoid a repeat of the last attack. It stepped back, preparing to dodge, but Koffing had a head start, and expelled its green slime onto Growlithe’s head. Growlithe howled, and slumped to the ground, defeated. Rosa recalled her first Pokémon, then sent out her second, Psyduck.
	“Use Confusion Psyduck!”
	“Smog, Koffing!”
	Already weakened, the single attack was enough to finish Roxie’s Koffing off. Roxie recalled it, then sent out her next Pokémon, Grimer.
	“Use Confusion again!” Rosa said, a confident smile on her face.
	“Disable, Grimer!”
	Psyduck was faster, and Roxie’s Grimer was hit with psychic waves before it could attack. The Grimer felt the attack, but shrugged it off, before sending a similar looking attack back at Rosa’s Psyduck. This attack didn’t do any damage; however, instead preventing Psyduck from being able to use Confusion again. Rosa realized she might be in trouble.
	“Oh no... Try Water Pulse!”
	“Grimer, now use Poison Gas!”
	Rosa’s Psyduck aimed and let loose a burst of high-pressure water at the other Pokémon. It was a powerful hit, and Roxie’s Grimer was obviously hurting now. It wasn’t out for the count just yet though, and let out what seemed to just be a playfully defiant belch, but too late Rosa realized that that was its attack, and her Psyduck found itself engulfed in a toxic cloud— poisoned. She had her Psyduck use Water Pulse again, and the attack was enough to take out Roxie’s Grimer before it could unleash an attack of its own. Roxie recalled it, and sent out her Whirlipede.
	“All right Rosa, you got me down to my last Pokémon! Just a little bit more!”
	Rosa giggled. It was kind of funny to her to have her opponent cheering her on. Invigorated by how close her victory was, Rosa confidently ordered her Pokémon to use Water Pulse one more time.
	“Venoshock, Whirlipede!”
	Roxie’s Pokémon was just slightly faster, and the glob of green slime it launched hit Rosa’s Psyduck square in the face, causing it to lose its aim, and its attack to miss. It reacted with the poison already in the Psyduck’s body, and increasing its power. The Psyduck let out a cry in pain; it wouldn’t be able to stand another attack. Rosa quickly skimmed through her bag for an Antidote; however, she didn’t have one. She quickly wondered if Roxie had purposely avoided having Rosa stock up— a way to make the battle more fun, perhaps? She didn’t have the time to think about it at the moment, maybe she would ask Roxie about it after, but right now she needed to win this fight. She recalled her Psyduck— it wasn’t going to be able to do anything of use in its current shape. She wasn’t in any danger of losing the battle, really— she still had most of her party left— but she would prefer to win without the handicap of using more Pokémon than Roxie. She still had her Riolu, Elekid, Servine, and Koffing. Koffing didn’t have any attacks that would do any good against a Whirlipede, and sending Servine against a Bug/Poison type would be a terribly dumb move. She had a choice between her Riolu and Elekid. Her Riolu was stronger, and better trained, but the only move it really would have to use would be Return. Her Elekid would be a bit better equipped for this fight, but it was also the last Pokémon she had caught, and so the least trained Pokémon on her team. She thought it over, then decided on her next Pokémon.
	“Riolu, go!”
	In a flash of light her next Pokémon was standing on the battlefield, raring to go. Roxie studied Rosa’s Riolu with a look that betrayed that she didn’t actually have a particularly good counter for it herself.
	“Venoshock, Whirlipede!”
	“Use Return, Riolu!”
	Rosa’s Riolu was slightly faster, and gave its opponent a hard punch, knocking it back. The Whirlipede was still lively though, and not near ready to go down just yet. Another glob of green slime was sent in the Riolu’s direction, and scored a direct hit. However, Rosa’s Pokémon didn’t have any poison in its body beforehand, so the Whirlipede’s Venoshock was not as powerful as it had be earlier. The two Pokémon stared each other down, awaiting their owner’s next commands.
	“Return again!”
	“Venoshock!”
	This time, the Whirlipede was faster, and Riolu took a glob of slime right to its face. It withstood the attack, and ran at the Whirlipede, punching it again. As it steadied itself after its last attack, Rosa noticed it was poisoned— it must’ve been affected by the Whirlipede’s Poison Point. Both Pokémon were rather weak now; the next attack would be decisive. Both trainers ordered their Pokémon to use the same attack a third time. Roxie’s Whirlipede was slightly faster, but Rosa’s Riolu dived to the side dodging the attack, before running up to its opponent. Instead of a punch this time, it tackled the Whirlipede. Roxie’s Pokémon was knocked back, and after a moment dropped to its side, defeated. Both girls stood in silence for a moment, as if they had yet to process that their battle was over. Roxie was actually the first to come to her senses, recalling her Pokémon.
	“All right!” She ran over to Rosa, and gave her a big hug. “You did it!”
	Rosa, jarred out of her stupor, said,
	“I-I did!”
	Roxie let go of Rosa, searched herself for a moment, then sheepishly said,
	“I, uh, I don’t have any of my badges on me... Just wait here for a sec!”
	Roxie ran off towards the stage. Rosa noticed a tall figure standing next to her as she was watching Roxie. She turned to face it— it was a Lucario. Her Riolu must’ve evolved while she wasn’t paying attention.
	“O-oh...” Was all she could stammer out, caught completely off guard. After Regaining her composure she gave it a big hug, and recalled it. She noticed Roxie once again standing in front of her.
	“Roxie! My Riolu evolved!”
	Roxie laughed.
	“I noticed.” She held out her left hand. “This is the Toxic Badge! You’ve earned it.” She gently placed the badge in Rosa’s hand.
	“Th-thanks!”
	Next she held out her right hand— in it, a disc.
	“This is another extra gift, TM09. It’ll teach a Pokémon of your choice Venoshock.”
	“Okay. Thanks for this too then!”
	Neither said anything for a moment, although Roxie had an annoyed look on her face as if she was expecting something more from Rosa. It quickly faded into a smile, though, and she took Rosa by the wrist and rushed out of the building. Once outside Roxie shot a dirty look at the small crowd congregating outside the Gym for the show later. She turned to face Rosa.
	“I'm starting to feel hungry. How about we go grab some dinner?”
	“Okay, sure! I’m actually kind of feeling hungry too.”
	“Cool, any preference? Pizza, Chinese, fast food? If not we can go back to the diner from earlier; it’s the closest food place.”
	“I don’t really care... Let’s go back to the diner.”
	“All right then!”
	Roxie didn’t let go of Rosa’s wrist, but this time didn’t rush nor lead Rosa along, instead walking slower, at a more comfortable pace.
-	-	-	-	-
	It took a little over a half hour to reach the diner from the gym. It was busy at this hour, and they found themselves having to wait quite a while before they were seated. By the time they had their table they were both starving, and didn’t have anything on their minds except ordering their food. They gave their waitress their orders, and, as they were waiting, chattered mindlessly.
	“So tomorrow, we’ll wake up bright and early, and after breakfast we’ll head over to the docks and I’ll have my dad take us to Castelia.”
	“Okay.”
	“Yeah, we’ll go sightseeing, and then at the end of the day I’ll take you over to the Gym, so you can battle Burgh!”
	“You think I’ll be ready for him without any extra training?”
	“Sure I do! You’ll be able to handle Burgh, no problem!”
	Rosa couldn’t tell if Roxie’s confidence in her was genuine or not, but it was contagious— she found herself ready to take on Burgh, with absolute certainty that she would beat him.
	“Okay then! Well, what else is there to do in Castelia?”
	“A lot! We can go to Liberty Garden, and the Unity Tower! There’s the Central Plaza... We could get Casteliacones! We could even go to Studio Castelia, they always have really cool art exhibits!”
	“Sounds like fun! Are you into art like that? You don’t seem like you would be.”
	“Surprised? I probably don’t really look like the kind of person who would be, I’ll admit. I am though; I’m actually pretty good friends with Burgh, even. Some times when he comes by Virbank I’ll go with him when he goes looking for ‘inspiration’. It doesn’t really work for me or my music as much as much as it seems to work for him though. He says it probably is because my ‘wild and untamed energy just isn’t compatible with the calmness of nature’.” She laughed. “His words, not mine. He said an industrial port city like Virbank is perfect for me though, although I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult.”
	Rosa giggled. That did seem like a rather spot-on appraisal of Roxie. Their food arrived after a few more minutes, and with all their work done for the day they were in no rush, eating at their own pace. By the time they paid for their food and left the restaurant they had been there for a bit over an hour and a half. They began walking back to Roxie’s house. They passed by the Gym on their way, and the sound of the music caught Rosa’s ear. It didn’t sound too bad, and made her kind of want to get a better listen. Roxie seemed to notice Rosa’s interest, and said,
	“If you want to step in and listen, we could.”
	“Y-yeah! I want to listen. We don’t have to stay for the entire thing, just for a little bit.”
	“All right.”
	The two walked into the Gym. They were stopped by the bouncer, but as soon as he recognized Roxie he let them enter free-of-charge. Inside the main room of the Gym Rosa was surprised to see that the musicians on the stage weren’t playing actual instruments, but instead there was one girl singing, while another was playing around with a whole bunch of electronic stuff in ways that Rosa had no way to even comprehend. The music was a lot different than what Rosa had heard the other night— instead of punk rock, it was electronic dance music. Rosa found herself enjoying it, although Roxie was disinterested. The song they were playing ended, and the singer addressed the crowd,
	“Well I hope you guys have enjoyed us so far! For the next couple songs we’re going to bring up a good friend of ours, Damian Perry, of Northern Lights!”
	The audience erupted into applause as Damian walked out from the right side of the stage. He picked up a guitar on a stand in the back, slung the strap over his shoulder, and strummed a few loud chords. The audience got louder as if to match the volume of his guitar. He waved and smiled out to the crowd, but didn’t actually say anything. The singer spoke again instead,
	“Okay, well first off is the first song we wrote with Damian, ‘Dance Floor Lover’!”
	Roxie laughed. Rosa herself was surprised, as that didn’t seem like the name of a song that someone like Damian would write. She shot a puzzled look at Roxie, hoping that she knew a little more about his work on the song. Roxie noticed her looking, and, apparently understanding, shouted at her,
	“He probably only helped with the instrumental. I doubt he could possibly pen lyric to a song that could be called ‘Dance Floor Lover’.”
	The song itself wasn’t too bad. Despite apparently Damian’s work on it, it didn’t sound like anything by Northern Lights. Rosa noticed Roxie was listening rather intently, although she was completely focused on Damian and his guitar, and looked as if she had completely blocked out the rest of the music. There was a guitar solo, which surprised Rosa, and apparently Roxie too. The song came to an end— a rather strange one. It sounded like it was going to just fade out, but out of nowhere ended on a loud, harsh note, causing Rosa to jump. She caught Roxie giggling at her from the corner of her eye and blushed. Halfway through the next song Roxie tugged on Rosa’s arm.
	“You still want to listen or are you ready to go?”
	“Um, I guess we can go now.”
	Rosa did want to stay a bit longer, but if Roxie wanted to leave she was willing to go. They turned and made their way out of the Gym. There were a few people loitering outside the building even as the musicians were playing, and Roxie scanned through them, as if looking for someone, before shrugging and starting to walk. She mumbled to herself,
	“I guess she’s probably would be inside while Damian’s up there.”
	“Hm? Oh, you mean Sheena?”
	“Yeah. I was just hoping for a chance to say hi; it wasn’t for anything major or anything.”
	“Oh, okay.”
	They walked the rest of the way mostly in silence, occasionally breaking it with short conversations about their trip tomorrow, or the events from earlier that day. They reached Roxie’s house after a little under fifteen minutes of walking. Roxie unlocked the door, but let Rosa in first. After entering herself, Roxie walked over to the couch in the living room and dropped herself into it.
	“Man, what a day! I’m beat.”
	Rosa sat down next to her.
	“Yeah... It was.”
	Roxie studied Rosa with a devious gleam in her eyes, before pushing Rosa back, and pinning her to the seat.
	“Wh-what are you-“
	Without giving her an answer Roxie pressed her lips to Rosa’s. Rosa was caught completely by surprise, and if her head hadn’t been pinned against the seat she would probably pulled her head away. She gave a whimper of protest, but if anything it only spurred Roxie on harder. She pressed her whole body against Rosa’s, and every time Rosa tried to squirm free Roxie just pressed harder against her. It felt like quite a while before Roxie finally pulled away from Rosa. Rosa had no idea how long the kiss had been, and she could have easily believed it had been either seconds or hours— maybe even both at once. Both girls’ faces were bright red, but while Rosa’s had a stunned expression Roxie had a look of blissful satisfaction on hers. Although their kiss had ended, Roxie had yet to release Rosa, and still had her held down. Staring directly into Rosa’s eyes, Roxie said,
	“I had a little extra gift I wanted to give you for beating me earlier, but there were too many people around. It was a bit more special than the other ones— I don’t just give those to everyone who beats me.” She laughed. “That sounded really corny.”
	Rosa giggled too.
	“Y-yeah, kind of.”
	Roxie pulled herself off Rosa, helping her up.
	“It’s still a little early to call it a night. Want to like, watch a movie, or something?”
	“Sure.”
	Roxie picked up the remote from the coffee table in the center of the room, turned the television on, and brought up the on-demand menu.
	“If something catches your eye just say something.”
	Roxie cycled through the list of movies once, then twice, but nothing available caught either girls’ attention.
	“I don’t see anything... Do you?”
	“No...”
	“Hm...”
	Roxie tapped her foot impatiently as she went through the list of movies a third time, before suddenly turning the TV off.
	“I have an idea. Come with me.”
	Roxie led Rosa up to her room. She sat Rosa on her bed before picking up an acoustic guitar in the corner. Rosa didn’t actually know Roxie could play guitar as well as bass— not to mention that she was unsure why Roxie decided to pick it up right now.
	“What are you-“
	“I have another special surprise for you, a little private concert.”
	Rosa blushed again, making Roxie laugh at her. Rosa pouted, and Roxie patted her head, a bi goofy grin on her face.
	“Aw, I was just playing around.”
	The pout on Rosa’s face faded— she wasn’t actually mad in the first place anyway. She still had another question to ask Roxie as well.
	“I didn’t know you played guitar too.”
	Roxie dropped her eyes down to the guitar, before gently sliding her arm down the neck then playing a quick lick.
	“Yeah, just a little. I’m not too great, but I learned because it’s easier to writing songs with a guitar than a bass. Also guitar is a lot of fun in its own ways. Guitar and bass are surprisingly different instruments. Anyway...”
	Without any introduction Roxie played through a song. It was simple— just chords and singing— but Rosa enjoyed it a lot. After she finished Roxie bantered the same way she did the other night at her show, albeit in a goofy voice, not taking it seriously. After playing through several songs, Roxie sat down next to Rosa, laying the guitar on her bed. Rosa noticed that she was sweating, and out of breath. Rosa didn’t know that even as simple a performance as this could be so tiring. Roxie sat without speaking for a moment, then after catching her breath said,
	“Y’know, I could really use a shower.”
	Come to think of it, they both could. They’ve had such a busy day.
	“Y-yeah... Me too.”
	“Well, I’ll go get you a towel. You can go first. Unless...”
	Roxie shifted herself closer to Rosa, and whispered into her ear,
	“We could shower together if you want.”
	Rosa jerked away from Roxie, bright red.
	“Wh-what?!”
	The look on Roxie’s face showed that she was trying he hardest not to laugh.
	“I was joking...” She stood up. “Just wait here and I’ll go get you a towel.”
	Roxie walked out of the room and returned after only a little bit. Rosa took the towel from her and went to the bathroom to shower. After she showered Roxie went right in after her, and Rosa went back to Roxie’s room, and changed into a fresh pair of pajamas Roxie had left on her bed for her. After a little while Roxie came back to the room, already changed into her pajamas as well.
	“Well, I’m ready to call it a night, I think. How about you?” Roxie said, yawning.
	“Yeah, I’m ready to sleep too.”
	Roxie smiled.
	“Okay then.”
	She turned off the light. Rosa got under the covers and, after a moment, Roxie joined her. Rosa felt Roxie’s fingers gently touching her shoulder.
	“Tomorrow’s going to be exciting.”
	“Y-yeah...”
	Rosa closed her eyes. She was actually really excited for tomorrow, and already knew she was going to have trouble sleeping. She found herself listening to Roxie’s breathing as it slowed as she fell asleep. Rosa let her mind wander, and before long, fell asleep as well.