A/N — I'll be honest when I say this (and I like to boast about this annoyingly) but I love procrastinating on my stories then finishing like 3/4 of the story in one go XD It makes me feel really accomplished even though it's what I get for putting it off. But I gotta say, it was really fun to write this chapter XD Gots some progress going! Anyway, before I jump into the story, like always, the review replies!

TO THE BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS!
KingKagura — Everything always go wrong sooner or later when Blue's involved XD Sorry for the long wait! :)
DN117 — LOVE IS EVERYWHERE! This arc is literally full of it XD Also, lol thank you for understanding! I feel like I would finish this before april 2017 (or estimating around that), but then it depends a lot on whether I decide to go slower in the story. This chapter was supposed to be the last one for the arc, but in the end, it turns out there's another chapter XD Sigh at my schedule. Anyways, off topic, thanks! I'll try to finish it before three years! Rest assure!
Just Another Kid — LOL, fillers lead to bigger plotlines later on XD I actually tried to focus this more on the plot of romance, so I didn't really put much funny moments XD I actually thought it was a really short chapter that was the introductory when I started to read it myself tbh, but main stuff is coming up so you don't have to wait that long (except for my sluggish updates). But thank you! I'm happy I made you smile XD Yeah... Blue is ship crazy so anything can happen, especially with her scheming all the time. As for the Movie Premiere and it starting now, I oddly felt really weird writing this chapter bc it didn't turn out anything I thought it would be. I dunno what's up with me and my writing stuff, it never goes as planned. Anyway about school, awww your school life sounds worse than mine (no offense)! I can relate to you as well since I've been having a lot of tests this week and the stress of getting a zero bc I literally forgot everything, but it's okay dude. We can get through this together. School is horrible, but y'know, it'll end sooner or later XD *praying for Christmas break to come closer* I procrastinate 24/7 tbh, so don't worry about it, you're not the only one XD Anyway, this is like a month later, but I hope you had fun on the trip :) Even with school, I build some time on Fridays after school and do my writing, so of course it doesn't stress me out. Again, I liked writing this chapter :))) Thanks for the encouragement XD GOOD LUCK WITH THE TESTS, IT'LL BE OVER SOON (cries at how I'm not even in college yet)!
Srae13 — Thank you :) Waiting a month seems forever to me, but when it comes to my updates, a month seems to go by fast XD
LOLWUT — your name is the thing that's fabulous ;)
MistyLove — aw thanks!
xXSachixWakamuraXx — Hmm... this sounds like a spoiler (or maybe not), but you'll find out what's running through her mind XD AND YES! School will forever be my downfall and stress bringer, but it's cool since I can just escape to the fanfiction world and write lol. Sorry for the long wait!
thelasthope2 — Thank you for the correction! I fixed it :) franticshipping is exploding in this story. But yea, the cliché plot device of Yellow's crossdressing will be in play XD I've planned some details about it SO MUCH bc specialshipping is my precious shipping, but then this is most franticshipping story (conflicting feelings). Hopefully I can deal with it, and decide how I should use and whether I will or not. LOL, my updates are so sluggish compared to a lot of authors though XD (totally hinting at the amazing authors who post daily or weekly), but thank you so much :) Sorry for the long waits!
Twinfeather — here's more :)
leontinees — LOL your opinion on things. Yellow wouldn't agree... or maybe, yeah. Gotta admit that Red was beautiful in FRLG when he was shirtless like 80% of the time (LOL). Also, yeah, I'm trying to not make Lisia pass the insane creepy border the best I can. I dunno about how I wrote her in this chapter, but I'll try to keep her nice and normal as much as I can XD yeah, I see a lot of people hate on Misty in specialshipping fics like all the time. I don't hate Misty, and I kinda feel bad about that time she cried bc she saw Red facetime Yellow (sorry Misty, I was fangirling that time), but y'know, specialshipping prevails for me forever so... LOL anyways, I almost forgot about that detail myself lololol. Thank you for remembering though! But yeah, I am focusing on franticshipping literally 95% of the fic, but have decided to put the ships here and there. I've planned a whole arc for specialshipping already tbh, but gots to get pass franticshipping before jumping largely to another one XD Hints between other pairings will be shown of course. I'll be honest when I say that I adore oldrivalshipping and specialshipping a lot, so I have many ideas for them, but don't want them to take the attention from the main plot. They WILL be sideplots though, like the camp one, share half of the spotlight and rotate. Thank you for the suggestion though since it helped me think about how to format the shippings and start the specialshipping arc XD As for the Pokémon, I half half forgot but ended up not writing them since I want it to focus more on the humans. I'll add them sooner or later though to remind people about them, but for now, I haven't really wrote them much. Also LOL I'm still dying form the time that she was revealed a girl in the manga XD I dunno about Rakutsu and Faitsu much though, considering there's only like one volume of them (THANK GOODNESS THE AUTHOR ISN'T MAKING B2W2 HIATUS ANYMORE AFTER 2 YEARS OMG), and White started off like that but ended up later with caring about Pokémon. Maybe that could happen to them, or whatever...? Actually, I dunno about Rakutsu since he's using it flirt with her and get closer, but y'know, it might turn out better later? Maybe? I don't know, but their relationship seems extremely interesting and how they'll deal with Black in the light stone is what I'm waiting for. As for the hero aspects and the dex priority, I'll be honest when I say this, but all the dex-holders kind of had their own weird aspects for the pokedex (heck, Crystal is the one who actually does the work and completes it unlike the others). They're imperfect heroes who didn't really decide to fight (ehhhh maybe except for Red, Green, Silver, etc. but y'know I'm looking over to Black who just wanted to conquer the league and not get sucked up in a light while fighting an insane group of people who thinks their opinion is the only thing that matters), so how they use the pokedex will of course be different. But I have to agree to you that out of all the dex holders, Faitsu and Rakutsu seem to not be the most serious about the how much of an honor and how good it is, but tbh they're in school so they're learning (maybe). As for Hugh, I don't know why, but I feel like Rakutsu intrigues me more bc of his fake personality. I still like Hugh though, but y'know, unless his name is after a color, jewel, or just something weird, he's not going to get one. Lastly, YES! STEVEN X ZINNIA TWINS! XD they're cute in their own way. WOO this was super long! Haha! :) thanks for the usual awesome review!

THANK Y'ALL FOR REVIEWING! WOOHOO I THINK I BROKE THE RECORD FOR MOST REVIEWS IN THIS STORY XD Seriously laughing at how it took up 2,000/9,000 of the chapter count XD
o, also I dunno if I address this already (probably individually for those who reviewed about certain topics), but I totally died at y'all's reactions to Wally LOL XD Sorry, but I had to drop him off a cliff for stuff! he was a noble sacrifice and a true hero (compared to the rest of the dex-holders tbh, hint literally every dex-holder ever hint, I still love them though), so he'll recover soon! Gots to give Wally more love!

Chapter Fifteen — Don't Let The Chance Go By

"Sapphire, you shouldn't hide in the restroom. It's not right."

White's voice made Sapphire jump in her spot as she snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to face the curly brunette. White had entered the restroom and proceeded to find Sapphire after Blue informed her of the current situation. It took at least a whole minute before Sapphire realized the girl was there, and White could tell something was wrong. Well, she was told something was wrong, but still, it was very obvious.

"What do ya mean?" Sapphire asked, obviously looking confused.

White let out a sigh and took a seat on the couch next to her. "I know you're avoiding Ruby because you want Lisia to be with him, but this isn't really the right solution. If you're not happy, then it's not the right path, and you should know it." Without warning, she immediately skipped to the comforting and advice stage, which Sapphire was extremely confused about.

"Again, what do ya mean?" Sapphire still didn't understand.

"You don't look like your regular self, so I just assumed you were down about something," White caught her words and said something alternative to cover up Blue's big mouth.

Unfortunately, Sapphire wasn't as dumb as she seemed and caught them. "Don't tell me Blue told ya about helping Lisia."

White gave her a sheepish smile, which she took it for a yes. "Okay, let's be honest here! Blue likes to talk about literally anything," White joked. Sapphire softened her look and nodded, agreeing. "So anyways, why are you helping Lisia in the first place?"

"Why? Um... she asked me, and I couldn't say no," Sapphire responded, finding it the most reasonable answer.

"But if they end up together, wouldn't you think it'll be sad?" White inquired.

Sapphire shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, sure it'll hinder our work, but I don't know," she replied.

Another sigh escaped White's lips as she stared at the girl dubiously. She couldn't tell whether Sapphire was lying because of her previous actions, or whether she just didn't really care about Ruby's love life in general. Considering her shocking confession about the childhood friend, Sapphire must have had eyes for him the whole time; whoever he is. She knew she couldn't interfere with it.

Placing her hands on the brunette's shoulders reassuringly, she told her, "Well, if you have any trouble, you can always come talk to me! After all, I'm your manager and friend! Make sure to go through the path you like and not regret anything though, okay? Speaking your mind is what I like best about you."

With furrowed eyebrows, Sapphire only nodded absentmindedly and the two left the bathroom.

After Sapphire left White to go chat with Crystal, White watched her from afar and sighed. Though she gave the best words of wisdom she could say, she still felt that Sapphire was hiding her feelings and wasn't really affected by it. Maybe she was too sudden.

"So how did it go?" Blue's voice surprised her as the girl leaped to the side.

"Blue! You need to stop popping out of nowhere!" White scolded.

The brunette gave her a cheesy smile, snickering at her reaction. "It's your fault for not noticing," she replied before repeating her previous question, "How did the talk with Sapphire go?"

White frowned and shook her head in disappointment. "She said she wasn't upset, but it was so obvious that she was in denial. I don't know what to do to help her! I'm horrible at comforting!"

"You and me both, sister," Blue agreed, shrugging. When it came to comforting, she was extremely blunt and offended the people by speaking the truth, so it wasn't exactly her forte. "It's okay though. This situation will blow off soon after Lisia gets rejected."

White raised an eyebrow. "How do you know Ruby won't say yes to her confession? They seem like good friends."

"And that's all they'll ever be," Blue responded. "It's my shipping senses. You can't beat them, and they're always right."

The girl gave her a blank look. "Blue, sometimes I think you're crazy."

Sapphire entered with Crystal when they were called. Crystal seemed fine about the whole situation, acting very mature about it. If she needed to give Ruby some time away to regain her senses and feelings, then it's fine. Crystal fully accepted it and let the junior sit with her when she had asked.

As they took their seats, Gold followed up behind them.

"Yo, why are you sitting with Crys, Wild Gal?" Gold asked with a puzzled look.

"Because we're friends," Crystal answered in an obvious tone for her, making him sweatdrop.

"Thanks for the beautiful answer SSG, but that's not what I meant. Why aren't you with Ruby? Don't you hang around him or something?" Gold clarified.

"I'm giving him space," Sapphire quipped.

"Why are you so against her sitting with us?" Silver asked from behind, irritated that he just stopped in front of him and was blocking the aisle way.

"I mean, I'm cool with it, but she's sitting next to Crys! That's my spot," Gold argued, folding his arms like a little kid. Crystal always preferred seats on the outside since she felt somewhat claustrophobic from being surrounded by too much people, so only one person could sit next to her.

Sapphire looked over to Crystal whose face was turning red before looking over to Gold who was still pouting like a baby. Silver was the one who was irritated with the whole dumb situation of Gold's whines, and shoved him out of the aisle way before propping himself in the seat next to Sapphire.

"What an idiot," Sapphire heard Silver mutter, making her feel kind of bad for the boy.

"You know what, you guys don't appreciate me enough, so I'm just gonna leave you losers! See if I care!" Gold tried to act cool and leave, marching over to three aisles down where Yellow, Blue, Green, and Red were sitting at. Everyone except Green welcomed the boy when he asked to sit with them. Being Gold, he didn't care about Green's feelings and just sat down, shooting a triumphed look at Silver and Crystal from behind.

"Uh... maybe I should leave?" Sapphire suggested, feeling as though she took Gold's seat.

"No, don't. He's just being a drama queen like always," Crystal told her, letting out a sigh.

"It's lucky for us that we don't have to sit with him," Silver droned absentmindedly, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "He likes to eat my popcorn without permission and his farts are horrible. Sucks for them."

"The only thing that Gold's good at is acting," Crystal muttered.

"I like his character as Ethan," Sapphire remarked, springing up a conversation. "Though I want him to have more of a backbone when it comes to things."

"Really? I thin—" Crystal stopped in mid-sentence when a message alert coming from Sapphire's phone interrupted her. Like usual, Sapphire went to go check it. She gestured Crystal to continue talking, but the blue haired girl was extremely curious as to who was she messaging at this time.

Lisia — sapph! it's working out great! I have a seat with ruby and everything! in paradise XD~

Crystal didn't like to snoop, but she couldn't help but wonder as to why Sapphire was talking to her 'rival' (as Blue claimed in the girls minus Sapphire group chat).

"You're friends with Lisia?" Crystal asked.

After Sapphire texted her back and clicked her screen off, she replied to Crystal, "Huh? Err... I wouldn't say friends, but we're not on bad terms."

"Hey Sapph, I've been wondering, but are you okay?" Crystal asked in concern, her motherly side coming out. Out of everyone, she was the best at comforting since she was used to taking care of kids and their problems. "You seem down lately."

"Why is everyone asking me that?" Sapphire spat out, totally in denial.

Crystal ignored the attitude. "Well, I wouldn't say you were down... just what's the word? Spaced out? Is it because you don't like wearing Ruby's dress or something?" To get the topic semi off of Lisia, she changed it to her wardrobe since it seemed safest.

"I actually don't know anymore," Sapphire stated honestly, softening up from her sharper self.

"Well... if you want to talk about, just tell me," Crystal gestured gently. She didn't want to force Sapphire onto the topic since she didn't seem ready yet, and she thought it would be best not to get on a horrible side for her night.

"Sapph?" Ruby interjected in the conversation when he saw Sapphire sitting next to Crystal instead of himself. Sapphire leaned over to see Lisia beside him, clutching onto his arm as the two walked down the stairs to the seats.

Ruby furrowed his eyebrows, looking completely confused. "What are you doing? I thought we usually sit together."

"Uhh..." Sapphire tried to find another excuse.

"S-She's sitting with me because I didn't feel like sitting next to Gold!" Crystal quickly butted in, trying to save her. "I asked her to!" Though Crystal was equally bad at lying as Sapphire and Yellow, she could tell that Ruby somewhat bought it.

"Oh," Ruby said in an understanding tone, but his face said otherwise. "Okay then. Let's go, Lisia."

And with that, the two strolled down the stairs.

Sapphire released the tense off of her shoulders, feeling as if a rock was set onto her shoulders. Crystal glanced at her, and pried subtly. "Lying isn't right, but it's only temporary to help you out, Sapph."

The brunette gave a small smile at her friend. "Yah, I know. Thanks Crys. I would tell ya, but to be honest, I don't know the problem myself."

Crystal waved it off. "It's okay, Sapph. When the time comes, I'll be here for you."

The End.

Those were the last words to appear on the screen before it turned blank and shut off. Suddenly, the lights came on and the screen used to view the movie started to roll up by the crewmen in charge. Everyone started to chat about the movie as they exited the theater. Lisia and Ruby were the only ones left though.

"That was an amazing movie!" Lisia remarked, clasping her hands together happily. She turned over to Ruby and wiped a tear. "As always, you look best in the spotlight! You can really see May's and Brendan's emotions pouring out beautifully!"

"You always know what to say," Ruby chuckled, washing himself in the compliments.

"Thanks for inviting me! It was awesome to see you again," Lisia told him.

"Likewise," Ruby responded, staring blankly ahead and glancing at every corner.

Lisia's smile slowly faded into confusion. "Are you looking for someone?" she inquired.

"Uh yeah, actually I'm looking for Sapphire. I need to pair up with her so that we can exit together and answer questions outside. It happens a lot," Ruby explained, his mouth curving into a frown. "But for some reason, she's gone."

"I envy you two," Lisia commented.

"Really? Why?" Ruby turned his attention to her.

"Because you two are super close! You guys have been acting for like what, two years? I'm jealous," Lisia stated. "I sometimes believe you guys are a real couple."

"Don't worry! We're really aren't one! We don't get along at all," Ruby denied, reassuring her.

"Really?" Lisia piped, her interest rising.

"Yeah. You know me, I'm not looking for romance," Ruby reminded, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, yeah, but what if—"

"Ruby! C'mon, we have to get going so that we can make Prez's schedule! You and Sapphire need to hurry up with the press!" Black shouted from the entrance of the theater.

It took Ruby and Lisia to finally notice that they were the only ones left since everyone else exited out awhile exchanging a few words. The two walked up the stairs, and when they exited out, Ruby told her that he has to go look for Sapphire so that he could walk out with her in front of the press, then left her.

...

Ruby looked around the lobby, scanning the room. Once he spotted the amazing dress he made for Sapphire, he dashed over to her.

Sapphire turned around when she heard her name get called. When she saw Ruby running to her, on reflex, she hid behind Crystal and Silver who she was previously chatting with. When Ruby slowly arrived in front of them, looking confused at her actions.

"Uh... Something wrong?" Ruby asked, peeking in between the two to get a good look at Sapphire.

Crystal and Silver awkwardly stepped out in the opposite direction so there was a huge space showing Sapphire, openly revealing her.

"Err..." Sapphire stumbled to find another excuse to Ruby. "Where's Lisia?"

"She's going to ride the guest limo out back," Ruby explained. He put his arm out to her. "Are you ready? We have to answer the press out front."

"O-Oh yeah!" Sapphire exclaimed, remembering. "Well, race ya there!"

Without thinking whether they should go together, she disregarded his arm and ran out to the entrance herself, ultimately tripping on her flats and the edge of the dress because she was rushing. The three watched her fall, awkwardly judging the scene.

"What's wrong with her?" Ruby asked them, thinking they might know the answer for her sudden awkwardness.

"How should I know?" Silver replied.

Crystal knew what was going on, but she didn't want to tell an outside party. It was like a girl secret thing. "Sapph is always jumpy like that."

Ruby watch her run out to the doors, hit her face, and stumble back a few steps since she didn't open it before heading out. "... I guess so," he agreed, absentmindedly, slowly jogging over to her.

After Sapphire briefly answered the questions and denied her pregnancy scandal ten more times, she quickly left Ruby, ditching the limo they came in together, and switched places with Gold once again without his permission. Ruby and Gold didn't hate each other, but they didn't exactly feel the best with the forced arrangements. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, they arrived to the ballroom hall where the party was going to be held to celebrate the movie.

As everyone exited from their limos and entered the hall, they were led to a large room that looked like the ones in fairy tales. It had buffet tables on one side of the room, while the dining tables surrounded the rest of the room, leaving a huge open space for dancing in the middle with a lone chandelier hovering above, lighting up the whole place with at least twenty light bulbs.

Of course, Gold ran to the buffet tables since he was starving the whole time. After he made his way to a table with Red and Yellow there, he sat down and began eating after everything that happened. Yellow stopped her conversation with Gold and greeted him, which he grunted back with his mouth full.

"I think my favorite part would be the fight scenes," Red remarked about the movie, continuing it.

"Really?" Yellow didn't seem to agree, but she was still full of excitement when she spoke to him. "I think it was cute when May stood up for herself against the bullies."

Gold swallowed his food and remembered something. "Hey, speaking of May, what's up with Sapph?" he casually asked, not at all thinking it was a personal question.

Yellow and Red turned to him, paying attention to his question. Red's answer seemed to match his blank expression, honestly answering that he didn't know, but he did mention that he saw her hit the door earlier. The blonde only replied that everything is just jumbled up and she just need time to regain herself. Yellow didn't want to give Sapphire away, so she tried to keep it subtle. Unfortunately, Gold caught it and actually read what she meant since he was good at reading moods.

"Wait, don't tell me this is about Ruby and that chick Lisia."

Yellow coughed on her drink as he easily saw through it. Red softly patted on her back to help her out.

After Yellow regain herself, she replied back. "Um, it's not."

Red and Gold gave her dubious look, both finding it kind of amusing at how horrible she was at lying and how obvious her reactions were.

"Well, all I know is that Sapph is going crazy," Gold stated. "My night has been going downhill. First, Green glares at me for hours in the theatre, and before, Crystal and Silver ditched me, and I was forced to sit with Ruby in a limo. It was really weird. And speaking of weird, look at her."

He nodded his head over to Sapphire who was sneaking around the buffet table, looking around as if she was trying to avoid someone. It was obvious who she wanted to avoid.

"Should we help?" Red suggested. He kind of felt bad for the girl.

"This is Blue's thing though..." Yellow mumbled.

"We should help!" Gold declared, ignoring Yellow mumbles. He looked over to Ruby who was chatting with Lisia once again. "I'll lead Lisia over with my good looks, and you guys get Sapph to him!"

"As awesome as your plan sounds, I don't think we should do that," Red responded. "She probably likes Ruby, considering how she's always sticking to him..."

"Yeah, you're right..." Gold placed a hand on his chin and started to think. After a few seconds, he brightened up, and declared another plan to help Sapphire out.

"Sapph, you're going crazy." White finally told her after she saw how worse her behavior was. Sapphire nearly dropped her plate when the girl spoke behind her. Whirling around with her plate in her hand, she came face to face with her manager whose expression seemed unhappy.

"What do ya mean?" Sapphire asked once again, feigning innocence to cover up her strange actions. "But geez, ya keep appearing everywhere!"

White waved it off, and continued, "I'm just going to flat out and ask you. What's up with you and Lisia? You're acting stranger than usual. And when I say that, I mean way stranger."

"... I don't know," Sapphire answered honestly, letting out a stressed out sigh. "I just... don't feel as enthusiastic tonight."

"Yeah, I can see that," White pointed out.

"But," Sapphire continued, lifting her head and looking a tad more less depressed than earlier, "It's probably just a slump, so don't worry about it at all! I'll get better."

Once again, White looked unconvinced. She really wanted to just sit down and talk with Sapphire, but knew it would be forcing her. The girls (minus Crystal) even had to have another girl meeting on the way to the place to deal with her problem. The girl's group chat concerning Sapphire was not enough.

"Okay," she let Sapphire off the hook. "But let me ask you something. Are you up for meeting the Sinnoh actors? They've been wanting to introduce themselves for awhile, but they couldn't since they arrived late for the premiere."

"Of course!" Sapphire immediately answered, looking eager.

"Great! I'll go get them," White informed, scattering away afterwards.

Sapphire watched the curly brunette run off, and she let a sigh. What is with her? She felt depressed during the whole movie and couldn't enjoy it, and not only that, she felt really uncomfortable. Her chest kept hurting like crazy, and she kept feeling the urge to kill someone.

"Oh Sapphire~!" The girl snapped out of her thoughts to see the usual crazy shipper appear before her.

Blue placed her arms around the girl, slapping her on the shoulder playfully. "Why are you just standing there? Don't you want to dance?"

"I'm not a dancer," Sapphire told her.

"Y'know... if you miss your chance now, you might lose it forever," Blue mumbled quietly, although Sapphire heard it.

That statement made her stiffen up. "Huh?"

Blue twirled a brown curly strand around her finger, trying to look oblivious as possible by covering up her last statement with a broad smile. "Oh, I heard the spotlight dance might come, and you can end up in the most romantic situation! If you guys end up under the spotlight when it hits midnight then you're going to be forever with your partner forever! It's supposed to come up soon, so you better hurry and hit the dance floor! Oh, look, I see Ruby over there!"

Blue pointed at Ruby and Lisia sitting at a table along together, and once Sapphire got a glimpse of them, she felt another stab go through her chest.

"Oh, um, you know what, I promised to meet the Sinnoh group, so yah, bye!" Sapphire quickly avoided the situation, running over to where White was.

When the junior escaped her grasp, Blue let out a dejected sigh, upset that she lost the chance to coax the girl into getting together with Ruby.

"As if there's something as stupid as that," a monotone voice drawled from behind her. Blue twirled around, only to see the bitter Green behind her with a plate of food. With the usual peeved look he gave her, he rolled his eyes at how dumb and troublesome her plan was going to be.

Blue planted her hands on her hips. "How rude!" she huffed. "I think it sounds romantic, and this will help Sapphire's mood! Aren't you worried at all, Greenie?"

Green ignored the stupid nickname she gave him since it just got bothersome to just correct it each time. "No, I think it sounds like it's going to be troublesome. Stay out of their business. Both Ruby and Sapphire aren't looking for love right now, and they're focused in their careers at the moment."

"You don't understand! I know they like each other, and if their feelings are real for each other, wouldn't you think they would be better at acting now that the love between Brendan and May is real?" Blue reasoned, throwing her arms dramatically. "Do you get me?"

Though Green actually understood her weird reasoning, he still didn't agree to her meddling.

"Just don't do anything stupid to embarrass anyone."

"Don't worry, I won't!"

Green let out a sigh. That meant she was totally going to do something.

"As I was saying—"

"Hey!" Sapphire dashed over to White and the three new Pokespe Drama actors. The four turned their attention to her when she interrupted White's speech about getting along.

"Oh, Sapphire, you're here!" White exclaimed, surprised by her sudden shout. "I was going to bring them over to you after I tell them something."

"Well, yah, but I couldn't wait to meet them, so I came rushin' over!" Sapphire told her, finding it a good excuse. Half of it was true anyways, so technically it wasn't lying.

"They couldn't wait to meet you either. I'll go over to Black and get some clients at this party! You guys have fun meeting each other." White exited away from the floor and left once again.

Once the manager left, Sapphire adverted her eyes to the three new actors everyone's been talking about. They were all sitting down around the table, dressed in formal wear since it would be suitable. In the middle of the three was a boy who seemed gluttonous by the amount of food he was stuffing his face with, on the right was a girl politely greeting her, and the last one was on the left, giving a small greeting and wave.

Giving them a friendly toothy smile, she introduced herself. "Hey! I'm Sapphire, but ya can call me Sapph! It's nice ta meet ya!"

When she spoke, the girl seemed slightly surprised but quickly resurfaced to a blank face. "It is nice to meet you. My name is Missy." She gestured to the other two boys. "And this is Diamond and Pearl."

"Eh? Really? I was pretty sure White told me yer name was Platina."

"It's Missy," Platina quickly corrected. "I prefer to be called by that name."

"Oh, I see." The brunette shrugged off the weird preference. When she was about to ask them about how they're doing in the studios, she was cut off by Platina.

"Pardon me if I sound rude, but did you always have an accent? I have never heard it on T.V. when you play May," Platina voiced her thoughts.

Before Sapphire could answer, the blond haired boy interjected, "What are you talking about, Missy? Remember when we watched the press conference about the pregnant thing? Her accent was visible during half of her speech when she snapped at that guy."

Hearing the previous incident, Sapphire started to turn red in embarrassment, feeling like a fool at her sudden outburst and breaking character.

"Pearl," the boy in the middle called, his mouth still full of food. He swallowed. "Missy wasn't with us when we watched it that night."

"Oh yeah!" Pearl said, waving it off.

Platina watched them talk before turning over to Sapphire. "I am a fan of Pokespe Drama, so I have watched all the known episodes. It is a pleasure to meet you in person."

"Aw shucks, don't mention it!" Sapphire told her, blushing and grinning. "Hey, so how are ya guys doin' for the Sinnoh acting?"

She haven't really seen the filming yet since they've only announced the series and not the episodes yet, but like everyone else, the characters seemed very different from the actors playing them in her opinion. She heard Dawn was supposed to be some bubbly girl who freaks out about little things, but meeting Platina, the girl didn't seem to show much emotions except envy and occasional smiles.

"It is going well," Platina informed.

"Yeah! It's really fun!" Diamond added, shoving a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth afterwards.

"But I'm not sure how the romance will come out," Pearl informed, putting a hand under his chin to imagine the scene. "I mean, it's hard to see Dia act like a guy in love and the prince type, and Missy seems impossible to do it too."

"How insolent of you. I will get it," Platina chided, narrowing her eyes at him. She placed her tea down and looked calmly at Sapphire, her annoyed emotions disappearing instantly. "Speaking of the topic of romance, the manager have informed us that you and Ruby are able to convey your love on screen and date even though you two fight often. Can you give me some tips about your relationship?"

Sapphire scratched her cheek sheepishly, wondering whether White told her about the fake relationship. She decided to tell them about the whole situation since they seemed adorable and trusting, which they reacted surprised at. Well, Pearl seemed pretty chill about it.

"Yeah, I kind of knew when I saw you guys yelling at each other in the studio once," Pearl admitted.

"Oh, sorry for mistaking your relationship. How are you two able to act like you're in love then?" Platina repeated her question, still curious for the answer.

"Uhh..." Sapphire tried to find the words. "I don't know actually. When we started as May and Brendan in the show, we started off as friends but slowly got comfortable to grow feelings for each other. I guess it just happens naturally."

"Wait, so you're in love with him real life?" Diamond questioned.

"W-What?!" Sapphire stammered. "How'd ya get ta that conclusion?!"

"You just said that you guys started off as friends but grew feelings for each other when you grew closer," Pearl answered for him. "That experience doesn't really have anything to do with acting out your characters."

"Pardon? Do you have a crush on Ruby?" Platina asked bluntly.

"Wait! Ya got it wrong!" Sapphire interjected, waving her hands out in denial. Geez, did she word it so bad that they assumed that she meant about her and Ruby? The juniors were just too much for her honestly. The curious eyes they were giving her made her sweat under the pressure.

"I-I don't!"

"Really? How do you feel about him then?" Diamond inquired innocently, seeing her bashing reaction.

Oh my gosh, these kids might worse than Blue, Sapphire immediately thought when they started to pry her feelings about Ruby. "H-He's my rival!" she answered quickly.

"Eh? Rival?" Pearl raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant.

"That's right!" Sapphire finally regained her composure and planted both her hands on her hips, nodding her head to answer. "He's a person I don't want to lose to! Especially in acting!" she declared, satisfied with the answers. "He's the person I want to beat the most!"

"Oh, I see," Platina said, understanding her feelings while Diamond and Pearl only looked confused. "I apologize on our behalf. Even though you have stated that he's not your lover, we misinterpreted that you had a crush on him this whole time."

"Yeah..." Pearl admitted, rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "We were talking about it on the way here! We aren't experts when it comes to gushing things, but Missy here wanted to help and Dia thought it would be interesting. Too bad you don't feel anything towards him besides rival feelings."

"We even thought you had romantic feelings because White said you were down in the dumps about something," Platina added.

Geez, White talks too much, Sapphire inwardly thought, trying to keep up a front. She grinned at them and waved it off. "White's always worryin' 'bout the unnecessary stuff! I'm just kinda in a slump!"

"Slump? Are you okay?" Diamond asked, looking genuinely worried.

"Yah, I'm fine!" Sapphire reassured him.

"You know," Platina took a sip of her tea before placing it back onto the table, "The best way to get negative feelings and out of a slump is to face the problem head on in a strategic way. If you feel unhappy about something, you should find the root of the problem and correct it to make yourself feel better."

"Yeah! It's best to be straightforward about stuff!" Diamond advised, smiling at her.

"Just like your press conference," Pearl added.

"Can we not mention that ever again?" Sapphire snapped at him. The embarrassment still haven't died down yet. She let out a sigh and grinned at them. "Thanks, I'll have yer advice in mind. Anyway, have you met the others yet?"

"Yes. Yellow and the others have greeted us. I believe the only ones who we have not met is Ruby," Platina informed.

"Oh, speaking of the guy, he's coming over," Pearl announced, gesturing across the room.

Sapphire turned to wear he was pointing at, and saw Ruby walking over to them with a smile on his face, excusing himself from Lisia. What?! No! Sapphire thought, panicking all of a sudden, earning confused looks from the three juniors.

"Uhhh... are you okay?" Diamond asked, seeing her expression.

"I'm fine!" Sapphire said accidentally too loud, slamming the table and making the three jump. "I'm just gonna err... go get some food. If that idiot comes over and ask for me, I was never here." And with that, she suspiciously ran away from them.

As they watch her escape and observed her odd behavior, Pearl commented on how weird she was, and the other two agreed.

Once again, Sapphire let out another sigh.

Just how much sighs have escaped her lips tonight?

Sapphire leaned against the stone fence that surrounded the edges of the balcony she was on. She thought maybe if she were to get some fresh air and look at the stars for awhile, she can get her mind off of things. Not only did it turn out worse than she thought it would be, she ended up embarrassing herself in front of her new juniors, told so many lies, and tripped over her shoes at least seven times. Stupid heels. Well, they weren't heels, but they were still hard to walk in.

I wonder if I was too obvious... she bitterly thought, recalling the horrible mistakes she made.

"Hey!"

Sapphire jumped in her spot when someone called out to her. She whirled around, "White! I told you to stop sneakin' up beh—"

She froze.

Ruby was there, blinking innocent, wondering why she seemed so shocked to see him. He ignored it though, and walked over beside her. Sapphire watched him cautiously as if she thought he was going to do something weird. Instead, he surprised her by holding out the plate of food he had.

She blinked. "What's this?"

"Your favorite food," Ruby replied. "I saw you order a lot of this stuff at the restaurant, so I assumed you like it."

"No, I mean, what is it for?" Sapphire corrected.

"Well, uh," Ruby began to look awkward, "You seem really stupid today."

Sapphire glared at him. "Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"So," Ruby continued, "I thought it must be because you didn't get to eat with all the preparations you went through today. You look really down and was acting weird, so I went to go get food for you. Gluttonous people like you like to eat, right?"

"Hmph! How dare ya call me gluttonous! I've seen ya devoured a whole dish before!" Sapphire argued.

"Since when?" Ruby asked.

"Since... Okay, you've devoured something in yer life! Just not in front of others!" Sapphire said, trying to retaliate but failing hard.

Ruby laughed at her, giving her a teasing smile. "Well, anyways, eat up." He forcefully shoved the plate in Sapphire's hands, which she barely caught since it was sudden.

Sapphire raised a suspicious eyebrow, instantly questioning his motives. "Why are ya doin' this?" She placed the plate on top of the fence so that she wouldn't fling it somewhere.

"Like I said, you were down and I realize that food will bring you up," Ruby reasoned.

"I'm not down," she denied.

Ruby gave her the same dubious look that literally everyone gave her. "Sapph, you're a horrible klutz when it comes to stuff you're not used to, but tripping five times over those flats was a lot even for you." Actually, she tripped over seven times, but there was no way she was going to admit that since it would hurt instead of help her.

"I'm just going to come out and honestly say it," Ruby announced, making Sapphire worried that he actually figured it out. He might seem like an idiot 99.9% of the time, but did he really figure out the reason why she was acting awkward?

"Did you really hate the dress that much?"

"Eh?" Sapphire was stunned.

"Huh? I'm wrong?" Ruby judged her reaction. "It's just that you started your mood around the time I made you wear this dress, so I thought you were hating me the whole time because of it. Was I wrong?"

"Ya're totally wrong!" Sapphire shouted in his face. "L-Look," She became embarrassed, admitting her true feelings, "I actually like the dress. A lot. And in a way, I guess I should be happy that you made it. It's very nice."

"When your complimenting me and gritting your teeth at the same time, I find it amusing," Ruby stated, seeing how hard it seemed for her to compliment him. A blush grew on Sapphire's face. She was about to retort, but Ruby continued. "Anyway, you seem to be yourself. Feeling better now?"

Sapphire rage face faded into a blank face, realizing that she had forgotten about her problem the whole mini-argument. It had completely slipped her mind. Why was she so upset anyways? She didn't understand it either, which was one of the reasons she lied to everyone's face. That heavy feeling in her chest has lifted up as well, and she felt light and happy.

Ignoring the unanswered explanations, she smiled and nodded, returning to reality. "Yah," she answered. "I was just worryin' 'bout somethin' stupid."

"Well, I mean that is your thing, but you shouldn't worry too much," Ruby taunted.

Sapphire narrowed her eyes at him, but then quickly soften up once she realized something. "Umm... sorry if I made you worry," she apologized, glancing at the plate of food that he brought to cheer her up. He must've actually tried to bring up her mood the whole time, and all she could was just avoid him and stir up trouble.

Ruby's teasing smile slowly faded into a sincere one. "It's okay," he told her. "You're always bringing trouble everywhere you go, so it's not surprising."

Sapphire gritted her teeth. Why was this guy always quick to pick a fight with her? Especially since she was being nice!

"I'm glad you liked the dress though," Ruby interrupted her thoughts. "It makes me happy."

Sapphire didn't know why, but she found herself actually smiling back at him. Instead of the teasing, joking, and making fun of him one, it was actually a genuine smile that she was really happy. When Ruby saw it, it immediately reminded him of the double rainbow he saw the other day with her.

You make me happy.

"Hey Sapph—"

"Ruby!" A voice from the ballroom cut Ruby off. The two turned over to see Lisia standing there, staring at them. Sapphire could feel the stab in her heart appear again when she saw the hurt expression Lisia had but was obviously hiding with an unsure smile.

"Lisia," Ruby breathed.

"Uh, so what are you doing here? Don't you want to hang in there? The party is in there," Lisia said, gesturing to the ballroom. She glanced over at Sapphire then gazed back at Ruby. "... Or am I interrupting something between you two?"

"We were just talking," Sapphire reassured her quickly.

"Oh, seriously? Do you mind if I ask Ruby for a dance?" Lisia asked nicely, fluttering her eyes.

Sapphire felt another stab in her heart.

With a tight lipped smile, she replied, "Sure. Why not?"

"Uh, wait Lisia," Ruby interrupted the two, not even glancing at Sapphire to see her face. "I'm kind of in the middle of talking with Sapphire—"

"It's okay!" Sapphire interjected, feeling that she got in the way of Lisia's love. "I was actually going to go over to White and apologize to her for making her worried." Lisia and Ruby stared at her, silence slowly filling the air. Thoughts ran through Ruby's mind, continuing to question her.

"If that's the case, can I take him?" Lisia broke the silence, giving her the usual soft smile.

"You should ask him yerself, don't cha think?" Sapphire replied.

Lisia adverted her eyes to Ruby and gave him a longing look. Seeing that he didn't have a reason to refuse, he answered, "I guess we should."

"Yay! C'mon~!" Lisia gestured, grabbing his wrist and dragging him away from Sapphire.

When she saw their back and shadows, her heart started throb even more. She kept feeling the urge that she didn't want him to escape her grasp and latch onto Lisia. Just the thought of Lisia made her feel uncomfortable, and she felt the urge to throw up.

You make me happy.

The thought from earlier popped up in her mind.

This whole night she's been down, and the only thing that actually made her happy was Ruby and this dress. But now, without Ruby, the feeling she hated the most is coming back to her. The one thing she wanted to do is reach out to him and call him, both enjoying their time talking no matter how annoying each other's company was.

But she didn't know why.

"The best way to get negative feelings and out of a slump is to face the problem head on in a strategic way. If you feel unhappy about something, you should find the root of the problem and correct it to make yourself feel better."

Platina's voice appeared in her mind, recalling the earlier conversation.

The root of the problem and the reason she was upset was obviously Lisia since the only time she gets the feeling was when she sees her. She knew she didn't hate the girl and there was the fact that she admired Lisia's will to do her best for love since she knew she couldn't do the same. She didn't hold any feelings against her, so why...? Why does she feel so upset? Especially when she sees her with Ruby—

The junior's voice constantly popped up, "Do you have a crush on Ruby?"

No, that couldn't be possible. The feelings she held were towards Lisia. Sure Ruby was with the girl from time to time, maybe all the time, but that was her own fault for setting them up in the first place. Plus, the feelings she held for Lisia was more of admiration.

Envy.

Jealousy.

But she couldn't be jealous, could she? On second thought, thinking about it reasonably, why wouldn't she be? Lisia was like a shining star, always brightening up the place with her bubbly personality and being the center of everyone's attention because of her easy going charisma. She was pretty, had nice sparkly clothes, and she could do her hair perfectly and be confident. It was totally natural to be jealous of that.

No, that wasn't the source of her jealousy.

Sapphire glanced up at Ruby and the smile he gave Lisia.

Now that was the source of her jealousy. But why would she be jealous of them being together? That's as if she had a crush on him—

Okay, screw that thought. She immediately turned it down.

It didn't matter to her about romantic feelings. There was no way she held any for Ruby anyways. Besides, right now, all she wanted was to just grab him before he slips out of her reach. It was just herself being needy of a person she didn't completely hate.

Sapphire lifted her hand and brushed her bangs out of her eyes to get a clearer picture of Ruby and Lisia.

What should she do? Even if she semi-accepted her feelings (of how she doesn't want him to leave her) and reason why she's been feeling weird this whole night, she couldn't go against Lisia after promising the girl to help out in the first place. Now it seemed as if she was just stealing him from her. Despite her feelings, she decided to help Lisia out, so it would only be natural that she went along with the agreement—

She watched Lisia laughing along Ruby again as they slowly headed to the dance floor, the progress sluggish since she was latched onto his arm like usual. She felt another throb hit her heart.

Sapphire took a step forward, hesitating.

"Make sure to go through the path you like and not regret anything though, okay?" Now it was White's voice.

She took another step.

As her eyes followed the two, she tossed her flats aside onto the ground, and unconsciously, she got onto her hands and sprinted towards them. The room stopped their chatter and watched her run towards the two. And once she reached them, they turned to her in surprised as to why she was on four feet. Before they can say anything, she pushed herself up off the ground.

With a shaky arm that showed obvious reluctant, she reached out—

Blue's voice appeared. "Y'know... if you miss your chance now, you might lose it forever."

—and grabbed his wrist.

A/N — LOL, this turned out to be longer and more rushed than I intended to be, but tbh this is probs the most legit internal conflict I could ever write. I can never get romance right so *awkward silence* oops for the OOC Sapph, considering she was pretty straightforward in her confession in RS manga (still fangirling hard every time I read it) XD I can't say much about this since I have no idea how to write a dramatic scene (considering this was a first for me even though I have like two other romance fics that barely have romance), but y'know, progress, progress. Sapph is learning little by little.

On another note, I was actually going to name this the spotlight dance, but in the end, it turns out that would be the next chapter since I ended up changing it a bit so that it would be less rushed. The last author note I had for the last chapter is slightly ironic since this chapter didn't answer any real question on there, but the next chapter will XD Well, it did answer Sapph's conflicting feelings and whatnot. But about Blue and her messing around, it'll come later. For now, she's just planning (insert devious laugh).

I am extremely excited to write the next chapter XD This arc is coming to end by the next chapter, and a new one will probably start, but I'll reveal that stuff in the next chapter of course. Anywho's hope you enjoyed the chapter of progress! Things are about to get even weirder and dramatic XD

FINALLY LESS COMEDY AND MORE ROMANCE (lol the comedy died)! (it'll come back sooner or later, don't worry!)

Thank y'all for favoriting, following, and reviewing XD WOOHOO I REACHED OVER 100,000 WORDS ON THIS STORY!

Oh, lastly, I want to state that school does slow down my progress, but I've been having a lot of free time lately since they're trying to slightly ease up (in some ways), so the next update should come on time. I have a few breaks next week, so woohoo. ALSO WOOHOO BC POKEMON SUN AND MOON IS COMING OUT NEXT MONTH! Happiness is reaching its levels XD I hope it doesn't take up too much writing time :) But I'm super excited to play it. I'm also excited for the release of the Sun and Moon manga hmm...