"Chansey – the Egg Pokémon. A Normal Type pokémon. It walks carefully to prevent its egg from breaking. However it is extremely fast at running away. It is said to share its egg with those who are injured in order to spread happiness."

…

"Tyranitar – the Armor Pokémon. A Rock and Dark Type pokémon. Extremely strong and insolent, its body cannot be harmed by any sort of attack. Because of this, it is very eager to make challenges against enemies."

"Ash… uh… shouldn't we…"

"Chatot – the Music Note Pokémon. A Normal and Flying Type pokémon. It mimics the cries of other Pokemon to trick them into thinking it is one of them in order to avoid being attacked."

"Ash!"

"H-Huh?"

Shaking his head clear of the hypnotic spell he was put under, the raven-haired boy shifted his glance to the friend that had been waiting impatiently for his attention.

Sigh. "Are you sure you want to come with me? You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Of course I want to come with you, Dawn. I just –"

"It's just a small Contest, nothing official. It's just for fun. If you'd rather spend time here, I don't really…" Dawn frowned, noticing that Ash had turned his attention back towards the large television display. "…mind."

Tugging at her shoe, the yellow Mouse Pokémon gave an apologetic smile up to the Coordinator. "Pika. pika pi."

She looked down at him, tilting her head. "You wanna' come with me, Pikachu?"

"Pika."

"Alright, let's hurry. It's about to start soon."

Letting him scurry up to her shoulder, Dawn gave one last call before heading out the door, "See you later then, Ash. Have fun. If Brock gets back here before I do, just go ahead to the restaurant and order something for me. Okay?"

"…mm…" the boy nodded, obviously unaware of what was said.

With a shrug, the Coordinator left the Pokémon Center with a speeding pace.

…

"Kecleon – the Color Swap Pokémon. A Normal Type pokémon. It changes its shading to match its surroundings so it can sneak up on prey. Only its belly patterns stay fixed. It will return to its original colors if startled."

Ash continued his mesmerized gaze, completely captured by the screen's influence.

Pokédex TV. A new network addition to a few of the more modern cities in the Sinnoh Region. It had originally started as a publicly-funded project to boost Pokémon knowledge and awareness amongst all walks of Trainer life – meant to give every contender within the Pokémon League basic advantages in catching, understanding, and battling pokémon of all breeds and types.

However, with little to no network-deals being successful before the initial airing, Pokédex TV could only afford to air their default program for its first season: The Pokédex Loop; a show meant to be used during commercial breaks in order to keep viewers educated and interested through showing random Pokédex entries from every region.

Despite this limitation, the Pokémon Center in Byzantium Town found the network to be a wonderful addition for their lobby's large-screen television.

Patients, customers, passerby, and Trainers of all sorts would stop and stare as a new entry would appear on the display. Even the nurses and doctors would find themselves being distracted by the channel's soothing background music and calming feminine narration.

This was no different for Ash, who was always fascinated by Pokédex entries.

"Yanmega – the Ogre Darner Pokémon. A Bug and Flying Type pokémon. This six-legged Pokémon is easily capable of transporting an adult human during flight. The wings on its tail help keep its body balanced and controlled even under extreme weight."

His eyes stayed locked, his mouth slightly ajar as his mind absorbed the hypnotizing information. Subconsciously, he was well-aware that he would forget all this data by the time the next entry would appear on screen. At the moment, he didn't care; he just wanted to see what was next.

"Solrock – the Meteorite Pokémon. A Rock and Psychic Type pokémon. A new species of Pokémon said to have fallen from the sun. Heat and light release from its body while rotating. It is also said to be able to read the thoughts and emotions of others."

"Now that's cool…" Ash whispered to himself.

"It is." an unknown voice spoke beside him. Though Ash didn't turn to greet them, they continued talking, "But are they still calling those things a new species? It's been at least a decade since they were first discovered. I'm sure we've researched them enough to consider them common knowledge by now."

"I don't think it's common knowledge. I mean, I didn't even know they could read emotions."

"As far as I can tell, they can't. Some studies say they simply access a different part of the mind in order to communicate. This part of the brain that they communicate with is far more in-tune with emotional responses, so they can only read the thoughts of those emotions."

"Wouldn't that be the same thing?"

"Not really. Emotions feel completely different from thoughts." The voice paused. "I'd have hoped you would've learned that by now, Ash."

"Hm? How do you know my n–" Ash finally turned to acknowledge the stranger… who wasn't a stranger whatsoever. "Anabel?"

A young woman of lilac hair and eyes giggled in delight at his immediate recognition. "Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you, too!" He grinned and half-waved, unsure of how to re-introduce himself after being surprised by her sudden appearance. "What are you doing all the way out in the Sinnoh region?"

"Vacation, mostly." Anabel mimicked the half-wave and took a step back to create a comfortable distance between them. "Though I didn't quite expect to run into you in such a small town."

Ash scratched his head in embarrassment. "We kind of… got lost. So we're resting here until we find out where to head next. Brock went off to get some new maps and cooking stuff. And Dawn went to join in that local Contest. I kind of got stuck here after getting distracted by the TV…"

"Dawn, hm? She's that other Coordinator you're always following around these days, right? I've seen her in a few Contests. She's very skilled."

"Following her? If anything she's following me."

The Frontier Brain stared at him curiously. "Do you travel with Coordinators often?"

"Huh?" He scratched his chin as he looked up, as if staring at the thoughts over his head. "No, I guess it just ends up that way. Besides, she's only the second Coordinator I've ever travelled with."

"Whatever happened to May?"

"She went off on her own travels. She's back in Johto these days, I think. We visit each other from time to time."

"I was quite aware of her in Johto, but I was asking if anything happened between you two."

"Between us?"

"Any reason you split up?"

The male Trainer raised his brow in confusion. He had no idea if she might have been referring to anything else in particular. "Not really. I just wanted to continue competing in other regions, and she followed wherever she wanted to get more ribbons at. And to find her own style, or something like that."

"…so… you two didn't break up?"

"Break up?"

"Were you two dating?"

"D-DATING?" Ash's body stiffened. "N-NO! We just split up to have our own travels! May and I! We! We never dated!"

"Oh. And Dawn?"

"What about Dawn?" His eyes twitched, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the conversation.

"So you're not dating her either?"

"N-NO!"

"Are you dating anyone?"

"N-NO!"

…

Anabel's eyes seemed to light up, causing further discomfort for the boy. "Say Ash… Have you eaten yet?"

"N-No… but we were planning to eat dinner later."

"It'll be quite some time until dinner…" she murmured as she stared up at the clock. "You've got a good number of hours until then. So… What say you and I go get a snack at the café?"

"A… A snack?" Ash was noticeably hesitant to go anywhere with her, especially after their previous conversation. "Just… a snack?"

"Sure. Like a little snack date." She smiled innocently.

"D-DATE?"

"It's been a while since we've seen each other, Ash. And who knows how long it'll be when we see each other again. A little date wouldn't hurt."

"Y-Yeah, but…"

Anabel immediately grabbed him by the elbow and began dragging him playfully. "It's just a small date, Ash. It's healthy for you. Come on."

"I! But… I have to! Uh!"

As he was slowly pulled away, Ash regretted having never gone to watch Dawn's Contest.

"Trapinch – the Ant Pit Pokémon. A Ground Type pokémon. A patient hunter that can go a whole week without access to water. It creates a bowl-shaped pit to capture its prey. Once something has fallen in, there is no escape."

"So then Arceus told us that Damos and everyone else did everything they could to make sure Michina Town stayed beautiful even without the Jewel of Life."

"Wow… that's… that's amazing! What happened next?"

"After that? Well, we just said our goodbyes to Arceus and moved on… went back on the road and started travelling again."

Anabel sat forward in complete interest and amazement. The stories Ash had told during their small meal had absolutely blown her mind. She wouldn't have believed him if it weren't for the fact that she could read his emotions perfectly with her Empathy.

It was also because of her Empathy that she found herself completely immersed into his story; feeling every rise of emotion, spike of excitement, and drops of despair he had experienced throughout his memories. There were no words to express what he had seen, heard, and felt during those moments of desperation – and she found herself with no words to give in return.

Ash, on the other hand, had plenty more words.

Though he was initially frightened and nervous of the small "date" the two held within the quaint café that sat in the corner of the Pokémon Center, he had begun to loosen up the more stories he shared with Anabel.

Originally, she had made it so that one would share an event that had occurred in their time away from the other – and the other would exchange it with an even more interesting story. Over time, it had become a competition of whose stories were better, and Ash was slowly but surely winning after the second hour of their conversation. By the third hour, he had won completely: becoming the only one sharing stories between the two of them.

He found himself quite surprised at how comfortable he was now.

Though people glanced and stared their way, and the waiter held a very amused smile as he served them their refills – all of them seeing the two as a cute new couple – Ash no longer felt ashamed.

If just hanging out, having awesome desserts, and just talking about stuff is all it takes to have a date, then maybe I should've gone on a date sooner! he considered with a curious sense of elation. After a quick sip of his specialty soda, he dove back into his chocolate waffle with excitement. This is delicious!

Anabel's eyes sparkled. Her cheeks turned pink. And her mouth formed a weak smile.

Ash's stories had made her far more infatuated with him than she originally had been. But more importantly: Ash's emotions had begun to warm to the idea of dating her – an idea that drove her to jittery anticipation.

Could it be? Am I actually going to get Ash as my… my boyfriend?

Her face blushed into a deeper shade of pink as an overwhelming and indescribable sense of jubilation spun and exploded inside her chest. She wanted to scream to the heavens from the sensation – to run and shout to the world what was occurring – and to immediately drag Ash to the nearest priest to marry them right then and there.

But she stopped herself.

I'm getting ahead of myself… If this date proved anything, it's the fact that I barely know a thing about Ash! I… I should get to know him more before I just shove the title of "boyfriend" on him… right? Right. I have to wait. I can't just…

DING – DING – DING – DING – DING – DING

A high-pitched beeping sound interrupted Anabel's thoughts. Her eyes widened in surprise, having been given a rude awakening.

"Oh, sorry!" Ash reached into his pocket. With a quick tug and twist, he pulled out his pokédev and turned off the impossible-to-ignore alarm. "Shoot this thing's loud…"

"Is someone calling you?" Anabel asked with a hint of disappointment, fearing that their day together had ended.

"No, no. It's just a reminder. Ah crap… Almost forgot about this." Pushing his chair back, Ash stood up from his seat and pulled out his wallet.

"Wh-Where are you going? Wh-What's going on?" She stared at him in desperate confusion, not wishing for their date to end so abruptly with little to no explanation.

"It's nothing. I just have to make a call."

"Make a call?"

"Yeah, or Misty will kill me."

"…Misty?"

"She's an old friend of mine." Ash flipped over the receipt on the table and started counting the bills in his hand. The task was more difficult for him than he originally thought, as he was unused to talking and figuring out math problems at the same time. "She has me call her around this time every week. Just to catch up on things with me."

"…she?"

"Normally I used to do this once a month." he continued explaining, not catching Anabel's slightly saddened tone. "But then I kept forgetting or was always too busy. She got so mad that she put me on this strict schedule."

After placing the money on the bill tray, he looked up to Anabel and smiled. "Don't worry; the call shouldn't take too long. You can even join me if you wa–…" his voice trailed off.

"Hm?" She noticed that his face suddenly looked worried. "Are you sure something isn't wrong?"

"N-No, nothing's wrong. Er… just nevermind on you joining me. I don't think she'd like that, actually."

"Why?"

"Er… it's… complicated?"

Anabel's eyes narrowed. Complicated?

"The call won't be too long, promise! Just wait for me in the lobby."

"O…kay…"

Ash hurried off towards the vidphone booths, giving a quick "Thank you!" to the waiters behind the café counter before he disappeared around the corner.

…

"…I'll just wait in the lobby then."

"Stantler – the Big Horn Pokémon. A Normal Type pokémon. Its curved antlers subtly change the flow of air to create a strange space where reality is distorted. Those who –"

Sitting on a corner chair located near the Pokédex TV display, Anabel was surrounded by the television's loud surround sound. Despite this, she ignored it perfectly – her attention and ears focused elsewhere.

Across the room from her, Ash stood awkwardly facing the vidphone.

He had been speaking for over an hour now.

Anabel had somewhere to go, and she couldn't stay for much longer… however, at this point, she had to stay and wait.

The young woman on the screen had seemed to notice Anabel. Several times.

Though Ash had constantly obscured her view in a nervous attempt to redirect his called-friend's attention, the girl named "Misty" seemed fully aware of Anabel… and had given her threatening stares each time their eyes locked.

Instead of finding herself out of place or estranged, Anabel was surprised that she had actually felt "offended" by Misty's glares. More than once she questioned if she meant "defensive", but everything inside her told her that she was indeed "offended". Insulted, even.

Even if it was just a single date… she thought to herself. Who the heck does this girl think she is?

The Frontier Brain couldn't believe how… protective… she suddenly felt towards her relationship with Ash. They had only spent hours together, yet she was already staking her claim. I'm not normally like this… am I?

Misty caught a glimpse of her and glared at her again. Anabel glared back.

Maybe it's just that girl… that "Misty". Something about that look just irritates me.

Misty's eyes shifted, returning to Ash. They mumbled something towards one another – their voices being muffled by the Pokédex TV's loud volume. Within seconds, Ash and Misty were laughing hard together.

Sigh. Anabel looked down at her knees in depression. She's really close to Ash… I wonder if…

"ASH! ASH! ASH! HEY! ASH!"

A young woman of blue hair stormed into the Pokémon Center's lobby, skipping and squealing in excitement. "I DID IT! I WON THE CONTEST! I GOT FIRST PLACE!"

"ALRIGHT! AWESOME, DAWN!" Ash swung his arm upward for a high-five.

Their palms slapped hard against the other. The two cheered loudly.

Before he could lower his arm, Dawn wrapped her arms around Ash and hugged him tightly.

Misty, still on the line, yelled at the Coordinator to get off him. Dawn responded by sticking out her tongue childishly and clicking the "End Call" button.

"H-Hey! I was still talking to her!" Ash panicked as he nearly fell over from Dawn's grab.

"You can call her next week! We have to celebrate my victory!" she giggled and pressed her head against his chest.

Anabel's eye twitched. Wh… WHO DOES THIS GIRL THINK SHE IS?

The Frontier Brain coughed loudly to get their attention.

Dawn blinked. "Hm? Who's that?"

"OH! RIGHT!" Ash pried the Coordinator off him and ran up to Anabel in a hurry. He bowed apologetically towards her before presenting her to his blue-haired friend. "Dawn, this is Anabel. A Frontier Brain I battled with. Anabel, this is Dawn."

"A pleasure to meet you." Dawn straightened her back and held out her hand.

Anabel reluctantly shook her hand. "A pleasure." she said with a hint of venom.

Dawn caught the tone and raised her brow.

"Anabel! It's been too long!"

The Frontier Brain turned, finding a familiar-looking Breeder running towards the group. "Brock! Nice to see you again!"

Dawn noticed that the greeting was far more genuine than the one she was given. I don't like this girl already.

Breaking away from a handshake, Brock smiled. "Hey, us three were about to have dinner. You want to join us?"

"No thank you, I've already eaten. Thank you for the offer, though." Anabel smirked, knowing full-well what her response would remind Ash of.

As if on cue, Ash patted his stomach. "Oh yeah… I guess I'm stuffed too. I already ate with Anabel."

"You ate ahead of us? Not fair, Ash!" the Coordinator pouted.

"You two go on a date while we were gone?" Brock joked with a friendly laugh.

"Well… actually…" Ash looked away with a blush.

Brock and Dawn's eyes widened at the hesitated response.

Anabel smiled and was ready to soak in the situation in victorious pride.

"Ash? Is that you?"

Hopping forward excitedly, another young woman – this one with brown hair and a large white hat decorated by a hot pink ribbon – appeared from one corner of the lobby.

"Lyra! It's been forever!"

Anabel couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to storm off and just shake her head at the entire predicament, but she decided to escape with subtlety for the sake of respect… or rather, semi-respect, as she'd be leaving without a word.

Nonchalantly, she approached the Pokédex TV display, appearing to have given her attention to it.

In the background, she could hear the four chat and gossip and laugh together, not noticing her absence. It was the perfect conditions for her. Just a few more minutes and I'll just slowly find my way to the door… and I'll be done with this.

Despite having found Ash that day with excitement and high hopes, she now no longer wanted anything to do with him.

He was too much trouble for her; having far too many close relations with female "friends".

Yeah right, 'friends'. she thought to herself angrily.

Anabel could see that though Ash only saw them as friends, it was rather easy for her Empathy to catch the hidden intentions each girl had for him. By all accounts: Ash had a harem, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

A shame too… he really is an amazing man…

Her thoughts and emotions thought back to the stories he had told her during their time in the café. From saving Legendary Pokémon that were considered to only be myths, to finding pokémon from outside their world, to even fighting the creator of the universe they stood in.

The stories were beyond anything anyone could ever come up with or discover in their entire lifetimes… and it was all in one entity, one young man, who had a future brighter than any person standing on the planet – and a past far more fascinating than he gave himself credit for.

However, it wasn't the stories that had her captivated.

What mattered most to Anabel was the fact that he had a heart of gold. The stories had only reinforced and expanded what she already knew about Ash: his love and care for pokémon – that innate sense of understanding and respect that he gave them despite not being able to speak the same language.

Ash… was different from other people. In almost every way possible. And it made her heart melt knowing that such a man existed.

He is quite a catch… but is Ash really worth all the trouble? All… these girls?

The Pokédex TV's screen flickered as it switched to another entry.

A bouquet of red and blue roses caught her eyes and attention.

"Roserade – the Bouquet Pokémon. A Grass and Poison Type pokémon. Its sweet aroma attracts prey. Once close, it spews a deadly poison. The more toxic it is, the sweeter its aroma."

Anabel giggled to herself. "…sounds about right."

Her eyes moved back to Ash.

The young Trainer was being patted heavily against his back by Brock. With his face completely red from embarrassment and the two girls staring at her in complete envy, it was obvious that he had just confessed the date he had with her.

…with everything that has happened to Ash… of course he'd be popular with the girls. It's surprising he isn't flooded by them…

…

Sigh. I can't believe I'm doing this, but…

Anabel approached the group. "I'm guessing you told them about our date?" she winked towards the boy.

"Y-Yeah." He laughed nervously, his cheeks nearly matching Pikachu's.

Brock grinned widely. "And here I thought Ash would never get himself a girlfriend!"

"G-Girlfriend?" It was Anabel's turn to blush.

"W-We did go on a date, right?" Ash stared at the floor. "Is… is it bad to call you that?"

His innocent view of relationships made Anabel's knees weak. She couldn't believe that anyone could be that simple at heart. It only made him that much more charming.

"…n-no… that's fine." the Frontier Brain said in an ashamedly higher pitch than she intended. "As… as long as I can call you my boyfriend."

"Th-That's fine." he responded almost incoherently.

Brock laughed as he frazzled Ash's hair in pride.

Lyra, unexpectedly, congratulated Anabel with a side-hug. "You really must be something to have gotten Ash to agree to a date. The guy's like a brick wall when it comes to love!"

Anabel and Ash looked away in utter shyness; the word "love" was not something the two were quite ready to say yet.

Dawn was obviously upset emotionally, but held a smile for them.

Though she felt pity for her, Anabel couldn't help but feel victorious once again.

She stared directly at Ash, prompting him to lock eyes with her. The two shared an infatuated gaze; realizing that everything would change from this day on…

"I had fun in our date." she giggled innocently.

"I… did too." he laughed nervously. "We should… do it again sometime."

"No reason why we have to end it here."

Brock and Lyra howled in teasing enthusiasm.

With a quick grab of his wrist, Anabel dragged Ash away from his friends and out of the Pokémon Center.

"Wh-Where are we going?" Ash panicked and stumbled as he was pulled out into the moonlight.

"Somewhere we can be alone!" she shouted as her heart almost leapt from her chest.

As the two ran through the starlit town, Anabel found herself feeling faint. It all felt like a dream to her. A dream she would have to wake from soon. Ash would never be able to get rid of his charms – and it would always attract trouble…

She shook her head, not accepting the burdening thoughts that tried to drag her down.

The two loosened in spirits, joking and laughing together as they vanished into the night…

Ash may have his poisons… but a good Trainer always keeps a few Antidotes in her pocket.