Today's the day.

I just can't stand it anymore, I gotta do it, no backing out.

Today.

That was the promise he made to himself, and he was not one to go back on promises.

Having emerged from the realm of sleep only moments ago, Hugh was welcomed back into the waking world by a delicious breakfast and the familiar face of his mother.

"Good morning, Hugh," she chimed, her good mood almost palpable.

"Morning," the boy managed to reply in between mouthfuls of food.

As silence ensued, Hugh took note of the date shown on the nearby calendar.

May 11… It's been exactly one year now.

Hugh was of course referring to the fateful day when, not more than a year ago, a brave trainer from a far-off town had, with the help of his Pokemon, completely disrupted the plans of Team Plasma, a group dedicated to "liberating" Pokemon of their trainers.

Inspired by this courageous feat, Hugh harbored his own dream of raising his own Pokemon team. He knew all too well of the dastardly misdeeds Team Plasma was capable of… But for now, realizing that goal could wait. Today was the day for a totally different agenda.

While the boy was contemplating, his mother proceeded to a more mundane topic. "Hugh, dear, my parents are coming to visit tonight, and they'll be staying quite a while."

While not a common occurrence by any means, Hugh did not find himself too excited by the news, giving a curt "Okay" to reply.

"The last time they visited, we had a spare room for them to sleep, remember? But we can't use that room anymore; it's your sister's room now."

Hugh nodded, finishing the last traces of his meal. That was all correct, he knew. He wondered what his mother was planning to do about it.

"So… do you think you would be okay sleeping over at a friend's house until then?" With that statement, Hugh's interest was roused immediately.

This is perfect, he thought. The perfect opportunity… I can't pass this up!

Hugh could barely contain the grin that sought to spread across his face. "Yeah, definitely! I'll call Nate right now!"

Dialing his friend's number on his Xtransceiver phone, Hugh could feel the tension wracking his nerves, hoping that Nate would pick up as soon as he could.

After just two rings, Hugh could hear a voice from the phone's speaker, but it wasn't Nate's.

"Hello?" asked the voice, a woman's voice vaguely similar to that of Hugh's mother.

With slight disappointment, Hugh responded into his phone. "Hello, is Nate there?"

Nate's mother replied, sounding apologetic. "Sorry, he went out just a minute ago. You wanted to tell him something?"

Hugh realized that it would be better for his friend's mother to know. "Yeah, my mom's parents need my room for… I don't know how long, probably a week or so. She said I could stay over at a friend's house until then."

A few seconds passed for the woman to digest this unexpected event. After considering, she agreed to the arrangement. "Why, I'd love to have you over, and I'm sure Nate will be happy to hear it too. Could you put your mother on the phone? I'll tell her about it myself."

And so Hugh handed the phone to his own mother, and the two women began to talk; all Hugh could see out of the conversation was his mother replying with various short statements. He then made his way to the door, figuring that his time would be better spent looking for Nate.

Aspertia City was not a big settlement at all. Its relatively low population was underscored by the few houses that dotted the streets, and the Trainers' School was still in early stages of construction; perhaps there would be more residents to come when the building was finished. It would not take Hugh even a quarter of an hour to locate his good friend.

As it turned out, Nate was seated at the benches of the city's lookout point, a small area built high on the mountains where the view was impressive, to say the least. Hugh ascended the flight of stairs leading to the benches, to see his friend, idly gazing at the morning sun nestled amongst the sparse clouds, a canvas which the overhead bird Pokemon were free to traverse.

He looks so peaceful, Hugh thought. So peaceful…

Nate turned his head, topped with a messy mop of brown hair and clad in his favorite red visor, to regard his good friend. "Hey, Hugh. Whatcha doing?"

Hugh found himself caught off-guard all of a sudden. "Oh, um… nothing. I just came to, uh, ask you something."

Nate tilted his head, as though he were a schoolgirl pondering a teacher's question. "What is it?"

Part of Hugh wanted to talk about the arrangements their parents had planned. But a greater part just wanted to seize this moment and let Hugh's true feelings burst forth. He knew he had to contain it for now.

I said I would do it, okay? But it can wait just a little longer...

"My mom's parents are coming to visit and, uh, since we have no more rooms, I thought it'd be okay if, y'know, I stayed at your place while they're here… um, yeah… How about it?

Nate didn't reply for a second, tugging on Hugh's nerves. All it took was a single statement to release the grip that tightened them.

"Sure, sounds like fun." Topping the answer with a warm, cheerful smile was enough to make Hugh want to jump about in excitement… but he restrained himself.

"R-Really?" Hugh wanted to make sure he had heard right and that his mind wasn't deceiving him.

"Yeah, really."

And before Nate could say "Go, Poke Ball" (though he did not have any Poke Balls of his own), Hugh dashed home, his elation providing the unbridled energy to run without rest.

The time is coming, he repeated again and again in his mind. Tonight, I'll do it.

I'll tell Nate how I truly feel about him.

Sorry, no delicious yaoi yet. I had to set everything up for it, so just sit tight, kay?