Sonia was silent the rest of the school day. She pretended to be paying attention during her last three classes while Yamper, who was back out of its Pokeball, sat beside her. On the train ride back to Wedgehurst, Timothy, and Coovers discussed their plan for breaking into school, and Sonia made brief comments, half paying attention. Eventually, Timothy noticed Sonia making little contribution and asked if she was okay. Sonia told him she was fine and her mind was on Professor Magnolia and the Pokemon in the Magnolia Paddock.

The train stopped at Wedgehurst Station, and Timothy, Coovers, and Sonia headed to their respective homes with their Pokemon agreeing to meet back at 8 o'clock. When Sonia and Yamper got to her house, they went up the stairs to Sonia's room, and Sonia plopped onto her bed face first. She hugged her pillow and heaved a sigh while Yamper lay beside her, knowing what was on her mind. They lay there for several minutes before Sonia remembered that she needed to bake her cake for Timothy's party and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Sonia removed her coat, put it on a dining chair, and put on a pink apron. She gathered sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, lemon juice, and frozen Oran Berries she had thawed overnight. Yamper sat by the kitchen table, watching Sonia put everything but the vanilla in a medium-heat saucepan, then smash the berries with a silicone spatula.

Sonia tried to put her mind to making the Oran Berry filling for Timothy's cake with a smile, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She began to smash vigorously as the thought of the party led to Timothy leaving, Tulip catching his eye and being thwarted at every turn. Yamper whimpered as Sonia's focus on crushing the berries intensified, knowing that her mind was on the worst moments of her life.

**************************************************************************************

It was the day before Valentine's Day, and snow fell hard on Postwick and Wedgehurst. It had been going down for two days with no end in sight. Professor Magnolia drove Sonia and Yamper to Wedgehurst Middle School in her pink car, ignoring the warnings of ice that would be unsuitable for a car in its old age. The professor parked at the front of the school, and Sonia promised she'd be safe walking home after school before getting out of the car with Yamper.

Sonia and Yamper went inside to find heart-shaped streamers hanging on the hallway ceiling. Paper-cut pictures of pink Swanna in pairs were taped against the wall. Girls carried Luvdisc, Teddiursa, and Pancham plushies in white, red, and pink. The plushies held stuffed roses with text like "Be mine" and "I wuv u" stitched to their stomachs. Some girls were happy that they had been asked to be someone's valentine, while others were annoyed, knowing who sent the gifts and had no desire to acknowledge them.

Just then, the door opened behind Sonia and Yamper, and they turned around to see Timothy wearing a purple hoodie and Electchu walking behind him with a black scarf around its neck. Yamper happily barked and walked over to greet Electchu while Timothy removed his hood, giving Sonia a friendly smile.

"Morning, Timothy," Sonia said.

"Morning, Sonia. You look like you just woke up," Timothy said.

"What can I say? Even with my Gran shaking me, the longest process of starting the day is deciding to get out of bed," Sonia said with a yawn.

Timothy chuckled, having heard Sonia say that before. They walked down the hall toward their respective classes with Electchu and Yamper walking beside their partners. Timothy looked at the Valentine's Day decorations and girls holding gifts from boyfriends and admirers and grew uneasy. Electchu nudged his leg with its side and gave him a look that said, "Make a move." Timothy glanced at Sonia and cleared his throat with his hands behind his back to hide that they were shaking.

"Remember in elementary school when everyone got cards whether they were interested in someone or not?" Timothy asked.

"I think everybody misses those days," Sonia said. "Or at least, everyone who has never had a valentine."

Timothy hummed and nodded in agreement. Then he looked away from Sonia, trying to think of what to say next while biting his lip. Eletchu nudged his leg again and gave him an impatient look to say, "Come on, already." Timothy hesitated before saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"Well, it's not Valentine's Day yet. There's still time for someone who has never had a valentine to get one," Timothy said.

"Heh. Yeah right. Like a girl and a guy are gonna step in front of us and simultaneously ask us to be their valentines," Sonia said.

"Granted, but that doesn't mean that won't happen to you, Sonia. I mean, your chances are higher than mine," Timothy said.

"Don't be so modest, Timothy," Sonia said, smirking. "Any girl would be lucky to have my dashing best friend be their valentine."

"Not as lucky as a guy would be to have my beautiful best friend be their valentine. Far as I'm concerned, you're a bigger catch than I can be in 10 lifetimes," Timothy said.

Sonia's cheek heated up, and she looked away from Timothy, playing with her hair with her finger. Little did she know Timothy was also looking away, red in the face with his eyes wide and his hand covering his mouth. He looked down at Electchu, who smiled and nodded as if to say, "You're doing great." After a few seconds, Sonia shook her head, and Timothy smacked himself to get rid of their blushes before turning to each other again.

"Well, then, by our own words, we should get valentines this year," Sonia said.

"I guess so," Timothy said. "Let's vow to be positive that this will be our year."

"Pikachu," Electchu agreed.

Sonia giggled and said while holding up her pinkie, "You got it. Sonia Magnolia and Timothy Durbin are getting dates for Valentine's Day, and the holiday ain't ending without us getting them."

"Arf, arf," Yamper barked.

Timothy grinned and shook Sonia's pinkie with his. They held their pinkies until they realized they were staring at each other and let go with sheepish chuckles. Timothy looked at Electchu, who flicked its tiny hands to say, "Keep going," and cleared his throat.

"Anyway, you have cleaning duty this week. Right?" Timothy said.

"Ugh. Unfortunately, yes," Sonia said. "Why does it have to snow on the week I have to stay to clean homeroom? I'm gonna be going home when it's dark, and it's gonna be colder. It sucks."

"Well, I can wait until you're done and walk you home," Timothy said.

"No way. You and Electchu would be walking from my place to Postwick. I don't want you two being out there that long," Sonia said.

"I don't mind. Better that than you and Yamper walk home alone when you're less tolerant of the cold than I am," Timothy said. "Besides, walking from your place to mine is still safer than driving your gran's car."

Sonia giggled and said, "Okay, but don't blame me if your mom goes hysterical that you're out there for so long."

"Fair enough," Timothy said. "Anyway, we better get to class. See you at lunch."

"See ya," Sonia said.

"Pikachu," Electchu said.

"Arf, arf," Yamper barked.

Timothy waved to Sonia and Yamper as he and Electchu walked down the hall. Sonia waved back, smiling until her best friend was out of sight. Just then, the first bell rang, warning students to be at their first period class within the next 5 minutes. Sonia sighed as she begrudgingly took a turn to algebra class with Yamper.

Yet, while Sonia dreaded going over math homework that she knew she didn't do great on, her mind was on the promise she made with Timothy. Walking down the hallway, she took out her Rotom Phone and opened the photo app to see a photo of her, Timothy, and Coovers. In the picture, Sonia stood on the left, smiling widely with her tongue sticking out. Coovers stood on the right, giving a goofy smile with his top front teeth sticking out, and Timothy was at the center, sticking out his curled tongue with his eyes crossed.

Sonia chuckled at how silly she and her friends looked, but her eyes were on how close she and Timothy were. While Coovers was holding the Rotom Phone up to take the selfie and Timothy had his arms over Sonia and Coovers' shoulders, Sonia had her arm wrapped around Timothy's waist, her other hand was holding the hand Timothy had over her shoulder, and her head was close to Timothy's. Any other person wouldn't notice the difference between how close Coovers and Sonia were to their best friend, but the detail was essential to Sonia. She remembered how she intently made herself that close to Timothy that day and how, even then, she hoped they could be more than just friends. The very idea made Sonia's cheeks heat up again. Her bashful smile turned into a smirk of determination, and she turned to Yamper.

"You know what, Yamper? I think I'm gonna get my valentine myself rather than wait," Sonia said.

Yamper tilted its head, confused until it understood what Sonia had in mind, and it barked while wagging its tiny tail. Sonia giggled, appreciating her partner's enthusiasm as they reached the door to algebra. Sonia sat at her desk shortly before the final bell rang, and she took out her notebook and algebra book before the teacher began going over math homework.

As the school day went by, Sonia pretended to pay attention in class, but her mind was on asking Timothy to be her Valentine. It seemed simple, but Sonia wanted it to clearly state her true feelings. She considered going to the store to get a special Valentine's Day card, but she couldn't do that when Professor Magnolia wanted her to come straight home after school, and Timothy was walking her home. Reason dictated that Sonia would make something to give Timothy on Valentine's Day, but she liked the idea of asking before the day was over so that he'd be her Valentine the entire day. Eventually, during her fourth period class, she decided to write a love letter confessing her feelings and asking Timothy to be her Valentine.

For the rest of the school day, Sonia wrote her letter in her notebook instead of writing notes when the teachers weren't looking. She only didn't write during lunch because she and Yamper ate with Timothy, Coovers, Electchu, and Oshawott. By the end of seventh period, Sonia had filled an entire page front and back. She closed her eyes and slowly let out a sigh of satisfaction shortly before the final bell rang.

While most of the students and their Pokemon left for home, Sonia and Yamper went to homeroom cleaning duties with another girl named Abigail. While Sonia rarely talked to Abigail outside class, she saw her cleanup partner as lazy and stuck up. She often saw Abigail and her friends chat about fashion and how ugly some of their peers were compared to them from afar. Sometimes, Sonia and her friends occasionally see Abigail make fun of a girl with an outfit she didn't like or embarrass a guy who had a crush on her. It made Sonia's blood boil how Abigail could get away with it because of her long, shiny brown hair, tiny waist, trendy clothes, and chest above average size for a 14-year-old.

While Yamper and Abigail's partner, Espurr, waited by the door with their partners' backpacks, Sonia stacked chairs and moved desks back for Abigail to sweep the room. Abigail unenthusiastically swept the floor, not bothering to see if she collected any dust. Every other minute, she stopped to respond to a text from her friends. It was aggravating for Sonia to wait for Abigail to be done, especially when she had a mop and a bucket of soapy water ready for mopping after Abigail was done.

Sonia texted Timothy to let him know it would take a little longer and complained about how incompetent her cleaning partner was. Timothy texted back, saying Abigail's friends were waiting at the front entrance for Abigail, and joked about Abigail not realizing she'd be done faster if she stopped texting. Sonia covered a laugh with her mouth and texted how much she agreed, but knowing what Abigail was doing only made her more eager to give Timothy her letter.

The second Abigail finished, Sonia began mopping. Usually, Sonia would have an issue with the likelihood of the mop collecting dust, but she was a girl on a mission. Just for today, she would rush in mopping and worry about a more thorough cleaning the next day. Sonia mopped the entire classroom while Abigail texted her friends, letting them know she was done with cleaning. When she finished, Sonia rushed to the janitor's closet with the mop and bucket and dumped the dirty water into the wash sink.

But as Sonia headed back, she heard Yamper barking and girls laughing. She ran back to the classroom and gasped in shock. Espurr was levitating Yamper using Confusion, Sonia's backpack was open, and Abigail was reading Sonia's letter in her notebook with her two friends: one with a Purrloin and another with a Skitty. The girls roared with laughter, one shedding a tear in her eye and another taking a picture of the letter on her Rotom phone.

"Hey, give that back!" Sonia shouted.

Abigail and her friends saw Sonia running towards them, and Abigail lifted the notebook from Sonia's reach before she could snatch it from her. Sonia reached out for her notebook again, but one of Abigail's friends pushed her back while Abigail took a picture of the back side of the letter. Yamper barked angrily, demanding Espurr to let it go, but the restraint Pokemon smirked, perfectly okay with letting its partner have her cruel fun.

"O M goodness, this is just too funny," Abigail chortled. "I've seen some embarrassing love letters, but this is too much."

"Come on, Abigail! Knock it off!" Sonia shouted. "Just give me back my notebook and let Yamper go!"

"Now, why would I do that?" Abigail asked. "I mean, come on, Sonia. You're no supermodel, but even you can do better than Timothy Durbin."

"Yeah, seriously. Personally, I think the only thing that's appealing about him is that he has a cute Pikachu," the girl holding Sonia back said.

"How would you know? You're so full of it that you wouldn't know a cute guy if he was a supermodel with an eight-pack," Sonia said.

"Ha! So, you do think Timothy Durbin is cute," Abigail said. "I feel sorry for you, Sonia. I can overlook being friends with Timothy Durbin. I even think it's courageous that you're buddies with that tail-chasing creep, Coovers Woodward, but this is embarrassing. The only thing that will put my mind at ease is if you tell us right now that you wrote this letter to screw with him."

"No way! I mean every word in that letter!" Sonia yelled.

"No, you don't. You just wrote it out of pity," Abigail said. "Just admit it. You wrote this letter just to screw with your best friend. A practical joke."

"Yeah, come on, Sonia. Fess up," Abigail's first friend said.

"Tell the truth. You'll feel a lot better if you do. We won't judge," Abigail's second friend said.

The girls surrounded Sonia, chanting, "Confess," and Espurr, Purrlion, and Skitty joined in their respective languages. Yamper barked, demanding that they leave its partner alone while kicking its legs in a vain attempt to free itself from Espurr's psychic hold. Sonia covered her ears and shut her eyes, mentally praying that the girls would stop. Finally, out of desperation, Sonia let out a condescending laugh, taking Abigail and her friends aback.

"You really wanted me to confess that I'm messing with Timothy? Honestly, I don't understand how you don't think it goes without saying," Sonia said while flipping her side ponytail with her hand. "Of course, I don't love him. Why would I? He's a dweeb, plain and simple. He has a cute Pikachu going for him. That's it. He may be my best friend, but I wouldn't date him if my life depended on it."

The classroom became silent, with all eyes on Sonia. Then Abigail snorted and laughed with her head back. Her friends and their Pokemon joined her with Abigail's friends moving away from Sonia. Yamper looked at its partner in disbelief, and Sonia gave it an uneasy look, silently telling Yamper that she hated to do it.

"I knew it. I just knew you weren't serious," Abigail said. "Gotta admit you had me worried there, Sonia. Shame on you."

Sonia eased up, relieved that Abigail stopped pressuring her. She opened her mouth to ask for her notebook back, only for Abigail to rip her love letter from her notebook and tear it to shreds. Abigail's friends giggled as their leader tossed the pieces of Sonia's hard work into the trash bin next to the teacher's desk.

"That said, you don't need this to mess with your buddy," Abigail said. "I'm all for making boys cry, but even I think giving them false hope is cruel. We all have to have our limits. Right, Sonia?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right," Sonia said. "Can I have my notebook and Yamper back, please?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally. Espurr, release Yamper," Abigail said.

Espurr nodded and put Yamper down. Abigail held Sonia's notebook out to Sonia, and Sonia snatched it out of her hand. As Sonia put her notebook back in her backpack, she shuddered, quietly letting out the pain of her hard work being destroyed. She shook the feeling, thinking she'd have to tell Timothy how she felt on the way home. Sonia put her backpack on and gestured to Yamper to follow her before walking to the door.

Sonia opened the door and took a step before realizing someone was blocking her path. Timothy stood in front of Sonia, holding a teal rose in one hand, a box of chocolates, and a pink envelope tied in a ribbon in the design of a Sylveon's feelers. Electchu stood next to Timothy with a little red hat with a pink heart at the center.

Sonia was confused for a second before it hit her why Timothy wanted to wait until she was done cleaning. Sonia's heart raced and her cheeks turned pink for a moment until she saw the heartbreak in Timothy's eyes. Sonia's face fell in shock and horror, and before she could utter a word, Timothy ran with Electchu following, dropping his gifts.

"Wait! Timothy, wait!" Sonia shouted.

Sonia raced to catch up with Yamper running behind. She was halfway down the top half of the stairs to the ground floor before she tripped on her foot and fell onto her side on the stair landing. She whimpered and stayed lying on her side momentarily before she forced herself back up and went down the rest of the stairs. Using her shoulder, Sonia burst through the school's entrance doors and ran down the courtyard, but by the time she and Yamper were outside, Timothy and Electchu were gone. Their footprints were covered by the snow heavily coming down.

"Timothy! Timothy!" Sonia called out.

It was no use. Sonia knew her voice couldn't reach Timothy in the storm, but calling out to him was all she could think of. Sonia's mouth quivered, and she got down on her knees and teared up. The snow was freezing, and the wind was relentless, but the pain in Sonia's heart overpowered the feeling. Abigail and her friends laughed as they headed outside to their homes. Yamper whimpered and nuzzled Sonia's side, but it knew nothing it did could cheer its partner up.

The following 5 weeks were miserable for Sonia. On Valentine's Day, she brought in a box of Timothy's favorite candy and an apology letter to read to him as soon as he entered the school at the front entrance, but Timothy took a different entrance to avoid her. At lunch, he ate outside the cafeteria with Electchu instead of eating with Sonia, Coovers, Oshawott, and Yamper. Sonia took the time during lunch to tell Coovers what happened, and Coovers tried to convince Timothy to give Sonia a chance to explain when they were in their sixth period class together, but Timothy refused to hear a word.

After school, Sonia went to Timothy's house and asked Helga if she could talk to him. Unfortunately, Timothy saw her coming through his bedroom window. Before Helga could look for him, he sneaked into the backyard and ran into the Slumbering Weald. Day after day, Sonia tried to find Timothy in the halls between classes, reached out to him through calls and texts, and asked Entalmorfious, Helga, and Coovers to convince him to listen to her. Her texts and calls went on answered, he gave a cold shoulder to anyone who tried to convince him to listen, and whenever he spotted Sonia at school, he took a detour to his next class before Sonia spotted him. The more Sonia's attempts failed, the more painful it was that her best friend was ignoring her, and she lost hope that she would ever get to make up with him.

Several weeks later, as winter turned into spring, Professor Magnolia sent Sonia to get groceries. It was hardly Sonia's favorite way to spend part of her Saturday, but she had no excuse to avoid running errands. She went into town to the supermarket, and Yamper came with her. Sonia filled a cart with bread, canned vegetables, cheese, pasta, and half a dozen tea boxes. Sometimes, it felt like Sonia needed to go to the supermarket just to get her grandmother more tea than anything else.

As Sonia filled a plastic bag with berries, she heard a crash coming from the deli department, several aisles away from where she and Yamper were. The crash was followed by yelling and the voice of a Pokemon attacking. Curious, Sonia and Yamper went to the deli department, leaving their cart behind. They turned around the corner to find Timothy and Electchu on the ground while a Vanillite covered them in ice using Ice Beam. Standing beside them was Luke in a deli uniform. He had flipped Timothy's cart over, causing jars of jam, a carton of milk, eggs, and bags of other food to break. Luke looked daggers at Timothy with his teeth clenched as Vanillite covered Electchu and half of Timothy's body in ice.

"Call me a liar, will you, you ungrateful twirp?!" Luke roared. "Tell me I contaminated your pistachio after all my hard work of getting a cup for ya?!"

"You scratched your nose over the pistachio, jackass!" Timothy shouted. "Do you have the slightest idea how gross that is?!"

"Oh, you want gross? How about I dump your spilled groceries on you and your rat!" Luke yelled. "That'll teach you to see how gross I can -"

"Yamper, Nuzzle!" Sonia screamed.

Luke turned to see Yamper jump past him, its cheeks generating static electricity. Yamper tackled Vanillite to the ground and nuzzled its cheeks against the fresh snow Pokemon, shocking it. Vanillite squealed in agony as Yamper held it down with its front paws, putting hundreds of volts of electricity through it. Luke growled in irritation as Sonia stepped between him and Timothy.

"Leave him alone, or I'll sick Yamper on you next!" Sonia shouted.

"Stay out of this, you brat. This doesn't concern you," Luke said.

"When you attack Timothy Durbin and his partner, that makes it my business," Sonia said as she spread her arms defensively. "If you lay a finger on him, you'll have to deal with me."

Luke snorted a laugh and stepped closer to Sonia, trying to intimidate her by being over a head taller than her. Luke cracked his knuckles, preparing to punch Sonia, but she didn't flinch. Luke scoffed and shrugged as if to say, "Have it your way," and raised his fist before he heard a booming voice behind him.

"Gulia!"

Timothy, Sonia, Luke, Yamper, and Vanillite turned to see a short, old woman with curly velvet red hair storming toward them. She was followed by a Cyndaquil matching her livid expression. Luke backed away from Sonia just as the short woman stepped before him and pointed at his chest with her other hand on her hip.

"What in the name of all that is bright and beautiful do you think you're doing?!" the woman barked.

"Discipline, Mrs. Gomoz," Luke said, unfazed by the store manager's demeanor. "He was rude to me, and her Pokemon assaulted my poor Vanillite."

"And that's cause to freeze him and his Pokemon in ice?! And it looked obvious that you intended to strike this girl!" Mrs Gomez shouted.

"It's well within reason to defend one's Pokemon when attacked," Luke said.

"Not in here, it isn't, and especially not to our customers!" Mrs. Gomez barked. "I've warned you about your behavior three times already, and it's clear that you'll never learn! You're terminated!"

"What?!" Luke screamed. "You can't terminate me! I barely started working here!"

"I can, and I am! Get out of my store right now!" Mrs. Gomez shouted.

Luke clenched his teeth again with his face cherry red, and his hands turned into balls of fists. With a snarl, he took off his apron and threw it at Mrs. Gomez before storming away. Yamper got off of Vanillite, who levitated behind its partner, sharing Luke's grumpy demeanor. Luke was halfway to the exit before he and Vanillite had stopped and he turned to point his finger at Timothy.

"You better watch yourself, boy, because the next time we meet, you won't have your girlfriend to protect you," Luke said. "No one messes with Lucas Doogie Gulia and gets away with it!"

Timothy, Sonia, Mrs. Gomez, Yamper, and Cyndaquil glared as Luke and Vanillite exited the building, with the former grumbling like a child told to go to his room. As soon as they were gone, Mrs. Gomez turned to Cyndaquil and pointed at Timothy and Electchu. Cyndaquil nodded and used Ember to free Timothy and Electchu from the ice. Timothy rubbed his legs, then picked up Electchu to share his body heat.

"I'm very sorry for this, son. Your groceries are on the house today," Mrs. Gomez said. "I'll get someone to clean this mess so you can return to shopping."

"Thanks," Timothy said.

Mrs. Gomez smiled and left to get a store clerk. Sonia sighed with her hand on her chest and petted Yamper for its part in the rescue. She turned to where Timothy was only to find that he walked past her to set his cart back up and put the undamaged groceries back in the cart. Sonia felt a sharp pain in her heart as she realized Timothy wasn't acknowledging her.

"Timothy," she said.

Timothy continued putting groceries in his cart, not looking at Sonia.

"Timothy," Sonia repeated.

No reply.

"Timothy, look at me," Sonia said.

Still, Timothy didn't say anything. He finished putting his undamaged groceries in the cart and began walking away. Electchu hesitated and looked at Sonia and Yamper with its ears down before following its partner. The pain in Sonia's heart increased as though someone had stabbed her with a knife and was twisting it. Finally, Sonia's heartbreak turned into frustration, and she huffed while running her fingers through her hair. She ran to catch up and stopped in front of Timothy, grabbing the front of his cart with both hands.

"Timothy John Isaiah Durbin, I just saved you from getting turned into a block of ice! The least you can do is let me explain myself!" Sonia screamed.

Timothy furrowed his brow and gripped the cart's handle in frustration. Then he felt Electchu tug his jeans, suggesting he give Sonia a chance. Sonia watched Timothy look away with his eyes shut until he released an exasperated sigh and turned his head to face her.

"Fine," Timothy said.

Sonia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and she briefly smiled before looking at Timothy pleadingly.

"Whatever you heard me say was not true," she said. "Abigail made me say those things."

"Oh, please. Why would she want to pressure you to say it?" Timothy asked.

Sonia's eyes widened as she realized Timothy hadn't heard anything about her note. He was at the door just as Sonia caved. Any mention of the note afterward he didn't hear because he was so heartbroken. Sonia took a moment to think of how to tactfully answer without mentioning her letter before she continued.

"Because it was the day before Valentine's Day, and Abigail asked if you were going to be my Valentine," Sonia fibbed. "When I denied it, she accused me of having feelings for you because we're so close and thought it was horrible that I did. Abigail and her friends pressured me to say I was going to ask you to be my Valentine as a prank because that would make her feel better. Abigail had her Espurr hold Yamper hostage until I caved."

"Seriously? How do you expect me to believe that Abigail and her friends would go that far just to make you say I'm a dweeb and you wouldn't date me if your life depended on it?" Timothy asked.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Timothy, you're a smart guy. Think," Sonia said. "Can you honestly tell me it's easier to believe I meant every word than Abigail and her friends pressuring me to say those things?"

Timothy tightened his grip on the handle, eagerly thinking about how to counter Sonia. Electchu and Yamper looked at each other, uneasy, and Sonia mentally prayed that she got through to Timothy. Eventually, reason overpowered emotion, and Timothy sighed in defeat.

"No. No, I can't," he said.

Sonia's eyes glimmered with hope, and she loosened her hold on the cart. Timothy let go of his cart and scratched his head. He walked toward Sonia, who stepped up to meet him, and they looked at each other smiling.

"You don't think I'm a dweeb?" Timothy asked.

"Never," Sonia said.

"You don't think my cute Pikachu is the only thing that's appealing about me?" Timothy asked.

Sonia snorted a laugh.

"Timothy, we've known each other since before we were old enough to have Pokemon," she said. "You have way more going for you than being Electchu's partner."

"But you're not in love with me."

Sonia's smile faded. She wanted to jump into Timothy's arms and say everything she wrote in her letter, but the timing wasn't right. Though Timothy lowered his defenses, he was not at a point where Sonia could make her romantic wishes convincing. Whether Abigail pressured Sonia or not, Sonia set her relationship with Timothy back from being a letter away from being more. The only hope she had was to control the damage.

"I...I'm not," she said.

Timothy's smile faltered, and he looked down in disappointment.

"I see. You only look at me as a friend," he said monotonously.

"I do, but that doesn't mean something like that can never happen to us," Sonia said.

"What makes you say that?" Timothy asked.

"Come on, Timothy. I'm not close with any guys apart from you and Coovers, and let's face it. Coovers drools over any pretty face that's not mine. Not really boyfriend material," Sonia said, making Timothy chuckle. "That said, I'm not saying we should get together just because you're hands down the person I'd choose if I had to date somebody now. Maybe we'll reach a point where I want to try it, but either way, I can't be happy when my best friend isn't with me anymore."

It took all of Sonia's willpower to resist taking back labeling Timothy as her best friend. Usually, she was happy to call him that, but this time, it felt more like she was demoting him. Sonia could see in Timothy's eyes that he felt the same, and it made her afraid that he wouldn't settle for friendship, even if it would only be for a little while. Then Timothy looked up at Sonia and gave her a smile that put her, Electchu, and Yamper at ease.

"Yeah, whether you said yes to me or not, I haven't been happy with you not around," Timothy said before spreading his arms apart.

Sonia's face lit up, and she jumped into Timothy's arms. They squeezed each other as though they were making up for their lost time, not hugging each other. Electchu and Yamper smiled, relieved that their partners had made up. After a minute, Timothy and Sonia broke their hug and stared at each other, smiling until Timothy looked away and scratched his head with a sheepish smile.

"You know, now that I think about it, I feel silly not considering Abigail the whole time. Sorry, I got carried away in that regard," Timothy said.

"Hey, we both made mistakes," Sonia said. "But you know, Gran did send me here for groceries, so you could make it up to me by walking me home with my groceries after we finish shopping."

"What? But my mom sent me to get groceries, too. You're asking me to carry groceries from your place to my place. That's gonna take forever," Timothy said.

"That didn't stop you from offering to walk me home in a blizzard," Sonia said matter-of-factly. "You didn't deliver on your offer, so it's only fair you help me carry my groceries. Surely a strong guy like you can handle that kind of journey."

Timothy gave Sonia a childish pout, and Sonia returned with a smug grin and her arms crossed. He knew she was right, but he couldn't help but protest. They kept it up for half a minute before Timothy huffed and hung his head in defeat.

"Fine, but since we both made mistakes, you're treating me to frozen yogurt later," he said.

"Deal," Sonia said.

Timothy and Sonia shook hands, and then, together with their Pokemon, they went to where Sonia left her cart. As they shopped, Timothy and Sonia talked and laughed about things that had happened since they last spoke, as though they hadn't seen each other in years. The longer they were at it, the more it felt like things were returning to normal. Yet whenever Timothy looked away, Sonia's smile faltered as she wondered if she made the right decision.

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"Sonia, you can stop smashing."

Sonia snapped out of her train of thought and saw her Oran Berry filling had become mush, and she was still smashing. Professor Magnolia stood next to her, amused with how long her granddaughter had not been paying attention. With a sheepish chuckle, Sonia turned off the stove, took the pot out, and poured the filling into a mesh sieve to remove the seeds. With the seeds out, she put the filling into the fridge and washed the pot, bowl, and sieve.

Once done, Sonia sat at the dining table, resting her back against the chair before beginning to bake the cake itself. Yamper hopped onto her lap, and she petted its head while Professor Magnolia sat beside her, drinking tea and reading an article on her tablet. Sonia smiled as she petted Yamper, but then her smile faded, which Professor Magnolia noticed from the corner of her eye.

"Thinking about Valentine's Day again?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sonia said, not looking at her grandmother.

"I figured you'd be thinking of that again at some point while the Durbins haven't moved yet," Professor Magnolia said.

Sonia glumly furrowed her brow, earning a worried look from Yamper. She took out her Rotom Phone and opened the silly picture of her, Timothy, and Coovers that she looked at before she wrote her love letter. What used to lift her spirit became a painful reminder of what happened that day. Sonia closed her eyes and sighed with her head down.

"I don't know what to do, Gran," she said. "I believe Timothy when he said he wasn't happy when we weren't talking, but it feels like I never really got him back. It's like our relationship is paralyzed, so it can't move forward. I thought I could try again if I gave it enough time, but Timothy moved on and started chasing someone else."

"And why shouldn't he? You turned him down, so he's within reason to go after other girls," Professor Magnolia said.

"But, I said it could happen. I thought I was giving Timothy hope. I thought I gave both of us hope," Sonia said. "When Timothy talks about finding someone to date, and when I see him and Tulip, I wonder if he ever had real feelings for me. Like, Timothy was just going through some phase where he only thought he liked me like that, and then he let life go on like it never happened."

"That's the risk you took when you two made up, Sonia," Professor Magnolia said before taking another sip of her tea.

"I know, Gran, but it really hurts," Sonia said, her eyes watering. "Every day, I have to hide how I feel so we have no more drama. And if that's not enough, he's going away, never to come back. It's unfair. It's cruel. I hate that we're losing the Magnolia Paddock. I hate Principal Sordward and Vice Principal Shielbert. I hate Mr. Durbin's boss. I hate Tulip, and above everything, I hate losing the guy I love, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Sonia's mouth quivered, and she covered her face with her hand as she began to sob. Yamper whimpered and nuzzled Sonia's stomach while still lying on her lap. Its partner pulled it closer to her with her free arm while wiping her tears with the other. Professor Magnolia stood up to hug her granddaughter, shushing her as she rubbed her back. It was all the professor could do as she and Sonia were losing everything dear to their hearts.