The palace grounds were filled with laughter as Allie and her newfound friends lounged about in the garden. Sitting at the fountain with her camera was Melody and Trevor who were showing each other pictures they'd taken over the past few days. Serena, Shauna and Allie were basking in the sun while relaxing on lawn chairs and tanning in their bathing suits. Meanwhile, Tierno was instructing his teammates on a few new dance moves he'd been working on.

"What do you think of this one? I kinda like how the sun caught Milotic's scales," Melody asked Trevor as she showed him a shot of Allie's Milotic.

"That is an awesome shot! You even got the water spray at just the right time too!" Trevor exclaimed.

"Thanks! I've been trying a few new things lately. My goal is to get into a photography school here in Kalos. I have some funds now, thanks to Allie who's been extremely helpful," Melody said with a bright smile. "Now I just need the rest of the tuition money and I'll have everything I need!"

Allie smiled and sat up upon hearing what Melody said. With a giggle, she turned to her and replied, "you shouldn't give me all the credit you know. Your brother played a big part in the reason why I decided to help," Allie admitted, raising her sunglasses and giving her a wink.

"Ah yes, my brother. I don't know what I'd do without that lunkhead," Melody laughed.

"He really is a puzzling individual isn't he?" Allie added, reclining in her chair and adjusting her sunglasses. "Tell me, how did the four of you meet up with him?" Allie asked, turning to Serena and the others for an answer.

"Well... to be honest, he sorta came out of nowhere," Serena chuckled. "I mean, here we were, dealing with this stuck up prick that deserved a good punch in the face. He had beaten Trevor pretty bad and was demanding ten times the amount of money that Trevor had on him, which was ridiculous because Trevor couldn't pay him more," Serena grumbled.

"Sounds like a real piece of work," replied Allie with a wide-eyed look behind her shades.

"No kidding! I mean, that's extortion. I was about ready to give him a good kick in the head when Seth came along," Serena continued, going on to explain how just Seth's presence was enough to shake Enzo up enough to reconsider what he was doing.

"No wonder Enzo hated Seth so much. It's a good thing I gave him the boot then. Not only was he an asshole, he was a coward too. A man like that doesn't even deserve a minute of my time," Allie huffed. "Though the way Seth introduced you to me, while rude and definitely inconsiderate, wasn't off the mark. At that time I was acting very stuck up and demanding. To think that all it took was a trip with the man who irritated me to change my attitude," Allie sighed.

"I'm curious Allie, and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but... how exactly did your first meeting with Seth go?" asked Shauna.

"You mean he hasn't told you?" Allie replied in disbelief. "With all the statements he'd made about me, I'd have thought that would have been the first thing he'd mention."

Serena shook her head. "I'm afraid not. At least, not all the details."

Allie arched a brow. "Well strap yourselves in then..." Allie sighed, adjusting herself on the chair so she could relay the tale.

Allie proceeded to tell the gathering how the events on her birthday played out. As the group sat through it, they were intrigued by the circumstances surrounding her fall. How did she end up that way? What could have caused it? These were but a few of the many questions that were raised during the story. The part where Seth had rescued her wasn't the least bit surprising after everything they'd seen him do. However, the fact that he had to was the part that was strange to them. Why hadn't anyone else made a move to do so?

"And that's how it went. Our first meeting in a nutshell," Allie finished, her eyes landing on each individual to see their reaction.

"That's exactly how it went," Melody chimed in. "I even have evidence," she said, taking out her camera and sliding through the pictures until she reached the shot she'd taken of Seth and Allie.

"Oh wow," Serena said blinking as she leaned in with the others to look at the photo. "Are you blushing in this?" Serena asked, a devious grin spreading over her features as she shot Allie a mischievous look.

"W-Well... I mean, wouldn't you if you were swept off your feet by a handsome stranger?" Allie huffed, looking away from the group as her cheeks tinted pink.

"Ooooo! Her eyes are sparkling too!" Shauna pointed out with a giggle.

Allie crossed her arms and grumbled, "stupid pauper..." under her breath, smiling after mentioning the name she had given him.

"It looks like Seth's a little surprised too," Trevor added, stroking his chin as he observed the picture.

"He is?" Allie said quickly, scooting over to see what Trevor was talking about.

Her eyes focused in on Seth's face, more specifically his eyes, for any signs of shock. What she found after careful observation, was that Trevor was right. Seth's eyes were a little wide in the picture. There was a certain degree of surprise in his expression. His mouth wasn't slightly gaping like hers was, but his eyes were indeed filled with, dare she think, wonder? Even if that had only been there for a moment, it was there nonetheless. She had looked at this photo nearly a thousand times after Melody made her a copy so how could she have missed that!?

"Que je sois damné! He is!" Allie exclaimed, a happy giggle slipping from her lips. "And here I thought it was just me who was surprised."

"I guess not," Serena laughed, turning her attention to Tierno who was looking down at his holocaster. "Everything okay over there Tierno!?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I just got done with my routine. My team is looking good! Also, I got a message from Seth. He's on his way to Anistar City right now. He said he can't really talk at the moment because he's about to go through Mamoswine Road. He's renting a Mamoswine with his friends and says he'll talk more when he gets to Anistar City," Tierno informed them.

"That's why we haven't heard anything in a while. I wondered what he was up to. I hope he's careful because that place is constantly bombarded with snowstorms," Serena replied, a hint of worry in her voice.

"He'll be fine," Melody said with a cheery smile. "The cold doesn't really bother him since he and Mathilde trained in it a lot during the winter."

"Why on earth would anyone want to spend their time out in that cold?" Serena wondered aloud, shuddering at the thought of the freezing temperatures that Mamoswine Road had to offer.

"It may not be fun, but it's the only way to get to Anistar from Dendemille Town. I've been on that route a few times myself and I can attest to the fact that it is indeed unpleasant to deal with. Some fare far better than others," Allie said with a shrug. "You four will need to trek through it yourselves if you plan on finishing that badge hunt you're on and catching up to Seth."

Serena and Shauna exchanged glances and laughed nervously at the thought of catching up to him.

"There's one other thing I've been meaning to ask you," Serena began, clearing her throat as she looked at Allie. "And that's about your Pokémon." Allie gave Serena a quizzical look. "They all seem so strong... especially that Machamp of yours."

"You think so?" Allie replied, a nervous sweat trickling down her face.

"She was amazing! I had no idea that you had something like that. Come to think of it, all of your Pokémon seem really strong. Your Milotic is well taken care of, your Furfrou's coat is practically perfect," Serena added while gesturing to the hound as she lifted her head upon hearing her name, "and on top of that you have two very rare looking Swanna!"

"W-Well I do have my own personal instructor," Allie replied, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"With a team like that, you could take the gym challenge yourself," Shauna inputted.

Allie shifted in her seat and cleared her throat. "I mean, it's not like I hadn't considered it once upon a time," she responded more casually after taking a deep breath.

"You'd probably breeze right through it though. Looking at your lineup, I'd say you could give all the others competing in this year's league a huge run for their money. I bet even Seth would have a hard time against you," Tierno mused.

"I'm not entirely sure about that. His team is a lot stronger than I gave him credit for. It would be a close match, of that I'm certain," Allie stated, her tone somewhat serious for a moment. "At any rate, it's getting close to dinner time. Why don't we all head inside and get ready to eat? I'll catch up to you all in a moment, I have something in the garden I need to take care of."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Shauna exclaimed excitedly.

The others echoed their agreement on the matter and began filing into the palace. Allie breathed a sigh of relief after they left. A smile spread over her face as she scratched Furfrou's ears.

"Those five are quite a handful, wouldn't you say Furfrou?" Allie giggled.

Furfrou scratched her side with her back leg in approval of Allie's affections, wagging her tail happily as Allie continued. That's when a certain presence caught her attention. Lifting her head, she turned to see a tiny orb of pink light floating down in front of her and then rising up to Allie. The princess smiled faintly and held out her hands for the orb to float into them.

The glow of the orb flickered out to reveal what appeared to be a Floette, resting in her hands. This Floette, however, was not the run-of-the-mill kind a trainer would run into on a daily basis. This one had a white upper body with a dark blue lower half. She had blue extensions over her black eyes that resembled eyelashes. Red rings were seen around the base of each of her notched ears. The flower she held had six petals instead of the usual five that most Floette carried. It had a red, leafless stem and a stigma that was black and cone shaped. The tops of the flowers were also black and red.

"Well hello little friend. It's good to see you again."