Alex had zoned out a long time ago in Brock's class. It was a shame that he would never understand Breeding, the subject Brock taught because Brock always had such energy, enthusiasm and charisma that it genuinely seemed interesting unlike Professor Johnson whose History lectures could put anyone to sleep. Unfortunately, Breeding involved a lot of Maths, something Alex never really had a knack for, and it wasn't something that you could easily learn, you needed to understand from the get go or else you were toast.

Instead of paying attention, his mind wandered off to thoughts of the tournament starting next week. They'd already had the draw and Alex would be battling someone from the Uxie house who he'd never really heard of until now. His name was Howard and all he knew was that he wasn't that great. Even so, he wasn't underestimating him as Howard had probably thought the same when he learned who he was battling. On the school's ranking system, Alex still was very near the bottom and this tournament was the chance he needed to finally prove himself.

"Hey," Edward whispered from beside him, "You ready for the tournament?"

"I was born ready." Alex replied. He and Edward still hadn't got round to battling.

"You know what needs to happen don't you?"

"We have to battle at some point. We can't get knocked out by anyone else."

"That's right." Edward nodded. "We both know we're the two best battlers in the school and this tournament will prove once and for all that I'm the better of those two."

"You know, I don't think I've ever actually seen you battle, aside from the trials. How do I know Bella's not better than you?" Alex pointed out.

"I've been keeping my cards very close to my chest." He smiled. "But once you see me in the opening rounds, you'll understand everything."

"Alright, it's settled then." Alex grinned. "Nobody else can knock the other out. We have to stay in long enough to at least battle each other."

"A bit less noise at the back there you two!" Brock called out. "Some of us actually want to learn and not sit around chatting. Try to learn how to whisper properly."

"Sorry sir." Alex said. Even when telling you off, Brock was the coolest, most chill teacher in the school.

"And when we do battle," Edward whispered, much more quietly this time, "I'll destroy you."

*

Megan looked helplessly inside her wardrobe for something - anything to wear. Some clothes were too dark whilst others were much too vibrant. Maybe she'd wear a dress, but then again, was she confident enough in her own legs, especially with temperatures averaging around ten degrees so perhaps trousers were the way to go. Then again, did she have the right t-shirt to go with the right trousers? Was she even going to go down the t-shirt route and instead go for a hoodie or something more casual?

She thought to herself how casual of a date Alex would assume this to be. He was a very laid back kind of guy but he had realised that this was a date so maybe he'd turn up in a smart shirt and trousers. But there was an equal chance of him showing up in a hoodie and some tracksuit bottoms. Megan really didn't know what to expect from Alex, he was so unpredictable and she didn't want to disappoint him by under dressing. But if she overdressed, would he think she was too serious about this even though it was only their first date?

Megan in the end decided on a red dress with shoes to match. She knew that it wasn't casual enough so she compensated with her make-up, opting only for a thin layer of foundation and some cherry red lipstick. She completely left her mascara and eye shadow alone. Well, Megan thought, a little mascara couldn't hurt as well. She knew she wasn't the best looking girl in the world but at least she was secure about her looks. However, this was a special occasion; it was a date! She could make herself look as amazing as she wanted to.

It was a good thing she noticed the time when she did, or she'd have definitely run the risk of being late and that would be the worst possible start imaginable. Megan had to stifle a laugh at how ridiculous her preparation had been. She was usually so laid back about everything, not even caring a little bit about what others would think about her. That had all changed the moment she met Alex.

*

Brring! Brring! Brring!

"Urgh..." Alex moaned as he hit the snooze on his alarm clock. How many times did he have to hit snooze to make the clock shut up for good? In any case, he was finally awake now and it was a good thing too; had he have slept any longer, he wouldn't have had time to shower and whilst he didn't have many cares about himself, he at least liked to be hygienic and not smell bad.

A quick jet of warm water and shower gel left him feeling much cleaner than before and an even faster rub of a towel had him dry once again. Alex grabbed his best pair of jeans and his favourite hoodie and quickly flung them on, hoping that it wasn't too casual. If it was then he wasn't too worried as Megan was a pretty chill girl. He shaped his hair as quickly he could before grabbing his phone and wallet and leaving the dorm to meet his date.

She was waiting by the red brick bridge and Alex had quite a surprise when he first laid eyes on her. Megan looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing a crimson dress with colour co-ordinated high heels. Her fiery hair had been curled, creating what looked like a tiered lava waterfall and her lips were an electric tomato red which stood out, easily grabbing Alex's attention. He could hardly take his eyes off her.

"Hey," She smiled at him as he approached.

"Hey." Alex replied. "Wow. You look amazing."

"Oh, thank you." She giggled. He could tell by the way that she was looking at his clothing that he wasn't up to scratch.

"Am I a bit under dressed?" He asked. "Because I can nip back to the dorm and change if you want."

"Don't be silly!" She said. "You don't have to change. You just be you."

"Well that's good because I am me." Alex said, breathing a sigh of relief. They started to make their way towards the school. "So what movie did you have in mind?"

*

Megan had known. Of course she had known that Alex would go casual. So why did she go through all that bother and effort of picking out her best dress? Only Arceus knew why. And now, Alex couldn't stop staring at her like she was a complete idiot. Why was she so terrible with boys? Before she could complain out loud about her poor choices already, Alex thrust another choice upon her; what movie should they watch. She wasn't going to fall into the pitfall of choosing a soppy movie that Alex would never like.

"Well I thought that you should decide really." She quickly said, trying to pass the torch to Alex before she could mess up again.

"Well if you insist," Alex grinned, "There's like a million awesome movies on right now like that big new spy thriller... and then there's a super scary horror movie on! Apparently it makes grown men cry. What do you think? You a fan of horror?"

"How about superhero movies?" Megan suggested. No, she was not a fan of horror.

"Oh, of course!" Alex said. "Ariados-Man 2 just came out and it's supposed to be the best superhero movie ever!"

"That sounds great." Megan smiled, starting to feel like she was making more mistakes. A girl that was suggesting superhero movies? Alex would probably hate the idea.

*

When Megan suggested superhero movies, she got ten times cooler. He'd at first decided to try and show that he was manly by not screaming during a horror film but the reality was, he probably would've run out crying. He was really bad with scary movies. But an awesome hero with super powers fighting crime for a living was way too cool for most girls to suggest. Thankfully Megan didn't seem to care.

"So where is this town then?" He asked. Alex still had no idea how he hadn't known about the existence of a whole town that apparently everyone knew about.

"Well, you go in through the main entrance of the school," Megan explained as they walked under the large stone portico, "Then you go to the left and walk for a bit before you come to these stairs." She pointed at a wide set of stairs leading down. Alex thought that was strange as the school didn't have a basement but the reasoning soon became clear. The stairs lead to a lift. "A short ride down the lift and, there you have it."

"Huh." Alex said as the lift doors opened with a high pitched 'ding!' revealing what looked like a giant underground shopping centre. It was modern and well lit, with four tiers, each one stretching out as far as the school did. As it was the weekend, the place was bustling with students, all heading to a large variety of different stores that lined the walls of the underground high street. As he and Megan walked, Alex spotted shops that sold rare TM's some shops that were selling Pokéballs and potions as well as restaurants, clothes shops, a cool looking bowling alley and even a roller skating rink. Right down at the bottom, he also saw what appeared to be the housing where all of the shop owners and their families presumably lived.

"Did you really not know about all of this?" Megan asked.

"I genuinely had no clue." Alex laughed. "Weird seeing how big and busy this place is." As Megan lead him through the streets, if you could call them that, Alex couldn't help but notice Megan's less than happy expression. Well, it wasn't that she didn't look like she was enjoying herself but Alex could still detect that something was wrong. Was it him? His eyes glanced down at her hand. Maybe he should hold her hand. So far, this date hadn't really included anything that would tell an outside observer that this was more than just two friends hanging out. Then again, Alex was quite inexperienced in the field of girls and he was unsure if this was too soon for anything.

"The cinema's just over there." Megan pointed to a bright sign that read 'New Moon Cinema' that looked no more than a two minute walk away. If Alex was going to take her hand, he'd have to act fast. Fortunately, he wouldn't need to avoid her handbag as that was on the shoulder furthest from him and he'd need to use his uninjured arm. As discreetly as he could, Alex began walking slightly diagonally to edge closer to Megan so that he could make his move. Slowly, he opened his hand and reached out.

*

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was!" Came a voice from Alex's pocket. Megan tried her best to stifle a laugh as Alex quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered.

"Who is it?" He asked, his cheeks burning bright red at the sound of his own ringtone. "Oh, hi Mum. Can we talk later maybe?" Alex was looking at her, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. Megan herself was quite disappointed at the timing of the phone call as she'd noticed Alex's obvious attempts to move closer to her and then hold her hand. It wouldn't have been much, but she just needed reassurance that they weren't just two friends hanging out. "Yeah, Mum I get that, but I'm in the middle of something. You don't need to know! Because it's private!" Then, Alex took a big deep breath and sighed. "No, it's not drugs, it's... a girl." There was a long pause before Alex's unexpected call ended and Alex shook his head, muttering something under his breath.

"What is it?" Megan asked, still holding down her laugh at the interesting turn of events.

"She wants proof. She says that she doesn't believe it for a second and wants to be sure that I'm not selling drugs." Alex explained.

"Alright then, send her a selfie of the two of us." Megan suggested.

"My thoughts exactly." Alex smiled as he shuffled as close as he could to her before wrapping one arm around her waist without any hesitation and pulling her in so that their cheeks touched. Megan felt herself blush to be this close to Alex but she shook it off as quickly as possible and put on a small but cheeky smile as Alex flipped his phone around and took a picture. When Alex showed it to her, there was only one word that could describe it: cute. Clearly Alex's cheeky grin was contagious as it had spread to her and they genuinely looked like a couple. For the first time on this date, Megan was truly glad about how things were going.

"Aww, that's such a nice picture." She said.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Alex smiled at her. For a moment, he gazed into her eyes and there was silence between the two. It wasn't awkward, it was actually what the moment needed. A buzz from Alex's phone ruined it though. He glanced at his phone, sighed and turned it off.

"What now?" Megan asked.

"She told me to not aim so high." Alex muttered, shaking his head. Clearly, his Mum didn't know him very well because as far as Megan could tell, Alex was in anyone's league. Not because of his looks, but because of his personality, although now that Megan thought about it, his looks certainly didn't hurt.

"Alex, if anyone should try aiming lower, it's me." Megan said. "Now c'mon, let's go watch this movie."

*

Coming out of the cinema, Alex was absolutely buzzing.

"Did you like it?" Megan asked.

"Like it?" Alex replied. "That was the coolest movie ever! It had everything, a good romance sub plot, those weird funny little moments and don't even get me started on those fights with Dr. Octillery."

"The fight on the train was pretty awesome." Megan agreed. Alex could tell that she had enjoyed the film, but not as much as he had.

"Definitely." Alex nodded. "So what do you want to do now?"

"We could go to a restaurant and get something to eat." She suggested.

"Good idea." Alex said. For the next twenty minutes or so, they wandered the streets, looking at the menus at different restaurants to try and find the right meal for them. Eventually they found a something.

"How does this sound?" Megan asked, pointing to a menu that was set up outside one of the restaurants.

"A vegetable stew flavoured with a Scotch Bonnet chilli and other spices." Alex read. "Sounds hot, just the way I like it!"

"This is the place then." Megan said. "Table for two please."

A waiter who was standing nearby quickly showed them to a table which was outside giving them a view of the town. It wasn't exactly a beautiful backdrop but it was better than nothing. They gave the waiter their order and soon began a conversation.

"So, are you doing anything this week?" Megan asked.

"Well yeah, it's the big tournament this week." Alex said. "I've been preparing so much since it was first announced."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. Good luck." She smiled.

"How can you forget something like that?" Alex asked.

"Well I'm not actually taking part." Megan mumbled. Clearly, it was something she was embarrassed about.

"Really? Why not?"

"Well, I like my Pokémon but they're not really for battling. Me and my Quagsire prefer to just chill out."

"I suppose battling isn't for everyone." Alex said. "I just kind of presumed that everyone at this school's ambition is to be the best in the world at battling."

"Maybe at some point that's what I wanted." Megan shrugged. "But now I'm not so sure."

"Ze food is ready." Their waiter said with a strong Kalosian accent. He put down a large bowl containing their meal in between them. "Zis portion is for two people but to keep ze flavour just right, ze Scotch Bonnet chilli is still in ze dish. If you burst it, ze stew will be far too 'ot. Enjoy."

"Zank you." Alex said when the waiter was out of earshot. "Right then, let's dig in."

"Wait a minute." Megan said, grabbing Alex's spoon out of his hand. "How much was this?"

"I dunno, but you don't have to worry, because I'll pay." Alex smiled.

"No, I'll pay."

"No, I'll pay."

"I am going to pay!" Megan said firmly.

"How about this." Alex said. "This dish is allegedly super hot so whoever has to have a drink first loses and has to pay."

"You're on." Megan said, giving him his spoon back and taking a spoonful herself. "It's hotter than I expected."

"Too hot to for you to handle?" Alex taunted, taking his first mouthful. The flavours rushed through his mouth, creating the sensation of heat inside of him.

"You don't look so good yourself there." Megan mocked him back. Their fun little competition lasted for almost the entire meal when there was hardly anything left.

"You've been a worthy competitor." Alex said, faking a bow. "But your next mouthful will be your last."

"I don't think so." Megan smiled as she easily swallowed. "But for you, your time is up... Alex wait!" She suddenly cried was Alex took his next spoonful. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit." Alex breathed, understanding her worry.

"Shit." Megan said, her hands over her mouth.

"... shit." Alex's breaths turned very short, almost like he was panting. The reason for this drama was that he'd gotten so carried away with their game that he hadn't paid enough attention and had accidentally eaten the Scotch Bonnet chilli, one of the hottest foods in the world. "Milk!" He cried.

"Waiter, we need milk!" Megan cried also. "Why did you eat the chilli?"

"I thought it was a tomato!" Alex said, close to tears as his insides turned to fire, his throat burning like it was the gateway to hell. Every breath he took felt like he wasn't breathing air, he was literally breathing fire.

"Here!" Megan said, taking the large bottle of milk from the waiter and giving it to him. Alex didn't hesitate. He drunk all four pints in less than ten seconds.

*

"Better?" Megan asked almost an hour later.

"Loads." Alex sighed, wiping the last of the milk from his mouth.

"Don't do that again." Megan said, giving him a soft slap. "You had me worried."

"I had it all under control." Alex grinned.

"At one point, you were lying on the floor begging for mercy." Megan reminded him.

"It was acting." Alex laughed. "I would've felt bad if you paid so I knew I had to drink first."

"You're unbelievable." Megan sighed. She couldn't help but smile but Alex. He'd been reckless and paid the price but he'd been somewhat hilarious in doing so. This date, for one reason or another had definitely been memorable.

"So, I guess we should go back to the dorm now." Alex suggested.

"Yeah." Megan said. "But just one last thing."

"What's that?" Alex asked.

Without saying another word, Megan closed her eyes, and leaned in.

*

Alex had no idea what was going on. The entire world seemed to go in slow motion as Megan inched closer towards him, her target and purpose clear. Alex looked around. He had hands, slightly milk stained. A boy over on the other side of the street was being told off by his mother for cycling without wearing a helmet. The waiter, who had served them was counting through their money, searching for his tip. Yep, this all seemed pretty real. And yet, here he was, completely still, not even moving a muscle as Megan closed in on him, going in for the big finish.

*

Megan felt their lips touch and she kissed him.

*

Alex had literally no clue what to do. Megan's lips were pressed softly against his own and she seemed like she knew what she was doing whereas Alex was in unknown territory. He'd gathered that he should close his eyes but now what did he do with his hands? Best to not try anything stupid and just leave them where they were. How long was he supposed to do this for? He'd already been going for a least seven years. Despite all of his worries, one thing was certain. This felt good.

*

After a couple of seconds, Megan broke herself away from the kiss and opened her eyes.

"Alex, you can open your eyes now."

"Oh right. Yeah." Alex said. His cheeks were bright red and he looked very confused.

"What's wrong?" Megan asked. "Did I go too soon?"

"No, no that was good. That was great." Alex said, his voice sounding a few octaves higher than usual. "I've just never really done that before."

"You've never kissed anyone?!" Megan said, shocked.

"Not properly." Alex admitted. "Only a few pecks on the cheek." So Megan has been Alex's first kiss. For some reason, that made her feel good, like she couldn't have done anything wrong. She'd only had two kisses so far in her life and neither of them were very good. This though, this felt special.

"Well there's a first time for everything." Megan smiled.