"And done!" Brendan presented me to my mom and sister downstairs "Isn't she a beaut?!" I blushed, feeling embarrassed how I was wearing such a outfit "The dinner's attire is casually formal, so the skirt is fluffed up, but not too wavy. I gave her a heart shaped breast line to compliment her shoulders, and I even did the liberty to do her makeup!" He held his hips "I say it's one of my finest work, but if it were a different kind of attire, I would had went all out" he looked at me "What do you think?"

"The dress is stunning..." I blushed.

"It would had been more stunning if you didn't have the cast and bandages, but what can you do?" He sighed.

"What amazing work" Mom complicated "I never seen you all dressed up ever since you were little!" Hilda agreed.

"Ever since mom stopped dressing you up, all you do is wear t-shirts and hoodies all the time"

"I have no one to impress" I huffed.

"Well now you're going to impress everyone!" Brendan offered his arm "Shall we go together? Everyone is already on their way" I nodded and took his arm.

"Sure..." we walked out the house after waving and Brendon send out his Shelgon.

"Hop on. It'll be better for you to take a ride instead of walking" I looked down "What's wrong?"

"I... I don't know if I should go. Showing up might make things uncomfortable. I don't want that to happen... Don't get me wrong. Your work is amazing and should be shown by everyone, but we don't know each other like this. Why was I suddenly invited?"

"Serena was the first to invite you. She wanted you to open up to people and get to know other people. We are a friendly bunch, so we're cool with it, but I knew you weren't the kind of person to be with a group of people. I had my doubts. Since I'm the one that designed your dress, you can't back down on this now" I pouted.

"It's not my fault!" He laughed "Be honest... Will it be okay?" I looked down "Will I make things uncomfortable?"

"What are you scared of? Is there someone in the group you don't like? I know Ethan is a jerk, but you seem to know how to handle him better than I can" I looked away "Come on" he leaned over to look at me "You know my secret. Can I know yours?" I shyly looked at him "I won't force you, but if it makes you feel any better" I nodded, wanting him to feel like he can trust me with a precious secret he wants to hide.

"Nate... I don't think he'll want me there" I admitted, cupping my face.

"What is he going to do? Bite you?" I feel like that can be the case "Nate isn't the kind of person to let things turn badly. Not that I expect him to not want you there, you don't have to worry about his reaction when there's a lot of people present" he shrugged "I don't exactly know what you think is going to happen, but he can sit on the other side of the table where you can't see him if it makes you happy"

"T-That's not..." I could feel him staring at me "Why am I doing this..? I said I don't want any friends..." he said.

"Just take it as a group of people who want the company. The more people, the better. You have a way with words. That's why you're so popular with a lot of people in school. You can speak your mind and know what to say at the perfect moment. You may not need friends, but you need people in your life to remind you that you're not alone in this world" I slowly started crying "Don't cry" he took out some tissue to dab on my eyes "Your makeup will run" I chuckled "What's so funny?"

"To think... You put up this tough guy act at school, but you're actually very genuine" he looked surprised "It's suits you a lot... You shouldn't change so that people won't make fun of you. Those people don't know a slight thing about what you can do. Sewing is hard, but you do it so well. A lot of people may laugh, but the most mature will admire the talent" he frowned "It's a gift. You should never hide what you earned. One day, they will need your talent" he rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

"L-Lets just get to the restaurant" he helped me on his Pokémon and walked with me to the place that's about a mile away from my house. I didn't expect myself to be escorted by one of Nate's friends to a party filled with them. I'm so nervous... Please don't let this go bad...

Brendon's Pov

The director who works in Pokéstar studio, Hilda, is highly respected and anyone who makes her mad has a high chance of getting fired. I worked as an intern for the place to be able to transfer a resume back to my home region and do what I wanted to do. Participate in Pokémon contest and one day be a judge.

The trainer school we learned in had students from all over the world to get a trainer certification in order to travel as they please with their Pokémon. It's the first one ever to be open especially for people who want to be the very best and learn all they can about Pokémon. It's a famous private school, and even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes, it's well known to bring people from all over.

May and I had agreed to attend this trainer school and started off as middle school students, which we could had attended back home, but we decided to come to Unova in order to enter without delaying a process. It was way better than a regular high school and we made a lot of friends.

Everyone was unique and many came from other regions as well. The only locals I became friends with was Nate and Hugh. They were pretty cool, so I stuck with them and we became best friends. The longer I stayed in Unova, the more friends I had up towards trainer school.

Things were so simple in middle school, but as we got older, things took a turn for the worse. Hugh became serious, Ethan became angry, Nate became quiet, and Rosa moved away a few months prior... I pretended like I didn't notice because guys don't really talk about that sort of thing, but in the back of my head, I had noticed things had changed again when Rosa came back to the city a few years later.

The lights and heavens washed on her like a tree. She was bright and friendly. Everyone admired her. When no one was looking, besides me, I spotted the change happening. I had discovered from May that Ethan's girlfriend was in a coma for a few years now, and Hugh witnessed Nate have a breakdown when he saw Rosa for the first time in years. I put everyone's feelings to the side, pretending I haven't seen anything. What was happening with the plan of having Nate and Rosa become friends again felt like everything was piling onto me all over again.

I lived as a shadow behind my friends. Lucas had a rich sister, Ethan was mean and had dirt on everyone, Nate put on a fake smile all the time, and Hugh knew things other people didn't know. I pretended like everything was okay, but it felt like I wasn't a real friend to anyone.

May had always encouraged me to stick up for myself, but I wasn't the athletic person she was. I wasn't wild and outgoing. I pretended like I was the toughest dude in the gang, but all I liked to do was design clothes on my sketchbook and keep silent about it.

When I was sitting alone in the park, drawing like I usually did when May wasn't around, I was spotted from a distance and was noticed by a girl in a high ponytail. I was offered a job as an intern designer, and it was a dream come true, but I still felt like I couldn't truly be myself in front of others. The only person I was comfortable around was May and the people I work with... until my phone rang.

I had no idea Hilda was Rosa's sister, and I was beyond nervous to know she was going to know my secret. She was always known to be a girl of few words, but knew exactly what to say to someone. I never thought I could be comfortable with someone so fast about my passion. With someone who gave a smile and praised my works, I thought it was only right to give Rosa the best of my best casual formal design and even do her makeup.

She appreciated it all and praised me like I was the most important person in the world. It brought up my ego over the roof, but I was grateful I could be around someone in school without worrying if they'll laugh at me.

The words she said were beyond what May ever told me, and it shocked me on how it made me felt. I wanted to cry, because I felt important... I felt like I was the best designer in the world. She knew my secret, so in exchange, I wanted to know hers, just to know how I can help her.

As I predicted, she was worried about Nate in the party, thinking he would be bothered by her presence, but from learning about this during the years, he thought he was the one bothering her. I'm sure that's what Dawn was trying to explain before.

"It's a gift. You should never hide what you earned. One day, they will need your talent" Rosa's words swirled in my head when she told that to me earlier... It made me happy to hear that my talent may be useful to those who doesn't understand yet. She really does have a way with words... No wonder Nate gets nervous all the time.

"Are you sure you don't want May to wear this..?" Rosa asked, getting more nervous by the minute.

"I already made her an outfit for tonight. This is yours" I said without looking at her.

"H-Huh?! Mine?! I-I can't!" He chuckled.

"Hilda calling me for my help gave me the opportunity to get a promotion. Why would I take back what gave it to me?" I chuckled "You'll be fine, okay? Don't be too nervous. We're going to eat some good food" she looked down.

"I guess I am kinda hungry... I didn't eat lunch"

"Don't tell that to Nate" I said to myself.

"Huh?" I shook my head and spotted the restaurant near by.

"There it is!" I pointed "The girls should be waiting inside. I don't know about the guys" Rosa looked up ahead and gulped loudly. As soon as we made it to the front door, I helped Rosa back on her feet, returned my Pokémon, and offered my arm so she can walk easier.

The hostess pointed out the table assigned for everyone. Rosa and I walked to the large table with a private little wall where no one was around to see us.

"Wow, we get a private area?" I asked as we approached the table. The girls heard and gasped when they saw Rosa and hurried over to compliment her and the dress. I smiled that they liked the dress and saw May walk over to me.

"What happened?" I whispered to her about the phone call and everything "Wow" she smiled at Rosa blushing at the girl's compliments "You outshined yourself. So she knows your secret?" I nodded "You're okay with that?"

"You know, she does have a way with words" May giggled and held my hand.

"See? She didn't laugh at you" I nodded.

"She's just a girl. I'm more worried about the boys" I sighed "But she did encourage me a little"

"That's a miracle" she stuck her tongue out playfully. I smiled and kissed her hand, admiring her appearance.

"You look beautiful" May blushed and looked down, later noticing the girls giggling over at us. Rosa just smiled sweetly, making me feel nervous when knowing I made May her dress. We all decided to sit and wait for the others.

"For some guys, they're taking their time" Serena said.

"I'm sure they're just putting on some makeup" Dawn joked. I took out my phone and noticed a few messages from Calem, saying they're on the way.

"It's about time!" May said after I told everyone.

"Do you think something happened?" Serena asked.

"If Hugh and Ethan are in the same room, it's kinda hard to know what happens" Dawn leaned on the table.

"Do they not like each other?" Rosa asked, confused.

"They don't" May answered "Ethan has problems, and Hugh is the only one who doesn't stand for his crap" I looked down "Ethan doesn't like that, so they naturally hate each other"

"That sounds a bit extreme..." Rosa sweat dropped "How can you have a friend group with two people who hate each other?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that" I said "Might not want to get into that subject"

"The party is here!" Nate cheered out of nowhere, making Rosa jump and hide behind Serena a little. I got up to greet everyone.

"Took yah long enough!" I laughed, patting everyone's back "Almost got us worried there!"

"It's only appropriate to be fashionably late" Barry grinned.

"Look who's talking!" Dawn sweatdropped. Lucas sat next to her.

"Sorry we were late. We had to take care of some things" he looked over at Hugh and Ethan standing next to Nate nervously smiling. It seemed as if they were fighting or something. If I didn't get the call, I'd like to probably see it.

"Yeah, there was a battle that had to go on before we came here" Barry explained, sitting next to Lucas. Nate sat beside me, which was almost directly across Rosa. I sweat dropped while she pretended to not notice him. Such tension... and Nate hasn't even looked at her yet.

"Seriously? A battle?" May got up from her chair "Couldn't it wait instead of making us wait?" Nate sat next to me and Hugh followed beside him. Calem sat next to Hugh with Serena next to him... Need I mention it was a round table and May was sitting next to Rosa and Dawn was next to her?

There was a empty seat between May and Rosa, which made Ethan take it. May pretended not to notice while Rosa watched him take a seat.

"Sorry" Nate laughed, placing a napkin in his lap "I know we agreed to battle afterwards, but Ethan and Hugh just had to do it for the sake of dinner! They both let out some steam" he patted Hugh's back "Any waiters came in yet?"

"Not yet" Dawn chirped, raising her hand to get someone's attention. As she said that, Nate turned his head and noticed Rosa next to her, instantly going stiff at the sight of her. I patted his shoulder, making him look at my assuring face. Not sure how he took it, but he sighed and just stared at his lap. Come on... Please don't tell me it's going to be THAT difficult.