Nate's Pov

My heart dropped when seeing Rosa sitting across the table from me, shining her bright smile with Dawn talking to her while trying to catch a waiter. My body immediately went stiff, but I relaxed when Brendan patted my shoulder. I shouldn't be behaving like this... This is our day out together and it shouldn't be treated like this.

Everyone is always busy doing something for school or for our jobs, so it's difficult to have everyone together all at once. Today was for all of us, and just because I saw Rosa, I shouldn't be staying quiet like this. I need to be in a happy mood so that we can all have fun! But wasn't she the one that said she wasn't coming? What changed her mind?

"I see the silent princess has arrived" Hugh leaned on the table, looking at Rosa. Rosa chuckled at his joke, which didn't even seem like a joke from his tone, but know him well enough, it's easy to know.

"What makes me silent?" She giggled. My eyes softened at how lovely she was. To be surrounded by people she wasn't even friends with, she's so open and sweet "I appreciate you all letting me come eat with you today. I won't be a bother!" A bother?

"Hey! We wanted you here!" Serena said "We're more than welcome to bring in a new friend, right?" Everyone nodded. I just stared at Rosa blushing shyly. That look on her face showed that child like personality I haven't seen in a long time...

"I'm touched!" She smiled. Ethan leaned close to her.

"Don't you feel awkward being with people who aren't your friends?" He asked randomly, making us want to slap him aside the head. Don't mess with her like that! She came here because she wanted to!

"Maybe, but you're no stranger. Not all people are scary, you know? I may not want to claim any friends for personal reasons, but I know everyone means well. I got to know a lot of you, and you're lovey" she glanced at me for a slight second before quickly putting a napkin on her lap.

"You're so sweet" Dawn giggled, playing with her long brown hair. The waiters had finally came and served us well. Everyone talked amongst themselves and had a conversation across the table, telling funny stories of their lives back in their home region and everything.

"We all came from other places, but the only locals here are Nate, Hugh, and Rosa" Calem pointed out "We already heard about the guys side of their story. Have anything cool to share, Rosa?" Rosa held her chin to think.

"Well, it's kinda a big deal, but do I dare to say it out loud?" We all listened carefully "My sister is the hero of Unova" Hugh spat out his water out of shock.

"What happened?" Barry asked. Hugh cleaned his mouth and didn't respond.

"Please continue!" Serena said, interested.

"My sister traveled Unova for a whole year, training to become champion of Unova. Along the way, there was a organization named Team Plasma"

"I think I heard of that story!" May gasped.

"Right! The organization that tried liberating Pokémon" Brendon said "I hope there's no organization like that when we get back home"

"Right?" Lucas chuckled, eating the bread "What a pain that would be" Rosa put her hands together.

"The king of the organization had a dream to take Pokémon away from horrible trainers, and my sister aimed to stop him! To be able to achieve this goal, he had to awaken the legendary Pokémon" Everyone, even I, were so invested into this story I didn't even know about.

"He sought Ideals while my sister sought Truth! They both awaken the two legendary Pokémon and battled for who was right about their preference. In the end, my sister won, and the king was dethroned by the true mastermind of the organization! His plan was to be the only one to use Pokémon while everyone else suffered, but he didn't win" she smiled at her lap "He was defeated and that's that. She was champion, but she didn't keep the title for long"

"Wow! That's so cool!" Barry's eyes sparkled "What happened to your sister? What is she doing now?" Rosa smiled happily.

"She's a director at Pokéstar studios! Hilda!" Everyone went silent.

"What?!" Everyone but me, Brendon, Hugh, and Ethan shouted. Rosa held her rosy cheeks.

"Your sister is Hilda?!" May gasped.

"Yes!" Rosa said proudly.

"What about the king that was dethroned?" I suddenly asked, making everyone look at me. She looked at me surprised before smiling.

"He's my soon to be brother in law!" My jaw dropped. The girls squealed in excitement.

"Oh my goodness! I can only imagine the spark they created!" Dawn squeaked.

"Forbidden love! My type of romance!" Serena twisted side to side, seeing hearts in the air.

"Huh?" Calem sweat dropped.

"That's amazing!" May said "I would like to know more of their story, if you don't mind" Rosa giggled.

"Fine by me!" I watched her enjoying her time talking to everyone. My chest was fluttering at every movement she did to talk to each girl. Not a shed neglect was there...

"But wait" Lucas said "Isn't a group of criminals showing up again? Do you think it could be them again?"

"That's a good point" I thought "There's been a lot of crazy things happening in other cities"

"It's nothing too bad, but many Pokémon and trainers are getting minor injures" Calem said. Rosa suddenly frowned "Things aren't looking good, but I'm sure things will settle down soon"

"My sister warned me to be careful" Rosa said "She feels like they're going to try to find her again for revenge... My brother in law has nothing to do with the situation, or even knows about it. She's afraid if they find out that I'm her sister, they might look out for me"

"Oh no!" Dawn took her hands "Don't worry, we won't let a single thing happen to you!" Rosa nervously chuckled.

"Thank you... but you don't have to worry" the side of her lip twitched, shocking me and Hugh "They haven't come close to knowing who I am" her lip twitched again. I quickly stood up, catching everyone's attention.

"I'm going to the restroom" I looked at Hugh looking at me "Come with me"

"What are you, girls?" Ethan spat out. We ignored him and sped over to the bathroom to talk. I punched the wall with both my hands and lost it.

"Dude, she's lying. You saw that, right?" I asked.

"I did" Hugh leaned on the wall "I'm starting to wonder what really happened with her ankle and all the bandages she had on her. A mere fall couldn't have caused that. She's not clumsy either" I bit my lips "Nate, you need to confront her about it. You care about her wellbeing. Don't just sit there and let it happen"

"Can you just do it for me? I can't even look at her in the eyes" Hugh pounded on the wall.

"Don't give me that. She was attacked. Are you just going to let someone else do something you're wanting to do? Look at you! You look pathetic!" I leaned on the wall and scooted down to the floor to pull on my hair "Sure, I can help her, but why do you think it's better to just watch from a distance instead of beating yourself up?" I don't want to listen... I don't want to hear any of it.

"It's not easy to cooperate when you know what you did was wrong in the past and you have no right to approach it!" I snapped, getting up "I have no right to approach Rosa!" I tried keeping my voice down "You know what I did to her! I let those kids beat on her as I watched! I walked away from her when she begged me to stay! We were always together, and I let her down when she needed me the most" I sobbed "I don't deserve to be around her... I have no right to even talk to her" I cupped my face "Why did I even say anything to her earlier..? I must've sounded stupid!" Hugh slapped my head, almost making me lose my balance.

"You were only a kid who was embarrassed when the other guys made fun of you for hanging out with a girl. These were the times when boys thought girls had cooties. What you did was horrible, but you have a chance to tell her upfront about how you feel"

"No... No!" I cupped my face "You don't get it! You didn't see what happened! You didn't see how I watched her getting kicked and losing her baby teeth in that fight. She looked at me, begging me to help... but I laughed" I looked at Hugh frowning deeply "I laughed at her... Don't you get it? I have no right... She hates me, and I don't blame her" I went into the stall and locked myself inside "I'll be a minute... Don't wait up" He knocked on the door.

"Nate... Please" his voice cracked "This isn't you..."

"That's just it... This is me. I became this way... I pushed aside the guilt for so long that I befriended everyone in the school after she left. I pushed pass my mistake and was fine until she came back... It reminded me of just how bad of a person I really am. Everything I am is fake... The girls, the going out? It's not me..."

"What are you saying..?" I kneeled down and hugged myself.

"I don't even know who I am..."

Hugh's Pov

Nate locked himself in the stall, staying there no matter how many times I asked him to open the door. At the end, there wasn't much I could do. It was better if he took a moment for himself, so I went back to the table and sat down.

"Everything alright?" Brendan asked.

"He must've ate too many bread sticks" I looked at the food in front of me and looked at Nate's food sitting there waiting for him.

I never thought I'd see him like this again. It's true, I didn't see the time of the betrayal between him and Rosa, but I knew exactly how he felt about it. I know that Rosa had left as soon as I heard the news about Nate leaving her. He told me himself and was never the same.

He slid pass what happened and became the life of the party. He befriended everyone and went out with girls all the time, but when I thought he just did it to make himself feel better, he was just putting up an act after all these years.

Whenever I go over to his house, all he does is play video games in silence. I'd scream from here and there, but his face was always expressionless even at the most intense battles between monsters and everything.

He finally admitted it to me... but I already knew why he was the way he was. We were only 12 when he decided to abandon her, and it took a tole into his life. Hearing him tell me what actually happened after all these years left me speechless, more than usual. After all that, I can probably see why he's the way he is...

Rosa came back to Aspertia city during our sophomore year in trainer school. We happened to be in the same class at the time. As soon as he laid eyes on her, he looked like he wanted to have mental breakdown.

He held it in for the entire class until he stormed out the classroom and went to the back courtyard of the school, into the green house, and broke down in tears. I didn't know what to do at the time, and I didn't know what to do just now...

That's why I thought the idea of getting him and Rosa getting along was stupid due to their insecurities, but I went along with it just so everyone can realize it's impossible. Now that I've heard Nate tell me the whole story... I have to find a way to help him, but I don't even know what's going on in Rosa's mind about everything.

I just leaned on the table and stare at my food "You're not going to eat?" Calem asked.

"I'll wait for Nate"

"Why?" Ethan asked. I groaned and pounded on the table.

"None of your business!" I raised my voice. Ethan smirked.

"What? Do you want another round?" I stood up.

"Bring it!" Dawn stood up.

"There will not be any fighting at this table!" She pointed at me "Where are your manners!?"

"He started it!"

"And I'm finishing it! Sit down!" I groaned and sat down.

"Really? You're going to listen to a girl instead of going outside for another battle?" Ethan crossed his arms, mocking me. I was about to lose it before Rosa unexpectedly shove some food into his mouth, shocking everyone.

"Don't raise your voice. It's inappropriate in a setting like this" Ethan chewed his food and glared at her. She wasn't at all afraid. This is coming from a girl who was scared of everything and had Nate always protect her "You can glare at me all you want, but it's not going to do anything" her eyes went serious "Keep up that act and nobody will accept you anywhere" Brendan stood up in a panic.

"Rosa!" May panicked as well.

"P-Please!" She gasped. Rosa huffed and turned away.

"You must be lucky to have so many friends by your side even if you have a bad attitude" she gave him the side eye "But let me tell you this. Everyone here is going back to their home regions. Nobody is going to respect you like everyone else does. You'll regret the day you speak down at people and you'll see what it's like to be alone. Nobody will accept you" she completely faced him "No one" Ethan leaned back, shaking a little and glared.

"Who do you think you are? Coming here and talking like you have some sense?"

"It's you who's the problem. I can leave at anytime I want. I won't be hurt" she stood up and cleaned her hands with a napkin "But you? I wonder how you'll feel when everyone turns their back on you..." she hid her eyes behind her bangs "Would she do the same?" Ethan looked down and said nothing. Rosa put some money on the table and walked away.

"R-Rosa!" Dawn frowned, not getting a response. She and Serena ran after her while May and Brendon looked at each other like they knew something.

"Who would expect such bold words from the little rose?" Calem snorted, breaking his bread stick "How does it feel to be talk down to, Ethan?" Ethan didn't say anything and just ate in silence instead of walking away. He can't walk away, not due to his situation. I can't believe Rosa just told him off like that...

Dawn and Serena failed to bring Rosa back to the table, and Nate came back with a bright face, like what happened in the restroom never happened.

"What did I miss?" He smiled. Everyone turned grim and stared at their plate. He looked at everyone confused and saw Rosa missing "What happened?" I started eating my food.

"Just eat your food" the entire night became quiet. Hardly anyone talked and when they did, it was something random. They tried lighting up the mood, but it didn't last. In the end, we just went home instead of battling like we originally planned.

"I guess this is what Rosa feared the most" Dawn looked at the sky, wearing the jacket I lend her after everyone left home and Nate was on his phone, talking to his brother "She thought she was going to be a bother. If she finds out the mood was killed, she'll blame herself"

"Do you regret her being there?" I asked. She shook her head.

"I enjoyed her presence. Everyone did. The way she told her stories was amazing. I can see how she's Hilda's sister" she smiled "Still..." she looked down "things usually go downhill whenever Ethan says something. Tell me, why is he a problem? Why is he like this?"

"Sorry, but that's not my story to tell" she nodded.

"Rosa mentioned something about a She. Did something happen between Ethan and a girl?" I sighed.

"Something like that, but not in the way you think"

"Can I at least guess?"

"The girl Rosa was talking about was in our middle school, but isn't around lately" She held her chin.

"I didn't come to Unova that far back..." I pet her head.

"It's none of your concern" we looked over at Nate. 

"How is he?"

"I have a feeling this plan of yours will be nearly impossible. He broke down in the bathroom..." Dawn hugged herself.

"He told you want happened, you said?" I nodded "I won't ask, but if only I knew what goes on in Rosa's mind... I want to know why she doesn't want friends"

"My guess is that it has to do with Nate" Dawn frowned at him.

"Is it worth metaling into?" I looked at the sky.

"If you want to continue to try to be Rosa's friend, go ahead, but I don't know her like I know Nate. She's definitely a different person than she was when we were kids. I won't be able to help"

"That's enough help that I need. I'll be sure to try to talk to her in school" her limo pulled up. Lucas rushed over from looking at the Goldeen in the pond "Make sure Nate doesn't hurt himself" she told me as her butler opened their door. I waved my hand.

"I'll try" she smiled and left with Lucas, leaving me here with Nate still in his emotional state after what I told him what happened earlier. Even he was shocked to hear how she responded, which made him overthink about whatever. Whatever happens next, I just hope things don't blow up like it did today, or worse...