Yuruki (POV Shift)

TARGET ACQUIRED! You spot a girl across the club. She is leaving her group and making her way to the bar. You had already tuned out your teammates long ago, but as you stand from the table you hear Lorna say “There she goes, again.”

Shelby remarks with “Any bets on which girl she’s after tonight?”

You ignore them, making your way to the bar. You’re on an intercepting course with your future bed mate. You watch as the lights dance with her hair, flitting between blonde and a light pink. She is wearing a silver dress that hugs her fit form, the neckline dips down below her breast line showing off plenty of sideboob. Her heels will make her taller than you, but once you have her out of them, and the rest of her clothes while you’re at it, you should be on an even playing field.

The gap closes, she doesn’t see you. She continues looking at the bar, and you smile knowing the pro-athlete sized obstacle she’ll hit on the way. You step in front of her, holding your leg out so she’ll trip over it. It’s a practiced move that should be unseen, your deft athletic skill coming in to play. In the split moment that you pause, you feel her hit your leg and immediately spin to catch her. You grab her hand as it reaches out looking for something to grab, your hand slipping behind her back, bracing her. You hold her there parallel to the floor. You stare into her icy blue eyes, and you lie, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Her shocked expression calms as she realizes she isn’t falling anymore. “It’s, um, okay. I mean, I’m sorry. I’m the one that ran into you.”

You smile pulling her back to her feet. “Well if it was your fault, you’ll have to make it up to me by letting me buy you a drink.”

A look of confusion sweeps across her sweet innocent face, “Wait, what? You’re going to buy me a drink because I ran into you?” Oh lucky day, you’re going to run circles around this girl.

“Of course, as a sign of good faith. No hard feelings over the collision,” you say with a smile. You keep your hand on the small of her back, as you guide her to the bar. You wave to the bartender, who recognizes you and your VIP status.

He quickly makes his way over to you, “So what are we drinking tonight ladies?”

You give a look to your newest friend, waiting for her response. She takes a second looking at the table, scratching her head and ruffling her pink tinted hair. Does she really think he is asking ‘what are drinks are?’ We don’t even have drinks yet. You step in, “We’ll have two Mai Tais.” The bartender leaves you alone with… “So what’s your name?”

“Rose from Cinnabar Island,” she says in a practiced manner.

“Rose from Cinnabar Island,” you recognize the structure of the introduction, “are you, by any chance, a pokemon trainer?”

“Not yet. I just got my application accepted by a pokemon professor,” oh my, this girl is going to be eaten alive, but you’ll be the first in line. The bartender returns with your drinks. “How’d you know?” she asks as she sips her drink.

You chuckle, “The way you said, ‘Rose from Cinnabar Island’ it sounded like a trainer’s intro.”

“Oh, yea I’ve been practicing. I wanted to sound like the real deal,” she says with a sense of pride.

“Oh my god! Are you Yuruki?” a random passerby asks recognizing you. “Can I get a selfie?”

“Yea, sure why not?” you pose keeping your eyes on Rose. She looks confused, you wonder if she’ll recognize your name, or just wonder why this person wanted a photo.

“What was all that?” she asks after the fan leaves. So not an MPL fanatic.

“I’m a member of the MPL team the Saffron Sirens,” she didn’t recognize you or your name but something between MPL or the Sirens clicked in her head. You can watch as she figures it out and her face changes.

“So, you’re a trainer?” Really? That’s what she takes away from all that? She’s lucky she’s cute.

“Yea, I am. You want to see my pokemon?” you ask tempting Rose to leave the bar with you.

“Really? That sounds awesome.” You down the rest of your drink, Rose watches before following suit.

“Then, let’s go,” you say while grabbing Rose’s hand, guiding her outside. You catch a glimpse of your team. You can’t hear them over the sounds of the club, but you can see them cheering you on.