A Date in a Different Way
Ah, yes… Valentine’s Day. This is the day when couples would go out on such wonderful romantic dates all around Galar.But for some people in the region, this just seems like another regular day for them. Not much fussing about dates or love affairs, just them doing their own thing.Victor and Hop had met up the night prior and set up camp together somewhere in the Wild Area. Today, they had woken up early, made breakfast together, and did some training and battling along the way. Around mid-morning, Hop decides to leave ahead while Victor chooses to stay behind to continue training his Pokémon.But just as Hop is about to leave for his next destination…“Hey, Hop!”“Yow, Victor!”“Do you mind if I ask you a favour?”“Well, what is it, mate?”Victor brings out an envelope and hands it over to his best friend. “Could you please send this to Gloria?”“Um, sure…” Hop answers with curiosity present in his expression. “What’s in this envelope?”“Well… it’s confidential,” Victor replies, keeping a straight face. “But it’s something intended for her.”“Oh. Okay, then. I’ll make sure to deliver this to her.”“Thanks, Hop.”“No problem, mate! See ya!”“Later, mate.”The two boys wave goodbye at each other as Hop goes on ahead while Victor returns to his tent.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Later, Hop has reached Circhester. He immediately goes to the Pokémon Center to heal up his Pokémon, and then he soon enters Bob’s Your Uncle, where he sees Gloria having just settled down on one of the tables.“Hi, Hop!” the Galarian girl greets.“Yow, Gloria!” he replies with a smile.“Please, come join me, mate! I’m just about to order some proper good nosh for today.”“Sure!”He comes over to her table, sitting on the chair opposite of her. After ordering food for lunch, they decide to talk and catch up as they wait for their meals.“Say, Hop… how have ya been?”“Been doing good! I just hung out with Victor in the Wild Area yesterday, camping together.”“That’s great to hear, mate! How’s he?”“Well, he’s fine, been working hard training his Pokémon for the Circhester Gym Challenge.”“Oh, he hasn’t come around here yet?”“Not yet, but he did say that he’ll come by soon. Oh, by the way…”Hop brings out Victor’s envelope from his bag and gives it to Gloria as he continues, “He has asked me to send you this.”“Oh, a letter, I suppose?”“I dunno… he said that it’s something confidential.”“Must be some vital documents to keep or something…”“Beats me,” he shrugs.Eventually, they come to talk about today being Valentine’s Day.“So, Hop… have ya got yourself a Valentine today?” she asks eagerly.“Um, no! I don’t think I have one for now,” he answers with a sheepish chuckle on his face and his hands behind his neck. “Although… I’m thinking about taking Marnie out on a date today.”“Oh, really? You like her?”“Perhaps so. She’s really an interesting person, being the little sister of Piers who is the Gym Leader of Spikemuth. I absolutely love her determination to make her hometown proud, although I gotta say that Team Yell is bloody annoying at times.”“Yeah, I know. Marnie is a nice mate and rival, but her followers are blighters in the way.”“I know, I know,” Hop scratches his head and grins. “They cheer for her to carry on, even to the point of blocking us from going to another area!”“Tell me about it!” she remarks. “They continue to piss me off in the way! Sometimes, I wonder how our best mate manages to keep his cool in front of those prats, or even how Marnie herself deals with them…”“Anyways, enough of that. How ‘bout you, Gloria? Do you have a date for today, maybe perhaps a boyfriend?”Gloria’s eyes widen up as she lightly blushes at the question. “Um, I think I’d rather skip that question.”“Oh, being dodgy, I see? So you do seem to have someone in mind right there…” he jokingly comments.“No, Hop! It’s not like that!” she pouts as she playfully clenches her fists and her cheeks have gone redder.“Yeah, whatever ya say, mate,” he chuckles.Unbeknownst to Hop, his two best friends have already become a couple, though this isn’t apparent as they both decided not to travel together for the meantime, and that neither of them would tell him or anybody else about it, opting to lay low on that for now and focus on themselves. Even in the times that the trio would be camping together sometime in the Wild Area, Gloria and Victor would refrain from showing any public display of affection especially in front of their bestie rival, instead shifting their attention to friendly bonding with each other and their Pokémon. Only in those times when it’s just the two of them alone with their Pokémon, only then that they show love and affection for each other.In other words, the couple wants to take things slowly; no rush, no pressure.Soon after some more chatter and a good lunch, Gloria and Hop part ways once again, with the latter going out to explore more of Circhester and perhaps meet up with Marnie, and the former returning back to her hotel room at Hotel Ionia.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As soon as Gloria settles down inside her room, she looks over the envelope that Victor had sent in for her through Hop. She opens the envelope to reveal a letter that is addressed to her.“Oh, a letter for me?” she mumbles to herself as she then opens the letter and reads it.To my dearly beloved Gloria…Greetings! How are you doing, my love? I hope that you’re doing well, and great job on that Gym Challenge in Ballonlea!Today is Valentine’s Day! And yes, I know that we’re both just starting out together as lovers. Yet, not a day goes by without me thinking fondly of you, dear. I surely miss your presence already!I have been thinking about us going on a Valentine’s Day date, whether it be in Circhester or any city to go by, or even just a day camping in the Wild Area. But unfortunately, I got caught up in other tasks to attend to, and I even had to gear up my Pokémon for the Circhester Gym Challenge. I also presume that you’d be busy attending to your own needs and errands, such that you’re going to be too busy to deal with all the Valentine’s Day stuff.I’m sorry that I couldn’t make time for us to go on a date today. But I assure you that once we meet again, I’ll treat you to a lovely date sometime soon.That aside, though… even though we aren’t going out together for now, I just want to say that I love you so much. Darling, not a day has gone by without me thinking about you. You are the brightness that shines and guides my way through life. When I’m with you, it feels like I’m home. Just your glorious presence alone makes my day brighter and my resolve stronger. You are my source of strength, my motivation to victory!I couldn’t be happier to have met you, my love. And I can’t wait to have more adventures with you soon.For now, this letter is what I can give you, all coming in from the depths of my beating heart. I hope that we can meet up and camp together once again.Happy Valentine’s Day, love!Sincerely yours,VictorHer expression lights up, chuffed to see that her boyfriend thinks fondly of her despite them both not having any Valentine’s Day plans together.Yesterday, Victor pondered about what he could be doing on Valentine’s Day, how he could be able to treat Gloria to anything romantic. However, he came to realise that she could most likely be busy focusing on her goals and some errands, and he thought that it could not be possible for them to go on a date at the moment.Thus, as soon as he retired to his tent for the night, he decided to write a love letter to her, enclosing it in an envelope before he went to sleep. Luckily, with Hop having come around to hang out with him, he took the opportunity to request him to deliver the sealed envelope to her today.And now, with his love letter delivered, opened, and read, his mission for Valentine’s Day is complete.“Aww, Victor! You really made my day today, sweetie!” she mumbles happily as she keeps her eyes on the love letter. “Ya know, this letter alone is enough for me this Valentine’s Day. But you know what? I think…”She then proceeds to grab a paper and pen, now opting to do the same for her boyfriend.“…I would like to see you once again soon,” she finishes as she begins writing her own love letter to him.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Right now, the Galarian gentleman continues to focus on his Wild Area activities. While it might not be possible for him to go out on a date with his girlfriend at the moment, he at least delivered a small present from his heart, all the while spending the whole day training his Pokémon for the Circhester Gym Challenge and catching more of the wild Pokémon in the Wild Area.“Great job today, guys!” he said to his fellow Pokémon. His Pokémon chimed joyfully, with his Cinderace coming towards him and sharing a fist bump with him. “It looks like we’ll be ready for Circhester. For now, let’s all take a break.”He had finished another round of wild Pokémon encounters, having caught those that weren’t recorded in his Pokédex yet while training his Pokémon to become stronger. He also met up with several other trainers wandering around the Wild Area, participating in Max Raid Battles with them during the day.Now, back at the campsite, he relaxes by a nearby tree, watching his Pokémon playing around and resting as he enjoys the sight of the luscious Galarian horizon. Soon, his Cinderace runs up to him.“What is it? Something wrong?” he asks the Striker Pokémon.Cinderace chimes in that someone is heading towards the campsite.“Oh, I suppose it must be one of the trainers I met earlier today…? I’m gonna go check, then.”He gets up from the tree he was resting on and walks a little further from the campsite, monitoring the area for any trainers coming by. As he looks around, he hears a familiar voice…“Victor!”He turns to the direction of that voice. To his surprise…“Hey, Victor!”…it is Gloria, his girlfriend, running towards him.“Gloria, hey!” he responds, astonished by her sudden visit.As soon as she gets to him, she hugs him immediately while panting for air after the long run. He embraces her back in turn, surprised but delighted to see her. After a moment, they break away from the hug and settle down by the tree Victor was relaxing on.“Hey, Victor! It’s nice to see you again.”“Hey, Gloria. Never expected you to show up here today given that you’ve gone ahead to Circhester.”“Sweetie, that envelope Hop passed to me…”“Enjoyed what you got there?”“Ooh yes, I did!” she squealed in elation. “I never thought that you’d write a letter to me like that! I mean, I thought that it’s something really confidential like, vital documents or the like.”“Yeah, about that, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, so I didn’t bother telling Hop about it,” he replied.She giggles. “That was so heartwarming of you, sweetheart! Thank you so much!”“You’re very welcome, my dear.”“Ya know, love, you don’t have to worry much about gifts or pressure yourself about dates, even though today is Valentine’s Day. Just your presence and your letter are enough for me.”“You mean it, dear?”“Yes, sweetie!”“But you know, I’ve been meaning to take you out sometime.”“Ya know what, Vic?”She proceeds to take out a box of chocolates from her bag, presenting it to him. “Surprise! Got these sweet chocolates from Circhester!”He accepts the gift in amazement. “Why, thanks, dear!”“And…!” She then takes out the love letter she made for him from the bag. “I’ve got ya this!”“A love letter?”“Ooh, yes! Just as you amazed me with yours, I want to do the same and respond to it.”Victor promptly opens the letter Gloria had written for him.To my sweetheart Victor…Greetings, my fair gentleman! I’m doing great and I’m going strong! You did well with your Gym Challenge in Ballonlea, and I couldn’t be happier for you for succeeding!My lovely sweetheart, there is no need for you to get too pressured about Valentine’s Day. I mean, we’re both starting out after all, right? Of course, it’s understandable that we’re both busy with our own tasks and training, thus leaving no room for any other follies. And even though we haven’t really gone on a proper Valentine’s Day date, your presence and the letter you wrote are gifts enough for me.I never had thought that you’d crash land into my heart, into my life. Never had I once felt myself attracted to a man with the attributes of a true gentleman, until I met you during the journey. Indeed, when I’m with you, it feels like I have come back home, back to the walls of love and security. I find myself willing to be vulnerable when you and only you are around, and that shows how you’ve truly conquered my heart.For that, I’m deeply grateful to have you around, love. It’s because of you that I have the drive to become my better self. I also enjoy your company; you don’t know how much your loving embraces and moments of comfort and intimacy mean to me!Yes, I mean every word that I have uttered in this letter; everything I have said is nothing but the truth. I love you, and I look forward to more opportunities to hang out with you.Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetie!Yours truly,GloriaHis eyes welled up with tears of joy as his girlfriend gives him a cheery smile. “Like it, love?” she asks.“It’s so beautifully made, my dear,” he comments as he wipes his tears. “I love it, thank you so much.”“I’m chuffed that you’re enjoying this, my sweetheart.”They proceed to embrace other once more, basking in this wonderful Valentine’s Day moment. Though they did not make any plans for the occasion, they did manage to make time for each other. And now, they’re chuffed to be together once again.After another moment, they pull away from the embrace and promptly kiss each other on the cheek.“Say, Vic…”“Yeah, Glo?”“What do ya plan to do today?”“Um, I’m just about to return to the last stretch of my training for today, because I’ll head out to Circhester tomorrow.”“I’d love to come along and help you train, and camp with you tonight, then!”“I’d gladly appreciate it.” He smiles at her.“Suppose you said that you want to take me out sometime, right? How about, let’s say… tomorrow, we both head out to Circhester together? We can spend the whole day to ourselves, and then the following day, we can go take on the Circhester Gym Challenge together!” she said with excitement.“You took the words right out of my mouth, dear!” he giggles in response. Truly, his girlfriend is so thoughtful of him that she’d also go make him happy just as he has made her happy. “I’ll be more than chuffed to have you around.”“Then it’s a date! Consider this… our very own Valentine’s Day celebration,” she gleefully replied. “No matter how late this could be, what matters is that we’re together, my love.”“So true. I’m greatly elated that it has come to this.”“Me too.”The two lovers relax a little bit longer by the tree, sitting next to each other with Gloria laying her head on Victor’s shoulder as his arm is wrapped around her shoulders. They savour the feeling of each other’s presence, nothing but peace and solidarity gracing them. Soon, they’ll follow through with their plans for later and tomorrow, pushing through with their own soon-to-be-belated, yet lovely Valentine’s Day date.And all it took for this day to be wonderful for them was simply the use of ball pens, papers, and most importantly, love.
MaxDomRenOro
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