"Excuse me? What did you just say?" She fumed, knitting her brows in agitation.
"You heard me," he replied in a deadpan manner. "You're a spoiled, self-centered, entitled brat," he finished, causing the woman before him to clench her fists in rage...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Allie felt like it had been ages since she'd been home. She had gone through so many examinations she felt as though she wouldn't need any for the next few years after what she'd experienced. The more she thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed. What's more, she had to explain everything to her parents which wasn't the easiest thing in the world for her to do. How does one tell their family that they'd died and were brought back to life by an all powerful legendary being? And then there was Seth.
There wasn't a moment that went by where her heart didn't flutter at the very thought of him. She almost considered it sinful how much she was pining for him. She remembered every second of that moment in the Geosenge Pokémon Center. The touch of his lips, the racing of her heart, it all rushed back to her again, drowning her mind with thoughts too shameful to reveal. She gasped and cupped her mouth with her hand while gripping the balcony handrail, her face turning a bright crimson.
Her eyes shifted downward to find Furfrou who was now looking up at her with a self-satisfied grin. Allie frowned as she met the eyes of her troublemaking companion.
"Don't you dare... I know that look. You're judging me aren't you?" Allie huffed, placing her hands on her hips as she stared her canine friend down.
Furfrou tilted her head in a manner that seemed to say, "who me?" But Allie wasn't buying it. Recomposing herself, Allie took a deep breath and looked out over the balcony again at the restored garden. It took some doing to get things back to the way they were, but with the help of her amazing staff and a surprising visit from Serena and her crew, the garden was finally brought back to its former beauty. Even Seth came by to assist them when he wasn't off catching more Pokémon to fill the quota. A quota she felt she should have simply discarded after the Team Flare incident.
Due to the remaining competitor's enthusiasm for that particular part of the competition, she decided to keep it as part of the qualifications. Within the span of the month that had passed, every one of them filled that requirement. The badge hunting had been completed and all that remained was the Lumiose Conference. It would be a test for all of them as it would reveal more about each candidate to Allie than her visitations did. It was the culmination of all their efforts.
They had proven that they were all willing to go the distance to impress her, but there were only a few who were bold enough to say those three little words to her without hesitation. While some professed their love for her from the start, she was never quite convinced that they were truly in love with her at all. She was certainly happy to hear it, but for whatever reason she still felt this deep emptiness that she couldn't explain. But—over time—she had gotten to know each of them and knew just where they stood.
As a result, she had come to terms with how she was feeling toward each of them. She saw some of the remaining contenders as eligable and while she wouldn't mind becoming espoused to any of them she would be a fool to ignore what she was currently feeling. She was stupidly, ridiculously in love with Seth. That one moment alone with him had solidified it and as much as she wanted to tell him, she had to see this contest through. Seth had confessed that he loved her and while that made her extremely happy, she needed one more thing to be fully convinced that his words were truly from his heart and not because of the heat of the moment.
