The Road to our Destiny II: The Galar Adventures

Chapter 15

Rose and Oleana led the group out of the stadium to a restaurant close to the town's Pokemon Center. As soon as the chairman entered the restaurant, the person behind the desk gave him a warm smile, instantly recognizing him despite his sunglasses. She grabbed several menus and led the group up the steps until they were at the other side of the restaurant, where dining tables were standing next to a glass wall where Hulbury Stadium could be seen. Sitting at one of the tables in a window seat was Ezria, who stood up from her seat and walked over to everyone.

"Uncle Rose." she greeted as she hugged the chairman.

"Ezria, my dear. Congratulations on your victory," Chairman Rose said as he hugged her back.

Timothy, Coovers, and Gwen looked at each other, confused with how Oleana's niece addressed the chairman. Ezria then turned to Timothy, and she tinted before she walked over to hug him too. Timothy hesitated before he hugged her back.

"I saw your battle," Ezria said as she broke the hug. "You were magnificent."

"Thank you," Timothy said. "You did great too."

Ezria's blush grew, and she looked down bashfully. Her reaction made Chairman Rose chuckle quietly, while Gwen frowned. The woman from behind the desk then cleared her throat and asked, "Who has the separate table?"

"I do," Gwen answered.

"Lovely," the server said. "Let's have you sit at our middle table with the Pokémon while everyone is at Chairman Rose's regular table?"

"Fine by me," Gwen said.

The server smiled and led Gwen, Electchu, and Winnie to the middle table while Chairman Rose, Timothy, Coovers, and Ezria sat at the table on the right side. Ezria took Timothy by the hand and led him to sit on her side of the table while the chairman and Coovers sat on the other side. The server handed everyone their menus, and they began browsing through them.

As they browsed, Timothy looked up from his menu to look at Gwen, who was discussing what to order with Winnie, and then asked Electchu what it wanted with a smile. His heart grew warm from how Gwen felt more comfortable around their Pokémon. But then he noticed Ezria glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He turned his eyes to her, and she immediately looked back at her menu, her cheeks turning pink again.

Timothy grew puzzled by Ezria's bashful demeanor and began to wonder if she liked him more than a friendly way. The idea unsettled him as he thought about how she would react to finding out about his true motives on top of how he did not think of her in that way. He didn't know how he would act interested in a woman romantically even if he felt the same way about Ezria. He looked back at his menu and began to think of a way to interact with Ezria in a friendly way without giving her hope while on the mission until he heard her voice.

"Timothy, it's your turn to order."

Timothy jumped in alarm and looked around to find Ezria, Coovers, and Chairman Rose looking at him and a waitress standing next to the table with a notepad and a pen. Timothy felt his cheeks heat up, and he cleared his throat.

"Sorry. I'll, uh, have the clam chowder." he said.

"Good choice," the waitress said as she took everyone's menus. "We'll have your orders ready right away."

"Thank you," Timothy, Coovers, Ezria, and Chairman Rose said simultaneously.

The waitress walked to the kitchen to give her orders to the cooks. As soon as she was gone, the chairman smirked at Timothy and asked, "Were you having a lot of trouble choosing, Timothy?"

"Oh, no, I was... thinking about my next Gym Battle," Timothy lied.

"Oh, really? Do you get lost in thought over upcoming battles often?" Rose asked.