From My Heart to Yours

It was that time of year, once again. The townsfolk of Twinleaf Town had gathered together to host the annual Valentine's Day festival. It was an unusually warm day across the area, having reached well into the 70s during the early afternoon. The sound of cheerful music, various conversations, and laughter filled the air. Everyone appeared to be happy as can be...all but one individual, that is.

Sitting far off in the distance from the bustling crowd was a young girl with long, midnight blue hair that was partially covered by her white beanie, wearing her usual pink and black miniskirt with a white undershirt and matching pink go-go boots. Unlike the majority of the townsfolk, she looked on at the events unfolding before her with a most pained expression; her eyes clearly showing evidence of her current mood. She seemed to have felt this way every year for the past couple of years after finally coming home from her journey in the Jhoto region.

To her, it hadn't seemed like it was all that long ago since she finally won at the Grand Festival, making it the first time she ever became a Top Coordinator. She can vividly recall seeing the massive crowd, cheering loud for her and her Pokémon; chanting away her name. That day became marked as one of the greatest moments of her life; her biggest achievement that she had ever made. Despite the victory that she managed to clutch, it had not made her completely happy. One thing, or person, was missing that would've made the memory more joyful...

Snapping herself out of that memory, her mind was back to focusing on that one particular person. A guy that she had wished would've been there to cheer her on during her Contests throughout Jhoto; the one person she knew she could always rely on to help her every step of the way and make her feel more confident than ever. This person meant more to her than anyone or anything in the world, and right now, she really wanted him to be here with her on this one day. It pained her just thinking about the fact that he was never around, anymore, having went off on yet another journey to someplace new. She would've taken the opportunity to travel with him back to his hometown in, Pallet Town, which was much like Twinleaf Town in almost every single way, and get to meet his mother, the other Pokémon that he had at Professor Oak's lab, and most importantly: Getting to travel with him in whatever the new region happened to be.

That guy was Ash Ketchum.

The very image of him appeared in her mind. His soft and warm smile, the way he would stare into her eyes, the voice she loved hearing from him whenever he was giving her courage and telling her how great she was doing in her Contests, and his well-toned body from all the traveling he had done in the past. That last part caused the girl to suddenly blush, admitting to herself of how handsome he looked to her.

Her smile faded quickly when she realized how long it had actually been since she even heard anything from him. She was beginning to regret having ever taken the offer on the photoshoot opportunity presented to her and her Buneary. While she didn't want to ruin her Rabbit Pokémon's happiness of being able to participate in such, she couldn't help but realize what the consequences were behind her decision. Buneary had noticed it from time to time whenever she was out, sensing her Trainer's sadness whenever she got this way, and she couldn't honestly blame her for the emotions that were likely present in heart, swirling about within.

She hated this. The past two times this event was held, the only thing she could feel was pain. There was nothing worse for her on this day than to feel alone and unwanted. Staring at all the happy couples out there only worsened the feeling, making her kick a nearby rock that was at her right foot. While she was upset of the situation she was placed in, she was also saddened, and it was for those reasons and more that she wanted nothing to do with this festival. Try as her mom, Johanna, who always hosted the event, might for the sake of cheering up her daughter, nothing seemed to work. She wished her daughter would stop moping around so much around this one particular day.