In our last episode, Ri was reflecting on her Horsea, Aqua.  Billy revealed some startling news about what happened to Aqua’s original trainer.  Now, the two are heading to the main dining room for breakfast…

    “Ri, what do you want to eat?” Billy asked softly.  Ri on the other hand was playing with her new pokémon, Bluu.
    “It’s so cute!”  She pet its big blue ears.  Bluu happily waved its blue spherical tail.
    “Ri?”
    “Huh.  Oh yea.  Let’s see…  I’ll have…”  Billy watched as the Chansey waiter tapped it foot.  “Ah ha!  I’ll have… no wait.”  Both Billy and Chansey facefaulted.  Bluu started laughing.  “Ok ok, sorry, I’ll take the pancakes and eggs please.”
    “Heh, I’ll take the same please.”  Chansey wrote down their order and scampered into the kitchen.  “You did that on purpose,” Billy said.
    “Mm hmm,” Ri replied before going back to playing with Bluu.
    “Oh well…  At least you are happy now.  I was worried you’d be depressed forever.”
    “I’m sorry I worried you.  Now I know what really happened and I can move on.”
    Chansey returned with their food.  They ate their breakfast and played games with the pokémon for the afternoon.

Later that day,
    “Billy!”  Travis was running down the hallway.  “Hey Billy!”
    “Travis?”
    “Hey man, how’d she like it?”
    “She hasn’t put it down…” Billy sighed.
    Travis laughed for a sec.  “Yah, it is kinda cute.  But us men like power right, not cute stuff.”
    “Well…  Pichu here is cute.  I dunno, I guess it’s because they were the very first two pokémon I’ve ever even seen.”
    “Don’t worry Billy.  If you’re really gonna be a trainer, you’ll soon see which pokémon make great pets, and which make great fighters.”
    “So, ready for the convention tonight?”
    “Oh course.  I was just coming over to see when you and Ri were going to it.”
    “Hm, lemme go check with her on when we can leave.”  Billy went back into the room.  Bluu greeted him at the door.
    “Marril marril!”
    “Ehheheh.  Hi Bluu, is Ri in there?”
    Bluu nodded.
    “Ok.  Thank you.”  Billy walked through the door.  The lights were turned off.  “Ri?  Are you there?”
    “Ack, you need to get dressed!”  Ri quickly whipped out some fancy clothes for Billy.  When she turned on the light, Billy could hardly believe his eyes.
    Ri stared at her good friend while he stood there motionless.  “You… you… you’re beautiful…”  Ri blushed.  Bluu smiled and laid back against the door.
    Travis was still waiting at the door.  Bluu came out.  “Hi there.”
    “Marril marril mar mar marril.”
    “Umm, ok.  I’ll stay here til they come out.  Thank you Marril.”
    “Marril.”  Bluu smiled and closed the door.
    Billy got dressed.  He and Ri looked like they were a royal couple going to a ball.  And for young kids, they looked very grown up.  Bluu entered the room and smiled.  “Bluu!  Come here Bluu.”  Ri picked up her Marril.  “You are very cute.  Aqua, Julie, come here too.”  All her pokémon gathered.  “Ok, everyone has to be in their pokéballs til after dinner.  I’ll let you play afterwards ok.”  Her pokémon smiled and returned to their pokéballs.
    “Nidoran and Pichu return.”  Billy’s pokémon went inside their pokéballs as well.  “Shall we go?” he asked extending his hand like a gentleman.
    Ri giggled and placed her hand in his.  “Lead on my prince.”  Billy blushed.  They opened the door to find Travis still waiting there.  He was mildly dressed up, not as formal, but still presentable.  “Good evening Travis.”
    Travis bowed to Ri.  “And to you miss.  That’s a very pretty dress you have Ri.  And Billy, nice suit.  You both look fabulous.  Where’s my camera when I need it?”  They all laughed.  “Should we head down to the convention now?”
    “Yeah, let’s go.”
    When they got to the convention room, Sam and Jen were there waiting for them.  “Man, what took you all so long?”  Sam was dressed in a nice gray suit and Jen had on a red dress.  Ri was wearing the pink dress she had tried on the other night.
    “That’s a very pretty dress Ri,” Jen complemented.
    “I was just about to say to same to you Jen,” Ri replied smiling.
    “Yes yes, you both look beautiful now let’s go inside and see if there’s a third beautiful girl waiting there for me,” Travis said leading everyone inside.
    As they entered, all they could see were lines and lines of pokémon stuff.  It looked very similar to the SS Anne but a little more upscale and fancy.  There were vendors dealing in very rare pokémon, some were selling dolls, others had the latest pokémon accessories.  The five kids hurried in to see everything.
    As they walked past some of the vendors, they found the center stage.  Trainers were having pokémon battles.
    “Up for another round tonight Billy?” Travis asked.
    “I guess.  But I really don’t think I’ll win.”
    “Sure you will.  Ya gotta believe in your pokémon Billy.  That’s another key to victory.  That’s a way of caring for them, but showing that you believe they can win.”
    “Really.  Ok.  Guess we’ll find out later tonight.”
    They continued walking.  Ri’s eyes lit up as they came to a breeder’s stand.  “Ohh, look!”  She dragged the unsuspecting Billy over to the dealer.
    “Can I help you with something sweetie?” the woman behind the counter asked.
    “Yes yes.  My name’s Ri and I’m becoming a pokémon breeder.”
    “Really?  That’s wonderful.  Breeding is a great and rewarding profession, you should be very proud of yourself.  Not many kids understand the joy of raising pokémon, must just want to battle.  I’m sure you heard about the breeder competition on the Golden Islands.”
    “Yes yes!  I know!”  Ri just smiled big when she talked.  “What can you suggest for a breeder in her first formal year of training?”
    “Well, all breeders should know how to prepare food for their pokémon.  You already seem to be capable of loving them by your cheerful attitude, so maybe a cooking set would be good.  I wrote my own cookbook too.  I’ll throw it in for free.”
    “Oh thank you thank you.”  Ri reached for her purse but discovered she had left it in the room.  “Oh no, I forgot my purse.”
    “It’s ok Ri, here.”  Billy took out some pokébucks from his wallet.  “Will this be enough?”
    “Aw Billy, you don’t have to.”
    “Yes I do.  You are special to me so I it’s the gentleman thing to do.”  He and Ri both blushed.
    “You know, at the rate they keep doing that, I’d say their cheeks will stay red forever real soon,” Travis joked to Jen and Sam.  They laughed with him.
    “Thank you.  I’ll have the porter deliver this to your suite tonight so you don’t have to carry it around.  Good luck becoming a breeder.  By the way, here’s my card in case you ever need someone for advice.”  She handed Ri a small business card.
    “Mary’s Breeding Place.  Rated #1 in the area by Breeder’s Weekly.”
    “Well, I’m not really that good…”
    “Thank you Mary.”
    “Good evening Ri.  Have fun tonight kids.”
    “Hey, let’s go see that over there.”  Travis, Sam, and Jen ran over to another dealer.  Ri and Billy headed on to see some other places.  In the next room, they had a pokémon band on stage and a dance floor.  They were playing soft love music for PokeValentine’s Day.
    “May I have this dance with you?” Billy asked Ri holding her hand.  He released his Nidoran too.
    Ri released her Nidoran as well and let Billy lead her and the pokémon onto the dance floor.  They began to dance to the music.  Their Nidorans again attempted to imitate their trainers by leaning on each other and swaying back and forth.  As they watched the two pokémon attempt to dance, Ri and Billy laughed to themselves.
    “You know something Ri,” Billy began.
    “What is it Billy?”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy my entire life.  Not until I met you, I mean really met you.”
    Ri blushed.  “Really?  Well, that’s funny, because…”  She paused for a sec.
    “Because what Ri,” Billy asked.
    “Well, because I’ve always dreamed of the day you’d finally share your feelings with me.  You always avoided me at school and on the beach.  But now, you finally showed me you really do like me.”
    “I didn’t mean to ignore you all those times before…  I just wasn’t ready.”
    “It’s ok,” Ri said placing her head into Billy.  They continued dancing, as did their Nidorans.
    “Where’d those two love birds go?”
    “Hey look over there.”  Sam pointed to the two dancing Nidorans.  “Aren’t those Ri and Billy’s Nidorans.  Look at em, they’re trying to dance with them.”  The three went over to Ri and Billy.
    “Hey Ri, we lost you for a sec back there,” Jen said.
    “Oh, sorry, we just wanted to dance to this great music.”
    “Those are some very talented pokémon over there.”
    Sam came up to Jen.  “So uh…”
    “You are so shy… Let’s go.”  Jen grabbed Sam’s arms and they joined in the dance.  Sam was happy she knew what he wanted to say.
    Travis was the only one left without a date.  “Ah, you lovers enjoy yourselves while I check out the available ladies.”  He turned around to scope out the rest of the crowd when he ran right into another young girl.  “Whoa, I’m sorry,” he said catching her before she fell.
    The little girl, around the same age as Travis, looked back up at him with glimmering eyes.  “I’m sorry.  I should watch where I’m going.”  She brushed herself off and began to walk away.
    “Hey wait.”
    “Hmm,” the girl said stopping.
    “Umm…  You have really nice hair and a very pretty voice,” Travis said shyly.  It was his turn to blush.
    “Oh, thank you,” the little girl replied.
    “My name’s Travis.”
    “Pleased to meet you Travis, I’m Heather.  Are you into pokémon too?”
    “Am I!”
    “What’s your favorite pokémon Travis?”  The two kids walked over to the tables and sat down to talk about pokémon while the others danced.
    Finally, the music stopped and the director of the show thanked everyone for coming.  He invited them all to a grand dinner.  The two Nidorans were so tired from dancing that they collapsed on each other.  Ri and Billy gave each other a kiss before collecting their Nidorans and joining Travis and his new friend Heather.
    “Guys, this is Heather.  She’s a pokémon trainer from Cinnabar Island.  She has a really cute Vulpix.”
    “Hi Heather, I’m Ri and this is my friend Billy.”  They greeted each other.  Sam and Jen joined them and were introduced as well.  Everyone ate dinner and they all said their good byes.
    “Good night Heather.  Perhaps I’ll see you again sometime?”
    “Sure Travis.  You’re a great friend.”  She wrote down her number.  “Here, so you can call me.”  She gave Travis a hug and ran off.
    “She hugged me, and gave me her number!  YAHOO!!!”  Travis was beginning to act a little crazy so the others left him to celebrate.
    Ri and Billy walked alone back to their room.  “Aww, I forgot to battle Travis.”
    “It’s ok, there’s always tomorrow.  Oh, I forgot to let my pokémon play…  Guess we got carried away with that music.”
    “I don’t regret it.”
    “Neither do I.”  They kissed and retired for the night.
    And so, as the SS Dove gets closer to the Golden Islands, our lovely couple enjoys sweet dreams.  What fun adventures will they have next time?  Found out on the next Ri & Billy.