Diego burst into the apartment, sweat pouring down his face. He sighed in relief as the cool air of the apartment hit his face. Bliss, the Aipom, trudged in behind him trying to catch her breath. The two had gone on an afternoon jog which Diego had quickly turned into a training session. The two had spent the last hour an a half running back and forth between Jaune and Rouge plaza throwing in some body weight workouts. While Diego felt invigorated, the Aipom clearly was not as pleased.

The two were just glad to see the air conditioning was on. Apparently some torublemakers down at the power stations had caused a few short power outages throughout the city. Walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cold bottle of water, Diego then tossed a smaller one to Bliss who deftly caught it with her tail and began drinking from it thirstily. "Oh come one now, don't exaggerate. That was just a fun jog." He laughed out loud as Bliss rolled her eyes. "You know you miss the hurdle jump. Showing all those posers what a real athlete looks like." While Bliss had competed just as well as any of his other Pokemon, it was clear that she enjoyed being part of a team more than the actual events, which was why she had been the only one to deny his offer of staying back in Johto. Diego was very curious as to how she'd do in battle. 

"Still though, Lumiose is nice. So much to do, there's a huge gym, oh and those Kalos women. Did you see that girl coming out of the Pokeball shop? Man I'd like to-"

"You'd like to do what exactly?"

Diego jumped as his mother walked into the kitchen.

"Um, nothing. What are you doing home, mom?" he asked as Bliss snickered behind him.

"I took the afternoon off. Today was the day you were going to go pick up a Pokemon from Professor Sycamore right? Well I'm coming for one too. With your father gone most of the week and you leaving there's no way I'm staying here alone. Besides, they're really relaxed at work about bring your Pokemon to work as long they don't get in the way. There's even a few battles at lunch time!" An excited grin spread across her face but quickly melted away as she sniffed the air. "You two reek. There's no way we're going to the lab like this. Quick go take a shower, and I'll help Bliss wash up." She looked at the Aipom, glaring "And if you get my clothes wet like last time, we won't be stopping for galettes."

*****

An hour later found Diego, an his mother and Bliss walking the streets of Lumiose each munching on a tasty Lumiose Galette. While the idea of bringing his mom with him initially seemed like a perfect setup for embarrassment, Diego had to admit she rarely did anything to embarrass him. It's not like she would butt in if he tried to talk to any of the beautiful young ladies he was sure to run into. Dad though... well, thank goodness he wasn't here. 

Bliss who was situated up on Diego's shoulders pointed ahead at the lab. There was no mistaking it. Even if it didn't look exactly like the building on the flier, it was quite clearly a lab for Pokemon. Or at least a fancy Pokemon Center. Still, Diego was surprised he'd never noticed it before. Had he just not been in this area of the city yet? It was easy to get lost, and he still hadn't been living here very long. 

Diego walked into the lab, surprised to find so many people there. Sure he had expected a crowd, but not quite like this. Apparently Sycamore did his job well, or whatever poor sap he had promoting this event did his job well. Diego and his mother walked off to the side, Diego watching the crowd. He looked for the girls. He looked for the trainers. He looked for the people who looked like they had a sense of purpose. Who would his rivals be? Who would he battle someday? Would any of these people be his friends? There was so much potential in this room. He wondered if any one else felt it.