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The phrase "Not right now" usually carries a negative connotation. It means that someone is being delayed satisfaction. A child isn't getting their dessert. A gathering of friends is not yet ready to shout surprise. A lover is being taunted by their partner. It's not meant to be savored exactly upon the moment of hearing it.

However, when Miki Park uttered that phase to her beloved Luxray, telling Blitz that there would be no battle at the moment, it was such a sweet sound to Melissa's ears. It was tough to pick out over the bustle of the port city, but the blonde could taste the disappointment dripping from her rival's tongue. It was delectable.

As Melissa began to walk away, she was confident she handled that perfectly. It was almost appropriate that Miki ended up showing up on this rock. It was her that drove Melissa here. Not directly, but Miki was the catalyst for everything that happened that gave this person the leverage to offer Melissa what she wanted. A true shot at redemption for the one blemish on her jewel-encrusted legacy. But she didn't let Miki know how much it still bothered her these years later. She was proud of herself for it.

So when it was clear Miki was going to keep following her, even after that beautiful flurry of condescension she had hailed down upon her, 
Melissa was temporarily at a loss for words. It felt like an eternity, and yet it still hung in the air. It wasn't enough for Miki, clearly. Melissa always held a simmering hatred for how Miki managed to specialize in the one type that had the blonde dominated for so long in the early going. She's always managed to compensate for the weaknesses that Ice and Fairy types had against the flames, no matter where she trained, but the brunette was always so damn smug about everything. It gave Melissa great joy when some punk decided to roll up thinking he was hot shit with the Incineroar or Turtonator or Alolan Marowak, only to get doused or buried or... rocked. Miki was no different. Especially since Dark types couldn't do anything against her Fairy types. Melissa had to keep that in mind as she was pressed by the Lava Queen as to what she was doing out here.

[color=firebrick][b]"So if you're champion, what are you doing here then? Thought you had to stay there in case a challenger came knocking on your door. Not unless you lost and you were just blowing hot air to sound like you were some hot shit."[/b][/color]

She was irked by the question. What did it matter what she was doing here? She was here now, that was the important thing. The fact that Miki would insinuate that she would lose her title so easily? Laughable! In fact, Melissa had to stifle a small chuckle at the thought. She looked over to confirm the brunette was walking behind her. [color=73fdff]"Oh, don't you worry. I still have my crown perfectly intact.[/color] Melissa laughed a little harder. [color=73fdff]"Almost like those Alolans didn't know the true power of winter's fury until I hit the islands. This one kid, Hau, keeps coming at me, and he keeps forgetting his Alolan Raichu gets wrecked by Yuki every time."[/color] A flick of her hair punctuated her confidence in her ability to keep those islands tamed. [color=73fdff]"But I told them I needed to take a leave of absence to deal with some things. So Kukui is taking over the reins for a little bit. He was itching to do some research on some new moves and he was happy to take over. Although Kahili is a little annoyed she has no one else to go golfing with next weekend. But I'll make it up to her when I get back."[/color]

As the mansion started to grow larger on the horizon, Melissa's mind wandered a little bit back to the task at hand. She still didn't have any good ideas on who the mysterious person behind the letter was, although their judgment was now under question with Miki Park's involvement. They had to have enough connections to Sinnoh to get a hold of both Miki as well as herself, knowing that she had taken up residence in Alola. Plus they had to have enough connections to be able to fix her issue with the Indigo League. Maybe make sure she can get into the Masters Tournament in a decent slot while they were at it. She had fought so hard with everything she had to get to where she was now. If anyone could give her a leg up for the next step, she was going to take it.

[color=73fdff]"So, what about you? Still in Sinnoh? Candice finally get tired of you stomping her enough to actually get a decent anti-Fire team together? I kept telling her she needs to get at least one regular Pokémon in the rotation that can deal consistent Water pressure on opponents, but she's just like 'I have to stay focused!' like that's all that matters."[/color] Melissa laughed again. If there's one person she enjoyed taking potshots at more than Miki, it was Candice. Perhaps that showed the rankings given how quickly she was able to joke about Candice with her supposed arch rival. [color=73fdff]"Obviously you still have your golden bug zapper, so you haven't retired from training."[/color]

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