Finally got this done! *D* Yay~ Long, late story is long and late. This was written for my good friend,  crovirus

Emma Watson & Theodore Cromwell are ©  crovirus
Malcolm Weatherby & Allissandra Blankenship are © me
Valery Grey is ©  blackfiretease
Kyla Portes is ©  da-end
Lorna and Fey Hardstep are ©  wiitenuant
Joanna Ignus is ©  favlaud
Pokemon © Nintendo/Gamefreak

Edit: Oh! By the way. The song used in this story is called "Haven't Met You Yet" and in reality is sung by Michael Bublé :3

---

Malcolm chuckled softly as he walked down the hall, hand-in-hand with his love, Emma, as they passed by every decorated doorway. Christmas was fast approaching, and the semester was drawing to a close, with most of the students already home for the holidays. The next day, Malcolm and Emma would be boarding trains going separate ways, with the Ampharos going to his parents’ home in Vermillion City, and the Nidoqueen would be going with her brother to see their own parents in Pewter City. As such, they wanted to spend their last day on campus together. Malcolm smiled as they started walking towards the auditorium, gripping her hand a little tighter.

“You remember that first day that we met?” he asked her. Emma giggled softly at the question.

“Well, of course I do. You weren’t too pleased the first time you laid eyes on me…”

---

Malcolm sneered as he slammed his locker shut, eyes focused intently on the lock as he thought back. The first day of classes had finally arrived, and he suddenly found himself less anxious for them than he was during the summer. It was his first year without his team. Mezzrow going missing over the summer hadn’t been good for any of them, but it was especially difficult for Malcolm. With his best friend gone, he suddenly found no inspiration for songwriting, and in time lost interest in just about everything. His love and teammate, Tanya, grew so frustrated with him, that she slashed his back when he turned away to leave, telling him to never come back.

But with his memories properly packed away, he was ready to try to put them out of mind, ready to begin anew. Make new friends, meet new people. Maybe start another band, in time. But for now, he just needed to get to Advanced Chemistry. He sighed, tossing his bag over his shoulder in despair before turning to walk down the hall…

…and bumping into someone.

The bump sent him staggering backwards before falling to the ground a few feet away, causing various chuckles throughout the passersby as they saw him on the floor. He scowled, looking up to see who the culprit was, and his expression quickly changed as he spotted a rather busty Nidoqueen in front of him.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” she asked, the stranger seemingly worried about him. She reached a hand out to him, which he silently declined, opting instead to push himself up onto his feet in one fluid motion. He silently approved of the results of his summer training before continuing, her face now at eye level for him.

“I’m fine,” was the Ampharos’ only response as he dusted himself off. He was surprised at his overall reaction to the scene. He was sure that he would be furious at whoever it was, but there was something about this girl he couldn’t quite place his finger on. She stared at him intently, as if trying to remember him.

“You look incredibly familiar. Have we met before?” she asked him, leaning into him slightly, causing him to lean back.

“Uh…no. No, I would remember, I have a thing with faces. We haven’t met,” he stammered, feeling very uncomfortable so close to the girl. He gazed beyond the Nidoqueen, down the hall at the classroom where he would end up late if he didn’t hurry.

“Oh…” The Nidoqueen lowered her ears, slightly disrupted by the response. “Well, I’m Emma…” Malcolm could feel his temper rising fast, and this girl had no idea that he was on the verge of exploding in her face. But he managed to keep his cool, taking a slow, deep breath before responding.

“Well, Emma, it was nice bumping into you, but I need to get to class before I’m late. Next time, I’ll try to see you coming and maybe we’ll have more time to talk, okay? But for now, I’ve got to go.” He quickly darted past Emma toward his classroom at the end of the hallway.

“Oh…well, okay…” she said softly, the Ampharos long past her. She began to walk away, before realizing that a part of their introduction had been left out. She turned back toward him, yelling down the hall. “Wait! What’s your name?”

“It’s Malcolm!” he yelled back, just before disappearing into a room. The Nidoqueen couldn’t help but smile as she continued on her way to her own class.

Emma stared at the sparring dummy in front of her, a thin layer of ice still covering it from the Ice Beam she emitted quite some time ago, unaware that now her teammate, Allissandra, was tugging at her sleeve.

“Miss Emma?” she asked in her cutest, tiniest voice. “We’re done, aren’t we?” Emma quickly came to, looking down into the Plusle’s adorable face and smiling sweetly.

“Of course, sweetie.” She turns to the open area, where the rest of Team Fanservice is still training diligently. “All right, girls, we’re done for the day! Head to the dorms and I’ll see you all on Monday!” Her booming voice echoed off of the hardwood floor, making each word clear and concise for the other members. Kyla walked hurriedly out of the gym, ready to hit the showers and laze about the rest of the weekend. Jo gathered her things slowly before taking her leave, a small paperback novel tucked discretely under her arm and a strange smile forming on her lips. Valery had already gathered her things, but was in no rush to leave as she made her way toward Emma and Allissandra. Emma, however, did not notice, as her eyes were fixed on Lorna at the other end of the gym with a giant of an Ursaring wrapping his arms around her. Her boyfriend, Theo, had come to pick her up from practice. Emma sighed softly, envious of the couple. The Plusle tugged at the Nidoqueen’s sleeve just as Valery reached them.

“Something troubling you, Emma?” No response. Allissandra, only just now noticing the distress on their captain’s face, tugged at Emma’s sleeve once more.

“Miss Emma, are you all right? Is something the matter?” she asked genuinely. Emma couldn’t help but smile.

“Yes, Alli, everything is okay. Just a little visit from the green-eyed monster.” Allissandra nodded slowly. Emma had once had a crush on Theo, but that crush quickly became a simple friendship when she discovered he was dating one of her teammates. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t longing for her own companion; someone to love and show her affection, whose interests go beyond skin-deep. “Allissandra, sweetie, I’m going to the park for a while. If any of you need me, that’s where I’ll be.” The Nidoqueen moved to the bench to get her things, with Allissandra moving behind her as fast as her short legs would allow.

“Miss Emma, is that a good idea? They’ve been talking about rain all day! You would get soaked!” the Plusle exclaimed, showing genuine concern for her team captain.

“I’ll be fine, Allissandra. Don’t worry,” Emma replied, her voice reassuring to the smaller ‘mon. She quickly gathered her things into her bag, hiking it over her shoulder and making her way out of the gym, past the couple that had brought on this bout of loneliness in her heart. Allissandra stood in silence as she watched her captain leave hurriedly.

---

Emma sighed as she stared at a blank sheet of paper. Lonely, and now I have artist’s block, too, she thought to herself. She looked at the ominous grey clouds overhead, her eyes turning focus to what the rest of the world called the “silver lining”.

“Arceus, I’ve never really wanted much from anyone,” she said softly. “I like the fact that my teammate is happy; that Lorna has Theo, but…I want to feel what they feel. And Mikhail…I know my brother loves me, but…just once I’d like to meet a boy that will love me and won’t get scared away by him.” She kept her eyes on the heavens, hoping for a response to her simple prayer, only to be met with a thunderous echo overhead warning her of a change in the weather.

She sighed softly. “Yeah…that’s what I thought you’d say…” She wasn’t looking forward to walking back to campus in the rain, but she had no other choice. She quickly put her sketchbook away in her bag just as the first few drops of rain fell onto her arms, a reminder that she should’ve listened to the Plusle and not come to the park at all. She sighed again as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, her arm protecting its contents from the torturous elements and her head lowered as she walked down the empty sidewalk, the rain setting a melancholy mood.

“It’s such a lonely scene…” Emma said softly to herself. “It’s beautiful, peaceful even…but such a lonely scene…” She heard the revving of an engine from behind her. She glanced back, spotting a motorcycle coming towards her, the driver’s face covered by their helmet, though the yellow and black ears were poking through rather large slots on the helmet’s cranium. The ‘mon stopped next to her, removing his helmet, his blonde hair instantly becoming soaked by the downpour.

“Hey, Emma!” the familiar Ampharos yelled over the rain. “Need a lift?” He held his helmet out to the Nidoqueen, waiting for her to accept it and hop on. Emma eagerly reached out for the helmet, a strange feeling settling at the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t put a finger on it, but it made her giggle and she seated herself behind Malcolm on the motorcycle, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She was aware of her strength, but Malcolm didn’t protest when she gripped him with all of her might. Surprisingly, he actually placed his hand just over hers before he took off, the torrent of rain pounding him as he raced to get the both of them to a drier setting.

---

“Here, these should fit,” Malcolm said, pitching a large t-shirt and shorts onto his bed. “Change into these while we wait for our clothes to dry. Don’t need either of us getting sick.” Emma looked at the clothes before looking back to the Ampharos. “Relax, I’ll step out of the room and let you change in private.” He stepped swiftly toward the door, his hand firmly gripping the handle.

“Thank you,” the Nidoqueen said meekly as he shut the door behind him. Malcolm guarded the door in silence, mentally kicking himself for still acting like such a jerk to the girl, even if he was helping her out. Didn’t he follow her to the park for a reason? He sighed softly as he heard the clicking of the door handle behind him. Emma poked her head out. “Thank you, Malcolm. I’ll bring these clothes back to you later,” she said softly, a hint of eagerness in her voice. “I better be going now.”

“No!” Malcolm said, placing his hand on the door frame clumsily to block her path. The slam made the Nidoqueen jump, but something in his eyes soothed her. “Please stay for a while, Emma.” She stared at him, hesitant to accept the offer, but that comforting look told her more than anything he could’ve said. She smiled softly.

“Okay. Thank you, Malcolm.” The Ampharos managed a strange smile, warped by the nervousness building inside of him. He made his way back into the room slowly, clumsily. A long silence overcame the two, being broken only by the clearing of Malcolm’s throat.

“Uhm…do you like music, Emma?” Malcolm couldn’t help but feel that it was a ridiculous question to ask as he reached for the acoustic guitar under his bed. Was there anyone who didn’t like music? Emma gasped as she finally remembered what had been bothering her since they had crossed paths earlier that morning.

“I do know you!” she exclaimed. “You’re Malcolm Weatherby of Team Frequency! I wanted so bad to go to one of your concerts last year!” Malcolm winced as she mentioned his former team and band, but he forced a smile.

“Yeah, that’s me. Unfortunately, Team Frequency went our separate ways over the summer, and I haven’t quite been able to find the inspiration to write any more music.” He couldn’t help but feel guilty as he told Emma everything, and this feeling was not aided by the obvious disappointment on her face as she lowered her ears slightly.

“Oh…” she said softly.

“That is…until today. I wrote a new song just hours ago.” He threw the guitar strap over his neck, hands poised and ready. “Would you like to hear it?” Emma’s eyes lit up at the opportunity.

“Are you kidding? I’d love to!” She sat eagerly on the edge of his bed opposite of him, as he wiggled his fingers on the fretboard nervously.

“Now, keep in mind…I just wrote this today, so…it’s not going to be perfect.” She simply nodded, leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees. He sighed softly, his fingers pressed against the strings before strumming the first chord. He played through the progression once before he started to sing.

“I’m not surprised. Not everything lasts.
I’ve broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track.
I talked myself in, talked myself out.
I get all worked up, then I let myself down.”

His voice was soft, soothing—a very significant change in the usual tones he sung when he was with Frequency. Emma could still feel the emotion, though, as the words wrapped around her heart and his fingers changed position.

“I tried so very head not to lose it.
I came up with a million excuses.
I thought I’d thought of every possibility.”

Even as his voice became louder, it remained just as gentle as ever. Emma couldn’t help but feel that he was doing more than singing as his fingers changed position again.

“And I know someday that it’ll all turn out.
You’ll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And I promise you, girl, that I’ll give so much more than I get.
I just haven’t met you yet.”

“That’s all I have so far…” he said nervously, removing the strap from his neck and setting the guitar on the bed behind him. He turned back toward her, arms resting loosely in front of him. “So? What did you think?”

“It…” she began, at a brief loss for words. “It was…it was very beautiful.” Malcolm tilted his head.

“Is something wrong, Emma?” he asked sincerely, placing his hand over hers.

“That song…I can relate to it very well,” she said softly, tears forming in her eyes. “I’ve been lonely for so long…and your song…it’s a summary of everything I’ve been feeling.”

“Really?” he said. He couldn’t help but smile as she confessed this to him. “That’s kinda funny, because you were my inspiration.” Emma gasped as a single tear made its way down her cheek before Malcolm wiped it away. “Emma, the strangest thing happened to me this morning. I bumped into a girl, you see. At first I was annoyed, upset even, but there was something about this girl. I didn’t realize it at first, but as I sat in the class that I had been so worried about being late for, I found it hard to focus. I found this same difficulty in my next class, and the class after that. In fact, all day, I took no notes, I heard no lectures, I saw none of my friends, classmates or teachers. I saw only this one girl. And so I wrote this song, based on every day that I have lived up until today—until this very morning, when I bumped into this girl. You, Emma. You are my inspiration for this song, and ha—“ His story was cut off as his lips were interrupted by hers, creating their first passionate moment and the beginning of a long chain of passionate moments that lead to today, as the couple continued down the hallway.

---

The two shared a soft laugh as they turned the corner, hand-in-hand. Malcolm nervously scratched the back of his neck with his free hand, fingers digging into his fur in hopes of finding the right words buried underneath.

“Yeah…that was a pretty amazing day…” he said softly, mentally kicking himself as he knew those were obviously not the right words. Emma looked at him quizzically.

“Any regrets?” she asked nervously. Malcolm laughed at the question.

“What are you, crazy? Like I could possibly have any regrets. Matter of fact…” Emma hadn’t realized it initially, but the two of them had stopped walking, and were now staring down the doors leading into the auditorium. “…I wanted to show you something; something I’ve been working on in secret for a while now.” Before Emma could even blurt a single word, the auditorium doors flew open. Within, the stage was completely lit up, and seemed to have a varied collection of musicians.

“Wha-…what is all this?” she managed to say softly.

Malcolm smiled playfully before responding, “Oh, just a few of our friends helping me out.” Emma stood there, dumbfounded by the sight. She recognized a few of the students, as some were in her grade, but one particular cellist stood out—a Quilava girl waving excitedly at her.

“…Jo?! You’re in on this, too?!” The Quilava girl laughed.

“Well, of course I am! When Malcolm told me what he had planned, I couldn’t tell him no, much less wanted to!” she replied, winking at her team captain.

“I…I…this is just too much!” Emma squealed, her body having transformed into an anxious mess of nerves.

“How can it be too much?” Malcolm asked. “It hasn’t even started yet. I still need to get up on stage before we can do anything.” As he was talking, the pianist, a heavyset Ivysaur, began to play, urging him onto the stage. Malcolm dragged Emma to the foot of the stage as someone stepped out of the crowd of musicians with a guitar and a free hand. Before he took either one, Malcolm turned to Emma, giving her a light kiss on the cheek and a wink. “Enjoy the show, love. It’s all for you.” The Ampharos turned back to the stage, jumping up onto the stage with the assistance of the free hand. Once he was safely standing onstage, he took the guitar and positioned himself behind the microphone at center stage just as the piano riff had begun again. This time the strings and percussion were accompanying it, and Malcolm began to play accordingly. Once the riff went through one last time, Malcolm began to sing with just the piano accompanying him.

“I’m not surprised. Not everything lasts.
I’d broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track.”

Tears had already begun to form in Emma’s eyes as the memories they had just reminisced together were being displayed again. The drums kicked back in as he continued.

“Talked myself in, I talked myself out.
I get all worked up, then I let myself down.”

He began to play again as he reached the transition.

“I tried so very hard not to lose it.
I came up with a million excuses.
I thought I’d thought of every possibility.”

As he reached the chorus, Emma became aware of the trumpet player standing toward the back.

“And I know someday that it’ll all turn out.
You’ll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And I promise you, girl, that I’ll give so much more than I get,
I just haven’t met you yet.”

The strings came back in as he began to sing a part she was not familiar with. He wrote on to the song?

“I might have to wait, I’ll never give up.
I guess it’s half timing, and the other half’s luck.
Wherever you are, whenever it’s right,
You’ll come out of nowhere and into my life.”

“And I know that we can be so amazing.
And, baby, your love is gonna change me.
And now I can see every possibility. Mmm-mm.”

“Somehow I know that it’ll all turn out.
You’ll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And I promise you, girl, I’ll give so much more than I get.
I just haven’t met you yet.”

The song seemed to change tone as it reached the bridge.

“They say all’s fair in love and war.
But I won’t need to fight it.
We’ll get it right and we’ll be united!”

As the trumpet player in the back began to play a solo, Malcolm pulled Emma up onto the stage. Emma, in awe of the scene, did very little to resist as he continued.

“And I know that we can be so amazing.
And being in your life is gonna change me.
And now I can see every single possibility. Mmm.”

Malcolm put the guitar down as everyone faded, save for the piano and his soft voice.

“And this time I know it’ll all turn out.
And I’ll work to work it out.
Promise you, girl, I’ll give more than I get.
Than I get, than I get, than I get!”

As he repeated those words over and over again, the band built up behind him louder and louder. This must be the finale.

“Oh, you know it’ll all turn out.
And you’ll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And I promise you, girl, to give so much more than I get. Yeah.
I just haven’t met you yet.”

The band began to play the riff it started with again as the song began to wind down.

“I just haven’t met you yet.
Oh, promise you, girl, to give so much more than I get.
I said, love, love, love, love.
Love, love, I just haven’t met you yet.
I just haven’t met you yet.”

As he sang the last word, the band faded back to silence. Emma stood there, tears flowing freely. The band stayed quiet as Malcolm spoke.

“I felt like a song that important should be finished, and so I decided to make it a surprise before you went home for Christmas. Emily Watson…Emma…I’ve never met a girl like you before. You’re a genuinely rare, one-of-a-kind woman who I can only hope t-“ he was cut short once again, as his lips were met by hers and the band cheered in approval. Malcolm dropped the guitar on the stage, wrapping his arms around the Nidoqueen. When they finally pulled away, she looked him straight in the eye, her face lit up like the Christmas tree setting at the corner of the stage.

“I love you,” was her only response. Malcolm couldn’t help but smile softly.

“I love you, too,” he said. They embraced once more, to a harmonious aww emitted by the band. He hugged her a little tighter as he whispered in her ear, “Merry Christmas.”