Nicotine|Elios & Cynthia (Halloween Event)
Elios didn't get nervous. It just wasn't something that happened to him. He'd always been a confident battler. Against every opponent he faced, he always believed he'd win. The Ace Trainer had been trained by one of the best and had even had a few stints filling in for Dad as Cinnabar's Gym Leader. He wasn't overly fond of being incredibly social with people all the time but that was more due to personal preference than actual nerves. Even when it came to Flannery, there hadn't been nerves. Running into his long lost sister in Praguine Town at the Winter Festival had been a surprise, so he didn't even have time to be nervous.
But tonight was different. Blaine had organised a Halloween festival on Cinnabar Island and wanted as many people as possible to come from far and wide to come and take part in the festivities. This shouldn't have been an issue. Blaine was renowned in Kanto and all of the Gym Leaders and other members of the Pokémon League were going to be attending. Hell he'd even roped in Flannery to get a lot of the Hoenn crowd to go. But that wasn't enough for Blaine. Elios had barely been home for an hour when he'd asked him something that had made him go crimson.
"Why don't you ask that girlfriend of yours to come? Get her to bring her crowd. Perks of dating a champion, Ace!"
No matter how many times Elios explained it to him, Dad wouldn't listen when he told him that he and Cynthia were just friends. After slowing his heart rate down sufficiently, Elios gave the Sinnoh Champion a call, telling her about the conversation with Blaine, albeit leaving out the part about insinuations they were… involved. He didn't expect her to say yes, but much to his surprise, she seemed ecstatic at the idea.
Fast forward to Halloween night and here Elios was, getting dressed in his casual vampire costume and he was nervous. He'd never admit it to anyone, but when he was around Cynthia, he felt something. Something he hadn't felt around anyone before. He'd dated before but this was different. It felt like fire and electricity running through his veins. It terrified the Ace Trainer but he couldn't get enough of it. It was all very confusing.
Composing himself, he left his room in the Pokémon Mansion and headed downstairs to see if his friend had arrived. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed a number of recognisable trainers, including some of the Gym Leaders he'd met the previous week at the fundraiser at Saffron City. Speaking to one of the waitresses, Elios learned that Dad was nowhere to be seen. Typical. Old man was probably down at the Gym checking out the Pokémon contest. Luckily, thee event workers had everything well in hand, leaving Elios free to go find Cynthia.
Taking a glance around and greeting a couple of people along the way, the Ace Trainer saw that familiar blonde hair and smiled as he made his way towards her at the bar. Taking a seat beside her, he ordered both of them drinks, being well acquainted with her preferences and turned to smile at her. "You made it."