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Lana and Mallow stared into a shop window in Konikoni city. It was a sickeningly sweet array of pink hearts, bouquets of flowers, and boxes of chocolates. "The perfect gift for your beloved," one part read. "Show them you care." "Buy one, get one 50% off!"
"So… Valentine's day, huh?" said Lana.
"Yep," replied Mallow.
"Gotta admit, I'm a fan of the hearts. It's a nice aesthetic."
"You got me there!"
Lana scratched her head. "Was never really into the whole romance thing, though."
"Yeah, same." Mallow leaned against the glass. "Still… it's nice to spend the day with someone you like, don't you think?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"So…" Mallow tapped her fingers together. "Got any plans for today?"
"Yeah actually," said Lana. "I've got so many things to do. I'm booked."
"Oh!" said Mallow.
"What about you?"
"Oh, don't worry about me, I've got a busy day too! Lots of stuff to take care of…"
"Cool, cool."
Lana and Mallow stood idly around the storefront for a few moments.
"Well… guess I better get on with my day," said Mallow. "See you later?"
"Sure thing. Good luck with your stuff."
"You too!"
Lana and Mallow walked off in opposite directions. They hid their excitement until they were out of sight of each other. It was hard to avoid talking about the top-secret gifts they were planning to surprise each other with.
After spending a while browsing the market, Lana returned home with a basket full of berries. "Romance or no romance, I won't let Mallow be lonely on Valentine's day," she declared to herself. "Mallow is always cooking up great meals for both of us. I think it's about time I return the favor."
There was only one wrinkle to this plan: Lana had no idea how to cook. But she had watched Mallow do it so many times, so how hard could it be?
Lana took her berries into the kitchen and turned on the stove.
"Cooking something?" said Lana's mom as she passed through the room.
"Yep. It's for Mallow."
"That's nice of you," said Lana's mom, beaming. "Want any help?"
"No, I have to do this by myself," said Lana resolutely. "It has to be extra special."
"Oh, I understand. Good luck, then!"
Lana poured some oil in the pan. Surely fried berries would be a delicious, easy meal. She surveyed her choices. What kind of flavors go well together… Sour and sweet? Spicy and dry? She didn't have the slightest clue. Mallow always says the most masterful dishes are the ones that combine opposing flavors. In that case, you couldn't go wrong with every flavor at once. Easy! Lana dumped all her berries into the pan without even bothering to peel them.
She watched the berries sizzle. She stirred them around to make sure they were evenly cooked. This was easy! And kind of boring. Lana got tired of watching over the stove and went over to the pantry, to see if she had anything to serve alongside fried berries. Rice… that seems hard to make. Mushrooms… could be nice fried, she'd consider it. A bag of gummy Wishiwashi… maybe for dessert.
Lana coughed. The room was filling up with smoke. She had left the stove unattended just long enough for a healthy fire to develop in the pan.
"Aaaaaa! Aaaaaaa!!" screamed Lana. She fumbled for a Poké Ball in her pocket. "Araquanid, water gun!"
Lana stepped aside so her huge Araquanid could fit in the room. Not wasting a moment, it aimed and shot a stream of water at the stove. But it didn't have the desired effect of dousing the flames. Instead, a small fireball burst into the air, making both Lana and her Pokémon jump back. She remembered Mallow's wisdom too late: never use water to put out a grease fire!
"Okay, new idea! Give me some of that!" Lana grasped at Araquanid's bubble and surrounded her hands with globs of water for protection. Carefully, she reached for the stove and turned the heat off. Then she slowly covered the pan with a lid, and the flames were promptly extinguished.
Lana grimaced as she uncovered the pan to see the fruits of her labor. It was a soggy pile of charred berries in a pool of grease and water. The kitchen needed a lot of cleanup before she could make anything else. And it was already getting late in the afternoon…
"Well, Araquanid…" sighed Lana. "I guess this is the best we can do."
"Come to think of it, I don't think Lana has ever gotten a Valentine's day gift before…" pondered Mallow as she hiked across Akala. "I won't stand for that! She deserves something extra special. And I'm going to make it myself!"
Mallow made her way to the beach of the Hano Grand Resort. She knew that Lana was a big fan of collecting shells, so she thought it would be nice to make some jewelry out of things she collected herself. The only trouble was that Mallow wasn't a big fan of diving. She enjoyed the water, sure, but she was always afraid of danger lurking in the deep. It wasn't an irrational fear, either! She knew there were all kinds of scary water Pokémon out in the ocean, and Lana was always more than happy to describe them to her… in gruesome detail…
In any case, the water around the Hano Grand Resort was shallow and there were lifeguards on duty, so Mallow was satisfied that it was a safe place to look for aquatic treasures. She was already prepared with her swimsuit, so she dropped her stuff on the beach and waded into the water.
Mallow combed the shallows and didn't have much luck. There was nothing but sand around… this area of the beach must have been picked clean by tourists. She had to venture into deeper water to find anything. She reached a point where her feet couldn’t touch the bottom, which made her nervous. But she was still within sight of the beach, so she bravely proceeded.
Mallow decided to check the seafloor to see if there was anything of interest around here. She held her breath and dove down. The sandy bottom was gradually giving way to rock formations and corals undisturbed by human activity, which was encouraging. She didn’t mind the harmless fish Pokémon swimming around her. What worried her more was the massive school of Wishiwashi, very distant but big enough to see its silhouette way out in the open ocean. Mallow decided she had better get what she came for and leave.
Mallow scanned the ocean floor between breaths of air. She still had trouble finding anything she could take. There were plenty of beautiful coral branches around… but they were all attached to Corsola, which scurried away at Mallow’s touch. The only things she was able to collect were clumps of seaweed. Better than nothing, she supposed.
On one dive, she was fortunate enough to spot something: a huge purple bivalve shell resting on the ocean floor. Score! This is exactly the kind of thing Lana would go crazy for. Maybe it was too big to wear on a necklace, but it would make a great gift anyway!
Mallow reached down to pick up the shell. Unfortunately for her, the shell was still attached to a Pokémon, a Shellder that was sleeping in the sand. Startled, the Shellder clamped down on Mallow’s hand, and she let out a muffled cry and rushed for the surface. The Shellder released its grip and swam away before Mallow broke the surface. Her wrist was only mildly bruised, but it still hurt.
“All right, I don’t think I’m cut out for this ocean diving stuff,” admitted Mallow. She had been out for a while, and decided she’d better cut her losses and return to Konikoni city before evening. “What am I going to get for Lana now…” she said dejectedly as she swam back to shore.
Lana and Mallow returned to the streets of Konikoni city at the same time. To their surprise, they spotted each other right in front of the very same Valentine's day display from earlier.
"Oh! Lana!"
"Hi, Mallow…"
They stared awkwardly, each holding something behind their backs. Lana decided to present her gift first. "So, um… surprise! I thought maybe you could, you know, use a gift, and, well, I… tried? But it didn't turn out so well… there was a just a little fire, and…" Instead of stumbling over her words further, she simply held out the dish of burnt berries and blushed from embarrassment. She tried her best to present the food nicely, despite the icky black grease caked onto it.
"Oh! Uhh…" Mallow grimaced, but quickly replaced it with a smile. "Well, it's the thought that counts, right? I'm so happy you would even think to do something like that for me!" Mallow didn't take the dish, since both hands were still behind her back.
"So… what's that you got there?" asked Lana.
"Oh, um, nothing!" said Mallow with a panicked grin. "Well… okay, I did try to make something for you too, but…"
Mallow held out a frayed loop of string with a single damp leaf of seaweed tied to it. "I wanted you to have a really pretty necklace! But, well… this is just about all I could find on the seafloor. I don't know where to find all the good stuff, like you do…"
Lana took the sad little necklace, and Mallow took the disappointing plate of food. Lana examined the necklace, then put it on. It hung limply around her neck. It only took the slightest movement for the wet leaf to tear itself off and flop to the ground. "Well… it has spirit," said Lana with amusement.
Mallow's eyes were watering as she attempted to eat through the burnt husk of a Sitrus berry. Mouth full of black sludge, she couldn't respond except to give a haggard thumbs-up.
"Still though, I can't believe you went diving just for me," said Lana. "Nobody's ever been that sweet to me…"
"Aw!" cried Mallow, and drew in Lana for a big hug. "You deserve it! You're the best! I love you so much!"
"Love you too…" said Lana, giving into the hug. "You're my favorite person to spend time with. So… wanna go do that?"
"I would. I really would." Mallow took Lana's hand and the two of them started walking.
"Great!" said Lana. "Listen, I know the absolute best place to go diving for shells. Nobody else knows about it. Let's go there and try to find some. Maybe you can make that necklace after all."
"Oh! In that case, can we stop by the restaurant for supplies? I'll bring berries so I can cook us some dinner! I'll even show you how to make Liechi soup, it's really easy!"
"Sounds like a plan." Lana and Mallow walked hand-in-hand toward the family restaurant, both of them excited to spend the rest of the day with their favorite person in the whole world.