CLANG!

"Shit!"

Lucy, as a true author at heart, had planned for this. For this action scene in which the intruder would slink into her house and she'd have to use her stealth and wits to stay alive in a dash about a dark, cold manor. But all the consideration about how she'd spray the burglar in the face with a fire extinguisher and then hit them over the head with it did not prepare her for the real thing.

At the sound, she gasped and dropped the book she had propped up in her lap over her covers. The cursing of a very un-ninja-like burglar was drifting up from her window. The banging sound had clearly resounded from the wrought iron gate that blocked the back yard from the outside world.

Feeling the blood drain from her face, Lucy shakily stumbled out of bed and to the door; the farthest place from the window where the sounds were still coming. Then she closed her eyes. This was no time for inaction! This was time to rise up and defend her home from evil! Considering how her father was gone (big surprise) and she'd sent the poor servants home (Despite her imaginings, there was hardly enough crime in the small town to keep staff here overnight for protection), it was up her!

Phone-she had to call the cops. Her eyes drifted to where she'd abandoned it on her bedside table. Abandoned it because-

Dead. Of course it was dead. What proper thriller movie would it be if the phones weren't dead?

Shivering, Lucy drew in a breath. She tied her long, golden hair up in a ponytail, rolled up the sleeves on her pink, Puff the Magic Dragon pajamas, and rushed from the doorway. The patter of her bare feet was hardly heard even in the marble emptiness of the entrance hall entombed beneath the upstairs of her bedroom.

Keeping low and to the shadows, she scampered along to the living room across the way. Across the bearskin rugs and to the dead fireplace, where above rested her father's gleaming shotgun. Lucy hoisted herself up to snatch the gun and bring it back down to rest in her shivering arms. Giving a nod and making sure to keep the barrel facing the ground, she tiptoed to the back sliding door.

Shadows danced along the curtains, highlighted by the walkway beams of the back garden. One person appeared to be stumbling back there, muttering to themselves. Not a very satisfying foe to go up against, what with how awful they were at being a criminal, but they'd have to do.

Breathe in. Out. Hope they don't pull their own gun. Okay. With a growl, Lucy heaved the sliding door to the left and spun to face the yard, holding the gun up on her shoulder, eye lining up with the sight so that it leveled with the intruder's head.

"Hey, sorry, this is not what it-OH HOLY SHIT DON'T SHOOT ME, WOMAN!"

"Who are you and why the hell are you on my property?!" she shouted, taking two strong steps forward with the gun still raised. Not exactly the lines she'd imagined, but they'd work just fine.

Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darker tones, Lucy could see the pale face of a boy a few inches taller than her, her age, holding up his hands in surrender, and just wearing a ripped red jacket with black jeans. His pink hair stood up on end, and several leaves were caught within its wild spikes. His eyes shone big and green in the light of the deck.

"Listen, don't kill me, okay? The last Charmander I need to evolve my Charmeleon into a Charizard was in your backyard and I had to get it!"

Lucy stiffened, peeking over the barrel further. "You… you found a Charmander?"

"Yes! Now stop pointing that at my face so I can go catch it! I promise, I won't hurt you or steal anything! I mean, you're the one haulin' a friggin' shotgun!" the boy told Lucy, gesturing towards her before raising his hands back in the air.

"O-oh! Um, okay…" she lowered the gun so that it pointed back at the ground. "Really? You're not a burglar or something?"

The stranger's hands lowered, and he gave her an exasperated moan. "Weirdo, do I look like a burglar? I'm just here to catch 'em all."

Her hands went slack around the gun. It was empty of any bullets of course, but the show itself would've done the trick, had he been a real robber. "I-I see. Um, so…" Unable to help herself, she cleared her throat. "Could I, um, see your Charmeleon?"

The boy's face was completely blank for a moment, before he let out a short laugh. It was loud, easy, and seemed to make the stars brighter. "Sure! Here, I just found the Charmander, so wait a sec…"

Lucy took a moment to hurry back and put the shotgun back in its place on the mantle before she went back outside, holding her arms to her chest to ward off the cold. The boy had his tongue out in concentration as he flicked a great ball at the little, orange Pokemon. Now that she looked at him a bit closer, Lucy realized, with a jolt, that he was pretty cute. There was an interesting, wide scar that cut upwards from his right cheek. And looked like he'd been dragged through a thorny thicket and perhaps attacked by Ents. Had he been at this all day? His jacket and skin was smudged with dirt, and-

"Oh gosh, you're bleeding!" Lucy told him, snatching his elbow to examine the gash along the side of his forearm and down his palm. That was more blood than Lucy had ever seen in her life, other than especially gory movies.

"Oh, that," he said, laughing sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. Red smeared on his rosy hair and across his cheek when he lowered his hand. "I guess I deserve it for trespassing and scaring the cheese outta ya, huh?"

"Come inside," she told him without thinking, tugging him by the upper arm. "We need to bandage that before you lose more blood. Did you catch it?"

"You bet! Whoa-!"

She'd pulled him up to the deck and through the sliding door. From there, she dragged the boy to the nearest bathroom, where she pointed at stool by the dainty, white vanity. "Sit. Put phone down. Stay still."

"Y-yes ma'am."

First aid was in a drawer on the far right, just in case. She dropped the case on the counter, squinting inside to pick out antiseptic, cloth, and gauze. From there, she sat beside him on the ledge of the bath and placed his arm in her lap as gently as possible. Lucy began to clean the wound.

"I'm Lucy. What's your name?" she asked while she worked, wincing at how painful it looked. But he wasn't making any sounds of complaint. Judging from his uncaring demeanor in response to the blood gushing down his arm, other scars on his hands, a large one on his neck, and the one on his face, he was quite used to such injuries.

"Lucy, huh? Well, I'm Natsu, and I like your pajamas."

Lucy felt heat flood her cheeks. She'd forgotten she was in nightclothes. "O-oh. Thanks. Um, hi, Natsu. What were you doing out so late playing Pokemon Go?"

He did that thing where he scratched behind his head bashfully. Adorable. "Uh, well, I didn't have much better to do…"

"Past midnight?"

Natsu muttered something that sounded a lot like "couldn't sleep" and "bad dream", so that Lucy felt herself soften.

"Well, in any case, you should be more careful," she scolded, wrapping the bandage slowly around his wrist. "Trespassing to get a Charmander and cutting yourself on the fence…"

He seemed like the type to complain back, but this time, he said nothing. He just watched her. Lucy felt his eyes burning across her skin. For a moment, she paused in her care of him by realizing that… she'd let a random teenage boy into her house. Alone. With her. It sounded so stupid now that she thought of it, but when she'd seen the blood, Lucy hadn't thought of the horror stories associated with strange men and pretty, young women such as herself. Natsu, however, she couldn't help but trust. His aura was simple, bright, cheerful, and he certainly would've tried something by now if he'd been planning on it. No, his gaze was more thoughtful, almost tender.

Once she'd finished with the bandage, there was a beat of silence before he said, "Thanks for not shooting me."

Lucy flashed him a smile. "No problem, considering how there were no bullets."

Another laugh. "Seriously? Man, you were pretty convincing. Well…" he trailed off. His face dipped down. His jawline was statuesque, and some bloody hair brushed against his neck. Lucy had never seen someone like him up close; someone wild and free as a fire. She'd stayed in this house most of her life other than fancy, suffocating business parties and going to the bookstore. She was tutored in the manor, and her father was rarely home. While Lucy had always been curious about the outside world, there were so few people her age that she'd spoken to that she was a bit too afraid to try on her own. But with him, it was easy.

Suddenly, she didn't want him to leave.

"Uh, you wanna see my Charmeleon evolve?"

Her eyes lit. "Oh, yes!"

So they huddled by his phone to tap the "Evolve" option and watched as the evolution platform filled with light, raised the Charmeleon up, and transformed it into a Charizard. Natsu cheered, jumping up and hopping in circles. "Woot! Finally, I can conquer the gym at the fire station and take it back from those Mystic bastards from Sabertooth High! Valor will rise again! They'll never see this one comin'!"

Lucy couldn't help but smile at him, wistfully wishing she could watch this dork battle it out with some other kids. Must be a pretty common thing for them to do; Lucy could often catch plenty of Pokemon on her own property, but she'd never seen a Pokemon gym before.

"Whew, look at that!" Natsu sighed, eyes skimming over his screen. "Almost outta battery for the day! Looks like I only have just enough to get your number."

A heartbeat. One more.

"Or… I mean, you don't have to give it to me," he said, tone stumbling into awkwardness. "Uh, I just figured…"

"No, no!" Lucy squeaked, trying to ignore the redness that had surely blossomed onto her cheeks. "Y-you can have it-"

His screen went black.

"Damn," he muttered, tapping at it in frustration. Steeling herself, Lucy left long enough to grab a red Sharpie.

Then, feeling bolder than she ever had before, she snatched his uninjured arm, held it in the light, and scribbled her phone number across it. "Old fashioned way good enough?" she asked, capping the marker.

He blinked at her handwriting. His eyelashes were startlingly dark and long. A crooked, wide grin stretched upon his face. "Better than good enough. So, em, since you let me catch the last Charmander and everything, I figured you'd have to come with me to fight at the gym… and maybe catch more tomorrow… and maybe eat some food. I know good places to eat food. If you eat food. I mean, of course you eat food. But, like, with me. Um, and friends if you want. But, like, if you want it to just be me, or, like, I'm not implying that you like me that way, 'cause haha we just met like an hour ago when I broke into your property for a damn Pokemon…" Natsu groaned. "I think I was trying to go somewhere with this…"

"I'd love to. I'd love to do whatever you feel like," Lucy said firmly, trying not to laugh at his rambling.

"A-awesome," he choked, seemingly shocked that she'd agreed. "S-so… I'll… text you in the morning?"

"Yes you will."

"And we'll… hang out."

"Yes we will."

"And you won't try to shoot me."

"I won't try to shoot you."

With a satisfied smile, he held out a hand. "It's a deal then, Lucy!"

And after they shook on it, she led him back outside, where they walked across the dewy grass to the gate. It made a faint screeching sound as it was pulled open. Natsu gave a salute, and Lucy, on impulse foreign to her, grabbed his sleeve and tugged him over to grant a single, swift kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for dropping by, Trainer Natsu. Sorry for pointing a gun at your face."

She could barely make out his flush and grin in the moonlight. "Hey, all's fair in love and Pokemon."

Dear smol cinnamon rolls,

HI LONG TIME NO SEE. A Nalu Pokemon Go AU was suggested by an anon on Tumblr and it turned into this. This is just a lil oneshot for my non-blood-related twin, Kaili! (wordsofawitheringwriter on tumblr and on here) HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAILI! I hope you like it and I hope your day was lovely. :3 Sorry this wasn't finished until tonight, but hey, at least still done for your birthday!

Hope you guys liked it as well, and please be patient with my starting-college-ahhh-help hiatus. My Inu fic should be getting finished soon. But YES I STILL EXIST AND LOVE YOU AND MY STORIES WILL ALL CONTINUE EVENTUALLY.

Mizpah,

~LoneStorm