The cityscape glittered like a thousand shining gemstones, it's buildings a parade of neon lights soaring into the dark night sky. This was the region's entertainment capital, and thousands of captivated tourists flocked to the city's many attractions. It is Nimbasa City, a city said to be "lit by the flash of lighting". From the gleaming Rondez-View Ferris Wheel, to the bustling underground Subway, to the lively sports stadiums, it was impossible not to find something to enjoy here. This couldn't be more true for one resident of the city, wholly engrossed in the performance before her…
In front of her excited blue eyes danced pairs of Pokémon, dressed in bright scarlet costumes. The dancers twirled and spun in each other's arms in a beautiful display of finesse and prowess. Their moving forms, the flashing scenery... it was almost too much for the viewer to take in all at once. She was all too familiar with this performance, one that she had begged her trainer to see time after time. While devoted to her training in battles since being a tiny Torchic, she has been enamoured with the intricacies of dance for as long as she could remember. She thought the title of this production, "Exciting Nimbasa", was all too fitting. The tango was undoubtedly her favorite style of dance, the movements, passion, and emotion that she felt was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, or a loving embrace. Like all good things however, this show must come to an end. As the performers left and the lights dimmed, the Blaziken shot out of her seat, clapping and chirping enthusiastically. Her trainer followed soon after, clapping in satisfaction (although not as much as his excessively eager partner).
The air was crisp and the breeze calming as the two, trainer and Pokémon, walked down the busy sidewalk. Slightly larger than the average Blaziken at just over 2 meters, the Blaziken could comfortably rest her head on her shorter trainer's head, should she choose to do so (and let me tell you, she tried to quite often). The Pokémon had been very... clingy as a Torchic and Combusken, often rubbing, nuzzling, or gently pecking her trainer. Terry, her trainer, had to wean her off of the more... potentially harmful actions when she evolved, uncomfortable and unfamiliar with her new body, often unintentionally leaving her trainer with bruises and scratches from the accidental roughness of her affections.
The "Blaze Pokémon" let off a series of happy squawks, then spoke. "Blaze, blazi!"
Her trainer smiled. "I know, Kenia. It was a great show as usual."
The two had met at a very early age, as Kenia was Terry's starter Pokémon. Kenia had been the best friend the socially awkward boy could hope for. Carefree and courageous, the two had roamed the Hoenn region, collecting badges and winning contests in their long, four year journey. After their stunning and nerve-racking victory in Ever Grande City's Hoenn League, the two set out to meet new Pokémon, explore the greater world, and learn of new strategies. All they learned however, was about themselves.
Mostly about their short-sightedness.
The two companions had grossly-overestimated their league winnings, spending only a year travelling the beautiful Unova region. Both growing tired of battles and funding depleting, the two had reluctantly chose to head home and settle down. On a whim, they had decided to visit the entertainment capital of Nimbasa City before leaving. They rode the ferris wheel at least a dozen times, caught several games at the city's sports venues, and even had a short, but impressive stint at the Battle Subway. Most importantly however, they discovered the Musical Theater. Both enjoying shows (although one significantly more than the other), it was possible that Kenia and Terry had watched almost every production the Theater had organised for that night, and the next afternoon.
The two talked for hours afterwards in their small hotel room. They came to the decision that they'd stay in the Unova region, and settle down. With that, Terry could both build up his resume, and the two could continue to explore the region and it's many happenings.
And so the two continued down the bustling street, to their apartment.
"I know you absolutely love the musicals, Kenia... but don't you think we're overdoing it? Soon you're gonna get bored of them."
The Blaziken looked down at her walking feet. "Blaz..."
"I know you love 'em, c'mon. But there's so much else to do in this city! And.." Terry paused for a second. "Even though my new job pays reasonably well... you know we aren't exactly rolling in money."
Kenia nodded. "Blazi."
While the two had an obvious language barrier, their years of travel together had opened other avenues of communication. Terry always paid close attention to his partner, and was usually able to pick up her general intention through the tone of her speech and body language.
Terry yawned. "Okay... let's head home then. I've gotta get some sleep for work tomorrow, anyway."
The trainer was sluggish in his walking now, struggling with nighttime exhaustion to keep up with his Pokémon. Kenia stopped, turned to Terry and pouted. Or at least, whatever her beaked-equivalent to a pout was. When Kenia's trainer eventually caught up she was akimbo, hands on her hips.
"I'm sorry Ken, we had a really long night. I'm just really..." but he didn't get to finish his sentence.
The Blaziken scooped her smaller trainer into her arms, Terry's body going limp at first contact with her soft, warmth-radiating body. Her feathers were much thicker and larger than usual, giving her a bushy, although still well-groomed appearance. She knew that he didn't like contact like this... especially not in public. He'd probably scold her later for this, but Kenia could tell that at this point he wasn't going to make it back to their apartment without help. Terry opened his mouth to interject, but Kenia pressed a clawed finger to his lips and cooed softly.
Terry closed his eyes. "Fine, but when we get back to..." he let out a deep yawn.
Kenia found this incredibly cute, and gently ruffled his hair. She looked down, and noticed that Terry had already fallen asleep in her arms. Kenia smiled softly, and began carrying her sleeping trainer back to their apartment.
Back at their apartment, Kenia gently lay her trainer on their bed. While she wished that she could get him out of his day-clothes to sleep, the Blaziken knew that would lead to yet another round of chastising. She got into bed beside Terry, pulling the covers over both of them. Kenia looked over at her trainer, then up at the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes, and let out a squawk-like sigh. While she usually tried to keep these thoughts out of her mind, tonight she couldn't relent. Kenia thought of her trainer, and his... reluctance towards her affections. She thought back to their time in Hoenn, before he shunned her contact. As a Torchic and Combusken, Terry was perfectly fine with her nuzzling and light pecking. She loved every second of this, wanting to show her trainer how much she cared for him. Even as a Blaziken, Terry was fine with her contact as long as it didn't involve her sharp talons, or piercing beak (one too many bruises and accidental talon-scratches had made sure of that). After they had settled down in Unova however, everything changed. Their trip to the region was... unfortunately timed.
While the Team Plasma extremist organization had just been disbanded, their presence had sent shockwaves through the region. Their dogma had challenged old concepts, created new ones, and questions of human-Pokémon relationships, Pokémon rights, among other things, incited much public debate, unrest, and eventually violent protest. Deep connections and sometimes even more... intimate relationships between the two species had generally been frowned upon, but had enough support that laws against them had been largely neglected, and intentionally ignored even by enforcement agencies. In retaliation to the Team Plasma-induced turmoil however, the government had began to crack-down on these laws, enforcing them indiscriminately.
Kenia never intended for her affections to come off as more than just friendly gestures between close-friends, and she knew that her trainer never saw them as anything intimate. Despite this, his prestige in Pokémon battles meant that any misstep could be perfect fodder for media outlets. Terry had to watch his actions, and the actions of his Pokémon very carefully. This translated to their actions behind closed-doors as well, not wanting Kenia to get used to affections in private, in fear that either of them might slip up in public. Kenia realized how fortunate she was to even be able to sleep in the same bed as Terry. They had slept together ever since they first met. As a Torchic, she felt safe at night while snuggling next to her taller, protective trainer. Even after evolving into a Combusken, she began curling up on the end of her trainer's bed, like some kind of feline. When she became a Blaziken however, her size didn't make that an option anymore. While Terry had planned to get Kenia her own bed, the Blaziken's protests, along with both his inability to actually afford an apartment with space for two beds, and his refusal to make his partner sleep on the couch, made the Trainer relent. And so she was allowed to continue sleeping in the same bed as him. However, if he ever woke up to her arm around him, or the fire-chicken snuggling uncomfortably close to him, Terry was sure to give her another round of scolding.
Kenia knew however, that her trainer genuinely enjoyed her affections, but shunned them for their own safety. She just wished it could be different, a Unova where humans and Pokémon could freely express their feelings towards each other, without a distasteful glare from passerby, or threat of legal action.
The Blaziken yawned loudly, and with these thoughts she fell asleep to dreams of this new world. The possibilities swirling around her mind...
Author's Note:
Howdy there, it's Moose here. Oh boy... well, this is the first romance-related work I've published... anywhere, to be honest. I this is a crosspost from AO3, but I will update both at the same time. So... choose whichever platform you like the best! Anyway, I hope you all loved reading it as much as I loved writing it! I'm aiming to get chapters out every week or two, but hopefully within a month of each other at the LATEST. I already have the next two chapters completed, but they just need some more proof-reading and tweaking. I have most of the story planned out already, so it's really just a matter of getting it all written down, at this point. I'm aiming for 5-6ish chapters at the very least, and at least two chapter involving the smut I'm sure some of you are here for. Just a heads up though, this isn't supposed to be some kind of "sex at every chapter" work. Not that there won't be any, but it'll only happen when the plot requires it. As an amazing author put it, I apologize if your were expecting "mountains of masturbatory material".
ALL criticism is happily welcome, as I'm pretty new to this kind of... story. I can't make any guarantees when it would come out, or if I'll even have much time to do it, but I'm totally down for suggestions for other stories. I have some ideas for some more involving Salazzle, Zoroark, a Houndoom or Mightyena (I haven't decided yet) and one with two Ninetails and their trainer. If you've got an idea for a story you've had kicking around and want to see it on paper (or on-screen, I guess), send me the idea! I'd love to see if I could take a crack at it. M/F, M/M, F/F, it doesn't really matter. Even some non-con stuff is fine, but it all depends on how comfortable I'd be writing it, and how far I'm willing to take it.
On a side note, I'm totally up for cross-author work. If anyone wants an OC as a sort of 'cameo', I'd be glad to do so! I have a scene planned later involving the Musical Theater, and I thought adding some OC trainers and Pokemon to it would be a neat idea.