At first I sort of liked Falkner/Morty, but there wasn't much grounding to that (and I like Morty/Eusine better, haha), and then I liked Falkner/Janine but they seemed like bffs more than anything. So I'm not sure what happened, but somehow I thought of Skyla/Falkner and now I reckon they'd make a good pair! As far as type-specialists go, they both seem really passionate about flying and they'd probably love that about each other.

Upside Down.

The first thing Skyla noticed about him was that he was a flying-type trainer and that, she thought, was the initial attraction.

Throughout her whole life, she had always wished that she could fly. As a kid she would sit on her front porch and watch the bird pokemon soar past with envy, wings outstretched and going wherever they wanted. It wasn't fair, why did they get to and she couldn't? Angry and five years old, she'd asked her dad that and he'd laughed and tousled her hair, saying that he had felt the same way and that's why he'd become a pilot. If he couldn't actually fly, he'd do the next best thing.

Which was technically flying, but you know what she meant.

She gathered it was the same for her grandfather too. She had never had a chance to ask him, as she had only been little when he had passed on, but from what people in the town said, it seemed that way. They spoke reverently of him, if it wasn't for his passion for travel then Mistralton would still be just another little mountain town and not at the forefront of all of Unova's imports and exports. That dirt runway he'd built all those years ago so he could travel the region easily had opened the city up, making it not only accessible for regional trainers but you know, everyone else that wanted to visit too.

So when she had gotten slightly older, she'd decided that if she couldn't fly then she would do the next best thing too. Dad had been apprehensive to teach her at first like most parents when their kids are driving (except a plane was a bit bigger deal), but she'd been around planes her whole life and learnt quickly. It hadn't been long before she could fly short distances by herself and then longer ones, and then all the way across Unova just for fun. She never felt happier than when she was piloting a plane, because hey, it was almost flying.

Anyway, back to the present. She was at this big tournament in Driftveil and was attempting to train her swanna outside the main stadium with Elesa, unfortunately the amount of people around was making it near impossible and they decided to give up. A quick goodbye was said and the taller girl wandered off back to the hotel, leaving Skyla there, watching this guy with a sort of fascination.

He was talking with another guy dressed in purple who seemed completely unfazed by the large pidgeot perched on his arm. He must not have been from Unova, pidgeys were really hard to find unless they were traded from another region, and seriously, if there had been a trainer with one in Unova she would have known about it. He seemed proud of the creature (she'd be too if she owned one!) and whenever he looked at it, his eyes seemed to light up.

Skyla had never been boy-crazy when she was in her teens like so many other girls had, but standing there and looking at him, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd found someone who loved flying as much as she did. There was only one way to find out of course, but she wasn't entirely sure whether she could go through with it or not. It was one thing to talk to someone you knew but a completely different thing to go up to a total stranger, especially when your intended conversation was 'hi, do you like flying?'.

She weighed the options up in her mind - go talk to him and probably make an idiot out of herself, or don't go talk to him and regret it later on but save herself the embarrassment - and eventually decided on the former. It would be stupid to let the opportunity to meet someone interesting pass because she was too shy, and what was the worst that could happen? He didn't actually like flying? In that case she could just go hide in her hotel room and blank him if they ran into each other again.

So, with that in mind she started marching over with the intention of introducing herself. That didn't really go to plan though and she got distracted by the beautiful creature that was still sitting on his arm and ended up just standing in front of him and staring at it. Way to go. Only when he cleared his throat did she realise what she was doing and blushed awkwardly. She'd just never seen one that close before!

"I...I'm sorry!" She mentally kicked herself. "It's just I've...I mean I...your pidgeot," She struggled to find the words so finished lamely with a slump. "It's just so awesome."

"I know!" He nodded enthusiastically and immediately Skyla knew that he did. He was just as passionate about flying as she was. "It used to be my dad's, but since I'm the gym leader now, it's part of my team. Oh, I'm sorry, that was rude," He shook his hair out of his eyes. Those pretty eyes (because as well as the flying, he was cute too). "I should have introduced myself. I'm Falkner and I'm from Violet City over in Johto." He smiled and Skyla felt her pulse quicken and her face heat up again. She wanted to hug him and hold his hand and never let go...she'd found someone like herself!

But she didn't do any of those things. Instead she just looked up at him and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Skyla," This was the start of something, she knew it. "The gym leader from Mistralton."

I was in the mood to write something really light-hearted, fluffy and not challenging in the slightest so that explains the lack of good, haha. I'm also going to America today and wanted to write something beforehand. Thanks!
- Mya