pulled the compact mirror out of my small carry on bag, looking myself over and adjusting the red bow in my hair nervously. I applied another coat of mascara onto my brown eyes, then snapped the compact shut to come face to face with a blue cat. He had a few bags of snacks in his hands, and a small red backpack stuffed with things strapped to his back.
"You look fine." He smiled, and I blushed slightly at being so vain. The train slightly shook, and the cat wobbled before asking if he could sit across from me.
"Sure," I said, pocketing the mirror. I smoothed out my Gracie Grace designer Tartan Plaid dress, and the cat chuckled, looking at me.
"You nervous?" He asked, then chuckled again as I nodded shyly. "I'm Rover, by the way." He said.
"Oh, I'm Pip, I'm moving." I explained, and he nodded understandingly. "I've never been to the town I'm moving too, so I'm kinda scared I won't like it."
"A fantastically great name!" He exclaimed, and leaned across and handed me a bag of pretzels. I gratefully thanked him, and opened them as he opened a candy bar and continued talking. "So, tell me where you're headed?"
"I'm going to Eden, it should be the next stop I think." I said, looking out of the train window. There wasn't much of a view, but the ocean was in the distance. "I hope where I'm going has a beach." I thought, before turning back to Rover.
"Don't think I've heard of it… Oh here, I have a map, is this it?" Rover unzipped his backpack, throwing an extra sweater on the seat beside him until he pulled out a crumpled up map guide, with all the stops listed on this train. He tossed it in my lap, and I flipped through it until I saw "Eden" in cursive letters. The town was very small, but did have a beach and a few other things.
"Here," I said, handing the small book back to Rover with the Eden map open. "This is where I'm going." Rover looked it over and smiled approvingly, before looking up at me with a look of alarm.
"If you've never been there, does that mean you haven't even seen your house yet?" He asked, and chucked a little as I shook my head. "I guess going house hunting when you get there will be more fun anyway. Well, I hope you -" He was cut off by the bell chiming, and the train slowing to a stop.
"Eden stop, Eden up ahead." I got up and took in a deep breath, and balled up the pretzel bag to throw it away on my way out.
Rover smiled at me, "Thanks for chatting with me. Good luck Pip, you'll do fine here." He patted me on the back as I took another deep breath and said goodbye, and walked through the train hallway. I clutched the strap of my bag as I walked through the train, and grabbed my two suitcases out of the baggage cart before I got off the train. The train conductor said a goodbye as I hopped off the train, and I slowly walked through the train station, trying to control my beating heart. I turned back to watch the train pull away, and Rover waved out of the window, munching on another candy bar as the train pulled away.
"Well, now or never." I quietly murmured to myself, dragging my luggage behind me, "Let's hope this won't be too much of a culture shock…" I took a deep breath, exhaled, and took my first steps through my new town.
Break
The light was blinding, but it was nothing compared to my greeting. Four animals were waiting outside the train station, all waiting eagerly as I stumbled out. I looked around in confusion, but the animals all smiled at me before a small brown squirrel exclaimed, "Look, she's finally arrived!"
A brown wolf gave a thumbs up and grinned at the squirrel"I bet that's the girl!"
A black dog covered in bandages, with only a glowing yellow eye showing exclaimed, "Well, we can't just stand here!"
The fluffy yellow dog who stood on the far left ran up to me, and grabbed the hand that wasn't clutching the strap of my bag. "Mayor, we couldn't be happier to see you arrive safe and sound!" I pulled my hand away, shaking my head and fumbling over words to try to fix whatever mistake had happened to think I was Mayor.
"You're confused!" I stammered, looking around at the animals.
The yellow and white dog cocked her head, before grinning and laughing lightly. "You're such a kidder. But a sense of humor is important for an official to have."
"No, I -" I started to protest, but the squirrel put her paws on her hips and pouted.
"You said you'd arrive on this train, and here you on!"
"I didn't say that! I'm just a resident, that's all!" I whined, but the fluffy dog laughed.
"You can't fool me, she's a real funny one, isn't she?" She laughed again, and the rest of the crowd agreed. "We'll continue this at Town Hall," She started, then grabbed my by the elbow, "Let's go to Town Hall together, shall we?" She chirped, and dragged me away from the train station.
"What about my luggage!" I whined, looking back at my bags and the crowd who smiled and waved me away.
"Oh, don't worry about that! The residents are pleasant people, your things are safe!" The dog giggled, towing me away. "Oh, what's your name?" She asked, stopping to look at me.
The bow in my hair had slipped out of place, and I straightened it and sighed. "It's Pip." I said quietly.
"Mayor Pip… It fits!" She decided, then we both went off to Town Hall together.
Author's Note: What do you think so far? Review, and send me any suggestions or ideas you have! Check out any of my other pokemon fics, Johto Journey's, Mega Mewtwo Saga, and Foul Play For Zorua!
~Kyoko