I'll be posting on my days off, so there won't be a real consistent schedule with this. Good news is I've written almost the entire story! I'm pretty excited to have this finished, it's the beginning of so many other stories and I hope you all will stick with me.
Morning light pulls Serena from her deep sleep.
There's warmth all around her and a weight strewn across her stomach. From her vantage point, she can see her and Lance's clothes strewn on the floor. The memory of them tossing their clothes around and laughing brings a smile to her face.
His breath tickles her neck, his nose presses lightly against her neck, sending chills down her spine. It felt good to be touched by him and to touch him, to see him let loose and feel good because of her. She wonders if it's like that for him everytime, when it's other girls in his arms or kissing his lips. She still can't imagine it being anyone else doing what she did last night and feel good about it.
Behind her, Lance inhales and pulls her body closer to his. His chest pressing softly against her scars and buries his face in her hair. Her heart surges with warmth as she settles in the crook of his hips, feeling comforted by how they fit together like puzzle pieces. Her hand over his gives him a gentle squeeze, not enough to wake him but enough to remind her it's real.
She can't help but smile and remember when he asked her to stay and sleep by him for the rest of the night. It wasn't a needy request, just something small and simple, if a little intimate. She had gone to the bathroom and slipped on bottoms. When she returned he had done the same and was lying on his back with sleepy eyes. She moved towards her bed and he made a sad groan, he held open his arms and she smiled. They've slept in the same bed many times before. This time was the best, though. For a long time, they spoke about anything to hear the voice of each other after last night's scare.
She told him of her and Clair's crazy plan to get Serena to talk to the champion of the region to see if they could start making changes to the way things are run. He seemed receptive to the idea, even offering to help her when it comes to the championship battles or when he becomes champion.
Of course, he's still charging towards that dream. He's starting to realize his passion for battling and for being a strong trainer. She hopes it takes him far.
They must have fallen asleep at some point as she doesn't remember much after that.
She considers going back to sleep, her eyes settling lazily when the sound of sliding paper from the door sends her into a panic. Her eyes widen as the deep voice of her father mumbles to himself while trying to fit the paper under the door.
What if her father barges in and sees her and Lance naked in her bed? Would she scream first? Or run?
Frozen in place, she listens to the scratch of paper sliding across carpet and footsteps moving away.
With a small breath, she wiggles out of Lance's grasp. He sighs at the missing warmth and reaches for her pillow, his fingers slide across the surface of the pillow and curl to pull it close to his chest. She smiles at his curled form against the pillow, admiring his smooth skin in the morning light. Her eyes trace down his bare shoulders and sides where some pink scars sit. No doubt from Ryu challenging his authority often.
Her mind returns to the present and she turns back to the door, she sees her father's handwriting scrawled across the top 'Meet me for breakfast at 10'. She sighs in relief and checks the clock on the table, barely past 9, she has time to shower to get Lance's scent off her.
Wouldn't want to go in for a hug and suddenly her father's in jail for murder.
She wastes no time jumping into the steaming shower, feeling good and ready for the day. Her thoughts run wild with these events, thinking of last night. Lance's hands all over her and his lips pressed against hers, how could it have felt so nice?
You've never had sex before, she reasons while soaping up her body. It's going to feel nice once you do. He's been having sex for a while now, so he's used to it.
Her thoughts continue to swirl as she exits the shower and finishes getting ready. She pulls on some capris, a nice, flowing tank top and some shoes. She fixes her stuff to sit in a nice neat pile on her bed before stealing a glance at Lance still passed out. She shakes her head at his cuddly form, opens the note to write where she will be and heads out the door for breakfast.
Aaron sits by himself at a table next to the window overlooking the backyard part of the center. Many trainers and their pokemon are outside, mingling, the pokemon being taken care of or playing around while they're trainers try to get everything ready for a day of traveling.
With a plate full of eggs, hash browns, berries and sausage, Serena sneaks in across from her father. A lone black cup of coffee sits in front of him, his elbows resting on the table with his hands under his chin as he stares into the cup as if it's going to give him the answers he needs. When Serena takes her first bite, he glances up at her and offers a small, kind smile.
"Good morning, sweetie," he takes a sip of coffee and grimaces.
"No cream or sugar? Morning Dad," she replies between some bites of eggs.
"No I have to get back to the League soon," he shakes his head. "They'll have my stuff there."
"Oh," Serena nods and it falls quiet at the table.
Aaron takes a few more sips, studying his daughter while she eats and wondering when he's going to discuss punishment with Rowan. He sets down his cup and clasps his hands together. "So... Are you feeling okay?" His abrupt worried tone makes Serena glance up and frown. She touches her face while nodding she feels fine. His eyes narrow as he studies her face. "Your cheeks are rosy, do you have a fever?"
Her cheeks feel warm under her fingers, further confusing her. She feels fine.
Unless it's because...
Don't tell him!
"I'm fine, just a hot shower before I got here," she forces herself to act nonchalant, trying to believe the lie so he doesn't question further. "What were you going to say?"
He shakes off his worry and tries again. "So, I'm going to talk with your mother tonight. Expect a phone call from her."
Serena can't stop the groan from leaving her lips at the warning. "Okay."
"You know why you're going to be getting a call, right?" he raises a brow and she nods.
"Yeah. I won't do it again, I promise," she replies.
"I know you won't," he chuckles. "Just please talk to me when you hear about things like that happening."
"I will, I will," she nods and takes a large gulp of water. "Hey, Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"What should I do about Espeon?"
He frowns. "What do you mean? You don't want her?"
"No! I do!" Serena sits up and speaks a little too loud. She settles back down and clears her throat. "Sorry. Yes I want to keep her but she was heartbroken with what happened last night."
"Give her some time, some pokemon have mourning periods," he explains while leaning back in his chair. "She'll be fine after a while, give her your support and love. I promise."
Serena nods. It's going to be a long while before her pokemon is ever going to trust people again and she doesn't blame her. How is this going to affect their relationship?
"How's Lance?" Aaron speaks again.
Serena jumps at his voice and her mind panics. "Uh-um. What do you mean?"
Aaron raises a brow. "Wesley can be just as harsh when it comes to punishments."
"O-oh, yeah," she stammers and shrugs, avoiding his gauge by pretending to drop a mushroom on the table. "He didn't want to talk too much la-last night and he was sl-sleeping this morning when I left."
"Ah, I see," Aaron stares at his daughter with a raised brow.
That was close, Serena sighs as he moves onto less intense topics.
He talks about how much Rowan misses having Serena at the house, how work is going and what's new in Blackthorn. Aaron doesn't share any details on the men apprehended last night and she promised not to push her luck already so she stays quiet. The light and warm feeling from earlier melts away as her father prepares to leave.
In the lobby of the center, they find Lance also saying goodbye to his father near the doors. He looks less angry and more sad to say bye to Wesley. Heart pounding in her chest, Serena feels unsure how to approach her best friend and opts to greet her father's best friend first with a smile.
"Morning, hun," Wesley pulls Serena in for a hug.
She wraps her arms around him, squealing as he lifts her off the ground. "Morning."
"You're supposed to keep him in check," he sets her down and winks. He points at his pouting son and she laughs.
"Technically, I went along to make sure he didn't die," she shrugs without glancing at the boy in question.
Wesley and Aaron snort at her comment, muttering about 'kids these days', before getting another promise to call if there's trouble as well as a final farewell. Serena stares at their retreating figures, frozen in her spot, unsure of what to do. She just had sex with her best friend of forever and isn't sure how to process that. Are they friends still? Are they going to date now? Does Lance even date? This is so much more complicated than it should be from one little instance of giving into desires.
"Rena?" Lance waves his hand in front of her face.
She flinches and turns to him, her cheeks burning a bit and her gaze shy. "So-s-sorry. What?"
He smiles at her, a kind and understanding smile. "What's your plan right now?"
"I want to talk with Espeon," she states. Clinging to something less complicated is the key to relaxing around Lance now. "I need to know what she's thinking and how we go from here."
"Okay, want me to get a nice spot outside for you two? I gotta wash Ryu's scales," he jerks a thumb behind him towards the backyard.
"That would be great."
He jogs off towards their room to gather his pokeballs, giving her a chance to breathe and sort out her mind. Once he's out of sight, she turns and heads to the front desk and checks out Espeon.
After last night, she checked her in with Joy so she could have space from Serena and think on her own. Her exam came back fine and so Joy hands over the pokeball no problem.
Grasping it firmly to her chest as though she'll lose it, Serena makes her way towards the yard with eyes peeled for Lance. She goes over multiple openers trying to find the right one to start the conversation with but it all sounds so clumsy and accusatory. Does she want to leave? Does she want another trainer? Or to be free? How is she feeling? What next?
The sliding doors open to reveal a beautifully kept backyard Serena can hardly believe is in the middle of a city. It's large enough to house several different pokemon ranging from Snorlax to large bird pokemon like Pidgeot and Fearow, but nothing much bigger than those. There's a small pool, a spot to hose off pokemon and benches for trainers to watch as their pokemon play on some equipment. The sound of cars and people is drowned out by the sound of pokemon playing around and having fun.
Trainers talk with one another, trading tips or sharing stories about their time out in the wild. Towards the far corner Serena spies Lance working with his Dragonair, and heads off in that direction. His shoes are off, and placed by some other pokeballs, with his pants rolled up at the bottom and a bucket in hand and a sponge.
Ryu looks to be in heaven at the care and attention his trainer gives him. Serena reminds herself to do the same with Wynn, cleaning the scales is basic upkeep for dragon types, and she knows it's Wynn's favorite time. Lance is steady in his work, careful to not stare as Espeon pops out of her ball and curls up in the grass, facing away from Serena.
How are you feeling? She starts and takes a seat on the soft turf a few feet away from her.
I don't want to talk about it, Espeon replies, curling up tighter.
That's fair, I won't push it with you. You are welcome to stay in my care until we can figure something out.
You don't want me either? Espeon's head perks up and she glances at Serena, her purple eyes glassy once more.
"That's not it!" Serena speaks up and scares the crap out of Lance. "Sorry, Lance."
He waves her off and goes back to cleaning as she faces her pokemon.
Of course I do! I would love to have you as part of the team, I just didn't want you to feel pressured into it or something!
Espeon tilts her head, the glassy look dries away and the pokemon stands. Serena watches her approach and freezes when she rubs her body under Serena's chin, a soft purr coming from her as she settles in Serena's lap. Head on her leg, Espeon lets out a soft sigh.
You have been good to me when I have not been the same back. I am starting to realize that you are my trainer and I will do my best to fight as your pokemon.
Tears begin to well up again, Serena wraps Espeon up and squeezes her tight. We're a team now!
"All good?" Lance peeks over his shoulder and chuckles at her tears. "Guess so."
"For now, yes," Serena nods and pats Espeon on the head. "She's staying with me."
"You going to nickname her?"
The two stare at each other and Espeon's tail does a little twitch of excitement. She stands in front of Serena as if patiently waiting for something.
"Oh, uh, really?" she asks just to be absolutely sure.
I would love one.
"Hmm..." Serena considers it for a moment before beaming. "Thea?"
Espeon tilts her head from side to side, testing it in her own mind before bouncing around and landing on Serena. I love it!
"Okay!" Serena laughs and falls back on the turf. "Thea it is."
OoOoOoO
"Are you sure you're ready?" Lance asks as the two come up to the Celadon Gym.
For a good chunk of the day, Serena took the time to get into the groove of battling again and somewhere in there decided to challenge Erika. With her team set in stone, she feels putting it off any longer in this city is going to make her anxious. Though Thea won't be joining in this fight (despite the clear advantage) Serena knows Ty will be enough to take down the gym.
She glances at Lance, neither of them have broached the subject of what happened last night and he's been acting as though nothing did. She feels uncertain if she was used as a means to an end, or if it's his way of coping with it.
Does he regret what happened? Does she? Not really.
In a logical sense, she's glad it was him as her first and not some random person she met on her travels. While sex isn't important to her, it was a stressful thought in the back of her head when she started traveling and noticing trainers just going at it when they could.
Still, it would be nice to know where he stands so she can find her own footing.
"I want to leave Celadon," she shrugs and pushes open the door.
Celadon gym is known for its beautiful garden, and it does not disappoint. Immediately the two are wrapped in the gentle aromas of flowers. The gym is essentially one big, indoor flower field with a battlefield in the middle made from dirt. The high ceiling is all glass to let in light and the walls are crawling with vines and greenery.
The two follow a nice stonework path to a table where a gym trainer awaits. She's a young girl, possibly ten sitting with an Oddish reading a magazine with the Champion's face plastered on the front. She grins at them as they walk up and hops to her feet.
"Welcome to Erika's Gym!" she beams and gestures to the garden behind her. "She is open for battles at this time."
"Hello," Serena greets and pulls out her trainer ID. "I'd like to battle her then."
"Sounds good," the girl carefully takes the card as if scared she'll lose it and pulls out a clunky tablet from below the table. It scans Serena's card, confirms her identity and registers her as challenging this leader. Once the card is back with its owner, the girl gestures for them to follow her. "This way to the field."
"No gym trainers?" Serena glances around waiting for one to pop out of nowhere and challenge her.
"Not today, they have the day off. Erika sometimes gets into a mood, ya know?" the girl replies.
No, Serena does not know, but she doesn't say it. Instead she nods as if she's felt the same way, making Lance laugh as she steps up to her side of the field. She shoots Lance a dirty look before pointedly looking away and watching the girl disappear behind some thick brush.
It takes barely fifteen seconds for her to come back with Erika in tow, the leader looking ready to fight. Erika looks like she's in her twenties somewhere, with short dark hair. In her picture she was wearing a kimono, but today, she's donning jeans, a green t-shirt and a dirty apron. There's a small streak of dirt on her face and her arms bear some dirt stains too.
"Excuse me, I was just doing some general upkeep of the plants," the gym leader bows her head and wipes her brow of sweat. "You are Serena?"
"Yes," she nods and pulls out a pokeball.
"Well, Serena, I accept your challenge," Erika beams and moves to take her place at the opposite side of the field.
The young girl runs to the sidelines, towards the middle, and picks up two flags there; one red and one green. She makes the introductions and battle announcements before swinging them to commence the battle.
It goes by in a blur.
Ty bursts out, ready to go! His flames hotter than ever, and his strength unmatched by any of Erika's pokemon. Serena's frustration and confusion pours into Ty with each command and each cheer as hits land and her opponents dwindle down. The world disappears around her, leaving only the two pokemon on the field and Erika opposing her.
Despite the type disadvantage, Erika does amazingly well. She's able to keep Ty on his toes, making the pokemon run around dodging status affecting attacks like Sleep Powder and Stun Spore; effectively tiring out the little guy. Tangela and Weepinbell go down after giving him the run around and when she offers to give Wynn a try, Ty refuses to leave.
Gloom appears and Serena knows it's going to be a tough fight just with the way the pokemon moves quickly across the field with each attack. Exhausted, Ty does his best and soon manages to tire Gloom out while, unfortunately, burning part of the field. They're getting close to the end, Gloom covers the field in Acid trying to lure Ty closer and closer, and Serena couldn't be happier. While the grass type is strong up close, so is Ty's Flame Wheel. It's just harder to hit Gloom when he has to run around all the acid spots in the process.
"Okay, Gloom use Poison Powder!" Erika calls out as Ty stumbles into Gloom's range, nearly bumping into the grass type with how close he gets.
"Ty use Flame Wheel!" Serena calls out quickly, the words tumbling from her mouth as Gloom rears up the top of her head.
The fire type cries out becoming engulfed in flames before slamming into Gloom again and again. His body eventually igniting some flames across Gloom's body. The grass type cries in pain, running around trying to put out the fire only to trip, fall and faint.
"Serena is the winner!"
"Yes!" the brunette cheers, running onto the field and lifting up Ty. "You did so well, I'm so proud of you!"
Ty rubs his face against hers, his hot body leaving hot trails on her face, as a rush of energy suddenly emanates from him. Serena gasps and sets him down just as he starts to glow a blinding white. Lance joins Serena on the field, stopping right next to her to watch in awe as Ty's body begins to grow in size and width. Without thinking, she grabs onto Lance's arm and clutches it excitedly. He turns to stare at her, watching as her eyes shine against the white light of evolution, admiring how her face glows with pride and joy.
As Ty's light fades, Erika and the young girl approach with grins on their faces, and he turns to look at his trainer. As a Typhlosion, Ty stands better on two feet coming up just past Serena's height. His thick coat shines in the sunlight, looking soft and warm. As he moves around, Serena can see his muscles bunching up and releasing with his movements.
She can't help but throw herself into Ty's arms, squeezing him as tight as she can and babbling about how proud she is of his strength and how far he's come. He responds by lifting her and spinning her in clumsy circles. He nearly trips over his own feet, but Lance is there to keep them upright as the gym leader watches.
Erika steps up and offers her badge to Serena. "This is the Rainbow Badge, you earned it after a good fight like that."
"Thank you," Serena's chest heaves with excitement as she takes the badge and studies it under the light. "I appreciate it, Erika."
"Of course," the gym leader beams and escorts them out of the gym with a kind farewell.
"That was a great battle," Lance comments. His eyes study Ty as the pokemon walks on two feet beside them. The pokemon gazes at his own feet as he walks, getting used to his new body size and trying to walk on two feet only to fall forward onto all four. As a Quilava he could be on two feet, but walking was awkward with the way his back was built. Now he's able to support his weight, it's just all about practice. "I can't believe he evolved already."
"We've been working hard," Serena comments, placing her hand on the fire type's neck, just below the spouts where fire can now erupt. Ty hums in agreement, letting his tongue loll to once side in a look that is vaguely threatening but still cute.
The pokemon center comes into view with the sun still shining overhead. It's a bit later in the afternoon, but early enough to leave the city for the next destination. Her next badge is in Fuschia City with the gym leader being Koga. Hopefully Espeon will be ready to fight in that battle, she'll do wonderfully.
"Wanna get an early dinner?" Lance asks as they approach the center. "Get some good food before we leave?"
"Sure."
The two get their things in order from their room, give their pokemon to Joy for a last minute exam and head to the cafeteria. Several trainers wander about, filling their plates up, looking at maps and finding some friends. Some pokemon run around as well, trailing after their owners excited to get some food and rest for the day.
Serena loads her plate with food to hold her over for the night. They're going to be taking Cycling Road so she doesn't want to eat anything too heavy. The ride down will be so much fun, but it's more than a couple of hours, so she'll need the energy.
"So," Lance starts after they've taken their seats and got a few bites in. Serena's heart hammers in her chest, blood rushes to her face as her anxiety spikes. He's going to bring up last night, but what is he going to say? "About last night..."
"Ye-ah?" she tries to sound casual while taking a bit of a berry. She doesn't even taste it and when she swallows it's like a lump in her stomach.
"We're good, right?" he prompts, glancing up from his plate with an insane amount of casual energy Serena almost wants to make sure they had sex. "Like, we're still friends and there's not going to be any bad blood between us? It was just a moment of... lust after all the excitement with the break-in."
"O-oh, yeah," she shrugs her shoulders. Her chest feels hollow with her agreement, her next few breaths are painful, as if her chest is going to collapse inwards. "I figured we were just going to move past it."
Lance looks oddly relieved, his usual charming smile coming to his face as he relaxes in his seat and returns to eating. "I'm glad. I don't want to lose you, Rena."
"You won't," she forces herself to smile and think of something else.
Of course, why would I look too deeply into it? she stabs another berry, her eyes falling to her plate. He's your best friend... it just hurts that he didn't see it as an important moment like you did.
The rest of dinner goes on silently with Lance discussing their travel plans and Serena nodding along as if she were paying attention. At the end, they dump their dishes onto a conveyor belt and head to the front desk. They return their keys, get their pokemon and set out into the city.
July 7th
We spent the day in Fuschia after that grueling bike ride ( I WAS SO SWEATY!) going to the zoo and touring the construction of the Safari Zone that should be running in a year or so. That was the best part, apparently they've seen some dragon types in this area. It would be interesting to know if that's true...
If I'm going to be honest (which I AM because NO ONE is going to read this journal) I wasn't feeling like being around Lance. Just seeing him smile and laugh with me hurt too much. Knowing he's with another girl right now hurts too. I shouldn't have expected anything to have come from having sex with Lance. He's my best friend! It would be crazy to think that we could be something more. I'm not sure why it hurts this much, maybe because I feel like he could never see me as someone he could love or maybe... maybe I have feelings for him and I shouldn't have said yes because he's not the type to date and he doesn't have feelings for me...
Ugh, it's driving me crazy. I can't get the memory out of my head. His hands all over me, kissing his lips and the way we, uh, orgasmed. It was really nice. What if I don't get that again with someone else?
What am I talking about? I'm SIXTEEN. I have so much ahead of me still, so what if I'm not interested in random encounters or have one crush ever? I will find something... right?
