"Order for Lee!" I called out, setting the meal on the counter before hoppingoff to prepare another order, seeing the customer in question coming up to retrieve their food.

"Sear, the order for Rae should be about done. I'm sorry, but could you get that while I'm busy here?" Rose, a Sylveon, called out from the register to my left as I ran past. I looked up to her, giving her a dismissive wave.

"I got it, don't worry about it!" I smiled. Rose gave a thankful nod before turning back to the customer she was with.

My name is Sear, I'm a 21 year old Cinderace. I'm a full-time employee at my local coffee shop, Café Silver, a small one tucked away between a couple streets which was once owned by Rose's parents, but is now in her hands. It's certainly not the most popular café in town, but we still have our busy days, today being one of those busy days.

As for me, I'm a pretty normal Cinderace, maybe a bit wimpy and shy, but for the most part, I'm a run of the mill Cinderace, except for one aspect. I'm two feet tall, as opposed to any other cinderace, which average about 4'7" in height. I was born with a rare condition called microsm. This condition causes the Pokemon born with it to be born much smaller than normal with no other side effects.

While this condition of mine has created some obstacles in life, I've managed to overcome them with enough hard work and help, both from the help of friends and family. Plus, the fact that Pokemon society is built to accommodate Pokemon of all sizes certainly made things easier for me. Because of that, my current job hasn't been impossible to work, despite me being the smallest on our team by a couple feet.

Though, probably the hardest aspect of my life has been dating. Most other Cinderaces aren't too keen on the thought of dating a male shorter than them, especially one that is barely half their height. There's also the fact that I don't have much confidence when it comes to dating, much less flirting. Despite everything, I don't let it bother me, it's become one of those aspects to my life that I've come to disregard.

Once I made it to the back of the cafe, I hopped onto a stool, opening up the oven to retrieve the two croissants waiting inside for the next customer. Thanks to my fire typing, the heat emanating from the oven hardly bothered me, it was more comforting if anything. As I grabbed two pieces of bread and placed them into paper bags, I heard the sound of running. A moment later, a vaporeon skidded to a stop by my side, seemingly shocked by my presence.

"Oh! Sear! I didn't… sorry, I was busy with a table and forgot about the food." She rubbed the back of her head, looking apologetic. I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it, Aquari, I got it before it burned. I'll go ahead and take care of this one." I responded, giving her another smile. She smiled back and nodded.

"Thank you, Sear. I'll go ahead and start the next order then. Also, the coffee is already on the counter, you just need to bring the croissants." She said, stepping past me to prepare the next order of food. Bagging up the food nicely, I jumped off the stool and made my way to the front. As I rounded the corner, I nearly ran into a pair of legs, though I managed to reach a stop before I collided with them.

"Crap, sorry Sear!" Rose apologized, surprised at my sudden presence. "Are you alright?" She bent down slightly, checking to see if I was hurt.

"I'm alright, didn't even run into you." I smiled sheepishly up to her. Rose smiled in relief.

"Good. I'll get out of your way then." She said, stepping to the side and allowing me to continue on my path. I eventually reached the counter and hopped onto the stool, placing the two croissants on top.

"Order for Rae!" I called out. Seeing that none of the Pokemon in my immediate vision were coming to collect the meal, I leaned over the counter slightly and looked to my right to see if the customer was coming from that direction to collect their order. Still no. Suddenly, I heard soft, yet heavy footfalls to my left, leading me to assume that the Pokemon in question was quite large. However, when I turned towards them, I didn't expect to be met with the sight before me.

Rae was a lopunny, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, a pink side purse by her hip. But the fact she was a lopunny was not the surprising part. One small part of the surprise was that she was a shiny Pokemon, a rarity to see on its own, but I've seen many at this point in my life working my job. The other part, and easily the larger part of the surprise was that she was tall, giant even. She was easily more than double the height of a regular lopunny. I could only assume she was close to nine feet tall, allowing her to tower over me even with the added height the stool gave me. She gave me a gentle smile as she reached the side of the counter, the top of her knees just short of clearing the countertop. I reasoned that her height came from a condition opposite to mine; macrosm. While born a normal size, Pokemon with macrosm grow larger than normal.

I must have been staring for too long, because after a moment, she spoke up.

"Um, this was the order for Rae, right?" She asked, tilting her head cutely. I snapped out of my stupor, realizing that I was stalling.

"O-oh, yes, sorry about that. Here's your meal ma'am." I stuttered out, lifting the bags and cup as high as I could. She thankfully squatted down, making my task easier to achieve. She grabbed the bags and cup in her large hands, the large sizedcup looking more akin to a small sized cup in her grasp. Once securely holding her meal, she once again rose to her full height, giving me one last smile before turning away and walking off.

I couldn't help but watch her as she made her way out, ducking below the door frame in order to avoid bumping her head. I stood there for another moment, trying to process what had happened.

"Are you alright, Sear?" I heard Rose call out from behind me. I swiveled around, seeing her standing by the corner, a hand on her side to compliment her barely contained smirk, with Aquariri by her side, poking her head out from the back, a hand over her snickering smile. "Getting lovestruck in the middle of work?" She teased, smirking. I could feel my face and ears heating up. I pulled my apron over my nose in an attempt to hide the blush that had more than likely appeared on my face as I averted my eyes.

"Shut up." I mumbled, completely flustered. "I'm going on my break now. Away from you two." I announced, hopping off the stool and making my way to the back to clock out, never letting the apron down, even as I passed by the two sisters.

"Try not to think too hard about her, Sear. Though I must say, she is pretty cute." Aquariri teased as I passed by. My white fur must have been the same shade of pink as the lopunny's ears by now.

"I'm being harassed!" I jokingly cried out, though my embarrassment was still clearly present. Aquari laughed at my anguish, while Rose simply chuckled. I groaned, rolling my eyes as I hopped up to the chair, having to sit on my knees to reach the keyboard. Even though Aquari joked about it, I couldn't stop thinking about the lopunny.

'Rae, huh?' I thought. I couldn't get her image out of my head. Perhaps it was because she was so unique as both a shiny and a giant that made my mind run circles around her. It's impossible for it to be because I fell in love, I don't even believe in love at first sight. I sighed as I sat back into the oversized seat, looking to the far away ceiling.

I wondered if I would get the chance to see her again.

. . . . .

Cover art by Chippani.

Edited by Lunarkitten707.