Sometimes Gokudera thought he got the short end of the stick when it came to his life. Honestly, the shitfest that happened after he was born was something out of the soap operas his mom watched sometimes. Oh, wait. The only good thing about his family was his mom, Lavina, who had been a world-renowned Pokémon Coordinator until she retired and opened a Pokémon Daycare Center in Kanto on Route 5. Even though she was originally from Sinnoh, Gokudera's father and his actual wife lived there so…yeah. Fucking awkward.

His half-siblings were the icing on the cake. Bianchi with her poisonous cooking and G with his incessant nagging pushed Gokudera's buttons way too much to the point that they fucking broke when he was 4. Thank Arceus that his mom decided to take him with her. He was already sick of seeing so much nauseating shades of pink (fuck G; his hair was pink, not red).

It was nice living with his mom. Gokudera didn't have be crushed to death by his father's wife, Colleen, every time he was forced to visit or suffer from Bianchi's less than edible glop of shit. Lavina was a compassionate woman, and Gokudera grudgingly acknowledged why his father fell in love with her. Still, it pissed him off. She was everything to him. She didn't deserve some scum like Matteo.

Her daycare business grew more popular as word spread out about her name. Matteo had been thorough about keeping the affair under wraps so Lavina could have some dignity left. Gokudera still hated his fucking guts. After he turned 6, Lavina had an Egg sent to her to take care of but the trainer never came or asked for it. There were some fair shares of abandoned Pokémon and Eggs though it didn't make it any easier. A Purrloin hatched some months later and Lavina gave her to Gokudera as his first Pokémon, which he named Uri.

He hated her and she hated him with a fucking passion.

Four years had passed since and not a day went by without Uri trying to scratch his eyes out or Gokudera attempting to choke the damn cat—not in front of his mom, obviously, or her shrewd Delcatty, Erika, who always seemed to know when they were fighting. Gokudera didn't know which was worse: his mom's cold temper or Erika's vicious fangs.

Along the line, he managed to actually catch a Pokémon for himself. A Growlithe he named Kohaku. He was kind of hoping that the Growlithe had some backbone but the dog Pokémon was easily scratched in submission by Uri. Why was the whole word fucking against him? Gokudera seriously wondered if there were any answers to his existence.

When he finally turned 10, he was pretty excited to explore what the world had to offer, but didn't leave right away so he could help his mom. She entered his room a few nights later and simply told him, "Hayato, there's so much more to see out there than staying here with me. I was like you when I was your age, but as time went one, I never once regretted it. Don't let me hold you back. Remember to make a lot of friends, alright? Don't cry, my sweet boy…"

It was mortifying, crying in his mom's arms like when he was younger, but a part of him spurred him on to take that first step. He wasn't going to let his mom down. However, Gokudera wasn't exactly the nicest person out there. Every trainer he met on the road stayed away from him. Heck, he even cursed out kids older than him if they got on his nerves. Honestly, Gokudera was having a harder time getting Uri to listen to him and Kohaku to stop shaking whenever he battled a wild Rattata or something else that jumped out of the bushes.

Still, he kept going even if his heart ached for his mom's gentle smiles and warm hugs. At night, he'd gaze up at the stars and dream about things he'd see to get his mind off of the depressing shit. It helped a bit, and he couldn't deny that his heart raced faster at the thought of meeting new Pokémon and maybe even going to other regions (minus Sinnoh because fuck that).

After two weeks on the road, Gokudera finally saw the large Mt. Moon in the distance, hidden by some dark clouds. It had rained a bit before but nothing unbearable. With wet mud sloshing underneath his feet, Gokudera jogged over until he was at the bottom of the mountain. He strained his ear when he heard something inside. At first, he thought it was just the wind but it sounded more like…humming? He pursed his lips. "The fuck?"

He trekked inside, careful not to make too much noise. He'd probably end up dead if he sent Uri or Kohaku out. The noise soon grew louder and louder as he walked deeper in the dimly lit cave. Gokudera narrowed his eyes. There should've been some Zubat or something at this point; not that he wanted them to but his muddy sneakers weren't exactly quiet. The trainer's guide clearly stated that there were Pokémon here, so not seeing any was weird. Did it have to do with the weird noise?

Gokudera paused in his step, his body going rigid. Was it Team Estraneo? If the current Kanto Champion and his friends hadn't stepped in, the terrorist group would've stolen the Red Orb a few years ago. Gokudera scoffed. He heard that G was part of the little entourage but didn't really care much. "Damn bastard," he muttered.

Still, Gokudera kind of envied G, who had been best friends with Giotto ever since they met in Sinnoh. He shook his head. What was he thinking? Jealous of G? He must be smokin' some weird shit or something. Gokudera blinked when Uri and Kohaku suddenly escaped their PokéBalls in bright flashes of light. They ran off before he could process what just happened. "W—Wait! Where are you going? Oi, come back here!"

He sprinted to catch up with them. The noise grew louder before he realized that they were a bunch of chants by Clefairys, the near pinnacle of UMP's (Unidentified Mysterious Pokémon). Gokudera ran faster until the light at the end of the tunnel became brighter.

His jaw dropped.

"Clefairy! Clefairy! Clefairy!"

Dozens of Clefairys hopped and twirled around a rocky pedestal that had a boy about his age, maybe younger, sitting on top in dumb horror. None of the Pokémon noticed Gokudera and he wasn't aware of his own two Pokémon trying to push through the crowds of Clefairys. No, he just gawked at the strange phenomenon, too stunned to speak.

"I—I'm not your anything!" the small boy said, snapping out of his daze and trying to pry a Cleffa off his face. "Fairy, tell them to stop!"

"Cleffa!"

"For Arceus' sake, I'm not your mama! Stop calling me that! Hibari, do something!"

All the Clefairys stopped their celebratory dance. Even Gokudera shivered. Their eyes were anything but innocent, making their smiles creepier. "Clefairy," all of them said together in some kind of cult fashion.

The small boy widened his eyes. "No! I'm not staying here with you forever! Gah, just give me back my Pokémon! What did you do to them?"

And it was at that moment, Gokudera believed that he just stumbled across some sort of strange but awesome miracle.

A/N Oh, dear…

Thank you for reading! I hope to see you again in the next chapter.

Have a lovely day~

Little Miss Bunny