3: Love at First Light

A month had passed by ever since the Fixing Pokemon Buttonelli unexpectedly stopped by and planted a seed of hope for Philip's jewelry store. Now he works with him, and John the Foongus even applied for a part time job there. Customers slowly came over thanks to the advertisements that were put out around town. Business was finally and slowly picking up its pace.

One night, after a busy day at the store, it was finally closing time. John left earlier, leaving Philip all by himself, or that's how it was for a few minutes. As he put away his broom and was about to close the store, the door swung open and hit against the wall as a female Litwick rushed inside. She slammed the door behind her breathing heavily. She had a scared look on her face as her big amber eyes quivered and glowed with fright. She looked at Philip still breathing heavily with a look that plead for help, and without any hesitation rushed to the back of the store to hide. Philip looked back to the direction where the Litwick took off with a surprised face. He had no idea on what just happened. Before Philip could try to figure out what's going on, a big male Unfezant burst into the store almost the same way the Litwick did. Philip jumped a little from surprise. Now he really didn't know what's going on. The Unfezant glared around the room as he breathed heavily, eyes almost twitching from anger, until his eyes met Philip's. The Unfezant stomped over towards him and grabbed him up to his eye level. Philip was now really scared and felt hopeless under the Unfezant's strong grasp. Then Philip saw the details marked on the Unfezant's face. He had some scars surrounding his left eye, and his beak was a bit chipped off at the tip. It was kind of like a typical pirate kind of look.

"I know you're hiding someone in here," the Unfezant hissed with a Brooklyn accent. He then dropped the Karrablast and began his hunt for the Litwick. Philip struggled to get up and wiped dirt off of himself. He no longer felt scared as his anger immediately escalated and got to him. He turned around and stomped over to the intruding Unfezant. Philip noticed that the Unfezant was lifting and tossing boxes around carelessly, and he heard things shatter as the boxes crashed onto the floor. This only added more fuel to his burning anger. Who does this guy think he is, thrashing around my store? MY PROPERTY!? he thought. This had to end now.

"Hey, buddy!" Philip called out to the intruder as he poked him, impatience and anger mixed in with his voice. "You better get outta my store NOW before I call the cops. I ain't got nothin' of yours hiding here! Take your business somewhere else!" The Unfezant looked up from his scavenger hunt and down at the now infuriated Karrablast. He couldn't help but smirk at the glare the Karrablast gave him. Some nerve this guy had, talkin' to me like that! he thought. "Oh?" he said. "Do ya really wanna take that route, pal?" He fluffed up his feathers to make him look bigger as he leaned closer to the Karrablast. "Well, it's MY WAY you're going!" As soon as he finished saying that, he attacked Philip with an unexpected Quick Attack. The blow sent Philip flying towards the other side of the store and crashed against the wall, followed by face-planting on the floor with a loud thud. The Unfezant laughed in an evil manner, thinking that he was through with the Karrablast and resumed his search.

Philip struggled to get up and stand on his trembling legs. He wiped his mouth which had some blood on it. Did he just do that? he thought. Did he just really f*cking DO THAT!? Philip's rowdy nature began to get the best of him, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a really long time. He began to get a sudden adrenaline rush as he charged at the enemy. He shrieked at the top of his lungs, encouraging a bigger power emerge from him as he attacked the Unfezant with Poison Jab, getting him at his stomach. It was a lucky hit. He knocked all of his air out as he was taken completely off guard. The Unfezant tried to attack again, but he flinched as the poison slowly began to spread out throughout his body; he needed an antidote, quick. He decided to end the battle there.

"Okay, you win… for now," he managed to say as he clenched his stomach. "But I'll be back! – ACK! - You'll see!" Then he leaned against the door and pushed it, limping away in pain.

Philip was glaring at the door, still breathing heavily. As his anger subsided, he remembered about the Litwick who came in earlier. Philip now knew the Unfezant was after her, but why? Only one way to find out.

Philip began looking for her, walking over to the back of the room. He went in, noticing how quiet it was, and somewhat dark, too. "He's gone. You can come out now," he called out. Hopefully it wasn't too straight-forward. A few moments later, the Litwick slowly poked her head out from behind a closet door. Her amber eyes glowed brighter and a little less scared than before. "Don't be afraid," Philip slightly whispered, trying to reassure her with a smile. "It's okay. I'm not a bad guy." The Litwick didn't change her expression as she slowly approached the Karrablast, not looking away once. As their eyes were locked with each other's, Philip noticed that she looked different from other Litwick he had seen. Her purple-colored candlelight gave off a warm glow that lit her face up perfectly. Her amber eyes were round orbs that almost looked like they were made out of honey. Her little hop was delicate and made light taps against the wooden floor. That's when Philip realized she was very attractive, and all of a sudden he forgot about what had happened earlier. It was as if all of his anger emanated from his body and had no more of it left. His expression was filled with awe as a slight blush appeared on his face; he never felt like this before. Could this be what love felt like?

The Litwick stopped right in front of Philip. She knew that it was all her fault that the Unfezant disrupted the Karrablast's peaceful atmosphere. She needed to apologize and make it up to him; it was the right thing to do, after all. "I'm sorry for the trouble. It was my entire fault, and I had no right to get you involved like this. Can I make it up to you?" Philip felt his face get hotter as his stomach tightened into a big knot. Her voice was so calm and soothing, it was like the melody of a harp; it sent tiny shivers down his little spine.

For a moment it felt like he lost his voice, but found it once he realized he had to say something. He coughed a little as he regained his posture. "Oh, uh, don't worry about it," he said while scratching the back of his head, his mouth curved up into a tiny smile. "I understand it was an emergency."

"No, really. I want to make it up to you. I insist!"

"No, it's okay. Really."

"…Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

The Litwick slightly nodded, a little surprised that the Karrablast didn't want anything in return.

Then there was an awkward silence. It was a little uncomfortable being there, especially with a complete stranger. Philip had the sudden urge to hear her voice again. He wanted to… do something. But what? He didn't know why he was feeling like that; it can't be love… can it? He doesn't even know her! Or more importantly, her name. Daring to find out, he used it as an excuse to break the silent tension between them. He extended his arm out toward the quiet Litwick. "My name is Philip. What's your name?"

The Litwick looked up at Philip and his awkward smile. Judging that he's not a bad guy, she took his hand softly and shook it lightly. "My name is Amelia". She half-smiled at Philip as she brushed her hand away from his.

Wow, Philip thought. Her hand is so soft… Gah! Stop this, Philip! "Would you like some tea? It's pretty cold outside tonight," Philip offered, trying to set his distracting thoughts aside. Amelia didn't realize she was feeling a little cold until he mentioned it. And it was a little windy, so a little heat could strengthen her fire. Thank you. That's very kind of you," she answered. Then they walked out of the back room and headed for the little stove on the other corner of the store. It was tea time for these two new acquaintances.