A soft sigh escaped the Glaceon's lips as he wandered away from what remained of his new teammates. So, in other words, everybody but Teravolt. They stood outside the Guildhall, chatting excitedly and complimenting each others abilities. A wry grin crossed the boys face as he glanced over his shoulder to Elias calling a hearty goodbye, waving a paw back at the young boy.
He was sore. Very, very sore. He hadn't fought like that in... a very long time now. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like. The rush of battle, the thrill of going paw to paw with another. Not that he was strong, Arceus above, no. He'd just chosen to get away from that life after...
A slap across his muzzle woke the boy from those thoughts. He was getting far too used to these thoughts invading his mind, apparently. 'Not here. Not now. You can't change it. Grow up. Accept it, already.' His inner thoughts were right, he had to admit. Those fights back there were nothing like that. There was no danger. No imminent threat. His life hadn't been on the line.
He had to admit, he was impressed by what he'd seen from his new teammates. In the one on one fights, he'd seen them show off their talents and skills to their fullest. He wasn't ashamed to admit he'd come dangerously close to losing many of his sparring matches today, and HAD lost two of them. He wasn't surprised when his first matchup had been against Teravolt, the Luxray had practically demanded it be so. As much as it annoyed him to admit, the electric type wasn't just full of hot air. His strength was nothing short of brutal, and his tactics matched it flawlessly. Nonstop attacks, never give the enemy the chance to recover. All-out offensive that left the foe on the backpaw constantly, leaving them little to no chance to formulate a plan to beat him back and create an opening.
Lumi had leapt into action in defence of the Glaceon when he was clearly defeated, because the Luxray had shown no signs of backing down. She'd angrily scolded him, belittling the electric type for "nearly brutalizing a teammate" and how much of an idiot he was. Then she'd been all over him, checking him for signs of injury or duress. The sheer relief on her face when she realised he was just tired and sore from the match was odd, to say the least.
His other loss had been, surprisingly, handed to him from Melody. He'd expected to lose to both Cass and Eduardo, but he'd managed to scrape win on them both, albeit just barely. But Melody? She was cunning. Very cunning. He should have expected it, of course the Skarmory would litter the ground with traps to attempt to wear her opponent down little by little. He had no answer for it, and with every step he took, painful pricks in his paws reminded him just how badly he'd lost to her. Ironically, he wasn't the only one who had. Even the almighty Teravolt had been bested by that young ladies wit in battle.
Even the youngest of their little group had showed real talent. What the little Riolu lacked in strength, he made up for in spades with his intellect. He was able to analyse his opponent, looking for kinks in their armour and striking at it. Elias had lost many of his mock battles today, but he was the only one among the group able to state he'd beaten both Tera and Melody in one on one combat, by using their tactics against them. Elias had used his smaller stature against Tera, weaving in and out of attacks easily, landing blows between the dodges. And when he was absolutely certain it would work, he'd taken a full force Volt Tackle from the enraged Luxray. What Tera had failed to realise in his moment of triumph, was that Elias had used Endure just before "accidently" opening himself for the attack. That Endure had been followed by Counter. The visible indent left in the training room wall from where the Luxray had been launched would take some real work to fill in. He'd used much the same tactic to his advantage against Melody, and had secured the win in the same way.
The ice type couldn't help but smile. Their team would be able to make good use of such smart Pokemon, who'd be able to direct their teammates well in combat situations. He could only hope he'd be useful. He knew he was strong, but clearly not the strongest among them. Nor was he the smartest, or the fastest. He was decent enough at all aspects, but didn't excel in any. Which in practice could make him a liability for his teammates.
Shaking his head, the Glaceon turned his attention to the building he was heading towards. Even from this distance, he could tell. The shop was closed, the lights turned off, the counter unmanned. Nodding his head at the realisation, he turned his focus further down the street. There, just ahead down the lonely, quiet road was a house, of which the front was decorated with all manner of flowers. Continuing his meandering pace, the boy arrived outside the front door. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he softly rapped his paw guard upon the wooden door.
About a minute later, the door swung inwards, revealing a beaming Sylveon. "Oh, Kaguya, dear! We were expecting you earlier than this! Is everything alright, did something hold you up?" The Glaceon smiled back tiredly, giving a polite nod to the lady.
"Sorry, Mrs. Gloria. Our sparring matches ended up going over by a quite a while. One of our teammates decided we needed a full 3 on 3 battle to truly test ourselves." The ice type scoffed, remembering the Luxray's awful excuse at wanting another chance to beat him down. Thankfully, that time, he'd had teammates to cover his back when the electric type had begun his all out assault.
"Oh, there's no need to apologize dear, Sunshine dozed off about an hour ago. Juniper's out in the garden, if you'd like to drop in and say hi to her before going." The fairy smiled as she pointed to the snoozing ball of fluff, curled up beside her husband, who gave a nod towards the ice type.
"Ah, I probably should. I need to thank her for agreeing to this. Are you guys really sure you're willing to look after her while I undergo all this training? It'll take about a month, and that's-"
"Think nothing of it, dear! Sunshine has been a little angel all day, she's been polite to the customers and helped out where she could. It'd be our pleasure to look after her while you prepare for your new line of work. Now go on, shoo! My daughter has been looking forward to seeing you again all day long!" The Sylveon gently nudged the boy towards the back door, closing it behind him as he sighed softly.
The first thing he heard was her humming. A soft, sweet sound from behind rows of flowers as she dutifully tended to them. Then she spoke up. "There we are! That's all looking better now, isn't it dears? That storm really did a number on you all, but we've got you all looking nice and healthy again! Hopefully it doesn't roll back around, that'd be no good for any of you, would it?" The Leafeon glanced up, seeing the boy staring from across the garden at her.
An embarrassed shriek pierced the still night air.
"K-KAGUYA! I DIDN'T SEE YOU THERE, I- UHM- I WASN'T-"
"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy! What are you yelling about?" The Glaceon slowly moved his paws away from his ears, grimacing slightly.
"Y-you're... not gonna call me weird? For talking to the plants?" The Leafeon's eyes were now downcast, a look of worry on her face. "When I was much younger... back home- before we came here, I mean. The other kids used to make fun of me because I talked to the plants I grew... they called me a freak for doing it. Saying only insane Pokemon speak to things that can't speak back..."
The Glaceon approached the mumbling girl, gently cupping her cheek in one of his paws to lift her gaze to meet his. "There's nothing weird about that, Juniper. Children can be cruel just for the sake of it. If they looked back now, they'd probably feel ashamed of what they did. You're not a freak, you're a lovely Pokemon who has a passion she puts her all into. Don't just assume I'd ever say something so nasty to you, alright? What kinda guy do you take me for?" A slight grin crept up onto the boys face, causing the Leafeon to blush slightly.
"I'm sorry for venting like that... I just... I'm not very brave around people. I try to put on a front in the shop because, well, it's my job. But I'm always so nervous and scared I'll mess things up and do something that'll offend somebody..."
"You're not that kind of Pokemon, Juniper. Even if you did, nobody would hold it against you because everyone could tell just by your face that you'd never have meant to. You're far too kind for that. So no more of these doubts. This is your garden, not mine. My thoughts don't matter because this is your space. I'm the guest here. Besides... I think it's kinda cute... you talking to your plants, I mean. It just shows how gentle you are, you know?" The boy was startled when the grass type lunged forward, nuzzling under his chin as she squeezed herself close him.
"How on Earth can one Pokemon be this sweet? Thank you..."
The Glaceon tensed at her sudden reaction before relaxing slightly, resting his chin atop her head as he hummed softly. "Thanking me? For what?" The Leafeon giggled softly, shrugging her shoulders.
"I dunno... being you, I guess?" That brought a harsh scoff past he ice types lips.
"Now that is nothing special, trust me."
"It's special to Sunshine! It's special to Lumi! And... it's special to me, too..." The ice type rolled his eyes, kissing the Leafeon's forehead gently, which earned a soft purr from the girl before pulling away from her.
"And you're all special to me, too. Sunshine is my daughter, and I love her with all my heart. Lumi may be brash sometimes, but she's also honest and she genuinely seems to care about my daughter and me. And you're far to cute for your own good. Always worrying about what others will think of you if you just acted natural." The Glaceon smiled, resting his armoured paw atop the flustered Leafeon's. "I know it's cliché, but I want to protect that about you. That innocence. I don't ever want to see you lose it... because that's who you are." The Glaceon then groaned, slapping his paw against his own face. "Arceus above, listen to me. We've known each other for not even a full week and I'm here proclaiming how I want to protect your innocence. Jeez..."
The giggle of the Leafeon let him know he'd said the right thing as she looked up towards her peer with a bright smile as she leaned in, nuzzling the older boys cheeks before placing a soft kiss upon it. "You can protect me all you want, if it means I get to spend more time with you. I... really enjoy the time we've spent together, even though it's been very brief all things considered. And I really hope... we can spend more time like this. Just the two of us, under the moonlight..."
The Glaceon hummed again, bashfully scratching behind his ear. "Well, I've gotta think of some way to thank you for what you're doing for me. So, dropping by each evening wouldn't be too much of a hassle."
'Not if it makes you happy' the thought came unbidden, and the Glaceon flushed red as he tried to chase it away.
"Hmmm... then sing a song for me!" Kaguya came crashing back down the reality at the girls sudden request.
"I... what?"
"Sunshine says you're a really good singer, so sing a song for me!" The Leafeon stared up at him, doing her best impression of his daughter puppy-dog eyes.
"I-I dunno about GOOD... I just like singing sometimes, that's all..." The Glaceon coughed slightly, shaking off the butterflies in his stomach. "W-well, uh... what should I sing then?"
"Uhm... hmmmm..." Juniper tapped her paw against her cheek, thinking to herself. "I'm not really sure... something from the heart, I guess?"
The Glaceon's face visibly darkened at her words. 'From the heart...?' She noticed it too. How his face had fallen.
"Oh, uh... I'm really sorry, but nothing is springing to mind right now. Gimme a few days to think about it, alright? I'm sure I'll come up with something..." The Leafeon had seen it, the shadow that had crossed the boys face. Worry began to eat at her mind.
"W-wait a minute! Did I... say something wrong?" Kaguya froze mid-turn, weighing his options.
The Leafeon was stunned when the boy turned back towards her, leaning close and kissing the girl upon the cheek, dangerously close to her lips. "I promise, you didn't say anything wrong, Juniper. I'm just tired, that's all. I'm sorry if I scared you. I'll see you tomorrow, alright? Goodnight." And with that, the boy turned and went back inside to collect his daughter and leave for home.
Juniper placed a paw once again where she'd been kissed, and her face burned a bright red colour when a thought invaded her mind.
'Why weren't you a few more inches to the left?'
