Hello everyone, this story has been on my mind for a few years, and I just now had the courage to write it.
I will warn you, though, there will be slight mature content ahead, but I will post a warning on every chapter when it appears. But that won't be coming for a while. For now it's just peaceful, slice-of-life fluff.
I hope you enjoy!
The train rode across the countryside, the view peaceful and relaxing as it showed herds of Wooloo and Miltanks and Tauros grazing happily.
Chewing her lip anxiously, a young woman sat in the train and took a deep breath. She knew this would be a good thing, a new start in life. That's all she's wanted.
"Leaf?" On her lap, a Leafeon awoke when he sensed his trainer's stress, lifting his head to observe her behavior.
She gave him a reassuring smile and patted his head. "I'm okay, don't worry."
It didn't seem like he was convinced, though, and his paw reached for one of the poke balls in her purse.
She gently grabbed his paw to stop him. "I promise, really."
He stared at her for a long time before deeming that she was indeed well and curled on her lap, but he didn't go back to sleep. He kept his head up and looked out the window with her, his ears flicking occasionally.
The woman wiped her hands on her pants and smiled fondly. He was always so worried.
Things are going to be fine, she told herself. New beginnings, no one will know who I am or my family.
Sinnoh was a long way from Galar.
After an hour, the train came to a stop and she returned Leafeon to his poke ball, fearing he might get stepped on in the small crowd.
She exited the sliding doors and found a secluded spot so she could check the map on her phone. Turffield was a small town, and it wasn't known for being a complicated place to navigate, mostly fields and farmland. But she wanted to make sure she was going the right way.
Once determining the way, she put her phone in her purse and headed out, clutching the straps close to her chest.
The air felt so clear and cool in the afternoon, and a light breeze ruffled the woman's blouse. She inhaled the scent of oncoming rain and walked leisurely on the dirt road.
Her new home wasn't far from here, and the movers were probably finished putting her boxes in the house, so she wasn't in a rush to get home yet. She wanted to take in her new town, and after getting friendly waves on the road from passerby's and truck drivers, she allowed herself to be cautiously optimistic about the future.
When she finally arrived in Turffield, she passed by some wooden fences, probably holding a few of the farm Pokemon she saw on the train. She wondered if it would be okay if she got to pet some of them.
"BAAAA!"
Her thoughts were interrupted by loud bleating, and when she turned her head, she saw what looked to be a large white ball of cotton the size of a boulder rolling towards her at incredible speeds.
"Watch out!"
She froze on the spot, her legs becoming glued to the ground.
Suddenly, a white flash shot out of her purse, revealing a mid-sized green and purple humanoid Pokemon crouching dramatically with one leg and arm out.
"Reena!" It cried, bounding forward from its crouched position to deliver a powerful kick to the oncoming Wooloo, sending it flying with ease as if it were a soccer ball. A distant 'baaa' could be heard coming from the ascending sheep Pokemon before it became too far to see.
Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Tsareena nonchalantly returned to her trainer.
"Wow! That was amazing!" Came the voice that told her to watch out earlier.
Once the woman calmed down, she patted her Pokemon on the head in silent praise and smiled shyly at the stranger.
"Sorry about your Wooloo. Tsareena tends to go a bit... overboard with protecting me." She said sheepishly.
"It's alright, Wooloo's wool is as cushiony as they come, I doubt he even felt that kick!" He replied good naturedly.
The woman took in his appearance. It was obvious he was very built, with his broad shoulders and wide chest, and arms that looked like they could lift a Rapidash. He was also quite short, she noticed, coming to about her height. His hair was a light peach color and he had friendly green eyes. She wondered if he was a farmer.
"I'm Milo, by the way." He said, respectfully removing his hat. "I'm the gym leader here."
"I'm Dorothy," she replied. He wasn't what she was expecting a gym leader to look like, or act like for that matter. But then again, she's never actually met a gym leader before.
He put his hat back on and grinned widely. "Nice to meet you. Are you a new challenger?"
Her eyes widened and she frantically shook her head. "O- oh no! I just moved here, I'm a baker."
"A baker?" His eyes lit up. "That sounds great! Maybe I'll stop by the shop someday to try your creations."
Dorothy wasn't used to this kind of attention. Usually she prayed that no one would notice her, but his kind smile didn't seem to hide any sort of maliciousness.
"Thank you... I start in a few days, I hope I live up to your expectations." She said, her voice growing increasingly quieter. She had no idea how to talk to people.
He didn't seem to notice her awkwardness, or was too polite to say anything. Instead, he directed his attention somewhere else.
"That Tsareena of yours is powerful, that was some kick! You must be a really skilled trainer."
The Pokemon in question huffed and lifted her head in a haughty manner. Dorothy placed a hand on her crown. "As much as I'd like to take the credit, she's just always been this way. Not that her ego needs to get any bigger."
She gently shook her Pokemon's head and laughed softly as she made a noise of protest.
Milo's smile grew wider as he saw her tease her Tsareena. Her demeanor seemed to loosen up when she was talking about her Pokemon, and he took the time to observe her subtly, his eyes immediately drifting to her odd hair. It was a deep purple color, thick and voluminous, and stuck out on both sides of her head in large curls. But the most noticeable was the large strand of hair curling at the forehead. The sight reminded him of a Wigglytuff's hair, and he couldn't help but find it cute. He wondered if she styled it that way on purpose.
She was his height, and had a chubby, curvy figure. Her eyes were a lighter shade of purple than her hair, almost a lavender. They were beautiful.
Two more flashes suddenly shot out of her purse revealing a Leafeon and a Liligant, both Pokemon rushing to their trainer's side.
"Lili!" The flowering Pokemon placed her leaf hands on Dorothy's leg, concern written in her gaze.
"I'm alright, Lili. Tsareena took great care of me." She said reassuringly, patting the beautiful flower on her head.
"What in the world happened?" Asked Leafeon. Tsareena scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Nothing I couldn't handle. Some punk Pokemon was rolling towards us and I sent it flying."
"You didn't hurt them, did you?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. The eeveeloution groaned and shook his head. She was so reckless.
"We just moved here, you don't want to make a bad first impression, do you?"
"It's not like I was picking a fight, that ball of wool was about to knock Dorothy over!" She argued. She saw the human man staring at her human and stepped forward protectively. "And this guy is about to get his teeth kicked in if his eyes keep wandering!"
Dorothy, picking up on her Pokemon's defensiveness, quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"I'm sorry, she's... really protective."
"It's alright." Milo said. "That just means you're a great trainer to have your Pokemon love you so much!"
She could feel a heat crawling up her neck and cleared her throat. "Well, we should probably get home. It was nice meeting you."
Sliding her hand down to wrap around Tsareena's, she gently pulled her along as she started walking away, the other two following dutifully behind.
"It was wonderful meeting you, ma'am. Welcome to Turffield." He said warmly, ignoring the glare Tsareena was throwing at him.
"You really shouldn't be so confrontational with new people." Said Liligant passively, holding Dorothy's other hand. "We're trying to make a new life here, we don't want others to think we're aggressive."
"I didn't like the way that guy was looking at her." Tsareena replied stubbornly.
A sweet scent wafted up from the garland on Liligant's head, and she relaxed when she saw Dorothy's shoulders loosening up and her breathing become steady on the walk to their new home. Her companion on the opposite end lowered her head when she realized how stressed her trainer was and sighed. She hadn't meant to cause trouble.
Leafeon nudged her affectionately. "Don't beat yourself up, we know you just want her safe. But this isn't Sinnoh, we don't need to be on the lookout at every turn yet."
The fruit Pokemon felt herself lighten up at his encouragement. He was right, all she wanted was to protect her trainer. But, she did have a tendency to overdo it at times.
While her Pokemon conversed, the purple haired woman felt her thoughts drift to Milo. She hoped she hadn't come off as rude when they were leaving, she just didn't know how to handle the compliment he gave her about being a great trainer. Talking to people for long periods of time wasn't her strong suit, even if it was something simple. People back in Sinnoh usually avoided her like the plague, so she didn't get a chance to really develop decent social skills.
When her mind started focusing on Sinnoh, she inhaled the scent of Liligant's flower, feeling her mind and body instantly relax, her past immediately pushed aside.
Before long, they reached their new house. It was a modest sized brick house with only one story and two bedrooms. But the best part was the large backyard just begging to be filled with flowers and all kinds of fruits and vegetables!
Feeling her worries melt away, Dorothy unlocked the door and opened it with an uncharacteristic flourish. "Welcome home, gang!"
The trio of Pokemon ran in the box filled room and eagerly scoped out every inch of the new space. What little furniture they brought was jumped and rolled on, and the glass door in the kitchen was thrown open so they could traverse the yard.
The woman laughed at her cheerful companions and watched as they played like children again. She couldn't remember the last time anyone was this happy! The yard would take some time to get ready, but not nearly as much time as it could if she were alone. She was lucky to have such a wonderful team of hard working, loyal friends.
She turned from the yard to explore her new kitchen. The entire house had a very old school design, and the kitchen reflected that with its pastel yellow wallpaper and light blue countertops. The floor was made of white tile, but most of the appliances didn't seem that old, much to her surprise. Well, if they worked fine, then there was no reason to replace them in her mind.
After checking to make sure things were clean enough to not be a major concern, she returned to the living room and stared at the amount of boxes. They didn't bring much, mostly gardening tools and electronics and knick-knacks she could collect over the years. She didn't even have a decent bed to bring, but she knew she would have time to choose a nice, comfortable one soon.
Plopping down on the vintage couch she brought, she took a deep breath and grimaced when she could very clearly smell the dust that had accumulated over the years. This place really needs dusting.
The sounds of her companions playing outside filled her with a deep sense of peace, and before she knew it, her eyes drifted shut.