Chapter Text
The roar of the crowd was still ringing in Nessa’s ears as she stepped outside, pausing as she glanced over her shoulder at the massive structure of the Motostoke Stadium. It was still sinking in that she had just been officially introduced to the entire Galar region as the new Gym Leader of Hulbury. She was proud of herself for this achievement, and she hoped that she could prove to be an adequate challenge for anyone who partook in the Gym Challenge. A smile crossed her face as she turned to start heading back to the Budew Drop Inn, but she was interrupted when she smacked right into someone, causing her to yelp and stumble backwards.
“Woah! Watch out!”
A pair of large hands fell onto her shoulders, preventing Nessa from falling over and instead helping her to regain her balance. She glanced at one of the hands that grasped her shoulders, and her gaze slowly over a muscular arm and eventually her blue eyes met a pair of green set on a freckled face. The man’s lips were turned down to form a frown, and he tilted his head as he looked her over with a concerned look in his eyes. The movement knocked his hat slightly askew and exposed more of his peach-colored hair.
“Ah, sorry!” Nessa said, a dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks as she averted her gaze, embarrassed. She recognized this man as one of her fellow Gym Leaders, and, like herself, he was also new to the job. She hadn’t had a chance to chat with him inside, as after the ceremony had ended, he had been busy speaking to the new, and very young, Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side. She unfortunately could not recall his name.
“I should be the one apologizing!” the man said, the frown on his face replaced with a bright smile that gave Nessa pause, “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “What about you?”
“I’m good!” The man laughed as he let go of her shoulders and stepped back. “I’m Milo, by the way! You’re...Nessa, right? The Gym Leader of Hulbury?”
“Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you, Milo.”
“Nice to meet you too!” Milo grinned and held out his hand towards her, and Nessa grinned back as she took his hand and shook it firmly. She was surprised at how much his hand dwarfed her own. “We really didn’t get a chance to talk inside, so I’m glad I ran into you! Uh, well, not the literal part of that. I still feel bad about it…” He let go of her hand and rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, and Nessa giggled and shook her head.
“Really, it’s okay.”
“Hmm...I know!” Milo said, “Are you hungry at all? Let me treat you to some food as a real apology!” Nessa opened her mouth to protest; he really didn’t need to go to all that trouble for her. However, when she saw the excited glint in his eyes, she couldn’t help but smile and nod.
“All right. I’m actually pretty hungry, now that I think about it.”
“Great! Let’s go! Kabu was telling me about this great hole-in-the-wall diner...”
Nessa smiled as Milo led her deeper into Motostoke, chatting away about the things that they saw and what he had heard from the city’s Gym Leader. From his appearance alone, Nessa had initially thought that Milo looked rather intimidating, due to his broad, muscular stature, but he was anything but. With his cheerful smile and easygoing, friendly attitude, the phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’ seemed very appropriate in this case.
“Ah! Here it is!” Milo said. Nessa smiled when he held the door open for her, and she stepped inside.
“Welcome! Take a seat wherever you like!” someone called out when Nessa and Milo were both inside. They chose a table by the front window, and they looked over the menu as the waitress went to get their drinks.
“So, Nessa,” Milo asked, and Nessa glanced up at him over her menu, “Have you always lived in Hulbury?”
“Yep. My dad’s a fisherman, and my mom’s been selling his catch at the marketplace for as long as I can remember. Part of the reason that I love water Pokemon so much is because of my father. I used to go fishing with him all the time when I was younger. I still do so when I can, but I’m busier now, especially with my new position as Gym Leader.” Nessa was beaming with pride as she spoke. She had always admired her parents and how hard they worked, but she realized that she had been rambling a bit, and a light blush rose on her cheeks.
“That’s great! It sounds like you’re really close with your parents!” Milo said, beaming as he set his menu down and folded his hands together in front of him, “What did you do before you decided to become a Gym Leader?”
“I actually did a lot of modeling. I still take on jobs when I have the time.”
“Oh, I can totally see that. You’re really beautiful, after all!” Nessa blinked at him, her face flushing fully, and she watched a Milo cringed and waved his hands in front of him.
“Oh, s-sorry! Was that a weird thing to say?” he asked, averting his gaze as he tugged nervously on the scarf around his neck. Nessa recovered from her initial shock and smiled warmly, shaking her head.
“It’s okay. I’m flattered, really,” Nessa said, and she chuckled when Milo breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She may have been offended if it was any other man saying something so bold to her out of the blue, but Milo just seemed...so sincere and genuine. It was hard to be upset with him, Nessa was quickly realizing.
The waitress returned with their drinks, and they took the time to order their food. Nessa ordered the seafood platter, while Milo chose the steak and mixed vegetables. Nessa took a sip of her tea, sighing contently as the liquid sent warmth flooding through her chest, and she turned her attention back to Milo.
“What about you, Milo? What do you do besides running the Gym?”
“Well,” Milo started, a toothy grin crossing his face, “I help my parents with their Wooloo farm! It’s a lot of hard work, but I love every minute of it. I’ve been helping mom and dad for as long as I can remember. I’m thinking of incorporating Wooloo herding into my Gym Mission…” Nessa listened to him, her eyes never leaving his. Milo was so...energetic, just bursting with overwhelming enthusiasm with every word that came out of his mouth. Nessa had really never met anyone like him before. She listened with great interest as he gushed more about Wooloo farming, and before long their food was brought out to them.
“Wow! This looks good!” Milo said, digging into his steak right away. “How’s yours, Nessa?”
“It’s good,” she said after taking a bite, “Not as good as the seafood back home, but still not bad at all.”
“Oh yeah! I bet seafood is best when it’s freshly caught!” Milo said, glancing out the window with a wistful look on his face, “I’ve never been to the ocean before. I bet it’s really cool!”
“Well, you could always come and visit me if you want.” The words left Nessa’s mouth before she could really think about what she was saying, and she felt her face heat up. She cleared her throat to cover up how flustered she was starting to feel, and she shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, we are the first two Gym Leaders. It’d make sense for us to get to know each other better and be familiar with our Gyms. It would be useful to be able to give helpful info to challengers too-”
“Wow, really?!?” Nessa’s awkward rambling was cut off when Milo clapped his hands together excitedly as he spoke. “That’d be awesome! I’d love to come visit you sometime! And I’d love it if you visited the farm too! Oh, and my parents would be ecstatic to meet you! They always enjoy good company and you’re really cool and…”
Nessa watched with wide eyes as Milo continued his excited chattering. Meeting his...parents? He thought she was...cool? She didn’t really know how to deal with such raw and unbridled enthusiasm. Nonetheless, she found herself smiling as she continued to listen to him as she ate, and a weird warmth had blossomed in her chest. How odd.
When they had finished their meal and Milo generously paid for it, they both stepped outside. Milo sighed contently and patted his stomach with both hands.
“Wow, that was so good!” he said, smiling as he looked at Nessa. She smiled back and nodded.
“Yeah, it really was. Kabu suggested a great place to eat.”
“You know, there’s this great place in Turffield that makes the best pastries. I’ll have to take you there when you visit.”
“I’d like that. I’ll take you to an authentic seafood place in return.”
“Yes! I’m so ready for that!”
They walked back to the inn together, and all too quickly Nessa found herself outside of the door to her room. She frowned slightly at the thought of parting from Milo so soon, and she was curious as to why she felt so sad about it.
“Oh, Nessa!” Milo said as he took out his phone, “Let’s exchange numbers! That way we can make plans to meet and stuff!” She nodded and entered her number in his phone, and he did the same with hers.
“Well, it’s getting kinda late, and I’m pretty tired,” Nessa said, a large yawn escaping her.
“Right. It was really nice to meet you, Nessa!” Milo said, beaming as he suddenly wrapped his arms around Nessa and pulled her into a hug. She blinked in surprise at first, but she soon found herself hugging him back with a smile on her face.
“Same here, Milo,” she said when he pulled away, “I have a feeling that we’ll get along really well.”
“Yeah? Well, me too! I think we’re gonna be great friends!” Milo said, grinning ear-to-ear as he placed his hands on his hips. “Have a good night, Nessa! Maybe we can meet for breakfast tomorrow before we leave town?”
“I’d like that. Goodnight, Milo.”
Milo shot her one last smile before he turned and headed down the hall to his room. She watched him go until he disappeared around the corner, and she finally entered her own room. A wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over her, and she quickly readied herself for bed and nestled herself into a cocoon of pillows and blankets. She had let her Drednaw out of his pokeball, and he was already snoring loudly from his place on the floor.
Nessa heard her phone buzz on the nightstand, and she picked it up to read the message, which was from Milo.
‘Hey Nessa! I just wanted to say again that today was really fun! Looking forward to tomorrow, goodnight!’
Nessa smiled as she read. Milo really was an interesting man. She had never met someone so excited to be her friend. It was a good feeling, and Nessa really liked him too. The warm feeling in her chest from earlier was back again, and she brushed it off as being unused to Milo’s uncommon, overwhelming enthusiasm. Yeah, that was it.
‘I had a good time too, Milo. You have a good night!’
Milo responded right away with a smiley face, and she returned it. With that, her phone fell silent. She put it away and finally drifted off to sleep, with a large smile on her face. A certain green-eyed, peach-haired farm boy visited her dreams that night, and Nessa was very okay with that.