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“Paniola Town… Mallie City… Hau’oli…” Sun furrowed his brow while looking over the mail that he had to deliver as he tried to map out the best route to take across the islands for deliveries. Now that he had gotten into the swing of things though it wasn’t as if this process took anything more than a few seconds. The drawing of his brow lasted perhaps half a breath before a smile graced his features.
“Looks like this route is gonna be a piece of cake Cent,” he smiled to the Meowth as he cycled through the last few letters before he had to head out. He could already smell the cash that was about to roll in with these next few deliveries!
That was… until one letter gave way to the smell of burning; as in burning a hole in his pocket.
“Kalos?!” he looked over the address several times to ensure that it was in fact the correct place that was listed on the back. Apparently it was being sent out by a girl named Shauna—likely a tourist, and it was indeed expected to be delivered to Kalos.
As in the other side of the world.
He could already feel the expenses taking a toll on him.
“I’ve gotta start charging extra for long distance mail…” he picked up the cat Pokémon and stared at it for a long moment. And with that he had bounced back already, “Well, I can’t just not deliver the letter. So I guess we’re making the trip.”
It was easier said than done, however. The boat ride to Kalos was a long one, and Sun had half a mind to read the letter that was so important to deliver all the way to the Kalos region, but of course he didn’t. Luckily it was addressed to a small town, so he didn’t expect that he would have to be searching any lengthy amount of time for the correct address.
Needless to say it was the first house that he had approached when he finally found himself in the quaint little town of Vaniville. He took in the sight of Kalos architecture, and compared to most he had seen, he liked the homier feel that didn’t hold the same extravagance that he had seen of the houses along the way.
Sun opened the mailbox and inserted the letter, feeling the exhaustion of the journey hit him. It felt a little less than satisfactory though, just dropping it off and leaving it like that before heading home, especially when he had worked this hard to get it here. Most of it was sitting on a boat; but still.
He took the letter out of the mailbox and marched straight up to the door instead. If it was being sent here all the way from Alola it had to be of some importance, right? Which was why Sun gave a brisk knock while putting on one of his nicest grins.
A thudding sound from the second story of the house followed almost immediately after his knock, which to Sun meant that the person was rushing down the stairs to greet him. Though after the first five minutes of waiting he found that this was not the case. He rocked on his heels awkwardly and wondered if the thud had just been part of his imagination, though he doubted that.
He went to knock again, but that was when the door creaked open a bit slowly. Behind the door was a boy—one which Sun could clearly tell had just woken up; he wore sweatpants and a plain long-sleeved t-shirt, not to mention his hair was a bit of a mess as well.
He hadn’t spoken yet, and Sun figured perhaps he was just dazed by being woken from his slumber. Sun jumped right on the conversation, rather than waiting for the poor boy to catch up.
“Hello there, I’m a courier from Alola here to deliver a message for you,” he said with his usual look of accomplishment strewn across his face.
Once again though the boy looked completely baffled, and he was, but not from the lack of sleep. Rather by the fact that what seemed to be a vibrant ray of sunshine was standing in his doorway speaking to him. With his friends in Alola he hadn’t expected any visitors. But he wasn’t a visitor, was he? A mailman. That was all. He started to collect his thoughts as his mind woke up more.
“Anyways, here’s your letter,” he handed it over.
“Oh, uh… thanks,” the boy’s blue eyes traveled from Sun to the letter that was now in his hands. When had it gotten there? He wondered to himself. Moments often passed him by when he was in a slump like this; which was why he had told his friends to go on the trip without him. He needed some alone time and he knew that they would still send him letters of course.
Though when the mailman didn’t leave immediately, he just opened the letter and began reading it. The kind words from Y and Trevor, as well as the extravagant enthusiasm from Shauna and Tierno made him smile a bit.
That smile was enough for Sun, it may have been far more than enough, because he was brought to his senses a few moments later by Cent pulling on his pant leg, ready for him to leave. He grinned sheepishly at the boy and waved a bit, “Well, guess I’ll be going then.”
“Right, thanks again,” the tired boy said as he closed the door.
“That was fun right?” Sun asked his partner Pokémon as they walked back to the docks, “We got to see sights and deliver a nice letter, plus we’re getting paid. I’d call that a win-win-win situation, no?”
Cent just rolled his eyes and lazed on his shoulder for the remainder of the trip, curling up to avoid the cold Kalos breeze. This was just a one-time thing… well the cat could hope.
Those hopes were dashed when Sun seemed to be taking letters to Kalos at least once a week. Sun didn’t seem to mind too much since he had raised the price for overseas mail to compensate for the travel costs, which luckily wasn’t so much that it turned customers away from his work.
Every subsequent visit he made to the boy’s house—Sun had recently learned that his name was X because it was listed on the back of the letters—he seemed to look the same. Still tired. Still neutral faced. Still wearing some form of lazy, around the house clothing. It made Sun curious as to why he was here while his friends were in Alola.
“Just some Winter depression,” he had responded when Sun had asked. It was pretty cold here after all, and after his first trip Sun had worn much warmer clothing. He wasn’t used to the cold weather seeing as it was hot almost year-round in Alola.
Sun nodded, he wasn’t really sure what to say on that topic, but that didn’t stop him from thinking of a way to continue the small talk that they had going, “So, would you want to write a letter back? I wouldn’t mind waiting around for a moment so that I can deliver it.”
“Uh… sure I guess,” X looked around for a moment and grabbed a pen and paper, “You can come inside if you want… since its cold out.”
Sun stepped in and looked around. The house seemed quiet, and if it weren’t for the pictures on the wall and the clear tidiness of the household, he would’ve assumed that X lived alone.
“My mom is out getting groceries,” he commented as he began writing on a small piece of paper. Sun took notice to the way X’s hand moved and stalled as his thought process narrowed in on what he wanted to say. He was a big fan of his penmanship too, or at least what he could make out of it while standing at a respectable distance.
That distance only stayed respectable for as long as Sun could sit still though, “You have really nice handwriting,” he commented absentmindedly while looking over his shoulders. He hadn’t noticed that this caused the boy to jump a little.
“Uh… thanks,” he responded, hurriedly sealing up the letter due to embarrassment more than anything. X handed it over to the postman—though he did take notice that they both held onto the letter far too long—and he bid his farewell for now.
Dealing with people was hard with his current mindset, though he couldn’t say that the though of him not delivering letters once his friends came back from Alola didn’t hurt. Sure, he loved his friends very much, but the mailman brought a new experience with him, one that X didn’t hate entirely.
Sun himself was already thinking about the next time he would be able to travel back and see the quiet boy when the same thought hit him. Likely his friends wouldn’t stay in Alola forever. They’d already been there a while, so it was entirely likely that they’d be leaving soon, and that’d be the end of his Kalos travels, not to mention his best paying customers, and the cute boy he had met.
He supposed that he could ask them the next time he had to deliver a letter.
“We’re heading back in a week,” a blond-haired girl told him, “I was really hoping that we could convince him to come by before then.”
“We can always try one more letter,” a boy next to her responded while taking pictures of the scenery for his friend at home. He wanted to make sure they’d have enough pictures for X that it’d feel like he had actually gone.
The girl nodded and handed the letter and fares to Sun, “Then here’s the last letter,” she smiled.
Sun looked at it once it had made its way into his hand, and it seemed to have an extra weight to it. After a month of sea travel to get these letters to Kalos it was kinda surreal to see he didn’t have to do it anymore. He would miss the fresh new feeling of the region, but more importantly in his mind he was realizing that he would miss the tired boy on the other side of that door.
After the first time he had delivered letters, X had gotten to the door quicker and quicker, and Sun had taken notice. Hand delivering the letter to him made him feel like this was a more personal endeavor than most of his deliveries. Seeing the light of his smile made him feel like delivering the letters had some greater purpose, and it was a mesmerizing feeling for the postman.
So when X opened the door this time, it blew Sun away when he saw the tear stains down his cheeks. Winter depression, he remembered X had called it. And how he wished that depression was something he could take down with a decisive Pokémon battle.
“I’ve… got your last letter,” he held it out, feeling a bit more awkward about the personal delivery since X seemed to be hitting a low.
“Yeah, thanks,” X responded with a raspy voice, as he took the letter and opened it. The small smile came back for a moment, but this time it left quickly, and Sun was sad to see it go. The closing of the door was supposed to signify the end of this endeavor. The walk back to the docks was supposed to be a short one.
Though Sun found himself pacing back and forth on the route. Then with a look of determination he quickly wrote something down and rushed back to X’s house. After a hurried knock he waited with bated breath for the door to open.
“You’re back?” X asked when he saw the courier once again.
“Yeah actually, I forgot that I had one more letter for you, oops,” he held out a clumsily closed envelope with messy handwriting on the back and a crooked stamp. Sun actually hadn’t noticed that much and just held it out with heaved breaths while waiting for him to take it.
X did, and he read it:
“Dear X,
Over the past month I’ve gotten to know you, but not nearly as much as I want to. I’d kick your depression’s ass if I could and we would be on our way to Alola to hang out with your friends. They really miss you, but I don’t think as much as I’d miss you if I didn’t get to see you again. So, will you go out with me?
-Sun”
Sun watched X read it. He had thrown it together last minute, so it was rushed and to the point, but he prayed to Arceus that it got the point across nicely. Though he wasn’t sure how he felt when X looked up at him in utter confusion.
“Uh, who’s Sun…? Should I know them?” he asked, and Sun practically fell over.
“Uh,” he started awkwardly, definitely red with embarrassment now for not indicating anything like that in the letter, “Sun is me.”
Now it was X’s turn to be embarrassed, how had he not connected the dots? The postman was the only person he had spoken to for the last month and he still hadn’t gotten it.
“Oh,” was all he responded with, and he quickly closed the door to save himself from any more embarrassment. Though he silently cursed at himself for slamming the door in the face of someone who had just confessed to him.
Sun was a bit shocked on the other side of the door, “Now uh… that was a flat-out rejection, wasn’t it Cent?” he chuckled, but the laugh rang out a little on the sadder side that time. He guessed… that he had been a bit too forward, and the card did in fact look thrown together. They had only known each other for a month, and even then, they didn’t know each other. X hadn’t even known his name after all, and Sun shouldn’t have expected him too, he hadn’t exactly told him at any point during his visits.
He sighed and began his walk back to the dock, his feet dragging a bit more than they usually did.
“Wait…!” he heard someone call out behind him, and when he turned to his utter amazement it was X, wearing some nice outdoors clothes and a backpack. Sun et him catch up, but when he finally did he needed a moment to catch his breath as well. He wasn’t really the running type, especially after a month indoors.
“Do you think I could uh… catch a ride to Alola with you,” he breathed out.
Sun demeanor immediately picked up and he grabbed X by the arm, “Of course! What are we waiting for? Alola’s sunny skies await!” and with that he was dragging X along with him as the boy desperately tried to keep up with his enthusiastic pace.
A smile graced X’s features once again, and for the first time that month, it stayed.