Work Text:
“My darlin’... Hope I wasn’t keepin’ you long.”
You could smell the freshly cut hay wafting off him the moment he walked in - that and a floral aroma. You looked over to see him, and your breath hitched in your throat: in one arm was a large bouquet of flowers, while the other reached up to brush back a lock of coral-tinged hair that threatened to stay unruly. The faint scent of cologne and body wash also floated past you; he had just gotten off work at the farm, and in record time he had made it back to you with such a beautiful gift. He gave you one of those handsome grins you loved so much.; they made you go weak in the knees, as did the feeling of his touch everytime the two of you made contact with each other. “Work ran a little late this time… I just couldn’t get away fast enough.”
You closed a book in your hands, your cheeks blooming with the same kind of heat that pestered you when you first met the strong farmer. “Oh no, don’t worry about it,” you sighed, already lost in a dreamy state as you perked up in your seat. “It was well worth the wait to finally see you, handsome.”
His face burned in innocent desire (and just the slightest hint of embarrassment), and you could see that he had taken great lengths to prepare for this. His shirt was a crisp white color that sat neatly under a dark green vest and was tucked into a pair of black dress pants with nice black shoes to finish it off. He had tried to comb his hair back, but its messy nature had left him with a mass of hair that refused to act right. “Sweetheart… I-I know this ain’t the best time to do this, what with you workin’ so much,” he started, walking towards you with the bouquet in his hands, “but I don’t think I can hold out much longer..”
You could feel your body tense up, anticipation beginning to boil up inside you. “What do you mean, Milo dear? Work is nothing compared to the time I have with you-”
“I know, love-”
“-and challenge season won’t start until another month from now!”
“Believe me, I know , Y/N, but I’m just…” By now the Turffield farmer had made it to the chair, and he came to stand before you, laying the bouquet of flowers on top of the book you were reading earlier; with him so close up, you could see that sweat was beading up on his face. “We’ve been together for a while now, and there’s a lot we’ve yet to do in life, so I-”
“Yes.”
Milo froze, his face slowly turning a brighter shade of crimson. “Huh?? ...Yes?!”
You looked at the farmer, the color of your own face beginning to match his. Already, you knew the question, and all you wanted to give was your answer. You stood up from the chair and enveloped the large man in the biggest of hugs you could give. You nestled your face into his chest, unable to stop yourself as tears began to fall down your cheeks. “Yes, Milo! I want to spend the rest of my waking life with you! Come hail or high water, I don’t want to leave anywhere unless it's by your side. It’s gotta sound ridiculous… but I think…”
“... Yes, Y/N?”
“I… I…” You looked up and into Milo’s eyes, and through the haze of your emotions, you could see that he too had begun to get teary-eyed. “Milo, I think I fell for you the first day I met you! And I’d give anything to stay with you!”
For a moment you thought you had broken the poor man. But soon his eyes shifted from distant to attentive to you and only you, and he quickly broke into a grin. His big arms wrapped around you, and he spun you in a circle as you cried out in surprise. “Y/N! Y/N!! You golden rose among daisies!! You make me the happiest man in Turffield! Please…”
“Yes, Milo??”
“Please, Y/N…” The farmer stood you back on the ground, and took your hand as he reached back behind him to pull out a small box in blue velvet. “Please marry-”
“BAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Your eyes shot open at the sound of the Wooloo outside your window again. Already, the fleeting memory of the dream you were having- a solid gold one at that- was long gone and replaced with the bitter taste of realizing that you had to wake up now after barely getting any sleep the previous night.
After all, today was a big day. Today was the day that you and Milo were finally going to be having a dinner date today.
Well, not that you would call it a date out loud, but it was close enough at this point. It had been about three weeks since Caleb fell sick, and without his parents to help out, the farmer had summoned you to be a helping hand back at his home. Milo told you afterwards that his parents were so surprised that he had called on you that they wondered what was so special about you, so he had to tell them his promise to make you dinner. They had been giving him shit for it since then despite multiple reschedulings, and they, along with Caleb who had missed getting to meet you that day, were excited to meet you soon. But Milo had stressed that it wouldn’t be right to just present you upfront to them like it was a first date, and asked for them to take a trip out of town for the day.
That, of course, had stung a little, but you played it off as being funny since you weren’t exactly ready to meet his parents either. Meanwhile, your parents barely knew about Milo due to the fact that they both worked at the moment and barely had time to call when it was convenient. This, of course, was why you had stayed up the previous night, as your mother had called wanting to hear more about this cute un-named farmer you had managed to befriend.
You hadn’t told them he was a Gym Leader, though. You were almost scared to..
“Baaaahhh!”
You could tell from the higher-pitched bleating that the Wooloo outside was one of the younger ones. Moving over to the window, you unlatched it and leaned out onto the window frame. “Good morning, Gertrude and Molly! And hello there, sweet Olive! How are y'all doing today??” Olive, alongside Gertrude and Molly sniffing dandelions nearby, bleated back in happiness. She was one of the smallest Wooloos you had ever seen, but she had warmed up to you when you were helping out Milo, and so the Gym Leader had decided that you should be the one to name her. To top it all off, Milo tied a blue ribbon around her neck with a cute bow up towards the sky. You had trouble recognizing all the different Wooloo that were on the farm, so the blue ribbon helped you to see which one was the tiny Pokemon if she ever got lost in the herd.
Gertrude trotted forward with an envelope in her mouth, closed by the same leaf-shaped sticker you had come to anticipate. The older Wooloo nodded to you to take the letter, and you happily did so, quickly tearing it open:
Mornin’ Y/N! I hope this letter finds you well! I think some of the Wooloo have taken to tryin’ to eat anything that isn't grass. A bit dangerous, y’know?
I hope you’re excited for today’s dinner plans! I know I’ve asked about what all dishes you like, but Mum’s got a new recipe that she borrowed from a friend of hers back in Wedgehurst that she tried a few nights ago, and I think it'd be perfect to try out for us! I also hope you don’t mind, but I’m gonna try out a new dessert recipe as well, so I'm afraid I’ll be busy until pretty late! If all goes well, dinner will be ready about 5’o’clock, so I’ll be hopin’ to see you then!
Can't wait to see you, love!
~ Milo
You beamed with excitement at the thought of trying Milo’s cooking. Ever since you missed his offer that day at the farm, you had been kicking yourself in the rear mentally for leaving so soon and not taking him up on his offer. No, his promise . He had promised to make dinner for you as a thanks for helping out.
And following an uncomfortable conversation about your past, you had left early.
Yes, you hated it. You didn’t want to be so nervous about your past, but it still dug into you like the claws of a Weavile in your back. You couldn’t split yourself from it. The support of your family didn’t quite help back home, and neither did the stares and rude comments of anyone that knew what happened in the city. Despite all that, it pained you to know that you couldn’t even tell Milo. By now you couldn’t deny that you had intense feelings for the farmer/Gym Leader, and you had hoped that you’d be able to tell him about this deep dark secret you were harboring. But your fear that he would look down on you for it, as many did if they didn’t just laugh and make fun of you for it, held you back from ever bringing it up again.
But if there was one thing that had boosted your spirits after that day, it was that you could let Milo meet your own team of Pokemon, if only part of it. Galar had strict rules about Pokemon from other regions being brought over, so when you decided to make the move, you had to leave your Pokemon with your parents for the time being. Paperwork was a pain in the ass, after all, and you had enough on your hands with getting your personal belongings over and getting the new house sorted out. You managed to get three of them approved to make the journey over, and they had arrived early two days ago to your surprise. Hopefully the farmer would like of the team you had loved for so long.
You glanced up at the clock in your room. The hands read a quarter after noon. You had time to get cleaned up and get ready, but first, you needed to let your guests in.
Three hours ‘til date time…
Milo stood in the dining room of his parents’ house, mulling over the recipes he had picked out for the day. He was an adept cook thanks to his mother’s teachings, but he had learned to give his own creations a special twist. Thankfully he had time to prepare these courses, but still his mind was wandering. He was concerned about your reaction to talking about your time in Johto’s Gym Challenge. Milo had experienced older trainers that had gone through challenges in Galar or Kalos and struggled at some point, but never to the point of being so.. concerning.
It wasn’t any surprise to his family that Milo had been thinking about you more often than he did most friends. As a Gym Leader, he cared for many of the trainers that came through his gym’s doors, and his soft-heartedness, friendly demeanor won him many fans. But many could see that he was especially interested in your existence in Turffield, and a few of the Gym Leaders, especially Nessa and Kabu, had begun to tease him about his doting attention on this girl that none of them had ever met. It intrigued them to hear that you didn’t seem to be an active trainer at all, not even having your own team to battle or function with on hand. Nessa asked if maybe she could meet you soon, as she was perceptible about anxiety in trainers and was good at easing minds before battles. But Milo told her that it might be a while before that was possible.
Not because he was scared the other Gym Leaders wouldn’t like you. But because he was scared you might not like them.
The farmer looked back at the clock on the wall, and grinned. By now, the Wooloo he had let out had made it to your home and delivered his letter. If all went well, the two of you would have an amazing night- and hopefully, he would be able to ease you out of whatever shell you were trapped in.
Two and a half hours ‘til date time…
You stood in front of the mirror, primed and ready for the dinner date. Your dress flared around you, and your jacket hung on the doorknob of the closet, ready to go out. Of course, you had time to waste before then, but you couldn’t wait to see if your planned outfit would look cute. You were glad to see that you had picked right, and hoped that it would stun Milo speechless.
Outside, you could hear the Wooloo that came to visit wandering around the backyard of your house. Gertrude and Molly were closer to the window, but you could hear Olive sifting around in your flowers. You grinned as she bleated out in surprise at something, probably another wild Pokemon, and turned back to the mirror to look back over your outfit. You decided that you needed some jewelry to cap things off, and pulled over a small box from atop a dresser and opened it; this was your jewelry box, and you knew exactly what you needed. Quickly, however, you had gotten lost on reminiscing about a few pieces you had gotten from your grandmother back in Ecruteak City before her passing...
You were in a dazed trance when the sound of alarmed bleating resonated from outside, and you whirled around to look towards the open window. You didn’t hear anything else following it. “Gertrude? Molly??”
Still silence.
“Olive?? Are y’all okay?!”
A panicked bleating came closer to the window, and Gertrude and Molly started trying to jump to get your attention. You ran to the window and looked out. “What’s going on?!” You could see that the two Pokemon were scared half to death, but what really worried you was that Olive was nowhere to be seen. “Olive??!” You leaned out as you called the Wooloo’s name, but still no answer came back.
“Baaah!!” Molly bleated back at you. “Baahh! Baahh!!”
You looked around, straining to see if you could catch a glimpse of the baby Pokemon or her blue ribbon, but when you had no such luck, you quickly grabbed your jacket and began to head for the door. You stopped when you realized that you didn’t know if something may have ran off with Olive, and figured it might be wiser to go prepared. With no time to waste, you grabbed your purse off the counter and looped it onto your shoulder, and soon you were out the door.
Two hours ‘til date time…
Milo looked at the clock and frowned. He had worked efficiently to get the food done and ready, but has miscalculated just how efficiently he had worked. Dressed in a crisp white shirt and pressed blue denim jeans, now he was left with a sizeable gap in time between now and the time he had asked you to be here, and worried that the food might be too cold by that time.
“Milo! Have you seen Molly anywhere?” Caleb ran in from outside, having been playing with the Yamper that helped to herd the Wooloo around. “I haven’t seen her in a while, and some of the Wooloo are gettin’ pretty antsy.”
“Hm?” Milo looked at his brother, raising an eyebrow in concern. “Molly’s not out there now? What about Gertrude and Olive?”
But Caleb shook his head. “Nope, not one of ‘em. Did you send ‘em to go get that girl you like?”
Milo’s cheeks flared pink, but he brushed it off with a grin and look back to the food on the countertop. “Nah, just to send her a note.” He looked back out towards the door, taking a moment to think back to that morning. “... But that was a few hours ago.”
“D’you think they’re in trouble?” Milo looked back to Caleb, surprised to see that the young kid looked worried. “Don’t they usually come back after a while?”
“Cal, I’m sure they’re just having fun at Y/N’s house-"
“But still! They’ve been gone for so long… And Olive’s with them! She’s too young to be gone for so long!”
Milo rubbed the back of his neck. He knew that Gertrude and Molly would keep a younger Pokemon like Olive on the path and that once they reached your house, they’d be under watchful eye… Right?
But one look at Caleb would tell Milo that it was best to play it safe and call you just to check. He pulled out his Rotom phone, and nodded to Caleb, smiling at him. “Alright, I’ll ring Y/N just to make sure they’re okay.”
Caleb frowned. “You don’t have to do that... I can just run down to her house and find them, right? It’s not that far away!” Before Milo could stop him, Caleb spun on his foot and bounded out of the door, quickly calling to two of the Yamper outside to come along and running from the farm.
“Caleb!” Milo called after him, but his little brother was just a little too fast for him. “Heavens, that boy is something…” The farmer looked back down at his phone, looking at the time. There was still a good bit of time before the dinner date, so it’s possible that the group of Wooloos were just lounging about at home with you. But still, he couldn’t rid himself of a small flame of concern. He hated to bother you, but Molly was Caleb’s favorite Wooloo and would be devastated if anything had happened to her.
> “hey Y/N, i know you’re getting ready for tonight, but Caleb is worried about the Wooloo that went over there. everything’s okay over there, right?”
Milo sent the text, and looked back at the clock.
> “and i know i said we’d eat at 5, but i’m almost ready with everything, so if you want, you can come over early and we can eat about 4!”
The farmer’s cheeks burned. He couldn’t wait to see you tonight.
One hour and a half ‘til date time…
Your breath was ragged, and your lungs and legs ached. Behind you, Molly and Gertrude shivered and shook as they trotted along at a brisk pace. You didn’t know how long you’d been wandering around in the wooded countryside, or what time it was. Your head spun at every sound, and your calls for the baby Wooloo only echoed off the trees that surrounded you.
“Olive! Olive, where are you??! Please tell me you’re alright!!”
“Baahhh!”
Molly’s fearful reply from behind nearly gave you a heart attack. You looked back to the Pokemon behind you, and you raised a finger to your lips. “I know you’re scared… I am too!”
“Baaaahhhh!” Gertrude bleated back, trotting towards you.
“But we can’t just leave Olive alone, wherever she is… What if she’s in danger??”
“Baahhhh!!!” Gertrude gestured back towards your house. Namely, back towards Milo’s farm.
“I know, I should’ve gotten Milo’s help. Here, I can just call him-” You had opened up your purse to get your phone, but you quickly discovered that in your haste to find Olive, you failed to pick up your Rotom phone.
Of course, you forgot your phone . You were sure that Molly and Gertrude were judging you with their beady eyes only looking you up and down like “ woman, are you okay? Do you know what you’re doing? ”
But also inside your purse were the three Pokeballs you had received the other day. You’d almost forgotten that part of your team was with you, and you had something of an idea. “I think I know how to get a hold of him,” you said, half-heartedly smiling as you realized that things wouldn’t necessarily be working out in your favor today. Grabbing one of the Pokeballs and converting it to full size, you could feel on the underside of the ball a carved shape; it was your way of telling which Pokemon was in the ball when in a pinch. “Come on out, Tawny!”
Tossing the Pokeball, it released a bright light, and landing on the ground, a Furret stood with a lick of messy fur sticking up on its head. “Fure-fur!”
“Oh, I forgot to brush you the other night, didn’t I?” You laughed for a moment, but quickly snapped back to attention. “Tawny, I need you to go and get Milo at his farm. It’s an emergency!”
“Fur??” The Furret looked at the Wooloo behind you with curiosity, while Molly and Gertrude continued to shake behind you.
“Please. I don’t know what’s happened, but there’s a lost Pokemon somewhere in here and I don’t know if I’ll be able to find her in time for…” You still had the date in mind, but at this point, it was safe to assume that you’d be missing the date to find Olive. That was the sacrifice that had to be made. “Look, just take Molly and Gertrude with you! They’ll know the way back!”
You looked back at the Wooloo, and Molly stepped forward with uncertainty. “Baah!!” The Pokemon bleated loudly and motioned back to the village.
“Please just trust me on this,” you said, leaning down to the Pokemon. “If Olive is in danger, then I need to be here to get her out. Gertrude can stay and help out, but please, I can’t do this alone!”
Molly and Tawny looked back at one another, and finally they both nodded. Molly turned and began to roll back towards the farm with Tawny close behind, and once you knew they were both gone, you and Gertrude started further into the woods. After a while, you wondered if it was supposed to be getting as dark as it was the longer you kept walking, and behind you Gertrude huffed in exhaustion.
“I’m sorry, Gertie… I shouldn’t have dragged you and Molly with me on this..”
“Baahhh!!” Gertrude bleated adamantly. The Pokemon trotted in front and you and bleated again. “Baaaaaahhhh!!”
“But I didn’t think it was gonna take this long!”
“Bahhh!!!”
“I can’t help it!! I panicked and made a rash decision!”
“BAAAAHHHH!!”
The reverberation of the Wooloo’s calling echoed off the trees that surrounded you and threatened to break your eardrums. “Okay!!! You don’t have to yell at me-”
“Baahh!! Baahh!!!”
It was weak and far off. Had it not followed after the silence of Gertrude’s bleat, you might not have heard it. But it was familiar, and it made your heart drop. “Olive?!!”
“Baaahhhh!!” It sounded like it had gotten closer, and soon you could hear the sounds of something trudging through the forest.
“Olive!! You’re here!” You and Gertrude began running towards the sound of Olive’s calling, but as you neared the area where you thought Olive was, you could hear something else coming your way. All too quickly you saw what it was, and by that point it was too late to turn back.
By this point, it was half past 4pm, and Milo stood outside by the Wooloo pen looking over what remained of the flock, two Pokeballs in hand. By now, the rest of the Wooloo had become increasingly agitated over the disappearance of the other three Pokemon, and the Yamper were casing the town alongside Caleb in the event that they showed up outside a store. It wasn’t the fact that you hadn’t shown up yet, or that the Wooloo were still gone that bothered him. It wasn’t even that you hadn’t responded to his texts yet.
It was that a little over thirty minutes ago, Olive’s mother, a Dubwool named Marie, had begun to thrash about in the pen. The Wooloo were close enough that when one was hurt, the whole herd was quick to protect them or try to help. With all of them on edge, it seemed rational that one would be a little over the edge. But it was Marie, who wasn’t a temperamental Pokemon to begin with. It was so much that some of the older Wooloo and Dubwool were avoiding her in the pen.
Milo wondered what to do when he heard the sounds of two things: one was the sound of a Yamper going nuts. The other was the sound of a Wooloo in panic coming towards them. He spun towards the latter sound and was surprised to find Molly rolling towards him at top speed. “Molly, you had me worried sick!” He began to brace for impact when he saw a brown and tan Pokemon chasing after it. “What in the-” The Wooloo slammed into him, catching him off-balance, and the smaller Pokemon darted around her and climbed up the farmer with ease.
“Furr-fur!!” The long Pokemon sniffed Milo all over, and quickly jumped down and tugged on his jeans’ leg. “Fur! Fur!”
“What is it? What’s wrong??”
“Baaahh!!!” Molly uprighted herself and bleated in alarm at Milo. “Baah! Bahh!!” She gestured towards the direction they had come from, which looked to be beyond the boundaries of Turrfield. It was also far from your house, and close to the woods that sat just near the boundary. Very rarely did those woods bother anyone, but now Milo hoped there wasn’t something in there that was disrupting anything. Or hurting other Pokemon.
“Alright, I hear ya. Let’s head out!”
The sound of rampaging behind you only set your mind on fire as you ran through the woods, carrying one small ball of wool wrapped in your jacket and another one trailing right behind you. Long scrapes ran down your arms from darting between branches of low-lying trees trying to protect Olive, who was also scared and dirty from her earlier escape. You hadn’t had the chance to see what exactly was following you, but whatever it was definitely eclipsed you in size and sounded like a freight train stomping through the woods.
Gertrude tried to stay close behind, with sticks and leaves attempting to get caught in her wool. You could hear her struggle from time to time, but she’d break free and catch up away from whatever was after you. At one point you reached a clearing that split into two paths going opposite ways. You didn’t know how far you had gone into the woods, but the path to the right looked to be the best choice, so the two of you headed that way. You quickly found out, however, that the well-lit path you had selected went into a slope that caught you and the two sheep Pokemon by surprise. You were able to tuck into a roll to protect Olive, but upon hitting the bottom of the slope, you screamed in pain as a bolt of searing heat shot through your left arm. Olive cried out as she felt the impact of the ground meeting you. The small Pokemon struggled in your arms and managed to squeeze her way out, but shrieked at the sight of you crumpled on the ground.
“Agh… Not now… Gertrude?!” Nearby Gertrude had landed in a cluster of bushes and was wrestling with the branches that kept her tangled. Her frustrated bleats only increased as her wool clung to the sticks and brambles. “Gertrude… d-don’t worry!! We’ll get you out!!” Your arm protested at every move and your knees and legs wobbled as you tried to stand. Your purse laid on the ground, its contents scattered around. Both remaining Pokeballs were somewhere out of your reach, and you were unsteady enough that you had only a few seconds to reach and grab the closest one you could find before you fell back to the ground. Your head throbbed in agony to the stomping of the creature that had chased you coming closer, and Olive trembled before hiding behind you. There was no more time to run and hide anywhere as the towering pursuer finally met your eyes: it was a Trevenant, large and frightening. You had seen one before in a magazine from Kalos, and Milo had told you that they rarely attacked any Pokemon. Humans, however, were a different story, and if it had its way, you had likely crossed it for the last time. “Stop… I don’t mean any harm,” you tried to reason with it as it came closer down the slope, the Pokeball resting uneasily in your hand as you tried to sit up. “I just came to find Olive, that’s it-”
The Trevenant roared and raised its limbs, ready to strike. It glared you down, the single eye boring a hole into you that set you off any ease you could be on. You couldn’t feel the carving on this Pokeball, so you hoped that whatever was inside would be able to help out. “Fine… Then we’ll fight!” You tossed the Pokeball into the air, releasing another bright light that landed and coalesced into a solid form: standing before you was your Machoke, aptly named Mr. Muscle. The muscled Pokemon growled at the Trevenant and flexed his muscles before quickly getting into a crouched stance and charging the bigger Pokemon in a flurry of swings and cries.
While the battle raged on, you could hear Gertrude whimpering as she had seemed to give up on getting out of the bushes. With Trevenant’s attention focused elsewhere, you began to make your way slowly around to where the Wooloo was stuck, with Olive following close behind. You motioned to her to stay quiet, and despite her shivering, she seemed to understand. Finally you made it to Gertrude, and for once since you had entered the woods, you smiled. “It’s okay Gertie, we’re gonna make it out of here,” you whispered to her.
“BAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” You whirled to find Olive scared by a wild Joltik hanging from the trees, but the moment she had made any sound, the Trevenant whirled to find you and the Wooloo seemingly trying to get away. In quick motion, it blocked an attack from Mr. Muscle and tossed the Machoke into the trunk of a nearby tree. You hadn’t been paying attention to the battle, but unfortunately for Mr. Muscle, the tree Pokemon had the advantage over him. The Machoke fainted, and with no other Pokeballs left, you were down to your only one left, if you knew where it was. This was it, you were finally cornered…
Or you thought you were. A violent wind began whipping through the forest, and Trevenant was hit hard enough by it that it staggered and fell back away from you. Something howled from atop the slope before jumping down, and soon you saw a Shiftry begin to attack Trevenant. From under the bushes, something rolled to your knee, and you looked down to find your last Pokeball shining back at you. It was scratched from hitting some trees, but you could see the carving that told you which Pokemon was inside. Fortunately for you, you had a lot of trust with this one. “Come on out, Cooper!”
Cooper was your pride and joy. You started your journey with him, and went through your worst moments with him. If anything could beat Trevenant, it would be your precious Typhlosion. It came out of the Pokeball, standing strong and tall before igniting its back for battle. Just before he attacked, he looked back to you, and you could see it plain as day: Cooper had missed battling with you and was excited. He dove into battle with Trevenant, while Shiftry attacked its other side, and you refocused onto getting Gertrude out of the bushes. The bushes weren’t thorny thankfully, but you had to navigate your leg between branches to hopefully work and push her out to where she could roll free of the twigs. The branches scraped up your knee, and Gertrude flailed a bit before she was finally able to get off the branches, but she wasn’t badly hurt. You were also able to inspect Olive for any injuries, and aside from what seemed to be a sprained hoof, she was fine.
You looked back to the battle and found that Cooper and the Shiftry was all but victorious in the battle, having winded the Trevenant down to barely swiping at the opposing Pokemon. Mr. Muscle still laid by the tree he had slammed into, still unconscious. You called him back to his Pokeball just after Trevenant suffered one final blow, standing for only a moment longer before finally collapsing.
“It’s finally over…” You sighed, hints of adrenaline still coursing through you despite the pain you felt. The world swayed as you moved to begin picking up what you could find of your belongings, the purse having long since been trampled in the Pokemon battle. Managing to find your other Pokeballs, you called back Mr. Muscle and had almost called back Cooper when you heard the sounds of someone calling out above the slope.
Just a few moments earlier...
The late day sun was beginning to shift to the side as Milo and the Pokemon quickly made their way into the woods. There wasn’t any time to waste, as either you or the Pokemon could be hurt or worse. Tawny led the way with Molly right behind Milo, who was running as fast as he could. He had checked his phone so many times hoping that you weren’t in the woods, every passing second of silence eating away at him. He had his Shiftry and Flapple for protection, and Caleb sent a Yamper with him to try and track your scent. The further they went, the more uneasy Milo felt. How far could you have made it in?
It was at one point that Yamper and Tawny paused in a small clearing; it was clear that there had been something massive resting there that was disturbed. But it made Milo sick to his stomach when he found a blue ribbon caught on a branch. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Olive’s, and it only made him want to find you and the Wooloo right then and there.
The Yamper barked, and Tawny mewled in response. They had found your scent! Milo’s heart began to race, as the fear that he might be far too late began to take hold. His hand quickly went for one of his Pokeballs. “Come on out, there’s no time to waste!” The bright light from the Pokeball released his Shiftry, who quickly followed after the smaller Pokemon at a rapid pace. It seemed like ages had gone by until they came to the same clearing you had to choose a path from. For a moment it seemed as though the Pokemon had lost your scent, and they stood confused. The woods seemed so silent that all Milo could hear was his own heartbeat. It pounded like a drum, almost like the base at one of Piers’s concerts.
Also just like Piers’s concerts, the sound of something calling out broke the silence, and the moment the group heard it, Shiftry darted to the right with Milo right behind it. All too quickly he could hear the sounds of something large moving around and bellowing loudly. He broke into a cold sweat; they were out of time! “Shiftry, use Hurricane on the Pokemon ahead!” The Pokemon quickly reached the top of the slope and sent out a massive gust of wind that rocked the trees around them. Milo could hear whatever it was moving about and heard Shiftry howling at whatever it was before. Tawny also disappeared into the trees beside them, and Milo could do nothing but catch his breath for a moment. He was almost scared to see what was down there, but feared extremely for your safety.
“Come on out, Cooper!”
The farmer’s heart could’ve burst at the sound of your voice resonating from beyond the slope. His eyes teared up as he realized you were down there with whatever Shiftry was fighting and likely could’ve been hurt by it and moved to summon his Flapple, but then realized something. He could hear Shiftry’s grunts and that of whatever it was fighting… but he also heard a third Pokemon’s grunts as well. Was it one of your own?
It wasn’t long before the sounds of battle tapered off, and the sound of the imposing Pokemon that had likely caused this fainting from the loss. Milo could hear you speaking, and the sounds of a Pokeball being used woke him up from his exhaustion.
“... Y/N?? You alright?!”
Milo’s calls had almost seemed like an illusion until you remembered that he had a Shiftry in his team. Your heart pounded as you realized that he came just in the nick of time. “M-Milo?? Is that you??”
“Y/N… Thank heavens, you’re okay!” You could hear his footfalls growing near, and your eyes welled up with tears as you were finally able to see him face-to-face for the first time that day. He was surely handsome in the outfit he had picked for the date, but that was the farthest thought from your mind as you could’ve ran to him and fallen into his arms.
Unfortunately, you began to fall as your legs were still uneasy, with the luck that Cooper was able to catch you keep you steady. Milo frowned as he came down the slope. “You’re not hurt real bad, are you? Gods, what happened to your arm?!”
“Ah, I j-just hurt it when I fell down the slope,” you stammered. You didn’t know what kind of shape you were in, but you knew for sure you weren’t in any shape to walk back to the farm. “Milo, what time is it? I left my phone back at home and couldn’t go back to get it-”
“Don’t worry about the time, Y/N.” Before you could say anything, the farmer had pulled you into his arms. It wasn’t so tight that you were in pain, but it felt like the kind of hug that one would get when the other was so scared of losing them again. You couldn’t see Milo’s face, but you could hear it in his voice: the pain he had come so close to experiencing was overflowing. “You don’t have to worry ‘bout anything anymore.”
You shivered at the cracking of his voice, and soon you wrapped your own arms (or what little you could do to move the one you had injured) around him. Your energy was lost, and your walls came crumbling down. You didn’t know how long you cried in his arms. You didn’t even know how long he had cried into your shoulder. All you knew was that everything was finally okay.
The next few days were a blur following what happened in the woods. Milo would stop by and tell you all about what he was hearing around town. Apparently some poor soul on another farm had upset the Trevenant the day before while it was playing with another Wooloo, and while wandering near the woods, it had come across Olive sniffing around your land. It hadn’t meant to scare the baby Pokemon, but Olive had been so frightened by it coming up behind her that once she started rolling away, she couldn’t stop until she bumped into a tree in the woods. By that point, you had noticed Olive missing and went to find her. The Trevenant had likely tried to comfort Olive, but the Wooloo had panicked and gotten caught by her ribbon, pulling it loose before trying to hide. Once the story was figured out, you decided you wanted to return to the woods to apologize to the Trevenant for upsetting it, and had hoped to possibly catch it as well.
Milo, however, had a lot of questions. Namely about what kind of Pokemon you had. He never brought up why you had never mentioned them, he just wanted to get to know them more. Cooper and Tawny, especially, as they got to know the farmer right quick once you were cleared from the hospital right after the two of you had come back from the woods. Your arm was fractured and you were bruised and scratched all over, so Milo made sure that you were resting well and long after you were ready to go back to work around town. You couldn’t help but love how he fretted over you like a mother hen when he came by, and you laughed at how he spoiled your Pokemon when they were released to meet his own team. He’d shadow-box Mr. Muscle while you laid cuddled with Olive and Tawny, and he’d brush Cooper’s fur while he brushed the Yamper and Mudsdale when he did chores outside.
All the while, he never complained that the date didn’t go as planned. Never groaned about how many more times it would be rescheduled. All he ever said was that he couldn’t wait for things to settle back down so that he could finally treat you to dinner.
You just hope he never found out that you overheard him wishing he could call it a true first date.