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A dainty but stern cough startled Leaf as she began to drift off. Looking up, all five feet three of the Celadon gym leader stared back down at her.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Care to explain what you are doing outside my gym at seven o'clock in the morning? You must know we do not open for another half hour, right?"
Even whilst insulting her intelligence, Erika's voice sounded as beautiful as a meloetta's song.
Standing to attention, Leaf shot herself up as she stumbled to pick her hat off the grass.
"Oh shit," she muttered under her breath. "How you doin', gorgeous? You want to, uh, get some breakfast or something, uh-"
Arceus, have mercy. Within an instant, the plan Leaf had to ask Erika on a date stumbled out of her mind and left her blubbering like a magikarp.
"How adorable," Erika's tone was smooth as milk. She reached out and tucked a chunk of hair back behind Leaf's ear. Leaf didn't even want to imagine how scarlet her face was. "Unfortunately for you, I am a rather busy lady. Being Celedon's gym leader for the past ten years has left me with many duties that I must attend to. So if you will excuse me."
Her soft hand traced down the side of Leaf's face. Touch of an angel. Brushing past Leaf, she vanished into her gym, kimono sleeves trailing behind her.
"Wait - Erika, please, just hear me out-" Leaf shouted whilst she stumbled to get through the door.
Arceus had other plans, though, as two large security men appeared out of nowhere. Threatening faces hid behind black glasses. Now, Leaf was confident, but she wasn't stupid. The girl knew her limits.
Time to scram.
Blue's apartment was a small and cozy home. Above his gym in Viridian City, it housed Blue, his boyfriend, Red, and their favourite Pokémon, Eevee and Pikachu, who were far too stubborn to be kept inside a Pokéball.
Sighing, Leaf stared miserably into her cup of tea. The greenish-brown liquid swirling around as she stirred it. Silent as ever, Red, from across the table, raised a thick eyebrow.
"You just wouldn't get it, Red. Look at you, all domestic and happy with your boyfriend and your Pokémon and your cutesy little suburban apartment. You don't understand," Leaf exclaimed bitterly, letting out an even more dramatic sigh.
Red shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic look, encouraging her to spill her woes.
"You know Erika, yeah? Celadon's gym leader."
Red just rolled his eyes. Leaf had had a crush on the girl since she got the Rainbow Badge off of her when she was twelve. Red was often the victim of her romantic ramblings, and today was no exception.
"Arceus, it's just when I see her I can't get her out of my head. She's so fucking beautiful; I feel like I'm going insane," Leaf cried. "I've tried asking her out but I just can't do it properly! Whatever I plan to say just comes out all wonky and wrong and, fuck, it makes me so mad. She's a goddamn angel, that woman, and I'm just some stupid lesbian. She always does these little things that make me think that she's flirting but maybe I'm just reading into it too much, man. I wanna hold her hand and give her flowers and be her girl. But I don't know how to get her to show that she likes me. She's always so - so calculated, y'know. I just wanna show her how much she means to me and get her to be my girlfriend."
From the other side of the table, Red looked vaguely disturbed. He pulled out his Rotom Phone - good to see he'd upgraded from that ancient PokéGear he had last time she saw him - and wrote something Leaf couldn't see in the notes app and handed her the phone.
"'Maybe she just doesn't like-'," Leaf read aloud "No don't say that, Red, give me some kind of hope," she moaned, letting out a pathetic attempt at a sob. "You're right. It's hopeless I should just give up. She doesn't like me."
A loud guffaw from the kitchen broke the melodramatic atmosphere in the room.
"You're kidding me right? That girl is crazy about you! You must be delusional," Blue exclaimed, peeking his head through the kitchen doorway. "Last time I saw Erika was at a Kanto gym leader meeting a couple months ago and, girl, let me tell you she could not shut the hell up about you! Always going on about how you would visit her at her gym everyday, giving her presents, telling her stories, putting a smile on her face. She kept asking me for pictures of you as a kid too, hah, that girl is smitten. She's just playing hard to get."
Leaf's face went ghost-white with pure shock, her mouth wide open.
"People like that are the worst, let me tell you, acting all in love when they're not around you and keeping their distance when you're together. You gotta give her a big grand gesture - something she'd really like. Show her that you're serious about this, about her."
After his speech, Blue retreated back to kitchen to continue making lunch - as if he hadn't just drop a goddamn nuclear bomb of information onto poor Leaf, leaving her shellshocked.
A pair of wide eyes turned towards red; he shrugged and continued sipping on his tea.
Ugh, men, Leaf thought. So fucking weird.
Pallet Town's monthly market was a simple comfort for Leaf. It brought her back to a simpler time during her childhood.
Nostalgia overtook her as she walked through the marketplace. The smell of home-cooked food and the chatter of gossiping aunties.
She felt at peace.
Leaf had come to Pallet to take her mind off the object of her worries, and as she and her venusaur trotted past familiar faces, the girl, who had been occupying ninety percent of her brain functions, managed to slip her mind.
Besides her, Venusaur nudged Leaf towards a stand adorned with a plethora of different flowers in every shade of the rainbow. A familiar woman stood selling bouquets of all kinds of flowers with a gentle and warm smile on her face.
"Oh shit, is that Red's mom? She has not aged a day," Leaf said, to no one but herself.
"Hey Mrs Red's Mom!" Leaf could never seem to remember her name. "Nice to see you. You're looking good! You remember me right?" Leaf half-shouted, waving at the woman.
"Oh my goodness! Is that you, Leaf? Wow, I haven't seen you since Red came back from Mount Silver! Wow, haven't you changed, sweetie," Red's Mom replied brightly, her eyes sparkling. They never did that during Red's disappearance; Leaf was glad to see her back to her old self again.
"Wow, these flowers look great! You must be selling lots," Leaf admired.
"Well, actually," the older woman began, "I've been struggling to take care of the allotment I have on my own. I'm thinking about it, but it's just too much for me! I'm selling the rest of my flowers today and all the vegetables and fruits I grew tomorrow. Hopefully, I can give it a new owner who can take care of it much better than I can."
"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, Mrs," Leaf said, apologetically.
Next to her, Venusaur stirred, trying to get Leaf's attention.
"What is it? What do you want, girl?" Leaf inquired, patting it on the back. The venusaur made an annoyed grunt before it gave in. Leaf just shrugged her shoulders.
"You know, I actually saw Red the other day," Leaf began. Immediately, the mother of the son in question's face lit up.
"Oh my goodness! It's wonderful that you two keep in touch! How is he? And his boyfriend, Blue, too? Is he okay? Getting enough sleep?" She rambled on - she'd gone straight into mother-mode.
"Yeah he's great, a real sweetie. That boyfriend of his can be pain in the ass, though. He gives good advice though, I suppose."
Venusaur made another noise, as if to call Leaf stupid, before it finally clicked.
I'm a motherfucking genius, she thought to herself, and sprinted off, leaving poor Red's mother in shock.
Today was a particularly slow day in the gym for Erika. Most of the challengers were local children who wanted to get their first taste of a real gym battle.
Usually, they failed miserably and went home crying.
There was the occasional serious trainer, dead-set on receiving Erika's Rainbow Badge.
She would say about a quarter of the time they won. Erika would accept her defeat gracefully and hand over the badge with no complaints.
On slow days like today, Erika would usually spend her time taking care of her plants and Pokémon. Behind Celadon Gym was a massive greenhouse filled with all sorts of flora.
A downside of being located within a city, however, was that there just wasn't anywhere Erika could go outside to enjoy some tranquil time with nature.
She would have to leave the city for that. Often, she went to gardens in quieter towns just to enjoy the nature.
She longed to have a quiet garden just to herself though. Where she could enjoy time meditating without having to worry about the bother of the outside world. Maybe once she retired.
Waking her from her drifting thoughts, a tall woman burst through her doors, gasping for breath.
"Oh my fucking Arceus, man," Leaf swore under her breath. "Hey Erika! I got something to show you babe!" She shouted, her voice buzzing like electricity
Dumbfounded, Erika carefully stepped towards the panting girl - curious as to what Leaf had planned for today.
Leaf was much taller than Erika - about six inches - and her wild hair went right past her waist; a direct contrast to Erika's short, but neat, black bob.
Erika preferred to wear traditional Kantonian clothing. She felt it provided a unique elegance and grace that suited her personality. In juxtaposition, Leaf stood proud in a black crop top that clung to her muscular form and exposed just enough skin; it made Erika's mind wander to not-so-elegant places.
She wore green cargo shorts - she traded out her skirts for pants many years ago - that were positioned just low enough so that the waistband of her boxers peeked out above, which, usually, Erika would consider greatly un-classy. But with Leaf it drove her absolutely crazy.
After she had recovered from her grand entrance, Leaf leaped towards Erika and picked her up in her arms, bridal style.
"Leaf, what on earth are you doing? Please be careful not to crease my kimono." Erika's worries fell on deaf ears.
From one of her pockets, Leaf dug up a Pokéball, and the next thing Erika knew, the pair were sky-high above Kanto on Leaf's prized charizard.
Startled, Erika wrapped her hands around Leaf's waist for safety. Only a few centimetres were left between their torsos.
"Erika! Just trust me on this! I've got a surprise for you," Leaf boomed, her voice just louder than the scream of the wind.
Instead of dignifying her with a response, Erika just inched closer, pressing her head against Leaf's shoulder and tightening her arms around Leaf's waist.
A quiet way to say 'I trust you'.
"Okay, Erika, you can open your eyes now!"
Carefully, the gym leader's eyes fluttered open. Bathed in the pink hues of the sunset, her powdered-snow skin shone beautifully. Immediately, her hazel eyes glistened with excitement.
"Did you do this Leaf?" She asked, completely in awe with child-like wonder.
"Yeah... yeah you could say that," Leaf smirked, her venusaur huffing sarcastically.
A heavenly garden stood around the two, filled with life from head to toe. Flowers sprouted from every angle, ripe vegetables and fruits ready to be eaten emerged from the ground, and a few stray Pokémon peaked their heads through the leaves to gaze at the safe-haven before them.
The only sounds were the fountain's crystal water flowing and the bird Pokémons' evening songs.
"I just thought... a pretty girl like you deserves a pretty garden all to herself," Leaf whispered, staring straight at her feet.
Standing on her tiptoes, Erika lifted Leaf's chin with her index finger. Her rose-coloured lips broke out into a pure and wonderful smile - teeth and all. She giggled and threw her arms around Leaf's neck.
Angelic was the only word Leaf could describe her as. Her soft features melted Leaf's heart in a way she had never experienced before.
"So... you still up for going on that date?"
"In your dreams," Erika teased as she gently placed her lips against Leaf's.