[1 × 1] Mysteries of Mega Evolution - Pixel × Illy

"That's OK, you go in first!" Shiro called as he unpacked his things. He was more of a morning-shower person, so he would have one the following day. Shiro placed his bag in an empty corner of the room, took out his three Premier Balls, and let his three Pokémon out to play with Hunter's. As he looked around, he realised that he did need the bathroom - he wanted to get changed in private.

"Darn, I should've thought ahead. Oh well, I'll just use the cupboard." Shiro shrugged, taking his night clothes and making his way into the storeroom where the Pokémon beds were. Within a few minutes, he'd changed out of his hoodie and jeans into a looser T-shirt with a Rowlet design, and sportswear shorts. Shiro wasn't a fan of full-on pyjamas, so he just wore lighter clothes when he slept.

As Shiro organised his things, he took a moment to look out the window. It had already become very dark outside, but the lights of the city streets kept the outside well-illuminated,

"Wow, it's so dark already..." Shiro sighed to himself.

 

Shiro nodded, taking the Oran Berry and popping it into his mouth. It was very good.

"Wow, this is really good." Shiro nodded. He made a mental note to ask for more when they reached Camphrier Town, because he wanted to use them in his cooking.

"I've actually got some food too." Shiro smiled, walking over to his bag. He grabbed a plastic container, and brought it back over to the bed.

"These," Shiro said, taking off the lid, "are Malasada donuts. They're a specialty of Alola. We don't have them in Hoenn, but I found a recipe online, and I make them quite frequently. They're good for Pokémon and humans!"

Shiro held one out to Hunter.

"Here, try for yourself."

 

"I've heard that Riolu are surprisingly strong for their size." Shiro chuckled. He pulled out another malasada and divided it into three parts - one for Caitlyn, one for Isaac, and one for his new Litleo.

"Oh, I forgot to give you a name. Come here, buddy." Shiro smiled, petting his lap. Litleo happily jumped into it, making himself comfortable. Shiro pulled out his Pokédex and scanned Litleo.

"OK, so Litleo evolves into a Pokémon named Pyroar, which has different forms based on its gender, just like Espurr and Meowstic. Mine is... a girl! So, I'm gonna name you Leona. Do you like it?" Shiro asked. Litleo, or rather Leona, gave a happy growl, and Shiro hand-fed the Malasada chunk to her, before petting the tuft of fur on her head.

 

Hunter's yawn caused Shiro to yawn - it was as they always said, yawning is contagious.

"Yup, I'm gonna hit the hay too. Night." Shiro said. He made his way to the light switch, flipping it to 'off', and the room was plunged into darkness. It was still easy enough to see, with the light from the town coming through the window, but it was still quite dark. The Pokémon picked beds for themselves, and Shiro and Hunter got comfortable on their sides of the bed.

A few hours passed, and Shiro found himself unable to sleep. He'd managed to get what seemed like seconds of sleep in between what seemed like days of lying there awake. Eventually, he decided he just wasn't tired, so he got out of the bed. As he did, he accidentally woke Caitlyn, who yawned softly. Shiro picked up his half-asleep Pokémon.

"Sorry girl, did I wake you? I was just going to go for a walk, wanna come?" Shiro asked. Caitlyn nuzzled further into his arms - she didn't seem opposed to going out, but she did seem opposed to walking.

"Alright, you spoiled princess, I'll carry you." Shiro chuckled as he slipped his shoes on and left the room, heading out into the night.

Shiro walked around a bit, taking in Santalune City's very different night atmosphere. There were very few people about, and all the stores had closed, but there were still lights on to illuminate various statues and gardens, and some nocturnal Pokémon peered out from their hiding places. Shiro eventually made his way to a hill on the opposite side of town to the Pokémon Center. It was a small hill, but big enough that it wasn't being invaded by the lights of the city, and there was nothing but a small bench on it Shiro made his way to the bench, sitting on it, and placing Caitlyn beside him. He looked up, and was amazed to see the sky filled with stars. It was as if the whole galaxy was laid out in front of him.

"Wow, look at that..." Shiro sighed to himself.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Shiro almost fell off the seat when he heard a soft voice reply to him. He looked around, and found the source of the voice to be a young girl, no older than he was. She had mid-length hair, but because it was so dark, that was the only distinguishable feature he could make out about her. She made her way over.

"Mind if I sit?" she asked. Shiro, who was having trouble with this girl as he did with every new person he met, simply nodded, and shuffled over to give the girl some room. Now that she was closer, he was able to make out more about her. She was definitely his age, with hair that fell just below her shoulders. It was either dark blue or black, Shiro couldn't tell in the lighting, but her eyes were a stunning dark blue. She smiled sweetly at Shiro.

"I always come up here to clear my head after a long day - the lights of the city hide this beautiful sky otherwise." The girl sighed. Shiro didn't respond, so the girl looked at him quizzically.

"Are you OK?" she asked. Shiro nodded frantically.

"Y-Yeah, I'm just... not that great with people. To be honest, you really startled me when you spoke before. I wasn't expecting to find anyone up here..." Shiro admitted. The girl giggled softly, causing Shiro to blush.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Shiro..." Shiro responded.

"Shiro, huh... Doesn't that mean 'white'? Just like your hair!" the girl exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah, but my hair wasn't always like this! I... I made it like this, as a reminder." Shiro said. The girl raised her eyebrow, obviously wanting an explanation. Shiro had never told this story to anyone before, but that was only because nobody had been interested. Everyone always ridiculed him for it, but this girl wanted to know. Shiro began to feel a bit more relaxed about her being near him.

"Well, the reason I made my hair like this is because of my mother. I didn't know her too well, something happened when I was very young, and I lost her. But my father always told me that I looked exactly like her. So I found a picture of her, and changed my hair to match hers. That way, every time I saw my reflection, I could see my mother." Shiro explained, with a wistful look in his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a hand touch the one he had resting on the bench. He looked down at it, and followed the arm back up to the girl.

"I think your hair looks amazing. I'm sure your mother would be so proud of you." She smiled. Shiro blushed - normally he hated people touching him, but this was different. Shiro wasn't sure how to describe it, but something about this girl felt... safe.

"Well, I have to go now. It was nice meeting you, Shiro." The girl smiled. She leant over, gave Shiro a soft kiss on the cheek, then got up and began to make her way down the hill.

"W-Wait! You never gave me your name!" Shiro called. The girl stopped and turned, her face illuminated by the moonlight.

"...It's Lucina." she said, before she turned again and made her way down the hill. Shiro slumped back in the bench, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Did she just... and then she... w-wow... what is this feeling?" Shiro stammered to himself. His train of thought was broken by the sound of Caitlyn's soft snores. Shiro smiled as he picked Caitlyn up, careful not to wake her.

"Come on, princess, let's head back now." Shiro whispered, making his way down the hill and back to the Pokémon Center, where he quietly re-entered the room, put Caitlyn back into her bed, and then climbed into bed himself, falling asleep within minutes.

 

Shiro woke up to the sound of bird Pokémon chirping somewhere outside the window. With a big yawn and a stretch, he looked around the room, still trying to become fully awake.

"I'm gonna shower..." Shiro mumbled, not even sure if Hunter was awake. He slowly shuffled to his bag, grabbed the things he needed, and then shuffled over to the bathroom to have his shower.

 

Shiro got out of the shower, feeling quite refreshed. He fixed his hair, cleaned himself up, got dressed, and exited the bathroom.

"Aah, morning!" Shiro smiled. His three Pokémon all surrounded him, giving him various morning greetings. He made sure he'd given them all a nice pet, before looking over at Hunter.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Shiro asked.

 

"Well, I guess we each have 3 Pokémon - it's only our first Gym battle, I'm sure it's enough. But, I would like to train them up, so I'm putting in a vote to train!" Shiro chuckled.

"Oh, and about the sleeping... I've got something to tell you. Let's do it over breakfast."

 

"D-Did you say... cheesecake?" Shiro said, his face lighting up. If there was something that Shiro couldnt live without, it was definitely cheesecake of any kind.

"Take me to the cake." Shiro whispered, his eyes literally filled with stars.

 

"I-I'll have what he's having - wait, make that two slices of cheesecake for me." Shiro said, a very serious expression on his face. He did not joke when it came to cheesecake. The waitress nodded, making her way inside to prepare the order.

"OK, so, what I was talking about before. So, last night, I wasn't really sleepy, so I went out for a walk with Caitlyn. We made our way up..." Shiro looked around, before pointing north-west of where they were sitting, before continuing.

"...that hill, the one with the lone bench. I was just sitting there, by myself, when this girl came up to me and talk to me. She touched my hand, but I didn't freak out like I did with you, and then she kissed me - but only on the cheek - before she just left. She had the most amazing blue eyes, I think her hair was blue too? She said her name was Lucina. She... likes my hair..." Shiro explained hurriedly, his face growing a deeper shade of red as she spoke.

 

Shiro blushed so hard that his glasses began to fog up. He had no idea what he felt for this girl - he'd just met her, barely knew anything about her, and didn't have much experience with people to begin with.

"U-Uh... what about you? How did you sleep?" Shiro asked, trying to change the conversation topic.