Life's Requiem, Death's Caterwaul (Champion Leon X OC [Slight x Raihan])

A Toast

Present Day

Johto,

Outskirts of New Bark Town

The Johto breeze was cool on Cassandra's skin, eliciting a relaxed sigh as she took in the sights around her. As usual, the Ranch was peaceful, even with a plethora of Pokémon of all sizes, types, and home regions from far away lumbering about. It was a harmonious place, where natural enemies saw one another as friends--for the most part--enjoyed each other's company and shared food and whatever it was Pokémon spoke about. It was a sight to behold, and she loved every moment of it. It was her little haven in a world fraught with danger wherever she went--at least, it certainly seemed that way. She dared to believe she was used to it at this point, what with her luck, but either way, it made her that much more grateful to have her sanctuary waiting for her whenever she came home.

And now, she wasn't alone.

The red headed young woman smiled as she watched her lover--her boyfriend, she giggled silently to herself--wrestling with his Charizard while her own female one watched with excitement. Leon, former Champion of Galar and now Battle Tower King on prolonged vacation--research, as he put it--was playing around without a care in the world, and she loved both it and him. Truly, having him come here was a blessing, and she felt foolish for ever being afraid he might have forgotten her. Long distance was never easy, but here he was a month since he first touched down at her Ranch that fateful day, and with no intention of leaving.

At least, not yet--and not to Galar.

Rather, another land neither of them had visited was calling their name. She had originally thought to have Leon take on the Indigo League first, but Professor Sycamore's request for help in a whole new region was too good an opportunity to pass up. Not to mention there was talk of trouble. It was like it was made for them, and she was just glad they were given some time before they had to leave. Sycamore was happy to allow them a month to prepare and get their affairs in order before heading over--the region was fairly far away, after all, situated closer to Unova and that had been nearly half a day's flight.

So they'd happily opted to get the Ranch squared away--her Pokémon and the land needed to be cared for after all--and gave them plenty of time to train the team members they were going to bring. It had ended up a good excuse to go visit Charizard Valley to impress Leon, who had never seen such large variants of his prized Pokémon. Her Chara had certainly been impressed, which had only fired up both fire-types up to train as hard as possible.

Now here they were, just about ready to go. They'd gathered their things, bought the supplies they needed, picked the Pokémon they planned to bring, and now all that was left was to enjoy their final days together with friends and family. Tonight, in fact.

"Leon!" she shouted at last, bringing a pause to her boyfriend's rough housing. Both trainer and Pokémon rolled back to their feet eagerly. The purple-haired young man took off at a light jog, while his Charizard remained behind to keep close to Chara, who she hadn't missed growing fond of her larger, male companion. It was amusing, in a way, and she wouldn't mind them becoming a pair--Charizard were notoriously picky about mates, which only added to their rarity.

"Hey!" the young man laughed, panting lightly as he bounded up the wooden steps of the lifted porch. He wasted no time swooping her up into his arms, cupping her rump so that she wrapped her legs around his broad chest while her hands tangled into his hair playfully. He flashed a wide grin, "Is it time for the party already?"

"Yep! Silver, his wife, and Lance shouldn't be too much longer--they're both known to be punctual. Lance may or may not be bringing his new girlfriend," she explained, stealing a quick kiss.