✔️Pokemon: Beastly Hunter (Leaf x Gary) (leafgreenshipping)

Episode 7: Glowing Rose

"Holy... Gary! When did you get in here?" Leaf exclaimed after her scream. If she didn't stop to see who it was, she was afraid that she would have injured, or even worse, killed him. She placed her hands over her chest as she concentrated on taking deep breaths, trying to control her rapidly beating heart. Her eyes dilated for a second before turning back normal.

"Sorry, I didn't know that you would have such a big reaction," Gary rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I was wandering around when I noticed that you were gone. I just explored the place a bit, looking for you."

Leaf eyed Gary suspiciously. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she observed his reactions, pursing her lips. From what Leaf can remember, the room is at a very remote place with a lot of twists and turns. For someone normal, it would take them hours to days to find this place because of how remote it is. She was led to the room by another force. What about Gary?

"Yea, sorry about that. I got fascinated with the place and started roaming around. I am sorry that I worried you," Leaf admitted and apologized.

Gary shook his head and a big smile crossed his face. "It is totally fine. If not for you disappearing all of a sudden, I would have never seen this room."

An eyebrow raised on Leaf's face and looked at the growing rose in front of her. A rose petal slowly detached from the flower and gently fell to the bottom of the glass. The pink glow around the rose made it even more magical and mysterious.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Gary breathed as his eyes followed along with every petal.

"Yea," Leaf answered. "But why is it here? It doesn't seem old."

Gary didn't answer. He was just looking at the rose intensely as if lost in thought. Suddenly, his right arm reached out and touched the clear glowing glass of the rose. Leaf took in a breath, forgetting to breathe. Her dark eyes just follow along Gary's arm. Leaf slowly looked at Gary's face, who seemed to be in a trace.

"Gary?" Leaf asked slowly, after noticing that Gary didn't seem to have any reactions at all. Her eyebrows furrow with a bit of worry when she does not receive a reply. She reached out her hand cautiously to shake the man in front of her. The second Leaf's finger touched the back of Gary's hand, there seems to be an electric shock between them, causing Gary to jump in surprise and Leaf to retrieve her hand.

"Sorry about that again. I got lost in my thoughts. What are you saying again?" Gary asked calmly as if nothing unusual had happened and rubbed his neck. Under the faint glow of the rose, it seemed as if the man had blushed.

Leaf just shook her shoulders. It is not that big of a deal. "I am just wondering why it is here. There is no dust on it as if it is new or was just placed here a while ago," Leaf repeated.

Gary looked up at the ceiling, his right hand that touched the glass was under his chin in a thinking posture. "That is a very interesting question. I am not sure who may have placed this in here as well. In fact, no one should be able to get in here. This place is so... isolated from the rest of the place that it is just impossible for anyone to find it without me knowing," Gary said. He then eyed the rose.

"I am not sure if it is poisonous or not. I have never seen this type of rose species before. I think we should just leave it here," Gary added on.

When Leaf heard that sentence, a reaction seemed to happen inside of her. Her heart rate sped up and her breaths quickened. Something was telling her that she needs to take the rose, as well as anything else that is on the table. Unconsciously, she shook her head in disagreement.

Gary saw Leaf shaking her head. He raised an eyebrow. "You have another idea?" he asked.

Leaf stopped and noticed what she had just done. Why? Why did she do that? But, there was something more to do. "I think that it may be safer for us to keep it. Who knows if it is important to someone," Leaf responded quietly. Both of her hands were placed in front of her chest unconsciously. What is this feeling that she had felt when she first stepped foot in this mansion?

Gary stared at Leaf for a while and thought about what Leaf proposed. "It doesn't matter. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to take care of a plant. And besides, there should be no harm. However, I am going to give this to someone to check on it before putting it in our cottage" Gary said.

"The rose will be fine, right?" Leaf worriedly asked.

"I am sure it will be safe. My friend is very good with roses," Gary responded.

After Gary's words, the two fell into a peaceful silence. They don't know what else to say. Each was lost in their own thoughts that were circulating in their brain. They cannot help but feel that there is a connection between them and the old abandoned mansion.

"It is getting late. I am not sure what time it is, but we should get going before the sun sets. It would be colder than," Gary suggested, after noticing that they may have lost their time during their exploration around the mansion.

Leaf nodded her head in agreement. It is better to go home before the road gets dark. It had been a few months and she had already called that cottage her home. She watched as Gary wrapped a cloth that he found around the messy room around the glass of the rose and held it in his arms. He began to walk outside, and Leaf followed him. At the corner of her eyes, she saw a faint green glow on the table. It was from the mirror.

Curiosity grew in Leaf's heart as she stopped following Gary and walked toward the table. The hand mirror that she saw next to the rose was glowing green, highlighting the book with gold binding beside it.

"Leaf! You coming? I am going to leave you behind!" Gary called from somewhere outside of the room.

"Coming!" Leaf cried. She looked back at the two items on the table. Decisively, she shoved the two in her pocket before running out to follow Gary.

..........
Hello, everyone! Welcome back! I am so sorry for the wait. I have been so busy and unmotivated to write. Ahh... but here it is! What do you think about this chapter? What do you think will happen next? Where do you think this story will lead you?

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