Just A Little Sick of Home

Coming Home

The touch of his hand against hers was so gentle and soft. Yet the touch itself lingered with pain behind it. A grief that hadn't been shown through the expression of rhythm through the voice nor mournful morning tears. Not yet. "You'll be back, right?" A melancholic voice asked. Presumably belonging to an adult male, but least expected from a champion like Leon. "Of course! This is home after all!" A softer voice chimed suppressing its own sorrows and caved in grievance. "You better be, ah, Daisy!" Daisy suddenly became embraced in Leon's arms tightly. Her throat clamped together, and her body compressed tightening around the broader midsection of Leon.

"Don't worry, Leeeee, I will! I promise!" Daisy giggled, wiggling out of Leon's grasp around her. "I'll see you soon, don't forget about me now," Daisy remarked. Her eevee, Sagie, trailed behind her purring at Leon and flapped his soft ears. "Don't worry, I won't forget about you either, Sagie," Leon bent down eye-to-eye level with the diminutive pokemon. His hands brushed through the fox-like pokemon's fur to which Sagie radiated a soft coo-like purr, which made Leon's heart warm.
The train pulled up to the station, coming to an abrupt halt. The doors opened, and to everybody's avail-- only a few passengers emerged from the train with their handbags and possessions in hand. "Well, now I definitely have to get going. Goodbye, Leon! Tell Hop and your mom I said bye too! And Charizard!" Daisy ran over to Leon one more time, hugging him tightly. Tears welled up in the corners of eyes, rolling down her cheek subtly. "Til next time, Daisy! Good luck out there! Tell your classmates I said hello! And it's from the best champion of the Galar region! Heh! I'm sure they'd enjoy that, right?"
But before Leon could even look down and see the joyful brightness of Daisy's smile and beautiful glint of her eyes, she was already off walking into the doors of the train with Sagie following behind.
A deep sigh. One small tear. But many racing thoughts. Would he really see her again?

Summer. "C'mon, Lee, get out the door! You have to go get Daisy, remember?" A boy's voice cracked through the atmosphere. He stood outside Leon's home. His arms were crossed. His ears were swelling with the sound of wooloo emitting loud noises to get Leon's attention and get the message to speed it along quicker to him. "I'll be down! I'm just making sure I look alright. Yknow how much of a biggie it is to be a champion and walk around town? I mean, I can't look bad!"We all know you just want to impress Daisy!"No, Hop!" Leon bolted from the entrance door and ran down the hill from their house. "Huh! Wait!" Hop squeaked jolting to his feet and making a run for it to catch up to his older brother. "Woo!" Wooloo rolled down the hill to also catch up with his hurrying trainer.

"Ah! Daisy! Daisy!" Hop started to squeal, getting closer to the train seeing the emerging figure of Daisy come out of the train doors with a Leafeon following closely behind her. "Huh!? Hop!?" Daisy widened her eyes seeing the boy come crashing down the hill and into her arms. "It's beeeennn foreeeverrrrr! 2 years!? I thought you were coming home earlier!? Paldea is weird anyway. Here is the best! We've missed you! And and! Leon has been talking all these years about wanting you to come home and see his matches!" "Alright, Hop, I'm sure she's heard enough, heh!" Leon walked over, ruffling his brother's hair. "Heh, well, I'm glad you've both been well, I'd assume by your burst of amusement!" Daisy nodded with a light grin.
"It's been forever, Daisy!" Leon chuckled. A wide grin covered his face from ear-to-ear. "I know, I know, it's finally so great to see your face and hear your voice again.." Daisy slowly bent forward and embraced Leon in a small hug before pulling away. "Well, how about we go back to my place, aaanddddd we can eat, and then you and I can get ready for my match tonight, we fly over, and you watch my match! VIP pass, too! You can be in the backrooms and watch me from there! I've been planning this all year! Ah!" Leon's eyes glittered with excitement, but Daisy froze. It's like time had slowed for her, and Sagie had looked up concerned at his trainer as well. "I." She fumbled, "I don't know if I will make it," Daisy stuttered softly. Her eyes flooded with guilt . "Huh? Why is that?" Leon tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms. Disappointment ached inside, but he suppressed the urge to say anything about his sudden dawn of sadness. "I was going to go visit Milo," Daisy explained. "Why visit Milo?" Hop interjected, raising a brow also seemingly disappointed. "I pre-made plans with him about something quite important, at least to me anyway. At the current moment of time. I'll explain later. I just don't have it in me to explain it all right now, as simple as it is."
"Daisy, are you okay?" Leon quietly asked. "I'm fine, Lee, don't worry, alright? I think you already know well enough, though," Daisy sighed. Leafeon looked up at the champion with eyes filled to the brink of concern and sympathy, but he followed straight behind his trainer, looking back reluctantly a few times as they had gotten further and further away.

"That much.. for just coming home?" Hop mumbled. "I would've expected a cheery happy Daisy! Not a sad Daisy, right, Wooloo?" Wooloo looked up and agreed, letting out a few sounds of auditory agreement. "I know the reason why, Hop, I wanted to ask her about it, but I just didn't feel the need to right now. I was just trying to avoid making her upset, especially on her first day back home," Leon sighed, watching her walk away. "But Milo? I always thought Milo was a sweet guy, but why him? What would she need to visit him for?" Leon asked himself. "Maybe it's because they're both grass type specialists?" Hop suggested with a little smile. "I'll talk to her about it later, Hop. Let's not get ourselves too wound up about this. How about thiisss? Let's take our Pokemon out front and battle out the worry! Whadya say?" Leon chuckled, ruffling his little brother's hair again. "Okay! But I'll beat you first back home, I bet!" Hop exclaimed, laughing before bolting up the hill on the route back to their home. Leon chased after him almost immediately, and even though it felt like the wind was blowing away, worry and anxiety churning inside him. It was still stabbing at his core. All the disappointment and fear.