Reunion in Cerulean.

The Pokécenter lobby looks just like the three you’ve been in before, and it is almost entirely empty at this point in the day, as most trainers are out and about either training or enjoying themselves around town. You can see a familiar-looking pink-haired woman standing behind the reception counter at the far end of the room, but even though she looks up at you all as you enter, she was not the one who spoke as you came in. No, the voice that called out to your group came from a booth on the left side of the lobby, where a second familiar-looking woman has just stood up. This young woman doesn’t have pink hair though. She has honey-blonde hair that ends near her chin, framing her angelically sweet face and crystal-blue eyes. The slim young woman is wearing a simple green sundress, carrying a matching handbag, and has a massive smile across her face as she looks at you all.

You and Blue react in the same instant, exclaiming loudly in shock. “Daisy!?” “Sis!?”

As you and her younger sister stare at her in disbelief, the elder Oak sibling starts giggling happily. “Glad you both still recognize me. I was worried-“

Daisy doesn’t manage to finish her teasing comment, as she’s interrupted by a tackle-hug. “Sis! I can’t believe it, you’re really here!” Your rival squeezes onto her older sister tightly, burrowing her face down into the shorter girl’s shoulder. “Oh, it’s so good to see you!”

The mischievous expression fades from the blue-eyed young woman’s face, and she wraps her arms tightly around the younger Oak in return. “Not as good as it is to see you! I know it hasn’t actually been that long, but I’ve missed you so much Blue…”

You can’t help but smile as you watch the sisters embrace. Blue may be prickly and abrasive towards most people, but she does love her family. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch Daniel and Kayla both smiling as well. They may only know Daisy by reputation, but it’s not like it’s particularly hard to figure out who she is after your and Blue’s outbursts when you saw her. The three of you stand quietly for a moment, letting the two young women hold onto each other. Though there is a question that you desperately want to ask…

Luckily, the same question suddenly occurs to the sandy-blonde, who suddenly pulls back from her sister slightly, just enough to look her in the face. “Waitwaitwait! How are you here, Sis!? And how long have you been here!? I was just texting you last night!”

A cheerful, singsong laugh leaves Daisy’s lips, and a look of glee crosses her face. “I was wondering how long that would take. To answer your second question; I was already here in Cerulean last night. I didn’t say anything though, I wanted to surprise you.” She playfully sticks her tongue out before laughing again. “As for answering your first question… Let me show you!” She pulls out of Blue’s arms, then excitedly reaches into her purse and pulls out… a Pokéball? “Come on out!”

At the honey-blonde’s call, a red flash emits from the ball, forming a shape in the air above you all. A large, brown-feathered bird with a long beak and a red crest atop its head screeches out a cry as it takes flight in the Pokécenter lobby, large wings spreading out easily in the spacious area. Thankfully Pokémon Centers are built big enough to house most Pokémon. Funny that.

You and your rival stare up at the Fearow, mouths agape. The implication is obvious; Daisy flew here. Of course that’s a fairly normal means of travel, plenty of people Fly on Pokémon. Even those who don’t own any, since there are paid services you can Fly on like public transportation. So the glaring issue with the elder Oak sister flying here is something else entirely; her mother. Kim hates flying, and has completely forbidden her daughters from doing so for their entire lives up until this point. So that begs the question…

Blue’s brown eyes go wide as she finishes your thought aloud once again.“Where did you get a Fearow!? Wait, did Gramps sneak it to you? Oh, Mom’s gonna be-“

“No, actually.” Daisy interjects, still smiling widely. “She gave it to me. Mother gave me my Fearow.”

“What!?” The sandy-blonde’s face is a mask of pure shock, as is yours. Kim gave her a flying Pokémon? “That doesn’t make any sense! Why would she… I mean, Mom never wants us to Fly, so… I’m gonna need an explanation.”

The older blonde’s cheer lessens a bit, a more serious expression on her sweet face. “Mother… Mother changed her mind. Sort of. I don’t want to go into exactly why, but she realized that I’ve been… lonely. And that her ban on flying was keeping me trapped.” The smile returns to Daisy’s lips, warm and beautiful. “So she decided to fix that. She gave me my Fearow so that… so that I could be happy. Be happy and live my life. I was just as surprised as you, trust me, but more than anything I’m just so grateful. Now I can come visit you two while you’re out adventuring!” Your lifelong neighbor turns her gaze from her sister to you and continues speaking. “It’s good to see you Red. Now what are you standing over there all quiet for? Didn’t you miss me?”

You smirk at her playful tone, taking a step towards her and Blue. “Of course I did. I just wanted to wait a bit, not interrupt the family reunion… I can’t believe you’re actually here.” A tightness grips your chest as you speak, taking in the reality that Daisy is in fact right here. You really thought you wouldn’t see her again for much longer than this, that you would have to go home to reunite with her. One of the only people you’ve ever considered a friend, who was nice to you even when you were awkward and in your shell… The girl who you had your first time with.

Emotions spur you on, Blue’s reaction be damned. You finish closing the distance between you and Daisy, then wrap your arms around her in a big hug. She immediately returns your embrace, pressing herself up to you. Her comforting warmth is held against you, and she smells faintly of vanilla, just like the last time you saw her. You catch your rival rolling her eyes out of your peripheral, but you just ignore her. You and her sister care about each other, at least in some way, and she’ll just have to deal with that.

And she’ll also have to deal with what happens next. It catches you completely off-guard, so you can only imagine how the younger Oak must feel. Her older sister pulls back from you slightly, then leans up and plants a gentle kiss on your lips. It’s a soft, brief contact, but it instantly gets your heart thumping. “It’s really good to see you again, Red.” She says as the short kiss ends, a rosy flush spreading across her cheeks.

“You too…” You reply, feeling your own face getting hot and a goofy grin split your lips. ‘Okay. That happened. Oh wow. Was not expecting that… Daisy…’ Your thoughts whirl around in your brain as you take in what just happened. ‘Why did she…? She doesn’t… Does she…?’ Your mind flies back to what you and the honey-blonde did just before you left Pallet Town. That was supposed to just be helping you practice though, right?

“Thank you, Red. Thank you. I will keep that in mind. Now go, before I decide to just keep you here, all to myself! Become the Champion!”

Those words, the last thing the older girl said to you before you left, ring through your head. You hadn’t really taken them super seriously, taken them for what they clearly implied… But maybe you should have. If Daisy… has feelings for you, it would be like a dream come true. The older, sweet girl next door who was always nice to you… There’s no way you haven’t dreamt of something like this happening before. You had just always assumed it would stay nothing but a fantasy, especially because of Blue…

…Who is still standing only a few feet away. Oh shit. With what just happened, you totally forgot that she, or anyone else, is here. Your eyes flick over to the sandy-blonde expecting to see her about to burst with rage, but instead find her standing stock-still, a blank mask of emotionlessness on her face. It makes it impossible to read her, impossible to tell what she’s thinking or feeling. But at the very least she’s not pitching a fit, which is almost as surprising as Daisy’s kiss.

All of this - the kiss, the racing thoughts, the panic over Blue - lasts only a few seconds, after which the blue-eyed young woman pulls away from you. She seems flustered, almost like she can’t believe what she’s just done, and you catch her nervously glancing at her sister out of the corner of her eye. When she finds your rival simply standing still, she looks back to you and opens her mouth as if to speak. No words seem to come to her though, and she flounders silently for a few seconds. “…Oh! I should introduce myself to your friends!” She says quickly, stepping around you and towards Daniel and Kayla. Well, that was as good a way to push past the awkwardness as any… Maybe you read that wrong. Maybe that was just supposed to be… platonic? And she noticed your reaction, and it made her feel weird… Then again - Gah! You’re just going in circles!

“My name is Daisy Oak. I’m Blue’s older sister and Red’s neighbor. I’ve seen quite a bit of you two on television and TPP, so it’s nice to finally meet you.” The flustered blonde says as you continue to wrestle with your own thoughts. After she speaks, you shake yourself out of your fruitless internal debate, and turn around to watch your friends meet your neighbor.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Daniel Surge, and I am always down for meeting a fellow sexy blonde.” The Vermillion boy says with a crooked grin, earning a small giggle from Daisy and an eye-roll from Kayla, who pipes up afterward.

“I’m Kayla. We’ve heard a lot about you from Red, so it’s really nice to actually meet you.” The brunette smiles warmly at the older girl, but you can see her eyes shift over to behind your shoulder cautiously at the same time.

Right… You risk a glance behind you, and find Blue still not having moved a muscle. As you look at her though, her brown eyes flick rapidly to meet yours, causing you to flinch slightly at the sudden change. After a moment, the younger Oak’s body relaxes as she lets out a soft sigh and closes her eyes briefly. When they open again they are still locked with yours in a solid, unbreaking gaze. She’s not quite glaring at you, but she’s absolutely staring you down. To what end, you’re not sure… but it’s actually a little intimidating.

Several seconds of this pass. You feel tension building in the air, and suddenly realize that the room is dead quiet other than the flapping of Daisy’s Fearow’s wings. The others have stopped talking, and have joined you in looking at Blue. Everyone is just waiting for her to say something, waiting to see whether or not she’ll blow up on you. She has to be pissed, right? She may have begrudgingly accepted you having sex with her sister before, but… If her mind went on the same track yours did, she cannot be happy about where it led her.

The wordless stare-down continues, until everything is so tense that you can feel your heartbeat in your ears…. Until it ends all at once. “Tch…” Your rival breaks her gaze, shaking her head slightly before turning to face her sister. “Hey, Sis? Wanna see something cool?” She says with a smirk.

Daisy blinks in surprise, body jolting as if she’s just been called out for doing something wrong. “H-Huh? Oh, sure. What is it Blue?”

“I’ve got one too!” The sandy-blonde’s smirk widens into a big grin, and she pulls one of her own Pokéballs off of her belt. After tossing it into the air, a second Fearow emerges and takes flight, joining Daisy’s up above. The two birds cock their heads in unison, then begin shifting in the air around each other, examining one another. Blue’s seems a bit smaller, younger even. Which makes sense, given it was a Spearow the last time you saw it.

“Oh, wow! You’d told me you caught a Spearow, but I didn’t realize it had evolved!” The elder sister does her best to brush past the intense silence from just a short while ago, but obvious relief is evident in her voice. Clearly she wasn’t looking forward to having her sister screech at you.

“Heh, look at that. The younger one’s actually smaller. They’re like the reverse of us!” Blue says teasingly.

“Oh, okay munchkin! Doesn’t matter how tall you get, you’re the little sister!”

“Hm? Sorry, can’t hear you down there. Speak up!” The brown-eyed girl replies, cupping a hand against the side of her head sarcastically.

“Two inches! You are two inches taller than me!” Daisy shoots back, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance. “That’s nothing! Nooothinggg!”

The two then just start laughing together, continuing to tease one another and joke around as their Fearow play together. Your exhale deeply, feeling a heavy tension leave your body. Apparently Blue just decided to… ignore what happened. Which is a lot better than throwing a tantrum at the very least. Still, if something more does happen between you and Daisy, you’ll have to figure out a way to make her okay with it. Somehow, someway…

A strong hand claps onto your shoulder. “Damn Casanova, was that a close one or what?” Daniel’s voice is hushed, low enough not to be heard by the Oak sisters.

“I thought for sure she was gonna explode after Daisy kissed you… Speaking of which, what was that about?” Kayla asks, grinning up at you mischievously.

“I’m… not sure.” You admit. “I wasn’t expecting that, and I don’t really know what to think… Hoh boy…”

“Well, I know what I would be thinking.” The green-eyed girl pokes you in the ribs.

“Same here.” Her master joins her in grinning at you, then shakes his head. “That’s our Casanova. Doesn’t even have to try and he’s got a girl falling for him. How do you do it?”

“C’mon you guys…” You mutter sheepishly, cheeks flushing red, causing the two to chuckle at your embarrassment.

…You’re pretty sure they’re right though. Despite your head-spinning self-arguement earlier, you can’t help but feel like the truth is obvious. But that leaves you with a lot of questions about how to go forward. How would Blue feel about it if things between you and her sister go farther than just a one time fling, how would Daisy feel about how Blue feels, how would you feel about how Blue feels…? Aaand your head’s swimming again…

…It’s not even noon, but you feel like so much has happened today already. What else does this crazy day have in store for you?