: Things are hard when you start your own bakery in the heart of Hammerlocke. Good thing your knight in shining armor is none other than Raihan the Gym Leader. You are smitten… Too bad you don’t really think you’re his type, especially when you see the beautiful and powerful women that surround him.
Good thing he likes you just the way you are.
Gazing out the window at the fading light you heave a sigh as you glance over at the mostly full case of sweet treats. Looking around at the cozy bakery you take in the overstuffed chairs and the mismatched teacups and plates. The corner houses a fire that is just barely flickering while lanterns hang from the ceiling giving a warm glow to the atmosphere.
You knew opening a new bakery would be difficult, however, you were expecting that being in a prime area, that cost way too much to rent, would bring business. With only three customers all day even as you tried to hand out samples to the streets of Hammerlocke, to say the least, you are disheartened. You decide to close up for the day and lock the door before you begin to wipe down the tables. Your Indeedee, Bella, is cleaning the dishes and helping you to stack the chairs. Spook, your Pumpkaboo, is floating around putting out the candles and pouting about the lack of visitors.
You are startled by a sudden knock on the door, you to look up and you see a man standing there. Surprised you hesitate before you walk over to the door to unlock it.
“Hey! You aren’t closing up, are you? I saw your shop on my way into work today and I’ve been thinking about cake all day because of it,” he says with a friendly grin.
You blink in surprise at the man, “Oh? Well come on in, there is plenty left.”
He smiles as he walks into the shop with an ease you can only dream of and only then do you realize how tall he is. He’s wearing some kind of Pokemon league uniform, but you don’t really pay attention to the league, so you don’t know what he does or who he is.
“What would you like?” you ask as you go behind the counter as Bella begins to clear the chairs from the tables once again. Spook is relighting the candles and thrills as he floats about, happy for the customer.
The man studies the cakes and various other treats in the case before he glances up at you with a heart-stopping smile.
“Sorry, I don’t really know what to get… Any recommendations?” He winks subtly and you fight to keep the blush at bay.
Before you can even open your mouth Strudel, your Appletun, lifts his little head up from where he had been dosing on top of the case before he points to an apple turnover called a Flapple Turnover.
The male blinks at the tiny dragon for a moment before he chuckles at him, “Good choice buddy! I’ll take a Flapple Turnover!”
“Strudel likes to help customers by recommending his favorites,” you say with a laugh.
“He’s a good helper then! It’s pretty cool you have an Appletun, how did you get one? Did your boyfriend give you an Applin?” he asks innocently.
“Oh… I don’t have a boyfriend. When I was younger my family and I went apple picking at an orchard and we accidentally brought home a couple of Applin.”
“A couple?” he asks as he takes a bite of the turnover you hand him before a happy groan leaves his mouth.
At his question Tart, your Flapple, drops from the plant he’s been snoozing in. The stranger blinks at the newcomer before he chuckles at seeing the Flapple hovering before his face waving happily at him.
“So you have one of each!” he says enthusiastically.
“Yeah, Tart likes to sleep in the potted plants that hang from the ceiling, which is fine because he helps to take care of them,” you giggle, “And Strudel likes how warm the case is and helping undecided customers.”
“You’ve got some cool partners! So how long have you been open?”
“About a week, we don’t really have much business yet… That’s why I was closing up early…”
“Hey, don’t worry about it, it’ll get better. In fact, these are great and I’ll take a variety of pastries for the gym tomorrow.”
“Oh! So you work at the gym?” you ask as you grab a box and begin to load him up.
“You mean…” he trails off in surprise.
“Hmmm?” you hum as you glance up at him.
“You don’t know who I am?”
“Should I?” you ask with a furrowed brow.
“Uhh… No! Forget I said anything! This is great, I’m sure everyone at the gym will love these! How much?”
“On the house, you coming in has brightened my day, which is payment enough,” you say waving away his money.
“No way! You’re brand new and I want to support you! How much?” he says pulling out his wallet.
You argue back and forth with the man for a few minutes before he finally relents and takes the pastries from your hands.
“Fine… but you have to let me take a picture with these guys for my Pokegram and let me recommend this place!”
He carefully picks up Strudel and Tart lands on his head as his Rotom Phone flies out and snaps a picture of the three together. He’s so handsome he probably has a lot of followers, you think to yourself as he sets Strudel down gently and Tart flies over and lands on your head.
“Perfect,” he says regarding the photo, “Hey, thanks for the pastries! I’ll be back soon okay? And watch for my post, what is your username?”
He chuckles, “Got it! See ya soon!”
You wave as he walks out of the door and you feel for the first time all week that just maybe this isn’t hopeless after all.
You quickly lock up and finish cleaning up the place before you head back into the kitchen. Eclair your Milcery is sitting on the counter near your baking supplies. Heading over to her you chuckle as she chirps up at you.
“Come on everyone, time for bed!” you say as you set the alarm and head towards the door that leads up to your apartment.
It’s a cozy and quaint little place with a nook for reading and a balcony with several vines trailing down. Cherry, your Cherubi, is outside tending to the plants as everyone makes their way to their respective places in the apartment. Syrup, your Slurpuff, is lounging in her bed, exhausted from helping with the baking that day.
The kitchen is off white with plants and vines that hang everywhere and has an airy feeling to it. It looks out into your living room which has a couch and a few chairs surrounding a coffee table. A small kitchen table is off to the side and painted a soft aqua blue. Down the hallway are your bathroom and bedroom. It’s not much, but it is everything you could want.
You get started on dinner for everyone and giggle as Spook floats about the kitchen handing you the ingredients you ask for. After everyone is fed and tucked in you go to bed unsuspecting of the next day’s events.
The next morning you wake up, get ready for your day and head downstairs to your kitchen as if it is any other day. You get to work on making the pastries, pies, and cakes for today. Each one is pokemon-themed and carefully crafted to be extra cute. The attractive customer last night has given you a burst of energy and even if you don’t sell anything today, you think you will still be okay for at least one more day.
With a tray full of a batch of mini cakes you make your way through the swinging door and into the front where you almost drop the tray of desserts. There is a line outside of the door twisting around the corner. Upon seeing you several of them smile and wave happily and you smile back pure elation taking over your body. You set the tray down and motion one minute to the customers milling about outside. You technically have about ten minutes until you open which should give you enough time to set up the case. You get to work yelling at Bella to grab the trays and bring them out. She hops to it as Spook floats about lighting the lanterns and candles that hang from the ceiling and along the wall giving it a whimsical ambiance.
You notice gasps from the crowd as Tart and Strudel make their way out of the back with Syrup right behind them. You chuckle as Tart flaps over to the window and waves happily back at the group. You hear squeals from several of the girls about how cute your tiny dragon is. You chuckle as he continues to dart from one person to another entertaining the crowd as you finish up.
“Strudel? Syrup? Spook? Are we ready? Bella? Good to go?” With a chorus from your team, you head over to the door to unlock it.
“Hey! Welcome!” you greet when you open the door for them.
“Hi! We’re so excited to try your cakes!”
“Raihan said they were the best!”
“The picture of your Flapple and Appletun is the cutest! You must have been so excited when Raihan wanted to take a picture with them!”
“Uhh… yeah, he’s super nice…” you say while you rub your neck.
“What was it like meeting him? Is he as cool in person as he seems?” asks another girl as she shoves the other out of the way.
“Hey, guys you know his favorite was the turnover right? Do you want to try one?”
A chorus of ‘yes!’ goes up from the crowd of girls surrounding you giving you the chance to refocus them. After you have gotten them their pastries they all take pictures for their stories before biting into them.
“Raihan has the BEST TASTE!”
“We’ll be back soon!!” They wave as they leave the shop only for more to come in right behind them.
Your morning is filled with young women and trainers buying up cakes, cookies and pastries. Several businessmen and women come in and buy dozens for the office along with coffee. Friends and lovers sit idly in the candlelight sipping tea and eating cakes. Your patio is full to the brim with customers enjoying their treats with their tea or coffee. You’re amused when you notice Cherry hopping about offering mint and lavender to the patrons. They happily accept the fresh herbs before she bounces away.
The stars of the show are definitely Tart and Strudel and everyone always mentions Raihan in passing. You’re pleased when your other pokemon garner affection from your guests too as they squeal about Spook or giggle when Bella or Syrup would bring them their treats. You’re pretty sure your pokemon are now famous.
It’s late afternoon before you get a chance to take a breather. Grabbing your phone for the first time all day you see a plethora of notifications from new followers. You go to the very first notification and see the post the mysterious Raihan posted. You click on his profile and feel yourself become embarrassed.
“Of course he’s a gym leader… Of course, he’s The Gym Leader…” you grumble to yourself as you scroll through his profile. You see another picture of him taking a bit out a cheese danish that must have made the girls go wild. “No wonder I was so busy today… he’s got millions of followers… And he recommended me…” you murmur as you pause on a photo of him licking the icing from one of your treats with a sultry look in his eyes.
You settle on the photo he took last night of your two dragons after a moment of scrolling his Pokegram.
“Got to hang with these cool dudes tonight! They help run a bakery called @SweetandSourApplin you should totally check out! When you do tell Tart and Strudel hi for me. And don’t worry if you don’t know what to get, Strudel loves recommending his favorite pastry to you.”
You giggle at the caption and feel gratitude flood your body. You glance over at the pie you made especially with him in mind and smile. You were glad that you left in the back today, just in case he came by. You know it’s silly, but he really did make your day.
As the afternoon drifts into the evening you regard your mostly empty case and smile as you begin to clean up. You’re hoping you’ll see Raihan, but you know better than to hope that he would come by two nights in a row. As the evening wears on you lose hope and lock up for the night.
You end up on your balcony with a cup of chamomile tea as you gaze up at the stars. Spook is munching on some poke puffs you made as he keeps you company outside. A Flygon suddenly lands gracefully on your balcony its eyes blinking at you. You blink back before your arms flail in surprise as you jerk back in your chair, a yelp escaping as you do so.
“Don’t be scared of him! He’s a total softie. He just wanted to say hi!”
“Huh??” you look around your balcony for the oddly familiar disembodied voice before you look at the balcony one house over. Waving at you casually is your apparent next-door neighbor the Gym Leader Raihan. He’s leaning against the railing with a lazy grin as he regards you and his Flygon with interest.
“You… live… there?” you ask in shock as you point in his direction.
The stone house next to your house and bakery is bigger than your own house with vines growing up the side. Perhaps you should have been paying attention the past few months while you’ve been getting things ready. Then again you have been rather busy so it’s really not a wonder that you missed your handsome and famous neighbor.
“Oh…” You blink back at him while your exhausted brain attempts to catch up.
Raihan laughs as his Flygon leans forward and sniffs you before chirping at you happily.
“Hello,” you murmur as you gently lift your hand and run it along his neck, “Perhaps you would like a poke puff too?”
The pokemon chirps at you as you get up and head into your house before you emerge a moment later with a bag in your hand. Tart yawns as he follows you back outside and lands on your shoulder as he sniffs at the much larger dragon. You reach into the bag and pull out a puff that you hand to the dragon in front of you before you grab another one for the one on your shoulder.
“He likes you!” laughs Raihan before he calls his partner back over to him. You chuckle as you watch Flygon show Raihan his treat before he eats it.
“Thank you!” you blurt out suddenly.
“Huh? For what?” he asks as he pauses petting his companion.
“For the recommendation… I sold almost everything today thanks to you!”
“Naw I just let them know you were there, you did everything else.”
You chuckle at the nickname, “I bet you call all the girls princess… Gym Leader Raihan.”
He winces when you say his title, “So you found me out, huh?”
“You made it kinda easy…”
He sighs as he puts his hands on his hips and looks up at the night sky, “Could you just… pretend you don’t know?”
“Huh? Why?” you tilt your head at his request.
“It was nice talking to you without having to be… Dragon Tamer Raihan… It was cool being just Raihan.”
“Well, you are just Raihan… I mean it’s cool that you’re a gym leader and you get to do what you love, but that doesn’t change who you are as a person. Plus… no offense… I don’t really pay attention to league stuff…”
“No offense taken princess,” he says with a chuckle.
“So…I uh… made an apple pie last night to try out a new design and recipe for the store… do you want to come over and test it out with me?” You’re glad the darkness hides your blush, and although you already know that this recipe is delicious your little white lie seems much less creepy than you just making him a pie.
“Princess I will never say ‘no’ to anything that you make. I’ll be right there!”
He runs into his house and disappears before you hear his front door open.
“Come to the back!” you yell down at him as you lean over the railing.
He sends you a thumbs up before you turn around and head to your back door. A moment later you hear footsteps coming up your back stairs and you let him in.
“Cute place,” he says as he ducks his head to enter your home.
“Oh… thanks!” you smile as you turn around to grab the pie that looks almost exactly like Strudel.
“That’s not actually your Appletun, right? It looks exactly like him!” he says in awe.
You giggle, “Nope! It took me a long time to get this right! Here!” you say as you hand him a slice.
He takes a bite and his eye widen in amazement, “This is amazing…” he says before he takes another mouth full.
“I’m glad you like it! Here, try this as well! It’s a spiced tea, I think the spices complement one another quite well, don’t you?”
He quickly takes a sip before he devours another bite of his pie, “That’s it, you’re staying in business and right next door to me if I have anything to say about it! I’m not giving up my new job as an official taste tester.”
“Well if business continues like it did today you won’t have anything to worry about,” you say as you clap your hands together in excitement.
“I’m glad you were busy today! I couldn’t stand seeing that look of disappointment on your face.”
“When did you see that?” you ask looking away from him.
“When I knocked yesterday you looked so disappointed, I had to figure out a way to see that beautiful smile of yours.”
“Hush Raihan…” you say with a blush.
“It’s true! I saw you getting everything ready for your bakery to open and you were so excited! I loved seeing your smile, it always made my day brighter.”
You look away from him and blush, “I bet you say that to all the girls,” you say with a giggle as you playfully hit his arm.
“Just the pretty ones who know how to bake,” he says with a wink.
You roll your eyes, “So cheesy…”
“You love cheese! I know you do!”
You cut yourself a slice of the pie as a means of distracting yourself just as Strudel comes striding towards the two of you.
“Hey buddy,” Raihan says as he bends down to greet the tiny dragon, “Did you recommend all kinds of treats today?”
Strudel chirps up at Raihan, clearly happy to see him again as Raihan rubs the Appletun under his chin.
“You train dragons right?”
“I bet you have a lot of cool pokemon…”
“I do have a really cool team. They are the best a guy could ask for. Do you battle?” he glances over his shoulder at you.
“Not really…Sometimes I will, but I don’t have much of a reason to.”
“So you aren’t interested in battling at all?”
“Ahh well, I wouldn’t say that…” you hesitate as you find the right words, “I’m just out of practice. I battled when I was younger a bit, but I haven’t had much of a reason to lately.”
You shrug your shoulders as you regard Raihan.
“If you like battles, I would love it if you would come to my match on Saturday. It’s an exhibition match with Allister.”
“Who’s Allister? Another gym leader?”
Raihan laughs, not in a cruel way, perhaps more at himself before he answers you, “Yeah, he’s the Ghost-type leader of Stow-on-Side gym.”
“I love ghost types! I think they’re fun!”
“They are pretty fun! Do you have any others besides your Pumpkaboo?”
“No…” you say looking down slightly disappointed, “I’ve always wanted a Litwick or a Dreepy! Maybe even a Mimikyu!” Your eyes light up in excitement thinking about the cute ghosts you’ve always wanted.
“Why don’t you catch one then?”
“I don’t know… I’ve been really focused on the bakery you know? It’s a lot of work and my friends are very helpful, I doubt I would have time for another Pokemon right now…”
“I get it… Too bad though… you would look cute with a Dreepy riding on your shoulder or a Mimikyu following along behind you… I bet your Pumpkaboo could show a Litwick the ropes…” he says looking at you as if he was imagining the pokemon keeping you company, his head resting on his hand and that lazy smile on his handsome face.
You cock your head to the side, “What? You don’t think I’m cute now?” you tease.
“Ahh… So we’re going to play that game huh? You know you’re adorable, Princess.”
You laugh as you regard the dragon tamer before you murmur, “Alright I believe you…”
“I’m hurt, princess! Do you think I would lie to you?”
“Of course not, Raihan,” you chuckle as you grab his dirty plate from him.
“Why do I have a feeling you’re going to spoil me?” Raihan asks as he regards you over the tea in his hands.
“Nothing, Princess… So are you coming to my battle on Saturday?”
“Excellent! I’m going to head home so you can get some rest, I’m sure you’re tired after your busy day.”
“Ok … Thanks for being my taste tester and for supporting me today.”
“Anytime princess… Anytime…”
“Hey! Don’t forget your promise okay? I’m getting your ticket tomorrow!”
“Okay, I’m holding you to that! Good night.”
You smile as you watch him turn the corner before you close the door and giggle. You notice the look that Strudel is giving you and you frown at the little dragon.
He chirps up at you knowingly before you both head to bed to start another day.
Notes: Hey guys just something cute I’ve been working on! I hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment and some love and reblog to show support!
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