The last box fell on the truck’s back with a soft thud. Alan wiped the sweat on his forehead and turned to face Elizabeth.
“So… This is it.”
“Alan…”
“I love you, Liz. Don’t forget I’m doing this for us.”
The young man pulled his watery-eyed girlfriend into a long hug, breaking away with a kiss to her forehead. Not much far away, Luff, his trusty Blaziken, was staring in the distance, waiting for her master to call.
“Please call me as soon as you can”, Liz said with a shaking voice.
“Drive safely, son! Good luck!” Alan’s parents waved as he hopped in his pickup. Luff soon came to her trainer’s encounter, running anxiously.
It was a 2-day drive from Rustboro to Lilycove. The trip’s reason was a new job offer Alan couldn’t decline – less work, more pay, and other benefits that made up for the lack of a mother to clean up the place and cook.
He left Rustboro with a broken heart. Liz was left behind, after all. The plan was to move out, save money for a year or so and then return to give his lover a better future, but the thought of a single day away from her was enough to trigger his loudly emotional personality.
-
It was about dinner time when the flashy red truck reached Mauville. Alan pulled over on a gas station and went for the diner, followed by Luff.
“What’s your order?” a grumpy fat lady asked from behind the counter, but he couldn’t muster an answer. The mental exhaustion made the letters in the menu’s lines twist and scramble before his eyes, so he just muttered something with soda and sandwiches instead of placing an actual order.
Next step after dinner was to find a place to sleep. Luckily, there was a motel just across the gas station. “Well, couldn’t have any better for this price”, Alan said before collapsing on the bed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and let out a gasp – 26 missed calls from Liz. The device had been forgotten on silent mode after a couple of drunk calls from a friend the last night.
“Oh, Arceus, I’m so damn screwed.”
Luff sat on the bed with a worried expression, as if understanding her trainer’s situation.
“Cover your ears, Luffy. This ain’t gonna be nice to witness”, Alan said before hitting the “dial button”.
Ring. Ring. “Hello?”
The other side of the call remained silent, except for and angry panting and a sob or two.
“Liz… It’s me.”
“I called you twenty fucking six times. Met anyone along the way?”
She was actually being serious. Alan’s patience was deep enough to fit Elizabeth’s irascible temper, but, still, she managed to cross the line once or twice in a while. Alan was right about the conversation’s level, so Luff decided to give her trainer some space and shut herself out in the apartment’s balcony, alone with the night’s chilling wind. If there were any other guests in the adjacent rooms, they would have complained about the noise.
As soon as Elizabeth hung off, Alan raised his arm to toss the phone at the nearest mirror, but a massive claw held his wrist.
“You’re right, Luff… Sorry. I can’t afford both a new phone and a new mirror at the moment, anyways.”
Luff let go Alan’s wrist, staring sadly at his trainer’s bloodshot eyes.
“This bed is large enough for both of us… Let’s get some sleep”, he muttered, facing the floor, walking towards the bed. The Blaziken laid down beside him, staring at his back. All Pokémon had feelings, but Luff was amazingly humanized for her kind. She’d learned a lot about human affairs from her master’s suffering.
Not much later after the lights went off, the phone shook over the desk. It was a text message from Liz.
“We need to talk. Sorry.”
Alan couldn’t hold back his tears. He knew that apology was nothing than the hope that, once again, he would call back and bend to her judgement. Instead, he dropped the phone back on the desk and cried himself to sleep.
Luff was about as destroyed as Alan was. They’ve been sharing the same life for the past sixteen years, and  a very strong bond was forged out of their partnership. It felt like their emotions were connected. She moved closer, taking her sleepy master into a tight, warm hug, joining him on his sleep.
The next morning, Luff woke up alone in the bed. Alan had already packed up to move out and was probably having a shower at the moment. She sat on the bed and gazed at the window. Everything was still and silent, except for the apartment’s bathroom. The shades of yellow and red casted upon the sky by the sun, which was just halfway through the horizon, resembling a Blaziken’s coat, made the young female’s imagination trail away. It sure would be nice to have a lov…
“Oh, hey there, you’re awake!”
Alan’s voice made his Pokémon turn with a start to face him with a shy giggle.
“You were so cute sleeping that I didn’t want to wake you up…” he said, smiling and grabbing a clean shirt on a nearby hanger. His light-yellow shirt’s pattern and the warm steam coming out from the bathroom almost made him look like a male Blaziken for one happy second. If only…
“Ready to go? We’re gonna have a full day on the road”, and once again his voice derailed the female’s train of thought.
“Bla-Blaziken!” And they were off.
Luff opened the window, letting the chilling air invade the truck’s interior, and soon feel asleep again, waking up only one hour away from Fortree.
“Up again, sleepy girl?” Alan patted the Blaziken’s massive thigh, and was returned with a cheerful nod.
She was feeling uneasy as for her master’s mood. He had a calm smile on his face, as if last night’s argument with Elizabeth hadn’t happened.
“So… about last night” Alan resumed. “We’re hitting the road for a new life, aren’t we?”
 Luff stared in disbelief.  Was he just going to walk away from his? As much as she disliked all the damage that human girl had caused to her master, she still thought they belong together. On top of that, giving Liz a better future was one of his main goals.
“I’m not calling her back this time. I relied that I’ll just be feeding her ego by doing so. Let’s see how much of her own game she’ll withstand.”
The coldness of his words surprised Luff, whom was always used to a dedicate and persistent personality. Still, she was content to see her master calm and happy. Gazing at Fortree’s approaching landscape from over a hill, she hoped for the best.