Home, Home. September.

He was home.
Not the home he wanted to be at, but the home he had lived in for almost his entire life.
He was a charmeleon, named Thomas, and his “home” was called Serenity Valley. It was not a valley, but it felt easier to call it that. The small town was hidden amongst the mountains. While there was a main street, the buildings of the town were mostly sprinkled about, connected only by old roads. One of these buildings, nestled into a grove of pine trees, was a gas station. It was small, made of logs and stone bricks to look like a log cabin, with large windows in the front.
It was early morning in Serenity. The morning fog was resting on the treetops, and the sun was barely beginning to light the sky above the mountains. There were fireflies hovering about, with no breeze to send them back and forth.
He had seen the fireflies here before. When he was younger. They were a symbol of the town, people would come from the cities, drive for hours to see them in the summer.
It was summer now, and Thomas walked down the road on his own. He was wearing a striped jacket, with an orange bandana and some tan cargo shorts. He stopped in front of the general store, taking a deep breath. Inside, he could see two people he knew from high school. One was running the front desk, and the other was talking to them as he bought a small blue box.
Thomas opened the door, and the little bell above it rang. The two pokemon turned to look at him. One of them, the one behind the desk, was a Zangoose. His name was… something. Thomas couldn’t remember. Hell, he couldn’t remember either of their names. He just knew that they graduated in the same year.
“Oh uh, Hey! Thomas, it’s great to see you.” Said the other pokemon, a Skuntank. Thomas felt himself flinch a little. Of course they knew his name. Probably every person in town did.
“Hey.” He put on a smile. “It’s so great to see you two again! How are you? How have things been?”
“It’s been good!” The Skuntank responded, obviously trying to be nice to Thomas. The Zangoose just gave him a blank stare. “I uh, just got back from my mission actually.”
“Oh? Where to?”
“Just uh, overseas.” He nodded. The conversation went quiet for a moment, and thomas gulped.
“Well, that’s awesome to hear! I hope you had a good time, uh, spreading… Jesus. Anyways, I’m gonna uh, look around for some things to buy.” He put on one last smile, before awkwardly scooting away behind a shelf of tobacco, where he relaxed his shoulders and took a deep breath. He was not happy to be here, back in Serenity. He didn’t need this anxiety on top of everything else.
As he looked around the store, he could hear the other two whispering at the front desk. No doubt talking about him.
He tried to ignore it, as he searched for things he would need while he stayed here. Chewing gum, check. Pencils, check. Batteries… Yeah, he would probably want those. He remembered all the times he needed some, and his parents never had them lying around.
Suddenly he noticed something sitting on top of the shelf. It was a dark grey tank top, with a white ribcage on the front. One of the ribs was broken, and as he lifted it up he noticed the spine pattern going down the back of it. It was an interesting shirt. For some reason, he couldn’t help but like the design, and he quickly searched it for a tag, but he couldn't seem to find one.
After a moment, he peeked around the store to see if there were any cameras, and after finding none he stuffed it into his satchel.
Lastly, he grabbed a small blue box of condoms, and made his way to the front desk. By now, the Skuntank was gone, leaving only him and the Zangoose.
Thomas laid out the items on the desk, pulling his wallet from his satchel and digging out his credit card. The Zangoose looked over the items, ringing them up as he did.
“Alright, that’ll be… Oh, um.” He was silent for a moment, staring at the box of condoms. He seemed to be thinking, then he looked up to thomas with a dead stare.
“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked, wondering if somehow he had noticed the shirt.
“Just uh, these condoms.”
“What about them?”
The Zangoose was quiet for a moment.
“I’m… gonna need an ID for these.”
“What?” Thomas laughed a little, before noticing that the Zangoose looked serious. “Wait no, really? Why?”
“Just uh, have to make sure you’re old enough is all.”
“Dude, we graduated in the same year. I’m only a year younger than you.”
“Company policy. If you don’t like it, go buy them somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else? There’s nowhere else in miles.” He laughed nervously.
“Sorry, I gotta follow the rules.”
Thomas felt a growl rising in his throat, but he stifled it and opened his wallet. He didn’t have any ID on him. He didn’t have a driver's license, and the only thing he did have that would work was his learners permit.
As he pulled it out and handed it to the Zangoose, he remembered the small blue box that the Skuntank was buying. Weren’t those condoms too..?
“Hey, wait, then why didn’t you ask him for an ID?” Thomas mumbled, but the Zangoose ignored him.
“This is expired.” The cashier said, handing it back.
“Are you serious.” Thomas rolled his eyes. “How does that matter, don’t you just need to see the birth date?”
“Sorry, I can’t accept an expired ID.” The Zangoose said in a dead tone, taking the box of condoms and putting it back behind the desk. There was a little beep, the receipt was printed, and the Zangoose handed it to Thomas, along with his card. “Have a nice day.”