Cashe woke, to his surprise. He didn’t remember falling asleep. He blinked, barely-eyed, as the television flashed, bright images illuminating the living room of the suite. It was still set to the sports channel, now showing replays of many of the week’s matches. The low drone of the television was more audible, maybe even what woke him, the pounding rain and howling wind of the afternoon had fallen away, replaced with a pleasant drizzle. It was dark, the light from the television reflecting off the windows and making it impossible to see outside.
Lindon was still asleep on the couch, a hand curled up by his mouth like a baby trying to replace a pacifier. Emilia was similarly asleep, but laying on his lap. She was tucked up tight underneath her blanket, the comforter wrapped around her like a cocoon. Her hair was still a mess, though not as much as it once was. He must have fallen asleep halfway through brushing it out.
Cashe returned to the task, Emilia’s now dry hair soft in his hands as he worked the knots out. Slowly, they loosened and the hair moved from a tangled mess to a wave of flowing hair. There was still some work to do, but he at least managed to remove all the obvious knots.
Cashe stopped, moving a hand to his pocket, careful not to disturb Emilia as he straightened his body to try and remove his phone. He pulled it out and managed to send off a few texts.
“Cashe?” Emilia’s eyes were still closed, but she shifted as she woke.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t stop. It feels nice.”
Cashe snorted to himself. Looks like she was awake longer than he thought.
“Sorry,” Cashe patted her head and lifted her from his lap with a gentle nudge, “It’s almost done and I’m realizing none of us have eaten since breakfast. We should probably start thinking about dinner.”
“Later,” Emilia murmured, just as her stomach let out a loud rumble.
“Your body doesn’t seem to agree with you,” Cashe said, heading to the kitchen.
“It’s dumb, it doesn’t know what it wants.” Emilia complained.
“Whereas the mind is always right,” Cashe snorted, “Come on, help me make something for dinner. We were supposed to go out with Lindon tonight, remember?”
Emilia grumbled but joined him in the kitchen, rubbing her face with her hands as she chased the sleep from her body.
They worked in companionable silence until Lindon awoke and joined them in the kitchen.
“I thought we were going to a restaurant tonight?” Lindon complained.
“Excuse me?” Emilia said, “Cashe and I get up from our nap early to cook a big meal to celebrate your achievements and the first thing you do when you wake up is complain? Next time you speak with your mother, I think I might want to have a word.”
“You don’t need to do that!” Lindon flushed, “I was just surprised. That’s all.”
“We’re going out tomorrow anyway,” Cashe said, “So you will get you celebration either way.”
“We are?” Emilia said.
“The plan was to spend a few days relaxing in the city and enjoying ourselves, remember?” Cashe said, “How are we going to do that by staying inside all day?”
“By not getting caught in the weather?” Emilia said, glowering at the dark skies through the window, even though it was too dark to see out of them.
“A little rain never hurt anyone,” Cashe said, “Besides, we’re on an island. Storms go as quickly as they come. By tomorrow, we probably won’t even know it rained.”
***
Cashe’s prediction did not come to pass, but the storm did move on from Melemele Island. Everything was wet, but the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and pockets of light broke through completely, leaving the city with a scattering of bright spots in the dripping wet aftermath of the storm.
Currently, they did not find themselves in one of those warm spots, but then again, they also did not find themselves outside. They were currently in a video rental store. It was novel and a little nostalgic for Cashe. He hadn’t been in a rental store in decades, thanks to the advent of the streaming services on Earth, but the pokemon world's lackluster pokenet meant that streaming services did not really exist yet.
The store was a marvel of an age gone past. Rows upon rows of chest-high shelving lined the store, covered with movies. Even the walls were lined with them, featuring the newest and most popular releases.
The store had the same look that Cashe remembered from his childhood. It was the same look that every rental store seemed to have - faded carpets, sticky from years of neglect, walls of pale yellow or white, in desperate need of repainting and an old CRT television hanging from the ceiling and tucked away in the corner of the room.
“What about The Rookie?” Lindon said. He was reading off a list that he held in his hands, ticking through each entry with a pen.
The store employee he was talking to typed something into the computer behind the counter, the key’s clacking loudly in the otherwise empty store.
“We have a movie called The Rookie,” the employee said, “but it’s not a baseball movie. Just like The Natural, it's a pokemon trainer movie.” He gave Lindon a warning look, “And not a very good one if you ask me.”
“Put it with the others,” Lindon said, nodding to a pile of half a dozen other movies. The employee sighed and walked across the store to retrieve it.
“You know, there's a limit to eight movies per customer,” he said, placing the movie with the others as he returned, “And don’t think you get extras because you have a group.”
Lindon made a face but didn’t complain, “What about The Phenom?”
Another clacking of the keyboard, “Yes. Again, not a baseball movie.”
“Does it star someone names Paul Giomatti?” Lindon said.
“I don’t know who that is, so probably not.”
Lindon frowned. “Get it anyway.”
Cashe smirked as the beleaguered employee again crossed the store to find the obscure movie.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Emilia stepped up beside him, eyes tracking the employee as well, “They aren’t going to have any of the movies from your world.”
“I know.” Cashe said.
“Lindon is looking for all the movies you mention,” Emilia said, “You’re not going to tell him?”
Cashe shook his head with a small grin, “He’ll figure it out eventually.”
They left the rental store a few minutes later, Lindon carrying a bag of movies in his arms as they walked down the drying streets of Hau’oli City. The city had the refreshing atmosphere that could only come after a good rain, the cool air still damp from the previous night’s deluge crisp and clean, the people full of energy as they went about their day.
“This is great,” Cashe said, inhaling a deep breath through his nose, “What do you guys think about grabbing an early lunch. I heard about a place that is supposed to be pretty good, and I want to get there before it is super busy.”
“I’m in!” Lindon said, swinging his bag of movies through the air, “I want to put these down anyway.”
“You shouldn’t have rented so many. We’re only in the city for a couple of days and other people might want to see those movies, too.” Emilia said. She turned to Cashe, “And where did you hear about a good place to eat? You’ve barely been in this city.”
“I can hear things,” Cashe said, crossing his arms, “Lindon and I spent over a week here while you were visiting your sister. We spoke to plenty of people.”
“Weren't you training the entire time?” Emilia said.
“So?”
“We caught Slowpoke, too,” Lindon added.
“So everyone you could have talked to was a trainer passing through the city as well!” Emilia said, “They aren’t going to know a good place to get food. You should have asked me. I have family in the city! I could have found the best restaurant! Heck, I know several amazing restaurants.”
“I didn’t need to ask you, I already heard about a good place to eat,” Cashe said, “And now that we have time to check it out, I think we should.”
“I don’t want to try some stranger’s recommendation when we only have a few days in the city, that’s a waste of precious food time,” Emilia protested.
“You don’t even know what restaurant it is,” Cashe said, “You’re just mad that the last place I chose yelled at you.”
“Asking for a napkin should not be offensive!” Emilia said, “And I just don’t want to end up at some tourist trap restaurant when there is great food all over the city.”
“I was recommended Scovillian Eats,” Cashe said.
“Sounds spicy,” Lindon said, “I want to go there too, now.”
“See that’s-” Emilia cut herself off with a frown. Her eyes narrowed at Cashe.
“Something wrong?”
“No.” Emilia said. She turned away from Cashe, “That’s fine.”
“Fine? You know the restaurant?” Cashe said, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ve been there. It’s fine.” Emilia said. She did not look at Cashe or Lindon.
If it’s just fine, we can change the restaurant,” Cashe said, “I wouldn’t want to waste our precious food time.”
“No, no. It’s good. I like it.”
“Really?” Cashe said with a knowing smile, “It’s not too much of a tourist trap, is it?”
“You can stop, I get it.” Emilia said, “Whoever recommended that restaurant to you has good taste. I’ve been there before. It’s great.”
“Good to hear,” Cashe said, looking slightly guilty, “Because I don’t actually know where it is. You couldn’t help find it, by any chance, could you?”
“Arceus above,” Emilia snorted, “You’re lucky I like this place, otherwise I’d be heading home right now.”
***
Scovillain Eats wasn’t quite a hole in the wall, but it was not a large restaurant either. The exterior of the restaurant featured a single window displaying the interior of the restaurant, through which several employees could be seen preparing for the lunch rush. Most of the restaurant was empty, with only a few customers at tables finishing off a late breakfast or early lunch. Above the window was a sign, red and green plastic over a bright backlight. The signature colors of Scovillain were divided by bright, white text reading, ‘Scovillain Eats’.
“Aha! The inverse sign law holds true!” Cashe exclaimed, pointing at the sign above the restaurant.
“The inverse sine law is for math, right?” Emilia said, “What does that have to do with restaurants?”
“S-I-G-N not S-I-N-E,” Cashe said, “Look at it, what do you see?”
“A red and green sign. Basic but functional.” Emilia said.
“It’s really dirty,” Lindon said, “Like, really dirty.”
“Exactly,” Cashe said, pointing to the filthy sign, triumphant. It was covered in grime to the point that the storm didn’t even help clean it off. Every drop of water that fell from it was gray and gross.
“I don’t get it,” Emilia said.
“The inverse sign law, S-I-G-N, is that if a successful restaurant has a terrible sign, that restaurant is probably amazing. Its quality is inversely proportional to the quality of their sign.”
Lindon frowned, “Lot’s of good restaurants have good signs.”
“And great restaurants have terrible ones,” Cashe said, “Where I come from, if you walk around downtown, you learn that any restaurant with a bad sign that has been around for a little while is one of two things: amazing, or a front for a criminal organization.”
“What?” Emilia laughed, “That makes no sense.”
“If you find a twenty-four hour phở place with bad phở, it's probably a front for money laundering,” Cashe said.
“Why would you have to wash money?” Lindon frowned, “And how? Isn’t it just digital so we can visualize value? That’s what we learn in school.”
“Yeah, you probably don’t have much money laundering here,” Cashe said scratching his chin, “Where I come from it’s a bigger problem. You’ll have to take my word for it. It doesn’t matter. What I'm saying is this restaurant is going to be great. You can tell from the terrible sign.”
“And you couldn’t from my recommendation?” Emilia said, crossing her arms.
“That's a nice cherry on top, but it’s subjective,” Cashe said, “The inverse sign law is law. A fact of nature. You can’t argue with it. It just is.”
Emilia rolled her eyes, “Right. I’m halfway hoping the quality has gone way downhill now, just to prove you wrong.”
“It won’t have,” Cashe said, pointing to the sign.
“You’re full of it, right Lindon?” Emilia said.
“And why would washing money be illegal?” Lindon said, “If something is dirty, shouldn’t you want to clean it? I think you are making things up about your home again, Apollo. Almost none of the movies you talked about were baseball movies, you know!”
“It’s not literally washing money,” Cashe said as they made their way inside the restaurant. It had a warm atmosphere and a comfortable look. Plush booths lined the fall wall of the restaurant and a dozen tables were scattered throughout the restaurant floor.
A waitress noticed them as they entered and stopped what she was doing to greet them. She had the dark skin of a local and wore all black.
“Hey there, welcome! How many- Oh!” She let out a little exclamation as she recognized Emilia, “Right this way, Miss Oak, follow me!”
She gave them a big smile and hurried into the restaurant, leading them to a booth much too large for just three people. She seated them and ran off, returning a second later with their menus.
“Wow this is nice!” Lindon said, bouncing around the edge of the booth on its cushions, “Dad doesn’t get special seats when he goes to restaurants.”
“Neither do I,” Emilia said, “Not unless my sister is with me, at least.” She frowned at the overly large booth and the near empty restaurant. She turned her frown to Cashe, “Who recommended this restaurant to you?”
Cashe grinned, “Funny you should mention that-”
“AUNTIE EMI!” Annie shrieked. The eight year old child bolted through the restaurant doors and across the floor, jumping into her aunt’s lap and wrapping her arms around her in an enormous hug. “I watched your battle against Doug! He didn't stand a chance!”
“Annie, what are you doing here?” Emilia said, pulling her niece off of her.
“Sorry about that,” Elise said, entering the restaurant and making her way through it arm in arm with her husband, Bruce, “We told her to wait, but she’s like a Tauros.”
“Ellie? Why are you here, what’s going on?” Emilia said.
“It was supposed to be just us, I know,” Cashe said, “But after yesterday, I thought you might appreciate seeing your family on your birthday. Oh, happy birthday, by the way.” Cashe smiled, “I think I forgot to say it earlier.”
*****