A bus to Pewter and a twenty minute walk from the station found Sam in front of perhaps the greatest restaurant in the world. Perhaps not in the entire world, but certainly the best in Sam’s limited and still yet small world. Ornately carved doors stood ominously amidst wooden pillars all painted with the reason for his visit today. Jingisukan. Butadon.
Barbeque.
Pork Bowls.
This would be Sam’s fiercest battle since the Raticate in the forest. Of the tantalizing scents that seeped through the imposing edifice that barred entry to the famed establishment he could pick out the distinct odor of grilled meat. His mouth watered in anticipation. Crescent clearly empathized with the sentiment if the happy chirrups and prancing was any indication. Sam’s grandfather had called ahead to see if the Nidoran would be allowed to join them considering that there would be no one left at home to keep him company. Luckily the restaurant had responded in polite confusion. Of course a small, well-trained Pokemon would be allowed to join them at the table. They were even low enough that Crescent should be able to peek above the edge and witness the food in all of its glory. It wasn’t like they were bringing a Snorlax. That would require a special reservation and an equally special price. Sam had asked through his grandfather if such a thing had ever happened before. Yes, the restaurant said. But only at the home location in Sinnoh, and only once.
So Crescent had been bundled, with some cajoling, into his ball and whisked off to Pewter with the rest of the family. Seating on the bus was tight and the elder Oak didn’t particularly care to purchase another ticket. Sam had considered letting Crescent out to sit on his lap, but the Nidoran was much heavier than he appeared and he didn’t want to get in trouble. Instead Sam had found himself avoiding direct eye contact with Aggie as they argued about whether Ground types were the same thing as Rock types. Clearly there was a difference. Sand and dirt could be considered ground, but rocks were always rocks. Ground types might move rocks by shifting the earth itself, but Rock types only moved rocks. It was a matter of scale. Even now that they had arrived at their destination, Aggie was still insisting that they were the same thing.
“Look, Geodudes are rocks, right? But they can cause earthquakes just like Rhydon can. And Rhydon can throw rocks but clearly aren’t made of rocks. What’s the damn difference?”
Sam glowered at the question. “According to the encyclopedia, Ground types can harness the power of strike-slip tectonics. Rock types just throw rocks. Like I keep saying, it’s all about the scale of what they can do! I mean, think of it like this, you can find rocks in dirt, right?”
“You and that stupid encyclopedia… Yeah? So what?”
“So a Rock type would dig up the rock outta the ground to throw it but a Ground type would just rip up the entire chunk of earth, rocks included, and move that around instead!”
“But Geodudes and Rhydon can both do the same thing!”
“That’s because they’re both types, Aggie.”
“What?”
“They’re both. Geodude and Rhydon are both Ground and Rock.”
“You’re just makin’ up excuses because you know I’m right!”
“No, I’m just telling you why they can both do similar things! But it's- ” A hand on Sam’s shoulder stopped him mid sentence.
“You two find another time for your lovers’ spat. If we let you two go at it all afternoon we’re liable to miss the bus back home and you know that I’m not going to pay for a hotel.” Paul had what could only be considered a sadistic grin on his face. “Besides, if you gotta argue, argue about the important shit like how many kids you’re gonna have, not about Pokemon typing.”
Sally decided to chime in at this point. “You know, you’ve got a point there Paul. They would make quite the power couple, and if they asked for my opinion, I’d say at least three.”
“Sally, we’re not-!”
“What the hell, Paul!”
Paul sneered a response while Sally snickered. “Oh please, you two have been inseparable since you were little. It’s not like there’s anyone else who would be willing to put up with either of you anyway. Now come on and let’s eat! Unless you’ve changed your mind, Sam, and we came all this way for nothin’?”
Temporarily mollified, Sam and Aggie threw each other a final glare to indicate that the argument would resume later before turning away just as swiftly. Sam could feel the heat on his cheeks as he hurried ahead. Hopefully Aggie hadn’t noticed. Once he had reached the double doors leading inside, Sam noticed something odd about the Arcanines carved into the wood. Rather than the typical spiky appearance that he had seen in the encyclopedia, the Arcanines depicted had stylized tails that looked like cartoon clouds and a horn on their heads. He chalked it up to an artist’s rendition of the rather rare Pokemon. Most people wouldn’t ever get to meet one. Canis minimus were pretty common, but only folks with either a lot of money or power usually walked around with a Canis majesticus.
The doors were much lighter than they seemed and Sam’s experience with his ACE project clued him in that they were probably made out of stained cedar instead of the imported blackwood that it looked like. It made sense. Blackwood was extremely expensive and hard to come by. Crescent trotted through the entry, his head wobbled like a bobblehead and his inquisitive nose quivered at all of the new and exotic smells. Sam held open the door just long enough for Sally, his grandfather, and Aggie to pass through, but allowed it to close on its own as Paul approached. He allowed himself a smug grin as the appearance of Paul’s rueful gaze told him that he knew it had been coming. The gentle punch on Sam’s shoulder was also the expected response.
Paul strode forward and let the hostess know that they had a reservation and was informed that five of their party had already been seated. Sam turned to Crescent with an excited smile. The Rogers were already here! His smile only grew as they were led to a large room just off the main dining area. An entire room all to themselves! He could scarcely believe it. Truly, today was going to be an amazing one.
As they entered, there was a series of loud pops and paper streamers rained down from either side. Sam froze in shock which was quickly taken advantage of as he became engulfed by a series of hugs. Blaine was first with the three requisite pats to the back as was proper between buddies. An only slightly awkward and prickly one from a now bearded Dean. A gentle one with a mighty cheek press from Sandy. One that felt like his bones were creaking from Rooster. The unsettling sensation of a firm handshake from Gram despite the lack of physical contact. Handshakes and more hugs were spread around between the two groups, and then they were officially all together again.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Sam’s family.
“Oh, look at you! You’ve bellsprouted like a weed! What on earth have you been feeding the boy, Sally?” Sandy took control of the conversation immediately. “And Agatha! My goodness you’re just absolutely stunning in that dress! You should definitely wear those more often, dear.”
“Just about anything and everything, you should see him vacuum up plate after plate like he’s going to starve! Been trying to teach him to cook his own meals, but he’d burn a bowl of cereal that one.”
“Thanks, but I prefer pants. Hard to run in skirts, ya know? Mom insisted.”
Sandy barrelled through. “Still single Paul? I’ve got a friend or two I could introduce you to, you know. And Mister Oak! Looking as spry as ever, I see. How wonderful it is to see you all! Feels like ages since we were last together!”
“Three months, five days, and eight hours. Been clocking the days since our last time.”
Blaine’s enunciation of some of the words made Sam hesitate for a moment. “Is… is that a pun?”
“I’d pun-alize you if you didn’t pun-derstand them!”
Sam drew a hand down his face before directing his attention back to Sandy. “Is this a new thing or… ?”
Sandy’s smile didn’t falter at all as she replied. “They’ve been getting worse lately!”
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Sam decided that Jingisukan might perhaps be his new second favorite food after pierogies. The fatty pieces of mutton were cooked directly on the grills embedded into the tabletop. Plate after plate of sliced meat were set before him and plate after plate was sent back to the kitchens empty. Sam had alternated between giving himself bites of the succulent morsels and setting some in Crescent’s shallow bowl. After having been instructed how to tell when the meat was done, Sam had simply taken over nearly an entire grill for himself. As the stack of empty plates grew to taller and taller heights, Sam could see the beginnings of panic start to set in on Paul’s face. Sam kept his own neutral as he polished off yet another bowl of butadon while waiting for his seventh plate of mutton. The sweet and salty caramelized soy sauce that dripped from the crevices of the pork was simply divine. He had taken to mopping up the remains of each bowl with the mutton. Truly, the two flavors were better together than they were separate.
It was truly disappointing when Sam found that his seventh plate was not going to be coming. Apparently Sally had quietly directed the waiters to cut him off after that last one.
“What did I tell you, Sandy? The boy can eat. Lucky for you, your Blaine has a more reasonable appetite.”
“Grass is always greener, I suppose. One time I came home from work to find that he had guzzled down nearly an entire gallon of Moomoo milk and polished off an entire bag of pretzels. And that was a family sized bag I might add.”
“Don’t get into a twist about it, mom! I’d say you’re just a bit salty that I didn’t save any for you!”
A collective round of grimaces went around the table at Blaine’s latest pun, then a second when Crescent unleashed his best impression of a Snorlax. Aggie was not impressed with the belch in the slightest.
“That. Was. Awful. I could totally do better than that!”
She then proceeded to completely outdo him, much to Sandy’s consternation. Sam felt his heart flutter for a moment as he watched the golden-haired girl rattle glasses on the table. Aggie was beautiful. He paused as he met eyes with Aggie, then blushed. Then even deeper as Aggie stared back at him wide-eyed. Sam was grateful indeed when Dean cleared his throat and changed topics.
“Now that we’re all fed, watered, and have made room for dessert, let’s talk about the upcoming trip to Johto.” All eyes turned to face the man, although Aggie’s gaze lingered on Sam for a moment longer. “As you all know, Sam, Blaine, and myself will be heading to Azelea Town to help start up a new Youngster’s Den there. It’s going to be exciting, but a lot of hard work. The League’s got high hopes for this one as there are apparently a lot of friendly neighborhood Slowpoke which sorta mimic the conditions in Pallet Town, albeit with Slowpoke instead of Rattata. Gram’s study was a humongous hit with the top brass and they were more than happy to take advantage of the personal connection that I’ve got with Sammy here. I’ve got some itineraries here with me, if you don’t mind, honey?”
Sandy produced a few large envelopes tied with red string and handed them around the table. She ran out before she got to Aggie and apologized. “Sorry dear, but I didn’t think you needed one as you weren’t going to be involved.”
Aggie stood and rounded the table before squeezing in between Sam and Crescent. “That’s okay, Mrs. Rogers, I’ll just look at Sam’s copy.”
The soft pressure on Sam’s arm was more than a little distracting as he fumbled with the envelope. It shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was to open. He stiffly held the paper out between him and Aggie so she could see as Dean continued.
“Thanks honey. Now, as you can see we’re set to depart from the Pallet Town docks in about a month. The League has chartered a merchant vessel to take us from there to Cinnabar Island where we’ll switch to a larger ship that’ll bring us around to the docks at Cherrygrove City. We’ll transfer one more time after a day’s layover before sailing to Goldenrod where we’ll be staying at one of the League-owned hotels there for a few days while we wait for transport to meet us. Transport will likely be a charter bus which will take us down the Azelea Town, going around the Ilex Forest.”
“Why go around?” Paul asked. “Is it like Viridian?”
“Pretty much, but on a much bigger scale. There’s a bunch of weird stuff that apparently happen in and around Ilex, so we’re steering clear to avoid any trouble.”
Aggie spoke up. “What kinda weird stuff?”
“No idea, not my department. All I was told is that it’s best we go around and not go looking for trouble. Besides, it’s not like we’d have a choice in the matter. The bus has a set route and we’re just along for the ride. We’ll be joined by a few League reps, their names can be found on another page, who’ll be taking point once we get to Azalea. Sam, since this is your first time dealing with the League proper, just a few things you gotta know.”
Sam tried to ignore Aggie’s warmth as she pressed herself onto his side. Crescent had shifted over, so there was plenty of room for her. So why wasn’t she moving away?
“First things first, these are government representatives. They’ve got a certain way of doing things and they are the boss. If they tell you to do something, you’re gonna need to listen and follow instructions. They’ll probably have a few talking points for you, if not a full-on script, so make sure you stick to the narrative as they won’t take kindly on you if you try to ad-lib.”
Sam nodded. Why did Aggie smell so damn good?
“Second, they’ve got a bit of a profile on you. A little kid taking out a Raticate in his first ever real battle in the wild is not completely unheard of, but pretty uncommon. I have a pretty good feeling they’ll be trying to recruit you for any number of different jobs or ‘opportunities’.” Dean accompanied this with air quotations. “Don’t let them sweet talk you into signing anything. They come to you with papers; you immediately come to me. I know first hand how easy they can screw you over with contracts, so don’t sign anything. I repeat. Don’t. Sign. Anything. Am I clear?”
Did Aggie put on perfume today? What the hell was going on with her? “Crystal.” He said.
“Good. I’ll probably repeat this to you a few more times along the way because that’s just how important it is. One bad contract and all of a sudden you’re in the middle of nowhere on some island getting yelled at by Drill Instructors and getting stuck on latrine duty forever. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.” Rooster practically crowed at that. “Anyway, I’ll let you go over the packing list and the other documents on your own time with your grandfather and Paul. I’d suggest sticking to the list, but if there was one suggestion I would make that is speaking from experience… double the number of socks you’re bringing. Trenchfoot is nasty news and we’ll be a long time between laundry visits.”
Sam let Aggie pull the packet out of his hands and rifle through the pages to the packing list. One arm slipped around his as she held it in such a way that he could still see the paper while linking together with him. Sam felt his blush resurface with a vengeance as knowing, “I told you so” looks passed between the adults around the table. He didn’t know exactly where to look, and pleaded silently with Blaine to bail him out. Blaine simply looked amused and mouthed a chant at him from across the table.
“Sammy and Agatha, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
Sam felt betrayed, but resigned himself to his fate and let the embarrassment and confusion overtake him. He barely listened to the rest of Dean’s explanation of the upcoming trip and only tossed in a grunt of affirmation when appropriate. Aggie’s eyes were still glued to the packing list and she seemed to be going over it again and again as if she were attempting to memorize it. He found it strange, but was more preoccupied with the oddly comforting feeling that came with the intimate closeness they were sharing. When Aggie finally released his arm at the conclusion of dinner and the subsequent goodbyes while they made their way to the bus station, Sam’s brain finally had enough room to think.
He decided that he liked both types of Aggie. The tomboy who could still probably beat him up and who belched at the dinner table in a tectonic fashion despite being in front of guests, and the other side that clung to him and made him feel as solid as a rock.
It was still a bit damn confusing for him, but Sam knew better than to ask Aggie stupid questions.