The Crest of the Watching Sun

Chapter 18

"You know, there is something quite important we must do before heading out" Samuel's voice echoed at the entrance. Putting his shoes on, while Anya waited next to him, tilting her head.

"This" he said while enlarging a pokeball which he unclipped from his belt. A hesitant look appeared on her face and she unknowingly took a step back, to which Samuel grinned carefreely and said "Don't worry, I'll release you as soon as I can, I promise" he comforted, the nervous bug-type.

Anya steeled her nerves, took a step forward and cautiously poked the pokeball with her cutter. The pokeball opened and in a flash of red light, nothing happened. Anya still stood there, mentally prepared to be absorbed inside a pokeball.

"Huh? Interesting" said Samuel. Causing Anya to jolt in surprise. "May be this one is broken? It did activate, hmm" Samuel put the pokeball away, and took out another one, which he offered to Anya.

Anya warily poked the pokeball again, the ball opened again, a red light flashed and nothing else happened. Without any real explanations they decided to shelve capturing Anya.

"Well, that didn't work out, let's just head out"

She stretched her body and motioned towards the door, obviously wanting to get going. Samuel obliged, seeing that the pokemon was okay now. "You know, it is weird to look at you without the hood" he said jokingly, while exiting the house, trying to lift the mood. Anya just shrugged, her lips rising a bit in amusement.

It was not like she could just magically make a new hood, her supplies were missing. She would need to create new sheets again. A sudden though, she had lost her pot! The day has been so hectic that she had totally forgotten that she had a small pot with her, her mind wavered again and she frowned that she would have to get a new one somewhere...

Walking around town with Samuel was odd, almost everyone knew him, most of the townspeople greeted him and he greeted back. She too was getting a lot of stares and glares, even some kids tried to pull at her holey silk cloak either trying to do a dare or simply being too curious.

They arrived at the 'shopping' street as Samuel had called it, it was a single wide street littered with small stores and stands on either side of it. In the middle there was barely enough space for two cars to pass each other.

Speaking of cars, Anya was surprised by the amount of cars in a small town like this. The games didn't really have any and her memories of the anime were spotty at best with occasional jeep or bike driven by a Jenny. But here there were roads, cars and trucks seen every now and then.

While thinking about cars, Anya and Samuel had passed many different stores, each selling this and that. Walking past a certain store caused Anya to pause, she stood still while curiously looking at the things being shown on the display. She could recognize a tailor shop when she saw one.

"Huh? Interested in clothes" she heard Samuel say while walking back towards her "Should have guessed" he chuckled "These clothes are made by REAL professionals" he sneered. Anya being offended by the implication that she was a faker started to pelt him with her knowledge, forgetting that the only thing he could hear was "Leavanny" in many different parts of the sentences.

Samuel raised his hands in surrender and said "I cannot understand you at all, but clearly, you are upset about something I said" Anya nodded and her head flushed a bit.

Anya looked at the store and noticed that a 'closed' sign was hung on the door. She looked at Samuel and pointed at the sign while tilting her head.

"Right, right, the store is closed, as today is Sunday, most of the local small shop owners are closed, having a day off." Anya nodded in response but, Samuel wasn't sure how much she really understood about his explanation.

They continued their walk through the street, As Samuel had said most of the shops were closed. Anya stopped again, poked at Samuel to get his attention. Samuel jolted from the sudden poke and looked at Anya, gaining Samuel's attention, she went inside and Samuel curiously following after her.

The shop they entered wasn't really a store but a small arts and crafts school, teaching young trainers how to survive in the wilds should they ever become lost in the woods or wanted to explore.

There was a small group of trainers sitting on the stone floor trying to create fire while their partner pokemon looked nearby. There also was a Golduck and a Poliwhirl standing watch. 'Smart' Anya thought. The walls were filled with different kind of tools and guidelines how to make them and use them correctly.

While inspecting the room an older lady stood up while looking at them, She joined them, greeted Samuel and asked "Why are you here?" Samuel just shrugged and casually pointed at Anya, "We were just walking around and got dragged in for some reason, I have learned all of this already." He puffed up his chest a bit.

"Oh, I though I might have someone older to teach for once" She smiled gently

Anya looking around, spotted something on the wall that she might be looking for, it was a make-do brush and a pile of natural colorants used to mark trees and rocks in the nature.

She looked at Samuel while chirped happily, causing him to stop his conversation with the older lady and look at her. This time he knew what she wanted, of everything that she stood in front of, the brush caught his eye instantly. He confirmed his thoughts by asking "Painting?". Anya chirped again and nodded vigorously.

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The lady asked curiously "She interested in painting?", Samuel nodded and answered "And tailoring, I think".

"Now that I look at her, she seems to cover almost her entire body with cloth"

"If you ignore the towel, everything else is made by her"

Samuel and the old lady talked for a while before she was called away by a student of her who managed to get a fire going. They said their goodbyes and left the school.

Entering back to the streets Samuel finally had a destination to go to, The paint store. Arriving at the paint store Samuel grimaced while looking at the familiar sign hanging from the door, 'Closed', it was still Sunday.

Anya tapped his shoulder to bring his attention away, Samuel yet again looking at her, she motioned with both of her cutters at her open mouth and then touching her mid section. Samuel not needing any more information started walking towards a certain shop and said "Food, I know just the place, they even allow pokemon..." He grimaced while he was reminded of the Cafe from yesterday.

It took a good while to arrive at a restaurant. Entering the shop, they both were greeted with a plethora of smells, Anya's new pokemon senses were going haywire as she had to get used to the amount of new scents in the air. It was the first time it happened, she wasn't really sure why, compared to the cafe where she had smelled coffee and fresh bread. Here she smelled grilled meat and many other ingredients she couldn't identify, she never knew her sense of smell had changed so much.

The restaurant was a long bar counter filled with high chairs without back rest. Many customers were eating and happily chatting with their friends. Samuel and Anya found a pair of empty chairs next to each other at the counter, the male chef/waiter on the other side of the counter came to take their order.

"Hey! Sam, it has been a while. You haven't visited for months!"

"Hey Nick, I have been busy. The pokemon league and all that. But, right now I'm on a long needed break, while the new building is being retrofitted." Nick nodded and said "Aight, good to have ya back pal"

Nick was a tall fit person with a short upright blonde, a real lady killer look, Anya thought amusingly, he was wearing a buttoned white long sleeved shirt and straight black pants.

"So who's this? Your new teammate? It doesn't look that strong" Nick's attention now on her.

"She's... not part of my main roster, I kinda picked her up yesterday. You know, the unknown ghost sightings thing"

"Her? I heard the rumors were looking for a pure white from head to toes" Nick said while peeking over the counter to get a better look and took out some beer refill orders.

"She had a white hood on top of that cloak at the time" Samuel explained.

"Cool, I think I can imagine it, A tall white shape appearing just before the break of dawn. Scaring the crap out of anyone who saw it" Nick said while grinning

"I think I'll take the house special and..." Samuel said while looking at Anya, who looked back and pointed at the menu "The Phirb Salad, your names are still odd" he continued.

"Only makes them more unique, A house special for Sam and a Phirb Salad for...her?"

Anya nodded and sighed, opened her mouth and chirped "vA. NY. vA." Still sounding unnatural for anyone who heard it.

"That doesn't sound like any natural sound pokemon make, it sounds a bit.. distorted" Nick observed.

"Yes, She has made these sounds a few times before, they sound nothing like her normal speech" Samuel confirmed "But, she is an odd pokemon in any case..."

Nick turned around and shouted "POPS, A HOUSE SPECIAL AND A P-SALAD, SAM'S HERE!"

He turned back and asked happily what they would like to drink.

"I'll take a beer, and water for her? or do you want a berry juice?" Samuel looked at the downcast Anya who shrugged. "Okay, berry juice then, with a straw" He said while taking a peek at Anya. He saw no objection from her, that was good. Nick soon arrived with two glasses one filled to the brim with beer and had a foamy layer on top and the other had ice and was filled with a purplish red liquid. Nick then placed a straw on her drink.

Few minutes of Samuel chatting with Nick while they waited for their food, Anya had moved her glass closer to the edge, so she did not have to lean forward awkwardly just to take a sip from her drink, the counter was a bit high for her.

A group of rowdy well dressed people entered the room, businessmen, Anya thought. The leading man's eyes scanned over the counter looking for free space, they sat next to Anya, one of them still missing a seat. Nick went to greet this bunch. The left out one glared at her, expecting something to happen, Anya just glanced at the man and ignored him. A minute later and he opened his mouth in annoyance.

"Move over" he said in a commanding tone. Anya ignored the man, not really knowing she was being talked to. The man's gaze went from Anya to Samuel, his voice still booming loudly with a hint of superiority. "You!" he pointed at Samuel "You are its trainer! You should teach some manners to your pokemon! It should follow orders as commanded!"

Samuel's eyebrows rose a good amount, how could anyone expect another person's pokemon to follow some strangers orders he thought. Before he could even answer the rowdy businessman had already opened his mouth again.

"MOVE! YOUR! POKEMON!" he shouted angrily, one could imagine steam coming out of his head as it was getting more and more redder by the minute.

"No" said Samuel tiredly, causing the businessman to glare at him. "You can just take another chair from there" he told the man who angrily spat back

"DON'TCHA KNOW WHO WE ARE!" with veins popping on the mans neck, to which Samuel answered "No, I do not, I am quite tired, hungry and have zero interest who you are right now. If you could just quiet down and eat like a decent person I might even give a care" silencing the man for a moment.

"You, YOU, YOU!" the man repeated, each one louder than the one before "I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL, IF THAT THING WON'T LEAVE THE TABLE", the man suddenly deflated having expended his aggression, breathed deep and said "Pokemon have no place on the table of real men, they all should be..." Before the man could finish someone tapped his shoulder causing him to turn and glare at the sudden interloper, only to meet the eyes of officer Morrison.

"Okay, buddy, I heard all of your shouting from the other side of the street... I'll have to give you a fine, for disturbing the public order. I would have left it alone only if you wouldn't have shouted out threats. So let's go, few hours at the station will clear your head and give your Sunday an unique ending." Morrison was quite surprised when he saw Anya watching the situation unfold. He said "Nice meeting you here, Didn't think I would see you so soon again." To which Anya just shrugged, "You too mister Oak. I am sorry I wish I could chat a bit more but I need to get a certain somebody to take a break at the good old cooling chambers." he chuckled.

The rowdy man was quickly escorted away, his friends looked quite dumbfounded but soon just laughed it off. "Sorry about that, he has had quite a rough day. Here let me buy you a drink, champ" Clearly indicating that the group knew who he was.

Samuel chuckled goodheartedly and accepted the offer.

Food arrived soon and Anya found the Phirb-Salad to be surprisingly tasty, though she still envied the burger Samuel got.

Stuffed with food, saying goodbye to Nick and on their way to home, darkness encroaching the roads it was getting late and almost no one was outside anymore. Getting home, taking a shower and going to bed was the plan they both agreed on.