The vibe that I got with Ajax and Drake by my side, instead of just the latter, was entirely different from what I’d gotten before. With only the poochyena at my side, people had been distinctly wary in places like Emeragrove, but Hearthome was more cosmopolitan, and thus the responses I’d gotten were a lot less pronounced. People might watch me, certainly, but they didn’t seem particularly concerned about me.
Now, however, I was accompanied by a hellhound whose head came up to my stomach. People seemed outright startled by Ajax’s appearance and presence, to the point of sometimes reversing direction or ducking into shops. The behaviour didn’t escape either of my partners, either; Drake seemed a combination of somewhat resigned and tense, keeping a close eye on our surroundings for an ambush like the one we’d had just a week ago. Ajax, on the other hand, noticed, but didn’t seem concerned by it. I supposed that it made sense that he was used to that reaction, though it was odd seeing the contrast between Drake’s quiet alertness and Ajax’s uncaring demeanor. I wasn’t sure how I liked either, but I understood the reasoning behind both.
Still, there were upsides to the new attitude. Many of the places Drake and I had gone previously to collect whatever I thought we might need, which had been much more hostile or merely unwelcoming to the two of us, now appeared to be in more accommodating moods. There were some that seemed distinctly nervous of Ajax’s size, and those that acknowledged both of my Pokemon the moment that I walked through their doors and the fact that they didn’t want to fight them. Most interestingly, however, was the third group.
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I stared up at the sign of Pawniard’s Surplus, and pushed down the normal lilt of anxiety with the ease of long practice. The last time I’d been here, the man behind the counter had levied the implicit threat of a battle at me, but hadn’t actually moved to do anything else. Certainly, I’d come out of there just fine with what I’d went in to purchase, so I didn’t think that I could complain too much. Still, we’d found ourselves back here once again, because Ajax needed the same sort of gear that Drake already had.
My arm twitched as something wet touched it, and I looked down to find Ajax regarding me with uncertain concern in his eyes. I smiled, rubbing over the bone plate that covered his forehead. He pressed his head against my hand in turn, Drake brushing himself against my leg on the other side.
“Thanks. Don’t worry, I’m alright.” Ajax glanced at Drake, who seemed more or less unconcerned, and seemed to take the cue. “‘Sides, today’s not been so bad, especially compared to how it was before.”
That seemed to mollify him, the big houndour pulling back a little and casting curious glances over the equipment displayed in the windows and advertised in signs. I let out a breath through my nose, squared my shoulders, and pushed the door open for the second time since I’d come here.
The interior was mostly unchanged. Some merchandise had been moved around, things that had been on sale in order to clear them out shuffled or replaced with other items. Still, it was the same store that I’d walked into before, with that same smell that I found to be remarkably common among military surplus stores. I hadn’t noticed it before, with how nervous I’d been, but now I found it a little bit of familiar comfort.
The man behind the counter was the same one that had been manning the register the last time I’d been here. Grizzled, scruffy, the only real difference being a slightly different outfit. I could see where he glanced up from a magazine that he was examining on the counter, the way his eyes alighted on me. There was a flicker of recognition there, and I wondered if I’d really stood out so much as to be memorable to him. His eyes went to Drake for a bare moment, his hand twitching towards his belt, preparing the same sort of implication that he’d put forward last time. And then, Ajax walked through behind me.
To my instant surprise, the man’s entire bearing changed immediately, so drastically that it was impossible for even me to miss it. His back straightened, his eyes widened, and the hand that had been just going for the Pokeball at his waist splayed itself against the glass of the counter with a muted thud. Ajax’s ear twitched in the direction of the sound, his eyes flicking towards the man, but he quickly lost interest in favour of the quadrupedal display stand that I’d noted the last time I was here.
The man stared for several long seconds, taking in the abnormally large houndour that appeared to have completely taken him by surprise. A moment passed, where I watched him out of the corner of my eye, then he folded his hands together on the countertop in front of him with fingers interlaced. He didn’t seem inclined to move after that, and so I decided that focusing on what I was doing was probably more important.
Much like Drake, Ajax was going to be bigger some day, though in his case the size difference between his current and evolved form would be far more exaggerated. As a houndour, he was already bigger than your average eevolution, head a bit higher than waist height for me. As a houndoom, he’d be huge, nearly, if not as tall as I was. I’d planned for Drake’s growth with a harness that allowed for a range of sizes, but Ajax would demand something different.
I paused, halfway through sorting through a pile of different packaged harnesses. Actually, come to think of it, would Ajax be approximately the size of an arcanine when evolved? Arcanines were big enough that they could easily carry a rider, and there had been that service for arcanine deliveries… surely, the Pokemon would see at least some representation here. It was doubly perfect for the fact that it was a Fire type, which lined up perfectly with Ajax.
Thankfully, there actually was a specific portion of equipment that was set aside for Fire typing. Given how destructive I imagined fire to be on your average piece of leather or cloth, I supposed that it made sense that it would be marked out and catered to. Many of them were a bit too small for what I envisioned, with Ajax’s current size ranging towards the middle setting of their straps when they weren’t too small altogether, which meant that they definitely wouldn’t fit him when he evolved. Still, at the bottom of a stack of packages, I managed to find something that would work; labeled as ‘Real Arcanine-Rated Leatherwork’, it was clearly tougher than most of the examples I’d found. The packaging, which was obviously something that had been added after its life in whatever function it had served, claimed that the leather that it was composed of had been specifically treated to resist fire and heat damage.
“What do you think?” I muttered to Ajax, holding it out for his inspection. The houndour sniffed at it, then nodded to me, before seeming to get distracted by something and padding off between the shelves. “Well, I guess that’s close enough to approval for me.”
Thankfully, for bags and attachments, I didn’t have to be so mindful of size and such. There were plenty that were treated against fire of all sizes and descriptions, though I was starting to wince at the total price of everything that I was picking up. The fire-treated versions of things were more expensive than the untreated ones- not enough to really make me consider going without, but it was making me consider the fact that I’d probably have to tighten my belt a bit if I wasn’t already planning to subsist on foraging and MRE’s when crossing Coronet.
… Actually, on that line of thought, I nabbed a survival book on foraging from a small section of bookshelves. It was labeled ‘Eating Cheap for Trainers: Sinnoh Edition’, which was a rather encouraging title for someone who was thinking of their poor pocketbook and very hungry Pokemon. I showed the book to Drake, who narrowed his eyes at it and gave a noncommittal huff.
“Come on, it’s gonna be expensive enough to feed the both of you. Don’t you want better food than just, I dunno, whatever berries we can happen to find? Because I doubt there’s going to be a plentiful supply all the way to the peak.”
He lifted a paw, head tilting, then accepted my point with a nod. Still, I imagined that I’d have to be sure to put aside some hot sauce or something for him. Though… Come to think of it, I should probably figure out what Ajax had a taste for. Proper food to the tastes of those eating it was important for morale, after all, and a good basis to build camaraderie from.
Those thoughts were swept out of my mind when I rounded the shelves and found myself back in the line of sight of the man behind the counter. I nervously stepped towards him, a sudden flicker of thought reminding me that Drake was still wearing the harness and bags from the last time we’d been here. I really hoped that he wouldn’t accost us for that, I’d have removed them or asked Drake to wait outside if I’d actually put that together ahead of time. Too late to do anything about it now, though, especially with him watching me.
It was somewhat awkward, setting the pile of things I’d collected on the counter. I’d never been very good at figuring out what to do in these sorts of situations, trying to avoid eye contact as the man sorted through the pile. Was I supposed to make small talk? About what? ‘Oh, yeah, sorry about coming into your store with a fire dog the size of a pony’? Yes, that would go over perfectly. Certainly wouldn’t carry with it the same energy as drawing a knife and talking about how pretty it was while examining the blade.
“Alright. Go ahead and take it.”
I twitched. Hell, had he said what the price was and I’d missed it? Man, I didn’t want to admit that I’d gotten completely lost in considering what I should say. Quickly, my eyes darted over the register and counter, seeking a receipt or some kind of readout that might tell me what I owed him. That didn’t help in the slightest, however, because there… wasn’t any. No choice but to ask, I suppose.
“Ahm, sorry, I missed what the price was?”
“Nothing.” He went to fold his arms, then seemed to reconsider the gesture, leaving them hanging awkwardly at his side. “It’s on the house.”
But, what? Why? No, wait, I’d come into his store with two Dark types. Did he remember me from last time? He might not. This might actually be him assuming that I was robbing him. I definitely wasn’t, and had to disabuse him of that notion as soon as possible. It was going to be hard enough to keep building my reputation without something like this dogging my steps.
… Had that been a pun? This definitely wasn’t the time for it.
“Hey, look, mate, I’m not-” My hands came up, and I immediately lowered them, trying not to appear threatening. “Wasn’t robbing you. Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Y-?” He made a facial expression that might be… confused? “I- no, I don’t- didn’t think you were robbing me. I…” He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s… an apology.”
“... Fffffor what?” I asked, off-balance and slightly suspicious.
“You came in here a week ago. I didn’t… like the look of you. I admit, the poochyena put me on guard, and I treated you with a suspicion that you didn’t deserve in the slightest.”
“Okay, then. So, what changed?”
“You walked in here, being followed by a Jinnouchi houndour.”
I glanced back at Ajax, whose ears had perked at the mention of his- our?- clan. Drake was watching the man neutrally, as if not sure what he thought of him, but Ajax merely regarded him with curiosity.
“You’re not wrong about that, but-”
“Why would that make me change my mind?” I nodded. “I know what you need to do to have one on your team. Particularly one of the alphas. Definitive proof as I can get that I jumped right out onto a limb that didn’t exist.”
I blinked at him. Apparently, some people weighed the reputation of the Jinnouchis that highly. Something that I would… probably have to get used to. To my surprise, the thought made something warm curl in my chest. It was actually rather nice, to be immediately associated with a group of people that was obviously held in such high esteem. I’d have to do what I could to live up to that, I supposed.
“I… well, I can’t thank you enough-”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do. The Jinnouchi’s… we all owe them something, particularly the clan head. Between them and the Gym, the area around Hearthome is one of the most peaceful in Sinnoh. If I can help somebody that joined their numbers, and make an apology for thinking… poorly of them, at the same time…” He shrugged. I sensed he might’ve offered me a slightly awkward smile, if he was the smiling type. “Then, yeah.”
“Still, though, thank you. This’ll help alot.”
I gathered the things off the counter into my arms, only to be interrupted as a piece of red fabric landed on the pile. I looked at it in surprise, then looked to the right, where a suddenly very close Ajax was regarding me with some of the biggest eyes I’d ever seen. I glanced back at it, picked it up to examine it. Fire resistant cloth, some kind of mottled volcano pattern? Different reds and oranges intermixed. About a square piece of… oh. It’s a bandanna. I give him a look, and Ajax merely replies by turning his head and staring. Following his gaze, I see a large poster to one side, pasted on the side of a series of shelves.
It looked to be some kind of Sinnoh armed forces recruitment poster. On it, a simplified drawing of a man in olive clothing and wearing an olive military cap stood backdropped against an equally-simplified arcanine, which appeared to be wearing a red bandanna that was almost identical to the one I was holding. Underneath the poster was stacked a number of them, and Ajax had apparently chosen one that would wrap around his neck.
I sighed, then turned back to the owner with a hesitant smile, which he merely replied to with a shake of his head.
“Yeah, go ahead. I couldn’t say no to those eyes, either.”
“Thank you.”
I briefly considered outfitting Ajax there and then, but that felt like it would be weird. The entire situation had been awkward enough for all of us, I felt, and it was best to cut it short before it got any worse. I offered the man a polite nod, collected all the items in my arms, and made for the door at a speed that was just slow enough to not resemble fleeing.
----------------------------------------
I settled down on the bench with a huff.
At this point, I figured we’d purchased or worked our way through just about everything we needed to in order to be ready to climb Coronet. I’d kept Blake up to date on my progress, as he had for his; apparently, he was well used to coordinating with traveling partners and gathering what was needed for a journey quickly. He’d already indicated that he was ready to go when I was, but I wanted to make one more stop before starting on Coronet.
It was still before noon, which left plenty of daylight to make good progress before setting up camp for tonight wherever we happened to stop. I’d gathered all the essentials that I’d thought I’d need, so at this point the last step I was looking at was putting together something for the morale of the team. Specifically, I was going to find some sort of collection of spices and flavouring that I could use in cooking and on food in general, to make it more aligned with the tastes of the Pokemon that I was feeding. Drake, thankfully, was easy enough on this point, as I could probably get some especially hot sauce or some powdered spicy berry. For Ajax, though…
“So,” I said, turning to the houndour. “Do you have a flavour preference?”
Drake had settled next to me the moment I sat down, appearing content, though I could still see him keeping a watchful eye on anyone that got close. Ajax, on the other hand, had taken one look at the concrete bench and decided that there wasn’t enough room for the two of us even if he could fit on the seat without slipping off. His new bandanna was tied around his neck, and I had to admit that the mottled red cloth was quite striking against his black fur. He turned his head at the question, glancing upwards as he thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright, good stuff. Now, lemme guess.” I hummed, thinking for a moment. “Dry?” He shook his head. “Okay. Sour? Sweet?” Two more no’s. I huffed a laugh. Coinflip between the two remaining, and I had a very good guess as to what it was. “Lemme guess. Spicy, huh?” He brightened, nodding, and I leaned back on the bench with a fuller laugh. “That’s just about a stereotype, you know.”
Ajax appeared confused for a moment, until Drake made a noise at him. Immediately, he swapped to a complicated expression that I could only sum up as ‘someone who’s never actually connected the dots about a fundamental part of themselves’. Still, that certainly made it easier on me; I didn’t particularly like spicy things, but it meant that I could at least just buy a larger supply of spicy flavouring and leave it at that. For the moment, anyway.
Still, even knowing the information I wanted to, I took a second to sit there on that bench. My two partners were content to sit with me, carrying on their own little conversation, probably getting to know eachother better. The bench itself was situated in the midst of a large park, on the larger side of several scattered throughout Hearthome.
The size of the city itself reminded me somewhat of one or two cities that I’d been to: instead of sprawling, it was concentrated, no slow fading from large buildings to single story. Instead, there was city, and then it ended, I suspect to make best use out of a minimal amount of land. If the city expanded too far, too fast, it would disrupt the habitats of surrounding Pokemon populations faster than they could adapt.
Still, it was a nice day in a very pretty park. There was one of those large stone balls suspended by water pressure in an installation in the center of the park, shining slightly in the sunlight. A group of children were egging on a machamp, who seemed determined to spend as much time flexing and showing off for their small crowd as making the ball spin. There were a couple of battlefields, where an informal match was going on between two teenagers, though it was obvious that they and their Pokemon were amateurs. Still, I couldn’t help but admire the effort they were putting in.
On the other side of the park, a number of people and Pokemon had set up something of an impromptu football match, or something similar enough anyway. They’d set up goals using jackets plopped down on the grass, and were shouting and laughing as they struggled for control of the black and white ball. Apparently by unspoken agreement, none of the Pokemon were using Type energy or techniques of any kind, relying entirely on their physical capability to play. It was interesting to watch, seeing creatures of a range of anatomies playing with humans, and how each of them adapted to the sport in their own way.
“It’s such a nice day.” I mused out loud.
Drake nodded, appearing to enjoy the mild weather and clear sky. Ajax let out a content noise, black fur soaking up the warmth of the sun. The three of us were perfectly content to sit there for an extended moment, basking in the sun and the nice environment. Lazily, I switched between watching the game and the Pokemon match, just enjoying the sight. Even in the city, the air was clean and fresh, and I found myself… content.
Finally, the Pokemon match wound down, the teenagers and the exhausted Pokemon meeting in the middle to shake hands. And then immediately start an involved conversation where they began teasing and messing with each other, their Pokemon finding partners to play with or simply laying in the grass and enjoying the day as we were doing.
“Well,” I said, “I think we’ve been dawdling long enough. Let’s go find a market where we can grab some spices and contact Blake, huh?”
My Pokemon nodded, Drake getting to his feet and shaking himself off while Ajax stretched with a chorus of cracking joints. I joined him, lacing my fingers and holding my arms above my head as I straightened my spine. It produced a series of pops, and I let out a satisfied groan: even the advanced technology of the Pokemon world couldn’t make a concrete bench soft.
Originally, I’d planned to go to what amounted to a normal market, just the kind of sectioned place where you’d usually get food and such. However, some poking around at my navigation app revealed that there was actually an open air food market, where various farmers sold their local produce directly. I had to admit, the idea of going somewhere with high-quality produce grown with the assistance of Pokemon very much appealed. I wondered whether something grown by, say, a Grass type would be tastier than something produced through purely human farming.
It was a quick bus ride to the market, something that Ajax appeared to enjoy immensely and Drake seemed markedly bored by, settling himself in my lap. I suppose that was the difference between canines and hyenas at work. To my surprise, upon our arrival, I realized that the market had its own dedicated bus stop. Well, perhaps I ought not to have been surprised, given the size and obvious importance of it, but still.
The market was located in a large open area between buildings, surrounded by an intricate iron fence that appeared to be more for decoration than anything else. Lights hung on strings between poles, all off during the day, but I imagined that it made the market shine quite prettily at night. Instead of tents or anything impermanent, the stalls themselves were made of lacquered wood. Between that and the warm red brick that formed patterns beneath my feet, it gave the entire place a welcoming and rustic feeling.
There was quite a bit of foot traffic, humans and Pokemon of all stripes entering and leaving with a huge range of things in their possession. However, looking around, I noted that quite a few of the wooden stalls themselves appeared shuttered and currently vacant. Maybe that was a side effect of the recent instability? Farmers and craftsmen and others that might come here to ply their wares instead staying home, or being blocked from making the trip. Somewhat saddening, but something that would fix itself given time.
There were a fair few people moving between the various open stalls, but all of them gave us a wide enough berth. Unlike before, however, instead of fear or suspicion, they appeared to be doing it out of… respect? I caught a fair few eyes on Ajax, and I could easily guess the reasoning. The reputation of the Jinnouchi, preceding me yet again. It was certainly a lot more welcome than other reactions I’d gotten.
Many of the open stalls were occupied by local people selling their wares, people I guessed either lived in Hearthome or directly in the surrounding area. Custom painted Pokeballs, carved wooden statues of various species of Pokemon, and, most of all, vegetables. Vegetables of all kinds, ranging from those I recognized from normal stocks back home to the occasional crop that I’d never heard of. Though, whether the latter were actually something native to the Pokemon world exclusively or just something I’d never heard of, I had no idea. As I walked through the market, Drake’s head swiveling rapidly to catch everything and Ajax merely enjoying himself in a place he appeared to already know, I noted several interesting things.
Firstly, there were, in fact, meat products, some labeled as completely mundane things such as beef or pork. Signs accompanied any stall that sold these sorts of meat, claiming that no Pokemon had been harmed in the process of farming. I remembered dimly that there were at least some normal animals mixed into the Pokemon anime; did that, perhaps, extend to cows and pigs and such? I resolved to do some research later.
Second was that there were a couple of fish sellers, and none of them made any such claims. Notably, I saw that while there were a number of mundane fish laying on beds of ice, they were mixed in with magikarp and others. That… was somewhat uncomfortable, but I supposed that magikarp were about as populous as cockroaches, approximately as useful, and about as smart. Barring the occasional one that evolved, I supposed I could understand eating them as something roughly comparable to the fish I was more familiar with. I couldn’t help but wonder what they tasted like, honestly. Something to investigate later.
… Did that mean that every fisherman you encounter with a team full of useless magikarp goes on to eat them later? Weird thought.
The third was that, in an odd turn, vegetable sellers didn’t sell berries. In a mirror, berry sellers didn’t market vegetables. The two industries appeared entirely separate, both doing thriving business in parallel. Was that because berries weren’t just food items, but had medicinal benefits? Did growing and caring for berries require a different skill set than just growing crops?
The fourth was that, wherever there was a berry seller, a seller of honey was almost always next door. But rather than just honey, or even just two or three types differentiated by being made of slightly different types of flower nectar, they were sorted into wild categories. There seemed to be a different kind of honey for just about every kind of berry, and they were advertised based on what berry plant they’d come from. These stalls were always flocked with combee, small swarms of the Bug type buzzing around, restocking shelves and organizing jars.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Different berry sellers appeared to specialize in a limited number of berries, typically two or three different kinds. The associated honey sellers, then, also had two to three different kinds of honey, each drawing from the berries of the stall next door to them. Looking at them, I guessed that they were typically either closely related, or out and out shared owners.
I had to admit my curiosity. I was a big fan of honey, always had a taste for it and always kept a jar or two of locally produced stuff around for cooking or otherwise. I’d found myself missing the taste. Going off the signs, and the associated flavour profiles, the honey made from berry flower nectar actually took on a little of the flavour of the berries themselves. I wasn’t sure about flavours like dry or spicy mixing with the usual sweet taste of honey, and I imagined something like oran being around what normal honey might taste like given its across the board flavour profile. However, I was far more interested in the idea of super sweet berries being used to make honey. How would that affect the taste? Would it be far sweeter, or would it be more nuanced? Maybe it would be just a bit sweeter?
I stopped short when I saw a berry stand that claimed to specialize in, quote, ‘the sweetest berries for the sweetest Pokemon’. Baskets of pecha, mago, and a round berry called watmel that vaguely resembled a watermelon filled the stand. The sweetness profile of the last was supposedly through the roof, and I couldn’t help my eyes immediately tracing to the usual honey stall right next door, and the jars of golden fluid there.
I stepped closer, noting as I did so that the various types of honey, while primarily golden in colouration, appeared to be coloured with a slight hue depending on their berry. The pecha honey had a very slight orange, while the mago had a slight tinge of red-orange. The watmel-based honey, however, had a much more straight red, especially obvious in direct sunlight. They even had a number of different honey candies, like honey sticks or hard candies. Sweetest indeed.
“Can I help you?”
I twitched, looking up at the man behind the booth. He had an easy smile, and was wearing a beige apron with a green Pokeball symbol printed on the front. A combee appeared to be sleeping on his shoulder, and he gently lifted the Bug type down onto a cushion to one side, standing up and giving me his full attention.
“Uh, yeah, I was just… considering. Do you think I could get a sample of…?” I pointed to the watmel honey.
“Oh, sure, hang on.”
He turned towards the back, where three jars, of each type of honey he was selling, sat. Each jar was somewhat empty, I noted, as he popped open one and dipped a metal spoon into the contents. I supposed that he just kept free sample jars specifically for this purpose. He turned back towards me, handing me the spoon covered in very slightly reddish honey. I stuck the thing in my mouth before the honey could drip anywhere.
My eyebrows shot up. This was definitely honey, among the best examples of the stuff I’d tasted even, and I was usually pretty picky about buying it. Not only that, however, there was a sort of… richness to it? I wasn’t sure how to describe it, exactly. It wasn’t just sweeter than normal honey, but there was a certain quality to it. When I swallowed the stuff, a bit of taste lingered in my mouth, just the barest tang of watermelon.
“Holy shit that’s good.”
He grinned, and some of the combee hanging around the booth looked quite smug. “Yeah, if you’re a fan of sweet stuff- well, the signs don’t lie.”
“Nnnno kidding, wow. That’s really interesting- not a taste combination I really thought about, or really expected to work? But it definitely does.”
I bit my tongue in thought. I’d definitely need to locate some spicy honey for the guys, and I absolutely wanted a jar of this stuff, but could I justify getting a more normal tasting honey like oran or pecha derived stuff as well? The watmel stuff was a little more expensive at P150, but the rest of them, from what I’d seen, were just P100 each. Could I carry the weight? Yeah, I thought so…
“Okay, I’ll take a jar of the watmel, and one of the pecha.”
He nodded, sliding the jars into foam tubes. At my look, he explained. “Protection for the jars. You’re a trainer, yeah?” I nodded. “Well, you’re going to be bumping glass jars all over the place in a bag, not just setting it in a cabinet. They’re going to need some kind of protection if you don’t want your bag and everything in it coated in honey and glass shards.”
That made a lot of sense, honestly. I nodded my thanks, exchanging the jars for some bills and sliding them into one of Ajax’s pouches. The houndour immediately proceeded to give me a pouting look, obviously dissatisfied with just getting sweet honey. I huffed out a small laugh, running my fingers over his bone crest.
“Hey, don’t get upset. We’ll find some spicy honey and maybe some food flavouring for you, alright?”
That seemed to cheer him up, and he danced in place, obviously eager to get a move on and find something that would be more satisfying. While Drake wasn’t so determined to go and get something to that degree, he was obviously interested- he just wasn’t practically bouncing in place. I turned back to the honey seller.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where somebody like that would be, would you?” He rubbed his chin in thought.
“Yeah, I come here pretty often; I know more than a few of the regulars. If you go down this row-” he pointed to his right, “then you should find a girl that sells honey. Tomato, spelon, and I think she and her hive even started producing petaya-based honey recently. It’s not for everybody, but if you’re a big fan of spicy stuff…”
“My partners are, not so much me.” They both snorted in unison, and I frowned at both of them in turn. “I wasn’t asking for commentary.”
Ajax avoided my eyes, having the decency to look a little abashed. Drake just looked amused. Little dork. I was gonna noogie him later for this, get my revenge.
“Anyway. Thanks.”
“Hey, no worries. If you’re ever in the neighborhood again- ah, wait.” He slipped a business card out of the pockets of his apron, handing it to me. “I’ve got a website, and we actually do shipping. If you know you’re going to be in a particular city, you can just order ahead through the site.”
“Oh, absolutely. I imagine that this stuff might not last me over Coronet.”
I cracked a grin, which he returned. We waved goodbye, and the three of us stepped away from the booth and back into the stream of traffic.
True to his word, we found the spicy honey seller on the row we’d been directed to. The seller herself had a fourth kind that the guy hadn’t mentioned- honey drawn from the flowers of liechi berries. Not something I’d ever heard of, but it had both sweetness and spicy profiles off the charts, apparently. Ajax seemed to hate it, scrunching up his nose in a way that made all three of us laugh, but Drake seemed to like it quite a bit. The houndour was a much bigger fan of the spelon stuff, which was almost pure spicy. We ended up getting a jar of each, bringing us all the way up to a total of four, and after a moment of debate I grabbed a couple spelon.
The woman then directed us to another stall, where we picked up some spices and flavourings. One thing led to another, and by the time we walked out of the market, the bags attached to Ajax’s harness had been filled with a wide variety of items that we’d been promised would keep perfectly well on the road.
I’d done some looking up in the process of everything else, and I’d found that poochyena and houndour diets had some demands that weren’t easily satisfied by simple meals of berries or even meats. Vitamin supplements, then, were vital for proper growth and muscle building. Ajax, in particular, required a lot more calcium, which would eventually help form denser and stronger bone armour when he evolved. I’d drawn a lot of that advice from the Jinnouchi in particular, who had been happy to guide me through the requirements of an alpha houndour.
I rattled a jar of blue pills contemplatively. Apparently, one of the things people had figured out how to do, particularly berry growers, was to concentrate the healing and medicinal effects of oran berries. One of these pills roughly every six hours or so would accelerate the natural healing of a Pokemon by quite a bit. While it was no true replacement for a potion in terms of rapid short-term recovery, they were apparently excellent for allowing a trainer in the field and without access to refilling their potion supply or a Center to heal moderate battle wounds and allow muscles to recover faster after training. Apparently, they were even used in conjunction with more intense exercise routines and extended battles, making sure that the Pokemon’s musculature could keep up with long periods of strain.
I reached back, tucking the little jar into one of the side pockets of my bag. My wallet was absolutely stinging after all the purchasing we’d done, and I was glad that we’d soon be out on the road, crossing Coronet. No more opportunities for Drake to stare so longingly at something that I just had to get it, or for Ajax to continue refining his manipulative techniques with those puppy faces he kept making. You wouldn’t think a pony-sized dog with part of a skull on their head would be adorable, but somehow he managed it.
I glanced down as I felt something nudge me in the side, right on my phone. Drake looked back, giving me a decidedly unimpressed look.
“What? Did I-?” He poked my Nav again with his nose and stared. “Oh. Oh, yeah, should probably contact Blake and see if we can link up, huh?”
Drake rolled his eyes. Ohhh yeah, he was definitely getting a noogie later. I wasn’t going to put up with behaviour like this without taking my revenge. I slipped my Nav out of my pocket, navigating to the phone functionality and selecting Blake’s name, then holding it up to my ear. It rang, then again, and halfway through the third I heard a click as the line connected.
“Hey, Cam, there you are- was going to call you, soon as I was done with- hold on.” There was a rustling, and some muffled voices, before he returned. “Sorry, just talking some things over. Finished a job for the local Ranger branch, just making sure I got the pay transferred over. So, what’s happening, then?”
“Well, I just finished the last of my shopping around, my wallet’s in agony, and I’m looking to get out of here before I blow any more of my very limited cash reserves.”
“Hah! Yeah, story of the trainer’s life right there. If you’re ready to get on the road, I don’t have anything that I’m waiting for besides you.”
“Sorry if I delayed you or anything.”
“Don’t worry about it- seriously, don’t, it’s not like I’ve got any pressing appointments. I’m not even participating in the Gym circuit right now, just wandering. But I’m always happy to help a fellow trainer. Haven’t done on the road training with somebody else in yonks, looking forward to it.”
“I haven’t done it ever, so you really have to show me the ropes on that one.”
“Happy to! Alright, so, there’s this berry master’s place just outside of Hearthome, where the local roads turn into the oh-eight. I’ll wait for you there- we can figure out if we’re going over or through from there.”
“Berry master’s place, got it. I’ll see you there, then.”
“Don’t take too long, or Mika might just drag me over the mountain all on my lonesome!”
My Nav clicked, and I slipped it back into my pocket. I glanced around at the packed thoroughfare around me, the many humans and Pokemon going about their business on a nice day. I wouldn’t see this again until I’d crossed Coronet and came into Oreburgh, might not even see anybody but the occasional hiker or passing trainer until then. I was no stranger to camping, even in places with nobody around, but I suspected that this was the first time I’d be so alone for so long. Just me, Blake, and our partners. Strange thought.
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There were quite a few local bus lines that went in the direction that I wanted, though all of them stopped not far beyond city limits in that direction. Beyond a certain point, the route turned to dirt. The 240 going east was paved, and the 209 to Emeragrove as well, but this would be far harder to pave than those. The routes over Coronet were a lot rougher, the elevation changes harder, and the Pokemon much less welcoming to the amount of disruption brought by the heavy construction that would be needed to carve a proper paved route between Oreburgh and Hearthome. Sure, it might be inconvenient to not have a direct line between the two cities that forced you to traverse on foot, but I suspected that trains and such were fast enough that you could get around Coronet without too much difficulty or time.
Well, until now, at least, where the weakness of that line of thinking was revealed by the severing of the routes that provided the most traveled ways of circumventing Sinnoh. Now, without some kind of flying taxi service, your average person didn’t have much of a way to get to the cities on the other side of the mountain at all.
We were able to catch a bus out as far as the edge of Hearthome. On the way, I contemplated my Nav, thinking about all the places on this half of Sinnoh that I hadn’t seen yet: the Grand Marshes, the Safari Zone. Ruins to the north in Michina town, Valor lake, and all the various cities and towns. Hell, the Lucario Kingdom to the north was something I’d be very interested to see; apparently, it was quite the popular tourist destination. Well… maybe I’d have time to swing back around and see some of those places, after I was done with Rowan in Sandgem. Taking a tour of the region and seeing the sights seemed like a fantastic thing to do, hitting Gyms along the way. Maybe I could even attend a few Contests, though they weren’t something I typically went in for. Glitz and glam and pageantry had never really appealed.
“Last stop!”
I slipped my Nav into my pocket as I pushed myself to my feet, Ajax pulling his head back from the open window as Drake stretched. To my surprise, we weren’t the only ones filing off the bus, as a number of people in rougher clothing got up. Looking at their clothes and the things they carried, I guessed that they must be involved with farming of some kind. Maybe the berry master took apprentices, or they had their own little farms or something in the area?
The bus stop was a fair bit beyond where the buildings and trappings of Hearthome stopped. In the distance, I could still see the skyscrapers of stone and steel, facades glittering in the sunlight. This was it, the last time I’d see the city I’d gotten my first badge, my second Pokemon- or, at least, the last time I’d see it for a while. I couldn’t help but wave goodbye to it, then immediately feel a little foolish for doing so. Thankfully, none of the other people that had gotten off the bus seemed to have noticed.
Ajax looked somewhat thoughtful, and maybe a little nervous, staring back at the buildings of Hearthome. It occurred to me that even if he’d been this far out of the city before, this would be the first time in his life he wouldn’t be going back. He was leaving the only home that he’d known for his entire life, to accompany me on a journey that might not lead back to the city and the Jinnouchi compound for a long time.
I walked over and crouched next to him, staring in the direction he was. You couldn’t see the Jinnouchi’s place from here, the shorter building hidden by the skyline, but you could see where the shining modern buildings of Hearthome transitioned to shorter and more historical structures with tiled roofs. I could easily imagine the Jinnouchi going about their lives, the activity of the house, the many houndour and houndoom that called it home playing and fighting and training. His family, his parents, everyone that he’d known intimately.
Wordlessly, I leaned my shoulder against him, and he leaned back. The heat that radiated through his fur was nice against the cooler air of the slightly higher altitude, and I basked in it and the physical contact. Drake sat besides me, seeming to have understood the mood.
“It’s not forever.” I said, quietly. “We’ll come back this way again.” I wrapped my arm around the canine’s back with a small smile. “We’ll have to for Sakae-sama’s next birthday, won’t we?”
He brightened visibly, and gave me a look of thanks. I ruffled the fur between his ears, then pushed myself to my feet. We stared towards the city for a few moments longer, watching the sun glitter on glass and steel, and bake clay roofing tiles. From here, elevated slightly by the foothills leading up to Coronet, I could just see the tiny figures moving through the streets.
A minute passed, and Ajax took in a breath, pushing himself to his paws and turning away. I rubbed his back, and the three of us started down the road, towards the future.
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Before, I’d observed that the city didn’t so much sprawl or diminish as it did end quite abruptly. Out here, beyond the range of its structures and buildings, the land was taken over by fields of berries and flowers. They perfumed the air with a thousand different scents, and every moment you’d smell something different. The fields themselves were worked by a variety of individuals, many of whom waved to us as we passed by. Occasionally, a beaten truck or van would pass us going in either direction, often carrying tools or stacks of crates filled with produce, fertilizer, or any of dozens of different things.
The berry master’s home was, to my surprise, actually directed to with signage along the side of the dirt track. It looked as if my thoughts about it being a tourist attraction were correct to some degree. Looking around, I could definitely see the appeal, surrounded as I was by a wash of different colours and smells. It was strange to me how saturated berries were with colour, and that colour was painted across the hills and fields around me in bands, lines of berry trees and bushes filled with their fruit. Occasionally, one of the workers would offer us a berry, which I gladly accepted more than once. I wasn’t going to say no to free food, after all.
The actual home of the berry master was farther down the track, surrounded by a thick grove of berry trees producing a riot of colours. Looking inbetween them, I could see where a group of Pokemon was listening intently to a huge Ursaring, who appeared to be demonstrating a handful of berries in slightly different stages of ripeness. Farther along, an older man was pointing out branches on various berry trees that bore different fruit from the rest of the tree to a mixed group. Grafting, I supposed? I guessed that that must be the berry master. If I hadn’t killed pretty much every plant that I’d ever tried to care for except for a very hardy cactus, which had survived years of total neglect, I might be inclined to listen in.
Not that it would actually do me any good, come to think of it. On the move, I wasn’t going to be carrying a berry plant in a pot full of dirt on my back. Caring for a plant when I had stable living conditions was hard enough that I’d never managed it, doing so on the road would be an exercise in futility and idiocy.
Across the road, sitting on a wooden fence and toying with his Nav, was Blake. His cinderace was practicing kicks against thin air, each movement leaving a wave of rippling heat as his limbs passed. Jive had settled around Blake’s shoulder like a scarf, lazily watching whatever he was doing, just interested enough that he wasn’t falling asleep. Mike and Noble appeared to be engaging in a race of endurance, racing down the road to a specific fence post and then turning around and coming back. Far from wearing them down, the bolthund and corvisquire combo appeared even more energized with each lap. I counted myself lucky that Drake and Ajax weren’t so high energy, Drake would run circles around me if he was and I didn’t even know what I’d do with a hyper Ajax. Maybe throw trash can lids for him to chase.
Almost the moment we were in view, Demi’s eyes found us. He didn’t pause in his practice for even a moment, merely giving us a nod of acknowledgement before performing a particularly complex triple kick that used both of his legs. Jive noted the cinderace’s attention, waking up a little as he saw us and straightening up a little. That caught Blake’s attention, who glanced at the linoone, then up towards us. He smiled and waved us over, eyes finding Ajax immediately, who was doing his best not to shuffle behind my legs and put me between him and the unfamiliar trainer and his partners.
“Hey, you made it! Demi was getting worried!” Demi let out a snort. “Don’t let him fool you, he was five minutes from mounting a one rabbit search and rescue party.” Blake leaned forwards and faux-whispered, “he remembers what happened to you with those crazy trainers and is just waiting for it to happen again.”
Jive snickered, practically flowing down Blake’s leg and leaping to the ground. Demi crossed his arms and gave the linoone a withering look that I could feel from here. The banter appeared to relax Ajax somewhat, who padded forwards to stand at my side, gazing curiously at the assembled individuals. Blake pushed himself off the fence and onto his feet, crouching and offering his knuckles to Ajax, who sniffed them, then gave his hand a small lick. Blake smiled, scratching him under the chin.
“So, this is your second party member? Can’t say I expected you convincing the Jinnouchi to let you adopt one of their own.”
“I didn’t expect it either, but here we are. Ajax seems to like me well enough, so I’m hoping we get along.” I smiled at the houndour, who was far too busy angling himself for optimal scritches to return the expression. “I think we’ve been more than okay with each other so far.” I nudged the canine’s shoulder with a fist. “What do you think? Can you possibly stand me?”
Ajax opened one eye, rolled it, then went right back to nuzzling Blake’s hands. He laughed.
“Ohhh, barely! Could that be trouble in paradise I see, and before the honeymoon phase is even over?”
I held a hand over my heart, making a dramatic show of affecting a hurt expression. “Oh, I’m wounded! My own partner barely puts up with me! What shall I do?”
Ajax decoupled from Blake, turning to me with a worried expression, looking for some kind of hurt. I couldn’t help but smile, putting my hands around his head and rubbing.
“Don’t worry, I’m not feeling sore about it. Just kidding around.”
The sense of relief from the houndour was palpable, as was Drake’s general amusement at how quickly Ajax had turned from feigning indifference to checking me. I just settled for scratching his ear, which he leaned into as much as he had Blake’s petting. I was getting the sense that he was more tactile than Drake was. Ajax sought out affection, where Drake didn’t nearly as often.
“So, you’re ready to move on, then? Got everything you think you need?”
“Yeah. We made one last run around the market and a couple other places, grabbed any equipment that I think we needed. Uh…” I dug around in one of the pockets of my backpack, pulling out the bottle of oran pills and tossing it to Blake, who caught it. “I didn’t get scammed on these, did I? This isn’t an alternative medicine thing?”
He frowned at me, then turned his attention to examining them. “Not sure what you mean by ‘alternative’ medicine, but nah, these things are great. Amazing for long-term recovery of mild to moderate wounds, and dealing with strain. I have a bottle of ‘em myself.”
He tossed them back, and I nearly fumbled the bottle before letting out a relieved breath as I caught them successfully. I slipped them back into the pocket of my bag.
“Good to hear, I was worried that I was being taken for a ride.” I slipped my Nav out of my pocket, and paused. “So, uh, what do you think? Are we going over, or through?”
He clicked his tongue. “I haven’t heard anything in particular. No updates on any activity or changes in the oh-eight or oh-seven that I know of, in either direction, but-”
“No Ranger patrols, so that’s…”
“Yeah, not reliable.” He let a breath out. “I dunno. I think I’m leaning towards the over path. If we run into an obstacle above ground, we can just go over or around. Underground? If the tunnel’s been blocked by Pokemon activity since the last Ranger patrol or trainer going through, then we’re out of luck. Gotta go all the way back to the entrance and go over anyway, or risk getting lost in a side passage. Not the most pleasant of thoughts.”
I grimaced, thoughts of some of the ‘cave exploring gone wrong’ videos I’d seen. Yeah, I wasn’t eager to become the next case, not to mention that the caves would probably be even more confusing and weird. Pokemon activity would mean that even explored, mapped, and even modified caves would be different almost every time you went into them. As much as that might be an interesting experience for cave exploration, I didn’t exactly want to be afflicted by it in a dangerous place when I was trying to get somewhere.
“Yeah, absolutely. Over the mountain it is. Lot of hiking over rough terrain, but that’s absolutely better than having to squeeze through a hole that’s barely wide enough for your shoulders without knowing if it actually even goes where you need it to.”
Everyone there winced at the idea, trainers and Pokemon alike, save for Jive. I supposed that it made sense for the small creature used to tunneling to not be as affected by the idea as anybody else. Still, even he didn’t object, and it seemed that the general opinion was that we were going over. Blake patted some dust off of his thighs, stretching.
“Well! Unless you want to stick around for a lesson from the berry master…?”
I shook my head. “As interesting as that might be, I’ve got the, uh, opposite of a green thumb.”
“Well, I suppose that cinches it. We should get a move on.”
And thus, he turned away from me, walking down the road and towards the rising of Mount Coronet in the distance. I stretched my legs, wouldn’t do getting a cramp or ending up with hurt muscles, then started after him. Our partners fell in around us in a loose crowd of colours and fur, in their different ways.
As ever, Drake seemed loathe to be too far from me, walking at my side and glancing in the direction of any noise that seemed unusual. Ajax, on the other hand, walked right up to Mika and Noble, seeming determined to engage them in a game of some sort. Interestingly, the two of them didn’t seem to see Ajax as a threat in the slightest, gladly including him in their racing game. I felt it would be good for all three of them, psychologically and physically. Being away from his family for an extended period for the first time, Ajax might start feeling lonely; forming a friendship with the most excitable and energetic members of Blake’s team would give him something to focus on.
Devi and Jive appeared to be continuing in their age-old rivalry, arguing or sniping at each other, and occasionally pelting eachother with low-powered attacks. Blake didn’t seem to even notice the exchanges, so I assumed that this was perfectly normal for them. It appeared, however, that Drake having demonstrated usage of Feint Attack during the Gym battle had given Jive some amount of leverage. Every once in a while, during one of their verbal exchanges, the linoone would adopt an obviously smug expression and casually send a glance in Drake’s direction. This invariably produced one of their low-powered sparring matches as an instantly enraged Devi tried to wrestle his peer into submission. The linoone, however, was incredibly slippery and presented a small and unusual target: even with Devi obviously having long experience doing this, Jive could worm himself out of all sorts of techniques. Their matches often ended in a draw.
The foothills of Coronet were beautiful. After a couple hours of walking, the berry fields finally petered out into meadows and small forests, andI was reminded of some of the prettier scenes from Miyazaki movies. The dirt track stretched up the hills and towards the distant peak, and I couldn’t help but think of the scene of Howl’s where Sofie, freshly cursed and leaving the city, climbs the hills into the wastes. Looking back, I was struck by the same sort of feeling that she had been, seeing Hearthome much smaller, distant, and already below us in altitude.
The traffic of humans, vehicles, and Pokemon quickly petered out after we left the fields of berry bushes behind us. With this route somewhat unreliable, and most likely transforming into more of a mountain trail than a proper road further up, there was little reason for people to come this way. Still, there was the occasional sign of human habitation besides the road, the occasional house or road post denoting where exactly we were on the stretch of 208.
The first bridge we encountered was red brick, arching over a small river that flowed through brick tunnels underneath the flat surface. It was just wide enough for a single vehicle, and old; plants grew from cracks between the sun-baked clay bricks, which showed the passage of time. Still, it looked sturdy, and wasn’t lacking any pieces. Beyond the bridge, I could see the path narrow, becoming somewhat rougher around the edges.
Blake stopped halfway over the bridge, hand pressed against the waist high brick wall that denoted the edge of the bridge. He stared south, downriver, though there was nothing of note in sight except for the river bending softly through the land and the occasional Pokemon come to drink from the banks. I joined him, leaning on the bricks.
“This river flows all the way to the Grand Marsh, then to the sea, close to Pastoria.” He looked at me, unreadable. “Ever been?”
I shook my head, though the name tickled something in the back of my mind. “No, never have.” The idea alighted, though, and I smiled. “Pastoria’s got a Gym, though, doesn’t it? Suppose it means I’ll be by, eventually.”
“Yeah.”
He lingered for a moment longer, then we both turned and looked west, to where the land climbed higher still. Though Hearthome was barely visible as a glitter on the horizon by now, I felt that this was the true marker, the edge of the territory ringing the city and the beginning of something far more wild.
Beyond here, I thought to myself, Coronet truly begins.