If nothing else, the warm water supply of the Pokéhostel was incredible. Even after standing under the hot spray for the better part of an hour, there was still plenty of hot water, allowing me to indulge to the point that my skin turned wrinkly.
Only once I was well and truly relaxed and all the sweat, grime and exhaustion from the journey was washed off, I left the bathroom and ventured out once more. Remembering how the people were walking around with their Pokémon, I called out Vio, feeling that she was a better companion than Charm. Sure, I loved my fiery lizard, but he always had to be mindful of his flame, or people or things might get burned. Vio looked around for a few moments, making sure that there was no threat lurking, before grabbing my hand and happily skipping along with me.
I briefly considered looking for the others but decided against it. While I liked mostly liked them, I had been together with them for the last week and wanted to have a bit of a break from them. We would get together again, maybe even continue travelling as a group of four, but in town, we didn’t need to stick together at all times.
Vio and I ventured out of the hostel and I noticed a few, brief glances at us, mostly from other trainers who either had Pokéballs on their belts or even Pokémon walking next to them. Those Pokémon made Vio tense briefly and hide behind my leg, but when she realised that they weren’t going to attack, just like the Pokémon of my companions weren’t competition, she relaxed and watched them from behind me.
“Excuse me, may I take a closer look at your Kirlia?” a polite, male voice asked, as I was walking along the road, looking for someplace to have dinner. Turning around, I was met with the gaze of a middle-aged man. He looked quite fit, with a deeply tanned face and a friendly smile on his face, though it couldn’t cover up the interest in his eyes.
Vio must have felt that interest and instinctively hid behind my leg, her actions making me chuckle a little.
“I’m afraid I have to reject, my little Vio is a little shy,” I shook my head while reaching behind me to pet Vio’s hair.
“Regretable,” he nodded, disappointment easily visible, “Her colouration is quite rare, you know, so I wanted to take a look. But if she doesn’t like that, there’s nothing I can do,” he shrugged, glancing past my leg for a moment, before wishing me a pleasant evening and walking on.
“See, Vio, it’s not just me who thinks you are beautiful,” I told my little partner, looking after the man. She made a few happy noises, but continued to hide behind my leg, nuzzling me a little. It was ticklish, to the point that I let out a giggle and reached down again, fluffing her hair.
“Let’s find some food, maybe there’s a place where you can eat with me,” I suggested and finally Vio let go of my leg and took my hand again, skipping along as we continued.
It didn’t take long to find a restaurant, the open terrace with long tables and benches impossible to miss, thanks to the diners already sitting there and eating. The smells in the air were quite nice, to the point that I walked up with Vio.
One of the servers was walking around with a tray of empty glasses, so I walked up to her, interrupting her work.
“Excuse me, can my partner sit with me during dinner? I’m new to town and don’t know the customs,” I asked, an apologetic smile on my face.
“Hi and welcome to Celestic Town,” she replied, a smile on her face. It seemed to be a genuine one and not just the usual, polite customer-service smile. “Nobody will mind, as long as it’s not a Pokémon that’s too large to fit. Trying to fit a Gyrados or something into the restaurant would be difficult,” she explained her grin turning a little mischievous, “It has been tried and didn’t work,” she quietly added, giving me a wink.
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I couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image of a massive sea serpent trying to fit into the narrow space between the benches and tables, carefully moving to avoid breaking anything.
“The two of you can sit anywhere, if the table is already occupied, just ask the people if you can join them,” the waitress explained, gesturing to the few completely unoccupied tables and a few that were partially occupied.
“Thanks, I will,” I nodded and Vio and I sat down at one of the completely open tables. While I wasn’t against meeting new people, I didn’t want to force my presence on anyone.
From the table we had chosen, Vio and I could look across a few roofs, allowing us to see the horizon far in the distance. Sadly, the houses blocked the view of eastern Sinnoh, but I thought I could faintly see an outline of a mountain in the far distance.
“Here you go, do you already know what you want to drink?” the waitress I had talked to before asked, her voice catching me off-guard a little as I had been engrossed in the view. She had a menu in hand and I received it.
“Not yet, could you recommend something?” I asked, returning her friendly smile.
“You look like a shandy person to me,” she decided, after studying me for a moment, “I’ll bring you one, if you don’t like it, it’s on me.”
She didn’t give me a chance to reject her, instead, she simply walked off, leaving me with the menu. I let out an amused snort and shook my head, opening the menu and reading it. There were quite a few dishes I had never heard of, luckily they had a rough description with them, or I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what a Maultasche was supposed to be.
The menu even had a selection for Pokémon, complete with pictures and I let Vio look at it, though she wasn’t really interested. She happily looked around the tavern and I simply choose something for her, after I had decided on my own food.
The waitress returned only moments after I put down the menu, carrying a large stein of foaming, wheat-coloured ale.
“There you go, why don’t you tell me what the two of you want to order, take a sip of your shandy and decide if you like it?” she suggested.
“Sure, I’ll have the fried Maultaschen with spinach and egg, plus the wild berry mix for little Vio,” I ordered, before taking a sip of the ale. The moment the cold liquid entered my mouth, I was briefly taken aback. Instead of the strong taste I had been expecting, it was mild, with a slightly fizzy feel to it, the sensation making me grin in delight.
“You know, I should say I don’t like it and let you pay for it, but that’d be a lie,” I let my shoulders drop in defeat and let out an exaggerated sigh, “It’s wonderful, thank you,” I added, giving her a happy smile.
“Great, let me get your food,” she told me, before walking off again.
It didn’t take long for my food to arrive and I spent the time watching the people in the tavern and on the streets nearby. It was quite interesting, especially when contrasted with Eterna City. Almost half of the people here were walking around with Pokéballs openly visible or even directly with their partners. Nobody batted an eye, neither people nor Pokémon.
A large shadow caught my attention and I looked up, spotting a large avian in the sky. Just seeing a Staraptor was impressive but what truly surprised me was that I could see a person ride atop it and they were swooping down to land. I had heard of trainers flying on their Pokémon, had dreamed of riding Charm and even seen someone take off in Sandgem Town, but that had been from a prepared landing pad on top of the gym, not in the middle of the road.
Under my disbelieving eyes, the people walking around simply made a bit more space and the Staraptor landed, the trainer unbuckled himself and hopped down, calling his Pokémon into a Pokéball and walking off, as if nothing had just happened.
“Your food,” the waitress caught me off-guard once more, putting down a large platter of food. It was heaped with something that looked like filled noodles, in addition to fried eggs and some fresh spinach, the smell making my stomach grumble in appreciation. Vio got her own bowl, filled with a variety of fresh berries and I could see the gleam in her eyes as she looked at them.
“Thank you, it looks wonderful,” I complimented, already reaching for the utensils.
“Enjoy,” she wished, before walking off once more, leaving me to stuff my face with delicious food, which I promptly did.