Floaroma Town was definitely a town, not a city. A long time ago, Ethan had the pleasure of visiting a proper town—one where you could walk down the streets and get to everywhere you needed to go without driving. America was quite different from other countries with transportation, but as he’d never left America before his unfortunate dump into the world of Pokemon, he never got to experience what he was experiencing now.

  While he couldn’t be sure, it fit what he’d been told. People strolled by on sidewalks going to and fro, chatting with friends or pokemon as they roamed the clean streets. Jessie, James, and Meowth led their small party, with Ethan trailing just behind them as they chatted about ‘The Plan’. Jessie was teasing James, while Meowth kept trying to add in extra schemes.

  “What if Ethan sings a song when someone spends over two thousand?” Terrible ideas like that.

  He watched from behind as the happy trio… were just themselves.

  Eventually, Jessie led them to a brightly lit mom and pop style diner which seemed to buzz with conversation. Like a local, Jessie strolled into the place like she owned it and quickly arranged for a booth. Once they were all sitting, with Ethan sharing his side with Meowth, James quickly gushed over the menu.

  “Finally! Proper food! I don’t have to eat like some Tauros.” James said, tapping the menu with enthusiasm. He caught Ethan’s eye for a split second, looking a little chastised. “No offence.”

  “None taken.” Ethan waved away the complaint. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand. “I… I was actually thinking about trying something new myself.”

  “Get da fish.” Meowth nodded knowingly with his eyes closed, acting like that was all that needed to be said.

  “Maybe. “Ethan hedged. “It doesn’t say what fish it is though.” He pulled the menu closer, trying to pry the secrets of the ingredients out of the paper.

  “Probably Magikarp. Looks like it, anyway.” Jessie lamely added, too busy trying to find what she herself was going to be feasting on.

  As the Rockets murmured about what to order, Ethan thought about what he was about to do. He wasn’t an idiot. He well and truly understood that just because he didn’t eat pokemon that the pokemon prepared in the back of this diner didn’t just magically come back to life. It was, sadly, already dead and ready to order. If he ordered something here, he wouldn’t be doing any significant harm… he just wouldn’t have any back at his ranch—Not the ‘killing’ type of pokemon food, that is.

  … Maybe they had Veluza meals here?

  “Howdy! You lot ready to order?”

  Tearing his eyes away from the menu, Ethan came face to face with a cheery young woman with pen and pencil in hand. The pencil twirled across her fingers in an impressive display of dexterity as her eyes swiveled over each of them.

  James started it off. “I think so. I’d like a Soda Pop and… I’m going to have the special—The Gracidea…”

  “Gracidea Glazed Tacos, got it. And you?” The waitress asked, clearly towards Jessie.

  “Hmm.” Jessie hummed. “The Tar-Melt. With a side of chips, please.”

  After a quick scribble, she looked at him. “And you?”

  “Uhh…” Ethan looked at the menu again. The ‘Crispy Fried Fish’ sat there in bold letters mocking him.

  Locally caught! Breaded with crushed dried Poffins and fried golden! Served with a dollop of Pecha remoulade, crispy fries, and spicy berry slaw! 900 PD.

  “Is the fish Magikarp? The fried fish, that is.” He asked, earning a quick reassuring nod. “I’ll get that then. And… This Zap Lemonade to drink.”

  “And the Meowth?” The waitress asked, eyes still on Ethan.

  It seems a misunderstanding has taken place, since they were seated next to each other. Ethan looked to Meowth as the cat grimaced. “Same as me?” He asked, earning a slightly less distasteful frown. Meowth looked at Jessie, then James, before glaring at Ethan and sighing. With exaggerated motions, Meowth stood and climbed the booth, then leaned and whispered into his ear. “Just the fish—lots of it.”

  The waitress waited patiently, seemingly not questioning how Ethan would know what ‘his pokemon’ wanted after a whisper. “Just some of the fish. Can you do two portions? We don’t need sides for him.”

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  “It’ll cost a little extra, but we can do that.” She wrote down some more quick scribbles and repeated their order. Once confirmed, she strolled off into the back of the diner barking out what sounded like their order to the cook.

  Within a minute, the waitress returned with their drinks. After dropping them off, she left without a word, zipping off to help some other customers.

  “So… What time are we waking up for,” Ethan held up his hands and quoted. “The Plan.”

  He took a sip from the Zap Lemonade, which tasted like a mix between a lemon-lime soda and standard lemonade, as James put his elbows on the table and folded his hands beneath his chin—like some criminal mastermind.

  Which… technically he might be.

  “We should be there at the crack of dawn. If the others slack, then we will be there to capitalize on their faults.” All three rockets nodded, seemingly on the same page. “There will be eager trainers ready for their trip. They’ll wake early to get ahead of the day. We should be there to take all of their mone—I mean, help them prepare.”

  “We oughts to have incentives. I still vote for the singing.” Meowth chimed in, voice low so that he wouldn’t be caught out by the others in the diner.

  “I’m not going to sing when people buy some stuff like a cringe infomercial.” Ethan snorted. “Why don’t we show them a talking Meowth instead?” His eyebrows sprang up and down tauntingly.

  “... Point taken.”

  Seeing as they were silent and brainstorming, Ethan decided to start small with a suggestion of his own. “Isn’t it easier to do something like, ‘buy five berries, get one free’?”

  James quickly brushed the idea away. “We’re already doing that. Also, limited free samples. Gotta get the crowd gathered around for some freebies and have them stay around when they are too late to get them.”

  “We should have had nice uniforms…” Jessie muttered, which Ethan readily ignored.

  The swinging door to the back of the diner opened, ending their conversation. Their waitress appeared with a large tray balanced on one hand. With smooth and practiced motions, she glided over and started unloading their meals.

  Meowth was swiping his paw across his drooling maw as a fat stack of crispy fried fish was placed in front of him. He didn’t even wait for the waitress to finish handing out the rest of their meals before digging in.

  Ethan grabbed his plate with a small ‘thanks’ and stared at what would be his first real try at eating meat in this world. Three large fillets of beautifully golden crusted fish were allayed right by a small plastic cup full of pinkish dipping sauce. On the side, a colorful cole-slaw was heaped into a small pile, flecks of veggies and what looked to be Cheri berries sliced within.

  He looked away from his own meal to see James setting up some fish tacos, with four tortillas and an arrangement of fillings—including glistening white fish meat of a Magikarp. There was a floral scented sauce to drizzle over as well, yet he doubted the Gracidea Glazed Taco’s actually used the flower which Shaymin loved.

  Jessie’s meal was much simpler, yet hearty. A large flat-melt with melted cheese and meat—Tauros meat if the name Tar-Melt made any sense. There were some green peppers he spotted inside, and the whole ensemble resembled a Philly Cheese Steak from Earth.

  With a heavy exhale, Ethan grabbed one of the breaded fish, dipped it into the pinkish sauce, and took an audibly crunchy bite.

  Sadly, it was delicious.

  As he ate, his mind wandered to the Magikarp that lived in his pond. They… weren’t very intelligent, at least from what he could tell by his interaction. That didn’t mean that they didn’t have feelings or aspirations though. With every wonderfully tasty bite, he felt just a little worse, but not bad enough that he’d stop.

  After a few more minutes of small talk—ideas about selling their goods, and grumbling about not having outfits—Everyone was finished and full. Meowth looked like he was about to burst, with a swollen belly and even a few content purrs escaping the normally stoic cat.

  It took only a warning glare from Jessie and James for Ethan to not ever mention the purring to Meowth himself. He’d seen the claws the cat had. No thank you, he’ll pass.

  As they made it back to the hotel, passing by some weary and jovial trainers along the way, Ethan mentally prepared himself about what he was going to find in their room. He knew his pokemon, and while he loved them, they could get up to antics that would put gray hair on his head faster than age would.

  As Jessie and Meowth said their goodnights and went into their own room, James opened theirs. The first thing that happened was Growlie jumping up and down on James’ leg like a happy pooch, which he was. The second was Ethan’s eyes landing on Tinkatink, Ralts, and even Skiddo jumping on his bed like children at a sleepover.

  Tinkatink babbled and Skiddo was letting out a mild “Skiiii” of what he could assume was excitement. Chatot and Munchlax were both watching the T.V, on the screen a children's cartoon was playing—Investigator Sentret, some detective show starring, of course, a Sentret.

  Emolga was snoozing on his pillow, drooling as she bounced around from the jumping antics of the others on his bed.

  And what a bed it was. It was a mess, littered with tiny pieces of metal and ruffled covers. James’ bed looked pristine, untouched by the wild uninhibited roughhousing of his pokemon.

  “We’re back! Settle down! We have to wake up earlier tomorrow!” Ethan said as he began fixing up his bed, causing the trio of bouncers to tumble to the floor in laughs.

  “What time am I setting my alarm for?” Ethan asked James, returning Emolga into her pokeball so she could rest properly.

  “Three thirty. The Pidgey that wakes first gets the Caterpie.” James replied, already in his pajamas and raising his covers so Growlie could crawl underneath to sleep with him.

  With a groan in knowing he is setting himself up for a very early awakening, Ethan set his alarm, got ready for bed, and closed his eyes.

  After a minute of silence, a voice spoke into his mind.

  “Ethan… I’m thirsty.”

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