Summary: This little tale takes place after the future in PMD is saved. Those who used to live there have found a way to cross over, and Grovyle joins his friends, Anna the Vulpix, and Len the Riolu for a reunion at an inn. But guess which old nemesis they run into there...?
"Wheeee!"
Anna rolled her eyes as she watched her happy-go-lucky partner jump on their bed, nearly smashing his head into the ceiling.
"Len, seriously," she chided.
"We're supposed to be waiting for Grovyle to get out of the shower, not des-"
Len fell off the bed and nearly crushed Anna, who moved to the side at the last second.
"Oops."
Len looked sheepish, and he rubbed his left shoulder, a habit the Riolu had when nervous
Then he began to laugh, hard, and Anna didn't realize what was so funny until-
Then she fumed.
Her big tail, the one part of her she had always hated, was somehow stuck in a flowerpot, and it was all the way in. It looked as it she had a green bulb of the back of a Bulbasaur stuck to her butt.
Len was rolling on the floor now.
"Len, get this thing off of me. NOW." she used the voice that made her sound like a commander. Though, which commander would have their tail stuck in a green pot?
The Riolu looked at her. Then behind her, and started to giggle once more.
"Tha-tha-you-behin-"
She gritted her teeth and prepared to tackle Len when something grabbed her by the pot.
Anna was raised up, and in moments, her brown eyes were staring right into yellow ones. Ones that were full of amusement as well.
Her face flushed and turned red (though her fur was already plenty red) as she tried to explain the situation.
She was put down.
"Well, we need to get going. Those tables won't stay empty for long, and we have much to discuss, yes?" asked Grovyle, as he turned around and went downstairs.
Anna quickly followed, hoping that the pot wasn't too noticable.
Good news: It wasn't, as most Pokemon there were to concentrated on their own conversations and food to notice bypassers.
The bad news: The tables were mostly full, so they ended up having to share with another Pokemon, who seemed quite wide.
Len and Grovyle looked at the other Pokemon skeptically, before seating themselves as far away from him as possible.
Anna just sat wherever seemed the easiest to hide the pot, which was right next to the fat Pokemon.
The Combee came to take their order.
"Veeelcome!" it said, in an extremely high voice.
"Vhat vould vou vike voday?"
"Errrr..." Anna looked down at the menu, and remembered something.
She couldn't read, and there were no pictures.
"I want spaghetti!" yelled Len, pointing to a mass of weird letters on the menu.
Grovyle looked at Anna, with a hint of a smile, and said,
"Me and my friend here would like some stir-fry chicken."
She slightly groaned. Without the skill to read, she couldn't even choose what she wanted to eat.
The Combee nodded.
"Vand vhat vabout vou?" It turned to look at the other Pokemon.
The other Pokemon seemed to ponder for a bit, and finally declared,
"I'd like escargot."
The Combee smiled and fluttered away.
Normally, Anna would've snickered at such a strange food name, but this time, she was full of dread.
Grovyle and Len looked stiff amd uneasy, and she knew why. They all recongized the voice.
Finally, Len worked up the courage to stutter.
"Ar-are yo-you D-d-du-dus-DUSKNOIR?"
The Pokemon's red eye rolled down to stare at Len.
Anna stood up, fire burning in her mouth, but Grovyle waved his hand, telling her to stay calm.
She ignored the gesture and focused on Dusknoir, planning to launch a fireball into his face if he tried anything.
"So... what's up?"
That dazed Anna for a moment. He was asking them about their day. He, who tried to kill them so many times. He, who nearly destroyed the WORLD.
"Yeah, ummm, yeah..." mumbled Anna.
Len snorted, despite the circumstances.
Grovyle looked at them.
~•~•~•~•~
"So, in short... you two teamed up with Celebi, did some other stuff and saved the future?"
"Yep. Pretty much it." said Grovyle.
Things were completely tense, and no one spoke a word, until a Bellossom came to their table with the food.
Len dug in, smushing his fork into a bunch of noodles with red stuff on top, looking happy.
"Why can't I be happy like that?" muttered Anna.
Grovyle was next. He took a pair of chopsticks and picked at the chicken meat. He carefully placed a piece in his mouth.
"Try it, Anna. I think you'll like it." He gave her a warm smile.
She cut a piece off with a knife, then stabbed it. The meat smelled oily, but it tasted much different. It was sweet, sourish and tangy, and wonderful at the same time.
No one knew her better than Grovyle.
Dusknoir was the last one to eat, and he picked up an escargot, fingered it, and bit on the soft, fleshy area. He seemed to like it, and continued eating.
The table was silent.
"Seriously, restaurants these days. They could have a waiter dip bread in water, and call it 'Breadcapisso' and know one would know." grunted Dusknoir.
Anna was going to respond to the statement, when Len poked her.
"How about we go upstairs, and we can give pot removal a try?" suggested Len, looking nervous.
"Good idea." whispered Anna, and they left, leaving Dusknoir and Grovyle alone.
"At least they know enough to run away from danger." groaned Grovyle, as he realized where he was.
"Er..." mumbled Dusknoir, looking equally uncomfortable.
"Well, if they could serve wet bread and call it 'Breadcapisso' so a fool would order it, then they could put snails in a shell and call it 'escargot' and sell it to idiots."
Dusknoir turned slightly red, and spat out his food in a napkin.
"Now, I've got things to do, like take care of those kids."
And before he knew it, Grovyle had left.
"Why does everyone hate me?" groaned Dusknoir, as he realized that he had been left behind.
To pay the bill.