I don't own pokemon or any recognizable names, references, items or concepts. All original names, references, items and concepts are mine. The plot is also mine.

WARNING: Concepts are in this story such as eating pokemon meat, stealing, lying, cheating, realistic wounds on people and pokemon from pokemon attacks, wild-animal behavior of pokemon and descriptions of battles and their consequences are common.

The restaurant was modestly lit, mostly favoring sunlight in the day time and candle light at night. It was half way through the day as Ariel dragged Kouki into the restaurant, him following silently behind as they were seated in a corner table. They had returned all their pokemon, leaving only Tanzanite out and still resting in Ariel's hood, leaving them practically alone in the restaurant. Ariel smiled at him from across the corner-rounding table. "So..." He began before the waiter approached and Ariel smiled. "Hold on, Kouki." She said as she took the menus from the boy and looked over the drinks.

"I'd like the Cherri Sitrus Berry Smoothie, please." Ariel said with a smile. "And..." She looked over at her partner who hissed something in her ear. Ariel nodded and sighed. "And a soda pop, please." She said. The waiter nodded. "And you, sir?" He asked Kouki. The black haired man looked at the menu and nodded to himself. "Milk please." He said and the waiter nodded before taking their drink orders and leaving. Ariel giggled at Kouki and he raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" He asked. "You must have been at sea a long time if the thought of milk with dinner makes you happy." She teased and he colored slightly, muttering about how there wasn't many Miltanks at sea. He had to admit, he liked it when she smiled. Her whole face seemed to light up and it made her even more beautiful. She was built as a fighter, and he'd been in the viewing area when that larger kick-boxer figure of hers dropped a man, but she seemed almost innocent when she smiled. The light scars that were winking at him from the areas left uncovered by her hoodie and her spaghetti strap undershirt seemed to almost disappear when she smiled at him. And he couldn't help but smile back.

"So. What business did you need to discuss?" He said, quickly changing his thought pattern to business. Ariel smiled at his attitude shift and rested her head on her folded hands. "I'll tell you after we eat." She said simply as the drinks arrived. Kouki sighed a bit, but nodded, taking the tall glass filled with milk from the waiter and setting it on the table. Ariel took the smoothie from the man before her imp grabbed the soda pop bottle and began drinking it, hissing happily between gulps. "Slow down, Tanza. Soda wears down rocks and crystals, remember?" Ariel chided. "Sableye, eye sableye sable sableye!" Her imp fired back and Ariel tapped him on the head. "I know it's your favorite, but it's bad for you. So I'm not going to feed it to you all the time." She snapped. Tanzanite hissed at her, his version of sticking his tongue out, and went back to drinking.

Ariel rolled her eyes back to her lover and she smiled at him. "I don't suppose your ship has any gems to spare. Tanza's eyes are clouding and becoming flawed gems." She said and Kouki was instantly on alert. "Let me see him." He said and Ariel lifted her imp from her hood to the table. The purple-grey pokemon continued drinking the soda as he sat in front of his trainer's mate and waited while the inspection began, something Kouki liked to do for all her pokemon. Kouki tested the Sableye's physical and metaphysical reflexes gently and inspected every inch of the small gem-eater's leathery skin. He inspected the claws on his hands and feet before Kouki finally took a small flashlight to his eyes. Ariel was right, the tiny monster's gem-eyes were becoming like flawed crystal. That worried him. Eventually it would cost Tanzanite his sight, and treatments for blinding Sableyes were much more difficult to perform. After all, cleaning a crystal that was also a sensory organ was not an easy task. And a steady diet of gemstones and common crystals was an expensive food choice, especially during a time of war. It was no secret the Rebellion was poor.

"I can get a few." Kouki said with a nod. "But what you need is to get these crystals cleaned. I'll try and get you the information on one when we head out again." Kouki said with a sigh. "Best I can do for now." He said before Tanzanite stood, patted Kouki on the head, and eagerly returned to Ariel's hood. Ariel nodded, looking slightly distressed at her partner's condition before it was wiped away and her smile went back to being flawlessly optimistic. "Alright." She agreed, believing his words that he would find one. And it was true, he knew several crystal cleaners that had worked on Sableyes in the past, but, all of them worked for Team Utsu. That was what made it difficult to tell her. But he just sighed and shook his head. He was depressing himself on his first dinner date with her in nearly four months. The waiter came back and Ariel grinned. It was time for food.

"What can I get for you?" The waiter asked, smile seeming to be a permanent fixture on his face. Ariel briefly thanked Arceus that she actually had a life to live on her own, without anyone telling her what to do. She smiled back. "I'll have the herb ravioli, please." She said charmingly and the waiter nodded and turned to Kouki. "I'll have the seaside soup special." Kouki said and the waiter nodded again, scribbling a few things. "Do you want potatoes or fruit as a side?" He asked and Kouki looked at Ariel. She motioned him for fruit and Kouki nodded. "Fruit, please." He said and the waiter nodded. "Alright, so one herb ravioli, one seaside soup special with a side of fruit. Anything else?" He asked and Ariel nodded. "One Mt. Silver Cake slice please." She said. The waiter scribbled it down, took their menus and left. Ariel drooled slightly. "I haven't had a Mt. Silver Cake in a long time." She purred and Kouki chuckled quietly. Ariel had a terrible weakness for chocolate and Mt. Silver Cake was famous for having an unhealthy amount of her temptation in the recipe.

Silence fell over them again and Ariel sighed. "I missed you." She muttered quietly to Kouki. He tilted his head. "Huh?" He asked, genuinely not hearing what she said. Ariel glared slightly and stood up, putting Tanzanite in her seat as she slowly walked over to Kouki's side. "I said-" She started as she suddenly sat on his lap, startling him immensely. She leaned down to his ear and spoke in a whisper. "I missed you." She reiterated as she leaned her head on his shoulder. He was rigid, eyes darting around the restaurant, counting all the eyes that were looking at them. "I missed you too, Ariel, but..." He hesitated. "People are looking." He stuttered and Ariel shrugged. "Let them look." She said to him quietly. He shook a little, nervous as to what he was supposed to do and he quickly switched back to what made him most comfortable. "So, Ariel, has Eurus's feathers grown back?" He asked, his voice sometimes changing in pitch due to his nervousness. Ariel sighed and sat up, looking him in the eyes. "I said, let them look." She said before she leaned down and kissed him. He was worried again and his eyes looked around the room; nevertheless, Ariel was urging him to respond to her, and he had never been able to deny her for long. His lips moved against hers slowly and Ariel relaxed in his lap, his own body following suit as he quickly forgot about the public display and the people staring.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled back to take a breath before diving back in for more. She loved him. Had loved him for a long time. She was elated when his arms wrapped around her waist loosely and his mouth eagerly followed hers. He was finally starting to relax! Her tongue began to reach out to meet his when a cough interrupted them, making Kouki instantly rigid again and Ariel sighed. So much for relaxing. She turned her head to see the waiter and got off her boyfriend's lap to sit in her chair. She sent the man a withering glance before sitting down, fixing her jacket, putting her partner back in her hood, and she smiled. "Foods here." She said simply at the waiter put the food down. Kouki nodded awkwardly and began to eat. "Anything else-" "No." Ariel said with a look to the waiter that had him scampering off.

She sighed and took a bite of her pasta, not even commenting when Tanzanite stole ravioli from her fork as she looked at her boyfriend sympathetically. "Kouki..." She started quietly. Kouki sent a small smile her way and shook her head. "It's okay. I...am getting better, right?" He asked quietly and Ariel nodded with a winning smile. "Much." She said as she took a bite of her pasta, loving the way the cheese and bitter herbs tasted. She looked at the soup Kouki was eating and tilted her head. "What's in that?" She asked. Kouki smiled and took another bite. "Probably a combination of Magikarp and common fish." He said and Ariel nodded. "More and more dishes in Hoenn and Sinnoh are including pokemon meat." She commented quietly. "I get occasional; I mean one of my favorite dishes has grilled Pidgeotto meat, but every meal?" She sighed. Kouki shrugged. "Common animals are being bred to feed pokemon cattle." He replied. Ariel sighed and continued eating her pasta, half of it ending up in her partner's mouth, before she finished eating. She finished drinking her half of the berry-filled smoothie before she gave the rest to Tanzanite, who chugged it down in seconds.

"Okay, Kouki. I needed to talk to you about getting supplies from your ship." She said and almost instantly there was a notebook in her boyfriend's hand. He also got a pen and waited for her to continue. "Okay. I have been assigned to get bandages, wraps, fresh Lum berries, wheat seeds, seeds for Lum, Sitrus, Oran, Cherri and Chesto berries, corn seeds, volcanic fertilizer, twenty gardening spades, and fourteen rescued Tauros." She listed off as she counted each item on her fingers. "Oh! And Lady Leana wanted me to browse your ship's rare item stock. She gave me the coin for it, of course." She said with a sly smirk. Kouki nodded and finished making scribbles in his book. "We have the seeds and fertilizer, you're lucky the captain decided to sail more to the southern islands this time, but the gardening tools are in short supply. Same with medical supplies. And we didn't rescue any Tauros this time. Chatots, Furrets, Bellossoms and Bellsprouts, however, we have too many." He responded and Ariel nodded. "Alright, I'll get the seeds and fertilizer from you. Any idea who might have the other things?" She asked. Kouki thought for a moment, tapping his pen against his chin before nodding. "If it's rescues you want, first ship I'd go to is the Dragonair's Fang. Captain Godivia never leaves a pokemon behind if she can save it." He said and Ariel nodded. Sounded like a good place to start. "Same with people. She rescues slaves too." He said as a side-note before standing and stretching his arms. "As for tools...I honestly don't know. Storms kept most of us from docking in Hoenn. Most of the mines are there, so I honestly don't know. You'll have to ask around." He said as he and Ariel left.

Ariel took his hand again, and after looking at their hands, Kouki intertwined their fingers and Ariel beamed at him. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I love you." Kouki colored but smiled at her, whispering back. "I love you too." He preferred being close to her when they were alone, but she was a spontaneous, stubborn, loud-mouthed girl who had no problem being on display for certain things. She wanted to shout that she loved him from the top of a mountain; he wanted to whisper it against her skin when they were alone together. The conflict in preferences sometimes caused fights, but they loved each other too much to let go.

Tanzanite suddenly perked up and he crawled to the top of Ariel's head, effectively ruining her moment with Kouki. "Tanza?" She asked, releasing Kouki to steady the imp with both hands as if he was a hat. "What is it?" She said. Tanzanite pointed straight ahead where a wild-looking Rapidash stallion was thundering down the sea front, straight at them. Ariel tensed and her hand almost instantly reaching for Anubis's duskball when another Rapidash, a shiny mare, crashed into the stallion and ran him off the road. He rolled in the sand, floundering around as the female just watched, tensed for a fight. Finally the stallion rolled himself over and he glared at the mare. His horn began glowing as he pawed the ground with his hoof, getting ready for a Megahorn charge at the mare. She returned his stance and pawed the ground, horn also glowing, and she looked ready. The two fire horses suddenly charged at each other, gaining speed as they went before they finally collided head on, the impact sending them both back and knocking them off their hooves. Ariel gasped as the mare rolled herself over and stood, ready to attack again. The stallion was already coming, another Megahorn aimed directly at the mare's neck. But at the last possible moment, the mare sprang up in a Bounce that landed her directly on the stallion's back. With a pained whiney, he fell again.

Ariel rushed to pull the mare aside as Kouki rushed to help the stallion. Ariel stroked the head of the cream colored horse gently, muttering and whispering to her softly. "Easy now, pretty one." She said softly, leading the horse away from the injured one. "You have a lovely mane. I've never seen such pretty grey flames before. You're trainer must be very proud." She complimented the mare, who seemed to raise her head in pride and gently butted the Ariel's hand for more petting. "Indeed she is, missy!" Came the brazen voice of a woman. Ariel turned to see a figure approach. The woman was dressed in brown pants that were cuffed at the knee and buttoned just above her belly button. She wore a simple brown shirt that the two straps that fell over her shoulders, revealing two arms covered from shoulder to wrist in intricately colorful tattoos. A leather vest was loosely buttoned over the shirt that was colored with pink flowers that grew from the bottom in intricate ivy swirls. Across her waist, covering part of her shirt and vest, was a thick leather belt that had three large gold-colored rings at the center. The belt hung lazily, tilting from side to side as she moved. Silken fabrics, almost like sailcloth, hung from the right-most ring in multi-colored strange like trophies. On her feet where knee-high thick leather boots that looked as worn and well-worked as the woman who wore them. Flaming orange hair was lazily piled on her head as an Ambipom wore a brown and red pirate captain's hat on its head, the twin handed tails wrapped around the woman's waist.

She smirked and bowed, dipping the hat off the Ambipom's head as she went down and returning it to the smiling monkey's head as she returned back up. "Captain Maria Godivia at yer service, missy." She boomed with a good natured tone to her voice. "Now, what can I do fer ye?"

Join us: s4. zetaboards Rebellion _ Fire/index/

Jade Tea