Yesterday, they left Team Rocket and ventured into the island. Eventually, they found a road and followed it as they made their way closer to the mountain.
As they made their way up the winding path, Ash felt the hum of energy, of life, in the air around him. Maybe it was just him, but it was like every tree and little insect had its own little glow that drew his attention and made everything just that much more enjoyable. It was such a stark contrast that it had its own life where everything was organized and directed, but here, everything was wild, vibrant, free. This was what he enjoyed about the outdoors.
But as they neared the next settlement, everything slowly changed. The chaotic tangle of living things slowly became organized a bit at a time, more deliberate as incidental plants became more rare, the trail giving way to a dirt road.
Then the flying Pokémon overhead became more and more frequent, before the first buildings came into view.
The settlement looked very different from what Ash was used to, its buildings divided into two distinct wholes, one on top of the other. It was such a stark contrast that even Ash could see it for himself.
At the bottom, the buildings were made of rough, if pleasing to look at stonework that was made of rough boulders all plastered together. They almost looked like caves or dens, were it not for the large set of cast iron doors on each house. On each surface, stones were decorated with fanciful engravings, each depicting scenes like they were telling stories. Large creatures, especially reptilian and draconian Pokémon, made their homes here.
On top, the buildings were made of wood and bore those familiar Japanese shingled rooves.. Except, instead of flat houses, they were tall spires that poked far above the canopies. Each tower was painted with bright colors and decorated with flowing carpets that fell at their sides. Long perches proudly displayed avian Pokémon taking up residence there.
Other types of Pokémon were present, too, like the occasional aipom or flying bug-types like butterfree living up in the spires, whilst there large brutish Pokémon like aggron or swampert also took up residence in the cave-styled dwellings.
"Wow," Ash gasped. It was hard for him to determine if this meant this place was a village or a town, but it seemed pretty big enough.
Everyone around himself stared, similarly impressed.
"Why is everything like this?" Misty asked. "It's very different from what the Capital had."
"The Capital and most places in Citrine were meant to cater to a wide variety of Maiju of varying body types and sizes. This was a deliberate goal of the Imperial Reforms, though I don't remember much about the specifics." Cinder said as she frowned. "This village might predate them or they weren't fully implemented. As you can see, the buildings reflect their intended residents more than the more unified style you find in a more metropolitan setting."
"See, now this makes sense!" Pikachu exclaimed. "This feels a lot more natural than the places in the Capital."
Ash didn't know how to feel about that, though he did suppose that the buildings on the lower floor did look like caves that were turned into houses, whilst the tall spires built on top of the caves were like gigantic bird boxes and bird feeders.
Ash and his friends walked into the village, taking in the sights all around them. While there were all of the usual stores and shops that they had come to expect, few few of them seemed to be in operation, their owners conspicuously absent. There were still Pokémon walked about, minding their own business, but they were far less people he expected. It was like the entire village had been shut down.
Before he could wonder what was going on, a smell wafted over the riolu's nose.
The Fighting-type's nose sucked in the sweet succulent air and his mouth began to water. Something smelled delicious. He turned and noted the others around him had also caught wind of the mysterious odor.
"Someone's cooking?" Misty said, her nose twitching.
"It's deeper into the village," Brock said, his nose pointing upward as also picked up the scent.
Intrigued, the group made a silent agreement to check it out.
As they ventured deeper into the heart of the settlement, it became quickly apparent where the people were. The sound of drums reached them first, a vibrant yet thunderous tune that resembled the sound of heartbeats filled the air.
Pokémon then became very visible thereafter. Large draconic or dragon-like Pokémon steamed past like trucks, whilst their much smaller children frolicked and played to their heart's content. Birds swooped in and dived in the sky, performing close to the ground acrobatic stunts that weren't so easily visible from the outside. Stores and stalls covered in leaves and raised above ground on tall stilts were scattered about the place.
An infectious joy filled the riolu from everywhere around him, it was like suddenly being swamped by the energy of everyone and everything around him. Ash felt the urge to join in. "It looks like a party!" he excitedly shouted to his companions. "Maybe we could join in?"
"I wonder what it's about." Zubat said. "Unless, it's just a party for the sake of having a party."
One of the birds descended down and met them perched herself on a post. The wattrel, a small black and yellow bird, greeted them. "Oh, are you guests? You guys don't look like you're from around here!" She was in that same age range Ash was in, if he had to guess.
"Nope!" Ash declared. And then clarified. "We're visitors who just arrived yesterday! What's the occasion?"
"Great! You're welcome to stay and enjoy some Bloodstone Mountain hospitality! The Patriarch has declared a feast in recognition of the Naming Day."
"Patriarch?" Ash raised an eye in interest. Whoever he was, he had to have been important enough to declare a party "Who's he? Is he here?"
Wattrel looked frustrated, but the bird quickly settled down. "Oh, right. You're not native to this island. You obviously wouldn't know. The Patriarch is our great leader and founder! And he declared a Naming Day because augurs believed today was an auspicious day. Many of the young and bold are visiting the Patriarch so that they might be given worthy names. We celebrate and pray that some of our own will return having proven themselves."
"Huh, that's… fortunate." Ash said. It was a little weird that Pokémon here took naming day so seriously that there's a holiday about it, but that was kind of cool in its own way. Though, it was a little coincidental that he and his friends arrived just in the nick of time to catch a party that he had no idea about, that sort of thing happened all the time in Kanto.
Wattrel squinted an eye and scanned the party, especially at Ash and Brock. Most likely, he paid attention to the fact Ash was a riolu and Brock was orange. "Uh, speaking of, do you guys happen to be from an important family or anything? Any names I should recognize?"
"No," Brock said flatly. Though he hid it, the riolu could sense his discontent.
Ash frowned. He did technically have his identification scroll in his backpack, but after being the Capital and having to deal with officials for so often, he kind of wanted to just be treated like an ordinary person for a bit. "No, I'm just a riolu."
Wattrel eyed him skeptically. "If you say so. Welcome to Bloodstone Mountain Southwest. It's kind of an open invitation if you want to join."
"Wait, I thought we were supposed to go to Heliotrope Mountain!" Pikachu declared. "Did we go to the wrong place?"
Wattrel raised her head in a defiant look. Disgust and pride steamed out of her. "Its name is Bloodstone Mountain, no matter what some bureaucrat who doesn't live here says."
"Oh, so it got renamed." Ash guessed.
"Inappropriately named," Wattrel corrected. "And ideally, it would get corrected."
"We should probably… get going," Cinder suggested. "Sore subject."
Sensing that the rest of the party didn't want to cause an incident, Ash nodded his head. "Right. So, uh. Thanks for telling us all this, Wattrel. We'll go enjoy the… retirement party." Did people actually do that? As far as he knew, people only had birthdays, but the riolu guessed that retirement was a big deal since retirement was… final.
"Yeah, go on. Have fun," Wattel said, her stone still bitter, but she definitely tried to hide it.
Ash and his friends walked past the petrel and into the festival proper. There was so much to do, so much food to eat. The riolu just wanted to do everything.
"I'm surprised you didn't flash your ID," Misty commented.
"Well, I could have done that, but I mean, I don't really want to draw too much attention to myself, you know?" the Fighting-type said. It wouldn't have been hard, but then, that would have meant having to learn… protocol for things he didn't know.
Misty gave him an intrigued look in response.
"My advice, if you want to avoid attention, you could try to avoid using your name. And I mean, any and all names you have, especially your family name. Having a name at all makes you stand out, culturally speaking. A family name, even moreso." Cyclizar said. "We stand out physically, as non-natives, but full and proper names sort of imply all sorts of things that you might not want to bother with."
Right. A name made you stand out in a world where most people referred to you by your species. So, Ash, if he wanted to avoid attention was best off hiding he even had a name at all.
Pikachu seemed to delight in the idea. "Hey, Riolu, let's go walk around!"
"Alright, Pikachu," Ash stuck his tongue out, emphasising his partner's lack of a name. "Let's go have fun!"
Pikachu giggled.
Cinder split off from the others and clung to the shadows as her nature taught her to do. She didn't necessarily hate the activity buzzing around her, but her inclination as a zorua was to stay hidden and away from danger, but not too far away from danger. For the festival was a feast in more ways than one.
So much sweet joy and happiness was all around her. Enough that she just absorbed it into herself. The physical food wasn't half bad either. She acquired a coconut that had been filled with a variety of fruit juices. A reed straw inserted into the shell, allowing her to sip on the beverage inside at her leisure.
To her surprise, she found Dexter wandering nearby, his gaze sweeping over the crows of Maiju as they celebrated.
Curious, the fox stealthy walked up to him and observed.
The Pokédex didn't really do much other than observe. He seemed disinterested in taking part, and instead focused on wanting to see what everyone else around him was doing.
Then, Dexter suddenly paused his sweep, his gaze then floated over to the fox's position. Cinder?
"Sorry, I was just curious," Cinder apologized.
It's no problem. Dexter drifted over to her.
"So, what are you doing?" Cinder asked. "You don't like the festival."
Yes and no. I'm not really used to taking part in parties. The rotom floated toward the fox. But, what I do know is that is… this is the sort of thing that I was created to study.
Right. Dexter was created as a research tool, a notebook to assist scholars in the field. And despite gaining his own Essence, he felt more interested in watching the world around him over taking part himself. That was fair. "What is it about this gathering that interests you specifically?" She walked over to a rock and sat there
Dexter floated over to the rock. It is quite fascinating from…. Anthropological perspective, maybe?
"Anthrowhat?" That was a discipline that Cinder never even heard about.
Anthropology is the study of human and society and… I suppose Pokémon, Maiju society. Dexter sounded almost apologetic. Citrine as a whole would be a very interesting place for…. my Creator to study. These islands feature a society of different Pokémon acting out parts of a civilization. This place adds more material not present in other locales.
Cinder nodded. He was simply learning about what he was interested in, just like how she had done the same for the topic of humans and what their world was like. "How so?"
This village is so different from what we've seen in Citrine before. At the bare minimum, it is an exploration of how biology impacts what a desireable living space looks like. Dexter looked towards one of the tall bird dwellings. The village has a clear delineation between its demographic groups, one which is quite large and landbound, the other able to fly. And unlike other areas in Citrine, there aren't as many steps taken for the sake of accessibility.
"Right. Hm, well, when we get to Turquoise or visit some of the other reef villages, you could perhaps look into seeing how the completely aquatic Maiju live; their near complete dependence on water excludes almost everyone else, even most Water-types," Cinder proposed.
Something to look forward to. I wonder what my Creator would think about what we've seen here. His whole specialization revolved around Pokémon and… non-Pokémon relationships, whereas this is not quite like that.
Cinder felt an uneasy, conflicted knot develop within the elemental's body. She wasn't a riolu or anything, but she had some mild empathic seemed uncertain about himself for something.
But then the feeling faded as a more stalwart resolution formed within him. I do realize, I don't have much idea for the context for the festival, beyond the fact that the Patriarch is some sort of leader and that this is all a celebration over mass naming ritual of some sort. Who is the Patriarch anyways?
"I don't know," Cinder admitted. She wracked her brain for answers but found out nothing. "I don't know much about every island, especially the more rural places within Citrine. And if I learned about him in school, I might have forgotten it because it was so long ago."
Perfectly understandable… We might be able to learn more about him if we asked around. Dexter shook himself.
The music grew louder and suddenly a quartet of haxorus walked to the center of the stage and began a synchronized dance where each of them coated their arms in dragonfire and spun together as one. It was hard to believe such large, brutish dragons could ever be called graceful, yet they were surprisingly agile moving on those thick legs.
Onlookers clapped their hands, cheering and praising the performers.
That's… one way to do a dragon dance. Dexter commented. He turned back to Cinder. Perhaps we can explore the festival together? We can learn quite a bit.
"Uh, okay? I suppose it's one way to research the event." Cinder said. She wasn't normally the type of person to be outgoing, but Dexter was a friend. And he was right, this was a learning opportunity, even for her.
On that, the zorua realized something. She still had her coconut in her paws. "Hey, maybe you can try some of this stuff? It's pretty sweet tasting."
Dexter hovered over to the coconut. I don't see the problem with that. Though… how am I supposed to… sip through a straw… Do I even have lungs? How am I going to generate the negative air pressure needed to create a siphon?
"I mean, my lungs are incorporeal half the time, but they work just fine if you give it a try. Just to your…. mouth…" Then Cinder thought. "But you don't have a mouth. Uh, wait, let me think."
Brock took in all of the delicious odors around him. As a canine Pokémon, he completely understood just why odor was so important to them.
Simple food just everywhere, some of it was on sale at vendors, but it looked like there was plenty of food on offer.
Like most places in Citrine, seafood made the majority of the meat options. Fish and mushrooms were sauteed together in quick stir fries, whilst clams and scalp soup was served in gigantic cast-iron cauldrons. There was even a barbeque pit where the largest fish available were being carefully smoked.
Tropical fruits like mangos and pineapples made up the next most common category, usually served on their own, but sometimes they were prepared into slices or rendered into juices. Between the mangos and pineapples, it might have looked like a second from an Alola or the Orange Islands vacation commercial.
But what surprised Brock the most was the third and final category present at the gathering, because he honestly didn't expect there to be so many sweets in this one gathering. Sweet bread, sugar stars… ice cream, an entire table was dedicated to chocolate alone. There was even something that vaguely resembled a carbonated soda. It was like going to a candy store.
In a world where most Pokémon didn't or couldn't cook, there were just so many here. Sure, the Capital had loads of cooks, even whole restaurants, but Heliotrope, or Bloodstone, was one of the more rural areas. The only explanation Brock could figure out was that many of the local Dragon-types had the anatomy to easily learn how to cook with the extra bonus that most of them were living furnaces already.
Whatever the reason, Brock was interested in trying some of the local sweets, especially since he'd be doing it with an old friend. "Hey, Onix. Want to hit one of the dessert tables for me."
"Hm. Weird price. Pray for eldest son. Receive sweets." Onix said as he slithered behind, pointing at one of the signs.
"The cook must really want their son to get a name." Brock muttered. In all honesty, the lycanroc had a hard time coming to grips with that aspect of Citrine culture. Where he came from, every human had a name at birth, whilst here, the process was something more involved. On the other paw, most humans didn't name their Pokémon either, so maybe there was some hidden cultural tenet there?
Not interested in eating tons of sweets, Brock simply took the largest broiled fish he could fit into his mouth and found a vacant place able to see the dancers. He didn't bother with a plate and instead just grabbed the fish and started to tear into it with his teeth, much like how most dogs did. Unlike most dogs, the needle-like bones in the fish didn't even bother him; they were crushed like everything else. It wasn't particularly tasty, just cooked.
Onix chose to just take a pile of fruits, mostly tough fruits like coconuts and squash. He swallowed them, hardened shells and all. "Should have prepared food. Could have sold. Or contributed."
"If we were a day earlier and knew about this Name Day celebration, maybe," Brock commented in between bites of food. "Probably would have stood out if we brought enough noodles."
Onix grunted in agreement as he swallowed another coconut. "Already stood out. So many eyes."
Brock inclined his head, concerned.
Onix shook his head. "Minimal danger. We stand out. Obviously not residents. So, many looks. Mostly me. Size matters."
"Well, I suppose that makes sense." Brock said, his eyes flickering to the nearby crowds. Several Pokémon turned a glance at him and his friend, not really saying anything, but it was clear they were being wary. In fact, it definitely explained why it seemed like people were giving him a wide berth. He continued to disassemble his fish.
"Br- Lycanroc, what are you doing!?" Misty called out, walking into the lycanroc's view.
Brock swallowed more of his fish and turned towards Misty. He squinted an eye. "What?"
The buizel only had Togepi and Psyduck with her, the three of them carrying plates full of snacks. "At least use a plate!"
"Buizel," Brock growled. "I can't exactly carry a plate in my jaws. So, I'm eating it the old fashioned way."
Misty flinched upon being referred to by her species before shaking her head. "Just, don't make a mess," She took a seat at a vacant log nearby, carefully nudging Psyduck to stay nearby. Togepi climbed on top and sat next to her.
Brock finished the last of his fish. "So, what's your team up to? They don't look like they're here."
"Well, Goldeen went gambling. Staryu is… I don't know where exactly, but I've seen him around in the game area, too. And it's my turn to watch Psyduck again, so he's with me" Misty commented.
"Did you need me?" Psyduck called out, though he said this while facing the wrong direction entirely.
"No, just go enjoy your food," Misty said.
"Goldeen has problem. So much gambling," Onix muttered.
Misty shrugged. "She's not bad at it. And I think she wins more often than not, so it's not that bad."
"Has she always been like this?" Brock asked. As far as he knew, Goldeen had only started gambling once she gained the ability to levitate over land. But then again, he hardly knew what the fish was doing before; she was almost always in her Pokéball due to her complete land immobility.
"Always. Though lesser stakes. More frequent lately," Onix replied. "Possible. Poor impulse control. Sudden freedom. May have consequences."
"Huh, something to think about." Brock tore off the head of his fish and swallowed it one gulp.
Misty raised an eyelid, focusing on the lycanroc intently. Instead of talking about it, she changed the topic entirely, "So, what about your team? I noticed they're not here, either."
"Zubat and Vulpix were chatting up some of the locals, but as for Geodude, I can't find him. Probably enjoying himself. Mostly, I just wanted to hang out with Onix since I haven't had a chance to do that in a bit," Brock answered. Though as he thought about what the others were doing, he thought about the festival itself and its stated purpose. "You know, I was wondering, why don't most, well, Maiju have their own names?"
Misty squinted, her whiskers twitching as she thought it out. "What ever brought this on?"
"This whole Name Day celebration, I guess. It kind of makes me wonder about well… the lack of names our friends have," Brock turned to Onix. "Like, that's something that's true here and outside, Pokémon don't often have personal names."
"Hm." Onix's voice grumbled as he thought as well. "It is strange. Never thought much before. Is as was."
"Hm, maybe Pokémon just aren't inclined to name everything?" Misty shrugged, in between nibbling at her food. "It is strange, come to think about it."
"Especially given that most humans follow the convention," Brock muttered.
"What is the point of a name?" Psyduck said abruptly.
"Psyduck!" Misty called out in frustration.
"Hang on, he might have a point." Brock said, eying the duck. "What do you mean, Psyduck?"
"Names are about distinguishing something from other similar things," Psyduck asked cryptically. He was definitely in one of his more lucid moments. "They are words that serve a function of distinguishment."
Misty eyed the duck. "I mean, I guess that makes sense, but then why do so few Pokémon have names?"
"Because most simply aren't important, having distinguished themselves." Psyduck bowed his head. "Even back home, only a few really got a name of their own; leaders, elders, those who made their mark. The same is true here. Humans are weird for naming everything."
"I see." Brock nodded his head, understanding the duck's point. It was about declaring something as different from the rest. Though, that begged the question of why humans felt the need to name everything and everyone? It was just something that he had taken for granted, a reality that just always was. "So, where does that leave us now?"
"Not sure. But, we simply don't know why things are the way they are. Maybe we will one day, but that's not now." Psyduck finished his statement by turning his back and going to eat on some sweets.
"No easy answers," Onix agreed.
"Something to think about, then." Misty muttered. She took a bulbous looking banana and pilled it open. Then bit into it. The buizel immediately recoiled, spitting out what she bit into. "Gah! What's in this banana?" She said, holding up the banana. There were blackened stones within the pale yellow flesh.
Brock, having seen this before, knew what they were. "Those are seeds.."
"Wait, bananas have seeds?" Misty said incredulously.
"Wild ones do. The ones you can get in a supermarket have been heavily selectively bred to remove their seeds. That's another reason why they're shaped differently than you'd expect." Brock said. "I think they technically clone the plants, these days."
"Noted." Misty said, setting the banana aside as though it was unappetizing.
"Music has stopped," Onix said abruptly.
"Something going on?" Brock asked his partner.
The large rock snake then pointed towards where the dragons were dancing earlier. The four haxorus had wandered off. In their place, a swellow landed on stage. "Birds and beasts of Bloodstone West!" he announced to an assembled crowd. "It's time to begin the traditional cooking contest! Where the best and brightest of this village and its tributaries will show us the skills they've learned!"
"A cooking contest?" Misty said, worriedly.
"Sounds fun!" Togepi shouted.
"They value it." Onix pointed to the food present. "Cooking is valuable here."
"Huh. I'm kind of interested in what they're going to cook," Brock said. After all, if they had a whole buffet out of easy to make food, that made him wonder what kinds of food they could make when they were really trying to be fancy.
"Now, allow me to introduce our contestants!" The swellow waved a wing and from behind a nearby wall, several large dragons stepped into view. Each one was introduced, one at a time with a name and a summary of their accomplishments.
But what really caught Brock's attention was the last dragon.
"And finally, we present this young and nameless Charizard!" said the swellow. "And by the way, he's by far the youngest I've ever seen! He's got to be a real prodigy or something!"
A very familiar Charizard stepped forward and towards the crowd. The audience broke into a frenzy of interest and speculation, each wondering where he came from. The large fiery lizard stood there, awkwardly waving his hands and flashing a nervous looking grin; he was clearly out of his element.
"Wait, what's Charizard doing there!?" Misty spat.
"I have no idea," Brock admitted. "Maybe, he signed up?"
At the very least, it was just a cooking contest and Charizard did know some recipes. So, maybe this would be entertaining.
"Such a prodigy!"
"At his age, no less!"
"Truly, this sets a standard!"
Charizard waved a claw awkwardly as he looked at the assembled crowd.
It was very hard to make the dragon feel small, yet the village seemingly made him feel like he had the attention of the whole world at that moment. So many eyes were looking at him, so many raised to praise him. It honestly felt like the only way from here was down.
And to think this all started when he was looking around the buffet tables and thinking about what he would want to eat. Instead, he had been whisked away onto the stage because apparently, they had been expecting him. Was this a case of misplaced identification? They seemed to think he was from a nearby village for some reason.
Swellow turned towards him, somehow being frightening despite being so much smaller than him. "Alright, that's enough. Now, go to your team and then get your dishes in order. The judges will be grading not just your cooking ability, but also your presentation. So, remember to be… SUPERFLOUS!" He flapped his wings rapidly for extra emphasis.
Charizard sighed as he walked away from the crowd and towards a nearby set up for him and his team.
Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Cyclizard were all present, each of them having been abducted at the same time as he was.
"How, you holding up, Buddy?" Squirtle called to him.
"I barely know how to cook, let alone how to be… superfluous about doing it," Charizard said bitterly.
"It's easy!" Squirtle said. "All you have to do is be your old arrogant self like always!"
"Is that supposed to be helpful?" Charizard grumbled.
"In my experience, the best way to be… excessive is to drink alcohol, but that generally comes at a price, often a whole lot of regret once you're through it," Cyclizar replied. "I won't recommend excessive drinking."
"So… we're competing in this?" Chairzard questioned his group.
Squirtle shrugged. "I mean, why not? It'll be fun! Besides, it could be something to win at."
The dragon nodded his head, suddenly interested. Cooking wasn't really a passion of his, but it was something. And making food was a good exercise in selectively burning things. "Alright, so… what do we do?"
"If we have to do this, we have to focus on the game plan," Bulbasaur said firmly. "We all know some degree of cooking, one way or another. We each know a handful of different recipes, though I don't know how good we stand in comparison to our opposition."
"Probably," Charizard admitted. Usually, he was just a heating element, though there were a few dishes he knew how to make solo, but those were boring and probably not suited for this contest.
The Fire-type turned towards the other teams. There were four teams of four, including Charizard's.
The first was a tandemaus… or was it tandemices? …Either way, there were four mice and it was a family unit. They were by far the least intimidating of their opponents.
The next consisted of one milotic, one treecko, a gible, featuring a toucannon as their leader. She spotted Charizard looking at them and smugly responded by turning her back to him. Charizard may not have known the social graces all that well, but that was clearly an insult.
Annoyed, Charizard flashed to the next was a heliolisk and two grotles, commanded by a axew… who was notably smaller and younger than his teammates, yet he seemed to be the leader. He shouted rather enthusiastically at his partners. He didn't seem to notice Chairzard's interest in them.
"Okay, so, I've looked at the rules," Squirtle said as he held up a wooden plank and read from it. "And we're allowed to request ingredients up to a limit per team. Some are more expensive than others, depending on availability. We can't bring our own ingredients, too. They've even got the cookware in case we need it. So, all we have to do is figure out what we're going to make."
"Anyone got any ideas?" Cyclizar said.
"How about a pizza? Like, we'd have to make the sauce, but that's easy to do." Charizard said offhandedly. It was something he knew and it looked easy enough from what Ash did. And the riolu could barely cook on his own without making a mess if he had to work from scratch.
Squirtle smirked at the dragon. "Okay, but that leads to another, important question. Pineapple or no pineapple?"
"That's a question?" Charizard as he did a spit take. "Why would anyone put pineapples on pizza!?"
"Some people like it." Squirtle laughed. "Like, the people here might be interested in that kind of topping."
"Do both. And more. We'll have plenty of ingredients. The real strength of the Unovan pizza is its flexibility," Bulbsaur replied. "We can put all sorts of different toppings to cast a wide net for whatever panel of judges we have."
Charizard looked at the toad, a bit confused. Then again, he supposed that at its core, the pizzas that they made were very improvised by whatever was available. The only things that weren't an option was that it had to be made of dough and needed appropriate sauces - everything else was fair game.
"They definitely have rice, not a lot, but it's enough for us to make rice dough," Squirtle said as he looked at their options. "The cheese is also going to be limited, but we don't need that much. Tomatoes don't seem to be a problem here, but if we need to make more sauce…" He continued to prattle on, murmuring about the ingredients that they needed.
"Give me a list of everything we need. I'll deal with the quartermasters, because I know how to do that," Cyclizar said.
Within a minute, the lizard received a list of written requests, many of which Charizard barely recognized.
Meanwhile, their opponents had already made progress on their projects.
The tandemaus family acquired several bowls of what appeared to be icecream of various flavors and fruits of every type and purpose. For the Toucannon's team, they had so many different kinds of fish on their table and assorted vegetables. Meanwhile, Axew's team had a large block of tofu and several bags of rice.
Charizard didn't have any idea what they were planning exactly, but he had a hunch.
Cyclizar came back, a small cart behind him. He rapidly placed the ingredient on the table with almost unheard of speed.
"It looks like everyone has selected what they needed! Let's see what they make!" Swellow shouted at the top of his lungs, announcing to the whole crowd.
Charizard moved first, grabbing the vegetables and mincing them with his claws until they were in a neat pile. Bulbasaur pounded the rice with his vines into a fine powder, whilst Squirtle washed the remains to form dough.
Yet apparently, such efforts weren't enough.
Toucannon's laugh was evident. She sucked up an eggplant and spat into the air. As the eggplant fell, Treecko slashed at it with his claws and tore it to shreds mid air. The contents then fell into a small pot held by gible, who let the sliced vegetable simmer over a fire.
"Oh, looks like Toucannon is off to an amazing start, but the others aren't going to be out done!" Swellow bellowed.
Gible tossed bags of rice into air, which was then sliced open by one of the grotle. The contents burst out of the bag, falling into a pot that heliolisk grabbed onto and began to electrify, perhaps to cook it.
But mice were surprisingly flashy as well. They tossed fruits into the air like the others and using knives, they slashed the fruits into neat little piles, stripping away their outer layers for disposal.
"Oh, that kind of superfluous!" Squirtle laughed.
Toucannon stared at them, ever so smugly.
Charizard just stared. He had no idea what he had even gotten into, yet at the same time, he saw this as a challenge, one he had to meet. This wasn't his element, but he wasn't going to just give up. Especially not with that overgrown toucan basically taunting him.
He turned towards his team.
"We can work with this!" Squrtle flashed him a grin. The turtle swiftly rolled the flour and washed it with water until it became a ball of dough. And then he made another one. And then another. In total, they ended up with six large clumps of dough.
Cyclizar took each clump of dough and stabbed it with his claws to punch out the air holes, forming and reforming the clumps until he was satisfied. Bulbasaur took the finished dough balls and tossed them into the air, his vives spinning them about until they were flat disks.
Meanwhile, Charizard hammered away at the other ingredients. He continued to pound at the tomatoes until they were nothing but a fine mist. Then he tossed in an assortment of herbs and spices into it, forming the tomato sauce they needed. Sure, it wasn't as flashy as the coordinated tossing and lashing of dough his team pulled off, but this job was just as important.
"They're making bread? What are they doing? I've never seen this recipe before!" Swellow shouted to the crowd. He then turned toward the other competitors. "Looks like the family of four are working their fruits!"
The family of mice divided their fruits into an assortment of different processes. Bananas were picked off their seeds and fried, others like the mangoes were dipped into some sort of liquid chocolate and pulled out when they had a nice colored complexion. More were done, but Charizard couldn't pay attention to it all.
"And look at the others go! They're slicing and dicing!" Swellow shouted once more.
Toucannon and Treecko sliced and diced more vegetables, filling gible's pot. Milotic formed a blade of ice on her tail fins and sliced into the fish, severing them into assorted chunks and pushing them away with her fin to then move on to the next fish.
With an exaggerated gesture, Heliolisk threw the rice in his pot into a frying pan carried in the mouth one of the grotles. Meanwhile, axew sliced mushrooms, vegetables, and tofu with eager abandon. That mass fell to the other grotle, who also held a frying pan in his mouth. The two turtles looked at each other and gave each other a synchronized tail strike before placing frying pans over their grill.
Charizard smirked, seeing that the other two teams were making recipes that the fire dragon was a little familiar with. It gave him hope that he could win this.
On the disks of pizza, the cyclizar spread a layer of tomato sauce, whilst squirtle poured the cheese.
Charizard and Bulbasaur then swiftly decorated each pizza with a variety of different ingredients. Mushrooms on one, pineapple on another, worms and insects on the next. Once that was done, he took a frying pan and placed the first pizza into the pan.
The dragon stared at the grill and saw that it wasn't enough. No, this wasn't flashy enough!
The dragon brought his tail into view and with an effort of will, he caused the flame burning at its tip to expand like never before. He placed the frying pan over the small blaze and let the pizza cook.
"We're heading into the closing! Each of the teams is putting the finishing touches as they finalize and serve their meals" Swellow addressed the onlookers. "My, do these things look very appetizing!"
The bread rose and rapidly browned, but Charizard only had to wait.
The family of mice took a metal serving bowl big enough to fit all of them together. They emptied their jug, one containing a heft slab of ice cream and poured it into the bowl. With careful and precise ordering, they stacked their fruits onto the mass until it looked like a tall building rather than something edible.
"Points for food art, there, rodents!" Swellow called out.
Meanwhile, the pizza's cheese melted into a soft, goo-like layer. Meanwhile, the rest of the pizza dried out. Brock said that the moisture within the ingredients was evaporating from the heat.
Toucannon ignited the fire underneath the stew pot with only a gust of wind from her beak. The fire raged and burned, almost hard to control, yet the bird made it part of the performance, using her wings to carefully spin the air to her liking. It didn't take long for the pot to steam and on command, gible reached into the blazing inferno and pulled out the steaming pot, ready to serve.
"Style, acting, drama! Love it!" said Swellow.
Satisfied, Charizard tossed the pizza away, letting Cyclizard grab onto it and set into the table. Bulbasaur then put in the next pizza, restarting the process all over again.
Axew took out a set of drums and played it in front of his teammates. It almost had some sort of coordinating effect as the grottles, with seemingly perfect coordination, threw the contents of their frying pans at their counterpart. They were practically juggling as a way of mixing their food, a way to get around their complete lack of paws or hands. Meanwhile, Heliolisk tossed spices and assorted fluids into each pan. For the finale, one of the turtles emptied their frying pan into their double's, who then revealed a nicely mixed pile of fried rice.
"Bravo! It's rare to see such talented individuals. Let's see how Charizard's team is doing." Swellow said.
The final pizza went onto a serving plate, a pile of six different pizzas were ready and finished. Bulbasaur lazily tossed several leaves at each pizza, carefully cutting them into sections.
Charizard sat back and took a deep breath. He wasn't exhausted per say, but he was definitely tired from having to do all of that work. He couldn't imagine what it might have been like if he had to cook for hours on end. No wonder why only Ash had the willingness to pull of any late night training sessions - that riolu was the only one not tired.
"Now, I have no idea what it is… but that definitely looks appetizing. How do you… eat it?" Swellow said. "We'll have to find out. Our panel of judges, randomly selected from the crowd, will have to make their choices after tasting the food!"
Several Pokémon wandered onto stage, each of them sampling the food as presented. All of them murmured with interest as they tasted and sampled the creations.
Charizard barely paid attention to all of it. Instead, he just laid down and took a deep breath.
Toucannon turned to look at the dragon with a stern look in her gaze. She looked at the dragon for a minute before making a small nod and turning away. Charizard didn't know what any of that meant, but he was out of it.
"Hey, Buddy, I think we've won," Squirtle said eventually, bringing the dragon's attention back to him.
Charizard squinted an eye at the turtle. "What makes you say that?"
"There's no pizza left," Bulbasaur answered. He raised a leg and pointed at their table, now bereft of any and all pizzas. "They took a bit out of the other options, but the pizza was swiftly devoured."
Charizard rubbed at his eyes. True enough, the other tables had been dug into - the towering ice cream was missing its top, the fish stew was half eaten, the fried rice was a bit smaller - but that was nothing compared to how there was simply no pizza left.
"It's definitely the uniqueness factor. They have never seen this before." Squirtle shrugged. "It's a great way to instill a demand, I'll say."
Before Charizard could even process what was going on, a small cloak of haygrass was tossed over his back as several bird Pokémon flew by.
"We have a winner! The nameless Charizard from Quarry County is the winner! Such a prodigy to create a marvelous new dish!" Swellow declared.
"I didn't create it, it's just something my friends showed me one time. I really couldn't have done it without them." Charizard said. It honestly felt a little awkward being celebrated like that. At the same time, a part of him did admire the praise. He just… didn't feel like taking all of the credit, especially since his friends did much of the hard parts.
"Humble even now!" Swellow laughed. "But sincerely, this is definitely the sort of thing that people will remember for generations! What is this delicious thing called anyways?"
"A pizza?" Charizard answered. "It's pretty simple when you get down to it."
"Hm, I can see that." Swellow flapped his wings in excitement. "You should consider applying to get a name next festival! You definitely deserve it!"
Charizard did not know how to feel about that. Getting a name… over getting food, that just… didn't happen, did it? The dragon shook his head. "I'll think about it, maybe?"
Swellow snorted, seemingly amused. "I see. Well, I hope to hear from you more in the future. Now, off you go!"
"Yeah, right." Charizard walked away. He and his team walked off stage.
Some of the Pokémon present were asking questions on how to make their own pizzas, all eager to try the dishes for themselves. The dragon didn't want the attention and was tempted to send them away, but Squirtle answered all the questions for him.
Once they were free from the audience, Ash and Pikachu were there to greet them.
"Hey, guys! I saw what you did!" Ash beamed brightly. "You did great!"
"It was a bit rough, but we remembered all of the steps," Squirtle commented.
"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" Charizard smiled, feeling his trainer's infectious joy seep into him. It was a team effort, something he wasn't afraid to admit.
Pikachu gave the dragon a laugh. "Charizard, the cook. I wonder if people are going to remember this about you.."
"I hope not." Charizard groaned. He didn't mind cooking, but it just wasn't something he felt really motivated him. He only participated in the cooking contest because he thought it would have been enjoyable and that toucannon basically called him out.
Pikachu giggled. "Alright, Ash, let's keep going!"
"Yeah, we got things to do!" The riolu declared as he ran off.
The dragon parted ways with his friends… wanting a bit of alone time after all of that excitement. Yet, one last interruption met the fire dragon as he slowly moved away from the festivities.
A charizard flew past him and landed right in front of him. Charizard didn't know what to make of the newcomer, but he did notice that he was exactly the same height as charizard.
"Hey, uh am I late? Did I miss the cooking contest? I kind of got lost and I had to go have directions from my mom and…." The other charizard blinked. "Oh, wow, you're about as old as I am! I didn't think there were any others like me, too!"
This was the charizard that people mistook Charizard for. This was so strange. "Uh, it's over already." The outsider Charizard pursed his lip. "My team won it."
"Drat!" The other charizard grumbled. "Well, uh congratulations. I guess I should have remembered the directions!"
"Uh yeah, so, they apparently thought I was you,... So they made me and my friends compete," Charizard admitted. This felt so awkward, mostly because he had no idea who this other charizard even was. And yet, the fire dragon was this other one's stand in.
"Oh. Weird. I guess they probably didn't think much beyond, younger than average charizards." The other charizard shrugged. "Still, good job for winning, but I'm kind of bummed that I didn't get to face you now!"
"Maybe they'll be a next time?" Charizard said. Honestly, he didn't think that would, but with how strange this day had gotten already, maybe it was something that could happen in the future.
"Maybe!" the other charizard flapped his wings and then took to the air. "See you later!"
Charizard raised a clawed hand as he walked off. That meeting was so strange. Idly, he wondered if this was what his trainer felt like when he ran into that lookalike.
"Come on, Riolu!" Pikachu shouted as he beckoned Ash forward as he spotted the next attraction. The two of them had just come from congratulating Charizard on his victory and now went to resume their goal of seeing everything this Name Day festival had to offer.
"Pikachu!" The jackal pup followed along, his tongue dripping from his mouth, his tail wagging vigorously.
"Step right up! See if you can hit the targets!" shouted a leavanny as she gestured to a collection of wooden panels right behind her. Each was painted with a series of concentric rings, a single red dot at their centers. The objective of the game was obvious, even to Pikachu. Leavanny pointed a leafy appendant at Pikachu and his friend. "Get a high enough score and win a prize!"
"Alright!" Ash declared, interested at the prospect of winning a prize.
"Just a small fee! Ten tries!" Leavanny promised.
Pikachu smirked as he walked up to the edge of the bug's stall. "How about a race?"
Ash beamed, taking out a single pearl from his sack. "Yeah, gotcha!"
"Can do!" Leavanny took the pearl and stowed it away.
Two grub-like Pokémon then rolled a small collection of leafy balls right in front of Ash.
"Now, remember, all you gotta do is hit the targets. You're allowed to throw or use any weak ranged technique as long as it's that powerful or destructive!" Leavanny stated. She carefully picked up the young grubs and brought her into her arms and coddled her grubs. "Now, make it count. You each only have five attempts!"
With the rules stated, Pikachu turned to his closest friend and made the first move. A light thundershock leapt from his body and shot into the nearest target. He thought he scored a direct hit, yet as the light died down, he noticed that the scorch mark left by his electricity… was off the mark.
"Not as easy as it looks, Pikachu?" Ash lashed out his tongue as he goaded.
The rodent crossed his arms. "Then you give it a try!"
"I will!" Ash stepped forward and took one of the leafy balls into his mitts. He swung it over his head. The ball sailed into the air with almost perfect grace…. Unfortunately, it completely failed to hit any target.
"Hah! You're one to talk!" Pikachu laughed.
Ash slightly bared his teeth. He grabbed onto another ball and prepared to throw it.
Pikachu sparked the electricity in his body, bringing it under his command at a moment's notice. "I can hit a target before you can!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Ash declared with all the pride he could.
Both Pokémon attempted to hit a target at the same time - Pikachu sending his lightning, Ash throwing his ball. Instead of hitting anything of value, both attempts collided in the air and simply failed to strike anything.
"Oh come on! I had it that time!" Ash growled.
"You're the one who's taking the same targets as me!" Pikachu spat.
Frustrated, both friends made another attempt. This time, they had an unspoken agreement to aim at different targets. Pikachu managed to hit one of the targets, glazing the central red dot just barely.
PIkachu smirked smugly at his trainer. "It's okay if you give up now! I was just getting warmed up!"
"You know I won't give up that easily!" Ash declared.
"It's fun to try!" Pikachu shrugged.
The Fighting-type lobbed another ball, this time it scored a hit against the target, leaving a greenish stain on the site of impact - that was probably a way to keep track of the score.
Pikachu lobbed a lightning bolt, though this time, he was off the mark.
"Yeah! That's how we do it!" Ash declared, bouncing in place.
"I hit my target before you did!" Pikachu insisted.
The riolu rolled his eyes.
Leavanny laughed at the two of them, amused as she carefully bounced her children. "You're doing very well. But your score is too low to win a prize. You each have one more try and this time, you're going to have to hit the target at the very back if you want to win!" With one arm, she pointed to the final target, a very small object at the very end of the stall.
Pikachu turned to his trainer, knowing exactly what the former human was thinking. They had a tie and the only proper way to resolve a tie was to aim for the top. Neither would have had it any other way.
The friends locked eyes for only a second, their gazes shifting towards their target. Ash took his final ball into his hand, whilst Pikachu gathered a static charge for a final attack.
The two of them focused, narrowing their eyes as they tuned out the rest of the world. All that mattered in the moment was striking true. Within the same instant, both made their move. Pikachu let loose a small spark of energy, his talent with the element guiding the surge as it crackled in the air. Ash responded by pulling back and throwing the ball with all of the force he could muster.
One final time, Pikachu's electricity met Ash's throw… and failed. Instead of both attacks canceling each other out, this time the weight of Ash's throw overcame the small spark of electricity that Pikachu sent. The current shattered into a shower of sparks, the small grass ball shooting past.
And then it hit home. The ball shattered into a dozen messy pieces, smearing the red dot in the center of the target ring.
"Looks like we have a winner!" Leavanny shouted with the top of her lungs.
The little grubs on her body echoed her words. "WINNER!"
Ash flashed Pikachu a smile, delighting in his victory.
Pikachu, not one to feel too upset, walked up to Ash and slapped him on the back. "Alright, alright, you win! Go on, take what prize you win."
"I think, I will," the riolu declared.
Leavanny set her children down and pointed to one of the side walls of her stall. Long bands of silk in a variety of patterns, color, and shapes decorated the wall.. "For three direct hits, you may pick from any of these prizes!"
Ash smiled. With one paw he pointed towards a sash of blue cloth. "That one!"
Leavanny took the blue cloth down from the wall and presented it towards the jackal pup. Ash took it and rubbed his fingers against the silken cloth.
Pikachu nodded his head in approval. It looked pretty nice. Ash won it fair and square. "Hm, so what are you going to do with that?"
The riolu pursed his lip, thinking of his reply. "I don't know, but what if you wore this like a scarf?"
Pikachu blinked, a little surprised by "Wait, why me?"
Ash rubbed the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I mean, it's… something to remember this day by."
Pikachu froze, a guilty feeling creeping up in the pit of his gut. Would they even remember today?
Ash flinched, looking almost ashamed. "I mean, if you want. We could maybe get something else?"
"I… don't mind. Really." Pikachu tried to salvage the situation. He didn't want to make his negative feelings make what was meant to be a nice moment between the two of them so awkward. He walked over to Ash and took the bundle of blue cloth. "It's just… I never wear clothes. It'll take some time to get used to."
Because his arms couldn't reach the back of his head very easily, Pikachu put the silk sheet scarf over his back and then tied it from the front. Then he spun the scarf until it faced his front, the simply not he created onto his back.
Ash grew a smile. "Pikachu, I-"
But the words in Ash's throat died as Misty's voice called out to the two of them.
"Pikachu! A-Riolu!" The buizel called as she walked into view. "Didn't think I'd run into you here."
"Hey, Misty!" Ash said, immediately cheering up as the weasel met them.
Pikachu raised a paw in greeting.
"Hi." Psyduck called from behind her.
"Hey!" Togepi shouted. And then her eyes immediately fell into the stall Ash and Pikachu had participated in. "Ooh, Mommy. What's that?"
"It looks like a target practicing games and-" Misty cut herself off and immediately shivered as she caught sight of the vendor.
"Hello, miss! Can I interest you in a round of target practice!" The leavanny greeted her. "Only a single pearl!"
Pikachu quietly observed as the normally abrasive and proud weasel froze up at the sight of a Bug-type. It was something he didn't particularly understand, thinking that such a fear was very bizarre. She chewed out Butterfree back when he was a caterpie and that just made no sense to him. "So, why is Misty like this? I mean, she's always had this thing with bugs." He asked his trainer.
"I think it's mostly that she's grossed out. Some girls are like that. But Misty's also very afraid of Bugs in a way many girls aren't." The riolu's eyes focused on the weasel. "And I don't think I ever really understood by how much until now."
"Are you okay, Miss?" Leavanny asked eventually, her tone cautious.
"I'm fine… perfectly fine," Misty said. She looked like wanted to bolt.
"Should we do anything?" Pikachu asked.
"Maybe. Follow my lead." Ash walked behind Misty and gently pushed her forward. "Hey, Buizel. Don't worry. She's just asking if you want to play her game."
"Yeah," Pikachu walked by her. "It's pretty fun! Me and Riolu had a good game of it just now."
"I don't know…" the buizel said, her eyes tracing towards the Bug-type.
"Oh, a game!?" Togepi leapt with excitement. She walked over to the table and bounced in place.
The two sewaddle grubs turned their attention to her. "Hi!"
"Hi!" Togepi replied in pure joy.
"Togepi!" Misty called out. She ran forward and stepped in front of her young charge. "You know you shouldn't stray away from me! You could get hurt!"
"HI!" The swaddles said to Misty.
The buizel paled, backing away by several steps.
It was here that Leavanny clued in to what was happening. "Oh. I see. You're… frightened by my children?"
"No…" Misty replied, her voice trembling.
"Misty's afraid of bugs and most Bug-types, Miss," Ash spoke up. "She's been like that for as long as I've known her."
"Yeah. Try not to go too hard on her," Pikachu pleaded. Even if Misty arguably didn't deserve it given she was willing to abuse a poor caterpie, but she had grown, just as everyone else had grown. Pikachu, himself, arguably didn't deserve Ash if he was judged solely on his initial behavior.
"Oh, you're really afraid of little ol me?" The leafy bug walked over, extending a scythed limb. "I'm just a humble seamstress most of the time."
Misty's eyes nervously followed Leavanny's limbs, a sign she was still very very uncomfortable.
"Don't worry. She's not going to hurt you," Ash assured her as he kept her from moving.
"But she's… you know…" Misty pursed her lip.
An idea then struck Pikachu, a notion that maybe might have helped reframe the situation. "Leavanny is just a normal person, just like us. You don't have to be afraid of her."
"Yeah. She's just like any of the other people we've met before," Ash declared, a slight glow visible around the young jackal. "She's just a bit different than normal, being a Bug-type is all."
Misty seemed to ease slightly, her body relaxing in Ash's grip. "Yeah, maybe… maybe you're right." The weasel turned towards leavanny and bowed her head. "Sorry, I'm just… not used to talking to bugs as big as you."
"Don't worry about it." Leavanny said, the equivalent of a smile forming her mandibles. "Perhaps you'd like to try a game? We have prizes!"
"PRIZES!" the sewaddle cheered.
"Prizes? Oooh?" Togepi giggled.
"Sure, I could give it a try," Misty said, her tone still wary, though that was already a big improvement for her.
In the end, Misty managed to score better than what Ash and Pikachu did, taking home a stuffed toy for Togepi to enjoy. Psyduck, being who he was, managed to hit every target simultaneously, though apparently using the target boards to hit other target boards was against the rule of standing behind the counter… and not paying a fee for the attempt.
Togepi giggled out as she held tightly to her stuffed banana, whilst everyone hovered close to her. Night had fallen and they were on their way back to find everyone else.
Misty turned to Pikachu and his trainer. "You know, you didn't have to get involved."
"No, but I wanted to." Ash smiled. "Besides, it looked kind of awkward back there."
"I suppose you're right about that." The buizel shrugged. "I appreciate you stepping in."
"What is your problem with Bug-types anyways?" Pikachu asked.
"No all bugs, just the… scary ones." Misty said.
"Caterpie was scary?" Pikachu squinted an eye, not quite believing it. "I don't recall you having as many problems once he evolved."
"It's all those little legs and the mandibles, how those things move. Then there's the moves… especially string shot." Misty shivered as she shook her head. "He looked much less creepy once he was a butterfree!"
Pikachu really had no idea how to make sense of Misty's almost arbitrary ruleset of what bugs were scary or not. Butterfree was infinitely more dangerous than any normal caterpie! Yet for some reason, she preferred the grown butterflies who had psychic powers and almost a dozen different techniques to stun or incapacitate opponents over near helpless caterpillars! At least, being scared of the leavanny made sense because she was Grass-type and had sharp scythe limbs!
Ash laughed at his attempts to understand. "Don't worry, Pikachu. I don't get it either!"
Misty grunted. She broke away from the two boys, taking Togepi and Psyduck with her.
Left by themselves, Pikachu and Ash walked through to the outskirts of the festival grounds. They had already gone through a number of the attractions and for the meanwhile, wanted to have a break.
"So, it's weird how this is all over giving people names, right?" Ash asked finally. "Like, it's all one big party."
"Well, back in the wild, there isn't really any reason to celebrate, most of the time. Before I lived with humans, we didn't really have parties for anything." Pikachu muttered. "Everyone's too busy trying to avoid being eaten or trying to get enough food to meet their needs - there just isn't the kind of surplus like you have here."
The riolu nodded his head. "I guess that makes sense." He frowned as he thought about it a little. "I suppose if you have to celebrate something, I guess something like a naming ritual is important then?"
"Probably, Riolu," Pikachu muttered, not really knowing the answer.
Ash smiled brightly. "You know, it feels a little weird to hear you call me that. I mean, I know it's what I am, but it's still a little weird having no name."
"It is a little weird calling you out like you're any ordinary Maiju," Pikachu admitted with a shrug. "But I also kind of like it that way, because… because-" He frowned, trying to comprehend the words. "Because it's more comfortable, more natural to me. Like, personal names are a rarity for me."
"Right. That makes sense," Ash said. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but quickly closed it before asking. His eyes then shifted to his partner's neck. "So, how's the new scarf feel?"
"A little tight, but that's all," Pikachu said as he tugged at the new silk scarf around his neck, especially with his barely remembered Light Ball also present. He wondered if he put it on right, but if he hoped it matched what Ash had around his neck. Hopefully the only difference was the color; he wanted to match the style his train had.
"That's good. Hey, it's something to remember about today!" Ash said.
"But will we remember this day? We might keep the scarves, but will we remember why we have them?" Pikachu said, gloom seeping in his heart. The rodent instantly deflated as he dredged up his largest issue that he had been plagued with ever since he had learned it. "I worry a bit, that if or when we leave, we'll forget about days like today. That we'll go wake up and not remember talking about our fears."
The looming threat of amnesia upon leaving Citrine still hung over them. In a way, it almost made it hard for Pikachu to enjoy moments with his closest friend - how could he when there was a chance that many of their shared memories would be washed away like footprints on a beach.
Ash frowned. "I'm worried about that, too. I want to remember our adventure together, especially days like these where we're… just two friends having a good time." He clenched a fist. "But…we shouldn't let that bother us now. Maybe we'll find a solution!"
Pikachu closed his eyes as he replayed the words of his best friend's grandfather in his mind. Maybe there was hope for the two of them, maybe there was a solution to their problems. "I hope you're right."
Ash smiled brightly. And then, much to Pikachu's surprise, the riolu licked the rodent.
The Electric-type blinked a few times, one of his paws touching the damp saliva that coated his cheek. "You… you liked me?"
"Well, I am a canine." Ash shrugged. "It's normal, isn't it?"
"I suppose it is. It's just a little unexpected from you." Pikachu answered, as he rubbed the drool off his cheek. Then again, his trainer had basically become a typical puppy, didn't he? This was supposed to be his normal… even if it was a little strange to experience for the first time.
Ash's tail shook excitedly behind him. "Come on, let's go check out some of the other games. We can worry about the future later."
"I suppose you're right. We can worry about that stuff later," Pikachu replied.
Without any further prompting, the riolu darted ahead, becoming the rodent to follow along. His tongue excitedly fell out of his mouth as he ran like any excited pup his age did.
Pikachu did his best to follow along. Though he managed to keep up, his thoughts turned to an idea that had been forming in the back of his mind for the past few days.
Something had to be done for the rodent to maintain the friendship between himself and his partner, a relationship where the two of them stood not as master and pet, but as two near equals. Pikachu was willing to make drastic changes in how he lived his life, if it meant Ash could listen to words as easily as he did Misty or Brock. If it meant changing fundamental parts about who he was, he was willing to do it.
But all of that was useless if neither he nor Ash would remember their time here. Something had to be done, something to change if he wanted the two of them to remember everything.
And so he was left with a single, errant thought, one among the several seeded by Ash's grandfather in that short conversation they had: What if the Crucible could do more than return his trainer to human form?
A world building chapter, but also one to show a bit about what the local culture is like compared to other areas. I leaned towards something more biology focused and reflective of what the Gym is. I figured that having a local holiday was fair given that the anime basically had very well timed local celebrations around the clock, whether it be a contest or gameshow or the like.