Town by the seas

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Rainfront the town by the great seas, whose skies were full of clouds that brought fertility and life to their residents due to the predictable rains and wrath in the form of thunder to those who were enemies to the settlement. The place was full of fishermon, craftsmon that build houses and other trinkets with sea materials like seashells, gatherers that provided grain and fruit that couldn´t possibly grow inland, shamans who prayed for beneficial weather and sportsmon that enjoyed competing in the waves and beaches near the town. Indeed it was a town full of opportunities for travellers seeking supplies or some leisure and for the merchants to make a good profit out of tourism alone.

Yigo, on the other hand, was probably the oddest fit for the town. He was a desert dweller and ate no fish. Any rain would force him to dig a burrow so as to remain dry and not get a cold. Worst of all, the young sandshrew was terribly afraid of water and had no intentions of getting close to the shore, gateway to the infinite ocean. So, why was he there then? Aside from the sound of wingull calling each other and echoing with the tides, among the scent of salt and sand, Yigo managed to catch the fragrance produced by something he desperately needed: some warm food. It didn´t hurt that it smelled oh so wonderfully. Spices and sauces, grain and vegetables, their combination producing some masterpieces that not even Yigo could have ever dreamed of. After all, he´s only eaten raw food in the past so, naturally, he was inclined to try such dreamy dishes.

Following a caravan aiming to become a food post at the centre of the town, Yigo felt like he was floating as he followed the trail of steam left by the portable kitchen. He wasted no time at all entering the town, ignoring most of the buildings or pokemon that surrounded him. The Sandshrew had a very clear goal: sate his hunger. At last, he found himself at a random square, sitting down near one of the edges of the plaza while his eyes shone like if some treasure was in front of him. There were five, no... seven! Seven food carts, each with their distinctive scents drawing him in and in. Oh, the lucky soul that could afford to try them all. Unfortunately, Yigo only had enough poke to afford the services of just one food cart. The Sandshrew frowned, looking at each of the carts individually. This might be the most important decision of his life...

Rice wonders or exotic pastry?

After a very long time of waging the pros against the cons, he decided for a warm and abundant ration of rice. It took him almost no time at all for him to jump on his fours and rush to the cart to get his meal.

"Oh! Welcome back, Opal" The sandshrew greeted his new acquaintance back. Yigo too was not informed about what that 'seafood' she mentioned could be like. Of course that there were pokemon living inside the sea so there must be some food there. He jerked his head to the side with a puzzled expression "Seafood? I want to see that too" Yigo rushed to Opal's side as she walked over, prowling from her back as if Yigo was an insistent rockruff wanting to play really badly or a feral prowling their prey. Sniffing around, the ground type tried to catch the scents of her newly acquired meal. It indeed felt like it was nothing like he´s smelled on dry land before although that might have been attributed to the spices too if any.

"Oh! It smells nice!" He said, not even sneak picking into Opal´s food and content with the olfactory experience "What did you get? Do berries grow under the sea? I´ve heard that magikarp feed on some really long grass that is often washed ashore. Do growlithe eat that too?" His flurry of questions was similar to one of a scholar but, of course, his curiosity was comparable any other kids´ "Would you let me get a bite?"

"I don't know," Opal answered with amusement, "I've never had seafood before. I certainly haven't eaten this long grass you speak of. I can ask the stall owner those other questions when I take Deimos there, if you like. And yes, you can have some."

The growlithe turned to her taller friend to address him. "Are you ready? Let's go! The sooner we've all got something, the sooner we can eat," the pup urged eagerly. She began to trot away, back toward the market and food stalls.

Deimos glanced cautiously at the 'Sea food', of what exactly it was made of. Though Yigo hit it out of the park with the comment of it smelling nice, the Absol still wanted something meatier. He rarely got to eat meat nowadays, due to his personal aversions to gore and hunting. Back home in the mountains he had no issue due to his father handling hunting but out on his own, Deimos had given up the luxury of eating his preferred type of food. With that in mind, Deimos was stubborn with intent to get some meat to eat, even if the seafood smelled nice.

Upon being questioned about being ready or not, Deimos gave a curt nod, agreeing with the idea of getting this show on the road. "I agree, let's move" Deimos spoke up. All this talking about food was only making him want to eat more. This was a perfect chance to eat something other than foraged berries and apples. The thought of missing out was not one he considered for a moment. Deimos calmly followed the Growlithe, not wanting to make a fool of himself in such a public place.

"We should be quick! I wouldn't want any of this to get cold before we get to enjoy it" Yigo picked up his bowl between his paws and started to walk towards the pair of pokemon that were returning to the food stalls.

He once again looked carefully around at the food being sold and comparing the offered products to his small bowl of spiced rice. Besides, just walking by Opal and Deimos' side was comfortable, beating walking alone by a great margin. Where was the seafood stall? What is that stuff made off? He had so many questions to ask the shopkeeper. Maybe he had enough money to try some other delicacy? Probably not since he only carried ten poké before buying his meal. Maybe some other day...

Opal quickly led Deimos and Yigo to the stall where she'd bought her meal. "Back so soon? Is there a problem with your order?" the dewott vendor asked in surprise. "Everything's fine," Opal replied, "My friends are interested in trying your food."

"Well, I do make the best seafood in town, if I may say so" the vendor chuckled and smiled with pride, then turned to the other two. "What can I get you folks?"

Opal sat back and let her friends take over the conversation. They were perfectly capable of ordering for themselves, after all. She wondered if they would choose any dishes from this stall, and which ones if so.

Deimos had done his best to keep in pace with the Growlithe, having not wanted to be left behind. So far despite his usual aversion or visiting towns, friendly faces had kept him distracted well enough to not particularly care. He did have to confess that it was a welcome change to visit somewhere civilised, in comparison to his Dungeon home, though he still preferred it's visuals.

Upon reaching the stand, Deimos remained at the back of the group, not wanting to stand in the way of his shorter comanions, blocking their vision. When questioned about what he wanted, Deimos softly shook his head, he was mostly seeing the options available at the moment. "Please don't mind me, i'm just taking a look to see what the options in regards to food are within this town. First time visitor and all that. I do believe my shorter friend here was curious however" He replied. He quietly stepped to the side, wanting to allow the Vendor to focus on the Sandshrew. If needed, the white furred Pokemon could once again allow the Sandshrew onto his back.

The group had stopped in front of the food stand, a mixture of scents and odours surrounding the shrew. Some were nice, some were unremarkable, some were not pleasant in any way and some spices made Yigo's nose itchier and itchier. "Achooo!" Yigo sneezed to the side, luckily avoiding the bowl of food he was still carrying.

When Deimos brought up that he was just looking and that Yigo himself that was curious about the cook's food. Wasn't Deimos interested as well? He turned to the dark type, his head cocking to the side with a slight, confused 'Uh?' before paying the attention that the dewott deserved "Uhm... yes, sir. I was wondering what you were selling. I've never heard of seafood before. Are you selling food for Magikarp? What are all those spices that make me want to scratch my nose? What did this fluffy puppy order from you?"

The flurry of questions went through fast as the kid was hungrier for answers than for food itself. There was a lot to know but he decided that it was maybe better to just wait for the water type to answer questions before asking more. That way maybe Deimos stops being shy and decides to ask as well!

"Oh, okay" the vendor nodded at Deimos, "Just let me know if something does pique your interest, my good sir."

A sneeze from the sandshrew caught his attention. He was about to ask the ground type if they were okay, but questions suddenly came pouring out of the youngster. "No, my friend," the vendor answered with a light chuckle, "I don't make food for magikarp. I'd be very surprised if one of those wanted to eat what I sell. I prepare different types of things from the sea, such as fish and clams."

"Fish! Yeah, that's what I ordered! I got a plate of different kinds!" Opal piped up in response to Yigo's final question.

"The fish platter is fairly popular. I'm afraid I can't pinpoint a specific spice, young sandshrew. There are many on the air, and I do not sell them."

Deimos chose to remain on the sidelines, not wanting to get in the way of the Inquisitive young Sandshrew's hunt for knowledge. With his own duties as a Member of a group dedicated to knowledge, he nodded quietly in approval to the barrage of questions that had been unleashed. Expanding ones knowledge was an wonderful goal after all, especially so in a world so full of wonders. Even the small things, intricacies of food, new species, learning about areas that differ than our own landbound domain, all curiosities one would never discover cramped up in one's home. Discovery was the beauty of travelling, part of the payoff that makes harship so worthwhile to overcome.

"Well, i'm sure if you're interested in the spices you could ask the other vendors as well, Yigo. I don't see many a reason people wouldn't be happy to help. Who knows, you might find a favourite" Deimos spoke after spotting an opening after the first barrage of questions were answered. Deimos wasn't particularly knowledgable in culinary afairs, so in truth his own curiousity was somewhat piqued... And accompanied by stomach grumblings.

Yigo stared at the dewott with a lot of interest as it spoke about what he felt which, to put it lightly, disgusted him almost to the point of losing all the appetite he once had. The sandshrew's face slowly shifted from excited to uninterested and ungrateful at the cook's explanation. He frowned at the offer and let out an 'Agh' of discomfort.

Once Deimos offered him an exit, Yigo took it without hesitation "Alright. I'll see what else there is. Poke me when you are ready to eat" he spoke right before walking off, following the odour of spice into some other food carts. The next one he checked out was manned by an archen who was enthusiastically selling fried caterpie and roasted kricketune to anyone interested. Needless to say, Yigo was not pleased and decided to just sit down somewhere quiet and calm where he can't be tempted by the many spices that still forced him to poke his nose from time to time to avoid sneezing onto his bowl of spiced rice. At least he got it right on his first try.

All of these smells were delightful to Opal. So many foodstuffs to try! It was such a pity that she couldn't eat them all right now! She definitely had to come back to this part of town sometime! It wasn't until Yigo spoke up that the pup noticed something was amiss with one of her friends.

Opal followed the sandshrew with concern on her face. "What's wrong, Yigo? You seemed fine just a moment ago."

Deimos was left to his own devices for the time being as Opal tried to find out what had upset Yigo. If she knew what had made him feel put out, she could fix it.