Coastal Callings

"Oh, is that what it's called?" he asks. "I just don't know how hot something should be, and for how long it should be in there. I tried it once. ...burned my hand a bit, before Nurse Joy showed me that there was hand protection. It didn't turn out well. Took it out once, and it wasn't cooked at all inside. Put it back in. Burnt more than my fire would have. ...I don't really like the burned taste anymore, either. At least on top I can taste, and feel when things are almost done."

"I don't think so. Some seem like plants, and others are rocks. I can't tell with some, though. But they make things taste different." Thel considers. "So maybe they are magic, I don't know. I... don't really know much about magic. Except that it apparently hurt, and to keep away from it if you saw it. Though, if they were magic," he grumbles, "I would think they'd be easier to use. Sometimes it seems like you can never get the right amount. One pinch makes it too bland, and then two pinches makes it too overpowering, or things like that. They're some of the best parts of food, but rather annoying to get right. You have to keep tasting, and hoping for the best..."

"Is there less than a pinch? Like a half a pinch? That seems like kind of an imprecise system. What if you have really big hands? Happy's pinches are probably the biggest in the world, he would make a terrible cook. Or maybe a really good one. I guess it would depend on the spice.". The girl mused playfully as Thel finished cooking and served her a portion. Blowing on it lightly, she took a little bite and nodded.

"This is really good... What is it called?"

---

"Keldeo, the Colt Pokemon. When it is resolute, its body fills with power and it becomes swifter. Its jumps are then too fast to follow." Terra's Pokedex announces.

The Gallade steps in a bit closer to the trio with a sly smile, folding a hand against his chest. "Allow me to explain for you.". He offers without any movement of his mouth, just a faint glowing in those red eyes. The words carry with them the impressions of genuineness and unfaltering honesty, as well as bemusement, humbled pride, and a strong sense of justice.

"These four paragons have chosen from their number to engage you in a duel of skill. Keldeo will represent them on this occasion. If you do not have a weapon of choice one will be provided for you, with the power of its Secret Sword."

"...I have no idea," Thel admits. "It's just... vegetables and sauce and spices and stuff all stirred together and cooked. Not too hard. Which is good on this small thing. I normally would have added meat, too, but, uh, I didn't know if that was something you'd be okay with. I know you had a much closer connection to other living creatures, and, as far as I know, at least," he winks, "weren't a hunter... so didn't want to presume for you. I like meat, given that it's what I had all my life... but I know not all Pokémon were like that."

"And... I have no idea about the spices. I guess it depends on how much of something you can stomach? I'm sure humans have come up with something better for cooking, given how amazing so much of their food is. I just... have to learn it. I'll make sure to let you know if I figure the secret out, though," he laughs.

He sets out enough food for his Pokémon, and Em's. It's maybe a little early for dinner for them, but he wants everyone to eat and be merry before the sunset proper, so he can spend the actual most magical time alone with Em. Hope's already out and able to eat, but he gives Bliss first choice of the two similarly sized portions - and keeps an eye on seeing if he needs to recall her if she gets antsy about Em again. Serenity and Patience are next (the spider getting a much smaller portion), and hopefully nothing devolves.

For the umpteenth time today, Muku cracked open Talon's Pokéball. It's familiar tassel snaked up her right arm alongside the equally familiar vague sense of nausea and dizziness. She shakes it off, shaking her arms and taking a fighting pose. Her eyes lit ablaze with fire. "Ok. I'm ready ready. Talon's ready. Keep an eye on Muku's back, and I'll try to knock him down with a clean strike. Me, Talon. We've been working on this! For about a day! It'll be fine! We've got this! Get ready, we're coming! We've got ready! Get this! Coming ready! Kiyiyiyiyiyaaaaaaah!"

At the new found weight within her grasp, she lifts it up to gaze at. A pause followed before she tightens her gripe seeing the similarities between the sword and the horn from her previous form. It was so familiar! It felt natural to hold.

"I can handle that. As long as you're confident," she replies with a nod and taking a some sort of stance. Nothing like a trained sword user, but there was certainty in her form. Ready to block incoming attacks from the pokemon.

"There are two spots where the sunlight bends, and sometimes they move... there, She points to a point in the open air. "And there." To a second. "Maybe it's just one of those rare sunset things?" She comments, though there is the faintest hint of nervousness in her voice. It would be dark soon, and they were still pretty close to Ecruteak. What if it was ghosts?

As if in answer to the palpable rise in nervousness, and the slight shift away from the romantic mood, a pair of rounded bodies with sleek angular heads, similar wings, and short forearms faded into view from seemingly nothing. One red, one blue. They hovered slowly in place, very close to each other, cooed and cried soothingly, strafe-flying in a lazy circle around Thel and Em.

The pair of spritely dragons move out of the way of the sunset, orienting alongside Thel and Em. Holding hands, they float, rubbing cheeks with each other. Happy, pleasant cries, bright-eyed expressions with playful smiles are most of the response Thel gets. The pair seem easily distracted over anything that isn't their partner. There is a constant sense of attentiveness and caring, as though they were deeply pair-bonded. "I guess it's a double date now." Em whispers softly, watching the antics of the two Pokemon.

Two triangular heads lean in to sniff at the plate of vegetables, the red dragon taking the dish in hand, playfully bumping her mate until he sits, then proceeds to hand-feed the blue one, giggling all the while. When the portion is about half done, they trade places. There is no bashfulness about the process, nor the company.

When they have finished eating, they turn their backs to the humans and cast an inviting look over a shoulder, seeming to say 'come fly with us.'