They re-entered Dark City as the first hints of dawn painted the horizon in bruised purples and sickly yellows. The city was quieter now, holding its breath. But the fear was still there, a miasma that clung to the crumbling buildings. Eliana once again took out a PokéBall to return Ralts, who shook its head.
"You don't want to go in?" Eliana questioned the little Pokémon. Through their psychic connection Ralts pointed out that everyone already knew about him so there was no point in hiding.
"That's true," Eliana bent down and held her arms out, "Come on, I don't want you walking around this place."
Ralts smugly let itself be picked up and settled happily in its trainer's arms. As the two walked further in the city it stared curiously at the people looking nervously at them.
The story from last night had indeed spread. The woman they had let go obviously made it back to town and the others hadn't shown up. Anyone with a brain could guess what happened. Whispers followed them like rats in the shadows. The new girl. The one with the monster Pokémon. She took out a Yas patrol last night.
Eliana ignored them all, she walked with a purpose she hadn't had before. Ralts keep watch for anyone who was thinking about getting close.
She made her way back to Bo's Noodles. The door had been boarded up with mismatched planks of wood, but the sign still flickered weakly. She could feel Bo Jones' mind inside, a frantic whirl of fear and a sliver of something else... hope? He was awake and so were the children. She knocked on the door, three sharp raps that sounded like gunshots in the morning silence.
From inside, she felt a spike of terror. "Who's there?" a man's voice called out, shaky.
"A customer," Eliana said, her voice clear and calm. "I'm here for breakfast."
Silence, then the sound of a bolt being slowly, reluctantly drawn back. The door creaked open a few inches, revealing Bo's wide, terrified eyes. He saw her, and the fear intensified, but it was mixed with a profound, bewildered awe. He opened the door a little wider.
"You... you came back," he whispered.
"You said you serve travelers," Eliana stated, stepping inside as if she owned the place. "I'm traveling and hungry."
The restaurant was a mess. The hole in the wall from yesterday's brawl was still there, the window had been boarded up, and the floor was stained. The two children, Kyle and Kayley, peered at Eliana and Ralts from behind a counter, their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
Bo seemed to recover a sliver of his composure, the routine of service a familiar anchor in a sea of chaos. "Of... of course. Please, sit."
He moved mechanically to the kitchen, while Eliana sat at a clean table in the corner. She could hear him clattering pots and pans, his thoughts a jumbled prayer to any deity that would listen: She came back. Why did she come back? Don't make eye contact. Just feed her and maybe she'll leave without anything else happening.
Eliana's lips twitched as she listened in to his thoughts. Based off of the events of yesterday this poor man's restaurant would likely be violated by one of the gangs. Either the Yas, from the getting revenge for the fallen members. Or the still unseen Kaz would likely try to recruit her. Sadly for them she had no interest in joining either side.
Eliana's noise twitched as smell of food was had wafted from the kitchen to the dining area, signaling that their meal would be done soon. Ralts let out a soft noise as the two children started to make their way over to the table they were seated at. Eliana raised an eyebrow in question once they stopped in front of her.
The girl looked over to her brother, before sighing when he continued to not say anything. She turned back to Eliana and questioned, "So that Yas lady came screaming into the town that you dealt with the other members! Is that true?"
"Yes, they were bothering Ralts and I." Eliana answered, while Ralts gave an affirmative chirp.
"Good riddance, I'm glad their gone!" Kayley happily said, even clapping her hand once.
"Yan, we shouldn't wish death on others!" Kyle scolded his younger sister, knocking her shoulder softly.
"No, they deserve it and you know it!"
"Yan…"
"Our mommy got killed because of their fighting, so now they know what it feels like!" Kayley exclaimed, angrily putting her hands on her hips.
"Well… I guess that's true…" Kyle mumbled looking away from the girl.
Kayley huffed, rolling her eyes in annoyance before looking at Ralts, "Anyways, what kind of Pokémon is that? I've never seen one before!"
Kyle perked back up also curious about the unknown creature, "Yeah, it's not from Kanto is it?"
So this place is in Kanto, I thought this situation was similar to the anime. Eliana considered their question before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to tell these kids anything, "No it's not from Kanto, he's a Ralts. That species and it's evolutions are native to Hoenn."
Kayley blinked in confusion, "Hoenn…?"
"You know the place that just got a new champion!" Kyle informed his sister.
"Oh yeah, Wallace right!" Kayley happily chirped.
"Right!" The young boy confirmed.
At that moment Bo walked out of the kitchen holding two bowls, along with a cup of water. He set the larger bowl and cup down in front of Eliana, telling her that, "This here is a bowl of Biang Biang Noodles, my secret recipe."
He then set down the smaller bowl in front of Ralts, "This is a Pokémon safe alternative of Biang Biang Noodles, has the basic nutritional content any growing Pokémon could want."
Bo then walked back to the counter, and called his children to him, "Let them eat now you two, I hope you enjoy the meal." He tried to keep the tremor out of his voice.
"Bye bye!" Kayley chirped, waving as she and her brother left the table.
Eliana picked up her chopsticks, the scent of chili oil and cumin rising from the wide, hand-pulled noodles. She took a bite and it was good. The noodles were chewy, the sauce rich and layered. She could taste the history in the broth, the skill passed down through a family now fractured.
(¬_¬"), Ralts poked at its bowl, then looked up at Eliana. She could feel that he didn't want to eat it.
(¬`‸´¬), Ralts sighed, a psychic sigh that felt like static, and dutifully began to consume the contents of its bowl. Its thoughts, a running commentary of the noodle's texture, unexpected sweetness, could use more crunch, filtered into her mind. She ignored it and continued eating.
She was almost done with her meal when the door to the restaurant slammed open, ripped from its new, flimsy hinges. It clattered to the floor, raising a cloud of dust.
Standing in the doorway, backlit by the rising sun, was a figure. They wore a long, dark coat despite the morning warmth, and a wide-brimmed hat cast their face in shadow.
The children screamed and hid, while Bo gasped in fear, "It's Leader Kaz!"
Leader Kaz didn't spare the three a single glance and walked right up to Eliana's table. He looked down at her with a sly smirk, "So you're the little girl that beat up the Yas group?"
Eliana ignored the man to continue eating her meal. Ralts paused slightly to look at him, before noticing its trainer not doing anything, and also going back to its meal. The three Jones looked in shocked at the disrespect, thinking that this girl was crazy.
The smirk dropped from the man's face, "I'm talking to you, I know you're not deaf."
"Actually I'm not a little girl, I'm fourteen." Eliana corrected and went back to eating her food.
"Don't play with me little girl, fourteen isn't even old enough to be a trainer." Leader Yas growled while thinking, Once this girl is in my gang I'll teach her respect.
Looks like I was right, too bad for him I don't care about their little gang war. Eliana looked up at him unimpressed, "Can I help you?"She asked, after swallowing another bite of noodle.
"Your power is impressive," Leader Kaz started, "Your Pokémon is clearly well trained, you could do great things in my gang."
"I'm not interested in joining your gang, it seems like a waste of my and Ralts's talents," Eliana said while fishing around for another piece of meat in her noodles.
She had barely picked a piece of meat up when Leader Kaz, made a move. His fist came down to smash her bowl. The thought behind the movement was a clear, simple intent: Show her who is in charge.
It was the wrong thing to do. Before the leader's fist got halfway to her bowl, a wave of pure psychic force slammed into him. He didn't just fly backward; he was folded in half and launched through the wall behind him, the very one the Yas thugs Pokémon had made the day before. He burst through the planks and into the street beyond with a sickening crunch of wood and bone.
Silence filled the room. Eliana could hear Bo praying to Arceus that his restaurant would come out of this in one piece.
Eliana looked at her empty bowl. "That was rude," she said, her voice mild. "I wasn't finished." She then reached for her water cup, and took a slow sip.
Eliana looked at the three people cowering behind the counter and at the hole in the wall, now even larger. She licked her lips and looked down at Ralts, "Are you done eating?"
Ralts nodded and Eliana picked it up, "Thanks for the food, we'll be taking our leave now."
"But you haven't pai… oh never mind…," Bo sighed tiredly looking at the new hole in his building.
"See you another time!" Kayley waved goodbye.
"Bye!" Kyle chirped.
On her way out Eliana looked over to the fallen Kaz Leader, Well he's dead, good Ralts listened to what I said earlier.