Eric walked into a well-known restaurant in Celadon City, looking at a picture of a young woman he was intending to meet here. Eric hasn't had much luck in the world of dating in the past several months, but he has really been putting a lot of effort into it. After the tragic death of his beloved Peggy, Eric's first (and so far only) girlfriend at the hands of Team Rocket, Eric was desperate for another chance at love.
Eric walked up to the server, and asked him a question.
"I have a reservation for two, under the name 'Eric'. Is there anyone else here yet?" He asked.
The man paused and led Eric to a table.
Arianne was there in a matter of minutes, the same man showing her the way to the table. She simply began with a "Hello there" and a nice smile, trying to be as natural as she could, before taking the empty seat. "I'm Arianne, nice to meet you!"
Eric smiled back.
"Hi, my name is Eric. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He responded. Eric was clearly trying his best to impress her. "So, tell me a little about yourself, Arianne. If you don't mind."
Eric's heart was filled with hope, which is something he hadn't felt in months. Peggy would've wanted him to be happy with another woman, as long as she was a truly good person. Eric looked right into Arianne's eyes, wanting to learn more about her.
The girl took her time to answer, instead looking right back at Eric for a moment and studying the situation. But, trying to go at it with no real goals and no pressure, she just nodded and replied. "Well, I'm 22, from Cinnabar. So of course I like stuff like swimming and surfing… but I'm also a Pokémon trainer!" She stated, clearly with some emotion in her voice. "I've recently become a Ranger, in fact."
Eric listened, intrigued. His eyes widened when Arianne mentioned recently becoming a Ranger.
"I'm almost 24, I'm originally from the Unova region. I only became a Trainer a few months ago, and the only girlfriend I ever had was a very well-known Pokémon Ranger. Her name was Peggy. She's no longer with us, sadly. Thanks to Team Rocket here in Kanto." One of Eric's Poké Balls began to shake, and his Snivy came out, thinking she needed to comfort her Trainer.
"Snivy here was Peggy's partner." He added. "And she pops out of her Poké Ball like that sometimes."
"Everything's fine. Snivy, this is Arianne. Don't worry, Snivy, she seems to have the same kindness in her heart that Peggy did." Eric continued, returning Snivy to her Poké Ball.
Arianne's expression, or rather how quickly it changed, could say more than a thousand words. She was unequipped to handle those situations - death especially was the one thing that gave no glimmer of hope… by definition.
Instinctively, the girl reached across the table for Eric's hand. "I, well, I'm not good with words, I'm just…" Arianne whispered. "Sorry to hear."
Eric smiled at Ari.
"Thank you so much." He whispered. He then gently lifted her hand up towards his lips, but decided to stop almost immediately after. "Uh, sorry about that! It's been quite some time since I dated someone new."
Eric then noticed the menu lying in front of him.
"I've never been here before, I should probably look at the menu." He laughed. "Have you been here before, Arianne? This food all sounds amazing!"
And just as quickly, Arianne goes back to her usual self. "Right… I haven't actually. Let me see what they have!" She picks up the menu herself, and gives Eric a second copy.
Eric looked at the menu, first looking at the nonalcoholic beverage options, deciding on a Pecha Berry-infused root beer for a drink. But for the actual food he wanted, that took a bit more time, but eventually he decided on the Motostoke-style curry with a side of potato wedges.
He flipped the menu over and waited for Ari to decide.
"Anything in particular you're thinking of getting, Arianne?" He asked, curious. "Hm, as long as it's vegetarian," Arianne whispers back, still eyes on the menu. "Just a sec!"
Eric smiled and understood. "They do have plenty of vegetarian options, from what I saw. Including the curry I settled on. It might be a bit too spicy for some, but I'm used to the heat. Peggy loved to cook a lot of spicy dishes from all over the world. She had very adventurous tastes." Eric looked up at Ari. "I really like Galarian curry, and Paldean sandwiches too."
"I see how it is," the girl chuckled slightly. "That's good stuff!"
After spending some more time choosing what to get, Arianne tried changing the topic a bit. "So, adventurous tastes… does that apply only to food?"
"No, I've always been kind of a thrill seeker, not just with food. However, I do have my limits." Eric laughed. "I try to avoid things that I know would get me seriously hurt, or even worse. But it is very nice to have a chance to relax, too. Arceus knows how much I need some R&R these days." Eric seemed to be falling for Ari, but wasn't sure she could tell. But, hopefully she ends up feeling the same way about him before too long.
"Oh, that's great! I'm definitely a thrill seeker too. You won't get bored with me." The girl giggled. "Like! D'you know how to surf on a Mantine?"
"No. No, I haven't. I heard it's quite popular in Alola, though. " Eric explained. "It's definitely on my bucket list, along with being a Rhyhorn racer in Kalos."
"You should try Zebstrika." Ari smiles. "Way faster, haha!"
Eric was confused. "I don't think that riding a Zebstrika sounds very safe. I've ridden Mudsdale and Ponyta before, but Zebstrika? No.. Look, I knew a guy who tried it back home in Unova, and he was lucky to get only minor injuries. You know what I'd REALLY love to do one day? Go swimming with wild Finizen in Paldea!"
"That sounds fantastic! I've only been swimming around Cinnabar. Or like, from Fuchsia to Cinnabar because a certain someone wanted me to. That took a while…" Arianne runs her fingers through her hair. "All because I didn't have a flying Pokémon with me. But it's fine, water's my element."
"I assume you had to rest for once you got to the Seafoam Islands." Eric remarked. "Because that sounds like it would be exhausting if you didn't." Eric then noticed the waiter coming towards their table.
"Hi, welcome to Wonder-Trade Bar and Grill! I'm Jason, I'll be your waiter this evening. May I start you off with something to drink?" The waiter introduced himself. "And would you folks like to start off with an appetizer, or are you all set to order?" Jason the waiter paused for a second and whispered to Eric and Ari. "By the way, I really think you two would make a great couple, just going by vibes."
Eric smiled and said "Thank you. I really appreciate it. I'll have the Motostoke Spicy Curry with a side of potatoes, and that Pecha Berry root beer sounds amazing! I'll have that to drink, please." Eric paused and asked Jason a question. "Is that curry vegetarian? I'm trying to be a bit healthier lately."
"Good choices, sir, and the Motostoke Spicy Curry is, in fact, vegetarian! And what will you be having tonight, Miss?" Jason responded, looking at Eric and Ari.
"Apple curry and still water," the girl quickly replied. "Thank you very much!"
"By the way, I stopped at Seafoam. But I'm not sure you wanna know what happened there…"
Arianne whispers now. "You could say it was like… spying on some bad guys. Me and some friends. We weren't even graduated trainers…"
The waiter was already off to send the orders to the kitchen.
Eric smiled at Ari. "I've been doing that quite a bit lately, too. Just planning a strategy for any possible outcomes with…. Them…." Eric responded quietly but enthusiastically. "I can tell you have a strong sense of justice. That gives me an awesome idea for our second date." He continued, slightly joking.
"Ok, clearly I'll have to leave the strategy thing to you." Arianne laughed that off. "But, might as well."
"As you wish." Eric responded.
Jason returned with their food and drinks about fifteen minutes later…..
Eric waited for Ari to begin eating her food before he started to do the same.
Arianne didn't give it much thought and just went for it, without saying much at all before finishing her dish first. "So… I hope you enjoyed your curry too," she said after some time. "Especially since - I'm thinking - you're… a recent vegetarian, right?"
Eric ate his curry a bit slower than Ari, and the spiciness didn't bother him too much. He took a sip of the root beer in between bites.
"Yeah." Eric responded. "I'm a vegetarian off-and-on. If you hadn't mentioned it, I probably would have gone with a sort of cheeseburger. So… I was thinking about dessert, but only if you want it, too." He smiled.
"Hey, you didn't have to pick that because of what I said…" Arianne shook her head. "Like. No worries here! Although…" she paused for a moment. "If you wanna be vegetarian you need commitment. Or a family that raises you that way."
"Dessert's fine for me, by the way. I'll be alright."
"That's great advice." Eric responded, looking at the dessert menu, deciding on the Hot Fudge Castelia Sundae, and handed the dessert menu to Ari. "I'm not afraid of commitment. I can give up meat if I really put my mind to it, I just need a tiny little push is all."
"I… do it for the Pokémon, basically. Leaving the meat to all the carnivores who don't really have any other choice, you know?"
"I 100% agree with that sentiment." Eric smiled.
"There we go, I guess! You got the push you needed!" Arianne smiles back, seemingly so proud of herself.
Eric smiled back.
Jason returned and asked if they'd like to order dessert.
Eric said "I'll have the Hot Fudge Castelia Sundae, please." and waited for Ari to order, patiently. Except the wait was remarkably short, as the girl just yelped "two!" and nodded in approval.
Jason wrote it down and walked to the kitchen.
Shortly afterwards, the two desserts arrived.
"Also, I'll take the check, at your earliest convenience, please." Eric said, before starting to eat his dessert, trying to avoid brain freeze.
Arianne had preceded him, however. "I had a feeling you picked something nice," she announced after tasting her dessert, "and I was right!"
Without realizing it, she was eating rather quickly. She finished her dessert before Eric, in fact. But not before feeling a chill on her body and quickly realizing what happened…
"What have I done… I'm such a child." She sighed, trying to clean up some dessert that fell on her dress.
Eric handed Ari several napkins to help her clean up a little better. "Here, take these." He said, before finally finishing his sundae, then grabbing a few more napkins to wipe around his mouth.
"Phew, thanks. Told you I'd need your help from time to time…" She tried to keep calm. Maybe too much so, since the damage was done by then.
"You… don't mind what people here think, once they see this… right?" Arianne asked. She was actually overcompensating - she did care about what they thought - but she wanted to hear what Eric replied more than anything.
"I've ruined a few shirts by eating too quickly, myself. It'll be fine." Eric said.
Jason returned with the check and two fortune cookies.
Eric insisted on paying the whole thing and left a pretty decent tip, as well.
He opened up one of the wrappers, revealed the fortune inside, which read "Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble". And then ate the actual cookie. However, he ended up literally inhaling the cookie and didn't chew enough. Eric accidentally made himself choke! Eric's Snivy and Cubone both popped out of their Poké Balls in an attempt to save their Trainer, but they didn't know how.
Arianne couldn't believe her eyes. She was typically the one looking for trouble and getting into undesired situations… but luckily, Ranger academy gave her the knowledge she needed.
"Free hugs!" Arianne announced, almost like a battle cry, before performing a few abdominal thrusts (the actual thing she was referring to).
Eric was no longer choking! He let out a huge sigh of relief, panting for a few seconds before he could speak.
"Wow, Ari, you saved my life! Thank you so much! Please, tell me… How can I ever repay you?" Eric said, noticing everyone around them cheering Ari's quick thinking and heroics. He then passionately kissed his savior, seemingly out of nowhere, but he felt like it was the right thing to do.
"Oh please, I did nothing…" the girl smiled after the kiss. "I'm trying to be a good Ranger and do this kind of thing in the first place, you know."
"Yes, I have nothing but respect for the Rangers." Eric smiled. "But I still feel like I really do owe you one. I understand your point, though."
"Alright alright," Arianne replied with confidence. "Guess we can make for a pretty good team."
"I really do look forward to seeing you again." Eric smiled as he said that. "Same here!" The girl replied. "I'm curious to see how it's going to go."
