Twice in a Lifetime [DO NOT MOD YET]

[lurker]

((OOC: This thread is NOT ready for a mod yet.))

Earlier that morning, in an old dojo just outside of Ecruteak Town...

The sun had just started rising over the fog covered forest that Shang Li and his family called home for so many years and already the old martial arts master was packed and ready to leave.

“I can't believe you're getting rid of this place.”

The old man looked up at his son, Xiao Li. Xiao was a tall, slender fellow with jet black hair. Unlike his old man, his skin looked soft and mostly unblemished. The younger Li wore a fine suit that no doubt been custom tailored.

Shang stood up and looked around at his dojo. The building that had once been his pride and joy was now dilapidated and covered in filth. The result of years without proper care. Shang couldn't help but shake his head.

“No...” he said remorsefully. “It's time to move on from this place.”

“But you practically built this place with your bare hands,” protested Xiao.

“I did build this place with my bare hands,” snapped Shang. Then his voice became soft again. “But you and your sister have grown up and moved out. I've lost track of how long it's been since I've had a student. And your mother is...”

Shang choked up for a second.

“Gone,” he continued. “The only one left is me and I can no longer stand to be here.”

Xiao reach down and palmed at one of the pokeballs hooked to his belt.

“I really wish you would re-consider this. Traveling to Mount Silver is dangerous. If you wanted I could just fly you to the peak.”

Xiao unhooked the pokeball he was playing with. There was a bright red flash of light and suddenly a massive bird that looked like a heavily armored raven appeared. It towered over Shang and Xiao.

“I picked one of these up on my business trip to Galar.”

The massive creature spread its wings, easily reaching from one end of the room to the other with enough length to spare to cut deeply into the walls. It opened its beak and let out a loud, ear splitting-

“COR-VIIIIIIIII!”

Shang grimaced and put his hands over his ears.

“Put that damned bird away!” he demanded.

Seeing his father's anger, Xiao did as he was told.

“I told you I don't need you to fly me to Mount Silver. Do you think I'm so old that my legs don't work? I swear your generation has become too reliant on pokémon.”

“You always said we should learn from pokémon.”

“Yes, learn from them. Not become dependent on them. Do you need a squirtle to spray down the crack of your ass after you take a dump?”

“Squirt?”

There was a splash and Shang and Xiao each turned to look at the tiny, blue, turtle like pokémon that had crawled out of the bucket of water where it had been sleeping. A little over a year ago tiny critter had been a gift from Xiao to his mother, the late Aoi Li, to help her water her garden.

“I wasn't talking about you Squirtle.”

“I know she was mom's pokémon but you should really give her a name.”

“She has a name.”

“Squirtle,” chimed in the tiny turtle.

“See? It's Squirtle.”

Xiao sighed.

“That's not...nevermind. You're right dad. Squirtle is a fine name for a Squirtle.”

Xiao let out a laugh and Shang gave a soft chuckle.

“You're really serious about this aren't you dad?”

Shang nodded.

“Yeah. I read your mother's diary. All of it. It's not just about spreading her ashes. She wanted to travel again, but her illness never gave her another chance. I just want to do that for her while I still can. You've got your job and a wife at home with a baby on the way. Your sister has her circus act and her adoring fans. All I've got are some years left and I'm not going to waste them rotting away at this decrepit old dojo.”

There was an uneasy silence for a second as Shang's words seemed to linger in the air.

“Well if you're going to be stubborn about it, you'll need to gather all the gym badges. They won't let you traverse Mount Silver the hard way without them. At least let me fly you to New Bark Town.”

Shang thought about it for a second but finally he relented.

“Fine...but tell that bird to keep its beak shut. About blew out my eardrums. Squirtle! Come! You're my new student.”

[lurker]

Later that evening, New Bark Town....

Shang would never admit it but flying on the back of giant metal bird like Corviknight was exhilarating. Flying over the land of Johto, watching the scenery whiz by underneath as the wind rush across his face and thru what was left of his hair. It was exhilarating and made the old martial arts master feel like a young man again.

The flight would take a few hours and by the time the corviknight came to roost in the quaint little village known as New Bark Town the sky had begun to drizzle. Shang looked up at the clouds gray clouds and noticed they were growing dark. Even more so when he tried to look toward the horizon.

“Looks like there's a storm coming,” he remarked.

Xiao nodded.

“Agreed. You shouldn't start your journey in the middle of a thunderstorm. It's bad luck.”

Shang reluctantly nodded.

“Agreed.”

“Come on. I know of a fancy restaurant that just opened up here. Small dining area, cozy establishment, rustic dishes made with fresh ingredients that are local to Johto. My treat.”

Xiao put Corviknight back into it's pokeball and the two men continued to walk along one of the town's narrow dirt roads as they spoke.

“I can pay for my own food,” protested Shang.

“Don't be like that dad. If I pay for it Silph Co will reimburse me remember?”

“What is it you do again?”

Xiao sighed.

“I've told you a dozen times.”

“Don't take that tone with me. I'm old and I got hit in the head a lot when I was younger so my memory's not very good. Why don't you humor an old man and explain it again.”

“I'm an inspector for the Silph Co fine dining guide. I go to restaurants experience what they have to offer and give them a Silph Stars based on my experience. One Silph Star means the dinning among the highest quality. Two means you should go out of your way to experience it if you happen to be visiting the area. Three means you should plan a vacation just to eat at that restaurant. Even one star is considered a monumental achievement among restaurant owners. There are less than a hundred three star restaurants world wide.

The restaurant I'm taking you to is rated two stars.” explained Xiao.

“And Silph Co pays you well for this? Enough to support your family and make it worth all the travel?”

“You shouldn't lecture me about wanderlust dad. But yes. I also recommend areas in the culinary industry where Silph Co should invest some of it's funds and they provide me with a commission based off the returns.”

“That seems like a conflict of interests,” mused Shang. Xiao just shrugged.

The restaurant Xiao led Shang to was a small, old fashioned looking place made of wood with a sign over the single door entrance that read Le Délicieux. By time the two men arrived the drizzle and turned into a full-on rainstorm with the sounds of thunder not far in the distance. By comparison the cold and miserable atmosphere outside, the inside of Le Délicieux was warm and inviting.

The two men were seated at a two person table in small dinning room where only a small handful of other diners, mostly tourists, were eating dinning. At one end of the room was a brick fire place burning hand chopped wood.

The menu's theme that evening was seafood and dinner was a three course meal consisting of an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. First there was the sourdough toast topped with a creamy, scrambled pidgeot egg puree and a generous dollop of seadra caviar. For the entree they were served herb crusted seaking, pan-seared and stuffed with a spicy kingler and cloyster filling. The desert was small bowl of wild berry cobbler topped with tauros milk, vanilla ice cream and lightly drizzled with a dark chocolate sauce.

After dinner, at Xiao's request, their waitress brought them a couple of chilled saki glasses and bottle of saki with the image of a white leaf on the label.

“Try this saki,” requested Xiao. “This saki is infused with white herb to give it medicinal properties as well as the brewer's secret blend of spices.”

Shang poured himself a glass and brought up to his nose first. The bitter, pungent aroma was like a punch to the nose at first and Shang visibly recoiled. But then, as the aroma lingered, the old man noticed that the unpleasant scent seemed to sweeten and open up into more delightful, floral smell. Curious, Shang put the saki cup to his lips.

As he expected the flavor was just like the aroma only amplified. The initial bitterness punched the old man in the mouth like an angry primeape but he powered through and let the liquid sit on his tongue for a moment. For his perseverance he was awarded a taste that was simply divine. Shang swallowed the saki slowly savoring the burn. That was when he noticed the medicinal properties his son had mentioned a second earlier. He felt slightly more energized and he could have sworn his arthritis was being alleviated.

“So, what do you think?” asked Xiao.

“It grows on you. The flavor is difficult at first but if you tough it out and keep going the experience becomes worth it in the end.”

“Not everything is a lesson dad, but I do agree about the bitterness. I'm worried that if they don't tone it down they'll limit their customers. That would make it a bad investment.”

“You always were pragmatic.”

Xiao glanced out the window.

“The rain's starting to let up, I think we're in the eye of the storm. I'm going to fly out while I have the chance. There's an inn just a few building down that I think you'll like. It's cheap and a bit homely but it will keep you warm and dry tonight. Before you head towards Cherrygrove City, you should stop by Professors Elms lab and pick up a pokedex. It will be useful for you and I know that Emi and I would both feel better knowing you weren't going into this journey completely blind.”

Emi was Shang's daughter and Xiao's older sister.

“I'll consider it.”

[lurker]

Shang Li had a love / hate relationship with cold weather.

After spending the night at the Rown Inn, the old man woke just before the crack of dawn. After his morning meditation and some stretching and calisthenics to get his blood flowing, he got dressed, wrapped himself in an old mareep wool cloak, gathered his gear and left. After paying his bill at the front desk of course.

The second that Shang stepped out of warmth of the inn the morning cold wrapped around him like a hungry arbok, literally taking his breath away for a moment. Lately, with each passing year his joints seemed stiffer and his skin felt thinner. The cold seemed all too happy to remind him of this. To make matters worse the rain from the night before had soaked into the dirt and frozen over, making the ground slick and icy and making it that much more difficult to move quickly, especially with his hiker's pack strapped to his back.

But still, mused Shang, it wasn't all bad.

Early at dawn, when neither the sun nor the people had fully risen, New Bark Town had a simple serenity to it that reminded him of the rural villages of his youth. The old fashioned looking, wooden buildings and narrow roads that were made for foot traffic gave the town a sort of charm that simply didn't exist in the bigger, more modern cities.

After a quick detour to pick up a pokedex like he promised, Shang headed toward Route 29. As he left the town Shang let Squirtle out of her ball. He'd spent the last year or so in near complete isolation. Now that he was feeling more like his old self, he thought, some company would be nice.

“Squi-squi Squirtle.”

“I know it's cold,” retorted Shang. “Just keep walking, you'll be fine. Need to toughen you up before we get to Mount Silver.”

“Squirrrr-tle.”

Shang shrugged.

“About 9, maybe 10 hours until sundown. We'll camp out near the main road if we don't make it to Cherrygrove.”

Squirtle scowled.

“Squirtle squirtle.”

Shang couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly.

“You take after Aoi.”

“Squirtle?”

“She was grumpy in the morning to.”