That First Sip
I open my eyes, the morning sunlight streaming onto me through the window. I let out a contented sigh, comfy in my makeshift bed. Over the past week or so, I've risked my life on multiple occasions just to get bedding, blankets, and pillows. Now, I was finally free to enjoy what I've fought for and boy, was I enjoying it. Maybe I should sleep in today, I've earned it after all. But I'm kinda hungry, maybe I should grab some breakfast and get a quick nap in before really starting the day?
I force myself out of bed, Wooper tagging along with me. Rummaging through the kitchen, all I find is water and some apples. What I wouldn't give for some actual variety. I wish I had something that's less plain than this. I find myself thinking back to the human world for the first time in awhile. Even if it wasn't a perfect place, humans definitely had better food than the Pokemon do. Instead of having apples and berries all the time, I could be having waffles or french toast for breakfast. The berries aren't bad, but it's all I've really eaten for the past couple of weeks. I want something sweet! Really sweet! There's gotta be stuff like that in this world, right? Returning to my room, I grab my bag and a Frism, deciding to venture out into the town to find something.
I stop at each of the shop stalls, hoping I'll get lucky. There's a lot of stuff to help out explorers, but not a lot in the way of sweets. At the last one, I spot a Kecleon manning a store.
“Greetings, customer! Might I interest you in a new scarf? Perhaps a fine orb or an assortment of seeds?”
I shake my head. “No, I don't need any of those today. There is ONE thing I'm looking for though. Do you have any candy?”
“Candy? Goodness, the recipes for those are extremely rare, and are often guarded just like treasure!”
“What?! Are you kidding me?” I can't believe my bad luck, there goes any chance of getting some chocolate or anything of the sort ever again!
Slumping my head down in disappointment, I turn around to go back to the guild. Kecleon speaks up, eager to stop me. “Wait, come back! If you simply want something sweet, I might have just the thing!”
I quickly pick my head up, running back to the counter. “Seriously? Show it to me!”
Kecleon turns around, fetching a bottle off a nearby shelf. “The recipes for these drinks come from one of the greatest beverage creators in all the land! This drink pairs Grass Gummis and a blend of berries to make something I'm certain you'll love!”
I eagerly grab the bottle, giving it a little shake. The soft sounds of fizzing liquid can be heard from within. Yes! An honest-to-god soda! Setting the bottle down, I pull the Frism from my bag. “I don't have any money, but how many bottles will this get me?”
“Oh my, a Frism! I've been looking all over for one of those! For that, you can grab as many bottles as you want!”
Jackpot! I'll gladly part with one of my many Frisms if it means I have enough sodas to last me a long time. Handing it over, I begin filling my bag with bottle after bottle of the drinks, grabbing as many flavors as I can get ahold of.
Wooper and I head towards a nearby beach, drinks in tow. Sitting down in the sand, I twist the cork off of the Grass Gummi soda, giving it a small sip. My eyes go wide as the intensely sweet liquid flows into my mouth. It tastes of limes, with a mildly bitter aftertaste that reminds me of salad. But it was a good kind of bitter, and just one sip wasn't enough. “Oh yeah, this is what I've been missing!” Opening up another bottle, I grip it with a vine, offering it to Wooper, who takes a few sips from it.
As I spend the day relaxing on the beach watching the waves roll in, I keep drinking. The first bottle goes down, then a second bottle is killed. Just as I'm halfway through my third bottle, a Minccino runs up to us.
“Are you two from the Clover Guild? I need help! Big bro's gone to Oran Forest, but he hasn't come back!”
Eager as ever, Wooper cheerfully steps forward. “Got it! Team Cozy is on the job!”
Sticking the cork back on my bottle, my relaxation time interrupted. “Yeah...we'll beat up whatever moron's causing issues. Ceam Tosy'll handle it all...” I stand up, my head spinning as I stumble a little. That's weird, I knew I was relaxed today but I feel a little too relaxed now.
The Minccino gives us a strange look, concern on his face. “Umm, are you sure you can do it?”
“Yeah!” I shout, ”Whaddo we look like, a coupla WIMPS?!”
“Not at all! It's just you look kinda...Please just save my brother!”
As the Minccino runs back into town proper, Wooper beckons for me to follow him. My steps are wobbly, just like the first time I walked as a Chespin. I feel dizzy, as though I had been spun around in one of those carnival rides for awhile.
It isn't long before Wooper turns back to me. Suppressing a giggle, he says, “Chespin, you sure you're well enough to go on this mission?”
“Hell yeah! I like...y'know, beat up a biant gee the other day, y'think I can't handle it?”
“What you CAN'T handle is those drinks, Chespin. Most Pokemon wait until nightfall to get drunk!”
“I'm NOT drink! Even ash a human, I never drank that shtuff.”
Failing to hide his laugh, Wooper says, “Take a closer look at those bottles, if you can still see straight enough to read.”
I hold a bottle up to my face, trying to focus on the label despite my dizziness. It reads 'Spinda's Grass Gummi Soda. Made with fermented Oran and Cheri Berries. Huh, how about that. “Awright, MAYBE I'm a little buzzed, but screw it! We can shtill do it!”
Wooper walks alongside me as we make for Oran Forest, trying to keep me from stumbling. “Do all the humans get as wasted as you right now?”
Laughing, I shout, “Drinkin's one o' humanity's oldest hobbies! Some humans can drink more than I weigh right now in the stuff, an' that's just one night!” Opening the bottle back up, I give it another sip. I've come this far after all. If I'm already a little tipsy, there ain't nothing wrong with a little road booze.
“Don't you think you've had enough, Chespin?”
“Ah, don't worry your big, round, blue head over it! I'm the former human here, I know my limits!”
I hear Wooper stifle another chuckle “You just said a few minutes ago you never drank before!”
“It'll be FIIIIINE, now let's hurry up and find this uh...that kid's brother.”
We step into Oran Forest, the area growing darker as we venture deeper. The dungeon waves and wobbles before my eyes. That's kinda weird, is this like that 'dungeon mysteriosity' thing I've heard about? Our only foes on the journey are the likes of Wurmple and Caterpie, who seem to hang off to the side while we walk through. It isn't long before we get to a clearing, the way forward cut off.
“See Wooper? I TOLD you it'd be all good in th' hood! We didn' even have to fight anythin'!”
“Yeah, because they were all taken aback by a dru-”
Wooper is cut off by a loud shout from a nearby tree. Looking over, I see a Pinsir leap out of the tree and land in front of us. “Another set of idiots dares to come to MY clearing?”
Huh, that's a really big bug. I wonder why that is? Grabbing Wooper with my vines, I use my hands to open up another bottle, taking a long sip from it. “Y'know, I'm gettin' real sick of you BUGGERS always showin' up to make things hard for me. Hol' still so we can shoot you!”
Taking aim, I point Wooper towards Pinsir, the blast of water going nowhere near him. Chugging down the rest of the bottle I yell, “What're ya doin', Wooper? Soak his stupid face!”
“It's hard to aim when you're wasted and WAVING ME ALL AROUND!”
“Yeah yeah, jus'a coupla good hits and we'll be good to g-”
I'm cut off by Pinsir lunging forward, gripping me in his horns and tossing me against a tree, my back slamming into it hard. I get right back up, wobbly but still feeling fine. That's odd, shouldn't something like that hurt me a ton? I focus as hard as I can, aiming at Pinsir. “Awright Wooper, get 'im good!”
Wooper shoots a glance back at me before shooting another jet of water. This one scores a direct hit, and I laugh as I see Pinsir tumble across the clearing before getting his horns stuck in a tree! Pinsir flails his limbs around, trying to get unstuck, but fails.
“YEAH! GOT 'IM!” Tottering over to my bag, I grab Wooper's half-finished drink from earlier, draining the remainder into my mouth. “'Ey Wooper, wanna see an ancient battle technique humans use?”
“Umm...I guess?” That's weird, usually Wooper's all too happy to learn about humans. Where's his enthusiasm?
“Awright! Check it out!”
Stumbling towards the tree, I smash the empty bottle over Pinsir's head.
Fetching my bag of drinks, I teeter through the rest of the clearing, finding a Cinccino hiding in a bush. “'Ey, your brother's lookin' for ya!”
Wooper steps in front of me, taking the lead. Nodding towards me, he says, “Don't worry about him, he didn't realize his drinks would get him tipsy. Follow me, your brother's waiting for you!”
“Oh, thank you!”
The three of us walk back into town, the sun setting. Minccino thanks us greatly, giving us a big stack of cash! Nice, more money for more drinks! Stumbling back into my room, I crawl into bed, passing out the second my head hits the pillow.
When I wake up, it's to Wooper nudging me awake. I let out a groan of pain, my head throbbing. “Ugh, head's killing me...”
“Well, yeah! You only downed like four or five drinks yesterday!”
Rubbing my head, the faint memories of yesterday slowly begin to surface. As I spot the still-packed bag of drinks in the corner, I feel mortified, the reality of what occurred slamming into me like a ton of bricks. “This is so embarrassing, I probably spoke like a complete idiot all day long...Did I really stumble around half the day completely wasted?”
“Pff, you bet! You even showed me the 'ancient human battle technique' of smashing a bottle over someone's head!”
I cover my face with my blanket, not wanting to face the rest of the guild. “Oh no...How many of the guildmates know what happened?”
“Oh, pretty much all of them! Most of them seemed pretty happy you finally eased up a bit more. There was one guy that seemed to want you to join him for a drink later!”
“Ugh...I've had enough of drinking to last me a lifetime. Just let me sleep for today, my head's killing me.”
I spend most of the day sleeping my pounding headache off. By the time I wake up for real, it is late afternoon. My mouth feeling dry, I get up to get some water, but my eyes catch the bag of drinks.
I pop the cork off of one of them and take a sip, letting out a happy sigh as sweetness fills my mouth. As long as I limit myself to one a day, it should be okay.