A Steel Type Doesn't Eat Whetstones

Early the next morning, Spirit City's morning market had just set out its first pot of hot soup.

Xie Yue was already waiting at the shop entrance.

Today, he had brought only a blunt practice sword, leaving the other six at his residence. Indeedee checked him twice, then had him turn around to make sure there were no needles hidden in his headband before opening the stone chamber.

Pawniard was ready as well.

It stood behind the door, its arms held steadily at its sides. It clutched yesterday's blue wood chip in its claws, and a faint abrasion marked one edge. Clearly, it had not set it aside all night.

"Let's go," Xie Yue said.

Pawniard stepped over the yellow rope.

Xia Che followed behind, wrapped in an outer robe and carrying a folding stool.

Xie Yue glanced at him. "You need to bring that just for a walk?"

"You walk slowly."

"Yesterday was only our first meeting."

"So I didn't bring a pillow today."

Rotom floated at the front, a neighborhood map glowing on its screen. The three people and one Pokémon chose the least crowded route, circling from the old street to the morning market before returning to the shop along the outer wall.

The first dozen or so steps after leaving went smoothly.

Xie Yue walked on the street side, shielding Pawniard from the occasional passerby. Pawniard also kept its arms as close to its body as possible. Whenever it reached a corner, it stopped first and waited until it could see around it before proceeding.

When they reached the front of a cloth shop, a low-hanging colorful cord was suddenly blown down by the wind.

The end of the cord looped right around the blade on Pawniard's head.

It stopped immediately.

If it moved forward, it would pull down the entire row of cloth banners. If it raised an arm to cut the cord, its blade might strike the wooden rack beside it.

Pawniard maintained its original posture and only shifted its eyes toward Xie Yue.

Xie Yue did not reach out from behind. He walked around to the front, first making sure it saw the soft cloth in his hand before asking, "Want me to do it?"

Pawniard nodded lightly.

Xie Yue wrapped the colorful cord in the soft cloth and unwound it from the blade one loop at a time. They were very close, yet he did not touch any sharp edge.

When the final loop came loose, the cloth shop owner also ran out from inside.

"Sorry, I didn't tie it tightly last night."

Pawniard glanced at the colorful cord, then pointed out the loosened knot to the owner.

The owner hurriedly tied it tight again and deliberately raised it another half foot.

"This little guy is so well-behaved."

He instinctively tried to pat Pawniard on the head, but halfway through extending his hand, he saw the silver blade and quietly withdrew it.

Xie Yue said, "A nod will do."

The owner solemnly nodded three times.

Pawniard nodded back once.

When they left the cloth shop, Xia Che had already set up his stool by the roadside and sat there waiting for quite a while.

"Faster than yesterday," he assessed.

Xie Yue put away the soft cloth. "You could wait while walking."

"Doesn't affect anything."

The entrance to the morning market was livelier than the old street. Stalls selling porridge, flatbread, and pickled fruit lined both sides, while steam from freshly cooked food drifted upward along the eaves.

It was Pawniard's first time seeing so many people, and its steps slowed slightly.

Xie Yue did not urge it. He simply stopped with it outside the stalls.

A whetstone seller happened to pass by carrying a shoulder pole. The moment he spotted the silver blades on Pawniard's body from afar, his eyes lit up.

"Fine blades."

Pawniard looked up at him.

The whetstone seller circled along the outside of the yellow line, growing more eager the longer he looked. "Those edges are so even. What kind of stone do you usually use to maintain them? I've got fine whetstones here, good for blades and scissors alike."

He took three whetstones from his load, one coarse and two fine, and neatly arranged them on a cloth.

Pawniard stepped closer to sniff them, then lightly tapped each one with a claw tip. The first gave a dull sound, the second was too brittle, and the third rang clear and short.

It chose the third one.

The whetstone seller was delighted. "You've got a good eye. This one's a little more expensive."

Pawniard turned to Xie Yue.

Xie Yue asked, "You want it?"

It nodded.

"I'll deduct it from your future supply allowance."

It nodded again, answering decisively.

After Xie Yue paid, he handed the whetstone to Pawniard to carry itself. Pawniard turned it over several times before finally placing the blue wood chip on top of it and hugging them both to its chest.

The young man selling breakfast nearby watched curiously. "It's a Steel type, right?"

"Yeah," Xie Yue said.

"Does it usually eat iron, then?"

Pawniard froze.

The youth pinched up some fine iron filings from beside the whetstone seller's load, actually intending to offer them over.

"It doesn't eat that," Xia Che said from his stool.

"Steel types don't eat it either?"

"You own a kitchen knife. Do you eat knives every day?"

The youth looked at the iron filings in his hand and found that perfectly reasonable.

He put the filings back and switched to a freshly steamed flatbread. "What about this?"

Pawniard did not take it. It looked to Xie Yue first.

Xie Yue broke off a small piece and tasted it himself before handing over the rest.

The flatbread was soft and not hot. Pawniard supported it with its claw tips and slowly ate it all, then looked toward the steamer again.

The youth laughed. "Looks like it likes those."

Xie Yue bought two.

Xia Che rose from his stool. "Is there one for me?"

"You said you already ate breakfast."

"I got hungry again after walking so slowly."

Xie Yue ultimately bought one more, lest the supervisor go on strike halfway through.

The moment the three of them left the breakfast stall, the sound of wooden baskets toppling suddenly rang out ahead.

A vegetable vendor's hemp rope had snapped, and round green fruit rolled all over the stone street. There were too many people passing through the market. As he shouted and chased after them, he nearly stepped on his own fallen produce.

Xie Yue first stopped the pedestrians behind him.

Hugging the whetstone, Pawniard lowered its head to determine the fruits' paths. It shoved its belongings into Xie Yue's arms and hurried to the side of the street.

It did not swing its blades.

It held both arms horizontally close to the ground, its blades facing inward. The flat outer sides formed a low barrier. Seven or eight green fruits bumped into its arm guards and rolled to a stop in a line.

Several others slipped through the gap between them.

Xie Yue blocked one with his foot, then gently flicked the farthest one back to the vendor's feet with his sheathed practice sword.

The last fruit rolled all the way to Xia Che's stool.

Xia Che bent down to pick it up but remained seated. "One's still missing."

After counting the fruit in his basket, the vendor ran over and took them back. "Thank you, thank you."

He wanted to give Pawniard a green fruit as thanks, but after reaching out, he realized every one was larger than its claw.

Pawniard raised an arm guard and let him place the fruit steadily on top.

A child nearby stared in amazement. "It's covered in blades. How didn't it cut even one of them?"

Xie Yue said, "Someone who knows how to use a blade must also know how to stop one."

Pawniard glanced at him, then handed the green fruit back to the vendor. It had not intended to take it away; it only accepted the words of thanks.

Xia Che still held the final fruit.

The vendor turned to him. "That one's mine too."

"I know."

Only then did Xia Che stand and return it, folding up his stool before continuing on.

As they went farther, the street gradually grew more crowded.

Pawniard was holding the whetstone, making it inconvenient to keep its arms close to its body. A cart piled with vegetable baskets approached from the opposite direction, and the alley was too narrow to allow both sides through at once.

Xie Yue stopped, preparing to retreat to the fork in the road.

But Pawniard looked at the low stone block beside them. It handed the whetstone to Xie Yue, jumped onto the block, and turned sideways with its arms tucked in to make room for the cart.

The elderly cart driver thanked it repeatedly as he passed.

Once the road was clear again, Xie Yue returned the whetstone to it. "You judged it faster."

Pawniard accepted its things without looking proud, only holding out the blue wood chip to Xie Yue.

Yesterday, Xie Yue had given it the red wood chip.

Today, it was its turn to offer up its own blue chip.

Xie Yue accepted it and slipped it into his outermost pocket.

Pawniard immediately raised a claw, pointed at the practice sword at his waist, then pointed in the direction of the shop.

"You want to see my footwork next time?"

It nodded.

"Sure. I'll use a wooden sword, and you'll only use the backs of your blades."

Pawniard lowered its head to look at its arms and agreed.

During the final stretch of the return journey, they were no longer walking one ahead of the other. Xie Yue walked on the outside, Pawniard on the inside, and their paces gradually fell into sync.

Xia Che trailed behind carrying the folding stool.

Rotom asked, "Would you like me to slow down for you?"

"No."

"Then why are you walking slower and slower?"

Xia Che took a bite of the flatbread Xie Yue had bought. "I'm eating breakfast."

When they returned to the shop entrance, Indeedee had already prepared soft cloths for inspection.

She first examined Pawniard's blades, then checked the practice sword Xie Yue had taken out, confirming that neither had injured anyone. Afterward, she stamped a green circle in the safe walk column.

Pawniard placed the new whetstone into the stone chamber's cabinet, right beside a row of Poké Balls.

Magby caught the scent of the unfamiliar stone and immediately toddled over. It circled the whetstone once, then cautiously opened its mouth.

Yan picked it up and moved it away. "That isn't edible."

Xie Yue looked at him. "You think Steel-type supplies are food too?"

"I was just afraid it would bite it."

Magby shook its head repeatedly in Yan's arms, clearly having no interest in the gray stone at all.

Pawniard pushed the whetstone a little deeper into the cabinet, then placed half an unfinished flatbread outside it. The uses were clearly separated.

It did not touch those Poké Balls. It only used a claw tip to gently turn one dark-colored ball upright.

Standing outside the door, Xie Yue saw that gesture.