Ekans's Warning

"Meow~" After finishing its food, Meowth lay lazily in front of Heath, exposing its little belly and rolling contentedly on the ground. Heath chuckled and reached out to scratch its belly.

Perhaps because Heath often fed these little fellows, Meowth, Rattata, and Ekans were all very friendly toward him. They let him pet them however he liked, and he could even pick Meowth up and spin it around.

"Hiss." Flicking its tongue, Ekans slithered over to Heath and looked up at the Caterpie on his head. Its one-eyed face held a wary, fierce expression.

"This one's really suspicious of me. It keeps threatening me, telling me not to hurt you." Zorua lay on Heath's shoulder, looking down at Ekans. She pursed her lips, then stuck her tongue out at it.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Heath tapped Zorua on the head, then introduced her to Ekans, Meowth, and the others. Only then did they relax considerably. Heath suspected that if Zorua had deliberately acted as though she meant to attack him just now, Ekans and Meowth really would have struck.

"Spring's almost here. Life will get a little easier then." Feeling the warm sunshine on his body, Heath couldn't help stretching before rubbing Ekans's head with a chuckle.

Although Ekans looked fierce, its head was actually very pleasant to pet. Heath always had to give it a rub. At first, Ekans had looked thoroughly reluctant, but after discovering that resistance was futile, it had resigned itself to its fate.

Heath happily rubbed Ekans's head as though he were kneading dough. It was soft and cool, and he thought rubbing its head in summer would probably feel even better.

Winter was simply too harsh for stray Pokémon. During spring, summer, and autumn, Ekans and the others rarely came to Heath for food. Only in winter, when food was scarce, did they come over to cadge something to eat and drink. Heath never minded.

"Hiss, hiss." Ekans flicked its tongue, its face squishing like dough in Heath's hands. It even rolled its eye, feeling as though Heath was about to shake its brains into a smooth mixture.

"Trainer, it says it recently discovered an outsider had invaded their territory. It's warning you to be careful." Zorua shuddered. She swore she would never let Heath rub her head like that. He was practically kneading dough!

Heath paused. He really couldn't understand what Ekans was saying, but now that Zorua was here, she could translate for him.

"What kind of intruder?" Heath was a little puzzled. Had someone in Viridian City abandoned their Pokémon again?

That sort of thing wasn't unusual. After all, a city as large as Viridian City had all kinds of people. Heath had once encountered someone who ate a Jianbing Guozi, refused to pay, then turned and ran. If Officer Jenny Chun hadn't happened to pass by, Heath figured he would have met the first dine-and-dasher of his life.

There were also plenty of people who abandoned Pokémon. Most Pokémon were abandoned by their trainers for one reason or another. Ekans, for instance, had fallen ill and lost sight in one eye. Its treatment had been so expensive that it had been dumped in the wild and left to fend for itself. Without a stroke of luck, it probably would have died.

"It says it doesn't know either. It only smelled something strange, like sweat evaporating." Zorua dutifully carried out her work as an interpreter.

Heath's expression grew even stranger. What did evaporating sweat smell like? Did such a bizarre smell even exist? He thought about it for ages but still couldn't imagine what evaporating sweat was supposed to smell like.

Although he didn't really understand what Ekans and the others were describing, Heath took their kindly warning to heart. He thought perhaps some other Pokémon had been abandoned.

Once Meowth and the others left, Heath settled in to wait for the mealtime rush. Viridian City was much like an ordinary human city, really. Most customers came at mealtimes or in the morning, when they got up and headed to work. After running his stall here for so long, Heath had long since figured out the pattern.

Occasionally, though, customers who didn't have to work would come over for a meal, so Heath didn't pack up his stall.

"Little Heath, what have you got today... hmm? What's this? Can I eat it?" Old Ma Zhide strolled over with his hands behind his back, his Charizard following beside him with an unsteady gait.

"Of course, Grandpa Ma Zhide. It's a new dish I introduced recently. It tastes pretty good." Heath smiled. Ma Zhide was pointing at the Red-Braised Pork with Fried Tofu.

"I see. Then two portions, please. I'd like to try it too." Old Ma Zhide smiled, revealing his teeth. One was missing, which made his smile look rather endearing.

Heath nodded. Red-Braised Pork with Fried Tofu over rice was currently the easiest dish to prepare. All he had to do was scoop out a bowl of rice and pour the pork and tofu over it.

Charizard looked curiously at the Caterpie on Heath's shoulder. Something about this Caterpie felt strange. Although it was the sort of roadside Caterpie that a casual Ember could instantly cremate, Charizard kept feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"Char! How old are you now? We're long past the days of being chased all over the forest by a Caterpie!" Old Ma Zhide glared at his Pokémon, stopping Charizard from going over for a closer look.

Hearing Old Ma Zhide's words, Heath nearly burst out laughing. Beside him, Charizard's face darkened. That was practically its most embarrassing memory, yet its trainer loved bringing it up.

"Trainer, what are you laughing at?" Zorua looked at Heath in confusion. She didn't understand what was so funny.

Heath cleared his throat without answering. Instead, he handed over two bowls of Red-Braised Pork with Fried Tofu over rice, watching Old Ma Zhide and his aging Charizard take them.

"Grandpa Ma Zhide, you still remember what happened back then?" Heath asked with a smile. Charizard glared at him, but it had no effect. Heath's Attack didn't drop.

"Hahaha, of course I remember! Back then, I took Char to Viridian Forest to train while it was still a Charmander, and this little fellow..." Watching Ma Zhide laugh heartily, Charizard indignantly puffed out some smoke. But when the smoke drifted toward its food, it hurriedly sucked it back in.

This food smells amazing.

[You cast a recommendation vote. You received the author's New Year's wishes.]

[Author: The Bull Demon King made a mistake, and his wife, Princess Iron Fan, wouldn't stop scolding him. Sun Wukong couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he stepped forward and said, "Sister-in-law, still chewing out Bull?" Princess Iron Fan froze, then beamed and replied, "Thank you, thank you!"]