Chapter Text
“Syrup!” was the first thing the Poipole heard that caused him to rise in his bed from his nap. It was the voice of Irene, his adoptive mom. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep last night. "Breakfast's ready!” were the words that drew him out of his sleepy daze as his ears immediately perked up at the promise of food. He started to float from the spot on his pillow, still a little wobbly. “poi... poipolepole-poi Poi-poi Poi poipolepole-poleole…” (Nngh…I guess my body is still tired…) He grumbled to himself as he floated to the best of his ability down from David’s room while slightly hunched over, still a little wobbly from the post-sleep drowsiness.
As Syrup floated down the stairs he heard his mom’s voice, “Morning, sleepyhead…” she said, her voice coated in a light teasing tone. “poi, Poipole…” (Morning, mom…) was his reply, his words layered beneath sleepiness while he rubbed an eye with a hand-nub. She chuckled lightly with her mouth covered, “Yup, that's definitely the tired Pokémon I know and love.” She gestures to an empty seat. “Sit down, pancakes are almost done.” The seemingly exhausted ultra beast plopped down on the chair she motioned towards, trying to not grumble and pout at the fact she said that breakfast was ready despite it being, in fact, not finished yet.
David, the older brother by about 3 years, was in the chair next to Syrup. He looked like he was trying his best to not laugh and failing miserably at it. Andrew, the father, had already left for work, long before the two of them had woken up. David shot the Pokémon a look of sympathy with his brown eyes that says “yeah… this is just what happens.” which was returned with a shot of a look that had slight annoyance. The two continued on waiting until breakfast had arrived in front of them both, the scent of chocolate and pancakes teasing their nostrils, stomach and tastebuds with the promise of chocolate chip pancakes.
Eventually the pancakes arrived. They were in the likeness of a Pikachu, golden brown, fluffy and with a square of butter on top drizzled with maple syrup. The chocolate chips dotted the faces like brown freckles and there were two strawberries where the Pikachu's cheeks would be along with a peeled banana that took the place of what can be assumed to be the tail. The mix of maple, fruit, and fresh pancakes was a pleasant assault to the nostrils, and the soft clanking of the ceramic plates was more than enough to snap Syrup out of his morning daze.
The Poipole looked on in awe at the artistry that was the pancakes staring back at him as his stomach growled longingly. Irene noticed the staring and his stomach groaning, practically begging him to eat, “you can eat, y’know.” Syrup was snapped out of his awe and started to dig in. The medley of flavors was pleasant on the tastebuds, a mix of sticky maple, fluffy pancakes, and the occasional subtle fruity sweetness of the banana and strawberries sprinkled with the chocolatey sweetness of the chips causing his tail to flap on the chair in satisfaction, it was a lot, but it wasn’t overwhelming while also being cohesive in taste.
David was also partaking in the ongoing consumption, gorging himself on the same kind of breakfast cakes as the rest of the group was. It could’ve been said that he hadn’t eaten for a week in that moment and most of them would believe it, he was eating that fast. In less than a few minutes he had practically snake-swallowed his three layer stack of chocolate chip Pikachu pancakes with the fruits and syrup, leaving no crumbs in his wake. After Syrup had finished (and long after David had finished), Rotom Dex decided to join us at the table while the rest of the present family had some playful banter, mostly teasing David for his appetite that could clear out a buffet and still rival a Munchlax.
Rotom Dex) “Bzzt, good morning everyone! The day izzz still young. Do we have anything in mind to do today?”
Irene) “Yes actually…” she leads “We’re going to do our weekly grocery trip. Do you want to come with?”
Rotom Dex) “I don’t see any reason not to.”
Syrup) “poi!” (Sure!)
David) “Sounds better than staying inside doing nothing, so sure.”
Irene gave a light chuckle, “glad we’re all at an agreement. Start getting ready in about, hmm…10 minutes?” The group all nodded in agreement. David, Rotom Dex and Syrup went to David’s room for a bit to kill the 10 minutes. David played a game on his DSi, Rotom Dex was doing some last minute charging and Syrup was idly flying in circles occasionally stopping when he felt like doing something else. He occasionally poked Rotom Dex with his tail as he was charging, looked over David’s shoulder as he was playing and a few other things, pretty much anything to make the time pass by a little faster.
After what felt like an eternity that took place in a couple of minutes, he let out an annoyed groan of a “poi…” (ugh…) “Poipoipole polepoi-oi-poioi olepoi olepolepoi…” (This is taking forever…). Syrup found his thoughts drifting to “why do the shortest amounts of time feel the longest when waiting for something?” Rotom Dex, sensing the impatience in his voice, said in a tired tone from charging “You have the hyperactivity of a rat after drinking their body weight in expresso…” which resulted in a pout from the ultra beast at the Dex’s witty metaphor, unable to form an argument knowing damn well he was right.
- The 10 minutes eventually passed and after a bit of fiddling with clothing the four left their home to go to the supermarket -
As Rotom Dex had said, the day was still young, the sun had come up around 3 hours ago. The dappled light poured through the trees tinted in emerald green as the usual peace of a Monday after the hustle and bustle of the morning rush encompassed the sidewalk. The lack of many people made walking more enjoyable than if they had left around lunchtime or earlier than they did. The group occasionally looked up as they walked, admiring the morning sun and the flocks of Wingull that were flying overhead, probably to steal food from unassuming tourists.
Of course, there were other pedestrians going about their days, lost in their thoughts, walking with their Pokémon or snacking at a local café, sometimes with a snuggly Pokémon on their laps, like a Skitty or Eevee. Across the street there were people of various ages, mostly children and senior citizens walking alongside one another with their Pokémon. The kids usually had fairly tame Pokémon such as Bellsprouts and Vulpixes while the seniors had similarly tame Pokémon.
After a good amount of walking (or floating in Syrup’s case) in Lumiose City on this sleepy October morning in Kalos they eventually arrived at the supermarket with little interruption aside from the usual banter and side conversations as the Lucky Meowth Supermarket came into view with its signature yellow awnings.
As they entered the Supermarket, Irene pulled out a list of the things the family needed. She murmured to herself: “moomoo milk, cooking oil…” Her voice trailed off as she noticed Syrup floating towards the sugary treats, longingly eying at a pink poké puff lightly dusted in a pound of powdered sugar. “Syrup… at least try to contain yourself…” the Poipole responded with a disappointed “poi…” (okay…). She gave a light chuckle with her mouth closed and patted the purple Pokémon's head, “If you’re good while on our shopping trip we might have room in the basket for a poké puff or two.” Syrup’s face lit up from her sentence, “poi!” (okay!) he exclaimed with chipper glee.
The first thing the four were to look for was the moomoo milk. After a bit of walking they had arrived at the dairy aisle, marked by a hanging sign with an icon of moomoo milk in a glass bottle and the words “Dairy” underneath it. There was a noticeable chill in the aisle due to the nature of the aisle being filled with fridges and freezers. They walked past the yogurts and Syrup peered into the freezers to look at the Pokémon-safe ice creams and Kalosian ices. He looked like he was under a spell from the sight of the frozen sweets and was gently pulled away by his tail from the freezers with the ice cream and other frozen sweet treats despite the purple space snake’s mild protest, which stopped when he remembered that the he’s essentially guaranteed at least one poké puff IF he behaved.
David and Rotom both had to stifle their laughs in reaction to Syrup being dragged away from the frozen treats towards the moomoo milk. Irene gestured for David to pick up two gallons of whole milk to which he picked up in response despite his pouting as she selected some GoGhurt for David to take to school the following day.
“Next thing on the list to get is the cooking oil.” Irene muttered. The group meandered their way to the rough placement of the cooking oil, past the dried foods, the snack aisle and the candy aisle (despite Syrup’s sweet tooth and desire for sour patch kids above all). Eventually the four reached the aisle that houses the cooking oils. Irene set down the basket and David, the moomoo milk. Rotom Dex was helping Irene determine the optimal price in relation to the amount of oil bought, Meanwhile Syrup was floating around within view around the aisle seemingly without a care in the world. The poison pin Pokémon was floating well overhead, occasionally peeking into neighboring aisles.
After some time, Rotom and Irene agreed on a specific amount of cooking oil and worked out the optimal price. Irene took two containers of the agreed upon cooking oil and set them in the shopping basket. David picked up the jugs of moomoo milk, Irene picked up the basket and the four left the aisle and started heading in the direction of the checkout line. After a bit of walking in that direction they took a quick stop at the pokémon food aisle. The aisle was lined with various items such as poké kibble, poké beans of various colors and patterns, if any, and most importantly to Syrup, poké puffs. Some are frosted, some not, some more fancy, some not.
Irene gestured to the aisle as a sort of go ahead. “Pick two.” she said softly. The Poipole’s eyes widened with excitement and he turned to face the aisle. He paused for a moment before darting into the aisle, quickly moving from one side of the aisle to the other in rapid succession when an enticing poké puff grabbed his focus. Eventually Syrup came back to Irene with a poképuff in either hand-nub, one pink and frosted and the other, chocolate brown dusted with powdered sugar and a cherry. It looked like Syrup was fighting the urge to devour both right then and there. Irene chuckled a bit before taking both the poké puffs and placing them in the basket looped through her arm before giving Syrup a gentle pat which resulted in the Poipole flapping his tail in enjoyment from the physical attention and breathing a dreamy “poiii…” from the purple ultra beast.
After a moment of allowing Syrup to enjoy the head pats Irene pulled her hand away and started to lead the group to the checkout. The four eventually made it to the self checkout and Irene and David started to unload the items to scan them and place them in the bagging area. Meanwhile, Syrup was looking and playing with the video camera recording them, making funny faces at it and laughing at himself in the reflection provided by the small screen intended for shoplifters, which caused Rotom Dex to roll his eyes in amusement at the behavior.
Following the payment and subsequent bagging of the goods, the four left the supermarket and started heading home. The afternoon sun was shining overhead as it was peeking out from behind a particularly large cloud as a flock of Wingull was perched on some electrical wiring and peering over the ground and seemed to focus in on a person enjoying some fries. She seemed unaware of the fact their starchy side dish was probably going to be stolen after some time. On the ground there were the usual sort of things happening, Pokémon on leisurely walks with their trainers, people who are on their lunch break from work and people on grocery trips.
Various buildings were in view, Pokémon centers with their respective nurse Joy, typical convenience stores, such as Pokémart, receiving visits from people looking to grab a quick and cheap bite as well as cafés with the alluring smells of coffee and baked goods. There was a specific diner that seemed especially enticing to the group. It’s known as the Firestone Diner and specializes in the food common in Unova and is styled as a typical diner from that region.
Inside the diner there is a black and white tile floor pattern with red and blue bar swivel chairs against the front counter and booth seats lining the inner perimeter tinted the same shade of red lined by windows facing the outside. Behind the counter were the employees in their red and white striped uniforms and Pokémon such as a Heat Rotom, a Skitty and a Charmander were in view. The walls have drawings of Pokémon like Vanillites, Rotoms and Swirlixes depicted in neon lights. The four sat down in a booth, David sitting across from Irene, Rotom settling down at the convenient charging station on the table and Syrup sitting on Irene’s lap, tail flapping in equal parts excitement and hunger. After a bit a waitress arrives at the tableside and hands the humans a menu for each of them.
Waitress) “Good afternoon, welcome to the Firestone Diner. What drink can I get you started with?”
David) “I’ll have a cola”
Irene) “I’ll have an iced tea. Syrup? What do you want?”
- Syrup looks over the drink menu and points to a picture strawberry milkshake in a glass -
Syrup) “Polepoipole.” (That one.)
Irene) “And one strawberry milkshake for Syrup here, please.”
Waitress) “Alright… one cola, one iced tea and one strawberry milkshake, got it. We should have it out in a few.”
With those words the waitress left the tableside and the four started doing their own thing. David was playing some games on his DSI, Rotom Dex was charging, Irene was idly petting Syrup while scrolling on her phone and Syrup was relishing in the petting, tail flapping against Irene’s leg happily as he kicked his legs gently.
- Eventually the server came back with the drinks on a tray, ready to take orders -
Waitress) “Here you are, and now, are you guys ready to order?”
Irene) “Yes, I’ll have a burger, David will have…”
David) “A grilled cheese with a side of onion rings.”
Irene) “...And Syrup will have a side of fries.”
Waitress) “Alright, that should be out in a bit.”
With that sentence the waitress again left and the four went back to what they were doing before, now with their drinks. Irene’s iced tea had a cool crisp taste and was lightly sweet. David’s cola was fizzy and caused his eyes to water a bit before he wiped them away. Finally Syrup’s strawberry milkshake was smooth and had a strong berry taste while being topped with whipped cream and a bendy straw.
Before long the waitress arrived with the food. The burger bun had a shine to it and the patty had a smell that showed it was well seasoned along with sliced tomato and dewy lettuce. The onion rings were crisp and had an audible crunch and brown coloration. The grilled cheese had visible lines and the cheese was glossy and stretchy. Lastly, the fries were crisp, starchy and flakey in a small basket for serving. The group started to eat, David audibly enjoying his food, Irene quietly eating her burger and Syrup munching on the fries while sitting on the table facing them as his tail flapped on the table as the sun hangs high in the sky as they eat by the window. Together.