Welcome to the Future Bloodline (Part 3)

Guilds were nothing compared to this. Often, guilds would usually just have meals in one large room, a large table accompanying it, as well as plenty of fruits, berries and other foods stashed away. But this is so much more than that. It’s a whole dining area! Seated tables, tablecloths, even a menu with a fairly large selection of foods to choose from. A lot of luxury looking items on the menu. There’s a lot of conversion rates on the menu too, in case anyone were to pay with Pulsars or Pokedollars.

The room itself is two floors, Mick and Ralph seated on the upper floor. A few of the tables are empty, but a good majority of them are occupied and filled. Really goes to show the scope of just how many Pokemon they’re really working with now. The most eye catching aspect of the dining area, though, is a large stage up in the front of the room, curtains closed, hanging down from the ceiling. Hmm…

“Uuuurrggghhh…” The Quaxly’s multi-pointed-tailed friend groans, his paws rhythmically tapping on the table as he leans his cheek against his paw, a bored, annoyed look on his face. “Where the fuck is she? I know she said she was gonna take a look around but I didn’t think she’d have been this late for dinner.”

Ralph shrugs slightly, glancing over to the stage again. “Maybe she just got lost. I mean, the place is huge after all. Nobody would be able to find their way around perfectly on their first day of the job.”

“I would believe that, if not for the fact that our wristbands have maps of the whole facility.” Mick responds in a deadpan voice, eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I’ve been fiddling around with it a bunch. Not like there’s much else to do while we’re-“

“I’m here! I’m here! Sorry guys!” Lavender’s voice calls over as the sounds of frantic footsteps and running can be heard from behind them. The two turn around to see her- Oh dear heavens. “They have a stylist here! I had to stop by and give myself a brand new look before anything else!” Her grassy hair has been dyed a deep pink, complete with black tips. Same with the green markings on her legs, minus the extra black accents. She’s wearing a loose, baggy black shirt under her vest now, two earrings pierced into both of her winglike ears each. “Whatcha think?”

Mick and Ralph glance at each other, both with equally surprised expressions on their faces, though Mick is visibly more confused than Ralph is. The two turn back to face Lavender, Ralph being the one to speak up first. “It’s certainly… Different. Not at all what I would have expected out of you.”

“Lavender, I don’t wanna say you don’t look good, ‘cus ya do!” Mick says, smiling awkwardly. “But like… I think I remember reading up that humans kinda found that style, uhhhhh… Shit, how do I put this, very embarrassing?”

“Huh?” Lavender’s excitement briefly vanishes, looking down at herself before looking back at the two. “I mean, it’s a little eccentric, sure, but I like this!” She smiles proudly once again, sitting herself down at the table with them. “This feels like me, you know? It feels right.” She chuckles, making herself comfortable in her seat. “I’m keeping it.”

Mick rubs at the back of his head with a paw as he sighs, still smiling rather awkwardly at the Shaymin. “Hey, you do you. In fact, if you’re gonna get a little eccentric, lemme just.” Aaaaand there he goes with his light tattoos. The dim lighting just makes him glow even more than he usually does. “Much better.~”

“I’m surrounded by goobers.” Ralph deadpans with an amused expression on his face, leaning against his wing on the table as his eyes glance between Mick and Lavender. Both of them just cheekily smile back at him.

A RImbombee flies up to their table, wings buzzing silently, drowned out amongst the chattering diners, notepad and pencil in hand. “So you’re the new faces! My name’s Hibiki, and I’ll be your waitress for the evening!”

Mick’s eyes are drawn to the Rhimbombee, arching an eyebrow. “Wait, didn’t you give us our vests earlier? How come you’re acting like this is our first time meeting?”

“Oh! That wasn’t me, that was my brother!” She exclaims happily, wings buzzing a bit louder as she smiles. “He’s the Future Bloodline’s tailor! All of the vests you see everyone here wearing? He makes those!”

“Oh wow, really? All of them?” Lavender blinks in surprise, staring down at her own vest. “They’re really high quality! Let him know that he does amazing work on these things. They’re so cozy and comfy.”

Hibiki chuckles softly. “I keep telling him to maybe open up a shop or something on the side. He’s done a few custom designs before, but I feel like he’s worried about putting himself out there a bit more, you know? I’ll be sure to let him know you like what he makes! But, I digress!” She clears her throat, pencil tapping against the notepad.” “What’ll you all be having tonight?”

“I’ll just be having a plate of fries.” Mick says, leaning back in his chair as it creaks. “Don’t need nothin’ else, just a bigass plate in fries and I’ll be a happy Shinx.”

“Let me take one more look here.” Ralph says, eyes sweeping the menu one last time. Why does everything on here have to look so damn good? “Hmm… Drizzled Mago berry sounds pretty nice, I’ll go ahead and have that.”

Lavender’s eyes furrow as she flips through the pages of her menu, humming to herself. “…I don’t know what to pick.” He eyes glance back up at the Rhibombee. “Anything you’d recommend, Hibiki?”

“Of course!” Hibiki nods her head eagerly. “I’d personally suggest the spicy cheese covered curry! The chef’s from Galar and he brought over a lot of recipes over with him when he joined us, and we even get our spices ported over from Paldea itself! If the customer wishes, they can request for spicy Herba Mystica to be used rather than the dish’s typical spices for a bit extra.”

“Oooooohhh… Gosh, that does sound good.” Lavender nods her head once again. “I’ll go ahead and have that!”

“Perfect! I’ll be back with your orders soon!” Hibiki nods her as she smiles at the three. “Hope you all enjoy the show while you wait!”

Ralph arches an eyebrow at that. “The show?”

The lights dim a little more, the stage in the front of the room suddenly starting to light up as the curtains pull open. The customers in the restaurant all applause as it seems something big is happening. As the curtains draw open, a few Pokemon can be seen on the stage. All of them different kinds of Meloetta.

An Aria Meloetta, and a robot counterpart, an Iron Harmony, that looks very similar to her flesh and blood ‘twin,’ only her hair is lit up, swirling with Neurachem, acting as a screen with a sound wave displaying on it. Much to Ralph’s surprise, there’s a few robot Pirouette forms. Iron Discordance. It was rare to see one outside of The Veil’s red-light district, let alone one that wasn’t in a state of disrepair.

The four all bow their heads, the Iron Discordances stepping into the back slightly as Meloetta and Iron Harmony take center stage, music beginning to play. Sounds like something that’d play in some of the nightclubs around the city, Ralph recalls hearing about this specific type of music. Something about decades? He never got why humans used to segment music genres by numbers. Seems arbitrary.

The Iron Discordances start dancing in the back, Meloetta and Iron Harmony’s more subtle dances synced in time with each other, Meloetta beginning to sing.

Darlin’, oki ni iri no, 70’s love song
So Sweet, phrase ga heart wo, ijimeru no

Oh, huh, how about that. Different language. Kantonian? Johto? He always gets the two mixed up.

Mimi ni, najinde kita, itsumo no rusuden de
Telephone card mo ai mo, kezureru wa

Any other chattering that may have going on prior was totally gone now, everyone having fallen silent. Well, at least until Hibiki quietly speaks up. “They’ve been with us since the beginning, they’re absolutely wonderful to work with. Wish I could stay and watch, but I gotta go get these orders to the chef. Enjoy!~”

She buzzes off, leaving Mick, Ralph and Lavender to watch the performance, Iron Harmony’s synthesized voice joining in with Meloetta’s.

Pocket bell ni, ano hi kureta
14106, aishiteru…

The lights start changing colors, swaying in rhythmical patterns as their dancing starts picking up, the chorus kicking in. There’s so much life and energy in their movements, it’s easy to tell they’re having the time of their lives performing for everyone.

Anata nashi ja, norenai no
Sama ni, naranai no
Mou inai, lonely night

Joke ni sura, naranai no
Nido to, naranai no
Futari wo tsunagu oto

Kurai kurai ,setsuna no umi
Cry Cry, oyogu you ni odore
Heart break mermaid!

Ralph turns his gaze to briefly check on Mick and Lavender, and he sees Mick is staring intently. Really intently. The lights may be dim, but, is that a blush he sees creeping up on Mick’s cheeks?

“Uhh, Mick?”

“WAAGH- HUH?!” He nearly jumps out of his seat, eyes widening and his cheeks only blushing a deeper red, eyes shrunken and darting around before finally landing back on Ralph. “Don’t fucking startle me like that, man! Damn near gave me a heart attack!”

He’s flustered? Oh. Oh this should be fun. Ralph chuckles, leaning a wing against the table. “Couldn’t help but you were really eyeing up the Meloetta.” He smirks a little bit. “Is someone simping?”

This just makes Mick’s face even more red, his muzzle scrunching up. “Wh-What the hell’s that supposed to mean?! Is it not normal for a guy to just wanna stare at a pretty girl?”

“I’m a pretty girl, aren’t I? How come you’re not staring at me?” Lavender seems to chime in, getting in on the joke with Ralph, to which he approvingly nods to Lavender.

“What- No! I mean yes- That’s not-” He stammers, covering his face with his paws and letting out an annoyed, flustered sounding growl. _{“Both of you shut the fuck up and let’s just enjoy the show, okay?”}

“Seems like someone’s enjoying the show more than everyone else in the audience, though.~” Lavender chuckles softly to herself before turning her attention back to the stage.

“Mmhm. Whatever you say, bud.” Ralph rolls his eyes with a smirk, reclining back in his seat.

Yeah, he can get used to this.

Life is good.