[Aster Chamomile]

Aster, carrying her brand new Murkrow, Fennel, walked through the streets of Pine Town alongside a new friend she'd met on the road there. She was already pretty fond of Marley; she could see a lot of herself in the man's strength and dedication to doing a good job. Fennel warbled quietly to himself as Aster looked around, wondering where the restaurant Marley mentioned would be.

"Hey, y'mind leadin' us instead? Ahm not sure why ah ended up leadin' when ah don't even know where this place is at," Aster teased, elbowing Marley with the arm not occupied by a bird. She gave Fennel a scratch on the head, which he seemed to appreciate, and looked up at her companion, waiting for him to help her out in locating this restaurant. "It's only fair, you leadin' us there, since ahm payin' for lunch, right?"

Fennel gave a loud caw in response to that, as if he was agreeing with his trainer. The town smelled so strongly of pine needles and sap and there was a deep afternoon chill in the air.

^{Marley Hyde}

[Marley Hyde]

A Pine Town. Marley had been here many a time to work in the mines, but the town itself had a nice, comfortable feel to him. This had been one of the places he and his mother considered moving to when they first arrived in Arciel, but they figured it would be better to keep his sickly mother away from the mines. That being said, it was a good place to visit.

When Aster pointed out he was leading the way, a light blush of embarrassment crossed his face, before he covered it with a chuckle. "Fair enough. I did say I knew a place after all," he chuckled, taking a look around, "Ok, it's right this way." He would take the lead, guiding Aster and their pokemon through the town. Hammerhead, the little Gible that had been born earlier today, and Ally, Marley's Zoruo, followed close behind him.

Before long, the little group arrived in front of a moderately sized building. It wasn't a large restaurant, with a rustic, yet warm feeling to it. "'Ere we are," Marley replied with a smile, "Nice little place. Some good food 'ere that'll make ya think of home. And the staff 'ere's friendly as well." Marley stepped forward, opening the door to allow them inside. The place had a warm, homey atmosphere. One couldn't help but get the feeling that this place would be perfect on a cold winter's day.

As the hostess turned to them with a smile, Marley raised two fingers. "Table for two please," he glanced down at the pokemon, "And some spots for the pokemon as well."

[Aster Chamomile]

Fennel instantly claimed a chair, landing on the back of it and digging his claws into the top bar of the rustic furniture piece. Aster sat down next to Fennel, and there were two more chairs for Marley and one of his Pokemon across the table, until the waitress brought a third empty chair over from another spot. "Here ya go, let me know when you're ready to order!" The waitress said cheerily as she handed the people their menus and placed down three paper kids' menus, before flouncing off to check on another table.

Aster perused the menu with excitement; she loved a good meal, and it felt like she rarely got to have some really good food. Mostly sandwiches, made with dry bread, or quick takeout meals from small restaurants, or just handful upon handful of trail mix while she traveled. It would be great to get a stomach full of farm-fresh vegetables and good meats for once. It almost made her homesick, but she'd see this through, she wouldn't just take a bus or something home instead so she could eat homecooked food again.

"What sounds good t' you? I'm thinkin' 'bout the stew, or maybe this grilled chicken sandwich.. It's got peppers an' tomatoes an' lettuce, plus some kinda sauce." Aster forced herself to not drool over the menu; meanwhile, Fennel had moved down to stand on the surface of the table and had picked up a kids' crayon in one talon, considering chewing it up.

[Marley Hyde]

Marley couldn't help but smile at her drooling over the menu. He knew she would like this place. She certainly seemed like the sort, if their time together had told her anything. Hammerhead hopped up onto the remaining chair, though it would still be a bit tall for the Gible, forcing him to climb up onto the table and simply sit down. Marley chuckled at the adorable little pokemon.

He looked over the menu, thinking for a moment. The dishes were simple, but past experience told him how good they were. "I think I'll go for the stew meself. Good stuff, and pretty fillin' as well." He said, sitting back and closing up his menu. He took a look around, taking in the atmosphere while they waited for the waitress. As he did though, a little something caught his eye. He couldn't see it clearly, it was quite short, but what he was seeing was a serving tray moving around the tables, carrying drinks around to the tables. He hadn't known the place to employ pokemon as servers.

"Hm?" he looked over, trying to catch a good glimpse at the pint sized server.

[Aster Chamomile]

Aster looked back and forth between the two menu items she was interested in, weighing the pros of each against the other and looking hungrier and hungrier. She seemed to spot yet a third item she'd consider eating today, and deliberated on that item until she decided that both of the others seemed more appealing.

While she was doing that, Fennel had decided that it would be best to chew the paper off of the crayon with his sharp, deft beak. The shreds of paper littered the table, and he began to work on the soft green paraffin wax next, grinding the whole crayon into shavings bit by bit.

The small entity carrying the tray moved into view for Marley, then: an Indeedee, with downturned ears and a happy expression, carried the tray deftly in one hand and moved smoothly from table to table, picking up crumbs from the floors and chairs, checking on patrons' plates to see if they needed them taken away, and finally resting her eyes on Aster and Marley's table, where the expression on her face turned to mild horror at seeing the green paper and crayon shavings all over the table, chairs, and floor. The tray clanged to the floor as the Pokemon rushed over and started picking up each shaving by hand, placing them on the tray and shifting the tray when she needed to.

A human waitress rushed over at the clanging, seeing the Pokemon there, and shook her head. "Ah, this little one showed up a few days ago; we're not sure what she is, but she wants so badly to help! She's doing a great job, honestly, but she tends to get in the way of customers, too, I'm so sorry about the disturbance!"

Aster seemed to just now notice the Pokemon, and tilted her neck to look beneath the table at it. "Ahm not even sure what kinda Pokemon that is, but it sure is cute! Marley, y'know what it is?"

[Marley Hyde]

Marley's eye widened in surprise when the little figure came into view. An Indeedee! Well, what were the odds of seeing one of them around here. Had one of the servers gotten one recently? And if so, where? As far as he knew, Indeedee were in Galar, in the Glimwood Tangle. And yet, here one was, working in a restaurant, serving drinks and helping clean up. Well, it made perfect sense really, considering Indeedee as a whole.

And then he noticed the crayon shavings Aster's Murkrow was leaving, and immediately realized what was going to happen. He watched the little pokemon run over, quickly starting to clean up the mess. The waitress appearing then cleared up one little detail. So, this little one had turned up, completely out of the blue, and just started helping out. Marley couldn't help but laugh. "Hehe, careful. Any more turn up and they might end up takin' yer jobs." It did seem though that he was the only one in the room who knew what the little pokemon was. Time for some Galarian education.

"This, ladies, is an Indeedee, a pokemon native to Galar." He looked down at the little pokemon as she cleaned up the rest of the crayon shavings, "These little ones feed on positive emotions. Joy, gratitude, appreciation, that sort'a thing. As a result, these little guys practically devote themselves to 'elpin' others." He smiled and reached down to pat the little Indeedee on the head. "Thanks for the help," he said, giving the pokemon a genuine smile.