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Sun rose above the village, calling human and pokemon alike to rise and face the trials of the day, just as it had done every other dawn since their first. 

Well it did/had done so for most of them anyway.

For a certain houndour this whole raising with the dawn thing was quite new, what with his kind being nocturnal and all. For his new owner it certainly didn’t seem like something she was planning on doing, the giant woman simply rolling over in her room in the Ryokan (inn) in response to the sun peeking its way in through the curtains.

Sanzoku had held off from catching her own pokemon for a long long time. Her bandit clan hadn’t exactly had the resources or know how to build the newfangled pokeballs. They relied on guts, brawn and foolhardiness to get through, just as their ancestors had, and although she had left them behind, for a long time that was something she had stuck to, and proudly too. 

It had been a mark of strength to stand alone on the battlefield when so many others relied on their partners to see them through the day, but recent events had made her rethink this point of pride. To have the strength in a changing world to protect those who had otherwise fallen. To have a companion who wouldn’t leave your side. Both things she wished to have, and so, at the age of 37, the woman had finally acquired her first pokemon. 

Initially she’d been weary, and had intended to only let the wild beast out of his ball when she needed him. This resolution had lasted all of a day, which is why the houndour she had caught just beyond the city on a recent night, who was now named Marrow, was perfectly free to clamber up onto  Sanzoku’s futon and start licking her face to get her to wake up.

The sell-sword grunted at first, and then her eyes snapped open and her body tensed for violence, only to see and feel what was going on and relax, all in a fraction of a second

[color=b03300]”Bleh, down boy, down”[/color] she lightly told the mon, gently pushing his head away from her face. Then she sat up slowly, giving Marrow time to scoot down to sit in her lap, looking up at her while panting with his tongue hanging out curly while she wiped her face dry and fully came to her senses. Then she looked down at him with a stern look that quickly relented. 

[color=b03300]”Ach, I can’t be mad at you about this can I, you cute little thing”[/color] she said, smiling down at the mon and giving him a pet and a scratch behind the ear before asking [color=b03300]”So what is it you want, hmm? Food? Outhouse? Just want to go out into the sun some more… oh,”[/color] she seemed to only take in the fact that it was morning at that point and then continued [color=b03300]”Or were you just letting me know the sun was up? Good boy. We have lots of training ahead of us today after all”[/color]

She gave marrow another little pet and then gently scooted him off her lap so she could actually get ready to face the day. She stood, stretched and flexed to get some of that stiffness out before getting properly dressed. She tossed on a komono, leaving her armor packed up because she wasn't exactly expecting trouble in the capital. Still you couldn't ever be 100% sure you’d be safe and so the sell-sword strapped her Kanabō to her side as both a precaution and signal of her occupation. True, she could break the average mon or human with just her hands, but her trick weapon never hurt to have on hand.

On the other hip went a pouch containing some of her money (the rest was surreptitiously buried out in the wilds) and a few personal items. Last things last she slipped her eyepatch over her old wound, gave her hair a quick and futile brush with her fingers and then she was done.

Now dressed and ready she hauled her pack containing all her possessions up in one arm, leaving nothing behind in her room at the inn, not even the empty bottle of sake from last night, and then exited it to go tramp through the corridors with Marrow padding along at her heels. 

First item on both of their agendas: breakfast!

For that they headed for a communal dining area found in the inn, the sell-sword sliding open the door to it, politely getting out of the way of a quite intimidated looking traveling merchant who was just about to rush out that very same door in-order to let him out first, and then heading inside herself to get some grub.

The room was adorned with several long low tables with cushion based seating, which currently housed a half dozen travelers and a few of their pokemon, all chowing down their first meals of the day. The newbies gave her looks inline with the rushing merchantman, but the regulars simply gave her a wave, a nod or other simple greeting and then got on with their days. Serving them was a lady named Ikoma, along with her two meter long Furret. Upon seeing Sanzoku enter the woman smiled and gave her a polite nod before saying “Good morning Sanzoku! The usual for today as well?”

[color=b03300]”Hello hello Ikoma, that’d be grand thank you!”[/color] she replied with a warm smile as she settled down at one of the few remaining empty tables and plopped her gear down beside her. Marrow sat himself down beside her, very much looking forward to the still novel prospect of having grub served up on a platter, while Ikoma sent her own pokemon off to get his and Sanzoku’s breakfast.

The two women traded a few pleasantries and then in swift order the sellsword’s usual order arrived, consisting of a hefty portion of rice with an equally hefty portion of fermented soybeans for protein, an assortment of steamed vegetables as a side and a much much smaller portion of rice and sausages for Marrow. All of this came in carried on the back of the long, long Furret, who with practiced ease scampered through the room and parked himself next to the table without spilling a grain of his nutritious cargo. 

[color=b03300]”Ah there we are, thank you for the meal!”[/color] Sanzoku told the pokemon, something she would not have done a short while before. 

She unloaded Marrow’s dish for him first before piling her own onto the table and finally giving the Furret a pet between the ears as thanks. Then woman and houndour tucked into their breakfast together. 

Having no time critical time commitments, the pair of them noshed their way through their meal at a leisurely pace, gradually fueling up for the rest of the day.