"Munch~ Munch~"
Munchlax nodded quickly, then obediently stood aside, quietly observing Lucas as he washed dishes, scrubbed pots, and tidied the stove, appearing to take the lesson very seriously.
Lucas glanced back at it and couldn't help but smile. So cute.
Soon, Lucas finished cleaning the kitchen, and around the same time, Diancie completed tidying the dining hall.
"Now can you tell me about the cooking training room!" Lucas said eagerly.
"Did you forget that we have a third floor? The cooking training room is up there!" Diancie explained. "Let's go take a look."
"Third floor?" If Diancie hadn't mentioned it, Lucas would have almost forgotten his building had three levels.
When he first moved into the house, Lucas had wanted to explore it completely. The first floor was the restaurant, the second floor contained living quarters for himself and his Pokémon, but when he'd attempted to access the third floor, an invisible barrier had stopped him.
At that time, Diancie had informed him that he hadn't yet obtained permission to enter the third floor.
"So now I have permission?"
"Yes, yes, let's go see." Diancie took Lucas's hand and headed toward the stairs.
Lucas quickly waved to Munchlax, "Munchlax, come along! This is your home now—let's explore it together."
"Munch~ Munch~"
Munchlax happily followed behind Lucas upon hearing this.
Just as Diancie had said, Lucas—who'd previously been unable to ascend to the third floor—now easily climbed the stairs.
He found numerous doors lining the third-floor corridor. He randomly selected one and tried to open it, but despite twisting the doorknob repeatedly, it wouldn't budge.
Observing this, Diancie explained, "You've only received access to the cooking training room. You'll need to unlock the other doors gradually to gain permission."
"I see."
Lucas had no choice but to release the doorknob and follow Diancie forward with Munchlax.
When they reached the corridor's end, Diancie stopped before a door. The nameplate read "Cooking Training Room."
"Is this it?"
Diancie nodded, signaling Lucas to open the door.
Lucas stepped forward, grasped the doorknob, and turned it. The door opened smoothly.
Walking inside, Lucas found himself in an empty white space.
Diancie followed close behind. According to the system's instructions, she guided Lucas: "Lucas, say 'Cooking training start!'"
Though puzzled, Lucas did as instructed.
"Cooking training start."
As Lucas's words echoed, the empty room immediately transformed, becoming a spacious kitchen in the blink of an eye, filled with all manner of cooking equipment. Every culinary tool Lucas knew could be found here.
At the front of the kitchen stood something resembling a podium, with a large screen mounted behind it.
Diancie approached the podium and explained: "From now on, you and Munchlax can practice cooking in this room. Time flows ten times faster here than outside, and ingredients can be used without limit. However, both the ingredients and the food produced are virtual—you cannot remove them from the training room."
"Incredible!" Lucas exclaimed in amazement.
Diancie agreed. "I think it's amazing too!" After all, she hadn't learned about these functions much earlier than Lucas.
Munchlax had been rendered speechless by the luxurious kitchen. Its eyes darted everywhere, unable to take in all the details at once. It had never encountered such advanced technology.
Then, Diancie pointed to the large screen behind her and continued: "You can select which dishes you want to practice here. The training room will automatically prepare the necessary ingredients."
"But currently, Lucas, you've only unlocked steamed buns, so that's the only item available for practice in the training room."
Lucas examined the screen and confirmed that indeed, only one item—steamed buns—appeared on the list. He couldn't help but complain: "When will I be able to unlock the next recipe?"
It wasn't that he couldn't prepare other foods himself; rather, he couldn't earn Happiness Points from dishes not unlocked by the system, which was frustrating.
Diancie reassured him: "Soon, soon, don't worry."
"Fine." Lucas resigned himself to the situation.
"Would you like to use the training room now?" Diancie asked.
Lucas shook his head. "Let's wait until tonight. I promised to plant vegetables with Litwick and the others this afternoon."
"That's right—we'll explore this further later," Diancie nodded.
After touring the cooking training room briefly, Lucas beckoned to Diancie and Munchlax to leave.
At noon, after the household of four had lunch together, they ventured to the area behind the building. Lucas planned to establish a vegetable garden there.
Even if the vegetables grown weren't used in the restaurant, he could still satisfy his own cravings occasionally. After all, he couldn't earn Happiness Points from feeding himself.
Soon, Litwick brought its friends to help as promised. To Lucas's surprise, they also brought two helpers he hadn't met before.
They were Diglett.
"Lit-wick~ Lit-wick~"
Litwick introduced the two Diglett to Lucas. It turned out they were friends of Zigzagoon. After learning that Lucas intended to create a vegetable garden, Zigzagoon had specifically invited them to assist.
The soil turned by Diglett became looser, making it more suitable for planting, and their natural fertilizer was more nutrient-rich than that of other Pokémon.
Lucas gratefully thanked Zigzagoon: "Zigzagoon, thank you so much."
"Zig-zag~ Zig-zag~"
Zigzagoon shyly covered its face with its small paws.
"Now that everyone's here, let's get to work!" Lucas announced.
"Lit-wick~"
"Pan-cham~"
"Zig-zag~"
...
The Pokémon responded with enthusiasm.
Lucas assigned tasks to the Pokémon as he had done when planting flowers previously.
This time, however, they didn't need to gather dead branches and decomposed matter for fertilizer, as they hadn't used all of what they'd prepared for the flower garden.
Similarly, they wouldn't need to collect stones. Lucas planned to enclose the vegetable garden with wooden stakes and fencing. The vegetable plot would be much larger than the flower garden, making a wooden fence more practical than a stone border.
After tasks were assigned, Pancham, Scraggy, Skitty, Litleo, and Gulpin went to find suitable wooden sticks. Only Lucas, Diancie, Komala, Munchlax, the Diglett, and Castform remained.
"Komala, I'm counting on you," Lucas said to Komala, who swayed back and forth clutching its log.
Hearing this, Komala rolled to the location Lucas had designated, raised its log, and used Wood Hammer, smashing it forcefully against the ground. The earth cracked and the soil bulged, creating a freshly turned patch of land.
Next came the Diglett's contribution. The pair tunneled into the ground Komala had broken up, burrowing back and forth through the soil. Within minutes, the large chunks of hard earth became loose and workable.
This method was far more efficient than Lucas and Diancie breaking up the soil bit by bit with hoes.
"Excellent!" Lucas gave the two Diglett an appreciative thumbs-up.
Hearing his praise, the Diglett worked with even greater enthusiasm.
Zigzagoon had told them that good work would be rewarded with delicious food!
Lucas motioned to Diancie and the others: "Let's start working too—don't just stand there."
With that, he, Diancie, and Munchlax began clearing out grass roots mixed in the soil and inviting Litwick to sterilize the ground.
By sunset, Lucas and his helpers had finally completed the vegetable garden.
Looking at the square plot before him, Lucas felt a profound sense of accomplishment.
He divided the cultivated area into five sections. The first section was for scallions and garlic, the second for bell peppers and chili peppers, and the third for ginger and green onions. The fourth section would grow common spices such as Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, bay leaves, and star anise—just small quantities of each. Spices were used sparingly, so these plantings would likely suffice even for the restaurant.
In the fifth section, Lucas planted common vegetables like leafy greens, water spinach, tomatoes, and radishes—again in modest amounts, just enough for his household's consumption.
For future restaurant needs, he could plant more later as required. He didn't yet know which dishes the system would unlock next. Fortunately, vegetables grew quickly, so there would be plenty of time.
The Nebel Plateau enjoyed a special climate where harvesting could occur year-round.
After completing the planting and erecting the fence, Lucas turned to Castform. "Castform, could you please water the garden?"
"Cast-form~"
Castform nodded and floated above the vegetable patch. Soon, a gentle drizzle began falling precisely over the garden. Having learned from its previous experience watering the flowers, Castform now controlled the rainfall expertly.
After watering was complete, Lucas addressed the Pokémon: "Time for baths, and then dinner!"
The Pokémon cheered upon hearing this.
After setting out bathing supplies, Lucas placed Munchlax and Komala into the water, applied shower gel to them, and then said to the other Pokémon:
"You're all mature Pokémon now. Shouldn't you learn to bathe yourselves?"
Stunky, Foongus, and Helioptile jumped into another bathtub, imitating Lucas's motions by applying shower gel and scrubbing themselves.
Observing this, Lucas offered advice: "Remember to ask your friends to help with places you can't reach yourself. Don't miss any spots."
Stunky, Foongus, and Helioptile immediately understood and spontaneously learned to scrub each other's backs. Foongus, particularly fond of cleanliness, scrubbed most vigorously while supervising its friends, ensuring no area went unwashed.
Following Stunky, Foongus, and Helioptile's example, the other Pokémon began helping each other bathe.
This time, Lucas had specially prepared two extra bathtubs, eliminating any concerns about insufficient space.
Everyone bathed and played in the water. Skitty, still disliking water, was dragged into the tub by its friends, releasing heart-wrenching wails of protest.
Litwick and the two Diglett, who didn't require bathing, quietly observed the others. The golden light of the setting sun illuminated everyone, adding a touch of warmth to the scene—harmonious as a painting.
Litwick felt this lifestyle was extraordinarily wonderful—so perfect it seemed like a dream, a beautiful vision that might vanish at any moment.
It turned its gaze toward Lucas, who was chatting and laughing with Munchlax.
Recently, all the Pokémon had become less fearful of Lucas, and their relationships with him had grown increasingly close, including Litwick's own.
Litwick found itself both enchanted by this beauty and unconsciously afraid—afraid that at any moment, this idyllic life might shatter like its beautiful past, leaving painful wounds.
Litwick had once had a beloved Trainer, with whom it had shared many wonderful experiences.
However, one day its Trainer had suddenly collapsed. After medical examination, Litwick learned it had inadvertently absorbed its Trainer's life force, causing the human to grow progressively weaker until falling into a coma.
For its Trainer to recover, Litwick had to leave.
Eventually, the Trainer's mother had secretly sent Litwick away, and after many tribulations, it had wandered to the Nebel Plateau.
In truth, Litwick understood the mother's actions. Even if she hadn't sent it away, Litwick would have departed quietly on its own, but still...
"Alright! Everyone's clean now—let's head back for dinner. My stomach is growling!"
Lucas's voice pulled Litwick from its reminiscence. It entered the house with the others in the fading sunset, enjoyed a delicious meal with everyone, and finally returned home with its friends amid farewells from Lucas, Diancie, and Munchlax.
After dinner, Lucas took Munchlax, Komala, and Diancie to the cooking training room.
"Let's explore this training room's capabilities!"
No sooner had he spoken than he noticed Diancie standing at the podium, somehow already holding a pointer in her hand.
Lucas's heart skipped a beat. "Diancie, what does this mean?"
Diancie tapped the pointer and replied, "You asked me to supervise the training! What else would it mean?"
"You wouldn't physically discipline your students, would you?"
"Of course not," Diancie smiled sweetly. "I'm just a simple supervisor."
"Right... of course."
Recalling Diancie's stern and unforgiving attitude during his previous specialized cooking training, Lucas felt a tremor of apprehension.
He watched as Diancie selected a training exercise on the large screen. The ingredients needed for steamed buns immediately materialized on the kitchen counter: flour, yeast, water...
"Practice begins. Munchlax, follow Lucas's example and learn carefully," Diancie transformed into a strict instructor, snapping her pointer against the podium.
Munchlax nodded obediently. It now wore the same attire as Lucas—a white apron and a tall chef's hat. It truly embodied the appearance of a chef's apprentice.
However, being rather short, Munchlax needed to stand on a stool to reach the counter and cutting board properly.
As training commenced, Munchlax followed Lucas step by step, learning with earnest concentration.
Snap! The pointer struck the podium sharply.
"Munchlax, too much water!" Diancie's stern voice rang out.
Lucas flinched instinctively. He glanced at Diancie, then at Munchlax. Fortunately, she's not addressing me.
Wait—I'm the head of the household. Why should I be afraid? With this thought, Lucas straightened his posture.
Snap! The sound of the pointer hitting the podium resonated again.
"Still too much water!"
Diancie's eyes, enhanced by the system, were incredibly perceptive, tolerating no errors, however slight. Munchlax frantically adjusted its technique.
Snap!
"Your kneading pressure is too firm—be gentler."
Snap!
"I said gentler—don't you understand what 'gentle' means?"
Snap!
"I told you to be gentle, not to apply no pressure at all. Didn't you eat enough at dinner? Who consumed those plates of steamed buns?"
Diancie in training mode was more severe than at any other time. Little Munchlax recoiled from the scolding, not daring to utter a sound.
"Diancie, perhaps we could take a more gradual approach..." Lucas attempted to intercede on Munchlax's behalf, but promptly closed his mouth upon receiving Diancie's withering glare. His intended appeal transformed into: "Munchlax, no achievement comes without effort. For your future prosperity, endure this temporary challenge! I fully support you."
Munchlax absorbed Lucas's encouragement. Indeed, its expression became less disheartened, and its movements grew more purposeful.
Only Komala remained completely at ease. It hugged its log pillow and swayed gently atop the podium, possibly genuinely asleep.