"Uncle Cyrus?"
Looking at the smiling Zhuge Ziyu beside him, Lu Ze couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
"You came to the street food street too, Uncle Ziyu? Oh, who's this? Your kid?"
Zhuge Ziyu gave a little laugh, lifting the hand holding the little girl. "A friend's kid. A friend's kid."
"She really is cute."
As Lu Ze reached out to pet the little girl's head, a boy standing beside her slapped his hand away.
"Uh..."
Looking at the boy's suspicious eyes, Lu Ze chuckled awkwardly. "Okay, okay, I won't touch. Are you her big brother?"
The boy nodded, still glaring suspiciously at Lu Ze.
Zhuge Ziyu felt helpless. He didn't know how to handle this situation either.
Fortunately, the squid was just grilled. So Zhuge Ziyu handed one to each of the two kids before leaving with them.
"Xiaozé, I'll come find you later tonight."
"Okay, Uncle Ziyu."
Lu Ze bit into a piece of squid as he responded.
"That little boy is kind of interesting. A sister-complex, huh."
The moment they had melted into the crowd, Sui Yan moved closer, chewing on squid and mumbling through his mouthful.
Lu Ze chuckled and playfully slapped Sui Yan. "Mind your own business. Come on, let's eat."
Saying that, Lu Ze continued walking forward.
"Chirp～"
"It's kind of spicy. Can you handle it?"
Mini Dragon stared intently at the grilled squid in Lu Ze's hand, her eyes shining with longing.
"Alright, fine."
After an awkward response, Lu Ze extended the grilled squid to Mini Dragon's mouth, letting her take a bite.
"Sss～ha"
"Whoa, not too fast, be careful of the heat."
Lu Ze affectionately looked at Mini Dragon, then flipped the squid, holding the other side to Electric Rat's mouth.
"Want to try some?"
Electric Rat looked at Mini Dragon, who'd just been burned by her tongue, then at the grilled squid near his mouth. He hesitated.
"Chirp～"
Electric Rat looked up at Mini Dragon again, then gently blew on the squid twice before taking a bite from the large grilled squid.
"Leh!"
"Chirp～"
Mini Dragon proudly puffed up her little head, then signaled Lu Ze again—she wanted another bite.
Lu Ze smiled, handing the squid to Mini Dragon. She used her tail to wrap around the skewer, happily munching away.
"Leh～"
(I want to eat～)
"Chirp!"
(Call me Sister!)
"Leh～"
(Sister～)
After brief communication, Mini Dragon smiled and passed the grilled squid, letting Electric Rat have a bite.
Lu Ze had no idea what they were saying. Because he'd found another delicious treat.
"Excuse me, one large stinky tofu."
"Alright, young man. Want some Ertiaojiao chili?"
"A little bit. Thanks."
"Coming right up."
As the vendor spoke, he skillfully put the stinky tofu into the hot oil to fry.
"Boss, add one more."
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Four!"
"I'll have one too!"
"Alright, hold on a sec."
The vendor cheerfully picked up the tongs, adding more stinky tofu into the oil.
"Neither of you want some?"
"No thanks. Both me and Yuyou can't eat this."
"What a shame," Tang Yunqin said regretfully. "I love it so much."
"Goohng～"
Hearing Ice Sixtail's voice, Tang Yunqin turned down to her. "Don't get anxious, I'll give you some in a bit. Hopefully you'll like it too."
Soon, the stinky tofu was ready. Five bowls held in the hands of Lu Ze's group, and they ate as they walked.
Auron and Mini Dragon shared one bowl. Electric Rat didn't like it much, so he just followed behind Auron, nibbling on the squid.
Ice Sixtail seemed to enjoy it. She ate happily with Tang Yunqin.
Sui Yan's Bulbasaur and Tingxi's Tandemaus couldn't handle it at all. Merely smelling it, they ran straight back into their Poké Balls.
"Too bad. Such a delicious thing, but those two can't enjoy it."
After putting Tandemaus' Poké Ball into his pocket, Tingxi looked at Sui Yan and sighed.
"Yep, too bad."
Sui Yan nodded, cheerfully munching on stinky tofu, not looking the least bit sorry.
"Oh right, what about your Abra? Don't you want to let him try?"
"Nah, he's probably still sleeping. Abra seems to be close to evolution lately—sleeping much longer."
Fugui said with a slight air of worry, then perked back up and stuffed a piece of stinky tofu into his mouth.
"So soon?" Sui Yan was shocked. "How can that be? My Bulbasaur still has no signs of evolution yet."
"Same, my Tandemaus..."
"Shut it!"
Before Tingxi could finish, he was silenced by both Sui Yan and Fugui.
You, a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary, are complaining here? Everyone knows Dragon-type Pokémon have long evolution cycles, especially pseudo-legendaries, with even longer cycles.
"Uh, alright..."
Tingxi awkwardly took a bite of stinky tofu.
But after Tingxi interrupted, Sui Yan and Fugui didn't feel like continuing the topic either. So they simply kept walking.
The group ate stinky tofu. Yuyou and Hanling kept their mouths busy too.
When Lu Ze's group was waiting for the stinky tofu, Yin Hanling had bought two tanghulus on the side.
"Kai!"
"Tastes good."
Yuyou pinched a tanghulu, handing it into the shadows behind her.
Gengar suddenly emerged, biting down completely on the tanghulu in Yuyou's hand.
Though Gengar's sudden appearance startled a few people behind, it was only brief—they were only surprised because Gengar came out too abruptly.
"Kai!"
"Fine. I'll make sure to let them taste it too."
Yuyou smiled softly, then pinched the tanghulu, stuffing one piece each into Shuppet and Dragalge's mouths.
Yin Hanling did the same beside her.
To be fair, Ghost-type Pokémon really do have this advantage.
If it were Snorlax, even if they wanted to eat, they couldn't come to the snack street in person.
After all, Snorlax was far too large, and also way too fat.
The group continued eating their way down the snack street, finishing all the food. Then they arrived at the BBQ shop at the street's end.
"Eat some BBQ?"
"Sure."
After Auron and Sui Yan agreed, the others had no objections.
Though the two girls were already nearly full, they didn't seem to mind eating more.
"Boss, one meat, one tendon, one kidney, add some sausages, chicken wings, one eggplant, five griddle cakes, one plate of leeks, a box of beer!"
"Of course, just wait a sec. I'll have these ready right away."
After Auron placed the order, Tang Yunqin asked with slight concern, "With this much, can we finish it all?"
"Relax, there's so many of us. We'll just about manage. And, I've still got a Snorlax at home—later I'll pack some up for it."
"Yeah, I'll pack some for my Arcanine too. They've been working hard lately."
After Auron spoke, Sui Yan also nodded along.
After all, apart from Yuyou and Hanling's Ghost-type Pokémon who were nearby, everyone else would be taking some home for their Pokémon companions.
And they might as well pack some stinky tofu, bomb squid, grilled gluten, or whatever from the snack street later.
After all, while they train, we're chowing down. After training ends, we definitely have to pamper their tummies too.
Sigh, this chapter made me so hungry. No choice—I'm going for BBQ tonight!
(End of Chapter)