A bright yellow candle flickered in the darkness, driving away the shadows over the desk.
Cinccino held Smoliv in its arms as the two little Pokémon curiously poked their heads out to watch. Hayato Sora was busy writing in the ranch ledger.
Spring, Year 198 – January 30
Income: 0
Expenses:
Noibat ×3
Smoliv ×1
Cyclizar ×1
Gathering ingredients for dinner ×300
Total: 20,000
Remaining Funds: 26,500
Only 20,000 PokéDollars left…
A sense of urgency rose in Hayato Sora's heart.
At this rate, when would he ever save up 100,000 PokéDollars?
It seemed that tomorrow night's Beach Festival would require him to bring out his real skills and make some special and rare dishes.
Hayato Sora already had a vague idea in mind.
If it worked, selling out wouldn't be a problem.
He pinched Cinccino's big ears—the little one always yawned whenever it saw writing—then gently returned Smoliv to its flowerpot and sprinkled some growth fertilizer into the soil.
After finishing that, Hayato Sora urged Smoliv to go back to sleep.
Turning around, he saw Cyclizar lying in front of the fireplace, its eyelids drooping.
Despite being this sleepy, it still turned its head occasionally to check whether Hayato Sora had gone to bed.
Now that its gaze met Hayato Sora's, Cyclizar happily wagged its tail.
"You're this sleepy and still waiting for me?"
Hayato Sora walked over and patted it. Its back still held a trace of warmth.
He added some more firewood to the fireplace to ensure it would stay warm throughout the night.
Cyclizar was a Pokémon that feared the cold, after all.
Before going to bed, Hayato Sora made another round outside, checking the Mudbray stable and the Noibat cave.
The Mudbray were sleeping soundly, while the Noibat were still full of energy.
Then he remembered—Noibat were based on bats, naturally nocturnal creatures.
With them around, at least the ranch had Pokémon keeping watch at night.
After reminding them not to disturb the other Pokémon while they slept, Hayato Sora returned to the cabin.
The food placed under the eaves had already been eaten by Chatot, but the Pokémon itself was nowhere to be seen.
After checking on all the Pokémon, Hayato Sora washed up briefly, then lay down in bed holding Cinccino.
Before long, he fell asleep.
The next morning, after breakfast with the Pokémon,
Hayato Sora rode Cyclizar to complete the daily field inspection, and his day's ranch work was essentially done.
Most tasks were handled by the Pokémon, so his workload was quite light.
But today wasn't exactly easy.
He still had to prepare for the Beach Festival that night, and he was currently experimenting with special dishes.
Something unprecedented.
A dish just as strange as the Mud Cake he had made before.
At the Beach Festival, everyone would certainly bring out their best cooking.
Competing against so many skilled chefs made Hayato Sora a little nervous.
He knew his own abilities well enough—he was only a half-baked cook.
If he wanted to stand out, he'd have to rely on some unusual tricks.
Although the Mud Cake had succeeded before, Hayato Sora still had doubts about whether the ingredients in front of him could really produce something Pokémon would like.
"Hoo… let's give it a try."
Decision made, Hayato Sora immediately got to work.
He poured Sweet Honey into a batch of prepared mud and mixed them thoroughly.
Then he poured the mixture into a mold to shape it.
Wrapping it in foil, he placed it over a fire to bake.
Whenever Hayato Sora cooked, Pokémon inevitably gathered nearby to watch.
This time was no exception.
Kangaskhan's eyes widened in shock.
It was so stunned it couldn't even speak.
Such a tiny human…
Yet such a massive mystery.
"Rooong—!"
(Hayato Sora, what exactly are you making?! Can this really be called food?!)
Kangaskhan was deeply confused.
"I don't know either," Hayato Sora said bluntly with a shrug. "I'm just trying it."
Still, he felt the success rate should be pretty high.
After all, if Mud Cake counted as a dish, then why couldn't mud-baked cookies count too?
The result appeared quickly.
A translucent interface unfolded before his eyes.
Mud Cookies (Honey Flavor) – D Rank
A strange dish. Because it uses mud as a special ingredient, most ordinary Pokémon cannot eat it, but it is loved by certain Pokémon.
Cooking Effect:
After consumption, it accelerates the accumulation of Pokémon energy.
"Accelerates energy accumulation?"
If Hayato Sora understood correctly, this meant it could shorten the time required for Pokémon to evolve.
Many Pokémon with three-stage evolutions required enormous amounts of energy to reach their final form.
It was already known that many Pokémon, during their second stage, would transform into cocoons or similar forms—sacrificing most of their combat ability in exchange for speeding up the process.
Common examples included Caterpie and Weedle.
Rarer cases included the Larvitar line, famous for their late blooming.
Even Legendary Pokémon had examples, such as Cosmoem, the second form of the Alolan Sun and Moon legendary.
Speeding up energy accumulation meant Pokémon could reach their final forms much faster.
Hayato Sora wanted to test it immediately.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a suitable Pokémon nearby.
So he waved toward the Mudbray, asking them to taste it and see how it was.
After all, Mudbray weren't the only Pokémon that ate soil.
Most Rock-type Pokémon ate it as well.
Even if the effect wasn't useful, the taste still had to be good.
The Mudbray cautiously took a small bite first, chewing slowly.
Their half-lidded eyes suddenly widened.
In just a few bites, the mud cookie was gone.
"Looks like the taste is pretty good—you all like it."
"Mud-mud~!"
The Mudbray nodded vigorously.
The three little ones surrounded Hayato Sora, rubbing against his pant legs and begging for more.
Flipping one Mudbray onto its back, Hayato Sora poked their round little bellies.
"One more piece each, okay? Just one!"
Compared to their uncertain life in the wild—sometimes starving, sometimes full—the Mudbray were living extremely comfortably at the ranch.
Every day they had a bowl of pumpkin porridge, and every couple of days they got Mud Cake as a snack.
They ate a lot but didn't expend much energy.
In less than a month since arriving at the ranch, their bellies had all become round and plump.
Their bodies were already noticeably larger than when they first arrived.
Seeing Hayato Sora's serious expression, the Mudbray whined softly.
"Mud-mud!"
Alright… just one last piece.
"You three little gluttons."
Hayato Sora poked each of their heads and warned them,
"You should exercise more every day. That's how you stay healthy."
Clearly, the Mudbray didn't listen.
Grabbing the mud cookies Hayato Sora handed them, the three shook their little rumps and executed a strategic retreat.
Soon, the effects of the Mud Cookies began to appear.
After playing in the mud pool for a while, the Mudbray's stomachs began to growl in unison.
Normally, they wouldn't feel hungry until midday.
But now, not even half the usual time had passed.
Hungry and lacking the energy to play, the Mudbray turned their attention to the fresh pasture grass that had just grown beside their stable.
The three little gluttons looked at each other.
Then silently reached an agreement.
Eat! Eat!
Meanwhile, Hayato Sora had absolutely no idea the Mudbray were devouring the lawn clean, executing a "dig three feet deep" strategy—grass and soil alike disappearing into their stomachs.
He was busy experimenting with several other strange dishes.
The ingredients were just as bizarre as mud.
Watching from the side, Kangaskhan's expression twisted dramatically.
It never expected Hayato Sora to cook something this… extreme.
And it had a horrible suspicion.
Was he planning to make it the taste tester later?
Thinking of that, Kangaskhan quietly slipped away.
It went to find Cinccino and Cyclizar to play instead.
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