Grass Dumplings (D-)
A strange dish. Glutinous rice flour is wrapped around fresh, juicy pasture grass, then steamed and kneaded into green dumplings. Ordinary Pokémon cannot eat it, but it is loved by certain Pokémon.
Cooking Effect:
After consumption, slightly enhances Grass-type Pokémon's understanding of Grass-type moves.
"Stir-Fried Stones " (C Rank)
A wildly imaginative dish. Pebbles with a diameter of 3–5 cm are stir-fried with eight kinds of spices, coating the stones completely with seasoning. The flavor is enjoyed by sucking on the stones.
Cooking Effect:
Slightly restores stamina.
Special Effect:
If eaten by Rock-type Pokémon, it can increase the Pokémon's internal attribute energy.
(Note: One pebble will be permanently lost.)
After the Mud Cookies, Hayato Sora had created two more dishes that ordinary Pokémon couldn't eat.
The effect of Grass Dumplings was exactly what he expected. This dish would be perfect for Pokémon like Skiddo.
There was a huge market for it in Santalune City.
He could use the Beach Festival to expand his sales channels and sell Grass Dumplings to fellow ranchers along Route 12 who raised Skiddo.
As for the second dish, Stir-Fried Stones , its effect looked similar to the Grass Dumplings.
So why was it ranked C?
Hayato Sora was puzzled.
He picked up a pebble and tried eating it according to the description.
"Stir-Fried Stones ," in reality, was just stir-fried stones.
Once it went into his mouth, all he could taste was the flavor of spices.
Other than that, nothing special.
Looking around, Hayato Sora searched for Kangaskhan.
"Huh? Where did it go?"
It had been nearby just moments ago—now it had disappeared.
Looks like he'd have to find another Pokémon to test the dish.
Cyclizar and the others weren't around, and Smoliv, who was sunbathing on the windowsill, obviously couldn't eat it.
So Hayato Sora headed to the Mudbray stable.
The moment he arrived, he froze.
"…What happened here? Did we get robbed?!"
Staring in shock at the stable, he saw that the area surrounding it had become completely barren.
The pasture grass he had planted earlier had been eaten clean—roots and soil included.
After quickly scanning the area, he found the culprits.
Three Mudbray lay on their backs on the ground, their round bellies bulging as they lazily greeted him.
"Mud-mud~"
I'm so full…
"Mud~"
Hayato Sora, we ate so much.
"Mudbray!!"
Help! Hayato Sora, I can't roll back over!
Hayato Sora: "..."
Black lines appeared across his forehead.
These Mudbray had gone too far.
Overeating was not a good habit—it placed enormous strain on the body.
Three minutes later, Hayato Sora had helped the Mudbray flip back over and now stared at them with a serious expression.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the Mudbray lowered their heads, trying their best not to look at him.
"I've been too lenient with you. I just told you something, and you ignored it right away."
Hayato Sora crouched down so the Mudbray would look him in the eyes.
"The grass here was supposed to be snacks for you. But you went and ate everything—roots and soil included."
The Mudbray lowered their heads and muttered softly.
"Mud-mud…"
We were just so hungry…
"Hungry?" Hayato Sora glanced at his watch.
"It hasn't even been three hours since breakfast."
"And even if you were eating it, why did you eat the roots too?"
"Look at yourselves—you're so stuffed you can't even move. Doesn't that feel awful?"
He absolutely couldn't let the Mudbray develop a binge-eating habit.
Even eating normally, their weight had already increased by more than half in less than half a month.
If this continued, they'd turn into round balls.
For the Mudbray's physical and mental health, he would have to strictly control their food intake from now on.
After lecturing them thoroughly so they understood their mistake, Hayato Sora told them to lie still while he massaged their stomachs to help with digestion.
"How did you even eat that much?" he muttered.
"Didn't you feel full?"
Logically speaking, creatures that could eat themselves to death were usually ones that didn't understand the concept of fullness, or very young Pokémon.
Mudbray were Pokémon with intelligence comparable to humans.
Even if they were hungry, they shouldn't have forced themselves to eat past their limit.
Enjoying Hayato Sora's massage, the Mudbray explained pitifully:
"Mud-mud…"
(We don't know… No matter how much we ate, our stomachs still felt empty.)
The Mudbray looked teary-eyed.
"Could it be… the Mud Cookies' cooking effect?"
The more Hayato Sora thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Cooking Effect: Accelerates Pokémon energy accumulation.
Where did that energy come from?
Aside from daily activity, it mainly came from food.
In other words, the effect accelerated the Pokémon's energy consumption, making them feel hungry much faster.
That explained everything.
Earlier, the Mudbray had helped taste-test the dish.
Once the Mud Cookies' effect activated, they became extremely hungry.
That hunger forced them to devour the pasture grass.
Of course, this was still only Hayato Sora's hypothesis.
It needed testing.
With that thought, Hayato Sora immediately grabbed three Mud Cookies and gave them to the Mudbray.
Having just been scolded for overeating, the Mudbray hesitated and asked cautiously several times before slowly nibbling the cookies.
Hayato Sora waited quietly.
Soon, he clearly saw their round bellies shrinking at a visible speed.
The excess food inside them was instantly digested and converted into energy for their growth.
"Mud-mud~!"
Freed from their bloated stomachs, the Mudbray quickly flipped upright.
They stretched out their necks and licked Hayato Sora with their tongues, signaling that they were fine now.
Hayato Sora gently patted them.
"Sorry, Mudbray. I wrongly blamed you earlier."
The Mudbray shook their heads.
Hayato Sora had only been worried about them—and he had even given them massages. They weren't angry at all.
"Wait here," Hayato Sora said.
"I'll make Mud Cake to make it up to you."
"Mud!"
At the mention of their favorite snack, the Mudbray jumped excitedly.
They pounced onto Hayato Sora, knocking him over.
Three tongues licked him enthusiastically as the Mudbray squirmed in excitement.
Hayato Sora is the best ever!
Afterward, Hayato Sora replanted pasture seeds around the stable and had the Mudbray use a plowing move to cultivate the soil.
Then he went to prepare the Mud Cakes, along with extra batches of Mud Cookies and Grass Dumplings.
Those two dishes could be made ahead of time and wouldn't spoil easily.
Stir-Fried Stones , however, was more troublesome—it had to be made fresh.
To make a big profit at the Beach Festival that night, Hayato Sora prepared a large amount.
By noon, Kangaskhan and Cyclizar finally returned, chatting and laughing together.
Seeing Hayato Sora packaging the food, Kangaskhan quickly stepped forward to help.
Cinccino and Cyclizar followed right behind.
Since he was planning to sell the dishes, Hayato Sora felt they should at least be properly packaged.
It looked much better than simply piling everything together.
The entire afternoon passed in busy preparation.
By the time the evening sunlight spread across the ranch, Hayato Sora and the Pokémon had already finished dinner.
They planned to head out early to set up their stall.
Hayato Sora wondered where Siebold had arranged his booth.
For this trip, Hayato Sora brought all the Pokémon from the ranch, Poké Balls hanging all around his waist.
The annual Beach Festival of Santalune City wasn't just something Hayato Sora was looking forward to—the Pokémon wanted to go too.
Except for Chatot.
That guy was busy enjoying life with his growing flock.
The expansion of the flock rested entirely on Chatot's shoulders.
So Hayato Sora decided to let it stay behind and guard the ranch with its bird squad.
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