The incident all began with Cyclizar.
Early in the morning, the dew dripped from the petals onto the soft grass.
After breakfast, Naoki went out to milk his Gogoat, as was his routine. Meanwhile, Koraidon, Dragonite, and Cyclizar were outside playing on the grass with a ball that Naoki had bought for them from the toy store the previous afternoon.
The three Pokémon stood in a triangle, tossing the ball to one another in turn.
When it was Cyclizar's turn, it accidentally misjudged its strength, and the ball flew off into the pineapple field.
Cyclizar let out an exasperated "Gaaaaa" and quickly dashed into the field to retrieve the ball. After searching for a while, it finally found the ball nestled beside a pineapple plant.
As Cyclizar bent down to pick up the ball, something unusual caught its eye—a glowing object not far away.
Intrigued, it walked closer and saw something extraordinary.
The glowing object was a pineapple—ripe and radiating a soft light.
Cyclizar had never seen anything like this before. Confused but curious, it hurried back to inform Naoki.
Upon hearing the news, Naoki rushed to the pineapple field. Sure enough, he spotted the glowing pineapple at a glance.
A surprising thought immediately crossed Naoki's mind: "The Gogoat's has produced mutant crops again!"
Excited, he quickly approached the glowing pineapple to investigate. As he touched it, information about the crop appeared in his mind.
[Glowing Pineapple: A special crop, born from the energy of the Gogoat's. When used in food preparation, it imparts a "flash" effect.]
"Flash?" Naoki mused. Could it be the Flash move he was familiar with?
If so, when consumed, the Pokémon's body would emit a light that could dispel darkness and illuminate its surroundings—perfect for cave exploration or navigating pitch-black environments.
Naoki's curiosity was piqued. He was eager to experiment with this newfound crop. But then, another thought struck him: 'What if there are more mutant crops in the other fields?'
Suppressing his excitement, Naoki decided to remain patient. He took a deep breath and began methodically inspecting the other crops in his fields, one by one.
As he examined them, pieces of information popped into his mind:
[Ordinary Corn], [Ordinary Corn], [Ordinary Wheat], [Ordinary Wheat], [Ordinary Hops], [Ordinary Pumpkin].
"Nothing else?" Naoki muttered, feeling a twinge of disappointment.
But as he glanced down at the glowing pineapple in his hand, he smiled, comforting himself. "Having even one mutant crop is already amazing. I shouldn't be too greedy."
Naoki planned to take the glowing pineapple back to his room to cook and test its effects. However, just as he was leaving the farmland, something strange caught his eye.
In the pumpkin field, among a sea of large, orange, and golden pumpkins, one stood out. It looked ordinary at first, but as Naoki watched, the pumpkin began to change right before his eyes.
At first, it shrank slowly, becoming the size of an orange. Then, it began to grow, expanding until it was as large as a tire.
Naoki's eyes widened in disbelief at the spectacle.
Just then, a new piece of information flashed in his mind:
[Size-as-you-like Pumpkin: A special crop, created by the energy of Gogoat. When used to make food, it grants the dish the ability to adjust its size as you desire.]
"Size-as-you-like?" Naoki muttered in confusion. "What kind of strange effect is that?"
Curious, Naoki handed the glowing pineapple to Cyclizar, who stood beside him, and picked the mysterious pumpkin himself.
Even after separating from the vine, the pumpkin didn't stop changing size. What's more, its weight shifted along with its size—growing heavier when large and lighter when small.
Naoki held it carefully, the odd sensation of its shifting weight strong in his arms.
He brought Cyclizar to the kitchen, placing the pumpkin on the chopping board, Naoki watched as it continued to alternate between sizes.
Once it reached its largest form, Naoki grabbed a kitchen knife and, with a soft "thunk," pierced the pumpkin.
To his surprise, the moment the knife cut into it, the pumpkin stopped changing size. But instead of remaining in its largest form, it shrank back to its regular size.
"What a shame," Naoki sighed. "I thought I'd be able to make a few more dishes with this."
Still, there was no use lamenting. It was time to test the effects of these two magical crops!
From the descriptions in his mind, it seemed that no matter what dish he made with these fruits and vegetables, they would have two distinct properties: one would give the food a glowing flash, and the other would allow him to control the size.
Naoki knew that to make the best use of the glowing pineapple and magical pumpkin, he needed to be efficient, using the least amount of ingredients to create the most dishes without wasting anything.
"Pineapple can be used for sweet and sour pork, pineapple sticky rice, pineapple cake, or even juice." Naoki thought aloud, considering his options.
However, making pineapple cake felt a bit wasteful given the special nature of this crop. After a moment of thought, he made a decision.
Plan:
Cut the pineapple in half, and use most of the flesh to prepare sweet and sour pork and juice. The remaining pineapple shell? Perfect for making pineapple sticky rice.
As for the pumpkin.
A number of pumpkin-related recipes flickered through his mind, but one in particular caught his attention—pumpkin pie. Simple, traditional, and delicious. It was the perfect dish for this special pumpkin.
Without further delay, Naoki got to work.
He started by halving the glowing pineapple, carefully scooping out the juicy flesh with a spoon and a fruit knife. The diced pineapple chunks went into two separate piles—one for cooking, and the other for juice. Then, he filled the hollowed-out pineapple halves with soaked glutinous rice and diced pineapple flesh, placing them in the rice cooker to steam.
While the pineapple sticky rice steamed, Naoki retrieved pork tenderloin, eggs, and a few other ingredients from the refrigerator.
He cut the tenderloin into cubes, dipped the pieces in beaten egg, and then coated them in starch. After heating oil in a pan, he fried the pork until each piece was golden brown.
Next, Naoki prepared a sweet and tangy sauce, mixing tomato juice, sugar, vinegar, and a few seasonings.
In the final step, he tossed green pepper, red pepper, pineapple chunks, and fried pork into the pan, stir-frying everything together until the aroma filled the kitchen.
When it was ready, Naoki turned off the heat and plated the dish—sweet and sour pineapple pork.
As soon as the dish was finished, information about it flashed before his eyes:
[Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple (B+): This dish is made using freshly picked glowing pineapple and tender pork. The balance of sweetness and sourness creates a deliciously nutritious meal.
Cooking Effect: Flash. After feeding this dish to a Pokémon, there is a chance the Pokémon will learn the move Flash, and its body will glow for 30 minutes.
Evaluation: A well-loved dish for fans of sweet and sour flavors.]
Naoki smiled at the description. "Just as I expected," he said.
Flash—a useful move, especially when venturing into dark caves. Having a Pokémon learn it could come in handy in future explorations.
...
[As promised, here's the additional chapter.]
[Next additional chapter on 1,500 Powerstones.]