"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
Just as Angie was interacting with Camerupt and Rockruff, the two Oinkologne suddenly approached him, tugging at the hem of Angie's clothes and trying to drag him to the side.
"What's the matter, Oinkologne?" Angie asked, puzzled.
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The two Oinkologne continued to pull at Angie with all their might.
Suddenly, Angie caught on. "Did you find new ingredients again?"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The Oinkologne began hopping and bouncing excitedly upon seeing Angie understand them.
"Quick, take me there!" Angie eagerly exclaimed, already raring to go.
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The two Oinkologne quickly turned around and started running in a certain direction. Angie followed close behind, waving goodbye to Camerupt and the others as he left.
"Camerupt, Rockruff, Lycanroc, see you next time! Be careful, all of you!"
"Camerupt~"
"Rockruff~ Rockruff~"
"Lycanroc~"
The three Pokémon called out in response, bidding Angie farewell as well.
Pawmi who is standing by the feet of the Espartha, patted its long legs with its tiny hands.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Were they just talking about something delicious?
"Espartha~"
Indeed.
The Espartha nodded.
"Pawmi!!!"
Pawmi's eyes lit up, and it immediately darted off, chasing after Angie's trail.
Espartha shook its head helplessly at the sight of Pawmi's disappearing figure. With Arven perched on its back and Mabosstiff in tow, it leisurely followed along.
Led by the two Oinkologne, Angie and his companions arrived at a sparsely vegetated patch of grassland. The field was dotted with a type of plant whose leaves were spread flat against the ground.
"Isn't this... shepherd's purse?" Angie exclaimed in delight.
Pawmi ran over and clung to Angie's leg, looking up and asking.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Shepherd's purse? Is it tasty?
Angie squatted down, rubbing Pawmi's head. "We'll have something delicious tonight!"
"Pawmi!!!"
Pawmi's eyes sparkled with excitement. Without waiting for Angie's instructions, it began picking plants on its own.
"Hey, hey~ You're picking the wrong ones; that's just regular weeds!" Angie quickly said, picking a shepherd's purse to show Pawmi. "This is shepherd's purse!"
"Pawmi~"
Pawmi immediately threw away the weeds in its hand, bent down, and carefully picked another plant to show Angie.
"This time, you got it right!" Angie said with a smile.
Encouraged, Pawmi happily continued gathering more.
At that moment, Arven climbed down from Espartha's back. "I'll help too," he said.
And so, everyone started cheerfully harvesting together.
The grassland was covered with shepherd's purse, with only a few other wild plants scattered among them.
As they worked, Angie gave instructions: "Pick the tender ones, okay? Don't bother with the ones that have flowers or stalks growing out of them."
He pointed to a flowering shepherd's purse as an example.
"Pawmi~" *l
I Got it!
"Understood!"
"Espartha~"
Okay, okay!
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Before long, they had gathered a large basketful of shepherd's purse. Espartha, in particular, used its psychic abilities to pick whole patches at once, collecting more than the rest combined.
Seeing that it was getting late, Angie stored the full basket in his system space and said to Arven and the Pokémon, "We'd better head back, or it'll be dark soon!"
In Area Zero, due to its unique terrain, daytime was much shorter than nighttime, and the darkness came especially early.
"Coming!"
Arven was the first to run over to Angie and agilely climbed onto Espartha's back.
The group set off in a lively march toward home. As they passed the entrance to Area Zero, the guards there heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing Angie return safely.
"It's good to see you all safe. If you were any later, I would've had to lead a team in to look for you," one of them said.
Angie scratched his head apologetically. "I lost track of time. Sorry for worrying you."
The guard smiled and nodded. "As long as you're okay. Just try not to stay out so late next time—the Pokémon down below aren't to be trifled with."
Some of them were formidable enough to make even the guards think twice before provoking them.
Angie nodded. "Got it."
He waved goodbye to the guards and continued on.
By the time they returned to the Research Station No. 1, the sun was just beginning to set. Diancie, as always, had already set up the tables and chairs, ready for Angie and the others to start cooking upon their return.
Walking over to Diancie, Angie asked, "How did the afternoon experiments go?"
"Just about done," Diancie replied.
"That's great! Let's get started on dinner—we're having something fresh tonight." Angie grinned.
"What are we eating?" Diancie asked, intrigued.
"Dumplings! We picked wild shepherd's purse today, so we're making dumplings!" Angie said, pulling out the basket of shepherd's purse from his bag.
Diancie, who had never tried dumplings before, picked up a piece of shepherd's purse and asked, "Are dumplings good?"
Angie replied mysteriously, "You'll know once you try them."
Diancie pouted. "Fine, don't tell me."
Angie then summoned Munchlax and Drizzile from home.
Recently, Munchlax had been diligently handling household chores, preparing meals for the Pokémon, and then sitting on the porch steps, waiting for its master to summon it.
Not only did it busily attend to tasks, but it also constantly nagged Drizzile to help out, much to Drizzile's exasperation.
The moment it arrived, Munchlax threw itself into Angie's arms, showering him with affection.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
Master, I missed you so much—it's been ages!
Angie patted its head indulgently. "Alright, alright, I missed you too!"
Hearing this, Munchlax's heart swelled with joy.
"Okay, let's start cooking!" Angie announced.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
Energized by Angie's words, Munchlax raised its fists and responded enthusiastically.
Then, as if remembering something, it rummaged around its belly and pulled out two Poké Balls.
"Munchlax~" *l
Master, these are for you!
Munchlax handed the Poké Balls to Angie, who opened them to reveal two Charcadet.
"Charcadet, how are you liking it at home?" Angie asked with a cheerful smile.
"Charcadet~"
"Charcadet~"
The two Charcadet were overjoyed, holding hands as they danced around Angie in circles.
They were thrilled with their new home. Not only was everyone incredibly kind to them, but their house was also very cozy. They no longer had to worry about getting drenched in the rain. Their room even had charcoal basins, specially arranged by Angie through Munchlax. The basins were filled with charcoal, allowing them to rest atop it.
Their naturally high temperatures would ignite the charcoal, which in turn provided them with energy. Sleeping on the burning charcoal was sheer bliss for them.
Angie smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. I'll need your help with dinner today."
"Charcadet~"
"Charcadet~"
The two Charcadet nodded enthusiastically.
Angie began assigning tasks.
"Munchlax, could you help knead some dough?"
"Munchlax~"
Munchlax responded with the seriousness of someone undertaking an important mission, nodding firmly as it picked up a bag of flour and water and got to work on a nearby table.
"Arven, you can help Diancie and Pawmi sort out the shepherd's purse." Angie continued.
"No problem!"
"Got it!"
"Pawmi!"
Arven, Diancie, and Pawmi all replied in unison.
Lastly, Angie turned to Drizzile. "Drizzile, your job is to wash the greens."
"Drizzile~!"
Drizzile struck an "OK" pose with its hand, confidently grabbing a basin and walking over. With a snap of its fingers, it began filling the basin with water.
As for Espartha, Oinkologne, and Mabosstiff, they were only required to wait for the meal to be ready. The Charcadet duo was off-duty for the time being as well.
After assigning tasks, Angie released the family of Scovillain, allowing them to play on the grassy field nearby and get familiar with everyone.
Angie himself approached another table and placed a large chunk of pork on a cutting board. Tonight, he planned to make pork and shepherd's purse dumplings.
Taking a knife, he carefully chopped the pork into small pieces, then minced it further.
Since the pork was meant for dumplings, it didn't need to be too finely minced. Angie remembered that in his past life, frozen dumplings from the supermarket contained meat ground to a pulp by machines, completely devoid of texture or soul.
Hand-minced meat, with a slight chunky texture, was the tastiest in Angie's opinion.
Once the meat was minced, Diancie and the others had finished sorting the shepherd's purse.
Angie turned to the Charcadet and said, "Can I trouble you to boil some water?"
"Charcadet~"
"Charcadet~"
The duo nodded rapidly, quickly scurrying to the pot Angie had prepared. Flames glowed bright red across their bodies as they began heating the pot.
Meanwhile, Angie placed the cleaned shepherd's purse into salted water.
The salt came from the Garganacl's salt stones. After soaking in the saltwater, the shepherd's purse seemed even more vibrant and lush.
Once the water boiled, he blanched the shepherd's purse for about 30 seconds, then drained it and set it aside to dry. He chopped the greens finely and set them aside.
Next came preparing the meat filling.
To the minced pork, Angie added Garganacl's salt, oyster sauce, an egg, pepper, soy sauce, and starch, mixing everything evenly. He then added chopped scallions and ginger in batches, stirring until the mixture became cohesive.
By this time, Arven, Drizzile, Diancie, and Pawmi had all gathered around. Pawmi, being too short, tiptoed as much as it could but still couldn't see the table. In the end, Diancie picked it up, cradling it in her arms.
"Pawmi~"
Pawmi happily kicked its legs while being held by Diancie.
Seeing how attentive Arven and Drizzile were, Angie decided to explain the steps of seasoning the filling in detail. The two listened with great interest.
Once the pork filling was ready, he added the chopped shepherd's purse and mixed in some Dolliv oil until everything was well-blended.
"Munchlax, is the dough ready?" Angie called out as he set the filling aside.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
Munchlax replied, hurrying over with a basin of dough.
"Alright, let's roll out the dumpling wrappers!"
Angie walked over to another table, sprinkled some flour on it, and took the dough from Munchlax. He rolled it into long strips, then cut it into evenly sized pieces.
From the system shop, he'd purchased a rolling pin, which he now put to good use as he started rolling out the dough.
Angie's skill at rolling dumpling wrappers was exceptional. Before long, one after another, perfectly uniform wrappers appeared, with thick centers and thin edges—truly top-quality dumpling wrappers.
Watching Angie's smooth movements, Munchlax was full of admiration and eagerly said.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
Master, let me try! Let me try!
Angie cheerfully handed the rolling pin to it. "Sure, give it a go!"
Excited, Munchlax grabbed the rolling pin, recalling Angie's movements, and enthusiastically started rolling.
Since it didn't quite grasp the technique, the first dumpling wrapper Munchlax rolled out was not only oddly shaped but also full of holes.
"Drizzile~ Drizzile~~"
Hahaha~ So ugly!
Drizzile laughed at Munchlax without hesitation.
Angie said, "How about you give it a try then?"
Drizzile's face lit up with confidence.
"Drizzile~ Drizzile~"
This is nothing for me. I'm amazing!
Angie grinned. "Alright, let's see just how amazing you are!" With that, he bought another rolling pin and handed it to Drizzile.
As it turned out, Drizzile wasn't any better than Munchlax. Its first dumpling wrapper was equally bizarre and riddled with holes.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
Hahaha~~ Look at yours!
Now it was Munchlax's turn to laugh at Drizzile.
"See? Not so easy now, huh?" Angie said with a smile. Then, he began teaching his two apprentices the techniques involved.
Both Pokémon were quick learners, and before long, they successfully rolled out usable dumpling wrappers. While not as perfect as Angie's, they were good enough to use.
Angie said, "Alright, I'll leave the wrapper-rolling to you two. Let's move on to wrapping the dumplings."
"Munchlax!"
Munchlax nodded enthusiastically.
"Drizzile~"
Drizzile gave Angie a thumbs-up.
Angie spread the wrappers out one by one, added an appropriate amount of filling, and skillfully began folding the dumplings. In the blink of an eye, a beautifully wrapped dumpling was done.
The dumplings were plump, with pleats as neat and uniform as a skirt's hem—absolutely delightful.
"Is this what dumplings are?" Diancie carefully held up one of Angie's dumplings, her eyes full of wonder. "They're so pretty!"
Pawmi, equally curious, reached out to poke the dumpling's belly, only to have Diancie swat his hand away.
"Don't touch it! You'll mess it up!"
(ó﹏ò) Pawmi clutched his hand, looking aggrieved.
"Angie, can I help too?" Arven asked.
"Of course! I'll teach you." Angie began explaining the steps to Arven while continuing to wrap dumplings.
Arven proved to be quite talented. Under Angie's guidance, he soon made his first dumpling. Though it wasn't as pretty as Angie's, it was at least passable, and the wrapper didn't tear.
Angie praised him, "Not bad! With more practice, you'll make them even better."
"Got it!" Arven nodded happily and continued working on his second dumpling. Being a beginner, his pace was slow.
Angie, on the other hand, worked swiftly, and one beautiful dumpling after another took shape. Occasionally, he glanced at Arven's progress and, seeing he was doing well, focused on his own work.
Before long, Munchlax and Drizzile had finished rolling all the wrappers. Angie then began teaching his two apprentices how to wrap dumplings. Initially, they struggled as usual, producing many oddly shaped dumplings. However, after several misshapen attempts, they gradually got the hang of it.