As the dumplings were wrapped one by one, the table soon filled up with rows of them.
Just then, the professor walked out with the researchers.
Professor Sada: "I was wondering why I didn't smell anything today—so dinner isn't ready yet?"
Angie replied with a smile, "I'm trying something new today, so it's a little late."
Hearing that there was something new, the professor and the researchers' eyes lit up.
Professor Turo: "Looks like we're in for a real feast tonight!"
Angie said, "Please have a seat. It'll be ready soon."
The two professors and the researchers gathered around the dining table, sitting down to chat about the day's experiments while eagerly awaiting dinner.
The golden rays of the setting sun stretched across the grass, casting a gentle glow over everything. The sounds of the professors and researchers chatting, the Pokémon playing, and the bubbling water in the pot mixed together like musical notes in a harmonious melody.
Angie glanced at everyone, a peaceful smile appearing on his face. He carefully placed the plump white dumplings into the boiling water, watching as they danced in the pot.
Raleigh leaned in close to the pot and asked, "Your Highness, are these the dumplings? They look so delicious!" He had already learned from Diancie what was being prepared for dinner.
"They sure are! You'll love them," Angie nodded. "But don't stand too close. Be careful not to get splashed by the hot soup."
"Oh, okay…" Raleigh quickly took a few steps back.
As time went on, the dumplings began floating to the surface one by one. Raleigh watched them eagerly. "Your Highness, are they ready yet?"
At some point, Pawmi had joined Raleigh by the pot, standing on tiptoe with an equally eager expression, a glistening drop of drool hanging from its mouth.
"Alright, alright! Go let everyone know dinner's ready!" Angie said helplessly.
Raleigh's eyes lit up at his words. He turned and dashed toward the table, shouting as he ran, "Dinner's ready! Time to eat!"
Meanwhile, Angie scooped a large bowl of dumplings, filling it to the brim.
Diancie arrived just then, so Angie handed her the bowl of steaming dumplings. "Take this to the table!"
Munchlax, Drizzile, and Scovillain quickly came over to help carry the dumplings to the table. Before long, everyone was seated, happily eating amidst lively chatter.
"Huff, huff…" Professor Turo blew on a dumpling to cool it down before eagerly popping it into his mouth. "This is amazing! These are the best dumplings I've ever had!"
Professor Sada shook her head with a smile. "Slow down, or you'll burn yourself." But even as she said this, her own eating pace wasn't much slower.
The group was so focused on eating that no one spoke; the only sounds were the crunching of dumplings and the slurping of soup.
"I want another bowl!"
In the blink of an eye, Raleigh had finished his first bowl. He held up the empty bowl and shouted excitedly.
"Slurpuff~!"
Nearby, the Slurpuff shook her head with a sigh, took Raleigh's bowl, and filled it to the brim again.
Raleigh: "Thank you, Slurpuff! You're the best!"
Angie, seeing this, said, "Raleigh, even if the dumplings are delicious, don't overeat. It's not good to stuff yourself at night."
Raleigh chuckled sheepishly. "Got it, got it. This is the last bowl, I promise." As he spoke, he scooped a dumpling with his spoon and stuffed it into his mouth, his cheeks bulging with happiness, his eyes narrowing in delight.
"Pawmi! Pawmi!"
By now, Pawmi had also unknowingly finished an entire bowl. It held the empty bowl and tugged at Angie's pant leg persistently.
Angie looked down and was about to take the bowl when another hand reached out faster and grabbed it.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
Let me handle it. Don't bother my master while he's eating!
It was Munchlax, who, after speaking, took Pawmi's bowl and walked toward the pot.
Pawmi didn't mind being scolded by Munchlax and eagerly followed behind it. Soon, it excitedly accepted the newly filled bowl of dumplings from Munchlax's hands and impatiently tried to grab one with its bare hands.
Slap!
Munchlax gave it a smack.
"Munchlax~"
Use a spoon.
Feeling wronged, Pawmi fished out the spoon from the bowl and obediently started eating.
Munchlax had truly become a responsible senior!
Angie watched Munchlax with a face full of pride, feeling like a parent watching their child grow up.
Meanwhile, the Scovillain family had formed a circle and was eating heartily. It was their first time trying human food, and they were completely unprepared for how delicious it would be. They couldn't stop themselves from indulging.
They thought to themselves: We've chosen the right person to follow!
This is bliss!
Angie and the others had wrapped hundreds of dumplings, yet by the end of the meal, not a single one was left. And it wasn't just the dumplings—the soup had been polished off too.
"I'm so satisfied," Professor Turo sighed, lying back in his chair like a corpse. He couldn't help but let out a burp.
Professor Sada chuckled helplessly. "You ate way too much."
Professor Turo retorted, "Don't act like you didn't eat just as much!"
Professor Sada: "Maybe so, but at least I didn't eat as much as you! That's terrible for your health!"
Professor Turo shrugged. "What's the harm in indulging every now and then?"
Professor Sada wasn't about to let him off so easily. "Don't talk about every now and then. Ever since Angie came here, you've stuffed yourself every meal until your stomach's as round as a ball!"
Arven, leaning against Mabosstiff, watched her parents bicker and shook her head in exasperation.
"Mabosstiff~"
Mabosstiff nuzzled Arven gently, and she gave it a warm hug around the neck.
After dinner, the professors rested briefly before returning to their work, staying up late as usual. Angie, meanwhile, took the Pokémon along with Arven and Raleigh to get ready for bed.
Diancie, Munchlax, Drizzile, the two Charcadet, and the Scovillain family were teleported back to the Nebel Plateau.
Before sleeping, Angie, as usual, planned to claim his system rewards first.
The daily mission was still just one task.
After clicking "Claim," the system displayed a prompt.
[ Congratulations, Master, on receiving the reward: 10 pounds of premium pork belly ]
Angie's eyes lit up at the sight of the reward. Premium pork belly? That sounded delicious! "Looks like tomorrow's meal is settled!" he thought.
After storing the reward in his system inventory, Angie turned his attention to the two Spice Collection Missions he had completed earlier.
First, he checked Spice Collection Mission 2.
Upon clicking "Claim," the system displayed another prompt.
[ Congratulations, Master, on completing Spice Collection Mission 2: Capture at least one Nacli, Naclstack, or Garganacl. ]
[ Reward: Special Recipe – Chilli Bean Sauce Formula (essential for certain advanced recipes). ]
[ Bonus reward for exceeding the task: Constitution +2 ]
Seeing the reward, Angie broke into a wide grin. Chilly Bean Sauce! It was a must-have ingredient for so many recipes, like braised pork, twice-cooked pork, mapo tofu… and more!
Chilly Bean Sauce is practically a universal seasoning. A small amount can transform the flavor of most dishes, making them taste completely different.
Moreover, with the recipe provided by the system, the Chilly Bean Sauce it produces must be extraordinary! Angie couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation.
He opened the recipe interface and discovered that making Chilly Bean Sauce required two critical ingredients: the spicy seasoning produced by either Scovillain or Capsakid, and rock salt produced by Garganacl, Naclstack, or Nacli.
As expected, the system's tasks are never issued arbitrarily.
As for the bonus rewards, Angie was already accustomed to them.
Next up was the reward for Seasoning Collection Task 3.
After clicking to claim it, a notification popped up.
[ Congratulations, host, for completing Seasoning Collection Task 3: capture at least one Capsakid or Scovillain. ]
[ Reward: Special Recipe – Hot Pot Base Recipe. ]
[ Bonus rewards for exceeding expectations: Physique +1, Intelligence +2. ]
Hot pot base? A delightful surprise!
It had been ages since Angie last enjoyed hot pot. Just thinking about its deliciousness made his mouth water! He didn't expect this reward to include the hot pot recipe.
Angie opened the recipe interface and found that the hot pot base recipe consisted of two main types: spicy red broth and mild clear broth. The red broth included variations like butter-based and mala broth, while the clear broth featured options like tomato-based and mushroom-based broths.
Just looking at these recipes, Angie's imagination ran wild. He resolved to make some soon!
As he reveled in his excitement, he suddenly felt something unusual within his body—an inexplicable energy rising from within and spreading throughout him.
At that moment, Diancie called.
Angie answered, and Diancie's voice came through.
"Angie, do you feel something strange in your body?"
Angie quickly replied, "Yes, it feels like something odd has appeared inside me."
Diancie explained, "That's it! I just received a system notification. Your intelligence points have exceeded the critical threshold. You're about to awaken the power of Aura!"
"The power of Aura?" Angie exclaimed. "So that's the purpose of intelligence points?"
Diancie replied, "Exactly! Aura will be incredibly helpful for your cooking. When you use the power of Aura while cooking, there's a chance to create top-tier dishes with special effects for Pokémon, even when following advanced recipes!"
Aura is a form of life energy inherent in all living things. However, in most creatures, Aura is too faint for them to sense or utilize.
With his newfound Aura powers, Angie could channel this energy to harmonize the Aura of ingredients, enhancing their flavor and occasionally producing extraordinary effects.
The recipes unlocked through Angie's system fell into two categories: basic recipes like plain steamed buns and advanced recipes like creamy steamed buns.
After extensive observation, Angie realized that advanced recipes often required ingredients produced by Pokémon—for example, creamy steamed buns required Gogoat's Grassy Milk.
Only dishes made with advanced recipes had a chance to become top-tier dishes with special effects.
Thanks to Diancie's explanation, Angie finally understood why the system wanted him to awaken Aura. This was incredible! Who knew it could be used for cooking?
He opened his personal information interface.
...
[ Angie ]
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 16 (+500)
Physique: 42
Intelligence: 21
Culinary Skill Rating: A beginner barely meeting the standard.
...
The intelligence column displayed 21 points, confirming that 20 was the threshold.
Feeling the unique energy coursing through him, Angie had a clear understanding.
"Angie, the system has issued another task. I've accepted it for you—check it out yourself," Diancie said over the phone.
"Got it," Angie replied.
Angie opened the system task interface and saw that two new tasks had indeed appeared.
...
[ (Aura Training Task) Interact with 1,000 Pokémon and sense the Aura within them (0/1,000) – Pending. ]
[ (Temporary Task) Request Professor Sada and Professor Turo to modify Robert No. 1 – Pending. ]
...
It seemed like tomorrow was going to be another busy day.
Fortunately, he was currently in Area Zero, which was teeming with Pokémon. If he had been somewhere else, this Aura training would have been a real headache.
As for the [Temporary Task], Angie was a bit puzzled. Was it because his Robert No. 1 was too clumsy?
He didn't think too much about it. Since the system had issued the task, he'd simply follow through. Why bother overthinking it?
After chatting with Diancie for a while, Angie hung up the phone and went to sleep.
...
The next morning, Angie started his day as usual by preparing breakfast for the professors. Then, he busied himself with his own tasks.
He called Jeremy, the assistant arranged for him by the royal family, and asked him to purchase a large quantity of pork and deliver it to the Nebel Plateau. Diancie would then bring it to Area Zero.
Since there was still work to do back home, Diancie left immediately after dropping off the pork.
Looking at the table piled high with pork, Arven asked curiously, "Angie, what are you going to do with so much meat?"
Angie explained, "I'm making some snacks."
The system required him to interact with 1,000 Pokémon and sense their Aura. Angie planned to use the snacks to attract Pokémon.
After all, he couldn't let them help for free.
"Snacks?" Arven looked puzzled.
"Yes, I'm going to make jerky."
As he spoke, Angie pulled out a large basin and began washing the pork in it.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Will it taste good?
Pawmi who is munching on a tomato, asked while watching.
Angie patted its head and said, "You can try it once it's done."
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
*(´▽｀)* Pawmi excitedly ran over to the Oinkologne to share the good news. Soon, the two Oinkologne gathered around Angie, staring at him with eager eyes.
"Let me help!" Arven offered.
"Sure, thank you!" Angie replied with a smile.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Me too! Me too!
Hearing that Angie was making something delicious, Pawmi couldn't sit still.
"Espartha~ Espartha~"
Even Espartha was eager to join in.
"Alright, alright, everyone can help," Angie said, laughing.
With the Pokémon helping, the pork was quickly cleaned. Angie then placed it into a food processor to grind it into minced meat.
Since there was so much pork to handle, chopping it by hand would have been exhausting. Using the food processor was much more efficient!
Once the minced meat was ready, Angie began adding seasonings little by little. Soy sauce, cooking wine, fish sauce, oyster sauce, red yeast powder, salt, sugar, black pepper, and more—all went into the mixture, which he then started stirring.
"Espartha, could I trouble you to help?" Angie said, gesturing to the large basin of minced meat.
The meat was far too heavy for him to mix on his own, and splitting it into smaller portions would have been too tedious. Using Espartha's psychic abilities was the best solution.
"Espartha!"
Of course!
Espartha walked up to Angie, its eyes glowing white. Instantly, the large basin of minced meat began churning and mixing rapidly.
After half an hour of thorough mixing, the meat and seasonings were perfectly blended, and Angie asked Espartha to stop.
"Espartha, thank you so much!" Angie said gratefully.
"Espartha~ Espartha~"
No problem at all.
Espartha shook its head to show there was no need to thank it.