After greeting Nacli, Nemona stood up again and greeted Angie.
"Hello, my name is Nemona."
Angie nodded at her. "My name is Angie."
Nemona looked at Angie with sparkling eyes and asked, "Are you a Trainer? Would you like to have an intense battle with me?"
Angie smiled and shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm just a chef, not a Trainer."
At this, Arven spoke admiringly, "Although Brother Angie isn't a Trainer, his Pokémon are really strong!"
Hearing this, Nemona became even more excited. "Please, you must battle me."
Angie gave a wry smile and patted Arven on the head. "You shouldn't spread rumors about me like that!"
He then turned to Nemona and said, "I really am not a Trainer!"
Nemona was going to be a future Champion, much stronger than him.
However, Nemona was very persistent. She clasped her hands together and pleaded, "Please, please, you have to battle me. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
Although Nemona was young, she was already one of the top Trainers at Naranja Academy.
Since Nemona had gone so far, Angie had no choice but to agree.
"Alright, but I must warn you beforehand that I'm not a Trainer, so this battle will mostly rely on my Pokémon themselves. Don't be disappointed! And we'll only battle once, we have things to do!"
"OK! OK!" Nemona repeatedly said. As long as he agreed to battle, that was all that mattered to her.
With that, she quickly ran to the center of the field and waved at Angie, saying, "Come on, right here."
Angie nodded and walked to the other side of the field, standing opposite Nemona.
After taking out his Poké Ball, Angie said, "Let's begin!"
Upon hearing this, Nemona also took out her Poké Ball.
Since Arven had said Angie's Pokémon were strong, he couldn't use Pawmi he had just caught.
With two flashes of light, two Pokémon appeared on the field: Angie's Metagross and Nemona's Goodra.
When Nemona saw Angie's Pokémon was Metagross, she became even more excited.
"Metagross! It's such a rare Pokémon."
Angie replied, "Your Goodra is also rare."
With that, he began to observe Goodra with his Eye of Observation skill.
...
[ Goodra ]
Type: Dragon
Ability: Sap Sipper
Gender: Female
Level: 55
Moves: Aqua Tail, Teary Eyes, Acid Bomb, Feint Attack, Toxic Tail, Dragon Breath, Impact, Water Pulse, Water Gun, Rain Dance, Curse, Heavy Slam, Dragon Pulse, Frenzy, Ice Beam, Mud Bomb.
...
[ Individual Values (IVs) ]
HP: 30
Attack: 29
Defense: 28
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 30
Speed: 24
...
Nemona truly lives up to her title as the future champion. Despite being so young, her Pokémon levels are already so high.
However, was it a bit unfair to use Metagross? While the individual values of Metagross were unknown, its level was certainly much higher than Goodra's.
But then again, what else could he use? He couldn't have used Pawmi and Espathra to fight, they'd definitely lose.
Arven: "The match begins."
As Arven's voice faded, both Angie and Nemona simultaneously issued commands to their Pokémon.
Angie: "Metagross, use Agility to get close to Goodra, then follow up with Ice Punch!"
Nemona: "Goodra, use Dragon Pulse!"
Metagross turned into a blur, dashing quickly toward Goodra, while Goodra opened its mouth and released a dragon-shaped energy wave.
Having already used Agility, Metagross was incredibly fast, dodging and weaving with ease, easily evading Goodra's Dragon Pulse, and in the blink of an eye, it was at Goodra's side.
Metagross's steel claws were glowing with cold energy as it swung a powerful punch at Goodra.
Seeing this, Nemona quickly shouted, "Goodra, Aqua Tail!"
As her words echoed, Goodra's thick tail was enveloped in a stream of water, and it swung the tail forcefully at Metagross.
The steel claws collided with the dragon tail, and instantly, Goodra's tail froze over, causing it to cry out in pain as it was knocked backward, rolling several times on the ground before it collapsed, unconscious.
Nemona was stunned. Was she defeated this easily?
By now, a crowd of students had gathered around to watch.
"That Metagross is amazing! It beat Nemona's Goodra so easily."
"Who is that blonde guy? Is he a new transfer student at our school?"
"I'm not sure, but it seems like he came with Arven."
...
Angie hurried to Goodra's side and took out some rock salt and berries to feed it.
Nemona ran over, excitedly watching Angie. "You really are as strong as Arven said! That was... that was amazing!"
Angie said, "The one who's amazing is the Pokémon, it has nothing to do with me."
Nemona became even more excited upon hearing this. "This is the highest level of a Trainer! Making the Pokémon understand how to become stronger, how to fight on their own. Isn't that just so cool?"
Angie: ...
He quickly changed the subject. "Your Goodra has eaten a berry to recover its stamina, and I used rock salt from Garganacl to treat its wounds, so it shouldn't have any major issues. But just in case, you should still take it to the Pokémon Center for a check-up."
"I understand!"
With that, Nemona recalled Goodra into its Poké Ball and dashed toward the Pokémon Center, her face filled with an excited smile, as though she had just realized something important.
Once Nemona had left, Arven ran up to Angie and said, "Brother Angie, you're amazing! You even defeated Nemona. Nemona is one of the most famous Trainers at our school, and very few people can beat her."
Angie patted Metagross and said, "It's all thanks to Metagross. You know, Metagross was already this strong when I caught it. It has nothing to do with me."
Arven said, "Doesn't that just prove how amazing you are? You were able to catch such a powerful Metagross!"
Even though Arven said that, Komala that defeated Metagross wasn't even something Angie trained! Angie sighed internally.
Forget it, forget it! It's hard to explain this right now, so let Arven have his moment.
"Anyway, next time, don't go around spreading rumors about me. I'm just an ordinary chef," Angie said helplessly to Arven.
Arven: "Alright, I got it!"
Then, the two of them left under the surprised and curious gazes of the students at Naranja Academy.
After passing through several hallways, Angie and Arven quickly reached the director's office and met with the academy's director, Geeta.
Upon seeing Angie, Geeta smiled and said, "I just received word that you defeated Nemona in a Pokémon battle!"
Angie laughed and said, "It was just luck."
Geeta shook her head. "Winning is winning. There's no such thing as luck. I heard from Professor Sada that you're an excellent chef, but I didn't expect you to be such a powerful Trainer as well."
Angie waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, no, you misunderstand, I'm really just a chef, not a trainer."
"Then how do you explain that powerful Metagross?" Geeta asked.
Angie thought to himself: Don't ask about the chef thing.
Seeing that Angie didn't respond, Geeta continued, "Mr. Angie, I wonder if you're interested in joining our Paldea League? The benefits are really good!"
Angie replied, "Director Geeta, I'm from the Azoth royal family, I can't..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Geeta.
"So what? No one says that members of the Azoth royal family can't join other leagues!"
Just like in the games, Geeta here was also dedicated to discovering talent for the Paldea League.
Angie shook his head. "Sorry..."
Geeta showed a regretful expression. "Ah, what a pity, I thought you had the potential to become a champion!"
Angie thought: Don't tell me you say that to everyone you're trying to recruit?
He repeated, "I just want to be a chef."
Geeta said, "Alright, since you don't want to, I won't force it."
Angie breathed a sigh of relief. "Please take care of Arven, Director Geeta, I have things to do, so I'll leave now."
Geeta nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Arven."
Angie then walked over to Arven and said, "Arven, I'm leaving now, we'll contact each other later."
Arven said, "Mhm, goodbye, Brother Angie."
After bidding farewell to Arven, Angie left the Naranja Academy.
Walking down the streets of Mesagoza City, Angie said to Pawmi, "We still have some time before our flight, what should we do next?"
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Let's go eat something delicious!
Pawmi peeked its head out from behind Angie.
Angie nodded at its little head. "You've just eaten so much, and now you want more?"
Saying this, he pinched Pawmi's belly. "Have you gained weight?"
Pawmi quickly covered its stomach and shook its head frantically, afraid that Angie would accuse it of stealing food.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
No, no!
Suddenly, Angie had an idea. "Oh right! How about we go buy some ingredients?"
In a big city like Mesagoza City, there must be a lot of top-quality ingredients! As a chef, ingredients were a huge attraction for him.
With that, Angie and Pawmi headed straight to the large supermarket in Mesagoza City.
Just as Angie expected, the supermarket had many items that couldn't be found in Azoth City.
"Is this the rock salt from Nacli?" Angie stared at the beautifully packaged bags of rock salt on the shelf.
The rock salt, which had always been in short supply in Azoth City, was available in such large quantities here!
But thinking about it, it made sense. While rock salt was indeed rare, Paldea was the origin.
Since he already had Nacli and Garganacl, Angie decided to skip over the rock salt section.
When he saw something else on another shelf, Angie couldn't wait to rush over.
It was the chili powder ground by Scovillain!
Although Angie had Capsakid and Scovillain at home, their yield was not as good as the rock salt, so Angie decided to stock up a bit.
He threw about ten bags into the cart before stopping.
After walking a few steps, he was again drawn to something else.
"Yeast produced by Fidough!"
Angie quickly walked over to a shelf and eagerly grabbed a bag about the size of his palm.
"This is a must-buy!"
They had to make steamed buns and mantou every day at home, so yeast was essential! Yeast produced by Fidough wasn't available in Azoth.
Angie threw one bag after another into his cart—one, two, three... He didn't stop until he'd thrown one hundred bags in, causing the shelf to be nearly emptied.
"Is this a bit too much?" Angie scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Pawmi jumped into the cart from Angie's shoulder, holding a bag of yeast with a puzzled look on its face.
Angie smiled. "This is a necessary ingredient for making delicious food!"
As soon as Pawmi heard the word "delicious," it immediately shoved the yeast into the cart and tiptoed to try to reach for more on the shelf.
Seeing this, Angie quickly stopped it. "Pawmi, that's enough, we've already bought enough!"
Upon hearing this, Pawmi finally stopped.
Angie then saw Dolliv's oil. His household had enough of that, so he didn't buy it either. However, if it were Arboliva's oil, he might have considered it.
Ingredients produced by Pokémon are generally much more expensive than their regular counterparts.
For example, a small bag of Nacli's rock salt is priced at 35 Pokédollar, while a regular bag of table salt only costs 2-5 Pokédollar. If the salt were produced by Garganacl, the price would be even higher, and supply would be scarce.
Similarly, a bag of Capsakid's chili powder sells for 25 Pokédollar, whereas regular chili powder costs only 3-10 Pokédollar.
Dolliv's oil is even more expensive. A 1L can costs 780 Pokédollar, 5-6 times the price of regular cooking oil.
While passing through the fresh produce section, Angie noticed the last of Veluza's meat, so he bought it all.
He also bought pork, beef, lamb, and other high-quality meats. Since they wouldn't spoil in his system backpack, Angie took advantage of his rare trip to the big city and stocked up.
Although high-quality meats weren't lacking in Azoth Kingdom and even the royal family had special meat supplies, the breeds of animals and the flavor of their meat varied greatly depending on the region.
Seeing that he had bought almost everything he wanted, Angie planned to go checkout.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Pawmi wiggled happily on Angie's shoulder.
Angie smiled and asked, "In such a good mood?"
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Pawmi nodded repeatedly. Angie had bought so many ingredients, meaning he would make lots of delicious food, and Pawmi was naturally happy.
Angie teased, "You just think about food, you'll get so fat you won't be able to move!"
"Pawmi~"
I won't!
Pawmi retorted with a shake of its head.
Just as Angie pushed his cart full of ingredients toward the checkout, a supermarket worker pushed a small cart toward him. The cart was full of large white eggs, about the size of a human head.
Angie exclaimed in surprise, "Are those... Chansey's eggs?"
The worker turned around upon hearing Angie's voice and smiled. "Yes."
"Can I buy some?" Angie eagerly asked, rubbing his hands.
When he was a prince, he had eaten Chansey's eggs a few times. The deliciousness was unforgettable.
Back then, Azoth Kingdom didn't have any Chanseys, and with poor transportation, even as a member of the royal family, getting a Chansey's egg was incredibly difficult.
Even with modern transportation and advanced Pokémon breeding techniques, Chanseys were still a rare Pokémon, and their eggs were hard to find on the market.
Today was really a stroke of luck!
"Of course," the worker replied. "You're very lucky. These just went on the shelf, and you happened to find them. It's a rare opportunity, so act fast if you want them!"
Angie stepped forward, acting generously, and said, "How many do you have? I'll take them all!"
Chansey's eggs were very expensive, 800 Pokédollar each, making them the aristocrats of eggs.
But that was to be expected. Chansey's eggs were not only highly nutritious, but they could also restore Pokémon's stamina and heal their injuries.
The quantity of eggs just stocked was no more than 50, so Angie thought he'd buy them all.
Opportunity like this couldn't be missed!
With a smile, the worker said, "I'm sorry, sir, but Chansey's eggs are limited to 5 per customer."
"Ah?" Angie's face fell with disappointment.
He had a lot of Pokémon at home, and they could all eat them. Five would barely be enough for a taste.