Pokemon: A New Path

"No problem. The total construction cost is 20,000 Pokédollars," Kora confirmed. "But speaking of which, do you have any more wood on the ranch?"

She recalled that the last time she was there, she noticed almost all the trees on the ranch had been cut down.

Kora took the opportunity to promote her products. "If you don't have any, you can buy it from our shop. One piece of wood costs 100 Pokédollars, and stone is even cheaper, only 50 Pokédollars each."

The twenty thousand covered labor and construction costs. If the rancher didn't have their own materials, they would need to purchase them separately.

Naoki thought for a moment, realizing that he had been so busy fishing lately that he hadn't cut down any trees at all. There were limited trees left on the ranch. While the back mountain had plenty, large-scale logging would not only harm the environment but also displace some Pokémon.

After a brief consideration, he decided, "I'll buy it from you!"

Kora smiled. "Alright, the construction crew will head to the ranch this afternoon to start work. You'll be there, right?"

The salt shelter followed a standard design, and Kora knew exactly how much material and space were needed to build one.

Naoki nodded and paid the total of 25,000 Pokédollars.

Leaving the carpentry shop, he went to the Mesagoza market to buy some fresh ingredients. It had been a while since he'd developed a new dish. Due to the limited ingredients on the ranch and his busy schedule, he had been making the same few dishes repeatedly. Now that he had eggs and milk, it was time to experiment with new recipes.

By the time he returned to the ranch, it was almost noon. Naoki didn't take a break and immediately started preparing the ingredients. With so many mouths to feed, especially Koraidon's large appetite, there wouldn't be enough food if he didn't make a substantial amount.

Because of this, Naoki had to prepare a lot of food each day, which took longer to cook. At first, he was inexperienced and would procrastinate until very late, but he soon learned to start cooking in advance.

For example, now, at only 10:46 AM, Naoki was already busy in the kitchen. He scaled and gutted the fish, added ginger, green onions, and a bit of garlic, then used a pre-made sauce for flavor and seasoning, finally steaming everything in a pot.

While the fish steamed, Naoki began multitasking. He washed the purchased ribs, blanched them, and then placed them in the rice cooker along with chopped daikon radish to simmer. Cooking every day had improved Naoki's culinary skills, and even his knife work had become more proficient.

Time passed, and soon the rich aroma of pork rib soup filled the air. The boiling soup bubbled, causing the rice cooker's lid to rise and fall with the escaping steam, creating a rhythmic gurgle.

Koraidon and Cyclizar, drawn by the enticing smell, stared intently at the steaming rice cooker.

Naoki, wearing an apron, shook his finger at them. "Not yet! The rice isn't cooked yet. We have to wait a bit longer. Go play outside for a while."

"Koraidon."

"Cyclizar."

Koraidon and Cyclizar didn't want to play outside, so they sat on the wooden floor, their eyes fixed on the cooker.

Naoki shook his head in amusement and started to cook rice porridge. He had made plain rice porridge before, an E-rank dish that could restore a small amount of stamina to Pokémon.

But this time, looking at the porridge in the pot, Naoki fell into deep thought. What would be the perfect addition?

A number of possibilities came to mind: preserved egg and lean meat porridge, carrot and millet porridge, mushroom and chicken porridge, oatmeal porridge, eight-treasure porridge, corn porridge, purple potato porridge.

Unfortunately, most of the ingredients weren't available at the ranch.

Naoki looked towards the window. The sill was empty; Smoliv and Alcremie were probably playing in the sun.

Compared to the meat-loving Koraidon and Cyclizar, Smoliv and Alcremie preferred sweet flavors. Steamed sea bass and daikon pork rib soup were both savory dishes, so he needed to make something sweet for Smoliv and Alcremie.

With this in mind, Naoki turned and opened the cupboard, scanning the ingredients inside. Finally, he took out a bottle of Moomoo Milk and some sugar.

He poured the Moomoo Milk into the pot and added a suitable amount of sugar. After a while, the name of the dish in the pot changed.

[Milk Porridge (B): Milk porridge made with sugar and Moomoo Milk.

Cooking effect: Better Milk Lv1, limited to milk-producing Pokémon. Upon consumption, it slightly improves the quality of the fresh milk produced by the consumer, making it tastier and more nutritious. It also has the effect of restoring stamina.

Comments: Nutritious milk porridge, suitable for all ages.]

What? A new recipe?! Naoki's eyebrows shot up.

Better Milk. As the name suggested, eating it could improve the quality of milk produced by Pokémon.

The Pokémon that would benefit from it, the image of a Pokemon came to Naoki's mind.

"Interesting. I can check if there's a chance to catch those when I visit the Nacli this afternoon."

However, it was a shame that the effect level of this dish was only Lv1. Naoki guessed it was because the quality of the rice he used was rather average. If he switched to better rice and sugar, the dish's enhancement effect should increase further.

Seeing that the porridge was almost done, Naoki was about to serve it and call Smoliv and Alcremie back for dinner. But just then, he remembered something.

There was a small piece of Black Truffle he had saved in the cupboard!

Naoki immediately retrieved the Black Truffle, recalling the information about it.

[Black Truffle: A premium ingredient of the highest quality, a rare delicacy. It can be made into black truffle steamed eggs with eggs or cream soup with butter. Although it doesn't have any inherent benefits, it can greatly enhance the cooking effect of dishes.]

As he had remembered! It enhanced the effect of cooking!

Naoki's heart leaped. What if he added it to the milk porridge?

Without hesitation, he cut a quarter of the small Black Truffle and added it to the pot.

Soon, the name of the dish changed again. From ordinary [Milk Porridge], it became [Black Truffle Milk Porridge].

[Black Truffle Milk Porridge (S): Milk porridge made with black truffle, sugar, and Moomoo Milk. The quality of the dish has been greatly improved by the addition of black truffle.

Cooking effect: Better Milk Lv3, limited to milk-producing Pokémon. Upon consumption, it greatly improves the quality of the fresh milk produced by the consumer, making it tastier and more nutritious. It also has the effect of quickly restoring stamina.

Evaluation: This is superb milk porridge. The nutrients it contains are suitable for the growth of all Pokémon. It is a rare delicacy.]

Holy moly! It's S-rank! Naoki was shocked.

He immediately realized the importance of Black Truffles. What if... what if...

For a moment, Naoki even considered adding Black Truffles to the pork rib soup and steamed sea bass to see the results. But reason held him back, as the effects of those two dishes were already decent. One increased strength and the other restored stamina.

"No, I'll save this for later," Naoki murmured.

He carefully stored the remaining Black Truffles and made a plan for the future.

Raise Lechonk! He definitely had to raise Lechonk! He would raise a whole herd and send them to the back mountains to help him find more Black Truffles!

...

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