Gourmet master of the Pokemon world

"Diancie, could you go and let the Litwick know to come over for dinner tonight?" Ange asked.

"I'll go right away," Diancie nodded.

"Remember to have the Litwick help notify the other Pokémon," Ange continued to instruct.

It would be too much work for Diancie to notify everyone one by one.

"Got it."

With that, Diancie headed towards the direction of the Litwick's home and disappeared in a short while.

Ange looked down at Snorlax and said, "Let's go home and take a hot bath first, then start processing these lotus roots." Although they had already washed them once in the river, with so much mud on them, how could they get clean with just river water?

As he spoke, he took out the lotus roots from his system backpack and piled them in a corner by the door.

"Gah~ Gah~". Where did that come from?

Seeing Ange conjure the lotus roots out of thin air again, Snorlax moved closer to Ange, tugged at his clothes, and touched him all over, trying to find the trick.

"Okay, okay," Ange helplessly took Snorlax's hand away, "Let's go home and take a bath."

"Gah~ Gah~"

Snorlax nodded, took Ange's hand, and went with him to the bathroom on the second floor.

"Come on, Snorlax, sit down, I'll wash you first." Ange first filled the bathtub with hot water, then took a small stool and placed it in the middle of the bathroom, saying to Snorlax.

Ange first wet Snorlax's body with the showerhead. The warm water flowed over its body, and Snorlax comfortably closed its eyes.

The Nibel Plateau in autumn was still a bit chilly. After soaking in the river for a while, even Snorlax felt a little cold.

Now, with the hot water rinsing it, it immediately felt the chill in its body being washed away.

As the steam gradually filled the bathroom, Ange also felt his body warming up.

Ange gently rubbed Snorlax's fur with his hand while asking, "How is it? Is the water temperature okay?"

"Gah~"

Snorlax gave Ange a thumbs up in response.

After completely wetting Snorlax's body, Ange applied body wash to it and took out a brush to gently groom its fur.

After rolling around in the mud, the fur on its body was almost knotted.

"Gah~~~"

Being brushed like this, Snorlax felt even more comfortable.

After cleaning Snorlax's body, Ange used the showerhead to rinse off the bubbles and then said to it, "Go soak in the bathtub. You worked hard digging lotus roots today. I put bath salts in the water that can relieve body fatigue. Soaking in it will feel very comfortable."

These bath salts were naturally bought from the system store. The price was not expensive, only 5 Happiness Points for a pack, and one pack could be used once.

Ange looked at his Happiness Point balance, which was still 14506 points, finally exceeding ten thousand.

These days, Ange had hardly spent any Happiness Points, except for buying some vegetable seeds when he reclaimed the vegetable garden last time, and these bath salts this time. Both the vegetable seeds and the bath salts were very cheap and didn't cost many Happiness Points.

"Gah~ Gah~~"

After getting up from the stool, Snorlax didn't go to the bathtub but walked behind Ange and pushed him to sit on the small stool.

"You want to scrub my back too?" Ange asked.

"Gah~ Gah-bi~"

Snorlax nodded with a smile.

Ange sat down on the stool and laughed, "Then today I'll enjoy the filial piety of my apprentice."

Although Snorlax didn't understand what "filial piety of my apprentice" meant, it still enthusiastically started scrubbing Ange's back. Its chubby palms had soft pads underneath, which felt comfortable when pressed on the body, but the strength was a bit too strong.

"Snorlax, a little lighter, a little lighter, I'm about to be kneaded apart by you."

"Gah~ Gah~". Is this okay?

Snorlax immediately adjusted its strength.

"That's it, comfortable."

Soon, Ange's continuous moans echoed in the bathroom.

"Aiyo yo~ Just like that, so comfortable."

"Yes, yes, yes~~~ Right there, rub it a little more."

… …

"Gah~"

"Hoo~"

After scrubbing each other, the master and apprentice lay together in the bathtub, immersing their bodies completely in the water, leaving only their heads outside. They leaned against the edge of the bathtub, closed their eyes, and felt their bodies warm.

Ange couldn't help but sigh, "I really didn't buy the wrong bath salts, they're useful and affordable."

After soaking in the bath salts, Ange used a hairdryer to dry his hair and Snorlax's fur. Both of them immediately felt relaxed.

Because the bath was too comfortable, the master and apprentice were now lying sprawled on the sofa in the second-floor living room, looking boneless, with no desire to get up and work.

"Gah~ Gah~~"

Snorlax's voice was even more lazy than usual.

"Snorlax, be quiet, let me lie down for a while longer, we'll get up and work later," Ange said drowsily.

He and Snorlax lay down until the sun went down.

After who knows how long, Ange jumped up from the sofa, "What time is it?" He looked at the clock on the wall and found that it was already five o'clock in the afternoon.

"It's over, it's over, we're going to be late!" He quickly woke Snorlax up, "Snorlax, wake up, wake up, get up and work, or we'll be late."

"Gah?"

Snorlax groggily opened its eyes, rubbed them again, and looked like it hadn't had enough sleep.

"It's almost dark!"

"Gah???"

As soon as Snorlax heard this, it immediately jumped up from the sofa as if its butt was on fire, its movements exactly the same as Ange's just now.

The master and apprentice changed their clothes as quickly as possible, went downstairs in a panic, and found that everyone had indeed already arrived.

In the hall, the Litwick family, Bellsprout, Fletchling, Espurr, Vivillon… all had arrived. They gathered in groups of twos and threes, chatting or playing around, very lively. Mudkip and Whiscash also came as agreed.

Seeing Ange and Snorlax coming down from upstairs, they all waved to greet them.

"Everyone's here? Wait, I'll cook for you right away!"

As he spoke, Ange ran towards the door with Snorlax, intending to take the lotus roots he had placed at the door to wash them again, but the doorway was empty.

The lotus roots were gone, but he saw many Pokémon parents, Bellsprout's parents Weepinbell and Victreebel, Swablu's parents two Altaria, Fletchling's parents Talonflame and Staraptor… (Note: In the game, the Pokémon's species follows the mother, but in the author's book, it's random and follows either the father or the mother.)

Obviously, they were all worried about their children staying at a human's house so late, so they came specifically to supervise.

Seeing Ange come out, all the parents turned their gaze over at the same time.

"H-Hello everyone!" Ange suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

The parents quickly withdrew their gazes again.

An Jie didn't have extra time to pay attention to these indifferent parents, and shouted loudly into the house, "Diancie, where are the lotus roots I put outside?"

Diancie's voice came from inside the house, "I put them all in the kitchen!"

It turned out that after Diancie came back, she found An Jie and Snorlax sleeping soundly on the sofa, and couldn't bear to disturb them, so she took the Pokémon that had already arrived and washed the lotus roots together, and then put them in the kitchen.

An Jie and Snorlax ran to the kitchen and, sure enough, saw the lotus roots had been cleaned and placed there. An Jie smiled and said to Snorlax:

"Snorlax, let's start. Can I entrust the steamed buns to you?"

These days, An Jie would go to the cooking training room with Snorlax for an hour (real-world time) every day. Now Snorlax can completely make steamed buns independently.

There were a few too many Pokémon invited to participate in the lotus root banquet. If all of them were to be treated with lotus roots, it would definitely not be enough. So An Jie decided to use steamed buns as the staple food, and lotus roots as a side dish.

This way, everyone could eat their fill and taste the deliciousness of the lotus roots, and An Jie could also earn a wave of happiness points.

Eating lotus roots wouldn't earn happiness points, but eating steamed buns would!

"Kang~~" Leave it to me, Master!

Snorlax said confidently, patting his chest.

Immediately, the master and apprentice began to get busy.

Snorlax took out a bag of flour from the cabinet, and also took out yeast and other materials, skillfully kneading the dough.

And An Jie began to process the lotus roots.

The first dish An Jie made was cold lotus root slices.

He quickly peeled the lotus roots, then cut them into thin slices and soaked them in water for a while to prevent them from discoloring during mixing and looking unappetizing.

Then, he put clear water into the pot, added a spoonful of vinegar to the water, and after the water boiled, he put in the lotus root slices, blanched them, and immediately took them out and put them in a basin.

Because there were many Pokémon eating, An Jie made a lot at once, so he could only use a basin to hold them.

Next, he prepared the cold sauce, with chili peppers, chopped green onions, garlic, poured hot oil on it, and then added vinegar, sugar, coriander, etc., and mixed well.

An Jie's movements were smooth and coherent. In the blink of an eye, a plate of cold lotus root slices was ready.

The cold lotus root slices were simple to make, but the taste was very good. An Jie liked this dish very much.

Seeing Snorlax kneading the dough while frequently peeking over here, his nose twitching slightly, looking like he was drooling with desire, An Jie asked with a smile, "Snorlax, try it for me and see how it tastes?"

"Kang~~"

Snorlax's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded excitedly.

"Ah~~"

He immediately opened his mouth wide.

An Jie used chopsticks to pick up a few slices and put them into Snorlax's mouth. Snorlax was immediately conquered by the crisp texture of the lotus root slices.

"Is it delicious?" An Jie asked with a smile.

"Kang~ Kang~"

Snorlax held his cheeks in his hands, his face full of intoxication.

In fact, from a chef's point of view, An Jie's cooking skills were not particularly outstanding, far worse than his grandfather's. Otherwise, he wouldn't have run his grandfather's restaurant into bankruptcy in his previous life. But Snorlax didn't have much experience, and the food An Jie made was already the ultimate delicacy in his eyes.

"Okay, let's continue working, otherwise everyone will be impatient." An Jie patted Snorlax's belly and said.

"Kang~~" Snorlax nodded. With the encouragement of delicious food, he worked even harder.

After the cold lotus root slices were made, An Jie continued to make stir-fried lotus root slices, fried lotus root cakes, sweet and sour lotus root cubes, pan-fried lotus root pancakes...

Soon, a rich aroma wafted from the kitchen. The Pokémon playing in the hall immediately quieted down. They closed their eyes, sniffed lightly, and took deep breaths.

"Ya qia~ Ya qia~" So fragrant!

Pancham couldn't resist the temptation of the aroma and groped towards the kitchen, following the scent. Scraggy, Litleo, Stunky, Skitty... followed behind Pancham.

An Jie had just finished cooking a pot of lotus root soup, and when he turned around, he saw the little guys' heads stuck to the door frame, peeking into the kitchen like stacked Arhats.

An Jie said with a wry smile, "It'll be ready soon. Go back and wait obediently, or you won't get any."

"Ya qia~"

"Meow meow~"

"Shishi~"

...

As soon as the little guys heard this, they immediately shrank their heads back as if they had heard something terrifying.

"Kang~ Kang~ Kang~~" Hahaha~~~

Snorlax saw this and immediately laughed out loud, sticking out his round belly.

He was steaming steamed buns while secretly eating. Others were still hungry, but his belly was already round, and there was still a piece of scallion stuck to the corner of his mouth.

An Jie took out a handkerchief to wipe his greasy mouth. "Okay, go and tell everyone that it's time to eat."

"Kang~~"

Snorlax cheered and ran out.

An Jie, Diancie, and Snorlax first carried the steamed buns out and distributed them to each Pokémon's food bowl. After all the Pokémon had received their buns, they each carried out a basin of cold lotus root slices, fried lotus root cakes, sweet and sour lotus root cubes, etc., from the kitchen, and used spoons to serve the Pokémon one by one.

Each Pokémon had two food bowls in front of them, one for the staple food steamed buns and one for the side dishes. An Jie felt that he and Diancie were now a bit like the uncles and aunts serving food in the cafeteria during his student days in his previous life.

After all the food was served, An Jie announced, "Everyone, let's eat!"

The Pokémon had been waiting impatiently for a long time. After hearing An Jie's words, they immediately hugged their food bowls and began to feast.

"Meow meow meow~~" So delicious!!!

Skitty wagged its tail happily.

An Jie opened the system interface and was surprised to find that the happiness points were increasing very quickly.

+200

+200

+200

...

Looking at the constantly changing numbers, An Jie suddenly realized that Pokémon eating non-system-specified dishes indeed couldn't provide him with happiness points, but steamed buns paired with lotus roots doubled the deliciousness, and the sense of happiness naturally doubled as well.

If the Pokémon's sense of happiness was stronger, then the happiness points provided would naturally increase!

So there was this kind of loophole to exploit! An Jie immediately smiled from ear to ear.

He walked up to Barboach and Whiscash with a smile. "How is it? Is our food delicious?"

Barboach and Whiscash were eating attentively. They had never eaten such delicious food before. It turned out that the lotus roots they usually ate could become so delicious after being cooked.

Were they really not dreaming?

However, as soon as they looked up, they saw An Jie looking at them with a strange smile.

The two Pokémon shrank their heads.

Mommy, I'm scared. This human's smile is so scary.

"Is it delicious?" An Jie asked again.

Barboach and Whiscash nodded quickly.