Gourmet master of the Pokemon world

Chapter 279: It Turns Out To Be…

The owner of the manor was clearly very wealthy, the manor's grounds nearly the size of the entire Lavender Village.

The manor's buildings were luxurious and magnificent, dazzling to the eye.

The manor was situated in the center of three plots of herb land, each a different color. The red Potent Herb land was to the north, the pinkish-white White Herb land was to the west, and the bluish-white Mind Herb land was to the east.

The three triangular plots of herb land formed an even larger triangular plot of herb land.

Ange could also faintly see various Pokémon within the herb patches, some frolicking, some playing, some sleeping and resting…

For example, the Sprigatito, only found in the Paldea region, gathered in groups of two or three, rolling around and playing hide-and-seek in the herb land.

There were also the Hatenna and Impidimp that were unique to the Galar region.

The Impidimp tried to prank the Hatenna, but ended up being chased and beaten by the Hatenna, covered in bumps.

There were also the Morelull and Shiinotic, unique to the Alola region, which hid quietly in the herb patches during the day to sleep, as they were nocturnal Pokémon.

If Ange's eyesight wasn't so good, he probably wouldn't have been able to spot them.

…

What a nice place, Ange couldn't help but exclaim.

He steered his Salamence to land in front of the manor's entrance, where he saw an elderly man with graying hair, wearing a black tailcoat and gold-rimmed glasses, already standing there waiting.

Seeing Ange land, he quickly approached and asked, "Are you Ange?"

Ange nodded and said, "Yes, I am. Are you Mr. Bernard?"

Bernard was Yuri's grandmother's younger brother.

Hearing this, Bernard smiled and said, "Forget the 'Mr. Bernard,' just call me Bernard!"

Ange thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll call you Grandpa Bernard!"

"Alright!" Bernard said with a smile.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Bernard said, "I've already told the young lady about your matter, and she has agreed to see you. Come with me!"

In fact, the owner of the manor originally didn't plan to see Ange, but out of respect for Bernard, she reluctantly agreed.

Hearing this, Ange happily said, "That's great, thank you, Grandpa Bernard!"

Bernard led Ange towards the manor while saying with a smile, "It's rare for my sister to ask me to do something, so of course I have to do it well.

However, although the young lady has agreed to see you, whether or not you can convince her to sell you the herbs depends on your own abilities. Our young lady isn't very easy to talk to, so you should be mentally prepared."

Ange nodded and said, "I understand."

After a series of twists and turns, Ange arrived at a grassy field, where he could see two Pokémon battling fiercely in the distance.

One of them was the Mach Pokémon Garchomp, which flapped its fins and soared in the air, launching a dive towards the other Pokémon below.

The Pokémon enduring Garchomp's attack was the Celestial Pokémon Gothitelle.

The moment Garchomp's Dragon Rush collided with Gothitelle, Gothitelle erected a barrier for defense, a Reflect that could weaken physical attacks.

Boom!

Accompanied by a loud bang, Garchomp crashed into the Reflect, and the powerful shockwave caused Ange and Bernard to instinctively shield their eyes with their arms.

Crack… After a stalemate, cracks appeared on Gothitelle's Reflect under Garchomp's powerful attack.

Just as the Reflect was about to shatter, two vortexes suddenly appeared in the sky, followed by two rings of light shooting out from them one after the other, striking Garchomp's body.

This was the Psychic-type move Future Sight.

Garchomp grunted and fell to the ground, creating a large pit, but immediately afterwards, it launched the Dragon Claw skill and charged towards Gothitelle.

Gothitelle wanted to dodge, but they were too close, and before Gothitelle could react, Garchomp had already approached and struck its abdomen with a claw.

Gothitelle cried out miserably and flew backwards, immediately losing consciousness.

Seeing this, Gothitelle's trainer sighed and said to Garchomp's trainer, "As expected, I still can't win against you!"

Saying that, she took out a Poké Ball and recalled Gothitelle.

Garchomp's trainer wore a black long coat, black trousers, and had even more dazzling golden long hair than Caitlin, and was much taller than Caitlin.

She was the Champion of Sinnoh—Cynthia, one of the most popular women in the Pokémon world!

Caitlin and Cynthia were good friends, and the owner of this manor was Caitlin.

Because it was close to Versona Town and the Icirrus Cave, this manor was still very cool even in the hot summer, so Caitlin would come here for a short stay every summer.

This time, she specially invited Cynthia, who was on vacation.

As Ange and Bernard approached, Caitlin and Cynthia also noticed them.

Cynthia said with a smile, "A guest has arrived!"

Caitlin looked at Ange with an arrogant expression and said, "You're the one who wants to buy herbs?"

Ange nodded and said, "Yes, Miss Caitlin. My name is Ange, and I'm a chef from the Kingdom of Azoth."

Caitlin didn't find it strange that Ange knew her name. After all, she was an Elite Four member of a region, so it was normal for people to recognize her.

"Ange… Chef… Azoth…" Hearing Ange's self-introduction, Cynthia suddenly muttered to herself. Suddenly, she exclaimed in surprise, "Are you the owner of Snorlax House?"

Ange and Caitlin were both stunned.

"Miss Cynthia knows me?"

"You know him? Is he famous?"

The two said at the same time.

Cynthia introduced to Caitlin, "Snorlax House is one of the most highly-rated restaurants in the Kalos region right now. I've been planning to try it ever since I came to the Kalos region!

And its owner is Mr. Ange in front of us.

Moreover, Mr. Ange is also a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Azoth!"

Every time Cynthia went to a place, she would try the local cuisine, and this time to the Kalos region was no exception.

After preliminary research, she already knew the famous cuisines of the Kalos region like the back of her hand.

Hearing Cynthia's words, Caitlin looked at Ange in surprise. She didn't care about Ange's identity as a chef, even if Ange's restaurant was very famous.

However, her status as a member of the Azoth royal family made her slightly take An Jie more seriously.

Of course, it was only slightly.

Azoth is said to be a country, but its status in the alliance is similar to that of a "city," only with more autonomy.

Even if An Jie was just a member of the royal family, even if An Jie was the king, he would still be insignificant in front of Gardevoir.

Unlike Gardevoir's family's arrogant attitude, Cynthia was much more easy-going.

After introducing An Jie's identity to Gardevoir, she looked at An Jie with a smile and said, "Mr. An Jie, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

An Jie responded, "It's also a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cynthia."

He paused for a moment and added, "And Miss Gardevoir."

Hmph ~ Gardevoir glanced at An Jie with dissatisfaction.

Cynthia walked to An Jie's side and asked curiously, "Mr. An Jie, do you want to use the herbs to make something delicious?"

An Jie replied, "No, it's for making a drink. I want to use them to stir-fry tea leaves."

Cynthia was intrigued, "Herbs can also be used to make tea leaves?"

An Jie replied, "I don't know if others can, but I can."

Upon hearing this, Cynthia immediately turned to Gardevoir and said, "Gardevoir, quickly sell the herbs to Mr. An Jie!"

She really wanted to taste this special tea, but she was too embarrassed to ask An Jie.

Gardevoir was handing the Poké Balls of Gothitelle and Garchomp to the butler Bernard, asking him to send them for treatment.

Hearing Cynthia's words, she said without raising her head, "Why should I sell them? If I sell the herbs, won't the surroundings of the manor become bare? How ugly! I don't want to!"

She wasn't short of money, so she wouldn't do such a thing!

Cynthia said, "Won't you sell them for my sake?"

"No sell!" Gardevoir turned around and walked towards the villa without looking back.

"Gardevoir, wait for me, let's discuss it again!" Seeing this, Cynthia quickly followed, not forgetting to wave to An Jie, signaling An Jie to come along.

Cynthia kept persuading Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir, just sell them to Mr. An Jie. It's not like you're pulling out the entire herb plant, it won't be bare!"

Gardevoir continued to say in an uncompromising tone, "No sell means no sell."

"Then sell a portion, selling a portion is also fine!" Cynthia thought for a while and said.

When Mr. An Jie has stir-fried the tea leaves, she will ask if she can buy some to try.

Gardevoir suddenly stopped and said in a dissatisfied tone, "Why are you always speaking up for him!"

Cynthia: . . .

She couldn't possibly say that she was greedy, could she… …

At this moment, Gardevoir suddenly looked at the Miss Cottonee, Floette, and Flabébé who were quietly following behind An Jie.

"It's not impossible for me to sell you the herbs," she suddenly said.

An Jie said in surprise, "Really!"

"Yes!" Gardevoir nodded, then she changed the subject and said, "But you have to agree to one request from me!"

"What request?" Cynthia and An Jie asked in unison.

Gardevoir glanced at the two of them, feeling a little angry. Why are you so tacit?

"Have a Pokémon battle with me. If you win, I'll sell you the herbs!" Gardevoir said, looking at An Jie.

After she finished speaking, before An Jie could say anything, she heard Cynthia say, "Gardevoir, you're going too far."

Cynthia felt that Gardevoir, as an Elite Four trainer, was making things difficult for others by making such an impossible request.

"Hmph ~ I don't care, I won't sell if he doesn't agree!" Gardevoir raised her chin and said.

Cynthia wanted to say something, but she heard An Jie say, "Okay, I agree to Miss Gardevoir's request!"

Upon hearing this, Gardevoir looked at An Jie in surprise, completely not expecting An Jie to actually agree.

She was indeed deliberately making things difficult for An Jie, wanting An Jie to back down when he knew it was difficult, so An Jie's answer surprised her.

She finally took An Jie seriously, "You are quite brave."

An Jie smiled and said, "Miss Gardevoir is willing to give me a chance, wouldn't it be too unappreciative if I didn't agree?"

Gardevoir: . . .

"Mr. An Jie, you… …" Cynthia was also very surprised that An Jie would agree.

She wanted to tell An Jie not to pay attention to Gardevoir's unreasonable request, and that she would help persuade Gardevoir, but she saw An Jie give her a reassuring look, and she immediately swallowed the words that were about to come out.

An Jie: "Then Miss Gardevoir, let's start now!"

An Jie's straightforward agreement made Gardevoir feel uneasy instead.

"Are you really going to battle me?"

"Yes!" An Jie nodded, "Isn't it Miss Gardevoir's own request?"

Gardevoir tilted her head and said, "If you lose, I will directly kick you out of the manor!"

An Jie smiled and said, "I will leave on my own without Miss Gardevoir kicking me out."

Gardevoir: "Okay, then come with me!"

With that, she turned and walked in another direction.

Cynthia sighed and said to An Jie, "Let's go!" She really didn't understand why An Jie would agree.

An Jie nodded and followed with Miss Cottonee, Floette, and Flabébé.

Under Gardevoir's lead, An Jie arrived at a battle arena.

This was a place in the manor built specifically for Pokémon battles, with performance no less than any official competition battle arena.

It could not only simulate various environments such as forests, rivers, and rocky beaches, but also had excellent defense mechanisms, so that the internal Pokémon battles would not affect the outside.

Gardevoir and Cynthia's previous battle was just a spur-of-the-moment spar, so they didn't specifically come here.

Cynthia said, "Let me be the referee!" With that, she walked to the referee's position.

An Jie and Gardevoir nodded and walked to the opposite sides of the field.

"Gardevoir, what kind of battle rules do you want?" Cynthia asked.

Gardevoir thought for a while and replied, "Let's just do the simplest three-on-three. One side's Pokémon loses all battling ability first, then the other side wins. That guy named An Jie can replace Pokémon at will."

Cynthia nodded, "Okay, then both of you send out your first Pokémon!"

As Cynthia's voice fell, the originally bare field suddenly began to change, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a forest full of trees.

As expected of a rich woman, what an advanced battle arena, An Jie couldn't help but think.

Then, he and Gardevoir took out their Poké Balls at the same time.

As two red lights flashed, the two Pokémon appeared on the field at the same time.

In order to ensure that he could win Gardevoir, An Jie's first Pokémon was the reliable Komala.

As for Gardevoir… …