Before long, Yin Hanling arrived with You Yuyou in tow.
The two stepped into the private room and, seeing humans and Pokémon happily sharing the space, exchanged a quick grin. They unclipped their Poké Balls and sent out their partners as well.
You Yuyou released her Haunter and the newly hatched Duskull.
Yin Hanling released her Misdreavus and Shuppet.
Haunter had barely materialized when its eyes lit up at the sight of the Munchlax. It drifted over at once, curious and grinning.
Duskull, for its part, behaved like a little old man—floating slowly over each cluster of Pokémon, passing above their heads as if conducting an inspection of his underlings.
Misdreavus mirrored Haunter's interest and hovered beside the Munchlax, peering left and right with unabashed curiosity. Only when Munchlax fished two Pokéblocks out of Auron's backpack did Misdreavus finally beam, hugging one to her chest and nibbling contentedly.
Shuppet didn't know anybody yet. She perched on Yin Hanling's forehead and sat there, tense, staring wide-eyed at everyone.
Auron lifted a hand in greeting to the two newcomers.
"Don't just stand there—come sit. These two are your newly caught Pokémon?"
You Yuyou ducked her head and murmured a soft "Mm."
Yin Hanling turned her palm upward. Shuppet drifted down with dainty dignity and settled into Yin's hand.
"Well? Not bad, right? Both of ours only just hatched in the last couple of days."
Auron looked at the Shuppet in Yin Hanling's palm.
[Pokémon Data]
Species: Shuppet
Gender: Female
Type: Ghost
Ability: Cursed Body (When struck by a move, there is a 30% chance the foe's move will be Disabled.)
Aptitude: Purple
Level-Up Moves: Knock Off, Screech, Night Shade
Egg Moves: Destiny Bond, Shadow Sneak, Phantom Force
Auron's gaze softened as he spoke to Shuppet.
"Pretty good."
Hearing that, Shuppet's mouth curled up. She wiggled, pleased, and did a full circle on Yin Hanling's palm.
Auron looked up at the Duskull doing his leisurely patrol in midair.
[Pokémon Data]
Species: Duskull
Gender: Male
Type: Ghost
Ability: Levitate (Floating off the ground; immune to Ground-type moves.)
Aptitude: Orange
Level-Up Moves: Astonish, Leer, Disable, Shadow Sneak
Egg Moves: Pain Split, Memento, Grudge, Destiny Bond
"These two—are they your elders' Pokémon's children?" Auron asked, pointing at the Duskull and Shuppet.
"Nope." Yin Hanling teased Shuppet with familiar affection. "We picked out their Eggs ourselves in the Ghost-type section at the main store."
"Back when she was still in the Egg, I felt like we had real affinity," Yin went on, eyes bright. "Sure enough, once she hatched, I fell head over heels. If I didn't already have Yuyou, I'd just pair up with this little one for life."
"Haha."
Auron glanced at You Yuyou with amused eyes. Yuyou didn't do anything dramatic—just offered a small, shallow smile.
"Come on, sit. See what you feel like eating and order first."
"Got it."
They'd booked a room with individual hotpot setups: one pot per person—two small cauldrons in front of each seat—since some Pokémon could share in hotpot as well.
The dishes arrived fast, and soon everyone's broth was at a rolling boil.
That did it—the Pokémon, all but those already soaking in the water pool, perked up at the aroma and edged closer.
Auron patted Charmander's head.
"Hey, you want some too?"
Charmander nodded so fast the flame on its tail seemed to flicker with impatience.
Smiling, Auron slid over and ceded half his seat. Munchlax dragged a little stool over, climbed up, and stood on it, poised and eager for food to arrive.
Auron glanced from Golbat to Charmander, then sighed at Munchlax.
"How about this—I teach you how to cook hotpot, and you can feed them?"
Munchlax squinted with delight and bobbed his head rapidly.
So Auron set about teaching him—starting with chopsticks.
Unfortunately, Munchlax's five stubby fingers weren't very dexterous; chopsticks were a hopeless cause. With time short and tasks many, Auron switched tactics and taught Munchlax the fork first. Chopsticks could come later, back home, slowly.
The moment Munchlax figured out how to use a fork, he speared a massive clump of sliced meat and dunked it into the roiling broth, eyes shining.
Thankfully the pot was big and the flame strong. In no time the meat changed color and cooked through.
"See? When the meat turns this color, it's ready," Auron said, pointing.
Munchlax immediately scooped it all out with a fork in each hand. He split the meat neatly into three portions—one for himself, one for Golbat, one for Charmander.
Charmander was easy enough—he just used his claw like a fork and popped the slices straight into his mouth.
Golbat, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury. Auron had to tilt the plate and pour the meat directly into her wide mouth.
Munchlax and Charmander finished their portions, eyes lighting up in unison. Charmander urged Munchlax to hurry and cook more.
While Munchlax worked, Auron mixed another dipping sauce and set the bowl in front of him.
"Here, try this. Swirl the meat in this first; it'll taste even better."
Munchlax's eyes went wide, little stars practically twinkling as he stared at the dip.
(This is already so good—add this, and how good is it going to be?!)
Soon the meat hit the doneness Auron had pointed out. Munchlax fished it out, gave each piece a quick sweep through the dipping sauce, and portioned it into every Pokémon's plate.
Munchlax and Charmander ate, sighed in bliss, and immediately set more meat to cook. Golbat, though, didn't seem to like it much. After tasting one slice, she shook her head.
Auron asked what Golbat preferred.
Golbat shook again, then patted Munchlax's shoulder with a wing to signal there was no need to set aside a share for her next time. After that, she stood quietly behind the two, watching them eat in silence.
Munchlax blinked. A Pokémon that didn't like meat this delicious?
He wordlessly tossed a little bit of everything from the table into the simmering broth, planning to have Golbat try each item later—so they could find what she did like.
And so, Munchlax and Charmander ate a mountain of meat. Their bellies rounded out into perfect spheres.
Before long, it wasn't only Auron's three who were eating. Jace Rowan's Charmander wandered over, and so did You Yuyou's and Yin Hanling's Haunter and Misdreavus.
Haunter and Misdreavus, however, weren't big on meat. After a token taste, they stopped eating the slices altogether.
Still, each Pokémon found something to love.
Golbat, for example, adored beef meatballs and all kinds of hotpot "ball" assortments.
Haunter preferred youmaicai—romaine-style greens that soaked up broth. Misdreavus fell hard for Sichuan glass noodles.
Aside from the ones who didn't eat—Milotic, Dragonair, Cloyster, Skrelp, Swablu, and Duskull—
Yin Hanling's Shuppet proved especially fond of rice cakes.
Jace Rowan's Torkoal liked multilayered tripe and tofu skin, while his Arcanine favored duck intestines, duck blood, gizzard, and beef aorta and similar offal.
At last, humans and Pokémon alike were stuffed. Jace caught sight of the stack after stack of empty plates beside Munchlax and went nearly black in the face.
A moment later he felt relieved Munchlax hadn't evolved yet. If it had, it would probably have eaten even more.
He declared that next time, they were not bringing Munchlax to hotpot.
As if Munchlax would accept that. He'd just fallen in love with hotpot, and now you say you won't take him next time? Absolutely not.
He lunged forward, clinging to Jace's leg, and refused to let go.
Jace looked to the others for help, but everyone—including Auron—stood around enjoying the spectacle. Not one person offered a hand.
With no other choice, Jace promised he'd bring Munchlax again next time.
But this was Munchlax we were talking about. He plainly wasn't satisfied and kept holding on.
In the end, with a helpless groan, Jace bargained his way free—at the price of two future hotpot meals.
(End of this chapter)
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