Chapter 326:
January 1st.
"Everyone, drink as much as you want today!"
In the evening, several long tables filled the entire living room.
Hayashi Kaede used his psychic powers to move an entire barrel of Grepa Berry Wine.
The tables were laden with all sorts of food: honey-glazed fried eggs, honeyed steaks, barbecue, fish meatballs, wine-filled chocolates, warmed Moomoo Milk, sweet juice made by Steenee and Tsareena, golden, sizzling winter-fried herring...
Simmered white radishes, fresh lettuce for cleansing the palate, cabbage leaves....
The Pokémon immediately erupted in cheerful sounds.
"Alcremie~"
"Ninetales!"
"Growlithe!"
"Eevee, Eevee~~"
Today, all the Pokémon were inside the living room.
Even the twenty Pidgeot and the leader Pidgeot had eaten the Size-Shifting Pecha Cubes and entered the living room.
The Pidgeot, whose wingspans usually reached three to four meters, were now shrunk inside the room, with wingspans of less than a meter, giving them a novel experience reminiscent of their Pidgeotto days.
They felt years younger.
"Salamence~!"
Salamence was also in unusually high spirits today, striding over to a table on its stout, short legs.
This table was filled with large-portion foods.
Because this was the stewed white radish soup table for itself, Dragonite, and Goodra.
The radishes stewed for them were cut into large chunks.
Fortunately, the radishes he grew were big enough; one white radish could be half a meter long and as thick as a thigh.
Often, cutting it into two or three sections was just right for the mouths of these Dragon-type Pokémon.
Especially for Salamence.
"Gardevoir~"
Gardevoir pulled out the wooden stopper of the Grepa Berry Wine barrel. Psychic energy flowed, and the wine-red liquid divided into streams, landing steadily in front of every Pokémon!
"Blaziken, Blaziken..."
Blaziken ate until its mouth was greasy, wishing it could use all its limbs.
The steaks and eggs in front of it were all piled onto its plate.
It placed a piece of lettuce or a tender, almost juicy cabbage leaf, then put all the steak and eggs on top, eating it in one bite and letting out a satisfied sound.
When Gardevoir brought the Grepa Berry Wine, it drank it down and felt even more content.
"Blaziken, Blaziken~"
"Don't eat too much; there's still cake later," Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but remind from the side.
"Blaziken, Blaziken!" Blaziken patted its stomach, saying it could eat anything right now!
"Alright, alright, you eat, you eat." Hayashi Kaede didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he didn't try to persuade it further. After all, in this weather, if the cake wasn't finished in one day, it could just eat it the next day.
The Pidgeot pecked and tore at the meat pieces. After shrinking, the meat chunks they could once swallow whole were now too big to manage.
Luckily, their claws and beaks were sharp enough to easily tear the meat apart.
If they couldn't tear it, they could always get help from their companions....
Butterfree sipped honey, Serperior used its vines to hold a fork, delivering fish to its mouth, Gardevoir sat on a chair, and Big Brother and Sister Indeedee held bowls...
Compared to the other Pokémon, their table manners were quite elegant.
The shrunken Milotic and Primarina poked their heads out of the water, watching everyone else eat so heartily, and couldn't help but call out, "Primarina," "Milotic."
"Coming, coming."
Hayashi Kaede brought over a bowl of Berry-honey salad and a plate of sliced fried steak. "Here, open wide."
Primarina and Milotic obediently opened their mouths, waiting for Hayashi Kaede to feed them pieces of meat and berries, their faces showing pleasure.
Serperior, noticing this, looked at the Grepa Berry Wine on the table, smelled it, coiled a vine around the cup, and drank it all in one go.
The Alcremie ate their small cookies, but their eyes kept darting between everyone and Hayashi Kaede.
They were wondering, when would everyone finish eating and bring out the birthday cakes they made?
Fortunately, the wait wasn't long.
To ensure everyone still had room for the birthday cake, Hayashi Kaede had actually prepared a dinner with many varieties but portions far from enough for a full meal for everyone.
The big commotion from making the cakes yesterday meant almost every Pokémon knew there would be new food today.
Soon, after Hayashi Kaede and Gardevoir collected the plates and cups from the tables,
Hayashi Kaede finally started taking out the cakes one by one from the storage capsules.
These cakes varied in size, some tall, some short.
The large ones were a full meter tall.
Those were for the large Pidgeot, Dragonite, Goodra, Salamence, and Blaziken.
The medium-sized ones, like for Serperior, Milotic..., were dozens of centimeters tall.
The smaller ones, for Steenee, Tsareena..., were only about twenty centimeters tall.
As the cakes were brought out, some Pokémon quickly noticed with surprise:
Each cake's wrapper had their name on it.
"Alright, everyone, find your own cake based on your name."
After all the cakes were out, the moment Hayashi Kaede finished speaking, some Pokémon immediately rushed towards their cakes.
As the wrappers were removed one by one, the cakes' true appearances were revealed.
They were cakes decorated with various Berries.
They might just look a bit bigger, but their descriptions were anything but simple.
[SS-tier Birthday Cake – A large cake made using Alcremie cream, infused with the Baker's special emotions. After consumption, receive a blessing for the new year!]
[Culinary Effect 1: Aroma, reflecting Alcremie's characteristics. After eating, the Pokémon will have a special fragrance and will have a unique attraction to Pokémon that can produce food.]
[Culinary Effect 2: Various rare Berries were added to the cream. After consumption, randomly increases one of the Pokémon's IVs.]
[Culinary Effect 3: Happy Birthday – Celebrate your birthday with a 100% increase in luck.]
[Culinary Effect 4: Happy New Year – A new year, new fortune. After consumption, the Pokémon has a certain probability of triggering a Strong Luck effect in the new year, increasing luck tenfold for a short time.]
This time, besides the random IV increase and the Aroma effect, the other two effects were related to luck.
However, both buffs were time-limited.
One increased luck by 100% on the birthday.
The other had a chance to increase luck tenfold.
Neither was relevant at the moment, so they didn't require special attention.
However, upon seeing these two culinary effects, Hayashi Kaede immediately thought of Alcremie and Serperior.
He wondered what new surprises they would bring this year?
Snapping back to reality, Hayashi Kaede was drawn by an exclamation.
Turning to look, he realized Serperior's face had turned red at some point, and it was slithering towards him?
\(0^◇^0)/: "Serperior~" (I want a hug...)