With the arrival of the Torterra and the others, Victor went back to the kitchen and began setting up the Poffin-making machine he had purchased a while ago. He had just spent the last few days learning how to make Poffins, and after receiving his great-aunt's blessing, Victor was full of confidence in his culinary skills.
"Let's try making some Poffins today. We'll have Gengar test them to see if they're any good," Victor said, patting the calibrated machine.
After all, Gengar has high poison resistance.
"Gengar? (*ﾟﾛﾟ)!!"
"Relax, don't you trust my skills?" Victor patted its shoulder reassuringly.
Gengar gave Victor a suspicious look. His cooking was delicious, but Poffins...
"Gengar..."
As if making a momentous decision, Gengar finally nodded.
Seeing this, Victor waited until it wasn't looking and gave its small tail a tug.
Psssssshhhh~
It shot out of the kitchen door like a deflating balloon.
"Come and be my assistant," Victor called out, rubbing his forehead as he watched Gengar float away.
"Gengar!"
A grand entrance!
Hearing the call, Gengar phased directly through the wall, appearing dramatically in front of Victor.
After giving Gengar an eye-roll, Victor began to make the Poffins.
Gengar happily bustled about at his side, helping out.
The machine rumbled to life. Victor nodded, instructed Gengar to keep an eye on it, and then turned to prepare dinner.
Tonight's dinner was egg fried rice, braised pork trotters, garlic pork ribs, spicy boneless chicken feet, a fruit and vegetable salad, and a fragrant savory mushroom chicken soup.
By the time he finished, the machine had stopped, indicating the Poffins were done.
With a sense of trepidation, Victor opened the machine. Inside lay neat, brightly colored Poffins.
"They don't look half bad," Victor said to himself. He took out a portion of the Poffins and, with a wide smile, presented them to Gengar.
"Gengar?"
Gengar looked at Victor, then cautiously picked up a Poffin with its small hand, closed its eyes, and tossed it into its mouth.
It chewed, then opened its eyes, a look of confusion in its crimson gaze. It then... picked up another one, tossed it in its mouth, and continued to chew.
Finally, it took the large bowl from Victor's hands, opened its mouth, and poured all the Poffins inside.
It then licked the corners of its mouth with its long, crimson tongue.
"Gengar! (๑´ڡ`๑)"
Seeing this, Victor knew he hadn't failed. He took out the remaining Poffins and, looking at the golden-brown treats, curiously picked one up and popped it into his own mouth.
It had a texture like candy but was slightly astringent.
Overall, not bad.
He had Gengar help carry dinner out of the kitchen and into the yard, then shouted, "Dinner's ready!"
All the Pokémon came running over, including the Torterra and the others who had just arrived that day.
They waited quietly for their food. Victor walked over with the Poffins and offered them some.
"Give these a try."
The Torterra glanced at him, then at the Gengar and Machoke who were already digging in, exchanged a look with the Electivire, and lowered its head to eat the Poffins.
After just one bite, it couldn't stop.
Victor nodded in satisfaction, then sat down to eat his own meal.
[Breeder 3: How can a qualified Breeder not know how to make Poffins? Your first attempt was a great success, capturing the appetites of all the Pokémon in the Breeding House.]
[Received Great-Aunt's Gift: A Poffin recipe book from an unnamed friend of your great-aunt.]
[Great-Aunt: My friend is a very skilled Breeder.]
Browsing the text that had suddenly appeared, Victor took a sip of soup. He was beginning to feel more and more that he was a different kind of Breeder from the rest.
Tonight's after-dinner activity was watching the Machoke wrestle.
Dali and Erli, wearing their hard hats, faced off. Their foreheads were pressed tightly together, and their eight hands were interlocked as they struggled for dominance.
Since coming to the Breeding House, Victor had prepared hearty meals every day, and as a result, the Machoke's physiques had become much more robust.
At this moment, their arm muscles were bulging as they refused to give an inch.
It was a clash of power against power. The scene made Victor glance at the Gengar sitting next to him.
"Gengar?"
"It's nothing. Let's keep watching," Victor said, shaking his head and turning his attention back to the Machoke.
Having short legs has its advantages.
"Gengar!"
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I know it's nothing good!"
Gengar scooted its bottom closer to Victor.
Victor noticed the small movement and chuckled to himself.
Such a clinger.
Just then, the stalemate was broken. One of the Machoke roared, seized the other's hands, and with a nimble turn of its body, used the momentum to throw its opponent to the ground. It then wrapped its arms around the other Machoke's waist, leaped high into the air, and came crashing down. At the last moment, it released its grip, letting the other Machoke slam heavily onto the ground.
The victor stood with all four fists clenched, roaring to the sky, its muscles bulging even more.
Victor could tell it was Dali, the only female among the three Machoke, as her physique was noticeably larger than the other two.
Witnessing all this, Victor was speechless for a long moment.
[Your Machoke (Dali) has finally broken through a long-standing plateau, mastering Bulk Up, Circle Throw, and Seismic Toss.]
[Congratulations, you have successfully developed the first dish in your recipe book: "Savory Mushroom Soup."]
[Savory Mushroom Soup: A delicious mushroom soup made from savory mushrooms. Can slightly improve a Pokémon's mood and moderately alleviate fatigue.]
["Culinary Crit" triggered: Greatly improves a Pokémon's mood, completely eliminates a Pokémon's fatigue, and can slightly increase the efficiency with which a Pokémon learns new moves.]
[Great-Aunt: Good food can do anything.]
Victor: "?"
Savory Mushroom Soup?
Victor recalled that yesterday's description of the Culinary Crit for the soup had mentioned an "unknown effect." So, the unknown effect was an increased efficiency in learning new moves?
So this is a Culinary Crit? That's amazing...
Just then, Erli climbed out of the crater, patted the hard hat on its head with its palm, and walked over to Victor.
"Machoke."
Victor snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Erli, who was pointing at the crater with an apologetic expression.
Dali also walked over, and seeing them standing with their heads bowed, Sanli ran over to stand obediently with them.
Seeing this, Victor chuckled. "Congratulations, Dali. You've gotten stronger. I'm sure you'll be able to protect our Breeding House even better now."
"Machoke!" Dali instantly stood up straight and puffed out its chest.
"And Erli, Sanli, you two should learn from Dali and strive to get stronger soon, so you can better protect our home."
"Machoke!" Erli and Sanli stood up straight and puffed out their chests.
With that, Victor had Gengar bring the first-aid kit from the room and tended to Erli's wounds.
The gesture moved it to tears.
Seeing that Victor wasn't angry about the damage to the yard and was instead carefully treating Erli's injuries, Dali and Sanli secretly vowed to protect this wonderful home with all their might.
Gengar also floated in the air, using its psychic powers to bring soil from other places to fill in the crater.
After everything was taken care of, Victor patted the hard hat on Erli's head, signaling that it was okay.
Dali then led the others off on their patrol, while Victor went over to the Petilil.
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