Chapter 259: The Fall of Corsola

Swoosh swoosh swoosh—

In front of a massive iron griddle, a round-mouthed giant octopus covered in bright red used its six tentacles to cook teppanyaki with fiery enthusiasm, while also waving a spatula about like a shower of falling flowers.

Fortunately, it did not commit the terrifying act of chopping off its own tentacles mid-flip and mixing them in.

Of course.

People in the animated world basically don't eat octopus tentacles either—normally, takoyaki is made of flour balls shaped by Octillery.

The spacious restaurant had four or five hardworking Octillery in total.

All Baimu sat in front of one Octillery, admiring its cooking technique while tasting the restaurant's delicious food.

"Your signature Octillery Frenzy Fried Rice is ready."

Plop.

A mountain-sized platter of fried rice suddenly appeared before All Baimu, and a young lady in a skimpy outfit gave him a flirtatious smile.

He: "... Is the amount here maybe a little wrong?"

"Nope, this is the normal amount~"

"Alright then."

All Baimu silently nodded under the wide eyes and astonished gazes of the surrounding people, never expecting that just going out for a meal would lead to running into a flashy contest fan who got won over by Gulpin.

With this much food, he definitely couldn't finish it all on his own, but with Corsola here—

This one was a hidden big eater; no matter how much food you gave it, it would unceremoniously finish it all in one go.

"I'm counting on you…"

He first set Corsola aside.

The latter was lured awake by the aroma of the fried rice, and was about to extend its tentacles at the food before it—but upon noticing All Baimu holding a spoon, it quietly stopped.

Why'd you call me if you're the one eating?

Corsola looked at him glumly; it had already been a bit depressed from being sun-baked, and watching someone else eat right in front of it made it even more depressed.

"We're sharing, haven't you ever eaten from the same bowl as someone else?" All Baimu raised an eyebrow.

Sharing…

Corsola's brain, stiffened by who-knows-how-many years, genuinely didn't understand what he was saying.

All Baimu didn't continue explaining either; he scooped up a spoonful of fried rice and sent it into his mouth.

In an instant.

An irresistible fresh sweetness spread from the tip of his tongue all the way down; the savory rice mingled with crisp vegetables, and the various flavors formed an exquisitely wonderful waltz.

But the next second, an incomparably stimulating flavor came rushing in.

It was as if an Octillery had suddenly fired a cannonball right at his mouth from up close; the sudden spike in temperature and stinging pain inside his mouth made All Baimu's hands and feet go numb, and he couldn't help but open his mouth to gulp air to ease the spiciness—

"Huh?"

He was stunned for a moment. "Not spicy?"

The stimulating flavor came on fast and left just as fast; it didn't seem to be the terrifying spiciness brought by Tamato berries, but rather a more complex, layered compound flavor.

All Baimu scooped up another spoonful and savored it carefully. "Charti berries?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the Octillery focused on dancing with its spatula in front of him suddenly raised its head and gave him a rather surprised look, as if it hadn't expected its craft to be seen through so easily.

"Uh, want to try some?"

He scooped up a spoonful and held it up to Corsola's "mouth"; the latter, after a full five or six seconds, tremulously extended its tentacles to envelop the spoon.

When the tentacles retracted, the rice on it was already gone.

"What do you think? Stick out one tentacle if it's good."

All Baimu asked Corsola in a low voice.

It seemed to be savoring it, keeping its downturned-mouth expression unchanged—then suddenly, as if hit by a spicy sensation, its face stiffened for a moment before returning to its original state.

loubiqu.

"...'s alright."

Not bad.

It silently extended one tentacle—

Hmm!?

Corsola was taken aback—why had it suddenly gotten so used to communicating with its trainer?

It was surprised to discover that, without realizing it, it could now subconsciously respond to its trainer's words, no longer habitually maintaining a resistant posture and ignoring everything its trainer said like before.

Come to think of it, how long had it been by his side?

Corsola, who had no real concept of time, fell into deep bewilderment.

"If it's good, then eat more."

All Baimu, who hadn't noticed Corsola's complicated emotions, scooped up another spoonful and sent it over.

The latter once again subconsciously finished it.

"!"

Why is my body acting on its own again!

Corsola sorrowfully discovered that its body had already been completely tamed by the man before it.

This couldn't go on.

At this rate, sooner or later it would end up becoming diligent.

It couldn't imagine the day it became hardworking; it was simply terrifying, like a nightmare descending.

Thinking it over, Corsola watched All Baimu eating spoonful after spoonful, and decided that from now on it would just ignore him…

Mm.

Wait until the rice is finished.

Carracoral looked at the rice placed before it and, for the second time, decided to shelve its plans for now.

The portion was too large; All Baimu was full before long, and the rest was basically all fed to the Carracoral beside him.

Just as he was planning to settle the bill, the hostess brought over a parfait — ice cream stuffed with all sorts of nuts, fruit, and cream.

All Baimu asked, "I don't think I ordered this?"

"This is from our head chef, on the house. He greatly admires a customer who knows how to eat, like yourself." The hostess smiled and pointed at the Octillery by the griddle.

"Ogu!"

Octillery smiled and waved its spatula at him.

"Uh, thanks for the treat." All Baimu was a little flattered, then took the notebook the hostess had quietly slipped over — inside was a request for his autograph.

How could he possibly refuse such a small request?

He swiftly signed his name, thought for a moment, then sketched a simple Smeargle with a pencil. The sketching memories from Smeargle really rarely came in handy.

"Ya!"

When the hostess took the notebook back, she looked at the Smeargle on it with delight, overjoyed.

All Baimu ate the parfait, occasionally feeding Carracoral a bite.

Carracoral ate the parfait in humiliation — why was there always something sudden interrupting its plans?

Damn it!

—

Well-fed and watered.

With a small dessert on the side.

All Baimu walked contentedly along the shore, gazing at the people and Pokémon playing and frolicking on the distant beach.

Although both Petalburg City and Mauville City were coastal cities, they really didn't have a beautiful beach like Dewford Town's for people to enjoy. He decided that once he found lodging and booked a Gym challenge, he'd come here to relax.

Learning to enjoy life was also extremely important.

Following the signs, he made his way to the Dewford Gym. The front gate was, as expected, tightly shut, with a sign hanging on it that read: the weather is excellent today, the Gym Leader has gone out surfing.

No doubt about it.

Compared to city folks surfing the web, Dewford Gym Leader Brawly was more accustomed to surfing in real life — sometimes a good wave came in and he didn't even bother with challengers showing up.

This was also the thing he got the most flak for in online reviews,

but now the Gym basically runs on an appointment system, so Brawly probably wouldn't be like how he used to be.

Beep.

Appointment confirmed.

All Baimu glanced at the time on it — eight o'clock tomorrow morning — then looked at the number of challengers currently waiting ahead of him — zero.

He really didn't get these surfing-loving people.

Don't they work in the afternoon?