Chapter 102: First Attempt at Cooking

The generous rewards made Baimu's heart tremble.

The runner-up's haul was indeed a step above the top four's, whether the fixed rewards or the two selectable reward options.

Among them, what drew his attention most was naturally the Chef's memory of miraculous glowing cooking.

In the Chef's career of raising Pokémon, talent certainly occupied a large part, but food was also an indispensable factor — Snorlax and the others' strength owed a great deal to the Chef's cooking.

With the Chef's secret technique, Aggron and the others should be able to enjoy the benefits of miraculous glowing cooking as well.

How could Baimu not be thrilled.

It was also perfect for letting Chansey learn a thing or two — seeing that her cooking could make everyone smile would have an extraordinary effect on the little pink egg's confidence tempering.

"Blue-grade talent really is strong… feels like a talent that fast-tracks you straight into the top eight."

He had an inexplicable sense of being preordained.

But looking at it the other way, the simulator set talents based on the subject's career — does that count as hindsight?

It was because the Chef reached runner-up that the simulator judged him to possess Blue-grade talent, not that Blue-grade talent made the Chef reach runner-up.

Thinking this way, the whole "talent" thing seemed to become a factor for retrieving the simulated subject.

Baimu shifted his gaze to the second selectable reward.

Still a clue for a Pokémon of a designated type, only now with the added word "outstanding" — so what exactly does outstanding mean? High base stats? High individual — meaning physique and other multifaceted talents? A rare type?

No matter which it was, it sounded amazing.

He looked with satisfaction at the two clues with unchosen types — in a sense, he had two chances to pull an SSR, and the probability of getting a hit on this latter one was especially high.

Of course.

There was no rush for now. Aggron had just evolved and was in need of solidifying its strength, and Mawile and Chansey were also in urgent need of move supplementation — no hurry to add members.

He stood up, stretched, opened the big door behind him, and called out to Aggron and the other Pokémon: "I'm going to take a nap. If anything happens, wake me up."

"Roar!" "Chido~" "Lucky!"

The three Pokémon, in high spirits, shouted back in response.

Baimu returned to the sofa, eager to examine the Chef's cooking memory.

The instant he confirmed his selection.

His vision went black, and his consciousness sank into an unknown realm.

Vaguely.

Baimu felt himself suddenly placed inside a spacious, bright kitchen, holding a wok and a spatula, constantly pondering, constantly researching flavors.

Get hands-on stir-frying, plate the dish, taste it, then get hands-on stir-frying again, plate the dish, taste it again.

The novelty quickly faded with the repetitive motions, and the wonderful flavors that had lingered on his lips at first became somewhat cloying, yet all the genuine physical feedback failed to halt the process from continuing.