Chapter 53

The Chinese Restaurant of Haidai is located right beside the Pola Gym in Pola City, and it also serves as a club for enthusiasts of Chinese cuisine.

The overall architectural style of the Chinese Restaurant is dominated by blue, hinting at Haidai’s expertise in preparing seafood dishes and his secondary role as a Water-type Gym Leader of the Pola Gym.

After challenging Haidai, Luo Mu was invited by him to taste dishes he cooked himself, and even the recipe for Luo Mu’s previously made braised fish originally came from Haidai.

Luo Mu arrived outside the restaurant with Wobbuffet, and Haidai, wearing a wave-patterned apron, had already been waiting there for some time.

Although Haidai is broad-shouldered and stout, with a gleaming bald head, he is in fact a generous and open-hearted man whose dishes are greatly loved by the citizens of Pola.

“Hey! Already eaten?” Haidai, arms crossed, quickly noticed Luo Mu approaching with the sharp gaze of a chef. He warmly greeted Luo Mu, then scrutinized the Wobbuffet at his side: “Isn’t that Wobbuffet? It’s pretty rare in Paldea. Did you recently catch it, Luo Mu?”

“Aren’t I here to taste your new dish?” Luo Mu extended his right hand to lightly shake Haidai’s left, then lowered his gaze to Wobbuffet and smiled: “It’s a Pokémon I caught for my farm. I plan to train it to evolve into Wobbuffet.”

“Wobbuffet? Not a bad idea. I recall it’s skilled at controlling weather, but the King’s Rock needed for its evolution is rare and hard to obtain.”

As a Water-type expert, Haidai had some knowledge of Water-type Pokémon from other regions, and he had previously taken notice of Wobbuffet, a Pokémon with the rare Rain Dish ability.

“Wobbluuu!”

Wobbuffet wagged its tail and greeted Haidai.

Seeing this, Haidai smiled warmly, crouched down, and gently patted Wobbuffet’s head: “You’re doing well too. Keep growing strong.”

After greeting Wobbuffet, Haidai stood up and pointed at the restaurant behind him, packed with diners at mealtime. “Enough small talk. Now, let you taste the freshest bass from Bao Hu Hou, and the Dream Seaweed I went through great trouble to procure from Hoenn—combined into the ultimate flavor!”

“Ultimate flavor? As a chef, I can’t let that slide.”

Before Luo Mu could respond, a stranger’s male voice suddenly came from behind.

Both turned toward the sound and saw a man with meticulously styled golden hair, dressed in a pristine white chef’s uniform, his blue neckerchief and the large suitcase he carried drawing immediate attention.

The man’s sharp gaze locked directly onto Haidai, as if holding some indescribable emotion.

“You’re...” Haidai’s cheerful smile froze. He stared intently at the man, sensing the same aura as his own.

Two piercing gazes clashed in midair, sparking an invisible fire. An inexplicable tension began to spread between them.

Luo Mu & Wobbuffet: “?”

So what’s going on here?

Luo Mu had a vague memory of this golden-haired man—he remembered him standing in line at the elevator, and the man’s pure golden hair, rare in Paldea, had made Luo Mu pause for a moment.

But no matter how hard he searched his memory, he couldn’t recall who this familiar-looking man was.

After a long silence, Haidai suddenly spoke: “Hey, kid. Which path are you from?”

The man glanced past Haidai at the Chinese Restaurant, carefully set down his heavy suitcase, and replied calmly: “A chef traveling in search of the ultimate dish. Zhi Mi.”

Luo Mu: “!!!!!!”

Haidai frowned, as if recalling something, his eyes widening in shock: “You’re... from the Kalos region... that famous three-star restaurant’s head chef!”

“Merely empty titles. Now, as a traveling chef, I’m just an ordinary cook.” Zhi Mi shook his head. He valued deeper things far more than any honors bestowed upon him.

“I overheard your conversation with this young man. My purpose in coming to Pola City in Paldea is to find new culinary inspiration—and this water city, with its explosion of flavors, has truly opened my eyes.”

“So, I’m very interested in this ‘ultimate flavor’ you mentioned. Would you like to settle it between chefs, Mr. Haidai?”

Zhi Mi’s words struck straight to Haidai’s heart. After a brief pause, Haidai roared with grandeur: “I couldn’t agree more! Let’s settle this with the pride of chefs—no regrets, no holding back!”

Their agreement was reached instantly. Both looked ready to unleash their full strength.

Before turning to enter the restaurant, Haidai glanced back: “How about letting Luo Mu here serve as one of the judges?”

“No problem. Even if it’s someone I know, I’ll serve a dish that leaves him speechless.”

Zhi Mi’s gaze shifted from Haidai to Luo Mu. He had no interest in Luo Mu—his focus was solely on Haidai, the chef.

But the moment he glanced at Luo Mu, his expression froze for an instant.

Was it his imagination? He thought he glimpsed a faint resemblance to Miss Caru.

Zhi Mi gave Luo Mu a look filled with hidden meaning.

From Luo Mu’s perspective, this self-proclaimed chef Zhi Mi had a brief exchange with Haidai, then suddenly locked onto the same wavelength and inexplicably challenged him to a cooking duel.

Luo Mu had a thousand questions but nowhere to voice them—this was a Pokémon world, why were they having a cooking battle?

Wobbuffet, however, found the unusual scene fascinating and bounced happily along beside Luo Mu into the restaurant.

After sitting down, a woman with beautiful green hair, dressed in a pastry chef’s uniform, smiled at Luo Mu: “Oh my, it’s been a while, Luo Mu!”

“Was Miss Feng also invited by Mr. Haidai?”

Luo Mu was surprised, yet it made perfect sense.

The woman speaking was Feng, the Gym Leader of the Yuanmo Gym in Yuanmo Town, a pastry chef by trade who ran a shop called Pieshule Muzi, and also one of Haidai’s culinary students.

“Yes, I arrived even before you did.” Feng spoke slowly, with a gentle smile, appearing quiet and naturally sweet. “By the way, this is a belated congratulations—well done on becoming a Champion Trainer!”

“Hehe, I never expected you’d surpass all of us in just one year!”

Luo Mu replied humbly: “I owe it all to my partners. I couldn’t have done it alone.”