Chapter 587: The Pokémon Chef Takes Office!

Caring for newborn Pokémon absolutely cannot be careless; not only must the water temperature in the basin be confirmed—too cold or too hot will not do—as this makes it very easy for them to catch a cold when washing off the mucus left from their Pokémon Eggs.

Compared to ordinary animals, Pokémon possess vitality and constitutions stronger than even the fiercest beasts; upon birth, most can move freely, barring individually weak cases.

At such times, replenishing energy is the top priority.

Breast milk is the best source of energy intake, but judging by the expressions of the five Miltank outside the door who looked like they were watching a show, Luo Mu knew there was probably no hope.

Fortunately, he had a reserve of "breast milk" on hand, all Moomoo Milk from the Miltank; it just meant that feeding could only be done by him wielding bottles in both hands to feed these bawling little calves.

This busyness lasted the entire night.

Even with Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang as two assistants, and behind them Infernape, Mimikyu, Luxray, Comfey, and Shuang Nai Xian lending a hand, Luo Mu was still so busy that his back and lapels were soaked with sweat.

As daylight broke, the Pokémon gathering outside to watch had mostly dispersed, and Luo Mu, looking at the Tauros sleeping soundly in the nests he had prepared, felt quite complex emotions.

He vaguely remembered Hanze and Whitney both saying the gender ratio of Tauros and Miltank hatched from Pokémon Eggs was about fifty-fifty, so why were all thirteen of his male Tauros?

Fortunately, they weren't thirteen male human infants; otherwise, he dared not imagine how much money thirteen gold-swallowing beasts would consume.

Even so, the appetites of thirteen Tauros were quite astonishing—

One only needed to look at the pile of empty Moomoo Milk glass bottles stacked outside the door, yet to be cleaned up, to know.

Fortunately, he usually had the habit of reserving a portion of Moomoo Milk, so supply and feeding did not become incompatible.

All thirteen Tauros were uniformly normal-colored, with no shiny variants appearing, which actually made Luo Mu breathe a slight sigh of relief.

After all, as first-generation Pokémon, most shiny forms were quite ugly; a shiny Tauros looked as if it had been smeared with bitter melon juice, entirely green.

As for their Abilities, they could not be distinguished for now, but Luo Mu had tentatively tied ribbons of different colors around their small horns, arranging them from largest to smallest according to hatching order to avoid misidentification.

But since it was currently winter, the hatching time of these little Tauros was quite unfortunate; had they not been born on the farm, surviving in the wild would likely have been very difficult.

Feeding and care had to be meticulous.

It was also thanks to the fact that while every newborn Pokémon was still inside their Pokémon Egg, Lei Guan Wang would proactively bless them, injecting an appropriate amount of life energy, making them born stronger than their peers with remarkably outstanding constitutions.

Over the next few days, these little Tauros, whose manes had not yet grown and whose horns were not yet sharp and curved, would undergo a growth spurt until they reached the average size of ordinary Tauros recorded in the Pokédex.

By that time, the sound of their running in the pasture area would surely resonate throughout the entire farm.

Luo Mu yawned; seeing this, Lei Guan Wang beside him said concerningly, "Go rest first; Oranguru and I will keep watch here."

"It's fine; in a moment, I still need to go to Naranja City to pick up new members."

Luo Mu shook his head, beckoning for Victini, who was outside building a snowman, to come in.

Accompanied by the steaming of a golden aura, one burst of infinite energy later, all fatigue and drowsiness vanished.

He just still needed to take a shower and change his clothes.

Usually, Luo Mu would not use this method, which was similar to a stimulant but harmless; mainly, he hadn't expected to be tossed about so hard for a whole night.

After bringing along Victini, who was clamoring noisily to go out together, Luo Mu called out Dragonite and flew toward Naranja City.

After picking up the Pokémon, he still had to rush without stopping to attend class at Naranja Academy.

Nemona, Arven, and Penny were all sending messages asking him when he would return.

After a bout of busyness, in the blink of an eye, it was already afternoon.

Luo Mu not only returned to the farm himself but also brought back the three of them: Arven, Penny, and Nemona.

When Oranguru came forward to greet them, it unexpectedly glanced at the three people behind Luo Mu.

Luo Mu helplessly explained, "They are here to visit."

Having heard that exactly thirteen Tauros had hatched on the farm, the three were especially curious and, no matter what, requested Luo Mu to bring them to the farm to see.

Seeing they pestered him tightly, Luo Mu could only helplessly bring them back.

"I understand."

Oranguru nodded slightly; it was quite familiar with the trio of Arven, knowing clearly that these three were students taught by its young master.

"Young Master Arven prefers hot milk, Young Lady Penny prefers hot cola, and Young Lady Nemona wants vegetable juice, correct?"

The three did not expect Oranguru to remember their preferences, and their expressions turned somewhat surprised.

Penny weakly raised her hand and tentatively said, "I feel that cola should still be drunk with ice cubes; if that's really not possible, room temperature is fine too."

"No; girls have cold constitutions, so in winter, please try to drink hot beverages."

After Oranguru sternly refused, disregarding Penny's pitiful expression, it turned around directly to prepare the drinks.

"Stay for dinner tonight; two Pokémon Chefs with quite excellent skills have newly arrived at the farm."

Luo Mu's gaze swept over the disappointed Penny, then landed on Arven and Nemona, as he said with a smile.

"Pokémon Chefs!?"

Arven, who was quite interested in cooking, immediately lit up with excitement.

Was it having Pokémon make the dishes?

It was just like Oranguru, who served as the butler!

Arven instantly became curious about exactly what kind of Pokémon the Pokémon Chefs hired by Luo Mu were.

Speaking of chefs, surely they had to be Fire-type Pokémon—

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Arven's mind.

At this moment, Nemona, holding her phone and browsing information, suddenly spoke up: "Hearing Hearing Nimo sent back a message; they have already arrived at the Battle Factory!"

Several gazes turned simultaneously, and Nemona brought up the photo displayed on her phone.

The photo's background was a huge complex of factory buildings, while the protagonists of the composition were Hearing Hearing Nimo, holding the camera for a selfie with a brilliant smile, Paul with a cold expression, and Dawn, who hadn't noticed she was being photographed.

"Quite fast."

Penny pushed up her glasses, admiring the efficiency of Hearing Hearing Nimo and the others.

Today was December 2nd; it had not even been half a month since the trio departed for their journey in the Hoenn region, yet they had already reached the first Frontier facility.

Nemona also sighed with emotion; when they previously traveled with the goal of challenging Paldea's Gyms, they got lost every other day, which extended their travel time considerably.

It seemed Paul and Dawn had effectively suppressed Hearing Hearing Nimo, this part-time direction-challenged person, from activating her "Own Tempo" characteristic.

"Paul and Shizuka have also successfully passed the challenge of the first Gym."

Luo Mu took out his phone; sure enough, he had received messages from Hearing Nimo, and besides those, messages from Paul and Shizuka as well.

Unlike the Battle Frontier established only in the Kanto region in the anime, seemingly due to business development reasons, those Frontier Brains under Ao Ao Jiaofu basically stay fixed at one location for a period of time before rotating.

Calculating the time, they happen to be in the Hoenn region during this period, and it will be another month or two before they rotate to the Kanto region.

These pieces of news were basically shared kindly by Paul's older brother, Lei Si.

The first Gym that Paul and Shizuka challenged was the Rustboro City Gym; Luo Mu remembered the Gym Leader seemed to be named Roxanne, and the Battle Factory happened to be located near Rustboro City, so the timing matched up.

However—

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon Paul's slightly restrained, rather polite wording, and he forcibly discerned some emotion from within it.

As expected, Paul had indeed run into Ash.

The "ill-fated connection" of the Sinnoh region had arrived early in the Hoenn region; who knew if this would produce any new changes.

Judging merely from the messages Paul sent, his fighting spirit had clearly been ignited.

Under healthy competition, the two of them should grow stronger at an unexpectedly rapid pace.

The group chatted idly about what Pokémon Hearing Nimo, Paul, and Shizuka would catch in the Hoenn region as they made their way to the ranch area.

Seeming to have just been fed milk recently, the thirteen Tauros were now sleeping soundly, but judging by their appetites, they were destined to become a group of energetic fellows in the future.

Hopefully, the significantly expanded land of the farm would be enough for them to gallop across.

If it still wasn't enough, then the only option would be to regularly herd them like sheep, letting them run a lap in the wild before bringing them back.

Leaning by the window, as if afraid of waking them, Pipa sighed softly: "Newborn Tauros are completely different from what I imagined."

Not only had their manes not grown out yet, and their horns only just begun to sprout tips, but their body sizes were also much smaller.

Moreover, their appearance was completely different from the Tauros of Paldea!

"Even though they were born in Paldea, why do they still look like the Kanto variety?"

Peony asked curiously.

Obviously, he had completely failed to inherit the research talents of Professor Sada and Professor Turo.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be tangled up over this question.

Holding a laptop she had produced from who-knows-when, Momo murmured: "Morphological changes over long years and changes caused by environmental factors during evolution are two different things."

"Tauros have no evolved forms, so their appearance is determined from the moment of birth; even post-natal changes require a considerable amount of time and evolution to occur."

"It cannot be generalized by comparing common Pikachu traveling to the Alola region, which change into their Alolan forms after using a Thunder Stone due to the climate and environment there."

Momo's clear and organized explanation was quite stunning; after all, being in the technical field, solid logic is the foundation of foundations.

"Alright, since they are all sleeping, let's go eat first."

Luo Mu clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the three others to himself.

The group paused briefly, then nodded.

Indeed, newborn Pokémon need sleep to grow; since they were all asleep, it was better not to disturb them.

The group returned all the way to Luo Mu's new house.

In the bright kitchen, several figures were busy at work.

The Falinks united their minds, cooperating with impeccable synergy, as fragrant dishes continuously came out of the oven.

Both speed and quality were beyond reproach.

Besides preparing a few of her signature dishes, since the Falinks had undertaken most of the work, Audino simply started preparing some simple medicinal diets as well.

Today was their first day on the job; obviously, they were all giving their all to demonstrate their capabilities.

Outside the kitchen, quite a few onlooker Pokémon had already gathered.

Tinkatink, who usually lived on the back mountain, had also received the news and specially rushed back.

Gazing at the food that looked delicious at first glance, Tinkatink's drool was nearly flowing out.

If only I had known earlier, I would have followed them to Alola instead of making excuses to stay home and forge iron!

I never expected Ogerpon to be eating so well over there!

Puffing out her cheeks, Tinkatink grabbed Ogerpon and questioned whether the reason it hadn't answered her video calls these past few days was simply because of the gourmet food.

These past few days, everyone on the farm had been eating either Pokémon food or Berries, or some pre-made dishes Luo Mu had left behind, but those lacked somewhat in 'wok hei'; compared to the gourmet food before their eyes, they were incomparable.

It was only the desserts prepared by Shuang Nai Xian that nearly caused Tinkatink to eat herself fat.

Peony stared in shock at the seamless, synergistic movements of the six Falinks; under the leader's guidance, their actions were simply like art!

This was actually a Pokémon's own culinary skill?

Peony didn't understand, but he was greatly shaken.

He even imagined that if, during his childhood in the past, his parents were away and he had such a Pokémon chef skilled in cooking accompanying him, plus Ao Ao Jiaofu, he might have been so happy as to forget home, thinking it wouldn't matter if they never returned.

Pipa was no better off than Peony, her face full of surprise.

Due to her father and uncle, although Momo had often stayed at home in the past, she had also witnessed quite a few things.

She was not unfamiliar with Pokémon chefs; for instance, Uncle Rose had his secretary, Olive, hire a Pokémon chef specializing in Kanto cuisine for him, and Momo had even tasted the dishes made by that chef a few times.

However, a Pokémon chef capable of turning cooking into something like this was something she was seeing for the first time.

Luo Mu received all their sighs of admiration.

It had to be said, the visual appeal of the Falinks cooking was indeed maxed out; Luo Mu suspected that even if Chairman Zhi Mi were here, he would give a quite high evaluation and consider whether to add an open kitchen facing the customers as a new idea for his restaurant.

Before long, the gourmet food prepared by Audino and the Falinks filled the dining table.

Besides some home-cooked dishes catering to popular tastes, there were also many specialized gourmet meals custom-made for specific Pokémon.

Just like Spectrier and Glastrier, after tasting the cooked white radishes and black radishes, they were stunned by the heavenly flavor, crying out loudly about why they had ever been satisfied with just gnawing them raw before.

Some crops Luo Mu had brought back from the Alola region, like the most distinctive Poni Daikon, had also been made into specialty dishes.

Looking at the way Peony and the other two were eating with oil dripping from their mouths, one could tell just how delicious it was.

After finishing the meal, the medicinal soup slowly simmered by Little Little Dandan was also ready.

Stewed with a reasonable combination of various medicinal herbs, the medicinal soup was not unpleasant to drink; on the contrary, it was fresh, mellow, and filled with an enticing aroma.

The essences of the various herbs blended perfectly during the stewing process, making the soup not only rich in layered flavors but also carrying a faint herbal fragrance; it was both delicious and nourishing, leaving an endless aftertaste.

"Audino~"

Hearing the sound coming from above, the little female Eevee, who had been burying her head in fierce eating, looked up to find Little Little Dandan, wearing an apron, smiling down at her.

On the tray in its hands sat a small pot of soup.

This was the nourishing medicinal soup that Little Little Dandan had specially stewed just for her upon learning that the little female Eevee had been extremely weak due to congenital deficiencies.

(End of Chapter)