After greeting Nacli, Nemona stood up to greet Ange.
"Hello, I'm Nemona."
Ange nodded to her, "I'm Ange."
Nemona's eyes sparkled as she looked at him, "Are you a Trainer, Ange? Do you want to have a heated battle with me?"
Ange smiled and shook his head, "Unfortunately, I'm just a chef, not a Trainer."
At that moment, Arven spoke up with a face full of admiration, "Brother Ange might not be a Trainer, but his Pokémon are incredible!"
Hearing this, Nemona became even more excited, "Please, you must battle me."
Ange gave Arven a wry smile and patted his shoulder, "You little rascal, don't go around advertising for me like that!"
He then looked back at Nemona, "I really am not a Trainer."
Nemona was a future Champion; she was far more powerful than him.
However, Nemona was stubborn. She clasped her hands together with a pleading look, "Please, please, you must battle me! Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
Even though she was young, Nemona was already a top-tier Trainer at Naranja Academy.
Since she had put it that way, Ange had no choice but to agree.
"Alright, but let me say this first—I'm not a Trainer, so the battle mostly depends on the Pokémon themselves. Don't be disappointed! Also, just one round. We still have things to do."
"OK! OK!" Nemona said repeatedly. She was fine with anything as long as he agreed to battle.
She quickly ran to the center of the grass and waved at Ange, "Come on! Right here."
Ange nodded and walked to the other side of the lawn, standing opposite her.
After taking out a Poké Ball, Ange said, "Let's begin!"
Nemona took out a Poké Ball as well.
Since Arven had said Ange was strong, she couldn't use the Pawmi she had just caught.
As two flashes of light passed, two Pokémon appeared on the grass. On Ange's side was Metagross, while Nemona sent out Goodra.
Seeing that Ange's Pokémon was a Metagross, Nemona grew even more excited.
"A Metagross! That's a very rare Pokémon."
"Your Goodra is too," Ange replied.
He then began to use his Eye of Observation to look at the opposing Goodra.
Goodra
Type: Dragon
Ability: Sap Sipper
Gender: Female
Level: 55
Moves: Aqua Tail, Tearful Look, Acid Spray, Feint, Poison Tail, Dragon Breath, Tackle, Water Pulse, Water Gun, Rain Dance, Curse, Body Slam, Dragon Pulse, Flail, Ice Beam, Sludge Bomb
Individual Values
HP: 30
Attack: 29
Defense: 28
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 30
Speed: 24
Nemona truly lived up to her reputation as a future Champion. Despite her young age, her Pokémon's level was already so high.
Still, is using Metagross a bit like bullying? I don't know Metagross's Individual Values, but its level must be much higher than Goodra's.
He brushed the thought aside. He couldn't exactly use Pawmi or Espathra; they would definitely lose.
"The match begins," Arven announced.
As his voice fell, Ange and Nemona gave their commands simultaneously.
"Metagross, use Agility to get close to Goodra, then use Ice Punch!" Ange ordered.
"Goodra, Dragon Pulse!" Nemona shouted.
Metagross's body turned into a blur as it charged toward Goodra. Simultaneously, Goodra opened its mouth and exhaled a dragon-shaped wave of energy.
Having used Agility, Metagross was incredibly fast. With a series of shifts and dodges, it easily evaded the Dragon Pulse and reached Goodra's side in an instant.
Frost surged around Metagross's steel claw as it swung a punch at Goodra.
Seeing this, Nemona hurriedly shouted, "Goodra, Aqua Tail!"
Following her command, Goodra's thick tail was wrapped in a layer of swirling water as it lashed out fiercely at Metagross.
The steel claw collided with the dragon tail. In an instant, Goodra's tail froze inch by inch. It let out a wail and was sent flying, rolling several times on the ground before its head slumped, unconscious.
Nemona was stunned. Had she been defeated just like that?
By now, a crowd of students had gathered to watch.
"That Metagross is so strong. It defeated Nemona's Goodra so easily."
"Who is that blonde guy? Is he a new transfer student?"
"I don't know. He seems to be with Arven."
Ange quickly ran to Goodra's side with Metagross, taking out rock salt and berries to feed it.
Nemona ran over and looked at Ange with excitement, "You really are as strong as Arven said! So... so amazing!"
"The Pokémon is the amazing one; it has nothing to do with me," Ange said.
This made Nemona even more thrilled, "That is the highest realm of being a Trainer! Letting the Pokémon understand how to get stronger and how to fight on its own... isn't that just too cool!"
Ange remained silent.
He quickly changed the subject, "Your Goodra has eaten berries to recover its strength, and I used Garganacl's rock salt on its wounds. It should be fine, but just to be safe, you should take it to the Pokémon Center."
"I got it!"
Nemona recalled Goodra into its Poké Ball and dashed off toward the Pokémon Center with a whirlwind of energy. She had an excited smile on her face as if she had just reached some sort of enlightenment.
After she left, Arven ran to Ange's side, "Brother Ange, you're truly incredible. You even beat Nemona! She's a very famous Trainer at our school; hardly any students can beat her."
Ange patted Metagross, "It was all Metagross's hard work. You know, Metagross was already this strong when I caught it. It really had nothing to do with me."
"Doesn't that prove you're even more amazing?" Arven argued. "You were able to catch such a powerful Metagross."
While that may be true, the Komala that defeated Metagross wasn't raised by me either! Ange thought helplessly.
Whatever! He couldn't explain it all in a short time. He might as well let himself look cool for once.
"In any case, don't go around advertising for me next time. I'm just an ordinary cook," Ange told him.
"Alright, I understand!" Arven replied.
The two then departed under the surprised and curious gazes of the Naranja Academy students.
Crossing several corridors, they soon arrived at the Chair's office and met Geeta.
Upon seeing Ange, Geeta smiled and said, "I just received word that you defeated Nemona in a Pokémon battle!"
"It was just luck," Ange laughed.
Geeta shook her head, "A win is a win; luck doesn't exist in that. I heard from Professor Sada that you are a chef with remarkable culinary skills, but I didn't expect you to be a powerful Trainer as well."
Ange waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, you've misunderstood. I really am purely a chef, not a Trainer."
"Then how do you explain that powerful Metagross?" Geeta asked.
Don't ask too many questions about a chef's business.
Seeing that Ange remained silent, she asked, "Mr. Ange, I wonder if you would be interested in joining the Paldea League? Our benefits are very good."
"Chair Geeta, I am a member of the Azoth Royal Family, I cannot..." Ange started, but he was interrupted before he could finish.
"So what? There's no rule saying a member of the Azoth Royal Family can't join another League!"
Just like in the games, the Geeta here was dedicated to scouting talent for the Paldea League.
"I'm sorry..." Ange shook his head.
Geeta looked disappointed, "Oh, what a shame. I felt you had the potential to become a Champion!"
I bet you say that to everyone you try to recruit, Ange thought.
He spoke again, "I just want to focus on being a chef."
"Fine then. Since you're unwilling, I won't force you," Geeta said.
Ange breathed a sigh of relief, "I'll leave Arven in your care then, Chair Geeta. I have other business, so I'll be going now."
"Don't worry," Geeta nodded. "I'll take good care of Arven."
Ange then turned to Arven, "Arven, I'm off. We'll stay in touch by phone."
"Mhm. Goodbye, Brother Ange."
After saying goodbye, Ange left Naranja Academy.
Walking through the streets of Mesagoza, Ange said to Pawmi, "We still have some time before our flight. What should we do next?"
"Paw, paw~" Go eat something delicious!
Pawmi poked its head out from behind Ange.
Ange tapped its little head, "We just ate so much, and you want to eat again?"
He pinched Pawmi's belly, "Have you gotten fat?"
Pawmi immediately covered its stomach and shook its head frantically, fearing Ange would cut its rations.
"Paw, paw, paw~" No, no!
Suddenly, Ange had an idea, "Right! How about we go shop for ingredients?"
A metropolis like Mesagoza was bound to have plenty of high-quality ingredients. As a chef, the allure of ingredients was massive.
No sooner said than done. Ange took Pawmi straight to a large supermarket in the city.
Just as he expected, the supermarket was filled with items that couldn't be found in the Azoth Royal Capital.
"Is this Nacli's rock salt?" Ange noted, staring at the beautifully packaged bags on the shelf.
The rock salt that was always in short supply in the Azoth Royal Capital was available in abundance here!
Thinking about it, it made sense. Though rare, Paldea was its place of origin.
Since he already had Garganacl and Nacli at home, Ange skipped the rock salt shelf.
When he saw the products on another shelf, he ran over impatiently.
It was chili powder ground from Capsakid teeth!
Even though Ange had Capsakid and Scovillain at home, their production wasn't as high as the rock salt, so he decided to stock up.
He didn't stop until he had tossed about ten bags into the cart.
After walking a few more steps, his gaze was caught by something else.
"It's yeast produced by Fidough!"
Ange hurried to the shelf and grabbed a palm-sized bag.
"I have to buy this!"
He had to steam buns and mantou every day; yeast was an essential! Yeast produced by Fidough couldn't be bought in Azoth.
Ange tossed bag after bag of yeast into the cart—one, two, three... he stopped only after throwing in a hundred bags, leaving the shelf more than half empty.
"Was that a bit much?" Ange scratched his head, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Paw, paw~"
Pawmi jumped from Ange's shoulder into the cart, holding a bag of yeast with a confused expression.
"This is an essential material for making delicious food!" Ange said with a smile.
Upon hearing "delicious food," Pawmi quickly stuffed the yeast back into the cart and stood on its tiptoes to reach for more on the shelf.
Ange quickly stopped it, "Pawmi, that's enough! We've bought more than enough!"
Only then did Pawmi stop.
Next, Ange saw Dolliv's oil. He had plenty of that at home, so he didn't buy any; if it had been Arboliva's oil, he might have considered it.
Ingredients produced by Pokémon like these were generally much more expensive than their ordinary counterparts.
For example, a small bag of Nacli's rock salt cost as much as 35p, while a bag of ordinary table salt was only 2-5p. If it were salt produced by Naclstack or Garganacl, the price would be even higher or even out of stock.
Similarly, a bag of Capsakid chili powder cost 25p here, whereas ordinary chili powder was only 3-10p.
Dolliv's oil was even more expensive—a 1L bottle sold for 780p, which was five to six times the price of ordinary cooking oil.
Passing through the fresh food section, Ange saw Veluza meat. There was only a little left, so he took the whole lot.
He then bought high-quality pork, beef, mutton, and various other meats. Since they wouldn't spoil in the System Backpack, he couldn't pass them up after coming all the way to a big city.
The Azoth Royal Capital didn't lack high-quality meat, and the Royal Family even had special supplies, but different regions produced different varieties with vast differences in texture.
Seeing that he had bought enough, Ange prepared to check out.
"Paw, paw~~" Pawmi lay on Ange's shoulder, wiggling happily.
"In such a good mood?" Ange asked with a smile.
"Paw, paw~" Pawmi nodded repeatedly. Ange had bought so many ingredients, which meant he would make lots of delicious food. Naturally, it was happy.
"All you think about is eating. Sooner or later, you'll be too fat to walk!" Ange teased.
"Paw~~" No I won't!
Pawmi replied defiantly.
Just as Ange was pushing the cart full of ingredients toward the checkout, a supermarket employee arrived pushing a small cart. It was filled with many white eggs about the size of a human head.
"Are those... Chansey eggs?" Ange asked in surprise.
Hearing his voice, the employee turned back with a smile, "Yes, they are."
"Can I buy some?" Ange asked, rubbing his hands.
He had eaten Chansey eggs a few times when he was a prince, and the deliciousness was unforgettable.
Back then, there were no Chansey living within the borders of the Azoth Kingdom, and combined with the lack of convenient transportation, it was very difficult to eat them even as a royal.
Even today, with easy transport and advanced breeding technology, Chansey remained very rare Pokémon, and their eggs were seldom seen on the market.
He was truly lucky today!
"Of course," the employee replied. "You've come at the perfect time, sir. They were just put on the shelf. It's a rare opportunity, so buy them while you can!"
Ange stepped forward and said grandly, "How many do you have? I'll take them all!"
Chansey eggs were incredibly expensive at 800p each—they were the royalty of eggs.
But that was normal; they were not only nutritious but could also restore a Pokémon's stamina and heal its injuries.
There were definitely no more than fifty of them just put on the shelf, so Ange wanted to buy the lot.
Now or never!
The employee replied with a smile, "I'm sorry, sir, but there is a purchase limit on Chansey eggs. Each person is only allowed to buy five!"
"Huh?" Ange's face fell.
He had many Pokémon with large appetites. Five eggs would be enough for just a tiny taste.