At six in the evening, Hayato Sora rode Cyclizar to the Golden Beach of Santalune City, bringing all his Pokémon with him.
The place had been decorated several days earlier, and the entire area radiated a festive atmosphere.
Colorful ribbons hung along the long stretch of beach, while lights of various colors flickered brightly. The display made Cinccino reach out its tiny paws in curiosity.
Cyclizar and the Mudbray behind them—who were carrying baskets of food—were no exception.
This was their first time attending such a festival.
Each of them stretched their necks to look around, their walking pace slowing unconsciously.
During his travels, Hayato Sora had attended many local celebrations before.
No matter the region, they were always lively.
The Santalune Beach Festival was no exception—there were even tourists from other regions attending.
The reason it was so attractive was because of one particular tradition.
At the end of the festival, participants could taste a special soup made jointly by all the chefs present.
The flavor changed every year, and even the chefs themselves couldn't recreate it afterward.
It was said that after eating it, Pokémon would receive a blessing and become stronger.
Because of this, the Beach Festival wasn't only loved by ordinary people—trainers also came to participate.
The deeper they walked into the area, the more crowded it became.
Hayato Sora had to repeatedly remind the Pokémon to stay close.
Jumping down from Cyclizar's back, he grabbed the rope tied around the Mudbray to make sure they wouldn't get separated in the crowd.
Even though the festival wouldn't officially start for more than an hour, the entrance was already packed with people.
Just as they were about to reach the festival grounds, waves of excited cheers suddenly erupted from the crowd.
The crowd began moving, gathering in one direction.
This startled Hayato Sora.
He quickly led Cyclizar and the Mudbray aside to avoid being swept up by the crowd.
Listening to the excited chatter, Hayato Sora soon understood what had happened.
"A celebrity arrived."
Unlike many other regions, the film and entertainment industry in Kalos was extremely developed.
It was perfectly normal for festivals to invite actors or celebrities to increase popularity.
The crowd only gathered briefly before dispersing under the guidance of the staff.
Taking advantage of the moment, Hayato Sora smoothly entered the festival grounds.
At a glance, he spotted Siebold looking around as if searching for someone.
"Mr. Hayato Sora! I thought you might not come."
Siebold walked over enthusiastically.
"I've prepared a stall for you. There are quite a few great chefs here today—let's head inside."
For Siebold, who loved cooking, today was an incredibly important day.
Not only were the top chefs of Santalune City present, but chefs from several nearby cities had also gathered.
It was truly a grand culinary gathering.
"I promised you, so of course I'd come," Hayato Sora replied.
After a brief exchange, the two entered the festival grounds together.
On both sides of the open space, stalls had already hung up their signs, and chefs were busily preparing their dishes.
For them, today was also a great opportunity to promote their restaurants.
Everyone planned to bring out their very best skills.
Siebold led Hayato Sora directly to the front row, near the massive bronze cauldron placed in the center.
It was an absolute prime location—every visitor would pass by here.
The enormous cauldron was the tool used later to cook the festival's signature soup.
Several Fire-type Pokémon were currently heating it, and a base broth was already simmering inside.
All that remained was for each chef to add their secret ingredients at the end.
"Mr. Hayato Sora, this is your stall."
After a quick explanation, Siebold hurried off again.
With the festival about to begin, he had many responsibilities to handle as one of the organizers.
On top of that, he had his own stall to prepare.
The fact that he had waited earlier for Hayato Sora was already quite rare.
Hayato Sora walked around the stall, inspecting the space.
There was plenty of room both in front and behind.
Satisfied, he nodded.
First, he unloaded the ingredients from the Mudbray's backs and arranged some of them on the counter for display.
Once everything was ready, Hayato Sora removed all the Poké Balls from his waist and tossed them forward.
"Everyone, come out!"
Flashes of white light appeared as his Pokémon emerged behind the stall.
The three Noibat flew in a circle before hanging upside down above them like little cameras.
Smoliv looked around, then had Kangaskhan place it on the counter, where it disguised itself as a small potted plant.
Meanwhile, Cyclizar, acting almost like a dog, sniffed the air.
Its forelegs rested on the counter as it opened its mouth and tried to bite a Grass Dumpling.
Smack!
Hayato Sora slapped its paw away and grabbed Cyclizar by the ear.
"You little rascal. You want to taste everything, don't you?"
Hayato Sora had discovered something about Cyclizar.
Its personality was… suspiciously dog-like.
That mouth of its wanted to eat absolutely anything.
Earlier that morning, it had even fought the Mudbray over Mud Cake.
Hayato Sora ordered the Mudbray to keep an eye on Cyclizar so it wouldn't cause trouble.
The three Mudbray immediately formed a circle around it.
Kangaskhan and Cinccino each took their positions—one standing on the counter, the other beside Hayato Sora—helping him prepare the dishes.
This time, he had brought more than just Mud Cookies and Grass Dumplings.
There were other dishes as well.
However, those needed to be cooked fresh on the spot, which made things more troublesome.
Hayato Sora had brought all the ingredients necessary.
Spicy meat skewers with different levels of heat for Fire-type Pokémon
Fruit milk that restored stamina and soothed the burn of spicy food
Sweet and delicious glutinous rice cakes
And the original-flavor White-Cut Chicken
For a moment, Hayato Sora wished he could use Double Team, creating several copies of himself to cook everything at once.
He priced the dishes according to their rank.
The most expensive item was the White-Cut Chicken, priced at 500 PokéDollars per serving.
The portion wasn't very large, and Hayato Sora worried that setting the price too high would scare away customers.
Cinccino helped hang up a handwritten price list, and Hayato Sora's initial preparations were complete.
Now everything was ready.
All that remained was to wait for customers.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long.
When he had arrived earlier, the festival opening time had already been close.
Combined with the time it took him to prepare ingredients and cook, the moment he finished setting up—before his seat had even warmed up—the first visitor entered the festival grounds.
Hayato Sora's stall happened to face the entrance directly.
Curious, the visitor walked over with his Pokémon.
"Wow! So many Pokémon I've never seen before!"
The young man looked surprised.
There were several Pokémon at the stall that he had only seen in books.
"Are they all your Pokémon? They look very well-behaved."
Hayato Sora gently stroked Cinccino and smiled.
"Yes. We're all family."
At the word family, the Pokémon all turned to look at Hayato Sora, warmth filling their hearts.
Cinccino's little face turned slightly red.
But it didn't forget its duty.
It began enthusiastically promoting the stall's dishes.
"Li-li~!"
The Ambipom sitting on the young man's shoulder made eye contact with Cinccino.
Ambipom shyly lowered its head.
So cute…
Understanding what Ambipom wanted, the Pokémon tapped its trainer with its tail and pointed toward the menu.
"Oh, you want to try something?"
The young man nodded in realization and turned to Hayato Sora, asking him to recommend something suitable.
In the end, he spent 600 PokéDollars to buy one serving of glutinous rice cake and fruit milk.
He left with a satisfied smile.
The two dishes tasted excellent—completely worth the price.
They even made him more excited to try other foods at the festival.
Hayato Sora hadn't expected to make his first sale so quickly.
Bringing Cinccino had definitely been the right decision.
He scratched its chin in encouragement.
Now it was time to welcome more visitors.
Gradually, more people gathered, surrounding the stall.
The dishes prepared earlier quickly sold out, forcing Hayato Sora and Kangaskhan to start cooking again.
But no one noticed something happening behind the counter.
Cyclizar's little claws weren't exactly clean.
Every now and then, it quietly grabbed a piece of White-Cut Chicken and stole a bite.
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