"Spring break, and my second month's full salary, aren't far off now."
In the kitchen, Lucas slowly washed mushrooms, glanced at the sunny sky outside, and sighed in contentment.
Unknowingly, it had already been two full months since he started his farm.
During that time, not only had he gained many new partners, but the farm itself now brimmed with a fresh, vibrant energy.
The crops in the fields, nurtured by Comfey and Eldegoss in their composite grass patches, were growing strong—most had already had their first harvest. After setting aside enough reserves for the Pokémon on the farm, the surplus was all sold to Sean, the middleman, who sent his Primeape to help pick up everything by truck.
After all, Sean's prices were fair and honest. Rather than hauling crops to the local market in Los Platos in multiple busy trips, it was much easier to just let him buy it all at once.
With one big sale, Lucas found his bank balance back to three hundred thousand Pokédollars.
With money on hand, it was time to plan the farm's next phase. First up was introducing fish to Thunderlake—by partitioning part of the lake for fish farming, they'd no longer need to buy from the market or fish wild for delicious meals.
The ranch area only had a Mudsdale and two Sawsbuck. Lucas planned to find a way to bring in a Miltank, Gogoat, or Mareep—Pokémon suited to life on the ranch and that could provide useful byproducts. It would also give his lonely Sawsbuck and Mudsdale some company.
Thinking about the few Pokémon in the ranch, Lucas made up his mind.
After thoroughly washing a large basket of mushrooms, Lucas drained them and handed them to Ceruledge, who was wearing a Psyduck apron. "Please slice them in half for me. I'll get the other ingredients ready."
"Ceru~."
Ceruledge nodded, first cooling the blade on its arm and extinguishing its flames to avoid turning the soup mushrooms into grilled mushrooms.
Then, with a flash of cold steel, Ceruledge's swordsmanship—honed day after day—shone in the kitchen.
In no time, neat piles of sliced mushrooms were stacked high.
Watching Ceruledge work so diligently, Lucas smiled. Who would have thought that a Pokémon designed for battle like Ceruledge would have such a passion for cooking—and such skilled knife and grilling techniques?
Lucas turned to the cupboard and picked up a pretty little bowl decorated with blueberries. Inside, a Milcery was napping soundly.
Thinking back to when he first met Milcery at Ellie's Ranch, it was also sleeping in a bowl, wasn't it? Lucas grinned and poked the soft body, feeling a surprising springiness under his finger.
Combined with Milcery's naturally sweet scent, it was just like a mochi—fragrant, soft, and chewy.
That's probably why Milcery often lives with humans—too fragile and conspicuous in the wild.
"Milcery~~"
Milcery yawned, its drowsy eyes looking up at Lucas as if confused about why it was being woken up.
"I'm going to the storeroom to find some materials for lunch. I'll need your cream—want to come with me?"
Faced with such a palm-sized Pokémon, Lucas couldn't help but speak softly, afraid of startling it.
"Milce milce~?"
Hearing that its cream was needed for lunch, Milcery's eyes sparkled, and it floated up.
After some time eating and resting well with Lucas, Milcery no longer got tired after floating for a while.
It could follow Lucas around all day now, never again bound to the ground!
In the storeroom, Lucas quickly found what he needed among the neatly stacked supplies. Before leaving, he noticed the King's Rock and his hiking gear quietly sitting on the counter, and suddenly realized:
Oh no!
After returning, he'd been so tired he just dropped everything in the storeroom and went straight to bed, then completely forgot about the King's Rock from Tront!
Now it made sense why Poliwhirl had been giving him such longing, silent looks lately—one of the other Pokémon who went to Glaseado Mountain must've told it about the King's Rock.
No wonder it had been working so hard with Rain Dance lately—did it think Lucas needed a contribution before giving it the King's Rock?
Touching his slightly guilty conscience, Lucas grabbed the King's Rock, and headed back to the kitchen with Milcery.
By now, Ceruledge had finished all the prep work. Lucas set down the ingredients and rolled up his sleeves.
Ceruledge stepped aside and quietly waited behind Lucas.
Today, Lucas was making creamy mushroom soup for the Pokémon, cooking two pots.
One would use only non-poisonous wild mushrooms gathered by the Grass-types, for those who didn't like meat.
The other would add shrimp and chicken breast, pre-marinated with pepper, salt, and cooking wine.
The method for creamy mushroom soup was simple: first, sauté Ceruledge's sliced mushrooms and onions in olive oil from Oran Berries, then add shrimp and chicken and cook until just done.
After removing the cooked ingredients, Lucas added butter to the cleaned pot, then carefully opened a plain-looking bag.
Inside was flour ground by Mudsdale and sifted multiple times!
As soon as the bag was opened, a rich wheat aroma filled the air—thanks to Dachsbun's hard work in the wheat fields, the flour was top quality.
Once the butter melted, he added the farm's precious flour, stirring until it became a paste, then added water until smooth.
By now, the fusion of butter and wheat filled the kitchen with a mouth-watering aroma, and several hungry Pokémon were already peeking in.
Finally, he added milk and brought it to a boil, then the prepared ingredients, and finally Milcery's fresh cream. After stirring and seasoning with black pepper, the creamy mushroom soup was done.
Taking in the delicious aroma, Lucas felt a surge of pride.
Because this pot of creamy mushroom soup represented the combined efforts of all the Pokémon on the farm—without any one of them, it wouldn't be complete.