"..."
After thinking about it for a long time, Lin Feng still had a headache.
Because aside from brewing wine...
He couldn't think of any other way to use it.
After all, if he couldn't even crush the thing, what kind of dish could he possibly make with it?
Since wine was his only option, he had no choice but to go with it.
Brewing wine naturally required time.
He would just have to wait and see how long it took.
It would also be a good opportunity to pair it with Dragonfire Berries.
Putting the Dragon Scale away for the moment, Lin Feng took out the final ingredient.
Xerneas' antler fragment.
Even after being removed from storage, the fragment still emitted a faint, gentle glow, overflowing with life energy.
Thinking about it...
The only Pokémon capable of shattering one of Xerneas' antlers was probably Yveltal.
The fragment contained an immense amount of Fairy-type energy.
As for Fairy-type Pokémon...
There were Gardevoir, Alolan Ninetales, Sylveon...
And the Flabébé living in the flower garden.
Of course...
His first priority would naturally be Alolan Ninetales and Sylveon.
Those two were by far the most compatible with this ingredient.
The only problem was...
What kind of dish should he make?
It looked remarkably similar to deer antler.
And deer antler was most commonly...
Used to brew medicinal wine.
Or cooked into nourishing porridge.
"...Forget it."
"I'll just brew everything into wine."
"I'll use the peaches from the central Pecha Berry tree."
"I'd like to taste it myself when it's finished."
Having made his decision, Lin Feng wasted no time.
He rummaged through his storage Poké Ball and quickly found two empty wooden barrels.
First, he went beneath the giant Pecha Berry tree.
Using Psychic, he harvested a large basket of enormous Pecha Berries.
He washed them thoroughly.
Cut them into pieces.
Then placed them into one of the barrels.
Next, he headed toward the reservoir beside the plantation.
There, he harvested every Dragonfire Berry produced this year.
Those were washed as well.
Since Rayquaza's Dragon Scale couldn't be broken apart...
He simply placed the entire massive scale into the barrel.
Judging by its size and hardness...
It would probably need to soak for a very long time.
After some thought...
He decided not to crush Xerneas' antler fragment either.
Instead, he dropped the entire piece into the second barrel as well.
Then he added several other varieties of berries to enrich the flavor.
Early in the morning...
The amount of activity naturally attracted attention.
The Pokémon that had accompanied Lin Feng to the World Tree immediately understood what he was doing.
Some of the more curious ones...
Like Alolan Ninetales and Sylveon...
Gathered around to watch.
"Kyuun?"
"Making fruit wine?"
"That's right."
"I'm not sure what kind of dishes I should make with these ingredients."
"So brewing wine seemed like the only choice."
These materials were simply too precious.
Lin Feng insisted on handling every step personally.
"Sylveon..."
"Kyuun..."
In truth...
Neither Pokémon actually knew why they had come over.
They simply enjoyed watching Lin Feng cook.
Unfortunately...
Instead of helping...
They bounced around him excitedly the entire time.
Soon enough...
Lin Feng shooed them away.
"Go on, go on."
"It'll be a long time before this wine is ready."
Once the little spectators were gone...
His movements became much smoother.
Finally...
He added the fermentation starter.
The simple brewing process was complete.
[Dragonfire Berry Wine... Brewing.]
[Fruit Wine... Brewing.]
Using the Eye of Insight, the descriptions on both wooden barrels had changed to exactly that.
Normally...
Fruit wine required anywhere from one to three months to fully ferment.
After calculating the approximate time...
Lin Feng carefully stored both barrels away.
By then...
Most of the Pokémon had already woken up.
Without resting, he hurried back into the kitchen.
Together with Gardevoir...
They began preparing breakfast.
Today's breakfast consisted of rich pork bone soup noodles...
Along with freshly baked bread.
After feeding every Pokémon...
Lin Feng finally sat down and enjoyed a bowl himself.
Once breakfast ended...
The Pokémon gradually dispersed, each heading off to their own daily routines.
Lin Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead...
Then looked up at the sky.
May had arrived.
Although breakfast had been served later than usual today...
It was only a little past nine in the morning.
Yet the temperature had already climbed noticeably.
The sun overhead blazed intensely.
It felt like simply moving around for a moment was enough to make someone sweat.
"I need to figure something out..."
His gaze soon landed on Alolan Ninetales.
Having just finished breakfast...
She was leisurely wondering how to spend her day.
Lin Feng smiled.
Summer had arrived.
It was finally your time to shine.
"Kyuun?"
Alolan Ninetales suddenly felt someone staring at her.
She instinctively turned around.
Seeing Lin Feng...
She tilted her head in confusion.
(´･ω･`)?
"Kyuun?"
Lin Feng tilted his head in exactly the same way.
An excellent idea had already formed in his mind.
"Come on."
"Alolan Ninetales."
"Let's go somewhere."
"Kyuun~"
"Let's go!"
She had no idea where Lin Feng intended to take her.
But if he said it was somewhere interesting...
Then it was definitely going to be fun.
Without hesitation...
She happily trotted after him.
Joining them...
Was Arcanine.
"Woof!"
Barking loudly, Arcanine happily followed behind.
As soon as he realized they were heading in the same direction he planned to go...
His mood visibly brightened.
Their destination wasn't far.
Just the small river outside town.
As for Arcanine...
He apparently had a date today.
With Officer Jenny's Arcanine.
When Lin Feng arrived...
He immediately spotted the female Arcanine waiting patiently on the little bridge.
Officer Jenny herself wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Woof!"
Lin Feng's Arcanine stayed faithfully beside him.
But the instant he saw the female Arcanine...
His tail transformed into a spinning propeller.
It whirled so fast it became a blur.
Even so...
He didn't immediately rush over.
Instead...
He looked up at Lin Feng with wide, hopeful eyes.
The meaning couldn't have been more obvious.
Across the bridge...
The female Arcanine also seemed slightly embarrassed after noticing Lin Feng.
She nervously pawed at the wooden planks beneath her feet.
"Go on."
"Go on."
"Just don't get too carried away..."
Lin Feng laughed helplessly as he waved them off.
He wasn't ready to become a grandfather to an entire litter of Growlithe just yet.
"Woof!"
The moment he received permission...
Arcanine shot forward like an orange blur.
In an instant...
He had reached the female Arcanine.
The two happily licked each other's faces...
Then carefully groomed each other's fur.
Their affectionate display made them look as though they hadn't met for years.
Even though...
They had been seeing each other almost every day.
Lin Feng and Alolan Ninetales both twitched at the corners of their mouths.
Thankfully...
The pair soon disappeared into the forest together.
Watching them leave...
Alolan Ninetales finally voiced her confusion.
"Kyuun?"
"What are we doing here?"
Lin Feng slowly turned toward the flowing river.
His eyes suddenly lit up.
"Alright."
"Use Ice Beam."
------------------------------
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