Ethan froze at Abra's warning. He yanked out the recipe and scanned every line—no mistakes.
Then he watched, baffled, as Abra popped an energy cube into its own mouth."You just said it's weird—so why are you eating it?"
At his feet, Houndour spit his cube back out despite the heat, panting, tongue working—but clearly reluctant to waste it.
"Mmm… sour with a kick. Not bad. Packed with energy. Warm current through the body, muscles feel charged—so it's got a physique-boosting angle. Sadly, not ideal for me," Abra narrated like a food critic, projecting the sensations into Ethan's head.
Temptation won. Ethan snapped a corner off a cube and tasted it.
Hot. Melted fast. Sour-and-spicy slap to the tongue.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Abra's panicked voice detonated in his mind. Ethan gulped the half-melted shard by reflex—eyes bulging, face flushing.
"Abra, save me—I'm choking!"
"Don't panic!" Abra grabbed his neck, shaking him. "Spit it out—humans can't eat that!"
A sudden burp—then another. Color returned to Ethan's face.
"Quit shaking—I swallowed it. I'm fine!"
Abra let go, still frantic. "Why would you eat that? You're human—how do you tank that kind of energy surge? Do you feel overfull? Nauseous?"
Burp… burp… Ethan felt a gentle warmth course through him."Not nauseous. A little full. Also… that warm current feels kinda… nice."
"You digested the cube?!" Abra flipped him with telekinesis, scanning hard. "You're human, structurally normal—lazy and a bit soft around the middle, but human. How are you processing this?"
"Hey, watch the soft-around-the-middle," Ethan grumbled.
"I'm saying I thought you were an illusion-type for a second, then—nope. Baseline human." Abra folded its arms. "And yes, it matters. Low/mid-grade pellets are one thing; this is different. That tiny chunk holds a day's growth energy for us. Humans aren't built for that."
"Maybe I just ate a tiny bit. Anyway, I'm fine. How's the food for you?"
Abra dropped it—for now. "It's excellent—high-grade energy, very digestible, long-term growth boost. But this batch skews toward physical development. Not enough for brain training."
"Right—this one's tailored for Houndour. Yours is next."
Ethan boxed the finished batch—thirty cubes total, minus the two "taste tests." Abra figured that was a month of growth energy for Houndour, separate from daily "fullness" rations. Ethan planned to poach some cheaper berries for everyday mixes.
He reloaded the cup with the "mind" recipe—bitter profile, brain-boosting fruits—hit start, and waited.
Thirty minutes later, steam rolled out again—this time a bitter-fruity aroma. Abra snatched a light-blue cube, bit down, and visibly relaxed, satisfied.
Houndour grabbed one too—then spat it out instantly, backing away like it had licked a battery. Bitter-over-sour. Utter betrayal of the tongue.
Ethan, curiosity undefeated, chipped off a corner. Brutally bitter, then sour; a cold shock down his spine. But when it melted, a clean, floaty clarity bloomed in his head—half the weight lifted, thoughts lighter.
Was this… working on him, too? Brain "opened," mental strength up—superpowers next?
If so, that was… big.
Abra, savoring its cube, had been monitoring him the whole time. It drifted closer."Don't tell me this one hits you too."
"I… think so?" Ethan admitted.
Abra re-scanned him—still human, still normal. Ethan, lost in thought, packed the cubes, cleaned the tools, then rolled two chipped samples between his fingers.
Problem with the cubes—or with him?
Only one way to know.
He broke off two tiny crumbs, handed them to his parents to try, and came back frowning. They reported only a mild sense of fullness—no warm rush, no cool head—no energy absorption at all.
"In Trainer High, do psychics boost on specific berries?" Abra asked, intrigued.
"Yeah—rarely."
Ethan exhaled. Good. Others existed; he wasn't a total anomaly. If he were a Pokémon in disguise like Abra kept teasing—nope, don't go there.
Waveguide fanatics existed too—martial types chasing aura like "true qi." But, Abra noted, their fruit uptake was awful—less than one-thousandth absorbed per fruit. Nothing like Ethan.
"So I'm just… good at absorbing energy?" Ethan mused. "Special metabolism. Still human. Great."
(And if he weren't—don't think about eggs or shapeshifters, just don't.)
"What if I keep eating cubes—do I get Pokémon-strong?" he asked.
Abra poked and prodded, little hands wandering—"Hey! Not there, you tiny menace!"
"I was checking bone structure. Your mind is in the gutter," Abra sniffed. "Business: your brain might gain from Golden Pillow in the mix—psychic potential, maybe—but your body won't. I checked: the energy doesn't stay in your muscles. Your body is like a transfer station—everything routes away, leaves only the head topped up."
Ethan's gaze slid to the birthmark on his left wrist.…Yeah. Maybe that.