A bright yellow candle flame flickered in the darkness, dispelling the shadows that shrouded the desk.
Minccino hugged Smoliv in its arms, the two little ones craning their heads curiously as they watched Silas record entries in the account book.
League Calendar, Year 198, Spring, January 30th.
Income: 0
Expenses: Noibat ×3, Smoliv ×1, Cyclizar ×1, group meal ingredients 300 = 20,000
Remaining funds: 26,500
Only 20,000 left. A sense of urgency rose again in Silas's heart.
At this rate, when would he ever manage to save up 100,000 League Coins?
It seemed that tomorrow night's Beach Festival would require him to show some real skill—he'd have to make some special, rare dishes.
A vague idea began to take shape in Silas's mind.
If it worked, selling well wouldn't be a problem.
Massaging Minccino's big ears, ears that started drooping the moment it saw words and made it yawn—Silas put Smoliv back into its flowerpot, sprinkling some growth-promoting fertilizer into the soil.
After finishing that, Silas urged Smoliv to hurry up and go to sleep.
Turning around, he saw Cyclizar lying in front of the fireplace, its upper and lower eyelids fighting a losing battle.
So sleepy it was, yet it still turned its head from time to time to look at Silas, checking whether he was going to bed.
When its gaze met Silas's, Cyclizar happily wagged its tail.
"You're already this sleepy, and you're still waiting for me."
Silas stepped forward and patted Cyclizar. Its back still retained some warmth.
Taking the opportunity, he added more firewood to the fireplace to make sure it would stay warm through the night—Cyclizar was a Pokémon that was particularly afraid of the cold.
After finishing all this, and before going to sleep, Silas made another round to the Mudbray shed and the Noibat cave. The three Mudbray were sleeping soundly, while the Noibat trio were brimming with energy instead.
He almost forgot—Noibat were modeled after bats, after all. Nocturnal activity was their natural habit.
With them around, the ranch would have Pokémon guarding it even at night.
After reminding the Noibat trio not to disturb the other Pokémon while they slept, Silas returned to the cottage.
The food placed under the eaves had been eaten by Chatot, but the Pokémon itself was nowhere to be seen.
After checking on each Pokémon's condition, Silas did a quick wash, then lay down on the bed holding Minccino. Before long, he fell fast asleep.
...
The next day, after having breakfast with the Pokémon,
Silas rode Cyclizar to complete the daily field inspection, and his day's work was essentially done.
Most of the tasks were handled by the Pokémon anyway, so his workload wasn't exactly light—but not exactly heavy either.
That said, Silas still had preparations to make for the Beach Festival that evening. He was trying to create some special dishes.
Yes! Dishes that had never been seen before—just as peculiar as the mud cake.
At the Beach Festival, everyone would surely bring out their signature cooking skills.
Facing competition from so many excellent chefs, Silas couldn't help but feel nervous.
He knew his own level well—he was only half-baked at best.
If he wanted to stand out, he had no choice but to resort to some unconventional tricks.
Even with the precedent of the mud cake, Silas was still uncertain whether the ingredients in front of him could truly produce food that Pokémon would like.
"Hoo… let's try it first."
That settled it.
Once he made up his mind, Silas immediately got to work.
He picked up the Sweet Honey nearby and poured it into the pre-processed mud slurry, thoroughly mixing the two together.
Then he poured the mixture into prepared molds, fixing their shape.
After wrapping them in a layer of foil, he placed them over the fire to bake.
Whenever Silas cooked, Pokémon would inevitably gather nearby to watch, and this time was no exception.
Kangaskhan stared with eyes wide open, too shocked to say a word.
Small human, big confusion.
"Kang! Gas! Khan?!"
(Silas, what exactly are you doing? Can something like this really be considered food?)
Kangaskhan was utterly perplexed.
"I don't know either! I'm just giving it a try," Silas said shamelessly, spreading his hands.
Deep down, he felt the success rate was actually quite high.
After all, if a cake made of mud could be considered a dish, then why couldn't mud-baked cookies count as well?
The result appeared quickly—a translucent interface unfolded before his eyes.
[Mud Cookies (Honey Flavor) (D): A strange dish. Due to its use of mud as a special ingredient, ordinary Pokémon cannot eat it, but it is deeply loved by certain Pokémon.
Dish Effect: After consumption, it accelerates a Pokémon's energy accumulation speed.]
Accelerating energy accumulation?
If he understood correctly, this meant it could shorten the time required for a Pokémon to evolve.
Many three-stage Pokémon needed a huge amount of energy to reach their final evolutionary form.
It was known that many Pokémon, in their second stage, would turn into cocoons or similar forms, sacrificing most of their combat ability to accelerate this process.
Common examples included Caterpie and Weedle lines; rarer ones included the Larvitar line, known for its "late bloomer" growth. Even Legendary Pokémon had examples—such as Cosmoem, the second form of the Alolan Sun and Moon deities.
Acceleration meant that Pokémon could complete this accumulation process more quickly and transform into their final forms.
Silas wanted to test it, but unfortunately didn't have a suitable Pokémon at hand.
He waved at the Mudbray trio, asking them to taste it and see how it was.
Pokémon that ate dirt weren't limited to Mudbray—most Rock-type Pokémon did as well.
Even if the effect wasn't useful, the taste at least couldn't be bad.
After getting the new food, the three Mudbray first took a small bite and chewed carefully. Their half-lidded eyes suddenly widened.
In just a few bites, they finished the mud cookies completely.
"Looks like it tastes pretty good—right up your alley."
"Mud-mud~"
The Mudbrays nodded vigorously. The three little ones surrounded Silas, rubbing against his pant legs and acting cute as they begged for more.
Silas gently knocked them over and poked their little bellies. "Just one more piece, okay?"
Compared to their precarious life in the wild—sometimes hungry, sometimes full—the Mudbrays were living far too comfortably on the ranch.
Every day they had a bowl of pumpkin porridge, and every couple of days they even got mud cake as a snack.
They ate a lot, but their energy expenditure hadn't increased accordingly. In less than a month since arriving at the ranch, their little bellies had all started to bulge.
Their bodies were now noticeably larger than when they first arrived.
Seeing Silas's serious expression, the Mudbray trio whimpered, "Mud-mud!"
Alright! Just one last piece!
"You three little gluttons."
He poked each of their heads one by one and reminded them, "You need to exercise more every day too. That's how you stay healthy."
Clearly, the three Mudbray didn't take it to heart.
Biting onto the mud cookies Silas handed them, the three little ones wiggled their butts and executed a strategic retreat.
The effect of the mud cookies soon manifested quietly. After playing around in the mud pool for a while, the three Mudbray's stomachs all started growling.
Normally, they wouldn't get hungry until noon.
Now, not even half that time had passed.
With their bellies rumbling, the Mudbray lost interest in playing and turned their gazes toward the fresh grass that had just grown on both sides of the donkey shed.
The three hungry little demons exchanged a glance.
Eat! Eat!
Meanwhile, Silas had no idea that the three Mudbray had gnawed the lawn completely bare—carrying out a "dig three feet into the ground" strategy, grass and soil alike disappearing into their stomachs.
He was busy creating several other strange dishes, using materials just as bizarre as mud, leaving Kangaskhan's expression completely twisted as she watched.
She never expected Silas to play things this… extreme.
She even started to wonder whether he was planning to let her taste-test later.
Thinking of that, Kangaskhan quietly slipped away to find Minccino and Cyclizar to play with instead.
(End of Chapter)