Three Trays of Berries, and Only Half a Slice Burned Black

The next day, Yan arrived even before the doors opened.

When Xia Che pushed the door open, Yan had already been sitting on the steps for half an hour. Beside him were three new iron trays, a bag of Berries, and a neatly folded apron.

"Where did you get that?" Xia Che looked at the apron.

"Borrowed it from the kitchen."

"Why is there fire embroidered on it?"

"It was already there."

Xie Yue, following behind, lifted a corner of the apron. On the back was a line of gold-thread lettering that had only been half-unpicked: Papal Hall East Kitchen.

Yan pulled the corner of the cloth back. "I'll return it when I'm done."

"Remember to wash it first." Xia Che stepped aside.

Magby was already waiting in the fireproof room. It had clearly prepared last night as well. A small apron sewn by Indeedee was tied around its belly, and it fit perfectly, except the knot was at the back where it could not reach it itself.

Yan crouched down and tightened the knot for it.

"Babe."

"It won't burn black today."

Magby patted its belly to show that it remembered.

Indeedee lined up three hourglasses by the table, then pushed the first tray of fruit slices before them. Yellow, orange, and red temperature bands had been stuck around the tray's rim, their colors clear at a glance.

Yan looked at Magby. "I'll still heat it, and you flip them over?"

Magby shook its head.

It pointed at its mouth, then Yan's palm, then had two imaginary flames meet in the middle.

"At the same time?"

"Babe."

"Alright. Keep them both low."

One large and one small took their places on opposite sides of the iron tray.

The first hourglass was turned over.

A layer of dark red heat shimmered over Yan's palm, while Magby breathed only a very faint flame. The fruit slices lay quietly in the tray, without smoking or curling at the edges.

When the fine sand had run out, the six Berries were still their original color.

Yan frowned. "Too low."

Just as he was about to raise his hand, Magby stopped him first.

The little fellow pointed at the fruit slices, then turned over the second hourglass, signaling that they should wait a little longer.

"The fire's already out."

Magby stubbornly refused to move.

Yan watched it for a moment, then lowered his hand.

By the time the second hourglass had run halfway through, the edges of the fruit slices were slowly turning golden. The heat stored in the iron tray was still working its way inward. When all the sand had fallen, the color stopped exactly within the circle Indeedee had drawn.

Magby jumped up happily.

Yan stared at the iron tray. "It keeps cooking after the fire stops."

Xie Yue leaned against the observation window outside. "If you'd stopped a little earlier yesterday, the first slice wouldn't have gone black either."

"There was no hourglass yesterday."

"Indeedee knocked on the window yesterday."

Yan pretended not to hear and used tongs to flip over a slice. The front was beautifully colored, but the back was still a little pale.

The first tray counted as a success, but only half a success.

Before the second tray began, Magby proactively lowered its flames even further. Yan, meanwhile, withdrew his hand before the first hourglass ran out, letting the iron tray send its residual heat inward on its own.

The two worked together more smoothly than they had yesterday.

Just as the fruit slices were about to turn yellow, Zorua passed by outside the door and lightly flicked its tail. The six Berries on the tray instantly turned black as charcoal, and even smoke rose from them convincingly.

The fire in Yan's palm nearly flared up again.

But Magby leaned in and sniffed them, then immediately spat a small spark through the observation window.

The spark landed by Zorua's feet.

The illusion immediately dispersed. The six fruit slices were still lying safely in the tray.

Zorua raised a forepaw, pretending it had merely been passing by.

"How did you know it was fake?" Yan asked.

Magby pointed to its nose.

The smell of something burnt would not lie.

This time, five slices on the second tray were just the right color. Only the one closest to Yan was blackened on one side.

Yan inspected the iron tray. "This side heats up faster."

Magby also lay down and looked from the other side, then nodded in agreement.

Indeedee brought over a round fruit pit and placed it in the center of the tray.

The pit did not move at all.

The tray was level.

She then pointed separately at Yan and Magby, making an inward-gathering motion with her palms.

Both sides' flames were rushing toward the middle, and the slice nearest Yan happened to be caught where the heat met.

"My fire was slightly off." Yan spoke first.

Magby looked at the half-blackened slice, then raised a paw as well. Its flame had also blown a little too much in that direction.

One person and one Pokémon each took half the blame.

Applause suddenly came from outside the observation window.

The bakery owner delivering breakfast had somehow appeared at the doorway, still carrying a basket of hot bread. He had followed the fruity scent over and happened to watch the latter half.

"Can these fruit slices be tasted?"

Yan handed over the best slice.

The owner took a bite and chewed it slowly. "The heat is even. If the edges were a little drier, they'd keep longer. But if they're meant to be eaten the same day, this is best."

Magby stared at him nervously.

"Who baked it?"

It and Yan pointed at each other at the same time.

The owner laughed. "Then you baked it together."

He looked again at the fireproof room and the three iron trays. "My shop happens to need someone to watch the ovens. Three meals a day, plus a bag of sweet bread. Interested?"

Yan immediately said, "No."

Magby had not even understood yet when Yan's hand was already held out in front of it.

The bakery owner looked at them. "I was asking the little one."

"It's still in meetings."

"I didn't say I'd take it away now."

Magby looked at the sweet bread in the owner's basket, then at Yan.

Yan's expression immediately turned serious.

The little fellow thought for a moment, then took the smallest loaf from the edge of the basket. It broke it in half, handed one half to Yan, hugged the other half to itself, then shook its head.

Sweet bread was fine to eat, but watching ovens was out of the question.

Yan accepted the half loaf, his expression softening. "It refused."

"I can see that." The owner was not angry. "If you bake extra fruit slices in the future, you can trade them for bread."

The deal was quickly settled.

By the time the third tray began, several passersby had stopped outside the door, drawn by the scent.

Yan did not chase them away. Magby was not afraid of being watched either. It merely pulled its apron up a little and seriously took its place on the other side of the iron tray.

When the first hourglass had run down two-thirds, both sides stopped their flames at the same time.

When the second hourglass had passed halfway, Magby turned the iron tray half a circle so the other side could absorb the residual heat as well.

The fruit slices slowly turned an even golden yellow.

There were no blackened edges and no undercooked centers.

Indeedee picked up the six slices and inspected them one by one, then finally drew a complete circle on a small card.

"Success, Rotom!"

A round of applause immediately followed from outside.

Magby froze for a moment, then grew so happy that white smoke kept puffing from its mouth. Yan was steadier than it was; he merely straightened his back a little more.

Indeedee handed the first successful Berry slice to Magby.

The little fellow did not eat it. Instead, it held it up to Yan's mouth.

With everyone outside watching, Yan naturally could not be afraid of it being hot. He opened his mouth and bit down, his expression not changing in the slightest.

Xie Yue asked from the side, "How does it taste?"

Yan chewed twice. "Just right."

"Then why didn't you say a complete sentence?"

"Didn't want to."

Hu Liena saw that even the tips of his ears had turned red and held back a laugh as she handed him a cup of cool water.

Yan accepted the water and drank it all before distributing the remaining fruit slices to Magby.

Rotom flew between them. "Three-tray task cleared. Next item: safe companionship outside the meeting room, Rotom."

The moment Magby heard it could go outside, it immediately ran toward the door.

It had barely crossed the yellow line when it remembered that it was still wearing its apron and hurried back to find Yan to undo the knot.

Yan folded its apron neatly and put it into the bag along with his own.

The bakery owner waved enthusiastically from outside. "Perfect timing. Want to come see my shop?"

Magby stopped short.

Yan also looked at the basket of sweet bread.

Thus, the route for their first safe walk was decided by a loaf of bread.

Before the two had even stepped outside, Indeedee stopped them again.

She put a heat-resistant little backpack on Magby's back. Inside were drinking water, wet wipes, and a card showing the route back to the shop. Then she handed Yan three walking rules.

No casually breathing fire in the street.

Ask first before eating food given by strangers.

If the smoke from its nose grows darker, return to the shop immediately to rest.

Yan read through them from beginning to end. "Remembered them all."

Magby leaned over to look too. It could not recognize every word, but it understood the little drawings beside each line. When it saw the first rule, it obediently shut its mouth tight. When it saw the second, it pulled its paw back from the bread basket. After reading the third, it suddenly pointed at Yan.

"Why are you pointing at me?"

Rotom turned the card over. On the back was an extra line Indeedee had added at the last minute: If Yan secretly does extra training, return to the shop immediately as well.

Everyone by the door laughed together.

Yan fell silent for a moment, then pressed his thumbprint beneath the final line.

Magby also dipped its little paw in ink and pressed it beside his. The two red prints, one large and one small, both had faint marks around the edges from their body heat.

Once everything was ready, Magby ran back into the fireproof room and brought out its little apron.

"You don't need to wear that for a walk," Yan said.

It looked at the large apron in Yan's bag and stubbornly held its own apron up against its belly.

Yan understood.

A moment later, one large and one small walked out of the shop wearing aprons embroidered with flames. The bakery owner laughed the entire way, while Xie Yue deeply regretted not bringing his sketchbook today.