Restocking Next Time

Top-tier ingredients often required only the simplest cooking methods. After a busy day, Chef Hu ultimately decided to make grilled meat.

The thawed steaks were skewered on specially made iron rods, giving off an enticing aroma as they roasted over the fire. Golden, fragrant grease dripped continuously from them.

Along with the drool of a certain big eater.

Sploosh!

Hu Yang: "...Wipe up your drool."

"Axew..." Axew embarrassedly wiped its mouth with its little claws.

It glanced at Hu Yang, its big eyes fixed expectantly on the grilled meat over the fire.

After spending the past two days together, Axew had also realized that Hu Yang had not deliberately captured it.

Whenever it thought about how it had bared its fangs at this human when they first met, Axew felt a little ashamed.

But what embarrassed it even more was that, even though it had nearly hurt him, he had not held it against it.

Not only had he not minded, he had prepared so much delicious food for it and even intended to personally send it back to the forest.

How could such a wonderful human exist in this world?

"Axew..." Axew pulled its gaze away from the grilled meat and looked apologetically at Hu Yang.

Gengar served as the translator with a blank expression. "It's apologizing to you. It misunderstood you before."

Hu Yang saw that Axew's affection rating had started changing again.

It went from 0 to 15.

He smiled and said gently, "It's okay. Oh, right, you can have this stone to grind your teeth on."

As he spoke, Hu Yang took a very rare, top-quality Thunder Stone from his bag and handed it over.

"Axew..." Axew shook its head. It was too embarrassed to accept it.

What a polite little dragon.

That was Hu Yang's assessment of Axew. He continued, "Go ahead and chew on it. If you get tired of chewing, just throw it away. It's fine."

Axew was deeply moved. Its affection rose again as it accepted the Thunder Stone and carefully placed it beside itself.

Gengar could no longer stand watching, so it simply turned around and floated back into the orb.

Hu Yang handed the meat to Axew, then began preparing Roserade's favorite nutrient candy cubes for Grass-type Pokémon.

These candy cubes contained abundant sugar and organic matter, making them perfectly suited for Roserade, which needed those things.

"Caw!"

At that moment, Cramorant pulled its head out of the water. A fish that was flapping wildly was clamped in its beak.

Cramorant tilted back its head, and the fish slipped down its throat and into its stomach.

The aroma of food attracted many wild Pokémon.

There were Zubat, Machop, Machoke, and more. Even that Druddigon had been drawn over.

But Hu Yang had sprinkled Golden Spray, bought from the Poké Mart, around the perimeter.

This spray gave off a smell that Pokémon disliked.

Therefore, they could only stand outside the spray and watch hungrily. None of them dared approach directly.

It was not that they did not want to go over, but that they needed to weigh the risks against the rewards.

Surviving in the wild was no joke. To wild Pokémon, getting injured meant death.

The scent from a wound would attract the attention of predators, and severe injuries would make hunting extremely difficult.

The consequences waiting for them went without saying.

Only after Axew finished the meat and the fragrance gradually faded did those wild Pokémon leave one after another.

Hu Yang began taking stock of what they had gained on this trip.

They had spent three days in Meteor Falls. During those three days, Cramorant had continuously brought back many things from outside.

These included three large fossilized body parts from ancient Pokémon, two meteorites containing cosmic energy, and a large pile of Evolution Stones of varying quality.

The huge hiking backpack was packed full with all of it.

The only regrettable thing was that there was not a single Shiny Stone among them.

It was time to leave this place.

Hu Yang looked at the now-empty bag that had held their food.

The food he had brought was about to be completely eaten by the big eater, Axew.

So that afternoon, Hu Yang left Meteor Falls with a backpack full of stones.

"See you. I'll come back to restock next time!"

Before reaching the surface, Hu Yang looked back at Meteor Falls behind him and said that in his heart.

The sky was blue, and the sunlight was warm.

Leaving the cave also meant it was time to say goodbye.

"Axew..." Axew hugged the Thunder Stone and hesitantly looked up at Hu Yang.

"Do you want to leave with me?" Hu Yang asked.

He had already done everything he could. He had tempted it with delicious food and had even given it a Thunder Stone as a Tooth-Grinding Stone.

If Axew still refused, then it would truly mean that he and this Axew were not meant to be.

Axew hesitated for a moment. Then, as though it had made some major decision, it raised its head firmly and said, "Axew! Axew!"

Gengar floated out and translated, "It says it's willing to leave with you, but before that, it wants to return to its territory and tell the other Axew about this."

Hearing that, Hu Yang smiled in relief. "Let's go together."

That was right. If this Axew had family, it really should tell them before setting off on a journey.

"Axew~"

Basking in the warm winter sunlight, Hu Yang followed behind Axew while pondering his current situation.

According to the information he had learned at the department store,

an ordinary Fire Stone could sell for 3,000 Poké Dollars, while a top-quality one could fetch as much as 20,000.

The stones in his backpack alone could sell for at least a million Poké Dollars.

One haul, and he was practically set for a comfortable life.

With that much money, he would not need to go back to teaching anymore.

Hu Yang began considering whether it was feasible to quit his job as a teacher and become an explorer instead.

The smiling faces of the teachers and students at school surfaced in his mind.

Everyone had treated him well and looked after him in their daily lives.

Thinking of that, Hu Yang still decided to go back and see May's class through to graduation first.

It was only two years, anyway. He was only ten years old in this world, with plenty of time to spare.

Besides, he could use those two years to obtain the Petalburg Badge.

That raised a question: where should he go to sell all these things?

Because he was too absorbed in thought, Hu Yang failed to notice the path beneath his feet. He stumbled over a stone hidden in the snow and fell face-first into it.

The stones in his hiking backpack rolled out with a clatter.

Gengar facepalmed.

When Axew turned around and saw that, it panicked a little.

Hu Yang: "..."

He rolled over and tried to get up, but a wave of pain shot through his lower body. He sucked in a sharp breath and told the two Pokémon, "I think I twisted my ankle..."

Gengar and Axew stood on either side of him. Gengar reached out a claw to poke his foot, but its claw passed straight through.

Hu Yang was on the verge of tears. He was supposed to become a Pokémon Master, so how could something as stupid as tripping while walking happen to him?!

Just then, a voice came from nearby.

"Are you okay?"

Hu Yang turned his head and saw a young man in casual clothes walking over.

The man was handsome, with silver-blue hair. Even his eyes were silver-blue, the color of calmness.

That hair color was rare. Combined with the fact that Hu Yang had seen this man's match on television not long ago, he immediately recognized him.

Steven.

Hu Yang: "..."

Steven's gaze shifted away from Hu Yang and toward the pile of stones scattered across the ground.

Steven: Stare!

Hu Yang swore that this was the first time he had ever seen a human's eyes light up.