Crab Roe Lion's Head (Grade B)

After eating and drinking his fill, Leon returned to his room.

Leaning against Arcanine, Li Wei chose to use the three Random Pokémon Item Lottery Tickets in his backpack.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You drew a Metal Coat.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You drew a Speed Enhancer (Powerful Version).]

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You drew a Life Orb.]

Three more items now sat in his backpack.

[Metal Coat]: Boosts the power of Steel-type moves when held. Can also be used as an evolution held item.

Li Wei was very familiar with this item. His dad Leon's Scizor had evolved using a Metal Coat.

Besides those two uses, a Metal Coat could also be used in Pokémon breeding.

It suited Metang, who happened to be close to evolving, so Li Wei planned to use it to raise Metang.

[Speed Enhancer (Powerful Version)]: Increases a Pokémon's speed. One bottle of the Powerful Version packs more punch than six regular bottles!

If this were the game, Li Wei remembered this item adding ten speed Effort Values.

But this was the real world, so he couldn't say right away what would change.

"I'll give the Speed Enhancer to either Lucario or Arcanine."

Li Wei looked at the final item.

[Life Orb]: Boosts the power of a Pokémon's moves when held, but causes a small loss of stamina.

Speaking of Life Orbs, he couldn't help thinking of a Feraligatr with Sheer Force and a Life Orb, firing up Dragon Dance right away.

Li Wei remembered that Life Orbs also suited Dragapult.

Of Li Wei's three Pokémon, Arcanine had the most stamina, so giving it to Arcanine would work too.

Li Wei quickly made his decision.

He gave the little blue bottle containing the Speed Enhancer to Lucario.

" Luca?"

(What's this?)

"Something good that boosts your speed. Drink it and you'll see."

Suspecting it would taste awful, Lucario chose to down it in one gulp.

"How is it?"

(Sweet. Pretty tasty, actually. I'll go outside and try it out.)

"No rush. I'll test your speed tomorrow."

"Luca."

Li Wei then gave Metang the Metal Coat, which looked like two button batteries stacked together.

"Metang, this one's yours. Just eat it."

The metal energy contained in the Metal Coat spoke for itself. Metang knew what it was with just one look.

A Metal Coat could either be ground into powder or eaten whole.

Li Wei had no tools that could grind it into powder, so he could only let Metang chew through it.

"Bee-ka!"

"Awooo~"

Arcanine looked pitifully at Li Wei.

(What about mine?)

"You get one too. Have fun with it!"

Li Wei took a purplish-red Life Orb out of his... backpack.

Slurp!

Arcanine stuck out a tongue, gave it a lick, and nodded in satisfaction.

"This isn't for eating. You just need to keep it on you."

Arcanine grinned smugly, wearing a wise expression that said everything was perfectly understood.

Li Wei could only hope Arcanine really understood and wouldn't swallow the Life Orb.

Constantly licking or outright swallowing things like Fire Gems and Fire Stones was no problem for Arcanine, but a Life Orb was different.

Li Wei could only remind Arcanine over and over.

"Remember, this isn't something you eat."

"Awooo!"

(Leave it to yours truly. You've got nothing to worry about!)

While Arcanine happily rolled the Life Orb around with a tongue, Li Wei opened the Eevee Video Network.

His first video had suddenly started trending that afternoon. His private messages were already at 99+, and his follower count had reached over nine hundred.

After all, this was Li Wei's first video. Quite a few people were probably still hesitant to follow him.

"Here comes the handy summary..."

"Lying at home, leveling up my cooking."

"Into my favorites to gather dust!"

"Here's my attempt~ Nailed it on the first try!"

"I sent this to my girlfriend. She said it looked delicious and wanted to have it next time. She told me to make it."

"I've already asked my mom to watch it."

There were some brilliant replies below.

"Mom: Do I look like sweet-and-sour pork to you?"

"My mom already gave me a beating."

The people who practically lived on the Eevee Video Network had discovered a new UP Creator in the food section.

The sweet-and-sour pork Li Wei made looked delicious in every way, and Arcanine licking the plate spotless was further proof of how good it tasted.

Li Wei figured he could reach a thousand followers without even posting a second video.

That would complete the first milestone of the side quest, [I Really Never Meant to Become a Content Creator].

Li Wei also planned to post his second video tomorrow.

As Li Wei drifted off to sleep, his thousandth follower hit follow...

[Ding! Account follower count detected to have exceeded 1,000. The first-stage objective of I Really Never Meant to Become a Content Creator is complete. Rewards have been issued.]

[Ding! Obtained Random Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket ×1 and Random Specialty Cuisine Recipe-Crab Roe Lion's Head (Grade B).]

[Second-stage objective: Exceed 10,000 account followers.]

[Quest rewards: Random Specialty Cuisine ×1, Random Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket ×2.]

Early the next morning, the renovation crew arrived with Machoke.

While washing up, Li Wei took a moment to check the Crab Roe Lion's Head recipe and its special effect.

[Crab Roe Lion's Head (Grade B)]: Soft and tender, rich without being greasy, with the fresh aroma of crab roe. Eating it grants a small increase in strength (permanent, one time only).

Click to view the detailed preparation video.

Daily preparations: (0/6)

Note: This dish's difficulty exceeds the host's Cooking level. Preparation is guaranteed to fail.

Li Wei muttered, "Why not just tell me not to waste food?"

The system humbly added a line at the end-Please raise your Cooking level before attempting this dish. Do not waste food.

"..."

It was surprisingly receptive to feedback.

He then chose to use his newly acquired Pokémon Item Prize Ticket.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You obtained Moomoo Milk (High Quality) ×1.]

[Moomoo Milk (High Quality)]: One bottle gets you back in action. Drinking an entire bottle grants a small increase in stamina (one time only). Humans can also drink it.

A small, permanent stamina boost. It was a shame there was only one bottle.

With his Super New Trainer physique, Li Wei had no use for that little bit of extra stamina. It wasn't as though he competed in sports.

Ten bottles would have been nice. Then Li Wei could have distributed them exactly as he wanted.

It was quite suitable for Arcanine, who was carrying the Life Orb, so Li Wei planned to give Arcanine a little extra treat.

Two Machoke hung up the [Jubilife Breeding Center] sign, marking the breeding center's official opening.

"Yes, yes, yes! Just like that!"

Comrade Leon nodded in satisfaction.

Li Wei took a photo of the sign and sent it to Dayou and Mizuki, then posted it to his social media feed.

"I've already posted the job listing. Someone should come in for an interview pretty soon."

Li Wei had written up the job listing the previous evening and posted it on a recruitment website.

Comrade Leon nodded in satisfaction.

"Well done, son!"

Not long after they finished hanging the sign, the Pokémon Day Care welcomed its first customer.