"Do you want to go traveling?" Officer Jenny Feng asked Heath as she ate the dinner he had made.
"Yeah, Sister Feng. I want to visit other cities and collect their local specialties." Heath nodded. He had made up his mind: he wanted to become a traveling chef, gathering local specialties in every city he visited.
That way, he could complete his golden finger's tasks while also fulfilling his original wish to set out on a journey through the world of Pokémon.
"Ever since you decided not to come work with me at the Public Security Bureau, I knew you'd leave Viridian City someday. When are you planning to go?" Officer Jenny Feng asked calmly, her expression unchanged.
Heath chewed the red-braised pork in his mouth as he considered that question himself. In theory, all he needed to travel was to bring his Pokémon along, but since he wanted to gather ingredients in different cities, he would need some funds.
"Probably in a few weeks?" Heath said uncertainly. Although he had made a tidy sum off Gengar today, he was still a long way from being ready to travel.
Traveling wasn't as simple as grabbing some Poké Balls, slinging on a backpack, and heading out. At the very least, he needed some money set aside. This world had no rule that the loser of a battle had to pay up.
Trying to build a travel fund by collecting money after battles like in the games was utterly unrealistic. Besides, this world was huge. Even walking from Viridian City to Pewter City took four or five days.
"All right. Let me know when the time comes. I'll see you off." Officer Jenny Feng wiped her mouth. She had already finished eating.
Heath looked at Officer Jenny Feng helplessly. He had told her so many times not to eat too quickly because it was bad for her stomach, but she always let it go in one ear and out the other.
No matter how many times he said it, Officer Jenny Feng showed no intention of changing. Every meal made Heath feel like a slowpoke. Before he had eaten even half his food, she was already done.
"Sister Feng, has there been any news in Viridian City lately?" Heath asked, watching her calm expression.
He had a nagging feeling that Officer Jenny Feng was a little unhappy, so he wanted to sound her out.
"No big news, but... do you want to earn some money?" Officer Jenny Feng paused while wiping her mouth, then turned to look at Heath.
Heath nodded instinctively. Anyone who had never been poor would struggle to understand how he felt. The weight of that debt had nearly driven him mad. Even now that he had paid it off, he still kept up his frugal habits.
"Viridian City Prison has a batch of inmates being transferred to Eternal Summer Island soon. The prison wants to grant their wishes and make them a good meal. You're a pretty good cook. The meal allowance is fifty League Coins per person, with fifty people in total. Interested?" Officer Jenny Feng offered him some tempting news.
The world of Pokémon naturally had prisons, as well as a judicial system. Death sentences were handed down with considerable caution, and aside from execution, the cruelest punishment was Eternal Summer Island.
It was an island where the only season was high summer, surrounded by the sea on all sides, without a breath of wind. The scorching conditions made its prisoners want to jump into the ocean.
But the seawater was hot too, so getting in offered no relief. As such, prisoners sentenced to Eternal Summer Island could generally make one request, which would be granted as long as it wasn't too unreasonable.
"I'm in!" Heath nodded without a moment's hesitation. A meal allowance of fifty League Coins per person might not sound like much, but there was still room to make a profit.
"Good. Just don't get too greedy. Ms. Lori complained to me today about you charging her Gengar a thousand League Coins." Officer Jenny Feng gave Heath a hard look and punched the wall, her tone carrying a warning.
Heath nodded immediately. Only then did Officer Jenny Feng return to her room. Looking at the fist-shaped dent in the wall, Heath drew a deep breath.
People in the Pokémon world weren't even human. First there was Ash, the superhuman from Pallet Town, and now even Officer Jenny was this strong.
Heath even wondered whether Officer Jenny Feng needed to send out a Pokémon to make an arrest. A couple of barehanded moves from her would probably have any criminal surrendering on the spot.
"This is too much. Way too much." Heath cleared away the dishes, washed them, and finally lay down on his bed.
Farfetch'd was practicing cooking in the kitchen. Heath remained perfectly composed, unmoved even when a wisp of black smoke drifted past him.
Although Farfetch'd's cooking was a disaster movie, it at least scraped a passing grade. Officer Jenny Feng's cooking, on the other hand, wasn't cooking at all. It was research into some kind of biological weapon.
Heath had once had the privilege of trying Officer Jenny Feng's pork rib and radish soup. Pink pork rib and radish soup. He had to admit that he had been trembling all over when she brought it out.
After one sip, Heath achieved enlightenment. So the highest realm of cooking was creating something out of nothing.
Heath had really wanted to ask Sister Feng how she had managed to make pork rib and radish soup taste like cake.
After that, Heath never let Officer Jenny Feng into the kitchen again. He knew that if he wanted a decent dinner, cooking it himself was the best option.
"That doesn't smell right." Heath sniffed, then got out of bed and went into the kitchen to take a look.
"Farfetch'd, did you... discover a coal mine?" Heath's face darkened as he looked at what Farfetch'd was trying to sneak into the trash.
Heath had to admit that his first glimpse of it left him in a strange state of bewilderment. He had absolutely no idea what those pitch-black things were. They came in chunks, each one looking like a lump of charcoal.
"Far..." Farfetch'd wiggled its rear sheepishly.
Heath rolled his eyes, then picked up a piece of "coal" and tried to break it.
Crack. Heath stared blankly at the piece of "coal" that had made that inexplicable sound and sank into thought.
Heath felt certain he must have done something wonderful in his past life, like saving humanity. Otherwise, how could he have ended up in such a bizarre place?
There was Officer Jenny Feng, a potion-maker who had mastered potion-making and could turn pork rib soup pink. And now there was Farfetch'd, who might have sneaked next door into Fullmetal Alchemist to learn Equivalent Exchange Alchemy.
"What did I ever do to deserve meeting you two towering geniuses?" Heath was utterly beside himself. He suspected Farfetch'd might have invested negative talent points in cooking.
But hadn't he just taught it how to make red-braised pork?
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