No Time to Explain, Get In!

Heath had originally wanted to get to the market as soon as possible to buy the ingredients he needed, but as the lunchtime rush arrived, he got busy and had to wait until he had served his customers.

"Heath, three of these shiitake buns and a cup of soy milk. As quick as you can." A husky female voice rang out, and Heath reflexively answered, "Coming right up."

Heath packed three buns and a cup of soy milk into a bag and handed it to the woman in front of him. She left the money and immediately headed off, walking briskly as though she were in a hurry, eating along the way. Watching her made Heath's stomach ache a little.

"Same as always today, Miss Fang Yu." Heath shook his head as he watched Miss Fang Yu disappear into an office building moments later. This regular had been eating at his stall for over a year, yet she was always in such a rush.

The other customers were used to it too and continued stepping forward to buy Heath's food. Occasionally, though, someone would discuss something else, and Heath overheard a few interesting things.

"I took my little Pikachu to Fang Yu Beauty Salon for a beauty treatment last time. It was so expensive!" Two female coworkers waited in front of Heath for their Egg Fried Rice, chatting as they waited.

Heath wasn't particularly interested in the girls' conversation. Naturally, the Pokémon world had beauty salons too, and the glamorous Miss Fang Yu with the husky voice who had just left was the owner of one.

And it was the most famous one at that. Every day when Heath set up his stall, the Fang Yu Beauty Salon building stood diagonally across the street. She owned the entire building-she was a wealthy woman indeed.

The Fang Yu Beauty Salon's prices were also steep. Even the simplest Pokémon skin treatment often cost over three thousand League Coins, half a month's wages for an ordinary office worker.

Even so, whenever anyone in Viridian City thought of Pokémon beauty treatments, the Fang Yu Beauty Salon was the first place that came to mind. That showed just how dominant Miss Fang Yu was in the beauty industry.

Heath had even seen trainers coming from Pallet Town and Pewter City to visit the Fang Yu Beauty Salon, along with wealthy married women from major cities like Saffron City. They all praised Miss Fang Yu's services to the skies.

What Heath couldn't quite understand was why, despite earning so much money, Miss Fang Yu still lived so frugally every day. She didn't seem like a wealthy woman at all. If not for her expensive clothes, Heath thought people would believe she was an ordinary office worker.

Heath figured that might just be a matter of personal preference.

After he served wave after wave of customers, the lunch rush finally ended. As everyone returned to work for the afternoon, things eased up at Heath's stall.

"Come on, Farfetch'd. Let's buy something different at the market today." Heath smiled and rubbed Farfetch'd's head. If he hadn't seen Farfetch'd, that dish wouldn't have occurred to him anytime soon.

"Far?" Farfetch'd looked at Heath expectantly, hopping back and forth.

But Heath sighed when he looked at Zorua, who was too full to even want to move. The little fellow was practically living like a pig, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. Heath thought Zorua's weight might well keep shooting up.

When Heath had served Mr. Yan Ning earlier, he had considered one question: what fairly salty dish should he make for him?

Seeing Farfetch'd reminded Heath of a very famous dish from his previous life: salted duck. But since he had been making duck dishes so much lately, he was getting a little tired of them, so he planned to make something else.

Salt-baked chicken.

Salt-baked chicken tasted excellent and leaned toward the salty side. Paired with a bowl of plain rice, its tender, succulent, fragrant meat made for the ultimate treat.

Of course, Heath had also heard of people having salt-baked chicken with alcohol, but he rarely drank himself, so he didn't know much about that.

Still, the thought of going to driving school later gave Heath the bleak feeling of a warrior setting off to his doom. He really wanted nothing to do with that seasoned driver, Officer Jenny Aya, but unfortunately, she was the Officer Jenny with the best driving skills.

She was also the Officer Jenny in charge of driving tests. No matter what, anyone who wanted to learn to drive couldn't get around that old lecher.

"I really just want to learn how to drive normally..." Heath heaved a long sigh, then bought a slaughtered rooster from the butcher and brought it back to the food truck.

"What's that? Trainer, are you making something tasty again?" As soon as Heath got into the truck, Zorua revealed their true form and asked.

"It's chicken, but this one isn't for Chongqing Spicy Chicken." Heath took out the salt. There was still plenty left, which should be enough.

But when he saw the Primarina on the label, his expression turned a little odd.

"I guess that's the Pokémon world for you?" Heath smacked his lips. This was premium salt from the Kanto region, supposedly extracted from salt left to dry after a Primarina used Surf. It cost ten more than ordinary salt.

Naturally, Heath hadn't bought this salt himself. He wasn't extravagant enough to use something like this. He had gotten it from Mr. Giovanni.

Despite being the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni had a little hobby of cooking for himself, so he had plenty of strange kitchen supplies at home. This salt was one of them.

"So could they come out with Kyogre salt someday, or a Groudon flight suit-no, Groudon fertilizer?" Heath quipped as he added the salt.

Still, no matter how strange the salt's name was, its quality really was good. Heath could tell at a glance.

Once he had put the chicken he bought aside to marinate, Heath headed toward the driving school with a miserable expression. Checking the time, he saw that it was about time for his driving lesson.

Viridian City's driving school was on the edge of the city, practically in the outskirts. This was Heath's first visit. Luckily, the food truck had a self-driving feature; otherwise, he figured he would have had to push it there.

As the food truck drove on, Heath's surroundings gradually became more natural. The towering buildings gave way to lush trees and a broad stretch of grass, and he couldn't help taking a deep breath.

"So fresh." Heath sighed appreciatively.

"Get out of the way! You in the vehicle up ahead! Get out of the way!" Just as Heath was admiring the surroundings, a frantic yell came from ahead.

Heath instinctively stuck his head out for a look, only to see a Blissey driving a vehicle straight at him.

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Blissey: I'm running over everyone who doesn't vote with a dump truck today!