Chapter Summaries

Heath served breakfast to Xiumei and Xiuhui at the Technology Expo and received a damaged diary that seemed connected to the absent Xiunian. After reading its few surviving pages, he suspected it concerned Xiunian’s childhood friend Ayumi, but he had no chance to investigate before the League’s servers arrived.

• Heath drove the Food Truck to the Technology Expo and found that Xiunian had stayed away, while Xiumei said she did not know why her sister was skipping breakfast.
• Heath served bread and side dishes to Xiumei and Xiuhui and received a damaged diary as his reward.
• Heath read the diary’s few surviving pages, which described an elementary school student playing with a friend named Ayumi.
• Heath suspected the diary belonged to Xiunian and might relate to one of the sisters’ Wishes, but could not confirm his guess.
• The League’s servers arrived, and Heath began preparing breakfast for the approaching customers.

A malfunction at Star Illusion Technology’s expo demonstration released a terrible odor, forcing the Technology Expo to close early. Heath returned to his usual vending spot to rest, but Mr. Qingshui arrived and ordered clear broth noodles.

• Heath switched on his food truck’s air purification system after a foul smell drove customers away.
• Zoroark learned that Star Illusion Technology’s odor-blocking coating had malfunctioned and released the stink.
• Flying-type Pokémon used Gust to clear the odor, but the League ended the Technology Expo early to deal with the lingering substance.
• Heath drove to his usual vending spot, intending to close his food truck and rest.
• Mr. Qingshui arrived and ordered clear broth noodles, so Heath invited him inside and began preparing the meal.

Heath served Mr. Qingshui, suspected he was an internet café lifer, and closed his food truck after the customer left. His reward was a private farm, which he visited and learned operated like an idle farming game; he was left browsing its expensive seed shop.

• Heath served Mr. Qingshui noodles and noticed his strong odor and previously worn clothes, then watched him return to the internet café.
• After Mr. Qingshui left, Heath closed his food truck and chose a quality reward, receiving a mysterious farm and its entrance key.
• Heath used the key to visit the farm, where he found cleared fields and an instruction manual describing its crops, time flow, and shop.
• Heath opened the seed shop and found that most of the crops, including notoginseng, cost more than his starting thousand gold coins.

Heath planted cabbage and radish seeds in his farm and calculated how its time passed compared with reality. Back in his lounge, Little Lugia asked to enter the Hoenn Pokémon Contest shown on Heath’s television.

• Heath spent his remaining 970 gold coins on cabbage and radish seeds and planted them, expecting the crops to mature in thirty days of farm time.
• Heath calculated that ten hours passed in the farm for each hour in reality and felt relieved that farming would not disrupt his life.
• Little Lugia told Heath it would not return home and asked whether it could enter the Pokémon Contest on television.
• Heath recognized the program as the Hoenn Pokémon Contest after seeing Trainer Xiaofang from Pallet Town and his Pikachu introduced.

Heath learned that Lugia wanted to enter a Pokémon Contest and agreed to take him to one in Saffron City that evening. Heath began researching the rules, leaving Lugia suddenly unsure about competing.

• Heath explained how Pokémon Contests differed from Trainer battles and why they attracted fewer participants.
• Lugia told Heath he wanted to enter a Pokémon Contest because he could not battle often while traveling with him.
• Heath agreed to take Lugia, worrying that refusing might lead him to run away in search of a contest.
• Heath found a Pokémon Contest scheduled in Saffron City that evening and decided to study the rules with Lugia beforehand.
• Lugia shuddered when Heath announced they would study and suddenly seemed less eager to compete.

Heath tried to teach Lugia that entering a contest without preparation would not guarantee lasting success, but Lugia insisted his status as a Legendary Pokémon was enough. Heath had Charizard demonstrate the gap between them, leaving Lugia unconscious after Charizard used Overheat.

• Lugia resisted studying and argued that he could win a contest because he was Lugia.
• Heath explained that Lugia needed to learn contest standards and warned that fame alone would not ensure future victories.
• Heath ordered Charizard to show Lugia how weak he was, and Charizard battered Lugia while Lugia continued attacking.
• Heath told Charizard to get serious, and Charizard used Overheat until Lugia fainted.

Heath took the injured Lugia to the Pokémon Center after Charizard defeated him, hoping the setback would teach the young Legendary Pokémon humility. After Lugia woke and struggled with his defeat, Heath encouraged him to train hard so he could one day compete for the title of Sea God.

• Heath put the badly burned Lugia in his Poké Ball and took him to the Pokémon Center, while Charizard asked to fight a real Lugia.
• Nurse Joy treated Lugia and warned Heath that severe injuries could harm the young Pokémon’s development.
• Lugia woke up quietly, agreed to take a commemorative photo with Nurse Joy, and then fell silent again.
• Heath asked Lugia if he felt weak and told him that Charizard had grown strong through constant exercise and hard work.
• Lugia asked whether exercise could make him stronger, and Heath told him he might someday compete for the title of Sea God.
• Lugia’s enthusiasm returned, and Heath asked him if he was ready to go.

Little Lugia decided to postpone entering a Pokémon Contest and watch videos instead, while Heath worried about keeping it safe and about a possible influenza outbreak affecting his food truck business. After work, Heath went into the internet café across the street to find out whether Mr. Qingshui was an employee or a gaming ace.

• Little Lugia agreed that it was not ready for a Pokémon Contest and chose to watch videos rather than meet a Coordinator.
• Heath returned to his food truck as the weather turned cold and received a Saffron City health department warning about influenza A cases.
• Heath considered how the health warning might reduce business but was untroubled by the prospect of a slow day.
• Heath went into the internet café across the street to investigate Mr. Qingshui's role there.

Heath visited a lavish internet café in Saffron City to confirm that Mr. Qingshui was a customer, then returned to his food truck to make Zoroark the West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy she requested. Zoroark eyed the unfamiliar dish while Heath ate Mala Mix with his Pokémon.

• Heath entered the internet café, found its prices high, and confirmed that Mr. Qingshui was a customer rather than an employee.
• Heath returned to the food truck and asked Zoroark what she wanted for dinner.
• Zoroark requested West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy despite Heath warning her that he disliked the dish.
• Heath prepared a modified version of the fish while he and his Pokémon ate Mala Mix.
• Zoroark examined the strange-looking fish and noticed how appetizing Heath's Mala Mix smelled.

Heath watched Zoroark regret trying West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy, then fed her Mala Mix and learned Ash planned to visit Saffron City the next day. He ended the evening by discovering that Ralts had cleaned his bedroom.

• Zoroark finished the West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy and regretted ignoring Heath's warning.
• Heath prepared Mala Mix for Zoroark, who ate it happily.
• Ralts handed Heath his phone, and he read Ash's message saying he would come to Saffron City the next day and wanted to eat at Heath's place.
• Heath wondered whether Ash might be visiting because of Lugia and thought Professor Oak might also arrive in Saffron City.
• Heath found his bedroom spotless and fragrant, and Ralts happily admitted she had cleaned it.

Heath got up early to restock ingredients and found Charizard and Lugia training with a heavy iron ball. Before he could set off, Mr. Qingshui knocked at his door, starving and asking for clear-broth noodles with a fried egg.

• Heath used Calm Mind to improve his Psychic abilities and fall asleep quickly, then woke at four thirty in the morning.
• Heath left Zoroark asleep and saw Charizard and Lugia playing catch with a twenty-kilogram iron ball.
• Heath caught the iron ball and wondered whether Lugia might become muscular by following Charizard's training.
• Heath finished washing up and setting the food truck's destination, then found Mr. Qingshui waiting at the door.
• Mr. Qingshui paid one yuan for a fried egg and asked Heath to make clear-broth noodles, so Heath began preparing the meal.

Heath made Mr. Qingshui a bowl of noodle soup and an oversized fried egg, then sent him back to the internet café. While driving his food truck, Heath read a news article introducing Team Rocket and wondered whether the League was preparing to act against it.

• Heath made a single egg look enormous and explained to Farfetch'd how presentation and portion sizes could shape diners' impressions.
• Heath handed Mr. Qingshui his noodle soup and fried egg, then worried that the internet café regular might suddenly die while waiting for food.
• Heath started his food truck and read a news article identifying Team Rocket as Kanto Region's largest criminal organization.
• Heath learned that Team Rocket had come into public view, though its membership and leader remained unknown, and suspected it had crossed the League's bottom line.

Heath bought blended and all-natural oyster sauce while weighing their differences, shelf life, and food safety. As he prepared his food truck for business, Ralts warned him that a bad-tempered bird was outside.

• Heath compared blended oyster sauce with the more expensive all-natural variety and questioned the latter’s short shelf life.
• Heath recalled a neighbor’s severe food poisoning and bought mostly long-lasting blended sauce, along with a small amount of all-natural sauce.
• Heath returned to his vending spot, prepared ingredients, and wondered when Ash would visit Saffron City.
• Ralts called Heath over and pointed out a bad-tempered bird outside the lounge.

Heath followed Rowlet to a badly injured Charmeleon and gave it emergency care while calling the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy arrived as Charmeleon’s distrust of humans remained unexplained beyond its history as a stray.

• Ralts alerted Heath to an irascible bird outside his food truck, and Heath recognized it as Rowlet.
• Rowlet told Heath that its friend was hurt and led him to Charmeleon, who lay in a garbage-filled alley with a severe, festering wound.
• Heath called the Pokémon Center and applied Full Restore around Charmeleon’s wound.
• Rowlet explained that Charmeleon had refused human help because it disliked and distrusted humans.
• Nurse Joy arrived from the Pokémon Center to help Charmeleon.

Heath explained to Rowlet that Charmeleon’s League-funded treatment could mean he would be sent far away, leaving Rowlet unlikely to see him again. After Rowlet left, Heath recognized Charmeleon’s wound as the work of a Pokémon Hunter and returned to his food truck, determined to open for business.

• Rowlet worried that Charmeleon’s medical treatment would cost money, and Heath explained that the League’s relief fund would cover it.
• Rowlet asked whether he would see Charmeleon again, and Heath stayed silent because League policy could send Charmeleon far away or place him in a welfare home.
• Heath comforted Rowlet, who left dejectedly, while reflecting that Charmeleon’s treatment might remove him from Saffron City forever.
• Heath recognized Charmeleon’s wound as one inflicted by a Pokémon Hunter’s barbed weapon and resolved to make one suffer if he encountered one.
• Heath sighed and returned to his food truck to prepare for the day’s business.

Heath found Jessie heavily drunk in Saffron City and prepared her an olive soup to help her feel better. After she drank it, he received Hangover Cure pills, leaving him better equipped to help her sober up safely.

• Heath encountered a very drunk Jessie in Saffron City and offered to make her something to help her sober up.
• Jessie insisted she was not drunk, then struck her head against Heath’s solid wooden table.
• Heath prepared an ordinary olive sobering soup, intending to help Jessie feel better and get some sleep.
• Jessie drank the entire bowl, and Heath received ten Hangover Cure pills.

Heath used a Hangover Cure to sober Jessie, who hurried away after remembering her drunken behavior. Ash and Delia then visited Heath’s food truck, where Ash eagerly met Lugia.

• Heath gave Jessie a Hangover Cure pill, and she sobered up while retaining her memories of what she had done drunk.
• Jessie left money and dashed out of Heath’s food truck, and Heath cleared the lingering smell of alcohol.
• Ash and Delia arrived at Heath’s food truck, and Ash went inside excitedly.
• Heath brought Lugia out for Ash, who reacted with amazement, while Lugia cautiously approached him.
• Delia expressed surprise that Heath had apparently caught Lugia.

Heath explained to Delia that he was a friend of Lugia’s parents, not Lugia’s Trainer, and wondered how Ash’s upcoming journey would affect the passage of time in his own life. He then prepared breakfast for Delia and Ash, making a loaded Jianbing Guozi and beginning Ash’s Egg Fried Rice.

• Heath told Delia that Lugia called him Uncle because he was a good friend of Lugia’s parents, and he had no intention of becoming a Legendary Pokémon Trainer.
• Heath asked Delia whether Ash would soon begin his journey and wondered how long Ash’s travels might take and whether time would continue normally for Heath.
• Heath offered breakfast, and Delia ordered a Jianbing Guozi with the works while Ash requested Egg Fried Rice with a braised chicken drumstick.
• Heath made Delia’s Jianbing Guozi with extra toppings, then scooped overnight rice from the cooker to prepare Ash’s fried rice.

Heath served Ash fried rice and a braised chicken drumstick while Delia told him Ash’s father was traveling in Alola. The meal earned Heath an Aura fragment and a necklace that could make a bond unbreakable.

• Heath prepared leftover rice as fried rice and served it with a braised chicken drumstick to Ash.
• Heath asked Delia where Ash’s father had been, and she said he was in the Alola Region and complained about his absence.
• Heath received an Aura fragment for serving Ash and learned that collecting all the fragments could grant him Aura.
• Heath received the Steadfast Love Necklace for serving Delia and considered giving it to a Pure Love Warrior.

Heath asked Aunt Delia about how Ash could obtain a Starter Pokémon, and she explained that she had arranged for him to get one from Professor Oak at a lower cost. After dinner, Ash left looking forward to returning to Heath’s Lounge that evening.

• Heath asked Aunt Delia about the ways young Trainers could get a Starter Pokémon, and she described League starters, Pokémon Hunters, catching weak Pokémon, and fishing.
• Aunt Delia told Heath that she had arranged for Ash to receive a cheaper Starter Pokémon from Professor Oak.
• Heath praised Professor Oak’s Pokémon-raising skills, and Aunt Delia said Professor Oak had Champion-level strength but preferred research.
• Heath cleared away the meal after Aunt Delia and Ash finished eating.
• Ash told Heath that they would return for dinner that night and gazed longingly toward the Lounge.