Chapter Summaries

Heath shared breakfast with Cynthia and her six Pokémon, impressing her and gradually winning over Garchomp. After breakfast, he took Cynthia grocery shopping in the Qingming drizzle.

• Heath served hot dogs to Cynthia's six Pokémon and ate alongside his own Pokémon, which Cynthia appreciated.
• Cynthia released her Pokémon, and Garchomp's judgment of Heath softened after seeing how thoughtfully he treated them.
• Heath asked the Pokémon what they wanted to drink and used Chef's Eye to identify their preferences.
• Heath explained the challenges of Cerulean City's hot, rainy season and how his food truck protected ingredients from spoilage.
• After breakfast, Cynthia insisted on joining Heath to buy groceries, and they stepped out into the Qingming rain.

Heath and Cynthia visited a market where buyers secretly bid once on unusual goods. When a fossil that could revive into a rare Amaura appeared, Cynthia decided to bid, and Heath searched for the price of a previously sold Amaura fossil to help her choose an offer.

• Heath opened his Wailmer umbrella and entered the market with Cynthia.
• Heath watched a buyer win a Moon Ball made by Master Puro, and Cynthia explained the market’s one-bid system.
• Heath recognized Puro as a Silph Co. employee known for making distinctive Poké Balls and began to leave.
• The host announced an Amaura fossil, prompting Cynthia to place a bid.
• Cynthia hesitated over her offer, so Heath searched for the sale price of another Amaura fossil.

Heath learned that Cerulean City's specialty was poisonous Purple-ringed Octopus, which locals ate raw, and discovered that preparing it required a special license. He left with new information about the octopus but worried that cooking it safely would ruin its flavor and prevent him from completing his task.

• Cynthia won the genuine Amaura fossil at auction after bidding slightly more than the runner-up.
• Heath took Cynthia to Cerulean City's Vegetable Market, where vendors told him that octopus was the city's specialty ingredient.
• Heath learned that locals ate highly venomous Purple-ringed Octopus raw after an experienced chef prepared it.
• Cynthia questioned why people liked eating poisonous foods, and Heath explained that they did so because the foods tasted delicious.
• Heath used his Ingredient Identifier to learn how to remove the octopus's venom, but found that cooking it thoroughly would make its flesh rubbery.

Heath served an elderly former model black sesame tangyuan and let Zoroark chat with her after seeing how much she enjoyed reminiscing. Misty arrived at the food truck, interrupting the quiet morning.

• Heath opened his food truck while Cynthia was away to revive Amaura, and he planned to get her autograph for Misty.
• An elderly woman entered and asked Heath for tangyuan, and he made her black sesame tangyuan.
• Zoroark admired the elderly woman's elegant presence and chatted with her as she ate.
• The elderly woman said she had once been a model and still followed the strict eating and exercise habits she had kept during her career.
• Misty called out to Heath as he checked his phone.

Misty visited Heath’s diner, where she spoke with Grandma Joelle about the challenges of serving as Cerulean City’s acting Gym Leader. Heath gave Misty her Seafood Fried Rice and Cynthia’s autograph, leaving her staring thoughtfully at the words on the signed cover.

• Misty arrived and found Grandma Joelle talking with Zoroark, then told Joelle she had come for an autograph and a meal.
• Heath received the book “On How to Age Gracefully” for serving Joelle and planned to give it to Zoroark.
• Joelle asked Misty about her Gym Leader duties and whether her Pokémon could handle challengers with several Badges.
• Misty admitted she struggled with challengers and still feared Gyarados, though watching Cynthia win the Sinnoh championship had inspired her.
• Heath served Misty Seafood Fried Rice and gave her Cynthia’s autograph on a book cover, and Misty stared at the words on it.

Heath served seafood fried rice to a customer who Zoroark suspected was a food critic, while Misty took encouragement from a postcard she misunderstood as Cynthia’s message. Giovanni then arrived at Heath’s food truck in Cerulean City, leaving Heath curious about his visit.

• Misty read the postcard’s words as encouragement from Cynthia, unaware Heath had chosen it at random.
• Heath prepared a generous serving of seafood fried rice for a well-mannered customer and explained that he had bought gooseneck barnacles to stock for future orders.
• Zoroark spotted manuscripts and a copy of Food in the customer’s briefcase and suspected he was a food critic, but Heath said to serve him normally.
• Giovanni recognized Heath’s food truck and greeted him, and Heath asked whether he was in Cerulean City on business.

Giovanni visited Cerulean City to guide its new Gym Leader, Misty, and Heath served her, gaining a basic affinity for Water-type Pokémon. Giovanni then asked Heath to make him grilled erkuai, leaving Heath to prepare the dish.

• Giovanni explained that Elite Four member Lance had sent him to Cerulean City to guide Misty.
• Misty nervously greeted Giovanni, who reassured her that they could exchange ideas about being Gym Leaders.
• Heath received basic Water-type Pokémon Affinity after serving Misty.
• Giovanni chatted with Granny Joelle, then asked Heath for grilled erkuai.
• Heath agreed to make the dish, noting that he would need time to prepare the erkuai.

Heath made Grilled Erkuai while Mr. Giovanni watched, hoping to learn how it was prepared and recalling a similar dish from his childhood. Mr. Giovanni asked Heath to identify what his mother had cooked, leaving Heath considering the difficult question.

• Mr. Giovanni watched Heath make round pieces of Erkuai and learned how he prepared them.
• After tasting the Grilled Erkuai, Mr. Giovanni realized it was not the dish his mother had made when he was young.
• Misty asked Grandma Joelle why Heath and Mr. Giovanni seemed close, and Grandma Joelle suggested Heath’s cooking and personality helped explain their friendship.
• Mr. Giovanni told Heath about his mother’s mysterious childhood dish and asked what it might have been.
• Heath considered the difficulty of identifying a food from an unclear memory and began to offer a culinary possibility.

Heath used Giovanni’s Memory Fragment and recognized the childhood food Giovanni longed to taste as scorched rice. He tentatively named the dish to Giovanni, who remained unsure because his memories of its appearance and flavor were faint.

• Heath received a specific Memory Fragment after serving Giovanni and went to his Lounge to view it.
• Heath experienced Giovanni’s childhood memory of a woman bringing him a plate of food in a bare, dilapidated home.
• Heath recognized the food’s round shape and crisp, hard texture as scorched rice.
• Heath asked Giovanni about the food, and Giovanni recalled only that it was round and delicious enough to bring him to tears.
• Heath suggested that Giovanni’s remembered dish might have been scorched rice.

Heath served Giovanni crispy rice, helping him recover memories of the food his mother had called Golden Cake during a famine in Kanto. Giovanni savored the childhood flavor, and Heath received an achievement that could sometimes reveal complete recipes from customers’ memories.

• Heath prepared crispy rice for Giovanni to taste while Misty and Grandma Joelle got ready to leave.
• Giovanni tasted the crispy rice and recognized its familiar flavor and texture.
• Giovanni remembered eating his mother’s Golden Cake during a severe famine, when his family struggled to find good food.
• Heath watched Giovanni reminisce and received the achievement Memory Is Also a Seasoning.
• Heath read that his new reward could sometimes give him complete recipes from customers’ fond food memories.

Heath served Mr. Giovanni scorched rice and received a Flavor Purification Potion, then looked into learning how to prepare Purple-ringed Octopus. Zoroark told him about a Cerulean City cooking competition, and its custom-made kitchen utensils caught his interest.

• Heath explained that scorched rice was his best guess for the dish Mr. Giovanni had been craving, and Giovanni said it matched the flavor he remembered.
• Giovanni gave Heath a League-distributed Flavor Purification Potion that could remove saltiness from a dish.
• After Giovanni left, Heath served customers with Farfetch'd and found that online videos skipped the crucial steps for preparing Purple-ringed Octopus.
• Heath concluded that he might need to buy a course or attend a training class to learn how to prepare the octopus.
• Zoroark showed Heath a flyer for a Cerulean City cooking competition offering an Azure Restaurant Badge, five hundred thousand League Coins, and custom-made kitchen utensils; the utensils caught Heath's interest.

Heath tried to persuade Farfetch'd to enter the Cerulean City Food Competition so it could gain confidence and custom cooking utensils, and Zoroark finally convinced it with a threat. The organizing committee approved Farfetch'd’s application and planned to advance it to the round of sixteen to attract attention and pressure the elusive Cooking God of Cerulean City.

• Heath asked Farfetch'd to enter the cooking competition, but Farfetch'd firmly refused despite Heath mentioning the prize money.
• Zoroark threatened Farfetch'd with losing sleep at night, and Farfetch'd agreed to compete.
• Heath thought about sending Little Lugia back, since keeping it with him indefinitely was troubling.
• Anya showed the team leader Farfetch'd’s entry application, and the team leader decided the unusual contestant would draw attention.
• The team leader approved Farfetch'd’s application and told the judges to advance it to the round of sixteen if its cooking was not truly terrible.

Heath entered Farfetch'd in a cooking competition to help it overcome its nerves, while Zoroark hoped for a future contest for servers. As the rain picked up, Mew suddenly returned to Heath's food truck, and Little Lugia told Heath that it missed its parents.

• Heath saw that Farfetch'd's cooking competition entry had been approved and reassured himself that the nervous Pokémon could gain confidence during the early rounds.
• Zoroark asked whether Onion was competing and wondered if it could win the prize money, while Heath explained that he had entered Farfetch'd for its sake.
• Mew flew through the window into Heath's food truck after being caught in the rain, then went to the bathroom.
• Little Lugia told Heath that it missed its parents, and Heath comforted it by rubbing its head.

Heath arranged for Lugia’s parents to take him home and received a large supply of seafood, including Purple-ringed Octopuses. Lugia reunited with his parents while Heath stored the ingredients and considered giving Farfetch'd rotating days off.

• Heath contacted Lugia’s parents, who said they would come soon and agreed to bring him Purple-ringed Octopuses.
• Zoroark lamented Lugia leaving because he was her gaming partner, and Heath suggested they could play online together.
• Lugia’s parents arrived and thanked Heath for caring for their child, who was waiting above the food truck.
• Lugia’s parents left with their child without dining, and Heath opened their gift to find a spatial container full of seafood.
• Heath moved the Purple-ringed Octopuses, bluefin tuna, and other ingredients into his storage room and considered giving Farfetch'd rotating days off.

Heath served Kayako a particularly sweet bowl of rice cake and lotus root starch despite her usual dislike of sweet flavors. Kayako revealed that she wanted it because Shunsuke liked it, while Mieko watched in dismay.

• Heath worried that Farfetch'd worked almost without a break but decided he could not hire a chef for his traveling food truck.
• Kayako asked Heath for rice cake and lotus root starch, which had been hard to find in rainy Cerulean City.
• Heath noticed Kayako's contradictory flavor preferences and made her bowl extra sweet with syrup.
• Zoroark delivered the dish to Kayako, while Mieko asked why she wanted something sweet.
• Kayako said she wanted the dish because Shunsuke liked it, and Mieko concluded that love had overwhelmed her friend.

Heath closed his food truck early and went to a Cerulean City training school for private lessons on preparing Purple-ringed Octopus. After studying all day, he felt ready to take the certification exam the next day.

• Heath ended work before four thirty, and Zoroark invited Ralts to play games while Farfetch'd stayed behind to study recipes.
• Heath asked Farfetch'd to come to a training class, but Farfetch'd declined and continued reading.
• Heath arrived at the training school in the rain and paid for private instruction in preparing Purple-ringed Octopus.
• Heath's teacher demonstrated the preparation and patiently taught him the technique.
• Heath left the school after nine that evening, expecting to take the exam the next day and serve Purple-ringed Octopus to customers if he passed.

Heath tried the Purple-ringed Octopus and considered how to prepare it, then found Cynthia cooking in his food truck. Cynthia served okonomiyaki with Heath’s homemade Nightmare Wine, leaving Heath embarrassed by how the wine might look to her.

• Heath tasted the Purple-ringed Octopus and decided griddle-cooking it could make a good snack, while boiling would leave it tough.
• Heath assumed Farfetch'd was nervously practicing for the cooking competition, but found Cynthia in the kitchen instead.
• Cynthia told Heath she had waited for him and practiced cooking while he was away.
• Heath guessed Cynthia was making okonomiyaki from its aroma, and she brought it out for them to eat.
• Zoroark fetched Heath’s Nightmare Wine, and Cynthia recognized it before Heath explained its name.

Heath shared Nightmare Wine with Cynthia, discussed his culinary course, and later received a sweater Ralts had made for him. As Heath was about to go to bed, Mew asked him to become its Trainer.

• Heath was surprised that Cynthia could drink half a bottle of Nightmare Wine without getting drunk, and Cynthia said people in Sinnoh drank often too.
• Cynthia asked about Heath's course, and he explained that he was studying cooking before she left after dinner.
• Ralts gave Heath a handmade sweater, and he praised her craftsmanship after trying it on.
• Heath noticed Mew seemed to have something on its mind, and Mew asked him to be its Trainer.

Mew asked Heath to become its Trainer, and Heath accepted, catching it with his last Poké Ball. After Heath went to bed, Mew told Zoroark that it wanted to stay with him and the others because they felt like home.

• Zoroark dropped her controller in shock when Mew asked Heath to catch it.
• Heath confirmed Mew was serious and caught it with an ordinary Poké Ball, achieving a Critical Capture.
• Heath released Mew, welcomed it as his Pokémon, and wondered whether it had been mistreated before returning to bed.
• Zoroark asked Mew why it wanted Heath as its Trainer.
• Mew told Zoroark that, after wandering outside, it realized it wished to see Heath, Zoroark, Spray, Big Onion, and little Ralts when it woke each day.

Kyogre resented Heath for taking its watering can but hoped Heath would steal Groudon’s treasured Volcanic Rock. The next morning, Heath finished meditating and went out to prepare his food truck, wondering how Mew could join the Pokémon’s work.

• Kyogre complained in the Legendary Pokémon Chat Group that the Great Being had not explained why Heath carried traces of it, and learned that the being had also ignored Dialga’s calls.
• Kyogre recalled that Heath was a friendly chef who sometimes took unusual things, and imagined Groudon going on a rampage if Heath took its Volcanic Rock.
• Heath woke Zoroark and headed out with Farfetch'd after meditating through the night, while Cynthia stayed behind to sleep.
• Heath greeted Mew, Ralts, and Charizard, then considered finding Mew a job since the other Pokémon had all taken on tasks.
• Heath decided to stop worrying about Mew’s role and go buy ingredients, considering having Mew work in turns with Zoroark.