"You want to be the world champion?"
"I want to be the world champion."
Repeating this question and answer.
Lokomoko and the sous-chef exchanged glances, their expressions varied.
The latter thought Baimu's reason was ridiculously absurd, even if he wanted to refuse, there's no need to say it like that. Even if they were unwilling, could they really be forced?
The former remained silent, gazing into the other's calm and peaceful eyes, inexplicably reminded of when he himself was expelled by the academy.
With pride and arrogance, he was unwilling to submit, sworn to become a powerful trainer and chef like the Four Heavenly Kings Siebold, and resolutely set out on the Challenge Alliance journey.
Fought all the way until now.
'Really nostalgic.'
Lokomoko's lips slightly curled up, he couldn't help but touch his pocket, where his most intimate partner, Golduck, resided.
"...Did you refine your culinary skills while traveling?"
He asked softly.
Baimu pondered for a moment, feeling that compared to when he was in Pyrite Town, his cooking skills had indeed improved after leaving.
At least the non-stir-fry type of glowing cuisine was slowly realized after coming out.
So he nodded.
Lokomoko smiled and asked again, "Would you like, someday in the future, to come to Golduck's Smile and learn cooking from me?"
This sentence greatly surprised the sous-chef; the words earlier clearly seemed like a rejection, didn't they?
However, what surprised him more was.
"If at that time you are still willing to teach me." Baimu replied.
"Great!"
Lokomoko nodded, ignoring the sous-chef's bewildered gaze, continued, "But I must tell you something—recklessly agreeing to let you be an assistant chef was a mistake. As the head chef of this restaurant, I must be responsible to other guests and my partners.
"If you are still willing, you can continue to stay in the kitchen and observe our cooking process, I can also answer any doubts you have. Can you accept this?"
So it really was like this?
Baimu, although he had thought of this situation, still felt a bit regretful upon hearing Lokomoko's words.
Fortunately, that rainbow omelette already fulfilled his small wish.
Even if he cannot cook together with Lokomoko right now, it's still something he can accept.
He answered, "Of course, Mr. Lokomoko."
"Thank you."
Seeing Baimu agree, Lokomoko also felt relieved, he put away his smile.
"But in the kitchen, you need to call me Head Chef!"
"Yes, Head Chef."
"Earlier, the sous-chef evaluated your rainbow omelette from a taste perspective, now let me critique it from a chef's standpoint."
Lokomoko raised four fingers, with each sentence he pressed one down.
"One, the separation between the juice and the jam is not thorough enough, this is not a home-cooked dish to muddle through, don't leave a single residue!"
"Two, the coloring of the omelette involves three steps, but you reached the intended color with just two steps because you added too much at one go, which won't create flavor layers."
"Three, the omelette was overcooked because your pan handling habit is poor, just like when I first started traveling."
"Four, I said not to casually change my recipes, even if it's just the flavor balance. What you think is just right is not suitable for my guests!"
He was like criticizing a culinary novice, in his hand, the white paper detailed the varied flavors of Ash Ketchum and others.
These were collected by the waitstaff through inquiries.
Baimu had no argument, he indeed hadn't considered these, only made it according to his own taste.
Lokomoko further said, "I appreciate those who have ideas about cooking, but prior to that, the key is to respect the guests, remember, the guests are not your test subjects. Now go over there and watch me do it once."
"Okay."
Without a word he took Blissey and gave space, fortunately, the kitchen took into account the interaction between people and Pokémon, making the aisle quite spacious.
"happy~"
Blissey tried to squeeze further to the side to avoid impacting the Trainer.
Baimu quickly restrained the guy, the space was already big enough, squeezing further might damage other things in the kitchen.
"..."
The sous-chef had a bizarre expression, unsure how it developed to this point, he grabbed his friend's sleeve and whispered, "Lokomoko! Do you really believe it?"
"Do you believe I want to become a Celestial King?"
Lokomoko calmly turned his head to ask.
The sous-chef's expression was slightly exaggerated, "Of course! This is your dream! Why wouldn't I believe it? Are you saying he's the same as you? You're not the same as him!"
"Yes, we're different, he might be one step closer to his dream than me."
Lokomoko turned on the faucet, carefully cleaning his hands, saying:
"At least the former me shouted loud slogans but felt confused, mostly to give myself motivation to move forward. While in his eyes, there's only determination and confidence, in just this, he's much stronger than me. And back then, I didn't have much time to learn cooking from others, even if Zhi Mi invited, I would decline because I needed time to settle."
The sous-chef stopped speaking.
But he felt his worldview had been refreshed; a boy claiming to be a world champion, and a chef who believed in the boy, who was also his boss and friend.
Suddenly.
Someone poked his back.
The sous-chef turned around and saw a colleague discreetly handing over a phone.
He looked down at the screen, quickly looked up at Baimu nearby, then looked down for comparison, inhaling sharply.
"Hiss—"
"What did he show you?"