Early the next morning, just after five o'clock, Lucas climbed out of his blankets.
"Nini?"
Mime Jr. was still dreaming. It opened its eyes to find Lucas putting on his clothes and wondered why he was up so early today.
It turned its head and found that at the other end of the bed, a cute little reddish-brown fox had also opened its eyes, equally confused.
"Siu?"
What's wrong?
Vulpix crawled out from under the covers, sat on the bed, and rubbed its eyes.
It asked Lucas why he was up so early.
Mime Jr. also threw back the covers and sat up.
Hearing the movement, Lucas turned around and saw that Mime Jr. and Vulpix were already awake.
He wanted to sleep a bit longer himself; no one knew better than he did how comfortable it was to have Mime Jr. on one side and Vulpix on the other in his arms.
So fluffy.
"Did I wake you up? Go back to sleep for a while. I'm going down first to prepare the things needed for Gothitelle's shop."
Lucas yawned, walked to the bedside, patted their little heads, then turned and took Gengar into the bathroom to wash up.
Gengar rubbed its crimson eyes and floated slowly behind him.
"Nini?"
Are you getting up?
It looked at the dozing Vulpix and asked.
Vulpix glanced at the weather outside and nodded. Just as it was about to lie back down, it heard the Laji of washing from the bathroom, so it shook its head.
Then it nodded.
"Siu~"
Good morning.
Mime Jr. laughed, then climbed down from the bed with Vulpix and ran toward the bathroom together.
Lucas was a bit surprised to see Mime Jr. and Vulpix come in to wash up.
Then his gaze softened instantly, and he helped them brush their teeth.
Finally, he washed Mime Jr. and Vulpix's faces one by one.
Just as he was about to put the towel away, he saw a large purple face leaning in.
Lucas: ——
Sighing, Lucas picked up the towel again and gently covered Gengar's face.
Lucas:?!
Even such a large towel couldn't cover it completely?!
Then, Gengar felt the towel gently covering its face being controlled by a powerful force.
Its big face was constantly being deformed under this force.
"Gengar—Gen gengar—"
You're using a public task to settle a private grudge!
After washing Gengar's face too, Lucas picked up Vulpix and Mime Jr., walked out of the room, and went downstairs.
Gengar made a face and phased through the wall to follow behind Lucas's heels.
Lucas told Gengar to go to the backyard and clean the berries.
He himself stayed in the kitchen preparing various ingredients for making tiramisu and cakes.
"Laji～"
Good morning, why are you up so early?
Lilligant walked in from the backyard and was a bit confused to see Lucas and Mime Jr. busy at work.
It had been sleeping in the flowerbed with Roselia when it was woken up by Gengar passing by. Then it saw movement in the kitchen, walked over, and found Lucas working.
Soon, Dash also walked in.
"nihai?!"
Is this a ghost?! Up so early?!
Lucas explained to them, and Lilligant and Dash nodded, then joined in to help.
Soon, Dash brought back some washed berries. Lucas saw that it was soaked and thought it was raining, but when he stepped out, he saw Gengar spraying water everywhere with a hose.
Even a passing dog would get sprayed twice.
Luxray walked to the side of the kitchen, shook its fur to dry off the water, and then lay down right there.
It didn't want to deal with Gengar.
Just a child.
Lucas shook his head.
That fellow Gengar really loves to play.
Returning to the kitchen, Lucas began making various flavors of tiramisu.
There was tiramisu made with Razz berries, where the astringency was neutralized by Lucas using fresh milk. There was also tiramisu made with Nanab berries, and the bitterness and sourness of Wepear berries and Pinap berries were also neutralized by Lucas using sweet honey or goat milk.
The rest were tiramisu made from more common berries, such as Cheri Berry, Leppa Berry, Oran Berry, Sitrus Berry, and other common berries.
He made fifteen servings of each of the former and thirty servings of each of the latter.
Since he didn't know how things would go, Lucas didn't dare make too many.
He would adjust the quantities later based on the sales performance.
Gothitelle also prepared the necessary chinese herbal medicine. They would take it with them and brew it right there.
After processing the herbs, Gothitelle came to Lucas's side and, along with Mime Jr., helped him out.
Since getting Mime Jr. and Gothitelle, Lucas rarely cooked, but today he was especially focused on Gothitelle's shop, so he did it personally while Gothitelle and Mime Jr. assisted him.
After the tiramisu, next came various breads made by Lucas.
For example, Croissants, Chocolate Dirty Buns, etc., mixed with the Breeding House's unique delicious ingredients like sweet honey, fresh milk, goat milk, and fruit and vegetable juices.
Each type of bread had its own unique and delicious flavor; some had the sweet happiness of sweet honey, some the sweetness of fresh milk, and some the richness of goat milk—
After the bread came snacks. Pot after pot of snacks were finished. Lilligant, Gothitelle, and Mime Jr.'s hands were moving so fast while packing that they left afterimages.
Gengar, Dash, Machoke, and Vex's hands also turned into afterimages.
They kept stuffing food into their mouths.
Finally, Lilligant couldn't stand them anymore. She gave them a portion and pushed them out of the kitchen.
Dash, Machoke, and Vex looked at the delicacies in their arms, looked up at Gengar, and then walked toward the garden together in silent agreement.
Time to eat~
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino also joined the fray.
By the time Shauna woke up, everything was almost ready.
Lucas nearly collapsed on the floor.
Looking at the various items being sent to the shop one after another, Lucas couldn't help but cry out in his heart.
I'm never doing catering again in my next life.
Shauna walked downstairs rubbing her sleepy eyes and found that Lucas was already up.
"Eh? Why is Uncle up so early today?"
Lucas sat on a chair and feebly beckoned Shauna over to eat.
"Wow—"
Shauna stared at the dazzling array of bread in the kitchen, her little mouth wide open.
Swallowing her saliva, she looked at Lucas: "Uncle, can I eat?"
Lucas nodded and said generously: "Eat whatever you want, pick any one you like."
"Thank you, Uncle."
After saying that, Shauna ran into the kitchen to pick out some bread.
"Gen gengar"
Thank you, Uncle.
Gengar floated toward the kitchen, but after floating for a while, it realized it was still in the same spot.
"Gen gengar?!"
Is this a ghost?! Did I see myself?!
It turned its head and found that it was Lucas grabbing its tail.
Oh, it was just Lucas. It had scared itself.
Then it flashed a smile at Lucas.
Heehee.
Lucas remained unmoved.
"Acting cute is shameful."
Gengar suddenly curled its mouth down. While Lucas wasn't looking, it licked its hands with its tongue and wiped them on its eyes.
It looked at Lucas with a piteous expression.
Lucas: ——
Do you think I'm blind? Also, your saliva on your face doesn't look like tear tracks at all, okay?!
In the end, Gengar had no choice but to open its mouth and lick Lucas.
After getting licked all over his face, Lucas couldn't take it anymore and let go of its tail.
"Fine, go ahead."
"Gen gengar——
—"
Thank you, Uncle~ Heehee.
"nihai~"
Thank you, Uncle~
Hey, hey, hey, Dash, this is a bit much!
Lucas shuddered, looking at Dash, who was three times his size. It was a headache.
Finally, he let Dash, Machoke, and Vex go into the kitchen too.
"Laji~"
Thank you, Uncle~
"Goth~"
Thank you, Uncle~
"Nini~"
Thank you, Uncle~
"Siu~"
Thank you, Uncle~
A bunch of Pokémon were teasing Lucas, and he suddenly felt so tired.
Pinsir ran past Lucas holding several soft buns, then doubled back.
"Heli."
Thank you, Uncle.
Lucas gave it a flick on the forehead.
"Don't talk while eating."
Pinsir:?!
So there's no love left?
It looked at the sweet, soft little buns in its arms and finally decided to forgive Lucas, running off to share with Heracross.
Then it found that Heracross had even more bread in its arms than it did.
Pinsir: ——
It was still too conservative.
These breads were specifically set aside by Lucas for them to eat, so they could eat as much as they wanted.
Lucas watched Shauna, who had returned to her seat with four buns as big as her face and was eating happily, and took a bite of a Croissant himself.
Delicious.
He glanced at Shauna again, who was sitting between Dash and Gengar.
If you keep learning from their appetites, you might grow up to have the strength to uproot mountains.
Since coming to the Breeding House, Shauna's appetite had been getting bigger and bigger.
But Lucas was curious—how could she eat so much and not grow taller?
Lucas pondered this while looking at Shauna.
Sensing his gaze, Shauna turned around and handed half of her bread to Lucas.
"Uncue, share some wif you— (Uncle, share with you to eat)"
Lucas shook his head, indicating he had his own.
Shauna nodded, swallowed the bread in her mouth, and stuffed the rest into her mouth in one go.
Lucas: ——
It seemed he couldn't Slack Off.
If he didn't make money, he really wouldn't be able to afford to raise them.
Dash, Machoke, Vex, Gengar, Heracross, Pinsir, Azumarill—every one of them was a big eater.
This won't do, this won't do. I need to make money.
Yes, I must make money.
The thought of making money reached its peak in Lucas's heart.
He could starve himself, but he couldn't starve them.
After breakfast, Lucas strapped the milk onto Rapidash, then lifted Shauna onto Rapidash and said, "Go straight to the shop for lunch and a rest. You can come back if you want to."
Shauna gave an "un" and left for school.
Her little backpack was filled with bread she had brought for her good friends.
Afterward, Lucas asked Mr. and Mrs. Fujino, Lilligant, and Roselia to watch the shop, while he took Gengar, Lilligant, and the others to the shop in Twinleaf Town.
He would go there to set things up, give Gothitelle some guidance, and then return to the Breeding House.
He also took Azumarill along.
After all, since there were no Ice-type Pokémon, he would let Azumarill fill in for now.
Azumarill: ——
Arriving at the shop, Gothitelle posted the menu on the door, and then, along with Lucas and Gengar, they set out various tiramisus, snacks, breads, and more.
Lucas glanced at the time: 7:45 AM.
Perfect timing.
"Gothitelle, Gengar, Azumarill, Vulpix, are you ready?"
"Goth~"
"Gen gengar~"
"Azuma~"
"Siu~"
Lucas smiled and opened the door, offering a gentle smile to a curious customer who was walking in.
"Welcome~"
"Gen gengar~"
"Goth~"
"Azuma~"
"Siu~"
"Gothitelle's Time Cottage" is officially open!
....
Power Stones PLZZZZZ
[Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "PokeFicLord"]