[Green Grass Dumplings (D–): A strange dish. Glutinous rice flour is wrapped around plump pasture grass, then steamed and kneaded into green grass dumplings. Ordinary Pokémon cannot eat them, yet they are deeply loved by certain Pokémon.
Dish Effect: After consumption, slightly enhances Grass-type Pokémon's comprehension of Grass-type moves.]
[Stir-Fried Stones (C): A wildly imaginative dish. Smooth pebbles with a diameter of 3–5 centimeters are selected, stir-fried together with eight kinds of seasonings until the pebbles are fully coated, and then "tasted" by sucking on them.
Dish Effect: After consumption, slightly restores stamina.
Special Effect: When consumed by Rock-type Pokémon, it enhances the elemental energy within their bodies. (Note: One pebble will be permanently lost.)]
Following the mud biscuits, these were yet another two dishes that ordinary Pokémon could not consume.
The effect of the Green Grass Dumplings was within Silas's expectations. This kind of dish was perfect for Pokémon like Gogoat and Skiddo as a snack, and it would have a huge market in Shalour City.
He could completely take advantage of this Beach Festival to expand his sales channels, selling Green Grass Dumplings to colleagues along Route 12 who raised Skiddo.
As for the latter dish, [Stir-Fried Stones], its effects did not seem much different from those of the Green Grass Dumplings.
Then why was its rating a C?
Silas was puzzled.
He picked up a pebble and tried eating it according to the description.
Once it entered his mouth, it was filled with the aroma of spices.
Aside from that, there was nothing particularly special.
He glanced around, looking for Kangaskhan.
Huh? Where did it go?!
Wasn't it just nearby a moment ago? It disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It seemed he would have to find other Pokémon to test the effects.
He didn't see Cyclizar and the others nearby, and Smoliv sunbathing on the windowsill couldn't eat it either, so Silas headed toward the donkey shed.
"This… was it robbed?!"
He stared at the Mudbray shed in shock. Centered on the shed, the surrounding area was completely bare.
The pasture grass he had planted earlier had been eaten clean, roots and soil included.
After a quick scan, he found the culprits.
Three Mudbray were lying flat on their backs on the ground, bellies round and bulging, lazily greeting him.
"Mud~" (So full!)
"Mud~" (Silas, we ate so much!)
"Mud-bray!!" (Help me, Silas, I can't flip myself over!)
Silas: "..."
Black lines appeared across his forehead. These Mudbray had really gone too far.
Binge eating was not a good habit at all—it placed an enormous burden on the body.
Three minutes later, Silas helped the Mudbray flip over, then stared at them sternly.
Sensing that something was wrong, the Mudbray buried their heads, trying their best not to look at him.
"I've been too lenient with you. You didn't listen at all to what I just said."
Silas squatted down and made the Mudbray look him in the eyes.
"This pasture grass was meant to be snacks for you. And what did you do? You ate everything, roots and all."
The Mudbray lowered their heads and spoke softly.
"Mud~" (We were really, really hungry.)
"Hungry?" Silas glanced at his watch. "It hasn't even been three hours since breakfast."
"And even if you were eating, why eat the roots too?"
"Look at yourselves now—you're so stuffed you can't even move. Doesn't it feel uncomfortable?"
He absolutely could not let the Mudbray develop the bad habit of binge eating.
At a normal rate, in less than half a month their weight would increase by more than half again—if they kept eating like this, they'd turn into balls.
For the physical and mental health of the Mudbray, he would have to strictly control their food intake in the future.
After scolding them thoroughly and making sure they fully understood their mistake, Silas told them to lie still and gave each of them a massage to help with digestion.
"How did you even manage to eat that much? Didn't you feel full?"
Logically speaking, the only creatures that could eat themselves to the point of bursting were those without a concept of fullness, or baby Pokémon.
Mudbray were Pokémon with intelligence not inferior to humans. Even if they knew they couldn't eat anymore, they wouldn't force it down, right?
Enjoying Silas's massage, the Mudbray explained pitifully:
"Mud~" (We don't know why… no matter how much we eat, our bellies just don't feel full.)
The Mudbray felt wronged as well, their eyes watery with tears.
"Could it be the effect of the mud biscuit dish?" Silas thought to himself. The more he considered it, the more likely it seemed.
[Cooking Effect: Accelerates the accumulation speed of Pokémon energy.]
Where does energy come from?
Aside from daily accumulation, doesn't it come from the food they eat?
In other words, this effect accelerated the Pokémon's consumption rate, making them extremely prone to hunger.
With that, everything made sense.
Because the Mudbray had helped taste the dishes earlier, the effect of the mud biscuits had activated.
Driven by hunger, the Mudbray had no choice but to gnaw on the pasture grass.
Of course, this was only Silas's hypothesis—it couldn't be guaranteed to be 100% correct and still needed verification.
Thinking of this, Silas immediately fetched three mud biscuits and fed them to the Mudbray.
Having just been scolded for overeating, the Mudbray asked cautiously several times before finally nibbling the mud biscuits in small bites.
Waiting quietly for a while, Silas clearly saw the Mudbray's round bellies shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The excess food in their stomachs was instantly digested, converted into the energy required for the Mudbray's growth.
"Mud~"
Freed from the burden of their big bellies, the Mudbray nimbly flipped over and stood up.
They stretched their necks, stuck out their tongues, and licked Silas, showing that they were fine now and that he didn't need to worry.
Patting them affectionately, Silas said, "I'm sorry, Mudbray. I wrongly blamed you just now."
The Mudbray shook their heads. They knew Silas was doing it for their own good—and he had even massaged them earlier—so they weren't angry at all.
"Wait a bit. I'll make mud cake to make it up to you."
"Mud!"
At the mention of food—especially their favorite mud cake—the Mudbray bounced around happily.
All at once, they pounced Silas to the ground, pinning him underneath as three tongues swept back and forth, the Mudbray so excited they could hardly contain themselves.
Silas was the best—absolutely the best!
After re-sowing pasture seeds around the Mudbray shed and having the Mudbrays use their Rototilling moves, Silas went off to prepare the mud cakes, while also making more mud biscuits and Green Grass Dumplings.
These two could be prepared in advance and weren't afraid of spoiling at all.
Stir Fried Stones, on the other hand, was much more troublesome and could only be made fresh.
In order to make a killing at the evening Beach Festival, Silas made a lot.
It wasn't until close to noon that Kangaskhan and Cyclizar returned, chatting and laughing.
Seeing Silas packaging the dishes, Kangaskhan quickly stepped forward to help.
Cinccino and Cyclizar followed closely behind.
Since the food was going to be sold, he felt it should be properly packaged—it would look much better than piling everything into one big heap.
The entire afternoon was spent busy with this one task.
By the time the glow of the setting sun bathed the ranch, Silas and the others had already finished dinner.
They needed to head out early to set up the stall.
He wondered where exactly the stall Siebold had found for him was located.
For this outing, Silas brought all the Pokémon from the ranch with him, Poké Balls hanging densely from his waist.
The once-a-year Beach Festival in Shalour City wasn't just something Silas looked forward to—the Pokémon wanted to go as well.
Except for Chatot, that guy now had his own flock of birds and was having the time of his life.
The growth of the bird flock rested entirely on Chatot's shoulders alone.
So he was left behind to guard the ranch together with the flock.
(End of Chapter)