He hooked on the bait and cast the rod. The fishing line landed precisely on the surface of the sea, and the shiny lure slowly sank into the deep blue waters.
"Min~"
Minccino squatted obediently at his side, propping up its chin with its little paws, its head bobbing gently as sleepiness crept in. It had come along early in the morning to accompany him on his fishing trip. Silas stretched out his free hand and gently pinched Minccino's large ears.
At that very moment, the fishing rod trembled slightly, and the float suddenly sank sharply downward.
Reacting instantly, Silas flicked his wrist. The fishing line snapped taut, and a clear pulling force was transmitted through the rod.
"Min?"
(A fish?)
Minccino shook its head and woke up at once, its eyes lighting up with expectation as it stared at the surface of the sea.
"It's on!"
Calling out, Silas suddenly executed a powerful pull, as if performing a dramatic "opening the gates of heaven" strike.
A mackerel at least the size of two palms was violently yanked out of the water. Its blue-green scales shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight.
"Min! Min!"
(Silas is amazing! Silas gets 100 points!)
Minccino clapped its little paws happily and scampered closer, excitedly poking at the fish with its claws.
The fish's thrashing tail splashed water everywhere, soaking Minccino's fur. Minccino puffed out its cheeks angrily and glared at the culprit, then hugged Silas's arm and shook it coquettishly, its voice soft and sweet.
"Min~"
(Silas, Silas, I want grilled fish for lunch.)
Silas reached out and wiped the water droplets from Minccino's cheek, smiling as he agreed. "Alright! Whatever you want. Just bless me so I can catch a few more."
"Min!"
(Mm-hmm! I'll bless Silas to catch lots and lots of fish!)
And thus, a tragic annihilation event triggered by a single mackerel began.
In the next less-than-half-an-hour, every time Silas cast his hook into the water, it wasn't long before another mackerel bit.
The big ones were nearly a meter long, while the small ones were no thicker than chopsticks.
Big and small alike, generation after generation, all gathered together on the shore.
The mackerel clan would never forget this day—there was a great terror lurking on the surface of the sea.
"Phew! Not a bad haul today."
Putting away the fishing rod, Silas rubbed his arm, which was sore from nonstop casting, while his mouth stretched into a grin from ear to ear.
The not-so-large fish box was crammed full of mackerel of all sizes.
Bringing Minccino along really was the right choice!
Just looking at the harvest from this half hour alone—if the temperature hadn't gradually risen and Minccino weren't in a hurry to go back and take a bath—
With the way the fish were biting right now, Silas could easily sit here fishing for an entire day and night without moving.
When Silas returned with a box full of fish, it shocked the other Pokémon just as much.
He vividly recounted the story to them, and the Pokémon listened enthusiastically—especially Popplio.
It had thought that humans weren't good at catching fish at all and had already prepared itself to go hungry at noon.
Who would have thought that Silas would be this impressive?
Popplio's eyes turned into little stars as it gazed at Silas with admiration. Humans are amazing!
"You want some? It's not impossible."
Noticing Popplio's expression, Silas picked out a small fish and tossed it to him.
Since he had promised to make grilled fish, the smaller ones weren't ideal for grilling and could be given to Popplio, Litten, and the others.
Hmm?
Where's Litten?
Among all the Pokémon, Litten was nowhere to be seen. It always kept itself apart from the others.
After asking Cyclizar for help, they quickly found Litten.
It was over by the silo, diligently standing guard and doing its duty.
"Litten, come down for a moment," Silas shouted up high.
"Meow~"
Litten responded and slowly climbed down.
Silas handed it a small fish and casually gave it a few strokes with his other hand.
Only after seeing Litten's slightly uncomfortable expression did he let go. In a few quick movements, Litten climbed back up onto the roof.
"Litten, remember to come down to the house to eat later. There'll be fragrant grilled fish for lunch, don't miss it!"
"Meow~"
Litten stretched lazily and responded to Silas.
Mackerel is a common type of saltwater fish.
Its flesh is firm and elastic, with a satisfyingly chewy texture, making it especially suitable for grilling.
Silas still remembered that the very first afternoon tea he had eaten at the ranch with Kangaskhan had been grilled fish.
Mackerel scales are small and densely packed, making them somewhat troublesome to deal with.
And with such a large bucket full of them, there was no way Silas could finish processing everything by himself in just a few hours.
After returning to the cabin, three Meowth came over to help.
Their long, extendable claws easily scraped off the scales without damaging the fish flesh.
With their help, one mackerel after another was descaled, gutted, and washed clean.
"Thank you so much, Meowth," Silas praised them. "I'll take it from here, go watch some TV."
"Meow~" ×3
The three Meowth still wanted to help. Galarian Meowth even flexed its sturdy arms.
"Minccino, take the Meowth to go watch TV."
Patting them fondly, Silas called out toward the living room.
What answered him was Minccino's cute cry and the sound of rapid footsteps. Minccino grabbed one Meowth with each hand and dragged them away, while the slightly slower Morpeko sniffed the air and pushed Galarian Meowth along from behind.
Bringing them all into the living room, they sat down on the sofa to watch TV.
Today's program just happened to be something all the little Pokémon loved—a Pokémon fairy tale: The Super Demon God Hoopa's Magic Jar.
The Pokémon's attention was immediately captured, and they sat in neat rows, quiet and well-behaved.
As long as they weren't running around under the blazing sun, it was fine. Silas only glanced over once before returning to his work.
After the fish were cleaned, they still needed a simple marination. First, he sliced each mackerel open from the back with a single cut, laying it flat on the cutting board. He wiped away the excess blood, then scored dense straight cuts across the flesh so the seasoning could better seep into the meat.
"Dolliv, help me grab the cooking wine, salt, and pepper."
"Doll~"
At the same time, Silas sliced ginger into thin pieces and chopped scallions into small segments, mixing them together with the cooking wine and other deodorizing, aromatic ingredients. He spread the mixture evenly over the fish, not missing a single corner, and left them to marinate for thirty minutes.
This waiting time was more than enough for Silas to prepare a seafood risotto.
Grilled fish with seafood risotto—today was a full-on seafood feast.
Of course, every meal also needed milk, a fruit platter, and Poffins.
Most Pokémon loved these two dishes, and Silas was more than happy to make them.
Especially Poffins—one Poffin case could hold a hundred pieces.
Making them once was enough for the Pokémon to eat for quite a long time.
Stored properly in the Poffin case, they wouldn't go bad for an entire week.
He laid a sheet of aluminum foil flat on the baking tray, brushed it with olive oil, placed the fish skin-side up to prevent sticking, brushed on another layer of oil, and closed the oven door.
Bake with top and bottom heat at 200°C for 20 minutes, flip, then bake for another 10 minutes. Once the surface was crispy and golden, the fish was ready to be taken out.
"Gulp~"
The sound of swallowing echoed one after another as three Meowth heads peeked out from the kitchen doorway.
From tallest to shortest, they were Alolan Meowth, regular Meowth, and Galarian Meowth.
The grilled fish that had those irresistibly fragrant smell were completely tempting the glutton hidden deep in their stomachs.
"Morpe!"
Morpeko barely managed to squeeze out its little head, drool also pouring down uncontrollably.
It smells so good! Morpe!
Silas is making something delicious again! I want to eat it, I really want to eat it!
Sniffing pitifully, it used both hands and feet to climb onto Alolan Meowth's head, trying to squeeze forward a bit more—if it could just get closer to smell it, that would be good enough.
(End of Chapter)