Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

Xia Chen touched his chin, feeling that the video format seemed somewhat familiar.

Is this the legendary "free meal challenge"?

…………

In the kitchen, Xia Chen and Roseredo put on their aprons and prepared to start cooking.

However, the most important thing before cooking is to understand the guests' tastes.

Although the owner of this manor is Hilona, ​​as a chef, once Xia Chen steps into the kitchen, he becomes the owner of this kitchen.

Xia Chen's demeanor changed completely after putting on his apron. He turned around confidently and asked, "I wonder what Miss Cynthia's preferred flavors?"

Cynthia, who was holding a camera and taking pictures, popped out from behind the lens and said with a smile, "No need to be so polite, just call me Zhulan, that's how I'm called in my hometown dialect."

"As for the taste, I've always wanted to try the Cantonese dish you make in your videos. I've tried making it myself, but I've never been able to do it well."

Cynthia stroked her chin, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, seasonings! You once said that the soul of Donghuang cuisine lies in all sorts of seasonings! Oh no, I think I forgot to buy them."

Whether it was because they started talking about food or because they had become more familiar with each other, Cynthia's emotions became much richer, and her occasional frustrated expressions made Xia Chen feel much more at ease with her.

Xia Chen smiled slightly, took out a storage ball, and said, "Don't worry, Sister Zhu Lan, I brought all the seasonings, everything is ready."

As he spoke, he took out all sorts of bottles and jars and neatly arranged them on the stove.

Cynthia looked at the seasonings with amazement, as happy as a twenty-five-year-old child. Then, she zoomed in for a close-up shot.

Xia Chen ignored her and let the curious Xirona do her research while he examined the kitchen utensils.

Xia Chen tossed the frying pan over his shoulder, shook his head, and then took out a pre-prepared iron pot from his storage sphere.

Yes, stir-fries need this to truly come alive!

Then, he took out several other kitchen utensils, such as a pressure cooker and a soup pot, each with its own uses.

Xia Chen had prepared this before he heard he was coming to Xilona's house, wondering if he would get to show off his skills. He never expected it would actually come in handy.

After settling on the kitchen utensils, Xia Chen began studying the dishes prepared by Shirona.

She had prepared quite a lot, including things that fly in the sky, run on the ground, and swim in the river—enough to make a feast.

After staring at the ingredients for a while, Xia Chen turned to ask, "How about we keep it simple tonight? Steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce, rose soy sauce chicken, sweet and sour pork with pineapple, lobster in broth, and braised dazed beast tail in abalone sauce?"

Cynthia: "."

You spent half a minute reciting the menu and then said you'd keep it simple tonight?

Is there some misunderstanding about what "simple" means?

Xia Chen thought Cynthia was complaining that there wasn't enough food, but then he realized and said, "Oh, Garchomp and Milotic do have big appetites. Shall I add a few more dishes?"

Shirona quickly stopped him, saying, "No need, Master Pigeon, something simple will do." Xia Chen then gave up.

…………

Although there are many dishes to cook, there are also many people and elves to help.

A champion-level Roserade using its Leaf Blade to cut vegetables is not just using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it's practically a dragon-slaying weapon.

Glaceon also helped wash the vegetables with pure water, Kirlia's psychic powers transported the raw materials, Sylveon's Magical Flame replaced Fireball's inefficient kitchen, and other Pokémon provided various forms of assistance.

Before seven o'clock, two tables full of fragrant delicacies appeared in the living room.

There were two tables because Garchomp and the two Milotic were too big and had a huge appetite, so they were moved to another table to eat. Togekiss, the little angel, was worried that they would be too lonely, so he went over to keep them company.

The aroma of the dishes, carried by the rising steam, wafted into the elves' nostrils. Coupled with the incredibly appetizing appearance of the dishes, they unconsciously swallowed.

Although they are all champion-level Pokémon, appetite is an eternal and unchanging desire of living beings. In this respect, Cynthia's Pokémon's "defense" is not as good as Xia Chen's Pokémon.

So the elves quickly sat up straight, gazing expectantly at the woman who insisted on "letting the phone eat first," waiting for the meal to begin.

Finally, after taking close-up shots of almost every dish, Sister Zhulan reluctantly put her phone aside and announced the start of the meal.

"Alright, everyone, let's eat!"

It's clear that Cynthia is in a very good mood right now; her usually composed and authoritative demeanor is surprisingly sweet and charming at the end of her sentence.

However, the Pokémon had no time to pay attention to their trainers' feelings at this moment, and instead began to enjoy the long-awaited food.

Xia Chen is cooking a Cantonese meal today.

The greatest characteristic of Cantonese cuisine lies not only in its freshness, aroma, and smoothness, but also in its innovative integration of various elements.

The lobster in broth that Xia Chen made today is a typical Western-style dish, but in the development of culinary culture, it has gradually become a representative dish of Cantonese cuisine.

Therefore, in its previous life, Cantonese cuisine was the representative cuisine of Donghuang in the world.

Upon arriving in this world, Xia Chen naturally inherited this advantage of Cantonese cuisine, incorporating many of the world's ingredients and seasonings into it.

Therefore, even in the Sinnoh region, Xia Chen's table of Cantonese cuisine, a Pokémon-inspired version, was still loved and praised by Cynthia and her Pokémon.

…………

"It's no exaggeration to say that if there were an eight-master cooking competition, you would be the undisputed champion!"

After eating for a while, Cynthia elegantly wiped her mouth and generously praised the creator of tonight's dinner.

Her elves shared this view, but they didn't express it verbally; they learned it through their own experiences.

In just twenty minutes, almost all the dishes on the table were gone.

This was even though Kirlia and Zoroah had barely eaten anything. They looked at the Champion Pokémon whose mouths never stopped eating and felt too embarrassed to take food from them.

Xia Chen also felt that his cooking skills had improved recently, and he guessed that it might be a benefit brought by his superpowers.

It's not that superpowers are omnipotent, but the most important thing in cooking is controlling the heat, and in this respect, strong mental strength can indeed be of great help.

He shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice into his mouth, and seeing that the food on the table was almost gone, he said, "Should I make some more?"

Cynthia shook her head. "That's about enough. Besides, we've run out of food in the fridge. Let those who aren't full have some energy cubes."

Energy Cube?

Lucario glanced down at the brightly colored and enticingly fragrant spare ribs with black bean sauce, and the image of that square, unchanging energy cube resurfaced in his mind, causing him to fall into deep thought.

The energy cubes that I initially thought tasted pretty good have suddenly turned from sweet to bitter.

No energy cubes or anything like that!

Lucario secretly made up his mind: I must be number one when it comes to eating!

She immediately sped up the cooking process.

Let's leave the energy cubes to our other friends!

Meanwhile, similar thoughts also arose in the minds of the other elves.

Instantly, all of Cynthia's Pokémon increased their eating speed, leaving Xia Chen, who was standing to the side, dumbfounded.

Is this a champion-level Pokémon?

Even rice is rolled up like this.

…………

The meal started at 7:00 and ended at 7:30.

Cynthia and her Pokémon showed Xia Chen what champion speed really meant.

The plate was almost completely clean; even the side dishes were eaten by dipping them in the broth.

The elves cleaned up the mess, and Cynthia pulled Xia Chen into the living room to prepare for a couple of elf duels with him.

Xia Chen, who is terrible at the game, can't even figure out how to play the Pokémon League, so how could he possibly understand the even more difficult fighting game, Pokémon Duel?

He quickly excused himself by saying he needed to edit tonight's video, and casually recommended the gaming prodigy Sylveon.

Cynthia waved her hand dismissively. Lucario was the only one in the house who played games with her, and she was tired of it a long time ago.

Her best friend Cattleya was dismissive of such things, and Cynthia now craved a worthy opponent.

Let Sylvanas keep Cynthia entertained while Xia Chen went upstairs alone to edit videos, something he hadn't done in a long time.

Although he hadn't edited it for more than three months, he was still very efficient because it was the food video that Xia Chen edited most often.

It was almost done before nine o'clock.

So he immediately grabbed his laptop and ran downstairs to show Cynthia the video he had edited.

Since it's a joint release, the consent of the other party must be obtained before it's sent out.

However, when he went down, he saw Cynthia's elves gathered around the sofa, intently watching the television screen.

Even Garchomp stood behind the sofa, staring at the game interface with an indescribable expression.

Xia Chen was surprised. What happened?

He curiously went over to watch the spectacle, and saw that Sylveon's Garchomp was pinning Cynthia's Sylveon to the ground.

Hmm. Sylveon plays Cynthia's Pokémon, and Cynthia plays Sylveon.

They seem to be playing something very new.

But that's not the point. The point is, Cynthia got brutally beaten by Sylvanas.

…………

"Ow—"

This isn't Cynthia's Garchomp roaring; it's a sound effect coming from the TV.

In the game, Sylveon's Garchomp leaps high into the air and unleashes a spectacular Dragon Dive, instantly defeating Sylveon, who was immobilized by an earthquake.

Fighting games don't rely on elemental advantages or disadvantages, so it's reasonable for Dragon God to dive and annihilate Sylvanas, right?

Speechless, Xia Chen convinced himself of this.

"One more."

Despite having lost countless games, Cynthia's voice remained calm, but Xia Chen could sense the underlying unwillingness to admit defeat.

Xia Chen pondered for a moment. Judging from the scene just now, unless Sylvanas went easy on him, it was basically impossible for Cynthia to win a game.

However, given Cynthia's personality, she certainly wouldn't accept the idea of ​​her opponent throwing the game to win.

It's difficult

Ok?