Chapter 107: Aura Training

Tonight, Komala returned particularly late. It was completely drunk, didn't even touch its dinner, and headed straight to its little house to sleep.

After dinner, the other Pokémon gradually dispersed, while Andrew stayed behind with Diancie, Gardevoir, Gallade, and Meowstic to clean up and wash the dishes together.

Once Gardevoir and the others had gone home, Andrew, Munchlax, and Drizzile went to the culinary training room to practice. It had been a while since their last training session, so Andrew was full of enthusiasm.

As usual, Diancie took on the role of strict coach, carefully supervising and guiding their special training.

Since they had unlocked more recipes, Andrew and his team's training regimen had also increased.

Pawmi and Metagross didn't need to train, so after exploring the training room out of curiosity, Metagross started playing with Pawmi on the side.

Andrew and his team were scheduled for 10 hours of training, which was quite a long time. As the hours passed, Pawmi began to grow bored, so Andrew handed it a phone, allowing it to go play with Metagross outside.

There was no signal in the training room anyway.

Metagross, eager to learn more about the human world through the internet and to expand its knowledge, happily went outside with Pawmi.

Robert-2 had a built-in computer that automatically connected to the internet. This computer was linked to Metagross's brain, allowing knowledge from the web to flow directly into its mind. Metagross could efficiently filter the information—sorting what was useful from what wasn't, discerning what was true from what was false, and quickly recognizing reality from fiction.

This was also why the two professors had said that Metagross was the best candidate for helping to modify Robert-1.

Before long, Andrew and his team completed their cooking training. However, instead of leaving the training room immediately, Andrew decided to stay and practice his Aura abilities for a bit.

"Munchlax, Drizzile, would you two like to train in Aura with me?" Andrew asked his two apprentices.

Although he wasn't sure whether these two Pokémon could learn it, there was no harm in trying.

Everything in the world possesses Aura. If he could learn it, then perhaps Munchlax and Drizzile could as well.

"Munch~ Munch~"

Munchlax, without any hesitation, enthusiastically agreed to learn alongside Andrew.

"Drizz~ Drizz~" I'll learn too, I want to get stronger!

Seeing that Munchlax had agreed, Drizzile also jumped on board. It wasn't one to be outdone by anyone!

Just as Andrew was about to take out his Training Manual to start teaching the two, he suddenly thought of Pawmi. "Why not invite Pawmi to join us for the training too?"

It would be a good opportunity to temper Pawmi's overly energetic personality.

"Munch~"

"Drizz~"

Munchlax and Drizzile both agreed with enthusiasm.

"I'll go get him!"

With that, Drizzile zipped out of the room and soon returned, carrying Pawmi by the scruff of its neck.

Pawmi looked bewildered as it was placed in front of Andrew.

"Paw~" What are you guys doing?

Pawmi had a bad feeling about this.

Andrew smiled at it and said, "Pawmi, come on, join us in training."

"Paw~ Paw~" No, I want to play with my phone.

Pawmi shook its head and instinctively tried to back away, but Andrew quickly caught it.

Before long, Andrew had gathered the three Pokémon in a circle, explaining the methods of Aura training to them.

Munchlax listened intently, and Drizzile was equally focused. Whenever they didn't understand something, they would actively ask Andrew for clarification.

Andrew was still a beginner himself, so there were many things he didn't fully understand. He and his two apprentices were essentially learning and practicing together, discussing and figuring things out as they went.

Andrew even drew out the Aura from his own body, allowing his apprentices to experience this special force that resides within all living creatures.

Pawmi, however, was getting more and more confused as it listened.

Seeing how seriously Andrew and the others were training, Diancie didn't want to be left out.

She approached Metagross and asked, "Metagross, can I ask for your help with something?"

"Meta~~" Metagross nodded.

Diancie: "Let's step outside to talk."

Though puzzled, Metagross followed Diancie out.

Once they were in the living room, Diancie said, "I'd like to ask for your help in developing a training program for the Veluzas."

As a fellow Psychic-type Pokémon, Metagross would likely have valuable suggestions for their training.

"Meta~~" Metagross nodded in agreement.

Metagross agreed without hesitation.

So, the two Pokémon settled onto the sofa in the living room and started chatting.

Metagross didn't actually have experience in training others, but that was okay. With Robert No. 2, it quickly gathered a lot of information on training methods for Psychic and Water-type Pokémon, as well as on training Veluza, from online searches. This information was rapidly processed, filtered, and integrated by its brain, which was as powerful as a supercomputer.

Metagross not only developed a plan for training Veluza but also came up with some ideas for its own training regimen.

Metagross's abilities were so advanced; it not only possessed immense power but also had excellent information gathering, learning, and computational skills. Diancie's admiration for it grew.

Soon, Diancie had a comprehensive and detailed training plan in her hands.

"Metagross, can I come to you for advice in the future?" Diancie asked intently.

"Meta~" Of course.

Metagross nodded with pleasure.

An hour flew by, and Andrew emerged from the room with three Pokémon. Munchlax and Drizzile looked disheartened.

After ten hours in the training room, they hadn't felt any hint of Aura within them.

As for Pawmi, it wasn't disheartened at all. It yawned and ambled along, thinking, "Well, if it didn't work out, it didn't work out."

"Paw~ Paw~" Can I go to sleep now?

Pawmi tugged at Andrew's pants.

"Sure, go ahead," Andrew said with a sigh.

"Paw~~"

Pawmi responded, rubbed its eyes, and sleepily went back to its room.

Andrew then told Munchlax and Drizzile, "You should also get some rest. It's fine if you didn't train successfully. We'll try again tomorrow!"

"Munch~~"

Munchlax perked up immediately upon hearing this. Master is right!

"Drizz~~"

Drizzile nodded vigorously as well. That's right; I'm so capable, I couldn't possibly fail to train in Aura.

Then Andrew, Munchlax, Drizzile, Diancie, and Metagross all went to their rooms to sleep.

Before bed, Andrew planned to claim the rewards for his daily tasks as usual.

However, when he opened the system's task panel, he was surprised to see an additional daily task.

[Daily Task 1]Train in the Culinary Training Room for 1 hour—Completed, reward pending.

[Daily Task 2]Entertain 10 Pokémon—Completed, reward pending.

[Daily Task 3]Perform 1 Aura Training—Completed, reward pending.

This was certainly good news for Andrew. He was already planning to train Aura every day anyway. Although daily task rewards were typically modest, there was always a chance for something valuable. It was important to have some ambition!

With that in mind, Andrew claimed the daily task rewards one by one.

Congratulations, Host, you have received: 1 Poké Ball.

Andrew looked at it; it was a standard red-and-white Poké Ball, not very useful. He still had plenty of Poké Balls from the Professor!

Congratulations, Host, you have received: 1 Big Mushroom.

Andrew took out the big mushroom. It wasn't particularly large, not enough for a dish, but its quality was definitely much better than a regular mushroom.

He put the big mushroom away and continued to claim the last reward.

Congratulations, Host, you have received: 1 bag of Pickerelweed Seeds.

Seeing the final reward, Andrew's eyes brightened.

Pickerelweed was exactly the main ingredient needed for the advanced recipe "Fish Food," wasn't it?

He had been struggling with this issue earlier. Pickerelweed wasn't available in the market, and the system store didn't offer seeds for this special plant.

It seemed that luck had arrived just when he needed it.

Andrew took out the Pickerelweed seeds. There was a large bag full—more than enough for his needs.

Pickerelweed is a plant unique to the Pokémon world, growing only near clear water, and is difficult to cultivate artificially. Thus, it usually appears in small quantities as a seasoning in the market.

If it weren't for the system's recipe, Andrew wouldn't have known it could be used to make Fish Food.

With Nebel Lake's excellent water quality, it should be possible to cultivate it!

With the seeds safely stored, Andrew crawled into bed and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, Andrew woke up early and called Munchlax, Drizzile, and Pawmi for a run.

Munchlax, who usually had trouble waking up, was particularly enthusiastic today because Master was going to run with it, making it very excited.

After waking up, it followed Andrew closely, like a little shadow. Diancie and Drizzile teased it, but it just kept smiling. As long as it could be with its master, it was happy and didn't care about the teasing.

Today, Pawmi was having trouble getting up.

Even after going downstairs, Pawmi was still groggy.

The air on the Nebel Plateau in the early morning was especially fresh. Andrew ran towards the rising sun, with Munchlax, Drizzile, Croconaw, Drilbur, Lairon, two Farfetch'd, and an Espathra trailing behind.

Each of them was carrying a weight-bearing item Andrew had bought for them.

Pawmi lagged far behind, even Lairon, who was slow and heavy, was faster.

After finishing the run, Andrew took several Pokémon to bathe, then retrieved a few ceramic jars from the Secret Fortress's warehouse.

The jars contained the salted duck eggs and century eggs Andrew had previously pickled.

Munchlax and Drizzile gathered around eagerly, watching as Andrew took out the salted duck eggs and century eggs.

"Today we're introducing a new item at the restaurant!" Andrew announced.

With the century eggs, Andrew could make century egg and lean meat porridge, and pairing it with salted duck eggs would be perfect!

"Munch~"

"Drizzile~"

Munchlax and Drizzile cheered in excitement. They had helped make the salted duck eggs and century eggs, so they felt a sense of achievement now that the pickling was successful.

Pawmi tiptoed to look at the table, anxiously asking, "Paw~ Paw~" Is it tasty? Is it tasty?

Unfortunately, it was too short to see anything.

Andrew gently patted its head: "You were barely awake during the run, but you're full of energy when it comes to food."

Pawmi covered its head, looking a bit embarrassed.

Andrew then divided the salted duck eggs and century eggs into two portions: one for Diancie's cafeteria for the Pokémon, and one to take to Munchlax's House later.

Next, Andrew began preparing for the store's opening, kneading dough and preparing fillings. During this process, he followed the techniques from the "Training Manual" to sort the Aura in the ingredients.

He wasn't sure if it was just his perception, but he felt the dough he kneaded with Aura was more elastic.

When Gardevoir, Gallade, Ralts, Meowstic, and Espurr arrived, Andrew, with the prepared ingredients, said, "Let's go!"

With the long-awaited return to work at the restaurant, Andrew was full of enthusiasm.

"Oh!!!"

Drizzile, Ralts, Meowstic, and Espurr cheered.

Since Andrew was back, the staffing for both restaurants returned to their original roles.

Munchlax, Diancie, Gardevoir, and Gallade continued to manage Diancie's Cafeteria, while Andrew, Drizzile, Ralts, Meowstic, and Espurr managed Munchlax's House.

The only change was that all financial management in the store was now handled by Metagross, specifically Robert No. 2.

The temporary cashier, Komala, had been completely laid off.

Of course, this was good news for Komala. Being a cashier was never its ideal job; it preferred eating and sleeping without any other concerns. Now, that dream had finally come true!

Indeed, after finishing breakfast, it had disappeared again.

Back at Munchlax's House, Andrew and Drizzile immediately got busy.

Andrew made dumplings and steamed buns, while Drizzile cooked porridge, adding a new item to the menu today—century egg and lean meat porridge.

Meowstic and the others were also busy, either cleaning tables, sweeping the floor, or setting out dishes and bowls.

In the midst of the busy preparations, Andrew suddenly felt an Aura approaching and quietly asked:

"Haunter, is that you?"

"Haun~~"

Haunter slowly appeared from the ceiling.

"Are you watching us cook?" Andrew asked.

"Haun~" Haunter nodded.

Andrew had noticed before that Haunter had secretly watched him cook.

"Do you like cooking?" Andrew asked.

Haunter hesitated. Did it like it? It wasn't sure. It just knew that watching Andrew cook made it feel very at ease.

After a moment of hesitation, Haunter nodded to Andrew.

Seeing this, Andrew asked, "Would you like to learn how to cook?"

"Haun~" Is that possible?

Haunter was a bit excited.

"Of course," Andrew nodded. "As long as you're willing and interested."

"Haun~ Haun~"

Haunter nodded enthusiastically and spun happily in the air.

Andrew smiled and said, "Alright, you can watch for now. Later, you can come home with me, and I'll teach you how to cook."

"Haun~"

Haunter nodded and obediently floated in the air, watching Andrew.

Soon, the first batch of dumplings and steamed buns was ready. When Andrew opened the steamer, he noticed that today's dumplings and steamed buns were different.

They looked whiter, larger, and softer than usual.

(End of chapter)