Chapter 103: The Big Shopping Trip

After greeting Nacli, Nemona stood up to introduce herself to Andrew.

"Hi, I'm Nemona."

Andrew nodded, "I'm Andrew."

Nemona's eyes sparkled as she asked, "Andrew, are you a trainer? How about having an exciting battle with me?"

Andrew smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, I'm a chef, not a trainer."

At that moment, Arven chimed in admiringly, "Even though big brother Andrew isn't a trainer, his Pokémons are really strong!"

Hearing this, Nemona became even more excited. "Please, you must battle me!"

Andrew sighed, patting Arven on the head. "You little rascal, don't spread rumors about me!"

He then turned to Nemona and added, "I'm really not a trainer."

Nemona, being the future champion, was far more skilled in Pokémon battles than he was.

However, Nemona was persistent. With her hands clasped and a pleading expression, she begged, "Please, please! You have to battle me, or I won't be able to sleep tonight!"

Despite her young age, Nemona was already one of the top trainers at Naranja Academy.

Seeing her enthusiasm, Andrew finally relented.

"Alright, but let me make it clear: I'm not a trainer, so the battle will mainly depend on my Pokémon. Don't be too disappointed! And just one match, okay? We've got other things to take care of."

"OK! OK!" Nemona agreed eagerly, as long as she got the chance to battle.

She quickly ran to the center of the grassy field and waved at Andrew, "Come on, right here."

Andrew nodded and walked to the other side of the field, standing opposite Nemona.

After taking out a Pokéball, Andrew said, "Let's begin!"

Hearing this, Nemona also pulled out a Pokéball.

Since Arven mentioned that Andrew was strong, she couldn't use the recently caught Pawmo.

With two flashes of light, two Pokémon appeared on the grassy field: Andrew's Metagross and Nemona's Goodra.

Seeing Andrew's Metagross, Nemona's excitement grew even more.

"A Metagross! What a rare Pokémon!"

Andrew replied, "Your Goodra isn't too common either."

As he spoke, Andrew activated his Observation Eye to check Goodra's stats.

Goodra

- Type: Dragon

- Ability: Sap Sipper

- Gender: Female

- Level: 55

- Moves: Aqua Tail, Tearful Look, Acid Spray, Feint, Poison Tail, Dragon Breath, Tackle, Water Pulse, Water Gun, Rain Dance, Curse, Body Slam, Dragon Pulse, Outrage, Ice Beam, Sludge Bomb.

(Individual Values)

- HP: 30

- Attack: 29

- Defense: 28

- Special Attack: 31

- Special Defense: 30

- Speed: 24

Nemona was truly impressive. Even at such a young age, her Pokémon had reached a high level.

But now Andrew wondered if using Metagross would be overkill. He didn't know its IVs, but its level must be much higher than Goodra's.

Well, there was no turning back now. He couldn't use Pawmo or his Psychic Peacock instead, they would definitely lose.

Arven: "Let the battle begin!"

As Arven called for the start, both Andrew and Nemona gave orders to their Pokémon simultaneously.

Andrew: "Metagross, use Agility to get close to Goodra, then hit it with Ice Punch!"

Nemona: "Goodra, Dragon Pulse!"

Metagross moved in a blur, swiftly closing in on Goodra, while Goodra unleashed a dragon-shaped energy wave from its mouth.

Thanks to its Agility, Metagross easily dodged the Dragon Pulse and, in the blink of an eye, was beside Goodra.

Metagross' steel claws glowed with icy energy as it prepared to strike.

Nemona quickly responded, "Goodra, use Aqua Tail!"

Goodra's thick tail wrapped in water, swung fiercely at Metagross.

The steel claw and water-covered tail collided, but Goodra's tail instantly froze upon impact. With a pained cry, Goodra was sent flying, rolling a few times before fainting on the ground.

Nemona was left in shock. Did she really lose so quickly?

By now, a crowd of students had gathered to watch.

"That Metagross is incredible! It beat Nemona's Goodra so easily."

"Who is that blond guy? Is he a new transfer student?"

"I'm not sure, but it looks like he came here with Arven."

Andrew quickly ran over to Goodra with Metagross, pulling out some pure salt and berries to feed it.

Nemona rushed over, her face glowing with excitement. "You're just as amazing as Arven said! That was... incredible!"

Andrew replied calmly, "It's the Pokémons that are amazing, not me."

Nemona grew even more excited. "That's exactly what makes you so cool as a Trainer—letting your Pokémon grow stronger and fight on their own. Isn't that the best thing ever?"

Andrew: ...

To change the subject, he quickly added, "Your Goodra's eaten the berries to recover its stamina, and I've used some of Garganacl's pure salt on its wounds. It should be fine now, but just to be safe, you should take it to the Pokémon Center."

"I got it!" Nemona said, returning Goodra to its Pokéball and heading off toward the Pokémon Center, still looking thrilled by what had just happened.

After Nemona left, Arven came up to Andrew. "Andrew, you're seriously amazing. You even beat Nemona, and she's one of the top Trainers at Naranja Academy. Hardly anyone can beat her."

Andrew, patting Metagross, said, "It was all thanks to Metagross. It was already this strong when I caught it, so it's really not because of me."

Arven, however, was impressed. "That just shows you're incredible! You were able to catch such a strong Metagross."

Andrew thought to himself, 'Komala that beat Metagross wasn't even trained by me!' He gave up trying to explain any further.

"Alright, just don't spread any more rumors about me. I'm really just an ordinary chef," Andrew said, shaking his head.

Arven sighed. "Okay, I got it."

With that, the two left Naranja Academy, walking through the hallways while catching the curious glances of other students.

Before long, Andrew and Arven arrived at the office of Director Clavell.

Upon seeing Andrew, Clavell smiled. "I just heard that you beat Nemona in a battle!"

Andrew smiled back. "It was just luck."

Clavell shook his head. "There's no such thing as luck in battles. A win is a win. Professor Sada told me you're quite the talented chef. I didn't expect you to be such a strong Trainer, too."

Andrew quickly waved his hands. "No, no, no. You've got it wrong. I'm just a simple chef, not a Trainer."

Clavell raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you explain having such a powerful Metagross?"

Andrew: 'Let's not bring up the chef thing anymore.'

Seeing Andrew didn't respond, Clavell continued, "Would you be interested in joining the Paldea League? The benefits are quite good, you know."

Andrew replied, "Director Clavell, I'm part of the Azoth royal family, so I can't—"

Clavell cut him off. "And? There's no rule saying members of Azoth's royal family can't join other leagues."

'Just like in the games,' Andrew thought. 'This Clavell is just as eager to recruit anyone with talent for the Paldea League.'

Andrew shook his head. "I'm sorry..."

Clavell sighed, looking disappointed. "What a shame. I thought you had the potential to become a Champion!"

Andrew thought to himself, 'You probably say that to everyone.'

"I really just want to focus on being a chef," Andrew insisted.

Clavell sighed again but eventually gave in. "Alright, if you're not interested, I won't press further."

Andrew felt relieved. "I'll leave Arven in your care, Director. I have some things to do, so I'll be going now."

Clavell nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Arven."

Turning to Arven, Andrew said, "Arven, I'll be heading out now. Let's keep in touch."

Arven smiled. "Sure, see you, Andrew."

After their goodbyes, Andrew left Naranja Academy.

Walking through the streets of Mesagoza, Andrew asked Pawmi, "We've got some time before our flight. What should we do next?"

"Pawmi, paw!" Let's find something tasty to eat!

Pawmi peeked out from behind Andrew.

Andrew playfully tapped Pawmi's head. "We just ate, and you're already hungry again?"

He poked Pawmi's belly. "Are you getting a little pudgy?"

Pawmi quickly covered its stomach and frantically shook its head, worried that Andrew might reduce its meals.

"Pawmi, pawmi!" No, no, no!

Suddenly, an idea struck Andrew. "How about we go shop for ingredients?"

Mesagoza, being a large city, was bound to have an array of high-quality ingredients. As a chef, Andrew couldn't resist the chance to explore.

Without hesitation, Andrew and Pawmi headed straight for one of the city's largest supermarkets.

As expected, the store had plenty of items that were hard to come by in the Royal City of Azoth.

"Is this Garganacl's pure salt?" Andrew looked in surprise at the beautifully packaged salt on the shelves.

Back in Azoth Kingdom, pure salt was always scarce, but here, it seemed plentiful!

After a moment of thought, Andrew realized it made sense. Though pure salt was rare, Paldea was its place of origin.

Since he already had Garganacl and Nacli back home, Andrew moved past the salt section.

But when he reached another area of the store, Andrew's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Chili powder made from Scovillain's should leaves!" he exclaimed.

Even though he had a Scovillain back in Nebel Plateau, its chili production was much slower than Garganacl's salt, so Andrew decided to stock up on this rare spice while he had the chance.

After tossing ten or so bags into the cart, Andrew finally stopped.

He had barely walked a few steps when something else caught his eye.

"It's yeast from Artisan's Bakery!"

Andrew quickly approached a shelf and eagerly grabbed a bag about the size of his palm.

"This has to be bought!"

His family steams dumplings every day, so yeast was a must! Yeast from Artisan's Bakery wasn't available in Azoth Royal City.

Andrew threw bag after bag of yeast into the cart—one bag, two bags, three bags… He ended up tossing a hundred bags before stopping, leaving only half of the shelf's stock.

"Isn't this a bit excessive?" Andrew scratched his head, feeling somewhat sheepish.

"Paw~Paw~"

Pawmi jumped from Andrew's shoulder into the cart, holding a bag of yeast with a curious look.

Andrew smiled and said, "This is an essential ingredient for making delicious food!"

When Pawmi heard "delicious," it quickly put the yeast into the cart and even tried to reach for more on the shelf.

Seeing this, Andrew quickly stopped it, saying, "Pawmi, that's enough. We've already bought more than enough!"

Pawmi stopped as soon as it heard this.

Next, Andrew noticed Dolliv's olive oil, but he didn't buy it since he had enough at home. However, he would have considered buying Arboliva's olive oil.

Ingredients produced by Pokémon are generally much more expensive.

For instance, a small bag of Pure Salt from Nacli costs 35 Pokédollars, while a bag of regular salt is only 2-5 Pokédollars. Pure Salt from Naclstack or Garganacl would be even pricier and sometimes hard to find.

Similarly, a bag of Spice Powder from Scovillain sells for 25 Pokédollars, while ordinary chili powder costs only 3-10 Pokédollars.

Dolliv's olive oil is even more expensive, with a 1-liter bottle priced at 780 Pokédollars, 5-6 times the cost of regular cooking oil.

As he passed through the fresh food section, Andrew saw the last bit of Veluza meat and decided to buy it all.

He also bought various high-quality meats like pork, beef, and lamb. Since these items wouldn't spoil in his system backpack, he made sure to stock up while in the big city.

Although Azoth Royal City also offers high-quality meats and even special royal supplies, different regions produce different varieties, each with its own distinct taste.

Seeing that he had nearly finished shopping, Andrew decided to head to checkout.

"Paw~Paw~~" Pawmi was happily wriggling on Andrew's shoulder.

Andrew smiled and asked, "Why the good mood?"

"Paw~Paw~" Pawmi nodded enthusiastically. Andrew had bought so many ingredients, which meant there would be lots of delicious food, so Pawmi was naturally happy.

Andrew said, "You only think about eating. Sooner or later, you'll be so fat you won't be able to move!"

"Paw~~" No way!

Pawmi responded defiantly.

Just as Andrew was pushing a cart overflowing with ingredients to checkout, a supermarket staff member approached with a small cart full of white eggs about the size of a human head.

Andrew gasped in excitement, "Are those… Chansey eggs?"

The staff member, hearing Andrew's exclamation, turned around with a smile and said, "Yes."

"Can I buy them?" Andrew asked eagerly.

He had tasted Chansey eggs a few times when he was a prince, and their flavor was unforgettable.

At that time, Chansey didn't live in Azoth Kingdom, and with poor transportation, even as royalty, getting Chansey eggs was very difficult.

Even now, with improved transportation and advanced Pokémon breeding technology, Chansey remains a rare Pokémon, and its eggs are rarely seen on the market.

Today was incredibly lucky!

"Of course," the staff member replied. "You're very lucky to find them just as they were put on the shelves. It's a rare opportunity, so buy quickly if you want some!"

Andrew quickly stepped forward and confidently said, "How many do you have here? I'll take them all!"

Chansey eggs are very expensive, costing 800 Pokédollars each, making them the aristocracy of eggs.

But this is understandable. Chansey eggs are not only rich in nutrients but also help restore Pokémon's stamina and heal their injuries.

There were no more than 50 eggs just put on the shelves, so Andrew wanted to buy them all.

Opportunity doesn't come twice!

The staff member smiled and said, "Sorry, sir, Chansey eggs have a purchase limit. Each person can only buy 5."

"Ah?" Andrew's face fell with disappointment.

With so many Pokémon at home who could eat them, five eggs would only be enough to sample.

(End of Chapter)