Step 3: Toss (Patreon)

Step 3: Toss

Baloo, till such time I caught my second Pokémon, was my sole focus. You could even call it the bear necessities.

Ursaluna being my end game with him. I will play to its strengths and develop him with physical attack, defenses, and constitution in mind, as well as compounding its ground typing.

I wasn’t yet able to afford the Macro Cosmos food storage attachment for my backpack that was so popular around Galar and Paldea, so I had to settle with a regular old cooler to haul my pantry.

Luckily I wasn’t hoofing it from gym to gym for now, so it was manageable. I’ll get a ride Pokémon before I start tackling the gyms in earnest.

Dinner first, though. The chili oil would take the longest to make, so I began with that. In a small saucepan, I scooped out some Numel fat and tossed in crushed oran berry seeds for the spicy flavour. 

The saucepan was put at the edge of the flame nestled within the hot coals to melt the fat and imbue it with the spice.

The Numel fat would provide ground type energy, while the restorative powers of the oran berry seeds would impart HP stats into the oil.

The soup was next, for which I pulled out a larger pot - much like the ones used to make curry in Galar. I placed that directly over the fire. I grumbled a little as I took stock of my fresh water supply. I’d have to make a run to the nearest town to replenish it sooner than I’d like. Maybe I should just catch a water Pokémon instead? I’ll think about it later. 

The fresh batch of apricorns from Ivy was perfect here. Apricorns were like gourds or squash; soft flesh enclosed in a hard shell. I took two yellow and a single blue apricorn, cut each in precisely half to scoop out the flesh while hopefully allowing me to use the cast-off shells for apriballs later. Quartering the flesh, I tossed them into the stock along with the last shuca berry I had and left that to boil along with all the required seasoning.

Popularized by the pokéathlon, aprijuice was incredibly useful for growing a mon’s stats. Yellow made stamina juice, which accelerated defense, special defense, and HP growth. While blue was for skill juice, which boosted both special stats. The shuca berry was obviously for another dash of ground energy and taste.

The special attack stat was a little unwanted for Baloo, but I had a possible solution for that too, via my garnish.

No dish was complete without a protein component. In this case, I had some Barboach filets from the Goldenrod department store. I deboned them, sliced it thin and added the fish into the soup. More ground type energy - it also helped that Baloo adored eating fish.

Once the soup was at a comfortable rolling boil, I tossed in four batches of rice noodles. It simmered for two minutes, and was done.

Just as I was about to shout ‘grub’s up!’ I heard a loud slurp behind me. Ivy was drooling, a bowl and utensils already in hand. “That looks sooo good, slick!”

She reached over me in an attempt to spoon herself a bowl, but I quickly smacked her hand away. “Hands to yourself, filthy beggar.” She pouted only momentarily as I gestured for her bowl; she beamed at me and shoved it into my waiting hand. “Get your mons’ bowl too, this is meant as pokechow. I just made it edible for us as well.”

I lined up the four bowls - one for each trainer and one for their Pokémon - and served each with a portion of the noodles, broth, and the good stuff. 

“Now comes the secret ingredient.” I went back to the cooler and pulled out a small bouquet of blue herbs. Impish mint. I tore off a few leaves and garnished each serving with them. 

The mint in the games would change a Pokémon’s nature to impish - which meant it had a greater rate of growth for its defense stat at the cost of its special attack stat. But since natures weren’t really a thing that governed stats in this world, the impish mint merely provided a boost to defense. Coupled with the blue apricorn, its detrimental effect on special attack was mitigated.

Last, I took the fragrant chili oil off the coals and poured a generous amount over each bowl. The mint and fish sitting at the top crackled loudly from the flash frying as the area erupted with the most appetizing smell. 

“Don’t make a girl wait any longer!” Everybody descended onto it like a hoard of Impidimp. Bellsprout was slurping those noodles down like a vacuum, while Zubat attacked the fish. Baloo practically had his face buried in his bowl, as he undoubtedly went bobbing for shuca bits.

I couldn’t even see Ivy, only the bottom of her bowl as she chugged the broth, a little spilled from the side of her lips. She surfaced, red faced and sweating, and took a deep, satisfied breath 

“Woo! That’s a Wake-Up-Slap!” I couldn’t help but comment, I loved me some spicy food. 

“I know I was jokin’ before, but I really might have to go ‘n take ya to pa if ya cook like that.”

“You need to defeat the elite 4 cooks before challenging the iron chef.” 

“Har har har.” She dove back in.

As I took another loud slurp of my noodles, I contemplated the dish. I was certain all three Pokémon would see an evidential improvement in their defenses and HP. Unfortunately, the ground type energy was far weaker. This sort of diet based training would take time to see effects - even in Baloo. So her poison types’ efficacy won’t be impacted. I’d need stronger ground type meat, and if only I could afford vitamins; this dish would be even better. But I was just too poor at the moment. 

Dinner done, I collected all the dirty dishes, after discarding all the scraps in a pile sans any berry seeds and apricorn husks. “Baloo,” I called over my starter, who just barely made it to his feet and waddled over with his full belly.

I pointed at the pile of garbage. “Rototiller.” After Sand Attack, this was the first ground type move I’d taught the Teddiursa.

Baloo placed both paws on the ground, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The surge of aura just barely prickled against my budding consciousness as the earth underneath the pile churned and roiled. The brown lustre of the ground type gem around Baloo’s neck dimmed.

Undulating dirt practically absorbed everything, burying it deep - while at the same time cultivating the area into a nice little berry planting patch. Where I proceeded to plant every berry seed I had.

“Rejoice, Baloo. You’ll have all the shuca berries you can stomach in a week or so. I just need to water this thing every day.” Baloo mewed in celebration. I turned to Ivy. “Speaking of water, you’ll be washing the dishes.” 

She got up without complaint and shouldered the dirty dishes. Farm girls knew responsibility. “S’fair. You plannin’ on a siesta?”

Given the recently depleted state of my cooler, no. “Not unless I wanna starve the rest of the week.” I pulled out my old rod and made my way alongside Ivy. “I’ll be joining you down by the river.” 

I doubted that I’d rustle up anything except for the most common fish Pokémon, but I really didn’t want to return to town just yet, especially just for food. So even if the diet wouldn’t be as optimized as today’s meal, at least we’d be full. 

“Not a bad idea,” she said as we got situated. I cast out and sat back as she dunked the big pot into the flowing water. “All this food residue should have the bottom feeders chummin’.” 

Her prediction proved true, as it didn’t take very long before I felt a sharp tug on my rod. It felt heavy as I reeled my prey in and with a Splash of water. I yanked a Krabby into the air and onto solid ground.

It flailed momentarily, then dislodged itself from the rod and landed right by my feet. For just being reeled in, it was quite a jolly thing. It scarpered around my ankles while happily blowing bubbles from between its mandibles. 

Meanwhile, I mentally catalogued the ingredients I had remaining and smiled predatorily at the little crab Pokémon as I realized I could make one of my favourite dishes. 

Yellow crab curry. 

“Nice hook and everything, but we might have a slight problem.” Ivy called out. The urgency in her voice was punctuated by the clattering of my dishes toppling over. 

A Diglett had somehow worn my pan like a hat as it scrounged around for scraps from the unwashed remnants. Poor form on our part, leaving our Pokémon behind. Ivy backed away slowly and approached me as we both cautiously observed a potentially aggressive wild Pokémon. 

“Let’s get outta here before it buries us under Magnitude.” Ivy suggested while tugging me away from the otherwise occupied Pokémon. 

Sound advice I should listen to, but those were my pots it was denting. I glanced down at the Krabby I’d pulled. Might as well give it a shot. “Hey.” I nudged it with my toes to get its attention. “Mind driving that Diglett off for me?” 

Without hesitation, the Krabby clicked its claws in excitement, swiveled on its legs to face it, and launched a Bubble at the distracted Diglett. 

Diglett was buffeted by the sudden attack and tittered in shock, the attack launching the impromptu helmet off its head and drawing its attention to us. The much, much faster Pokémon dodged another Bubble from Krabby and rapidly disappeared beneath the earth. There wasn’t any way that Krabby was going to be able to avoid the attack, so I instructed it to brace itself. “Harden!” 

Krab! It called out as it completed the buff move. The momentary shine covered its body not a moment too soon as the Diglett popped out right underneath the crab and launched it with an angry shout if it’s name. 

Krabby tumbled end over end, straight vertical until its apex and began descending right on top of the Diglett. I took advantage of the opportunity. “Smack it hard with your claw!”

The crab’s pincer shone with a silvery light. It cocked the appendage back, and just as it was about to crash into the Diglett, Krabby swung down and connected with the Diglett’s head. Metal Claw, not too shabby, even if the move was a natural part of its move set.

Seeing the fight rapidly disfavouring it, Diglett blew out an angry razz berry and rushed away with an angry squee. 

Krabby happily waved its claw at the retreating Diglett as Ivy stepped up and shook her fist at it, “yeah! Ya best make yerself scarce, ya pest!” 

I kneeled and patted the Krabby on the top of its carapace. “Good job. You followed my directions well.” I praised the tiny crab. I wasn’t planning on this line of water Pokémon if I was honest. I would’ve preferred something like a Horsea or Staryu to meet both my water needs, as well as training interest. But the little Krabby showed potential, so I decided to capture it as part of my team. 

I presented it with a shrunken pokeball I retrieved from my pocket. “This one’s a li’l battler alright.” Ivy gave her approval, as Krabby scuttled over and punched the button on the ball.

I nodded in agreement. “And to think, I was planning on eating it!” I laughed as Krabby’s usually smiling face transformed into shock when the red energy sucked it away into the ball.