Chapter Seventy-One: The Frenzied Energy Cube

A few days ago, Cheng Cheng had his Pokémon battle each other, observing where their training needed improvement. Today, he would officially begin their training in earnest.

Training Pokémon was no easy task. If it weren't for the two missions he'd accepted, Cheng Cheng would have preferred to let them train on their own. After all, during his time away, the Pokémon in the ecological garden had grown rapidly. Yet, this time, he was required to increase all their battle power by one and a half times—a task that seemed utterly impossible, especially for those like Lunatone and Chimecho, whose growth was particularly difficult.

No matter; raising Pokémon was always necessary. The first Pokémon Cheng Cheng decided to train was, naturally, his very first—Chimecho.

“Chimechime~”

Chimecho was delighted to be picked first.

[Chimecho, from my observations, you have some shortcomings in your attacking abilities. So, I plan to teach you some new moves to boost your attack. Your body is quite slender—this is both a disadvantage and an advantage. Though your defense is low, you can be faster and better at dodging. Therefore, I want to cultivate your speed and reaction time.

As for moves, recently I chose Psychic, so let’s focus on mastering that first. For speed and reflexes, I’ll find you a sparring partner!]

“Lunatone, I’ll need your help.”

Cheng Cheng had Lunatone attack Chimecho with Stone Edge, allowing Chimecho to boost its speed and reflexes by dodging the incoming stones.

“All right, that’s settled. You go train now. Next up is Spoink.”

[Spoink, whenever you see other Pokémon spinning, you start spinning too—and quickly faint. I was going to help you break this habit, but after thinking it over, I’ll try another method. Gothita will take you for spinning training to increase your resistance to dizziness.]

“Gothita, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Gothi~”

Gothita nodded, very pleased, and led Spoink away.

Next was Kirlia.

[Kirlia, you wanted to use new moves before, didn’t you? Since that’s the case, try out your new move for a while, and I’ll have Mr. Mime assist you.]

“Mr. Mime, I need your help.”

“Mimime~” Mr. Mime agreed cheerfully.

[Now for Natu. You and Sigilyph are both bird Pokémon. I believe you two can learn a lot from each other. You’ll work as a pair.]

Lastly, Slowpoke and Kadabra. Cheng Cheng believed they would become good friends.

Cheng Cheng assigned tasks to all his Pokémon, letting them practice on their own. Of course, he wouldn’t be idle—he’d work on making energy cubes. To improve their battle prowess, energy cubes were essential.

Although the system’s recipes could produce energy cubes, making truly excellent ones wasn’t as simple as following instructions. It required extensive practice and personal experience; only then would the cubes be effective.

Cheng Cheng also needed to observe the Pokémon’s progress during training, record areas needing improvement, and offer guidance.

Returning to the breeding house, Cheng Cheng gathered a pile of ingredients to start making energy cubes: Bluk, Tamato, Golden Grape, Mago, Sitrus, Coconut, Pecha, and Lum—eight types in all. Combining two or more in any way yielded... how many combinations? He wasn’t sure, so he’d just try them all, one by one.

A quarter of Bluk, an eighth of Tamato, five-eighths of Pecha—stirred together and put into the energy cube machine, set for ten minutes. After tasting, it was just so-so: sweet with a hint of spiciness, leaving him energized but not much else.

He tried another mix: a sixth of Golden Grape, a third of Mago, half of Lum. After making it, he tasted it—sweet and sour, delicious. The Pokémon would surely love it.

Then came the third mix...

...

In this way, Cheng Cheng made ten different combinations, including one cube made from all eight berries. The taste was indescribable—he’d have to see if the Pokémon liked it.

He brought the finished cubes to the ecological garden and invited the Pokémon to try them. As soon as they heard these were Cheng Cheng’s homemade cubes, their lazy demeanor vanished—they immediately began training diligently.

Cheng Cheng hadn’t expected his energy cubes to have this effect. In some ways, it was more effective than eating the cubes directly.

But were they not tasty?

He took a cube and tasted it himself—the flavor was still good.

He offered a cube to Chimecho, but Chimecho dodged it faster than it had dodged Stone Edge.

“Slowpoke, would you like to try?” Cheng Cheng thought the slow-witted Slowpoke would eat the cube, but it sped into the river, disappearing instantly.

They all disliked it? He had no choice but to find other Pokémon to taste them.

Cheng Cheng lined up the ten types of energy cubes and summoned the Pokémon from the ecological garden. In the end, only two kinds attracted more Pokémon; the others were almost untouched.

Though six of the eight food types weren’t liked by six out of eight Pokémon, at least two recipes were popular enough to add to the recipe book!

A third each of Bluk, Golden Grape, and Pecha, cooked for five minutes.

Another was a quarter each of Bluk, Golden Grape, Pecha, and Sitrus, cooked for ten minutes.

Cheng Cheng added these two recipes to his cookbook and continued experimenting.

After five days, he’d made 239 kinds of energy cubes; only 32 types were actually eaten by the Pokémon, the rest ignored. He recorded all 32 recipes and began modifying them, confident he’d eventually create cubes superior to the system’s recipes.

During those five days, Cheng Cheng barely watched the Pokémon’s training, but he was certain they were diligent—especially when he brought them new cubes. The most tragic was Kadabra; claiming it could replenish nutrition instead of training, he had Kadabra eat a green cube, and Kadabra lay on the ground for an entire day. After that, the Pokémon wouldn’t dare eat Cheng Cheng’s homemade cubes again.

Cheng Cheng wasn’t bothered by their dislike. He believed that someday, they’d appreciate his cooking.

Soon, it was time to close up. After feeding the Pokémon, Ah Li decided to finish work. With the shop closed, Cheng Cheng went upstairs.

He prepared a refined dinner on the second floor, then turned on the television to watch Pokémon news, which covered important recent events. Sometimes, Cheng Cheng hoped to find something unusual, perhaps even stumble upon an adventure, but so far, nothing.

After the news came the weather forecasts for various regions. Though he’d never cared much for weather reports, lately he watched them for the sake of his Pokémon.

He switched to the Hoenn channel.

“Hello everyone, welcome to the weather forecast. I’ll now report the weather for various towns in Hoenn over the next few days.

Littleroot Town: cloudy to clear, 17-24°C. Oldale Town: light rain, 15-21°C. Petalburg City: sunny, 20-24°C... Fortree City: rain, 16-22°C...”

The forecast soon finished. Though a little rain was expected, it wouldn’t affect his training plans.

After turning off the television, Cheng Cheng prepared to shower and sleep. Just as he undressed, a loud noise erupted outside, sounding like wind battering the doors and windows. He didn’t pay it much mind and continued bathing.

After stepping out, he was assaulted by a gust of wind and quickly closed the window. Wasn’t the forecast for light rain? Why was there such a gale?

Thunder crashed overhead, followed by rain—light at first, then heavier, until it became a torrential downpour, accompanied by fierce winds that rattled the doors and windows.

Now, Cheng Cheng began to worry about his Pokémon. He had to check on them.

Braving the wind and rain, he reached the ecological garden and found the Pokémon had retreated to their shelters. But he noticed a few hadn’t made it inside, like Slowpoke.

Some Pokémon were still outside, but now was not the time to go out searching for them—Cheng Cheng realized even he couldn’t return.

The rain grew heavier, the wind stronger, and Cheng Cheng became increasingly concerned for his Pokémon outside.