January 1.
"Tonight, everyone can drink as much as they want!"
In the evening, several long tables were lined up across the entire living room.
Using his psychic power, Lin Feng lifted and moved a whole barrel of honey wine into place.
The tables were covered with all kinds of food. Honey-glazed fried eggs, honey-glazed steak, roasted meat, fish balls, chocolate liqueur, steaming MooMoo milk, sweet fruit juice freshly made by Steenee and Tsareena, and sizzling golden butter-fried winter herring.
There were also braised white radishes, crisp lettuce for clearing the palate, and fresh cabbage leaves.
The moment the feast appeared, the Pokémon burst into excited cheers.
"Alcremie!"
"Woof!"
"Bulba!"
Today, every Pokémon in the nursery had gathered in the living room.
Even the twenty Pidgeot and their leader had eaten transformation peach cubes before coming inside.
Normally their wingspans reached three or four meters, but after shrinking, they now fit comfortably in the room with wingspans of less than a meter. The experience felt strangely nostalgic, almost like returning to their younger days.
They felt as if they had become younger again.
"Roar!"
Even Salamence, who was rarely so lively, stomped toward the table on his short legs with great enthusiasm.
The table in front of him was piled high with hearty food.
This one was specially prepared for Salamence, Dragonite, and Goodra. It was their radish stew table.
The radishes had been cut into huge chunks.
Fortunately, the radishes grown at the nursery were enormous. Each one was nearly half a meter long and as thick as a thigh.
Usually, cutting two or three pieces made the perfect size for dragon-type Pokémon to eat.
Especially Salamence.
"Gardevoir."
Gardevoir pulled the wooden stopper from the honey wine barrel. With a gentle surge of psychic power, the deep red honey wine flowed into the air, splitting into several streams and pouring neatly into the cups in front of each Pokémon.
"Chamo chamo…"
Blaziken was already eating enthusiastically, oil dripping from his beak. He looked like he wanted to use both hands and feet just to eat faster.
The steak and eggs in front of him were piled onto his plate. He laid out a large lettuce leaf or tender cabbage leaf that was almost bursting with juice, stacked the steak and eggs on top, then stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.
He let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
Gardevoir soon floated over and poured him a cup of honey wine. After drinking it, Blaziken looked even more content.
"Chamo, chamo!"
"Don't eat too much," Lin Feng reminded him with a smile. "There's still cake later."
"Chamo!"
Blaziken proudly patted his stomach, declaring that he could still eat anything.
"Alright, alright. Go ahead and eat."
Lin Feng shook his head helplessly but stopped trying to persuade him.
Besides, in weather like this, it did not matter if the cake was not finished in one day. They could always keep eating it tomorrow.
The Pidgeot tore at chunks of meat with their sharp beaks.
Now that their bodies were smaller, pieces of meat that they once swallowed in a single bite had become too large to gulp down.
Fortunately, their claws and beaks were extremely sharp and could easily tear the meat apart.
If a piece proved too tough, they simply asked their companions for help.
Butterfree was happily sipping honey. Serperior elegantly wrapped her vine around a fork and lifted pieces of fish to her mouth. Gardevoir sat calmly in a chair while the Indeedee siblings held their bowls politely.
Compared to the others, their table manners looked particularly refined.
Milotic and Primarina, who had also temporarily shrunk their size, raised their heads above the water and watched the others eating with great enthusiasm.
They could not help calling out softly.
"Luu…"
"Coming, coming."
Lin Feng walked over carrying a bowl of berry honey salad and a plate of sliced fried steak.
"Alright, open your mouths."
Milotic and Primarina obediently opened their mouths. Lin Feng fed each of them a piece of meat and a berry. Both Pokémon immediately showed delighted expressions.
Meanwhile, Serperior noticed the honey wine on the table.
She leaned closer, sniffed it curiously, then lifted a glass with her vine and drank it all in one smooth motion.
The cream Pokémon were eating their small round cakes, but their eyes kept drifting between everyone and Lin Feng.
They were waiting.
They wanted to know when everyone would finish dinner and when the birthday cakes they had helped make would finally appear.
Fortunately, they did not have to wait long.
To make sure everyone still had room for birthday cake, Lin Feng had deliberately prepared dinner with many varieties but smaller portions.
And after the huge commotion during cake-making yesterday, almost every Pokémon already knew there would be a special treat today.
Soon enough, Lin Feng and Gardevoir finished clearing away the plates and cups.
Then Lin Feng began taking cakes out of the storage balls one after another.
The cakes varied in size and height.
The largest ones stood nearly a meter tall.
These belonged to Salamence, Dragonite, Goodra, the Pidgeot leader, and Blaziken.
Medium-sized Pokémon like Serperior and Milotic received cakes that were several dozen centimeters tall.
Even the smaller girls like Steenee and Tsareena had cakes around twenty centimeters high.
When the cakes were brought out, many Pokémon looked surprised.
Each package had their name written clearly on it.
"Alright everyone," Lin Feng said with a smile. "Find the cake with your name on it."
The moment he finished speaking, several Pokémon rushed toward their cakes.
As the wrapping paper was peeled away, the cakes inside were revealed.
Each one was decorated with a variety of colorful berries.
They looked slightly larger than ordinary cakes, but their description was anything but ordinary.
SS-Grade Birthday Cake
A large cake made with alchemical cream and filled with the creator's heartfelt intentions.
Eating it brings blessings for the new year.
Cooking Effect 1: Fragrant Aroma
Reflecting Alcremie's natural ability. After eating, the Pokémon's body releases a special fragrance that is especially attractive to Pokémon capable of producing food.
Cooking Effect 2: Rare Berry Enrichment
The cream contains multiple rare berries. After eating, one random stat will increase.
Cooking Effect 3: Birthday Blessing
On the Pokémon's birthday, luck increases by 100 percent.
Cooking Effect 4: New Year Fortune
After eating, there is a chance that powerful good fortune will trigger during the new year, temporarily increasing luck by ten times.
Aside from the random stat increase and the food aroma effect, the other two bonuses were related to luck.
Both effects had time limits.
One granted a 100 percent luck boost on the Pokémon's birthday.
The other had a chance to increase luck tenfold for a short time.
At the moment, none of that seemed particularly important.
However, when Lin Feng saw those two cooking effects, the first Pokémon that came to mind were Alcremie and Serperior.
He wondered what kind of surprises they might bring this year.
Lin Feng was still thinking when a sudden exclamation caught his attention.
He turned his head.
Serperior's face had somehow turned red, and she was slowly sliding toward him.
"Serperior~"
Her voice was soft and slightly shy.
"I want a hug."