The next morning, Link, who had finally fallen into a deep sleep, woke up early to wash up and went to the Pokémon Center's kitchen for trainers to make a Starf Berry Poffin for his Fennekin for breakfast.
The Starf Berry, a mythical fruit discarded at the edge of the world due to its overwhelming power, is said to contain primordial power, and its taste is indescribable.
It sounds a bit daunting, but this is actually the in-game description of its background. A Pokémon that eats a Starf Berry will have one ability greatly enhanced, and if consumed through "Nature's Grace," it will unleash a psychic move with a power of up to 80.
Overall, it's a rare fruit worth looking forward to.
Such a special thing can't be bought at the market, of course. Link noticed it in his hand shortly after waking from his dream, and couldn't help but recall the Starf Berry he had picked in Pokémon Dream World.
That's right, the Pokémon Dream World not only allows you to bring Pokémon with "Hidden Abilities" back to reality, but it also allows you to bring berries from the field to the right of your house.
But he should have already given this to Mew... It can only be considered a characteristic of the Dream Realm.
"Fennekin, wake up, come and try my Poffin."
Just as Link entered the room, the sleepy-eyed Fennekin sniffed, then suddenly opened its eyes.
It smelled a wonderful aroma!
Then it saw a plate of colorful little cakes in the Trainer's hands.
"Fennekin?"
"This is a dessert from the Sinnoh region, passed down from the Galar region. I recreated the cooking method based on my memory, but I'm not sure if it tastes good."
Fennekin immediately used "Psychic" to manipulate one of them to come in front of it. The aroma of wheat and the fragrance of berries invigorated it, as if it had been affected by the "Sweet Veil" and "Fragrance Veil" characteristics, making it much more awake.
It eagerly took a bite. Five distinct textures blended together in the cake, creating entirely new flavors and textures, yet without any conflict or disharmony.
Another bite, and the taste changed?
The proportions of spicy, astringent, sweet, bitter, and sour flavors varied depending on the ingredients, resulting in different tastes even within the same cake, depending on the part.
Every bite was a novel experience.
Fennekin didn't know how Link managed to keep these seemingly random flavors from clashing and becoming unpalatable, but if he were to rate it, he would definitely give this dish called "Bobfen" a perfect score!
Seeing Fennekin enjoying it so much, Link breathed a sigh of relief and then tasted his own creation.
To be honest, before Fennekin ate it, he wasn't very confident he could perfectly replicate Bobfen on his first try. But since he lived alone, and he had more than enough free eggs from his membership every Thursday and Friday, he had to experiment with various desserts in his oven.
And the prototype of Bobfen—the muffin—was one of the cakes he had mastered.
The reason for making bubble tea instead of muffins is naturally because the former is more portable, and now that everyone is familiar with the recipe, they can have snacks while traveling.
"It really has a novel taste; no wonder they say the flavor of Starf Berry is indescribable."
Starf Berry looks similar to Starf Berry, but its characteristic is that each petal has a different color and flavor. Perhaps this is what gives it endless possibilities?
"Wait, why is it so hot..."
Link suddenly realized that the room temperature had risen and came back to his senses, only to see that the excited Fennekin's ears were on fire!
The pillars of fire that shot out to both sides struck the walls of the Pokémon Center, turning them red-hot in no time!
"Calm down! Fennekin! Calm down!"
"Fennekin!?"
Realizing that it had caused trouble, Fennekin was startled and was about to turn to look at Link who had spoken.
But the latter quickly took out a Poké Ball and recalled the excited Fennekin, thus saving it from disaster... at least it didn't set the house on fire.
He looked at the charred marks left by the flames on both sides of the walls and an old saying inexplicably came to mind.
Those who play with fire will get burned.
This near-fire incident made Link realize the danger of Fire-type Pokémon and Ash's incredible resistance.
Ash recovered quickly after being shocked by a Thunderbolt. But
if he were burned by Fennekin, he might be dead.
No, he had to improve his defense!
Realizing the potential danger of Fire-type Pokémon, Link hurriedly spent gold coins in the system's [Shop] to buy a [Fire Protection Crystal].
[Fire Protection Crystal: Increases Fire-type resistance; the shield's pattern has flames, does that mean it's fire-resistant?]
"That should be enough..."
Link then released Fennekin again. In just a short while, it was no longer excited, its tail drooping and its eyes lowered, not daring to look at him.
Good, at least Fennekin has the most basic sense of right and wrong.
"Fennekin, what happened just now wasn't your fault. You're just a little over a day old, it's only natural that you couldn't control your instincts."
"Fennekin…"
"If we're being honest, it's my fault for making you come out of your Poké Ball in such a confined space indoors. After all, Fox wasn't originally an indoor Pokémon."
"Fennekin…"
"Of course, you need to work on controlling your instincts in the future. Let's go, let's go apologize to Nurse Joy first."
Fennekin nodded, listlessly following Link.
The two carefully checked that there were no embers in the room before going to the central hall to find Nurse Joy and explain what had happened.
But to Link's surprise, Nurse Joy wasn't angry at all; instead, she became interested in the Poffin that Link had fed Fox.
"Can I see that Poffin?"
Link honestly presented the "weapon," somewhat puzzled. "This isn't the time to focus on that."
Hearing this, Nurse Joy shook her head. "Link, the rooms provided to trainers at the Pokémon Center are all enhanced for durability. Judging from yesterday's checkup, Fennekin itself doesn't have the ability to ignite a room with Ember. The fact that it could burn the walls red-hot must be due to something else."
She then frowned at Poffin and fed it to the Blissey beside her.
The Blissey instinctively showed a pleased expression, savored it for a moment, and nodded to Nurse Joy.
"Looks like I was right. The berries used to make Poffin weren't mixed thoroughly, causing Fennekin to have increased special attack power due to the residual components of the berries."
Link: "..." So
it seems the blame really does fall on him.
"But a small amount shouldn't improve its abilities much... Is the problem with the Fennekin or the Berry..."
Nurse Joy murmured, unable to reach any useful conclusion.
After all, not many trainers could pull out a "mythical fruit discarded at the end of the world due to its overwhelming power."
The Star Berry is as rare as its description suggests, obtainable in various generations only by achieving conditions such as "conquering the entire Battle Frontier," "203 consecutive wins on the highest difficulty of the Battle Metro," or "200 consecutive wins in the Battle House/Tree/Tower."
Link being able to bring it out of the PDW was merely an accidental coincidence...
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(End of Chapter)