Yaoxiang City.
Known as the city of leisurely strolls, located between the sea and the mountains.
Chefs who come here continue to visit local restaurants, experiencing the culinary differences brought by the regional environment, just like in White Sand City.
[You have arrived in Yaoxiang City, eager to taste the local delicacies]
The seaside naturally relies on the sea, favoring the freshness of the ingredients over heavy seasoning, so the cooking methods are often not too complicated.
[You have tasted the secret of umami, and both you and your Pokémon are very satisfied. Your culinary skills have improved]
Baimu sees these contents displayed as narration, feeling like he's watching a food documentary.
Challenging the Gym is just a side thing.
After tasting the delicious food, the chef, as usual, extends a cooking challenge to the local head chef, but compared to the time in White Sand City, his actions are more grounded now.
At least he knows to first ask the restaurant's owner, borrowing the words of others.
Unfortunately.
He's a nobody, neither someone like Ash Ketchum in the trainer and culinary worlds, nor a food deity in the gourmet world.
How could the head chef of a popular restaurant have so much time to spar with him?
So he was kicked out again.
[You feel regret for not being able to communicate culinary skills with others, and you decide to challenge the Gym]
This makes it sound like a Gym challenge is a way to vent emotions.
——In fact, it really is.
Baimu perceives that Psyduck's telekinesis seems closely linked to the chef's mental pressure.
Every time the chef encounters something unpleasant or uncomfortable, Psyduck's attacks become much stronger, and in comparison, water-type techniques, the Water-type Pokémon's attribute, have little presence.
[You have arrived at the Yaoxiang Gym, and Gym Leader Chaglo has accepted your challenge]
On the battlefield.
Psyduck whips Onix using telekinesis, holding its head and quacking loudly, very much like screaming "Let the world feel pain."
Simple and brutal.
The honey maker and the gluttonous foodie had no chance to appear.
[Your Psyduck defeated Onix]
[Your Psyduck defeated Tyrunt]
[You defeated Yaoxiang Gym Leader—Chaglo, and received the Rock Wall Badge]
Psyduck's strength earned Chaglo's admiration, but what fascinated him even more was the chef's luminous cuisine.
Although he is a rock climbing enthusiast, he extremely loves sweets but dares not eat much, having once appeared in TV news staring motionlessly at sweets in shop windows.
The chef knew this and specially used Combee's Sweet Honey to make Chaglo a low-calorie but absolutely satisfying luminous dessert—the glow rivaled radioactive material, and Chaglo felt dizzy just from the smell.
Who knows, maybe the dose this time was in tons, truly frightening.
The most important thing is.
[You learned through a TV program about Chaglo's friendship with Four Heavenly Kings Siebold, hoping to learn Siebold's culinary level from him]
In the screen, the icon representing Chaglo has the chef's avatar floating above his head, followed by five stars.
Then Siebold appeared, followed by a long string of stars.
Obviously, although Chaglo was impressed by the chef's desserts, he still gave a very objective evaluation.
[You realize you're still very far from Siebold, and decide to continue your journey, pursuing even more perfect culinary skills (increased dosage)]
"Why is there narration with parentheses?"
Baimu feels that this narration is very cheeky.
——
The chef set out from Route 10.
Soon, he arrived at a small town along the way—Geosenge Town.
Here, many merchants sell various stones, and Sola Gym Leader Koruni obtained her Lucario's Evolution Stone here.
This intrigued Baimu, curious if the chef would obtain a Key Stone or something.
But he thought too much…
[You have arrived in Geosenge Town, heard the rock cuisine here is very famous, and, excited, you rush to the restaurant.]
Okay.
The restaurant is forever your home, isn't it?
Baimu sighs endlessly, although the chef currently doesn't have any Pokémon capable of mega evolution, mega is a regional feature of Carlos, and is indispensable for achieving excellent results in the regional conference.
In the screen.
The chef tasted what is called rock cuisine—placing ingredients on hot rocks to bake; each different rock imparts a special flavor to the ingredients.
Baimu only felt that this was because the store owner's rocks weren't clean.
Suddenly.
The Combee next to the chef trembled, then was enveloped in white light, transforming completely.
[Your Combee evolved into Vespiquen]
…evolved?
It turned out to be a female Combee, and it evolved just by collecting honey and eating delicious food without even engaging in battle?
Baimu highly suspects that the chef's cooking is like Magical Candy, possessing the power to increase Pokémon levels, allowing Combee to achieve a breakthrough in excitement.
After a hearty meal.
The chef's challenge request was again rejected, and disappointed, he could only go exploring the local stone market.
Baimu's sense of anticipation was rekindled.
However.
[At a stall, you saw a very special Pokémon, and heard it has fermentation powers, so you bought it from the stall owner]
[You obtained a Shuckle, a Fruit Fermentation Machine—the number of your traveling companions increased]
Goodness.
Baimu never expected that what the chef obtained in Geosenge Town wasn't a Key Stone or mega stone, but a new Pokémon.
And it was Shuckle.
After obtaining the new Pokémon, the chef, having gained experience from rock cuisine, left without the intention of further wandering.
[You arrived on Route 11, and started collecting ingredients]
The first thing the chef does each time he arrives in the wild is to collect various raw materials, waiting for a campfire cookout at noon and dusk.
Munchlax, as a daily freeloading foodie, played out its amazing power akin to a culinary radar this time, sniffing out everything, whether plant roots or fresh fruits and vegetables.
However, Psyduck's "work" was not relaxed.
Because the route ran along the seaside, the chef often threw Psyduck into the sea, hoping it would find some marine delicacies.
Of course.
The chef couldn't make luminous dishes every time; sometimes, mistaking or misidentifying some ingredients turned them into deep violet or pitch-black mosaics, symbolizing deadly cuisine.
These dishes were almost enough to knock out the chef and his team with just one bite, but Munchlax could savor them deliciously to the last bite.
Baimu couldn't help but wonder if this guy would have the [Immune] trait after evolving.
——
Sola City.
A city with mysterious stone legends.
But rather than the mega stones that could guarantee a trainer's strength, the chef was more interested in the local food.
Unfortunately, not all towns have extremely unique local delicacies, the flavors of Sola City are quite similar to Yaoxiang City, and the chef didn't gain much culinary experience from it.
The chef, being kicked out by the boss under a dual blow, went to challenge the Sola Gym.
[You challenged Sola Gym Leader—Koruni]
Baimu, full of expectation, thought this time he might see mega evolution, but he found he didn't.
When Psyduck and Munchlax joined forces to defeat Koruni's Lucario, the narration spoke:
[You defeated Koruni, interrupted her goal of one hundred consecutive wins, which made her feel disappointed. To comfort Koruni, you decided to prepare some food for her]
A hundred consecutive wins?
Aha!
So, is the timeline before Ash Ketchum's journey?
Baimu recalls that Koruni only went on to seek the Super Stone in Geosenge Town after beating one hundred trainers. The chef's interruption meant that the timeline had to be adjusted earlier.