Pokemon: Farm Story-Chapter 180: Notes from the Dinner Party

Under the night sky, Natsume and Indeedee's little sister were busy working in the kitchen.

Strictly speaking, it was Indeedee's sister who was preparing the grand feast for the gathering, while Natsume was just there to lend a hand.

Through his actions, Natsume once again proved a simple truth:

Being skilled at making Pokéblocks didn't necessarily mean you could cook.

When it came to crafting Pokéblocks, Natsume figured he was among the best in the world.

If you included the sweet treats and little snacks he made for Pokémon, he could easily call himself a master breeder in the Pokémon field.

Unfortunately, when it came to actual cooking... Natsume could only be described as average.

No real flair to speak of—just your standard home-cooked level.

Definitely no comparison to Indeedee's little sister.

She actually had a professional chef's license.

If she were in a food-themed anime, she could probably even compete for the title of Special-Grade Chef.

Since there was a top-tier chef at home, naturally, Natsume was more than happy to hand over the real cooking duties to Indeedee's sister.

He himself stuck to making desserts and small snacks.

When it came to shirking work, Natsume had always been quite talented.

Normally, Natsume would hand out Pokéblocks to some of the farm residents, even to those he wasn't particularly close with.

Most of these Pokéblocks were made by Pokémon who were just starting to learn the craft—

Like the little sisters of the Gardevoir on the farm.

Maybe influenced by their big sister, they had taken an interest in making Pokéblocks too.

And these newbie creations ended up being gifted by Natsume to various farm dwellers.

Mei was also learning how to make Pokéblocks under Natsume's guidance.

But her creations were always exclusively given to the Serperior and its group.

Every time, the Serperior and the others had to force down Mei's "highly questionable" Pokéblocks, wearing the grim determination of soldiers heading into battle.

First eating Natsume's perfectly crafted Pokéblocks, and then eating Mei's...

The contrast was like living in a luxury mansion one day and being crammed into a 12-person, non-air-conditioned school dormitory the next.

Every time, Serperior would steel its nerves as if preparing for death, swallow the Pokéblock, and then immediately rinse its mouth out with the ones made by Natsume.

It wasn't that Serperior didn't love Mei.

It was just... Mei's skill level at this stage was simply beyond saving.

Mei's contributions to the field of Pokéblock creation were about on par with Corviknight's attempts at scientific research.

You couldn't exactly call it "groundbreaking."

It was more like "causing grievous harm to nature itself."

"Lopunny, can you go pull Shiny Furret out of the bath?"

Glancing at the time, Natsume called out to Lopunny, who was helping serve dishes.

Natsume had already predicted that Shiny Furret would refuse to leave the bath.

That little guy was always like this.

"Lopu!"

Putting down the plate she was carrying, Lopunny nodded firmly and struck a strongman pose.

Leave it to me!

When it came to dragging Shiny Furret out of the bath, Lopunny was pretty confident.

She had teamed up with Natsume for this operation many times before.

Even though she was going alone this time, all she had to do was mention Natsume's name, and Shiny Furret would obediently follow.

Ironically, when Natsume himself went, Shiny Furret would clutch onto the wooden tub for dear life, and they'd end up in a tug-of-war.

Not that Natsume minded—

He actually enjoyed this little game with the pink muscle demon who loved bathing a little too much.

In the early days, Shiny Furret was all soft and squishy, super comfy to hug.

Now?

Now Shiny Furret was packed with muscle, and hugging him felt... hard to describe.

It was like being tackled by a jacked-up bodybuilder.

At this point, Natsume honestly didn't really feel like hugging Shiny Furret anymore.

The contrast between that adorable face and that rock-solid body was just too... unsettling.

After a while, Shiny Furret, still slightly damp and trailing a faint mist of water, followed Lopunny into the kitchen.

His face was still showing a distinct look of reluctant defeat.

Taking a bath was really comfortable.

"Alright, time to get ready for dinner."

Natsume reached out, grabbed the shiny Furret's head, and gave it a vigorous, messy rub.

The shiny Furret's face twisted into a fierce grimace.

"Furr!"

Struggling free from Natsume's clutches, the shiny Furret quickly scurried away.

It wagged its big tail and went off to find the Indeedee sisters, hoping to see if there was anything it could help with.

"Yadon."

The living room door creaked open, and in walked Slowking, looking absolutely exhausted.

Its already sour mood somehow worsened even more at the sight of the lively, bustling scene before it.

Only Arceus knew what it had gone through today.

At first, it had been agreed that Mew would help it handle the gym duties.

But somehow, things had spiraled, and Slowking ended up handling everything alone.

That sneaky Mew left behind a decoy—one that couldn't think, only occasionally going "Yadon"—and then snuck off to play.

And by the afternoon, the decoy simply vanished?!

Right there, in front of the referee and the challenger, it popped like a soap bubble—poof—gone.

It's hard to describe what Slowking felt at that moment.

Maybe... a desperate longing to go back to the simpler days of being just a Slowpoke.

No worries, no stress.

But now...

It really felt like it had become a model corporate drone.

Not only did it have to battle, it also had to mind its strength—couldn't shatter the challenger's spirit or ruin their mindset.

And yet these young Trainers had worse mental resilience by the day.

Before the battle, they'd boast about sweeping the gym.

After the battle, they'd just mentally collapse on the spot.

Then Slowking had to figure out how to comfort them.

Seriously now—were these people really cut out to be Trainers?

Did they really think they were invincible or something?

Sigh.

Life was so hard.

Maybe being a stray Pokémon wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Slumping onto the couch, Slowking felt like all its brain cells had been wrung dry.

"You worked hard today, Slowking," Natsume said warmly.

"I'll make it up to you tonight—your favorite Pokéblock's ready."

Patting the tired Slowking on the head, Natsume handed it a handful of specially made energy blocks.

These were the ones he had temporarily named "Slowking No. 1," a name that would probably stick forever.

At the mention of its favorite food, a spark of life suddenly flickered back into Slowking's blank eyes.

It adjusted its sitting posture, trying to look just a tiny bit proud as it perched on the couch.

Ahem, well... maybe farm life isn't so bad after all.

Sure, it was tiring, a bit heartbreaking, and sometimes downright exhausting...

But still, wasn't it pretty nice?

Taking advantage of the other Pokémon not paying attention, Slowking quickly stuffed the pokeblocks into its mouth, savoring them carefully.

Mm, not bad at all.

It seemed like Natsume's cooking skills had improved again.

This... this is the meaning of my life here, Slowking thought fondly.

Then, deliberately leaving one block aside, it held it up to the Shellder clamped onto its head.

Normally silent and just playing the part of the crown, the Shellder stuck out its tongue and slurped the block into its mouth, slowly savoring it.

Even though Slowking was technically the main body and Shellder absorbed nutrients secondhand when Slowking ate, it still felt good to treat the little guy directly now and then.

I'm such a great guy, Slowking thought proudly.

Patting its belly, it stretched out contentedly on the couch.

All its earlier resentment had melted away completely.

Truly, Slowking had become the perfect corporate drone.

No matter how much he wanted the world to explode during work hours, once he was off the clock and had a good meal, the world didn't seem so bad anymore.

Being alive wasn't so bad either.

"Caaw-caaw!"

Outside the door, Corviknight squatted and watched the warm scene inside with envy.

Its body had grown so large that it couldn't fit through the door anymore.

All it could do was stare longingly inside.

So—

Corviknight turned and waddled into the backyard, opening the glass door and quietly waiting to be served.

Caaw-chan is just a bird, okay? No nimble little hands. Gotta rely on others to bring me food.

Watching the busy Lopunny bustling around, Corviknight couldn't help but let out a few delighted caws.

Initially, the house had only one main entrance.

But later, Natsume realized that most of his Pokémon weren't too keen on using doors—and Pokémon like Corviknight couldn't even fit—so he had a little garden set up in the back, complete with a second entrance.

And it turned out, they really loved it.

Persian had even made the backyard its go-to sunbathing spot.

This was all thanks to Bellossom's hard work.

After Natsume handed over the responsibility of gardening, Bellossom had put a lot of thought into it.

At the time, Natsume had also been thinking about sprucing up the backyard, so Bellossom took it as a chance to practice.

Maybe it had some natural artistic flair, because after Bellossom's careful tending, the little garden turned out incredibly cozy.

A winding pebble path led out of the garden.

Flowers of various easy-to-grow types lined both sides.

It wasn't dazzling or extravagant, but it had its own special charm.

Near the exit, there was a swing woven from vines, next to a big fruit tree.

Bellossom didn't even know what kind of tree it was.

Mew had dropped it off one day, so they just went ahead and planted it.

"Move over a bit."

Carrying dishes out, Natsume didn't hesitate to give Corviknight's feathery butt a swift kick when he saw the mischievous grin on its beak.

Seriously, what was going through that bird's mind?

Day in, day out, it never acted proper.

Sometimes, Natsume really wondered:

Where did this child's upbringing go wrong?

"Meow~"

Trailing behind, Persian imitated Natsume by giving Corviknight's butt a disdainful little kick of its own, then shot it a look full of contempt.

Afterward, it gracefully trotted back to Natsume's side.

"Caaw?"

Corviknight's brain spun furiously.

'Okay, Natsume kicking me? Fine. He feeds me, houses me—heck, kick me more if you want.'

'But YOU, you little furball?!'

Glaring at Persian's retreating back, Corviknight's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Looks like it's time to challenge you for the thousandth time once we're back.

Corviknight was filled with confidence.

Just ten more wins, and it would finally rack up ten victories against Persian.

Which, rounded up, was practically a hundred wins!

Meaning—it totally dominated Persian!

Heh heh, you puny little kitty—

Just you wait!

After fantasizing about a hundred different ways to defeat Persian, Corviknight felt much better.

It even hummed happily to itself.

"Alright, that's about everything."

Setting down the desserts, Natsume gave the room a final inspection.

He wasn't worried about much—mainly, he needed to check the snacks and sweets.

Because let's be honest, that's what this gang was really here for.

Normally, Natsume didn't let them have too many sweets or snacks.

Because once they started, they had zero self-control.

Natsume had no doubt: if he locked Corviknight and Mew in a warehouse full of desserts...

By nightfall, he'd have two bloated balls and a floor covered in crumbs.

And yes, Pokémon can get fat.

Right, little chonky bird?

And you too, the pink kitty who recently realized she was putting on weight.

Yep—thanks to Natsume's generous feeding, quite a few Pokémon on the farm were starting to look a little rounder these days.

Those guys all ended up being thrown to Shiny Furret by Natsume for some serious drilling.

At this rate, Natsume suspected his farm would soon be crawling with a bunch of pot-bellied Pokémon.

Who knows, they might even develop a special regional form.

Corviknight—Farm Form.

Its defining trait: legs so absurdly strong from being too fat to fly, while its once-broad wings gradually shriveled away.

Wait a second, isn't that just a dodo bird?!

Ahem, anyway, back on topic.

Normally, Natsume kept a tight rein on how much snacks and sweets the Pokémon could have.

But once in a while was fine.

Just think of it as a cheat meal.

"Alright, time to eat!"

Cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, Natsume shouted toward the house.

The moment his voice echoed out, the whole building came alive with excitement.

First on the scene was the flying squad.

Mew, riding on Togetic's back, burst through the window and landed in a full superhero pose, sparkling with flair.

Hot on its heels, Mismagius and Dusknoir phased right through the walls.

That's the advantage of being a Ghost-type Pokémon!

Then Hisuian Zoroark casually vaulted over the windowsill with one hand, pulling off a stylish hurdle jump.

Even though it jumped down from the second floor, it landed light as a feather.

It was clear it had practiced that move countless times.

After Hisuian Zoroark, the rest of the Pokémon poured out of the house one after another.

Even Minccino, who had been tidying up clothes, tossed Natsume's laundry onto the bed and bolted out.

Clothes could wait until after the feast.

Besides, it's that lazy mutt Natsume's clothes, not mine.

If anyone in the world had the right to call Natsume a lazy mutt, without question, it was Minccino.

The cleaning of all the farm's buildings, big and small, was handled by Minccino, even the warehouse that Natsume barely visited.

Sometimes Minccino would even drag out the little Pokémon hiding and playing in the warehouse, give them a good scrubbing, then stuff them back inside.

This is the unshakable resolve of me, Minccino—the self-proclaimed Minister of Hygiene!

Soon, the little garden was packed with Pokémon.

Fortunately, the garden was fairly spacious, so it wasn't too crowded... yet.

Plus, larger Pokémon like Ting-Lu had the sense to wait outside the garden.

They were getting their share anyway, so standing wherever didn't matter.

"Alright, let's get started."

Feeling the eager stares from all directions, Natsume didn't drag things out and directly announced the start of tonight's feast.

Mainly because Natsume's public speaking skills had always been... pretty tragic.

Those inspirational speeches before a gathering? Yeah, not his thing.

"...Wait, hold on."

Suddenly, Natsume froze in thought.

Looking at himself now, his "knowledge blind spots" seemed... dangerously vast.

Poor language skills, average cooking, no particular hobbies, and no real talents to show off.

Was he basically just a human Pokéblock production machine?

He thought about it for a moment but decided not to dwell on it too much.

Hey, having even one specialized skill was already better than most!

These days, plenty of people spend more than a decade in school and still come out knowing nothing but studying.

Not particularly great at academics, no life skills, no social experience, and absolutely no practical talents.

They felt like they were somehow unique, yet couldn't explain how they were different from anyone else.

Just an instinctive sense of dissatisfaction.

Of course, it wasn't entirely their fault.

It was just that they had given up a lot for the sake of studying.

"Caw-caw!"

Outside the garden, Corviknight was scarfing down snacks by the beakful.

Its previous stash of binge-watching snacks had been stolen by a certain pink cat.

Leaving it feeling oddly empty and incomplete during its recent TV sessions.

It had been suffering, man.

But no more!

Tonight, every lost Pokéblock would be avenged!

Battle!

Mid-bite, Corviknight suddenly entered a fiery fighting spirit mode.

Which made Ting-Lu standing nearby look dead serious.

'Wait... were the snacks tampered with?'

Suspiciously eyeing its own bowl of snacks, Ting-Lu contemplated for a moment—

And then kept eating without a care in the world.

'Whatever. I'm a Legendary Pokémon. I can handle this.'

'I mean, come on, you can't just stop eating because you're scared the food's been tempered with, right?'

'Plus, that dumb bird's already eaten a bunch and seems fine, so I'll be fine too!'

Reassuring itself, Ting-Lu unconsciously started eating even faster.

For this feast, Natsume had made things easier by setting it up buffet-style.

Help yourself if you want to eat.

But if you dawdled, you might not even get crumbs.

There were plenty of shameless guys around, after all.

"Yimo!"

Jumping up onto the table brought over by Indeedee, Emolga grabbed a giant Poképuff nearly the size of its own body and started gnawing away.

After a few bites, it casually shoved the rest into the hands of a passing Pokémon.

At least, to Emolga, it was a stranger.

Holding the forcibly gifted Poképuff, Dusknoir looked at Emolga posing cutely atop the table, a bit puzzled.

But it didn't mind.

It casually wiped the Poképuff clean and swallowed it in one gulp.

"Yimo!"

Many thanks!

Seeing Dusknoir's reaction, Emolga chirped in gratitude.

Small Pokémon really were at a disadvantage at times like this.

If it tried to finish everything it picked up, it would fill up after just a little.

But wasting food would get it seriously scolded by Natsume.

And that was not something Emolga wanted to experience.

So it had to rely on the help of other Pokémon~

For wild Pokémon, there weren't really any taboos about this.

If it's edible, it's fair game.

Some wild Pokémon would even eat leftovers without a second thought.

Thus, Dusknoir had zero psychological burden devouring the Poképuff.

It even promised Emolga that if Emolga couldn't finish more food, it could hand it over anytime.

Emolga: Wait, someone actually wants to eat leftovers?!

Dusknoir: Wait, someone's seriously leaving behind this delicious food?!

Neither could understand the other's logic, yet both felt like they'd scored a major win.

Maybe this was just a difference in worldview?

"Meow~"

Trailing close behind Emolga, Meowstic gave a soft hum.

Then, eyes sparkling, it stared at the banquet before it.

So much good food! Meow's happy!

Although its heart was pounding with excitement, Meowstic kept a straight face.

Only, the speed at which it was stuffing food into its mouth quietly accelerated.

It had been locked in a daily mental battle with that dumb teacher lately.

It had been ages since it had a proper meal.

Seizing tonight's rare opportunity, Meowstic and Emolga made a pact: a mutual non-aggression treaty.

Just for tonight, no pranks, no tricks. Everyone would eat in peace.

If they caused a commotion and knocked over any food, Natsume's wrath would be immediate and merciless.

And if that happened, Meowstic had no doubt that life would get very hard for a while.

Natsume had nearly zero tolerance for food waste.

Anyone who dared waste food... would be sent out to forage for themselves afterward.

"How does it taste?"

"This is a recipe I learned online. Not sure if it turned out okay."

"I personally think it's decent, but I don't know if it's to your liking."

Aside from the Pokémon, Mei and Natsume were also enjoying their dinner.

They had both searched online for ideas and thrown together a lavish feast.

To keep it a surprise, neither of them had told the other what they were cooking.

They whipped everything up separately and only now brought it out.

Natsume had picked a mix of homestyle dishes and a few trending internet recipes.

Things like sizzling shrimp patties and gooey cheese-stuffed mushrooms.

Mei had chosen a more refined selection of dishes.

She placed a greater emphasis on nutritional balance when picking the menu.

After all, for many girls, there are two things that are absolutely non-negotiable:

one, letting their figure go; and two, going full glam with makeup only for no one to even notice.

Determined to satisfy her cravings without compromising her figure, Mei had seriously put in the effort to study it.

...Though, to be fair, the results weren't exactly stellar.

"This is amazing!"

"Your cooking is incredible, Natsume!"

After tasting the dishes Natsume brought out, Mei gave him a big thumbs-up with an expression of pure admiration.

Although Natsume often liked to joke that he was nothing more than a production machine whose only skill was making Pokéblocks,

in Mei's eyes, he was an incredibly capable person.

It felt like there was nothing Natsume couldn't do.

"Mew~"

Atop Natsume's head, Mew, cradling a huge apple in its little arms, was scanning the table intently.

Eventually, it somehow found a chunk of cheese.

A small flame ignited in its paw, melting the cheese into a gooey mess,

and it spread it generously over the apple before taking a huge bite.

Immediately, its tiny face scrunched up in distaste.

The flavor... was weird.

Still, holding its breath, Mew quickly chomped through the rest of the apple in just a few bites.

Then, without missing a beat, it resumed wandering around the gathering.

Was there anything else delicious around?

How exciting~

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