Chapter Sixteen: Unique Ingredients of Evergreen City

"Me? Well..." Heath scratched his head, momentarily stunned by Sakaki’s question. In the world of Pokémon, traveling is a dream every child yearns for, especially embarking on a journey with their own Pokémon. It’s much like the college entrance exam back in Huaxia—almost every child goes through it. Heath had once envied such a life; he too wished to travel with his Pokémon.

But now, Heath had other pursuits.

"For me, I think I’d rather earn more money, save up, and open a restaurant to welcome all sorts of guests," Heath replied with a cheerful smile. Traveling sounded exciting, but the idea of running his own restaurant seemed just as appealing.

"Haha, that’s exactly the kind of thing you’d say, Heath." Sakaki laughed heartily, while the Boss Cat nearby flicked its tail.

"But if you want to be a great chef, traveling might actually be the best way. This world is vast, and every city has its own unique ingredients. If you don’t go out and explore, isn’t that a loss?" Sakaki wiped away tears of laughter, then smiled at Heath.

Heath nodded. He had considered this before. Viridian City was an inland city; although Pallet Town nearby connected to the sea, the seafood there was limited.

Heath had heard of some special ingredients found in Pewter City, including a kind called Pewter Rice Fruit, which, when eaten, could help Pokémon recover from abnormal statuses. However, its taste wasn’t great, so it wasn’t very popular.

"Mr. Sakaki, have you ever tasted any unusual dishes?" Heath asked curiously, wondering what someone of Sakaki’s status might have eaten.

"Me? I’ve tasted plenty, but the most memorable one… would probably be the seafood sashimi from Vermilion City," Sakaki mused, offering a rather unexpected answer.

Heath’s expression grew peculiar. Was there a phenomenon of eating Pokémon in this world? Naturally, there was. Leaving aside the Farfetch’d he had caught, Heath knew of many examples. There was Miltank's Moo Moo Milk, and Combee honey. But in Kanto, the one that troubled the League most, and required special handling permits, was Magikarp.

Magikarp—a peculiar Pokémon, weak in its early stages. Despite being a water-type, it couldn’t even defeat a Charmander, mastered few moves, and rarely evolved into Gyarados. In the Indigo League, Magikarp occupied the lowest rung of the ecosystem. Yet, this lackluster Pokémon was actually the League’s biggest headache.

Magikarp could spawn in huge numbers, crowding waterways. But the key issue was its abundance of bones and scant meat, so few were willing to eat it. All these factors led to frequent Magikarp infestations in the League. It was the first Pokémon for which the League issued a processing permit—overabundant Magikarp would be captured, turned into feed, or buried.

"Don’t overthink it. Vermilion City mostly sells ordinary fish," Sakaki immediately saw through Heath’s thoughts and waved his hand with a wry smile.

Once Sakaki finished his meal and paid, Heath finally had a moment of leisure. He glanced at his supplies—there wasn’t much left.

"I’m earning much faster now," Heath counted his takings for the day, nodding in satisfaction. At this rate, if he kept working hard for another year or two, he could probably rent a place and open his restaurant.

But Sakaki’s words had stirred something in Heath. Pokémon world logistics were developing, but not yet mature. Ordering all the ingredients he needed without leaving home was still difficult.

[Chef’s Path: Collect unique ingredients from every town. Study the best cooking methods for these ingredients. For each town completed, you will receive a random reward.]

As Heath pondered his future, a text box suddenly popped up.

"Unique ingredients from every city?" Heath stroked his chin. The timing of this task was impeccable, helping him resolve his earlier indecision.

"So, what’s the special ingredient for Viridian City?" Heath frowned. Having lived here so long, he truly couldn’t recall anything particularly unique.

He was also curious: what about Pallet Town? Surely it wouldn’t ask him to cook ‘Super Pallet Fried Meat’, would it? Whenever he thought of Viridian, ‘Super Pallet’ was what came to mind.

"Heath, what are you staring at? You haven’t blinked while ogling your sister’s legs. What are you up to? Want me to get covered in something white?" A familiar voice rang out. Heath’s lips twitched—he knew exactly who had arrived.

"Aya… You really are…" Heath gazed at the Officer Jenny before him, knowing at a glance who it was.

The top veteran among Jennys, the fighter among fighters—Jenny Aya, a woman with a penchant for risqué remarks.

Whenever Heath met Jenny Aya, he worried about being teased by this old rogue. Today was no exception; if only he hadn’t been lost in thought.

"By the way, Aya, do you know what Viridian City’s specialty ingredient is?" Heath quickly interjected before Jenny Aya could speak, not wanting to hear whatever she had in mind.

"Hmm? Specialty ingredient?" Jenny Aya grinned mischievously and pinched Heath’s cheek, stretching his mouth painfully.

"I’m not talking about my pancakes!" Heath slapped her hand away, finally freeing himself from her torment.

"Hmph, Viridian doesn’t have anything particularly delicious. If I had to say… I remember hearing that there used to be a special fruit in Viridian Forest, called the Viridian Berry. Eating it supposedly granted incredible psychic powers—or at least, that’s how the story goes." Jenny Aya propped her chin on one hand, sitting atop her motorcycle, and gave Heath an answer.

"Viridian Berry?" Heath was stunned. Why had he never heard of such a thing?