Chapter Sixty-Four: After One Night, Zoroa Had Grown Significantly

Heath covered his face, feeling utterly foolish. Honestly, if he had known Farfetch’d would be so brimming with confidence, he would have named something like Yangzhou fried rice instead. Though that had its own challenges, compared to “San Bu Zhan,” Heath would much rather teach Farfetch’d how to make Yangzhou fried rice—at least it was a relatively simple dish.

“San Bu Zhan? What’s that?” Junsha Maple asked, her curiosity piqued. She truly had never heard of the dish, and Heath had never mentioned it before either.

Heath chewed on some cooked bean sprouts, contemplating how best to answer her question.

“Actually, San Bu Zhan is just a kind of scrambled eggs. The main ingredients are eggs, starch, sugar, and water,” Heath summarized simply.

“Then why call it San Bu Zhan? Wouldn’t scrambled eggs be a more fitting name?” Zorua, having finished a piece of meat, asked in confusion. She thought ‘scrambled eggs’ sounded much more appropriate.

“Because once it’s made, it doesn’t stick to the plate, to the chopsticks, or to your teeth. That’s why it’s called San Bu Zhan—‘the three non-sticks,’” Heath sighed. If one had to say it was particularly difficult, he actually didn’t think so.

But it was exhausting—so much so that anyone who made it would wish for a day’s rest afterward. What’s more, San Bu Zhan doesn’t stick to the pan or the hands, either.

For all these reasons, the dish required the chef to constantly toss and stir the ingredients for twenty to thirty minutes straight, and a cast iron wok gets heavy fast. Only with such effort could one produce the glossy, smooth San Bu Zhan.

Its tediousness was what made the dish such a hassle.

Seeing Farfetch’d’s unwavering confidence, Heath sighed again. He figured this period might at least help him train his arm muscles. Who knew how many tries it would take for Farfetch’d to master the dish?

After enjoying hotpot with Maple, Heath cleaned up the tableware, washed the dishes, and returned to his room. Though he had the necessary ingredients for San Bu Zhan, he was quite tired after a long day and decided to teach Farfetch’d tomorrow.

“Trainer, your place is so boring. Don’t you have any good books around?” Zorua sprawled across Heath’s desk, flipping through a book titled “The Pokémon Encyclopedia.”

“Most of my books are textbooks and such. If you want to read novels, you’ll have to go to Snowflake Bookstore in Evergreen City, but I don’t know if they allow Pokémon inside,” Heath said, glancing at Zorua as he hung his clothes in the wardrobe.

“How strange. Isn’t it said that teenage boys always hide magazines with big bosoms and even bigger ones in their rooms?” Zorua jumped off the desk and peeked under Heath’s bed.

Heath’s mouth twitched. What on earth was wrong with this Zorua? And what kind of books had that old rogue Asura been hiding?

“What else did you read at that old man’s place?” Heath felt it was his duty as Zorua’s trainer to correct these unhealthy interests.

“Before I ran away, I was reading ‘The Enchanting Chronicles of Lickitung and Victreebel.’ It was actually really good. The author’s writing is excellent, and the descriptions of the scenes and movements are just...” Zorua’s eyes lit up with excitement as she recounted her reading.

Heath expressionlessly buried his face in his hands. He regretted asking. He really shouldn’t have questioned Zorua about her reading habits—none of her choices were remotely normal.

Just thinking about Lickitung and Victreebel, Heath could almost imagine how that novel described those two Pokémon, and what their “enchanting chronicles” entailed. But he had absolutely no desire to actually think about it.

“I feel like I’m going to have nightmares again tonight... Oh Arceus, please let Darkrai stay far away tonight...” Heath groaned, collapsing onto his bed. For the first time, he felt a sense of dread about going to sleep.

He had to admit, Darkrai’s power to induce nightmares was truly formidable—so much so that it defied belief. Just one nightmare had left Heath completely exhausted.

With an uneasy heart, he gradually drifted off. Perhaps because Darkrai had visited before, Heath slept soundly this time, not even dreaming, and woke up only when morning came.

When he awoke the next day, Heath felt a heaviness on his chest. Puzzled, he opened his eyes and saw Zorua curled up asleep on his chest.

When Zorua slept, she curled into a ball, looking rather like a cat—quite adorable, actually, except she was a bit on the heavy side.

Resigned, Heath picked Zorua up, shaking her gently until she blinked awake.

“Sorry, Trainer, but I don’t think I can help you at the stall today. My bed is calling me—it seems to have sealed me in with some kind of binding move...” Zorua struggled valiantly to crawl back to bed, but in the end, under Heath’s merciless grip, she was carried out of the bedroom by the scruff of her neck.

In the bathroom, after releasing Farfetch’d, Heath began his morning routine. But today, a small incident occurred during his preparations.

“...Did you just... lose a tooth?” Heath stared blankly at the sharp tooth in the sink, then looked at Zorua in confusion.

“I did not! I didn’t! You’re the one who lost a tooth!” Zorua bristled instantly, but Heath quickly noticed she was indeed missing a tooth.

He scratched his head. He wasn’t a Pokémon Professor, and the Quartz League didn’t have any information on Zorua, so he had no idea what this meant.

Still, the most likely explanation was that she was losing baby teeth—a sign that Zorua was slowly growing up.

“What’s so bad about that? Losing teeth is a sign of growing up, isn’t it?” Heath said with a cheerful smile.

“Growing up? Are you happy that I’m growing up?” Zorua asked, gazing at Heath in confusion. He nodded without a second thought.

Instantly, Zorua’s tail dropped, and she looked at him in horror. Could he really be a legendary beast in disguise? Was he planning to do something once she was grown?

Heath, oblivious to her reaction, finished getting ready and set out with Zorua and Farfetch’d.

“Hey, Zorua, can you explain to me why your tail always tucks away whenever I pick you up?” Heath asked, puzzled. Overnight, Zorua seemed to have changed.

Could it be that Darkrai visited again last night? But that seemed unlikely—after all, he hadn’t had any nightmares.