Chapter 159: Ingredient Drops from the Lapras's Body

"Come on, let me see what my sealing technique looks like."

Mewtwo used its psychic powers to project the video from the phone screen onto the air. Zhusui Han stroked his chin, paying close attention to every single detail with utter seriousness.

[Didn't you feel anything yourself?]

"Not really. I just kept the thought in my mind that I wanted to seal that clump of fairy cream, and other than that, I didn't do anything else."

Zhusui Han scratched his head. "I didn't really feel any stamina drain either. If anything, I probably used more energy just swinging that giant spoon of yours around."

[Nothing at all? Then your sealing technique is probably still quite unrefined,]

Mewtwo said, [To be precise, the only thing we can confirm for now is that you do have talent in this area. Let's temporarily define it as the Power of Sealing.]

"I get what you mean. I've got the level, but no skills, and absolutely no proficiency."

Lapras tilted its head. "Awoo?"

Zhusui Han thought for a moment and shook his head honestly.

"When it comes to sealing, I honestly don't know anyone talented in it. To be fair, sealing techniques are way more obscure than any kind of supernatural power."

Back in the Dark Ages, there might have been quite a few people learning sealing techniques, but now, in the peaceful era of the League, hardly anyone would go out of their way to study such an almost completely useless skill.

Milcery also felt something was off. "Miru?"

Does that mean from now on you have to rely entirely on your own comprehension, Trainer?

Zhusui Han's face was full of confidence. "That's probably about it. But don't you worry, the one thing I'm never short on is comprehension."

After a late-night snack, Mewtwo was in charge of washing the dishes, while Zhusui Han bathed Lapras and Milcery. By the time Mewtwo finished the chores, it flowed seamlessly into the bedtime routine.

"See? I told you my comprehension is sufficient."

Watching Mewtwo, who could now fall asleep peacefully instead of suffering from insomnia due to overwhelming psychic powers, Zhusui Han smiled and tucked the blanket around the youngest member of the family.

*I want to research sealing technique knowledge within the limit of my research points.*

[Research points meet the introductory standards for sealing techniques. Exchanging now.]

Zhusui Han rolled his eyes upward, barely managing to adjust his sleeping posture so that at least he would look somewhat elegant when he collapsed.

[Tsk.]

Mewtwo opened its eyes in its room, gently pointed its right hand toward the air, and used its psychic powers to pull the blanket over Zhusui Han.

After tucking in this utterly irresponsible guy and checking on the status of Lapras and Milcery, Mewtwo finally rolled over with peace of mind, wrapped itself up, closed its eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

Goodnight, everyone.

Although the internship at the Pokémon Center wasn't exactly boring, it made Zhusui Han clearly realize that he was not cut out for the lifestyle of an overworked corporate drone.

Because right now, he felt a strong urge to visit the Sprout Tower in Violet City and discuss Buddhist philosophy with the elders living inside.

*Master, I can see that you and my Western teachings are destined to be connected.*

He didn't mean anything by it; he just wanted to check if their giant tower was actually a colossal Bellsprout.

And in the process, he might accidentally cause their training tower to collapse. Would you mind, Master?

"So, you see, I think there was nothing wrong with you guys having your eyes on the prize while eating from the bowl."

Zhusui Han packed his things. "If I stay idle in one place for too long, I get the itch to move around. But halfway through playing, I'll probably get bored and want to come right back to healing Pokémon."

[Is there any possibility that you're just violently bouncing back and forth between two extremes: rotting away as a shut-in and going completely wild outside?]

The days of internship and training passed quickly. During that time, the family only went out on one midnight emergency call to treat a trainer who had ventured out late at night to gather herbs and make money.

"Still, all in all, our luck was pretty good. Running into only one emergency proves that people still cherish their lives quite a bit."

Zhusui Han glanced at his report card, which bore the bold characters "Exceptionally Outstanding," and decided to toss it aside, choosing out of sight, out of mind.

Now he was really going to head out onto the main road.

Lapras looked at the report card floating in the air. "Awoo?"

"Yeah, get rid of it. Anyway, I asked Sister Hua, and this is just a notification copy for me; my actual grades have already been recorded into the academy's system."

A single Ice Beam precisely froze the document. With a flick of Milcery's hand, the impact of a Cream Bomb instantly turned the report card into frozen dust, which Mewtwo gathered together with its psychic powers and tossed into the trash can.

The coordination was quite elegant.

[It's a pity you didn't have time to participate in that cooking contest.]

Zhusui Han nodded. There was no helping that. As one of the introductory prelude events for the Indigo Plateau Conference, the cooking contest was bound to be scheduled well in advance.

Otherwise, how could they ruthlessly rake in a wave of tourism cash?

"Didn't we cook a farewell feast for the President and the others when they came to Goldenrod City? That counts as a tiny bit of participation."

The passage of time wouldn't stop just because you weren't in a certain place—just like how the Legendary Beasts remained the most dedicated corporate slaves, leaving their legends behind in every region.

Besides, he wondered if Brock would invite Erika and Sabrina out for dinner after the battles ended. Those two could definitely be considered beauties, to say the least.

As for the minor detail of inviting two women to dinner all at once, it was no problem at all for Brock, whose motto was basically: you are all my wings.

Zhusui Han stroked Milcery. "Of course, I didn't forget to prepare some of our homemade fairy cream for the President and the others."

When the President saw the cream, she was pleasantly surprised, declaring outright that its quality far exceeded anything they had prepared, making it absolute top-tier ingredients.

Filled with happiness and rich in nutrients, that fairy cream would definitely become the secret weapon that allowed the President and her team to pull off a massive lead, provided the cooking contest gave them a suitable prompt.

Milcery placed her hands on her hips. "Miru!"

I am the strongest!

Lapras, on the other hand, fell into deep contemplation, wondering if there was anything on her own body that could be used as an ingredient.

If Milcery could do it, why couldn't she, Dragon-chan, do the same?

"Strictly speaking, you actually could. I checked some intelligence on the Alola region through the Rocket Group's channels."

Zhusui Han stroked Lapras's head. "There are a lot of Lapras in the Alola region, and most of them live in the wild, so their shells are covered with a thick layer of keratin."

Lapras looked puzzled. "Awoo?"

My shell is edible?

That almost made her want to ask little Mewtwo to hack off a piece for her to taste.

[Zhusui Han bathes us every day, so there's no way a layer of keratin like that exists on your body.]

Zhusui Han nodded. "Right, that kind of keratin usually appears on wild Lapras. Scraping it off is actually beneficial for their movement and growth."

If left untreated, it would probably be like a child carrying an increasingly heavy schoolbag, practically bending their spine.

"In the Alola region, wild ones usually rely on other Pokémon to help out, like Mareanie or Pikipek. That layer of keratin has good nutritional components, and the overly hard parts can even be used to build nests."

"Of course, Meowth and Bidoof have it too, though the latter aren't native Pokémon, so there's less research data on them."

Zhusui Han swiped his phone to show the trio the research data and pictures on the screen.

"Awoo?"

"As for the parts that are too hard, there's a way to deal with those too, because Crabrawler and Crabominable will step in."

Those noble Fighting-type Pokémon grasp unique combat techniques distinct from ordinary moves right from daily life, or even from birth—they are born fighters.

For the Crabrawler family, those overly hardened keratin layers make fantastic training props, helping them master more refined force-output techniques.

Lapras nudged Zhusui Han. "Awoo."

Compared to all that, she was much more curious about how to eat that layer of keratin.

"Take it back, clean it up, grind it into powder, and steep it in water. It's basically a health supplement and medicinal herb. However, considering wild Lapras have different habits, the effectiveness of the keratin components really tests a physician's ability to discern quality."

Zhusui Han explained, "For Water-type Pokémon, it's also a fantastic attribute-enhancing ingredient. The Aether Foundation even seems to have developed a line of cosmetics out of it, and sales are great."

[Speaking of the Aether Foundation, didn't Sabrina call you a few days ago?]

"Oh right, she seemed to mention that the Aether Foundation plans to clear my alias's name, feeling that I shouldn't be the kind of person on a wanted poster."

Zhusui Han shook his head. "Still, at best, the League would just add a note calling me eccentric—or to put it nicely, both righteous and wicked, acting entirely on my own whims."

Mewtwo nodded, and secretly resolved to make sure Zhusui Han wouldn't drift too far in the direction of being both righteous and wicked.

"Let's go, everyone. Get ready to embrace a schedule of insane overtime."

After all, this wasn't the very first League Conference; all the necessary facilities at the Indigo Stadium were already fully equipped, and the tasks for Joy and Officer Jenny wouldn't be overwhelmingly heavy. Heading over a few days early just to get familiar with the work environment was more than enough.

[Where are you planning to wander off to?]

Zhusui Han thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up—a look that made even Mewtwo's heart skip a beat.

He was just asking casually!

As for Lapras and Milcery, they were all about fun and happiness, expressing that they were fine with going anywhere.

As a rule of thumb, no matter where they went, their Trainer always had a way to keep them entertained.

Even if the family were currently stranded in a desolate desert, both Lapras and Milcery believed Zhusui Han could dig up a historical ruin right from beneath the sand.

There might even be an ancient Pokémon sealed inside, which would double as a great way to get some exercise.

"We can't go anywhere too far. Just in case some special situation pops up and requires us to assemble early, that wouldn't be good."

Zhusui Han clapped his hands. "I've got it. Let's head through Victory Road, and once we've had our fill of fun, we'll go straight to the Indigo Plateau."

The geographical relationship between Victory Road and the Indigo Plateau was much like a campus's academic district and its back mountain; walking straight through would lead you right to the Indigo Plateau.

Victory Road was also part of the final trials for the Elite Four, though it wasn't a completely sealed-off zone—rather, it felt more like an ultra-high-level grinding area.

Passing through Victory Road was the final assessment, and tourists were actually allowed to spectate. It was somewhat like those high-difficulty bicycle races from his past life where you came at your own risk, fully open to visitors and live streaming.

Overall, entering required a certain threshold of strength, such as a specific number of badges or high placement in tournaments.

Researchers also needed certain achievements and channels, such as working under a research group leader who brought students along for auxiliary tasks.

Establishing a threshold was necessary to prevent arrogant fools from wandering into Victory Road just to throw their lives away.

Otherwise, they'd just create extra work for the Indigo League staff who would have to go rescue them.

Mewtwo let out a sigh of relief.

Victory Road?

That was much better. For a second, it thought Zhusui Han was actually planning to visit Violet City.

Judging by this guy's track record, the baseline result would have been the collapse of another towering structure.