Chapter 87: Cooking for Relaxation

"You want to take a leave?"

Qiao Yijing gripped her phone, feeling a bit incredulous.

"Yes, I'm planning to take a week off. The teacher said that's a bit too long for her to approve, so she suggested I report to the dean," Zhu Suihan replied. "About the Yulong family’s commission, I've got some inspiration, but I need some time. I might even need to set up a whole research site by the Great Lake."

Qiao Yijing: ...

"I'm heading to Yanmo City right now!"

As expected, her precious student was being affected by that commission!

Not being able to wreak havoc over at the Dragon's Den, Qiao Yijing felt her frustration was hard to quell.

"Hold on, Dean, calm down," Zhu Suihan said. "I remembered something. The ancient King Carp was indeed powerful—at least in terms of strength, it could rival the league's heavily cultivated starter Pokémon."

"Oh?" Qiao Yijing cooled down instantly. If this could help Zhu Suihan recall something, the leave would certainly be approved, and she wouldn’t need to go to Yanmo City herself.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes. In my memories, there was a scene where a King Carp leapt out of the water, soared into the air, and fired a Water Gun at a Staraptor, snatching the opponent’s berry."

Wait, such absurd events happened in ancient times?

Her impression of King Carp’s strength only came from some exaggerated ancient text records, but Zhu Suihan actually remembered those.

Just how old was her student, really?

Qiao Yijing shook her head, "Alright, I’ll approve your leave, but you need to rest properly—don’t exhaust yourself digging up those fragmented things."

Zhu Suihan glanced at Lapras and Milky, smiling as she promised Qiao Yijing.

"Don’t worry, Dean. Even if I wanted to, these two at home wouldn’t allow it."

"Woo!"

"Milu!"

The two little ones replied loudly, their determination overflowing.

Exactly! The trainer’s health comes first!

Who cares about human-shaped Pokémon not needing sleep—we’re not listening to that nonsense!

Once the call ended, Zhu Suihan checked the class schedule; no classes this afternoon. To be honest, when applying for leave, Zhu Suihan had already mastered the little tricks from a past life.

Back then it was to rest more; this time, it was to focus intensely on research without distractions.

"But it still feels absurd."

If you invested without concern for cost, you could indeed make King Carp powerful—after evolving into Gyarados, with a leap in its life essence, it could go even further.

But to put it bluntly, that’s just increasing the cultivation cost, not unlocking King Carp’s theoretical potential.

Zhu Suihan wanted to dive back into that mental movie fragment to gather more material, but the response was insufficient research points.

If this really was a movie being played, then the next scenes were probably paywalled content, requiring higher research points.

Maybe things like King Carp’s evolution into Gyarados, or the daily training routines of that bandit.

"Whatever those training routines are, the problem must lie in the body."

Did the injection of emotional energy grant ancient King Carp more power?

Zhu Suihan shook her head instinctively—it didn’t seem likely.

At least in the Hisui era, King Carp was already weak. It was just that everyone’s first impression of Pokémon was mostly fear, so there was no research direction.

Emotional energy—also known as the "power of bonds" in the Pokémon world—was something impossible in those wild super-ancient times; the foundational conditions just weren’t there.

Not to mention the "Genesis Era" where legendary beasts roamed everywhere, the "Dark Age" forcibly controlling Pokémon and sparking all sorts of "Monster Wars"—even less so.

Perhaps they’d be interested in Gyarados, but only to capture them, not to covet King Carp.

Besides, even if they understood the evolutionary relationship, they wouldn’t invest; it takes too long to see results.

Take Beedrill, for example—fast growth, decent combat power. Isn’t that more appealing?

With flying ability, fire-breathing, electricity, and bomb-dropping monsters, they were basically the prototype of wild air forces in that era.

King Carp? As a decorative monster, it was just taking up space.

With the time spent cultivating it, the enemy’s monster army could have already flattened your crystal palace.

"The problem is with the body, but for now, I don’t know what ancient King Carp was like."

Relying on memory, Zhu Suihan used software on the computer to sketch some vivid scenes.

Lapras and Milky glanced over, immediately becoming worried.

The trainer’s artistic skill was… hard to comment on. Clearly an abstract art prodigy, a future master.

If Zhu Suihan hadn’t sorted and labeled each sketch so seriously, they’d suspect their trainer had lost her mind.

"Woo woo!"

Alright, stop whatever you’re doing—it’s nap time now!

Lapras used an Ice Beam to freeze a layer of ice under Zhu Suihan’s chair, then nudged it out with her head.

Milky, waiting at the door, timed her opening perfectly. Sisters working together—impressive results.

Zhu Suihan: ...

It felt like being pushed around in a wheelchair, but Lapras’ control of Ice Beam was getting stronger—great progress.

Maybe one day, she could fire Ice Beam skyward to create a shower of petals, then have partners unleash tornado-like storms for a one-time snowstorm with extra punch.

"Milu~, Milu~"

Milky flew onto Zhu Suihan’s head, weaving herself a temporary nest with the patience of knitting a sweater, then nestled in comfortably, her breathing soon slow and steady.

"Woo."

Lapras happily slipped into her pool. With Zhu Suihan constantly adding resources based on Lapras’ condition, the water quality was superb.

If not for the academy’s wild Pokémon knowing it was private, they might have come to drink.

"Take a nap, but even when I sleep, it feels like I’m still grinding."

Trying to rest with eyes closed, the mental Three Kingdoms battle was draining.

He knew the correct answer, but not the process or anything else.

If it were an exam, just writing the answer would earn zero marks from a strict teacher.

Now that he’d decided to look for bodily issues, he needed to bring in both King Carp and Gyarados for research.

Alright, energy cubes made with Chumoku Berry as the main ingredient would go to Gyarados—no need to take his Water Gem as payment, just a research reward.

Doing something to shift his mood...

The breeze brushed by, sunlight warmed, and the sweet scent from Milky on his head relaxed Zhu Suihan.

A bit tired of the cafeteria—maybe cook a meal himself?

From a past life, Zhu Suihan remembered a friend mentioning that while studying, he’d occasionally cook with classmates for fun.

They called it culinary entertainment—not at all like Zhu Suihan’s daily cooking back then.

"Let’s do this. Hopefully no weird dark cuisine results."

Nap time over, Zhu Suihan opened his eyes and headed to the academy supermarket with Lapras and Milky.

Apart from the lack of sales assistants, it was no different from any other supermarket—campus card self-checkout, very convenient.

"Slowpoke tail meat, high-grade leek from cultivated Farfetch’d, shrimp claw and crab claw meat, premium oil extracted from Snorlax, coconut milk from Exeggutor."

Too bad there weren’t any Alola region specialties on the shelves—otherwise he could grab some Sweet Bamboo juice to drink.

"Oh, right, can’t forget this."

Chansey eggs—packed with nutrition.

Zhu Suihan pushed the cart, Lapras following and occasionally eyeing products, signaling the trainer if she fancied something.

Milky, meanwhile, surveyed all the foods with an "Emperor above all" attitude.

The cream of this empire reigns supreme—the rest are mere ants beneath me!

"Alright, that’s about everything."

Zhu Suihan paid and packed everything into the incense burner, returning to the dorm with his two little companions.

"Woo?"

"We’re cooking today, noodles for lunch."

Zhu Suihan rolled up his sleeves, cracked eggs into flour to knead the dough, adding some ground berry spices.

Hand-pulled noodles? Forget it—no skill for that, just stick to the basics.

Setting the dough aside, Zhu Suihan retrieved the Water Gem and scales gifted by Gyarados.

"Lapras, Water Gun."

"Woo!"

A Water Gun washed the gem and scales clean. He threw them into the incense burner to extract energy, combined it with the leek, coconut milk, and oil to make energy cubes.

Strictly speaking, these were spice cubes.

Freshening berries and algae fruit jam went into the pot, followed by premium water—high heat for boiling.

He put the spice cubes into the seasoning bag and started preparing toppings using berries and assorted meats.

"Bought enough ingredients, so I’ll make all kinds. You can choose your own flavors."

Savory, spicy, sour—there was something for everyone. No worries about leftovers; at home, food was always about having enough, never wasting any.

"Woo?"

Why not sweet flavor?

Zhu Suihan shook his head, "There’s a meat sauce made from tail meat and sweet-sour berries—I think you’ll like that."

Pure sweet noodles—he’d never seen such a thing.

Zhu Suihan took a tray from the oven, steam rising.

"Don’t worry, there’s dessert before the meal."

Berry pie, its rich sweetness fully blended into the crispy crust.

One bite—the crunchy texture was the first layer, followed by the aromatic berries and soft pastry merging, giving another level of delight.

He’d even added flower extract from Miss Skirt, leaving a lingering fragrance after eating, as if standing in a roasted orchard, each breath steeped in scent.

Lapras ate the berry pie gracefully, Zhu Suihan cut a piece into small portions and placed it before Milky, watching the little one devour it eagerly.

Given Milky’s physique, swallowing it whole was possible, but the dessert emperor felt that lacked dignity.

Besides—it was cut by the trainer!