February 23rd, Monday night.
Ash looked around in awe as he visited Mr. Lu’s home.
“Mr. Lu, do you live here by yourself?”
Dinner was an open-air BBQ.
Lu Ye set up a grill on the anti-corrosion wooden deck, with red coals glowing faintly in the pit.
“Scallion Pancake, bring the marinated ones from the fridge!”
Lu Ye raised his eyebrows.
From emergency food to assistant chef… this duck really put in the work.
Ash smiled as he took the ingredients from Sirfetch’d.
“Gaa~” Sirfetch’d gave a slight nod, puffed out its white chest, and picked up its leek and shield again.
“Are those two ingredients too?”
Ash swallowed. “I feel like leek and grilled meat would taste amazing together!”
“Gaa! (´థ౪థ)σ” Sirfetch’d’s hand trembled holding the leek.
Why are you eyeing my cooking tools, duck?!
I’m just an ordinary little chef duck!
“Don’t worry, I trained its skills myself—super appetizing.”
Lu Ye sniffed the spices used for marinating: cinnamon, star anise, dried tangerine peel, cardamom…
Suddenly, Mr. Lu paused.
“Why… is there a Revival Herb in the spice mix?”
A wave of aura surged from afar.
Blastoise poked its head out of its shell, adjusted its sunglasses, and then shrank back in.
There were guests in the house, and Blastoise treated it like a battlefield… who knew if this guest was a disguised Zoroark?
Better hide in the shell and observe first!
Lu Ye twitched at the corner of his mouth.
A perfectly good BBQ was being turned into herbal medicine…
Well, that was totally his turtle’s style.
Revival Herb was extremely bitter—they’d have to brush on an extra layer of Sweet Syrup.
With practiced hands, Lu Ye casually said:
“Grill it directly on the grate or use skewers—it’s up to you.”
Ash gulped. “Got it!”
The meat on the grate sizzled, juice bubbling as rich aromas filled the air.
When the time was right, Lu Ye pinched some chili powder and sprinkled it in a flamboyant ‘salt bae’ fashion.
This step was called: injecting soul!
A gentle night breeze blew, carrying white smoke upward into the starry sky.
Under the pale blue night sky, the town was asleep while the fire on the patio lit up Lu Ye and Ash.
“Smells amazing!” Ash was drooling like crazy.
“Just about ready to eat.”
Lu Ye picked up a glossy, crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside slice of meat, bit down with a crunch, and mumbled:
“If you want rice, you can grab some from the kitchen.”
“Can I have egg fried rice?”
“Oh right!” Ash pulled out his phone and click—snapped a photo. “Gotta show everyone in the group~”
This late at night… you're actually poison-dropping at midnight?!
“I’ll take a few shots too.”
Lu Ye pulled out his phone. “Let’s make them all jealous.”
Ash suddenly yelped, “Huh? Why am I muted in the group chat?!”
Lu Ye grinned smugly.
That’s right, it was I, the one who cast the Silence Spell!
“Midnight poison-dropping? Still too green.”
Lu Ye patted Ash on the shoulder, and right in front of him, tapped [Send].
The phone buzzed, and the chat group instantly exploded.
Lu Ye: [Midnight Temptation · jpg]
Gold had just returned from the daycare and was about to reward himself with a hot cup of instant noodles.
But the moment he took one bite, before putting down his fork, he saw the chat. And immediately sank into despair.
Gold: “Mr. Lu, I beg you to be a decent human being!!”
Brock squinted, scrolled through the chat history, and opened the photo:
The meat was sizzling and juicy, with alternating fat and lean, misting the air from the grill.
Brock: “Looks like Mr. Lu’s cooking has improved.”
Marshal: “Posting a photo is one thing—but a GIF!?”
The broke girl Lily quietly swallowed and mumbled to herself:
“Eating Berries helps keep my figure… I-I'm not hungry at all! o(╥﹏╥)o”
Celadon Anemone sent a [Rolling Pikachu] emoji: “So hungry, sooo hungry…”
Gold: “My cup noodles instantly lost all flavor!”
Lu Ye: “@Gold, goodnight~”
Gold: “How am I supposed to sleep ?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻”
Lorelei: “Can we mute the group owner? This is too much!”
Prosecutor Lance sipped hot tea, burning the midnight oil going over documents.
His phone on the side buzzed non-stop.
“So lively tonight?” Lance muttered, opening the chat group.
Dragon Master Lance: “What happened?”
Gold forwarded the image Mr. Lu posted again. “I won’t allow anyone in this group to miss this!”
Dragon Master Lance: ???
Lance, who had just narrowly avoided the bait, walked into it himself.
Sitting in his quiet office, he sipped his tea—yet the flavor was all wrong now.
Then, he picked up his cape and walked out the office door:
“Grimsley, want to grab a late-night snack? My treat!”
In just a few minutes, the chat had blown past 99+ messages.
Erika rubbed her sleepy eyes, picked up the phone next to her pillow, and said:
“Ah… everyone’s still awake at this hour?”
Lu Ye blinked and asked Ash beside him:
“When did Erika join the group?”
Ash tilted his head. “Probably… before me?”
Lu Ye scratched his head.
Her presence is so faint, I always forget she’s even in the group…
Mr. Lu and Ash’s late-night BBQ was winding down.
“Gengarr~” Gengar wore an apron and cleaned up the mess.
Ash had wanted to help, but Gengar’s glare shut him down fast.
Ash sheepishly pulled his hand back, then looked up and curiously asked:
“Mr. Lu, when are you planning to stream that tactical battle?”
He had promised his stream viewers that once he moved to his new place in Sinnoh, he’d stream new strategies.
But currently, Mr. Lu was ranked world No. 2.
Just matching with opponents could take three to four hours.
He could always play card games while waiting in the queue.
“If it’s the point-based ladder… just need to win a few more matches against Master Mustard to climb to the top?”
Lu Ye gazed at the sky, deep in thought.
Back on the Isle of Armor, Master Mustard once climbed to second place thanks to Leon substitute-playing for him.
But Mustard’s actual skills, plus his daily grinding, let him maintain third in the world.
So if Lu Ye wanted to take the top spot—he just needed to farm him a little.
Lu Ye: “What about you? What’s your plan for tomorrow?”
Ash thought for a moment. “I’m planning to challenge the Oreburgh Gym… Mr. Steven also asked me to say hi to Leader Roark.”
Come to think of it… the current top player in Pokémon: Battle was the cool and powerful Steven.
For one, he was part of our company.
For another, in terms of grinding… Steven once went hard for 33 days straight. A real grind king.
Not to mention, Steven’s actual battling skills were top-tier.
“If I want the stream to be entertaining…”
Lu Ye rubbed his chin. “I better avoid Daigo-san…”
If his Metagross sweeps my whole team… wouldn’t that be game over?
Steven was probably too busy mining to maintain the ladder’s top rank.
Lu Ye nodded, satisfied.
Tomorrow I’ll challenge Master Mustard to a couple more friendly matches…
World No. 1—should be in the bag!