Chapter 96: The Embodiment of the North Wind

Buying so many rice cookers, Hu Yang wasn’t intending to use them for cooking meals; rather, he planned to use them to train his Pokémon’s energy control skills.

Modifying moves required the Pokémon to meet certain conditions in controlling their energy.

If Feraligatr could manage to successfully cook a pot of rice using electricity, perhaps he could teach it the move Teleport.

The reason he chose Gengar first was mainly because it could communicate with him directly.

If it learned the technique, it could pass on the operational experience to other Pokémon.

Early the next morning, a few Pokémon gathered in a circle around a rice cooker.

Gengar looked at the rice cooker with hesitation and asked, “Do we really have to use Thunderbolt on this?”

Hu Yang nodded. “Yes.”

Gengar said, “But what if I accidentally break it?”

Hu Yang replied, “…Just try not to use too much force, only a tiny amount of current is needed. And if it does break, it’s okay, I have plenty more.”

At that moment, Gengar finally understood why Hu Yang had bought so many rice cookers.

“Alright then,” Gengar said with a mischievous grin, as if it had some mischievous plan in mind.

Seeing this, Hu Yang instantly knew what it was thinking and furrowed his brow. “No deliberate sabotage!”

“Oh!” Gengar responded.

It stretched out its claw, grasped the rice cooker’s plug, and a small current of electricity appeared in its palm.

However, in the next second, white smoke billowed from the top of the rice cooker, followed by a loud bang—the rice cooker instantly exploded.

Gengar immediately dropped the plug and turned to Hu Yang. “I didn’t mean to!”

Hu Yang was speechless.

Suddenly, he felt this idea might not be very reliable.

“It’s okay, try a few more times,” Hu Yang said.

So Gengar pulled out a second rice cooker from its body.

“Use the smallest current, just a tiny bit!” Hu Yang instructed.

Gengar nodded and began its second attempt.

A faint, weak current appeared in its palm.

The next second, the rice cooker’s cooking indicator light turned on.

Success?

Hu Yang was somewhat surprised.

This exercise mainly aimed to enhance the Pokémon’s energy control ability through stable and continuous electric output.

Using a move at full power is easy, but maintaining the move’s intensity at a consistent level throughout is quite difficult.

There was no doubt Gengar’s power was stronger than Feraligatr’s.

Thinking this, Hu Yang wanted to encourage Gengar to persevere.

But just then, Gengar sneaked a glance at him.

Carelessly failing to control the current’s strength, the rice cooker exploded again.

“…” Hu Yang was speechless. “Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”

Gengar showed an embarrassed expression.

At that moment, a gust of wind blew by.

Lunatone and Slowpoke suddenly seemed to sense something and turned their heads toward the opposite riverbank.

It was early morning, and a thick fog had risen in the forest.

The far side of the river was shrouded in mist, and within that fog, a shadow emerged.

Lunatone let out a dull cry, “Gah.”

Slowpoke warned, “Hu Yang, there’s a very powerful shadow over there.”

Hu Yang was stunned for a moment, then turned to look in that direction.

A breeze blew across the river, dispersing some of the mist.

In that brief moment, Hu Yang caught a clear sight of the figure on the opposite bank.

A headpiece glistening like a blue gem, white ribbons fluttering like the wind, a graceful figure stepping lightly on the grass, with blue and white patterns adorning its body, lending it an aura of mystery.

Oh my gosh! It’s the legendary Suicune!

Hu Yang was amazed.

Before he could regain his composure, Suicune turned and lightly leapt away, vanishing into the mist.

Hu Yang was speechless.

What a stylish entrance and exit.

In the anime, Suicune does appear before humans in this exact manner.

But he was curious—how did Suicune of the Johto region suddenly appear in the Hoenn region?

Hu Yang thought carefully.

Suicune, also known as the embodiment of the north wind, roams the world like the cold breeze, purifying polluted waters.

Moreover, like Suicune and Zapdos, there isn’t just one of each worldwide.

Its presence here was quite reasonable.

Aside from the embarrassing Suicune that Shō encountered, all the others were masters of showing off—appearing briefly before vanishing, keeping an air of mystery.

The only pity was that he couldn’t get a closer look.

As everyone knows, subconscious thoughts are uncontrollable.

The instant this thought appeared, Lunatone next to Slowpoke suddenly sprang into action, flying into the dense fog.

“Gah.”

Hu Yang: “…”

Alright, the truth is out—I just want to see what a Suicune caught in a net looks like!

The one with a divine role is in Johto; this one should be an ordinary Suicune.

Gengar’s rice cooker training was interrupted, and Hu Yang sat down to start a fire to prepare breakfast.

No one noticed a small Pokémon formed from smoky gray shadows quietly revealing half its body from the shadows.

With those orange-red eyes, it stared intently at the human before it.

Gengar, who was ordering food with Hu Yang, seemed to sense something and suddenly turned to look behind Hu Yang—but saw nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Hu Yang asked, surprised.

“Seems like something…” Gengar scratched its head in confusion. “Maybe I’m mistaken.”

Hu Yang glanced back but saw nothing. He didn’t think much of it and didn’t notice the faint rainbow glow emanating from a feather inside his backpack.

Soon, breakfast was ready.

In this world, Pokémon food is very diverse, ranging from chewy solid types to drinkable varieties, differing according to each Pokémon’s preferences.

Hu Yang had bought a kind of small cylindrical pellet resembling mixed meat chunks, which could be flavored and mixed with ground tree fruit pellets to serve as Pokémon food.

Except for Gengar, all the other Pokémon liked eating it.

Gengar, however, ate human food alongside Hu Yang.

Therefore, Hu Yang had to spend a lot of time cooking every day.

He now understood why trainers often traveled in teams with breeders.

The reason was simple: traveling alone meant dealing with too many things.

Besides training and commanding, one had to consider the nutrition and various needs of the Pokémon.

At that moment, an idea arose in Hu Yang’s mind—to find someone who could cook to travel with him.

If not, he would have to teach his Pokémon to help prepare food.

Thinking this, Hu Yang looked brightly at Gengar, who was ordering food with him, and said,

“Gengar, I’m going to teach you how to cook rice!”