September 8, Wednesday.

Indeedee, Espathra, and Alcremie officially started working at the café and settled in.

Because Teacher Lu’s house was very large, in theory room and board were included.

But since everyone was still unfamiliar with each other, these three employees usually returned to the Pokémon Center to stay overnight.

At dawn, the prism on Prism Tower reflected brilliant light.

Indeedee stood behind the counter with the menu board behind her, hands clasped, expression serious.

Gengar stuck out his tongue and made a goofy face, floating by.

Indeedee secretly glanced at the boss, confirmed he hadn’t noticed, then covered her mouth and let out a soft chuckle.

Lu Ye sat at a table, his phone propped up on the side.

On the screen, a blonde beauty hugged her arms and rested her chin on her hand, surprised:

“A new Pokémon joined the café?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a butler, an attendant, a delivery bird, a dessert chef…” Lu Ye paused, “and a bodyguard.”

Darkrai in the shadows tried to argue, but with his mouth full of energy cubes he could only give up.

“Dessert chef?” Cynthia seized on the important point.

“Wait—I’m evaluating Alcremie’s dessert skills. She’s coming out of the kitchen soon.”

Before she finished speaking, Lu Ye pivoted the phone camera to the strawberry cream bofurets on the table and pursed his lips.

A sweet aroma hit his nose. The petit cakes were topped with creamy whipped cream and placed on white porcelain plates.

From presentation alone, the dessert was unquestionably perfect!

“Eee-ma~” the shy ‘little chef’ Alcremie raised her eyes to look at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye’s gaze was focused, he inspected the bofurets carefully, then cut a small piece with a fork and knife to taste.

“Eee-ma?” Alcremie asked tentatively.

Lu Ye put down his utensils and calmly said, “To be honest, I have a major critique…”

Alcremie froze.

“You should have made this for me earlier.”

Alcremie exhaled.

“Then I would have known—this isn’t merely a dessert.”

Alcremie trembled all over · gif

Lu Ye smiled: “This is a work of art!”

Alcremie experienced great emotional upheaval;

she glanced at the chef to confirm he wasn’t about to change his mind and was moved to tears.

“Eee-ma~(ó﹏ò｡)”

Cynthia, on the video call, smiled even more warmly;

a razor-sharp aura nearly transmitted through the feed.

Lu Ye hurried to reassure her: “I’m joking, Alcremie—don’t take it seriously!”

Alcremie blinked.

So, should I be happy or sad right now?

“As compensation, I’ll demonstrate a dessert for you,” Lu Ye said.

He rose: “Your dessert is already very good, but you could model it a bit more after mine.”

Alcremie tilted her head, which had a strawberry sugar decoration.

Could a dessert he made really taste better than mine?

Lu Ye’s dessert, called “Eevee Pancakes,” was a very basic confection.

Layer upon layer of fluffy, crispy pancakes, topped with an Eevee-shaped cake. The cream was as soft and fluffy as Eevee’s fur, drizzled with a translucent sweet syrup.

“Alcremie, this is a basic recipe you should learn.”

Lu Ye set a white plate down and smiled: “Try it.”

Alcremie sat in the chair, controlling the cream so it didn’t spill, looking like a strawberry-flavored jelly.

She picked up a fork, cut a small piece of pancake, and popped it into her mouth;

her ruby eyes suddenly widened.

Delicious—delicious!

“Eee-ma!” Alcremie looked at the café owner.

Manager, I want to learn this!

Delibird’s dream is to deliver packages to every corner. Alcremie’s dream is to make the most delicious cakes.

Sirfetch’d’s dream is to not be eaten… (scratch that)

Not every Pokémon is meant for battle;

they have lives and paths of their own.

Lu Ye leaned his forearm on the table and smiled: “I can teach you. How much you learn depends on you.”

Alcremie nodded vigorously, then shyly smiled.

On the video call, Bamboo Lan lowered her gaze, her blonde hair falling from a black hair accessory.

A thought bubble seemed to form and extend into a ‘triple-scoop cream ice cream cone.’

Alcremie’s cream could produce ice cream with, apparently, sixty-three different flavors…

Cynthia propped her chin on her hand, her eyes glinting.

Next holiday, I’ll go to Miare City to visit Lu Ye and taste Alcremie’s cream ice cream…

Wait.

Sixty-three flavors?

Cynthia’s brows tightened, her expression serious;

she pursed her lips and said nothing.

Teacher Lu was startled by Alcremie’s solemnity, nervous:

“Has Sinnoh’s space-time become unstable again?”

“It’s a threat of comparable scale,” Cynthia replied.

“What? I can leave for Sinnoh this afternoon.” Lu Ye’s voice went serious.

“Which of Alcremie’s sixty-three ice cream flavors should I taste first?” Cynthia asked earnestly.

“…That really is a rather enormous crisis.”

“It is.” Cynthia’s eyes curved at the corners as she smiled faintly.

Based on evolution time, location, and spin duration, Alcremie has a total of sixty-three evolution forms.

This was a recent research result presented by a scholar at this year’s Scientific Summit, and it caused quite a stir.

For one person to have evolved Alcremie into sixty-three forms… calling him an “Alcremie Doctor” was not an exaggeration!

After asking around, Lu Ye learned that Cynthia had the next day off, with Lucian covering her duties while she rested.

Lu Ye’s eyes were often moist with tears.

He had people in the Sinnoh League to be grateful to…

The café would officially open tomorrow.

Besides the noble and beautiful Sinnoh Champion, Teacher Lu had also invited Lance, who would be coming to work, and Steven, who was prospecting in the Kalos region.

He had also sent an invitation to Dan Emperor…

But directionally challenged Dan Emperor getting lost in Miare City’s maze-like streets and being trapped for days was still a concern.

Dan Emperor is a “super lost” who can’t read a map and would get lost even if riding Charizard—he and Teacher Lu’s fear of heights were quite a match.

Taking this opportunity, Lu Ye planned to ask Steven about the whereabouts of the Fairy Plate.

On assistant Olivia’s suggestion, invitations had also been sent to the Kalos Elite Four and Gym Leaders.

As a Miare City tradition, a “battle café” was beloved by trainers. A high-profile match during the ribbon-cutting ceremony would boost the café’s reputation.

“You could make this Pokémon café the region’s second major battle facility after the Battle Chateau,” Olivia suggested.

“Spare me.” Lu Ye sighed.

One ribbon-cutting match is enough;

I don’t want the renovation team at my house every day!

“Oh, I heard Mallow has a fashion show in Miare City—she probably can’t make it, right?”

“It’s Miare City Fashion Week. Mallow likely can’t attend the ribbon-cutting. Clemont is also currently away.”

“That’s good.”

Lu Ye nodded in satisfaction.

In the afternoon.

Considering he might be leaving town soon, Lu Ye took the little ones to Prism Tower.

Because Teacher Lu often borrowed the training grounds, Clemont wisely reinforced the field.

Today both Clemont and Bonnie were not at Prism Tower.

Receiving Teacher Lu was Clemont’s robot and acting Gym Leader, Clembot.

“Welcome, welcome!” Clembot emitted a stiff electronic greeting.

“I’d like to borrow your field for a small in-team test.”

Lu Ye smiled: “Don’t worry, it’ll be over quickly!”

…

Rumble!!

"Syl! (〝▼皿▼)"

“Gah…(´థ౪థ)σ” Sirfetch’d froze, tears streaming down.

Why am I first to go out?!

Raising his shield, Sirfetch’d’s “insight” resisted the big sister’s assault, his body plowed backward several meters.

Then Sirfetch’d’s lance burst with a fierce golden light;

with a single decisive thrust the golden lance was launched!

Meteor Assault’s light cut across the arena.

“Syl!!”

Sylveon raised her head and unleashed a high-pitched cry that formed a shock wave;

the tip of the lance, destined to hit, was slightly deflected!

Lu Ye’s eyelid twitched.

This move—this wave—was lucky enough to dodge a pierced death-lance!

The lance embedded into the wall behind Sylveon;

centered on the crack, a torrential golden light and blast of air erupted—an effect just like “Max Dragon Claw”!

Boom!

The shock wave roared. Fortunately, the arena was sturdy and the crack was not severe.

Clembot’s program crashed.

These two Pokémon… were not exactly regulation-legal!

After avoiding Sirfetch’d’s lance, Sylveon advanced, while Sirfetch’d wore a noble, sacrificial expression.

Losing to big sister was worth it!

At the final moment of the charge, Sylveon stopped, nonchalantly shook her ribbons, flexed her limbs, and turned to walk away: “Syl~”

Sirfetch’d froze, then burst into tears of joy.

“Gah! (´థ౪థ)σ”

Thank you, big sister, for sparing me!

“All right, take a break—next round!” Lu Ye called from the sidelines.

Sirfetch’d &

Clembot: ???

There’s another round!?

…

After an afternoon of small tests at Prism Tower, Teacher Lu roughly settled the team rankings.

The first echelon were Gengar and Blastoise;

after Mega Evolution they possessed champion-level peak strength.

From their combat display, defeating a Stage Two Legendary would be no problem.

Even against a Stage One Legendary like Primal Kyogre, Mega Blastoise had the strength to trade blows.

The second echelon were Arcanine and Sylveon—champion and near-champion level respectively—Arcanine, with mastery of “Interwoven Power,” held a slight edge.

After gaining “Lunar Power” from Cresselia in the Sinnoh League, Sylveon had comparatively little enhancement versus other team members.

That was exactly why Teacher Lu wanted to find the Fairy Plate—to fill that gap.

In the third echelon, Sirfetch’d had clearly held back, losing to Togepi, so Lu Ye didn’t rank it.

Of course, maybe it was a mistake—Ducklett truly might not be able to beat Togepi…

Night fell.

Clembot, who had watched the whole afternoon, remained crashed with a vacant stare.

Lu Ye waved his hand in front of the robot and looked at the slowly moving progress bar on the screen, muttering:

“If it restarts, it should be fine…”

“Anyone there!”

At that moment, Prism Tower’s speakers suddenly broadcast a challenger’s call.

“I’m here to challenge the fourth Gym and take the Electric Badge!”

Lu Ye blinked and glanced at the crashed Clembot.

He was stunned for about three seconds.

Teacher Lu grabbed the microphone and replied:

“Roger—today Prism Tower is guarded by the acting Gym Leader—I’ll be there immediately!”

…

Miare City, fashion salon.

“You want to withdraw from this Fashion Week?” an official asked in disbelief, looking at the black-haired woman wearing winged accessories. “Miss Mallow, please reconsider. This is a very valuable opportunity for you and your team!”

Mallow spoke softly: “I understand… but there’s something more important tomorrow.”

Something more important than Miare City Fashion Week?

To industry insiders, this is the highest-level fashion exhibition!

The official’s face turned awkward and he tried to needle her: “Only if the Eight Masters gather in Miare City could it compare, right?”

Mallow blinked her high-contrast eyes, surprised: “You received an invitation too?”

“What invitation?” the official looked baffled.

“Tomorrow, four of the top Eight Masters will arrive in Miare City.”

Mallow’s gaze flashed: “To attend Lu Ye’s… café ribbon-cutting ceremony!”

The official: ???

…