Chapter 5: SoMade Cooking
Yuuki and Zenji stirred after fainting from learning the truth about Delia being Ash's mother. Students and trainers gathered to verify the fainted condition. "Hey, we're shocked as well," Ikumi muttered. "But that's not a reason for you two to go down like that." Tiger was also worried about Ikumi's friends.
"Sorry about that," Zenji apologized. Yuuki looked around.
"Say, where are Ash and Soma?" she asked.
"In the kitchen," May replied. "Soma's starting to give Ash cooking lessons." In the kitchen, Soma had a carrot on the cutting board.
"There are foods that you could cut on the cutting board, but there are some that you can cut with this," Soma started as he held a large knife and the carrot in a cross. "And it goes like this." He pushed the carrpt to the blade, cutting it apart. "You do need to be careful not to have the blade over your thumb. You don't want blood in the food."
"Oh, no kidding," Ash agreed. Soma demonstrated more, slicing carrots into coins.
"These can work for soup or stew. I've actually used this in practice with Dad."
"I believe it, especially with that 'Pork Roast, Just Kidding!' dish. Let me see if I can do it."
"Sure!" Flanking sides, Joichiro and Delia watched their sons work together. Ash positioned his thumbs and fingers and pulled. The knife sliced through the carrot and the flat part of the knife struck Ash's thumb, not the sharp blade.
"It's a good thing that you hit the flat end. It tells you that you need a little less strength cutting through. Another thing is the cutting board. Sometimes… it's easier after you cut a portion of it off and then do the rest." Using his thumb, Soma chopped the carrot into more coins.
"That way looks safer." While Ash tried to copy Soma, Joichiro noticed Delia and began to wonder.
"Ma'am?" he voiced. Delia turned to Joichiro who took a step back.
"Oh!" she gasped.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just seeing my son working with him is something fascinating to see."
"True, especially since he's being taught by my son." This caused Delia to dart her eyes back to Ash and Soma then back to Joichiro.
"Really…?" The night soon settled as a small mouse emerged far outside of the resort. The next morning, more people arrived as the Totsuki chefs and Pokémon trainers were having breakfast. Megumi came to Ash as he and Pikachu entered the lobby.
"So, how did Soma's teachings go?" she asked.
"It was nice, especially how to steam the carrots," Ash answered. Erina spotted the two in their conversation.
"Right?" giggled Megumi. "Maybe I can teach you something similar. Besides, we enjoy seeing your mother. We're kinda anxious to see your father." Ash gawked while Pikachu groaned. Ash dipped his head slightly and turned away from Megumi, who seemed somewhat concern. Erina thought it was something a little more drastic.
'Don't tell me that Ash is fatherless,' she thought.
"I don't know who my dad is," Ash confessed. Pikachu nodded as Megumi gasped, her hand nearly covering her mouth. "I don't even know if he's even alive. Before Pikachu, it was just me and Mom." Megumi took the glass from Ash's hand and placed it on the counter before she gave Ash a hug.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I… didn't mean to ask insensitively!" Ash calmed after the sudden shock of getting a hug. He wrapped his arms around Megumi's body.
"It's okay…" he eased. After a moment they entered a restaurant where more people awaited them. There was a white-haired young man wearing a white shirt with a red and black stripe tie, a giant and chiseled raven-haired young man, a blond over brunette slender young man and a green-haired young woman in glasses. All wore Totsuki's uniform. Seeing them and joining Ash, Megumi and Pikachu, Erina gasped as Megumi froze.
"Eishi Tsukasa!" named Erina about the white-haired. "Tousuke Megishima…" The chiseled man heard his name and turned to the girls and Ash. "Teronuri Kuga…" the mixed-haired turned after his name was introduced. "Nene Kinokuni…" The green-haired heard her name and faced Ash and the girls.
"Director…" spoke Nene.
"Well, what's this?" wondered Kuga. "Director Nakiri and Elite Todokora around a boy? Did you find someone matching your 'God Tongue'?" Erina scoffed as she turned her head away.
"So, who are they?" wondered Ash to Megumi. "They're fellow Totsuki students, right?"
"Not only that," Megumi confirmed. "Nene and Kuga are still Elite Ten Council members. Eishi and Megishim are former members." Ash and Pikachu stood in awe. As he met the former Elite Ten, Nene didn't acknowledge the trainer. Ash seemed puzzled.
"Anyway, we came to see the TotsukiMon festivities," Megishima mentioned.
"I wanted to see what this world's like," Eishi added. The girls nodded and proceeded to join the rest, including Brock and Alice after they declared their love. Totsuki's students noticed the trainers enjoying bottles of milk with the head of a pink cow on it.
"Hey, what's the holdup?" urged Max. "It's part of breakfast." To the others, it was an invite.
"The meeting of other trainers or something special in the kitchen?" joked Takuki. "We'll join." Megumi joined with the trainers, sitting by Ash and Soma soon followed. Other members joined but were rather hesitant about the bottles of milk.
"Is this… milk?" questioned Yuuki. Megumi took a swig of the milk. Suddenly, her eyes bulged in shock. She peeled the bottle from her face and looked on in sudden dismay. Others looked to Megumi after her sudden gasp.
"Megumi?" wondered Alice. Megumi trembled to the taste of the milk.
"This… This milk…" she stuttered. "This milk… is unreal! It's so delicious, I can't put it to words!" Ash, May and Max sighed with a snicker. The students seemed in awe and interested.
"Seriously, it's just milk," Satoshi shrugged.
"Let's try it to see if Megumi's right," Ikumi suggested. The students agreed before they took their swigs. Eyes started to leave their sockets with the taste of the milk, almost pushing Zenji's glasses off when the taste hit his tongue. Misty watched, almost ready to laugh.
"Oh my god!" gawked Alice. "This can't be real!"
"This can't be that tasty!" trembled Rindo.
"This is what Megumi had!?" gasped Yuuki. "I want more!"
"Yeah, so do I!" agreed Daigo.
"Don't leave me out of it!" wanted Zenji.
"And I may need to try recipes with this!" pondered Soma. "This milk is a hell of a lot better than what we have back at the Academy!" Erina felt overwhelmed to the taste of the milk.
"My God Tongue can't fight this!" she shuttered. "Why is my God Tongue loving this milk?" The trainers laughed to their reactions.
"First time trying Moomoo Milk can do that to new people," Brock studied. The students were puzzled to the milk they had.
"Moomoo Milk?" repeated Ikumi.
"That's right," Misty confirmed. "Ash, Brock and I should know since they come from Miltank." Ash had his handheld device and found a pink cow on its hind hooves with what looked like a black hood.
"MILTANK, THE MILK COW POKÉMON," it registered. "MILTANK CAN PRODUCE AROUND FIVE GALLONS OF MILK PER DAY AND IS ENJOYED BY BOTH HUMANS AND POKÉMON. THE MILK CAN ALSO BE CONVERTED TO YOGURT, BUTTER AND CHEESE." Seeing Miltank from the device, the girls awed the picture.
"It's a cutie of a cow!" cooed Yuuki.
"And it can produce that much milk?" recalled Megumi. "Who wouldn't want to make recipes with that much Moomoo Milk?"
"It should also be noted that Miltank are a female-only Pokémon," Brock pointed out. The students seemed surprised to learn of the detail.
"Oh, they're only girls?" guessed Alice. "They must be easy to deal with, especially if their milk is that enjoyable."
"And we actually were on a farm near Goldenrod City in Johto," Misty added. "Milton's farm has plenty of Miltank that get special treatment." The students seemed highly interested as Ikumi released Tiger and had Moomoo Milk in a bowl. Tiger wasted little time and drank it.
"You like it too, huh?" she believed. Tiger barked with a smile.
"This does call for Yukihira-style cooking with Moomoo Milk," Soma believed. After breakfast, Ash prepared for his next round of the tournament. Erina watched Ash prepared for his next battle as Soma joined. "He seems psyched…"
"That may be, except his father has been a no-show in his life," Erina mulled. Soma blinked and turned to the Director. "There's… something about him that I can't look away from." To Soma, Ash was someone who needed paternal support. Erina felt horrible at seeing Ash. 'I never thought I'd find someone like me. I can only wonder what happened to his father, unlike my family.' As Ash and Pikachu headed to the stadium, a pink-haired man was in the convention. He wore glasses and his eyes were on Delia. Another battle took place in the stadium. This time, Ash faced a blond man with glasses and wearing a green polo but with denim pants. His Pokémon was a midnight blue cat/weasel mix with red feathers on its right ear and as a tail and large claws.
"ASH AND PETE HAVE ONE MORE POKÉMON ON HAND AS PETE HAS SNEASEL," the announcer mentioned. "WE AWAIT ASH'S OTHER POKÉMON IN THIS TWO-ON-TWO BATTLE FOR THE TOP 16." Ash had to think of a plan as Soma, Erina and Hisako watched from the stands.
'Pete's Sneasel and Dodrio are definitely speedy Pokémon that gave Pikachu a hard time,' he thought. 'So, do I go with Grovyle? Or do I try matching speed with power?' Suddenly, Ash smiled and prepared a Pokéball. "Snorlax. I choose you!" The ball opened and from the light it emerged from, a giant blue bear emerged with an enormous girth and cream-colored face and abdomen. Pete made the first move.
"Sneasel, use Icy Wind!" he ordered. Sneasel blew a cold breath that blanketed the battlefield with ice. Snorlax stood like a statue. Ash sneered to the battle strategy.
"Makes me glad I didn't go for Grovyle!" he teased. "Snorlax, use Body Slam!" Snorlax leaped up and down, causing the ice to shatter on impact. Pete and Sneasel were caught off guard, trying to hold it together.
"Use Aerial Ace!" The command had Sneasel leaped into the air, stopping itself from the shakes.
"Use Ice Punch to the ground!" The order made Snorlax cock his arm back as Sneasel flew in after the Hibernate Pokémon. Snorlax punched the ground which caused ice pillars to rise, disrupting Sneasel's flight pattern.
"Use those pillars and go in for Quick Attack!" The idea made Sneasel land before bouncing around the pillars for a perfect strike.
"Tackle attack!" The order had Snorlax spot Sneasel before barreling into the Sharp Claw Pokémon, launching it into a pillar that shattered on impact. Sneasel landed flat and was out for the count. The referee made the ruling.
"Sneasel is unable to continue!" he ruled while waiving his green flag. "Snorlax wins! Ash of Pallet Town advances!" Cheers erupted as Erina and Hisako came onto the battlefield. Erina approached Ash as he and Pete shook hands in the middle.
"Great battle, Pete!" praised Ash.
"You too, Ash!" replied Pete. Erina arrived and knelt to Ash as Pikachu recovered enough from his bout to rejoin the rest.
"Let me make you something back at the convention," she offered. Ash smiled, ready to feast. With the new arrivals, more food and tension is being made.
TO BE CONTINUED...