Day 29

It was a new day and began like any other, which for me meant waking up early and heading towards the bakery to bake more bread. Shocker, I know.

However, today is a bit of an exception.

Yesterday's incident was fresh on my mind and I just couldn't go about my day as if nothing had happened. Even Chansey was worried, and she hadn't seen the damn thing. 'Maybe she was just worried about me.'

I told Monty everything about it when I got home and he seemed surprisingly serious about it. I expected him to crack a joke or two but he took the subject as an event that mustn't be ignored. Pokemon attacking humans in the city are something that should be reported immediately.

Apparently the cases of pokemon attack on humans, outside of the 'Wild Area', are rare all year round, with a few exceptions here and there.

Hence why Monty wasn't taking the matter lightly and we agreed to contact the police first thing in the morning. So they can record the incident and work towards a possible solution or do something to assure the safety of the residents.

Monty called the Police in the morning of the next day and both of us met them at the bakery where we would discuss what happened.

One officer and his Houndoom showed up at the bakery, both of them standing as tall and upright as possible, with a serious facade to top it off. Imposing would be the only way to describe him.

He asked me to retell him the encounter with the mysterious pokemon with as much detail as I can possibly remember, and so I obliged.

"I told you, the thing had three tentacles and deep, pupilless blue eyes," I focused on describing the pokemon, for the third time. "Aside from it being rather short and standing on four legs, I didn't notice anything else."

"You didn't notice any other distinguishable features, like colors or unusual body shape, what about a tail?"

"No, it was too dark for me to see any colors, I saw various shades of dark on him so there is that. And no tail-"

'Wait, what if it actually had a tail and I confused it for a tentacle?'

I shook my head, putting any possible conflicting thoughts away. I know what I saw.

"And you said you ran away from it, did it chase you?" The police asked with his unchanging baritone voice.

"I am not sure, I didn't turn away to look at it. I just made a run for it," I admitted. It didn't make me proud that I ran from it, but I wasn't willing to stay and figured out if he was hostile or not.

The officer in front took his eyes away from me, focusing on writing down everything on the little notepad he pulled out at the beginning of the interview. Not only that but he also was recording the conversation on an old device he placed on a nearby chair.

"So after that," he turned to me again, "you got into the establishment, locked the door, and waited. Is that correct?"

I hesitated to respond, not because it wasn't true but because those weren't the words I'd have chosen to describe my actions.

"Yes, I placed a chair behind the door and remained there for some time." He gave me a raised eyebrow at that answer. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't wait there out of courage or curiosity, I was simply paralyzed and my brain couldn't figure out what to do next."

Monty, who had been sitting nearby the entire time and had already heard my tale the night before, only hummed and brought a hand to his chin, not saying a single word, his concern was obvious.

"It's understandable, your response was in a natural fight or flight situation, nothing to feel ashamed of," the officer said with a not-so-comforting tone.

After that, there was a brief moment of silence when none of the parties talked, and the only thing we could hear was the sound of the officer's quick writing.

I could notice that Chansey seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the silence and the Houndoom's vigilant stare wasn't helping either.

"So officer, what's left for us to do?" Monty broke the silence.

He sighed. "To be completely honest with you Mister Graham, this case isn't particularly new for us," he said as he stood up from his chair and put his pen and notepad away. "We have had similar reports before, and if our assumptions are correct, it's the same pokemon in every case."

"And you haven't been able to catch it?" I asked. I have a hard time telling if this kind of thing is currently in this world. Perhaps the police are not as effective as I thought.

"Yes, I was going to ask the same thing," Monty said, albeit with a more relaxed tone compared to mine.

The officer looked at both of us, his lips remained shut.

"Ah, sorry we didn't mean to interfere in an investigation if the matter is-"

"No, it's fine," the officer interrupted Monty, "you have a property in this area, you have the right to know. Plus it isn't exactly a secret in the local community as far as I'm concerned."

"In that case, we're all ears," Monty added, relaxing his sitting posture.

"Right. Two years ago, we received our first report regarding this pokemon. At first, and after a brief investigation, we dismissed it as nothing more than a wild one that got too close to the city, probably starving. But then multiple cases started piling up, and so our theories on its origins changed."

"It's no wild pokemon, is it?" Monty asked.

"No, there is no way a wild pokemon can cause so many incidents this deep into the city and not be caught even once, let alone recognized. No, this was a trained pokemon, most likely a stray since we can't find evidence nor reason for its actions if it had a trainer."

'So a stray pokemon? If Earth is anything to go by, then the existence of stray pokemon isn't particularly surprising to me.' However, the fact that a fully trained, ready-for combat type of creature is on the loose doesn't strike me fancy.

"For three months we searched high and low for this pokemon by deploying units around the area and nearby districts, but we couldn't find a thing, not even a trace of its shelter. However, while it might have looked like a failure of an operation, we managed to decrease its activity considerably. It learned to reduce its encounters with both humans and pokemon."

"So it doesn't attack humans anymore but stills shows up?" I asked after listening quietly all this time.

"It does, but as I said, it will try to not be seen. It knows that the more attention it gets, the more complicated it'll be in the long run. Not only is it a stray, but a smart one at that. The fact that it managed to elude us for so long is worth the praise, as much as we don't like it."

"So what do you recommend we do? Should we avoid the back alley at dark hours?" Monty asked, with concern in his tone.

The officer remained quiet for a second, his eyes looking past us, focused on the wall.

"Yes, that would be the best thing you could do for the time being, as we're still trying to come up with a possible solution to this problem. The fact that we don't know for sure what pokemon we're dealing with doesn't make it any easier. We have a list of potential candidates but still…" The officer trailed off.

"We understand Matthew, no need to worry about it. We can manage it. If what you said it's true then it will try to avoid confrontation, so we'll just do the same."

'Matthew?'

The officer covered his mouth with his fist and cleared his throat before speaking again. "Sorry about that. Yes, avoiding situations where you could find it would be for the better. The most important thing for you to know is that it normally roams at night and avoids humans, however, if it does encounter one, it'll intimidate them to avoid confrontation." he said, giving me a quick glance during that last part. "Don't test the stray and let it be, we don't know how it reacts when provoked so better not risk it. Is that clear?"

"Clear as water," Monty said with a faint smile.

I didn't say anything and only nodded, same as Chansey.

"Then that would be all for now. If you encounter that pokemon again, do call me, we need every encounter reported and archived."

"We'll do Matthew, don't you worry," Monty added with an air of friendliness.

The officer, or 'Matthew', stared at Monty for a second, as if he was analyzing his response and facial expression. Then he extended his hand to him which he happily obliged, sharing a handshake.

"Thanks for your help." He nodded at Monty and then to me. "Have a good day," he said before turning and leaving the bakery, with his Houndoom following close behind with its soldier-like movements and almost rigid movements. 'Odd dog.'

The three of us remained quiet until we saw him get in his car and leave, the ambience seemed much lighter after that.

"He's the serious type, isn't he?" I added, standing up from my chair and stretching my legs.

While she had been standing up the entire time, Chansey also took advantage of the situation and stretched her back, letting out a barely hearable crack.

"Correct, he takes his job too seriously at times, but he's a good kid."

"I believe you," I said without much care as I began stretching my arms. "So what are we gonna do now about our mysterious pokemon?

Monty turned his head in my direction, an eyebrow cocked and his mouth frowned.

"Nothing, we'll do nothing. That thing has been causing troubles for a while, the fact that you saw it is a mix of bad and good luck and probably won't happen again so let's not dwell on it."

'Easier said than done but okay, I'll try.'

"In fact, since I'm here, I might as well check in on your progress, how have you been doing. Anything you need help with?"

"Like actual cooking advice, or do you mean something else?"

Monty shook his head lightly, "I didn't exactly mean baking advice, but if you do need some of it then I'll answer those too. However, by now you should've learned the basics and even more, and believe experience without outside interference is the best teacher."

As much as his teaching methods irked me, he wasn't wrong. We started baking knowing close to nothing of it, let alone the equipment in the kitchen and committed so many mistakes and fuck-ups along the way that we learned how to avoid them. Sure it wasn't the best way to go about things but we did end up learning.

A process of trial and error, you could say.

"Well, as much as I dislike it, you do have a point," I admit reluctantly, "how about some tips on the products, I don't' I've asked you about that yet? What type of bread are popular here? I've been using a booklet I found with the bread that used to be sold here as a guide, was that a good idea?"

"What book?"

"Ah, didn't I mention it to you before?" I asked, somewhat surprised I missed that little detail. Normally I tell Monty everything. "Chansey, could you bring me that book I'm always looking at, it should be by the proofer, I think."

Chansey stood up straight and brought her hand to the top of her head, mimicking a soldier's salute.

"Chansey!" She exclaimed before heading for the kitchen.

'The Houndoom's behavior probably got stuck in her mind, ha, adorable.'

It didn't take more than a minute for Chansey to return with a said booklet on her hands, then to pass to Monty.

"Thanks, Chansey, you're always working so hard aren't you?" Monty asked with a teasing tone.

"Cha—annn," she replied with a slight blush on her face.

Looking pleased his compliment worked, Monty began eyeing the booklet on his hands. He opened the thin vinyl-covered book, and soon after began moving from left to right as he went through its contents.

Slowly, and probably without him noticing, a faint smile made its way to his face.

Monty eyed the booklet and switched pages with slow and careful movements as his hands caressed the pages with each new page.

"We used to keep most of our products here, yes, but I wouldn't call this an ideal guide."

"Well, that's the only thing I had to guide myself on what to prepare. Didn't you wonder why I decided to bake certain bread as practice?"

"I thought you looked it up online, isn't that what youngsters do all the time, I was counting on it."

I wasn't expecting such a carefree answer, it threw me off a bit.

"I-I mean, yes, yes I did; but more guidance from someone who worked in the business would've been better."

"You think?" He asked with the same carefree energy. "But I do believe this method is best for learning, as we previously stated. However, I can provide some suggestions towards the bread selection."

"That would be nice, yes," I said. 'At this point, I'll take anything.'

He cleared his throat. "Okay, so I think you had good ideas so far with your selection. White bread is an all-time classic but you need to branch out, try making round forms and baguettes, those always sell."

"Hmm, baguettes," I muttered to myself, bringing a sour taste to my mouth.

Images of carbonized a baguette came to mind, swiftly followed by a bloated and flat version of it.

'At this time I think I deserve some kind of medal foro failing the way I do.'

"Regarding Ciabatta and Focaccia, those are other great options and they have a similar dough form so the process isn't all too different. Same as white bread, try experimenting in forms with Ciabatta especially, the Focaccia doesn't take much priority."

"Ciabatta takes priority, okay, got it," I said, making a mental note.

Without paying much attention to my words, he kept going. "Now, I think you mentioned trying to bake sourdough, but you didn't report back on it, how did that go?"

"Ah, well…" I said, inadvertently lowering my stare to the ground.

And I wasn't alone as Chansey nearly imitated my action as soon as the word 'sourdough' came to us.

Monty was fast to pick up the change in mood. Not like it was hard to detect.

"You had problems, I take it?"

I hummed, uncomfortably.

"Well yes, to put it shortly, we somehow messed up the starter for the sourdough, resulting in a very, umm, questionable-looking piece of work once it came out of the oven," I said with one hand scratching my nape. "I'm sorry."

Chansey had gotten close and began gently patting my back, "Chan chan."

Monty had a puzzled stare, "Normally I don't mind most mistakes as you're a beginner but how did you mess that up?

"Let's just say, we tried to experiment and didn't work out the way we wanted it."

Monty brought a hand to his chin and smiled, "Experimenting is always a good thing, but do try to stick to basic recipes at first unless you feel confident about it." He paused, and gave us a look, "You'll learn from mistakes after all."

"We'll do." I replied.

"Now, I highly suggest giving sourdough another try, it's a bread that sells well and you'll want to have it in your displays and available, almost as much as white bread."

'Sells well', those words echoed in my mind.

With all my efforts focused on learning the ropes of baking, I had paid little to no attention to the business side of it. I might not be in my world anymore, but I still consider myself a business student, and the fact that I forgot customer preferences and trends stings a bit.

'Maybe a market study is due.'

I made a mental note for it, and brought myself back to the conversation.

"Now aside from those you might consider other types of popular bread." Monty continued, and to that, my ears perked up. "Wholegrain bread is another popular choice, can't go wrong with that one."

"Is it easy to prepare?"

"Ha, no. It will take some time before you feel confident with it."

'Fuck.'

Not like the entire path so far has been a walk in the park, what is another bread type? Me and Chansey will be able to handle it, eventually.

"There is also, Brioche, another favorite one; Pumpernickel, Rye, Pita or Naan, are one of the few that come to mind and I think you already tried some of those, didn't you?"

"Chansey!" She jumped on her spot.

"Oh yeah we did, Brioche and Pita, Chansey was very proud of how she made the latter."

Chansey didn't say anything but raised up her chest with pride and put a smile to go along with it.

It was one of those times where I gave Chansey free reign over one bread, and she nailed it almost to perfection. We ended up eating all of it ourselves.

"Excellent, excellent," Monty said, nodding his head a couple of times.

He then slowly stood up and went for the kitchen's entrance.

"Before we continue this conversation, there is something I've to show you."

"What?"

Without bothering to respond he kept going without turning back. Chansey and I switched glances as Monty stepped into the kitchen without a hurry, ignoring the conversation we were having a second ago. We decided to follow.

We crossed the door to find Monty walking to one door that led to a small hallway, which connects to the other, less used, rooms in the bakery, like the employee bathroom or the door leader to the back alley.

He walked to the door and looked back at us, "What are you two staring at me for? Come on, it's this way," he said with an unusual smirk on his face.

The confusion in our faces was probably apparent, I know mine was.

What exactly is he doing and why like that, out of the blue? There isn't a single corner of the bakery I haven't seen/explored before so I'm curious about his intentions. Monty is a peculiar character so I shouldn't rule out any surprises. 'A secret room maybe?'

It wasn't until he turned left after entering the hallway that my mind clicked.

'Wait, the second floor?'

There was no denying it now, especially as Monty slowly climbed the wooden stairs, leaving behind a barely audible creaking sound with each step.

I had asked in the past about the second floor, right after the first day of cleaning. I clearly remember Monty waving his hand to the side and telling us not to bother about it, that it wasn't part of the bakery and we should ignore it.

It was a relief to know that we didn't have to worry about cleaning a second floor so we didn't give it a second thought.

However, after spending some time in the bakery I would be lying if I said it didn't pique my interest. My first thought was that it was meant for storage, but it was quickly dismissed after realizing all the bakery-related furniture was on the first floor. I considered it to be a possible extension to the kitchen, to expand the production but that didn't feel right either. In the end, I simply stopped thinking after a while although there is still some curiosity lingering about the contents of that floor.

A rusty 'click' was heard coming from the doorknob as Monty inserted and slowly twisted it in the doorknob. After a slight tussle, the door yielded and was open.

"Come on up," he told me, as I stared at him from the bottom of the stairs, "there's something I have to show you," he said again, before disappearing into the second floor.

I looked back at Chansey and she looked back at me.

"Well, you heard him, he has something to show us," I let out a dry laugh, "Hopefully that doesn't mean we have to clean the second floor too."

The climb up was fast and steady, but I can't deny I'm a little excited to know what awaits us up there. Knowing Monty, he will probably give us another 'gift' or something like that. He is too generous at times, it worries me.

After reaching the top, I crossed the half-open door and was welcomed with the sight of an average-looking… living room?

'Huh?'

The room had an average size with some furniture laid around in an orderly fashion, a couple of sofas of different sizes, and a small wooden table was placed in the middle of the room. Beyond that, there were a couple of lamps in two corners of the room and a long drawer facing the center of the room. Fancy enough, all of the furniture shared the same type of design, or close to it, so the room had a nice look to it.

The walls, however, lacked any sort of decoration and only sported a cream color to them. There was a slider-type window on one of the walls covered with old newspaper, whose frame color was similar to the table and drawers in the room.

In a different spot of the room were two white doors, both closed, most likely leading to another section of the floor, and in one corner was Monty, with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

"So, what do you think?" He asked.

"Uhh, what?"

"The place, what do you think?" He said, extending his arms in a welcoming gesture.

Confused, I took another look around, thinking I missed something but failed to see anything noteworthy. "Looks good to me?"

"The previous tenant kept it in great shape, so there was little work to do on it once he left. Hard to find people like that I tell you," he said as he turned, and walked towards one of the closed doors. "Here is the kitchen."

The door had no knob, so Monty only gave it a gentle push to open it.

Just like he said, we entered a somewhat small kitchen. There wasn't much in terms of decoration, white drawers and pale wooden tables on both sides of the kitchen table filled most of the space. As well as most of the basic kitchen appliances.

"I had to do some cleaning in the oven, but the kitchen is also in great shape. You have more than enough to prepare the basics and," he swiftly stepped to one side of the kitchen, "a working fridge. The previous tenant bought it and left it here, he said he didn't, and neither did I."

"Wait a minute, why are you telling me this?"

Monty's smirk remained but his left brow was lowered, giving him a classic 'questioning' look.

"I thought it was obvious, this is your new place."

'WHAT?'

"What?"

"Chansey?"

Monty gave out a hearty laugh. "Why are you so surprised? Were you expecting to live in my house with me forever? A young man like you, starting a new life deserves something better."

I was speechless. I knew Monty was the kind of person to help others, especially me, but this is going overboard.

"Are you sure about this? Do you really want to gift me this entire building, because, with the bakery included, you are"

Monty turned around, taking slow steps into the kitchen, "You know, I'm old and I have little need of these possessions anymore. I would be very happy if they were in the hands of someone who needs them and can get more out of them than me."

'No, I call bullshit, no one is that generous.'

"What about your family? You got kids right? I saw them in your house. Are you sure they don't mind? Wouldn't it be better to leave it to them?

I talked back without thinking, not realizing it could be a sensitive topic, the words simply came out of my mouth.

Fortunately, he only smiled at my reply.

"My children are no longer in the city, they live far away, much to my disdain. I doubt they would have any objection to me giving away the bakery to someone else. I'm sure they'll trust my judgment on it."

The way he phrased his answer was reassuring, it doesn't seem like he is in a bad relationship with his sons.

"I'm sure you'll get to know them one day, or perhaps you could visit them. My oldest lives in Alola, and the place is perfect for vacationing. I've yet to meet someone who visited and didn't like it."

"That… doesn't sound like a bad idea." I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"It isn't, it's one of the regions with the best touristic destinations," his words came to a sudden stop, and shook his head lightly, "but that's not the point, we're getting sidetracked here."

He rummaged through his pockets, trying to reach for something until a clinking sound was heard, and it already gave me a clue on what it was.

"Here," he threw a keychain at me, which I caught in the air but kind of hurt a bit to do so. "It's all yours, and don't worry about paying the bills. I'll help you out in the first months until you're fully settled."

I only stood there, looking at the keychain in my hands, speechless.

"I-I don't know what to say. Thank you Monty, really, thank you a lot. It still baffles me why you would go out of your way to do all of this, but I'm truly thankful for it. I meant it."

He only smiled, like he usually does.

"Not a problem Evan," he said, giving me a couple of pats in the back which later came to a sudden stop when Chansey jumped to hug Monty, almost making him fall.

It seemed Chansey was happier than I, although I'm not sure why, and that was her way of saying thanks.

"Okay, okay. Don't get too excited just yet. There are still a couple of rooms I want to show you. Then we need to discuss extending your training period too plus a few suggestions for

the bakery I've in mind, those should come in handy."


Day 32

A pleasant aroma made its way through the kitchen and up to the second floor, as I had the door open while I was moving some things around.

'Chansey has been working on something for a while now, wonder what it is?'

I was mostly done with the organizing on the second floor, which consisted mostly of light cleaning, moving some empty boxes around, and cleaning under the carpets. Because for the most part, the place had been well taken care of since someone was living there less than a year ago.

The sweet smell of sugar and vanilla invaded all the rooms and corners of the second floor, and at this point, curiosity won over me.

"Well, I was almost done anyway."

Chansey wanted to spend some time in the kitchen. I assumed it was for bread baking but that smell is telling me she is working on something entirely different.

After leaving a few boxes in the corner of the living room, I made my way down to the bakery's kitchen.

Halfway down the stairs, I began to mind my steps, sneaking up to the door that led to the kitchen. Interested in trying to catch a glimpse on whatever Chansey was working on before asking directly myself.

Slowly poking my head into the kitchen, I could see Chansey cleaning the work area she had been using and dropping a couple of things in the sink, I could spot a bowl and a couple of spoons.

It seems whatever she had been working on was already in the oven, and she was just getting everything clear before it was ready.

'Good thinking.'

Seeing as I had little to spy on, I simply walked in and decided to ask directly. Not like she has a reason to keep it secret.

"Hey Chansey, what were you working on? I could smell it from up there and it was delicious."

She turned at me with a little surprise at my presence but waved at me to come near her. "Chan Chaann!" She jumped up and down for me to hurry.

With my curiosity peaking even higher, I approached. The sweet smell from before only got stronger the more I walked into the kitchen but it never got too intense to be unpleasant; it remained a tasty treat to the nose and, hopefully soon, the stomach as well.

Chansey grabbed a booklet that was placed aside in one of the corners of the work table she had been cleaning not too long ago and handed it over to me on a specific page.

Understanding what she wanted to show me, I received the book without questioning, my eyes trying to ogle its content before I fully had it in my hands.

"Bread pudding?" I asked out loud, unintentionally. The name rang a bell for some reason.

"Chan," she nodded once, the smile not faltering from her face.

I gave the contents of the recipe a quick scan, the preparation seemed simple enough for it to be achievable on the first try. As for the ingredients, they were nothing complicated either; milk, salt, a couple of eggs, sugar, some vanilla extract, and of course, bread. There also seems to be raisins included in the recipe but someone crossed that out. Good.

"Monty recommended this the other day, didn't he? In order for us not to throw less bread, right?"

Chansey nodded again.

"I had almost forgotten about it," I said slapping my forehead with mild strength, "I didn't take note about his suggestions, so kinda got lost in my brain at some point, heh,"

I gently patted Chansey's head, disheveling the little fur she had on top.

She openly received it with a smile and an odd purr I didn't know she could even do.

"I should be taking note of these things, did you perhaps remember what else he suggested for the leftover bread?"

Chansey leaned forward and pointed at the book, specifically the small bits of green paper that were used as bookmarks on the edges of the book and that I had somehow failed to notice.

Getting the hint, I changed pages where the bookmark was pointing out. I faintly remember the suggestions but it was a mistake not to take note of those.

"Okay so let's…" I began muttering to myself, in almost unintelligible words what was written on the marked pages. 'Croutons, that looks tasty and simple, my two favorite words; Panettone, this one looks taxing but the payout is a nice result… now what else? Skimming through the rest of the pages I found Bread Crumbs, Cheesy Bread, and Stale Bread Tiramisu.'

There were not many bookmarks, in fact, the options were rather limited, which had me slightly demotivated. I thought we had more things we could try.

"Was this all Monty mentioned?'" I asked, raising my view from the book.

Chansey only nodded, with a hint of curiosity.

'Okay, while not much, this is better than throwing the bread away and gives us a chance to prepare new things. Chansey already proved my point with the bread pudding in the oven so, at the very least, we'll get some experience out of this.'

I involuntarily brought one hand to my chin as I adjusted myself into the classic 'thinking position.'

"After giving it a quick read, I believe we can take advantage of the bread pudding, panettone, and croutons. The bread crumbs will come in handy for the preparation of other recipes or when we feel like experimenting. The Cheesy Bread could be a killer by the looks of it but something tells me nailing the preparation won't be easy. As for the Tiramisu, well, this looks out of our league but we'll give it a try and see how it goes anyway."

Chansey stared at me, I could almost say with amazement in her eyes, and with a few claps to go along with it.

"Uhh, what do you think about it?"

"Chan chan!" She replied with a vivid nod.

"That's all I wanted to hear," I smiled back.

At that moment a beeping sound resonated around the kitchen, its high-pitched alarm was hard to ignore. It was a timer, which I assume was settled for the pudding.

Chansey calmly walked to the table behind me and pressed the button on top of the kitchen timer.

"Nice timing on my part, let's give it a try." I moved to the side of the kitchen where we had plates and silverware stored and grabbed a pair.

Being the one who was preparing it, Chansey took it upon herself to remove the pudding from the oven, wearing a pair of yellow kitchen gloves that were too big for her, and placed the pudding on a plate she had already prepared.

As expected, the aroma coming from the pudding grew only bigger as she took it out of the oven. Maybe it's because I'm not used to it but the smell of the bread we've baked so far never hit that kind of spot for some reason. Or maybe it was great at first and simply got used to the smell, becoming numb eventually to how good it was.

With the plates in hand, I returned and got a better look at the pudding.

It was beautiful.

It had a crusty upper layer, its color ranged from golden to honey-like tone and a few brownish spots in some locations that only added to its appeal. You could still make out the pieces of bread used to make it, but now were gently tied together after the baking process giving the pudding a homey look to it.

The longer I gazed at it the more I was uncertain about its composition. Would it be soft or brittle? Perhaps only the exterior sports a stronger layer and everything underneath has a mushy texture? How much of the used bread's original flavor and composition remained?

Granted, I've probably eaten bread pudding in the past, but I can't exactly recall how it went.

'Well, only one way to find out.'

As I closed the distance between me and the pudding, with a knife in hand, Chansey placed her arm between us.

"Huh, what?" I asked, taken out of my trance.

Chansey shook her head from side to side, clearly expressing disapproval but keeping a smile. Then with her eyes she pointed at what she was holding in her other hand.

Powdered Sugar.

"Nice detail," I let out.

'Ohh.'

Without any hesitation, Chansey spread little bits of a bag of powdered sugar, leaving a thin coat of it on top of the pudding. Only enhancing its already inviting appearance.

Once done, Chansey placed the bag of sugar to the side, which I now realized had a childlike drawing of a cutiefly on its cover. Removing her arm from between me and the pudding, she nodded at me.

"Time to dig in then? Don't mind if I do." I said with a smirk.

The knife I had with me was able to smoothly cut a piece of the pudding pie. At first, it seemed like it would be hard because of the crusty exterior but with just a little pressure the knife cut through it, and what was beneath gave no resistance to the knife.

After cutting a corner of the pudding, I used a spoon to raise the cut piece and moved it onto the plate. That was when I got to admire its interior.

The golden and brownish colors of the exterior were left behind and changed for a soft-looking interior that almost looked like some sort of jelly. It wasn't purely a yellow-ish color though, I could also spot darker spots in it of a light brown color from the pieces of bread that were buried beneath, giving the inside of the pudding a curious pattern.

"Not going to lie, this looks pretty decent."

With a piece of pudding already on my plate and with Chansey as a witness I sunk my spoon into it and brought it to my mouth, all in less than two seconds.

For a moment, I think I reached heaven.

The texture was nothing too special but still was kind to the tongue, slightly crusty on the top and soft and mushy beneath, the taste escalated in intensity depending on it.

'Ah, but the taste…'

To put it in simple terms. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before, and by that, I meant it was delicious. It was just that, delicious.

The taste exploded in my mouth when it touched the pudding, entering a euphoric state for half a second before returning to normal. I couldn't help but flinch at the response of flavor and texture being experienced by my taste buds.

Even the passage through the throat was pleasant, retaining a pulpy texture there as well, plus a pleasant aftertaste with a minor intensity in taste, but not less appealing than the first.

'Maybe it is because I was never an expert in confectionery or pastries, but holy shit is this amazing.'

After taking three or four spoonfuls, I stopped, looking at Chansey with wide-open eyes.

"Chansey, how did you prepare this? This is amazing!" I couldn't contain my excitement, probably bolstered by the pudding, "Did you add any secret ingredient or something?"

Chansey didn't reply at first but her smile was enough to tell she was happy with the outcome.

Shen pointed to her tummy, then clapped it with the same hand.

"Uhh... I don't think I follow," I said with a raised brow.

Not choosing any sign of frustration at my lack of understanding, Chansey simply took off her apron and that's when I understood what she was talking about.

"Chansey!" I spoke with surprise, "the egg, where-where is the egg?"

She didn't say a thing, only switched glances between me and the pudding on the table.

'Wait, wait, wait, wait! Can Chansey use her egg that way? I mean, shit, I never gave the egg she carried much of a thought. I guess it makes some sense for it to be edible but… it doesn't contain a baby pokemon in it, right? Fuck I don't know how shit works around here.'

I gulped with some hesitation the last piece of pudding in my mouth.

"So…" I said with doubt, "You use you, the egg you always carry around, to bake pudding?"

Chansey nodded at me, "Chansey chan."

'Her happy and go-getter attitude remained, perhaps the egg is not such a big deal after all?'

"So, is it okay for you to use your egg like that, there is nothing wrong with that?'"

She nodded.

"But wait, will it grow back or…" I stopped my words, not knowing how to phrase what I wanted to ask, "I mean, isn't it a big deal to use the egg, you can grow it back, right?"

She nodded again, keeping a happy and pleasing expression.

"Okay okay, but if it grows back, how long does it take and, um, will it affect you in any way, like, uh…" I mumbled the last couple of words.

Chansey didn't nod at that but only brought her hand to her chin, making a thinking pose. Only to give me a shoulder shrug.

'Okay, maybe I shouldn't ask complicated questions for now. I'll rely on the internet for that.'

Seeing that now the questions were over, it was Chansey's turn to take a piece of pudding for herself and give it a try. Following my steps, she took a spoonful to her mouth, and her face, probably much like mine, changed to one of utter bliss, if only for a moment.

'So she can eat food made with her own eggs as well, interesting.'

"Not like I blame her, it's delicious, in fac-' I voiced my thoughts aloud, coming to a sudden stop as an idea blasted with extreme speed through my brain.

The pudding is extremely appealing, and it's no surprise that it's because of Chansey's egg as one of its ingredients. My experience on the matter may be amateur at best but worse food has sold for more, so if there is any possibility we can make a market out of this, then we should take it.

'As long as Chansey is cool with it, that is…'

Another portion of the pudding was served on my plate, pulling me out of my trance.

A happy Chansey beamed at me, already knowing that I can eat more than just one piece.

"Ah, thanks Chansey, I was in the mood for another one, heh."

"Chansey Chansey,"

I took one spoon full of pudding to my mouth, feeling my body slightly melt after doing so.

"Chansey," I said while chewing the pudding, "I have got an idea, a proposition, but I need your permission for it. It's related to the bakery and I think we could use it as our ace in this business. Do you want to hear it?" I said before taking another chunk of pudding to my mouth.

Chansey said nothing back but had her full attention on me. I knew that was a 'yes'.

"So… about these eggs of yours, I might have a good plan in mind…"


Day 35

Another day of training was coming to its end.

Today was focused on sourdough, brioche, and crumpet plus a type of bread called galarian muffin that we completely screwed up in the end. It didn't seem all that complicated, but it is the oven time that always messes up our end result. We have to work on that.

Mistakes or not, it's always in our best interests to expand our repertoire. I want to try making sweets sometime later this week as well, nothing too complicated, we'll stick to the basics but Monty said those sell and well, I can't ignore money just like that. I want to cover all possible angles and after opening, begin picking what goes and what doesn't.

That's the plan at least.

That aside, I already have a few recipes that I feel confident about baking and selling so that's reassuring, and even if those don't do well there is the bread prepared with Chansey's eggs, those will sell well, I'm sure of it.

After Chansey agreed to the idea, I only had to do some research on the eggs and ask Monty for advice. Apparently, Chansey can lay many eggs a day, which have an incredible amount of nutrients plus an amazing flavor, which I can confirm by experience.

However that wasn't the most surprising fact about it, what got my attention was how expensive those were. Like, buying those in a regular mall is going to cost a lot, one egg is easily worth 100 times more than a regular egg, and that's putting it nicely.

The reason for it being, aside from the taste, is that mass-producing Chansey's eggs is nearly impossible. For a Chansey to produce eggs on a daily basis with an outstanding flavor she requires to be treated with love and care which is something factories are not known to do with their employees.

This makes local and small producers have the upper hand in this market since a person can easily train or take care of one or two Chansey at the same time, having them produce good eggs. Which is something a greedy shareholder or CEO is incapable of doing.

Not only that, but finding a Chansey in the wild is also extremely rare, since they were hunted for their eggs in the past, their population remained low and now the best way to find one is to visit the local Pokemon Center. The percentage of people that own a Chansey that are not in the medical industry is minuscule.

In other words, I'm lucky as fuck.

It makes me wonder if my situation is purely coincidental or if there is something else.

Thoughts for another day.

To summarize, it was a productive day, and now what remains is to put everything in its place, clean the kitchen, place the leftover dough in the fridge and take care of tomorrow's prep.

"Chansey, did you put the last batch of dough in the fridge?"

"Chaaan!" she responded from the other side of the kitchen, which normally meant yes.

Tying up the last trash bag, I placed it next to the others near the door that lead to the back alley.

'Only two bags today, huh?'

"Now I only have to leave them at the alley, gotta make it quick though," I said to myself.

For the past few days, we've been doing the same silly routine. Drop the bags in the back alley and walk back as fast as possible, to avoid any dangerous encounters. That was Monty's suggestion.

I say silly because I don't think it is the best way to deal with the issue.

Sure I'm not any authority on the matter, let alone I have enough knowledge about pokemon to propose a better solution but still, I think letting the issue go on just like that is harmful to both parties.

This is why I devised a plan.

I walked towards a corner of the kitchen, where half a pudding from yesterday was covered by a kitchen towel. I grabbed it with care and brought it with me all the way back to the door leading to the back of the store.

"Chansey," I said to her, who was putting some bowls away, "I'm about to execute our plan."

"Chan?!"

Chansey was never too supportive of the idea, but I don't think it was because she didn't want to help, but mostly about my well-being, since it was risky, not to say near-suicidal.

She dropped what she was doing and came right to my side, almost hugging me in the process, nearly making me fall.

"Hey hey, don't worry, I'll be ready this time, plus I only need to observe, how hard can that be."

"Chansey chan chan chan," she exclaimed, hopping from side to side in what seemed like a mix of complaints and concerns.

"I get where you're coming from, but I won't be so far away from the door anyway and if it doesn't show up after 30 minutes, I'll just leave."

My words of relief appeased Chansey a little, but I could still see the concern in her eyes as I opened the door to the back alley.

"Don't worry, I got it under control."

'Hopefully.'

Technically the plan was easy, just watch and observe.

The idea was to put a treat in the middle of the alley and wait for our dear mystery pokemon to approach. Normally I wouldn't expect much of it, but I'm using one of Chansey's puddings so assuming this pokemon has only eaten thrash for the last two years, then it should bite the bait.

Now, if our mystery guest does approach, I will be observing it from a not-so-safe location in the vicinity, inside a trash can that I already wiped clean before executing this plan, and currently located in the area.

The objective is not to capture the pokemon or anything like that, mostly to satisfy my own curiosity.

'Curiosity killed the cat, Evan.'

Although it would be a lie to simply call it curiosity.

These past few days, I've been thinking about the encounter we had. It didn't attack me, probably because it knew it would only bring trouble for itself. That only furthers the idea that this pokemon knows how human society works and given how it hasn't returned to the wild and instead lives eating trash rather.

In other words, this is a stray.

I'm not sure how shocking or normal it is to find a stray pokemon. By the way, Monty and the officer put it, it was pretty rare.

I can sort of see why. In the little time I've been here I've seen and even experienced the bond between Pokemon and humans. For one to blatantly abandon the other, feels unnatural and even cruel in some cases. This is why I want to 'help' this mysterious pokemon that lives in the back alley.

Granted, I'm not an expert but it felt like I had to do something about it.

'I don't really expect to befriend them, but if I can make their life better, even a little, then that'll be good enough for me.'

After placing the trash bags in the usual place, I began the plan.

I quickly returned to the bakery, where Chansey stood by the door, and grabbed a pan where half of a bread pudding was placed and then returned outside.

The main idea was to place the food in a more or less illuminated location so I can, at the bare least, be able to recognize more features of the pokemon to determine what type of pokemon it is.

I decided on setting the pan beneath one of the street lamps in the alley, although you could tell the light bulb hadn't been changed in a while, the light it provided was good enough.

"Okay, here goes nothing."

I got into the clean trash can that I had strategically positioned and closed it from inside.

'There is still a faint smell of rotten apples but nothing I can't stand.'

Now the waiting game commences.

'This shouldn't be hard, just waiting and observing. And if for some reason I'm discovered, let's just hope I can't survive the vibe check."

For a while, nothing happened, as expected.

The far sound of cars driving by the nearby street, the conversation that came to me as whispers, and the faraway cries of flying pokemon were all I heard for a while.

I spotted movement to the far east, however, that was another person throwing the trash away. False alarm.

The second time I spotted movement came from a Rookidee that flew too close to the ground, probably expecting to snatch an easy meal but never touched the ground.

'Maybe it knows not to mess with this pokemon.'

"That line of thinking isn't helping," I murmured to myself.

I kept waiting for a while longer, at this point surpassing the thirty-minute mark, my legs were starting to feel sore. At this point, the previous sounds I heard had also come to a stop.

The idea of the pokemon not showing up popped in my head a couple of times. It has been smart enough to dodge the authorities all this time, having it fall for this is a bit unrealistic.

'Maybe it won't show up aft-'

My thoughts were immediately shut down as I heard a loud metallic sound, it wasn't too loud but loud enough to be noticeable. It sounded like an object being dropped on a trashcan if I had to guess.

I peeped through one of the many holes in the trash can I was hiding into, trying to find the origin of the sound. At first, it seemed like it was my imagination as I couldn't see anything out of place but then, I saw it.

The same creature from before stood no more than a few meters from where I placed the pudding.

I couldn't really tell what he was doing, maybe analyzing the surroundings.

From where it stood, I couldn't spot much of it, only a shadow. The silhouette was the same except there were no tentacles.

'No tentacles, does it have them retracted, or was what I saw an illusion due to panic?'

The creature stood there for some time, I couldn't tell how long, I was too busy watching to look at my phone. The chances of it running away were not low, so I had to keep my eye on it.

After what felt like an eternity, the creature approached.

Its steps were cautious, and its body stiff. Every movement looked calculated as if it was analyzing every possible scenario where something unexpected could happen.

The walk continued like that till he reached the pan with the bread pudding I had laid out for it.

Unlike its previous movements, the creature didn't take too long to lower its head and dig in. Although it lacked the energy or fervor Chansey and I had when eating the pudding for the first time, I could tell it was enjoying it.

It was there, under the dim light of an almost dead light bulb that I could finally get a better grasp at the pokemon.

As previously confirmed, it was a quadrupedal pokemon; its legs were slender and so was its body and there was also a ragged tail near the end. All in all, nothing too striking, until you look at its head. Long rabbit-like ears sat on top of its head and tufts of fur decorated parts of the head in an unkept fashion, letting me know this pokemon hadn't touched a bath in ages.

When it came to its face I could see the eyes weren't as dark as I first thought, but whenever they looked in my direction I couldn't help but feel intimidated. They looked ruthless but tired at the same time. The snout was also remarkably small, it was only a tiny cracked nose.

However, what was the most interesting were its tentacles, yes there were indeed tentacles. But these ones were much smaller than before.

At first I confused them with strands of hair, but at closer inspection I could see those being taken for tentacles on a dark knight. The question was how did the pokemon make them look so big?

'I mean, it's a pokemon, there probably was a skill or biological factor involved.'

And there aren't three tentacles, but four. Perhaps I missed one in our first encounter.

But that's not all, the pokemon seemed to have something incredibly similar to ribbons in its body. One at the base of one of the ears, and the other and its neck. At first I thought it was just my imagination but no, those are clearly ribbons.

As for its color, there wasn't much to say. It sported a dirty gray all over its fur, making it hard to guess what the real color actually was. Although I could tell the tone of gray got darker in the ears, feet, and tails.

My analysis couldn't go much further as the pokemon finished eating the pudding in less than half a minute. 'Not sure if hungry or simply alert, maybe both.'

Just when it looked like it was going to jump back into the darkness of the alley, it turned my way and locked eyes with me, making me completely freeze in utter fear, unable to move or even breathe.

'This dude is about to cut short my subscription to life.'

I expected something, anything, but it never came. Instead what happened was an awkward stare competition where I was clearly losing while nearly shitting myself.

After what felt like an hour the pokemon turned around and jumped into the darkness.

I stayed in the trash can for safety measurements for the next two or three minutes before leaving it and rushing my ass back to the bakery, where Chansey awaited me.

Chansey welcomed me with a hug pushing me to the wall and nearly making me fall in the process.

I patted her head, "I'm okay Chansey, I'm okay." I comforted her.

I took the chance to take three, well-deserved, deep breaths before collecting my thoughts.

"I believe I can actually track what we're dealing with here Chansey," I said to hear, making a mental note of the pokemon features.

"I'm not sure where this is going to lead us but, well, it honestly feels better than doing nothing, wouldn't you agree?"

"Chan?"


And so here we have another chapter, this time shorter than the rest as it should be.

I tried implementing more elements of the pokemon world this time, plus some baking-related content in the middle and I'm pretty happy how it turned out since it all will help the story down the road. The 'mysterious' pokemon subplot has officially started with this chapter, and I've got a good feeling you guys can guess who it is by now.

Anyway, I'll try to speed up the pace of my updates from now on, but I won't make any promises on it either, ha.

Big thanks to Drodez for helping me with the edits and to Roseflower240 for the baking advice!

As always, here is the discord link in case you want to chat /9XG3U7a

I'll see you all next time.