Good news! I completed my school term earlier than expected and this chapter along with it! Thus, you customers shall not need to wait until May for this update, because it happens today! I'm free! Hard to believe it's been over a month since my birthday.

I'm proud to announce that "Culinary Rivals" has hit another couple milestones. This story, after almost three years, has hit its 20,001th view at the time of this upload and going strong. Plus, it has now surpassed 150,000 words. That's a record!

Plus, here's a round of Cynthia's homemade Poffins with berry cream centres to...

DaX0315: You guessed right! It was a frying pan!

The honoured Guest: Merci beaucoup! It was my birthday, after all!

QUEENSPELLER67: You'll be in for more drama here... Hey! You've changed your username again, eh?

Anyways, without further, please enjoy these special chapters of "Culinary Rivals"...

I must admit, I've had a lot of fun writing it!

Chapter thirty-seven: À la Mer

The following morning, a sign was placed on the front doors of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro's foyer. So while the Stone Bakery, the museum, and À la Mer were still operating, the restaurant itself was closed for the time being.

Wallace and Lisia were standing outside the entrance, and to their disappointment, they couldn't go into the restaurant. Technically, they could if they went to the bar or the bakery, but that wasn't what they were here for. They wanted to harass Steven a little more for today. In light of the events of yesterday, there was a perfect excuse to do so.

But apparently, it wasn't working, and it got worse for Wallace when his girlfriend came about shouting at them.

"Qu'est-ce que vous faites?!" Winona shouted at them. She was furious. "I knew I'd find you here! Wallace! You made a promise! You promised we would be heading out for ice cream! Do you want me to hit you again?"

"But, my dear Winona," Wallace replied without looking at her. "There are more important matters! You do realise, that nothing is more important than helping a friend in n–"

SMACK

He received a punch to the face and was soon flat on the ground. In response, Lisia giggled. What a character her uncle was! Shocked and stunned, Wallace struggled to get up from the ground.

"Could anything be more important to you than finding the perfect woman for Steven?!" Winona said rhetorically. "Argh! It's a wonder how you're my boyfriend still!"

The sign read:

Fermé

Due to forces outside of his control, the owner has taken a mandatory leave for an indefinite amount of time. The Stone Restaurant and Bistro is closed for today. However, the bakery, the museum, and the bar will continue operating as usual.

From the Stone Restaurant and Bistro

Wallace struggled to look up, and when he did he saw Winona towering over him. She grabbed him with both hands, lifted him up, and looked at him right in the eyes.

"You're going to have to do more than taking me out for ice cream now!" Winona said. Without a doubt, she was being condescending to Wallace, and it looked pretty abusive the way she was saying it to her partly knocked out boyfriend. "You're going to take me out for ice cream on the beach! No questions asked!" She threw him back on the ground after.

"Okay, okay," Wallace replied. Albeit his voice was muffled, being on the ground. He could feel his face was getting bruised already, but it didn't matter. If Winona wanted to go to the beach, then he should abide by her wishes. First of all, he ought to find a place that sold ice cream. "But you know it's important to find the perfect woman for him. You know, it's the same way how you're the perfect woman for me."

Winona's cheeks flushed red and she went silent.

Lisia tried her best to hold in her laughter, but it didn't work, so after a minute, Lisia said, "Ha. He got you there."

Not wanting to have any more of this, Winona took Wallace's hand and dragged him away. Even though Wallace was still lying on the ground, Winona's patience was exhausted.

The sun was out and it could not have been that much warmer than in previous days. However, such temperatures were not unheard of in Cyllage City. Since it was so close to the seaside, the conditions were anything but imperfect. It was a wonder how many people weren't going to the beach in conditions like these!

Steven could hear waves. The sound of waves crashing against the shore. He felt like he was dreaming. Where had he been the past while? What he did know however, was that when he slowly opened his eyes, he saw the ceiling of a wooden shed.

A splitting headache followed.

"Ow…!" Steven moaned. He blinked and brought a weak arm to the side of his head.

Where am I?

It hurt a little bit just to think about that. Soon enough, Steven tried to bring himself up at least. He kept blinking as he looked around him. It was a small wooden shed alright, and he took note of the clothes he wore were… his cooking clothes.

His sleeves were coated in sand.

Sand? What?

Sand, the sound of waves crashing, and a blistering heat all around him. Was it because he was near the sea? But where was he earlier? Wasn't he at his restaurant before?

I must be dreaming. Am I dreaming?!

The door flew open and the blinding outside light poured into the dark shed. Steven's tired eyes were blinded as they adjusted to the new sight. A shadowy figure was standing at the door.

"Bon matin, boss!" Martine Grenadine greeted ever so cheerfully.

"Ugh…" Steven said quietly. He was too tired to say anything. "Martine… Where… Where am I?"

"I'm glad you're awake!" Martine probably didn't care about Steven's question. She guessed he would figure it out.

Steven then realised what Martine was wearing at the moment, in which her appearance suggested she was going for anything but formal. Indeed, if nothing else she looked very playful. Martine was wearing a red-and-green sundress in which its colours – blending with her red hair – made her look like she was on vacation or something.

Vacation. Informality. Sand.

Martine in a sundress.

"Attendez…" Steven muttered. A sudden realisation swept over his eyes. "Martine! Are we at the BEACH?!"

"How smart you are, boss!" Martine replied cheerfully. "I'm surprised you figured it out already! Even though you were knocked out! Plus, the entire staff has come too! Not to mention your Pokémon!"

The redhead disappeared to go outside and Steven was left by his lonesome in the shed. He was shocked, dazed, and words failed him. Now that he had a good look at where he was, Steven slowly pulled himself up from the sand and rubbed his sore head. He still couldn't come to terms that he really was at the beach, but when he left the shed he was spoken for.

Outside, the morning sunlight almost blinded him when he was met with the sight of the Cyllage City seaside. In addition, he noticed there were not a lot of people on the beach – except that what was noticeable was that everyone who was on the beach was someone he recognised.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming… I thought I was working," Steven said to himself.

"You were!" Martine cheerfully chimed in. No doubt she was still wearing that sundress as she forced a bag into Steven's hands. "I took the liberty of raiding your villa for clothes you would wear to the beach, so I –"

"WHAT?" Steven interrupted. His eyes were wide. "Hold that thought! You not only raided my home, but you – all of you – disobeyed MY demand to not go to the beach?! How – how could you?! How could all of you!"

Sadly, no one could hear Steven's angry rant except for Martine. For Martine, she simply grinned which seemed to infuriate Steven even more.

"Aw… Come on, boss! You know we all deserve a break! Live up a little!" Martine replied. She lightly punched Steven's shoulder. "You of all people deserve a break, and besides, James gave the go-ahead to close the restaurant for one day, so you needn't worry going back today!"

Steven was speechless. What he could only do was to stare at the bag Martine gave him in which he recognised as his own. It seemed that Martine had raided his home to find his personal things. Peeking into the bag, Steven found Martine had stuffed a handful of clothes for him. Oh, so this was personal wasn't it?

"Martine. I can't. I just can't," Steven said.

"Oh, come on, boss! Live a little, s'il vous plait!" Martine insisted. To Steven's surprise, Martine dragged him back to the shed and pushed him inside. "I won't let you out until you've changed!" Martine shouted. "Besides, Sophie and I have got tons of plans for today, and James has even brought his barbecue grill! You don't want to miss out!"

All Steven could do was grumble. He looked to his blinding surroundings and saw many of his cooking staff either swimming in the water or basking in the morning sunshine. James d'Arc, dressed in no more than a part of swimming trunks and sandals, was sipping a glass of crushed ice and Nomel on a beach lounge chair. He looked like he was enjoying himself.

Did Steven really have a choice? If he could, he would have ordered his Pokémon to break him out of this predicament. Even without his Pokémon, he could simply sneak away from the beach while no one was looking.

But there was no chance of that happening. Not while Martine was standing right outside the shed waiting for him, and certainly not when his Pokémon were all at home – save for Metagross. Even so, Metagross was not with him.

Grumbling still, Steven opened his bag to look at the clothes Martine had picked out from his home. As he looked, he realised that his keys weren't in the bag either. So this was how his staff treated him, eh?

Right when he was about to remove his jacket, the door creaked open again.

"Oh, boss! You can have this back!" Martine's voice sang. "It's what we used to help you get here! Genius, right? Oh, and in case you were wondering, I told Sophie to do it. So if you want to know who to blame for wiping you out, just look at Sophie."

The sound of a solid mass could be heard hitting the sand and Steven only needed to look down to see what it was. He winced. He swallowed. He was definitely going to get back at Martine AND Sophie for this uncalled for act of betrayal.

A frying pan, from his kitchen, was in the sand.

He came out of the shed a short while later wearing, to Martine's delight, not his black chef jacket. Instead, he was wearing an orange short-sleeve button-down and a pair of black shorts. Why, he was wearing sandals too.

"You know, boss, never have I seen you dress so informally," she remarked.

"Did I have a choice?" Steven muttered.

"Of course not! But you should at least be grateful that I was being generous!" Martine replied enthusiastically. "I know you have an affinity for collared shirts – thought that was really all I could find – so I simply picked the clothes that you might like!"

Before Steven had a chance to reply, Martine grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the beachfront ("Venez!" she ordered, as if Steven had a choice, but he really didn't). As Steven got closer and his mind refocusing, he noticed Sophie was bringing out some tools onto the sand. Her black hair was down, its length longer than Martine's shoulder-length hair for sure. She was wearing a blue swimsuit and a trilby hat to match. Beside her, Laurent was playing with his Hawlucha and Sophie's Clauncher, who were both digging holes in the sand. Laurent alone wore only swimming trunks too. Once every so often, Sophie would look at Laurent just to admire his handsome appearance.

Sure, Laurent may have given her a kiss on her cheek at the Battle Château, but Sophie wondered if he did have any… feelings of the sort. Could he?

Laurent's eyes caught hers, and the two of them had a brief moment to look at each other before smiling and looking away.

"Tout le monde!" Martine announced. She waved at the group to get their attention. "Notre patron est arrivé!"

After James had finished his glace of crushed ice and Nomel, he stood up to get a refill, but he gave Martine a wave back and waved at Steven too. From what Steven saw, as hinted earlier, Martine was telling the truth. James really had brought a barbecue grill to the beach. As the two of them walked closer to join the group, Martine noticed just noticed that Laurent and Sophie were distant from the rest of the others.

"It makes you wonder why they're separating themselves from the group. You know, it's just the two of them…" she giggled. "You know what I mean, boss?"

"No, I don't," Steven replied automatically.

"Well, consider they've been on a date before," Martine said. "Or maybe it's because they've always been friends, right? Either way, they look pretty close…"

Steven buried his face in his hands. This was the conversation he hoped Martine would not lead him in.

It wasn't before long that Steven had joined the group at the beachfront. "Bon matin, tout le monde," Steven greeted, albeit he looked very groggy. He dropped his bag on the sand, with the frying pan in it, and joined the group.

Within minutes, the entire staff of the Stone Bistro had gathered together near the beachfront. Steven did his best not to look at anyone, but he couldn't help it. Just how could they treat him like this?

"Well, I'm glad everyone could make it," Martine announced, with a nod to Steven. "It's our day-off! And what better than to spend it here? I'm sure this is a great time to build up our workplace community, and better relationships! Especially vous deux…" she nodded to the receptionists.

Laurent instinctively glanced at Sophie first and then looked away, whereas Sophie blushed as she looked away from everyone's eyes.

Martine giggled. Poking holes at them here on the beach was too great of an opportunity to miss, but she would let it go. "Anyway! Let's have some fun! That is… If there is anything…"

"Laurent et moi allons construire des châteaux," Sophie said. "Voulez-vous jouer avec nous?"

"Don't mind if I do," Martine replied. "Although… I think it's better if we leave you two alone to get it done. After all, we probably know that Laurent wants to check y–"

Instantly, in a flash, Sophie clamped her hand over Martine's mouth and turned to the others quickly. Her face was so red that it was difficult to tell if she was embarrassed or angry.

"W –what Martine m-means i-is th-that –" she stammered helplessly. "We're going to have a competition to see who builds the most amazing château, oui?"

"Not unlike you," Laurent added with a smile at Sophie. "You always look amazing, and probably even better today."

Sophie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Instinctively she covered her mouth to cover her shock, but that did nothing to stop the fierce reddening of her face. Why of all people did he have to say it?! Oh the irony. If Martine wasn't allowed to say it, it was because Laurent already had that covered. Why did the world have to treat her like this?

Martine grinned in spite of Sophie desperately covering her mouth. She pried Sophie's hand off and turned to the others.

"But Sophie isn't joking. Let's have a competition to see who will build the best château," she said. "It'll be fun!"

But one of the waitresses, needless to say wearing a tank top and shorts, complained. "What's in it for us, then? A competition has to have some sort of reward, right?"

"I agree," James added.

Martine looked to the sky briefly and then to Steven as if she had an idea in mind, but an idea wasn't popping up at the moment. But in the next minute, she did have one. "The winner of the competition will get a gift certificate to the local boutique paid out of Monsieur Stone's paycheque!" she said. "That ought to give you something!"

While Laurent was indifferent, Sophie took his hand and dragged him away while her face was red. "Let's get started, Laurent!"

Just like Sophie, everyone else, bolted away to get their works started. The incentive for clothes from the boutique was too great, and paid out of Steven's paycheque no less.

Steven himself was left dumbstruck and still standing as the others got to work. The next minute, he shot Martine a death glare, but Martine was so used to them that she actually found it amusing. Now Steven wondered if he'll ever be able to get angry at her again.

"This is anarchy…" he complained. "How much money did you and… Sophie take out of my cheque?"

He had a bad feeling about this. He had a really bad feeling about this. It got worse when Martine's smiled her suspicious smile.

"It's nothing too much, boss…" she said quietly. "It's only a mere 70,000 Poké."

"SEVENTY-THOUSAND?!" Steven roared.

The other staff who were preparing to start building their castles heard the roar and looked up briefly. But the irony was that their response wasn't concern for their boss, but rather that they were more inclined to work harder. 70,000 Poké's worth of clothes was on the line.

"Yup, and James approved it too," Martine added. "So if you really want to save your money, I suggest you start building a good château with the rest of us. That reminds me, I think I appointed Metagross, Skarmory, and James to be the judges."

Speaking of his Pokémon, Steven quickly turned attention to them. He was appalled at what he was seeing, but nevertheless he admitted it wasn't anything to be angry about. Cradily was hanging around the shore while Aggron was lying down on the sand sleeping. Even Claydol was floating around the beach looking for something to do. Armaldo was swimming, of all things.

By the time Steven turned his gaze back to look at Martine and vent at her, she had disappeared. He suddenly realised that Martine had scurried to join the others in building castles too.

Quite annoyed and desperate, Steven undid some buttons on his shirt to air out the sweat that was building on him from the heat. If his entire staff, including James, was going to wage a battle on him, so be it!

He dashed over to prepare building castles with them. When was the last time he had built some?

Ooh... I wonder what will happen next! Are you enjoying this beach special so far? I must admit that describing their... appearances made me blush a little. Leave a review and take a helping of ice cream from La Lune de Chocolat, while you're at it!

The beach special will continue... and there's a serving of Receptionistshipping on the menu coming (credit to QUEENSPELLER67 for the name, by the way).

BUT! I'm leaving for vacation for three weeks as of now, so stay tuned!