This chapter was supposed to be up a week ago! But I was almost annihilated by my schoolwork in the past two weeks! But hey, at least this chapter is finished in less than a month!
DaX0315, StRAngE ToASt, and darkwolf0909, please enjoy a round of Steven's crab and cheese crêpes, and Cynthia's strawberry and vinegar crêpes. Spoils of the first round!
Now... please enjoy the second round!
Chapter fifty-seven: Waffle Warfare
Twenty minutes seemed really short for Steven and Cynthia. The break was much-needed, and by the time they had returned to their stations, things were ready to resume. The stage was set, and the judges were ready for whatever would come next. Now that their ingredients were at their stations too, it was only a matter time before the next round started.
"Welcome back," Siebold greeted everyone. "Now we shall continue this cook-off series with the next theme ingredient. Just like before, you will have forty-five minutes to complete your dishes. Then again, you probably won't need all that time."
Steven took a deep breath and briefly glanced at Cynthia, who glanced back.
"The next ingredient is… waffle!" Siebold said.
The image of a waffle was shown on the screen, and this declaration also earned a few laughs and ridiculing from the audience. But that was no matter to Siebold. What mattered was what the chefs would present as the final product. "You may begin now!" he added. "Commencez!"
Making the batter was probably the way to get started. With eggs, Steven and Cynthia got to work in their respective stations. How they would do it afterward was a different story. To start, Cynthia cracked a few eggs the way she liked it. Steven also did the same, and prepared to beat his ingredients together.
Seated not too far where Martine and Lisia were seated was Wallace and Winona. They were impressed with what Steven and Cynthia presented as crêpes, although Wallace had paid more attention admiring the emotions from the chefs. That, Winona figured, was beside the point, and she punched him in the face as usual.
"You must admit, Winona, they look fearsome!"
"You should probably focus more on the food than the people, my dear." Winona cooed at her boyfriend, although Wallace could have interpreted Winona's tone as a threat, maybe. He decided to reserve his words, so that he wouldn't be on the receiving end of Winona's fist.
Steven and Cynthia were still in the middle of preparation. With only forty-five minutes to deal with; trying to prepare, cook, and complete a quality dish seemed to be a miracle to anyone. Then again, since they were chefs, they probably could get their dishes done (three times, come to that) in half an hour, maybe less.
"It seems Steven is going for the savoury strategy again," Winona remarked.
"That doesn't seem wise, I think. Just what is it that he's trying to pull off?" Wallace said. "You would think he's trying to play some kind of psychological game. How fitting."
"No. I think it's simply because he thinks he'll win again, if he presses with his advantage," Winona said. "I can't say I can blame him."
"Cynthia is probably going for sweet again. But you know, since she lost the first round, what do you think?" Grant asked Korrina.
Since Clemont also had allowed the gym to be used as a venue, he could sit wherever he wished. But he also gave his fellow Gym Leaders an exclusive right to sit either at the front row where the media were, or the back near the judge's table. Viola, who had press rights, was freely taking pictures of the event at the front.
That left the other leaders, like Grant, Korrina, and Clemont, sitting alongside Viola. Although they had the option to sit at the back, where Wallace and Diantha were, they thought it would be neater to stay from where the audience could see them.
"My guess is she'll probably press on with her advantage in sweets," Korrina replied. "I'm sure Cynthia will think of something to break through Steven."
They kept watching the match unfold. Once every so often, they would glance at the monitor for a different perspective of what was going on. At one point, it showed just what Steven was preparing.
"Is that steak he's using?" Grant said, surprised.
"Judging from how… crispy his waffle looks, I guess that's probably the case. He's going for savoury," Korrina replied. Korrina's side was soon joined by Viola, who was taking a break from photo shooting and wanted to review her pictures.
"You can basically smell it from here," Viola said. "It looks darker than Cynthia's. You know, he thinks he probably will win this one!"
Korrina and Grant, in spite of their agreement, still couldn't hold back one glaring thought. "But steak and waffle…?"
They watched Steven sear the steak, causing a mouth-watering aroma to fill the gym briefly, before he set it onto a foil-covered tray. He kept an eye on the clock, and then proceeded to put the steak into the preheated oven. It was apparent that Steven had that moved planned, because in the time the steak was in the oven, the waffle batter was still being cooked, and he was starting to work on a set of onions.
"But you know. It's still waffle, so there's no telling what kind of counterattack Cynthia would have planned. Her defeat in the crêpe round was a surprise to me, so it'll be interesting how far her sweets can take her." Laurent watched Cynthia complete her preparations and started cooking.
Sophie had stayed quiet so she could watch how things would turn out, but in her bones she agreed with Laurent. If the first round already showed that Steven's savoury food could defeat Cynthia's sweets; then could that predict how the competition would turn out? Still, it was only the first round. There were plenty more courses to go through, such as this one.
Nonetheless, the aromas they smelled in the air were mouth-watering. Onion and red wine radiated from Steven's station, while hazelnut and rich cream cheese radiated from Cynthia's end.
"You don't suppose she's making a sweet?" Laurent said. "Is that sea salt?"
"She is using hazelnuts, though. What is she up to? Making butter out of it, maybe, or as garnish?" Sophie replied. From what they could see, Cynthia was stirring a mixture with the cream cheese and hazelnuts, and also coconut. Plus the monitor showed Cynthia had caramelised some coconut and hazelnuts in a pan. However, the attention was on her efforts at creating her mixture. With added sugar and lemon, the savoury flavour of the cream cheese would be minimised. Yet, there was sea salt.
Laurent and Sophie had a vague idea of what Cynthia was going to do with this waffle.
Working with coconut brought back bad memories to Cynthia. The way Steven had discovered her conspiracy using Diantha's allergy to coconut seemed like a long time ago. That was where it had all started, hadn't it? Was it Cynthia's fault that she was where she was at now, standing before a crowd in Lumiose City and fighting for her life? Could she blame herself?
Cynthia shook her head.
Now was not the time to dwell on that. She was fighting for survival, and hopefully, he would notice. He had to notice.
Her waffles were almost ready, and Cynthia managed to sneak it a healthy amount of coconut into the batter before it was fully cooked. Already, her waffles were looking fluffy, and Cynthia could already imagine what it would taste like.
The coconut and hazelnut would make this waffle stand out.
It would not be long before she could piece the dish together. The waffles, all of them, would come out onto plates and then Cynthia would pour her completed mixture onto each waffle. To add the finishing touch, she would sandwich the cream cheese and waffle with another waffle, and garnish with more hazelnut and coconut.
Her mind dwelled on the chef beside her, though.
"What you have before you is a steak meal," Steven explained. "Steak on top of waffle with onion and red wine sauce." He watched as the judges uncovered the cloches hiding the waffles, and indeed there was a steak served on top of a crisp waffle, with what almost appeared to be a liquid gold sauce. Clearly, that was the onion.
"Judging from the looks of things, you would think that the steak will be the star of this dish, not the waffle," Siebold remarked first. "Let's see how it tastes."
Cynthia merely stood with arms crossed as she watched Siebold, Cilan, and Chef Bordeaux sample the dishes before them. They each first cut the steak and waffle and ate it together, and then went to eat them as separate pieces. It appeared that they were evaluating how well each tasted before tasting them as one, the onion sauce aside.
"That is… surprising. I'm astonished at how you managed that." Cilan said after swallowing and taking a sip of water. "The dish betrays your perception that the steak would make the most of the dish, but you would realise that the dish would not be complete, if the waffle wasn't there."
"Impressive," was Siebold's first remark. "You did honour the waffle in a way that these two things complement each other, but also that they would not stand on their own. There is a little spicy flavour coming from the waffle, but also has a sour vinegar-like flavour to welcome the steak. Is that Nomel berry I'm tasting?"
Steven smiled.
Chef Bordeaux did take a longer moment to speak. "The Nomel berry pairs nicely with not only the steak, but also the sauce itself. The onion and red wine sauce binds the steak and waffle together, but it's really the steak that completes the flavour with the waffle. On its own, the waffle won't do, but once the steak is on there, the waffle stands out."
It was comparable to watching a waltz on figure skates. If the steak and waffle were like two dancers in a waltz, the sauce was like the music that held the dance together. As graceful as it was, none of the three components would work without the other. It had to be complete.
Under the lights, and standing on the ice, the music mixed into the air seamlessly. An orchestra was playing in the background to supply the melody, while the dancers took the spotlight. For every crescendo played, the skating grew faster and faster. For every forte, one dance partner was always in briefly the air, and the skating also grew mellow during a decrescendo.
At the end of the day, it had to be a complete performance, and that would be more than enough for everyone. From start to finish, the performance was clean and well-executed.
"Alright, now let's see what you've brought before us, Cynthia," Cilan said.
Like Steven, Cynthia brought forward three cloche-covered dishes for the judges. As Steven stood back to watch what was going on and Cynthia had stepped back a little to give the judges space, the judges lifted the cloches.
The waffles below looked like glitter, and had lots of shine to go with it. Its appearance wowed the audience as they responded with "oohs" and instinct chatter. Despite the shine, the waffles did have a rusty coat due to the caramelised hazelnuts and coconut decorating the surface. In each serving, sandwiched between two waffles, and spread out on top of a third, was the cream cheese mix.
"You would have thought this was an effort at a cheesecake," Cynthia said. "Bon appétit."
Whilst the murmuring about the appetising waffles continued, the judges went about cutting the waffles. From the viewpoint of the camera, it was clear that these waffles were crisp as Steven's but also much softer in texture when cut.
After cutting his piece, Cilan examined the waffle carefully before putting it into his mouth. He could taste the coconut flakes melded in the waffle, alongside the hazelnut coat. The taste was surprisingly light and subtle, and with all the cream cheese, Cilan would have expected something heavier. At the same time, Cilan expected Cynthia to take care of that anyway, and this was done with the lemon that she had added to the cream cheese.
Siebold continued eating a few more pieces after the first bite and after he had finished half of each waffle, he rinsed his teeth with water.
"You are right in saying that this could be an effort at cheesecake," Siebold started, then added, "had you created an actual cheesecake. However, you can tell that most of the flavour is carried in the waffles as one dish. You can taste the slight whiff of lemon in the cream cheese that cleans the coconut and hazelnut in the waffle, and on the whole, the waffles are delicious. That sea salt was the only way."
"The balance of flavours in the cream cheese and the waffle is just right. It's not out of balance, and you have to owe it to the sea salt," Chef Bordeaux said. "As an analogy, it's like balancing two sides of a scale, and neither side is tipped. The waffles and the cream cheese have managed to do that here. Nevertheless, while you have the waffles with its soft interior, you also have the cream cheese that forces out the flavour embedded in the waffles."
Snowpoint Temple was known to have sealed away a hidden power, and for good reason (at least, according to folklore). That hidden power was namely a behemoth of a Pokémon called Regigigas. Known to have moved entire continents, it was no wonder it had earned the fear of a lot of people.
Still, that wasn't going to slow down a certain platinum blonde from testing its power anyway. Cynthia, with help from the Snowpoint City Gym Leader, had gotten a hold of the three titans Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. Now that the three were in the presence of Regigigas, they unified their actions to cause the colossus to awaken.
The ground beneath Cynthia's feet began to shake violently. It felt like the temple would collapse, but it didn't. Meanwhile, Regigigas, having been asleep for centuries, had finally awoken! Now that she was facing it, Cynthia had opted to have Lucario take it to the battle.
However, Regigigas wasn't putting up that big of a fight. Its impacts weren't doing too much harm to Lucario, and its body was moving around like rusted gears. How was it even possible that it could fight? This would have been too easy.
Unfortunately, Cynthia knew too well that given enough time, Regigigas would resume full power and then it would be almost unstoppable. Despite having the initiative for now and the power advantage, there was lots of room for worry.
After a brave effort to take down the giant, Cynthia realised that Regigigas was now moving a lot faster. No matter. She was up to the challenge, and especially when she had a certain Mega Stone as one of her surprises.
Martine had her arms crossed the whole time as the judges' evaluations went on. While she hadn't expected Steven or Cynthia to create innovative waffles like these, which made her hungry, she paid more attention to their expressions. Judging from their looks, both chefs looked confident, but unfortunately there could only be one winner.
She then looked at the judges, who had their plates and cloches removed by the servers. Steven and Cynthia were asked to step back for a moment as they deliberated over the waffles. The microphones were switched off, temporarily, as they discussed.
"It's a pretty tight match," Martine admitted.
"Yup," Lisia said.
The fact that Steven and Cynthia had produced a savoury dish and a sweet dish, respectively, also made it difficult for Martine to figure who had the edge. Both chefs were playing to their strengths, and if the crêpes were any indication that Steven had the upper hand, it didn't seem to do the waffles justice. Rather, Martine guessed that it came down to which tasted better.
If it was anyone who could draw the line: look no further than the top culinary artists seated at the judges' table at the moment. Siebold's mentor, of all people, being one of them! How they managed to decide on the crêpes were beyond her, and if they could do that, the waffles would seem pretty easy. What kind of criteria they measured with, was also beyond Martine.
"Will sparks fly at last?" Wallace said hopefully.
"Oh my gosh. Of all things you could talk about, you bring that into a place like this? Not very relevant, is it?" Winona said crossly. She really, really, wanted to slap his face, but there wasn't enough space. Plus, she didn't want to make a scene yet.
"You have to admit, that is exactly what this has been all about!" Wallace protested. "I didn't set up this match for nothing!"
"So that really was your true intention!" Winona accused.
For once, Wallace was cornered by his girlfriend and unable to reply. But as luck would have it, his mind was stopped short by the decision-making of the judges. That allowed Wallace to sit back, relax, and turn his mind to more important things. There was nothing he could do now, right?
"You two have fought bravely, and displayed considerable skill, but there can only be one winner." Siebold announced from his seat. "Without further, the winner is…"
Steven and Cynthia were clearly at war. It was like they were trying to get the best of each other, and that required good tactics. Such was like trying to sneak into an enemy stronghold.
Steven was sneaking through mud and rain in an effort to crawl into the base. He was wearing combat gear, a helmet, and had a map to help him. He knew he was very close, and he just needed to pinpoint the right location and he would be in.
However, the moment he turned on his flashlight to check his map, an array of floodlights switched on and surrounded him in light. They were lights from a fortress, and Cynthia's fortress, to be exact.
"Oh no," Steven muttered.
He was trapped, and before he could even get up, he felt a dart hit his neck. Was it laced with sleeping draught, maybe? Because he was getting very sleepy.
He only had enough willpower to look up again, and there Cynthia was, who was ready to take him prisoner.
"Cynthia. Congratulations." Siebold said. "It's an outright victory for you."
Cheers and applause followed the ruling, and it respectfully died down as Siebold continued speaking. Cynthia had unanimously won by taking three out of three votes. 3-0.
"There's no doubt that this was an unexpected call, compared to the previous round," Siebold said. "Your use of the cream cheese's richness with the coconut and hazelnut was perfect."
"Of course, Steven's steak meal was incredibly delicious. We have no doubt about that," Chef Bordeaux said, and it occurred to Martine that he was not speaking last. "The waffles stood out along with the steak, so our decision came down to the finest of details. Cynthia's method may have been as unconventional as yours, if I may boldly say, but the taste had a minute edge over yours."
"You two really had to come down to savoury and sweet again, so the decision was tough. Take our word for it," Cilan added. "It was the sea salt Cynthia used that made the difference."
Steven and Cynthia stood silently, and they nodded as judges had their tables cleaned. That being said, they had to get their stations cleaned up themselves. Now that the match was over for the day, with each of them picking up one win, it was time to close up for the day too. As they cleaned their stations, Siebold took the spotlight.
"And that concludes the first of this cook-off series! Was that not surprising, that our rivalling chefs both won a round apiece! But this series has yet to finish. Be sure to tune in next time for the next round, and you know where to find us: here, at Prism Tower in Lumiose City," Siebold spoke to the audience and everyone around Kalos (let alone the world) who tuned in on the competition.
As applause filled the gym floor and people started leaving, a few more people still stuck around to have a glimpse of the culinary rivals. For privacy reasons, Steven and Cynthia were asked to leave so that the crowd might not try hunting them down afterwards.
However, that wasn't to be because people were screaming for their attention. In the interest of safety, everyone had to be escorted out. Even those sitting in the rear seats, where special guests like Diantha, Martine, and Lisia were seated, were politely asked to leave. For what it was worth, it would take time before the entire gym floor was clear. It was fortunate the cleanup operation was managed under the watchful eyes of Siebold and Wallace.
Eventually, when the gym floor had gotten quiet, Steven and Cynthia were busily cleaning their respective stations away. They didn't speak to each, nor did they look at each other in the eye. Once every so often Cynthia would glance at him and then continue working, and then he would glance back when she was working. The atmosphere between them wasn't exactly awkward, but it was anything but friendly.
In Cynthia's opinion, the two matches so far showed that this was going to be a tough fight. Her restaurant's reputation was on the line, and Steven will know exactly who he was dealing with. In Cynthia's bones, she knew that Steven probably had a good measure of her cooking. The question was whether he would admit it to her face.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of Steven's phone as Steven went to answer the call. Cynthia couldn't make out what Steven was saying, but she suspected he was talking to only a handful of people she knew about.
By the time Steven had finished cleaning, well ahead of Cynthia, he quietly left the gym without so much as saying au revoir to her. Then again, he had no reason to, and Cynthia would have done likewise.
She wasn't feeling… jealous that he was leaving? Cynthia's heart pounded faster at the mere thought of it. Oh come on. It was just a phone call! He couldn't have been meeting someone! She pushed those thoughts out of her head and returned to her tasks. Steven could wait, but the kitchen station would not. Besides, it would be less work for the regular assistants, plus only Cynthia knew how she liked her station.
"Grr?" Garchomp said, concerned. Cynthia had almost forgotten about her. Had Garchomp been sitting the whole time? Cynthia supposed that in the midst of all the cooking, she had forgotten that Garchomp had been watching too, or was it because Cynthia was getting forgetful?
"It's nothing, really," Cynthia said. She got out her Poké Ball and held it up to Garchomp. "Did I forget to recall you? Sorry." She did feel a little guilty for not talking more to her Pokémon, but there was so much going through her head at the moment.
Cynthia eventually left Prism Tower alone. The cook-off with Steven today brought her more than she had bargained for, as if she had rekindled her desire for cooking. Then why did she feel so unsettled? Was it because he failed to notice her?
She let out a deep breath and kept walking.
For some reason, she kept the Poké Ball holding Garchomp in her hand. It was as if Garchomp's presence gave her some comfort, and for the record Garchomp was concerned for her. To get her mind off things, Cynthia went for a walk around the tower, avoiding the media wherever possible, and tried to walk back to the boutique hotel after.
People were walking around the streets of Lumiose City and minding their own business. At one point, Cynthia stopped near a corner to take in the atmosphere. She could hear music playing in the air from different directions and with different flavours (like piano, guitar, and accordion), she could smell the scent of delicious meals served in cafés, and she could see…
Steven.
And that Astrid girl.
Suddenly feeling tight, Cynthia did her best to stay out of view. Steven could not know that she was here, or else things would turn out very badly. Still, that did nothing to stop Cynthia from eavesdropping on them.
"You did really good there, Steven! Way better than anyone would have thought! I'm sure you've got this." Astrid's bright voice said. Steven must really like that kind of voice, Cynthia thought.
"I didn't know you were watching too." Steven's response sounded tired, but amused. "I will need a break though, so is there something more you need from me? More advice?"
"You guessed it." Astrid was enthusiastic. "As a reward, I'll buy you a cup of tea and talk over it."
They both walked off, and left Cynthia clutching her chest.
I received a little private message that basically said the Pokémon don't get enough airtime or credit. Well! I'll treat you to a perspective of battling, then! That should whet your appetite. (No puns intended)
But speaking of appetite, why not leave a review and try out these delicious waffles? Steven's steak waffle with onion and red wine sauce, and Cynthia's cheesecake waffle, made with coconut, lemon, and sea salt!