Chapter 2: Golden Nector

After class, Mallow, invited me to come to her restaurant for a welcoming party. I agreed somewhat nervously, but it wasn't too far away. The six of us soon made our way to Mallow's restaurant, the journey mainly consisting of everyone debating what food to eat. I had no idea what was even on the menu, but i'd heard a couple people around Hauo'li City talk about a Famous Alolan Stew, so I asked Mallow what it was, and if I could possibly try some. The answer I got back was not what I expected.

"Ohit'sthemostgeorgousstewyoujusthavetotryit!" Mallow screamed indecipherable, grabbing me by the hand, almost tearing my arm off as she ran off full pelt, dragging my corpse with her.

"Mallow! No wait!"

I heard Lana shouting in the distance but it was no use, Mallow had made up her mind and wouldn't let me go until we had presumably reached her restaurant.

I was still amazed about this girl's energy and enthusiasm about this stew. She still hadn't stopped talking or moving until she sat me down at a table (rather forcibly I might add) and yelled for her father to start making 'the stew'. Mallow's father was one of those people you would hear before you saw him. He had a loud voice, and his raucous laughter suggested that this was a scenario that had happened before. He was a burly man, with curley green hair the same colour as Mallow's. He came round the corner, still laughing, and continued to until he saw me.

"Oh, a boyfriend, Mallow?" he asked chuckling

My face immediately turned bright red, watching this conversation unfold in the middle of the busy restaurant.

"yep, please make him a stew!" Mallow pleaded, not even listening to the conversation.

My face turned redder.

"Fine, fine, keep yer hair on!" he winked at me as he said this, ran back to the kitchen

At this point my face was a new undiscovered deep shade of red.

"Trust me, you'll love it!" Mallow blew a kiss before going to help her father in the kitchen. I was stunned. And embarrassed. To top it all off, everyone is this large but compact restaurant was staring at me. My only saving grace, was at this point, Lana and the rest came through the door.

"Oh Mallow!" Lana stormed through the door, red-faced and flustered. She spotted me immediately, and made her way over to me.

"Oh Toby! Ah, I'm so sorry she does that to everyone who asks about her stew!" Lana spat out apologetically.

"No, it's fine. It must be a good stew!" I joked, still recovering from what just happened. Kiawe smirked

"Yeah, it is. Just don't tell Mallow about it, or you won't hear the end of it"

"Coming!"

Crashing out of the kitchen came Mallow, and a huge pot full of the soup that had the most delicious smell that I had ever smelled. She plonked the pot straight into the middle of the table, and ignoring the others, overfilled the bowl with it, and gave it me. Mallow then sat down at the other end of the table and stared at me.

"Alola's finest, trust me, the secret ingredient makes it delicous." she winked suggestively, and watched me pick up the spoon and dip it into the soup

As soon as I placed the spoon into my mouth and the soup hit my taste buds I knew what the secret ingredient was immediately.

"Yellow Nectar"

Mallow looked over in shock. I had never seen anyone look so defeated as Mallow then. Her mouth was open in shock and her chair had fallen to the floor in a loud clatter.

"Tastes great with Oran berries, and even better in a stew."

"CRASH!"

Mallow had leapt across the table, in an attempt to reach me, sending the pots and plates to the floor, but the delicious soup was mercilessly left unharmed. She grabbed me by the shirt and lifted me up. Everyone screamed. Eevee cried in worry. No one had seen Mallow like this before.

At this point, I figured Mallow was either going to kill me or kiss me. I'd seen the films, I knew what was going to happen.

I didn't. The unforeseen third option occurred, where she pulled me off my chair and dragged me into the kitchen, yelling that if this stew turned out well she might just kiss me. I caught a glace at the others, who all had an expression that this was just a Mallow thing. Even Eevee, who had been so concerned earlier, was playing with Popplio and Pikachu. I smirked, before being dragged out of view by Mallow. She had the attention span of a Magikarp.

3 hours later, and after several failed stews, me, Mallow and Steenie finally had a result we were proud of. The stew, consisting of Yellow Nector and Oran Berries, had a golden colour and a smell i could only describe as similar as luscious. I was excited to try this, Mallow's and Steenie's cooking had a flair that burned of passion. She certainly was determined.

"Toby?"

I was staring at her. i'm not the best at this friends malarkey am I?

After getting over that embarrassment, we made our way out of the kitchen, only to find Eevee napping on the floor. Ah, they must of left after they realised their stew wouldn't of arrived in the next 3 hours. We held a collective groan; we were looking forward to getting stuck into this stew and now we had no one to critique it. In fact, a lack of people were even in the restaurant altogether; the place was deserted. I hadn't realised but at that point it was 11 o'clock, dark, and Eevee and Mallow's father were the only signs of life.

"What are we going to do now?" Mallow asked, the fact that no-one was here had really taken the wind out of her.

"What can we do? We've got a stew, we might as well eat it if no-one else will."

"Yeah, but it's dark, shouldn't your parents be worried if you stay out too late." Mallow asked with a look of concern.

"Nah, I live on my own, near the beachfront of Hau'oli City. Small flat, not much going on, I might as well stay out a bit longer."

Mallow looked as if she was about to ask another question, but decided against it. I decided to change the subject by asking her to try the stew. As soon as I mentioned it, she reverted back to her old self by separating the stew into five individual bowls, and arranging cutlery for all of us, excluding Eevee and Steenie but including Mallow's dad. As soon as we all got stuck in, we soon discovered it was the greatest thing any of us had ever tasted. The sweet taste combined with the fruitfulness of the Yellow Nector and the slight pang of sourness from the Oran Berries created a masterpiece of the culinary world. It was probably one of, if not, the best thing I had ever created. We finished the lot, and we were all stuffed by the end of it. Eevee and Steenie had fallen asleep on the floor, and Mallow's father had passed out on the chair. I was getting drowsy, and I could see Mallow needed some much-wanted shut-eye as well. Looks like I was going to have to make my way back through the city before I even thought about sleeping. I stood up, and was about to wake Eevee up and gesture for herto go before Mallow intervened.

"Wait! As it's dark, and Eevee's sleeping, maybe it's safer for you to sleep here on the couch tonight?" She blushed as she spoke, but she had a point. Going out on my own, in the dead of night and making my way through a city definitely wasn't the smartest idea. But then again, I had just met Mallow today. At this point I was too tired to deliberate further, so I took her up on her offer.