Yesterday, he had already achieved ten victories, exceeding his task and earning a promotion to the Great Ball level. When David left the Battle Center, Dominic informed him that today's morning training session would still involve practical combat at the Battle Center. However, given his performance, David no longer needed to attend.
Throughout yesterday, out of more than eighty students in Class 1, less than a third completed the goal. Not a single student managed to achieve ten consecutive victories like David had. Even Miles's Arcanine, after achieving seven consecutive victories, was defeated by a Superior Poliwrath. The others fared even worse.
Having secretly observed them all day yesterday, Dominic clearly knew that average-level battles would no longer be effective training for David. He simply gave him half a day off.
Enjoying a rare moment of leisure, David finally slept in after a long time. Previously, during the summer vacation, he had been busy training his Pokémon. This was actually David's first time sleeping in since becoming a Trainer.
Today, he had plenty of time. The entire morning was free, and in the afternoon, there was only one history class and one theoretical Pokémon knowledge class. He only needed to arrive at school before three o'clock.
He checked the time. It was only nine-thirty in the morning. No rush, no rush. There was still plenty of time.
He slowly got up, planning to brush his teeth, wash his face, tidy up, and then eat something.
Although he slept in today, David had already prepared breakfast in advance. He could be lazy about eating himself, but he still had to prepare food for his two partners.
This reminded him of the days before the world changed, when he was not yet in college and his mother cooked for him every morning.
"Does this mean I'm getting a head start on the daily life of raising children?" David sighed.
"Riolu!"
"Good morning to you too, Riolu."
Walking out of the bedroom into the living room, David found Riolu had already finished breakfast and started his daily training early. This formed a stark contrast with a certain little fox who was still half-asleep.
Seeing David wake up, Riolu greeted him, then turned back to continue his great endeavor of working out.
"Truly our family's most competitive one," David marveled silently.
Having a Pokémon like Riolu truly put a Trainer at ease. Ever since David caught him, he didn't have to worry about anything except setting up training plans. Riolu's training enthusiasm was even higher than his own as a Trainer.
In fact, David's main supervision was to make sure Riolu didn't overtrain.
When Riolu got competitive, he was exceptionally determined. Under his influence, even the little fox began to unconsciously increase her training volume.
At this moment, David had a feeling that when the number of Pokémon increased in the future, with Riolu around, his work as a Trainer could at least be half as easy.
He walked into the kitchen and casually grabbed some sandwiches and Moomoo Milk to fill his stomach.
After a while, even after David finished breakfast, the little fox finally walked out of the bedroom, still half-asleep.
Scooping up the little one, David held the little fox in one arm while picking up a strip of bacon from the table with the other and holding it in front of her, teasing her.
"What time is it and you're just getting up now? You're truly a little sleepyhead."
"Awoo..."
"Zorua... Zorua!" The little fox protested while eating. Master David just woke up himself!
The little fox unceremoniously swallowed the food David offered her, then, while chewing, indistinctly revealed the truth that he, too, had just woken up.
During their back-and-forth, under David's careful feeding, Zorua enjoyed her breakfast.
After sending the lazy little fox, who was full, to the sofa, David went to stop Riolu, who was still exercising. Today was a day off. Training should be done in moderation and combined with rest.
When it's time to train, train diligently. When it's time to rest, relax. A rare moment of leisure shouldn't be entirely taken up by exercise.
David had no specific plans for the morning. He leisurely leaned on the sofa, with the little fox on his left and Riolu on his right, playing games and watching TV, feeling quite content.
Although Riolu didn't particularly like ordinary games and movies, when David brought out the Pokémon Battle Royale game and documentaries of the World Pokémon Fighting Tournament that he had secretly prepared beforehand, Riolu looked as if he had discovered a new continent.
Seeing this, David finally breathed a sigh of relief. His Pokémon was finally not thinking about training anymore. Sometimes, having a Pokémon that is too diligent is also a happy kind of trouble.
The rest time quickly passed, and in a blink of an eye, it was almost noon.
He didn't plan to eat out today. He happened to have some free time, so he decided to show off his cooking skills. Besides, he had already promised his partners yesterday, only postponing it to today.
Leaving the two partners to play in the living room, David walked straight into the kitchen alone.
Arriving at the cutting board, David took out the rare-quality Giant Leek from the system's space and gently placed it on top.
Finally, after nearly a month of pondering, David finally decided to tackle this Giant Leek.
Thanks to the time-stasis property of the system space, the leek, just taken out, still looked exactly as it did when it was first drawn a month ago. As white as congealed fat, tender and juicy. As soon as it was taken out of the space, an enticing leek aroma diffused.
David quietly examined the leek in front of him, seemingly contemplating how to cook it to fully bring out its deliciousness.
In fact, David had already considered this matter when he first obtained it, and he had made several attempts over the past half-month. Only then could he do justice to this rare ingredient.
After taking out the necessary ingredients from the refrigerator and completing all the preliminary preparations, David then picked up a knife and lightly sliced it, instantly cutting the leek into three parts.
The amount of this leek was considerable. After careful consideration, Master David decided to divide it into three portions to create different dishes.
First, for the first dish, David planned to make stir-fried shredded duck with leek. David once heard a saying that cooking a Farfetch'd with its own leek could bring out the full flavor of the ingredients.
However, there was no Farfetch'd here, and besides, David had no intention of actually getting a Farfetch'd to eat. If it were like Slowpoke's tail, which detaches and regenerates automatically, that would be one thing, but David still couldn't bring himself to eat a Pokémon.
So, in the absence of Farfetch'd, David had to choose an ordinary duck as a substitute, hoping to maximize the deliciousness of this Sirfetch'd-selected leek.
He took out fresh duck meat and quickly sliced it into thin shreds. Then he took a bowl, put the cut duck shreds in, sprinkled a little fine salt and pepper, poured in cooking wine and sesame oil. You can add a little more if the duck meat is tough.
He added an appropriate amount of starch and stirred well, making sure there were no starch lumps. Then he set it aside to marinate.
Then he took out the section of the Giant Leek closest to the root and also gently sliced it into thin shreds.
After the duck meat had marinated for more than ten minutes, it was time to officially start cooking.
Before starting, David took a deep breath. A cyan-blue stream of light appeared in his eyes. David had activated the Aura Power within him. Through experiments these days, David had somewhat figured out the reason why his cooking had become so strong.
That's right. It was the versatile Aura Power.
Through experiments these days, David discovered that when he cooked, he would be affected by Aura Power. Through Aura Power, he could convey his feelings to his dishes.
The more intention and emotion contained in the dish, the more delicious it would taste.
In principle, it was very similar to the ultimate dishes described in an anime he once watched.
So today, he was going to try what kind of effect it would have to fully activate his Aura Power while cooking.
After activating his Aura Power state, David immediately devoted himself wholeheartedly to preparing the dish.
He turned up the heat, and while the oil was still cold, quickly poured in the secret Pixian bean paste he had prepared in advance. This was a secret seasoning he had brought from the Moore family manor, made by his mother herself according to a recipe.
After stir-frying the seasoning over high heat until fragrant, he added the marinated duck shreds, quickly stir-frying them. When they were almost done, judging by the color of the duck meat, he proceeded to the final step. Adding the shredded leek to the pan.
After adding the shredded leek, he stir-fried it a few more times and then immediately took it off the heat. This ultimate dish, stir-fried shredded duck with leek, was now ready.
He caught his breath. It was quite tiring to cook with Aura, he had to admit.
As soon as the dish came out of the pot, it immediately emitted a rich aroma. The scent quickly spread from the kitchen throughout the entire house. The two partners, who were playing in the living room, could no longer sit still.
When David, hearing the commotion behind him, turned his head, he found the two partners already sprawled at the kitchen door, peeking their heads out and staring intently at the serving plate in his hand.
Riolu, usually composed, was still barely restraining himself, constantly swallowing saliva while looking at the dish in David's hand. The naturally greedy little fox, however, gave up all pretense, her eyes gleaming and drooling.
"Alright, alright. I haven't even finished cooking yet. You two go wash up first, then sit nicely at the dining table and wait for me, be good," David said helplessly, looking at the two partners in front of him.
He first put the dish in his hand into a thermal box. Without the alluring aroma, and with David's persuasion, the two partners finally went to wash up, looking back every three steps.
"Looks like I need to hurry."
Seeing the two partners' reactions, David smiled and sighed softly, then continued to get busy.
The second dish was Twice-Cooked Pork with leek. David took out a piece of selected pork belly with skin, removed its raw smell, blanched it, sliced it thinly, and finally stir-fried it again. A dish of Twice-Cooked Pork with leek was also quickly made.
The aroma once again spread through the house. The two partners, smelling the scent, felt like cats scratching at their hearts, but they still listened to David, sitting obediently on their chairs after washing up, just staring expectantly at the kitchen.
For the third dish, David planned to make Hand-Shredded Chicken with Scallion Oil. A selected small free-range chicken was cooked, then shredded into small pieces by hand, drizzled with the scallion oil just made by frying the last of the leek, and seasoned with a little condiment. It was done.
Finally, as per usual, he made a large fruit salad by combining wild Salac Berries with other berries, then took out three bottles of Moomoo Milk from the refrigerator, carefully adding honey to one of them. This grand meal, personally prepared by David, was now complete.
"Zorua, Riolu, come and get the dishes. Dinner is served!"
Taking out the dishes from the thermal box and scooping the steamed rice from the rice cooker into bowls, David then called out to them.
No sooner had he spoken than the two partners rushed into the kitchen. Riolu picked up the prepared towel and handed it to David, while the little fox mimicked Gardevoir's earlier actions.
She used her Confusion to levitate all the plates, bowls, and chopsticks containing the food, easily carrying them to the dining table.
Taking the towel from Riolu, David wiped the sweat from his forehead. Seeing the little fox's actions, he also laughed. This was indeed a good way to train Psychic abilities, combining eating and training.
At the dining table, with the enhancement of David's Aura Power, all the dishes seemed to have transformed. Not only did the dishes have a faint white glow emanating from them.
At this moment, David was like some kind of master chef. Even the rice steamed from the rice cooker was crystal clear, shining with light, truly looking like it had turned into crystal.
With the blessing of the versatile Aura, David had cooked a table full of glowing dishes today.
Looking at the table full of glowing dishes, David raised his hand and looked at it, always feeling that if he were to touch it with his finger now, his finger might immediately turn golden, right?
"Alright, alright, stop staring. Let's start!"
Upon hearing David's words, the two partners began to frantically stuff food into their mouths. Although the little fox didn't have hands, relying on her Confusion, her eating speed was even a few points faster than Riolu, who was using both hands.
"Zorua..."
She almost choked herself by accident. David saw it and quickly handed her the milk at hand. The little fox quickly gulped a few mouthfuls before recovering.
"Eat slowly. The portion I made is enough for both of you to be full," David smiled helplessly.
Seeing the two partners eating so happily, David also picked up his chopsticks.
The spicy stir-fried shredded duck and twice-cooked pork, when gently picked up, immediately emitted a fiery red glow. David felt the heat wave close at hand, as if he were in a volcano.
An explosive, stimulating sensation came from his mouth. One bite made David break out in a sweat.
"Zorua... Zorua, use Icy Wind."
Hearing David's call, the little fox gently blew a gust of Icy Wind. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and a cool, comfortable feeling came. After drinking a few more sips of iced milk, David finally recovered.
The effect of Aura Power was evident here. Each dish contained spiritual energy. When David took a bite of the spicy dish just now, a volcano truly seemed to appear in his spiritual world.