"No problem. The total stru cost is 20,000 Pokédolrs," Kora firmed. "But speaking of which, do you have any more wood on the ranch?"

  She recalled that the st time she was there, she noticed almost all the trees on the ranch had been cut down.

  Kora took the opportunity to promote her products. "If you don't have any, you buy it from our shop. One piece of wood costs 100 Pokédolrs, and stone is even cheaper, only 50 Pokédolrs each."

  The twenty thousand covered bor and stru costs. If the rancher didn't have their own materials, they would o purchase them separately.

  Naoki thought for a moment, realizing that he had been so busy fishihat he hadn't cut down any trees at all. There were limited trees left on the ranch. While the back mountain had plenty, rge-scale logging would not only harm the enviro but also dispe Pokémon.

  After a brief sideration, he decided, "I'll buy it from you!"

  Kora smiled. "Alright, the stru crew will head to the ranch this afternoon to start work. You'll be there, right?"

  The salt shelter followed a standard design, and Kora kly how much material and space were o build one.

  Naoki nodded and paid the total of 25,000 Pokédolrs.

  Leaving the carpentry shop, he went to the Mesagoza market to buy some fresh ingredients. It had been a while since he'd developed a new dish. Due to the limited ingredients on the rand his busy schedule, he had been making the same few dishes repeatedly. Now that he had eggs and milk, it was time to experiment with new recipes.

  By the time he returo the ranch, it was almost noon. Naoki didn't take a break and immediately started preparing the ingredients. With so many mouths to feed, especially Koraidon's rge appetite, there wouldn't be enough food if he didn't make a substantial amount.

  Because of this, Naoki had to prepare a lot of food each day, which took loo cook. At first, he was inexperienced and would procrastiil very te, but he soon learo start cooking in advance.

  For example, now, at only 10:46 AM, Naoki was already busy i. He scaled and gutted the fish, added ginger, green onions, and a bit of garlic, then used a pre-made sauce for fvor and seasoning, finally steaming everything in a pot.

  While the fish steamed, Naoki began multitasking. He washed the purchased ribs, bhem, and thehem in the rice cooker along with chopped daikon radish to simmer. Cooking every day had improved Naoki's ary skills, and even his knife work had beore profit.

  Time passed, and soon the rich aroma of pork rib soup filled the air. The boiling soup bubbled, causing the rice cooker's lid to rise and fall with the esg steam, creating a rhythmic gurgle.

  Koraidon and Cyclizar, drawn by the entig smell, stared ily at the steaming rice cooker.

  Naoki, wearing an apron, shook his fi them. "Not yet! The rice isn't cooked yet. We have to wait a bit lo py outside for a while."

  "Koraidon."

  "Cyclizar."

  Koraidon and Cyclizar didn't want to py outside, so they sat on the wooden floor, their eyes fixed on the cooker.

  Naoki shook his head in amusement and started to cook rice pe. He had made pin rice pe before, an E-rank dish that could restore a small amount of stamina to Pokémon.

  But this time, looking at the pe i, Naoki fell into deep thought. What would be the perfect addition?

  A number of possibilities came to mind: preserved egg and lea pe, carrot and millet pe, mushroom and chi pe, oatmeal pe, eight-treasure pe, pe, purple potate.

  Unfortunately, most of the ingredients weren't avaible at the ranch.

  Naoki looked towards the window. The sill was empty; Smoliv and Alcremie were probably pying in the sun.

  pared to the meat-loving Koraidon and Cyclizar, Smoliv and Alcremie preferred sweet fvors. Steamed sea bass and daikon pork rib soup were both savory dishes, so he o make something sweet for Smoliv and Alcremie.

  With this in mind, Naoki turned and opehe cupboard, sing the ingredients inside. Finally, he took out a bottle of Moomoo Milk and some sugar.

  He poured the Moomoo Milk into the pot and added a suitable amount of sugar. After a while, the name of the dish i ged.

  [Milk Pe (B): Milk pe made with sugar and Moomoo Milk.

  Cooking effebsp;Better Milk Lv1, limited to milk-produg Pokémon. Upon ption, it slightly improves the quality of the fresh milk produced by the er, making it tastier and more nutritious. It also has the effect of rest stamina.

  ents: Nutritious milk pe, suitable for all ages.]

  What? A new recipe?! Naoki's eyebrows shot up.

  Better Milk. As the name suggested, eating it could improve the quality of milk produced by Pokémon.

  The Pokémon that would be from it, the image of a Pokemon came to Naoki's mind.

  "Iing. I check if there's a ce to catch those when I visit the Nacli this afternoon."

  However, it was a shame that the effect level of this dish was only Lv1. Naoki guessed it was because the quality of the rice he used was rather average. If he switched to better rid sugar, the dish's enha effect should increase further.

  Seeing that the pe was almost done, Naoki was about to serve it and call Smoliv and Alcremie back for dinner. But just then, he remembered something.

  There was a small piece of Bck Truffle he had saved in the cupboard!

  Naoki immediately retrieved the Bck Truffle, recalling the information about it.

  [Bck Truffle: A premium ingredient of the highest quality, a rare delicacy. It be made into bck truffle steamed eggs with eggs or cream soup with butter. Although it doesn't have any i bes, it greatly enhahe cooking effect of dishes.]

  As he had remembered! It enhahe effect of cooking!

  Naoki's heart leaped. What if he added it to the milk pe?

  Without hesitatio a quarter of the small Bck Truffle and added it to the pot.

  Soon, the name of the dish ged again. From ordinary [Milk Pe], it became [Bck Truffle Milk Pe].

  [Bck Truffle Milk Pe (S): Milk pe made with bck truffle, sugar, and Moomoo Milk. The quality of the dish has beely improved by the addition of bck truffle.

  Cooking effebsp;Better Milk Lv3, limited to milk-produg Pokémon. Upon ption, it greatly improves the quality of the fresh milk produced by the er, making it tastier and more nutritious. It also has the effect of quickly rest stamina.

  Evaluation: This is superb milk pe. The nutrients it tains are suitable for the growth of all Pokémon. It is a rare delicacy.]

  Holy moly! It's S-rank! Naoki was shocked.

  He immediately realized the importance of Bck Truffles. What if... what if...

  For a moment, Naoki even sidered adding Bck Truffles to the pork rib soup and steamed sea bass to see the results. But reason held him back, as the effects of those two dishes were already det. One increased strength and the other restored stamina.

  "No, I'll save this for ter," Naoki murmured.

  He carefully stored the remaining Bck Truffles and made a pn for the future.

  Raise Lek! He definitely had to raise Lek! He would raise a whole herd ahem to the back mountains to help him find more Bck Truffles!