Micle Berry, high-grade Pecha Berries, Dazzling Honey, and a selection of powdered berries.
Following the knowledge in his mind, Hikaru processed them step by step.
First, he dried many of the berries, ground them up, and mixed them together to form berry powder, then stir-fried it.
Then he took the Micle Berry and Pecha Berries, cutting them open and blending them into juice with his Kingdra-brand juicer, combining the juices. Meanwhile, he prepared molds, put the mixture in a pot, added Dazzling Honey, and heated it, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. Once it became thick, he kept flipping it.
When it reached the consistency of steamed buns, he scooped out the thickened fruit mix, placed it in molds, sprinkled the fried berry powder on top, let it cool completely, and cut it into pieces.
Cooling it is easy—just set an Icy Rock nearby, and the cold gradually seeps in, solidifying the mix in no time.
By the time Hikaru finished, the sky had grown dark. Sunset was upon them.
["You've completed a craft!"]
["Crafted Item: Rare Candy."]
["Effect: A candy brimming with energy. Give it to a Pokémon, and all its stats will grow."]
["Unique Effect: Slightly raises three random Effort Values. +10% chance to learn a new move."]
In the games, Rare Candy is sometimes found lying around. It's known for boosting levels. In the anime, it scarcely appears. Here in reality, its "level-up" effect takes the form of "overall stat growth."
Since a Pokémon's stats naturally rise with level-ups, it's essentially the same idea.
An indirect way of "leveling."
A long-time, highly trained Pokémon in the games is simply a higher-level Pokémon in reality.
Hikaru happily took the freshly made Rare Candies outside.
Lilligant was still practicing her carving under Doublade's guidance. Regirock was busy hauling stones and timber and creating ancient rock.Unown was dozing on the wall.
"Come have a taste of these!"
Hikaru beckoned, and Lilligant hopped over first, Doublade floated second, Turtwig plodded over third, followed by Regirock and Unown.
"How's the sculpting?" Hikaru asked Lilligant and Doublade with a smile.
"Lilli~!"
Lilligant was thrilled. She described how her sculpting had improved drastically. Doublade still felt it wasn't quite enough, but she'd keep working even harder.
Doublade was extremely strict—completely different from its usual "whatever" attitude.
Regirock also helped a ton! It said they could put her statue in its temple.
Turtwig, well… it was an excellent spectator for the carving show.
"Yo-yo—oo!"
Doublade seemed a bit smug, narrowing both eyes in satisfaction.
Not bad. Under my guidance, Lilligant's carving skills have improved, though still not there yet!
Next, Regirock came over with an armful of ancient rock, showing its day's work.
"Thanks. Just leave them there. Now, let's have some candy…" Hikaru paused awkwardly.
Regirock can't exactly eat candy.
This isn't like in the games, where no mouth is no problem.
And come to think of it, none of the Regis have mouths—they're eternal Pokémon.
But looking at the other Pokémon, Hikaru realized something:
Most of the Pokémon he knows—apart from Celebi and Turtwig—don't have mouths either!
"Huh. I've got it. Hold on a sec!"
He rushed back with the finished Rare Candies, dried them further, and ground them into powder.
["Crafted Item: Rare Candy Powder."]
["Effect: A powder brimming with energy. Sprinkle it on a Pokémon, and all its stats will grow."]
["Unique Effect: Slightly increases Pokémon's vitality. +10% chance to learn a new move."]
"All right, this works!"
He then realized: if you can powder it, you can also dissolve it into juice…
So he tried that next.
["Crafted Item: Rare Berry Juice."]
["Effect: Juice brimming with energy. Let a Pokémon absorb it, and all its stats will grow."]
["Unique Effect: Slightly boosts all base stats. +10% chance to learn a new move."]
Yes, each version has minor differences but basically retains the Rare Candy effect!
And each unique effect is excellent. Although Hikaru's Rare Candy craftsmanship isn't super advanced, the finished product is still impressive.
He brought out the candy, juice, and powder. The Pokémon all gathered around curiously.
"These contain special energy that can strengthen you all. They're about the same, so pick whichever you prefer."
Hikaru slid the tray forward. Lilligant used one leafy arm to hold the juice, sipping it with her other hand.
Turtwig just went straight for the solid candy.
Doublade picked up a candy too, absorbing it with its ghostly ribbons, same as always.
Regirock chose the powder. Hikaru helped sprinkle it evenly over its body.
Unown went with the candy, tapping it lightly—instantly absorbing it, leaving Doublade astonished. Wait, how'd you do that? Aren't you a Psychic-type?
Unown E: Indeed. That is the power of Psychic!
You silly Ghost sword! You have to absorb it slowly…
All of them felt stronger after ingesting the Rare Candy in its various forms!
Incredible candy!
"Alright, Rare Candy—success!" Hikaru was delighted. "We've got a bunch of Micle Berries, so now we can make these every day!"
Anyway, these Pokémon can't get cavities if they don't have mouths. No problem for them.
He's the only one who needs to worry about a sweet tooth…
With the new item complete, of course he'd consider selling it. Though it's not too difficult to craft, the bottleneck is getting enough Micle Berries and other ingredients. Some berries have very long growth times, and some are quite rare.
Plus, high-quality Pecha Berries. In the games, the top-tier ones are sometimes called "Miracle Pecha Berries," rumored to bloom once every few years. They say on a carefully cultivated Pecha tree, you might get one such fruit that looks noticeably different.
Without Celebi's help, obtaining top-grade Pecha Berries would take a while. Even with some gardening knowledge, he wouldn't get many at once.
"Which makes me wonder how far off my 'high-grade Pecha Berries' are from actual 'Miracle Pecha Berries.' Still, even standard high-quality fruit is rare in the world."
"In any case, if I list Rare Candy in my shop, I'll set the quantity at 100 pieces. Each customer can only buy 10 max…"
In the games, you might buy Rare Candy from some shops for 10,000. But in reality, given the limited supply of Micle Berries and top Pecha Berries, 10,000 seems too cheap.
Besides, the store's popularity has risen. No need to rely on ultra-cheap products to lure people in. While fair pricing is nice for attracting customers, collecting materials is no easy job.
Of course, Hikaru would add a note:
If your Pokémon doesn't have a mouth, you can swap it for an equivalent amount of candy powder or berry juice. The effect is the same.
If possible, he'd love to set the quantity to x999. But he doesn't have enough Micle Berries or other ingredients for that! Making 999 Rare Candies would consume half his berry stock.
"Come to think of it, because my Pokémon don't eat normal food, my supply consumption is pretty low. And the stuff I do make also has subtle beneficial effects."
"Maybe next time I'll gather more rare cooking ingredients, like some 'Herba Mystica?'"
While Hikaru pondered, he felt a swirl of consciousness merging in his mind.
It was from the Pokémon harnessing the Rare Candy's power, letting them learn new moves!
["Congratulations, Hisuian Lilligant gained experience and grew."]
["Move learned: Solar Blade!"]
["Congratulations, Turtwig gained experience and grew."]
["Move learned: Protect!"]
["Congratulations, Regirock gained experience and grew."]
["Move learned: Body Press!"]
["Congratulations, Doublade gained experience and grew."]
["Move learned: Destiny Bond!"]
All the Pokémon cheered, amazed at their new powers! A peculiar Ghost aura floated around Doublade. Regirock swung its arms, feeling that its usual defensive strength had transformed into raw offense.Turtwig sensed energy flow, generating a pale-green see-through barrier in front of itself—that's Protect!
And Lilligant underwent the greatest change!
Swoosh—!Both of Lilligant's leafy arms glowed brilliantly, absorbing the evening light and transforming it in an incredible way.
"Dore…!"
Similar to the feeling of gathering sunlight for Solar Beam, but Lilligant channeled it into her leaves and used a Leaf Blade style. The edges flared into a giant blade of light!
Solar Blade?!
Hikaru was stunned. Solar Blade is basically the physical version of Solar Beam, needing a turn to gather sunlight and the next turn to slash. But storing it without firing… is that some new technique?
Solar Leaf Blade?
Now the entire blade is basically Lilligant's arms. She swung them excitedly, the giant glowing blade slicing the air, startling the others into scattering!
"Dancing while using dual solar blades… maybe I'll call it 'Sun Dance?'"
Hikaru gave a name to her new dance routine!
Also, Regirock's Body Press is an excellent, rare move. He'll have to craft more move tutors for that.
Amid the excitement…
Unown floated up to Hikaru's face, stared, then looked at the other Pokémon.
Huh? What are you guys happy about? Did something happen? Why'd you all start using new moves?
Hikaru scratched his chin:
"Oh right, Unown only knows Hidden Power, so these extra learning effects don't apply to you."
Unown E widened its eye.
Huh? The candy does that? And how come it always happens to me…
Watching the four excited Pokémon, Unown sank into sorrow, sticking itself to the wall.
Pokémon can't truly share each other's highs and lows. Unown only felt they were too noisy.
(End of Chapter)
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