Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hot Pot and the Mountaineer

“Trainer, trainer! I want to eat that!” Zoroark excitedly pointed at a piece of beef, speaking with great enthusiasm. Heath sighed in resignation, picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a slice of beef, dipped it into the oil sauce, and then fed it into Zoroark’s mouth.

“And this one too!” Zoroark then pointed to a king oyster mushroom. Heath picked it up as well and fed it to Zoroark. Since Zoroark was an omnivorous Pokémon, Heath originally thought it was only interested in meat.

“Trainer, this mushroom is really strange,” Zoroark mumbled as it ate, pointing at the king oyster mushrooms in the hot pot.

“What’s wrong?” Heath looked at Zoroark with some puzzlement. Could the mushroom be poisonous? But Heath often ate these himself and knew they were perfectly safe.

“Look, it used to be long and firm, but after being in this warm broth for a while, it became soft and limp—no energy at all,” Zoroark said, licking its lips with great interest.

Heath’s expression shifted subtly. Nothing seemed wrong on the surface, but the more he thought about it, the more problematic it seemed.

“Also, look, it has a big head on its slender body,” Zoroark said with a teasing smile. Heath twitched the corner of his mouth and gave Zoroark a playful, exasperated glare. This guy really had no chill—how could he turn a simple hot pot meal into some kind of innuendo?

Fortunately, only Zoroark, with its mind full of mischievous thoughts, cared about such things. Farfetch’d and Charmander, clearly, didn’t understand a word.

Heath then took another pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of tofu for Farfetch’d. Charmander was the easiest to feed—he only wanted a roasted chicken leg and showed little interest in anything else.

“This hot pot is exhausting to eat. No more next time,” Heath shook his head helplessly. Since Pokémon couldn’t use chopsticks, having hot pot became a physical challenge for him. He had to constantly fetch ingredients and feed his Pokémon, which was utterly draining.

Luckily, Zoroark and Farfetch’d didn’t have big appetites, so after a little while, Heath was done feeding them and could finally eat for himself.

“Eh? There’s actually a... restaurant here?” As Heath picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks, he heard voices nearby. Without delay, he put down his chopsticks, wiped his hands, and stood up.

That’s the life of a chef—you never know when customers might show up. Sometimes you’re ready to eat and rest, but suddenly guests appear.

If he had a proper restaurant, Heath could post business hours, but with a food cart, such niceties were impossible. He just had to make do.

Soon, Heath saw a man with a backpack and a thick beard standing in front of his food cart, curiously inspecting it.

The moment Heath saw the man, he thought of the Mountaineer trainer from the games—he looked exactly like him, especially with that dense beard, perfectly capturing the character.

“Hello, I’m the owner of this food cart. May I ask what you would like to eat?” Heath smiled warmly at the customer standing before him. Someone had finally come to Champion’s Path, though Heath wasn’t sure what this customer’s purpose was.

Heath wasn’t particularly interested in why customers came to Champion’s Path; what mattered most was whether they wanted to eat.

“Hey, it’s freezing today. Do you have anything warm to eat?” The man rubbed his hands together, exhaled a cloud of warm breath, and smiled as he asked.

“Of course. Braised pork rice is hot and hearty,” Heath nodded immediately. Almost everything he served was warm, but out here in this harsh weather, even a hot meal wouldn’t stay warm long.

“How much?” The man didn’t rush to order but asked before deciding.

“Twenty League Coins,” Heath said, a figure he had long settled on. Normally, braised pork rice went for sixteen coins, but he added four more to cover the extra distance from Evergreen City to Champion’s Path.

“No problem. I’ll have one,” the man quickly paid, and Heath busied himself preparing the dish.

“Kid, you’re still open in this cold weather?” The man was clearly talkative, and after confirming his order, he began chatting with Heath.

Heath was used to this by now. Having been a chef for some time, he had encountered all kinds of customers—some quiet, only speaking to order dishes, others like this man, friendly and quick to strike up conversations. There were also busy people constantly on their phones and urban ladies who took the chance to touch up their makeup while eating.

“Well, I was thinking of checking out Champion’s Path to see if business might be better here. But from yesterday until today, I’ve only served two customers,” Heath said with a smile, revealing his own sociable nature.

“Hey, you’re coming at the wrong time. Champion’s Path only gets lively during the Quartz League events. Otherwise, you might see a trainer come through every four or five days,” the man said, resting his hands on the counter edge of the warm food cart.

Heath smiled awkwardly. He had thought Champion’s Path would be busier on normal days, but now that he considered it, few people came here. After all, there were other places to train.

“You’re a trainer too, right?” Heath asked as he spread the braised pork over the rice, added boiled bok choy, and drizzled the sauce—creating a dish both flavorful and pleasing.

“I’m not a trainer. I dreamed of it when I was younger, but found it far too expensive. So I became a mountaineer instead,” the man said with a hearty laugh. He looked genuinely cheerful today.

Heath was momentarily stunned—indeed, this was a mountaineer. He wondered what inspiration the game designers had used when creating the mountaineer character.

“When it snows, the roads get slippery. You’d better not drive. Wait for clear weather and dry roads before setting off. You can follow this road to the Quartz Plateau League Headquarters or head back to Evergreen City,” the man kindly advised. Heath nodded gratefully—he appreciated the goodwill.